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Category: Agriculture

  • MIL-OSI USA: ‘Egg-sasperated’ Reed Seeks Answers from USDA Nominee on Plan to Lower Egg Prices

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC — Why did the Senator cross the road?  To help drive down ‘eggflation.’

    U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is urging President Donald Trump – who pledged to “immediately bring prices down, starting on day one” — to finally take action to help reduce egg prices and crack down on anti-competitive price gouging.

    Today, Reed sent a letter to the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, Brooke Rollins, who President Trump nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), asking for her plan to help lower egg prices. 

    Reed says Trump is causing consumers to shell out more for eggs: In the weeks since Trump took office for his second term, wholesale prices for a dozen Grade A large white eggs in cartons already increased about 15 percent and the Trump Administration has taken zero substantive steps to address the situation.  In fact, Trump’s initial moves in office, such as blocking the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal health agencies from publishing scientific reports on the bird flu or issuing health advisories, or his decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), which coordinates global efforts to combat disease outbreaks, may be contributing to the problem and increasing the likelihood of future avian flu cases. 

    This week, Rhode Island consumers are being charged anywhere from $4.55 a dozen to $6.99 a dozen for large eggs at local chain retailers and some restaurants have instituted a 50-cent surcharge per egg on all menu items. 

    “In order to combat these price spikes, we must have a strong response from the USDA to get avian influenza under control.  In addition, the USDA, in conjunction with other federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, must carefully police the market and crack down on any price gouging by large egg producers, who in the past have demonstrated a propensity to hike prices on consumers to levels that far exceed any increase in the cost of production,” Reed wrote the USDA nominee.

    Reed noted that during her hearing, Ms. Rollins “did not provide a comprehensive plan, and instead stated “there is a lot that I have to learn” about avian influenza and animal disease.”

    His letter concluded: “As Agriculture Secretary, you would be tasked with spearheading and implementing the Trump Administration’s plan to combat this costly disease in our nation’s animals.  I understand that it may be difficult to outline a comprehensive plan during the time allotted in a confirmation hearing.  To that end, I would like to provide you the opportunity to outline your plan in writing to address avian influenza and bring egg prices down for Americans across the country.

    “To allow me to fully evaluate your nomination, I ask that you respond promptly before your final confirmation vote.” 

    Reed says he hopes to be able to share the plan with other U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle to help inform their votes.

    Full text of the letter follows:

    February 5, 2025

    The Honorable Brooke Rollins

    President & CEO

    America First Policy Institute

    1777 N Kent Street Suite 1400

    Arlington, VA 22209

    Dear Ms. Rollins:

    As the full Senate prepares to consider your nomination for Secretary of Agriculture, I write to inquire about your plan to address the ongoing H5N1 avian influenza (“bird flu”) outbreak, which is contributing to high egg prices for consumers across the country.  I am well aware that avian influenza has been a problem for multiple administrations – including the Obama Administration, the first Trump Administration, and the Biden Administration.  Regardless, I am interested to hear how you, if confirmed, plan to end the current outbreak and lower prices.

    According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), wholesale prices for a dozen Grade A large white eggs in cartons increased 14.5% since President Trump took office.  In order to combat these price spikes, we must have a strong response from the USDA to get avian influenza under control.  In addition, the USDA, in conjunction with other federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, must carefully police the market and crack down on any price gouging by large egg producers, who in the past have demonstrated a propensity to hike prices on consumers to levels that far exceed any increase in the cost of production.

    In your written testimony for your January 23rd nomination hearing, you shared that one of your “key priorities for Day One,” if confirmed as Secretary would be to “immediately and comprehensively get a handle on the state of animal-disease outbreaks, including H5N1.”  However, when asked for your plan to address this issue by Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, you did not provide a comprehensive plan, and instead stated “there is a lot that I have to learn” about avian influenza and animal disease.

    As Agriculture Secretary, you would be tasked with spearheading and implementing the Trump Administration’s plan to combat this costly disease in our nation’s animals.  I understand that it may be difficult to outline a comprehensive plan during the time allotted in a confirmation hearing.  To that end, I would like to provide you the opportunity to outline your plan in writing to address avian influenza and bring egg prices down for Americans across the country.

    To allow me to fully evaluate your nomination, I ask that you respond promptly before your final confirmation vote. 

    I appreciate in advance your attention to this important matter.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Three men arrested in connection with Hoads Wood illegal waste dumping

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Three men were arrested on 5 February as part of an investigation into the large-scale, illegal tipping of waste at the Hoads Wood SSSI in Ashford, Kent

    Three men were arrested yesterday (Wednesday 5 February) as part of an investigation into the large-scale, illegal tipping of waste at the Hoads Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Ashford, Kent. 

    Environment Agency Enforcement Officers, Kent Police and the Joint Unit for Waste Crime worked closely together to secure the arrests and custody of the suspects.

    Two of the individuals – aged 44 and 62 – are from the Isle of Sheppey, while the third, aged 41, resides near Sittingbourne. All three have been interviewed, and evidence obtained during the arrests will support the next stages of the investigation.

    The Environment Agency began a criminal investigation in 2023 after 30,000 tonnes of household and construction waste, piled 15 feet high in places, was discovered to have been dumped throughout Hoads Wood, near Ashford.  

    We subsequently secured a court order, banning unauthorised access to the woodland and to successfully stop more waste being dumped, and have since appointed a specialist company to remove the waste and help return the site to its former state.

    Our investigation seeks to establish those responsible for co-ordinating the offending and bring them to court. These arrests mark an important next step in delivering justice for the local community.

    The Environment Agency’s Director of Operations for East and South East England, Simon Hawkins, said:

    The dumping of thousands of tonnes of waste at Hoads Wood in 2023 was a flagrant act of vandalism – with horrendous consequences for the local community and environment.

    The Environment Agency and Kent Police have been working tirelessly to uncover the identity of those responsible and bring them to justice, and to take the fight to organised criminal networks. The arrest of three individuals yesterday is a major step forward for our investigation and should bring some comfort to residents whose lives have been upended by this crime.

    Sergeant Darren Walshaw of Kent Police’s Rural Task Force said:

    Fly-tipping and environmental crime is a blight on Kent’s beautiful landscape and we are committed to supporting the Environment Agency in its ongoing efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

    We do this by making arrests, gathering evidence and carrying out preventative activities including spot checks of vehicles seen in areas where such offences are common.

    People who thoughtlessly dump large volumes of waste are often linked to other forms of criminal activity and their illegal acts must not be tolerated.

    The Environment Agency continues to monitor the site for any effect on air or water quality, and will ensure all necessary environmental authorisations are in place while the waste is cleared.

    Waste crime pollutes our environment, undercuts legitimate business and significantly affects our farmers and rural communities – which is why we’re committed to tackling it.

    In 2023/24, we successfully shut down 63 illegal waste sites, bringing the total number in operation to 344 – the lowest total figure on record. Enforcement officers also prevented nearly 34,000 tonnes of waste from being illegally exported by waste criminals. 

    If you have any information that may assist with this investigation, please call our 24-hour hotline on 0800 807060. Or report anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or the Crimestoppers website.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: How Yeomadon Farm used EWCO funding to create woodland

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Case study

    How Yeomadon Farm used EWCO funding to create woodland

    Yeomadon Farm used their England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) funding to improve the landscape for business and recreation.

    Yeomadon Farm has been in Rob Moore’s family since the early 1900s and has seen a range of uses, including dairy, beef farming and a successful holiday cottage business.

    More recently, Rob and his wife Catherine have replaced their cattle with trees. They want their land to be more compatible with their holiday cottage enterprise by reducing heavy machinery around the cottages and, in time, to provide a woodland for the guests to enjoy.

    Conifer saplings grow on the the newly planted site at Yeomadon Farm. Copyright Yeomadon Farm.

    Yeomadon Farm facts

    • location: Devon / Cornwall county border
    • size: 18 hectares
    • type: conifer woodland with broadleaf edges
    • species: Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine, Norway spruce, western red cedar, hazel, silver birch, sessile oak, common alder and wild cherry
    • date planted: February 2022
    • grant: England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO)
    • main objective: to improve the landscape to complement an existing holiday cottage business

    Moving towards forestry

    While Rob and Catherine didn’t have any prior experience of forestry, the family didn’t let this stand in their way. They chose to create woodland to complement their already thriving holiday cottage business, which has a focus on nature-based activities, such as fishing and local walks.

    They will also be looking for the woodland to generate income for them in the future.

    Rob Moore, owner of Yeomadon Farm, said:

    Our initial thought was if we could turn this agricultural land into forestry without it costing us anything, then we’ll be happy.

    Financially supported woodland creation

    After first hearing about the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) in the Mole Valley newsletter, Rob and Catherine were keen to explore using their land to create woodland. They had some initial conversations with land agent Pryor and Rickett Silviculture about what this might look like, including which fields they had earmarked for planting.

    Their agent managed the woodland creation process from initial site visits, arranging involvement from a Forestry Commission woodland officer and the completion of the EWCO grant application, through to sourcing and planting the saplings.

    For Rob and Catherine, this process was really positive. They felt having an agent to guide them through the grant application was invaluable and made the financial side of the process much more straightforward.

    The scheme was eligible for an ‘additional contribution’ for water quality, a one-off payment available through EWCO where a woodland’s location and design deliver public benefits. In this case, for promoting drainage for the site’s waterlogged soils.

    The agents, along with the local woodland officer, helped Rob and Catherine select which trees to plant. This decision was largely based on what would be most suitable for the ground, which tends to get water-logged. They also wanted to ensure a mix of species to offer resilience against our changing climate and the threat of pests and diseases.

    The centre of the woodland is made up of Sitka spruce, Norway spruce, lodgepole pine and western red cedar, with a surrounding ring of mixed native broadleaf species close to the fishing lakes. The agents arranged contractors to hand plant 33,000 trees, which took 3 weeks.

    Rob and Catherine Moore with a conifer sapling planted at Yeomadon Farm. Copyright Yeomadon Farm.

    Catherine Moore, owner of Yeomadon Farm, said:

    We didn’t need to do anything. If we had to do the whole process all by ourselves, we wouldn’t have known where to start!

    Saving costs during the establishment process

    Rob and Catherine were able to make savings by doing much of the maintenance work themselves. Rob sprayed the surrounding ground around the new trees, which ensured growth wasn’t hampered by the grass or weeds. The process took him 8 days and saved on the expense of additional labour costs.

    Similarly, they put in the fencing themselves. They used a total of 1,800 metres of deer fencing and gates, with additional rabbit netting. As the woodland grows, they will seek additional advice on how it can provide further income. For now, they both agree that it stacks up financially.

    Deer fencing with rabbit netting to protect the new saplings. Copyright Yeomadon Farm.

    Benefits for nature, people and the planet

    Rob and Catherine have noticed some additional benefits to the wildlife and biodiversity of the area. They stated that “it may be that we’re just noticing the wildlife more than we used to, or that it’s flourishing now that we’re disturbing the land less, but we don’t remember seeing sparrowhawks before!” In addition, the woodland will, in time, be open for the guests at the holiday cottages to enjoy.

    The Yeomadon Farm scheme was celebrated in the Devon Woodland Awards ‘New Woodland on Farm’ category, where Rob and Catherine won silver. The judges praised the scheme and the ingenuity in designing and using specialist equipment for planting and maintenance.

    Top tips

    1. Consider using an agent. Rob and Catherine were completely new to forestry when they started on this journey and found it invaluable having an agent to navigate them through the process.

    2. Don’t underestimate the labour required in getting the scheme up and running. Factor these costs into your planning as they could make a big difference.

    3. Think about planning ahead. Work out how to manage the grass and what machinery you might need as these could all add up in terms of cost and overall finances.

    4. Consider your financing options in the short-term to cover the up-front costs of planting your new woodland. This is because EWCO payments are received once all capital work has been completed and evidence is reviewed.

    You can also see the brochure version of this story: Yeomadon Farm: woodland creation case study (PDF, 14.9 MB, 4 pages).

    Read more about woodland creation and tree planting grants.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: A926 Emergency Gas Repair Works

    Source: Scotland – City of Perth

    Due to emergency gas repair works, it has been necessary to close a 420-metre section of the A926 to all traffic between Rattray and Alyth at Pictfield, from 9.30am on Thursday 6 February 2025 until such times as the repairs are completed by SGN.

    Vehicles will be diverted during the closure via the A93, A923, A94 and B954. Emergency service access will be maintained throughout.  

    Unfortunately, the closure will have a significant impact on local Stagecoach bus services 57 and 57A.  Dundee and Perth bound services will operate to/from Blairgowrie Wellmeadow and will not operate via Rattray, New Alyth, and Alyth.  The operator has advised it will only be able to offer a limited shuttle bus service for Alyth to link passengers with services which will be diverted via Coupar Angus and Meigle during the closure. As a result, there will be no early morning commuter journeys or late evening service available. Please see the shuttle bus timetable (PDF, 110 KB) for further details. 

    A number of school transport contracts will also be affected, as outlined in the table below: 

    Contract 

    Revised Operation  

    XBG/003 (Stagecoach): Alyth (Fire Station) – New Alyth – Blairgowrie High School 

    Contract will operate New Alyth (0810-15) – Alyth Fire Station (0820) then diversion route via B954 – A94 – Coupar Angus – A923 to/from Blairgowrie High School. 

    XBG/004 (Stagecoach): Alyth Square – Blairgowrie High School 

    Contract will operate from Alyth Square (Usual pickup time, will be monitored if time change is required) then diversion route via B954 – A94 – Coupar Angus – A923 to/from Blairgowrie High school. Feeder contracts ABG/001 & ABG/002 (KM Taxis) will be revised to meet any change to connecting times. 

    XBG/005 (Stagecoach): Alyth – Rattray – Blairgowrie – St Johns Academy 

    Alyth will not be served, and contract will commence from Rattray Cross (0747). Alternative arrangements have been made for pupils from Alyth on Contract XSB/011 departing Alyth Square (0740). 

    XBG/011 (Smith and Sons): Meigle – Alyth – A926 – St Stephens Primary School 

    Contract will operate A926/Thorn Farm road end – Alyth – Meigle – then diversion route via B954 – A94 – Coupar Angus – A923 to/from St Stephens Primary School. Operator/Driver to liaise with parents regarding any revised pick-up times. 

    Service 57 (Stagecoach): Dundee – Alyth – Rattray – Blairgowrie (High School) – Perth  

    Service will not operate between Meigle (0814), Alyth (0823) & Rattray for Blairgowrie High School (0850). Pupils from Alyth are requested to travel on the Contract buses they are allocated to. 

    Last modified on 06 February 2025

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    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Armed Forces to cut red tape and deliver quicker and easier recruitment service

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Joining the Armed Forces will become quicker and easier under a new first-of-its kind recruitment service that cuts red tape and transforms the way people sign up to serve. 

    • A new recruitment service will streamline the process for candidates to join the Armed Forces.
    • Launching in 2027, the first-of-its kind service will speed up recruitment to boost national security – the foundation of Government’s Plan for Change.
    • Single-entry point for prospective recruits to attract the best talent from across the country and deliver better value for taxpayer money.

    Joining the Armed Forces will become quicker and easier under a new first-of-its kind recruitment service that cuts red tape and transforms the way people sign up to serve.  

    Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has today announced that a new, combined Armed Forces Recruitment Service (AFRS) will launch in 2027, replacing the individual schemes run by the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. The new contract will ensure better value for taxpayer money and better outcomes for our Armed Forces.  

    The first-ever tri-service recruitment programme will provide a streamlined, single-entry point for prospective recruits, with the aim of attracting the best talent from across the country into the Armed Forces to strengthen national security as the foundation of the Government’s Plan for Change.  

    The announcement follows the Defence Secretary’s commitment last year to tackle long application waiting times for the Armed Forces, with a new ambition to make a conditional offer within 10 days and confirmation of a training start date within 30 days.  

    Under the innovative new recruitment service, candidates will complete one application and one medical evaluation via a single, digital system – offering a more straightforward process that seeks to retain applicant interest. The digitally enhanced process will see applications reviewed, offers made and training begin at a faster pace than individual services currently.  

    In efforts to deliver value for money, the Ministry of Defence will mimic the Cabinet Office’s standard model services contract, allowing for decisive action on supplier-caused performance issues through profit-based performance goals and contract break-clauses. 

    Existing processes have struggled to meet the evolving needs of modern recruitment, with inefficiencies and delays leading to fewer than one in 10 applicants joining in 2023. 

    Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard said:

    This Government is delivering for defence and taking decisive action to address recruitment and retention challenges within our Armed Forces. For too long, we have seen keen and capable prospective recruits failed by an outdated system, full of delays and inefficiencies.  

    Our innovative new Armed Forces Recruitment Service will help us attract top talent from across the UK – bolstering our national security as the foundation for our government’s Plan for Change.  

    By making it quicker and easier for people to sign up to serve, while maintaining the very highest standards, we will strengthen our Armed Forces and make the UK more secure. 

    Our ambition is for those who apply to serve our country to receive a conditional answer within 10 days and a training start date within 30 days. As global threats increase, we are making the changes necessary to get the brightest and best into Britain’s military.”  

    Developed in partnership with Serco, the new programme will ultimately help to ensure that the UK military remains ready to face emerging threats while enhancing the support for those who serve.   

    AFRS will also see Service Personnel playing an active role in the recruitment process, leveraging their unique skills and experience to engage the next generation of military professionals.   

    In a separate move to attract a broader range of Armed Forces recruits, the Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard has also announced today a new direct entry initiative for cyber roles. With reduced basic training, a starting salary of £40,000 and specialist cyber training, recruits will support our Forces and bolster the UK’s cyber strength.  

    The Government is committed to bettering the Armed Forces career offer and has also delivered one of the largest pay increases for the Armed Forces in the last 20 years, scrapped over 100 outdated policies that block or slow recruitment, and are establishing an Armed Forces Commissioner to champion Service Personnel and their families.  

    With recruitment across the three Forces being unified, AFRS will see all applicant data held centrally at MOD, offering improved data security and enhanced access to information.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Loving the world could address the climate crisis and help us make sense of changes to come

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Barbara Leckie, Professor, English and the Institute for the Comparative Study of Literature, Art, and Culture; Academic Director, Re.Climate: Centre for Climate Communication and Public Engagement, Carleton University

    This January, the world watched as Los Angeles burned. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” one police chief told reporters, a sentiment echoed by front-line firefighters.

    Last fall, hurricanes Helene and Milton swept through North Carolina and Florida.

    The storms’ intensity and record-breaking fatalities, exacerbated by climate change, blindsided many inhabitants. “Never in a million years,” one nurse said, “did I think [a storm like that] would happen in my own backyard.”

    As a researcher focused on how language and storytelling contribute to social cohesion and social change, I noticed people repeatedly felt they had “no words to describe” what they saw.

    Their experience captured what happens when stories and words to fail describe our world.

    ‘Between past and future’

    After the Second World War, for example, philosopher Hannah Arendt, born into a German and Jewish family, wrote about not just the impact of the war on a personal level, but also its impact on how people make meaning.

    What did it mean, Arendt asked, not to have the conceptual frames through which the world had once made sense? What did it mean to live in the strange interval of time “between past and future” when old forms of understanding the world had eroded and new forms had not yet been found?



    Read more:
    Hannah Arendt wanted political thinking to be urgent and engaged. She is a philosopher for our times

    Her response was bracing and unexpected. She called for everyone — not just philosophers or scholars but the general public as a whole — to step up and contribute to the work of making meaning at a time when meaning-making was grievously fractured. Her phrase for this was amor mundi or “for love of the world.”

    Now, as many people seek to understand and respond to the climate crisis, they are again experiencing a sense of personal loss and a larger sense of not having the conceptual tools to make sense of this moment. How does one love the world in difficult times?

    Learning to love the world

    Love is complicated and messy. Like hurricanes and fires, it often defies the categories available to describe it.

    Hannah Arendt, seen here in 1958, wrote about making meaning for the love of the world.
    (Barbara Niggl Radloff/Wikipedia), CC BY-SA

    And as Stephanie Lemenager, professor in American literature and environmental studies, illustrates, love of fossil fuel culture, and the conveniences it provides, makes it difficult to respond to the climate crisis.

    Love also evades measurement, and metric-oriented value structures can’t count it. As William Shakespeare asks, tragically, in King Lear: “How does one measure love?”

    Love won’t run out in 2030 or 2050. It doesn’t have a parts per million, and despite the many hot and cold words to describe it, it doesn’t have a temperature. Still, as climate emotions professor Sara Jacquette Ray notes, love of this world powers climate action.

    I was talking to a friend recently, the Canadian poet Ken Victor, and he suggested “giving priority to the climate crisis as a multi-faceted relationship to be repaired rather than as a problem to be solved.” Indigenous thinkers like Leanne Betasamosake Simpson,
    the renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, also emphasizes “deep reciprocity” and “relationship” to resist the injustices imposed by colonialism.

    Global North climate responses have much to gain from Indigenous thinking and Arendt, of course, is not alone in animating the power of collective, participatory storytelling and loving the world.

    Learning to ‘restory’ the climate

    The idea of “restorying” has been taken up by Indigenous writers to speak in diverse and powerful ways to dynamic and relational forms of oral storytelling, leadership and theatre.

    Walter Benjamin wrote that the trauma of war weakened the stories his world relied upon for coherence.
    (Wikipedia)

    My research on time and climate develops German Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin’s relevance to storytelling, and what I am calling “restorying” here.

    Like Arendt, Benjamin wrote that the trauma of war — in this case, the First World War — weakened the stories upon which his world relied for social coherence. Where Arendt suggests loving the world, Benjamin endorses amplified, dynamic forms of storytelling.

    Here I build on the tradition from Benjamin to Arendt that invests in the collective practice of making sense of the world one inhabits through sharing, revising and building stories. For Benjamin, stories are in dialogue with other stories; they are participatory and inconclusive. They are also “effective,” meaning they produce effects and invite a response. Above all, they are meant to be repeated and passed on.

    Benjamin’s account of stories, however, also includes a cautionary note: people stop telling stories, as he defines them, when the world no longer fills them with wonder or surprise; when they think they know where they stand. They stop asking questions and no longer believe they can benefit from sharing their dilemmas and concerns with others. They stop thinking, in Arendt’s sense.

    When people isolate themselves in silos of like-minded others, they avoid being challenged or provoked. As Arendt notes, facts are fragile. When lies proliferate and the ability to distinguish those lies from factual truth is eroded, reality wobbles and political action becomes near impossible.

    People can’t act, Arendt believes, when they stop sharing a world in common, however divided by different customs it will always be.

    Relationship rebuilding

    Environmental justice asks us to rethink the systems and practices that created today’s climate impacts. Addressing the climate crisis only from the perspective of a problem to be solved means that we continue on the path, and with the infrastructure, that created the problem in the first place.

    Now, poised between another past and future, I’m interested in, as writer and activist Astra Taylor puts it, “coming together as things fall apart.” Coming together, as a relational practice, can animate what’s missing in the problem-solution models that dominate Global North responses to the climate crisis.

    Arendt and Benjamin offer me stories that “work” and stories that “wonder.”
    Stories that “work” mobilize equitable climate action. Stories that “wonder” are stories that keep open questions, conversation and thinking.

    As international assemblies like COP29 fail to realize their goals, as global carbon emissions continue to rise and as extreme weather everywhere makes many people feel that the frameworks available for understanding no longer serve them, a different response is required. We could call it, following Arendt and Benjamin, restorying the climate and loving the world.

    Barbara Leckie receives funding from SSHRC.

    – ref. Loving the world could address the climate crisis and help us make sense of changes to come – https://theconversation.com/loving-the-world-could-address-the-climate-crisis-and-help-us-make-sense-of-changes-to-come-240766

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Trump Tariffs, Trade War Concerns Heard During Welch’s Roundtable with Vermont Businesses and Farmers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, convened Vermont businesses for a virtual roundtable to hear about the chaos caused by President Trump’s misguided tariff policies and his Trade War. Earlier this week, the president agreed to pause new 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico for 30 days, as well as 10% tariffs on imports of oil from Canada—which he had announced days prior, prompting immediate retaliation by Canada and Mexico. President Trump did not pause new 10% tariffs on imports from China. He has also threatened tariffs on imports from the European Union. 
    “These Trump Tariffs are of enormous concern because of their real practical impacts on enterprises, your companies, on your ability to do your work,” said Senator Welch during the event. “The concerns that I’ve seen and expressed to me by Vermonters are concerns that are being expressed to my Republican colleagues…I think that helps put us in a position to push back and be successful. 
    “Every single day, I’m going to be thinking about how this impacts you, and on Vermont, because each of you represent a significant part of the Vermont economy, and you certainly represent the Vermont spirit….I want to do everything I can to allow you to continue being successful doing what you’re doing.” 
    After President Trump’s decision to pause tariffs Canada and Mexico on Monday for 30 days, Senator Welch released the following statement: 

    “President Trump temporarily backtracking on his Trade War does nothing to give Vermont families, businesses, and farms the economic stability they deserve. Tariffs are taxes, and Trump just made it clear he’s fine with raising taxes on American families,” said Sen. Welch. 

    Senator Welch was joined by Vermont business owners, dairy and vegetable farmers, maple sugar makers, manufacturers, craft brewers, home heating and energy importers, home construction manufacturing, retailers, bankers, technology leaders, health care experts, transportation industry experts, local and state leaders, and others impacted by tariffs and the president’s reckless economic policies.  
    During the virtual roundtable, he heard clear concerns from Vermonters, including:    
    “It feels like death by a thousand cuts.” – Stoni Tomson, a small-scale vegetable farmer in Huntington, VT 
    “Adding a tariff will either lead to drug shortages in the short term, or long-term significant price increases.” –  Jason Williams, University of Vermont Health Network 
    “If the 25% tariff was applied in full, it would be about a $130,000 – $150,000 unbudgeted hit to our food procurement efforts. And as a charitable organization, we don’t have a consumer to pass along that cost to.” –  Jason Maring, Vermont Foodbank 
     “The ripple-effects that this could have on energy markets, and of course manufacturing, is very heavy.” – Catherine de Ronde, Agri-Mark 
    “We’re grateful for the pause, and hopeful you can do what you can do to make sure it never comes back.” – Matt Cota, Meadow Hill Consulting 
    “I’m just concerned in general that it’s going to further stagnate the ability for some of these much-needed construction projects to move forward.” – Matt Cook, PC Construction 
    “We would be strongly affected by the tariffs in terms of equipment costs for U.S. producers… I’m very concerned with the possible effects of this.” – Dave Folino, Vermont maple producer 
    “I can foresee this making homes unaffordable—which they already are.” – Denis Bourbeau, Bourbeau Custom Homes 
    “Our industry has grown in production almost 500% over the last 20 years, and these tariffs would go a long way towards potentially slowing that production.” – Alison Hope, Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association 
    “That kind of jolt to our budget—there’s just not room.” – Peter Kahn, Sienna Construction 
    “There’s just so much unknown, and I’m concerned about the impact on our customers—I’m worried that we’ll lose customers…All of this hurts everyone. It makes everything more expensive.” – Ashley Adams, P.G. Adams 
    “That would basically squeeze us out of the marketplace.” – Melanie Harrison, a small organic dairy farmer in Addison, VT 
    “Even though the tariffs aren’t in effect, we’re definitely already feeling the effects.” – Elise Magnant, small organic vegetable farmer in Plainfield, VT 
    “We’re all working on a very slim margin.” – Steve Parkes, Drop In Brewing 
    Today, Senator Welch will take these stories and the voices of Vermonters to the confirmation hearing for President Trump’s pick for U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, who will lead the President’s tariff strategy.  
    On Tuesday, Senator Welch took to the Senate floor to blast the proposed tariffs, which would be a tax on Vermonters. Attendees and constituents are invited to share how President Trump’s economic policies will impact their family, farm, or community by sharing their story on Senator Welch’s website. 
    This event follows a roundtable Senator Welch held in St. Albans on Monday, January 27th, where he heard from businesses and state and local leaders about the President’s threats to reignite a trade war with Canada, Mexico, and China. 
    In many cases, Vermont manufacturers buy imports from Canada to manufacture into products.  However, the ability of Vermont’s small manufacturing businesses to absorb a 25% increase in costs on parts or raw materials is limited. Tariffs on Canada and Mexico could result in layoffs or higher homebuilding costs, increased costs of grain for farmers, and more expensive equipment for maple producers, among other costs that will get passed on to the consumer. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Sheehy, Hickenlooper, Daines Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Establish Unified National Wildfire Intelligence Center

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla, Sheehy, Hickenlooper, Daines Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Establish Unified National Wildfire Intelligence Center

    Modeled after National Weather Service and NOAA Water Center, would coordinate fire response amongst various federal, state, and academic institutions

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Southern California rebuilds from devastating fires, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced bipartisan legislation to create a national Wildfire Intelligence Center to streamline federal response and create a whole-of-government approach to combat wildfires. The joint office, created between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the Interior, would facilitate coordination and information sharing across federal and state departments and agencies, tribal entities, academia, and the private sector on wildland fires.

    At the federal level, various departments and agencies have their own fire management goals, firefighters, and jurisdictions on which they respond to fires. The current division of responsibilities leaves gaps for cross-department collaboration and is unnecessarily burdensome. A national Wildfire Intelligence Center would compile comprehensive information on wildfires to better inform and streamline wildfire responses and recovery by providing states with a central command within the federal government. This center would also increase monitoring and imaging capabilities that land management agencies currently cannot achieve.

    “The devastating Southern California fires are the latest example of increasingly intense and frequent fires ravaging communities within both local jurisdictions and on federal land,” said Senator Padilla. “Wildfires don’t distinguish between our boundaries, and we can’t afford to be siloed in our response. The scale of the wildfire crisis demands a singular, whole-of-government wildfire intelligence center to foster cross-agency collaboration and save lives.”

    “We can all agree that the federal government must do a better job protecting our people, property, public lands, and communities from wildfires, and this bill will go a long way in streamlining our wildland firefighting efforts and best leveraging all available resources to accomplish our shared mission. As the only aerial firefighter in the Senate, I’m proud to be working with folks on both sides of the aisle to deliver commonsense solutions to more effectively fight the devastating threat of wildfires and protect the American people,” said Senator Sheehy. 

    “Wildfires don’t care about state lines or forest service boundaries,” said Senator Hickenlooper. “A centralized wildfire intelligence center will speed our response to fires and promote cross-agency collaboration to tackle them.”

    “As fire season rapidly approaches for Montana, we need all hands on deck to prevent catastrophic disasters. Sharing information and resources between agencies will undoubtedly help Montana communities take preventive measures and better combat fires and coordinate response efforts,” said Senator Daines.

    “The Wildfire Intelligence Center established by this bill will harness cutting-edge technology to give decision-makers real-time insights across jurisdictions and landscapes, enhancing coordination at every stage of a fire. The tools to tackle the megafire crisis already exist — this bill brings us closer to putting them in the hands of firefighters and land managers where they can make a real impact,” said Matt Weiner, CEO of Megafire Action. “Senators Padilla and Sheehy understand the urgent need to modernize our wildfire management system, and we look forward to working with them to get this bill signed into law and turn that vision into reality.”

    “FAS applauds Senators Padilla and Sheehy for introducing this bill, which would take a crucial step forward in protecting our communities from increasingly severe wildfires. The Wildfire Intelligence Center would bring together expertise at all levels of government to give our firefighters and first responders access to cutting-edge tools and the decision support they need to confront this growing crisis,” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at the Federation of American Scientists.

    “APCIA supports the Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act introduced by Senator Padilla (D-CA) and Senator Sheehy (R-MT). This bill reflects the bipartisan recommendations of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission to create a joint interagency center to improve fire assessment and prediction in the wildland and built environment. With the risk of catastrophic wildfires increasing, Congress must take action to pass bills like this one that will lead to better land and fuels management, reduce risk to communities, and improve fire management and response,” said David A. Sampson, APCIA’s President and CEO.

    Advances in wildfire technology hold great promise, however available technological services are highly fragmented across more than 50 federal programs. Simply put, the technology is available, but the government currently lacks the ability to get these tools in the hands of those who desperately need it, when they need it. The Wildfire Intelligence Center will leverage cutting-edge technology and improve the effectiveness of the many entities engaged in wildfire work.

    Specifically, the Wildfire Intelligence Center would study, coordinate, and implement fire suppression and mitigation strategies among the Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior departments, including providing comprehensive assessment and modeling of wildfires to inform response, risk reduction, land and fuels management, post-wildfire recovery, and rehabilitation. This center would be modeled after similar information sharing centers like the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Water Center, which coordinate information sharing to educate people, improve understanding, and foster collaboration amongst various federal, state, and academic units.

    The Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act is endorsed by Megafire Action, Federation of American Scientists, Association of FireTech Innovation, Alliance for Wildfire Resilience, Climate and Wildfire Institute, Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition, The Stewardship Project, Tall Timbers, Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, American Forests, Environmental Defense Fund, and American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

    Senator Padilla has long been a leader in strengthening the federal and state response to wildfires. Earlier this week, Padilla announced a package of three bipartisan bills to bolster fire resilience and proactive mitigation efforts, including the Wildfire Emergency Act, the Fire-Safe Electrical Corridors Act, and the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act. Last month, he introduced another suite of three bipartisan bills to strengthen wildfire resilience and rebuilding efforts through legislation including the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act, and the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act. Padilla’s legislation to strengthen FEMA’s wildfire preparedness and response efforts, the FIRE Act, became law in 2022.

    A one-pager on the Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act is available here.

    Full text of the bill is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Still time to have say on ambitious nature strategy

    Source: City of Leicester

    THERE’S still time for city residents to have their say on an ambitious draft strategy to make space for nature across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

    The Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) will help to protect nature and allow it to recover by conserving and improving habitats and biodiversity. It will identify locations to create or improve habitat and provide the greatest benefit for nature and the wider environment.

    The city council is working with Leicestershire County Council on the development of the strategy, in liaison with other local authorities, land management organisations, and the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra).

    People have already been sharing their views since the consultation was launched last month.

    The consultation runs until Friday 28 February and is inviting comments from residents, farmers, landowners and other interested groups on the draft strategy, which sets out practical actions to boost the area’s wildlife and natural spaces.

    The main points include:

    • A big picture look at how habitat loss. Shrinking species populations and the effects of climate change can be tackled
    • The priority habitats and species that need urgent attention
    • What action is needed to build a healthier, more connected natural environment
    • Creating space for nature to flourish while supporting local people and their livelihoods

    The draft strategy also highlights important habitats including woodlands, wetlands, and urban green spaces, along with key species that need help.

    The survey can be found here and features interactive maps which can be used to view projects in detail and make comments.

    Several in-person and online briefing sessions have been organised to give people the opportunity to learn more about the LNRS, ask questions, and share your thoughts.

    These events are open to everyone. The in-person sessions include a presentation, a Q&A and an opportunity at the end to speak to the presenter.

    The first takes place on Thursday 13 February, (7pm-9pm), at the Symington Building in Market Harborough, and the second is on Monday 17 February, (7pm-9pm), at Loughborough Town Hall. A third will take place on Tuesday 18 February, (7pm-) at Bishop Street Methodist Church in Leicester city centre, while the fourth takes place in the Rutland County Council Chamber from 2.30-4pm on Tuesday 25 February.

     The online sessions take place on Tuesday 11 February (6.30-7.30pm), Tuesday 18 February (4pm-5pm) and Tuesday 25 February (1pm-2pm and 6.30-7.30pm.

    More information and registration for the in-person or online briefing sessions can be found on Leicestershire County Council’s website here

    A spokesperson for the city council said: “We want to hear from as many groups and individuals as possible so we can agree priorities for nature locally and identify locations that will benefit most.

    “We can’t do this by ourselves. We know we need to strike a balance between helping nature and wildlife recover, protecting the livelihoods of those who own and cultivate land, and the wider needs of people who live here.”

    Responses to the consultation, which runs until Friday 28 February, will be used to develop the final version of the LNRS, which will be published in the summer.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why supermarkets are siding with farmers over inheritance tax

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kamran Mahroof, Associate Professor, Supply Chain Analytics, University of Bradford

    John Gomez/Shutterstock.com

    In recent years, British farmers have faced growing pressures, from Brexit to COVID and the Ukraine war. For some of them you can now add planned inheritance tax (IHT) reforms – announced in the budget last autumn – to that list.

    The proposals to cut certain agricultural reliefs sparked protests by farmers across the UK. Currently, farms benefit from 100% relief on agricultural and business assets, but from 2026 the relief will be capped at £1 million, with excess taxed at 20% (half the usual rate). Exactly how many farms will be affected is not yet clear but estimates range between a quarter and a third.

    Farming associations and the government have clashed over this in recent months. Some sections of the public have backed the protesting farmers and voiced their frustration after the announcement.

    But more recently, there has been support from a different – and unexpected – quarter. Seeing UK supermarkets enter the fray and highlight the concerns of farmers adds fuel to the already heated debate.

    The big chains have long faced accusations of unfair treatment towards farmers, using their might to press suppliers for the lowest prices and reportedly forcing some out of business in the process.

    So what has prompted supermarkets to speak out now? As a supply chain expert, I think there are several possible reasons.

    1. Empty shelves

    Simply put, the pressures on farmers can have far-reaching consequences for supermarket supply chains. A key reason for their support will be to avoid food shortages and empty shelves. There are many examples of supply chain disruptions leading to gaps in stores’ product lines, ultimately affecting the customer experience and supermarket profits.

    UK food supply chains are under increasing pressure. Disruptions such as adverse weather, energy price hikes and even cyberattacks have highlighted the vulnerability of the UK’s food system.

    Farmers have also demonstrated their ability in the past to cause disruption to food supply chains by protesting over cheap imports. Mass and sustained farmer protests could turn off the tap to the UK’s food supply, as happened in the Netherlands in 2022. UK supermarkets will want to avoid this at all costs.

    2. Reliance on imports

    In the event that their IHT is unaffordable (those affected will have ten years to pay the tax, interest free), some farms may be forced to sell up, leading to reduced availability of locally grown produce. Limited supply of domestic produce will increase the dependence on imports, ultimately leading to increased costs for supermarkets (and so for consumers too) as well as uncertainty.

    The UK’s food supply depends on global regions, seasonal shifts and complex sourcing to maintain fresh produce year round. Increased reliance on imports, combined with post-Brexit import charges is neither ideal nor sustainable for supermarkets.

    3. Reduced competition

    Supermarkets have a vested interest in maintaining competitive prices. Fewer agricultural producers essentially means less competition. This could mean supermarkets having less bargaining power with suppliers and a diminished ability to meet consumer demand for variety and quality.

    This could lead to higher prices in stores, potentially undermining supermarkets’ messaging around their competitive edge over smaller retailers.

    4. Public image

    Ultimately this move does supermarkets no harm. UK chains are both the backbone and the bane of farming. A handful of supermarkets dominate the food supply market, setting the prices farmers receive and shaping the structure of agricultural production.

    Supermarkets are often accused of exploiting farmers through their purchasing power, by dictating prices and imposing inflexible quotas. So their support for farmers could help with their public image. Aligning themselves with farmers offers them the opportunity to position themselves as protectors of the agricultural sector, boosting their public image while pressuring policymakers to take action.

    But will it change anything? Well, supermarkets have economic clout – and having their support is better than not having it.

    Historically, supermarkets have shown their collective ability to lobby. Their opposition to supermarket price caps, support for plastic reduction initiatives and even influencing policy in the wake of Brexit highlight how pressure from the big stores can shape national conversations.

    No one wants a return to empty supermarket shelves.
    Kauka Jarvi/Shutterstock

    All this, ultimately, is to ensure supermarkets can continue to serve customers with competitive prices. But who is paying for the UK’s cheap food culture?

    While supermarket dominance has led to lower prices for shoppers and even reduced inflation, it also exposes broader systemic issues within the UK’s food culture. Despite a recent study revealing that UK food costs were about 7% below the EU average, food prices remain a top concern for consumers in the UK.

    Farmers were not the only ones protesting. Migrant fruit and vegetable pickers staged a smaller demonstration, over claims of exploitation by farms.

    Either customers need to be prepared to pay more for their food, or supermarkets need to revisit their pricing strategies. Something has to give, and it appears that this time it cannot be the farmers or agricultural workers.

    While many farmers in the UK are asset-rich they are often cash-poor, frequently relying on wafer-thin profit margins to get by. Supermarkets may have a lot to lose if IHT reforms lead to lots of farmers leaving the sector.

    Protecting supply chains, maintaining cost structures and ultimately offering a stable, affordable domestic supply of produce is in their best interests. In the end, it may not be the farmers but the supermarkets who stand to gain (or lose) the most.

    Kamran Mahroof 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. Why supermarkets are siding with farmers over inheritance tax – https://theconversation.com/why-supermarkets-are-siding-with-farmers-over-inheritance-tax-248234

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Gaza: 10,000 aid trucks reached enclave since ceasefire began

    Source: United Nations 4

    Humanitarian Aid

    The humanitarian community’s plan to flood Gaza with lifesaving aid passed an important milestone on Thursday with the news that more than 10,000 relief lorries have entered the enclave since the ceasefire began on 19 January.

    Announcing the development, the UN’s top aid official, Tom Fletcher, said that the trucks contained lifesaving food, medicine, and tents – all desperately needed by Gazans after more than 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment.

    The UN emergency relief chief’s comments came as he prepared to join an aid convoy crossing into northern Gaza.

    In recent days, he has held “practical discussions” with the Israeli authorities in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem “to keep lifesaving UN aid moving into Gaza at scale”. This includes COGAT – the Israeli body responsible for approving requests to deliver aid into Gaza and the West Bank – and the Israel Foreign Ministry.

    Clearing rubble to live

    According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, more than half a million people have returned to north Gaza since the ceasefire began. Needs for food, water, sanitation, healthcare and tents are enormous, with some returning to former homes with shovels to clear the rubble, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

    In an update, the UN World Health Organization (WHO), said that it had received 63 trucks of medical supplies from aid partners to replenish its three warehouses in Gaza.

    In addition, more than 100 sick and injured patients have also been evacuated to Egypt for urgent medical treatment since the temporary ceasefire came into effect, while OCHA noted that primary and secondary health services are being provided throughout the Strip.

    Five ambulances entered Gaza to strengthen emergency response capacity on Tuesday, OCHA said in an update.

    Food production boosted

    The UN aid coordination agency noted that across Gaza, 22 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) are now operational.

    The WFP has also provided nutrient supplements to more than 80,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding women across Gaza, since the ceasefire took effect and UNICEF has continued distributing nutrition support for infants.

    “Humanitarian partners have screened more than 30,000 children under the age of five for malnutrition since the ceasefire took effect. Of those screened, 1,150 cases of acute malnutrition have been identified, including 230 cases of severe acute malnutrition,” OCHA said.

    In addition, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) distributed nearly 100 metric tons of animal feed to support herders in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, benefiting hundreds of people working in the agricultural sector.

    To sustain learning activities across the Strip, education partners have established three new temporary learning spaces yesterday in Gaza, Rafah and Khan Younis governorates, benefiting 200 school-aged children.

    Ceasefire push 

    The aid build-up came as the Secretary-General on Wednesday pushed for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages in the enclave, while strongly rejecting the suggestion that Gazans should be resettled outside their homeland.

    “In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse. It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing,” Guterres told  the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which met to set out its programme of work for the year. “We must reaffirm the two-State solution,” he said.

    Underlining the Secretary-General’s comments, the UN High Commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said that “any deportation or forced transfer of persons without legal basis is strictly forbidden”.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Alexandra M. Lord, Chair and Curator of Medicine and Science, Smithsonian Institution

    Eggs have been crucial to vaccine production for decades. Bettmann/Getty Images

    In recent months, Americans looking for eggs have faced empty shelves in their grocery stores. The escalating threat of avian flu has forced farmers to kill millions of chickens to prevent its spread.

    Nearly 70 years ago, Maurice Hilleman, an expert in influenza, also worried about finding eggs. Hilleman, however, needed eggs not for his breakfast, but to make the vaccines that were key to stopping a potential influenza pandemic.

    Hilleman was born a year after the notorious 1918 influenza pandemic swept the world, killing 20 million to 100 million people. By 1957, when Hilleman began worrying about the egg supply, scientists had a significantly more sophisticated understanding of influenza than they had previously. This knowledge led them to fear that a pandemic similar to that of 1918 could easily erupt, killing millions again.

    As a historian of medicine, I have always been fascinated by the key moments that halt an epidemic. Studying these moments provides some insight into how and why one outbreak may become a deadly pandemic, while another does not.

    Anticipating a pandemic

    Influenza is one of the most unpredictable of diseases. Each year, the virus mutates slightly in a process called antigenic drift. The greater the mutation, the less likely that your immune system will recognize and fight back against the disease.

    Every now and then, the virus changes dramatically in a process called antigenic shift. When this occurs, people become even less immune, and the likelihood of disease spread dramatically increases. Hilleman knew that it was just a matter of time before the influenza virus shifted and caused a pandemic similar to the one in 1918. Exactly when that shift would occur was anyone’s guess.

    In April 1957, Hilleman opened his newspaper and saw an article about “glassy-eyed” patients overwhelming clinics in Hong Kong.

    The article was just eight sentences long. But Hilleman needed only the four words of the headline to become alarmed: “Hong Kong Battling Influenza.”

    Within a month of learning about Hong Kong’s influenza epidemic, Hilleman had requested, obtained and tested a sample of the virus from colleagues in Asia. By May, Hilleman and his colleagues knew that Americans lacked immunity against this new version of the virus. A potential pandemic loomed.

    The U.S. prioritized vaccinating military personnel over the public in 1957. Here, members of a West German Navy vessel hand over a jar of vaccine to the U.S. transport ship General Patch for 134 people sick with flu.
    Henry Brueggemann/AP Photo

    Getting to know influenza

    During the 1920s and 1930s, the American government had poured millions of dollars into influenza research. By 1944, scientists not only understood that influenza was caused by a shape-shifting virus – something they had not known in 1918 – but they had also developed a vaccine.

    Antigenic drift rendered this vaccine ineffective in the 1946 flu season. Unlike the polio or smallpox vaccine, which could be administered once for lifelong protection, the influenza vaccine needed to be continually updated to be effective against an ever-changing virus.

    However, Americans were not accustomed to the idea of signing up for a yearly flu shot. In fact, they were not accustomed to signing up for a flu shot, period. After seeing the devastating impact of the 1918 pandemic on the nation’s soldiers and sailors, officials prioritized protecting the military from influenza. During and after World War II, the government used the influenza vaccine for the military, not the general public.

    Stopping a pandemic

    In the spring of 1957, the government called for vaccine manufacturers to accelerate production of a new influenza vaccine for all Americans.

    Traditionally, farmers have often culled roosters and unwanted chickens to keep their costs low. Hilleman, however, asked farmers to not cull their roosters, because vaccine manufacturers would need a huge supply of eggs to produce the vaccine before the virus fully hit the United States.

    But in early June, the virus was already circulating in the U.S. The good news was that the new virus was not the killer its 1918 predecessor had been.

    Hoping to create an “alert but not an alarmed public,” Surgeon General Leroy Burney and other experts discussed influenza and the need for vaccination in a widely distributed television show. The government also created short public service announcements and worked with local health organizations to encourage vaccination.

    A 1957 film informing Americans how the U.S. was responding to an influenza outbreak.

    Vaccination rates were, however, only “moderate” – not because Americans saw vaccination as problematic, but because they did not see influenza as a threat. Nearly 40 years had dulled memories of the 1918 pandemic, while the development of antibiotics had lessened the threat of the deadly pneumonia that can accompany influenza.

    Learning from a lucky reprieve

    If death and devastation defined the 1918 pandemic, luck defined the 1957 pandemic.

    It was luck that Hilleman saw an article about rising rates of influenza in Asia in the popular press. It was luck that Hilleman made an early call to increase production of fertilized eggs. And it was luck that the 1957 virus did not mirror its 1918 relative’s ability to kill.

    Recognizing that they had dodged a bullet in 1957, public health experts intensified their monitoring of the influenza virus during the 1960s. They also worked to improve influenza vaccines and to promote yearly vaccination. Multiple factors, such as the development of the polio vaccine as well as a growing recognition of the role vaccines played in controlling diseases, shaped the creation of an immunization-focused bureaucracy in the federal government during the 1960s.

    Inoculating eggs with live virus was the first step to producing a vaccine.
    AP Photo

    Over the past 60 years, the influenza virus has continued to drift and shift. In 1968, a shift once again caused a pandemic. In 1976 and 2009, concerns that the virus had shifted led to [fears that a new pandemic loomed]. But Americans were lucky once again.

    Today, few Americans remember the 1957 pandemic – the one that sputtered out before it did real damage. Yet that event left a lasting legacy in how public health experts think about and plan for future outbreaks. Assuming that the U.S. uses the medical and public health advances at its disposal, Americans are now more prepared for an influenza pandemic than our ancestors were in 1918 and in 1957.

    But the virus’s unpredictability makes it impossible to know even today how it will mutate and when a pandemic will emerge.

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

    – ref. US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again? – https://theconversation.com/us-dodged-a-bird-flu-pandemic-in-1957-thanks-to-eggs-and-dumb-luck-with-a-new-strain-spreading-fast-will-americans-get-lucky-again-247157

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: NFU Scotland conference 2025 – UK Government keynote address

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 2

    Today (Thursday, 6 February) UK Government Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill spoke at the NFU Scotland conference in Glasgow.

    Good morning everyone, thank you for inviting me to be here with you today. I’d like to thank Martin Kennedy for that kind introduction and congratulate him for his work in leading the NFUS as he finishes his term as your President.

    I’d also like to start with a huge thanks for your dedicated work in continuing to produce, gather and distribute top quality food across the whole of the UK. But more than that, thank you to all farmers and crofters for the central role you play in our national life and heritage in Scotland.

    Despite countless challenges – not least the famous Scottish climate – farmers continue to work tirelessly, day after day, to feed the United Kingdom, and further afield.

    And be in no doubt, the UK Government will continue to do our part in supporting Scottish farmers and crofters, who form such a central part of our rural and island communities.

    Of course, the majority of environmental policy is devolved, with agriculture policy fully devolved. We will continue to respect the devolution settlement and strengthen relations with the Scottish Government as part of our ongoing resetting of relations.

    But there is much we can and are doing for farming and rural communities more broadly through our Plan for Change to turbo-charge economic growth and deliver a decade of national renewal and opportunity for all.

    Now, let’s be real. I know what you want to ask me about today. And I know that you’re angry. So I’m not going to shy away from a conversation about APR. But I do want to contextualise it. It’s the job of the NFU to make the case for your members. And it’s the job of the UK Government to listen, yes, but to also take a broad and long term view, balancing competing perspectives.

    And the facts are these. The UK Government’s Autumn Budget last year delivered the largest settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution.

    The Chancellor announced on 30 October an additional £1.5 billion for the Scottish Government to spend in this financial year, and an additional £3.4 billion in the next.

    The Scottish Government will be able to allocate this record funding to devolved areas, including agriculture and rural communities. And that does mean your interests will be weighed alongside other devolved policy areas – that’s devolution in action. But I hope you will also see the benefit to your members of this record investment we’ve made available for Scotland’s public services. Because you know better than anyone that our farming communities are too often the ones with the worst access to NHS services. Public transport is sparse or non-existent. Cuts to schools and local services often hit your families harder than those in our big cities. I’m proud of this investment into the Scottish Government and I hope you will come to be too.

    And where policy is reserved, such as in relation to immigration or international trade, we will help support the industry through continuous engagement and development of policy. This is how devolution should work, and we are determined that it does.

    Our new Food Strategy will deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system. We will work together with the Scottish government to complement the progress that they have already made in this area.

    Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves across the global supply chain, and the price of fertilisers and energy bills skyrocketed. That is one reason why we have launched our Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. By sprinting towards clean, homegrown energy, we will protect our energy security from international shocks, create thousands of good quality jobs, tackle climate change and drive down bills for good.

    We are taking some bold steps, including by setting up Great British Energy. This new, homegrown energy company – headquartered here in Scotland – will provide a catalyst for new, clean energy projects across the UK.

    Unpredictable weather has been causing floods and droughts as the climate continues to change, directly impacting crop production and, consequently, your profits. This hits particularly hard in areas that are less favourable for farming, and there are many of these in Scotland.

    This industry is resilient. I am in awe of everyone in this room who contributes to our food security, our rural and island communities and the growth of the UK economy. But let me make one thing clear – this Government does not take your resilience and adaptability for granted.

    My own constituency of Midlothian is dotted with farms and farmers, many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting both as I campaigned, and in my first proud months as their representative in Parliament.

    I know that there is no substitute for meeting people in the places they live and work, on their terms. I have carried this principle into my first months as a Minister in the Scotland Office. On one of my very first ministerial visits last year I met with Lucy and Pete Grewar, who own Sheriffton Farm in Perthshire.

    I was there to discuss their challenges in finding staff to help pick their broccoli, and made a promise to come back with a Home Office ministerial colleague to visit Scotland to hear about these issues directly. I was thrilled that we were able to do that earlier this week when alongside NFUS representatives, Seema Malhotra, the Minister for Migration and Citizenship, and I visited a soft fruit farm in Aberdeenshire.

    Whilst on the farm, Seema and I had further discussion with the owners and NFUS about the Seasonal Workers; Visa scheme and how labour shortages impact their work, but also the need to drive economic growth and encourage domestic workers to take up these vital jobs.

    I also had similarly frank and productive conversations with crofters on the Isle of Lewis. We will continue to engage with you, and I will continue to invite my UK Government colleagues to come up to Scotland and hear directly from rural communities what they need.

    I value every single one of these visits as it gives me the opportunity to really hear from the people who are directly impacted by Government policy, and who also help us achieve our goals of food security, sustainability, Net Zero, economic growth, and countless others.

    And I just want to reassure you that I really listen in these conversations and I do, personally, read everything that I am sent in follow up. So if you have evidence you want me to read, stories you want me to hear or places you want me to visit I give you my word: you will always get a hearing from me. Just be in touch.

    Now there are four areas of UK Government policy that I want to focus on in the time I have left.

    Firstly, inheritance tax.

    This Government was forced to make many difficult decisions when it came into power due to our own challenging inheritance of the £22 billion financial black hole in public finances left by the previous Conservative administration.

    We could have just ignored it. We could have kicked the problem down the road. But when we stood for election we promised to take the hard choices head on. We needed to act.

    I know many of you in this room don’t agree with how we responded and feel let down. So I want you to hear in my own words, as someone who represents farmers right across my own constituency, why the Government made this decision.

    Under the current system, APR and BPR have granted 100% relief since 1992 on business and agricultural assets. However, this is heavily skewed towards the very wealthiest landowners and business owners.

    According to the latest data from HMRC, 40% of agricultural property relief is claimed by just 7% of UK estates making claims. That means that just 117 estates across the UK were claiming over £200 million of relief in 2021-22.

    Unfortunately, we also know that the reality today is that buying agricultural land is one of the most well-known ways to avoid inheritance tax.

    This has artificially inflated the price of farmland, locking younger farmers out of the market.

    None of this is either fair or sustainable. That is why we are reforming how agricultural and business property relief work. From April 2026, relief will be targeted in a way that still maintains significant tax relief while supporting the public finances, and protecting working people.

    I would like to thank Martin and his colleagues at NFUS for their helpful engagement with myself and the Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray, on this issue. I am grateful for the dialogue we have had and will continue to have.

    We have had a disagreement, not a falling out – a difference of opinion on one question should not – must not – prevent us from talking about all the others. And talking is what we will continue to do. We will continue to engage with stakeholders in meetings like this and on farms, and we will continue to strengthen relations with the Scottish Government, respecting the fact that agriculture policy is devolved. 

    That’s why in the coming months the Scotland Office will host a food and farming roundtable where we will invite the industry and the Scottish Government to sit together and discuss these important issues. This will allow us to keep these conversations going.

    Now I would like to further address the devolved agriculture budget.

    I appreciate the vital role Scottish agriculture plays in rural communities and the economy in Scotland. The Secretary of State for Scotland wrote to the Defra Minister for Rural Affairs and Food Security outlining this prior to the Autumn Budget.

    And at the Budget, Defra announced the biggest budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in history. This included £620m for Scotland for 2025-2026, baselined from last year. This is an above-population share, and the ringfence was removed to respect the devolution settlement – meaning it is for the Scottish Government to determine how they support farmers and rural communities with the public services they rely on.

    But we did not stop there. We wanted to address the issues rural communities face holistically – and the Autumn Budget delivered on that.

    The fuel duty freeze extension means that rural communities who depend on cars, vans and tractors will be able to save more of their income.

    The Budget also gave the go ahead for rural growth deals in Scotland, such as for Argyll and Bute, creating hundreds of jobs and countless opportunities for rural and island communities there.

    We recognise how important it is for rural areas, especially in Scotland, to have the same broadband connectivity and opportunities as the rest of the UK, so we announced in the Budget last year an additional £500 million for Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network.

    Next I would like to touch on seasonal workers, referred to earlier.

    While we are not currently considering a Scotland-only visa, this Government knows how important securing the right workforce is to the agri-food chain. This includes skilled jobs such as butchers and vets and temporary roles, such as seasonal horticulture harvesting and poultry processing jobs.

    Underlining the government’s commitment to the horticultural and poultry industry, the Seasonal Worker visa route has been confirmed for 2025, with a total of 43,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for horticulture and 2,000 for poultry next year.

    This will help the sector secure the labour and skills needed to bring high quality British produce, including strawberries, rhubarb, turkey and daffodils to market.

    In addition, Defra published the 2023 Seasonal Workers Survey report on 21 October 2024. 

    The survey showed that the vast majority of respondents reported a positive experience from their time in the UK and 95% expressed a desire to return. This excellent feedback reflects so well on farmers and the vibrancy of rural communities.

    When I visited a Perthshire farm weeks into office, the clearest thing I heard was that Scotland’s farmers wanted a hearing at the Home Office – I promised then that I’d try to bring a Home Office minister to Scotland to hear from farmers directly and that’s a promise kept. Just two days ago I was in a farm in Aberdeenshire with Seema Malhotra, the immigration minister, hearing about how seasonal worker rules could be made to work better for you. The door is always open and so are our minds – we want an ongoing relationship with a practical focus on getting things done.

    -And finally, just let me say something on future trade deals.

    Supporting farmers will always be a priority for this Government. We have been clear we will protect farmers from being undercut by low welfare and low standards in trade deals.

    We will continue to maintain our existing high standards for animal Health and food hygiene, ensuring that imported products comply with our domestic standards and import requirements.

    We are committed to developing a trade strategy that will support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.

    The UK has a network of sixteen agrifood and drink attachés around the world who break down market access barriers, create new export opportunities and protect existing trade. Our attachés work closely with Scottish Development International’s global network on delivering market access / export opportunities for Scotland.

    Promoting Scotland internationally through initiatives such as Brand Scotland – a new initiative led by my department backed by three quarters of a million pounds of funding – is a priority for this Government, and these export opportunities are an excellent way to do that.

    In addition, we will seek to negotiate a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU to reduce trade frictions, boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides.

    I want to reiterate my commitment to you that this Government will do everything it can to support you, listen to you and advocate for you, to ensure we not only protect but also maximise the potential of this incredible industry.

    Let me end by saying that it has been the honour of my life to serve as MP of Midlothian since July of last year, so I am here today telling you that I will fight for you as a Minister, but I also understand the views of my constituents. Many of them have the same concerns as you.

    Many of them are either farmers themselves, or live in a rural community where farming is a crucial backbone.

    And I want to assure you I understand your importance is more than the material benefits you bring – important though that is. Alongside farming, tourism and heritage are also in my portfolio. I treasure Scotland’s vibrant national museums, and the National Museum of Rural Life is no different – it’s a beautiful, living tribute to Scottish farming and rural life.

    Every time I visit, I can feel the importance of farming to the Scottish identity. I know that all you want is to be able to do what you are good at, what you love.

    It is my duty and that of this Government to ensure you have everything you need to do that, to protect your place in this extremely important endeavour. I promise you we will not let you down. It’s just too important.

    I am going to take a few questions now. Thank you to NFUS for inviting me here today, and to all of you for coming along. I wish you the very best for the rest of your conference.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: First National Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual 2024 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    STRASBURG, Va., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First National Corporation (the “Company” or “First National”) (NASDAQ: FXNC), the bank holding company of First Bank (the “Bank”), reported an unaudited consolidated net loss of $933 thousand and basic and diluted loss per common share of $0.10 for the fourth quarter of 2024, and adjusted operating earnings(1) of $6.0 million and adjusted operating basic and diluted earnings(1) per common share of $0.66 for the fourth quarter of 2024.

    For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company reported unaudited consolidated earnings of $7.0 million and basic and diluted earnings per common share of $1.00 and adjusted operating earnings(1) of $14.6 million and adjusted basic and diluted earnings per common share(1) of $2.10 for the year ended December 31, 2024.

    “2024 was a transformational year for First National as we consummated our largest acquisition to date and resulting partnership with Touchstone Bankshares. Our results for the quarter reflected solid operating metrics adjusting for merger costs, and is the first quarter to include the combined financial results of First National and Touchstone,” said Scott Harvard, President and Chief Executive Officer of First National. “I am proud of all the work from our teammates to get us to this point. We are completing system conversions in several weeks which will allow us to operate as one bank across our footprint. We believe the fourth quarter financial operating performance is indicative of the benefits of the acquisition and look forward to fully completing the integration of our two companies.”

    FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

    • Completed acquisition of Touchstone Bankshares, Inc. on October 1
    • Total assets of $2.0 billion with 33 branch offices
    • Net interest margin increased 40 basis points to 3.83%
    • Noninterest bearing deposits comprised 29% of total deposits
    • Efficiency ratio of 63.97%(1)

    Merger with Touchstone Bankshares, Inc. (“Touchstone”)

    On October 1, 2024, the Company completed its acquisition of Touchstone. Touchstone’s results of operations are included in the Company’s consolidated results since the date of acquisition, and, therefore, the Company’s fourth quarter and full year 2024 results reflect increased levels of average balances, net interest income, and expense compared to its prior quarter and full year 2023 results. After purchase accounting fair value adjustments, the acquisition added $664.3 million of total assets, including $479.3 million of loans held for investment (“LHFI”), and $614.6 million of total liabilities, including $555.4 million in total deposits. The Company recorded a preliminary bargain purchase gain of $2.9 million during the quarter associated with the acquisition.

    In connection with the acquisition, the Company recorded an allowance for credit losses on acquired loans that experienced a more than insignificant amount of credit deterioration since origination (“PCD” loans) of $385 thousand. In addition, the Company recorded a provision for credit losses of $3.8 million on non-PCD loans and $100 thousand provision on unfunded commitments for the fourth quarter of 2024.

    The Company incurred pre-tax merger costs of approximately $7.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to the Touchstone acquisition.

    NET INTEREST INCOME

    For the fourth quarter of 2024, net interest income was $18.4 million, an increase of $6.6 million from $11.7 million in the third quarter of 2024. The increases in net interest income was primarily the result of a $545.3 million increase in average interest earning assets, partially offset by a $415.0 million increase in average interest bearing liabilities, in each case primarily related to the acquisition of Touchstone. For the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company’s net interest margin increased 40 basis points to 3.83% primarily due to the impacts associated with the Touchstone acquisition. Earning asset yields for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased 22 basis points to 5.30% compared to the third quarter of 2024, and the cost of funds decreased by 21 basis points to 1.51%, due to changes in deposit mix following the acquisition of Touchstone and federal funds rate cuts in late 2024.

    The Company’s net interest margin (FTE)(1) for the fourth quarter of 2024 includes the impact of acquisition accounting fair value adjustments. Net accretion income related to acquisition accounting was $408 thousand, or a nine basis point incremental increase to the net interest margin for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024, and none for the comparative prior quarter and same quarter in 2023, respectively, due to the Touchstone acquisition. 

    NONINTEREST INCOME

    Noninterest income increased $3.4 million to $6.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 from $3.2 million in the prior quarter, primarily driven by $2.9 million of pre-tax bargain purchase gain and other increases in noninterest income associated with the full quarter impact of the Touchstone acquisition that closed on October 1, 2024.

    NONINTEREST EXPENSE

    Noninterest expense increased $11.5 million to $21.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 from $10.5 million in the prior quarter, primarily driven by a $7.3 million increase in pre-tax merger-related expenses, as well as other increases in noninterest expense due to the full quarter impact of the Touchstone acquisition. The full quarter impact of Touchstone and related merger expenses drove the majority of the $4.5 million increase in salaries and benefits, the $3.9 million increase in data processing, and the $351 thousand increase in occupancy expenses compared to the prior quarter. In addition, legal and professional services increased $618 thousand, primarily due to fees associated with the merger.

    Adjusted operating noninterest expense, which excludes merger-related costs ($219 thousand in the third quarter and $7.3 million in the fourth quarter) and amortization of intangible assets ($4 thousand in the third quarter and $448 thousand in the fourth quarter), increased $3.9 million to $14.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 from $10.2 million in the prior quarter, primarily due to the impact of the Touchstone acquisition.

    ASSET QUALITY

    Overview

    Loans past due greater than 30 days and still accruing interest as a percentage of total loans amounted to 0.24% on December 31, 2024, compared to 0.24% on September 30, 2024, and 0.31% on December 31, 2023. Of the total past due loans still accruing interest, $365 thousand were past due 90 days or more on December 31, 2024, compared to $0 on September 30, 2024, and $524 thousand on December 31, 2023. Management classifies non-performing assets (“NPAs”) as non-accrual loans and OREO. Nonperforming assets (“NPAs”) as a percentage of total assets decreased to 0.35% on December 31, 2024, compared to 0.41% on September 30, 2024, and 0.48% one year ago on December 31, 2023. The decrease in the NPA ratio was primarily due to the effects of the Touchstone acquisition, which added LHFI of $479.3 million acquired in the transaction. Net charge-offs totaled $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to net charge-offs of $1.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, and net charge-offs of $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The net charge-offs for the fourth quarter of 2024 included $883 thousand of commercial and industrial loans, with $774 thousand of that specific to our pool of loans originated to health care professionals through a third-party lender. The allowance for credit losses on loans totaled $16.4 million, or 1.12% of total loans on December 31, 2024, compared to $12.7 million, or 1.28% of total loans on September 30, 2024, and $12.0 million, or 1.24% of total loans on December 31, 2023.

    Nonperforming Assets

    NPAs increased to $7.1 million on December 31, 2024, compared to $6.0 million on September 30, 2024, and $6.8 million on December 31, 2023, which represented 0.35%, 0.41%, and 0.48% of total assets, respectively. The increase in NPAs during the fourth quarter of 2024 resulted from the acquisition of Touchstone’s portfolio, including $1 million of additional non-accrual loans.

    Past Due Loans

    Loans past due 30-89 days and still accruing interest increased to $3.1 million, or 0.21% of total loans on December 31, 2024, compared to $2.4 million, or 0.24% of total loans on September 30, 2024, and $2.5 million, or 0.26%, of total loans on December 31, 2023. Loans past due over 90 days or more and still accruing interest on December 31, 2024, increased to $365 thousand, compared to $0 on September 30, 2024, and $524 thousand on December 31, 2023.

    Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans

    For the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a provision for credit losses of $4.8 million, compared to a provision for credit losses of $1.7 million in the prior quarter, and a provision for credit losses of $6.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Included in the provision for credit losses for the fourth quarter of 2024 was a $3.8 million initial provision expense on non-PCD loans and $100 thousand on unfunded commitments, each acquired from Touchstone. As compared to the prior quarter, the decrease in provision for credit losses, outside of the initial provision expense recorded on non-PCD loans and unfunded commitments acquired from Touchstone, primarily reflects the impact of lower net charge-offs in the fourth quarter of 2024 and lower outstanding legacy loan balances. As compared to the same period in the prior year, the decrease in provision for credit losses, outside of the initial provision expense recorded on non-PCD loans and unfunded commitments acquired from Touchstone, is primarily due to higher reserves booked during the fourth quarter of 2023 due to qualitative factor adjustments related to the commercial and industrial loan pool, as well as specific reserves from identified individually evaluated loans.

    BALANCE SHEET

    At December 31, 2024, the Company’s consolidated balance sheet includes the impact of the Touchstone acquisition, which closed October 1, 2024, as discussed above. ASC 805, Business Combinations, allows for a measurement period of 12 months beyond the acquisition date to finalize the fair value measurements of the acquired Company’s net assets as additional information not existing as of the acquisition date becomes available. Any future measurement period adjustments will be recorded through an adjustment to the bargain purchase gain upon identification. Below is a summary of the related impact of the acquisition on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of the acquisition date.

    • The fair value of assets acquired totaled $664.3 million and included total loans of $479.3 million with an initial loan discount of $13.5 million.
    • The fair value of the liabilities assumed totaled $614.6 million and included total deposits of $555.4 million with an initial deposit mark related to time deposits of $1.1 million.
    • Core deposit intangibles and other intangibles acquired totaled $15.6 million.
    • No goodwill was recorded in the transaction, and the preliminary bargain purchase gain (included in other income) totaled $2.9 million.

    At December 31, 2024, total assets were $2.0 billion, an increase of $559.6 million or 38.6% from September 30, 2024 and $591.0 million or approximately 41.6% from December 31, 2023. The increases in total assets from the prior quarter and prior year were primarily driven by growth in loans held for investment (LHFI) (net of deferred fees and costs) and the securities portfolio, primarily due to the Touchstone acquisition.

    At December 31, 2024, LHFI net of allowance totaled $1.5 billion, an increase of $468.6 million from $982.0 million at September 30, 2024, and an increase of $493.1 million or 51.5% from December 31, 2023. LHFI increased from the prior quarter and prior year primarily due to the Touchstone acquisition, as well as organic loan growth compared to prior year.

    At December 31, 2024, total investments were $277.3 million, an increase of $7.8 million from September 30, 2024, and a decrease of $25.9 million or 8.5% from December 31, 2023. Available for sale (AFS) securities totaled $163.8 million at December 31, 2024 and $146.0 million at September 30, 2024 and $152.9 million at December 31, 2023. The increases compared to the prior quarter and prior year were primarily due to the acquisition of Touchstone. Total net unrealized losses on the AFS securities portfolio were $22.1 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $17.2 million at September 30, 2024, and $20.6 million at December 31, 2023. Held to maturity securities are carried at cost and totaled $109.7 million at December 31, 2024, $121.4 million at September 30, 2024, and $148.2 million at December 31, 2023.

    At December 31, 2024, total deposits were $1.80 billion, an increase of $550.5 million from the prior quarter, and an increase of $570.1 million or 46.2% from December 31, 2023. The increases in deposit balances from the prior quarter and prior year are primarily due to increases in interest bearing customer deposits and demand deposits, primarily related to the addition of the Touchstone acquired deposits.

    Other borrowings decreased $50.0 million during the fourth quarter as the Bank repaid borrowed funds from the Federal Reserve Bank through their Bank Term Funding Program.

    Shareholders’ equity totaled $166.5 million on December 31, 2024, which was an increase of $41.4 million from September 30, 2024. The increase in total shareholders’ equity was primarily attributable to the issuance of 2.67 million shares associated with the Touchstone acquisition. The Company declared and paid cash dividends of $0.155 per common share during the fourth quarter of 2024, up from $0.15 paid during the first three quarterly periods of 2024.

    The following table provides capital ratios at the periods ended:

        Dec 31, 2024     Sept 30, 2024     Dec 31, 2023  
    Total capital ratio (2)     12.35 %     14.29 %     14.13 %
    Tier 1 capital ratio (2)     11.19 %     13.04 %     12.88 %
    Common equity Tier 1 capital ratio (2)     11.19 %     13.04 %     12.88 %
    Leverage ratio (2)     7.95 %     9.23 %     9.17 %
    Common equity to total assets (3)     8.29 %     8.62 %     8.23 %
    Tangible common equity to tangible assets (1) (3)     7.46 %     8.43 %     8.03 %
       
    (1) These are financial measures not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures, see the “Non-GAAP Reconciliation” sections of the Performance Summary tables included in this release.
       
    (2) All ratios at December 31, 2024 are estimates and subject to change pending the Company’s filing of its FR Y9-C. All other periods are presented as filed.
       
    (3) Capital ratios presented are for First National Corporation.
       

    NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

    In addition to financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), the Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures that provide useful information for financial and operational decision making, evaluating trends, and comparing financial results to other financial institutions. The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this document include adjusted operating net income, adjusted basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share, adjusted return on average assets, adjusted return on average equity, pre-provision pre-tax earnings, adjusted pre-provision pre-tax earnings, fully taxable equivalent interest income, the net interest margin, the efficiency ratio, tangible book value per share, and tangible common equity to tangible assets.

    The Company believes certain non-GAAP financial measures enhance the understanding of its business and performance. Non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental and not a substitute for, or more important than, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to those reported by other financial institutions. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is included at the end of this release.

    ABOUT FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION

    First National Corporation (NASDAQ: FXNC) is the parent company and bank holding company of First Bank, a community bank that first opened for business in 1907 in Strasburg, Virginia. The Bank offers loan and deposit products and services through its website, www.fbvirginia.com, its mobile banking platform, a network of ATMs located throughout its market area, a loan production office, a customer service center in a retirement community, and thirty-three bank branch office locations located throughout the Shenandoah Valley, the south-central regions of Virginia, the Roanoke Valley, the Richmond MSA, and in northern North Carolina. In addition to providing traditional banking services, the Bank operates a wealth management division under the name First Bank Wealth Management. First Bank also owns First Bank Financial Services, Inc., which owns an interest in an entity that provides title insurance services.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    Certain information contained in this discussion may include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements relate to the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts, and other statements identified by words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “targets,” and “projects,” as well as similar expression. Although the Company believes that its expectations with respect to the forward-looking statements are based upon reliable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results, performance, or achievements will not differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. For details on factors that could affect expectations, future events, or results, see the risk factors and other cautionary language included in First National’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

    Additional risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to: (1) the risk that the cost savings and any revenue synergies from the Touchstone merger may not be realized or take longer than anticipated to be realized, including due to the state of the economy or other competitive factors in the areas in which the parties operate, (2) disruption from the merger of customer, supplier, employee or other business partner relationships, including diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities due to the merger, (3) the possibility that the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to the merger may be greater than anticipated, (4) reputational risk and the reaction of each of the parties’ customers, suppliers, employees or other business partners to the merger, (5) the risks relating to the integration of Touchstone’s operations into the operations of First National, including the risk that such integration will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected, (6) the risk of expansion into new geographic or product markets, (7) the dilution caused by First National’s issuance of additional shares of its common stock in the merger, and (8) general competitive, economic, political and market conditions. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning First National or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. First National does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

    CONTACTS

    Scott C. Harvard   Bruce E. Thomas
    President and CEO   Senior Vice President and Interim CFO
    (540) 465-9121   (540) 465-9121
    sharvard@fbvirginia.com   bthomas@fbvirginia.com
         

    FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
    Performance Summary
    (in thousands, except share and per share data)

    (unaudited)                                        
        For the Three Months Ended     For the Year Ended  
        Dec 31, 2024     Sept 30, 2024     Dec 31, 2023     Dec 31, 2024     Dec 31, 2023  
    Income Statement                                        
    Interest and dividend income                                        
    Interest and fees on loans   $ 21,516     $ 14,479     $ 13,255     $ 63,483     $ 49,293  
    Interest on deposits in banks     2,085       1,538       368       6,490       1,809  
    Interest on federal funds sold     189       —       —       189       —  
    Interest on securities                                        
    Taxable interest on securities     1,284       1,091       1,318       4,733       5,286  
    Tax-exempt interest on securities     308       303       303       1,222       1,220  
    Dividends     104       33       30       202       111  
    Total interest and dividend income   $ 25,486     $ 17,444     $ 15,274     $ 76,319     $ 57,719  
    Interest expense                                        
    Interest on deposits   $ 6,415     $ 4,958     $ 4,232     $ 20,964     $ 13,660  
    Interest on federal funds purchased     1       —       1       1       1  
    Interest on subordinated debt     396       69       70       603       277  
    Interest on junior subordinated debt     68       68       68       270       271  
    Interest on other borrowings     247       600       94       2,029       97  
    Total interest expense   $ 7,127     $ 5,695     $ 4,465     $ 23,867     $ 14,306  
    Net interest income   $ 18,359     $ 11,749     $ 10,809     $ 52,452     $ 43,413  
    Provision for credit losses     4,750       1,700       5,950       7,850       6,150  
    Net interest income after provision for credit losses   $ 13,609     $ 10,049     $ 4,859     $ 44,602     $ 37,263  
    Noninterest income                                        
    Service charges on deposit accounts   $ 1,181     $ 675     $ 718     $ 3,122     $ 2,780  
    ATM and check card fees     792       934       825       3,305       3,449  
    Wealth management fees     903       952       784       3,617       3,120  
    Fees for other customer services     317       276       232       966       770  
    Brokered mortgage fees     90       92       46       252       119  
    Income from bank owned life insurance     264       191       168       755       627  
    Net gains (losses) on securities available for sale     (154 )     39       —       (115 )     —  
    Gain on sale of other investment     —       —       186       —       186  
    Net gains on disposal of premises and equipment     —       —       —       —       47  
    Bargain purchase gain     2,920       —       —       2,920       —  
    Other operating income     131       44       110       1,558       686  
    Total noninterest income   $ 6,444     $ 3,203     $ 3,069     $ 16,380     $ 11,784  
    Noninterest expense                                        
    Salaries and employee benefits   $ 10,439     $ 5,927     $ 4,999     $ 28,076     $ 21,039  
    Occupancy     936       585       568       2,604       2,154  
    Equipment     1,123       726       621       3,131       2,377  
    Marketing     371       262       190       1,101       910  
    Supplies     264       123       153       618       576  
    Legal and professional fees     1,214       596       443       3,386       1,647  
    ATM and check card expense     385       394       313       1,508       1,578  
    FDIC assessment     285       195       154       860       633  
    Bank franchise tax     262       262       262       1,047       1,040  
    Data processing expense     4,142       290       327       4,841       1,047  
    Amortization expense     448       4       4       461       18  
    Other real estate owned expense (income), net     5       10       2       15       (199 )
    Net losses on disposal of premises and equipment     (4 )     2       —       47       —  
    Other operating expense     2,059       1,083       1,064       5,239       4,422  
    Total noninterest expense   $ 21,929     $ 10,459     $ 9,100     $ 52,934     $ 37,242  
    Income (loss) before income taxes   $ (1,876 )   $ 2,793     $ (1,172 )   $ 8,048     $ 11,805  
    Income tax expense (benefit)     (943 )     545       (321 )     1,082       2,181  
    Net income (loss)   $ (933 )   $ 2,248     $ (851 )   $ 6,966     $ 9,624  
                                             

    FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
    Performance Summary
    (in thousands, except share and per share data)

    (unaudited)                                        
        As of or For the Three Months Ended     As of or For the Year Ended  
        Dec 31, 2024     Sept 30, 2024     Dec 31, 2023     Dec 31, 2024     Dec 31, 2023  
    Common Share and Per Common Share Data                                        
    Earnings (loss) per common share, basic   $ (0.10 )   $ 0.36     $ (0.14 )   $ 1.00     $ 1.54  
    Adjusted earnings (loss) per common share, basic(1)   $ 0.66       0.39       (0.14 )   $ 2.10     $ 1.54  
    Weighted average shares, basic     8,971,649       6,287,997       6,261,500       6,955,592       6,265,394  
    Earnings (loss) per common share, diluted   $ (0.10 )   $ 0.36     $ (0.14 )   $ 1.00     $ 1.53  
    Adjusted earnings (loss) per common share, diluted(1)   $ 0.66       0.39       (0.14 )   $ 2.10     $ 1.53  
    Weighted average shares, diluted     8,994,315       6,303,282       6,282,815       6,971,089       6,279,106  
    Shares outstanding at period end     8,974,102       6,296,705       6,263,102       8,974,102       6,263,102  
    Tangible book value per share at period end (1)   $ 16.55     $ 19.37     $ 18.06     $ 16.55     $ 18.06  
    Cash dividends   $ 0.155     $ 0.150     $ 0.150     $ 0.605     $ 0.600  
                                             
    Key Performance Ratios                                        
    Return on average assets     (0.18 %)     0.62 %     (0.25 %)     0.44 %     0.71 %
    Adjusted return on average assets (1)     1.15 %     0.67 %     (0.25 %)     0.92 %     0.71 %
    Return on average equity     (2.35 %)     7.28 %     (2.97 %)     5.33 %     8.59 %
    Adjusted return on average equity (1)     15.01 %     7.93 %     (2.97 %)     11.19 %     8.59 %
    Net interest margin (1)     3.83 %     3.43 %     3.35 %     3.51 %     3.41 %
    Efficiency ratio (1)     63.97 %     68.13 %     66.26 %     66.73 %     67.69 %
                                             
    Average Balances                                        
    Average assets   $ 2,051,578     $ 1,449,185     $ 1,372,365     $ 1,597,150     $ 1,363,339  
    Average earning assets     1,919,864       1,374,566       1,290,231       1,504,946       1,280,980  
    Average shareholders’ equity     157,844       122,802       113,614       130,715       112,083  
                                             
    Asset Quality                                        
    Loan charge-offs   $ 1,432     $ 1,667     $ 2,765     $ 4,033     $ 3,993  
    Loan recoveries     98       95       92       283       418  
    Net charge-offs     1,334       1,572       2,673       3,750       3,575  
    Non-accrual loans     7,058       5,929       6,763       7,058       6,763  
    Other real estate owned, net     53       56       —       53       —  
    Nonperforming assets (3)     7,111       5,985       6,763       7,111       6,763  
    Loans 30 to 89 days past due, accruing     3,085       2,358       2,484       3,085       2,484  
    Loans over 90 days past due, accruing     365       —       524       365       524  
    Special mention loans     7,043       516       —       7,043       —  
    Substandard loans, accruing     2,030       1,713       287       2,030       287  
                                             
    Capital Ratios (2)                                        
    Total capital   $ 181,449     $ 148,477     $ 142,333     $ 181,449     $ 142,333  
    Tier 1 capital     164,454       135,490       129,840       164,454       129,840  
    Common equity Tier 1 capital     164,454       135,490       129,840       164,454       129,840  
    Total capital to risk-weighted assets     12.35 %     14.29 %     14.05 %     12.35 %     14.05 %
    Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets     11.19 %     13.04 %     12.82 %     11.19 %     12.82 %
    Common equity Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets     11.19 %     13.04 %     12.82 %     11.19 %     12.82 %
    Leverage ratio     7.95 %     9.23 %     9.31 %     7.95 %     9.31 %
                                             

    FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
    Performance Summary
    (in thousands, except share and per share data)

    (unaudited)                                        
        For the Period Ended  
        Dec 31, 2024     Sept 30, 2024     Jun 30, 2024     Mar 31, 2024     Dec 31, 2023  
    Balance Sheet                                        
    Cash and due from banks   $ 24,916     $ 18,197     $ 16,729     $ 14,476     $ 17,194  
    Interest-bearing deposits in banks     137,958       108,319       118,906       124,232       69,967  
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 162,874     $ 126,516     $ 135,635     $ 138,708     $ 87,161  
    Securities available for sale, at fair value     163,847       146,013       144,816       147,675       152,857  
    Securities held to maturity, at amortized cost (net of allowance for credit losses)     109,741       121,425       123,497       125,825       148,244  
    Restricted securities, at cost     3,741       2,112       2,112       2,112       2,078  
    Loans, net of allowance for credit losses     1,450,604       982,016       977,423       960,371       957,456  
    Other real estate owned, net     53       56       —       —       —  
    Premises and equipment, net     34,824       22,960       22,205       21,993       22,142  
    Accrued interest receivable     6,020       4,794       4,916       4,978       4,655  
    Bank owned life insurance     37,873       24,992       24,802       24,652       24,902  
    Goodwill     3,030       3,030       3,030       3,030       3,030  
    Core deposit intangibles, net     14,986       104       108       113       117  
    Other assets     22,688       16,698       18,984       17,738       16,653  
    Total assets   $ 2,010,281     $ 1,450,716     $ 1,457,528     $ 1,447,195     $ 1,419,295  
                                             
    Noninterest-bearing demand deposits   $ 520,153     $ 383,400     $ 397,770     $ 384,092     $ 379,208  
    Savings and interest-bearing demand deposits     924,880       663,925       665,208       677,458       662,169  
    Time deposits     358,745       205,930       202,818       197,587       192,349  
    Total deposits   $ 1,803,778     $ 1,253,255     $ 1,265,796     $ 1,259,137     $ 1,233,726  
    Other borrowings     —       50,000       50,000       50,000       50,000  
    Subordinated debt, net     21,176       4,999       4,998       4,998       4,997  
    Junior subordinated debt     9,279       9,279       9,279       9,279       9,279  
    Accrued interest payable and other liabilities     9,517       8,068       7,564       5,965       5,022  
    Total liabilities   $ 1,843,750     $ 1,325,601     $ 1,337,637     $ 1,329,379     $ 1,303,024  
                                             
    Preferred stock   $ —     $ —     $ —     $ —     $ —  
    Common stock     11,218       7,871       7,851       7,847       7,829  
    Surplus     77,058       33,409       33,116       33,021       32,950  
    Retained earnings     96,947       99,270       97,966       96,465       94,198  
    Accumulated other comprehensive (loss), net     (18,692 )     (15,435 )     (19,042 )     (19,517 )     (18,706 )
    Total shareholders’ equity   $ 166,531     $ 125,115     $ 119,891     $ 117,816     $ 116,271  
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity   $ 2,010,281     $ 1,450,716     $ 1,457,528     $ 1,447,195     $ 1,419,295  
                                             
    Loan Data                                        
    Mortgage real estate loans:                                        
    Construction and land development   $ 84,480     $ 61,446     $ 60,919     $ 53,364     $ 52,680  
    Secured by farmland     14,133       9,099       8,911       9,079       9,154  
    Secured by 1-4 family residential     547,576       351,004       346,976       347,014       344,369  
    Other real estate loans     658,029       440,648       440,857       436,006       438,118  
    Loans to farmers (except those secured by real estate)     940       633       349       332       455  
    Commercial and industrial loans (except those secured by real estate)     140,393       114,190       115,951       113,230       112,619  
    Consumer installment loans     7,582       5,396       5,068       4,808       4,753  
    Deposit overdrafts     450       253       365       251       222  
    All other loans     13,421       12,051       10,580       8,890       7,060  
    Total loans   $ 1,467,004     $ 994,720     $ 989,976     $ 972,974     $ 969,430  
    Allowance for credit losses     (16,400 )     (12,704 )     (12,553 )     (12,603 )     (11,974 )
    Loans, net   $ 1,450,604     $ 982,016     $ 977,423     $ 960,371     $ 957,456  
                                             

    FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
    Non-GAAP Reconciliation
    (in thousands, except share and per share data)

    (unaudited)                              
      For the Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended  
      Dec 31, 2024   Sept 30, 2024   Dec 31, 2023   Dec 31, 2024   Dec 31, 2023  
    Operating Net Income                              
    Net income (GAAP) $ (933 ) $ 2,248   $ (851 ) $ 6,966   $ 9,624  
    Add: Merger-related expenses   7,316     219     —     8,107     —  
    Add: Day 2 Non-PCD Provision   3,931     —     —     3,931     —  
    Subtract: Bargain purchase gain   (2,920 )   —     —     (2,920 )   —  
    Subtract: Tax effect of adjustment (4)   (1,439 )   (19 )   —     (1,463 )   —  
    Adjusted operating net income (non-GAAP) $ 5,955   $ 2,448   $ (851 ) $ 14,621   $ 9,624  
                                   
    Adjusted Earnings Per Share, Basic                              
    Weighted average shares, basic   8,971,649     6,287,997     6,261,500     6,955,592     6,265,394  
    Basic earnings (loss) per share (GAAP) $ (0.10 ) $ 0.36   $ (0.14 ) $ 1.00   $ 1.54  
    Adjusted earnings (loss) per share, basic (non-GAAP) $ 0.66   $ 0.39   $ (0.14 ) $ 2.10   $ 1.54  
                                   
    Adjusted Earnings Per Share, Diluted                              
    Weighted average shares, diluted   8,994,315     6,303,282     6,282,815     6,971,089     6,279,106  
    Diluted earnings (loss) per share (GAAP) $ (0.10 ) $ 0.36   $ (0.14 ) $ 1.00   $ 1.53  
    Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share (non-GAAP) $ 0.66   $ 0.39   $ (0.14 ) $ 2.10   $ 1.53  
                                   
    Adjusted Pre-Provision, Pre-Tax Earnings                              
    Net interest income $ 18,359   $ 11,749   $ 10,809   $ 52,452   $ 43,413  
    Total noninterest income   6,444     3,203     3,069     16,380     11,784  
    Net revenue $ 24,803   $ 14,952   $ 13,878   $ 68,832   $ 55,197  
    Total noninterest expense   21,929     10,459     9,100     52,934     37,242  
    Pre-provision, pre-tax earnings $ 2,874   $ 4,493   $ 4,778   $ 15,898   $ 17,955  
    Add: Merger expenses   7,316     219     —     8,107     —  
    Add: Day 2 Non-PCD Provision   3,931     —     —     3,931     —  
    Subtract: Bargain purchase gain   (2,920 )   —     —     (2,920 )   —  
    Adjusted pre-provision, pre-tax, earnings $ 7,270   $ 4,712   $ 4,778   $ 21,085   $ 17,955  
                                   
    Adjusted Performance Ratios                              
    Average assets $ 2,051,578   $ 1,449,185   $ 1,372,365   $ 1,597,150   $ 1,363,339  
    Return on average assets (GAAP)   (0.18 %)   0.62 %   (0.25 %)   0.44 %   0.71 %
    Adjusted return on average assets (non-GAAP)   1.15 %   0.67 %   (0.25 %)   0.92 %   0.71 %
                                   
    Average shareholders’ equity $ 157,844   $ 122,802     113,614   $ 130,715   $ 112,083  
    Return on average equity (GAAP)   (2.35 %)   7.28 %   (2.97 %)   5.33 %   8.59 %
    Adjusted return on average equity (non-GAAP)   15.01 %   7.93 %   (2.97 %)   11.19 %   8.59 %
                                   
    Pre-provision, pre-tax return on average assets (non-GAAP)   0.56 %   1.24 %   1.39 %   1.00 %   1.32 %
    Adjusted pre-provision, pre-tax return on average assets (non-GAAP)   1.42 %   1.30 %   1.39 %   1.32 %   1.32 %
                                   
    Net Interest Margin                              
    Tax-equivalent net interest income $ 18,461   $ 11,842   $ 10,889   $ 52,821   $ 43,738  
    Average earning assets   1,919,864     1,374,566     1,290,231     1,504,946     1,280,980  
    Net interest margin (non-GAAP)   3.83 %   3.43 %   3.35 %   3.51 %   3.41 %
                                   

    FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
    Non-GAAP Reconciliation
    (in thousands, except share and per share data)
    (unaudited)              

    		  
      For the Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended  
      Dec 31, 2024   Sept 30, 2024   Dec 31, 2023   Dec 31, 2024   Dec 31, 2023  
    Efficiency Ratio                              
    Total noninterest expense (GAAP) $ 21,929   $ 10,459   $ 9,100   $ 52,934   $ 37,242  
    Add: other real estate owned income, net   (5 )   (10 )   (2 )   (15 )   199  
    Subtract: amortization of intangibles   (448 )   (4 )   (4 )   (461 )   (18 )
    Subtract: loss on disposal of premises and equipment, net   3     (2 )   —     (47 )   —  
    Subtract: merger expenses   (7,316 )   (219 )   —     (8,107 )   —  
    Adjusted non-interest expense (non-GAAP) $ 14,163   $ 10,224   $ 9,094   $ 44,304   $ 37,423  
    Tax-equivalent net interest income (non-GAAP) $ 18,461   $ 11,842   $ 10,889   $ 52,821   $ 43,738  
    Total noninterest income (GAAP)   6,444     3,203     3,069     16,380     11,784  
    (Gain) loss on disposal of premises and equipment   —     —     (47 )   —     (47 )
    Gain on sale of other investment   —     —     (186 )   —     (186 )
    Bargain purchase gain   (2,920 )   —     —     (2,920 )   —  
    Securities losses (gains), net   154     (39 )   —     115     —  
    Adjusted income for efficiency ratio (non-GAAP) $ 22,139   $ 15,006   $ 13,725   $ 66,396   $ 55,289  
                                   
    Efficiency ratio (non-GAAP)   63.97 %   68.13 %   66.26 %   66.73 %   67.69 %
                                   

    FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
    Non-GAAP Reconciliation
    (in thousands, except share and per share data)

    (unaudited)                                        
        For the Three Months Ended     For the Year Ended  
        Dec 31, 2024     Sept 30, 2024     Dec 31, 2023     Dec 31, 2024     Dec 31, 2023  
    Tax-Equivalent Net Interest Income                                        
    GAAP measures:                                        
    Interest income – loans   $ 21,516     $ 14,479     $ 13,255     $ 63,483     $ 49,293  
    Interest income – investments and other     3,970       2,965       2,019       12,836       8,426  
    Interest expense – deposits     (6,415 )     (4,958 )     (4,232 )     (20,964 )     (13,660 )
    Interest expense – federal funds purchased     (1 )     –       –       (1 )     –  
    Interest expense – subordinated debt     (396 )     (69 )     (70 )     (603 )     (277 )
    Interest expense – junior subordinated debt     (68 )     (68 )     (68 )     (270 )     (271 )
    Interest expense – other borrowings     (247 )     (600 )     (95 )     (2,029 )     (98 )
    Net interest income   $ 18,359     $ 11,749     $ 10,809     $ 52,452     $ 43,413  
    Non-GAAP measures:                                        
    Add: Tax benefit realized on non-taxable interest income – loans (4)   $ 18     $ 13     $ —     $ 43     $ —  
    Add: Tax benefit realized on non-taxable interest income – municipal securities (4)     84       80       80       326       325  
    Tax benefit realized on non-taxable interest income   $ 102     $ 93     $ 80     $ 369     $ 325  
    Tax-equivalent net interest income   $ 18,461     $ 11,842     $ 10,889     $ 52,821     $ 43,738  
                                             
                                             
    Tangible Common Equity and Tangible Assets                                        
    Total assets (GAAP)   $ 2,010,281     $ 1,450,716     $ 1,419,295     $ 2,010,281     $ 1,419,295  
    Subtract: goodwill     (3,030 )     (3,030 )     (3,030 )     (3,030 )     (3,030 )
    Subtract: core deposit intangibles, net     (14,986 )     (104 )     (117 )     (14,986 )     (117 )
    Tangible assets (Non-GAAP)   $ 1,992,265     $ 1,447,582     $ 1,416,148     $ 1,992,265     $ 1,416,148  
                                             
    Total shareholders’ equity (GAAP)   $ 166,531     $ 125,115     $ 116,271     $ 166,531     $ 116,271  
    Subtract: goodwill     (3,030 )     (3,030 )     (3,030 )     (3,030 )     (3,030 )
    Subtract: core deposit intangibles, net     (14,986 )     (104 )     (117 )     (14,986 )     (117 )
    Tangible common equity (Non-GAAP)   $ 148,515     $ 121,981     $ 113,124     $ 148,515     $ 113,124  
                                             
    Tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio     7.45 %     8.43 %     7.99 %     7.45 %     7.99 %
                                             
                                             
    Tangible Book Value Per Share                                        
    Tangible common equity (non-GAAP)   $ 148,515     $ 121,981     $ 113,124     $ 148,515     $ 113,124  
    Common shares outstanding, ending     8,974,102       6,296,705       6,263,102       8,974,102       6,263,102  
    Tangible book value per share   $ 16.48     $ 19.37     $ 18.06     $ 16.48     $ 18.06  
       
    (1) Non-GAAP financial measure.  See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Non-GAAP Reconciliations” for additional information and detailed calculations of adjustments.
       
    (2) Capital ratios are for First Bank.
       
    (3) Nonperforming assets are comprised of nonaccrual loans and other real estate owned.
       
    (4) The tax rate utilized in calculating the tax benefit is 21%. Certain merger-related expenses were non-deductible.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Two fly-tippers prosecuted by St Albans City and District Council

    Source: St Albans City and District

    Publication date:

    Two fly-tippers were prosecuted last month by St Albans City and District Council and ordered to pay a total of more than £2,000 in fines and costs.

    Charlie Bradford, of, Monks Close, St Albans, admitted transporting waste without a licence and illegally dumping it in Woodcock Hill.

    He left a trail of multiple fly-tips of house clearance waste along a four-mile stretch of the quiet rural road between Sandridge and Coopers Green Lane.

    The Council’s Environmental Enforcement team were alerted to the offence by residents and an investigation showed the waste was linked to a property in Borehamwood.

    Further enquiries led to Bradford being interviewed under caution and he admitted dumping the rubbish late at night from a moving van that he had borrowed.

    He admitted the two offences at a hearing at St Albans Magistrates Court on Wednesday 15 January.

    Magistrates ordered him to pay £1,924 in legal costs incurred by the Council as well as a victim surcharge of £114.

    He was also served with a 12-month community order including the requirement to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

    In the other case, the Environmental Enforcement team were alerted to a fly-tip of furniture and household waste in Cherry Tree Lane, near Redbourn.

    An examination of the material found letters addressed to Leanne Reid, of Leven Way, Hemel Hempstead, who was interviewed under caution.

    She was advised that she had failed in her legal duties to check whether the person she had hired to dispose of the waste had a licence and to obtain a receipt.

    The Council issued her with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) fine under the Environmental Protection Act. The waste carrier was also traced and issued with an FPN which they paid.

    However, after Reid failed to pay her fine, court proceedings were started and she admitted the duty of care fly-tipping offence at St Albans Magistrates Court on Wednesday 29 January.

    Magistrates gave her a six-month conditional discharge and ordered her to pay £100 towards the Council’s costs and a victim surcharge of £26.

    Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Lead for Waste and Recycling, said after the hearings:

    Fly-tipping is an antisocial and inexcusable offence and these prosecutions show we are determined to act against offenders.

    Fly-tips are not only unsightly, but they are also a potential health hazard and it costs public agencies like ourselves, farmers and landowners significant sums of money to clear up.

    Much fly-tipping, as in these cases, is done on isolated country roads, late at night when there are no eyewitnesses around.

    It can be very difficult to trace offenders, so our enforcement team deserve high praise for the way they have tracked down these culprits.

    There is also a warning here for people who are clearing a house or a commercial property – they must ensure the firm or person they hire to do so has a proper waste carrier’s licence and they must obtain a receipt. You leave yourself open to a potential fly-tipping offence if you don’t do that.

    Photos: top, the Cherry Tree Lane fly-tip; bottom, the Woodcock Hill fly-tips.

    Media contact:  John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727- 819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Status of projects under PM-DevINE scheme

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 06 FEB 2025 4:19PM by PIB Delhi

    Since the inception of PM-DevINE in October 2022, a total of 36 projects worth Rs. 4927.22 crore have been sanctioned up to 31.01.2025. Of these, two projects worth Rs.121.21 crore have already been completed. Status of the projects sanctioned under PM-DevINE is at Annexure.

    Projects sanctioned under PM-DevINE include those relating to education, health, tourism, connectivity and livelihood, which directly or indirectly improve basic minimum services to the people.

    ****

    Annexure

     “STATUS OF PROJECTS UNDER PMDEVINE SCHEME”

    As on 31.01.2025

    S.No.

    Name of the project

    State Govt./Agency

    Status

    1

    Gap funding for Passenger Ropeway System from Pelling to Sanga-Choeling in West Sikkim – at the cost of Rs. 63.39 Crore (58%) of total cost of Rs.108.39 Crore

    Sikkim

    Work completed

    2

    Gap funding for Eco-friendly Passenger Ropeway (Cable Car) from Dhapper to Bhaleydhunga in South Sikkim – at the cost of Rs. 57.82 Crore (28%) of total cost of Rs. 209.57 Crore

    Sikkim

    Work completed

    3

    Pilot project for the construction of Bamboo Link Roads at different locations in various districts in the State of Mizoram –  (i) Tuirial Airfield to North Chaltlang (18 km) at a cost of Rs. 33.58 Crore; and (ii) Lengpui to Saiphal Bamboo Plantation (41 km) at a cost of Rs. 66.42 crore

    Mizoram

    Work awarded

    4

    NECTAR Livelihood Improvement Project (Multi-State) – Utilization of Banana Pseudo Stem for Value-Added Products

    NECTAR

    Work awarded

    5

    Promoting Scientific Organic Agriculture in North-East India (Multi-State)

    NECTAR

    Work awarded

    6

    Livelihood projects relating to Special Development of Eastern Nagaland – (22 Nos.)

    Nagaland

    Work awarded

    7

    Transformation of 20 schools as Centre of Excellence in the Kamrup District

    Assam

    Work awarded

    8

    Establishment of Dedicated Services for the Management of Paediatric and Adult Haematolymphoid Cancers in North East India, Guwahati

    BBCI Guwahati

    Work awarded

    9

    Establishment of Solar Micro Grid for supply of reliable power to Remote Habitations in Tripura by Department of Power, Government of Tripura

    Tripura

    Work awarded

    10

    Development of Maa Kamakhya Access Corridor at Guwahati, Assam

    Assam

    Work awarded

    11

    Construction of Medical College (100 Admissions) at Sivasagar District, Assam

    Assam

    Work awarded

    12

    Construction of IT Park at Tura, West Garo Hills District

    Meghalaya

    Work awarded

    13

    Development of Infrastructure for Manipur Technical University (MTU), Imphal West District

    Manipur

    Work awarded

    14

    Establishment of 200 bedded MCH (Maternal & Child Health) wing at AGMC & GBP Hospital

    Tripura

    Work awarded

    15

    Setting up of Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for drug addicted.

    Tripura

    Work awarded

    16

    Upgradation/widening of existing 2 lane road to 4 lane road connecting LGB International Airport – From VIP junction to Dharapur Junction, including (i) 4 lane grade separated junction at Dharapur (ii) 2 lane excess road from SOS junction to existing terminal building and (iii) 2 lane temporary exit from existing terminal building. (PWD)

    Assam

    Work awarded

    17

    Establishment of Dental College at Agartala

    Tripura

    Work awarded

    18

    Construction of new four-lane road and conversion of existing two-lane road into four-lane with cycling tracks, utility ducts, footpaths, etc. at New Shillong Township

    Meghalaya

    Work awarded

    19

    Development of Infrastructure of the Processing Zone of Manipur IT SEZ at Mantripukhri, Imphal

    Manipur

    Work awarded

    20

    Construction and Equipping of 60 Bedded State Mental Hospital in Manipur

    Manipur

    Work awarded

    21

    Construction of Aizawl By-pass road on Western Side

    Mizoram

    Work awarded

    22

    Proposal to set up a Digital Design and 3D Printing Center of Excellence in the Electronic Mfg. Cluster (EMC) in collaboration with other Govt Agencies at Tech City, Guwahati

    AMTRON

    Work awarded

    23

    Construction of 220/132 kV (2×100 MVA) & 132/33 kV (2×50 MVA) Sub-station at Tsitrongse-Dimapur with associated lines

    Nagaland

    Work awarded

    24

    Skywalk Project at Bhaleydhunga, Yangang in South Sikkim

    Sikkim

    Work awarded

    25

    Conversion of Singshore Bridge as a glass skywalk bridge for tourist attraction in West Sikkim

    Sikkim

    Work awarded

    26

    Establishment of State Cancer Institute at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh

    Arunachal Pradesh

    Work awarded

    27

    Infrastructure Development for Dhanamanjuri University (DMU)

    Manipur

    Work awarded

    28

    Educational Infrastructure/facility  Development in Polytechnics

    Nagaland

    Work awarded

    29

    Upgradation of the Radiation Oncology Centre at CIHSR

    Nagaland

    Work awarded

    30

    Establishment of a Skill Development Centre at Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), Guwahati, Assam

    BBCI Guwahati

    Work awarded

    31

    Establishment of an Artist’s Village for promotion of world’s most unique Pottery Art form Longpi Black Pottery of Manipur

    NEHHDC

    Work awarded

    32

    Infrastructure development for Manipur University of Culture at Wakha, Imphal East.

    Manipur

    Work not awarded

    33

    Development of Skywalk and Tourist hub at Mawkdok, Sohra

    Meghalaya

    Work not awarded

    34

    Providing super speciality and assured specialty health care in remote and hill districts (Infrastructure & Equipment) in Manipur

    Manipur                                

    Work not awarded

    35

    Gap funding for the Medical College at  Sichey, East Sikkim for Annual Intake of 100 Students

    Sikkim

    Work awarded

    36

    Gap funding for Passenger Ropeway for at Shillong Peak Ropeway project, Shillong, Meghalaya

    Meghalaya

    Work not awarded

     

    AMTRON: Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd.

    BBCI: Dr. Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute.

    NECTAR: North East Centre for Technology Application & Reach

    NEHHDC: North Eastern Handicrafts & Handlooms Development Corporation Limited

    This information was given by the Minister of State, for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

     

    *****

    Samrat/Dheeraj@: donerpib[at]gmail[dot]com

    (Release ID: 2100284) Visitor Counter : 45

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Compensation to support farmers – E-000212/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000212/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Georgios Aftias (PPE)

    The problems affecting livestock farming are numerous and long-standing. Farmers are calling for immediate and effective solutions. The primary sector is a key pillar of economic growth. However, the multiple economic, health and energy crises plaguing Europe have dealt an irreparable blow to livestock farmers, with the result being that most are thinking of abandoning crop and livestock farming.

    Furthermore, severe extreme weather events (such as fires, hurricanes, flooding caused by Storm Daniel, earthquakes) and unpredictable diseases (plague, bluetongue, smallpox) are problems affecting livestock production and require coordinated, targeted and immediate action.

    In view of this, can the Commission say:

    • 1.Will aid to livestock farmers be directly supported through financial tools in order to boost their businesses?
    • 2.Does it guarantee that livestock farmers will be promptly indemnified and compensated following natural disasters, such as fires, floods and earthquakes, so that they do not abandon the profession?

    Submitted: 20.1.2025

    Last updated: 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Ryde children’s library to get a page-turning makeover 6 February 2025 Ryde children’s library to get a page-turning makeover

    Source: Aisle of Wight

    Ryde Library is set to get a fresh new look following a successful application to the Arts Council England’s Libraries Improvement Fund.

    The grant will facilitate the refurbishment of the children’s library and the addition of an accessible toilet, with work starting on Monday, 24 February. The project is expected to be completed by the end of March.

    During the revamp, the main library will remain open except for a brief closure on Thursday, 20 February, Friday 21 and Saturday, 22 February, to allow staff to relocate books from the affected areas.

    From Monday 24 February, the library will operate with slightly reduced hours, closing between 12.30pm and 1.30pm. The revised opening times are as follows:

    • Monday: 9am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm
    • Tuesday: 9am to 12.30pm and 1.30 pm to 5pm
    • Wednesday: 9am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm
    • Thursday: Closed
    • Friday: 9am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm
    • Saturday: 9am to 12 noon

    The library’s Help Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, and Information Support Service will continue to operate within these hours. On completion of the works in late March, the library will close briefly to return books to their original locations.

    During the refurbishment, children’s books will be relocated within the main library. However, due to space constraints, activities such as Rhyme Time and adult group sessions will be temporarily suspended. Public computers, printing, and photocopying facilities will remain available.

    Cowes Library will also benefit from the Libraries Improvement Fund, with work scheduled to begin in mid-March. Further information will be released in due course.

    Councillor Julie Jones Evans, Cabinet member responsible for libraries, said: “Although there may be some temporary inconvenience due to construction work, the end result will be worth it.

    “Residents will still be able to use all the usual online library services while building works take place. We’d also like to remind and encourage residents to visit the other libraries across the Island, which are open as normal.

    “I am deeply grateful for the support from Arts Council England. Their continued investment in the island not only empowers us to bring innovative and inspiring projects to life but also strengthens the cultural fabric of our community.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ‘Grow Together: Regenerating Our Borough’ a resounding success

    Source: Northern Ireland City of Armagh

    (L-R) Rachel Little (Food Development Technologist, SRC); Sarah McKnight (Food Heartland Assistant, ABC Council); Jillian Dougan (The Yellow Door); Councillor Kyle Savage (Deputy Lord Mayor); Sarah Jane McDonald (Enterprise Development Manager, ABC Council); Brenda Kelleghan (SRC Business Support & Innovation Manager) and Tracy Rice (Head of SRC Business Support & Innovation).

    Over 60 business leaders, chefs, community representatives and students recently gathered at Southern Regional College in Banbridge for ‘Grow Together: Regenerating Our Borough.’

    The event, a collaboration between the Food Heartland and the Southern Regional College (SRC) Business Support and Innovation department, was funded by Connected NI, an initiative promoting knowledge exchange between academia and industry.

    Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Kyle Savage officially opened the event, emphasising the importance of collaborative efforts for a sustainable future. He said:

    “Strong partnerships, together with a shared focus and commitment will go a long way towards our drive for a more sustainable future. There is a wealth of knowledge, experience and ideas to be shared from our food producers and academia here today that will play a huge role in promoting growth, nourishment and sustainability across the agri-food industry.

    “By working together, we can look at the whole picture of the local environment and works towards regenerative sustainability.”

    On behalf of SRC, Business Support Manager, Tracy Rice, welcomed everyone to the event and explained the importance of the regeneration to the agri-food industry within the borough and how we all need to work together to achieve positive results.

    Following a recent visit to Romania, Lydia Reilly, a food innovation and technology specialist from SRC explained the core principles of regenerative sustainability. Lydia outlined the regeneration pillars, inspiring businesses to embrace a new way of working that may prioritise sustainable practices. Lydia’s presentation focused on key regenerative concepts, emphasising how organisations can move beyond traditional sustainability to their businesses. Her insights aimed to spark a fundamental shift in business thinking, encouraging companies to adopt strategies that actively contribute to a regenerative way of working.

    Keynote speaker Jilly Dougan from The Yellow Door delivered an inspiring address, advocating for placing the natural world at the core of our economy. Sharing her personal journey of transforming her garden into a regenerative, biodiverse haven, Jilly demonstrated the potential of working in harmony with nature.

    A panel of expert business leaders, representing Kingsbury Wagyu, Ballydown Milk and Grouchos on the Square, shared insights into the sustainable choices that have shaped their businesses. highlighting how impactful change often stems from embracing unconventional approaches.

    Liam McNally from International Synergies led an engaging discussion on repurposing surplus materials and encouraged attendees to explore sustainable solutions for excess stock within their own businesses.

    The event fostered a vibrant atmosphere of networking and idea-sharing, energised by delicious samples provided by local businesses including Nice Buns, Chala Chai, Jackson Roze, Richmount Health Foods and Apple Tree Farm. Breakfast was generously provided by Quails Fine Foods, with yoghurt from Ballydown Milk.

    Attendees had ample opportunity to network, connect and learn from each other, as well as pose questions to the panel of speakers.

    Feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive. The Food Heartland Network extends a huge thank you to all attendees and contributors for their participation in this collaborative effort to build a greener future for the borough.

    Click here for more information on Food Heartland.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mandatory minimum sentencing is proven to be bad policy. It won’t stop hate crimes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorana Bartels, Professor of Criminology, Australian National University

    Shutterstock

    Weeks after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced his support for mandatory minimum jail terms for antisemitic offences, the government has legislated such laws. Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke stated the federal parliament would now be “putting in place the toughest laws against hate speech that Australia has ever had”.

    It follows a concerning recent spate of antisemitic attacks in Australia, including on Jewish places of worship, schools, businesses and homes.

    Last week, a caravan was found on the outskirts of Sydney, filled with explosives and a list of Jewish targets.

    Understandably, there is fear in the Jewish community.

    The government’s decision to pursue mandatory minimum sentencing is contrary the 2023 ALP National Policy Platform stating:

    Labor opposes mandatory sentencing. This practice does not reduce crime but does undermine the independence of the judiciary, leads to unjust outcomes, and is often discriminatory in practice.

    The evidence shows that Labor’s official policy platform is correct. Mandatory minimum sentencing is unlikely to help solve this issue – or any other issue for that matter. It has a poor track record of reducing crime.

    What is mandatory sentencing?

    Australian criminal laws usually set a maximum penalty for an offence. It is then the role of the courts (a judge or magistrate) to set the sentence, up to the maximum penalty.

    This allows the judiciary to exercise discretion in sentencing. It means the courts can take into account a range of relevant factors when determining an appropriate sentence, guided by the sentencing laws in each jurisdiction.

    However, laws that demand a mandatory sentence set a minimum penalty for an offence, thereby significantly reducing the role of judicial discretion.

    Sentencing decisions are made by judges in Australian courts.
    Shutterstock

    Let’s imagine two people are appearing in court, to be sentenced for exactly the same offence.

    Defendant A (Kate) is 18 years old and has pleaded guilty. It is her first offence. She is Aboriginal, a victim of childhood domestic violence and lives on the streets. She has recently started to get help for her mental health problems.

    Defendant B (Jim) is 35. He has a long criminal history, including breaches of bail and parole. He has never been out of prison for more than six months at a time. He has pleaded not guilty and doesn’t think he has done anything wrong.

    The maximum penalty for this offence is five years. Under standard sentencing laws, a judge would usually give different sentences to Kate and Jim, based on their personal circumstances and future prospects. Jim would generally get a more severe sentence than Kate.

    Now, let’s imagine parliament decides to set a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison. This means the judge has to send both Kate and Jim to prison for at least two years, despite the differences between them, even if a community-based sentence might be more appropriate for Kate.

    So do mandatory minimum sentences work?

    The main arguments for mandatory sentences are that they:

    • reflect community standards

    • provide consistency

    • avoid judicial leniency, and

    • reduce crime.

    The evidence for each of these is weak.

    A study with members of the Victorian public who had served on juries found strong support for sentencing discretion.

    This is confirmed by recent research from the Queensland Law Reform Commission. It found general support from the public for individualised responses, not an inflexible approach to sentencing.

    Mandatory sentencing yields more consistent outcomes, but denies flexibility in cases where defendants should be treated differently.

    The argument that mandatory sentencing reduces crime is also contested.

    Study after study has shown that harsher penalties do not reduce crime.

    It is uncontested, however, that certainty of detection (whether you’ll get caught) is the primary deterrent factor, not the severity of the sentence (assuming that the perpetrator is aware of it).

    Mandatory sentencing also brings risks

    Let’s review the arguments against mandatory sentencing.

    Firstly, it undermines judicial independence, the separation of powers (between the courts and executive government) and the rule of law: a concept based on fairness in the judicial system.

    Mandatory sentencing also shifts discretion to other, less transparent, parts of the criminal justice system (for example, police and prosecution services), as they frame the charges that will bring defendants to court in the first place.

    Secondly, a guilty plea is a mitigating factor the court considers when sentencing. Mandatory sentencing means there is little incentive for defendants to plead guilty. This increases workloads, delays, costs, and has consequent negative effects for victims.

    In addition, juries may be reluctant to convict if they know the minimum sentence will insist upon a prison term. This can lead to inappropriate not guilty verdicts.

    Undermining the right to a fair trial

    Australia has previously come under fire from the United Nations for its mandatory sentencing laws.

    These requirements are found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which entered into force for Australia in 1980.

    Indeed, the Law Council of Australia has suggested mandatory sentencing is inconsistent with the international prohibition against arbitrary detention, and undermines the right to a fair trial, given that such sentences have been somewhat predetermined.

    These laws can also lead to injustice. As the example above shows, mandatory sentencing can impact disproportionately on vulnerable people, such as Indigenous people, and women with disabilities.

    These cohorts are already far more vulnerable than non-Indigenous men (who account for most people who offend).

    Adverse effects on imprisonment rates

    The High Court recently stated that the mandatory minimum sentence will have the effect of lifting sentencing levels generally.

    But the research shows longer prison sentences are much more expensive and less effective than community-based sentencing options in reducing crime.

    Let’s leave the final word on this subject with the Law Council of Australia:

    achieving a just outcome in the particular circumstances of a case, while maintaining consistency across similar cases and with Australia’s human rights obligations, is […] paramount.

    We need effective responses to all forms of racial and religious hatred, including antisemitic hate crimes, but populist, knee-jerk reactions are highly unlikely to make the community safer. Clear-headed thinking will best stand the test of time, not policy developed in anger or fear.

    Lorana Bartels is a Director of the Justice Reform Initiative. She is a supporter of the Jewish Council of Australia. She has received research funding from the ACT, Commonwealth, Queensland, Tasmanian and Victorian governments. She recently undertook a project for the Queensland government, which examined the use of mandatory minimum sentences for murder. She is a member of the Tasmanian Sentencing Advisory Council, which recently completed a project on hate crimes.

    Rick Sarre 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. Mandatory minimum sentencing is proven to be bad policy. It won’t stop hate crimes – https://theconversation.com/mandatory-minimum-sentencing-is-proven-to-be-bad-policy-it-wont-stop-hate-crimes-249266

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville Thanks President Trump for Signing Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports, Urges Senate to Bring Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to the Floor for a Vote

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by participating in several events and interviews to promote his bill, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Sen. Tuberville reintroduced his hallmark Title IX legislation—which is cosponsored by 37 of his colleagues—in the Senate last month. Companion legislation passed the House on a bipartisan basis in January. 

    Sen. Tuberville also praised President Trump for his leadership in signing an Executive Order today to protect women’s sports and restore Title IX protections for women and girls everywhere. While Senator Tuberville is grateful for President Trump’s commonsense leadership, he insists Congress has to pass his bill to ensure Title IX protections are made permanent. Sen. Tuberville discussed this earlier this week on “The Megyn Kelly Show” when he said, “A lot of people don’t realize that an Executive Order […] only lasts as long as that president’s there. So, we got some work to do. […] As you said—we’ve got to get it to the floor. John Thune told me he’s going to get it to the floor. […] If it’s not going to pass, we’ll do it again, but we’ve got to get people on the record because this is something that’s very dear to the heart of all parents across the country—and it’s dead wrong.”

    When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this earlier today, she said, “It’s incredibly important that Congress immediately act on this priority. I think the President is really setting the tone—making this an immediate priority for this administration, just as he promised to do on the campaign trail.”

    Sen. Tuberville also commemorated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by reintroducing the Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to prohibit any governing body recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) from allowing men to participate in any women’s Olympic athletic events.

    Tuberville Joins “The Faulkner Focus”

    Sen. Tuberville joined Harris Faulkner on “The Faulkner Focus” to discuss the latest with the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, as well as his efforts to protect women’s Olympic sports.

    Read an excerpt from the interview below or watch here.

    FAULKNER: “This Executive Order that Trump is getting ready to put in play comes as today we recognize National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Also on this day, Senator, you are reintroducing that bill called the Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. This is an effort to ensure that Trump’s protections are permanent. Tell us about it, Senator.”

    TUBERVILLE: “Exactly, and you know I started coaching 40 years ago—right when Title IX started. And, Harris, let me tell you something. This is the best thing that this place has ever done. It gave young girls and women a different opportunity to build on leadership and have a future. And, so, this past four years—gender has been under attack. Parents have been under attack. Education has been under attack, and it all goes back to trying to not define what a woman is, and they can’t even define that. They’re telling us right now that men can have babies. So, at the end of the day, I’m giving a speech on the floor today. Leader Thune has promised he’s gonna put this bill on the floor sooner or later. This is my third time that I’ve had this up for a vote. The Democrats don’t want anything to do with it, but I gotta feeling a lot of them are gonna change their mind. And then at three o’clock, President Trump’s going to sign the Executive Order. But as you said, if when he goes out of office, if we don’t get a Republican back in there, this will change back into the gender nonsense that these Democrats have been pushing for the last four years. We have to protect women and girls in sports. And we also have to protect women and girls in Olympic sports because we have the Olympics coming here soon. And if we don’t do that, we’re gonna see men boxing against women like we did this past summer.”

    Tuberville Speaks on Senate Floor

    Senator Tuberville also delivered a floor speech where he called out Democrats’ out-of-touch, woke ideology that says men can get pregnant and boys should compete in women’s sports.

    Read excerpts from the speech below or watch the full speech here.

    “I’m here to call for a vote on my legislation, S.9, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, that would save Title IX and save women’s sports. Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day—that’s today. To celebrate, President Trump will sign an Executive Order this afternoon in the White House ending Democrats’ intentional destruction of Title IX and saving women’s sports.

    I’m very thankful for his leadership on this. President Trump’s Executive Order will make sure women’s sports are protected for at least the next four years. But unfortunately, Executive Orders can be reversed. Congress needs to act on this to make sure the next Democrat administration, whenever it is, can’t take the same steps to destroy Title IX that the Biden administration took. For the past four years, the Biden administration waged an all-out assault on gender. Since the beginning of time, people have agreed that sex is assigned at birth and determined by God. But under the Biden administration, you had people claiming that men can get pregnant. Here on this floor, I heard that. Pure insanity.

    But it didn’t stop there. They weren’t content to just erase gender norms that have been accepted for thousands and thousands of years. No. They wanted to allow transgender men to participate against women and girls in sports. This has been happening at schools all across the country. Young women have been forced to compete against men and even share locker rooms and showers. And on top of that, your taxpayer dollars are paying for this nonsense. Over the past several years under the Joe Biden administration, 900 women’s medals have gone to men. 900. That is absolutely wrong.

    This one is personal for me. My first coaching job was in women’s basketball—years ago. Title IX was just starting to be implemented when I took that first job. I saw firsthand the immediate difference it made. Before Title IX, at a lot of schools, college women’s athletics didn’t really exist. Back then, there were more than 10x as many male athletes in college as female athletes. After Title IX, that quickly changed. For the first time, the young women I coached had equal access to facilities, resources, and competition. I saw these hardworking young women go on to earn college scholarships, start careers, and become leaders of our country. I still keep in touch with many of these young women today, and I’m deeply proud of them.

    Looking back on it now, I wonder if they would have had the same opportunities without Title IX. Would they have had the same successes if they had had to compete against males 40 years ago? This really shouldn’t be controversial. It’s just common sense. A recent poll from the New York Times of all publications showed 79% of all Americans believe men should not compete in women’s sports. 79%.

    President Trump campaigned largely on this issue. If you remember, his campaign spent nearly $20 million dollars on TV ads about the importance of keeping men out of women’s sports. So, on November 5, 2024 the American people didn’t just elect President Trump. They also decisively rejected this ridiculous notion that men can get pregnant and boys should compete against women in sports. Ridiculous. And they definitely didn’t want their tax dollars funding schools that allow boys to share locker rooms with girls.

    My bill would prevent a school from receiving any federal funding if they let boys compete in women’s sports. It also defines gender [as] male and female for this purpose. I was glad to see President Trump sign an Executive Order defining gender during his first few days in office. The President also made it clear in the Executive Order that he wants Congress to take action on this as well because he understands it can go away with the sign [of] an ink pen. 

    That’s why today I’m also reintroducing a bill to prohibit men from competing in women’s Olympic sports because men competing against women at any level is dangerous. We are all deeply disturbed—all of us were deeply disturbed this past summer to see videos of boys and men boxing against women. You know, when I was growing up, we were taught never to hit a girl, but I guess that’s over now because of the Democrats. One study found out that males can punch up to 162% harder than females. Somebody is going to get killed or seriously injured if we don’t stop this absolute nonsense. It’s unsafe, it’s unfair, and it’s just plain wrong.

    The Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act will make sure men aren’t allowed to compete against women in any sport, but especially not in a violent sport like boxing. This bill will restore fairness for the American women who train their whole lives to represent our country on the world stage. Their entire lives, they train. I know we’re all looking forward to the United States hosting the Summer Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles. I hope our bill [has] been passed and signed in law long before that so we can all enjoy some healthy, safe women-against-women or men-against-men competition during those Olympics.

    But this huge issue goes way beyond politics. I’ve heard from parents, student, teachers, and coaches all over the country about this. These are people who have personally seen the benefits of Title IX and are very concerned about Democrats’ attempts to take these opportunities away from women and girls.

    There are countless stories of girls who have benefited from Title IX in my state of Alabama.

    This includes athletes like Rachel Argent of Thorsby High School in Chilton County, Alabama. Rachel’s athletic ability and good grades drew the attention of college coaches across Alabama. […] Because of her talent and work ethic, Rachel received basketball scholarships to Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minette, Alabama. After [getting] her degree, she got a softball scholarship at Samford University. That scholarship […] put her on the right direction. […] She didn’t have to worry about landing a full-time job while she went to school and participated in sports. […]

    After college, Rachel returned to Thorsby High School as a teacher and a coach. She wanted to give back to the school what she had gotten from Title IX. She taught Health and Physical Education for grades kindergarten to twelve. She coached girls’ softball, basketball, track, and volleyball. She made an impact on hundreds of girls across our state of Alabama. It was all made possible again by Title IX.

    Rachel’s daughter, Addie, played softball, tennis, golf, and basketball at Chilton County High School. She got a gold scholarship to the University of Mobile where she graduated with a degree in Nursing. Her athletics scholarship was part of her getting a degree and becoming a nurse. There are countless other young women like Addie and Rachel across Alabama and every other state across the country. More than 50,000 young women in Alabama alone competed in high school sports this past year, 50,000. Every single one of them deserves the full benefit of fair competition. 

    And I’m grateful that every member of the Senate Republican leadership is a cosponsor of my Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. They’ve been very supportive. Leader Thune is a proud cosponsor of my bill, and I’m glad to have his support. Leader Thune is committed to scheduling a vote on this bill and putting every Democrat on the record on whether or not they support men competing in women’s sports. We brought this bill to the floor for a vote during the last Congress. Really, we brought it twice, and every single Democrat always voted against it. What does that tell you?

    Leader Thune has not rescheduled it for a vote yet this congress. Right now, we’ve obviously got a lot of things to do with [confirming] President Trump’s cabinet. Then we get started on the reconciliation process and getting the American economy jumpstarted again. We have a lot to accomplish in the first 100 days of the Trump administration, and I hope this bill is part of that 100 days.

    President Trump will sign an Executive Order again today banning men from competing in women’s sports. Let’s lock that commitment in. Let’s lock it in for young girls and women all across this country. Let’s bring this bill to the floor for a vote very soon so the Senate can send it to the President’s desk and make this permanent.

    To my Senate colleagues who are on the fence about this, I would ask—do you have daughters? Do you have granddaughters? Do you have nieces? Would you want them competing against men in sports? Would you feel comfortable with them sharing a locker room with a biological male?

    I’m excited to welcome my first granddaughter in a couple weeks, Rosie Grace. I would raise hell if she was forced to compete, dress, or use the same showers as men. And American taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for any schools that are allowing this to happen. The days of woke, swamp politicians running our government are over. Common sense has been restored to the White House, and Congress needs to get back to work and let President Trump work on this bill. 

    This isn’t about politics. This is about right and wrong. The American people have delivered a verdict. They want men out of women’s sports and women’s locker rooms.

    President Trump is 100% with us on this. The time to act is now. It’s time to restore Title IX protections and save women’s sports.”

    Tuberville Attends White House Executive Order Signing

    Sen. Tuberville went to the White House for President Trump’s signing of an Executive Order restoring Title IX protections for women and girls everywhere. During his speech, President Trump shouted out Sen. Tuberville for all of the work he has done to champion women’s sports in Congress and throughout his coaching career.

    The President also shouted out 3x Superbowl Champion Patrick Mahomes, whom Coach Tuberville recruited when he was at Texas Tech University.

    “And Tommy Tuberville [is here], a great coach,” said President Trump. “You know, his quarterback was named ‘Mahomes.’ He was a great college coach and I said ‘How good was he?’ and he said, ‘You don’t wanna know how good—he made me into a great coach.’”

    Tuberville Joins Kudlow from White House

    Following the Executive Order signing, Sen. Tuberville joined “Kudlow” on Fox Business live from Pebble Beach at the White House.

    Read excerpts from the interview below or watch here.

    KUDLOW: “No more biological men in women’s sports. Wow. Big signing today by President Trump. Joining us now to talk about it is Alabama Senator, Tommy Tuberville. Senator Tuberville, good to see you, sir. Tell us about the signing. Tell us what was in the signing, if you would.”

    TUBERVILLE: “Well, it’s been too long happening, Larry. It’s just unfortunate—for the last four years we’ve had to put up with this nonsense of biological boys and men participating in women’s sports. Not just in sports here, but also in the Olympics. It was a great day. Had a lot of people there [for the] Executive Order putting a stop to it, but we’ve gotta permanently do it. I’ve got a bill that’s the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act that we’ve got. Hopefully, we get it on the floor soon where we can make it permanent. There’s no reason in the world why men and boys should be able to participate in women’s [sports]. It’s just wrong, it’s dangerous. And, you know, it’s just a great day that we finally got this done.”

    KUDLOW: “Senator Tuberville, you mentioned the Olympics. So, good question—how will the Olympic Committee look at this resolution? Will they abide by it? Will they fight it? What do you anticipate, sir?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Well, you got to remember, Larry. This is gonna be in L.A. the next time they have it. President Trump mentioned that. The Olympic Committee, two years ago, decided to let each sport decide what they wanted to do and how they wanted to handle it. Unfortunately, boxing let men participate against the women and it was terrible—it really was. Somebody’s gonna get hurt. And so, hopefully, they come to their senses. President Trump will probably get involved in this—with the Olympic Committee, knowing him. And hopefully, we can get all men and boys banned from any kind of [women’s] sports in the Olympics. It’s just not fair.”

    KUDLOW: “You know, it’s so ironic to me, Senator, politically. For all these years, going back to, I’m gonna say, Gloria Steinem in the 1970s—over 50 years. The Democratic Party said it was the party to defend women. Okay? But in recent years, as you well know, with the trans movement and so forth and biological men now being allowed to play in women’s sports, etcetera, etcetera. All of a sudden, the Democrats are in favor of that and are wrecking women’s sports and treating women athletes, female athletes incredibly unjustly? I mean, how do you figure that? Do they see the stupidity of this whole story or not?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. They see it. They just won’t admit it. The problem they have, Larry, is they’ve lost the middle class. They have no support anymore. […] They’ve lost their base. They’re not going back. They’ve really gotten so far out there, Larry. You know, even the Democrats [think men shouldn’t compete in women’s sports]. A lot of Democrats voted for President Trump because of this one issue that the Democrats kept pushing.”

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: 32-2025: Scheduled Outage: Saturday 08 February to Sunday 09 February 2025 – Multiple Systems

    Source: Australia Government Statements – Agriculture

    06 February 2025

    Who does this notice affect?

    Approved arrangements operators who will be required to view and/or update details of their Approved Arrangement via the Approved Arrangement Management Product (AAMP).

    All clients required to use the Biosecurity Import Conditions System (BICON) during this planned maintenance period.

    All clients required to use the Export / Next Export Documentation (EXDOC/NEXDOC) systems during this planned maintenance period.

    …

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘Do I have to get it in writing?’ Even with compulsory lessons, some teens are confused about how consent works

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Woodley, Researcher and PhD Candidate, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University

    Tirachard Kumtanom/Pexels, CC BY

    Consent education has been mandatory in Australian schools since 2023.

    Amid growing public understanding we need to reduce sexual violence and teach young people about healthy relationships, consent is now part of the national curriculum until Year 10.

    But is this education working?

    Our research with teens suggest some young people are not coming away with an adequate understanding of consent or how to use it in their relationships.

    What is consent education supposed to involve?

    Before 2023, consent was taught at the discretion of each school as part of relationships and sexuality education classes. The Morrison government announced age-appropriate consent lessons in 2022, to start in the first year of school.

    The aim is to teach students about the importance of consent, ensuring they understand it is an ongoing agreement between individuals. This means consent needs to be actively sought and freely given.

    It is still largely up to individual schools to work out how they teach the material.

    Consent education is now a compulsory part of Australia’s National Curriculum.
    Wendy Wei/Pexels, CC BY



    Read more:
    Wondering how to teach your kids about consent? Here’s an age-based guide to get you started

    Our research

    This research is part of a broader study of young people’s perceptions of online sexual content and experiences of relationships and sexuality education.

    For our research, we have spoken to 46 Australian teens (aged 11-17) through a mix of interviews and focus groups. The interviews were done between 2021-2023 and the focus groups were held in December 2023.

    As part of this, we asked interviewees what they learned about consent at school. The comments in this article were made after consent education became compulsory.

    ‘Nothing’ about how to speak to peers

    While some young people told us their schools had over-emphasised consent – “like they’ve gone through everything” – other interviewees found the lessons difficult to apply in their lives. As one focus group participant (in a group of mixed genders, aged 14-16) explained:

    [Young people are] taught in a basic stereotypical movie way like ‘no’, ‘stop that’, but they don’t actually teach, like, real-life situations.

    Lauren* (14) added young people were only taught “if you didn’t want to have sex, then just say no”. As she explained, teens need more practical advice on how to respond to potential partners. This includes:

    more focus on examples of other people asking for sex and what [to] do if you were asked to have sex with someone [or] on how to say ‘no’.

    Another participant (from a focus group of mixed-genders, aged 14-16) noted how saying “no” was more complex than what school lessons suggested and teens could be taught how to advocate for themselves:

    Especially for non-confrontational people ‘cause my friend, [a] creepy guy was being really weird to her, and she wouldn’t say anything about it ‘cause she’s so nice and other people had to step up for her because she wouldn’t tell him that she didn’t want it.

    Interviewees said they wanted more advice on how to handle real-life situations around consent.
    ArtHouse Studio/Pexels, CC BY

    ‘We don’t want to get in trouble’

    Interviewees told us how consent is often discussed within the context of unwanted sex and sexual assault, or as Tiffany (15) explained “all the negative things”. This may contribute to fears about sexual activity.

    Young people also saw consent as a means to avoid “getting into trouble”, rather than checking the comfort and willingness of their sexual partners.
    As Warren (17) told us:

    My friend group that I hang out with, we’re very big on consent. That’s because we’ve heard of cases where people might not have got consent, then they’ve got in trouble because of it […] we don’t want to get in trouble for doing the wrong thing […]

    In response to discussions about affirmative consent laws, and the need to demonstrate consent has been sought and given, Warren continued:

    I don’t know how I’d go about getting it every time, like, if I just invited a girl over [do] I have to get it in writing or something?

    He added he and his friends were thinking about having partners sign a form during their end-of-school celebrations:

    if we bring girls back, we want them to sign a consent form or something like that. That’s an idea we had.

    There are several issues with teens thinking they need a written form for sex. Not only is it transactional and impractical, it could create an idea someone is not “allowed” to withdraw consent at any time. It also presents consent as a simple box-ticking exercise for “yes” or “no”, when it should be based on mutual respect and care, as part of an evolving discussion.

    Going beyond consent

    We only interviewed a modest sample of students from Perth. But our study feeds into other research suggesting “consent” in itself may not stop or prevent sexual violence. That is, even if one partner says “yes” it does not mean the sex is free from coercion or is pleasurable.

    Other Australian studies have found young people can demonstrate high levels of knowledge about consent but may not know how to apply it.

    This suggests young people need more skills and knowledge than simply being told to “seek consent” – a low bar for ethical sex. Consent education also needs to explore communication skills, self-confidence, pleasure, love and relationship dynamics: all topics teens tell us they want to learn about.

    This should not be taken as a criticism of passionate, hardworking teachers and schools. But it suggests they need more support and training to provide consent education in ways young people can actually use.

    *names have been changed.

    Imogen Senior from Body Safety Australia, Gracie Cayley from the Kids Research Institute, Associate Professor Debra Dudek and Dr Harrison W. See from Edith Cowan University contributed to the research on which this article is based.

    This study was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project Adolescents’ perceptions of harm from accessing online sexual content (DP 190102435). Primary funding was received from the ARC. The focus groups, were part-funded by Edith Cowan University’s School of Arts and Humanities: School research investment fund as part of the Love Studies’ Teenagers, Consent, and Sex Education project. Giselle Woodley is a member of Bloom-Ed, a relationships and sexuality education advocacy group, whose views are not expressed here. Giselle is also an expert advisor for ‘On your terms’ a consent study run by the Australian Human Rights Commission and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education.

    Lelia Green is part of the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Project funding scheme (project DP190102435). The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Australian government or the ARC.

    – ref. ‘Do I have to get it in writing?’ Even with compulsory lessons, some teens are confused about how consent works – https://theconversation.com/do-i-have-to-get-it-in-writing-even-with-compulsory-lessons-some-teens-are-confused-about-how-consent-works-248771

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Palestinians have long resisted resettlement – Trump’s plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza won’t change that

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Maha Nassar, Associate Professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona

    U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a news conference in the White House on Feb. 4, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

    President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should “take over” Gaza, displace its current population and turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East” is unsettling – in both a literal and, to Palestinians, a very personal sense.

    The remarks, which followed earlier comments in which the president expressed a desire to “clean out” Gaza, have been taken by some Middle East experts as a call to “ethnically cleanse” the strip of its 2.2 million Palestinian inhabitants. They worry that such talk will bolster the hopes of Israel’s far-right settlers and their supporters in government, who want to remove Palestinians from Gaza and build Jewish-only settlements on the enclave’s beachfront property.

    Following Trump’s remarks, Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, stated: “Our homeland is our homeland.” He added, “I think that leaders and people should respect the wishes of the Palestinian people.”

    As a scholar of modern Palestinian history, I know that calls to remove the Palestinians from Gaza are not new – but neither is Palestinians’ determination to remain in their homeland. For almost 80 years, Palestinians in Gaza have resisted various proposals to displace them from the enclave. In fact, those plans have often spurred resistance to occupation and removal.

    A people already uprooted

    Most people in Gaza are the product of displacement in the first place.

    In 1948, over 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes when the state of Israel was established and a war between the new country and its Arab neighbors erupted.

    These Palestinians became nationless refugees, placed under the care of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. In the Gaza Strip, the agency set up eight refugee camps to care for over 200,000 Palestinians who had been forced out of over 190 towns and villages.

    Palestinian refugees are seen fleeing violence in 1948.
    Bettman/Getty Images

    In December 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted Resolution 194 stipulating that “the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”

    While Israeli leaders initially expressed a willingness to allow some refugees back, they rejected the refugees’ wholesale return. They argued that doing so would undermine Israel’s security and dilute its character as a “Jewish state.”

    As such, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, looked for ways to “motivate the refugees to move eastward” toward Jordan. He hoped that by moving refugees further away from Israel, they would be less likely to return.

    At first, the United States called upon Israel to repatriate a substantial number of refugees. But with Israel consistently refusing to do so, leaders in Washington started turning to the idea of resettlement. They hoped that the promise of economic prosperity could induce large numbers of refugees to move to other Arab countries – and give up on the idea of returning home. For example, in 1953, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles drew up plans to resettle Palestinian refugees in Syria as part of a large water management project there.

    Likewise in 1961, the recently formed U.S. Agency for International Development began funding an irrigation project in Jordan, bringing in Palestinian refugees to work as farmers. U.S. officials hoped that the refugees would start to identify as Jordanians, rather than as Palestinians, and agree to permanently resettle in Jordan.

    But it did not work. A survey taken five years later found that the refugees still identified as Palestinians and wished to return to their homeland.

    Rejecting resettlement

    A further war between Israel and neighboring countries in 1967 resulted in Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which had been under Jordanian rule, as well as the Gaza Strip, which had been previously administered by Egypt.

    It also sparked a renewed sense of Palestinian national identity, especially among younger generations who increasingly took up guerrilla-style tactics in a bid to force Israel, and the international community, to recognize their right to return.

    In response, Israel looked to resettlement as a way to reduce the Palestinian population in territories it now occupied. In 1969, the Israeli government drew up secret plans to permanently transfer up to 60,000 Palestinians from Gaza to Paraguay. The scheme came to an abrupt halt when two Palestinians confronted the Israeli ambassador in Asunción about being brought to Paraguay under false pretenses.

    Meanwhile, between 1967 and 1979, far-right Israeli Jewish settlers established seven settlements in Gaza. They hoped to see Palestinians removed from the strip so the land could be incorporated into their vision of a “greater Israel.”

    Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Israeli officials proposed various plans to remove refugees from the camps and resettle them elsewhere. This included a 1983 plan to dismantle refugee camps in the occupied Palestinian territories and resettle their inhabitants in better housing in towns and cities.

    But Palestinian refugees firmly rejected the offer because it would have required them to give up their refugee status and relinquish their right of return.

    The Oslo negotiations of the 1990s rejected the notion of removing Palestinians from Gaza. In fact, keeping the refugees in Gaza was central to the premise of a two-state solution. At the same time, questions over the right of refugees to return to their original homelands in what is now Israel were shelved.

    No money can ‘replace your homeland’

    But with hopes of a two-state solution long since faded, resettlement plans have reemerged.

    Shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas gunmen in Israel that sparked the widespread bombing and siege of Gaza, the Biden administration asked Congress to fund “the potential needs of Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries.” The news outraged many Palestinians, who saw it as giving Israel a green light to carry out what many viewed as an attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza.

    In October 2024, far-right Jewish settlers gathered on the border of Gaza and called for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza that had been dismantled in 2005. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called upon Israel to “encourage emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza. He proposed telling the Palestinians there: “We’re giving you the option, leave to other countries, the Land of Israel is ours.”

    Palestinians have responded with their feet. As soon the ceasefire went into effect on Jan. 19, 2025, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had been displaced to southern Gaza walked for hours to reach their homes in northern Gaza. Hundreds posted videos of cleaning out their damaged homes so they can live there once again.

    The road to recovery in Gaza will be long. The U.N. estimates that rebuilding Gaza will cost US$50 billion and take at least 10 years.

    I believe Palestinians want help rebuilding, not resettlement. Many of them have already vehemently rejected Trump’s call to move out. As one Palestinian told The Guardian newspaper: “We would rather die here than leave this land.” He insisted, “No amount of money in the world can replace your homeland.”

    Resettlement schemes have a long history, yet Palestinians have thwarted them at every turn. There is no reason to think that this time will be any different.

    Maha Nassar is affiliated with the Foundation for Middle East Peace.

    – ref. Palestinians have long resisted resettlement – Trump’s plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza won’t change that – https://theconversation.com/palestinians-have-long-resisted-resettlement-trumps-plan-to-clean-out-gaza-wont-change-that-249193

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Votes NO On Advancing Trump’s Pick to Lead Commerce Department

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell

    02.05.25

    Cantwell Votes NO On Advancing Trump’s Pick to Lead Commerce Department

    Lutnick supports Trump’s tariffs & waffled on his commitment to allocate chips funding & preserve NOAA; In WA state, every 2 in 5 jobs are tied to trade

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, voted against advancing Howard Lutnick, President Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the Department of Commerce, to the full Senate for consideration.

    In a committee markup today, Sen. Cantwell expressed her concerns with Lutnick’s support for President Trump’s proposed tariffs. She also pointed to Lutnick’s failure to commit to fully allocating the funds approved by Congress under the Cantwell-led CHIPS & Science Act, as well as his waffling on whether he’d protect NOAA – including NOAA’s crucial missions and functions, and the workforce delivering those services to the American people.

    Sen. Cantwell had previously questioned Lutnick on these topics in a committee hearing last week – video of that hearing is HERE.

    ON TRADE & TARIFFS

    “Tariffs and trade wars are a major problem for my state, where two out of every five jobs are tied to trade-related industries,” Sen. Cantwell said in today’s committee meeting. “The Commerce [nominee] has said he’s advocating for the president’s policy [that] would cost my constituents $5 billion or more. We need a secretary that understands that these products and these issues need coalition building, not throwing down gauntlets that will lose jobs for my farmers.”

    Yesterday, Sen. Cantwell delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling for the United States to repudiate the trade philosophy of Trump — whose proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariff on goods from China would spark a trade war, drive up costs for American consumers, harm domestic businesses across hundreds of industries, and compromise the United States’ global leadership in the free trade ecosystem. A video of that speech is HERE; a transcript is HERE.

    In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and related industries. In 2023, the state imported $19.9 billion of goods from Canada – primarily oil, gas, lumber, and electrical power — making our northern neighbors Washington state’s largest trade partner. Also in 2023, the state imported $1.7 billion in goods from Mexico, including motor vehicles, vehicle parts, and household appliances. More information about how President Trump’s proposed tariffs will impact businesses and consumers in the State of Washington is HERE.

    ON CHIPS & SCIENCE FUNDING

    “Over the last four years, there has been much investment in infrastructure [for] manufacturing that this committee has supported. Semiconductor expansion — $450 billion right here in the United States, thanks to the CHIPS & Science Act — and Mr. Lutnick, in various answers to various members of the committee, did not give a full commitment to making sure this money continues to go out the door,” Sen. Cantwell said in today’s committee meeting.

    Sen. Cantwell was the main architect and key negotiator of the CHIPS & Science Act. In her position as Commerce chair, she was instrumental in securing the science R&D funding authorizations in the 11th hour of negotiations. A key component of the legislation is the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program that was authored by Sen. Cantwell to strengthen U.S. economic and national security with investments in regions across the country. Earlier this month, the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center (AAMMC) in Spokane was awarded $48 million from the program to establish the first-of-its-kind testbed facility in the United States focused on developing advanced thermoplastic materials – new types of lightweight, heat-moldable, and recyclable materials that can replace metal in aircraft parts. The AAMMC will serve as the nation’s hub for creating and testing these innovative materials that are essential for more rapidly building fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft. 

    ON DISMANTLING NOAA

    “[NOAA] makes up more than 60% of the Commerce budget. When asked for the record if NOAA should be dismantled, as called for in [Project 2025], Mr. Lutnick would only say, if confirmed, he would figure it out. Given how central NOAA is for providing accurate weather forecasting, managing our fisheries, protecting our fishermen from Russian and Chinese illegal fishing, I was looking for a stronger commitment,” Sen. Cantwell said today.

    Project 2025 calls for NOAA to be “dismantled and many of its functions eliminated,” calling it part of the “climate change alarm industry.” NOAA provides critical services to the Nation including weather forecasts, extreme storm tracking and monitoring, tools to enable communities to adapt to sea level rise and climate change, supporting fisheries management, and conserving marine mammals and other protected species.

    Sen. Cantwell is a champion of NOAA and helped secure $3.3 billion in NOAA investments in the Inflation Reduction Act to help communities prepare for and adapt to climate change, boost science needed to understand changing weather and climate patterns, and invest in advanced computer technologies that are critical for extreme weather prediction and emergency response. Her Fire Ready Nation Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen NOAA’s ability to help forecast, prevent, and fight wildfires, passed the Commerce committee unanimously today and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

    Video of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks on her Lutnick vote is HERE; audio is HERE; and a transcript is HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Details Harm Caused By Trump’s Blanket Funding Freeze, Ongoing Chaos

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Murray shared many WA stories and concerns she heard following President Trump’s blanket funding freeze
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is helping lead Senate Democrats in holding the Senate floor for a full 30 hours ahead of a final confirmation vote on Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Senator Murray delivered an hour-long floor speech and her remarks below touch specifically on last week’s Monday night OMB budget memo that froze virtually all federal grants and how communities and organizations across America still cannot access funds that are meant to be unfrozen and fully accessible by now.
    “The calls just keep coming—even now that OMB reversed course. The chaos has not died down—the questions, the uncertainty, the fear from families and communities that Trump will pull the rug out from under them is still there. 
    “Because even though—after the intense outcry from the American people—Trump has now admitted this was a colossal mistake by rescinding the guidance, the threat, the chaos, the panic cannot just be wiped away. Especially while some funds are still being blocked!
    “No one feels any sense of calm after this. People aren’t feeling lasting relief—they are still wondering ‘how could something like this happen’ and ‘what in the world is going to happen next?’
    “The Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard for the law—caused, and is still causing, real harm and chaos for millions of people over the span of just a mere 48 hours.
    “But we did learn something extremely important: when the American people speak out with one voice, when regular people stand up, it makes a real difference. That victory belonged to everyone who raised their voice. But make no mistake, the fight is far from over.
    “As I said before, we still have a lot of work to do right now, to make sure all the funding actually does get moving again—this is not like turning on a light switch.
    “We just saw through the chaotic roll out—this is complicated stuff. So, I will be watching closely to make sure funds get where they belong ASAP. I already know that in many cases this has not been what is happening at all—so this is a serious concern.”
    The full text of Senator Murray’s remarks on the chaos because of Trump’s blanket funding freeze can be found below, and video can be found HERE.
    “The chaos Vought and Trump caused last week alone was unlike anything I can recall. M. President, never in my time in the Senate have I seen a President cause as much chaos, panic, and damage in 48 short hours—chaos, panic, and damage which continues even now!
    “President Trump inflicted serious harm when he implemented Vought’s reckless vision to brazenly and illegally freeze federal grants across the government and across the country.
    “My phone has been ringing off the hook—because unlike billionaires like Trump and Musk, unlike hyper partisans like Vought, the American people actually have a painfully clear sense of how this will hurt our communities. After all, they are the ones who would actually suffer the consequences of a reckless policy like this.
    “And, let’s remember, the Trump administration’s first half-hearted attempt to clean up the massive mess they made with a new guidance, essentially boiled down to: ‘We’ll let some funding go, but we’re still going to hold up everything else.’
    “And while later, they finally admitted they were disastrously wrong and revoked the entire guidance, they are now, still today, illegally holding up other funds—which I will say more about later.
    “And the chaos alone they caused, with their cruelty and incompetence is utterly unacceptable. The explanations the Trump Administration offered throughout that saga—freezing seemingly trillions of dollars that families rely on—created no clarity or certainty for so many panicked families, businesses, nonprofits, towns, and states. And nothing they said changes the basic fact that Trump was—and is still—holding up funding our communities need, funding that is the law.
    “But let’s talk about the effect—let’s talk about the chaos and alarm they caused, the damage done to communities and families that all of us represent, and the collision course we were on before Americans spoke out and forced Trump to retreat.
    “Because, in terms of chaos, the Trump Administration was trying to say a lot of programs were not affected even when we had firsthand accounts making clear that was not what organizations across the country were experiencing.
    “I’ll give you one example: Head Start providers were locked out of their reimbursement portal, meaning folks taking care of our youngest kids were suddenly not sure how they were going to keep their doors open or pay their teachers and staff. And some providers in my state are still locked out, not getting the funding.
    “Let’s talk about rental assistance! The payment system for housing providers was down for over a day—with rents that were due at the end of the week!
    “Seniors who count on Meals on Wheels were left wondering whether they’d have dinner last week.
    “Grant programs to combat the fentanyl crisis, to get families health care, and so much more were—in an instant— put at risk of evaporating into thin air.
    “I mean, M. President, the panic and confusion were absolutely widespread. Because there was a long, long, list of programs President Trump tried to put on the chopping block here—programs that, by the way, help red states and blue states alike.
    “Funding to address the opioid use epidemic could have been paused. This is a long-standing bipartisan priority and Trump wanted funding frozen for an indefinite period—that would absolutely upend prevention efforts and cut people off from treatment that is helping them beat addiction.
    “Or COPS hiring grants which help our states and communities hire career law enforcement officers—Trump was freezing those, too. These investments increase community policing capacity and they prevent crime. Without this money, our streets and neighborhoods would be less safe.
    “And let’s not forget about other crucial DOJ grants—funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, for Amber Alerts, and for safe havens that support victims of human trafficking.
    “Or, in my state, there are 25 child advocacy centers that were trying to figure out how they would be affected by the freeze. Think about that.
    “And funding for firefighters—you know what doesn’t stop when federal funding stops? Fires! And speaking of fires—Trump’s move also threw funding for recovery and relief efforts into uncertainty. In Eastern Washington, my state, $44 million was announced weeks ago to help Spokane County rebuild from wildfires—we were left with big questions about the future of that badly needed funding last week.
    “And while it was just two weeks ago that Trump visited communities in both North Carolina and California still reeling from disaster, the very next week, he sent them reeling himself—throwing funds they were counting on into limbo with his initial OMB guidance. Because, for a while there, the system that all of our states use to get disaster relief funding was shut down!
    “And let’s not forget grants from the Violence Against Women Act—I heard from organizations in Washington state that support survivors of violence, they were trying to figure out what to do because their federal payments site went down. Without that vital funding, survivors would be left with no way to access the legal aid and services they deserve. Like so many other organizations, they were ringing the alarm bells—because they were not going to be able to pay staff or pay their bills. This illegal freeze left domestic violence centers wondering how long they could keep their doors open and pay their staff.
    “And our Tribes were thrown into chaos as well. The Puyallup Tribe was told they couldn’t move forward with a critical road project. And our Tribes in general were all concerned that housing, health care, education, and so much else were getting caught up in this funding freeze. One told me they were left trying to determine if they were going to have to lay off 400 people because of this. Causing layoffs with an illegal funding freeze would be a profound breach of the federal trust responsibility to our Tribes.
    “Or here’s another alarming one: one of Trump’s executive orders was set to cut funding used to help detain nearly 10,000 ISIS militants in Syria. That funding was about to be cut off altogether—potentially leading to prison guards leaving the job and risking ISIS militants getting out of jail—until this administration was alerted to how reckless that would be and carved out that funding.
    “But trust me when I say: there are many other funding streams that help keep us safe that are still at risk—especially because of the illegal executive orders that are, today, still blocking foreign assistance, and the absolutely lawless effort to dismantle USAID, which does lifesaving relief work around the world.
    “I will have a lot more to say on that later. And, by the why, how does undermining health, which will mean diseases run rampant—particularly at a time when Bird Flu is on the uptick and impacting many producers, workers and states—how does that make any sense?
    “Because when it comes to health care—this attempted freeze posed a huge threat to our families. Set aside the fact the Medicaid payment portal went down in my state and every state—something that we were told was a coincidence—that doesn’t change the fact all federal health care grant reimbursements stopped.
    “It doesn’t change the fact that community health centers were blocked from getting the funds they need to pay staff and continue providing care in our communities—including rural areas where they are often the only option for miles.
    “It doesn’t change the fact that Title X providers—who support care like family planning services, cancer screenings, and more—couldn’t draw down their funds.
    “I also heard from HopeSparks, a health care provider in my state. They warned that without federal support, kids in the South Puget Sound would lose access to mental health care and crisis services. 
    “And, biomedical researchers were suddenly left dealing with questions—not about how to save lives, but about grant freezes, and how these vague, broad actions might stop research programs and clinical trials across the country.
    “Chaos alone presents a huge risk of derailing crucial studies. Scientists at the University of Washington and Washington State University have told my office they were deeply alarmed—a freeze like Trump ordered would have meant research projects collapsing and staff being furloughed or laid off!
    “The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center moved to bridge the gap to keep research from being derailed—but not getting this fixed would have meant putting them in the hole, to the tune of over $1 million a day. That sort of unexpected burden would have had a huge impact on lifesaving cancer research.
    “And agricultural research was faced with uncertainty as well! WSU is a national leader in this important work—research to help our farmers grow more crops, grow more resilient crops, and fight challenges like pests, and plant diseases. WSU was deeply concerned funding for that research could be cut off, undermining important work supporting our nation’s farmers.
    “And the threats didn’t stop there for those in food and agriculture. One organization, which works alongside local growers, told me losing funding would mean a reduced capacity to grow and distribute fresh, local food to communities. That would hurt both farmers and the families who rely on these programs to help put food on the table!
    “Meanwhile, a group in Washington addressing youth homelessness warned it would have to kick kids out if the funding issue was not resolved. Let me repeat that: a homeless youth group was pushed to the brink of having to kick kids onto the streets because of President Trump’s illegal freeze. 
    “I was also deeply concerned about how the freeze might halt the diaper pilot program.  As well as the reports I got from multiple housing providers in my state worried that tens of thousands of people would be at risk of homelessness thanks to this illegal freeze.
    “And don’t get me started on infrastructure! These are projects that take years to plan, build, and complete, and do a whole lot of good for our communities. In my state alone, there were big questions about what was going to happen to electrical grid upgrades happening in Okanogan and Pierce County, improvements planned at the Ports of Seattle, Everett, and Whitman County, or SeaTac Airport’s plans to deploy new trucks.
    “And some of these questions still remain! Because—as I will detail in a minute—there are still many other ways programs are being put at risk by Trump illegally blocking funds with his executive orders. I will continue fighting for the federal funding Congress already provided to keep all of these projects on track—but that can only get us so far if President Trump illegally blocks it all and our Republican colleagues help let it happen.
    “I mean the list goes on, and on, and on. The calls just keep coming—even now that OMB reversed course. The chaos has not died down—the questions, the uncertainty, the fear from families and communities that Trump will pull the rug out from under them is still there. 
    “Because even though—after the intense outcry from the American people—Trump has now admitted this was a colossal mistake by rescinding the guidance, the threat, the chaos, the panic cannot just be wiped away. Especially while some funds are still being blocked!
    “No one feels any sense of calm after this. People aren’t feeling lasting relief—they are still wondering ‘how could something like this happen’ and “what in the world is going to happen next?’
    “The Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard for the law—caused, and is still causing, real harm and chaos for millions of people over the span of just a mere 48 hours.
    “But we did learn something extremely important: when the American people speak out with one voice, when regular people stand up, it makes a real difference. That victory belonged to everyone who raised their voice. But make no mistake, the fight is far from over.
    “As I said before, we still have a lot of work to do right now, to make sure all the funding actually does get moving again—this is not like turning on a light switch.
    “We just saw through the chaotic roll out—this is complicated stuff. So, I want you to know, I will be watching closely to make sure funds get where they belong ASAP. I already know that in many cases this has not been what is happening at all—so this is a serious concern.
    “I actually spoke with a constituent last week, Mike from Edmonds–he runs a nonprofit supporting military families and helping servicemembers transition back to civilian life. And even days after the OMB guidance was reversed, they still couldn’t access federal funding. He’s using a personal line of credit to pay staff in the meantime. And if this doesn’t get fixed—his organization won’t be able to help military families or pay its employees.
    “The homeless shelter I mentioned at the top—short $5.1 million dollars because of Trump—also still has its funds frozen. It is still looking at reducing beds and facing layoffs.
    “And as I mentioned earlier, some Head Start programs are still not able to access their grant funding—so the chaos of this OMB saga is far, far from over.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Speaks Up for Family Famers’ Needs During Senate Hearing on Ag Economy

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a lifelong family farmer, today discussed the need to secure year-round, nationwide E-15 and boost transparency among poultry producers during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the state of the ag economy. Grassley also highlighted farmers’ ongoing struggle with high input costs and low commodity prices, which were exacerbated by the Biden administration’s overregulation and unambitious approach to trade.

    Video and excerpts of Grassley’s questions for Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, and Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union, follow.

    [embedded content]

    VIDEO 

    E-15 Year-Round, Nationwide:

    “I hope you can work hard for E-15 year-round, nationwide, because that’s going to help commodity prices more than a lot of other things we can do here.” 

    Packers and Stockyards Transparency Initiatives:

    “I understand this hearing is focused mostly on crop commodities, but I’d like to take this opportunity to ask both of you about the Poultry Grower Payment System and Capital Improvement Systems rule that was finalized under Secretary Vilsack. 

    “This rule is meant to provide more transparency for poultry producers under the tournament system and give farmers a fair shake in contracts. 

    “Mr. Duvall, can you speak to how this rule may positively effect producers’ bottom lines? 

    “Mr. Larew, can you speak to how changing or removing pieces of this rule may negatively impact poultry producers? 

    Farm Profitability and New Markets:

    “Over the last four years, American crop farmers had a year or two of record high net cash farm income. 

    “Unfortunately, American farmers have also had to face years of record high inflation under an administration that was largely deaf to farmers’ needs. 

    “In 2023 and 2024, net cash farm income dropped dramatically. In other words, row crop farmers were losing money. 

    “The stagnant trade policies, lack of ambition to find new markets for commodities and overregulation of the Biden administration caught up to farmers. 

    “Many family farmers in Iowa have faced machinery and land payments with high interest rates farmers haven’t seen in decades, while dealing with a steep downturn in commodity prices. 

    “…[T]his trend will continue until new markets are created for agriculture products.” 

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Boozman Welcomes Arkansas Farmers at Senate Ag Committee Hearing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) welcomed Arkansas farmers to share their perspectives on the agricultural economy during a Senate hearing examining the challenges facing rural communities

    Marianna farmer Nathan Reed and Newport farmer Jennifer James detailed the difficulties they are experiencing in the industry.

    “The last couple years have been the most difficult of my life. Despite record yields, my operation has endured steep losses due to a sharp increase in input costs and low commodity prices,” Reed told committee members. 

    Reed and his wife along with their four children grow cotton, rice, corn and soybeans. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Cotton Council and is an executive officer of the Arkansas Ag Council as well as a member of the Arkansas Plant Board.

    He expressed appreciation for the natural disaster and market assistance funds provided by Congress late last year but called for an improved farm bill to prevent farms from failing throughout rural America.

    James grows rice, corn and soybeans with her husband, father and son. She is an active member of USA Rice in addition to serving on the Farmers Board of Directors and the Farm Policy Task Force. Her many accolades include the 2019 USA Rice Farmer of the Year, the first-ever woman elected to serve on the Riceland Board of Directors, and 2023-24 Outstanding Alumna at the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

    “Last year, I completed my 30th full-time crop. I can say without a doubt that it was the most difficult year financially that we have endured so far. This year, I’m even more worried about what is to come. Just last week, my husband, dad, son and I sat down to have one of the hardest business conversations we’ve ever had to have – is it worth it? What scares me is I know we’re one farm family of thousands having these same conversations,” James said in her testimony.

    James called on Congress to pass a new, stronger farm bill to help improve the financial outlook for agricultural producers.

    In December, Boozman led Senate efforts to secure market assistance for the agriculture community and remains committed to delivering the certainty and predictability farmers, ranchers and producers need in an updated farm bill.

    “My highest priority for the next farm bill is to improve the farm safety net, whereby every farmer in every region of the country will have access to modernized risk management tools regardless of the commodity they grow. If we fail to modernize the safety net, agriculture will see further consolidation as farm families leave the business, and the ripple effects to our country will be profound,” Boozman said in his opening statement.

    Watch Boozman’s questions to Arkansas witnesses: 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China researchers clone 4,000-year-old native swine breed

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    This undated photo shows two cloned Shaziling piglets, delivered via surrogate mother, in Xiangtan, central China’s Hunan Province. [Xiangtan municipal livestock breeding station/Handout via Xinhua]
    Two cloned piglets born in central China’s Hunan province are expected to promote China’s pork industry and diabetes treatment research while preserving a 4,000-year-old local breed once pushed to the brink by foreign competitors.
    According to the Xiangtan municipal livestock breeding station, the cloned Shaziling piglets, delivered via surrogate mother on Jan. 24 in Xiangtan County, mark a milestone in China’s decade-long push to preserve indigenous livestock breeds using biotechnology.
    Once a staple in Hunan’s famed hongshao rou (braised pork), Shaziling pigs, a breed native to Xiangtan, nearly vanished as industrial foreign breeds dominated Chinese farms in previous years.
    It is considered a precious genetic resource and was added to China’s national animal genetic resource protection list in 2006.
    To protect the genetic resources of the Shaziling pig, the breeding station initiated the somatic cell cloning experiment with support from a research team led by Yin Yulong, a Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and chief researcher at the Insitute of Subtropical Agriculture under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, starting in June 2024.
    Researchers utilized frozen ear tissue cells from Shaziling pigs to create fibroblast cells, leading to successful embryo construction, cultivation, and transplantation. On Jan. 24, the surrogate mother pig successfully gave birth.
    Tan Hong, head of the breeding station, said that the two piglets display characteristic features of the Shaziling pig, such as a short snout, butterfly ears, and cow-like eyes. They are healthy and being cared for by skilled technicians.
    Yin noted that the research achievement goes far beyond agriculture.
    He emphasized the anatomical, physiological, immunological, and genomic similarities between pigs and humans. These similarities make pigs ideal models for diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular ailments. Their similar organ size and structure enhance their prospects in xenotransplantation research.
    Wu Maisheng, a researcher at the Xiangtan Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, revealed that porcine-human xenotransplantation studies conducted in Hunan since 2005 have found that the Shaziling pig possesses the highest biosafety and is the best donor for such transplants. The success rate for using Shaziling pig islet cells in diabetes treatment reached 95.45 percent.
    Wu said the birth of the cloned Shaziling pig facilitates long-term preservation and live recovery of genetic resources, providing a valuable experimental model for innovative conservation methods for high-quality local pig breeds.
    Future research will focus on the cloned pigs’ adaptability to environmental conditions, growth, and reproductive performance, as well as in-depth studies of the progeny’s weight gain, meat quality, and genetic traits.
    Yin also said that the Shaziling pig presents extensive application prospects as a food source, disease model, and donor for xenotransplantation. It is increasingly significant in modern agriculture, medical research, and clinical treatments.
    The research team aims to utilize cloning technology to replicate superior Shaziling pigs with high feed conversion rates, meat yield and quality.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI: Silicon Motion Announces Results for the Period Ended December 31, 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Business Highlights

    • Fourth quarter of 2024 sales decreased 10% Q/Q and decreased 6% Y/Y
      • SSD controller sales: 4Q of 2024 decreased 5% to 10% Q/Q and decreased 5% to 10% Y/Y
      • eMMC+UFS controller sales: 4Q of 2024 decreased 10% to 15% Q/Q and were flat Y/Y
      • SSD solutions sales: 4Q of 2024 decreased 35% to 40% Q/Q and decreased 25% to 30% Y/Y
    • Announced annual cash dividend of $2.00 per American Depositary Share (“ADS”)

    Financial Highlights

      4Q 2024 GAAP 4Q 2024 Non-GAAP*
     • Net sales $191.2 million (-10% Q/Q, -6% Y/Y) $191.2 million (-10% Q/Q, -6% Y/Y)
     • Gross margin 46.8% 47.0%
     • Operating margin 10.3% 16.5%
     • Earnings per diluted ADS $0.68 $0.91
      Full Year 2024 GAAP Full Year 2024 Non-GAAP*
     • Net sales $803.6 million (+26% Y/Y) $803.6 million (+26% Y/Y)
     • Gross margin 46.1% 46.2%
     • Operating margin 11.6% 15.3%
     • Earnings per diluted ADS $2.69 $3.43

    * Please see supplemental reconciliations of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) to all non-GAAP financial measures mentioned herein towards the end of this news release.

    TAIPEI, Taiwan and MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) (“Silicon Motion,” the “Company” or “we”) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2024. For the fourth quarter of 2024, net sales (GAAP) decreased sequentially to $191.2 million from $212.4 million in the third quarter of 2024. Net income (GAAP) increased to $23.0 million, or $0.68 per diluted ADS (GAAP), from net income (GAAP) of $20.8 million, or $0.62 per diluted ADS (GAAP), in the third quarter of 2024.

    For the fourth quarter of 2024, net income (non-GAAP) decreased to $30.9 million, or $0.91 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), from net income (non-GAAP) of $31.0 million, or $0.92 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), in the third quarter of 2024.

    All financial numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

    Fourth Quarter of 2024 Review

    “We continued to execute well in the fourth quarter of 2024 despite the challenging consumer market, delivering revenue within our guided range and further expanding of our gross margin,” said Wallace Kou, President and CEO of Silicon Motion. ”For the full-year 2024, revenue rebounded strongly, growing 26% as compared to full-year 2023 and well above our initial expectations at the start of the year. For the full-year 2024, gross margin (non-GAAP) increased to 46.2% from 43.0% in 2023 despite the overall market weakness in the second half of 2024. We successfully launched our industry-leading PCIE Gen 5 controllers in the second half of 2024, winning four of the six flash makers and multiple module maker customers, which are all anticipated to ramp up throughout 2025. While the consumer market remains challenging in the near-term, we remain focused on delivering strong, sustainable long-term growth by broadening our product portfolio, expanding into new markets and growing our market share in the consumer, enterprise, automotive, industrial and commercial storage markets.”

    Key Financial Results

    (in millions, except percentages and per ADS amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP
    4Q 2024 3Q 2024 4Q 2023 4Q 2024 3Q 2024 4Q 2023
    Revenue $191.2 $212.4 $202.4 $191.2 $212.4 $202.4
    Gross profit $89.5 $99.3 $88.5 $89.9 $99.3 $89.3
    Percent of revenue 46.8% 46.7% 43.7% 47.0% 46.8% 44.1%
    Operating expenses $69.9 $74.8 $71.0 $58.3 $65.1 $61.5
    Operating profit $19.7 $24.5 $17.6 $31.6 $34.2 $27.8
    Percent of revenue 10.3% 11.5% 8.7% 16.5% 16.1% 13.8%
    Earnings per diluted ADS $0.68 $0.62 $0.63 $0.91 $0.92 $0.93

    Other Financial Information

    (in millions) 4Q 2024 3Q 2024 4Q 2023
    Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments—end of period $334.3 $368.6 $369.0
    Routine capital expenditures $7.3 $7.4 $3.5
    Dividend payments $16.8 $16.8 $16.7

    During the fourth quarter of 2024, we had $10.8 million of capital expenditures, including $7.3 million for the routine purchases of testing equipment, software, design tools and other items, and $3.5 million for building construction in Hsinchu.

    Business Outlook
    “Longer-term, we expect to continue increasing our market share within the mobile and PC markets through greater outsourcing by the NAND flash makers, which should drive greater revenue and profitability for Silicon Motion,” said Mr. Kou. “This year, we expect to benefit from the introduction of several new products, including our 8-channel PCIe Gen 5 controller that started shipping in the second half of 2024, our new UFS 4.1 controller for the mobile market that will begin to ramp-up in the second half of this year, and our new 4-channel mainstream PCIe Gen 5 that we expect to launch late this year. Additionally, we will benefit from our many automotive controllers that are rapidly expanding across multiple applications and our MonTitan suite of enterprise controllers that just started shipping in the second half of 2024 and are expected to increase in the second half of this year. Consumer demand remains weak in the first half of 2025 and is proving more challenging than we initially anticipated; however, we expect a strong rebound in the second half of this year driven from new product introductions and new project wins with our OEM customers, reaching close to a run-rate of $1 billion in annual revenue in 4Q25.”

    For the first quarter of 2025, management expects:

    (in millions, except percentages) GAAP Non-GAAP Adjustment Non-GAAP
    Revenue $158m to $167m
    -17.5% to -12.5% Q/Q    		 — $158m to $167m
    -17.5% to -12.5% Q/Q
    Gross margin 46.9% to 47.4% Approximately $0.1m* 47.0% to 47.5%
    Operating margin 2.3% to 5.2% Approximately $7.5m to $8.5m** 7.7% to 9.7%

    * Projected gross margin (non-GAAP) excludes $0.1 million of stock-based compensation.
    ** Projected operating margin (non-GAAP) excludes $7.5 million to $8.5 million of stock-based compensation and dispute related expenses.

    Conference Call & Webcast:
    The Company’s management team will conduct a conference call at 8:00 am Eastern Time on February 6, 2025.

    Conference Call Details
    Participants must register in advance to join the conference call using the link provided below. Conference access information (including dial-in information and a unique access PIN) will be provided in the email received upon registration.

    Participant Online Registration:
    https://register.vevent.com/register/BI742c56c62eb0464e9ba0c61a39fa4c91

    A webcast of the call will be available on the Company’s website at www.siliconmotion.com.

    Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement the Company’s unaudited selected financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), the Company discloses certain non-GAAP financial measures that exclude stock-based compensation and other items, including gross profit (non-GAAP), gross margin (non-GAAP), operating expenses (non-GAAP), operating profit (non-GAAP), operating margin (non-GAAP), non-operating income (expense) (non-GAAP), net income (non-GAAP), and earnings per diluted ADS (non-GAAP). These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with or an alternative to GAAP and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. We believe that these non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all the amounts associated with the Company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate the Company’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measure. We compensate for the limitations of our non-GAAP financial measures by relying upon GAAP results to gain a complete picture of our performance.

    Our non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the user’s overall understanding of our current financial performance and our prospects for the future. Specifically, we believe the non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management and investors as these non-GAAP results exclude certain expenses, gains and losses that we believe are not indicative of our core operating results and because they are consistent with the financial models and estimates published by many analysts who follow the Company. We use non-GAAP measures to evaluate the operating performance of our business, for comparison with our forecasts, and for benchmarking our performance externally against our competitors. Also, when evaluating potential acquisitions, we exclude the items described below from our consideration of the target’s performance and valuation. Since we find these measures to be useful, we believe that our investors benefit from seeing the results from management’s perspective in addition to seeing our GAAP results. We believe that these non-GAAP measures, when read in conjunction with the Company’s GAAP financials, provide useful information to investors by offering:

    • the ability to make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s on-going operating results;
    • the ability to better identify trends in the Company’s underlying business and perform related trend analysis;
    • a better understanding of how management plans and measures the Company’s underlying business; and
    • an easier way to compare the Company’s operating results against analyst financial models and operating results of our competitors that supplement their GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures.

    The following are explanations of each of the adjustments that we incorporate into our non-GAAP measures, as well as the reasons for excluding each of these individual items in our reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures:

    Stock-based compensation expense consists of non-cash charges related to the fair value of restricted stock units awarded to employees. The Company believes that the exclusion of these non-cash charges provides for more accurate comparisons of our operating results to our peer companies due to the varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types. In addition, the Company believes it is useful to investors to understand the specific impact of share-based compensation on its operating results.

    Restructuring charges relate to the restructuring of our underperforming product lines, principally the write-down of NAND flash, embedded DRAM and SSD inventory valuation and severance payments. 

    M&A transaction expenses consist of legal, financial advisory and other fees related to the transaction.

    Dispute related expenses consist of legal, consultant, other fees and resolution related to the dispute.

    Foreign exchange loss (gain) consists of translation gains and/or losses of non-US$ denominated current assets and current liabilities, as well as certain other balance sheet items which result from the appreciation or depreciation of non-US$ currencies against the US$. We do not use financial instruments to manage the impact on our operations from changes in foreign exchange rates, and because our operations are subject to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, we therefore exclude foreign exchange gains and losses when presenting non-GAAP financial measures.

    Realized/Unrealized loss (gain) on investments relates to the disposal and net change in fair value of long-term investments.

     
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Consolidated Statements of Income
    (in thousands, except percentages and per ADS data, unaudited)
     
      For Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended
      Dec. 31,     Sep. 30,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,  
      2023     2024     2024     2023     2024  
      ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)  
    Net Sales 202,379     212,412     191,160     639,142     803,552  
    Cost of sales 113,854     113,142     101,635     368,752     432,862  
    Gross profit 88,525     99,270     89,525     270,390     370,690  
    Operating expenses                  
    Research & development 56,432     58,486     54,156     174,357     217,822  
    Sales & marketing 6,205     7,009     7,360     26,920     27,450  
    General & administrative 7,600     9,315     8,350     27,923     31,354  
    Loss from settlement of litigation 720     –     –     1,312     1,250  
    Operating income 17,568     24,460     19,659     39,878     92,814  
    Non-operating income (expense)                  
    Interest income, net 4,221     3,518     3,768     12,246     14,528  
    Foreign exchange gain (loss), net (1,117 )   (488 )   1,046     914     1,391  
    Realized/Unrealized gain(loss) on investments (51 )   (602 )   956     8,002     601  
    Others, net 8     –                    –     8     –  
    Subtotal 3,061     2,428     5,770     21,170     16,520  
    Income before income tax 20,629     26,888     25,429     61,048     109,334  
    Income tax expense (benefit) (464 )   6,045     2,389     8,175     18,614  
    Net income 21,093     20,843     23,040     52,873     90,720  
                       
    Earnings per basic ADS 0.63     0.62     0.68     1.59     2.70  
    Earnings per diluted ADS 0.63     0.62     0.68     1.58     2.69  
                       
    Margin Analysis:                  
    Gross margin 43.7%     46.7%     46.8%     42.3%     46.1%  
    Operating margin 8.7%     11.5%     10.3%     6.2%     11.6%  
    Net margin 10.4%     9.8%     12.1%     8.3%     11.3%  
    　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
    Additional Data:                  
    Weighted avg. ADS equivalents 33,416     33,687     33,690     33,353     33,642  
    Diluted ADS equivalents 33,587     33,700     33,814     33,470     33,722  
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Operating Results
    (in thousands, except percentages and per ADS data, unaudited)
     
      For Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended
      Dec. 31,     Sep. 30,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,  
    2023     2024     2024     2023     2024  
    ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)  
    Gross profit (GAAP) 88,525     99,270     89,525     270,390     370,690  
    Gross margin (GAAP) 43.7%     46.7%     46.8%     42.3%     46.1%  
    Stock-based compensation (A) 106     63     162     406     311  
    Restructuring charges 648     –     164     3,996     209  
    Gross profit (non-GAAP) 89,279     99,333     89,851     274,792     371,210  
    Gross margin (non-GAAP) 44.1%     46.8%     47.0%     43.0%     46.2%  
                          
    Operating expenses (GAAP) 70,957     74,810     69,866     230,512     277,876  
    Stock-based compensation (A) (5,680 )   (3,595 )   (9,585 )   (17,141 )   (16,645 )
    M&A transaction expenses 288     –     –     (2,606 )   –  
    Dispute related expenses (3,477 )   (6,076 )   (1,999 )   (6,973 )   (13,135 )
    Restructuring charges (638 )   –     –     (5,217 )   –  
    Operating expenses (non-GAAP) 61,450     65,139     58,282     198,575     248,096  
                       
    Operating profit (GAAP) 17,568     24,460     19,659     39,878     92,814  
    Operating margin (GAAP) 8.7%     11.5%     10.3%     6.2%     11.6%  
    Total adjustments to operating profit 10,261     9,734     11,910     36,339     30,300  
    Operating profit (non-GAAP) 27,829     34,194     31,569     76,217     123,114  
    Operating margin (non-GAAP) 13.8%     16.1%     16.5%     11.9%     15.3%  
                       
    Non-operating income (expense) (GAAP) 3,061     2,428     5,770     21,170     16,520  
    Foreign exchange loss (gain), net 1,117     488     (1,046 )   (914 )   (1,391 )
    Realized/Unrealized holding loss (gain) on investments 51     602     (956 )   (8,002 )   (601 )
    Non-operating income (expense) (non-GAAP) 4,229     3,518     3,768     12,254     14,528  
                       
    Net income (GAAP) 21,093     20,843     23,040     52,873     90,720  
    Total pre-tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments 11,429     10,824     9,908     27,423     28,308  
    Income tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments (1,202 )   (649 )   (2,049 )   (4,169 )   (3,064 )
    Net income (non-GAAP) 31,320     31,018     30,899     76,127     115,964  
                       
    Earnings per diluted ADS (GAAP) $0.63     $0.62     $0.68     $1.58     $2.69  
    Earnings per diluted ADS (non-GAAP) $0.93     $0.92     $0.91     $2.27     $3.43  
                       
    Shares used in computing earnings per diluted ADS (GAAP) 33,587     33,700     33,814     33,470     33,722  
    Non-GAAP adjustments 110     109     181     129     84  
    Shares used in computing earnings per diluted ADS (non-GAAP) 33,697     33,809     33,995     33,599     33,806  
                       
    (A) Excludes stock-based compensation as follows:                  
    Cost of sales 106     63     162     406     311  
    Research & development 4,103     2,377     6,670     11,709     11,284  
    Sales & marketing 361     455     978     1,858     1,954  
    General & administrative 1,216   　 763   　 1,937   　 3,574   　 3,407  
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Consolidated Balance Sheet
    (In thousands, unaudited)
     
      Dec. 31,   Sep. 30,   Dec. 31,
      2023   2024   2024
      ($)   ($)   ($)
    Cash and cash equivalents 314,302   313,924   276,068
    Accounts receivable (net) 194,701   202,726   233,744
    Inventories 216,950   214,574   201,154
    Refundable deposits – current 49,656   51,102   54,645
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets e17,636   38,246   31,187
    Total current assets 793,245   820,572   796,798
    Long-term investments 17,116   16,878   17,326
    Property and equipment (net) 167,417   181,983   188,398
    Other assets 30,183   29,304   30,354
    Total assets 1,007,961   1,048,737   1,032,876
               
    Accounts payable 55,586   30,888   17,773
    Income tax payable 7,544   14,444   13,176
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 149,680   131,143   168,624
    Total current liabilities 212,810   176,475   199,573
    Other liabilities 60,455   62,673   59,548
    Total liabilities 273,265   239,148   259,121
    Shareholders’ equity 734,696   809,589   773,755
    Total liabilities & shareholders’ equity 1,007,961   1,048,737   1,032,876
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in thousands, unaudited)
     
      For Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended
        Dec. 31,     Sep. 30,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,  
        2023     2024     2024     2023     2024  
        ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)  
    Net income   21,093     20,843     23,040     52,873     90,720  
    Depreciation & amortization   5,356     6,664     7,256     21,810     25,331  
    Stock-based compensation   5,786     3,658     9,747     17,547     16,956  
    Investment losses (gain) & disposals   (432 )   602     (956 )   (8,217 )   (601 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities   11,582     22,280     (45,245 )   65,070     (55,213 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities   43,385     54,047     (6,158 )   149,083     77,193  
                         
    Purchase of property & equipment   (10,758 )   (12,436 )   (10,836 )   (50,313 )   (44,449 )
    Proceeds from disposal of properties   1,228     –     3     1,228     3  
    Purchase of long-term investments   –     –     (4,173 )   –     (4,173 )
    Disposal of long-term investments   –     –     4,432     –     4,432  
    Net cash used in investing activities   (9,530 )   (12,436 )   (10,574 )   (49,085 )   (44,187 )
                         
    Dividend payments   (16,676 )   (16,812 )   (16,814 )   (16,690 )   (67,254 )
    Net cash used in financing activities   (16,676 )   (16,812 )   (16,814 )   (16,690 )   (67,254 )
                         
    Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash   17,179     24,799     (33,546 )   83,308     (34,248 )
    Effect of foreign exchange changes   1,508     186     (717 )   (1,373 )   (409 )
    Cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash—beginning of period   350,303     343,611     368,596     287,055     368,990  
    Cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash—end of period   368,990     368,596     334,333     368,990     334,333  


    Shareholder Litigation:
    On August 31, 2023, a Silicon Motion ADS holder (the “Plaintiff”) filed a putative class action complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, captioned Water Island Event-Driven Fund v. MaxLinear, Inc., No. 23-cv-01607 (S.D. Cal.), asserting claims against MaxLinear, Inc. (“MaxLinear”) and two of its officers (the “MaxLinear Defendants”) for alleged violations of (i) Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder and (ii) Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, in connection with alleged false and misleading statements made by the MaxLinear Defendants between June 6, 2023 and July 26, 2023 concerning MaxLinear’s intent to consummate the merger agreement it had entered into with Silicon Motion. On August 28, 2024, the Court dismissed the complaint against the MaxLinear Defendants without prejudice for lack of standing.  On September 18, 2024, the Plaintiff filed an amended complaint against the MaxLinear Defendants, and also added Silicon Motion and two of its officers (the “Silicon Motion Defendants”), asserting substantially similar claims under the Exchange Act. The complaint seeks compensatory damages, including interest, costs and expenses, and such other equitable or injunctive relief that the court deems appropriate. The motion to dismiss the amended complaint is fully briefed. The Silicon Motion Defendants believe that the claims asserted against them are without merit and intend to defend themselves vigorously.

    About Silicon Motion:
    We are the global leader in supplying NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices.  We supply more SSD controllers than any other company in the world for servers, PCs and other client devices and are the leading merchant supplier of eMMC and UFS embedded storage controllers used in smartphones, IoT devices and other applications.  We also supply customized high-performance hyperscale data center and specialized industrial and automotive SSD solutions.  Our customers include most of the NAND flash vendors, storage device module makers and leading OEMs.  For further information on Silicon Motion, visit us at www.siliconmotion.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements:
    This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although such statements are based on our own information and information from other sources we believe to be reliable, you should not place undue reliance on them. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual market trends or our actual results of operations, financial condition or business prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the unpredictable volume and timing of customer orders, which are not fixed by contract but vary on a purchase order basis; the loss of one or more key customers or the significant reduction, postponement, rescheduling or cancellation of orders from one or more customers; general economic conditions or conditions in the semiconductor or consumer electronics markets; the impact of inflation on our business and customer’s businesses and any effect this has on economic activity in the markets in which we operate; the functionalities and performance of our information technology (“IT”) systems, which are subject to cybersecurity threats and which support our critical operational activities, and any breaches of our IT systems or those of our customers, suppliers, partners and providers of third-party licensed technology; the effects on our business and our customer’s business taking into account the ongoing U.S.-China tariffs and trade disputes; the uncertainties associated with any future global or regional pandemic; the continuing tensions between Taiwan and China including enhanced military activities; decreases in the overall average selling prices of our products; changes in the relative sales mix of our products; changes in our cost of finished goods; supply chain disruptions that have affected us and our industry as well as other industries on a global basis; the payment, or non-payment, of cash dividends in the future at the discretion of our board of directors and any announced planned increases in such dividends; changes in our cost of finished goods; the availability, pricing, and timeliness of delivery of other components and raw materials used in the products we sell given the current raw material supply shortages being experienced in our industry; our customers’ sales outlook, purchasing patterns, and inventory adjustments based on consumer demands and general economic conditions; any potential impairment charges that may be incurred related to businesses previously acquired or divested in the future; our ability to successfully develop, introduce, and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner; and the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors. For additional discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please see the documents we file from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2024. Other than as required under the securities laws, we do not intend, and do not undertake any obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release.

    The MIL Network –