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MIL-OSI Economics: Apple introduces M4 Pro and M4 Max
Source: Apple

Headline: Apple introduces M4 Pro and M4 Max

October 30, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Apple introduces M4 Pro and M4 Max

M4 Pro and M4 Max join M4 to form the most advanced family of chips ever built for a personal computer

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced M4 Pro and M4 Max, two new chips that — along with M4 — bring far more power-efficient performance and advanced capabilities to the Mac. All three chips are built using industry-leading, second-generation 3-nanometer technology, which improves performance and power efficiency. The CPUs across the M4 family feature the world’s fastest CPU core, delivering the industry’s best single-threaded performance, and dramatically faster multithreaded performance.¹ The GPUs build on the breakthrough graphics architecture introduced in the previous generation, with faster cores and a 2x faster ray-tracing engine. M4 Pro and M4 Max enable Thunderbolt 5 for the Mac for the first time, and unified memory bandwidth is greatly increased — up to 75 percent. Combined with a Neural Engine that’s up to 2x faster than the previous generation and enhanced machine learning (ML) accelerators in the CPUs, the M4 family of chips brings incredible performance for pro and AI workloads. And they deliver blazing performance for Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that transforms how users work, communicate, and express themselves, while protecting their privacy.

“Apple silicon has taken the Mac to unprecedented heights, and the rapid pace of innovation continues with M4 Pro and M4 Max,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “With the world’s fastest CPU core, immensely more powerful GPUs, and the fastest Neural Engine ever, the power-efficient performance and capabilities of the M4 family extend its lead as the most advanced lineup of chips in the industry.”

M4: Phenomenal Performance and New Capabilities

For entrepreneurs, students, creators, and more, the phenomenal performance of M4 comes to Mac for the first time. M4 features an up to 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and up to six efficiency cores. It’s up to 1.8x faster than M1, so multitasking across apps like Safari and Excel is lightning fast. A 10-core GPU provides incredible graphics performance, up to 2x faster than M1, making everything from editing photos to AAA gameplay exceptionally fast and smooth. And the faster 16-core Neural Engine is great for Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and other AI workloads.

M4 supports up to 32GB of unified memory and has higher memory bandwidth of 120GB/s. The display engine of the M4 family is enhanced to support two external displays in addition to a built-in display. And M4 now supports up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports, providing fast data transfer speeds and even more flexibility across peripherals.

M4 Pro: Far More Powerful and Capable than Any AI PC Chip

M4 Pro takes the advanced technologies debuted in M4 and scales them up for researchers, developers, engineers, creative pros, and other users with more demanding workflows. M4 Pro features an up to 14-core CPU consisting of up to 10 performance cores and four efficiency cores. It’s up to 1.9x faster than the CPU of M1 Pro, and up to 2.1x faster than the latest AI PC chip.² The GPU features up to 20 cores for graphics performance that is 2x that of M4, and up to 2.4x faster than the latest AI PC chip.² This huge boost in performance makes building and testing apps across multiple simulators in Xcode quicker than ever. And with the improved hardware-accelerated ray-tracing engine in the M4 family GPU, games like Control look more compelling, and pro 3D renderers can produce stunning imagery in even less time.

M4 Pro supports up to 64GB of fast unified memory and 273GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is a massive 75 percent increase over M3 Pro and 2x the bandwidth of any AI PC chip.³ This, combined with the faster Neural Engine of the M4 family, means on-device Apple Intelligence models run at blazing speed. M4 Pro also supports Thunderbolt 5 on Mac, delivering up to 120Gb/s data transfer speeds, which more than doubles the throughput of Thunderbolt 4. For professionals working on larger file sizes across AI, video, code bases, and more, M4 Pro offers stunning performance and Apple silicon’s legendary power efficiency.

M4 Max: The Most Powerful Chip for a Pro Laptop

M4 Max is the ultimate choice for data scientists, 3D artists, and composers who push pro workflows to the limit. It has an up to 16-core CPU, with up to 12 performance cores and four efficiency cores. It’s up to 2.2x faster than the CPU in M1 Max and up to 2.5x faster than the latest AI PC chip.² The GPU has up to 40 cores for performance that is up to 1.9x faster than M1 Max and up to an astounding 4x faster than the latest AI PC chip.² So heavy workloads like de-noising raw video footage in DaVinci Resolve Studio can now run in real time.

M4 Max supports up to 128GB of fast unified memory and up to 546GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is 4x the bandwidth of the latest AI PC chip.³ This allows developers to easily interact with large language models that have nearly 200 billion parameters. The enhanced Media Engine of M4 Max includes two video encode engines and two ProRes accelerators, making it the ultimate choice for video professionals. And like M4 Pro, M4 Max also supports Thunderbolt 5 with up to 120Gb/s data transfer capability. M4 Max rips through the most challenging pro workloads and, thanks to the energy efficiency of Apple silicon, delivers exceptional battery life in a laptop.

Apple Silicon Powers Apple Intelligence

M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max are built for Apple Intelligence.⁴ Ushering in a new era for the Mac, Apple Intelligence brings personal intelligence to the personal computer. Combining powerful generative models with industry-first privacy protections, Apple Intelligence harnesses the power of Apple silicon and the Neural Engine to unlock new ways for users to work, communicate, and express themselves on Mac. It is available in U.S. English with macOS Sequoia 15.1. With systemwide Writing Tools, users can refine their words by rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text nearly everywhere they write. With the newly redesigned Siri, users can move fluidly between spoken and typed requests to accelerate tasks throughout their day, and Siri can answer thousands of questions about Mac and other Apple products. New Apple Intelligence features will be available in December, with additional capabilities rolling out in the coming months. Image Playground gives users a new way to create fun original images, and Genmoji allows them to create custom emoji in seconds. Siri will become even more capable, with the ability to take actions across the system and draw on a user’s personal context to deliver intelligence that is tailored to them. In December, ChatGPT will be integrated into Siri and Writing Tools, allowing users to access its expertise without needing to jump between tools.

Apple Intelligence does all this while protecting users’ privacy at every step. At its core is on-device processing, and for more complex tasks, Private Cloud Compute gives users access to Apple’s even larger, server-based models and offers groundbreaking protections for personal information. In addition, users can access ChatGPT for free without creating an account, and privacy protections are built in — their IP addresses are obscured and OpenAI won’t store requests. For those who choose to connect their account, OpenAI’s data-use policies apply.

Better for the Environment

The power-efficient performance of M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max helps the all-new MacBook Pro lineup meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency and deliver up to 24 hours of battery life.⁵ This results in less time needing to be plugged in and less energy consumed over its lifetime. And for desktop systems like iMac and Mac mini, the energy efficiency of Apple silicon also reduces the total amount of energy used. Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations and, as part of its ambitious Apple 2030 goal, plans to be carbon neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Testing was conducted by Apple in October 2024 using shipping competitive systems and select industry-standard benchmarks.
2. Testing was conducted by Apple in October 2024 using select industry-standard benchmarks. AI PC chip performance data from testing MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Evo (A2VMG-014US) with Core Ultra 7 258V.
3. Based on published technical specifications of shipping competitive chips as of October 2024.
4. Apple Intelligence is available now as a free software update for Mac with M1 and later, and can be accessed in most regions around the world when the device and Siri language are set to U.S. English. The first set of features is in beta and available with macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come. Apple Intelligence is quickly adding support for more languages. In December, Apple Intelligence will add support for localized English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K., and in April, a software update will deliver expanded language support, with more coming throughout the year. Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages will be supported.
5. Testing was conducted by Apple from August through October 2024. Battery life varies by use and configuration. See apple.com/macbook-pro for more information.
Press Contacts

Todd Wilder

Apple

wilder@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Economics –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: New MacBook Pro features M4 family of chips and Apple Intelligence
Source: Apple

Headline: New MacBook Pro features M4 family of chips and Apple Intelligence

October 30, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Apple’s new MacBook Pro features the incredibly powerful M4 family of chips and ushers in a new era with Apple Intelligence

With an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, Thunderbolt 5 on M4 Pro and M4 Max models, and an all-new nano-texture display option, MacBook Pro gets even more capable and even more pro

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today unveiled the new MacBook Pro, powered by the M4 family of chips — M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max — delivering much faster performance and enhanced capabilities. The new MacBook Pro is built for Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that transforms how users work, communicate, and express themselves, while protecting their privacy. Now available in space black and silver finishes, the 14-inch MacBook Pro includes the blazing-fast performance of M4 and three Thunderbolt 4 ports, starting with 16GB of memory, all at just $1,599. The 14- and 16-inch models with M4 Pro and M4 Max offer Thunderbolt 5 for faster transfer speeds and advanced connectivity. All models include a Liquid Retina XDR display that gets even better with an all-new nano-texture display option and up to 1000 nits of brightness for SDR content, an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, along with up to 24 hours of battery life, the longest ever in a Mac.¹ The new MacBook Pro is available to pre-order today, with availability beginning November 8.

“MacBook Pro is an incredibly powerful tool that millions of people use to do their life’s best work, and today we’re making it even better,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “With the powerful M4 family of chips, and packed with pro features like Thunderbolt 5, an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, an all-new nano-texture display option, and Apple Intelligence, the new MacBook Pro continues to be, by far, the world’s best pro laptop.”

Supercharged by the M4 Family of Chips

Built using second-generation 3-nanometer technology, the M4 family is the most advanced lineup of chips for a personal computer. The M4 family features phenomenal single-threaded CPU performance with the world’s fastest CPU core,² along with outstanding multithreaded CPU performance for the most demanding workloads. Combined with machine learning accelerators in the CPU, an advanced GPU, and a faster and more efficient Neural Engine, Apple silicon is built from the ground up to deliver incredible performance for AI. Together with faster unified memory, each chip also includes increased memory bandwidth, so large language models (LLMs) and other large projects run smoothly and on device. Additionally, the industry-leading performance per watt of the M4 family means that users get up to 24 hours of battery life, raising the bar of what users can do on a single charge.

New 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 is the ideal choice for entrepreneurs, students, creators, or anyone doing what they love. Featuring a more powerful 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores, and a faster 10-core GPU with Apple’s most advanced graphics architecture, the new MacBook Pro starts with 16GB of faster unified memory with support for up to 32GB, along with 120GB/s of memory bandwidth. With M4, MacBook Pro is up to 1.8x faster than the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 for tasks like editing gigapixel photos, and even more demanding workloads like rendering complex scenes in Blender are up to 3.4x faster.¹ With a Neural Engine that’s over 3x more powerful than in M1, it’s great for features in Apple Intelligence and other AI workloads. The M4 model also supports two high-resolution external displays in addition to the built-in display, and now features three Thunderbolt 4 ports so users can connect all their peripherals.

MacBook Pro with M4 delivers:¹
- Up to 7x faster image processing in Affinity Photo when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with Core i7, and up to 1.8x faster when compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1.
- Up to 10.9x faster 3D rendering in Blender when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with Core i7, and up to 3.4x faster when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1.
- Up to 9.8x faster scene edit detection in Adobe Premiere Pro when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with Core i7, and up to 1.7x faster when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1.
MacBook Pro with M4 Pro: A Pro Powerhouse

For researchers, developers, engineers, creative pros, or anyone that needs even faster performance for more demanding workflows, MacBook Pro with M4 Pro offers a tremendous performance boost. M4 Pro features a powerful 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and four efficiency cores for a jump in multicore performance, along with up to a 20-core GPU that is twice as powerful as M4. With M4 Pro, the new MacBook Pro gets a massive 75 percent increase in memory bandwidth over the prior generation — double that of any AI PC chip.³ The new MacBook Pro with M4 Pro is up to 3x faster than models with M1 Pro, speeding up workflows like geo mapping, structural engineering, and data modeling.¹

MacBook Pro with M4 Pro offers:¹
- Up to 4x faster scene rendering performance with Maxon Redshift when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9, and up to 3x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.
- Up to 5x faster simulation of dynamical systems in MathWorks MATLAB when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9, and up to 2.2x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.
- Up to 23.8x faster basecalling for DNA sequencing in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9, and up to 1.8x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.
MacBook Pro with M4 Max: The Ultimate in Pro Performance

Designed for pros like data scientists, 3D artists, and composers who constantly push workflows to the limit, MacBook Pro with M4 Max empowers users to work on projects that were previously only imaginable on a desktop. M4 Max brings up to a 16-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU, over half a terabyte per second of unified memory bandwidth, and a Neural Engine that is over 3x faster than M1 Max, allowing on-device AI models to run faster than ever. With M4 Max, MacBook Pro delivers up to 3.5x the performance of M1 Max, ripping through heavy creative workloads like visual effects, 3D animation, and film scoring.¹ It also supports up to 128GB of unified memory, so developers can easily interact with LLMs that have nearly 200 billion parameters. And with the powerful Media Engine in M4 Max, which features two ProRes accelerators, MacBook Pro performance is amazing even when taking 4K120 fps ProRes video captured with the new iPhone 16 Pro and editing it in Final Cut Pro.

MacBook Pro with M4 Max enables:¹
- Up to 7.8x faster scene rendering performance with Maxon Redshift when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9, and up to 3.5x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.
- Up to 4.6x faster build performance when compiling code in Xcode when compared to the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9, and up to 2.2x faster when compared to the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.
- Up to 30.8x faster video processing performance in Topaz Video AI when compared to the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9, and up to 1.6x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.
Industry-Leading Liquid XDR Display Gets Even Better

The new MacBook Pro introduces an all-new nano-texture display option that dramatically reduces glare and distractions from reflections. In bright lighting conditions, the new MacBook Pro can now show SDR content at up to 1000 nits and still displays HDR content at up to 1600 nits of peak brightness. All together, it’s a game-changing experience for users working outdoors.

New 12MP Center Stage Camera

MacBook Pro includes a new 12MP Center Stage camera that delivers enhanced video quality in challenging lighting conditions. Video calls are even more engaging with Center Stage, which automatically keeps users centered in the frame as they move around. The new camera also supports Desk View, which adds a whole new dimension to video calls. And with studio-quality mics and a phenomenal six-speaker sound system with support for Spatial Audio, MacBook Pro delivers an incredibly immersive audio experience whether users are listening to music or watching a movie in Dolby Atmos.

Thunderbolt 5 Comes to the Mac

MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max features Thunderbolt 5 ports that more than double transfer speeds up to 120 Gb/s, enabling faster external storage, expansion chassis, and powerful docking and hub solutions. For example, by connecting just a single cable, pros like music producers can now light up their entire studio. All MacBook Pro models feature an HDMI port that supports up to 8K resolution, a SDXC card slot, a MagSafe 3 port for charging, and a headphone jack, along with support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

A New Era with Apple Intelligence on the Mac

Apple Intelligence ushers in a new era for the Mac, bringing personal intelligence to the personal computer. Combining powerful generative models with industry-first privacy protections, Apple Intelligence harnesses the power of Apple silicon and the Neural Engine to unlock new ways for users to work, communicate, and express themselves on Mac. It is available in U.S. English with macOS Sequoia 15.1. With systemwide Writing Tools, users can refine their words by rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text nearly everywhere they write. With the newly redesigned Siri, users can move fluidly between spoken and typed requests to accelerate tasks throughout their day, and Siri can answer thousands of questions about Mac and other Apple products. New Apple Intelligence features will be available in December, with additional capabilities rolling out in the coming months. Image Playground gives users a new way to create fun original images, and Genmoji allows them to create custom emoji in seconds. Siri will become even more capable, with the ability to take actions across the system and draw on a user’s personal context to deliver intelligence that is tailored to them. In December, ChatGPT will be integrated into Siri and Writing Tools, allowing users to access its expertise without needing to jump between tools.

Apple Intelligence does all this while protecting users’ privacy at every step. At its core is on-device processing, and for more complex tasks, Private Cloud Compute gives users access to Apple’s even larger, server-based models and offers groundbreaking protections for personal information. In addition, users can access ChatGPT for free without creating an account, and privacy protections are built in — their IP addresses are obscured and OpenAI won’t store requests. For those who choose to connect their account, OpenAI’s data-use policies apply.

An Unrivaled Experience with macOS Sequoia

macOS Sequoia completes the new MacBook Pro experience with a host of exciting features, including iPhone Mirroring, allowing users to wirelessly interact with their iPhone, its apps, and notifications directly from their Mac.⁴ Safari, the world’s fastest browser,⁵ now offers Highlights, which quickly pulls up relevant information from a site; a smarter, redesigned Reader with a table of contents and high-level summary; and a new Video Viewer to watch videos without distractions. With Distraction Control, users can hide items on a webpage that they may find disruptive to their browsing. Gaming gets even more immersive with features like Personalized Spatial Audio and improvements to Game Mode, along with a breadth of exciting titles, including the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Easier window tiling means users can stay organized with a windows layout that works best for them. The all-new Passwords app gives convenient access to passwords, passkeys, and other credentials, all stored in one place. And users can apply new beautiful built-in backgrounds for video calls, which include a variety of color gradients and system wallpapers, or upload their own photos.

The Perfect Time to Upgrade or Switch to a Mac

Upgraders will get monumental improvements over Intel-based MacBook Pro models, including the amazing features of Apple Intelligence. When compared to an Intel-based MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Pro provides nearly 10x faster performance for AI-based workloads,¹ and for graphics-intensive workloads, users get up to 20x faster performance.⁶ With battery life on the new MacBook Pro now up to 24 hours, upgraders will also experience up to 14 additional hours. And with the Liquid Retina XDR display, a new 12MP Center Stage camera, an immersive six-speaker sound system, the unrivaled experience of macOS Sequoia, and more, there’s never been a better time to upgrade or switch to MacBook Pro.

MacBook Air: The World’s Most Popular Laptop Now Starts at 16GB

MacBook Air is the world’s most popular laptop, and with Apple Intelligence, it’s even better. Now, models with M2 and M3 double the starting memory to 16GB, while keeping the starting price at just $999 — a terrific value for the world’s best-selling laptop.

Better for the Environment

The new MacBook Pro is built to last and incredibly durable, created from a custom alloy that uses 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure. It also uses 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100 percent recycled tin soldering, gold plating, and copper in multiple printed circuit boards. The packaging for the 14-inch MacBook Pro is now entirely fiber-based, joining the 16-inch MacBook Pro and bringing Apple closer to its goal to remove plastic from its packaging by 2025.

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations and, as part of its ambitious Apple 2030 goal, plans to be carbon neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade.

Pricing and Availability
- Customers can pre-order the new MacBook Pro starting today, October 30, on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in 28 countries and regions, including the U.S. It will begin arriving to customers, and will be in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, beginning Friday, November 8.
- The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 starts at $1,599 (U.S.) and $1,499 (U.S.) for education; the 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro starts at $1,999 (U.S.) and $1,849 (U.S.) for education; and the 16‑inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499 (U.S.) and $2,299 (U.S.) for education. All models are available in space black and silver.
- Additional technical specifications, including the nano-texture display and configure-to-order options, are available at apple.com/mac.
- MacBook Air with M2 and M3 comes standard with 16GB of unified memory, and is available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space gray, starting at $999 (U.S.) and $899 (U.S.) for education.
- New accessories with USB-C — including Magic Keyboard ($99 U.S.), Magic Keyboard with Touch ID ($149 U.S.), Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad ($179 U.S.), Magic Trackpad ($129 U.S.), Magic Mouse ($79 U.S.), and Thunderbolt 5 Pro Cable ($69) — are available at apple.com/store.
- Apple Intelligence is available now as a free software update for Mac with M1 and later, and can be accessed in most regions around the world when the device and Siri language are set to U.S. English. The first set of features is in beta and available with macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come.
- Apple Intelligence is quickly adding support for more languages. In December, Apple Intelligence will add support for localized English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K., and in April, a software update will deliver expanded language support, with more coming throughout the year. Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages will be supported.
- With Apple Trade In, customers can trade in their current computer and get credit toward a new Mac. Customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in to see what their device is worth.
- AppleCare+ for Mac provides unparalleled service and support. This includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage, battery service coverage, and 24/7 support from the people who know Mac best.
- Every customer who buys directly from Apple Retail gets access to Personal Setup. In these guided online sessions, a Specialist can walk them through setup, or focus on features that help them make the most of their new device. Customers can also learn more about getting started with their new device with a Today at Apple session at their nearest Apple Store.
About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Testing was conducted by Apple from August through October 2024. Battery life varies by use and configuration. See apple.com/macbook-pro for more information.
2. Testing was conducted by Apple in October 2024 using shipping competitive systems and select industry-standard benchmarks.
3. Based on published technical specifications of shipping competitive chips as of October 2024.
4. Available on Mac computers with Apple silicon and Intel-based Mac computers with a T2 Security Chip. Requires that the user’s iPhone and Mac are signed in with the same Apple Account using two-factor authentication, their iPhone and Mac are near each other and have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on, and their Mac is not using AirPlay or Sidecar. Some iPhone features (e.g., camera and microphone) are not compatible with iPhone Mirroring.
5. Testing was conducted by Apple in August 2024. See apple.com/safari for more information.
6. Results are compared to previous-generation 1.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645, 16GB of RAM, and 2TB SSD.
Press Contacts

Michelle Del Rio

Apple

mr_delrio@apple.com

Starlayne Meza

Apple

starlayne_meza@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Economics –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Six poems that tell stories about monsters and monstrosity

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jon Stone, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Anglia Ruskin University

Master1305/Shutterstock

Poetry isn’t a medium typically associated with towering beasts. Lyric poems tend to be short, tender and concerned with minor everyday incidents. That, or abstract concepts like love and death. Poems also tend to be thought of, wrongly or not, as true accounts – the inverse of creature feature films with preposterous special effects.

But poets, like everyone else, live in a world of disastrous events bigger than themselves. And the monster – particularly the giant monster – is an archetype that goes right back to ancient myth.

Talos, the bronze guardian of Crete, and Humbaba, the ogre of the Epic of Gilgamesh, are just two dangerous titans of literary history. It’s tempting to think that today we know enough about our surroundings to no longer be awed by the possibility of giants. But the truth is that there is still much that makes us feel small and vulnerable. Writing about huge monsters is one way of confronting that.

Two different anthologies of monster poetry are published this month in the UK. Ten Poets Defend Their Cities from Giant, Strange Beasts is edited by myself and Kirsten Irving and published by Sidekick Books. In it, poets envisage the outcomes of giant monster attacks on London, Cambridge, Glasgow and Liverpool, among other cities. These confrontations are frequently surreal, or representations of other kinds of epic battle.

Alex Adams and Aaron Kent’s Devastation Songs, meanwhile, is a compilation of writing about kaiju, the Japanese term for gargantuan fantasy creatures. In the foreword, Adams writes about how the monster movie is often used as a vehicle for “powerfully resonant social and political ideas”, pointing to recent Oscar winner Godzilla Minus One (2024) as an example.

Here are six more poems that deal in different ways with giant monsters:

1. Beowulf

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic poem about the defeat of Grendel – a creature whose exact form is still debated. Depending on which translation you read, Grendel is either a “grim demon”, a berserker, a “miscreated thing in man’s form”, or a “horrible stranger”.

Two things are certain, though: he is very large, and he is a violent murderer who must be destroyed.

Read more:
Publishing Tolkien’s Beowulf translation does him a disservice

2. La Géante (The Giantess) by Charles Baudelaire

This poem is from Baudelaire’s collection Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil, 1840-1867), which was dubbed “an insult to public decency” on publication.

The Giantess reflects some of the book’s controversial themes, revelling in erotic fascination. Far from opposing the giantess, the poem’s narrator wants to see her “grow without restraint”, imagining an expedition across her vast body. Here, Baudelaire proposes monstrosity as a realm of wonder and temptation.

The Jabberwock, as illustrated by John Tenniel, (1871).
Wiki Commons

3. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

One of Carroll’s (1832-1989) most famous poems, Jabberwocky is teeming with nonsense words (manxome, whiffling, burbled). This strange language keeps the titular Jabberwock obscured even as its fiery approach and defeat is recounted.

It makes for a faithful representation of monstrosity as a quality: we can perceive it, dream up words for it, even kill it, but we can never fully understand it.

4. The Man-Moth by Elizabeth Bishop

The epigraph to The Man-Moth explains that it was inspired by a misspelling of the word “mammoth”. Bishop’s man-moth isn’t necessarily a giant, but several lines allude to his having a giant’s perspective (“The whole shadow of Man is only as big as his hat”, “He thinks the moon is a small hole at the top of the sky”).

He is a sad, lonely creature who sheds a tear at the end of the poem. Bishop often wrote about the darkness in the human psyche, and her take on the subway-dwelling city beast is an allegory for urban alienation.

5. The Loch Ness Monster’s Song by Edwin Morgan

Scottish poet Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) specialised in linguistic play. The Loch Ness Monster’s Song is almost unintelligible – a brief burst of transcribed watery noises. But it could easily be a poem written in another language.

It challenges us to recognise that what we call “monstrous” might just be unfamiliar – not a threat, but an opportunity for connection.

6. Dragons by Matthew Francis

Every line of this poem, from Francis’ 2001 collection of the same title, ends in the word “dragons”. But the narrative is one of failing to find a single dragon.

This contrast is used to illustrate how monsters and creatures of myth loom large in our minds primarily as the result of our imaginations. In other words, we invent them to fill the gaps in reality. We need them, because without them there are too many clues pointing nowhere.

The poem isn’t available to read online, but you can read my own pastiche of it (framed as a “DVD extra”).

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

Jon Stone is an editor at Sidekick Books.

– ref. Six poems that tell stories about monsters and monstrosity – https://theconversation.com/six-poems-that-tell-stories-about-monsters-and-monstrosity-239335

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Ali Smith’s new novel Gliff is a dystopian nightmare with flashes of fairytale enchantment

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sarah Annes Brown, Professor of English Literature, Anglia Ruskin University

Ali Smith’s Gliff is set “once upon a time, not very far from now”. It is a kind of fairytale of the future in which two children, Briar and Rose, navigate a world which seems increasingly baffling and hostile.

Gliff is the first of a planned pair of novels – the second to be called Glyph. Although the two words sound identical, their meanings are quite different. The Scottish word “gliff” means a shock, fright or sudden glimpse. A “glyph”, meanwhile, is a written character or symbol. There’s similarly insistent wordplay in Gliff. It reflects its preoccupation with how meaning is created – and destroyed.

Smith’s latest novel shares many of the same concerns as her recent Seasonal Quartet (2016-2020): the effects of climate change, the plight of refugees, the growth of intolerance and authoritarianism. But Gliff is set in a dystopian Britain where all these problems have intensified in frightening ways. Smith therefore follows in the footsteps of a growing number of literary novelists who have turned to science fiction in recent years, as boundaries between genres become less rigid.

Some of the predictions – extreme surveillance, blistering summers, widespread penal servitude – are familiar science fiction themes. But other elements of Gliff are more surreal and fantastical. A particularly strange plot element is the use of a device called the “supera bounder”, a clunky machine which “looked like an invention made by an amateur for a joke”. This is used to spray red paint around houses, people, vehicles and animals which are targeted for removal or destruction.

When Briar and Rose find a red paint circle around first their house, then their campervan, they are forced into hiding. They lurk on the margins of society, hoping they can escape being packed off to a “reeducation centre”.

Exploring marginalisation

The sinister red paint circles are an effective symbol for the more subtle ways in which societies exclude or marginalise “undesirables” of various types. The device fits in with a long tradition of science fiction writers offering the reader a distorted reflection of the ways in which inequality and prejudice operate in society. The invisible barriers which separate rich from poor, for example, are often reimagined as literal walls or fences.

Smith gives a horrifying vision of a future world of work in which unprotected or unwanted children are forced to scavenge metal from waste in dangerous conditions and adult workers are ruthlessly surveilled, punished, fined and controlled.

One reason this is so shocking is because the novel is set solely in Britain. Under globalisation, we are already dependent on goods produced under similar conditions – but in countries which are safely remote from us. Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy can be read as a similar parable of globalisation.

Gliff can be compared with other recent works of speculative fiction which combine dystopian themes with more surreal or fantastical elements. Rumaan Alam’s acclaimed Leave the World Behind (2020), for example, uses a mysterious, undefined national emergency as the springboard for reflections on racism, over-reliance on technology, and climate change. But it also draws on fairytale motifs.

Separated from their parents, Briar and Rose resemble a science fictional Hansel and Gretel. Towards the end of the novel – through both its themes and landscapes – there are also echoes of Alan Garner’s powerful children’s fantasies. And Gliff the horse is invested with an almost mythical charge, harking back to Smith’s earlier use of magical tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in her novel Girl Meets Boy (2007).

Gliff demonstrates Ali Smith’s characteristic strengths as a novelist. The narrative is accessible and engaging, yet at the same time complex and subtle. Many puzzles are set for the reader – only some are resolved.

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Sarah Annes Brown 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. Ali Smith’s new novel Gliff is a dystopian nightmare with flashes of fairytale enchantment – https://theconversation.com/ali-smiths-new-novel-gliff-is-a-dystopian-nightmare-with-flashes-of-fairytale-enchantment-237693

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Political sectarianism is fracturing America

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simon Mabon, Professor of International Relations, Lancaster University

Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Gardens in New York City on Sunday, October 27 was called a “carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism” by the New York Times. The event, which came just over a week before the election, was a hostile and partisan affair. Trump doubled down on his assertion that one of America’s gravest threats is from “the enemy within”.

Trump’s rhetoric is a manifestation of the increasingly polarised nature of US politics, whereby hostility from one group towards their perceived enemies is amplified across social media platforms. Yet Trump’s comment about an insidious “threat” hints at a darker undercurrent of division, with the threat of violence.

A June 2024 poll by the University of Chicago suggested that there was more support for violence against Trump than in his favour – 10% of respondents agreed that “the use of force is justified to prevent Trump becoming president”, compared to 6.9% who believed violence was justified “to restore Trump to the presidency”. Two months earlier, a Marist poll revealed that 47% of Americans believed that another civil war was likely in their lifetime.

As a report from Chatham House recently observed, the US is more divided “along ideological and political lines than at any time since the 1850s”. And according to another report from UK-based think tank, the Foreign Policy Centre, Americans have “increasingly grown to hate supporters of the other party, viewing their capture of political power as not merely unfortunate but illegitimate”.

Americans have regularly articulated a preference for living among people who share their political outlook. And they have expressed a stronger aversion to dating, living, working or socialising with supporters of another party. These views point to a state suffering the ills of sectarianism.

Those who have observed sectarianism around the world know all too well the chaos that such divisions can wreak. In the Middle East, for example, politically charged religious difference has had a devastating impact on political, economic and social life. Hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions displaced from their homes across Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya because of violence along sect-based lines.

The US may be a long way from these scenarios, but there are some early warning signs. Competing forms of what American social theorist Irving Howe calls “epistemological authoritarianism” – or a sense of certainty that is zero-sum and rejects those of the other – can be easily seen across America’s political landscape.

Protests and counter-protests have played out both on the streets and online over abortion, gun laws and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as on university campuses over the war in Gaza. Elite entrepreneurs with political capital have also positioned themselves on opposite sides of sensitive issues to cultivate support.

Take, for example, Donald Trump’s false allegations that Democratic states executed babies after birth, or that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been eating pets. Such comments quickly spread across social media, regardless of their veracity. For Trump’s followers, truth matters less than the ability to justify their position on a particular issue. The stance taken by political communities is increasingly polemic and predictable.

Such dynamics are, of course, also shaped by local contexts. But the growing politicisation of social identities in recent years, and the increasing political importance of social issues, has created a landscape where difference is broadly antagonistic.

In this situation, grievance becomes a means of reinforcing in-group cohesion and disdain for the other. In such a landscape, society becomes divided into mutually distrustful camps set apart by a form of emotional polarisation that takes on political meaning.

It is the emotional dimension that is key here, as this is the foundation upon which political and social enmity is built. Supreme Court decisions, for example, relating to emotionally charged issues such as abortion, have strong mobilising potential on both left and right.

Entrenched differences

Elections often exacerbate uncertainty and division, as the 2020 US presidential election and its fallout demonstrate. According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (Acled), a research group that analyses occurrences of political violence around the world, demonstrations and far-right activity peaked around the 2020 election. This reached a crescendo with the events of January 6 2021 when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building.

Far-right activity has dropped during Biden’s administration. But a number of far-right groups have recently become active in the run-up to the election. Meanwhile, divisions over abortion, LGBTQ+ mobilisation, and the war in Gaza have contributed to a precarious environment.

Indeed, a vast majority do not think that next week’s election will solve the issues that America faces. In a recent poll, 70% of respondents believe that things in the US are going “in the wrong direction” – a view shared more by Republican respondents (94%) than Democrat respondents (41%). And 19% of Republicans think that if Trump loses the election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume office.

Pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC on January 6 2021.
lev radin / Shutterstock

The schisms across the US are real and the pieces are not easily put back together. Narratives of division will continue to spread as election fever increases, further deepening the rifts in American society. And sectarianism will become the broad frame through which political and social life is viewed.

This need not necessarily become violent. But it can easily become entrenched. The increasingly hostile exclusion of “the other” in all its forms, along with a growing willingness to breach established norms and rules, requires a step back from the brink before it is too late.

Simon Mabon receives funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

– ref. Political sectarianism is fracturing America – https://theconversation.com/political-sectarianism-is-fracturing-america-242327

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Perimenopause linked with increased risk of bipolar and major depression

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lisa Shitomi-Jones, Research Assistant & PhD Candidate at the Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University

The potential effect of perimenopause on mental health has been under-researched. My Ocean Production/Shutterstock

Women going through perimenopause – the transition period surrounding the menopause – are more than twice as likely to develop bipolar disorder for the first time according to our research. Our study is the first to investigate the link between perimenopause and the onset of severe psychiatric conditions.

Many people think of menopause as a single event that happens around a woman’s early 50s, the average age for her last period. But it’s a gradual process that typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55.

Perimenopause is the phase leading up to and following menopause, during which hormonal changes affect the menstrual cycle. This stage differs from person to person and can last several years. Symptoms may include hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings and irregular periods.

While physical symptoms are common, the potential effect of perimenopause on mental health – including mood changes and severe psychiatric disorders – is less understood and has been under-researched.

We were inspired to conduct our research by the patients at Professor Di Florio’s mental health clinic. It offers a free clinical service providing second opinions for people experiencing severe psychiatric disorders associated with reproductive events.

Many of the women in the clinic had never experienced severe mental health problems before menopause. But something seemed to shift during perimenopause. Suddenly many found themselves grappling with these conditions. However, upon reviewing the research, it appeared that the experiences of these women were not documented or explored in scientific literature.

To address this research gap and find answers, we conducted research using a large database called UK Biobank. This is a resource which gives approved researchers secure access to anonymous medical and genetic data from half a million volunteers. It aims to improve our understanding of how to prevent, diagnose and treat many serious conditions.

What we found

Perimenopause is the phase surrounding the menopause.
Arda_ALTAY/Shutterstock

Using the data, we investigated how many participants had new onsets of psychiatric conditions during the perimenopause. We then compared this to the number of new onsets during the late reproductive stage, which are the years before the perimenopause.

The data we examined came from 128,294 women in the UK. We wanted to explore how the years around the final menstrual period may trigger serious mental health issues, including bipolar and major depressive disorders. We discovered a 112% increase in new cases of bipolar disorder. We also found a 30% rise in major depressive conditions during this time, compared to earlier stages of the late reproductive period.

Our study was the first of its kind to investigate first onsets of bipolar disorder during the perimenopause. It validates the experiences of women who were previously essentially invisible in the world of research.

Although some hypotheses exist as to why perimenopause and hormones may play a role in psychiatric disorders, much more research is required to better understand why this affects some people but not others. Researchers also need to uncover the best treatment options for these women.

We hope that our research paves the way for more research on women’s mental health at perimenopause, as well as further investigations into the underlying biological mechanisms.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Perimenopause linked with increased risk of bipolar and major depression – https://theconversation.com/perimenopause-linked-with-increased-risk-of-bipolar-and-major-depression-238797

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Three judges announced for The Conversation Prize for writers

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jo Adetunji, Executive Editor – Partnerships

L-R: Miriam Frankel, Priya Atwal, Alice Hunt. CC BY

The Conversation UK, Curtis Brown and Faber are pleased to announce our three judges for The Conversation Prize for writers: Miriam Frankel, senior science editor at The Conversation UK, Priya Atwal, historian, broadcaster and community history fellow at the University of Oxford, and Alice Hunt, professor of early modern literature and history at the University of Southampton.

Our competition is looking for the best longform article and nonfiction book idea aimed at a general audience from our community of academics. For your chance to win £1,000, publication on The Conversation Insights and mentorship from a literary agent and book publisher then enter your 2,000-word story and book idea.

About our judges

Miriam Frankel.

Miriam Frankel is senior science editor at The Conversation UK. She is co-author of Are You Thinking Clearly? 29 Reasons You Aren’t and What To Do About It, a book investigating the many factors that influence and manipulate the way we think, from genetics, biology, bias and personality to time perception, culture, language, advertising and technology. Miriam also writes on a freelance basis for a number of publications including New Scientist, The Observer, BBC Future and BBC Science Focus magazine.

Priya Atwal is a historian of monarchy, empire and cultural politics in Britain and South Asia. Her first book, Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire, was published in 2020 and was one of BBC History Magazine’s Best Books of the Year. Priya is an active champion for public history and community empowerment in historical research. She is currently building a new Community History Hub at the University of Oxford, and regularly consults on a wide range of creative historical projects, from working on Netflix’s Bridgerton, to supporting the development of inclusive history curricula for UK state schools.

Alice Hunt.

Alice Hunt is professor of early modern literature and history at the University of Southampton. She was awarded a Leverhulme Trust fellowship to research her first trade book, Republic: Britain’s Revolutionary Decade, 1649-1660, which was published by Faber in 2024. Alice is also the author of The Drama of Coronation and has previously written about the Tudors and James I.

How to Enter

Submissions are open to academics employed or affiliated to a university or approved research institution (IRO) in the UK, Europe or Commonwealth, including PhD candidates under supervision by an academic. Submissions should be in the following areas: History, Arts + Culture, Business + Economy, Education, Environment, Health, Politics + Society, Science + Technology or World.

To enter, please email your 2,000-word article, plus the following information, to uk-prize@theconversation.com:

Name

Institution

Country

Email

Telephone no.

Your book idea [max 350 words]
Please provide a brief summary of a trade nonfiction book idea based on your article. Tell us why this topic deserves a deeper dive and why it would appeal to an audience of non-academic readers.

About you [max 100 words]
Tell us a little about you – your current academic role or affiliation, your area of expertise and any relevant research to your book idea. Why would you be the right author for this book?

Please disclose any conflicts of interest that should be mentioned in relation to your article or book idea.

Terms & Conditions [Pdf] – please read carefully.

You can read more about what we’re looking for here [Pdf].

– ref. Three judges announced for The Conversation Prize for writers – https://theconversation.com/three-judges-announced-for-the-conversation-prize-for-writers-242505

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Deep sea rocks suggest oxygen can be made without photosynthesis, deepening the mystery of life

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lewis Alcott, Lecturer in Geochemistry, University of Bristol

chaylek/Shutterstock

Oxygen, the molecule that supports intelligent life as we know it, is largely made by plants. Whether underwater or on land, they do this by photosynthesising carbon dioxide. However, a recent study demonstrates that oxygen may be produced without the need for life at depths where light cannot reach.

The authors of a recent publication in Nature Geoscience were collecting samples from deep ocean sediments to determine the rate of oxygen consumption at the seafloor through things like organisms or sediments that can react with oxygen. But in several of their experiments, they actually found oxygen was increasing as opposed to decreasing as they would have expected. This left them questioning how this oxygen was being produced.

They found that this “dark” oxygen production at the seafloor seems to only happen in the presence of mineral concentrates called polymetallic nodules and deposits of metals called metalliferous sediments. The authors think the nodules have the right mixture of metals and are densely packed enough for an electrical current to pass through for electrolysis, creating enough energy to separate the hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) from water (H₂O).

The authors also suggested that the amount of oxygen created may fluctuate depending on the number and mixture of nodules on the ocean floor.

This research team was trying to understand the implications of mining metals from the deep-sea floor such as lithium, cobalt or copper, funded by an extractions company in an effort to ensure deep sea mining leads to a net benefit to humanity and the Earth system. Lithium and cobalt are used, for example, to make rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles. Copper is vital for electrical wiring in devices like TVs and radios and for roofing and plumbing.

The investigation was focused on the Clarion-Clipperton zone of the Pacific Ocean, a vast plain between Hawaii and Mexico where millions of tons of these metals have been found. However, scientists believe mining on this scale is potentially unpredictable and can destroy habitats vital to ocean ecosystems. Deep-sea mining can also introduce harmful sediment plumes to fragile ecosystems leading to a growing number of countries calling for a moratorium.

Dark oxygen for life

The implications for this finding may also play a role in life elsewhere.

Oxygen is essential to complex life as we know it. Complex life has evolved and expanded alongside photosynthesisers, which actually produce oxygen as a waste product. Yet this oxygen allows organisms’ metabolisms to be much more efficient than without it.

Without photosynthetic bacteria, the reliance that Earth’s life has on oxygen may well have never happened, in addition to the evolutionary pathway to biodiversity as we know it. But this study shows that rich-nodules on the seafloor may have provided an additional source of oxygen to the biosphere – the zone of life on Earth encompassing all living organisms.

We can’t understand how these nodules may have affected evolution until we understand more about how they formed deeper in time. At the moment, all we really know it that we these nodules would have needed oxygen themselves to form.

Studies like this show how much the origin of life on Earth is still a mystery.

Lewis Alcott 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. Deep sea rocks suggest oxygen can be made without photosynthesis, deepening the mystery of life – https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-rocks-suggest-oxygen-can-be-made-without-photosynthesis-deepening-the-mystery-of-life-238937

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The United Kingdom will work to ensure UNTMIS delivers for Somalia: UK explanation of vote at the UN Security Council

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Explanation of vote by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Somalia.

Location:

United Nations, New York

Delivered on:

30 October 2024 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

Today’s vote marks the beginning of a crucial period for Somalia, the UN, and Somalia’s international partners, as we move into a series of transitions – both of the UN’s political presence in Somalia and, beginning next year, the AU mission.

UNSOM has played an important role since its inception in 2013, supporting peace-building and state-building in Somalia through implementing its good offices, policy guidance, coordination, technical assistance and capacity building functions.

We are grateful for the significant efforts of UNSOM’s leadership and staff throughout the 11 years since its establishment.

As UNTMIS now takes over, and begins its transition to a UN Country Team, the United Kingdom will continue to work closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure this transition is progressive and phased, and that UNTMIS continues to deliver against the areas critical to Somalia’s needs during this first phase.

We now look ahead to elections over the coming years at both the Federal Member State and national levels, as well as significant changes in the AU security presence. The UN will continue to play a vital role throughout these processes.

Finally President, let me take this opportunity to thank Acting SRSG Swan for his leadership and commitment. I would also like to thank all colleagues on the Council for their constructive engagement on this resolution.

Updates to this page

Published 30 October 2024

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to Science and R&D elements of the Autumn Budget, as announced by the Chancellor

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

October 30, 2024

The Science Community comment on Science and R&D elements of the Autumn Budget, delivered by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Chi Onwurah, Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, said:

“Sustained investment in science, innovation and technology is needed to drive the UK’s economic growth and productivity. When the Government was elected in July, it committed to supporting innovation as part of its mission driven approach.

“It’s vital that UK R&D gets long-term funding to keep up the momentum and level of expertise needed to drive our future prosperity. I welcome the commitment to protect core research funding, as well as the specific investments planned for R&D in high-tech industries like aerospace, automotive, and clean energy.

“The Committee looks forward to scrutinising the Budget in detail. We’ll be examining how the Budget will impact science and technology, and hearing views from across the sector and industry.”

Dr Alicia Greated, Executive Director, Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), said:

“I am pleased to hear such positive support for UK R&D and innovation from the Chancellor, and recognition that, if supported, it will drive economic growth. We also know the public care about this, with 70% of people saying it is important for the Government to invest in R&D. Seeing this reflected by Government is unequivocally a good thing.

“Beyond the positive intent, it is the detail we must now turn to. It is reassuring to hear pledges to protect core R&D funding and to increase DSIT’s R&D budget, but it will take time to unpack and understand what this means in practice. We look forward to receiving more detail about DSIT’s budget allocations to enable us to build a fuller picture of the changes announced.”

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive, UK Research & Innovation, said:

“We welcome the Government’s continued commitment to research and innovation in today’s Budget, recognising their crucial role in driving sustainable economic growth, creating jobs, and improving public services for people across the UK.

“We appreciate the Chancellor’s prioritisation of research and innovation, given the difficult choices to be made on public expenditure. We will work closely with the Secretary of State, Science Minister, across government and with our research and innovation partners to maximise the impact of our investments and create a strong platform for an ambitious programme of research and innovation in the multi-year Spending Review next Spring.”

Dr John Lazar CBE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, says:

“The Chancellor’s first budget was a difficult balancing act, and we are pleased to see a long-term commitment to research and innovation, which is proven to help business, productivity and growth. We know the pressures on public finances that put government spending on research and development in the spotlight, and also that R&D spending is the catalyst for economic success. We welcome the commitment to protect government investment in R&D, and the acknowledgement of the key role that the UK’s National Academies play in driving innovation in engineering, biotechnology and medical science. It is now up to the Science, Engineering and Technology sector to work with the government to deliver the innovation and growth needed to unlock investment and create jobs.”

“With sustained investment in innovation and entrepreneurship, the UK is well placed to leverage its impressive engineering and technology strengths to sustain business confidence, catalyse investment and power growth, and ultimately improve our public services and productivity.”

“The economy can only grow if the infrastructure that underpins it keeps pace with its needs – we welcome the £100bn additional investment over the next five years to fund public infrastructure, and the boost this will give to UK capabilities and regional development.”

On the NHS funding announcements in the Budget, Director of Evidence and Implementation at Cancer Research UK, Naser Turabi, said:

“The fact that the NHS has received additional funding in today’s budget for day to day spending and investment is good news. It’s no secret that our health service is struggling, and record numbers of cancer patients are having to wait longer than they should to begin their treatment. Funding, coupled with reform, will be vital to bringing waiting lists down.

“But the new government will only be able to turn things around with effective planning and sustained funding. The development of a long-term health plan is promising, but it’s vital that we see a dedicated cancer strategy alongside this. Other countries like Denmark have proven that they can help save lives, and transforming outcomes for cancer patients will go a long way towards fixing the NHS in England as a whole.”

On the research funding announcements in the Budget, Director of Policy at Cancer Research UK, Dr Owen Jackson, said:

“It is good news that the Chancellor has committed to protecting R&D funding in this Budget. A strong R&D system is essential to prosperity of the UK and health of the nation.

“The UK is unusual in that nearly two thirds of non-commercial cancer research is funded by charities like Cancer Research UK. We will continue to work in partnership with government and the private sector to build on the UK’s strengths in life sciences and cancer research, and to advocate for increased funding for these vital areas over the coming years. Continued partnership relies on sustained investment in research over the long term.”

Sharon Todd, CEO of UK-based Innovation Network SCI, said:

“R&D relief being maintained won’t turn the UK into a science superpower – only a material increase will help a sector that is so vital to scaling up and economic growth.

“Whilst it would be nice to think that industry would mushroom out of the ground and create value for the UK through the development of new medicines, fuels and technologies, that is not going to happen without greater support for research, development and commercialisation. Global competition means even start-up companies innovating products and ideas for our sustainable future are leaving for overseas.

“The opportunity is now. A strategy for industry is one thing, but with huge tax incentives in Europe and the US, the UK is set to miss out on the 240,000 extra jobs and $230 billion of added value the clean tech and life sciences revolutions could otherwise bring the UK in the next five years.”

Declared interests

The nature of this story means everyone quoted above could be perceived to have a stake in it. As such, our policy is not to ask for interests to be declared – instead, they are implicit in each person’s affiliation

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Mind the gap… in public toilets on the tube

Source: Mayor of London

[1] Transport for London quarterly performance report

Caroline has been pushing for toilet funding in every Mayoral budget since the 2020-2021 cycle. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Caroline pointed out the serious public health consequences of the lack of public toilets across London.

The following summer, Caroline incorporated her work with the charity Muscular Dystrophy to again implore the Mayor to see how essential toilets are to accessibility on Lonon’s transport network.

In the 2022 budget cycle, Caroline’s Green Group budget amendment tried to once more fund public toilets, this time by proposing a £10 million investment for a brand-new London toilets fund to give local councils access to money to refurbish, reopen and revitalise these essential local amenities.

The following year, Caroline’s fully costed and feasible 2023 budget amendment for new TfL toilets was mysteriously blocked by the Assembly Labour group in a shocking blow to older and disabled Londoners, new parents, and so many more travellers in need of a loo on their journeys. Seeming to understand the gravity of his party’s mistake, the TfL toilet feasibility study was first proposed by London’s Mayor following his party’s puzzling opposition to that blocked Toilet amendment.

The Mayor’s team indicated the feasibility study would be shared by June 2023, but by August that deadline had been pushed back as well.

Later that month, Caroline published the ‘Loo League Table,’ analysing the many loo ‘deserts’ across the transport network and pushing TfL to explain its failure to make use of the existing upgrade programme on the tube to provide new toilet facilities. This report followed her 2021 “Toilet Paper” report as Chair of the London Assembly Health Committee, in which the committee found 91.3 per cent of respondents to their survey do not feel toilet provision is adequate to meet their needs.

In January 2024, Caroline welcomed the Mayor’s allocation of £3 million for public toilets on the TfL network in the Mayor’s budget, though urged the Mayor to commit to the full £20 million investment needed to ensure every tube stop has a safe, clean, and operable public toilet.

Building on that momentum, in February 2024 Caroline commissioned new polling from YouGov showing that 74 per cent of respondents believe that there should be more toilets on the TfL network.

Most recently, in March 2024 Caroline pressed the Mayor directly over the latest delay in his long-promised feasibility study, where the Mayor explained that while “good progress has been made” on the feasibility study, TfL now plans to “publish the full study in the summer.”

Though several weeks after summer’s end now, Caroline proudly joined the Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Transport Seb Dance, and TfL Customer Director Emma Strain at White Hart Lane station today to welcome in an era of what will, hopefully, culminate with toilets built across the TfL network.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Connolly, Turner Raise Concerns About October 26 Elections and Euro-Atlantic Future for Georgia

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va)

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Co-Chair of the Congressional Georgia Caucus, and Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH), head of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, released the following statement:

“We are deeply concerned by the pre-election environment of Georgia’s October 26th elections which were marred by reports of vote buying, voter intimidation, abuse of administrative resources, and questionable appointments to election oversight boards.

The October 26th elections presented Georgia an invaluable opportunity to prove to the international community, to NATO countries and the European Union that Georgia remains firmly committed to its Euro-Atlantic path. Unfortunately, through campaign rhetoric blaming the West for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, foreign agents’ legislation passed to root out civil society, and lack of accountability for violent attacks against political opposition figures, Georgia’s government provided no such reassurance. These elections, which posed significant challenges to the democratic process, move Georgia significantly further away from joining NATO and the European Union.

Widespread pressure on public sector employees to vote for the incumbent party and a refusal to investigate violent attacks on political opponents are authoritarian behaviors, and a drastic departure from the vibrant, multiparty emerging democracy that once defined Georgia.

In the aftermath of the October 26th election, we must be clear: The United States and all NATO countries stand with the Georgian people and their Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Roy responds to Biden-Harris DHS paying for billboards advertising free legal help for illegal aliens

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Chip Roy (R-TX)

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, Representative Chip Roy (TX-21) issued the following statement after news broke of the Biden-Harris administration paying for billboards in Texas advertising free legal help for illegal aliens:

“The news that DHS is using taxpayer money to launch billboards advocating ‘rights’ for individuals in ‘immigration custody’ should be alarming because it’s a preview of the legal arguments that radical progressive democrats will use to argue against deportation of the millions dumped in America by Biden-Harris-Mayorkas.”

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MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: A Spooky Soliday: Haunting Whispers from the Martian Landscape

Source: NASA

2 min read

The Perseverance rover lurks in the quiet, cold, desolate landscape of Jezero crater on Mars, a place masked in shadows and haunted by past mysteries. Built to endure the planet’s harsh conditions, Perseverance braves the thin atmosphere and extreme temperature swings. Its microphone captures the eerie whispers of martian winds, sending shivers down your spine, and records ghostly dust devils swirling across the barren terrain. Has the microphone caught the sound of a skeleton rattling its bones? We’ll leave that up to your imagination.

Recently, Perseverance navigated the sinister slopes of the Jezero crater rim, seeking out a series of ramshackle ridges to uncover the rim’s hidden geological secrets. The rover emerged from the shadows to descend into a field of light-toned rocks, illuminating the landscape reminiscent of bones and tombstones. Along the way, the rover encountered dark bedrock at Mist Park. Perseverance will then face another daunting climb back up the crater rim, venturing deeper into the great unknown.

Unlike vampires or other creatures of the night, Perseverance needs rest after long days of exploring the mystifying martian landscape. As night falls, the rover sleeps after watching the Sun sink below the horizon, casting ominous shadows across the landscape. The chilling winds howl through the night like a haunting lullaby for the fearless explorer. However, Perseverance sometimes wakes up from things that go bump in the night. While instruments mostly conduct their scientific measurements during the day, they are not afraid of the dark, often tasked with observing what lurks in the shadows and gazing at the martian night sky. Perseverance occasionally looks up to image the auroras and to get a glimpse of Phobos and Deimos, Mars’ two Moons.

Mars is like a hotel you can check in and out of, but you can never leave. It has become a graveyard of long-dead landers and rovers, but Perseverance is nowhere near ready to leave the land of the living. In fact, the ghosts of past rovers and landers guide Perseverance on its journey. As we continue to uncover the secrets of Mars, we are reminded of its past and the mysteries that still linger. Join us in pondering the mysteries of Mars as we explore its haunted history.

Written by Stephanie Connell, Ph.D. Student Collaborator at Purdue University

Mars Perseverance Sol 1306: Left Mastcam-Z Camera

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA Technologies Named Among TIME Inventions of 2024

Source: NASA

As NASA continues to innovate for the benefit of humanity, agency inventions that use new structures to harness sunlight for space travel, enable communications with spacecraft at record-breaking distances, and determine the habitability of a moon of Jupiter, were named Wednesday among TIME’s Inventions of 2024.
“The NASA workforce — wizards, as I call them — have been at the forefront of invention and technology for more than 65 years,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “From developing Europa Clipper, the largest satellite for a planetary mission that NASA has ever launched, to the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, and communicating with lasers from deep space, NASA is improving our understanding of life on Earth — and the cosmos — for the benefit of all.”
Solar Sailing with Composite Booms

NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is testing technologies that could allow spacecraft to “sail on sunlight,” using the Sun’s rays for propulsion. Like a sailboat turning to catch the wind, a solar sail adjusts its trajectory by angling its sail supported by booms deployed from the spacecraft. This demonstration uses a composite boom technology that is stiffer, lighter, and more stable in challenging thermal environments than previous designs. After launching on April 23, aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, the mission team met its primary objective by deploying the boom and sail system in space in August. Next, they will work to prove performance by using the sail to maneuver in orbit.
Results from this mission could provide an alternative to chemical and electric propulsion systems and inform the design of future larger-scale missions that require unique vantage points, such as space weather early warning satellites.
Communicating with Lasers from Deep Space

Since launching aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on Oct. 13, 2023, a Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration has delivered record-breaking downlink data rates to ground stations as the Psyche spacecraft travels through deep space. To demonstrate the high data rates that are possible with laser communications, photos, telemetry data from the spacecraft, and ultra-high-definition video, including a streamed video of Taters the cat chasing a laser pointer, have been downlinked over hundreds of millions of miles. The mission, which is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has also sent and received optical communications out to Mars’ farthest distance from Earth, fulfilling one of the project’s primary goals.
Searching for Life’s Ingredients at Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa

The largest NASA spacecraft ever built for a mission headed to another planet, Europa Clipper also is the agency’s first mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. Using a suite of nine science instruments and a gravity experiment, the mission seeks to determine whether Jupiter’s moon, Europa, has conditions that could support life. There’s strong evidence that under Europa’s ice lies an enormous, salty ocean. Scientists also have found evidence that Europa may host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface. Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the spacecraft launched on Oct. 14, and will begin orbiting Jupiter in 2030, flying by the icy moon 49 times to learn more about it.
Europa Clipper’s main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The detailed exploration will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, designed and built the deployable composite booms and solar sail system. Within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), the Small Spacecraft Technology program funds and manages the mission and the Game Changing Development program developed the deployable composite boom technology.
The Deep Space Optical Communications experiment is funded by STMD’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Some of the technology was developed through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as well as NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA Marshall, and NASA Langley.
For more information about the agency’s missions, visit:

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MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: ESAs publish 2024 Joint Report on principal adverse impacts disclosures under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation

Source: European Banking Authority

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) have published their third annual Report on disclosures of principal adverse impacts under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

The Report assesses both entity and product-level Principal Adverse Impact (PAI) disclosures under the SFDR. These disclosures aim at showing the negative impact of financial institutions’ investments on the environment and people and the actions taken by asset managers, insurers, investment firms, banks and pension funds to mitigate them.

The findings show that financial institutions have improved the accessibility of their PAI disclosures. There has also been positive progress regarding the quality of the information disclosed by financial products, and, in general, in the quality of the PAI statements. A few National Competent Authorities (NCAs) also reported slight improvements in the compliance with the SFDR disclosures in their national markets.

Looking forward, the Report includes recommendations to NCAs to ensure convergent supervision of financial market participants’ practices, and to the European Commission for their comprehensive assessment on the SFDR.

The ESAs have also developed an overview of good practices related to the location, clarity, complexity of the disclosures based on a survey of NCAs.

MIL OSI Europe News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Statement by Nordic Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the situation in Georgia

Source: Government of Sweden

Statement by Nordic Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the situation in Georgia – Government.se

Statement by Maria Malmer Stenergard

Published 30 October 2024

We, the Nordics, join the international calls for a thorough and impartial investigation of reported irregularities before and during Georgia’s 26 October parliamentary elections. It is essential to dispel doubts that have been cast on the integrity of the electoral process.

The Nordic countries have firmly supported Georgia’s goal of Euro-Atlantic integration, based on a set of shared fundamental values.

In recent years, we have followed Georgia’s political trajectory with growing concern. Policies pursued and legislation introduced by the Government of Georgia have increasingly deviated from a path consistent with the goal of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Upholding the rule of law and democratic elections is integral to any progress on Georgia’s EU path.

As Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Nordic countries, we sincerely hope to see Georgia return to a path that will lead it to its rightful place in the European and Euro-Atlantic family. We will continue to follow events in Georgia closely and will judge the Georgian government based on their actions.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland
Espen Barth Eide, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway
Maria Malmer Stenergard, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

MIL OSI Europe News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: O’Chiese First Nation — Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit investigates homicide on Sunchild First Nation – Update #2

Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Alberta RCMP advise that today a 33-year-old individual was located and safely arrested by the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit on O’Chiese First Nation for the Dec. 3, 2023, homicide Sheridan Goodrunning on Sunchild First Nation.

He will be taken before a justice of the peace to determine his release status and future court date.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Gleichen — Alberta RCMP member charged after investigation
Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

In October of 2023, the Alberta RCMP’s Southern Alberta District General Investigation Section began an investigation into the on-duty conduct of an RCMP member.

As a result of the investigation, Cst. Anthony Jacobs (40) of the Gleichen RCMP has been charged with:
- One count of Perjury; and
- One count of Breach of Trust.
Jacobs is suspended with pay, and has now been released on an Undertaking. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2024, at the Siksika Nation Court of Justice.

Jacobs has been with the RCMP for 9 years.

MIL Security OSI –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Man pleads guilty to multiple child sexual abuse offences following Met investigation
Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

A 28-year-old man has pleaded guilty to a string of devastating sexual offences against children after being confronted with overwhelming evidence uncovered by the Metropolitan Police.

Sam Phillips, 28 (07.04.96), of Hillcroome Road, Sutton, appeared at Harrow Crown Court on 30th October, where he admitted to 38 offences committed between December 2023 and February 2024.

His crimes, which targeted six vulnerable children, including over 20 counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, alongside further charges of sexual communication with a child and making indecent images of children

The Met investigation demonstrated the tireless dedication of the officers involved, whose swift actions and relentless pursuit of justice ensured that Phillips could not continue his reign of abuse. Their work uncovered the extent of his crimes, providing crucial evidence that led to his guilty plea and ensuring that he will face the full weight of the law.

Chief Superintendent Sara Leach, who leads policing in north-west London where the investigation was undertaken, said:

“Phillips is a predator of the worst kind, preying on innocent, vulnerable children for his own gratification. The scale of his offending is both appalling and heartbreaking, and no child should ever have to endure the trauma these young victims have suffered.

“I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the children and their families who had the courage to come forward. It is impossible to imagine the pain and fear they have experienced, but their bravery has allowed us to hold this dangerous individual to account.

“I am pleased Phillips has pleaded guilty, it is a testament to the strength and diligence of the case that Met officers have built. This outcome reflects our unwavering commitment to bringing sexual abusers to justice and ensuring that victims are heard and protected.”

The investigation began in late January 2024, when officers were contacted with serious concerns regarding the welfare of a child who had potentially been sexually exploited. Met detectives in north-west London immediately launched an investigation.

Through meticulous investigative work, officers uncovered that two additional children had also been groomed by Phillips. He had manipulated these children online, sending them money in exchange for inappropriate images of themselves. Detectives quickly traced the payments to Phillips’ account, and he was arrested on Monday, 11 March 2024. Initially charged with 11 offences involving three children, further analysis of his phone and financial records revealed more victims, leading to the total of 38 charges which were pleaded guilty to.

Acting Detective Sergeant Maria Giannakidou, the officer in the case, said:

“We commend the incredible bravery of the survivors who have come forward. It is through their courage that we are able to bring these deeply serious charges forward. Their strength in sharing their experiences is invaluable in holding those responsible to account, and we are committed to ensuring that victim voices are heard.”

Supporting Victims

The Metropolitan Police remains steadfast in its commitment to tackling child sexual exploitation and ensuring that every victim receives the care, justice, and support they deserve. Officers continue to work closely with specialist services to provide comprehensive assistance to the children and families affected by these crimes, ensuring that they are never alone in their recovery.

Support and assistance can be obtained from a number of agencies and charities:
- National Association for People Abused in Childhood NAPAC helpline: 0808 801 0331
- Rape Crisis 08085002222
- Childline 0800 1111
- National Rape and Sexual Abuse Helpline 0808 802 9999
- Survivors UK 0203 598 3898 info@survivorsuk.org.
- Samaritans 116 123 jo@samaritans.org
Crimes of this nature can be reported online or on the telephone or in person to the police by calling 101 however 999 in an emergency.

MIL Security OSI –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: FBI Dallas Unveils Public Service Announcements in Different Languages to Increase Hate Crime Reporting

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

DALLAS, TX—The FBI Dallas Division developed a series of videos in five different languages to urge the community to report hates crimes to the FBI. The languages represented in the videos are English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Urdu. The goal is to reach people throughout the Dallas Division’s territory where English is not the first language.

Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI’s civil rights program because of the devastating impact they have on families and communities. The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.

The FBI is the lead investigative agency for criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes and works closely with local, state, tribal, and other federal law enforcement partners in many of these cases, even when federal charges are not pursued.

“The FBI is committed to increasing awareness of how to report hate crimes. It is important for the communities we serve to understand this message. This is why we decided to translate our call to action into multiple languages,” said P.J. O’Brien, acting special agent in charge of the FBI Dallas Division. “We want to reassure the public that the FBI will hold people accountable for committing these serious crimes.”

The FBI protects all victims of crimes, regardless of their country of national origin or immigration status. If you believe you are a victim or a witness of a hate crime, you are encouraged to report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting an online tip at tips.fbi.gov. You may remain anonymous, and reports can be made in an individual’s preferred language.

Hate Crime Video Links

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: OTC Europa: BaFin warns about websites otceuropa.com, otceuropa.info und otc-500.support

Source: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – In English

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) warns consumers about services offered by OTC Europa on the websites otceuropa.com, otceuropa.info und otc-500.support. BaFin has information that the company is offering financial services without the required authorisation. There is also a connection to the “OTC-500” platform, which BaFin has already warned about.

Financial services may only be offered in Germany if the company provid-ing these services has the necessary authorisation from BaFin to do this. However, some companies offer these services without the required au-thorisation. Information on whether particular companies have been authorised by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.

Theinformation provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG).

Please be aware:

BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify fraud attempts at an early stage.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Identity fraud: BaFin warns consumers against offers on websites waystone-im.de and wim-finanzberatung.de

Source: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – In English

Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin warns against alleged fixed-term deposit offers on the websites waystone-im.de (previously: waystone-im.com) and wim-finanzberatung.de. The services are not actually being offered by Waystone Investment Management (IE) Limited, German Branch. This is a case of identity fraud by unknown perpetrators. Contrary to the information on the website, BaFin does not supervise alleged Waystone Investments.

Anyone providing financial or investment services in Germany may do so only with authorisation from BaFin. However, some companies offer these services without the necessary authorisation. Information on whether companies have been authorised by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.

Theinformation provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG).

Please be aware:

BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify fraud attempts at an early stage.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Capital funding for three city centre projects withdrawn

Source: Scotland – City of Perth

The money, from the previous Conservative UK Government’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, had been earmarked for three projects to support culture and regeneration in Perth city centre.

These projects were to create a visitor attraction and office space at Lower City Mills, to create an exhibition and retail space at The Ironworks and a high street outlet for micro producers.

Perth and Kinross Council leader Councillor Grant Laing said: “We are all well aware of the financial challenges facing the UK but this is an extremely disappointing – and, in my opinion, short-sighted – decision.

“We have three excellent projects ready to start, all of which would help to breathe new life into Perth city centre for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors.

“Perth fought hard for a share of funding. When the £5 million was announced in March this year I was pleased the UK government had finally recognised the value of investing in Perth and Kinross, even if we received a smaller share than many other areas.

“To have the rug pulled out from under us by the new Labour government now simply adds insult to injury.

“We will look to see if other sources of funding is possible for these three projects and continue our ongoing efforts to regenerate Perth city centre.”

Perth and Kinross Council Chief Executive Thomas Glen said: “It is extremely disappointing the new UK Government has chosen not to uphold the pledge made to Perth and Kinross in March.

“These three projects are part of our ambitious plans to regenerate Perth city centre but they require funding to become a reality.

“Consultation on the Perth City Centre Design and Development Framework, which sets out our ambitions for the city, will begin in November.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Have Questions? Answers May Be Available at FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: Have Questions? Answers May Be Available at FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers

Have Questions? Answers May Be Available at FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers

BATON ROUGE, La. – FEMA remains in Louisiana to assist survivors recovering from Hurricane Francine. Three Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) are open to support survivors from Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes. FEMA employees are on-hand to answer questions and assist with applications. Representatives of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of Louisiana and nonprofit and nongovernmental partners are also available to assist survivors as they navigate their recovery. The centers are accessible to people with disabilities or access and functional needs and are equipped with assistive technology. If you need a reasonable accommodation or sign language interpreter, please call 833-285-7448 (press 2 for Spanish).DRCs are open at the following locations: St. Mary ParishMorgan City Municipal Auditorium728 Myrtle St.Morgan City, LA 70380Terrebonne ParishTerrebonne Parish Library151 Library DriveHouma, LA 70360These centers operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. No appointment is necessary. Lafourche ParishLafourche Parish Emergency Operations Center4876 Hwy. 1Raceland, LA 70394This center will close Nov. 1. It is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.The centers have assistive technology equipment that allows disaster survivors to interact with staff.Video Remote Interpreting is available and in-person sign language is available by request.Real-time captioning as well as information in Braille, large-print, audio and electronic versions are available.The centers also have accessible parking, ramps and restrooms.Specialists at the centers can also direct you to operators who can communicate in languages other than English and printed material in multiple languages.Specialists can help you update your FEMA applications and learn about state and community programs and other available assistance. They can clarify information you have received from FEMA or other agencies; they can explain the rental assistance available to homeowners and renters; and they can fax your requested documents to a FEMA processing center and scan or copy new information or documents needed for case files.You do not have to visit a center to apply for FEMA disaster assistance. The quickest way to apply is by going online at disasterassistance.gov/.Additional options when applying include:Download the FEMA App for mobile devices. Call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Help is available in most languages. If you use a relay service, such as video relay (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service.To view an accessible video about how to apply visit: Three Ways to Register for FEMA Disaster Assistance – YouTube.For the latest information visit fema.gov/disaster/4817. Follow FEMA Region 6 social media at X.com/FEMARegion6 or on Facebook at facebook.com/femaregion6.
alexa.brown
Wed, 10/30/2024 – 15:43

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Oregon Requests a Major Disaster Declaration After Historic Wildfire Season Impacts Rural Communities

Source: US State of Oregon

span dir=”ltr”>SALEM, Ore. – The unprecedented severity of this wildfire season led Governor Tina Kotek to declare a State of Emergency on July 12 and prompted a request for a federal major disaster declaration from President Biden.

Governor Kotek’s request, made under the Robert T. Stafford Act, seeks federal aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance program. If approved, federal aid will help reimburse state, tribal, and local governments, for some of the costs associated with response efforts, and the recovery of public infrastructure damaged during the 2024 wildfires—one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in Oregon’s history.

The FEMA–State Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment determined that public infrastructure in six counties—Gilliam, Grant, Jefferson, Umatilla, Wasco, and Wheeler— had damage that met the federal cost threshold, prompting those six counties to be included in the state’s request for a federal major disaster declaration.

The destruction of utility poles and power lines led to prolonged power outages, communication failures, compromised emergency response capabilities, and limited access to critical services. Temporary shelters were required to support medically fragile individuals, elderly residents, and isolated communities affected by extended power outages.

Other areas of the state—such as Baker, Douglas, Harney, and Malheur counties—also sustained damage. However, the public infrastructure damages in these counties did not meet the federal cost threshold necessary to be included in the request for a major disaster declaration via FEMA’s Public Assistance program.

Governor Kotek also requested a waiver for Oregon’s required cost-share for emergency response activities. This additional federal support is requested due to the state’s significant resource commitment to wildfire response and the financial strain on these rural areas. This season’s extraordinary wildfire activity saw the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office (OSFM) mobilize a record number of resources under the Emergency Conflagration Act, deploying 17 times, and thousands of wildland firefighters mobilized through the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF).

This wildfire season, Oregon endured 1.9 million acres of wildfire damage, far surpassing the state’s 10-year average of 640,000 acres. Fires destroyed more than 40 homes, damaged an additional 132 structures, and disrupted critical transportation, utilities, and essential services. Ranchers in eastern Oregon face long-term recovery challenges due to the devastation of livestock resources, which have severe financial implications for these communities.

While the federal government’s response to the disaster declaration request may take up to six weeks, the Oregon Department of Emergency Management continues coordination with community partners to ensure support reaches residents and ranchers in these areas. OEM continues to provide resources, guidance and support to communities as they navigate the aftermath.

In addition, OEM is assessing the substantial economic losses faced by small businesses in the impacted areas. Small business owners within fire-affected communities are encouraged to complete the economic injury loss form by October 31 to help OEM evaluate the extent of the damage and shape future support efforts.

For further information on Oregon’s wildfire response and recovery initiatives, please visit the Oregon Wildfire Response and Recovery Homepage or consult the online Community FAQs. The 2024 Wildfire Spotlight also offers an overview of the challenges faced, the coordinated response efforts, and estimated recovery costs from damage assessments conducted with FEMA.

Those interested in supporting recovery efforts can help in several ways. Donations of hay are being coordinated by OSU Extension and the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, and volunteers are needed to transport hay from the Willamette Valley to ranchers in need. Additionally, the OSU Foundation, Oregon Farm Bureau, and Oregon Cattlemen’s Association are accepting cash donations that will be distributed directly to ranchers and farmers to help offset recovery costs.

###

It is the mission of Oregon Emergency Management to proactively develop emergency response, risk reduction and disaster recovery programs to better serve Oregonians during times of disaster. OEM prioritizes an equitable and inclusive culture of preparedness that empowers all Oregonians to thrive in times in crisis. The agency leads collaborative statewide efforts, inclusive of all partners and the communities we serve, to ensure capability to get help in an emergency and to protect, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies or disasters. For more information about the OEM, visit oregon.gov/oem.

You can get this document in other languages, large print, braille, or a format you prefer. For assistance, email OEM_publicinfo@oem.oregon.gov or dial 711.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Lloydminster — Lloydminster RCMP advise public of heavy police presence – Update 4
Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit continues their investigation into the incident that occurred on Sept.11, 2024, resulting in the deaths of three individuals.

Police have now positively identified the victims as follows:
- Brent Peters (66)
- Matthew Peters (32)
- Brennan Peters (34)
We understand the concern this incident has raised within the community. Please be assured that our officers are fully committed to solving this case and bringing those responsible to justice. While the investigation is ongoing, we want to emphasize that there is no ongoing threat to the public.

If anyone has any information regarding the murders of Brent, Matthew and Brennan Peters, they are asked to contact the Lloydminster RCMP at 780-808-8400. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

MIL Security OSI –
January 25, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s new digital ID scheme falls short of global privacy standards. Here’s how it can be fixed

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ashish Nanda, Research Fellow, Deakin Cyber Research and Innovation Centre, Deakin University

mayam_studio/Shutterstock

Australia’s new digital ID system promises to transform the way we live. All of our key documents, such as driver’s licences and Medicare cards, will be in a single digital wallet, making it easier for us to access a range of services.

The federal government is still developing the system, with a pilot expected to run next year. Known as the “Trust Exchange”, it is part of the Trusted Digital Identity Framework, which is designed to securely verify people’s identities using digital tokens.

Earlier this year, in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Federal Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten, called the new digital ID system “world leading”. However, it has several privacy issues, especially when compared to international standards like those in the European Union.

So how can it be fixed?

What is Trust Exchange?

Trust Exchange – or TEx – is designed to simplify how we prove who we are online. It will work alongside the myID (formerly myGovID) platform, where Australians can store and manage their digital ID documents.

The platform is intended to be both secure and convenient. Users would be able to access services ranging from banking to applying for government services without juggling paperwork.

Think of the system as a way to prove your identity and share personal information such as your age, visa status or licence number — without handing over any physical documents or revealing too much personal information.

For example, instead of showing your full driver’s licence to enter a licensed premises, you can use a digital token that confirms, “Yes, this person is over 18”.

But what will happen to all that sensitive data behind the scenes?

Falling short of global standards

The World Wide Web Consortium sets global standards around digital identity management. These standards ensure people only share the minimum required information and retain control over their digital identities without relying on centralised bodies.

The European Union’s digital identity system regulation builds on these standards. It creates a secure, privacy-centric digital identity framework across its member states. It is decentralised, giving users full control over their credentials.

In its proposed form, however, Australia’s digital ID system falls short of these global standards in several key ways.

First, it is a centralised system. Everything will be monitored, managed and stored by a single government agency. This will make it more vulnerable to breaches and diminishes users’ control over their digital identities.

Second, the system does not align with the World Wide Web Consortium’s verifiable credentials standards. These standards are meant to give users full control to selectively disclose personal attributes, such as proof of age, revealing only the minimum personal information needed to access a service.

As a result, the system increases the likelihood of over-disclosure of personal information.

Third, global standards emphasise preventing what’s known as “linkability”. This means users’ interactions with different services remain distinct, and their data isn’t aggregated across multiple platforms.

But the token-based system behind Australia’s digital ID system creates the risk that different service providers could track users across services and potentially profile their behaviours. By comparison, the EU’s system has explicit safeguards to prevent this kind of tracking – unless explicitly authorised by the user.

Finally, Australia’s framework lacks the stringent rules found in the EU which require explicit consent for collecting and processing biometric data, including facial recognition and fingerprint data.

Filling the gaps

It is crucial the federal government addresses these issues to ensure its digital ID system is successful. Our award-winning research offers a path forward.

The digital ID system should simplify the verification process by automating the selection of an optimal, varied set of credentials for each verification.

This will reduce the risk of user profiling, by preventing a single credential from being overly associated with a particular service. It will also reduce the risk of a person being “singled out” if they are using an obscure credential, such as an overseas drivers licence.

Importantly, it will make the system easier to use.

The system should also be decentralised, similar to the EU’s, giving users control over their digital identities. This reduces the risk of centralised data breaches. It also ensures users are not reliant on a single government agency to manage their credentials.

Australia’s digital ID system is a step in the right direction, offering greater convenience and security for everyday transactions. However, the government must address the gaps in its current framework to ensure this system also balances Australians’ privacy and security.

The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Limited, whose activities are partially funded by the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme.

The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Limited whose activities are partially funded by the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme.

The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Limited, whose activities are partially funded by the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme.

– ref. Australia’s new digital ID scheme falls short of global privacy standards. Here’s how it can be fixed – https://theconversation.com/australias-new-digital-id-scheme-falls-short-of-global-privacy-standards-heres-how-it-can-be-fixed-241797

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Works to Safeguard U.S. Elections from Illegal Immigrants

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined her colleagues in criticizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for failing to prevent illegal aliens from registering to vote and protect the integrity of American elections.
In light of a report that uncovered that non-citizens have voted and are registering to vote in Iowa, Senator Ernst additionally criticized the White House for refusing to prosecute individuals caught illegally voting or registering to vote.“We are deeply concerned by reports of non-citizens registering to vote and voting in federal elections,” the lawmakers wrote.“Clearly, there is a non-negligible amount of voter participation by non-citizens in federal elections, which is not only a serious threat to the integrity of our elections and the democratic process they represent, but also has the potential to reduce Americans’ trust and confidence in election results,” the lawmakers continued.
To maintain the integrity of our elections, Ernst demanded answers about the number of illegal aliens who have been charged, tried, and convicted of election related crimes, and asked what steps the DOJ is taking to work with states where there have been reports of unlawful election activity by illegal aliens.
Click here to view the full letter.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Ahead of 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Senator Markey Urges Meta to Enable Independent Academic Research on its Impact on Election

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
Letter Text (PDF)
Washington (October 29, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO of Meta, on the company’s failure to launch an academic research initiative on its platforms’ impact on the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, two of Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, launched a partnership with 17 researchers to investigate social media’s impact on the 2020 presidential election. Although that research is ongoing, it has already produced high-quality and informative studies on Facebook and Instagram’s political impact. Meta is not undertaking a similar initiative this election cycle.
Senator Markey wrote, “Meta’s decision to enable independent researchers to study Facebook and Instagram’s impact on the 2020 election provided a critical window into the platforms’ impact on U.S. politics and the 2020 election. Thanks to this partnership, over the past few years, researchers have released important studies on Facebook and Instagram’s effect on political polarization, news knowledge, and turnout, among other measures, and the impact of different changes to Facebook and Instagram’s user experiences, such as switching certain users to a chronological feed of content, rather than an algorithmically determined feed.”
Senator Markey continued, “Four years later, although we have learned much more about social media’s impact, many questions remain unanswered, and Meta appears to have pulled back on answering them. With the presidential election just a week away, it may be too late to conduct the exact same type of research as was done under the 2020 initiative, but Meta still has significant data that can shed light on its impact on this election. Going forward, I urge Meta to once again lead the industry in transparency and ensure independent researchers have the access necessary to develop a better picture of social media’s impact on our elections, institutions, and democracy.”
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
In July 2024, Senator Markey, along with Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and their colleagues, sent a bipartisan and bicameral letter to Meta raising concerns about Meta’s decision to end access to CrowdTangle, a Meta-owned transparency tool that has allowed researchers and journalists to view and study public content on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms on a wide range of issues, including foreign influence campaigns, terrorist threats, and mental health.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025