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  • MIL-OSI: Eric Herzog Named a CRN Channel Chief for the Third Time

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Infinidat, a leading provider of enterprise storage solutions, today announced that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Eric Herzog, CMO at Infinidat, to the prestigious 2025 CRN® Channel Chiefs list, which recognizes the IT vendor and distribution executives who are driving strategy and setting the channel agenda for their companies. This special distinction is the third time that Herzog has been recognized as a CRN Channel Chief during his extensive career as a senior executive for enterprise storage solutions through the channel.

    “I’m honored to be named a CRN Channel Chief again and to have the opportunity to work closely with Infinidat’s partners to make a significant impact through the channel,” said Eric Herzog, CMO at Infinidat. “I love the strong commitment, relentless effort, and competitiveness of our channel partners. Being recognized on the prestigious CRN Channel Chiefs list for the third time reflects positively on our power collaboration to drive large-scale deployments of next-generation enterprise storage. It’s important to keep the proverbial ‘finger on the pulse’ of the channel, and I am happy to report that there are many, many new opportunities for partners to grow their businesses with Infinidat in 2025.”

    Herzog has four decades of experience and proven success in the enterprise storage industry, managing all aspects of marketing, product management, sales, worldwide channels, and business development in both start-ups and Global Fortune 500 companies. Herzog was also named a CRN 2022 Channel Chief and a CRN 2015 Channel Chief. Prior to joining Infinidat in October 2021, he was CMO and VP of Global Storage Channels for IBM’s Storage Division. He was the executive sponsor for IBM Storage at Sirius Computer Solutions/CDW and Mainline Information Systems, as well as the executive sponsor for IBM Storage and EMC at Arrow.

    The channel is instrumental to Infinidat’s go-to-market strategy. Infinidat has invested heavily in building up its channel partner program to a 5-star rating (as recognized by CRN), increasing partner revenue, margins, co-op/marketing development funding (MDF), and joint events. Infinidat is dedicated to help channel partners grow their business, receive the best training available, and have easy access to experienced partner account managers.

    The Channel Chiefs list, released annually by CRN, showcases the top leaders throughout the IT channel ecosystem who work tirelessly to ensure mutual success with their partners and customers. As a Channel Chief, Herzog continues to be one of the top people in the storage industry, driving profitability-building channel agendas.

    “This year’s honorees exemplify dedication, innovation, and leadership that supports solution provider success and fosters growth across the channel,” said Jennifer Follett, VP, U.S. Content, and Executive Editor, CRN, at The Channel Company. “Each of these exceptional leaders has made a lasting channel impact by championing partnerships and designing creative strategies that get results. They’ve set a high bar in the channel, and we’re thrilled to recognize their standout achievements.”

    CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2025 print issue of CRN® Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.

    About The Channel Company
    The Channel Company (TCC) is the global leader in channel growth for the world’s top technology brands. We accelerate success across strategic channels for tech vendors, solution providers, and end users with premier media brands, integrated marketing and event services, strategic consulting, and exclusive market and audience insights. TCC is a portfolio company of investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. For more information, visit thechannelco.com.

    About Infinidat
    Infinidat provides enterprises and service providers with a platform-native primary and secondary storage architecture that delivers comprehensive data services based on InfiniVerse®. This unique platform delivers outstanding IT operating benefits, support for modern workloads across on-premises and hybrid multi-cloud environments. Infinidat’s cyber resilient-by-design infrastructure, consumption-based performance, 100% availability, and cyber security guaranteed SLAs align with enterprise IT and business priorities. Infinidat’s award-winning platform-native data services and acclaimed white glove service are continuously recommended by customers, as recognized by Gartner® Peer Insights reviews. For more information, visit www.infinidat.com.

    Connect with Infinidat
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    Media Contact
    Infinidat
    Sapna Capoor
    Director of Global Communications
    scapoor@infinidat.com | Mobile: +44 (0) 7789684159

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: TransUnion Introduces TruVision Alternative Bank Risk Score to Help Lenders Better Assess Consumers with Limited Credit Histories

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Despite a strong employment picture, some consumers are still struggling financially due to elevated inflation and higher than normal interest rates. The lowest income households (those earning less than $50,000) face another challenge, with only 35% indicating they have sufficient access to credit and lending products.i In an effort to provide lenders with a clearer picture of thin- or no- file consumers, including those who may not be gaining sufficient access to credit, TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) introduced today the TruVision Alternative Bank Risk Score.

    This score includes checking and banking data applicable to the short-term lending space and can be used to enhance lenders’ existing underwriting scores. It offers a more holistic view of a consumer’s financial behavior and enhances the accuracy of credit risk decisions. The TruVision Alternative Bank Risk Score is enabled by TransUnion’s OneTru™ solution enablement platform, which now houses the company’s short-term lending data.

    This solution evaluates a consumer’s banking activities to assist in predicting their future financial behavior, particularly their likelihood of defaulting on loans or other credit obligations. The score complements the existing suite of tools that TransUnion already provides to lenders to help them in determining credit risk. It can be used with existing risk scores or as a standalone tool for underwriting.

    “The addition of the TruVision Alternative Bank Risk Score to TransUnion’s existing Alternative Lending suite of credit risk scores offers lenders a deeper look at potential borrowers who may otherwise have no, or very limited, credit history, as well as subprime borrowers,” said Liz Pagel, senior vice president of consumer lending at TransUnion. “It can aid in improving the predictive power of risk models, helping to identify potential risks that might be missed when relying on a single data source.”

    In addition to helping lenders make more informed decisions, this score can potentially offer some consumers with limited credit histories an alternate pathway to credit, by providing a more comprehensive view of their financial behavior, identifying those creditworthy consumers who may lack a traditional credit history but demonstrate responsible banking behavior.

    A recent report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) revealed that one in six households had no mainstream credit, and this percentage was significantly higher among lower-income households, those with a lower educational ceiling, and minority households. The report also indicated that those households without mainstream credit likely did not have a credit score with credit bureaus, making it that much harder to obtain credit moving forward.

    TransUnion’s Q4 2024 Consumer Pulse found that lower-income consumer households have a much more difficult time accessing credit.

    Lower Income Households Do Not Feel They Have Sufficient Access to Credit and Lending Products.

      Low (<$50K) Medium ($50-99K) High ($100k+)
    Have Sufficient Access 35% 64% 80%
    Neither Agree nor Disagree 31% 21% 11%
    Do Not Have Sufficient Access 34% 15% 8%

    Source: TransUnion Consumer Pulse, November 2024

    “TransUnion has long provided lenders with access to a wide range of tools, resources, and data with which informed lending decisions can be made,” said Jason Laky, executive vice president and head of financial services at TransUnion. “In this increasingly complex economic environment, many consumers, lower income or otherwise, are seeking credit with limited or non-existent traditional credit histories. The use of a broad suite of alternative credit data tools offers lenders a new and important tool in assessing risk among these consumers.”

    To learn more about how TransUnion gives lenders a Tru picture of consumers – helping them better assess creditworthiness and expand access to credit, click here.

    For consumers looking to learn more about how to build their credit, click here.

    About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)

    TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good® — and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world.

    http://www.transunion.com/business

    i Q4 2024 TransUnion Consumer Pulse study

    Contact Dave Blumberg
      TransUnion
       
    E-mail david.blumberg@transunion.com
       
    Telephone 312-972-6646

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Scality appoints Emilio Roman as global chief revenue officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the appointment of Emilio Roman as its new global Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Emilio brings a wealth of experience in global sales leadership, with a proven track record in the cybersecurity and data storage industries. He joins Scality from Bitdefender and Fortinet, where he held the position of Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Channels. Emilio is no stranger to Scality, having previously served as the company’s top sales leader for the EMEA and APAC regions from 2014 to 2020. His return marks an exciting new chapter for Scality as he leverages his deep expertise to accelerate revenue growth and scale operations globally.

    Building on a remarkable 2024, which saw five consecutive record quarters and major successes in Enterprise AI data lakes, cloud infrastructure, and storage dedicated to cyber resiliency, Emilio assumes leadership to accelerate Scality’s growth trajectory. His appointment follows the highly impactful tenure of Peter Brennan, who built the company’s sales and channel organization to achieve consecutive years of record growth. Peter has taken a senior sales leadership role with a leading network technology company, and will remain a member of Scality’s Advisory Board.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Emilio back to the Scality family,” said Jerome Lecat, CEO of Scality. “Emilio’s extensive cyber security experience and outstanding leadership skills make him the ideal choice to lead our global sales efforts as we continue to innovate and solve the world’s largest data challenges.”

    Scality’s growth trajectory remains strong following a banner year in 2024, with the company achieving record-breaking success across all regions, including completing its most successful quarter ever in Q4 2024 and the second year in a row achieving a cash flow positive position. With hundreds of ARTESCA deployments, including the largest at 6 PB, this success highlights the team’s focus on delivering value to customers and driving cyber resilient innovation. Designed for mid-market organizations, ARTESCA offers enterprise -grade cyber resilient object storage capabilities at a cost-friendly entry point with the power to scale to support future business needs. Under Emilio’s leadership, Scality’s regional sales and channel teams are well-positioned to sustain and build upon this momentum.

    “It’s an honor to rejoin Scality at such a pivotal time in its journey,” said Emilio Roman. “I will apply my previous Scality knowledge with new learnings gained from the critical cyber-security space to drive even greater achievements for the company. I intend to continue focusing our efforts on supporting our channel partners to succeed in selling Scality’s solutions to address customers’ toughest data storage challenges across three key areas: AI, Cloud and cyber-resilient storage.”

    Scality remains committed to delivering exceptional service to customers and partners while pioneering cutting-edge solutions that address the evolving challenges of data storage. With Emilio Roman at the helm of its global sales organization, Scality is poised to further solidify its leadership in the industry.

    About Scality
    Scality solves organizations’ biggest data storage challenges — security, performance, and cost. Designed to provide the strongest form of immutability plus end-to-end cyber resilience, Scality solutions safeguard data at five core levels for unbreakable ransomware protection. Delivering utmost resilience, Scality makes storage infrastructures limitlessly scalable in all critical dimensions. The world’s most discerning companies trust Scality so they can grow faster and execute AI data-driven ideas quicker — while increasing efficiency and avoiding lock-in. Scality S3 object storage software is reliable, secure and sustainable. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Visit www.scality.com and our blog.

    Media Contact:
    Lisa Williams
    A3 Communications
    +1 339-788-0067
    lisa.williams@a3communicationspr.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e6035e3a-7fb5-40ca-946c-deda19e47f28

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Xsolis Ranked No. 1 Best in KLAS for Physician Advisory Services for Fourth Year

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FRANKLIN, Tenn., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Xsolis, an AI-driven technology company that reduces administrative waste by enabling collaboration between healthcare providers and payers, announced today a No. 1 ranking for Physician Advisory (PA) Services in the 2025 Best in KLAS awards.  This is the fourth year Xsolis has achieved first place in the category, which recognizes services that help organizations with their physician and utilization review. 

    “The education and knowledge of Xsolis’ PAs are unmatched,” said Cindy Neumany, senior vice president of clinical operations for population health at Hackensack Meridian Health, a leading not-for-profit health care organization with 18 hospitals and more than 500 patient care locations in New Jersey. “Xsolis’ AI and its flexible models for clients have been invaluable to meet our unique goals.”

    Hackensack Meridian Health has been an Xsolis customer since 2021. In 2024, Xsolis’ PA Services achieved a 71% peer-to-peer success rate for Hackensack Meridian Health.

    Xsolis’ PA Services consistently receives positive feedback from clients about its flexibility – offering comprehensive external services or by supplementing hospitals’ internal models with review and peer-to-peer coverage – its high-quality reviews, responsiveness and its consultative, partnership approach. Serving clients since 2016, the Xsolis PA Services team undergoes rigorous training to support these goals. When paired with the company’s technology platform, Dragonfly, Xsolis’ PA Services also stands apart for its data insights capabilities, helping customers identify trends and areas for further improvement.

    “Receiving Best in KLAS is one of the most rewarding honors our team can receive because it is based on provider feedback,” said Heather Bassett, M.D., Xsolis chief medical officer and head of physician advisor services. “We are honored that Xsolis’ people, processes, and technology have been recognized for the collective value they bring our clients as we navigate industry challenges together.”

    According to the Hospital Financial Management Association, hospitals and health systems struggle with cost containment due to staffing shortages and rising operational costs. A lack of integration between documentation and care delivery can lead to significant rework or denials, with dire financial consequences. Physician advisors play a critical role in creating more resiliency in today’s healthcare ecosystem due to their abilities to bridge the gap between clinical practice and administrative needs for hospitals.

    “Congratulations to the 2025 winners of the Best in KLAS awards! Winning a Best in KLAS award signifies a commitment to delivering outstanding value and innovation to healthcare providers and patients alike,” said Adam Gale, KLAS CEO. “It is my hope that these awards inspire the winners and other companies to reach new heights.”

    Xsolis has been leveraging human-in-the-loop AI practices to develop AI solutions that streamline medical necessity decision-making in healthcare for over a decade, improving level of care authorizations, length-of-stay management, and payer-provider alignment. Xsolis’ collaborative AI platform is used in more than 500 hospitals nationwide, with more than two-thirds having shared access with their networked health plans.

    To learn more about Xsolis’ Physician Advisor Services, click here. To learn more about Xsolis’ AI solutions, click here.

    To explore the full 2025 Best in KLAS Physician Advisory Services category, click here.  

    About Xsolis 

    Xsolis is an AI-driven technology company that reduces administrative waste by enabling collaboration between healthcare providers and payers. Dragonfly®, its AI-driven proprietary platform, is the first and only solution to use real-time predictive analytics to continuously assign an objective medical necessity score and assess the anticipated level of care for every patient, enabling more efficiency across the healthcare system. Xsolis is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. For more information, visit www.xsolis.com.
     
    About KLAS 

    KLAS helps healthcare providers make informed technology decisions by offering accurate, honest, and impartial vendor performance information. KLAS monitors vendor performance through interviewing thousands of healthcare providers representing healthcare organizations throughout the US and here and there across the globe. KLAS uses a simple methodology to ensure all data and ratings are accurate, honest and impartial to help create market moving moments. Learn more at klasresearch.com.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/186e7992-0295-4262-a390-11e79c0870f6

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Uni-Fuels Announces Sponsorship for IBIA Annual Dinner 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Uni-Fuels Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: UFG), (“Uni-Fuels” or the “Company”), a global provider of marine fuel solutions headquartered in Singapore, today announced its bronze sponsorship of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Annual Dinner 2025 to take place on February 24 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, London.

    The annual event, which brings together key stakeholders, industry leaders, and decision makers from across the maritime and marine fuel sectors, has gained recognition as a hallmark occasion for fostering collaboration, innovation, and networking within the global marine fuel community.

    “As a supporter of IBIA’s mission to promote improved standards, knowledge, and understanding in the industry, Uni-Fuels is honored to participate as a bronze sponsor in this year’s dinner,” said Uni-Fuels Chief Operating Officer Stefanie Tay. “This event aligns with our core principles of innovation, collaboration, and excellence in the marine fuels sector, and provides a valuable platform to engage with our peers and discuss future progress in our industry.”

    Ms. Tay added that the sponsorship also underscores Uni-Fuels’ dedication to addressing critical industry challenges such as decarbonization, sustainability, and operational efficiency.

    By supporting the IBIA Annual Dinner, she said, the Company reaffirms its commitment to fostering dialogue and collaboration that drive “meaningful progress in the industry.”

    About Uni-Fuels Holdings Limited

    Uni-Fuels is a fast-growing global provider of marine fuel solutions, helping shipping companies optimize fuel procurement across all markets and time zones. Founded in 2021, Uni-Fuels has evolved from modest beginnings into a dynamic, forward-thinking company. Backed by a passionate team and a growing presence across multiple locations, it has forged trusted partnerships with customers, supporting them in achieving their operational objectives with confidence, from shore to shore.

    For more information, visit www.uni-fuels.com.

    About IBIA

    The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) is the voice of the global bunker industry and represents all stakeholders across the industry value chain.

    Its membership includes ship owners/operators, bunker suppliers, traders, brokers, barging companies, storage companies, surveyors, port authorities, credit reporting companies, lawyers, P&I clubs, equipment manufacturers, shipping journalists and marine consultants. Today it has members in more than 70 countries.

    For more information, visit www.ibia.net.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the completion and timing of closing of the offering and the intended use of the proceeds. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, “intend”, “believe”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “can have”, “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent Uni-Fuels’ current expectations regarding future events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the initial public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the registration statement filed with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

    Contact Information

    For Investor Relations:

    Uni-Fuels Holdings Ltd
    Email: investors@uni-fuels.com

    Skyline Corporate Communications Group, LLC
    Email: info@skylineccg.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ChargeAfter Teams Up with Bread Financial to Offer Flexible Payment Options through its Embedded Lending Network

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    With the addition of Bread Pay® pay-over-time options to its network of lenders, ChargeAfter enables merchants to provide qualified customers with instant access to its installment programs.

    ChargeAfter, the embedded lending platform for point-of-sale financing, announced today it has added Bread Pay pay-over-time financing to its network of lenders. Bread Pay is offered through Bread Financial® (NYSE: BFH), a tech-forward financial services company that provides simple, personalized payment, lending and saving solutions. This long-term agreement will enable merchants to offer their customers seamless access to Bread Pay’s suite of long- and short-term financing options through ChargeAfter’s platform. Johnson Health Tech is among the first of ChargeAfter’s merchant partners to offer Bread Pay through its platform, enabling shoppers to finance purchases of BowFlex, Schwinn Fitness, and Horizon Fitness products.

    ChargeAfter’s waterfall technology enables merchants to deliver instant access to financing choices for customers across the credit spectrum. This is especially crucial for retailers and service providers that sell big-ticket items such as home improvement, electronics, jewelry, furniture, home appliances, healthcare, and automotive. Bread Financial is offered to prime credit customers through the platform, with merchants providing fast and frictionless access to Bread Pay pay-over-time options at every point of sale. 

    “We know that some big-ticket purchases can be an important decision for many consumers, and we’re committed to helping merchants offer flexible financing options to customers to make those purchases as seamless and affordable as possible,” said Rick Cunningham, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Bread Financial. “Our data shows consumers often choose a retailer based on their financing availability when purchasing these big ticket items*. By integrating Bread Pay at the point of sale through the ChargeAfter platform, we’re proud to empower consumers with greater choice and accessibility, taking the stress out of the purchasing process.”

    Meidad Sharon, CEO and founder of ChargeAfter added, “We are delighted that Bread Financial has joined our embedded lending network. The integration of Bread Pay products into our platform alongside a Bread Financial retail credit card offering enables merchants to seamlessly provide customers with a broader range of financing options. It is exciting to see merchants such as Johnson Health Tech enhance their prime financing offering with this product through ChargeAfter’s platform. As embedded lending becomes the new industry standard, ChargeAfter empowers merchants to deliver personalization and choices at every point of sale, providing an instant waterfall financing solution that benefits customers, merchants, and lenders alike.” 

    *From a Bread Financial proprietary survey published in 2023

    About ChargeAfter 
    ChargeAfter is pioneering the embedded lending network for point-of-sale consumer financing for merchants and financial institutions. Powered by a network of lenders and a data-driven matching engine, ChargeAfter streamlines the distribution of credit into a single, secure, and reliable embedded lending platform. Merchants can rapidly implement ChargeAfter’s omnichannel platform online, in-store, and at every point of sale, enabling them to provide personalized financing choices to their customers. 

    ChargeAfter is backed by payment expert investors including Visa, Citi Ventures, Synchrony Financial, Banco Bradesco, MUFG, PICO Venture Partners, Propel Venture Partners, and The Phoenix. ChargeAfter is headquartered in New York with an R&D center in Tel Aviv. Users can learn more at chargeafter.com.

    About Bread Financial® 
    Bread Financial® (NYSE: BFH) is a tech-forward financial services company that provides simple, personalized payment, lending, and saving solutions to millions of U.S. consumers. Our payment solutions, including Bread Financial general purpose credit cards and savings products, empower our customers and their passions for a better life. Additionally, we deliver growth for some of the most recognized brands in travel & entertainment, health & beauty, jewelry, and specialty apparel through our private label and co-brand credit cards and pay-over-time products providing choice and value to our shared customers. 

    To learn more about Bread Financial, its global associates, and its sustainability commitments, users can visit breadfinancial.com or follow them on Instagram and LinkedIn. 

    Contact

    Director of Marketing
    Varda Bachrach
    ChargeAfter
    varda.bachrach@chargeafter.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/89c2d85d-db29-4ec8-891e-f46e0c535c10

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Systemic Bio Wins the SLAS 2025 Innovation Award

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Systemic Bio™, a 3D Systems company (NYSE: DDD), has been named the winner of the prestigious SLAS 2025 Innovation Award. This award recognizes groundbreaking technological advancements poised to drive innovation in laboratory science and automation. The competition featured cutting-edge developments led by distinguished experts from top institutions worldwide.

    The award highlights Systemic Bio’s proprietary h-VIOS™ platform, designed to accelerate drug discovery and development using bioprinted human tissues. The Company’s presentation focused on the application of its platform to evaluate the safety of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The technology enables early identification of safety concerns, capturing risks that historically have only been discovered during clinical trials, even after non-human primate studies failed to flag such issues.

    “I couldn’t be prouder of our team for winning this award,” said Taci Pereira, CEO of Systemic Bio. “This recognition is a testament to our relentless focus on demonstrating the scientific and translational value of our platform. We remain committed to expanding our capabilities and accelerating adoption to improve drug discovery and development.”

    Operating from Houston, Texas, Systemic Bio has the capability to produce thousands of tissue models under an ISO 7 clean room and a Quality Management System (QMS). These models support the Company’s ongoing collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies to improve preclinical drug testing and reduce late-stage failures.

    The SLAS Innovation Award is presented annually at the SLAS International Conference and Exhibition, recognizing the most forward-thinking technological advancements in the field. More information on Systemic Bio’s work can be found at www.systemic.bio.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Certain statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Systemic Bio or 3D Systems, as applicable, to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In many cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “estimates,” “intends,” “anticipates” or “plans” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs, assumptions, and current expectations and may include comments as to the beliefs and expectations of Systemic Bio or 3D Systems as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the applicable company. The factors described under the headings “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in 3D Systems’ periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other factors, could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected or predicted in forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance or results, nor will they necessarily prove to be accurate indications of the times at which such performance or results will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included are made only as of the date of the statement. Neither Systemic Bio nor 3D Systems undertakes any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements made by management or on its behalf, whether as a result of future developments, subsequent events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.

    About Systemic Bio
    Systemic Bio is a biotech company focused on accelerating drug discovery and development with human-relevant data from its proprietary platform of bioprinted vascularized organ models. Founded in 2022 as a wholly-owned company of 3D Systems, Systemic Bio leverages 3D Systems’ breakthrough, production-level bioprinting technology to create extremely precise healthy and diseased tissues using biomaterials and human cells. These proprietary organs-on-chips can be manufactured reproducibly in large quantities, and then perfused with drugs to study the effects on healthy or diseased tissue at the earliest stages of pharmaceutical drug development. These systems are multimodal and can be used to generate large datasets leveraged with machine learning to generate human-relevant therapeutic insights. More information on the company is available at www.systemic.bio.

    About 3D Systems
    More than 35 years ago, 3D Systems brought the innovation of 3D printing to the manufacturing industry. Today, as the leading additive manufacturing solutions partner, we bring innovation, performance, and reliability to every interaction – empowering our customers to create products and business models never before possible. Thanks to our unique offering of hardware, software, materials, and services, each application-specific solution is powered by the expertise of our application engineers who collaborate with customers to transform how they deliver their products and services. 3D Systems’ solutions address a variety of advanced applications in healthcare and industrial markets such as medical and dental, aerospace & defense, automotive, and durable goods. More information on the company is available at www.3dsystems.com.

    Investor Contact: investor.relations@3dsystems.com
    Media Contact: press@systemic.bio

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: New Hope For Pets In The Fight Against Cancer: Fast, Accurate Diagnoses From Torigen Pharmaceuticals And Proscia

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FARMINGTON, Conn. and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Torigen Pharmaceuticals, recognized for pioneering cancer immunotherapy in veterinary medicine, is using software from Proscia®, a global leader in AI-enabled pathology solutions for precision medicine, to rapidly deliver expert diagnoses through its Specialty Pathology Service. In addition to helping more veterinarians make the best possible care decisions for pets and their families, these results can better inform the personalized vaccines Torigen develops.

    Pathologists at Torigen leverage Proscia’s Concentriq® to make precise diagnoses from data-rich images containing one of the most detailed and direct profiles of diseases like cancer. The enterprise pathology platform also enables Torigen’s team to work efficiently, ensuring results within an average of three-to-five days so that animal patients can begin treatment sooner.

    “Concentriq made our vision for Torigen Specialty Pathology a reality,” said Ashley Kalinauskas, CEO and Co-Founder of Torigen Pharmaceuticals. “We are now able to help veterinary practices of all sizes create hope for pets and their families by building the bridge between diagnostics and personalized immunotherapies, pushing the limits of animal medicine.”

    Torigen was founded to bring personalized cancer vaccines to the veterinary market. Preliminary published efficacy data demonstrates that dogs with metastatic hemangiosarcoma who received Torigen’s targeted immunotherapy or maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy had a 3.5x increase in overall survival compared to surgery alone.1 With Concentriq, Torigen is also in the beginning stages of establishing a data foundation for building AI models that further optimize immunotherapy recommendations.

    “The healthcare community should take note of Torigen,” said David West, Proscia’s CEO. “Realizing the promise of precision medicine depends on matching patients with the right treatments, and Torigen is addressing this full pathway. We are thrilled to play a part in its journey and in the lives of the pets, families, and veterinarians it serves.”

    About Torigen
    Torigen is transforming the pet cancer process with its personalized cancer vaccine and new pathology service, making pet cancer diagnostics and treatment more accessible and seamless. Torigen recognizes the instrumental role pets play in our families and is determined to extend the lives of companion animals despite a cancer diagnosis. Torigen is a spin-out from the University of Notre Dame and backed by Werth Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Emerald Development Managers, Advantage Capital, The University of Connecticut, The University of Notre Dame, SoGal Ventures, Gaingels, and other prominent investors. For more information visit http://www.torigen.com.

    About Proscia
    Proscia is a software company accelerating pathology’s transition to a digital, data-driven discipline and enabling AI to advance precision medicine. Its Concentriq enterprise pathology platform, precision medicine AI portfolio, and real-world data fuel the development and use of novel therapies and diagnostics to drive the fight against humanity’s most challenging diseases, like cancer. 14 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and a global network of diagnostic laboratories rely on Proscia’s solutions each day. The company has FDA 510(k) clearance and CE-IVDR certification for its diagnostic software. For more information, visit proscia.com, and follow Proscia on LinkedIn and X.

    1 Lucroy, M.D., Clauson, R.M., Suckow, M.A. et al. Evaluation of an autologous cancer vaccine for the treatment of metastatic canine hemangiosarcoma: a preliminary study. BMC Vet Res 16, 447 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02675-y

    Contact Information:

    For Proscia
    Sydney Fenkell
    VP, Marketing Communications
    sydney@proscia.com
    215.816.3436

    For Torigen Pharmaceuticals
    Ashley Kalinauskas
    CEO and Co-Founder
    info@torigen.com
    860.519.9956

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nigeria’s Brics partnership: economist outlines potential benefits

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Stephen Onyeiwu, Professor of Economics & Business, Allegheny College

    During its 16th annual summit in Kazan, Russia, Brics – a group of emerging economies determined to act as a counterweight to the west and to whittle down the influence of global institutions – invited Nigeria and eight other countries to join it as “partner” countries. Nigeria formally accepted the invitation in January 2025. That invitation has generated questions about how Nigeria stands to benefit, especially when US president Donald Trump is threatening to sanction members of the group if they replace the US dollar as reserve currency. It was established in 2006 and initially composed of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa joined in 2010 and the bloc added four new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) in 2023. In this interview, development economist Stephen Onyeiwu argues that Nigeria stands to gain from a Brics partnership, but would have to carefully balance its domestic interests with those of its western allies and Brics.

    What does it mean to be a Brics ‘partner’ country?

    The introduction of Brics partnership is an expansion mechanism designed to bring in more participants without giving them full membership. It is akin to “observer” status.

    Brics partners can participate in special sessions of summits and foreign ministers’ meetings, as well as other high-level events. Partners can also contribute to the organisation’s official documents and policy statements.

    But partners cannot host annual Brics summits or determine the venue. Neither can they select new members and partners.

    How beneficial is Brics partnership to Nigeria?

    The main benefit would be access to finance offered by Brics’ New Development Bank.

    The New Development Bank was established as an alternative to western-dominated international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These institutions are sometimes used by the leading western countries to keep developing countries in line on global issues.

    Some developing countries are reluctant to criticise western countries for fear of losing access to funding by western-backed international financial institutions.

    Nigeria has been running a budget deficit of about 5% of GDP since 2019, and it needs funding to pay for the deficits. The New Development Bank could be an important source of funding for investment in Nigeria’s infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, and so on.

    New Development Bank loans are also available in member countries’ local currencies. They don’t have to earn foreign exchange to repay the loans. This fosters exchange rate stability and promotes economic growth. The New Development Bank raises funds in member countries’ local currencies, and lends them to member countries.

    Nigeria could use its Brics partnership to garner the group’s support in matters that affect Nigeria globally. For instance, there have been requests for African countries to be included as permanent members (without veto power) of the UN security council. South Africa and Nigeria have been touted as potential candidates. Should this issue be raised at the UN, Nigeria can count on the support of its Brics allies, which includes two permanent members (China and Russia) of the security council.

    Mutual understanding and cooperation with other Brics members and partners might spill over into economic, trade and investment agreements. Friendly countries are more likely to trade with each other and invest in each other’s economy.

    How can Nigeria maximise its status as a Brics partner?

    Nigeria should use it to attract foreign direct investment in strategic sectors of the economy, such as infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and technology.

    Some Brics members, like China, India, and the UAE, have investors that are seeking investment outlets abroad. Nigeria could use the bloc’s annual summits to showcase investment opportunities.

    The global economy is transitioning into “frontier industries and technologies”, such as big data, artificial intelligence, solar, drones, gene editing, 3D printing, blockchains, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, robotics and nanotechnology. China, India and Brazil are already well advanced in these technologies.

    Nigeria should use its partnership with these countries to build capabilities in frontier industries and technologies. It could get favourable terms in the transfer of these technologies.

    Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy from reliance on the export of hydrocarbons. But Nigerian producers have had a hard time accessing global markets. The country should negotiate trade deals that provide access to Brics markets, especially agricultural and agro-processed products, arts and crafts.

    But Nigeria has to promote economic growth and structural transformation at home. If the Nigerian economy falters, it is unlikely the country will be invited to become a full member of Brics.

    Would adding new members and partners reduce western dominance?

    Brics has so far not been able to significantly change the dynamics of the international political economy. Adding new members and partners, while symbolic, will not act as an effective counterweight to the influence of the G7 and G20 groups of nations.

    Most of the countries and partners in Brics are either allies of western countries or neutral on global issues. They are unlikely to support decisions or actions that are grossly inimical to western interests.

    Egypt and the UAE, for instance, receive military aid from the United States. Ethiopia and Nigeria are top recipients of foreign aid in Africa, much of it from western-backed financial institutions.

    The only outlier in the mix is Iran, whose membership was promoted by Russia. But Iran has no leverage to influence others in the bloc.

    On balance, therefore, Brics will not be a threat to western countries.

    Brics aspires to weaken the dominance of the US dollar for international transactions. Close to 90% of international trade transactions are conducted with the US dollar.

    Brics countries plan to reduce dollar dominance by encouraging member countries to settle their trade and financial transactions using their domestic currencies. For instance, South African businesses could purchase Chinese goods using the South African rand, while the Chinese could do the same for South African goods using the Chinese yuan. The more members you have in Brics swapping their currencies, the less important the US dollar will be.

    It is unlikely, however, that an increase in the number of Brics members and partners will weaken the dollar. Most will continue to have significant economic relationships with the west, including trade and foreign aid.

    They will also continue to conduct business with many non-Brics countries, which also have economic relationships with the west. They will need the US dollar to transact with many other countries.

    So increasing the number of Brics members and partners does not pose a threat to dollar dominance.

    Stephen Onyeiwu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Nigeria’s Brics partnership: economist outlines potential benefits – https://theconversation.com/nigerias-brics-partnership-economist-outlines-potential-benefits-248943

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Trump’s rage defies historical and literary comparisons, according to a classics expert

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University – Newark

    Donald Trump’s anger has been building and now seems volcanic. Abstract Aerial Art/Getty Images

    The Greek divinity Nemesis, rarely depicted in art, has no place in the Olympian pantheon of a dozen gods and goddesses. But she’s an omnipresent force of retribution, an implacable force of punishment that arrives, if not sooner, then later.

    Nemesis can bide her time for generations, but there’s no escaping her.

    So too, it seems, with President Donald Trump, who is “clearly not a man who discards his grudges easily,” William Galston of the Brookings Institution said recently. This observation is an understatement.

    Trump’s resentment has been steaming since the 2020 presidential election. Now that he is again president, he’s far from appeased; his ire is boiling over.

    “Flooding the zone,” a term borrowed from football, was former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s way of describing the Trumpian tactic of issuing a barrage of statements whose sheer pace and multiplicity, not to mention contents, are intended to stymie any impulse at rational response.

    As he has gained fame and power, Trump’s contemptuous rage at his opponents and his appetite for vengeance appear to have sharpened.

    Like Nemesis, Trump is now pursuing his perceived enemies, using the power of the presidency. Among his recent retribution: He has
    fired Department of Justice officials and staff who worked on criminal investigations and prosecutions of him; he has revoked security clearances for intelligence officials to “punish his perceived opponents,” as one news story put it. And he has removed the portrait of Gen. Mark Milley from the Pentagon wall that traditionally features portraits of the retired chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as Milley was. In 2024, journalist Bob Woodward reported that Milley had told him, “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump. Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country” – clearly sparking Trump’s ire.

    As a poet and student of the classics, my impulse is to find analogs for this behavior, this temperament – precedents that might help provide some perspective.

    Trump displays his anger during a rally on Nov. 3, 2024, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

    Tyrants, heroes and horses

    Historians, I thought, would be able to come up with analogs. For example, Trump’s initial choice of a political ally, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, as attorney general – widely seen as unqualified for the post and who later withdrew – was likened to the Roman emperor Caligula, who made his horse a senator. Figures from Greek history, from the Athenian tyrant Pisistratus to Alexander the Great, could be famously power-hungry and vindictive.

    Classical epic and drama furnish plenty of rage, which is the first word of the Homeric epic “The Iliad.”

    Since epic and tragic heroes are in positions of power, temperament and action mesh. The Greek hero Achilles’ clash with the Greek army’s commander Agamemnon at the outset of “The Iliad” is psychologically plausible. Each man feels insulted and slighted by the other; both have cause for resentment.

    Achilles nurses his rage at all his fellow Greeks until, much later in the epic, his grief at the death of his beloved Patroklos sends him back into battle. This larger-than-life hero is vulnerable, changeable and human.

    Perhaps the most famous example of vengeance in Greek tragedy is Aeschylus’ trilogy, “The Oresteia.” When Clytemnestra murders her husband, Agamemnon, on his return from Troy, she has three comprehensible motives. Agamemnon has sacrificed their daughter; he has brought home a mistress, Cassandra; and Clytemnestra feels loyalty, both personal and political, to Aegisthus, her husband’s cousin, whom she has taken as a lover in her husband’s absence and who has his own reasons for hating Agamemnon.

    So vindicated does Clytemnestra feel in having murdered Agamemnon – and Cassandra as well – that she proudly compares her action to rain that fertilizes the crops. As rain is part of the cycle of the seasons, her act has righted the balance of justice.

    Agamemnon was murdered in cold blood by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, in vengeance for Iphigenia’s death and all the grief he’d given them both.
    Flaxman, artist, from The Print Collector/Getty Images

    Cunning rage leads to death

    Turning to a few of Shakespeare’s more vengeful characters, Iago in “Othello” is an embodiment of a cunning rage that leads him to systematically destroy the innocent Othello’s marriage. He does this by falsely hinting – and then planting a chain of evidence suggesting – that Othello’s bride, Desdemona, is unfaithful.

    Othello eventually kills both Desdemona and himself. But the Romantic critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge famously referred to Iago’s “motiveless malignancy,” since it’s hard to be sure exactly why Iago is so set on destroying Othello.

    Hamlet himself is a reluctant avenger who keeps putting off the act of revenging his father’s murder. In the history play named for him, Richard III’s resentment, going back to having been a deformed and unloved child, makes more sense. Richard lusts after power; he systematically and clandestinely murders his own brother and nephews, who would stand between him and his elder brother Edward’s throne.

    Whether motivated by political ambition, generalized rancor or an inherited assignment, none of these figures ends well. They all have enemies, and they all – except Iago, who will be tortured and executed – die on stage. All have done plenty of damage; none survives long to feel vindicated. Even Clytemnestra’s triumph is short-lived, since her own son, Orestes, will soon avenge his father’s death by murdering his mother – Clytemnestra.

    But all these figures seem to feel personal passion. Even the opaque Iago has one chief target: Othello. They don’t present compelling parallels to Trump, whose anger appears to be simultaneously private and public.

    Easily offended, Trump is quick to strike back with insults; but he also seems to have an insatiable appetite for broader and deeper punishment, meted out to more people and even after a lapse of time. Hence literary parallels are less than compelling.

    Trump’s anger seems more general than personal. His aggrieved sense of having been wronged, victimized by his enemies, is a constant in his career. But his targets shift. One day it’s judges; another day it’s election officials. Yet another day, it’s the “deep state.”

    And Trump’s implacable resentment has struck a chord among many Americans whose resentment has a more rational basis. Trump’s base may believe he is speaking for them – “I am your warrior. I am your justice,” he said in a speech at a conservative forum, but his first priority has always been himself.

    A spirit, ranging for revenge

    The damage done by Trump is often inflicted by others. Their threats, harassment and even violence are done in the name of Trump.

    He has pardoned almost all of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, some of whom have now boasted they will acquire guns.

    Trump has removed government protection from figures who have dared to disagree with him and have received death threats, including Dr. Anthony Fauci.

    Shakespeare, turning history into great poetry, comes to mind after all. In “Julius Caesar,” knowing that his funeral oration over the body of the assassinated Caesar will stir up an angry mob, Mark Antony muses:

    “And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
    With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
    Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
    Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war”

    Antony imagines Caesar’s vengeful spirit rising from the underworld to incite further violence. Not only will Caesar’s assassins be punished, but the hell of civil war will be let loose to cause widespread suffering. Precisely who Trump wants to punish appears secondary to his delight in releasing precisely those hellish dogs. Everyone is a potential enemy and a potential victim.

    “I am your retribution,” Trump has said. Nothing in Trump’s continuing story more clearly echoes the classics than this ominous melding of self with a superhuman principle of revenge.

    Such a merging of a mortal individual with a pitilessly abstract power like Nemesis is closer to myth than to history. Or so it would be comforting to assume.

    Rachel Hadas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Why Trump’s rage defies historical and literary comparisons, according to a classics expert – https://theconversation.com/why-trumps-rage-defies-historical-and-literary-comparisons-according-to-a-classics-expert-248510

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: As Trump tries to slash US foreign aid, here are 3 common myths many Americans mistakenly believe about it

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Joannie Tremblay-Boire, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland

    U.S. lawmakers and employees and supporters of the U.S. Agency for International Development speak outside the agency’s headquarters on Feb. 3, 2025. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    U.S. foreign aid is in disarray.

    The Trump administration froze most aid disbursements on Jan. 20. According to billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump with “special government employee status,” the U.S. Agency for International Development, widely known as USAID, had been shut down as of Feb. 3, 2025.

    Although the Trump administration lacks the legal authority to do this, hundreds of people on the agency’s staff have been put on unpaid leave or fired, according to news reports.

    And the agency’s official website wasn’t working. A partial replacement, however, had appeared within the State Department’s website.

    I’m a scholar of public policy who researches nonprofits, which in the foreign aid sphere are often called nongovernmental organizations. These groups are responsible for carrying out many programs funded by foreign aid from governments such as the United States.

    In light of the Trump administration’s attack on the government’s main foreign aid agency and the disruption of this funding, I believe it’s important to debunk three common myths:

    1. The U.S. spends too much on foreign aid.
    2. The U.S. spends more than its fair share on foreign aid compared with other countries.
    3. Corrupt governments squander U.S. foreign aid.

    What is foreign aid?

    Foreign aid consists of money, goods and services – such as training – that government agencies provide to other countries. Foreign aid falls into two broad categories: economic assistance and military – sometimes called security – aid.

    Economic assistance includes all programs with development or humanitarian objectives. That tends to include projects related to health, disaster relief, the promotion of civil society, agriculture and the like. Most U.S. economic aid dollars come from the State Department budget, including spending allocated by USAID, which has operated as an independent agency since the Kennedy administration.

    On Feb. 3, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that he was serving as USAID’s acting director, indicating that the agency was no longer independent of the State Department.

    While U.S. taxpayers have long spent just a few bucks each on foreign aid every year, the impact is profound, saving millions of people from hunger, averting the worst of natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, tackling life-threatening diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, and more.

    Myth No. 1: US spends too much on foreign aid

    The United States consistently spends only about 1% of its budget on foreign aid, including military and economic support. The 2023 aid managed by USAID totaled about US$40 billion.

    Americans tend to believe that their government spends a far bigger share of its budget on foreign aid than it does.

    In a survey the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted in 2015, it found that, on average, Americans believed that foreign aid accounts for nearly one-third of the budget. Only 3% of those polled answered correctly that foreign aid constituted 1% or less of total federal spending.

    Myth No. 2: US spends more than its fair share

    According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States is by far the leading national source of economic assistance dollars. In 2023, it contributed $64.7 billion in overseas development assistance, far outpacing the $37.9 billion spent by Germany, the second-biggest source of that kind of aid. Some of this assistance is managed by USAID, some by the Department of State, and a small portion by other government agencies, such as the Treasury and Health and Human Services departments.

    That tells only part of the story, however. The United States spends very little on foreign aid relative to the size of its economy, particularly compared with other rich countries. The U.S. spent about 0.24% of its gross national income on overseas development assistance in 2023. By comparison, Norway, the top contributor by this metric, gave 1.09% of its gross national income in overseas development aid that year. The United States ranks toward the bottom of OECD countries, close to Portugal and Spain, by this measurement.

    In 1970, the United Nations General Assembly agreed that “economically advanced countries” would aim to direct at least 0.7% of their national income to overseas development assistance. Although developed countries have repeatedly mentioned this target in agreements and at summits since then, very few countries have reached that goal. In 2023, only five countries met the 0.7% target.

    The OECD average was just 0.37% in 2023 – far higher than the 0.24% the U.S. provided that year.

    Myth No. 3: Corrupt governments squander US aid

    You may think that foreign aid consists of government-to-government transfers of money. But governments channel most aid through nonprofits such as Catholic Relief Services, public-private partnerships, private companies such as Chemonics International and Deloitte, and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

    In fact, according to the Congressional Research Service, between 2013 and 2022, most U.S. foreign assistance bypassed governments altogether: NGOs received 24% of the money, for-profit companies 21%, multilateral organizations 34%, and other organizations, such as universities, research institutes and faith-based organizations, 7%.

    When the political scientist Simone Dietrich researched this question, she found that the United States outsources a lot of its foreign aid to NGOs. This is especially the case with the support it provides countries with bad governance and rampant corruption such as Sudan and Sri Lanka, which could be likely to squander or swipe those funds.

    To be sure, corrupt governments sometimes do squander U.S. foreign aid. But it is important to understand that most aid never enters the coffers of those corrupt governments in the first place.

    Even without Trump’s proposed cuts, US fails to lead

    Even if Trump fails at his current bid to greatly reduce foreign aid spending, other countries, including the United Kingdom and Denmark, are spending far more on economic assistance for the world’s poorest people, as a share of their economies, than the U.S. does.

    Slashing foreign aid would damage U.S. credibility with American allies, reduce U.S. influence around the globe and – as a group of more than 120 retired generals and admirals predicted when Trump tried to slash foreign aid in his first administration – make Americans less safe.

    Parts of this article appeared in a story first published on April 6, 2017, and have been updated.

    Joannie Tremblay-Boire does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. As Trump tries to slash US foreign aid, here are 3 common myths many Americans mistakenly believe about it – https://theconversation.com/as-trump-tries-to-slash-us-foreign-aid-here-are-3-common-myths-many-americans-mistakenly-believe-about-it-248979

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Water is the other US-Mexico border crisis, and the supply crunch is getting worse

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Gabriel Eckstein, Professor of Law, Texas A&M University

    View of the Rio Grande flowing through Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, photographed from the Paso Del Norte International Bridge. Paul Rarje/AFP via Getty Images

    Immigration and border security will be the likely focus of U.S.-Mexico relations under the new Trump administration. But there also is a growing water crisis along the U.S.–Mexico border that affects tens of millions of people on both sides, and it can only be managed if the two governments work together.

    Climate change is shrinking surface and groundwater supplies in the southwestern U.S. Higher air temperatures are increasing evaporation rates from rivers and streams and intensifying drought. Mexico is also experiencing multiyear droughts and heat waves.

    Growing water use is already overtaxing limited supplies from nearly all of the region’s cross-border rivers, streams and aquifers. Many of these sources are contaminated with agricultural pollutants, untreated waste and other substances, further reducing the usability of available water.

    As Texas-based scholars who study the legal and scientific aspects of water policy, we know that communities, farms and businesses in both countries rely on these scarce water supplies. In our view, water conditions on the border have changed so much that the current legal framework for managing them is inadequate.

    Unless both nations recognize this fact, we believe that water problems in the region are likely to worsen, and supplies may never recover to levels seen as recently as the 1950s. Although the U.S. and Mexico have moved to address these concerns by updating the 1944 water treaty, these steps are not long-term solutions.

    The Rio Grande flows south from Colorado and forms the 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) Texas-Mexico border.
    Kmusser/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    Growing demand, shrinking supply

    The U.S.-Mexico border region is mostly arid, with water coming from a few rivers and an unknown amount of groundwater. The main rivers that cross the border are the Colorado and the Rio Grande – two of the most water-stressed systems in the world.

    The Colorado River provides water to more than 44 million people, including seven U.S. and two Mexican states, 29 Indian tribes and 5.5 million acres of farmland. Only about 10% of its total flow reaches Mexico. The river once emptied into the Gulf of California, but now so much water is withdrawn along its course that since the 1960s it typically peters out in the desert.

    The Rio Grande supplies water to roughly 15 million people, including 22 Indian tribes, three U.S. and four Mexican states and 2.8 million irrigated acres. It forms the 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) Texas-Mexico border, winding from El Paso in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east.

    The Colorado River flows through seven U.S. states and crosses into Mexico at the Arizona-California border.
    USGS

    Other rivers that cross the border include the Tijuana, San Pedro, Santa Cruz, New and Gila. These are all significantly smaller and have less economic impact than the Colorado and the Rio Grande.

    At least 28 aquifers – underground rock formations that contain water – also traverse the border. With a few exceptions, very little information on these shared resources exists. One thing that is known is that many of them are severely overtapped and contaminated.

    Nonetheless, reliance on aquifers is growing as surface water supplies dwindle. Some 80% of groundwater used in the border region goes to agriculture. The rest is used by farmers and industries, such as automotive and appliance manufacturers.

    Over 10 million people in 30 cities and communities throughout the border region rely on groundwater for domestic use. Many communities, including Ciudad Juarez; the sister cities of Nogales in both Arizona and Sonora; and the sister cities of Columbus in New Mexico and Puerto Palomas in Chihuahua, get all or most of their fresh water from these aquifers.

    A booming region

    About 30 million people live within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the border on both sides. Over the next 30 years, that figure is expected to double.

    Municipal and industrial water use throughout the region is also expected to increase. In Texas’ lower Rio Grande Valley, municipal use alone could more than double by 2040.

    At the same time, as climate change continues to worsen, scientists project that snowmelt will decrease and evaporation rates will increase. The Colorado River’s baseflow – the portion of its volume that comes from groundwater, rather than from rain and snow – may decline by nearly 30% in the next 30 years.

    Precipitation patterns across the region are projected to be uncertain and erratic for the foreseeable future. This trend will fuel more extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, which could cause widespread harm to crops, industrial activity, human health and the environment.

    Further stress comes from growth and development. Both the Colorado River and Rio Grande are tainted by pollutants from agricultural, municipal and industrial sources. Cities on both sides of the border, especially on the Mexican side, have a long history of dumping untreated sewage into the Rio Grande. Of the 55 water treatment plants located along the border, 80% reported ongoing maintenance, capacity and operating problems as of 2019.

    Drought across the border region is already stoking domestic and bilateral tensions. Competing water users are struggling to meet their needs, and the U.S. and Mexico are straining to comply with treaty obligations for sharing water.

    Cross-border water politics

    Mexico and the United States manage water allocations in the border region mainly under two treaties: a 1906 agreement focused on the Upper Rio Grande Basin and a 1944 treaty covering the Colorado River and Lower Rio Grande.

    Under the 1906 treaty, the U.S. is obligated to deliver 60,000 acre-feet of water to Mexico where the Rio Grande reaches the border. This target may be reduced during droughts, which have occurred frequently in recent decades. An acre-foot is enough water to flood an acre of land 1 foot deep – about 325,000 gallons (1.2 million liters).

    Allocations under the 1944 treaty are more complicated. The U.S. is required to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to Mexico at the border – but as with the 1906 treaty, reductions are allowed in cases of extraordinary drought.

    Until the mid-2010s, the U.S. met its full obligation each year. Since then, however, regional drought and climate change have severely reduced the Colorado River’s flow, requiring substantial allocation reductions for both the U.S. and Mexico.

    In 2025, states in the U.S. section of the lower Colorado River basin will see a reduction of over 1 million acre-feet from prior years. Mexico’s allocation will decline by approximately 280,500 acre-feet under the 1944 treaty.

    This agreement provides each nation with designated fractions of flows from the Lower Rio Grande and specific tributaries. Regardless of water availability or climatic conditions, Mexico also is required to deliver to the U.S. a minimum of 1,750,000 acre-feet of water from six named tributaries, averaged over five-year cycles. If Mexico falls short in one cycle, it can make up the deficit in the next five-year cycle, but cannot delay repayment further.

    The U.S. and Mexico are struggling to share a shrinking water supply in the border region.

    Since the 1990s, extraordinary droughts have caused Mexico to miss its delivery obligations three times. Although Mexico repaid its water debts in subsequent cycles, these shortfalls raised diplomatic tensions that led to last-minute negotiations and large-scale water transfers from Mexico to the U.S.

    Mexican farmers in Lower Rio Grande irrigation districts who had to shoulder these cuts felt betrayed. In 2020, they protested, confronting federal soldiers and temporarily seizing control of a dam.

    U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum clearly appreciate the political and economic importance of the border region. But if water scarcity worsens, it could supplant other border priorities.

    In our view, the best way to prevent this would be for the two countries to recognize that conditions are deteriorating and update the existing cross-border governance regime so that it reflects today’s new water realities.

    Gabriel Eckstein is affiliated with the Permanent Forum on Binational Waters, International Association for Water Law, and International Water Resources Association.

    Rosario Sanchez receives funding from the USGS under the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program Act. She is affiliated with Texas A&M University and the non-profit as a volunteer to the Permanent Forum of Binational Waters, the International Association of Hydrogeologists, and the International Water Resources Association.

    – ref. Water is the other US-Mexico border crisis, and the supply crunch is getting worse – https://theconversation.com/water-is-the-other-us-mexico-border-crisis-and-the-supply-crunch-is-getting-worse-244722

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Sudipta Sen, Professor of History, University of California, Davis

    Pilgrims take a dip in the sacred waters of Sangam, at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers during the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj on Jan.13, 2025. Niharika Kulkarni/AFP via Getty Images

    Millions of people have been visiting Prayagraj, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to take part in the Maha Kumbh festival – a six-week-long event that began on Jan. 13, 2025.

    Called the world’s largest religious gathering, the event has already drawn 148 million people. Attendance is expected to exceed 400 million by the time it ends on Feb. 26, and surging crowds have already claimed dozens of lives at the sacred site.

    Attendees range from Indian business tycoons and members of parliament to social media personages, film stars and celebrities, including the philanthropist billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, who is a member of an ashram in Prayagraj.

    As a historian of the Ganga and its ecology, I am captivated by the enduring power of unwavering devotion that continues to drive pilgrims to this sacred site, despite the dangers posed by surging crowds and the spread of contagion. At least 30 people have been trampled to death and 60 have been injured in the stampede that followed this year.

    Ritual bathing at the confluence of large rivers has always had a special significance in Hindu rituals. Of such places, the Sangam, or confluence, at the city of Prayagraj is the most revered because this is where the rivers Ganga and Yamuna meet with the fabled Saraswati, also known as the goddess of learning and the arts – the unseen, mythical river that flows underneath.

    Hindus believe that bathing at the pilgrimage of Prayag has the power to wash away every sin known to humankind.

    Mythology behind the Kumbh

    The Kumbh festival is named after the celestial pitcher or “kumbha” that held the much coveted “amrita,” the nectar of immortality. In Hindu mythology, during what is known as the Age of Truth, the powerful clans of the asuras (demons) and devas (gods) fiercely battled over the source of eternal life.

    The cosmic ocean then was filled with milk, which they churned to draw out the nectar that would make them immortal. According to mythology, the asuras succeeded in the beginning, but their exertions disturbed Vasuki, the coiled, eternal snake at the Earth’s core, releasing a deadly poison that threatened to destroy the heavens. When the turn of the devas came, nectar was finally released from the depths of the netherworld. They drank the elixir and defeated the asuras.

    An illustration of the cosmic churning of the ocean.
    245CMR via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    During this epic battle, four drops of the nectar fell to the Earth in places that are held scared. Two are cities in present-day northern India, Haridwar and Prayag, and two in central India, Nashik and Ujjain – all located along meeting points of rivers.

    An overwhelming multitude of people

    The festival of the Kumbh also marks the 12-year orbital circuit of the planet Jupiter, or Brihaspati, the harbinger of good fortune and wealth.

    The present gathering commemorates the Maha Kumbh, or “Great” Kumbh, which is an exceptionally rare and auspicious event that takes place once every 144 years, following the completion of 12 regular Kumbh cycles. This sacred gathering is celebrated exclusively at Prayag.

    A gathering of this immense scale presents a monumental challenge for local and national authorities, testing their ability to coordinate the arrival and departure of hundreds of millions of people and housing them in thousands of tents in a city that is assembled just for the few weeks of the gathering.

    It serves as a showcase of the nation’s organizational prowess while striving to preserve the sanctity of this ancient festival. Not only have sandbags been laid for miles along the banks where pilgrims are congregating, local authorities have deployed 2,760 CCTV cameras to keep track of the throngs, prevent stampedes and prevent families from being separated.

    The 2025 event has been dubbed the first digital Maha Kumbh, where police and volunteers are using artificial intelligence-based software to locate missing people and deliver emergency alerts during unexpected crowd surges. They have also installed underwater drones to monitor bathers and prevent drowning. The state government allocated US$765 million (64 billion rupees) for infrastructure and support of police, medical staff and ambulances.

    Despite extensive preparations, the early rush for a bathing spot in the Ganga spiraled out of control just before dawn on Jan. 26 and many people were trampled. Such tragedies are not new to the Kumbh gathering. During the 1954 Kumbh, a much more devastating stampede resulted in the deaths of nearly 800 people. A melee at the train station during the 2013 Kumbh killed 36 people.

    The enduring appeal

    Over the centuries, countless pilgrims have bathed and prayed in the Ganga, driven by the enduring belief that its waters possess the power to cleanse the spirit and cure diseases.

    However, throngs of people wading into the Ganga often stoked the dread of infection and disease. In the latter half of the 19th century, during the heyday of British colonial rule, administrative officials considered mass ritual bathing at festivals such as Kumbh a great threat to public sanitation and hygiene and a potential source of cholera outbreaks. The colonial empire grew increasingly concerned after the number of pilgrims arriving in Prayag rose exponentially after the advent of the railways in the 1860s.

    Despite such fears, barring isolated episodes of cholera – the last one being in 1906, attributed to pilgrims drinking water from polluted pools – there has been little evidence of a major epidemic at the Kumbh in recorded history.

    Faith in the river’s purity has also been emboldened by research on high levels of oxygenation of the river water from algae and concentrations of the bacteriophage virus in the Ganga’s shallow pools, capable of eliminating harmful bacteria like E. coli.

    The magnificent celebration of the Kumbh and the enduring reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga reflect a live connection to both myth and history across the great subcontinent of India.

    For the millions of pilgrims who bathe in the sacred waters, it is a continuation of the enduring belief in healing and spiritual redemption, both in this life and the next.

    Sudipta Sen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival – https://theconversation.com/reverence-for-the-sacred-waters-of-the-ganga-and-belief-in-its-power-to-wash-away-sins-bring-millions-to-indias-maha-kumbh-festival-247676

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Zachary Albert, Assistant Professor of Politics, Brandeis University

    The Heritage Foundation flag flies over its building in July 2024 in Washington. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    In his first few days back in office, President Donald Trump engaged in a whirlwind of executive actions, from exiting the World Health Organization, to deploying military personnel and National Guard troop to the U.S.-Mexico border.

    Many of these actions are unprecedented. Some appear to be illegal and unconstitutional, according to legal experts and judges. But none of them should come as a surprise – nearly all of them were outlined in 2022 in a plan called Project 2025.

    A Heritage Foundation representative attends a Moms for Liberty National Summit in Washington on Aug. 30, 2024.
    Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    Project 2025 is top of Trump’s to-do list

    Project 2025 is a multifaceted strategy to advance conservative policies in the federal government. Part of this effort revolves around the “Mandate for Leadership,” a 922-page document published in April 2023 that outlines a slew of proposed governmental policy changes.

    The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and advocacy group, organized the collaborative effort. A long list of other right-leaning research organizations and interest groups, like Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA, also participated in Project 2025.

    In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, Project 2025 participants wrote on the plan’s website that “to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left,” they would “need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on day one of the next conservative administration.”

    In my research on think tanks, I’ve investigated how these research organizations can influence public policymaking. The most potent strategy is to ally with a political party and support its objectives through research and advocacy. This is exactly what the Heritage Foundation has done via Project 2025.

    Even though Trump said during his 2024 campaign that he was not affiliated with the project, evidence of Project 2025’s agenda can be seen throughout the beginning of his second term – as well as in his first administration.

    For example, on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump echoed the plan’s statement that “men and women are biological realities” when he signed an executive order that, in part, recognizes “two sexes, male and female” that are “not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” This order led to the removal of transgender references from government websites.

    Other orders are similarly aligned with Project 2025. Take Trump’s executive order that, in part, eliminated the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, or OFCCP, a government office previously charged with ensuring companies working with the government did not discriminate against any employees. Project 2025 recommended, quite simply, to “eliminate OFCCP.”

    Some news reports have found that there are already many other examples of Trump policy decisions and executive orders that appear to mirror Project 2025 recommendations.

    One CNN analysis from Jan. 31 found that more than two-thirds of the 53 executive orders Trump issued during his first week in office “evoked proposals outlined in [the] ‘Mandate for Leadership.‘”

    Heritage Foundation’s decades of activism

    Project 2025’s influence on Trump reflects the Heritage Foundation’s growing importance to the Republican Party.

    In my forthcoming book about the polarization and politicization of policy research organizations, I show the many ways that think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have become embedded within partisan networks and intimately connected to politicians. Increasingly, Heritage and other partisan-aligned think tanks, including progressive groups like the Center for American Progress, use their research to consistently support partisan agendas that align with their policy goals.

    The relationship between the Heritage Foundation and the GOP represents the most extreme version of this dynamic. The think tank has supported Republican presidents as far back as Ronald Reagan, using another policy document – also called the “Mandate for Leadership” – to secure significant policy gains through his administration. But the symbiosis between the Heritage Foundation and the GOP has been particularly notable since Trump gained more influence in the party.

    At the start of Trump’s first term, as one Heritage Foundation researcher told me in 2017, the think tank recognized that the “administration didn’t have much policy depth, so when they won the election they were sort of like, ‘Now what do we do?’ And that’s where Heritage comes in. … We work on these issues year-round, so we’ll stand by your side.”

    The Heritage Foundation also vetted potential staffers for federal government positions. This led to more than 66 Heritage employees or former employees working for the Trump administration by the middle of 2018.

    But Heritage has not entirely dictated Trump’s agenda. While the group did say that Trump “embraced 64 percent of our 321 recommendations” by the end of 2017, the think tank has also revamped its agenda to align with Trump on the issues he cared most about, like trade and culture wars.

    As the think tank’s president, Kevin Roberts, said in 2024, Heritage views its job as “institutionalizing Trumpism.”

    The people connecting Trump to Project 2025

    Many of the contributors to the “Mandate for Leadership” had been Trump administration officials, like Russ Vought, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget and current nominee for the same position.

    This list also includes John Ratcliffe, the former director of National Intelligence and incoming CIA director, and Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and current border czar.

    In all, more than half of the plan’s 312 authors, editors and contributors previously worked in the first Trump administration.

    An incredibly important but often underappreciated part of Project 2025 was its staffing effort: The coalition worked to identify, vet and train potential staffers and appointees who are now making their way into the Trump administration and executive agencies.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gestures toward a visual aid about Project 2025 during a news conference in September 2024 in Washington.
    Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

    What people – and the law – say about Project 2025

    Polling from January 2025 shows that a majority of Americans oppose many of Trump’s actions since retaking office, sometimes by large margins.

    Even during the presidential campaign, both Project 2025 itself and the policy ideas it advocated were broadly unpopular. Democrats consistently warned about the plan in their attacks against Republicans.

    The lack of popular approval for Project 2025 and its proposals is notable because the Heritage Foundation has historically invested time and money into gaining public support for its work. It even operates an initiative that polls citizens on how they “interpret arguments for and against our policy recommendations and how we can best gain their understanding and support.”

    There are also legal considerations.

    Many of Trump’s actions – like saying the government will deny citizenship to children born to some immigrants in the U.S. – rest on potentially unconstitutional interpretations and expansions of presidential power.

    This represents another about-face for the think tank, which has historically opposed efforts to empower the president at the expense of congressional authority. Indeed, the Heritage Foundation was founded to work through Congress to accomplish its goals. But with Project 2025, it seems it is pursuing a new strategy.

    How successful the Heritage Foundation is in helping Trump implement Project 2025 proposals will partially depend on how the public reacts. Whether Congress asserts its control over budgetary matters and exercises general oversight of the executive branch will also matter, as will the decisions made by the American judicial system.

    These checks and balances have helped sustain American democracy for nearly 250 years – whether they will continue to do so remains to be seen.

    Zachary Albert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook – https://theconversation.com/trumps-administration-seems-chaotic-but-hes-drawing-directly-from-project-2025-playbook-248821

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lauren Blum, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder

    Lightning, when coupled with solar flares, can knock electrons flying above the Earth out of place. AP Photo/David Zalubowski

    There are trillions of charged particles – protons and electrons, the basic building blocks of matter – whizzing around above your head at any given time. These high-energy particles, which can travel at close to the speed of light, typically remain thousands of kilometers away from Earth, trapped there by the shape of Earth’s magnetic field.

    Occasionally, though, an event happens that can jostle them out of place, sending electrons raining down into Earth’s atmosphere. These high-energy particles in space make up what are known as the Van Allen radiation belts, and their discovery was one of the first of the space age. A new study from my research team has found that electromagnetic waves generated by lightning can trigger these electron showers.

    A brief history lesson

    At the start of the space race in the 1950s, professor James Van Allen and his research team at the University of Iowa were tasked with building an experiment to fly on the United States’ very first satellite, Explorer 1. They designed sensors to study cosmic radiation, which is caused by high-energy particles originating from the Sun, the Milky Way galaxy, or beyond.

    James Van Allen, middle, poses with a model of the Explorer 1 satellite.
    NASA

    After Explorer 1 launched, though, they noticed that their instrument was detecting significantly higher levels of radiation than expected. Rather than measuring a distant source of radiation beyond our solar system, they appeared to be measuring a local and extremely intense source.

    This measurement led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts, two doughnut-shaped regions of high-energy electrons and ions encircling the planet.

    Scientists believe that the inner radiation belt, peaking about 621 miles (1000 kilometers) from Earth, is composed of electrons and high-energy protons and is relatively stable over time.

    The outer radiation belt, about three times farther away, is made up of high-energy electrons. This belt can be highly dynamic. Its location, density and energy content may vary significantly by the hour in response to solar activity.

    Charged particles, with their trajectories shown as blue and yellow lines here, exist in the radiation belts around Earth, depicted here as the yellow, green and blue regions.

    The discovery of these high-radiation regions is not only an interesting story about the early days of the space race; it also serves as a reminder that many scientific discoveries have come about by happy accident.

    It is a lesson for experimental scientists, myself included, to keep an open mind when analyzing and evaluating data. If the data doesn’t match our theories or expectations, those theories may need to be revisited.

    Our curious observations

    While I teach the history of the space race in a space policy course at the University of Colorado, Boulder, I rarely connect it to my own experience as a scientist researching Earth’s radiation belts. Or, at least, I didn’t until recently.

    In a study led by Max Feinland, an undergraduate student in my research group, we stumbled upon some of our own unexpected observations of Earth’s radiation belts. Our findings have made us rethink our understanding of Earth’s inner radiation belt and the processes affecting it.

    Originally, we set out to look for very rapid – sub-second – bursts of high-energy electrons entering the atmosphere from the outer radiation belt, where they are typically observed.

    Many scientists believe that a type of electromagnetic wave known as “chorus” can knock these electrons out of position and send them toward the atmosphere. They’re called chorus waves due to their distinct chirping sound when listened to on a radio receiver.

    Feinland developed an algorithm to search for these events in decades of measurements from the SAMPEX satellite. When he showed me a plot with the location of all the events he’d detected, we noticed a number of them were not where we expected. Some events mapped to the inner radiation belt rather than the outer belt.

    This finding was curious for two reasons. For one, chorus waves aren’t prevalent in this region, so something else had to be shaking these electrons loose.

    The other surprise was finding electrons this energetic in the inner radiation belt at all. Measurements from NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission prompted renewed interest in the inner radiation belt. Observations from the Van Allen Probes suggested that high-energy electrons are often not present in this inner radiation belt, at least not during the first few years of that mission, from 2012 to 2014.

    Our observations now showed that, in fact, there are times that the inner belt contains high-energy electrons. How often this is true and under what conditions remain open questions to explore. These high-energy particles can damage spacecraft and harm humans in space, so researchers need to know when and where in space they are present to better design spacecraft.

    Determining the culprit

    One of the ways to disturb electrons in the inner radiation belt and kick them into Earth’s atmosphere actually begins in the atmosphere itself.

    Lightning, the large electromagnetic discharges that light up the sky during thunderstorms, can actually generate electromagnetic waves known as lightning-generated whistlers.

    Lightning strikes generate electromagnetic waves, which can travel into the radiation belts above the Earth’s atmosphere.
    mdesigner125/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    These waves can then travel through the atmosphere out into space, where they interact with electrons in the inner radiation belt – much as chorus waves interact with electrons in the outer radiation belt.

    To test whether lightning was behind our inner radiation belt detections, we looked back at the electron bursts and compared them with thunderstorm data. Some lightning activity seemed correlated with our electron events, but much of it was not.

    Specifically, only lightning that occurred right after so-called geomagnetic storms resulted in the bursts of electrons we detected.

    Geomagnetic storms are disturbances in the near-Earth space environment often caused by large eruptions on the Sun’s surface. This solar activity, if directed toward Earth, can produce what researchers term space weather. Space weather can result in stunning auroras, but it can also disrupt satellite and power grid operations.

    We discovered that a combination of weather on Earth and weather in space produces the unique electron signatures we observed in our study. The solar activity disturbs Earth’s radiation belts and populates the inner belt with very high-energy electrons, then the lightning interacts with these electrons and creates the rapid bursts that we observed.

    These results provide a nice reminder of the interconnected nature of Earth and space. They were also a welcome reminder to me of the often nonlinear process of scientific discovery.

    Lauren Blum receives funding from NASA and the NSF.

    – ref. Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space – https://theconversation.com/lightning-strikes-link-weather-on-earth-and-weather-in-space-243772

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Panel Discussion on Paying attention to the Boy Child

    Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)

    Panel Discussion on Paying attention to the Boy Child

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOyZ9TPlaX8

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Nigeria’s Brics partnership: economist outlines potential benefits

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Stephen Onyeiwu, Professor of Economics & Business, Allegheny College

    During its 16th annual summit in Kazan, Russia, Brics – a group of emerging economies determined to act as a counterweight to the west and to whittle down the influence of global institutions – invited Nigeria and eight other countries to join it as “partner” countries. Nigeria formally accepted the invitation in January 2025. That invitation has generated questions about how Nigeria stands to benefit, especially when US president Donald Trump is threatening to sanction members of the group if they replace the US dollar as reserve currency. It was established in 2006 and initially composed of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa joined in 2010 and the bloc added four new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) in 2023. In this interview, development economist Stephen Onyeiwu argues that Nigeria stands to gain from a Brics partnership, but would have to carefully balance its domestic interests with those of its western allies and Brics.

    What does it mean to be a Brics ‘partner’ country?

    The introduction of Brics partnership is an expansion mechanism designed to bring in more participants without giving them full membership. It is akin to “observer” status.

    Brics partners can participate in special sessions of summits and foreign ministers’ meetings, as well as other high-level events. Partners can also contribute to the organisation’s official documents and policy statements.

    But partners cannot host annual Brics summits or determine the venue. Neither can they select new members and partners.

    How beneficial is Brics partnership to Nigeria?

    The main benefit would be access to finance offered by Brics’ New Development Bank.

    The New Development Bank was established as an alternative to western-dominated international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These institutions are sometimes used by the leading western countries to keep developing countries in line on global issues.

    Some developing countries are reluctant to criticise western countries for fear of losing access to funding by western-backed international financial institutions.

    Nigeria has been running a budget deficit of about 5% of GDP since 2019, and it needs funding to pay for the deficits. The New Development Bank could be an important source of funding for investment in Nigeria’s infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, and so on.

    New Development Bank loans are also available in member countries’ local currencies. They don’t have to earn foreign exchange to repay the loans. This fosters exchange rate stability and promotes economic growth. The New Development Bank raises funds in member countries’ local currencies, and lends them to member countries.

    Nigeria could use its Brics partnership to garner the group’s support in matters that affect Nigeria globally. For instance, there have been requests for African countries to be included as permanent members (without veto power) of the UN security council. South Africa and Nigeria have been touted as potential candidates. Should this issue be raised at the UN, Nigeria can count on the support of its Brics allies, which includes two permanent members (China and Russia) of the security council.

    Mutual understanding and cooperation with other Brics members and partners might spill over into economic, trade and investment agreements. Friendly countries are more likely to trade with each other and invest in each other’s economy.

    How can Nigeria maximise its status as a Brics partner?

    Nigeria should use it to attract foreign direct investment in strategic sectors of the economy, such as infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and technology.

    Some Brics members, like China, India, and the UAE, have investors that are seeking investment outlets abroad. Nigeria could use the bloc’s annual summits to showcase investment opportunities.

    The global economy is transitioning into “frontier industries and technologies”, such as big data, artificial intelligence, solar, drones, gene editing, 3D printing, blockchains, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, robotics and nanotechnology. China, India and Brazil are already well advanced in these technologies.

    Nigeria should use its partnership with these countries to build capabilities in frontier industries and technologies. It could get favourable terms in the transfer of these technologies.

    Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy from reliance on the export of hydrocarbons. But Nigerian producers have had a hard time accessing global markets. The country should negotiate trade deals that provide access to Brics markets, especially agricultural and agro-processed products, arts and crafts.

    But Nigeria has to promote economic growth and structural transformation at home. If the Nigerian economy falters, it is unlikely the country will be invited to become a full member of Brics.

    Would adding new members and partners reduce western dominance?

    Brics has so far not been able to significantly change the dynamics of the international political economy. Adding new members and partners, while symbolic, will not act as an effective counterweight to the influence of the G7 and G20 groups of nations.

    Most of the countries and partners in Brics are either allies of western countries or neutral on global issues. They are unlikely to support decisions or actions that are grossly inimical to western interests.

    Egypt and the UAE, for instance, receive military aid from the United States. Ethiopia and Nigeria are top recipients of foreign aid in Africa, much of it from western-backed financial institutions.

    The only outlier in the mix is Iran, whose membership was promoted by Russia. But Iran has no leverage to influence others in the bloc.

    On balance, therefore, Brics will not be a threat to western countries.

    Brics aspires to weaken the dominance of the US dollar for international transactions. Close to 90% of international trade transactions are conducted with the US dollar.

    Brics countries plan to reduce dollar dominance by encouraging member countries to settle their trade and financial transactions using their domestic currencies. For instance, South African businesses could purchase Chinese goods using the South African rand, while the Chinese could do the same for South African goods using the Chinese yuan. The more members you have in Brics swapping their currencies, the less important the US dollar will be.

    It is unlikely, however, that an increase in the number of Brics members and partners will weaken the dollar. Most will continue to have significant economic relationships with the west, including trade and foreign aid.

    They will also continue to conduct business with many non-Brics countries, which also have economic relationships with the west. They will need the US dollar to transact with many other countries.

    So increasing the number of Brics members and partners does not pose a threat to dollar dominance.

    – Nigeria’s Brics partnership: economist outlines potential benefits
    – https://theconversation.com/nigerias-brics-partnership-economist-outlines-potential-benefits-248943

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Moscow Leads Transport Innovation With Autonomous Tram, Smart Contracts

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Metro

    Moscow continues to set new standards in transport innovation: the first autonomous tram is now insured using a smart contract. This event was the first in Russia and was made possible by a tripartite agreement between the Moscow Metro, VTB Bank and SOGAZ Insurance.

    Maxim Liksutov said that the introduction of smart contract technology into urban transport insurance increases transparency, efficiency and safety. The system will allow future transactions to be carried out in digital rubles, which is in line with Moscow’s broader commitment to technological progress.

    Key benefits of smart contracts in transport insurance:

    Transparent execution and automation

    Elimination of human factor

    Full control over the targeted distribution of funds

    “A smart contract is a self-executing algorithm that ensures the fulfillment of all contractual obligations. This agreement became possible thanks to the cooperation of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. By automating document flow, we will be able to speed up the execution of contracts and insurance payments,” said Maxim Liksutov.

    The development of autonomous transport in Moscow is ensured by the Autonomous Transport Research and Development Centre – a centre for advanced technological achievements. Situated on the territory of the Moscow Advanced Development Centre in the Kuntsevo district, it was ceremoniously opened by Mayor Sergei Sobyanin in May last year.

    The center is equipped with:

    Modern laboratory for testing autopilot systems

    High-performance servers for simulating trump behavior and training neural networks

    3D printer for creating prototypes of sensor mounts and other components.

    The center’s specialists, many of whom work for leading Russian and international companies, are developing software for autonomous transport in Moscow. Thanks to their work, the first autonomous tram in Russia has already been successfully launched.

    “This is a unique development for Europe, and it is entirely owned by the Moscow government. We continue to lead in the field of transport technologies, implementing intelligent solutions that increase efficiency and convenience for passengers,” added Maxim Liksutov.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Digital diagnostics to double number of foreign publications in 2024

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine of the Moscow Department of Health (DZM)

    The scientific journal Digital Diagnostics has seen a significant increase in the number of publications by foreign authors in 2024, doubling the figures for previous years. This year, the journal has published 16 articles written by foreign authors, compared to an average of 7 articles per year in previous years. The journal currently collaborates with authors from six countries.

    Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine.

    Yuri Vasiliev, Chief Consultant in Radiology at the Moscow Health Department and CEO of the Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine, noted that in 2024, their journal expanded its international reach as it featured articles by Indian scientists for the first time. He noted that India, as a member of BRICS, is part of an international organization with which they actively cooperate. He expressed confidence that broad international cooperation and exchange of experience will significantly improve scientific development in their countries. He also noted that 16 foreign articles were published in the journal this year, significantly more than the 7 articles published in 2022 and 2021. Notably, Italy presented 13 articles on clinical cases and scientific reviews, while Indian scientists presented original research in teleradiology, which is considered a valuable contribution to the field.

    In 2024, two landmark papers by Indian authors were published: “Radiological evaluation of pulmonary vascular and gastrointestinal changes in COVID-19 patients referred to a tertiary care centre in Chennai, India: a prospective cross-sectional study” and “Role of teleradiology in interpreting ultrasound images obtained in the emergency setting”. These papers were prepared by research teams from Image Core Lab and Mahatma Gandhi.

    This year, the Diagnostics and Telemedicine Center actively established contacts with colleagues from the BRICS countries. The Center’s employees took part in the International Municipal Forum of the BRICS countries and visited a specialized healthcare exhibition in New Delhi called India Health. In addition, the Center was visited by delegations from four BRICS countries – China, India, Iran and South Africa.

    Digital Diagnostics is recognized as one of the most progressive and prestigious journals in the field of radiology. Every year its portfolio expands and includes a wide range of topics, such as radiology and instrumental diagnostics, innovative methods, application of artificial intelligence, healthcare management and other scientific topics. The journal publishes articles by outstanding Russian scientists, as well as international experts who make a significant contribution to the development of scientific research. The journal publishes articles in three languages: Russian, English and Chinese, with a circulation of 5,000 copies.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Six new regions of the Russian Federation will be connected to the Moscow platform of medical services based on artificial intelligence MosMedAI

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine of the Moscow Department of Health (DZM)

    The MosMedAI platform uses advanced AI algorithms to assist healthcare professionals by highlighting possible pathologies in medical images using color segmentation and generating a radiological report. These advanced solutions have been extensively tested and have been successfully implemented in hospitals for the past five years.

    Currently, more than 75 percent of the country’s regions use medical services available on the MosMedAI platform. The integration of six new regions into this system is a significant step towards the digital transformation of healthcare in the country. Sergei Sobyanin emphasized that the platform offers 17 services based on artificial intelligence, designed to increase the speed and accuracy of diagnostic processes.

    The expansion of the AI-based platform is part of a broader initiative to modernize healthcare in Russia, improving access and quality for patients across the country, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced on his Telegram channel.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Fraudsters withdraw money from ATMs without people’s plastic cards

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia (2) –

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Categoris24-7, Central Bank of OF Russia, Miles, Russians Banks, Russians savings, Russians finance, Russians Language, Russian economy, Russian banks

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    Fraudsters call citizens, including via messengers, and claim that unknown persons are trying to steal money from their account. To prevent the loss of savings, fraudsters convince a person to immediately install on their phone a supposedly mobile application of the Central Bank (the names may vary). Moreover, while it is being installed, they prohibit using the device.

    After this, the attackers ask the victim to launch the installed application, bring their card to their mobile phone and enter a confirmation SMS code from the bank, supposedly to authorize in the regulator’s application and save money in the account. In fact, the program downloaded to the person’s smartphone is malicious.

    It allows the fraudsters to create a virtual image of the victim’s bank card on the phone. As a result, the attackers can use this virtual image to withdraw money from ATMs that support contactless technology: instead of a bank card, they put their smartphone on the device.

    Do not download any mobile applications or programs at the request of strangers, and do not perform any actions in banking or other applications at their request.

    Do not disclose personal or financial information to strangers, no matter what pretext or method they use to obtain it.

    If you have any doubts about the safety of your money in your bank account, immediately call your bank at the number listed on its official website or on the back of your bank card.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Five deposit auctions of JSC “KAVKAZ.RF” will take place on 05.02.2025

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    The date of the deposit auction is 05.02.2025. The placement currency is RUB. The maximum amount of funds placed (in the placement currency) is 200,000,000.00. The placement period, days is 12. The date of depositing funds is 06.02.2025. The date of return of funds is 18.02.2025. The minimum placement interest rate, % per annum is 21.00. The terms of the conclusion are urgent or special (Urgent). The minimum amount of funds placed for one application (in the placement currency) is 200,000,000.00. The maximum number of applications from one Participant, pcs. 1. Auction form is open or closed (Open). The basis of the Agreement is the General Agreement. Schedule (Moscow time). Applications in preliminary mode from 12:00 to 12:10. Bids in competition mode from 12:10 to 12:15. Setting the cutoff percentage or declaring the auction invalid until 12:25.

    Additional terms

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: New rules for admission of credit consumer cooperatives to the financial market are being introduced

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    The new rules are intended to increase the level of transparency of credit consumer cooperatives (CCCs) for their participants. The changes to the Law “On Credit Cooperatives” come into force on February 5, 2025.

    Until now, the Bank of Russia has been conducting state CPC registrybased on data from the unified state register of legal entities. Now information will be entered into the CPC register only after the cooperative’s documents have been reviewed by a self-regulatory organization in the financial market or the Bank of Russia (depending on the level of the CPC).

    Regulator installed the procedure for maintaining the register of credit unions and sending documents for entering information into the register. An assessment of the organization’s managers’ compliance with qualification requirements and business reputation requirements will also be conducted.

    More detailed information on the procedures for admission to the financial market of credit unions can be found here on the website Bank of Russia.

    Preview photo: Pratiwi Ambarwati / Shutterstock / Fotodom

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV.KBR.ru/Press/Event/? ID = 23341

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 05.02.2025, 10-52 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A106TV7 (VimpelK3R4) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    05.02.2025

    10:52

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 05.02.2025, 10-52 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 86.27) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 945.73 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 26.25%) of the RU000A106TV7 (VimpelK3R4) security were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is account to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect the Position of Mil-Sosi or Its Clients.

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.M.K.95

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 05.02.2025, 12-18 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A105DN0 (FSK RS BO6) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    05.02.2025

    12:18

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on 05.02.2025, 12-18 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 86.52) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 929.95 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 21.25%) of the security RU000A105DN0 (FSK RS BO6) were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.Mom/NN77398

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 05.02.2025, 13-45 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A0JWV89 (Akron B1P1) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    05.02.2025

    13:45

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on 05.02.2025, 13-45 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 80.54) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 850.67 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 11.25%) of the security RU000A0JWV89 (Akron B1P1) were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is account to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect the Position of Mil-Sosi or Its Clients.

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: U.S. Army: ALWAYS Ready!

    Source: US Army (video statements)

    : DMD

    About the U.S. Army:

    The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.

    Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
    Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L

    Connect with the U.S. Army online:
    Web: https://www.army.mil

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USarmy/
    X: https://www.twitter.com/USArmy
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usarmy/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-army
    #USArmy #Soldiers #Military #JPMRC

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVg14ciQN9M

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Fairer funding for charities

    Source: Scottish Government

    More than £60 million for pilot projects focusing on essential services and eradicating child poverty.

    A new Fairer Funding pilot to deliver on the Scottish Government’s top priority of eradicating child poverty will provide additional multi-year funding in the form of 45 grants to organisations across Scotland.

    The funding, subject to budget approval, will support projects in areas including health, education, poverty and culture and have a total value of £61.7 million in 2025-26 and £63.2 million in 2026- 27.

    Speaking on her visit today to the Gathering, the largest third sector event in the UK, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

    “I know many charities, faced with rising costs and falling donations, need more security and stability to enable them to plan and develop. Child poverty, in particular, requires longer-term interventions to help achieve the solutions we want to see. For that, the third sector needs financial stability and certainty. That’s why I have prioritised delivering on our commitment to provide more multi-year funding where we can to support the vital work of the third sector in Scotland, as part of our fairer funding approach.

    “The pilot is the first step in mainstreaming multi-year funding agreements more widely across the third sector. It will give organisations the ability to plan for the future and make the most of their resources. The pilot’s focus on grants connected to tackling child poverty and the delivery of frontline services to our communities will maximise the impact of longer term funding and support the delivery of our number one priority, eradicating child poverty.”  

    Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) Chief Executive Anna Fowlie said:

    “The voluntary sector has a crucial role to play in delivering essential services across Scotland that people and communities rely on. Multi-year funding models are vital, providing security to voluntary organisations and, crucially, allowing them to get on and deliver for people and communities.

     “We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to piloting multi-year funding for a range of voluntary organisations across Scotland – a first step, we hope, towards rolling out Fair Funding principles to voluntary sector funding.”

    Background

    Organisations to receive multi-year funding for 2025/26 and 2026/27

    Social Justice

    Scottish Refugee Council

    Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

    Homeless Network Scotland

    Housing Options Scotland

    Poverty Alliance

    CentreStage – Social Innovation Partnership

    COVEY – Social Innovation Partnership

    Flexibility Works – Social Innovation Partnership

    Heavy Sound – Social Innovation Partnership

    MsMissMrs – Social Innovation Partnership

    Street Soccer – Social Innovation Partnership

    WorkingRite – Social Innovation Partnership

    MCR Pathways

    Economy and Gaelic

    Scottish Mountain Rescue

    Constitution, External Affairs and Culture

    Youth Music Initiative

    Sistema Scotland

    Health and Social Care

    Cruse Scotland Bereavement Helpline

    Penumbra Self-harm support pilots

    BASICS Funding PHEC BASICS Scotland

    The Listening Service Samaritans

    Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults

    Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund Management

    Autism Advice Line Scottish Autism

    Young Scot Carer support funding

    Active Play Development Programme Inspiring Scotland

    Active Play Development Programme Actify

    Community Food Networks Edinburgh Community Food

    Community Food Networks Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership

    Community Food Networks Community Food Initiative North East

    Community Food Networks Glasgow Community Food Network

    Drugs Policy: Core Funding Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs

    Drugs Policy: Family Recovery Initiative Fund Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs

    Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder FASD Hub Scotland Service 

    Finance and Local Government

    Planning Aid Scotland

    Education and Skills

    Dyslexia Scotland

    Children’s Advocacy for Children’s Hearings

    Who Cares Scotland

    Inspiring Scotland

    Children in Scotland Enquire National Advice and Information Service on Additional Support for Learning

    Scottish Book Trust Bookbug

    Access to Childcare Fund

    Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators

    Justice and Home Affairs

    Victim Centred Approach Fund

    Apex Scotland

    Medics Against Violence

    These pilots are in addition to the multi-year funding announced last week by Creative Scotland, which has been funded as part of a record £34 million uplift for culture in the draft 2025-26 Scottish Budget.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Preston City Council re-sign The Armed Forces Covenant

    Source: City of Preston

    Reinforcing the Council’s commitment to supporting Armed Forces serving members and veterans.

    Yesterday, Tuesday 4 February, Major Steve Tickle, Lord Lieutenant Amanda Parker, Preston City Council Chief Executive Adrian Phillips and members of the Armed Forces and Preston City Council gathered to re-sign The Armed Forces Covenant. 

    Preston City Council first signed the Armed Forces Community Covenant in 2012, and yesterday’s event reinforced the Council’s commitment to supporting Armed Forces serving members and veterans. 

    The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by local authorities that ‘together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, including the bereaved, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy, and society.’ 

    The Covenant focuses on helping members of the Armed Forces community have the same access to Government and commercial services and products as any other citizen. This support is provided in a number of areas including healthcare, education and childcare, housing and accommodation, employment, and financial services. 

    Preston City Council’s Armed Forces Champion, Councillor Melanie Close said: 

    “I am delighted that Preston City Council is committing to signing the Armed Forces Covenant. We are proud to reinforce our commitment to supporting our existing service personnel and their families, reservists and veterans who have all made a significant contribution to our communities.” 

    Preston City Council is an Armed Forces Friendly Employer and is proud to hold the Armed Forces Silver Award for those who proudly protect our nation, with honour, courage, and commitment and is now working towards achieving the Armed Forces Gold Award.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Council Leader welcomes + History LGBT Month

    Source: Scotland – City of Edinburgh

    The rainbow flag flying above the City Chambers

    This February marks the 20th anniversary of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender plus (LGBT+) History Month, with Council Leader, Jane Meagher, showing her support.

    Following the repeal of Section 28, LGBT+ History Month was created to recognise and honour the contributions of the LGBT+ community.

    The Council will mark the annual celebration by flying the rainbow flag above the City Chambers for the entire month of February.

    Council Leader Jane Meagher said:

    LGBT+ History Month is an opportunity to reflect on the history of the LGBT+ rights movement and campaign for equal rights. On the twentieth anniversary of this vital awareness month, we must recognise those individuals who have pushed the boundaries and advocated for social progress, creating a more inclusive world for all of us.

    We are proud of Edinburgh’s diversity and that anyone is welcome to make the city their home, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. It’s important that we demonstrate our support by proudly flying the rainbow flag above the City Chambers for the month of February. The flag is an international symbol of LGBT+ pride, showing all who live in and visit our city that we not only value but champion respect, tolerance, and inclusivity for all.

    Published: February 5th 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –