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  • MIL-OSI: AGF Management Limited Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    • Reported quarterly adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.37
    • Total assets under management and fee-earning assets of $49.7 billion
    • Declared quarterly dividend per share of 11.5 cents

    AGF Management Limited (AGF or the Company) (TSX: AGF.B) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended August 31, 2024.

    AGF reported total assets under management and fee-earning assets1 of $49.7 billion compared to $47.8 billion as at May 31, 2024 and $42.3 billion as at August 31, 2023.

    “Amid an uncertain economic backdrop and significant market volatility, we are pleased to see early signs of improvement with positive retail net flows complementing our solid investment performance,” said Kevin McCreadie, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, AGF. “This improvement can be attributed to our long-term strategic plan which diversifies our business across asset classes and client channels ensuring we thrive through changing market cycles.”

    AGF’s mutual fund gross sales were $1,012 million for the quarter compared to $934 million in the previous quarter and $633 million in the prior year quarter. Mutual fund net sales were $14 million compared to net redemptions of $112 million in the previous quarter and net redemptions of $151 million in the prior year quarter.

    “Given the current market environment and industry trends, we are pleased with the trajectory of our sales strategy,” said Judy Goldring, President and Head of Global Distribution, AGF. “Heading into the final months of 2024, we remain focused on diversifying our capabilities and offerings through a vehicle agnostic approach that meets the evolving needs of our clients.”

    _________________
    1 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers

    Key Business and Financial Highlights:

    • AGF International Advisors Company Limited, a subsidiary of AGF, was once again accepted as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code, a best-practice benchmark in investment stewardship.
    • AGF Management Limited partnered with Archer Holdco, LLC – a leading technology-enabled service provider to the investment management industry – to help further grow its Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) model business through additional product offerings and investment strategies.
    • AGF SAF Private Credit LP was named a Top Contender for a 2024 Canadian Hedge Fund Award Fund.
    • Adjusted EBITDA2 for the three months ended August 31, 2024, was $40.2 million, compared to $37.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $33.7 million in the prior year comparative period.
    • Net management, advisory and administration fees2 were $78.7 million for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $81.2 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $73.8 million for the comparative prior year period.
    • Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners for the three months ended August 31, 2024, was $18.5 million, compared to $12.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $7.3 million for the comparative prior year period. The increase quarter over quarter and year over year were driven by higher fair value adjustments and distribution income and the consolidation of a full quarter of KCPL financial results. Revenue from AGF Capital Partners can be variable quarter to quarter and can be impacted by fair value adjustments, timing of monetizations and cash distributions as well as performance fees and carried interest.
    • Adjusted selling, general and administrative costs2 were $59.6 million for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $60.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $50.3 million for the comparative prior year period.
    • Adjusted net income attributable to equity owners was $24.5 million ($0.37 adjusted diluted EPS) for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $23.6 million ($0.35 adjusted diluted EPS) for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $22.9 million ($0.34 adjusted diluted EPS) for the comparative prior year period.
        Three months ended Nine months ended
          August 31,     May 31,     August 31,     August 31,     August 31,  
      (in millions of Canadian dollars, except per share data)   2024     2024     2023     2024     2023  
                           
      Revenues                    
      Management, advisory and administration fees $ 114.4   $ 116.4   $ 107.4   $ 339.4   $ 324.0  
      Trailing commissions and investment advisory fees   (35.7 )   (35.2 )   (33.6 )   (104.6 )   (101.5 )
      Net management, advisory and administration fees2 $ 78.7   $ 81.2   $ 73.8   $ 234.8   $ 222.5  
      Deferred sales charges   1.4     1.9     1.8     5.3     5.7  
      Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners2   18.5     12.0     7.3     54.7     29.4  
      Other revenue2   1.2     1.9     1.1     5.1     2.4  
      Total adjusted net revenue2   99.8     97.0     84.0     299.9     260.0  
                           
      Selling, general and administrative   66.3     68.2     50.2     192.3     156.2  
      Adjusted selling, general and administrative2   59.6     60.0     50.3     173.1     155.0  
                           
      EBITDA2   33.0     26.6     33.8     104.8     103.8  
      Adjusted EBITDA2   40.2     37.0     33.7     126.8     105.0  
                           
      Net income – equity owners of the Company   20.3     18.1     23.0     68.9     70.9  
      Adjusted net income – equity owners of the Company   24.5     23.6     22.9     81.8     71.9  
                           
      Diluted earnings per share   0.30     0.27     0.34     1.03     1.05  
                           
      Adjusted diluted earnings per share   0.37     0.35     0.34     1.23     1.07  
                           
      Free cash flow2   29.1     23.7     22.9     73.9     62.8  
                           
      Dividends per share   0.115     0.115     0.110     0.340     0.320  
      (end of period) Three months ended
          Aug. 31,     May 31,     Feb. 28,     Nov. 30,     Aug. 31,  
      (in millions of Canadian dollars)   2024     2024     2024     2023     2023  
                             
      Mutual fund assets under management (AUM)3 $ 28,104   $ 26,961   $ 26,186   $ 24,459   $ 24,377  
      ETFs and SMA AUM   2,128     1,800     1,676     1,465     1,332  
      Segregated accounts and sub-advisory AUM   6,430     6,313     7,162     6,774     7,058  
      Total AGF Investments AUM   36,662     35,074     35,024     32,698     32,767  
      AGF Private Wealth AUM   8,186     8,026     7,836     7,341     7,360  
      AGF Capital Partners AUM   2,774     2,663     48     46     42  
      Total AUM $ 47,622   $ 45,763   $ 42,908   $ 40,085   $ 40,169  
      AGF Capital Partners fee-earning assets4   2,080     2,081     2,104     2,095     2,090  
      Total AUM and fee-earning assets4 $ 49,702   $ 47,844   $ 45,012   $ 42,180   $ 42,259  
                             
      Net mutual fund sales (redemptions)3   14     (112 )   (125 )   (224 )   (151 )
      Average daily mutual fund AUM3   27,542     26,604     25,197     23,840     24,168  

    2 Net management, advisory and administration fees, adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners, total net revenue, adjusted selling, general and administrative, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow are not standardized measures prescribed by IFRS. The Company utilizes non-IFRS measures to assess our overall performance and facilitate a comparison of quarterly and full-year results from period to period. They allow us to assess our investment management business without the impact of non-operational items. These non-IFRS measures may not be comparable with similar measures presented by other companies. These non-IFRS measures and reconciliations to IFRS, where necessary, are included in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis available at www.agf.com.
    3 Mutual fund AUM includes retail AUM and institutional client AUM invested in customized series offered within mutual funds.
    4 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers.

    For further information and detailed financial statements for the third quarter ended August 31, 2024, including Management’s Discussion and Analysis, which contains discussions of non-IFRS measures, please refer to AGF’s website at www.agf.com under ‘About AGF’ and ‘Investor Relations’ and at www.sedarplus.com.

    Conference Call

    AGF will host a conference call to review its earnings results today at 11 a.m. ET.

    The live audio webcast with supporting materials will be available in the Investor Relations section of AGF’s website at www.agf.com or at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/fwjgan3c/. Alternatively, the call can be accessed over the phone by registering here or in the Investor Relations section of AGF’s website at www.agf.com, to receive the dial-in numbers and unique PIN.

    A complete archive of this discussion along with supporting materials will be available at the same webcast address within 24 hours of the end of the conference call.

    About AGF Management Limited

    Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. Our companies deliver excellence in investing in the public and private markets through three business lines: AGF Investments, AGF Capital Partners and AGF Private Wealth.

    AGF brings a disciplined approach, focused on incorporating sound, responsible and sustainable corporate practices. The firm’s collective investment expertise, driven by its fundamental, quantitative and private investing capabilities, extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and their clients to high-net worth and institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations.

    Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America and Europe. With nearly $50 billion in total assets under management and fee-earning assets, AGF serves more than 800,000 investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

    AGF Management Limited shareholders, analysts and media, please contact:

    Ken Tsang
    Chief Financial Officer
    416-865-4338, InvestorRelations@agf.com

    Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release includes forward-looking statements about the Company, including its business operations, strategy and expected financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as ‘expects,’ ‘estimates,’ ‘anticipates,’ ‘intends,’ ‘plans,’ ‘believes’ or negative versions thereof and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as ‘may,’ ‘will,’ ‘should,’ ‘would’ and ‘could.’ In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future financial performance (including income, revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, fund performance, and possible future action on our part, is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including expected growth, results of operations, business prospects, business performance and opportunities. While we consider these factors and assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our operations, economic factors and the financial services industry generally. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by us due to, but not limited to, important risk factors such as level of assets under our management, volume of sales and redemptions of our investment products, performance of our investment funds and of our investment managers and advisors, client-driven asset allocation decisions, pipeline, competitive fee levels for investment management products and administration, and competitive dealer compensation levels and cost efficiency in our investment management operations, as well as general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, taxation, changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, technological changes, cybersecurity, the possible effects of war or terrorist activities, outbreaks of disease or illness that affect local, national or international economies, natural disasters and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply or other catastrophic events, and our ability to complete strategic transactions and integrate acquisitions, and attract and retain key personnel. We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than specifically required by applicable laws, we are under no obligation (and expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more complete discussion of the risk factors that may impact actual results, please refer to the ‘Risk Factors and Management of Risk’ section of the 2023 Annual MD&A.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: AGF Management Limited Declares Third Quarter 2024 Dividend

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On September 24, 2024, the Board of Directors of AGF Management Limited (TSX:AGF.B) declared a dividend of 11.5 cents per share on both the Class B Non-Voting shares and the Class A Voting common shares of the company. This dividend will be payable on October 17, 2024 to shareholders of record on October 10, 2024.

    ABOUT AGF MANAGEMENT LIMITED

    Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. Our companies deliver excellence in investing in the public and private markets through three business lines: AGF Investments, AGF Capital Partners and AGF Private Wealth.

    AGF brings a disciplined approach, focused on incorporating sound, responsible and sustainable corporate practices. The firm’s collective investment expertise, driven by its fundamental, quantitative and private investing capabilities, extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and their clients to high-net worth and institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations.

    Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America and Europe. With nearly $50 billion in total assets under management and fee-earning assets, AGF serves more than 800,000 investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

    AGF Management Limited shareholders, analysts and media, please contact:

    Ken Tsang
    Chief Financial Officer
    416-865-4338, InvestorRelations@agf.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. Declares Cash Dividend

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    COLDWATER, Mich., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Board of Directors of Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. (OTC Pink: SOMC) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on the outstanding shares of the corporation’s stock. The dividend is payable on October 18, 2024, to shareholders of record October 9, 2024. The annualized cash dividend of $0.60 per share represents a 3.47% dividend yield based on the current market price of $17.29 per share.

    Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company and the parent company of Southern Michigan Bank & Trust. It operates 17 offices within Branch, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Jackson, Kalamazoo, and St. Joseph Counties providing a broad range of consumer, business, and wealth management services throughout the region. For more information, please visit the Southern Michigan Bank & Trust website, www.smb-t.com.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates and projections about the financial services industry, the economy, and Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. Although we currently expect to continue to pay a quarterly cash dividend, each future dividend will be considered and declared by the board of directors in its discretion. Whether the board of directors continues to declare dividends depends on a number of factors, including our future financial condition and profitability. Forward-looking statements are based upon current beliefs and expectations and involve substantial risks, uncertainties, and assumptions (“risk factors”), which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise our forward-looking statements to reflect developments that occur, or information obtained after the date of this report.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. Announces Definitive Agreement to Merge with YD Biopharma Limited

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    YD Biopharma is a Clinical-Stage Biopharmaceutical Company Focusing on Cancer Prevention Diagnostics and Seeking to Transform the Treatment of a Wide Spectrum of Diseases

    Pro Forma for the Transaction, Combined Company is Expected to Have an Estimated Enterprise Value of Nearly $700 Million

    The Proposed Merger is Expected to Close by Early 2025; After Closing, the Combined Company is Expected to be Listed on Nasdaq Capital Market

    YD Biopharma has Recently Obtained Patents, Technology, and U.S. Authorization for Core Methylation Detection of Pancreatic Cancer, Along with Entering into an Agreement to Acquire Licenses for Breast Cancer Detection Upon the Closing of the Merger

    IRVING, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. (OTCQX: BRZH, BRZHR, BRZHW) (“Breeze” or the “Company”), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with YD Biopharma Limited (“YD Biopharma”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on cancer prevention medical diagnostics and the development of exosome-based therapeutics with the potential to transform the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases with high unmet medical need. Following the closing, the combined company is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

    Using Technology to Detect Health Problems Early On
    YD Biopharma specializes in the biopharmaceutical business and serves as a supplier of drugs and medical materials for clinical trials. In 2015, YD Biopharma was appointed as a clinical testing drug supplier by Novartis and has since expanded its offerings to include development and supply of ancillary products post-launch. YD Biopharma’s mission is to create a cancer-free world through advancements in biotechnology.

    More recently, YD Biopharma obtained patent and technology authorization from 3D Global Biotech Inc. (“3D Biotech”) to pioneer the application of corneal mesenchymal stem cells and their exosomes for treating eye diseases. YD Biopharma has introduced new advanced drugs and treatments for conditions such as dry eye disease, glaucoma, and corneal repair. YD Biopharma aims to optimize the treatment market for eye diseases by distribution through pharmacies, optometrists, and other channels.

    Earlier this year, YD Biopharma obtained patents, technology and U.S. market authorization from EG Biomed Taiwan for core methylation detection of pancreatic cancer with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. This partnership has led to the establishment of an independent laboratory in the U.S. dedicated to pancreatic cancer early detection and monitoring technology that marks a significant expansion of YD Biopharma’s research and development capabilities to collaborate with hospitals, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies to reach new patients.

    YD Biopharma has also recently negotiated related authorizations for breast cancer detection to further expand the Company’s product offerings. YD Biopharma is in the process of acquiring licenses from EG BioMed Taiwan for advanced breast cancer detection technology in the U.S., E.U., and Asia-Pacific that has high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. The acquisition of the licenses for EG Biomed’s breast cancer detection technology in the U.S., E.U., and Asia-Pacific is expected to be consummated simultaneously with the closing of the merger with Breeze.

    Management Commentary
    Dr. Ethan Shen, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of YD Biopharma, has an extensive background in the pharmaceutical industry having worked at a well-known global pharmaceutical company. Inspired by his father’s struggle with cancer and subsequent passing, Dr. Shen is dedicated to eradicating cancer and helping people to avoid chronic and painful treatments through early detection.

    Dr. Shen stated the following regarding the proposed transaction, “I’m pleased to announce the next phase of our strategy as we embark on a public listing in the U.S. through the proposed business combination with Breeze. Since our founding in 2013, we’ve made significant strides in expanding our capabilities through organic innovation, licensing agreements, and notable strategic partnerships. We have a strategic roadmap in place for accelerated growth and a compelling story to tell in the U.S. market as we aim to deliver health problem detection at an earlier stage than ever before through minimal intervention.”

    J. Douglas Ramsey, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Breeze, commented, “From day one, it has been our mission at Breeze to find a company with innovative and disruptive technology that has the potential to deliver significant growth to our shareholders. We are highly optimistic about the proposed business combination with YD Biopharma, a company that we believe is a true outlier in the biotech industry with strong growth potential in a variety of healthcare markets. We are working closely with their team to expeditiously close the transaction by early 2025 and move forward with YD Biopharma as a publicly traded company in the U.S.”

    YD Biopharma Key Investment Highlights

    • Proven Capabilities Across a Broad Spectrum of Solutions: YD Biopharma has an extensive suite of solutions ranging from ophthalmology cellular drug development to pancreatic and breast cancer diagnostics to nutritional product sales.
    • Notable Strategic Partnerships, Offering Validation and Growth Potential: YD Biopharma is a clinical testing drug supplier for Novartis, a top five global pharmaceutical company, as well as having licensing partnerships with EG BioMed for pancreatic cancer detection and 3D Global Biotech to develop treatment for eye disorders.
    • Proprietary Technology Supported by Licensing Agreements and IP Portfolio: Multi-decade, exclusive licensing agreements and owned, patented technology provides YD Biopharma with significant competitive first-mover advantage in each of its clinical markets.
    • Large and Underserved Markets for Each Solution Showcase Untapped Growth Potential: Multi-billion-dollar global market sizes and high single digit CAGRs over the next decade provide significant growth potential for YD Biopharma’s solutions.
    • Strong Leadership Team with Deep Expertise in Biotech and Finance: YD Biopharma has a founder-led management team with experience in new drug development, medical-grade health product development, pharmacy channel development, and financial management and accounting.

    Transaction Overview
    Under the terms of the business combination agreement, Breeze and YD Biopharma will each merge into wholly-owned subsidiaries of a newly formed Cayman holding company expected to be named “YD Biopharma Holdings Limited” and is anticipated to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

    Assuming no redemptions, the combined company will have an estimated post-transaction enterprise value of $694 million, consisting of an estimated equity value of $715 million, $21.0 million in cash and no debt. Cash proceeds raised will consist of Breeze’s $10.1 million cash in trust (before redemptions and payment of any transaction expenses) and $15 million in anticipated new capital.

    YD Biopharma intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to expand production and continue development, approval and launch of new technologies.

    The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both YD Biopharma and Breeze. It is expected to close by early 2025, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals, and other customary closing conditions. Additional information may be found in the Current Report on Form 8-K that was filed by Breeze Holdings today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Upon completion of the transaction, YD Biopharma will continue to be led by Founder, Chairman, and CEO Dr. Ethan Shen. Wu Cheng-fend will serve as Chief Medical Officer, and May Tsai will serve as Chief Business Officer.

    Advisors
    ArentFox Schiff LLP and Ogier are acting as legal advisors to YD Biopharma. I-Bankers Securities, Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Breeze Holdings. Woolery & Co. PLLC is acting as legal advisor to Breeze Holdings.

    About YD Biopharma
    YD Biopharma Limited is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on cancer prevention medical diagnostics and the development of exosome-based therapeutics with the potential to transform the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases with high unmet medical need. Through continuous effort and innovation, the Company has also become a recognized supplier of clinical trial drugs and has begun developing and supplying post-market auxiliary products.

    For more information, please visit www.yd-biopharma.com.

    About Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp.
    Breeze Holdings is a blank check company organized for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization, or other similar business combinations with one or more businesses or entities.

    Additional Information and Where to Find It
    This press release relates to a proposed business combination transaction involving Breeze Holdings and YD Biopharma. In connection with the proposed transaction, a newly-formed Cayman exempted company expected to be named “YD Biopharma Holdings Limited” (“YD Holdings”) intends to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a registration statement on Form F-4 that will include a proxy statement of Breeze and that also will constitute a prospectus of YD Holdings with respect to the ordinary shares of YD Holdings to be issued in the proposed transaction (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”). This document is not a substitute for the Proxy Statement/Prospectus. The definitive Proxy Statement/Prospectus (if and when available) will be delivered to Breeze Holdings’ and YD Biopharma’s stockholders. Breeze Holdings may also file other relevant documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF BREEZE HOLDINGS AND YD BIOPHARMA AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE FILED OR WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BREEZE HOLDINGS, YD HOLDINGS, YD BIOPHARMA, THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS.

    Investors and security holders of Breeze Holdings and YD Biopharma may obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and Proxy Statement/Prospectus (if and when available) and other documents that are filed or will be filed with the SEC by Breeze Holdings through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Breeze Holdings will be available free of charge at Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp., 955 W. John Carpenter Fwy., Suite 100-929, Irving, TX 75039, attention: J. Douglas Ramsey.

    Participants in the Solicitation
    Breeze Holdings, YD Biopharma and certain of their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Breeze Holdings and YD Biopharma in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about Breeze Holdings’ directors and executive officers and their ownership of Breeze Holdings common stock is set forth in Breeze Holdings’ filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on April 25, 2024 (the “Annual Report”). To the extent that holdings of Breeze Holdings’ securities have changed since the amounts included in the Annual Report, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership of Form 4 filed with the SEC. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC in respect of the proposed transaction when they become available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among other things, statements regarding the anticipated benefits and impact of the proposed transaction on the combined company’s business and future financial and operating results, the anticipated timing of closing of the proposed transaction, the anticipated growth of the industries and markets in which YD Biopharma competes, the success and customer acceptance of YD Biopharma’s product and service offerings and other aspects of YD Biopharma’s operations, plans, objectives, opportunities, expectations or operating results, the expected ownership structure of the combined company and the likelihood and ability of the parties to successfully consummate the proposed transaction. Words such as “may,” “should,” “will,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimated,” “target,” “project,” and similar phrases or words of similar meaning that denote future expectations or intent regarding the combined company’s financial results, operations and other matters are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and other factors, both known and unknown, which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control and that may cause actual results and the timing of future events to differ materially from the results and timing of future events anticipated by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) the ability of the parties to complete the proposed transaction within the time frame anticipated or at all, which may adversely impact the price of Breeze Holdings’ securities; (ii) the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction or those benefits taking longer than anticipated to be realized; (iii) the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed by Breeze Holdings’ business combination deadline and the potential failure to obtain further extensions of the business combination deadline if sought by Breeze Holdings; (iv) the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the proposed transaction, including the adoption of the definitive merger agreement by the stockholders of Breeze Holdings or YD Biopharma, the receipt of any required governmental or regulatory approvals or the failure to meet the Nasdaq listing standards in connection with the closing of the proposed transaction; (v) the lack of a third party valuation in determining whether or not to pursue the proposed transaction; (vi) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the definitive merger agreement; (vii) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or related governmental or regulatory orders ; (viii) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the proposed transaction on YD Biopharma’s business relationships, performance and business generally; (ix) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations of YD Biopharma and any potential difficulties in YD Biopharma employee retention as a result of the proposed transaction; (x) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against YD Biopharma or Breeze Holdings related to the definitive merger agreement or the proposed transaction or any product liability or regulatory lawsuits or proceedings relating to YD Biopharma’s products or services; (xi) the ability to maintain the listing of YD Holdings’ securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market after the closing of the proposed transaction; (xii) potential volatility in the price of Breeze Holdings’ securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which YD Biopharma operates, variations in performance across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting YD Biopharma’s business, and changes in the combined company’s capital structure; (xiii) the ability to implement business plans, identify and realize additional opportunities and achieve forecasts and other expectations after the completion of the proposed transaction; (xiv) the risk of downturns and the possibility of rapid change in the highly competitive industries in which YD Biopharma operates or the markets that YD Biopharma targets; (xv) the inability of YD Biopharma and its current and future collaborators to successfully develop and commercialize YD Biopharma’s products and services in the expected time frame or at all; (xvi) the risk that the combined company may never achieve or sustain profitability or may need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; and (xvii) the costs of the proposed transaction. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to additional risks, uncertainties and factors, including those described in Breeze Holdings’ most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by Breeze Holdings from time to time. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a predictor of future performance as projected financial information and other information are based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to various significant risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date hereof. Forecasts and estimates regarding YD Biopharma’s industry and end markets are based on sources we believe to be reliable, however there can be no assurance these forecasts and estimates will prove accurate in whole or in part. Annualized, pro forma, projected and estimated numbers are used for illustrative purposes only, are not forecasts and may not reflect actual results.

    No Offer or Solicitation
    This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or to buy any securities or a solicitation of any proxy, consent, vote or approval with respect to any securities in respect of the proposed transaction and is not a substitute for the Proxy Statement/Prospectus or any other document that Breeze Holdings may file with the SEC or send to Breeze Holdings’ or YD Biopharma’s stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. No offer, sale, issuance or transfer of securities shall be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale, issuance or transfer would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

    Contacts:

    YD Biopharma Limited
    Bob Chiu
    bobc95@udn-pharm.com

    Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp.
    Investor Relations
    Cody Slach and Cody Cree
    Gateway Group

    (949) 574-3860
    BREZ@gateway-grp.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Hampton Financial Corporation Announces the Appointment of New CEO of its Oxygen Working Capital Subsidiary

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hampton Financial Corporation (“Hampton” or the “Company”, TSXV:HFC) is pleased to announce the appointment of John Levac, as CEO of Oxygen Working Capital Corp. (“Oxygen”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hampton.

    “As we continue to develop and expand the scale of our newly acquired factoring business, Oxygen Working Capital Corp., we are delighted to welcome John Levac as CEO of Oxygen. John brings decades of experience in asset-backed and securitized lending to the company, having worked previously with major players in this space such as Wells Fargo & RBC. He also brings along numerous industry, lender and borrower relationships and we are pleased to have him join the team,” said Hampton Executive Chairman & CEO, Peter Deeb.

    “I am delighted to announce my appointment as CEO of Oxygen Working Capital, joining their Toronto based team. Oxygen consists of a highly diversified team of financial experts. As their growth potential across North America as an established and growing alternative lender is very exciting, the future looks bright. Under this new role, I look forward to connecting with many of my industry colleagues and developing new relationships with those whom I have not had the privilege of meeting yet, to enhance Oxygen’s capabilities and further diversify their relationship base,” stated John Levac.

    Hampton acquired Oxygen in early 2024 and has worked to integrate Oxygen’s factoring business into the Hampton platform while expanding Oxygen’s lending portfolio.

    About Oxygen Working Capital

    Oxygen, founded in 2017, is a specialized Canadian based lender focused on the commercial factoring business with clients across Canada, and with prospects for expanded reach and continued growth across broader North America. Oxygen provides entrepreneurs with short term financing solutions via immediate upfront capital by factoring their invoices and receivables, allowing businesses to meet their immediate working capital needs. Acquired in 2024, Oxygen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hampton.

    About Hampton Financial Corporation

    Hampton is a unique private equity firm that seeks to build shareholder value through long-term strategic investments. In addition to Oxygen, through its Investment Dealer subsidiary, Hampton Securities Limited (“HSL”), Hampton is actively engaged in family office, wealth management, institutional services and capital markets activities. HSL is a full-service investment dealer, regulated by CIRO (Formally IIROC) and registered in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Quebec. In addition, the Company provides investment banking services, which include assisting companies with raising capital, advising on mergers and acquisitions, and aiding issuers in obtaining a listing on recognized securities exchanges in Canada and abroad. The Company is also exploring opportunities to diversify its sources of revenue by way of strategic investments and acquisitions in both complimentary business and non-core sectors that can leverage the expertise of its Board and the diverse experience of its management team.

    For more information, please contact:

    Olga Juravlev
    Chief Financial Officer
    Hampton Financial Corporation
    (416) 862-8701

    Or

    Peter M. Deeb
    Executive Chairman & CEO
    Hampton Financial Corporation
    (416) 862-8651

    The TSXV has in no way approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

    No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction outside of Canada. The securities being offered have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a U.S. person absent registration or pursuant to an available exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. There will be no public offering of securities in the United States.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as “forward-looking statements“) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “should”, “hopeful”, “recovery”, “anticipate”, “achieve”, “could”, “believe”, “plan”, “intend”, “objective”, “continuous”, “ongoing”, “estimate”, “outlook”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “project” or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes.

    Forward-looking statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors beyond the Company’s ability to predict or control which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements herein. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results may vary, and vary materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements herein. Accordingly, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of the risks and uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements herein and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking statements herein are made only as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Purpose Investments Inc. Announces Final September 2024 Distribution Rate for Purpose High Interest Savings Fund, Purpose US Cash Fund, Purpose Cash Management Fund, and Purpose USD Cash Management Fund

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Purpose Investments Inc. announced today the final September 2024 distribution rates for Purpose High Interest Savings Fund, Purpose US Cash Fund, Purpose Cash Management Fund, and Purpose USD Cash Management Fund.

    Due to the recent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, the distribution levels for our US cash funds have been proportionately reduced to align with this adjustment.

    The following table reflects the final distribution amounts for the month of September. Ex-distribution date is September 26, 2024.

    Open-End Fund Ticker Symbol Final distribution per unit Record Date Payable Date Distribution Frequency
    Purpose USD Cash Management Fund – ETF Units MNU.U US $ 0.4091 09/26/2024 10/02/2024 Monthly
    Purpose Cash Management Fund – ETF Units MNY $ 0.3587 09/26/2024 10/02/2024 Monthly
    Purpose High Interest Savings Fund – ETF Units PSA $ 0.1670 09/26/2024 10/02/2024 Monthly
    Purpose US Cash Fund – ETF Units PSU.U US $ 0.4052 09/26/2024 10/02/2024 Monthly


    About Purpose Investments Inc.

    Purpose Investments Inc. is an asset management company with more than $20 billion in assets under management. Purpose Investments has an unrelenting focus on client-centric innovation, and offers a range of managed and quantitative investment products. Purpose Investments is led by well-known entrepreneur Som Seif and is a division of Purpose Unlimited, an independent technology-driven financial services company.

    For further information please contact:
    Keera Hart
    Keera.Hart@kaiserpartners.com
    905-580-1257

    Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investment fund investments. Please read the prospectus and other disclosure documents before investing. Investment funds are not covered by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government deposit insurer. There can be no assurance that the full amount of your investment in a fund will be returned to you. If the securities are purchased or sold on a stock exchange, you may pay more or receive less than the current net asset value. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: BaFin warns consumers about the website coinaimex.net

    Source: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – In English

    The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) warns consumers about the website coinaimex.net. According to information available to BaFin, Coinaimex Ltd, London, United Kingdom, offers financial and investment services there without authorization.

    BaFin has warned consumers about several almost identical websites that have come to its attention recently. The homepage of each website begins with the following sentence: “Step Into the Trading Arena With Confidence & [name of website]”.

    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 a particular company has been granted authorisation by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.

    The information 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 –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: AGNICO EAGLE PROVIDES NOTICE OF RELEASE OF THIRD QUARTER 2024 RESULTS AND CONFERENCE CALL

    Source: Agnico Eagle Mines

    Stock Symbol:  AEM (NYSE and TSX)

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 /CNW/ – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) (“Agnico Eagle” or the “Company“) today announced that it will release its third quarter 2024 results on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, after normal trading hours.

    Third Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call and Webcast

    Agnico Eagle’s senior management will host a conference call on Thursday, October 31, 2024, at 11:00 AM (E.D.T.) to discuss the Company’s financial and operating results.

    Via Webcast:

    To listen to the live webcast of the conference call, you may register on the Company website at www.agnicoeagle.com, or directly via the link here.

    Via Phone:

    To join the conference call by phone, please dial 416.945.7677 or toll-free 1.888.699.1199 to be entered into the call by an operator. To ensure your participation, please call approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call.

    To join the conference call without operator assistance, you may register your phone number here 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call to receive an instant automated call back.

    Replay Archive:

    Please dial 289.819.1450 or toll-free 1.888.660.6345, access code 80122#. The conference call replay will expire on November 30, 2024.

    The webcast, along with presentation slides, will be archived for 180 days on the Company’s website.

    About Agnico Eagle

    Agnico Eagle is a Canadian based and led senior gold mining company and the third largest gold producer in the world, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico. It has a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects in these countries as well as in the United States. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading environmental, social and governance practices. Agnico Eagle was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983.

    View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agnico-eagle-provides-notice-of-release-of-third-quarter-2024-results-and-conference-call-302258002.html

    SOURCE Agnico Eagle Mines Limited

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Historic racism still negatively affects the way paintings of black people are perceived – as our study shows

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tobiasz Trawinski, Lecturer in psychology, Liverpool Hope University

    There is little doubt that historic racism has influenced the content and composition of several famous figurative paintings. In March 2024, this could be seen in the debate around the exhibition of the Rex Whistler mural, The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats (1927), at the Tate Britain. Critics asked whether such artworks should remain on public display.

    There are several shocking elements of Rex Whistler’s mural, originally commissioned by the Tate as “decoration for the new refreshment room”, including the image of a black child chained to a horse and cart as it moves at speed. The debate raises the question – does the ongoing presence of artworks like this in public spaces serve to confront or maintain historic racist views?

    In some instances, the racist attitudes behind such paintings have been explicitly expressed by artists or painting owners, making them well-documented. Take, for example, John Trumbull (1715–1787), a painter who had several enslaved people living in his household. Another example is Gilbert Winter Moss (1828–1899), a banker who owned Richard Ansdell’s painting The Hunted Slaves (1861). According to the UCL Legacies of Slavery database, Moss’s family was deeply involved in the slave trade. In other cases, things aren’t so clear-cut.

    But even if not explicitly expressed, racist attitudes may have been implicitly held, to an extent that they were able to influence the creative process. Implicitly held racial attitudes are mental associations that, when triggered by race, can guide people’s judgment and actions. As a researcher in psychology, I wanted to explore if implicitly held racial attitudes affect the viewing of paintings when the images themselves make no suggestion of racial inequality.

    Alongside my colleagues, I have explored this question in a series of recent studies of portraits of black and white people. In one study, we used gaze-mapping technology to measure the eye movements made by visitors to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

    The measurement of when and where our eyes move, and how long they focus on specific objects, provides a time-sensitive index on what is important to viewers. We measured the eye movements of the visitors to the gallery who agreed to take part in our study as they looked at a set of five portraits of black sitters (including Two Jamaican Girls by Augustus John, 1937) and five portraits of white sitters (including Interior at Paddington by Lucian Freud, 1951).

    Their task was to say how much pleasure they experienced when looking at each painting. We also assessed the visitors to the gallery on their implicit racial attitudes and actual contact with different racial communities.

    Our results

    Our study showed that visitors to the gallery who reported little contact with black people and who held negative implicit racial attitudes reported experiencing little pleasure when viewing paintings showing black sitters.

    Perhaps more surprisingly, though they reported little pleasure, these visitors focused their attention more on the faces of the black sitters than others did. The results suggest that little contact with black people, combined with holding negative implicit racial attitudes, can be associated with an undue focus on black faces when viewing these paintings.

    We believe our findings suggest that negative implicit racial attitudes have not only influenced the historic content and composition of some paintings, but continue to exert an influence on the viewing of paintings in the present day. Moreover, the influence of negative implicit racial attitudes on the viewing of paintings exerts its effect even when the images themselves are quite neutral.

    Whether or not racist paintings are removed from public spaces, our results show that implicit racial attitudes will, for some viewers, continue to exert an influence on their perception of paintings representing black people and culture.


    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.

    Tobiasz Trawinski 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. Historic racism still negatively affects the way paintings of black people are perceived – as our study shows – https://theconversation.com/historic-racism-still-negatively-affects-the-way-paintings-of-black-people-are-perceived-as-our-study-shows-227007

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: OpenAI’s Strawberry program is reportedly capable of reasoning. It might be able to deceive humans

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Shweta Singh, Assistant Professor, Information Systems and Management, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick

    OpenAI, the company that made ChatGPT, has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) system called Strawberry. It is designed not just to provide quick responses to questions, like ChatGPT, but to think or “reason”.

    This raises several major concerns. If Strawberry really is capable of some form of reasoning, could this AI system cheat and deceive humans?

    OpenAI can program the AI in ways that mitigate its ability to manipulate humans. But the company’s own evaluations rate it as a “medium risk” for its ability to assist experts in the “operational planning of reproducing a known biological threat” – in other words, a biological weapon. It was also rated as a medium risk for its ability to persuade humans to change their thinking.

    It remains to be seen how such a system might be used by those with bad intentions, such as con artists or hackers. Nevertheless, OpenAI’s evaluation states that medium-risk systems can be released for wider use – a position I believe is misguided.

    Strawberry is not one AI “model”, or program, but several – known collectively as o1. These models are intended to answer complex questions and solve intricate maths problems. They are also capable of writing computer code – to help you make your own website or app, for example.

    An apparent ability to reason might come as a surprise to some, since this is generally considered a precursor to judgment and decision making – something that has often seemed a distant goal for AI. So, on the surface at least, it would seem to move artificial intelligence a step closer to human-like intelligence.

    When things look too good to be true, there’s often a catch. Well, this set of new AI models is designed to maximise their goals. What does this mean in practice? To achieve its desired objective, the path or the strategy chosen by AI may not always necessarily be fair, or align with human values.

    True intentions

    For example, if you were to play chess against Strawberry, in theory, could its reasoning allow it to hack the scoring system rather than figure out the best strategies for winning the game?

    The AI might also be able to lie to humans about its true intentions and capabilities, which would pose a serious safety concern if it were to be deployed widely. For example, if the AI knew it was infected with malware, could it “choose” to conceal this fact in the knowledge that a human operator might opt to disable the whole system if they knew?

    Strawberry goes a step beyond the capabilities of AI chatbots.
    Robert Way / Shutterstock

    These would be classic examples of unethical AI behaviour, where cheating or deceiving is acceptable if it leads to a desired goal. It would also be quicker for the AI, as it wouldn’t have to waste any time figuring out the next best move. It may not necessarily be morally correct, however.

    This leads to a rather interesting yet worrying discussion. What level of reasoning is Strawberry capable of and what could its unintended consequences be? A powerful AI system that’s capable of cheating humans could pose serious ethical, legal and financial risks to us.

    Such risks become grave in critical situations, such as designing weapons of mass destruction. OpenAI rates its own Strawberry models as “medium risk” for their potential to assist scientists in developing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.

    OpenAI says: “Our evaluations found that o1-preview and o1-mini can help experts with the operational planning of reproducing a known biological threat.” But it goes on to say that experts already have significant expertise in these areas, so the risk would be limited in practice. It adds: “The models do not enable non-experts to create biological threats, because creating such a threat requires hands-on laboratory skills that the models cannot replace.”

    Powers of persuasion

    OpenAI’s evaluation of Strawberry also investigated the risk that it could persuade humans to change their beliefs. The new o1 models were found to be more persuasive and more manipulative than ChatGPT.

    OpenAI also tested a mitigation system that was able to reduce the manipulative capabilities of the AI system. Overall, Strawberry was labelled a medium risk for “persuasion” in Open AI’s tests.

    Strawberry was rated low risk for its ability to operate autonomously and on cybersecurity.

    Open AI’s policy states that “medium risk” models can be released for wide use. In my view, this underestimates the threat. The deployment of such models could be catastrophic, especially if bad actors manipulate the technology for their own pursuits.

    This calls for strong checks and balances that will only be possible through AI regulation and legal frameworks, such as penalising incorrect risk assessments and the misuse of AI.

    The UK government stressed the need for “safety, security and robustness” in their 2023 AI white paper, but that’s not nearly enough. There is an urgent need to prioritise human safety and devise rigid scrutiny protocols for AI models such as Strawberry.

    Shweta Singh 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. OpenAI’s Strawberry program is reportedly capable of reasoning. It might be able to deceive humans – https://theconversation.com/openais-strawberry-program-is-reportedly-capable-of-reasoning-it-might-be-able-to-deceive-humans-239748

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Did COVID come from an animal market? Here’s what the new evidence really tells us

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, The University of Edinburgh

    The argument about the origins of COVID has always been heated, and nowadays it feels more like a brawl than a scientific debate.

    Some say that ground zero for the pandemic was a live animal market in Wuhan, China. Others argue that SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID) leaked from a nearby laboratory that was studying similar viruses. Both are plausible scenarios.

    Proponents of the market hypothesis have been aggressively vocal in recent weeks. In August, an anonymous editorial in a leading medical journal talked about the “hubris needed to underpin alternative hypotheses” and “fanciful ideas … more in keeping with popular movies”.

    A commentary in another journal lamented that scientists were being harassed for rejecting the lab leak hypothesis. With breathtaking hypocrisy, the same commentary then attacked a junior researcher who favours that hypothesis, dismissing her work as “conjecture, correlation and anecdote”.

    We can at least agree that the virus was present in the Wuhan market. Samples collected from market stalls and drains in early January 2020 contain SARS-CoV-2 genetic material. A recent analysis of this material, published in the journal Cell, claimed to show that the common ancestor of the viruses at the market was the common ancestor of the whole pandemic.

    That sounds compelling, until you realise that all of these samples were collected weeks after the pandemic began and none came from a live animal. Unaccountably, no samples were collected before the market was closed and the animals destroyed. Primarily for this reason, most commentators – including me – consider these latest results suggestive but not definitive.

    The lack of samples from animals is a problem. No one believes that this virus originated in Wuhan. The natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses are horseshoe bats, and no infected colonies have been found within 1,500km of the city.

    So it must have been brought into the market from somewhere. Yet no SARS-CoV-2 has been found along the supply chains for the animals sold there.

    Could a person rather than an animal have brought SARS-CoV-2 into the market in late 2019? That’s entirely possible. Many of the viruses near the base of the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral tree came from people with no links to the market. Several, including a cluster from Guangdong Province, were not even from Wuhan.

    Despite the many uncertainties and unanswered questions, it would be much easier to accept the market hypothesis if the pandemic had begun in one of the hundreds (or possibly thousands – no one seems to know for sure) of other Chinese cities that had similar markets in 2020.

    After all, the 2002 outbreak of the original SARS coronavirus (a very close relative of SARS-CoV-2) began in a market selling civet cats and other animals in, as it happens, Guangdong.

    Yet the epicentre of the COVID pandemic was less than 20 kilometres from China’s pre-eminent coronavirus research lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology. That is an extraordinary coincidence, and you’d need compelling evidence that the market was the source (or that the lab wasn’t) to dismiss it. The evidence we have simply isn’t that strong.

    That said, there is no evidence – at least, not that the Chinese authorities have shared – that SARS-CoV-2 was present in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, though some closely related viruses were. I cannot know if it was or wasn’t, but it didn’t have to be.

    Scientists from the institute went on coronavirus-hunting expeditions to places such as Guangdong. Scientists from the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention – just a five-minute walk from the market – were making their own expeditions, too. There’s an obvious and plausible alternative route to the first human case.

    Dismissed as a conspiracy theory

    Yet as far back as March 2020, on a bare minimum of evidence, the idea that a lab was involved in any way was already being dismissed as a conspiracy theory.

    Two years ago, one of the most strident proponents of the market hypothesis claimed that his latest research “lays to rest the idea that the virus escaped from a laboratory”. An author of the new analysis in Cell says alternative explanations are “fanciful” and “absurd”.

    Who is all this bombast supposed to win over? Not scientists who can read the research papers, take note of the caveats and make their own judgments. Not politicians who have taken an ideological stance on the issue, particularly in the US. And not the intelligence agencies who many believe are our best hope for getting at the truth.

    I have studied the origins of human viruses for 25 years but, having examined the evidence, I still don’t know how the COVID pandemic began. I do know that the question is important and that debating it should be encouraged, not stifled.

    Mark Woolhouse receives funding from the European Union and the Wellcome Trust. He is a member of the Scottish Government’s Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and has advised the Scottish and UK governments, and the WHO, on pandemic preparedness and response.

    – ref. Did COVID come from an animal market? Here’s what the new evidence really tells us – https://theconversation.com/did-covid-come-from-an-animal-market-heres-what-the-new-evidence-really-tells-us-239533

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why building new towns isn’t the answer to the UK’s housing crisis

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Amrita Kulka, Assistant Professor, Political Economy and Public Economics, University of Warwick

    The UK is aiming to build 1.5 million homes over five years. Nick Beer/Shutterstock

    The UK’s new government is intent on building 1.5 million homes over the next five years. It’s all part of the plan to address the housing supply and affordability crisis.

    Many of these homes are to be built in the form of large communities or new towns of more than 10,000 housing units each. Some English new towns built after the second world war, such as Milton Keynes, Harlow and Basildon, have been successful economically. But the building of new towns has ground to a halt since the 1990s.

    The importance of large developments for housing supply in the UK has increased dramatically in the last 25 years. We have put together new evidence that reveals a significant shift in the source of housing supply. These days, an increasing share of new homes are coming from large developments.

    At the turn of the century, very large developments of at least 500 units made up only single digits of the total percentage of potential housing supply. Today, such developments represent 38% of permitted housing units. These very large projects only made up 0.2% of applications over the 25 years, but make up a disproportionately large chunk of new housing supply.

    This graphic shows the share of permitted new homes from 2000 to 2023 for applications of different development sizes across the UK.

    Proportion of new homes by development size

    Our research, undertaken with the support of our research assistant Alex Gallagher, explores the barriers that developments face in terms of paperwork and waiting time for a decision. We show that the amount of paperwork increases dramatically with the size of the project, going from one application for projects involving one unit, to more than eight applications for projects involving 500 or more units.

    The additional paperwork is generated by things like environmental surveys, infrastructure needs and public utilities.

    Northstowe in Cambridgeshire, which was planned to be the largest new town since Milton Keynes was built in the 1960s, also required funding for local infrastructure. Developers were obliged to contribute more than £120 million, most of which went to the construction of local schools. The development was left in limbo for around four years due to a delay to the expansion of the A14 trunk road, upon which the new town was entirely dependent. It is still not complete, with residents frustrated at the lack of infrastructure.

    In the case of Buckshaw Village, a new Lancashire development built on a former munitions factory, developers had to decontaminate the site. This required a £10.5 million contract to decontaminate more than 850 buildings.

    Of course many of these requirements are necessary, and beneficial for long-term planning. But it demonstrates that building a new town goes far beyond constructing houses.

    Decade-long delays

    In our research we also find that the time taken to reach a planning decision rises dramatically from projects involving one unit to projects involving two to nine units, and keeps rising for larger projects. The average time from the first application to the last decision is just over four years and four months for projects with more than 500 units. But even projects involving just one unit can expect to wait nearly a year.

    For bigger projects, waiting times for a decision are over 11 years in some cases (the most delayed 10%). One example is Ebbsfleet Valley – another newly planned town near London with large potential – which has seen only 4,000 of 43,000 planned homes built since planning began in 1996.

    The time taken for a planning decision plays a role in this delay. The borough councils resolved to grant outline planning permission (which lets a developer know if its plans are acceptable in principle) in 1998, two years after the application was submitted. But outline planning permission was not actually granted until November 2002. And then the need to supply more plans caused further delays, which meant building did not start until 2006 – 10 years after the original outline was filed.

    The long wait times for decisions, added to the fact that bigger developments must file additional applications, mean that housing supply from large projects is slow to be realised.

    These barriers have important implications for developers, which have to weigh the cost savings of large developments against the increased chance of obstacles that these larger developments are likely to throw up. So are new towns the most effective way to build a large amount of housing units in a short space of time?

    New towns are most comparable to the large-scale developments that represent an increasing share of residential units in the UK since the early 2000s.

    While these development schemes can deliver large amounts of housing alongside local infrastructure (at the developer’s expense rather than local government), they are unlikely to do so in the short term as they also face the toughest barriers under planning regulations.

    Therefore, so-called infill developments (that is, new buildings on unused or under-used land) as well as smaller and medium-sized developments, should not be neglected.

    Urban extensions and new neighbourhoods in the sites we’re already living in may provide ways to keep costs and uncertainties of new infrastructure to a minimum – even while planning larger developments or the new towns of the future.

    Amrita Kulka receives funding from Research England.

    Nikhil Datta receives funding from the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, Economic and Social Research Council, and Research England.

    – ref. Why building new towns isn’t the answer to the UK’s housing crisis – https://theconversation.com/why-building-new-towns-isnt-the-answer-to-the-uks-housing-crisis-238635

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: AGNICO EAGLE PROVIDES NOTICE OF RELEASE OF THIRD QUARTER 2024 RESULTS AND CONFERENCE CALL

    Source: Agnico Eagle Mines

    Stock Symbol:  AEM (NYSE and TSX)

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 /CNW/ – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) (“Agnico Eagle” or the “Company“) today announced that it will release its third quarter 2024 results on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, after normal trading hours.

    Third Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call and Webcast

    Agnico Eagle’s senior management will host a conference call on Thursday, October 31, 2024, at 11:00 AM (E.D.T.) to discuss the Company’s financial and operating results.

    Via Webcast:

    To listen to the live webcast of the conference call, you may register on the Company website at www.agnicoeagle.com, or directly via the link here.

    Via Phone:

    To join the conference call by phone, please dial 416.945.7677 or toll-free 1.888.699.1199 to be entered into the call by an operator. To ensure your participation, please call approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call.

    To join the conference call without operator assistance, you may register your phone number here 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call to receive an instant automated call back.

    Replay Archive:

    Please dial 289.819.1450 or toll-free 1.888.660.6345, access code 80122#. The conference call replay will expire on November 30, 2024.

    The webcast, along with presentation slides, will be archived for 180 days on the Company’s website.

    About Agnico Eagle

    Agnico Eagle is a Canadian based and led senior gold mining company and the third largest gold producer in the world, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico. It has a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects in these countries as well as in the United States. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading environmental, social and governance practices. Agnico Eagle was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983.

    View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agnico-eagle-provides-notice-of-release-of-third-quarter-2024-results-and-conference-call-302258002.html

    SOURCE Agnico Eagle Mines Limited

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/DR CONGO – Ituri Province: two churches closed after desecration by rebels

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – In the diocese of Bunia, capital of the province of Ituri in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, two churches desecrated by a rebel group have been closed. This was announced by the Bishop of Bunia, Dieudonné Uringi Uuci, during the Mass on Sunday 22 September. Bishop Uringi stressed in his statement: “In view of the reprehensible acts committed by elements of the armed Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO), who closed the churches of Kpandroma and Jiba during the night of 28-29 August, acts that are classified as desecration and which are prohibited under can. 1211 require penance, and considering the threat to the physical and moral integrity of the priests working in these churches and the arbitrary taking hostage of two faithful collaborators of the priests, as well as the deliberate intention to extort money for the release of these faithful with the sole aim of harming the Church, and considering our and the immediate ordinary authority pursuant to Can. 381, paragraph 1, we decree the closure for an indefinite period of time of the “Marie-Reine” parish of Jiba and the Kpandroma pastoral unit.” Bishop Uringi also decided to recall the priests working in the two parishes. Can. 1211 states: “Sacred places are violated by gravely injurious actions done in them with scandal to the faithful, actions which, in the judgment of the local ordinary, are so grave and contrary to the holiness of the place that it is not permitted to carry on worship in them until the damage is repaired by a penitential rite according to the norm of the liturgical books.” The bishop stressed that the violence began after the Church called for dialogue and the laying down of weapons. The CODECO militiamen then demanded to meet the priests. When they did not find them, they attacked their employees, looted the premises and blocked the doors of the two churches. A similar incident had already occurred six months ago in one of the affected parishes. The militiamen had mistreated and imprisoned several priests and demanded the release of CODECO prisoners. Various Lendu militias are united in the armed group. The name of a cooperative, unusual for a guerrilla group, derives from the fact that when CODECO was founded in the 1970s, it was an agricultural development cooperative made up of Lendu farmers. Over the years, land disputes with Hema nomads led to two groups arming themselves, and CODECO eventually became a name for a union of various Lendu militias fighting against the Hema. CODECO is accused of several crimes against humanity, including massacres in villages and refugee camps. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 25/9/2024)
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  • MIL-OSI Europe: AMERICA/HAITI – Father Massimo Miraglio: “With courage and determination, we continue our commitment so that people will one day have a decent standard of living”

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Wednesday, 25 September 2024

    MM

    by Antonella PrennaPourcine (Agenzia Fides) – “Although the international spotlight on Haiti has long since faded, newspapers and media no longer report on it, the situation has not changed or improved in any way”. This is what the Italian Camillian Father Massimo Miraglio complains to Fides about the reality he found upon his return to Haiti after a long forced break in Italy.”Despite the intervention of the UN units led by the Kenyan force, which arrived on the island on June 25 and which have been reinforced in recent days by additional soldiers from Jamaica and Belize, the situation is still disastrous. It can be said that the presence of these troops in Haiti is almost ineffective. They complain of a lack of material, fear of loss of life and restrictive rules of engagement”, says the missionary. “In fact, the capital, Port au Prince, remains in the hands of armed gangs that spread terror among the population. All activities remain almost paralyzed. The entrances to the south and north of the capital are completely blocked, with various groups demanding bribes from people who stop them on the way. But this only applies to public transport and trucks, which in many cases are confiscated instead of letting them through. The exit to Jeremie, 200 km south of the capital, is also closed; it is practically impossible to get there by land. In this sad situation for the majority of the Haitian population, the new school year begins on October 1,” explains Father Massimo, who has lived on the island for almost twenty years.”We cannot hide the fact that the start of the school year will be accompanied by great fears and many difficulties. Many children will not go to school and many schools will be closed, especially in Port-au-Prince, due to the presence of armed gangs. Many children will not be able to go to school because they do not have the money to buy the minimum school supplies. Consider that 80 percent of schools in Haiti are private and costs are rising every year, while families are plunged further into poverty,” the missionary says. In Jeremie – where the Camillians have a parish – the situation is also dramatic and many children are unlikely to be able to start the school year on time on October 1st. “Books, like all school materials, are prohibitively expensive and difficult to get from the capital. The same goes for uniforms and school bags for students. Finding a decent pair of shoes to send them to school has become very difficult and expensive. In short, it promises to be a very difficult school year for children in Haiti,” adds Father Miraglio.”In our parish in Pourcine, in the mountainous hinterland of Jeremie, 250 students will be enrolled in primary and kindergarten this year,” explains Father Massimo, who is the parish priest (see Fides, 28/9/2023). “We have managed to build two very simple small buildings out of local wood, tents and sheet metal, which will accommodate six elementary school classes and two kindergarten classes. With just as much effort, we have managed to complete the teaching staff. They are all very young and the only ones who are prepared to teach in such a distant place despite the prospect of a salary. This will be the second school year in which the school will open here in the Pic Makaya mountains.”Among the various projects that the missionaries want to implement on the Caribbean island, the Camillians’ top priority is the establishment of a medical clinic on site. “We would like to set up a small outpatient clinic in the parish to save the sick from having to travel long distances; our “Foyer Saint Camille” in Port au Prince is far away. In addition, this week we will organize a mobile clinic with a group of Cuban doctors and the support of a local organization, with which we can provide first aid to the sick in a mountain region and bring people from two neighboring valleys. This is also a difficult undertaking, because to reach the place where we want to set up the clinic, we need more than four hours on foot and the same time to return to the paths along the slopes, which are very dangerous, especially in this rainy season.”“Following the charism of our founder, Saint Camillus, we want to work in this area with groups of chronically ill people, children with nutritional problems and the elderly who are often abandoned and alone in their homes. We hope to be able to set up an outpatient clinic by 2025, we are very grateful to the “Madian Orizzonti” organization of the Camillian Missionaries of Turin, who have supported us with great affection and we trust in the support of many other people who will meet us on our way,” stresses the missionary. “At the moment, unfortunately, the province is not free of problems due to the enormous difficulties in communication with the capital. It is very complicated to receive all kinds of goods from Port au Prince because Haiti is a country where everything is very centralized and everything comes from the capital. Recently, transport from the province to the capital, Jeremie, has also been difficult due to the rising prices of diesel and gasoline,” he reports.”In Pourcine Pic-Makaya, in our community, work is continuing on the aqueduct, we bring the water from the source to the center of the village. This is very important, not only because it shortens the distance between the source and the valley where most people live, but above all because it allows us to purify the water and avoid/limit the constant and frequent epidemics of cholera and intestinal diseases. In addition to the aqueduct, work to support agriculture is also continuing. We hope to create a coffee nursery in the coming months in the area that in the past provided some prosperity. But we do not give up hope and we continue to fight for better living conditions,” said Father Miraglio. “The aqueduct, the schools, the kindergarten, the mobile clinics, all these are important aspects to revive the hope of the population and ensure that their living conditions improve and prevent people from leaving these rural towns to concentrate in the metropolis or in the provincial towns that, like Jeremie, are already overcrowded and where there is no possibility of giving work and hope to these people who leave the countryside to come to the city. With courage and determination we continue our commitment alongside these rural populations, we try to support them in their faith, to accompany them so that one day they can have a decent standard of living,” he concludes. (Agenzia Fides, 25/9/2024)
    MM

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  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/LEBANON – Middle East Council of Churches: “comprehensive aggression” against Lebanon. Father Zgheib: attack in a village a few kilometers from the Maronite Patriarchate

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    UNHCR

    Beirut (Agenzia Fides) – The ongoing military escalation in Lebanon has developed into a “comprehensive aggression against various Lebanese regions, resulting in the martyrdom of thousands of citizens and the displacement of hundreds of thousands from southern Lebanon and the BekaaValley. These are “crimes” that “show the disregard for the principles of international law, the rules of the Geneva Conventions and all conventions governing on armed conflicts”. This is emphasized by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), based in Beirut, which in a statement released yesterday called on the international community to “intervene as soon as possible and issue a clear position condemning the war crimes against civilians by launching raids, and the systematic destruction of property and the interruption of food and health supplies.”In light of the tragic events in Lebanon, the Council held an emergency meeting of the General Secretariat chaired by the Secretary General, Lebanese Orthodox Christian Professor Michel Abs. Participants in the meeting prayed together for peace and discussed “urgent humanitarian issues and ways to support families.” Without mentioning the Israeli army by name, the MECC in its communiqué “strongly condemns the killing of innocent people, children, women, the elderly, and other civilians, and deplores the attacks carried out by aggressor forces on densely populated areas that have led to the death of some 500 people in one day and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens from their areas”. The text also urges “the provision of international protection for civilians so that organizations and associations can supply them with the necessary materials for a decent life”.During the meeting, the participants also set up a working group to coordinate local initiatives to support families displaced from their areas.”We all live in a situation where fear, pain, anger and anxiety are mixed,” said Maronite priest Rouphael Zgheib, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon and professor at the Jesuit University “Saint Joseph”, to Fides. “The uncertainty about what awaits us weighs on everything. It is not clear who can stop all this and whether the attacks are just the beginning.” The Israeli army’s bombings are directed against targets identified as possible bases of the Shiite Hezbollah Party. A strategy that has also been hitting small Shiite enclaves and villages in predominantly Christian areas for days. “This morning,” Father Rouphael Zgheib told Fides, “the small Shiite village of Maaysra in the Keserwan area, a historical settlement area of Catholic communities, was bombed. It is a village just a few kilometers from the headquarters of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké.”The bombings in central Lebanon are causing fear among the population. Mistrust and suspicion are also increasing after the deadly danger also came from pagers and walkie-talkies, making it dangerous to speak to or approach people belonging to the Shiite community and directly or indirectly linked to Hezbollah. “This uncertain situation,” adds Father Zgheib, “is also affecting the relief efforts for the displaced and injured. Hospitals are collapsing, they were not prepared to treat the many people wounded in the face and eyes by pagers that became bombs.” “Churches and schools are opening to welcome the displaced, and there are many individual initiatives of solidarity with Christians and Muslims fleeing the south and other affected areas,” he affirms. “However, this spontaneous solidarity is accompanied by mistrust. The propaganda and political polarization of recent years have fueled distrust and triggered mutual attacks between the various parties, who accuse each other of betraying Lebanon and being a disaster for the country. The economic crisis has also limited the willingness to help those in need. This leads many to help only members of their own family network and confessional group,” the priest concludes. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 25/9/2024)
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  • MIL-OSI Europe: VATICAN/GENERAL AUDIENCE – Lebanon: the international community should “make every effort to stop this terrible escalation”

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Wednesday, 25 September 2024

    Vatican Media

    Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “I am saddened by the news from Lebanon, where in recent days the intense bombings have claimed many victims and caused destruction,” said Francis during the general audience in front of thousands of pilgrims and tourists. “I hope that the international community will make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. It is unacceptable. I express my closeness to the Lebanese people, who have already suffered too much in the recent past.”And let us pray for everyone, for all the peoples who suffer as a result of war: let us not forget tormented Ukraine, Myanmar, Palestine, Israel, Sudan, all the suffering peoples. Let us pray for peace,” added the Pope, who reiterated during today’s 500th general audience of his pontificate that one should not speak to the devil. “The strongest proof of the existence of Satan is found not in sinners or the possessed, but in the saints,” the Pope explained. He continued the cycle of catechisms on the theme “The Spirit and the Bride” and today focused on the role of the Holy Spirit as “our ally in the fight against evil”.”It is true that the devil is present and working in certain extreme and “inhuman” forms of evil and wickedness that we see around us,” said Pope Francis. “But by this route, though, it is practically impossible to reach, in individual cases, the certainty that it is truly him, given that we cannot know with precision where his action ends and our own evil begins. This is why the Church is so prudent and so rigorous in performing exorcism, unlike what happens, unfortunately, in certain films!”.”It is in the life of the saints, precisely there, that the devil is forced to come out into the open, to place himself “against the light,” he stressed. All the saints, all the great believers testify to their struggle with “this obscure reality”and one cannot honestly assume that they were all deluded or mere victims of the prejudices of their time. He was more skeptical about the attempt to deduce the existence of the devil from the evil in the world. “And yet our technological and secularized world is teeming with magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets, and unfortunately with real satanic sects.” Unfortunately, modern technology offers “countless means” to give an opportunity to the devil. “Think of online pornography, behind which there is a flourishing market: we all know this. It is the devil at work, there. And this is a very widespread phenomenon, which Christians should beware of and strongly reject.” But Christians should not be discouraged by “knowing the devil’s action in history.” “Christ overcame the devil and gave us the Holy Spirit to make His victory our own.” (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 25/9/2024)
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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: FS proceeds to UK from Spain (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, continued his visit to Madrid, Spain, today (September 25, Madrid time).

         In the morning, he led a delegation of technology start-ups to attend an exchange session organised by the IESE Business School, in which the delegation’s start-ups met and connected with over 10 Spanish start-up entrepreneurs, representatives of venture capital funds, investors, and enterprises for business matching. The IESE is one of the top business schools in Europe and the world, and has close collaborations with several universities in Hong Kong, as well as with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and Cyberport.

         Mr Chan introduced the new advantages and new opportunities in Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the policies and measures of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in promoting innovation and technology, along with the recent flourishing development of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology ecosystem. Representatives of start-ups and investors from both economies also introduced their businesses and development strategies, with a view to enhancing mutual knowledge and understanding, and opening up more opportunities for collaboration.

         Thereafter, Mr Chan met with the Dean of the IESE Business School, Professor Franz Heukamp, to exchange views on the business environments of Hong Kong and Spain, as well as promoting academic exchanges and co-operation between the two places. Mr Chan welcomed the IESE to further leverage Hong Kong’s international academic environment, as well as convenient connections with Mainland China and Asia, to deepen exchanges with various academic institutions and businesses in Hong Kong, promoting more bilateral co-operation in education, company executive training, and other business areas. 

         Mr Chan will leave Madrid this afternoon local time, and proceed to visit London, the United Kingdom.         

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. net natural gas exports remain flat in the first half of 2024

    Source: US Energy Information Administration

    In-brief analysis

    September 25, 2024

    In the first six months of 2024, U.S. net natural gas exports (exports minus imports) averaged 12.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), 1% (0.1 Bcf/d) more than the same period last year and 2% (0.3 Bcf/d) less than in 2023, according to our Natural Gas Monthly. Since 2019, increases in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and exports by pipeline to Mexico have led the growth in U.S. natural gas exports. The United States has exported more natural gas than it imports since 2017.

    The United States trades natural gas by pipeline with Canada and Mexico and as LNG with more than 40 countries. The United States imports more natural gas by pipeline from Canada than it exports, and it exports more natural gas by pipeline to Mexico than it imports. The United States has been a net exporter of LNG since 2016.

    The large buildout of LNG export capacity enabled LNG exports to grow from an annual average of 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016 to 11.9 Bcf/d in 2023. Currently, the United States has seven LNG export terminals in operation and five terminals under construction. In 2023, the United States was the world’s largest LNG exporter. By the end of this year, we expect two new LNG export facilities—Plaquemines LNG and Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3 (an expansion of the existing Corpus Christi LNG export terminal)—to start LNG exports.

    Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly
    Note: Includes waterborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports by vessel (excludes exports by truck and ISO container). Other includes LNG imports into Northeast Gateway and Cove Point.

    U.S. natural gas pipeline imports from Canada play an important role in balancing the U.S. natural gas market, particularly in the winter. Most natural gas imported by pipeline from Canada arrives in the Western and Midcontinent regions of the United States. In 2023, net U.S. pipeline imports from Canada averaged 5.2 Bcf/d, of which 83% was imported into the western United States. In the first six months of 2024, net U.S. pipeline imports from Canada averaged 5.4 Bcf/d, an increase of 11% (0.5 Bcf/d) compared with the same period in 2023, mainly because of increased imports into the Midcontinent region.

    Since the end of natural gas production in eastern Canada (offshore Nova Scotia) and growth in production in the U.S. Appalachia region, U.S. exports of natural gas by pipeline into eastern Canada exceeded imports from eastern Canada, making the eastern United States a net exporter of natural gas by pipeline to eastern Canada for several years since 2017.

    Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly, U.S. natural gas pipeline exports and imports by point of exit and entry
    Note: Net pipeline imports=imports minus exports. Positive sign denotes net imports. Negative sign denotes net exports. U.S. aggregations by region include the following states: Western (Idaho, Montana, and Washington), Midcontinent (Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota), and Eastern (Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont).

    U.S. net pipeline exports to Mexico averaged 6.3 Bcf/d in the first six months of 2024, 7% (0.4 Bcf/d) more than over the same period last year and 2% more (0.1 Bcf/d) than the 2023 annual average. U.S.-Mexico cross-border pipeline capacity is set to expand as two new natural gas pipeline projects with a total capacity of 5.3 Bcf/d have received regulatory approvals. These projects are primarily targeting LNG export capacity being developed in Mexico that will be supplied with natural gas sourced from the United States.

    Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly, U.S. natural gas pipeline exports and imports by point of exit and entry
    Note: Net pipeline exports are calculated as imports minus exports. Negative sign denotes net exports.

    Principal contributors: Victoria Zaretskaya, Katy Fleury

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Minister welcomes initiative to support investment in water sector

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has welcomed an initiative by Just Water Partnerships (JWPs), which supports investments in water resilience and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries.

    While participating in a panel discussion at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States of America, the Minister said there is a need for partnerships in the water sector to ensure that people have access to clean and fresh water.

    “As the government of South Africa, we support a growing cohort of partners who are interested in developing the concept of Just Water Partnerships.

    “We also believe that carefully and collaboratively structured JPWs can protect existing water resources and will leave no one behind regarding the provision of water and sanitation services, and ensure that water supplies are managed sustainably,” Majodina said on Wednesday.

    The JWPs concept was formulated following a report by the Global Commission for the Economics of Water (GCEW), which highlighted that traditional economics have failed the water sector, and that a new approach to the economics and governance of water should be taken to achieve a more sustainable, just and prosperous future for all.

    JWPs are thus conceived as platforms that facilitate financial and governance actors (multilateral development banks, regional development banks, development finance institutions, national governments, city and local authorities, and public development banks) to support investments on their own balance sheets, as well as to catalyse greater private finance. 

    The Minister said the JPW concept mirrors the Department of Water and Sanitation’s commitment to build public-private partnerships to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone in the country.

    This is in line with achieving Sustainable Development Goals 6.1 and 6.2, which aim to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all and ensuring access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and end open defecation.

    “Therefore, this confirms a need for such a platform to not only ensure that investments are used efficiently and transparently, but also in a way that prioritises women, girls and others facing marginalisation globally,” Majodina said. –SAnews.gov.za
     

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Signs Concession Agreements with Governments of Angola and Zambia to advance Zambia Lobito Rail Project

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    NEW YORK, United States of America, September 25, 2024/APO Group/ —

    In a significant milestone for the Zambia Lobito Rail Project, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (www.AfricaFC.org), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has signed concession agreements with the governments of Angola and Zambia for the financing, construction, ownership and operation of the transformational railway project. The agreements, which were signed yesterday in a ceremonial signing hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and the Biden Administration’s G-7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79), paves the way for the Corporation to spearhead and complete the development of the railway.

    Last year, AFC was appointed lead developer on the Zambia Lobito rail project in collaboration with the United States Government, the European Union, the African Development Bank and the governments of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The project involves the construction of approximately 800km greenfield rail line connecting the Benguela rail line in Luacano, Angola, to the existing Zambia Railways Line in Chingola, Zambia. Once completed, the trade corridor will facilitate the efficient movement of goods and promote investments in agriculture, health, digital infrastructure, mining, and electricity access along the corridor.

    Concurrent to signing the concession agreements, AFC also signed an agreement to receive US$ 2 million grant funding from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) (https://apo-opa.co/3zINnnM), towards completion of the environmental and social studies for the project. The grant, which marks the first time the Corporation will tap into USTDA funding, will facilitate comprehensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) to ensure that the Zambia Lobito Rail Project aligns with international best practices and environmental standards.

    AFC will play the pivotal role of lead developer on the rail project which not only offers an efficient evacuation route for minerals and metals from the region but helps establish a trade corridor across Africa from the Port of Lobito on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to the Port of Dar es Salam in Tanzania on the coast of the Indian Ocean, facilitating global and intra-African trade. The railway is expected to create economic benefit of approximately $3 billion across both countries, reduce emissions by approximately 300,000 tons per year and add over 1,250 jobs across construction and operations.

    The Honourable Minister of Transport for Angola Mr Ricardo Viegas d’Abreu noted, “We are pleased to partner with Africa Finance Corporation on this transformative project which will deepen our nation’s role as a regional logistics hub, boosting trade not only with Zambia but with the rest of the world.”

    Mr Frank Tayali MP, Honourable Minister of Transport for Zambia added, “The Zambia Lobito Rail Project is an important milestone in our efforts to modernise infrastructure, enhance the competitiveness of our economy, and improve the livelihoods of our people. We look forward to partnering with Africa Finance Corporation to deliver on this groundbreaking project.”

    “The Zambia Lobito Rail Project represents a game-changing development for the region, unlocking tremendous potential for trade, industrialisation, and socio-economic growth.,” said Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of Africa Finance Corporation. “AFC is proud to partner with the governments of Angola and Zambia to deliver worldclass rail infrastructure, which will accelerate industrial development in Africa, promote regional integration and provide a vital export route for copper and other critical minerals for the global energy transition,” he added.

    The corridor will provide an alternative strategic route to international export markets for Zambia and DRC. It will offer the shortest route for export and imports, linking key mining regions, agricultural clusters and businesses in Zambia and DRC to the Port of Lobito. It will significantly facilitate the movement of cargo from the Copperbelt and Northwestern Provinces, through Angola to the Western markets.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Confederation closes its Mastodon case

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –

    Source: Switzerland – Federal Chancellery

    Federal ChancelleryBern, 25.09.2024 – The Mastodon instance that the Federal Chancellery has been managing for the Federal Administration for a year will be closed. Its duration was limited to one year. The conditions for its continuation have not been met.The Federal Chancellery and the Federal Administration have been using social media for their communication for many years, in accordance with their statutory information mandate. To fulfill this mandate, they are constantly reviewing whether other platforms that have not yet been used would be suitable for their communication.In September 2023, the Conference of Intelligence Services (CSI) decided to launch a pilot experiment on the decentralized Mastodon platform. The Federal Chancellery therefore opened the «social.admin.ch» instance on which members of the Federal Council and the departments could manage their official accounts. The duration of the experiment was limited to one year.Mastodon has some of the characteristics for government-level communication. Thanks to its decentralized organization, the platform is not subject to the control of a single company or state censorship authorities. Its source code is publicly accessible, complies with data protection and is not controlled by algorithms. Few active usersA total of five accounts were operated by three departments on the «social.admin.ch» instance, and an additional account was operated by the Federal Chancellery for the entire Federal Council. The six accounts of the Confederation had around 3,500 followers. On platforms such as X or Instagram, the Federal Council and the Federal Administration have significantly more followers for the same number of accounts. In addition, the contributions from the Mastodon accounts of the Federal Council and the Administration had a rather low interaction rate (likes, shares, comments). And last but not least, the number of active users on Mastodon is once again decreasing worldwide. The CSI therefore believes that the conditions for a continuation of the pilot are not met. The Mastodon accounts of the Federal Council and the Federal Administration are closed from today, while the «social.admin.ch» instance will be closed at the end of the month.Address for enquiriesUrs BrudererHead of the Communications Section058 483 99 69urs.bruderer@bk.admin.chPublished byFederal Chancelleryhttps://www.bk.admin.ch/bk/it/home.html

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Navy Chaplains Graduate from Pastoral Care Residency Program, Ready to Serve on the Frontlines of Soul Care

    Source: United States Navy (Medical)

    Portsmouth, Va. — In a significant milestone for Navy Medicine and the Chaplain Corps, four Navy chaplains graduated from the prestigious Pastoral Care Residency (PCR) program at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), Sept. 20.
    This program, a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs (VA), has been training Navy and VA chaplains since 1984, equipping them with advanced pastoral care and counseling skills critical to the holistic well-being of patients and military service members.
    The PCR program is a one-year residency accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). During this intensive training, chaplains complete over 1,600 hours of clinical experience, learning under certified CPE educators from VA Medical Centers. Navy chaplains who complete the residency earn a subspecialty code, which signifies their expertise in pastoral counseling and their capability to work within multidisciplinary medical teams.

    “The residency provides chaplains with the necessary tools to minister to both patients and care providers,” said Capt. William Hlavin, Chaplain for Naval Medical Forces Atlantic and co-executive director of the East Coast PCR program. “This provides them the ability to address not just the body and mind, but also the soul, which contributes to spiritually ready personnel.”

    Graduation marks the culmination of rigorous training that includes both military treatment facility (MTF) and VA medical center rotations. Chaplains are required to complete detailed clinical work, reading reflections, and preparation for board certification. The residency is a prerequisite for board certification as a clinical chaplain, a credential that signifies an even higher level of professionalism and commitment to continuous learning.

    One of the recent graduates, Lt. Cmdr. Reginald Jones stated, “The Pastoral Care Residency is essential for providing holistic care. Doctors can heal the body, psychologists the mind, but chaplains work with the soul. We sit with patients and families in some of their most challenging moments and help them process deep emotional and spiritual pain.”

    This year’s cohort marks another successful chapter in the Navy’s commitment to pastoral care, with new PCR residents already preparing to begin their journey this October. As military and VA hospitals face increasing mental health challenges, the role of clinically trained chaplains is becoming more crucial.

    “This field of study is more needed now than ever,” said Jones. “With mental health issues on the rise, having chaplains trained to do ‘soul work’ can be a game-changer, even aboard ships like destroyers. Sailors face a unique set of challenges, and the ability to address issues of the soul may keep them in the fight.”

    As the PCR program continues to grow, the Navy Chaplain Corps is positioned to meet the spiritual needs of service members, their families, and medical professionals with unparalleled care and professionalism.

    NMFL, headquartered in Portsmouth, Virginia, delivers operationally focused medical expertise and capabilities to meet Fleet, Marine and Joint Force requirements by providing equipment, sustainment and maintenance of medical forces during combat operations and public health crises. NMFL provides oversight for 21 NMRTCs, logistics, and public health and dental services throughout the U.S. East Coast, U.S. Gulf Coast, Cuba, Europe, and the Middle East.

    Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: PUBLICATION OF SUPPLEMENTARY PROSPECTUS

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Issuer LEI: 213800ZBKL9BHSL2K459

    OSB GROUP PLC

    (the “Company” or “Issuer”)

    The Company announces today that a supplementary prospectus dated 25 September 2024 to the base prospectus dated 14 May 2024 (the “Base Prospectus“), in relation to the establishment of its £3,000,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme (the “EMTN Programme”) has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority and is available for viewing.

    To view the full document, paste the following URL into the address bar of your browser:

    https://www.osb.co.uk/investors/debt-investors/emtn-programme/

    A copy of the supplementary prospectus will also be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

    OSB GROUP PLC

    Alastair Pate                                                 
    Group Head of Investor Relations
    Email: osbrelations@osb.co.uk                                t: 01634 838 973

    Jens Bech
    Group Commercial Director                                    t: 01634 835 796

    Brunswick                                                                            
    Robin Wrench/Simone Selzer                                 t: 020 7404 5959 

    Notes to Editors

    About OSB GROUP PLC

    OneSavings Bank plc (OSB) began trading as a bank on 1 February 2011 and was admitted to the main market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2014 (OSB.L). OSB joined the FTSE 250 index in June 2015. On 4 October 2019, OSB acquired Charter Court Financial Services Group plc and its subsidiary businesses. On 30 November 2020, OSB GROUP PLC became the listed entity and holding company for the OSB Group. The Group provides specialist lending and retail savings and is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, part of the Bank of England, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. The Group reports under two segments, OneSavings Bank and Charter Court Financial Services.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Minister praises support for families and children In Wolverhampton

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    Minister for Children and Families, Janet Daby, visited Graiseley Family Hub last Wednesday 18 September to see at first hand an area which has successful embedded Family Hubs and the Families First for Children Pathfinder (FFCP), meeting staff along with children and families.

    A Family Hub is a place where children, young people and their families can go when they need support of which eight have been set up in Wolverhampton. 

    The FFCP programme aims to test new ways to reform the children’s social care system, ensuring early support, family help and intervention is available for families facing challenges, helping them to overcome adversity and stay together where possible. 

    Ms Daby said: “I’ve loved my visit here today. It’s been great to meet all the people that help to support families, children and young people: visiting the Family Hub, being able to have a tour and meet a young person today – it’s been delightful.

    “I was impressed with the way in which I was able to meet representatives from the Health Visiting and School Nursing Services, the Police and Midwifery. It was great to hear about the support given to mothers in areas such as breastfeeding. I also liked hearing about what’s being done with the LGBTQ+ community and how diverse needs are being met. 

    The Minister added: “I get a sense that people have job satisfaction, and I observed that people have a genuine need to want to improve families and children’s lives: there was a lot I was impressed with.”

    Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, Cabinet member for Adults and Wellbeing for City of Wolverhampton Council said: “This visit has been a fantastic opportunity to showcase the collaboration between ourselves and the Wolverhampton 0-19 Service, as well as demonstrating how well we’ve managed to achieve frontline support for families.”

    Alison Hinds, Director of Children’s Services, added:” We are always more than willing to host any visits  to be able to share what we believe is the great work we’re doing in this space; I felt very proud of listening to a parent, a carer and a young person who we have been working with speaking with Minister Daby about how they have welcomed the support from the Hub.”

    Rachel King, Deputy Director for the Families First for Children Pathfinder for the council, said: “Minister Daby was really approachable, genuinely interested and supportive of the work we do. Hopefully, what we were able to demonstrate in the short time we had will influence ongoing discussions centrally.”

    Denise Williams, Service Manager, Family Hubs for the council added: “We enjoy sharing the work we do across the city and staff from across the partnership, as well as families, found Minister Daby to be really approachable and supportive of the work that we are doing collectively in the Family Hubs.”

    Catherine Draycott, School Nurse Team Leader, said: “It was lovely today to welcome Minister Daby to Wolverhampton. We were honoured that she took the time to sit with our 0-19 service and ask questions about our service – she could tell how passionate we are about developing these services in Wolverhampton.”

    Marion Astbury, Matron for Health Visiting, added: “It was a real pleasure to speak to the Minister and her colleagues to showcase the fantastic work being done by our staff. There was genuine interest in how we are supporting our families and the challenges we face in delivering our service.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: illumin to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — illumin Holdings Inc. (TSX:ILLM, OTCQB:ILLMF) (“illumin” or “Company”), a Journey Advertising technology company that empowers marketers to make smarter decisions about communicating with online consumers, today announced that Simon Cairns, Chief Executive Officer, and Elliot Muchnik, Chief Financial Officer, will participate in the following upcoming conferences.

    Wedbush Securities AdTech Conference

    Management will participate (virtually) in a fireside chart at the Wedbush Securities AdTech Conference on Thursday, October 10th at 12:15 pm ET, and will also host virtual investor meetings.

    TD Securities Technology Conference

    The Company will also participate in the TD Securities Technology Conference taking place in Toronto from November 25- 26th. Management will also host investor meetings on Tuesday, November 26th.

    For more information about the conferences or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with management, please contact your representatives at Wedbush Securities and TD Securities.

    About illumin:

    illumin is a journey advertising platform that enables marketers to reach consumers at every stage of their journey by leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms and real-time data analytics. The Company’s mission is to illuminate the path for brands to connect with their customers through the power of data-driven advertising. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, illumin serves clients across North America, Latin America, and Europe.

    For further information, please contact.

      Steve Hosein  David Hanover
      Investor Relations Investor Relations – U.S.
      illumin Holdings Inc. KCSA Strategic Communications
      416-218-9888 x5313  212-896-1220
      investors@illumin.com dhanover@kcsa.com
         

    Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements

    Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: HP Strengthens Workforce Experience Platform with Acquisition of Vyopta

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HP Inc. today announced it has acquired Vyopta, an Austin based provider of collaboration management solutions, offering analytics and monitoring for large, unified communications and collaboration (UC) networks. Vyopta brings extensive expertise and infrastructure to turbocharge the development of HP’s Workforce Experience Platform and provide customers with more insights and capabilities.

    The HP Workforce Experience Platform, launched earlier this year, is designed to improve the employee experience and simplify IT management by giving customers control over their digital ecosystem from a single pane of glass. Today’s news marks the next step in the Platform journey to create a more comprehensive workplace view for customers and set HP further apart from competitors.

    “With the addition of Vyopta’s unique capabilities, HP has a tremendous opportunity to unlock fulfilling employee experiences and meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Faisal Masud, President, HP Digital Services. “Vyopta has revolutionized the way organizations deliver collaboration experiences by providing contextual intelligence, unified visibility, and actionable alerts across a wide range of business collaboration applications, devices, and infrastructure. Together, we will deliver more AI-driven, streamlined, and comprehensive insights that enable an agile, resilient, and productive workforce.”

    This acquisition will accelerate HP’s existing platform strategy and expand its capabilities to include space and application management, offering customers:

    • Enhanced Fleet Management with Vyopta as a core feature that provides multi-vendor monitoring, analytics, space utilization and occupancy tracking, and planning insights.
    • End-to-End Insights based on telemetry captured from on premises and cloud collaboration technologies to deliver visibility across devices, applications, infrastructure, and networks and proactive troubleshooting, recommendations, and data-driven workplace decisions.
    • AI-Powered Platform with accelerated Managed Collaboration Solutions integration and enriched datasets for employee experience management.
    • Rebuilt SaaS Platform using a modern microservices architecture with improved integrations, scalability, and security

    Vyopta was founded in 2007 and transforms how organizations deliver exceptional collaboration experiences by providing contextual intelligence, unified visibility, and actionable alerts for business collaboration applications, devices, and infrastructure.

    About HP
    HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) is a global technology leader and creator of solutions that enable people to bring their ideas to life and connect to the things that matter most. Operating in more than 170 countries, HP delivers a wide range of innovative and sustainable devices, services and subscriptions for personal computing, printing, 3D printing, hybrid work, gaming, and more. For more information, please visit: http://www.hp.com. 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: FactSet’s GHG Emissions Commitment Validated by Science Based Targets Initiative

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NORWALK, Conn., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FactSet, a global financial digital platform and enterprise solutions provider, today announced that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated its near-term, company-wide sustainability initiative to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat the global climate crisis.

    This validation follows FactSet’s 2022 near-term emission reduction commitment, confirming the company’s goals have been reviewed by corporate climate experts and are inline and attainable according to SBTi’s guidelines. These goals include reducing scope 1, direct and owned company emissions; scope 2, indirect and off-site company emissions; and scope 3, indirect value chain emissions.

    FactSet’s commitment involves:

    • FactSet Research Systems Inc. commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 45% by its 2030 fiscal year from its fiscal 2023 base year levels.
    • FactSet Research Systems Inc. commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 25% by its 2030 fiscal year from its fiscal 2023 base year levels.

    As outlined in FactSet’s 2023 Sustainability Report, FactSet commits to measuring and disclosing its GHG emissions to drive business goals and reach a net zero future. As FactSet progresses towards its decarbonization targets, FactSet will be researching and implementing alternate strategies to adapt its operations to decrease its scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.

    “At FactSet, we are committed to upholding the highest standards to achieve our sustainability goals,” said Bénédicte Godet Crochet, Chair of the Sustainability Committee at FactSet. “As we receive this validation from the Science Based Targets initiative, we continue to progress our efforts towards making a meaningful impact on our planet and community. This achievement marks a significant milestone in our sustainability journey, and we are proud to be a player in reaching a net-zero future.”

    This validation is in accordance with FactSet’s sustainability plan, which is reinforced by the company’s executive-sponsored Sustainability Committee, a group that supports and executes sustainability goals and initiatives, as well as previous pledges with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI).

    To learn more about FactSet’s sustainability program, please visit: https://www.factset.com/our-company/sustainability.

    About FactSet
    FactSet (NYSE:FDS | NASDAQ:FDS) helps the financial community to see more, think bigger, and work better. Our digital platform and enterprise solutions deliver financial data, analytics, and open technology to more than 8,200 global clients, including over 216,000 individual users. Clients across the buy-side and sell-side as well as wealth managers, private equity firms, and corporations achieve more every day with our comprehensive and connected content, flexible next-generation workflow solutions, and client-centric specialized support. As a member of the S&P 500, we are committed to sustainable growth and have been recognized amongst the Best Places to Work in 2023 by Glassdoor as a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award winner. Learn more at www.factset.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

    FactSet
    Investor Relations Contact:
    Ali van Nes
    +1.203.810.2273
    Avannes@factset.com

    Media Contact:
    Megan Kovach
    +1.512.736.2795
    megan.kovach@factset.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Tactile Medical Announces Positive Clinical Trial Results in Lymphedema Patients Using Advanced Pneumatic Compression Device Therapy

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tactile Systems Technology, Inc. (“Tactile Medical”; the “Company”) (Nasdaq: TCMD), a medical technology company providing therapies for people with chronic disorders, today announced the publication of a new clinical study in the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Venous and Lymphatic Disorders. This study assessed outcomes associated with use of the Company’s Flexitouch advanced pneumatic compression device (APCD) in Veterans with lower extremity lymphedema. Notably, this 52-week study represents the largest peer-reviewed, prospective, clinical trial investigating PCDs and lymphedema ever published in the United States.

    The prospective, longitudinal, pragmatic study publication, titled “Longitudinal assessment of health-related quality of life and clinical outcomes with at home advanced pneumatic compression treatment of lower extremity lymphedema”, was authored by Padberg et al. and included 179 Veterans across four participating VA medical centers. The primary outcome measures included disease-specific health-related quality of life (QoL) endpoints obtained at baseline and again at each of 12, 24, and 52 weeks. The secondary outcome measures assessed limb circumference, cellulitis events, skin quality, and therapy compliance over the course of 52 weeks. Among the patients included in the study, chronic venous insufficiency was the most common etiology of lymphedema (phlebolymphedema), presenting in approximately 63% of study participants. Further, mild lymphedema was the most common disease stage, presenting in 68% of patients.

    The secondary endpoint results demonstrated several statistically significant improvements, baseline to 52 weeks, with reductions in limb girth, cellulitis events, and skin hyperpigmentation. Among these results, the following were observed:

    • Limb girth decreased by 1.4 cm
    • Cellulitis events decreased from 21.4% to 6.1%
    • Skin hyperpigmentation decreased from 75% of patients to 40% 

    There were additional improvements also noted in compliance and limb girth reduction which included:

    • 92% patient compliance (defined as used for 5 to 7 days per week) with Flexitouch at 8 weeks and 72% patient compliance at 52 weeks
    • 74% patient compliance with compression garments at 52 weeks, compared to 64% at baseline
    • 6% limb girth reduction at 12 weeks in patients with moderate (stage 2) and severe (stage 3) lymphedema.

    “We sincerely thank the clinical researchers, patients, and VA Medical Centers for advancing peer-reviewed evidence that supports clinical and patient benefits of our Flexitouch therapy,” said Sheri Dodd, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tactile Medical. “Achieving these impressive study results, including outstanding compliance over a 1-year timeframe, validates the importance of APCD therapy outcomes and demonstrates a patient experience that supports strong adherence to therapy. We are proud to provide Veterans the at-home tools they need to improve their clinical symptoms and quality of life.”

    Full text of the study may be found online at: https://www.jvsvenous.org/article/S2213-333X(24)00208-7/fulltext.

    About Tactile Systems Technology, Inc. (DBA Tactile Medical)

    Tactile Medical is a leader in developing and marketing at-home therapies for people suffering from underserved, chronic conditions including lymphedema, lipedema, chronic venous insufficiency and chronic pulmonary disease by helping them live better and care for themselves at home. Tactile Medical collaborates with clinicians to expand clinical evidence, raise awareness, increase access to care, reduce overall healthcare costs and improve the quality of life for tens of thousands of patients each year.

    Investor Inquiries:
    Sam Bentzinger
    Gilmartin Group
    investorrelations@tactilemedical.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: E Ink Announces Collaboration with Delvaux for Handbag Capsule at Paris Fashion Week Using E Ink Prism™ 3

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BILLERICA, Mass., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — E Ink (8069.TW) the originator, pioneer, and global commercial leader in ePaper technology, today announced their collaboration with Delvaux at Paris Fashion Week. Delvaux’s Helios capsule showcases four designs using E Ink Prism 3 which merge traditional textiles with innovative technologies.

    Inspired by E Ink’s color-changing Prism film—dynamic electronic ink technology defined by its fully programable, reflective, and low power consumption—Delvaux imagined redefining what luxury can be. Over the past two years E Ink and Delvaux have worked closely together to push the boundaries of technology – ultimately creating a product that weaves material innovation and leather mastery together to create a completely unique and personalized experience.

    “Our Helios project unifies extreme tradition with extreme innovation. Once more, it’s the fruit of an encounter and truly collaborative work which started more than two years ago between E Ink’s and Delvaux’s teams,” said Jean-Marc Loubier, Delvaux’s CEO. “The start, in January 2022, is the discovery of E Ink’s innovative technology with new materials, light, and colours at CES in Las Vegas. Our project demonstrates the drive to mix this extraordinary tech with our leather mastery and create outstanding bags, for real, daily use. Commitment and collaboration pushed our two companies well beyond their comfort zones to reach a historic result.”

    “E Ink has explored how to integrate our films into textiles for a number of years,” said Tim O’Malley, Associate Vice President of E Ink’s US Business Unit. “In Delvaux we found a partner that had the vision to imagine new possibilities in how the two materials could work together harmoniously. The resulting designs highlight how innovative materials like E Ink Prism can be seamlessly woven into a traditional material, honoring both history and the future.”

    le Caprice and le Pin mark the first implementation of E Ink’s unique technology in any luxury maison. The two companies are working together to bring the collection to market.

    Founded in 1829, Delvaux has remained at the forefront of luxury leather goods for nearly two centuries because of its savoir-faire, uncompromising craftsmanship, and the outstanding quality of its creations. The visionary and pragmatic Brussels-based luggage maker foresaw the travel revolution approaching and filed its first world patent for a woman’s leather handbag in 1908 with ‘le Princesse’, becoming the inventor of the modern handbag.

    As a global leader in ePaper technology, E Ink is not only committed to delivering innovative technology via advanced manufacturing processes but is also prioritizing sustainability. The company is actively focused on reducing carbon emissions throughout the product design and manufacturing processes by conducting carbon footprint verification and providing customers with a sustainable framework for the design and integration of ePaper products.

    About E Ink

    E Ink Holdings Inc. (8069.TWO), based on technology from MIT’s Media Lab, provides an ideal display medium for applications spanning eReaders and eNotes, retail, home, hospital, transportation, logistics, and more, enabling customers to put displays in locations previously impossible. E Ink’s electrophoretic display products make it the worldwide leader for ePaper. Its low power displays enable customers to reach their sustainability goals, and E Ink has pledged using 100% renewable energy in 2030 and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040. E Ink has been recognized for their efforts by receiving, validation from Science-Based Targets (SBTi) and is listed in both the DJSI World and DJSI Emerging Indexes. Listed in Taiwan’s Taipei Exchange (TPEx) and the Luxembourg market, E Ink Holdings is now the world’s largest supplier of ePaper displays. For more information please visit www.eink.com. E Ink. We Make Surfaces Smart and Green.

    Contact:

    V2 Communications on behalf of E Ink

    eink@v2comms.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d50c2242-b107-44e4-a86d-63328d86f1ac

    The MIL Network –