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  • MIL-OSI Global: Nebraska Democrats hope Omaha will be a ‘blue dot’ on the state’s red electoral map − and their lawn sign is a vibe

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christina Elizabeth Dando, Professor of Geography, University of Nebraska Omaha

    White signs emblazoned with a big blue dot are going up in yards across Omaha, Nebraska, in an unusual political statement of support for Democratic candidates.

    Nebraska splits its electoral votes, giving Omaha’s congressional district a single electoral vote out of the state’s total of five. If enough of Omaha’s metropolitan voters back Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for president, Omaha will appear on the electoral map as a “blue dot” on a field of Republican red.

    With Harris running neck and neck with former President Donald Trump, the White House could come down to this one vote.

    Power of the dot

    Most U.S. states award all their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the state’s election, no matter the margin of victory. Only Nebraska and Maine split their electoral votes.

    Nebraska awards one vote to each congressional district, plus two votes to the state’s overall winner. It began this practice in 1992 to draw more presidential campaigns to the state. Nebraska, as a whole, so predictably leans conservative that neither Republicans nor Democrats had bothered to campaign there.

    In the eight presidential elections since 1992, Omaha has turned blue only twice – in 2008 and 2020, backing Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

    Democratic voters hope to buck statewide trends again in 2024.

    The blue dot movement began in mid-August 2024 in Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood, when local residents Jason Brown and Ruth Huebner-Brown spray-painted a blue circle on a white sign and put it on their lawn as a conversation starter.

    One sign grew to 10, 100, 1,000, snowballing into a movement. Now blue dot signs can be found well beyond Omaha, even in other states. On Facebook and Reddit, people share where to find the signs and how to make your own.

    A simple blue dot on a white background has become a powerful political symbol – a reference to a map that does not have to be seen to be visualized. For Omahans in the know, the sign is a reminder of what the city’s place on the map might be come Nov. 5.

    For others, the enigmatic sign simply raises questions, creating opportunities for Omahans to discuss the importance of voting in Nebraska.

    Blue dot, black spot

    I am a professor of geography at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

    The sly way the blue dot sign refers to an election map without actually showing that map reminded me of my suffrage movement research.

    In the 1910s, women activists campaigning to get American women the vote used a map as part of their campaign. It depicted U.S. states that had passed suffrage in white and the rest in black – dark marks on the nation.

    The suffragists plastered their map across the country and sold it through the National Woman Suffrage Publishing Company. In newsletters and magazines, they shared how to make maps for rallies using easily accessible materials. The map became so familiar to the American public by 1912 that it was referred to in speeches and newspaper articles without the visual.

    At suffrage parades and pageants they formed “living suffrage maps,” with women dressed in white representing states with the vote and those in black representing states where they could not.

    As women’s suffrage momentum grew, spreading from western to eastern U.S. states, the map had ever-fewer black spots. In 1914, Nevada became the last western state to pass suffrage.

    “The suffrage map showing Nevada as the last ‘black spot’ in the West was printed in every newspaper and on every leaflet,” suffragists later wrote about their efforts. It was “put up in public places and on large banners hung in the streets.”

    With Nebraska’s blue dot signs, Omahans are fighting to keep their spot on the map, not erase it. They are an act of claiming space, making Democrats visible in a state so strongly associated with Republicans.

    On Oct. 20, 2024, in yet another echo of the women’s suffrage movement, they even created a “human blue dot” at a rally in a local park.

    A Republican red dot in Omaha.
    Christina Dando, CC BY

    Blue dot signs have inspired Republican countersigns.

    Two I’ve seen are a white sign depicting just an entirely red Nebraska, and a white sign with a large red dot with a golden wave on its top that resembles Trump’s hair.

    These red dot and red Nebraska signs are catching on, but not in the same way as blue dot signs have.

    Bye-bye, blue dot?

    Aware of Omaha’s sudden electoral importance, Republicans have begun trying to end Nebraska’s system of splitting its electoral votes.

    In April 2024, Trump and the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk called on state legislators to propose a bill changing the state to a winner-take-all system.

    Kirk described Nebraska as “being one of the most Republican states” and said the state’s electoral votes must “go towards electing the candidate the vast majority of Nebraskans prefer.”

    Many people reacted with fury, and the bill did not advance in Nebraska’s one-house state Legislature. That’s another of the state’s political quirks: Nebraska is the only state to have a state legislature without an upper and lower chamber of lawmakers.

    The system, called the unicameral, is officially partyless, meaning its 49 representatives are elected without their party on the ballot.

    The unicameral dates from 1937 when it was thought this less costly, nonpartisan system would be a more representative form of government. So is splitting the state’s electoral votes: Voters can feel more confident that their vote counts and that every vote counts.

    When South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham visited Nebraska in September 2024, he pushed Gov. Jim Pillen, a fellow Republican, to implement a winner-take-all system for the 2024 election.

    Pillen said he would not call a special session of the unicameral unless he has the 33 votes needed to pass the change to the state’s electoral system. That appears unlikely to happen before November.

    Red + blue = purple?

    A winner-take-all approach to Electoral College votes has the effect of erasing nuance and difference on the map of America by painting states as entirely red or blue.

    No state has ever voted 100% Democrat or Republican. The country should be drawn in shades of purple.

    Nebraska has the misleading appearance of overwhelming redness because of its many Republican-leaning rural counties with low population density. Yet Nebraska’s registered voters are approximately two-thirds Republicans and one-third Democrats. Many registered Democrats live in cities such as Omaha and Lincoln.

    But they can be found throughout the state – just look for the blue dot.

    Christina Elizabeth Dando 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. Nebraska Democrats hope Omaha will be a ‘blue dot’ on the state’s red electoral map − and their lawn sign is a vibe – https://theconversation.com/nebraska-democrats-hope-omaha-will-be-a-blue-dot-on-the-states-red-electoral-map-and-their-lawn-sign-is-a-vibe-240528

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How pollsters have adapted to changing technology and voters who don’t answer the phone

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Spencer Kimball, Associate Professor of Communications, Director of Emerson College Polling, Emerson College

    Pollsters have developed a range of methods for selecting who is asked to answer poll questions. Guido Mieth/Moment via Getty Images

    As the U.S. presidential election approaches, news reports and social media feeds are increasingly filled with data from public opinion polls. How do pollsters know which candidate is ahead in what swing state or with which key demographic group? Or what issues are most important to as many as 264 million eligible voters across a vast country?

    In other words: How do pollsters do what they do?

    At Emerson College Polling, we lead a dynamic survey operation that, like many others, has continuously evolved to keep pace with shifting trends and technologies in survey research. At the inception of survey research – about 100 years ago – data was primarily collected through mail and in-person interviews. That’s not true nowadays, of course.

    In the early days of the survey industry, being asked to participate in a poll was novel, and response rates were high. Today, we’re bombarded with survey requests via email, text, online pop-ups, and phone calls from unknown numbers. With fewer landlines, busy parents juggling work and family, and younger adults who rarely answer calls, preferring text communication, it has become much harder to engage respondents. This shift in behavior reflects the evolving challenges of reaching diverse populations in modern survey research.

    The goal is to describe a diverse community with a variety of viewpoints.
    ferrantraite/E+ via Getty Images

    Evolution of data collection

    In the broadest possible terms, polls and surveys have two elements – choosing whom to contact, and reaching them in a way that’s likely to get a response. These elements are often intertwined.

    In the 1970s, after household telephones had become widespread in the U.S., survey operators adopted a random-sampling method called random digit dialing, in which the survey’s designers would choose the area codes they wanted to reach and live operators randomly dialed seven-digit phone numbers within that area code.

    By the 1990s, pollsters began moving away from random digit dialing, which was time-consuming and expensive because the random selection often picked phone numbers that were out of service or not useful for opinion surveys, such as businesses or government offices. Instead, pollsters began adopting registration-based sampling, in which public voter registration records were used to compile the lists from which respondents were randomly selected.

    The information in these and other associated public records, such as those detailing gender, age and educational attainment, allowed a refinement of random sampling called stratified sampling. That’s where the one big list was split into subgroups based on these different characteristics, such as party affiliation, voting frequency, gender, race or ethnicity, income or educational attainment.

    Survey-takers then chose randomly from among those subgroups in proportion to the population as a whole. So if 40% of the overall population have college degrees and 60% do not, a poll of 100 people would randomly select 40 people from the list of those with a college degree and 60 from the list of those without.

    Other advances in ways to reach respondents emerged late in the 20th century, such as interactive voice response, which did not require live operators. Instead, automated systems played recordings of the questions and registered the spoken responses. In 2000, internet-based polling also began to emerge, in which participants filled out online forms.

    From probability to nonprobability sampling

    Over the past two decades, the rise of cellphones, text messaging and online platforms has dramatically changed survey research. The traditional gold standard of using only live operator telephone polls has become nearly obsolete. Now that phones display who is calling, fewer people answer calls from unknown numbers, and fewer of them are willing to talk to a stranger about their personal views.

    Even the random sampling that was once standard has given way to a nonprobability sampling approach based on increasingly specific population proportions. So if 6% of a population are Black men with a certain level of education and a certain amount of household income, then a survey will strive to have 6% of its respondents match those characteristics.

    In quota sampling, participants may not be selected randomly but rather chosen as participants because they have specific demographic attributes. This method is less statistically rigorous and more prone to bias, though it may yield a representative sample with relative efficiency. By contrast, stratified sampling randomly selects participants within defined groups, reducing sampling error and providing more precise estimates of population characteristics.

    To help polling operations find potential respondents, political and marketing consulting firms have compiled voter information, including demographic data and contact details. At Emerson College Polling, we have access to a database of 273 million U.S. adults, with 123 million mobile numbers, 116 million email addresses and nearly 59 million landline numbers.

    A newer technique pollsters are using to reach respondents is something called river sampling, an online method in which individuals encounter a survey during their regular internet browsing and social media activity, often through an ad or pop-up. They complete a short screening questionnaire and are then invited to join a survey opt-in panel whose members will be asked to take future surveys.

    Databases compile large amounts of information about many U.S. voters.
    da-kuk/E+ via Getty Images

    Emerson College Polling methodology

    Our polling operation has used a range of approaches to reach the more than 162,000 people who have completed our polls so far this year in the United States.

    Unlike traditional pollsters, Emerson College Polling does not rely on live operator data collection outside of small-scale tests of new survey methods to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of different polling approaches.

    Instead, like most modern pollsters, we use a mix of approaches, including text-to-web surveys, interactive voice response on landlines, email outreach, and opt-in panels. This combination allows us to reach a broader, more representative audience, which is essential for accurate polling in today’s fragmented social and media landscape. This diverse population includes younger individuals who communicate through various platforms distinct from those used by older generations.

    When we contact the people in our stratified samples, we take into account differences between each communication method. For example, older people tend to answer landlines, while men and middle-aged people are more responsive to mobile text-to-web surveys. To reach underrepresented groups – such as adults ages 18 to 29 and Hispanic respondents – we use online databases that they have voluntarily signed up for, knowing they may be surveyed.

    We also use information about whom we sample and how to calculate the margin of error, which measures the precision of poll results. Larger sample sizes tend to be more representative of the overall population and therefore lead to a smaller margin of error.

    For instance, a poll of 400 respondents typically has a 4.9% margin of error, while increasing the sample size to 1,000 reduces it to 3%, offering more accurate insights.

    The goal, as ever, is to present to the public an accurate reflection of what the people as a whole think about candidates and issues.

    Spencer Kimball works for Emerson College Polling.

    Camille Mumford works for Emerson College Polling.

    Matt Taglia works for Emerson College Polling

    – ref. How pollsters have adapted to changing technology and voters who don’t answer the phone – https://theconversation.com/how-pollsters-have-adapted-to-changing-technology-and-voters-who-dont-answer-the-phone-240283

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Don’t panic reading ‘electoral process porn’: There are plenty of safeguards to make sure voters’ wishes are respected

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Justin Levitt, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School Los Angeles

    Electoral process porn can make people think their vote will be stolen, so what’s the point of voting? Illustration: wildpixel/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

    You’ve probably seen them: alarming columns or stories with alarming headlines about how somebody is going to exploit an obscure provision in election law to undo the 2024 presidential election and toss it to the House of Representatives. Your vote won’t count, and democracy will go to hell.

    Election law scholar Justin Levitt throws cold water on those scenarios, and in an interview with Naomi Schalit, The Conversation’s senior editor for politics and democracy, he says the voters will decide the election, “flat out.”

    What’s “electoral process porn?”

    It’s a writing genre identifying a tactic or loophole that’s supposedly going to fundamentally change the election process – what I called “The Key to the Whole Thing This Time” in a Slate piece earlier this year – usually, by taking away everyone’s voting rights and magically delivering the election to one candidate. It’s a lurid, titillating take that depends on the fact that election law and process can sometimes seem impenetrable.

    What distinguishes this type of think piece from other reporting on the election process is tone and emphasis, rather than information. Just like not every sex scene in the movies needs an NC-17 label, not every piece about how elections work is going to be electoral process porn.

    Perhaps the worst part about electoral process porn is that it leaves readers with an unjustified feeling of helplessness, even the thought that voting might be pointless, if it’s all subject to this supposed hidden gimmick. It is dystopian fiction masquerading as analysis, feeding on people’s anxieties that a basic process of self-government might be taken out of their own hands.

    A selection of headlines trumpeting the ways the 2024 presidential election could be subverted.
    Mother Jones, Politico, USA Today

    Can you give me a few examples? I want the person who reads this to understand concretely what you’re talking about.

    Sure. One example fits the mold of the artful con: the heist movie or spy thriller that depends on knowing the particular procedural lever to deliver results, the MacGuffin nobody else can anticipate, making the person who’s the center of the thriller the smartest person in the room. It’s the story about an Electoral College feature in which an obscure part of the law, say subparagraph (ii)(B) of paragraph (1)(c) about delivering a particular piece of paper, secretly holds the spell to make millions of votes disappear. It depends on a wildly implausible sequence of events and a whiff of magical legalism, with a basic misunderstanding of what legal rules are for.

    Another example is the armchair detective mystery, with the promise that if you squint just right, you can find the clues that finally solve the big crime. This type of piece often centers on alleged voter fraud, making a legitimate loss feel more palatable by suggesting it’s theft instead. The thing is, these are usually murder mysteries with no dead bodies. People motivated to play detective will often find suspicious patterns in conduct that’s entirely lawful.

    A third version is a horror story, with jump scares at scale: tales of voter suppression predicting that evildoers will steal the election by preventing millions of legitimate voters from casting ballots that count.

    But there are practices and rules that can be obstacles to voting.

    There sure are. I’m a civil rights lawyer, so it’s worth noting that some election rules do make the process harder than it needs to be. Sometimes intentionally. Rules disenfranchising people with convictions offer a particularly stark version of that very real problem. We’ve got an obligation to keep making the election process better.

    But these electoral process porn articles often portray the system as an endless nightmare of procedural hurdles. That’s not reality for most of the electorate.

    Democrats and others have criticized Trump and his followers in the GOP for destroying confidence in our elections. Yet much of this kind of what you label “porn” comes from Democrats and progressives. Doesn’t this also diminish people’s confidence in the election’s integrity?

    Yes. And it diminishes people’s confidence in the power of their vote. I think it would be somewhat less harmful if it were paired with a message of empowerment, like, “Here is what people are trying to do to take power. But it’s not going to work. And you can ensure your voice counts by registering and casting your ballot.”

    A person drops off a mail-in ballot on Oct. 15, 2024, in Doylestown, Pa.
    Hannah Beier/Getty Images

    I don’t mean to shake my finger at writers who are trying to present information in a way that draws readers in. But the tone of these columns, and the degree to which they empower or discourage, matters. These process-porn pieces are at their worst when the voters are peripheral, when the articles say, “This is being done to you, and there’s really nothing you can do about it other than get angry and give us money.”

    We’re getting pretty close to Election Day, which is the culmination of the vote. Are there legitimate problems that voters should be aware of?

    There will be some bumps, sure. Until humans figure out how not to make mistakes, there will be issues that crop up. It’s a good thing that for most Americans, voting is a period of time, rather than a single day. That gives opportunities to catch and address the problems.

    The U.S. election process is remarkably robust. Everyone saw that in 2020, the most scrutinized election in the nation’s history, during the middle of a pandemic. The system was stress-tested in ways beyond anyone’s wildest imagination, and it responded remarkably well.

    There’s always work to improve the voting system – the Constitution reminds Americans to work toward a “more perfect union.” But the fact that we can and should do better should not shake people’s confidence in the integrity of the election results overall.

    The Electoral College means that a few thousand voters in a few swing states are going to decide the winner. It’s going to be up to those voters, flat out – who decides to cast a ballot and who they decide to vote for – not a deus ex machina. The election process is designed to tell us who we chose, not to determine the answer without us.



    Read more:
    Why Pennsylvania is the key to a Harris or Trump Electoral College victory

    Of course, it has happened that a presidential election came down to 537 votes in a single state – remember Florida in 2000. When it’s that close, everything matters. A butterfly ballot flaps its wings in one part of the country and the answer changes nationwide.

    But 537 votes is an anomaly. The elections of 2016 and 2020 were very close in the states that determined the Electoral College results – but still nowhere near Florida-in-2000 close.

    And because of all the fail-safes built into the system, even very close is something the election process can handle. I’m very confident that the voters are going to decide this election, not the lawyers or the courts.

    Electoral process porn is adult fiction. In the real world, it turns out “The Key To The Whole Thing This Time” isn’t a process quirk. It’s us.

    Professor Levitt served as the country’s first White House Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights, from 2021-2022.

    – ref. Don’t panic reading ‘electoral process porn’: There are plenty of safeguards to make sure voters’ wishes are respected – https://theconversation.com/dont-panic-reading-electoral-process-porn-there-are-plenty-of-safeguards-to-make-sure-voters-wishes-are-respected-241403

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: On Ukraine, candidate Trump touts his role as dealmaker while Harris sticks with unwavering support

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lena Surzhko Harned, Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn State

    Continued support from the White House for Ukraine could hinge on the presidential election. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

    The U.S. presidential election isn’t drawing eyes only at home – Moscow and Kyiv are watching closely, too.

    Regardless of who wins in November, there will be significant implications for Ukraine as it continues to resist Russia in a war heading toward a fourth year.

    Washington’s continued support is seen by some as no less than an existential issue for Ukraine. Without U.S. arms and aid, it is unlikely that the nation would be able to continue repelling its larger, better-armed neighbor.

    During the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump had a chance to clarify their positions on Ukraine. Trump evaded ABC moderator David Muir’s question regarding the importance of Ukraine’s victory over Russia, twice. Instead, he repeated his long-standing line that he would achieve a negotiated peace quickly – even before taking office as president.

    At the same debate, Harris dismissed the idea of Trump negotiating with “a dictator who would eat you for lunch.” She instead emphasized the Biden policy to support Ukraine “as long as it takes” in concert with U.S. allies.

    But detail has been light on what either candidate would actually do to support Ukraine and end the war. So, what do we know about each candidate’s approach to Ukraine based on their records?

    Trump: A ‘very fair and rapid deal’?

    Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Trump has repeatedly stated that ending the war is in the U.S.’s best interests and that he can end the war quickly. In fact, Trump is certain that had he remained president after the 2020 election, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded – an unsubstantiated claim he repeated during the Sept. 10 presidential debate.

    Trump has often reiterated that both Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy respect him, and he would be able to use his “good relationship” with both to bring them to the negotiating table and end the war.

    Yet, Trump’s record on his relationships with Zelenskyy and Putin is rather complicated.

    Trump’s admiration for Putin is well documented and dates back to his first presidential run in 2016, sparking numerous investigations and reports of collusion. Most recently, Bob Woodward reported that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 tests to Putin in the midst of a pandemic shortage, a claim confirmed by the Kremlin.

    Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy is similarly laden with baggage. A 2019 phone call between the two men, during which Trump pressured Ukraine’s president to open a criminal investigation into Joe Biden, led to Trump’s impeachment. In exchange, Ukraine would have received continued U.S. support for the country’s defense against Russia, which had been waging a proxy war in eastern regions of Ukraine since 2014. During the subsequent hearings in Congress, one of Trump’s aids testified that “Trump did not give a sh*t about Ukraine” and was only interested in his own political gains.

    Standing next to Zelenskyy during a meeting at the Trump Tower on Sept. 27, 2024 – their first meeting since Sept. 25, 2019 – Trump said he was sure that both Zelenskyy and Putin are interested in peace and that a “very fair” and “rapid” deal is possible.

    When asked what that deal might entail, Trump responded that it’s “too early” to discuss details and that both he and Zelenskyy have “their own ideas.”

    While the Republican candidate has not been explicit on the details of negotiations or possible conditions, some of his proxies have voiced proposals. Trump’s vice presidential pick, JD Vance, has laid out a plan that includes potential land concessions on the part of Ukraine and the creation of a demilitarized zone along the battle lines of the Russian-occupied territory of eastern Ukraine.

    Meanwhile, Trump’s son Donald Jr. co-authored a piece with former presidential candidate turned Trump ally Robert F Kennedy Jr., arguing that a concession to Russian demands for “Ukrainian neutrality and a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion” were reasonable to avoid a nuclear game of chicken. Although these have not been echoed in Trump’s own statements on Ukraine, both men have the ear of the Republican candidate.

    These plans have been criticized as closely resembling those of the Kremlin. Prior to meeting with Trump in New York, Zelenskyy had also criticized Vance’s plan and expressed doubts that Trump and his team really know how to end the war.

    Harris: ‘Strategic interest, not charity’

    Harris has been harshly critical of Trump’s approach to Ukraine. “They are not proposals for peace,” Harris said in response to suggestions that Ukraine cede territory for peace. “Instead they are proposals for surrender,” she added.

    Such views are in line with Harris’ record. As part of the Biden administration, Harris has given vocal support to Ukraine’s fight for political sovereignty and territorial integrity.

    At the onset of the full-scale invasion in early 2022, Harris traveled to Europe to help shore up a coalition of European allies to support Ukraine.

    As vice president, Harris has repeatedly condemned Russian war crimes in Ukraine. In February 2023, while attending the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, she announced that the U.S. has determined that Russian actions in Ukraine amounted to “crimes against humanity,” affirming U.S. commitment to the international rule of law.

    Along with continued support, the U.S. has provided substantial aid for Ukraine, totaling US$61.3 billion in military aid since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

    The Biden administration also has said that rising costs and keeping pressure on Russia through sanctions are important mechanisms to keep Moscow accountable. Harris reiterated this need to maintain sanctions and broad coalition support for Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference in February 2024 and again in June at the peace summit organized by Ukraine in Switzerland.

    As a presidential candidate, Harris has openly signaled her commitment to supporting Kyiv – not only for Ukraine survival but for the collective security of NATO allies and the U.S. itself. Harris emphasized this point in the September debate, suggesting that Ukraine was not Putin’s final stop and that he has “his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland.”

    Standing next to Zelenskyy in Washington on Sept. 26, 2024, Harris reiterated the point: “The United States supports Ukraine not out of charity, but because it’s in our strategic interest.”

    Yet, White House policy on Ukraine has been criticized for being slow and hesitant in supplying weaponry. The U.S. has imposed rules on the use of heavy weaponry against targets inside Russia. Furthermore, the U.S. has so far been reticent on Ukraine’s invitation to join NATO, which is seen as crucial for any lasting peace in Kyiv. How Harris’ White House would differ from Biden’s on these issues is not clear.

    Beyond the candidates

    Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the U.S. Congress has passed five bills that provide aid to Ukraine, totaling US$175 billion.

    However, a six-month delay in aid in early 2024 highlighted growing partisan tension in Congress over continued aid to Ukraine.

    The composition of Congress after the November election is another unknown factor in Washington’s support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy met with congressional leaders during his visit to the U.S. in September, but notably absent was Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who in the past has shown reluctance to support continued funding.

    For the large part, support for Ukraine remains bipartisan in Congress and among American voters. Yet there is a risk the election could further politicize the issue. And the outcome of November’s vote could determine whether U.S. efforts going forward focus more on pushing for a negotiated deal or on-going support for Ukraine.

    Lena Surzhko Harned 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. On Ukraine, candidate Trump touts his role as dealmaker while Harris sticks with unwavering support – https://theconversation.com/on-ukraine-candidate-trump-touts-his-role-as-dealmaker-while-harris-sticks-with-unwavering-support-237534

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Women are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease − in part because doctors don’t take major sex and gender differences into account

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Amy Huebschmann, Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

    Rates of heart disease and cardiac events in women are often underestimated. eternalcreative/iStock via Getty Images

    A simple difference in the genetic code – two X chromosomes versus one X chromosome and one Y chromosome – can lead to major differences in heart disease. It turns out that these genetic differences influence more than just sex organs and sex assigned at birth – they fundamentally alter the way cardiovascular disease develops and presents.

    While sex influences the mechanisms behind how cardiovascular disease develops, gender plays a role in how health care providers recognize and manage it. Sex refers to biological characteristics such as genetics, hormones, anatomy and physiology, while gender refers to social, psychological and cultural constructs. Women are more likely to die after a first heart attack or stroke than men. Women are also more likely to have additional or different heart attack symptoms that go beyond chest pain, such as nausea, jaw pain, dizziness and fatigue. It is often difficult to fully disentangle the influences of sex on cardiovascular disease outcomes versus the influences of gender.

    While women who haven’t entered menopause have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than men, their cardiovascular risk accelerates dramatically after menopause. In addition, if a woman has Type 2 diabetes, her risk of heart attack accelerates to be equivalent to that of men, even if the woman with diabetes has not yet gone through menopause. Further data is needed to better understand differences in cardiovascular disease risk among nonbinary and transgender patients.

    Despite these differences, one key thing is the same: Heart attack, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular disease are the leading cause of death for all people, regardless of sex or gender.

    We are researchers who study women’s health and the way cardiovascular disease develops and presents differently in women and men. Our work has identified a crucial need to update medical guidelines with more sex-specific approaches to diagnosis and treatment in order to improve health outcomes for all.

    Gender differences in heart disease

    The reasons behind sex and gender differences in cardiovascular disease are not completely known. Nor are the distinct biological effects of sex, such as hormonal and genetic factors, versus gender, such as social, cultural and psychological factors, clearly differentiated.

    What researchers do know is that the accumulated evidence of what good heart care should look like for women compared with men has as many holes in it as Swiss cheese. Medical evidence for treating cardiovascular disease often comes from trials that excluded women, since women for the most part weren’t included in scientific research until the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993. For example, current guidelines to treat cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure are based primarily on data from men. This is despite evidence that differences in the way that cardiovascular disease develops leads women to experience cardiovascular disease differently.

    Gender biases in health care influence the kind of tests and attention that women receive.
    FG Trade Latin/E+ via Getty Images

    In addition to sex differences, implicit gender biases among providers and gendered social norms among patients lead clinicians to underestimate the risk of cardiac events in women compared with men. These biases play a role in why women are more likely than men to die from cardiac events. For example, for patients with symptoms that are borderline for cardiovascular disease, clinicians tend to be more aggressive in ordering artery imaging for men than for women. One study linked this tendency to order less aggressive tests for women partly to a gender bias that men are more open than women to taking risks.

    In a study of about 3,000 patients with a recent heart attack, women were less likely than men to think that their heart attack symptoms were due to a heart condition. Additionally, most women do not know that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death among women. Overall, women’s misperceptions of their own risk may hold them back from getting a doctor to check out possible symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.

    These issues are further exacerbated for women of color. Lack of access to health care and additional challenges drive health disparities among underrepresented racial and ethnic minority populations.

    Sex difference in heart disease

    Cardiovascular disease physically looks different for women and men, specifically in the plaque buildup on artery walls that contributes to illness.

    Women have fewer cholesterol crystals and fewer calcium deposits in their artery plaque than men do. Physiological differences in the smallest blood vessels feeding the heart also play a role in cardiovascular outcomes.

    Women are more likely than men to have cardiovascular disease that presents as multiple narrowed arteries that are not fully “clogged,” resulting in chest pain because blood flow can’t ratchet up enough to meet higher oxygen demands with exercise, much like a low-flow showerhead. When chest pain presents in this way, doctors call this condition ischemia and no obstructive coronary arteries. In comparison, men are more likely to have a “clogged” artery in a concentrated area that can be opened up with a stent or with cardiac bypass surgery. Options for multiple narrowed arteries have lagged behind treatment options for typical “clogged” arteries, which puts women at a disadvantage.

    In addition, in the early stages of a heart attack, the levels of blood markers that indicate damage to the heart are lower in women than in men. This can lead to more missed diagnoses of coronary artery disease in women compared with men.

    The reasons for these differences are not fully clear. Some potential factors include differences in artery plaque composition that make men’s plaque more likely to rupture or burst and women’s plaque more likely to erode. Women also have lower heart mass and smaller arteries than men even after taking body size into consideration.

    Reducing sex disparities

    Too often, women with symptoms of cardiovascular disease are sent away from doctor’s offices because of gender biases that “women don’t get heart disease.”

    Considering how symptoms of cardiovascular disease vary by sex and gender could help doctors better care for all patients.

    One way that the rubber is meeting the road is with regard to better approaches to diagnosing heart attacks for women and men. Specifically, when diagnosing heart attacks, using sex-specific cutoffs for blood tests that measure heart damage – called high-sensitivity troponin tests – can improve their accuracy, decreasing missed diagnoses, or false negatives, in women while also decreasing overdiagnoses, or false positives, in men.

    Our research laboratory’s leaders,collaborators and other internationally recognized research colleagues – some of whom partner with our Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus – will continue this important work to close this gap between the sexes in health care. Research in this field is critical to shine a light on ways clinicians can better address sex-specific symptoms and to bring forward more tailored treatments.

    The Biden administration’s recent executive order to advance women’s health research is paving the way for research to go beyond just understanding what causes sex differences in cardiovascular disease. Developing and testing right-sized approaches to care for each patient can help achieve better health for all.

    Amy Huebschmann receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart Lung Blood Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the United States Health Resources and Services Administration and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government.

    Judith Regensteiner receives funding from the National Institutes of Health focused on sex differences in the cardiovascular consequences of type 2 diabetes. She also has a mentoring grant from the NIH.

    – ref. Women are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease − in part because doctors don’t take major sex and gender differences into account – https://theconversation.com/women-are-at-a-higher-risk-of-dying-from-heart-disease-in-part-because-doctors-dont-take-major-sex-and-gender-differences-into-account-233861

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Farah Nibbs, Assistant Professor of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    Hillside streets can quickly become muddy rivers during hurricane rains in the islands. Estailove St-Val/AFP via Getty Images

    Long before colonialism brought slavery to the Caribbean, the native islanders saw hurricanes and storms as part of the normal cycle of life.

    The Taino of the Greater Antilles and the Kalinago, or Caribs, of the Lesser Antilles developed systems that enabled them to live with storms and limit their exposure to damage.

    On the larger islands, such as Jamaica and Cuba, the Taino practiced crop selection with storms in mind, preferring to plant root crops such as cassava or yucca with high resistance to damage from hurricane and storm winds, as Stuart Schwartz describes in his 2016 book “Sea of Storms.”

    The Kalinago avoided building their settlements along the coast to limit storm surges and wind damage. The Calusa of southwest Florida used trees as windbreaks against storm winds.

    In fact, it was the Kalinago and Taino who first taught the Europeans – primarily the British, Dutch, French and Spanish – about hurricanes and storms. Even the word ‘hurricane’ comes from Huracán, a Taino and Mayan word denoting the god of wind.

    But then colonialism changed everything.

    A French advertising card from around 1900 depicts colonial power in Guadeloupe, with a trader sitting comfortably among sacks of cotton, cocoa and coffee while islanders work in the field.
    Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    I study natural disasters in the Caribbean, including how history molded responses to disasters today.

    The current disaster crisis that the Caribbean’s small islands are experiencing as hurricanes intensify did not start a few decades ago. Rather, the islands’ vulnerability is a direct result of the exploitative systems forced upon the region by colonialism, its legacies of slave-based land policies and ill-suited construction and development practices, and its environmental injustices.

    Forcing people into harm’s way

    The colonial powers changed how Caribbean people interacted with the land, where they lived and how they recovered from natural hazard events.

    Rather than growing crops that could sustain the local food supply, the Europeans who began arriving in the 1600s focused on exploitative extractive economic models and export cash crops through the plantation economy.

    They forced Indigenous people off their lands and built settlements along the coast, which made it easier to import enslaved peoples and goods and to export cash crops such as sugar and tobacco to Europe – and also left communities vulnerable to storms. They also developed settlements in low-lying areas, often near rivers and streams, which could provide transportation for agricultural produce but which became flood risks during heavy rains.

    Homes built to the water’s edge in Saint-Martin, an overseas collectivity of France, were devastated when Hurricane Irma hit in 2017.
    Helene Valenzuela/AFP via Getty Images

    Today, more than 70% of the Caribbean’s population lives along the coast, often less than a mile from the shore. These coastlines are not only highly exposed to hurricanes but also to sea-level rise fueled by climate change.

    Legacies of slave-based land policies

    Colonialism’s legacy of land policies has also made recovery from disasters much harder today.

    When colonial powers took over, a few landowners were given control of most of the land, while the majority of the population was forced onto marginal and small areas. The local population had no legal right to the land, as the people did not possess land certificate titles or deeds and were often forced to pay rent to landlords.

    After independence, most island governments tried to acquire land from former plantations or estates and to redistribute it to the working class. But these efforts, mainly in the 1960s and ’70s, largely failed to transform land ownership, improve economic development or reduce vulnerability.

    One colonial legacy perpetuating vulnerability to this day is known as crown land, or state land. In the English-speaking Caribbean, all land for which there was no land grant was considered property of the British crown. Crown land can be found in every English-speaking island to this day.

    How colonial powers controlled the Caribbean over time.

    For example, in Barbuda, all land is vested in the “crown in perpetuity” on behalf of Barbudans. This means that an individual born on the island of Barbuda cannot individually own land.

    Instead, land is communally owned, which limits access to the credit and development opportunities that were sorely needed to reconstruct the island after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Most Barbudans were unable to insure their homes because they had no title deeds to their property.

    This and other collective land tenure systems created by colonialism places Caribbean residents at greater risk from a variety of natural hazards and limits their ability to seek financial credit for disaster recovery today.

    The roots of poor construction

    Vulnerability to disasters in the Caribbean also has roots in post-slavery housing construction and subsequent failures to institute proper building codes.

    After emancipation from slavery, freed people had no right nor access to land. To build houses, they were forced to lease land from the former enslavers who at a whim could terminate their employment or kick them off the land.

    This led to the development of a particular type of housing structure known as chattel houses in countries such as Barbados. These houses are tiny and were constructed in a way in which they could be easily taken apart and loaded onto carts, should the residents be forced out by their former enslavers. Many Bajans still live in these houses today, although quite a few have been converted to restaurants or shops.

    Chattel houses are still used as homes in Barbados.
    Shardalow via Wikimedia, CC BY

    In Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, owned by the Dutch, slave huts were built along the coast, on land not suitable for agriculture and easily damaged by storms. These former slave huts are now tourist attractions, but the colonial patterns of settling along the coast has left many coastal communities exposed to hurricane damage and rising seas.

    The vulnerability of such houses is not only a result of their exposure to natural hazards but also the underlying social structures.

    Slave huts were built on the coast in Bonaire, where they were vulnerable to storm surge.
    Leslie Ket via Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    In many islands today, poorer residents can’t afford protective measures, such as installing storm shutters or purchasing solar-powered generators.

    They often live in marginal and disaster-prone areas, such as steep hillsides, where housing tends to be cheaper. Houses in these areas are also often poorly constructed with low-grade materials, such as galvanized sheeting for roofs and walls.

    This situation is made worse by the informal and unregulated nature of residential housing construction in the region and the poor enforcement of building codes.

    Due to the legacy of colonialism, most housing or building standards or codes in the Commonwealth Caribbean are relics from the United Kingdom and in the French Antilles from France. Building standards across the region lack uniformity and are generally subjective and uncontrolled. Financial limitations and staffing constraints mean that codes and standards more often than not remain unenforced.

    Progress, but still a lot of work to do

    The Caribbean has made progress in developing wind-related building codes to try to increase resilience in recent years. And while damage from torrential rain is still not properly addressed in most Caribbean building standards, scientific guidance is available through the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology in Barbados.

    Individual islands, including Dominica and Saint Lucia, have new minimum building standards for recovery after disasters. The island of Grenada is hoping to guide new construction as it recovers from Hurricane Beryl. Trinidad and Tobago has developed a national land use strategy but has struggled to use it.

    Construction standards can help the islands build resilience. But work remains to be done to overcome the legacy of colonial-era land policies and development that have left island towns vulnerable to increasing storm risks.

    Farah Nibbs 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. Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes – https://theconversation.com/colonialisms-legacy-has-left-caribbean-nations-much-more-vulnerable-to-hurricanes-231913

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The whip-poor-will has been an omen of death for centuries − what happened to this iconic bird of American horror?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jared Del Rosso, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Denver

    An illustration, drawn and engraved, of an eastern whip-poor-will, by Richard Polydore Nodder. Florilegius/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    In one of the most haunting scenes of Stephen King’s 1975 novel “Salem’s Lot,” a gravedigger named Mike Ryerson races to bury the coffin of a local boy named Danny Glick. As night approaches, a troubling thought overtakes Mike: Danny has been buried with his eyes open. Worse, Mike senses that Danny is looking through the closed coffin back at him.

    A mania overcomes Mike. Prayers run through his head – “the ways things like that will for no good reason.” Then more disturbing thoughts intrude: “Now I bring you spoiled meat and reeking flesh.” Mike leaps into the hole he’s dug and furiously shovels soil off the coffin. The reader knows what he’s going to do, but ought not to do, next: Mike will open the coffin, freeing whatever Danny has become.

    Enter the whip-poor-wills. Several of them, King writes, “had begun to lift their shrilling call,” the demand for violence that gives the species its name: whip-poor-will.

    This isn’t the first time whip-poor-wills appear in “Salem’s Lot,” nor is it the last time King would invoke them in his work. But despite the importance of the species to King, whip-poor-wills never appear in film and television adaptations of “Salem’s Lot.”

    Released on Oct. 3, 2024, the most recent adaptation of “Salem’s Lot” incorporates birdsong but makes little use of them. Here and there, an American crow or blue jay calls. Sparrowlike chirps pepper scenes at night. And as Mike unburies the undead Danny, the less threatening call of a barred owl replaces that of whip-poor-wills.

    The whip-poor-will got its name from the male’s three-note call that sounds like it’s wailing, ‘Whip poor will.’

    As a cultural sociologist writing a book about eastern whip-poor-wills, I’m interested in this omission not because it reflects an unfaithful recreation of King’s novel. Rather, I see the erasure of whip-poor-wills from “Salem’s Lot” as a symptom of broader ecological changes, one in which species loss is also tied to cultural loss.

    The horror of the night

    As least as early as Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the call of whip-poor-wills, a member of the nocturnal nightjar family, haunted American fiction.

    Perhaps the best known whip-poor-wills in American horror appear in H.P. Lovecraft’s novella “The Dunwich Horror.” Lovecraft references the species nearly two dozen times in his story, with the birds often appearing around the deaths of the Whateley family, who live in the fictional town of Dunwich, Massachusetts.

    By behaving in ways that real whip-poor-wills never do, Dunwich’s nightjars symbolize the horrors the Whateleys unleash on the townspeople. The birds also act as psychopomps: beings who guide the souls of the newly deceased to the afterlife.

    Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft.
    Wikimedia Commons

    Dunwich’s whip-poor-wills remain in the town until Halloween – “unnaturally belated,” Lovecraft writes – as they chant in unison with the dying breaths of Whateleys. (Indeed, most whip-poor-wills leave the Northeast by the end of September, and they usually don’t coordinate their singing.) But though whip-poor-wills are essential to the plot of “The Dunwich Horror,” another common owl, this one a great horned owl, replaces whip-poor-wills in the 1970 film adaptation of Lovecraft’s story.

    King, too, uses whip-poor-wills to great effect. In “Jerusalem’s Lot,” the short story King later published as a prelude to “Salem’s Lot,” whip-poor-wills haunt the Maine town. And in his 1989 novel “The Dark Half,” King references the lore of whip-poor-wills as psychopomps.

    Lovecraft’s and King’s fictional whip-poor-wills draw on widespread Indigenous, European and American beliefs about the species. A whip-poor-will singing near one’s home was an especially ominous sign, usually meaning that death would soon take someone in the house. An 1892 article in the American Journal of Folklore documents this belief in King’s home state, Maine. It also offers a story, probably apocryphal, as evidence: “A whippoorwill sang at a back door repeatedly; finally, the woman’s son was brought home dead, and the corpse brought into the house through the back door.”

    Birds and belief disappear

    For the better part of the 19th and early 20th centuries, whip-poor-will lore circulated among people who encountered the bird. Outside of the world of folklore studies, you can find passing mention of ill omens in the nature writing of Henry David Thoreau and Susan Fenimore Cooper, though neither gave credence to these superstitions. Into the 20th century, local newspapers continued to share lore about the birds with their readers.

    But as erasure of the species from horror suggest, broader cultural familiarity with whip-poor-wills has atrophied. In one exception, “Chapelwaite,” a 2021 television series based on King’s “Jerusalem’s Lot,” the characters explicitly discuss the birds’ behaviors, so that viewers understand the reference.

    The cultural erasure of whip-poor-wills mirrors the species’ actual decline. Conservationists estimate that eastern whip-poor-will populations have declined by about 70% since the 1970s. This decline is likely leading to what the naturalist Robert Michael Pyle calls the “extinction of experience.” Pyle reasons that when a species declines, people lose opportunities to encounter it in local landscapes and are less likely to be familiar with it in the first place.

    Such declines also drive social and cultural losses. This is most stark when a species goes extinct. Consider the passenger pigeon. As the writer Jennifer Price shows in her book “Flight Maps,” the life of Americans was once entwined with the species. When massive flocks of passenger pigeons arrived, communities gathered to hunt the birds, which were once an integral part of the American diet. Now, however, the species is remembered almost exclusively as a symbol of human-induced extinction.

    A passenger pigeon pictured in the early 20th century, shortly before the species went extinct.
    Bettmann/Getty Images

    Similarly, the decline of common birds alters people’s relationships to the environment. For instance, in the U.K., the decline of house sparrows robs landscapes of the beloved sight and sound of a once ubiquitous species. The loss of common cuckoos, meanwhile, means that spring arrives in the U.K. without its iconic song.

    Beyond cultures of loss

    I think we are witnessing similar cultural changes with whip-poor-wills. Their absence in the adaptations of King’s work mirrors their absence both in the landscape and in people’s lives. But though loss and grief rightfully characterize many people’s relationship with whip-poor-wills and other declining species, I want to make a case for hope.

    On one hand, there’s reason to be hopeful about the possibility of conservation: Whip-poor-wills appear to respond well to forest management practices that create diverse forests with a mix of younger and older trees. Many places where whip-poor-wills breed have active conservation plans to support the bird and other species that share their habitats.

    Nor are whip-poor-wills culturally extinct.

    After all, readers still find their way to the works of Lovecraft and King. These and other enduring references to the species offer people an opportunity to find their way back to the bird – and to what the species meant to all those who have cared for them.

    Jared Del Rosso 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. The whip-poor-will has been an omen of death for centuries − what happened to this iconic bird of American horror? – https://theconversation.com/the-whip-poor-will-has-been-an-omen-of-death-for-centuries-what-happened-to-this-iconic-bird-of-american-horror-240873

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Basel III implementation – update and a roadmap for liquidity standards

    Source: Isle of Man

    Background

    Basel III is an internationally agreed set of measures and standards developed and issued by the international standard setting body, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee).  It expanded upon and replaced Basel II.  The various Basel III reforms were brought together into one consolidated set of standards, collectively referred to as the Basel Framework. 

    Implementation of the components of the Basel Framework continues to progress internationally, and the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority is committed to meeting international standards where it is appropriate and proportionate to do so. 

    We have to take into account that many of our banks are part of large international banking groups that are subject to consolidated supervision in countries that have, or are moving towards, Basel III implementation.  At the same time, implementation of reforms in the Island needs to be suitable and effective for the profile of the sector.

    We have updated our Basel III webpage to help explain our approach to implementation and to set out the core components of the Basel Framework.

    Updating the liquidity framework

    We have already implemented several elements of the Basel III reforms, including a framework for domestic systemically important banks, requirements for better quality and levels of capital, and reporting of the leverage ratio (a non-risk-based capital ratio). 

    Although further reforms to capital adequacy will need to be considered, implementing the Basel III liquidity reforms is a key priority for the Authority to help maintain an effective regulatory and supervisory framework and to continue to provide adequate protection for consumers.

    We have therefore set out today a roadmap for the implementation of the Basel III liquidity standards in the Isle of Man and look forward to working with the sector to bring these changes into operation.

    Enquiries

     

    Prudential Supervision Division:

    Andrew Kermode

    Head of Division

    T: +44 (0)1624 689320

    E: andrew.kermode@iomfsa.im

    Marc Barlow

    Senior Manager – Banking

    T: +44 (0)1624 689369

    E: marc.barlow@iomfsa.im

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Solve for Tomorrow OpEd: The Greatest Untapped Resource in STEM Are Hispanic Students

    Source: Samsung

    As Hispanic Heritage Month segues into Global Diversity Awareness Month, Instructional Technology Specialist for New Mexico’s Gadsden Independent School District Saul Nunez, who guided his Santa Teresa High School student team to a National Finalist honor in the 2022-2023 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, focused attention on underappreciated opportunities that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers offer for Hispanic students in the U.S.
    Saul Nunez, Instructional Tech Specialist for New Mexicos Gadsden Independent School District, a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow alum.
    His Opinion piece, ”Let’s expand our kids’ vision of what’s possible,” in The El Paso Times highlighted that:
    “Hispanic youth represent an underutilized resource for a society that needs a vibrant STEM workforce. Between 2023 and 2033, STEM jobs are projected to grow by 10.4%, far above the 3.6% growth in non-STEM jobs. The Hispanic community is among the fastest-growing U.S. populations; with both youth and entrepreneurial spirit on our side. The more we can encourage Hispanic students’ participation in STEM, the better off all America will be.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Medical school task group meets

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau and Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin today co-chaired the first meeting of the Task Group on New Medical School to discuss strategic directions and major parameters for the establishment of a third medical school in Hong Kong.

    The task group concluded that the third medical school should adopt an innovative strategic positioning in pursuit of complementary development with the two existing medical schools.

    It recommended that the curriculum design of the new medical school should be accorded top priority and that the medical curriculum should meet the requirements stipulated by the Medical Council of Hong Kong.

    The task force also required that arrangements should also be made for medical students to undergo adequate clinical training to ensure they are well equipped with both professional knowledge and clinical skills to safeguard the interest of patients.

    Additionally, the new medical school should set out a forward-looking and long-term development plan for its campus and teaching facilities, as well as an interim arrangement for a campus and a teaching hospital if admission of students is essential before the long-term facilities are available, alongside strategies to ensure financial soundness.

    Prof Lo said the establishment of a third medical school is a significant project in the development of medical education in Hong Kong.

    “Not only will it attract global talent and nurture more outstanding doctors to reinforce the city’s healthcare system in the sustainable provision of healthcare services with enhanced quality and quantity, but also serves to promote high-quality development in medical education and research, dovetailing with the city’s development as an international hub for medical training, research and innovation.”

    Noting that the establishment of a new medical school will elevate Hong Kong’s position as an international education hub, Ms Choi supplemented that the scope of local medical teaching and research will be expanded through an innovative curriculum design and diversified student recruitment arrangements, complementing the goals of nurturing future talent and promoting the “Study in Hong Kong” brand.

    Land will also reserved in the Northern Metropolis Ngau Tam Mei for the new medical school campus and the associated integrated medical teaching and research hospital.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Investments in Warfighter Sustainment: Arrival of USS Oscar Austin

    Source: United States Navy

    The Oscar Austin departed Norfolk, Va., September 30, after being homeported there since its commissioning Aug. 19, 2000, and is now assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 60 / Commander, Task Force (CTF) 65 and U.S. 6th Fleet, now the fifth DDG in Rota with a sixth to follow.

    Oscar Austin is ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare capable.

    NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Sigonella (FLCSI) Site Rota has been preparing for the arrival for years to ensure the crew and their families, approximately 500 people, can be properly supported with mailing and household goods services.

    “NAVSUP FLCSI plays a huge role in behind-the-scenes logistics,” said Commander Travis Miller, NAVSUP FLCSI Site Rota director. “We strive and take strategic action to meet the operational needs of the forward-deployed ships, and in parallel, support the needs of the crew and their families.”

    FLCSI is responsible for all material processing, shipping, receiving and woodworking since the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) turned over their largest warehouse and its responsibilities to NAVSUP in 2020. While everything, including the storage containers for fuels, was built before the arrival of the first DDG to Site Rota in 2014, FLCSI has been investing to improve the support of all operational forces operating out of this base.

    “Moving a ship to a new homeport is a very big deal,” said Andrew Benson, the FLCSI executive director, who attended the ceremony. “The new sailors and their families have property that needs to be shipped overseas. They have letter mail and Amazon packages coming into our post offices. We have to figure out how to store more fuel and more parts for the ships. This is what we do at FLCSI; we sustain the warfighter. This isn’t something that just happens, we’ve been planning for this for a long time to ensure we are ready to support.”

    Prior to Oscar Austin’s arrival, the mail center in NAVSTA Rota was at 98 percent capacity for boxes on site. With the arrival of USS Oscar Austin, the estimated growth was 250 new mailboxes. To prepare, NAVSUP FLCSI Site Rota added 360 new mailboxes with plans for a fleet mail center expansion to improve functionally and storage on site.

    NAVSUP FLCSI, in conjunction with NAVSUP headquarters, identified a need for more manpower resulting in a proposed increase of 24 additional personnel being added to NAVSUP FLCSI Site Rota to support this growth in mission.

    “We’ve had considerable growth in all products and services supporting all customers across the Iberian Peninsula,” Miller said. “The Oscar Austin is the acute eyes on target that is arriving, but the base footprint itself has grown considerably.”

    Over the last two years, NAVSUP FLCSI Site Rota has seen an increase of 500 household goods shipping transactions to support new sailors and their families. This number doesn’t include the other increases in manning around the base as new units move in to support the ships.

    The arrival of the Oscar Austin and the other DDGs doesn’t impact just Rota; it makes an impact on FLCSI sites around the region as the ships move through their areas of responsibility.

    “As these additional ships operate throughout our critical area of responsibility, we are likely to be supporting them from every site across the FLCSI enterprise,” Benson said. “Our wonderful team of logistics professionals is standing by to support the Oscar Austin and all the other DDGs that now call Rota their home as the move throughout the region.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Lauren Boebert Condemns Western Land Grab from Biden-Harris Administration

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Lauren Boebert (Colorado, 3)

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03), House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04), and Western Slope Oil & Gas Association Executive Director Chelsie Miera released the following statements opposing the latest Colorado-Utah land grab by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

    “Once again, the Biden-Harris Administration and the radical progressives in charge of BLM are attempting to lock up our public lands from critical uses like oil & gas exploration. Instead of putting Coloradans first, they’re continuing to bend the knee to Green New Deal worshippers who want to destroy Colorado’s oil & gas industry and the tens of thousands of good-paying jobs that support families across the state. Our children will lose out on millions of dollars for education from this tyrannical seizure of our land and there is nothing balanced about it. Obama, Biden and Harris have tried to use the Gunnison Sage-Grouse’s ugly, non-endangered cousin, the Greater Sage-Grouse, to lock up more than 183 million acres in the West. This new land grab attempt doubles down to lock up tens of millions of acres more of surface and subsurface mineral rights. There was no consideration by this regime of what is actually best for all Coloradans. I will fight this newest land grab just like I’ve done for every ridiculous attempt from the Biden-Harris Administration and BLM to damage our economy.” said Congresswoman Boebert.

    “This is just the latest attempt from BLM to prioritize environmental activists over the economic needs of local communities,” said House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04). “By limiting the ability of domestic energy producers to use our public lands, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to drive up energy costs for hard working American families. House Republicans will work to stop this nonsensical war on American energy and will make sure Americans know that we cannot trust this Administration when it comes to supporting American jobs and reducing energy costs.”

    “In a state with the most stringent regulations on oil and gas development for our private, state, and federal lands, it is frustrating for our oil & gas employees to watch the Biden-Harris Administration continue to make production of our clean, reliable and affordable natural gas nearly impossible in Colorado,” said Chelsie Miera, Executive Director of Western Slope Oil & Gas Association. “We are grateful to Congresswoman Boebert for her continued advocacy in support of the thousands of families who work in our oil & gas industry and Coloradans who depend on our energy production.” 

    Background:

    This week, the Biden-Harris Administration unleashed another massive land grab in Colorado and Utah when the agency released Records of Decision for the Big Game Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment, the Gunnison Sage-Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment, and plans for the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley Field Offices.

    Establishing a one-mile buffer completely around this Gunnison Sage-Grouse’s habitat and drastically reducing surface disturbances in the bird’s habitat is ridiculous and unnecessary.

    The BLM’s record of decision for oil and gas management that amends resource management plans in Colorado significantly changes the management plans and could hinder responsible energy production on six million surface acres managed by BLM and 16 million acres of BLM-managed sub-surface mineral estate and closes off low and medium potential oil and gas areas.

    In this land grab, BLM also amended 11 Resource Management Plans in Colorado and Utah to lock up land for Gunnison sage-grouse habitat on more than two million acres of BLM-managed public land and nearly three million acres of public subsurface mineral estate.

    Changes to the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction Field Office RMPs also close off low and medium potential oil and gas areas. These bureaucratic seizures also designate new wilderness areas that contribute to catastrophic wildfires as they prevent active forest management and mechanical thinning.

    ###

    For updates, subscribe to Congresswoman Boebert’s newsletter here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Ask an ASAC: Resident Agencies

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (video statements)

    Watch Seattle Assistant Special Agent in Charge discuss our nine satellite offices for FBI Seattle, called resident agencies. One of the benefits of working in a resident agency is that these agents are exposed to many types of investigations. For a full transcript and download, visit:

    —————————————————
    Follow us on social media:
    X: https://twitter.com/fbi
    Facebook: https://facebook.com/FBI
    Instagram: https://instagram.com/fbi
    YouTube: youtube.com/user/fbi

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDdZ6WUYAyw

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: A new Copilot tool will give Institut Curie researchers more time to focus on cancer

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: A new Copilot tool will give Institut Curie researchers more time to focus on cancer

    In a similar vein, researchers regularly are asked to evaluate others’ work, or to help decide whether a research project should be financed. One part of those tasks involves searching databases to ensure that the idea is original. Or perhaps the topic isn’t directly within the researcher’s expertise and they need to read up about it. That now involves time-consuming keyword searches, which could be done much more quickly with Copilot for Researcher, which will be able to provide, say, a one-page summary.

    “You can always keep control. You can always go back to the paper. You can always troubleshoot things, but you have a first level of analysis, which is not hard, but very time consuming,” Hersen said.

    In addition to being researchers, they are writers, editors, evaluators, recruiters, managers, project managers, accountants …. Many also teach.

    “The more they publish well, the more they are recognized in their domain, the more they are experts, the more things are demanded of them, often without being paid extra,” said Tatiana Malherbe, deputy director of the Institut Curie’s research center.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Lenfest Institute, OpenAI and Microsoft announce $10M AI Collaborative and Fellowship program for US metro news organizations

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Lenfest Institute, OpenAI and Microsoft announce $10M AI Collaborative and Fellowship program for US metro news organizations

    Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday (Long Island, New York), The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times will receive grant funding and enterprise credits for experimentation with generative AI

    PHILADELPHIA — Oct. 22, 2024 — The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a leader in developing solutions for the next era of local news, on Tuesday announced a major new collaboration with OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. to help newsrooms explore and implement ways in which artificial intelligence can help drive business sustainability and innovation in local journalism through the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program.

    In the initial round of funding, Chicago Public Media, Newsday (Long Island, NY), The Minnesota Star Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times will each receive a grant to hire a two-year AI fellow to pursue projects that focus largely on improving business sustainability and implementing AI technologies within their organizations. The fellowship will also provide OpenAI and Microsoft Azure credits to help these publications experiment and develop tools to assist with local news. As part of the program, the news organizations will work collaboratively with each other and the broader news industry to share learnings, product developments, case studies and technical information needed to help replicate their work in other newsrooms. An additional three organizations will be awarded fellows in a second round of grants.

    “We are pleased to be working with both OpenAI and Microsoft on this important initiative to support local news,” said Jim Friedlich, executive director and CEO of The Lenfest Institute. “Through these fellowships — and by sharing results with the broader news industry — we will help empower local newsrooms to explore, implement and advocate for AI business solutions that uphold the highest ethical standards while strengthening their future prospects. The Lenfest Institute and OpenAI incubated the fellowship program, which is designed to promote the use of AI in creating a sustainable future for independent local journalism, and we welcome its expansion in scope and resources with Microsoft’s commitment.”

    The first slate of AI Collaborative and Fellows members will work on projects that focus on the use of AI for analysis of public data, to better utilize news and visual archives, to build audience engagement, for creating new AI-based news tools and products, and more. The projects were chosen through an application process led by The Lenfest Institute with assistance from FT Strategies, a global media consultant, and Nota, a provider of AI tools for journalism.

    “While nothing will replace the central role of reporters, we believe that AI technology can help in the research, investigation, distribution and monetization of important journalism. We’re deeply invested in supporting smaller, independent publishers through initiatives like The Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship, ensuring they have access to the same cutting-edge tools and opportunities as larger organizations,” said Tom Rubin, chief of Intellectual Property and Content, OpenAI. “Local news is a particularly vulnerable area of journalism, and we believe AI can help it thrive.”

    The selected projects are:

    • Chicago Public Media, which publishes The Chicago Sun-Times and runs public radio station WBEZ, will focus on leveraging AI for transcription, summarization and translation to expand content offerings and reach new audiences.
    • The Minnesota Star Tribune will experiment with AI summarization, analysis and content discovery for both its journalists and readers.
    • Newsday will build AI public data summarization and aggregation tools for its newsroom, for readers and for businesses as a marketing services offering.
    • The Philadelphia Inquirer will use AI platforms to build a conversational search interface for its archives. It will also leverage AI to monitor and analyze media produced by local municipalities and agencies.
    • The Seattle Times will use AI platforms to assist in advertising go-to-market, sales training support, and other sales analytics before rolling out learnings to other business functions and departments.

    “We need local journalism to inform and educate citizens, expose wrongdoing, and encourage civic engagement. We will work with the Lenfest AI Fellowship to drive AI innovation that can help news organizations create new products to extend their reporting, find new sources of revenue, and ultimately build a more sustainable future,” said Teresa Hutson, corporate vice president, technology for fundamental rights at Microsoft. “We hope these news organizations will be lighthouses for the industry, to provide examples of how AI can build a better future for the business of news.”

    To support the new Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program and resources, OpenAI and Microsoft are each awarding $2.5 million in direct funding and $2.5 million in software and enterprise credits, for a total of up to $10 million. The two-year pilot program is in partnership with The Lenfest Institute’s Local Independent News Coalition (LINC), a group of eight of the largest independently owned metropolitan news organizations in the United States.

    LINC is one of several Communities of Practice led by The Lenfest Institute with funding from the Institute and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. LINC includes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chicago Public Media (WBEZ and The Chicago Sun Times), The Dallas Morning News, Newsday (Long Island, New York), The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, The Minnesota Star Tribune, and The Tampa Bay Times.

    Learn more about LINC here and sign up to receive updates on the Lenfest AI Fellows experiments and lessons learned through The Lenfest Institute Solution Set newsletter.

    About The Lenfest Institute for Journalism 

    The Lenfest Institute for Journalism creates solutions for the next era of local news by investing in sustainable business models at the intersection of local journalism and community in Philadelphia and nationwide.

    About OpenAI  

    OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company. Its mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.

    About Microsoft 

    Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

    For more information, press only:

    Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

    Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit Microsoft Source at https://news.microsoft.com/source. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Rosneft and the Ministry of Tourism of the Samara Oblast Present the “Zhiguli Weekend” Motor Tourist Route

    Source: Rosneft

    Headline: Rosneft and the Ministry of Tourism of the Samara Oblast Present the “Zhiguli Weekend” Motor Tourist Route

    Rosneft and the Ministry of Tourism of the Samara Oblast presented the “Zhiguli Weekend” motor tourist route, which runs along the region’s landmark and most picturesque locations.

    Rosneft is committed to the development of domestic automobile tourism and aims to create comfortable conditions for car travellers. One of Rosneft’s key objectives is to enhance the quality of its roadside assistance and customer service at its filling stations.

    The route presentation was held at a Rosneft filling station in Samara. Egor Okhotnikov, a notable navigator of LADA Sport ROSNEFT racing team, took part in the event.

    The tourist route “Zhiguli Weekend” runs through Samara, Togliatti, Syzran and unique landscapes and locations of the region. Tourists can efficiently use their travel time and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the Volga region thanks to well-designed logistics. Rosneft filling station app makes it easy to find the nearest filling station along the route.

    In the historic city of Syzran, guests will be introduced to the region’s only Kremlin. It was built in 1683 and is recognized as an object of national cultural heritage.

    In the “Russia’s car capital” Togliatti tourists will be able to visit the AVTOVAZ museum, as well as the production site of LADA Sport ROSNEFT, the leading team in Russian circuit racing, whose title sponsor for many years is Rosneft.

    Samara, the capital of the region, will surprise travelers with the longest five-kilometer waterfront. From any point of the waterfront there is a breathtaking panoramic view of the Volga River. In the historical part of the city visitors will be welcomed by the museum-appartment of the author of “The Golden Key” Alexei Tolstoy, an art museum and a unique underground structure – Stalin’s bunker, 37 metres deep.

    Along the way, motor tourists can visit other cultural sights of the region: the old village Shiryaevo, where Ilya Repin wrote sketches for the painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga”, a Gothic castle on the shore of the Zhiguli Sea (Kuybyshev Reservoir) and much more.

    The route also includes unique natural monuments: Samarskaya Luka National Park and Zhiguli Nature Reserve. This year the Samarskaya Luka National Park celebrates its 40th anniversary. Rosneft’s Samara Enterprises have been supporting the national park’s projects for 13 years, the most significant of which is the study and preservation of the population of the Red Book white-tailed eagle.

    Samara Oblast is one of Rosneft’s strategic regions of operation. The Company is present in the region with a powerful full-cycle production complex, including scientific and project support, oil and gas production, oil and gas processing, oil refining, production of lubricants, additives and catalysts, as well as a retail network. Large enterprises such as Samaraneftegaz, Kuibyshev Refinery, Novokuibyshevsk Refinery, Syzran Refinery, Novokuibyshevsk Oil and Additives Plant, Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company, and Samaranefteprodukt operate in Samara Oblast.

    Rosneft’s network of filling stations is the largest in the region, covering all major highways in key tourist destinations, including the M-5 highway, as well as highways leading to neighboring regions: the Republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, Ulyanovsk, Saratov and Orenburg Oblasts. In the Samara Oblast there are 77 stations of the company, where you can fuel your car with high-quality fuel, have a comfortable rest in a cafe or buy goods you need on the road.

    Rosneft filling stations with well-developed infrastructure will help to make traveling along the “Zhiguli Weekend” route as comfortable as possible.

    Reference:

    Rosneft’s retail network is the largest in the Russian Federation in terms of geographical coverage and number of stations, and the Rosneft filling station brand is one of the leaders in Russia in terms of recognition and fuel quality. The retail chain of the Company covers 61 Russian regions. The Company has a network of approximately 3,000 operating filling stations. In addition to high-quality fuel, the Company offers its customers a wide range of goods and services – from shops and cafes to roadside assistance.

    Earlier, Rosneft signed memorandums on cooperation in the development of domestic tourism with the Moscow City Tourism Committee, the Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territories, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Udmurtia, and the Arkhangelsk, Samara, Voronezh and Ulyanovsk Regions, and the Stavropol Krai.

    In 2023, Rosneft launched a special information and service platform “Russian Horizons: Come With Us!”. The special project allows car tourists to choose and plan routes to places of interest using the infrastructure of Rosneft’s network of motorway services and filling stations.

    Rosneft
    Information Division
    August 21, 2024

    Keywords: Social News 2024

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Happy Valley-Goose Bay — RCMP Traffic Services Labrador continues traffic enforcement, six vehicles seized

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    RCMP Traffic Services Labrador is continuing traffic enforcement between Sheshatshiu and Happy Valley-Goose Bay with a number of motorists ticketed for various offences over the past weekend.

    On October 18, 2024, at approximately 1:15 p.m., police stopped a vehicle on Route 520 near Sheshatshiu. The driver, a 37-year-old man, was driving while prohibited and was arrested. The man was released from custody and is set to appear in court at a later date to answer to charges of driving while prohibited and breach of a probation order.

    A short time later, police stopped an unregistered vehicle on Route 520 near Sheshatshiu. The driver, a 49-year-old man, was operating an uninsured vehicle with a suspended driver’s licence. The man was ticketed for the offences.

    On October 19, 2024, at approximately 1:15 p.m., police stopped a vehicle on Route 520 near Sheshatshiu that had been unregistered since 2014. In addition, the vehicle was uninsured and the driver, a 35-year-old man, had a suspended licence. The man was ticketed for the violations.

    Approximately an hour later, police stopped a suspected prohibited driver operating a vehicle on Route 520 near Sheshatshiu. The 37-year-old man was confirmed as driving while prohibited and was arrested. The man was released from custody and is set to appear in court at a later date to answer to a charge of driving while prohibited.

    On October 20, 2024, at approximately 1:00 p.m., police stopped a vehicle on Route 520 near Goose River. The driver, a 32-year-old man, who was operating the vehicle with a suspended licence, provided a roadside breath sample that was above the provincial limit for alcohol. The man was issued a further licence suspension and was ticketed for operating a vehicle while suspended.

    Later that evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m., police stopped an unregistered vehicle on Royal Street in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The driver, a-49-year-old man, was operating an uninsured vehicle. He was ticketed for both offences.

    All six vehicles were seized and impounded. RCMP NL Traffic Services remains dedicated to road safety and the enforcement of the Highway Traffic Act.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/BANGLADESH – Archbishop of Dacca: “We have faith in the work of the interim government”

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) – “The interim government in power in Bangladesh is doing its best, working against corruption and for transparency. The executive, led by Mohammad Yunus, is made up of people who seem sincerely committed to the good of society,” said the Archbishop of Dhaka, Bejoy D’Cruze, OMI, to Fides about the present and future of the South Asian country where a student uprising between July and August 2024 led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India. “The interim government gave itself about two years to carry out the necessary reforms in the country, listening to the representatives of the student movement, civil society, political movements and religious communities,” he reports. “I met Yunus and he assured me that he is committed to respecting the rights of all, including those of religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians,” D’Cruze continued. Meanwhile, Yunus announced the establishment of six commissions to deal with reforms in as many areas as possible: electoral system, police, judiciary, anti-corruption, public administration and the constitution. “The issues on the agenda are diverse and challenging, and we need time to take the right steps. I believe that the Bangladeshi people must now be patient and confident. It is important that democracy is always protected, that the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are guaranteed, that the secularity of the state is not abandoned and that the rule of law is always respected and promoted,” the archbishop hopes. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has in recent days begun trials for crimes against humanity committed during anti-government protests in July and August, issuing arrest warrants for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 45 others, including several prominent members of the Awami League, Hasina’s party. The new government reinstated the court and appointed judges who have examined more than 60 complaints of crimes against humanity and genocide. Former Prime Minister Hasina is implicated in over 200 investigations for murders, attempted murders, kidnappings and other crimes. Recalling the days of protests, the archbishop said: “In truth, no one expected such a major turnaround. The former prime minister had ruled for three terms and was accused of political manipulation, corruption and lack of transparency. Her government was then harsh towards any political opposition and restricted freedom of opinion, conscience and speech. After initial protests, the police responded with strong violence, which further inflamed tempers and increased the scale of the revolt, which ultimately led to the fall of the government,” the Archbishop notes. “It was a shock for many, but it must be said that the country needed a change. Now we are trying to build a just and peaceful future. It is true that we are in a transitional phase of uncertainty, that the protests have not yet completely subsided and that there have been some problems, for example for the Hindu communities, which have suffered unfounded aggression. There is a fear that radical Islamist groups could seize the opportunity and recruit new followers. As Bangladeshi Catholics, we have confidence and hope in the good work and goodwill of the Yunus government, which we hope will lead the country into a new historic phase of stability, justice and prosperity,” Archbishop D’Cruze concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 22/10/2024)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/NIGER – Another world is possible when invisible chains are recognized as such

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Tuesday, 22 October 2024

    by Mauro ArmaninoNiamey (Agenzia Fides) – Pierluigi Maccalli, who was held hostage for more than two years by Salafist-inspired groups, has returned to Niger, the place of his kidnapping, to spend a few days (see Fides, 7/10/2024). This return coincides with the same date on which his captivity began in the savannah of Burkina Faso and then in the immense Sahara desert. A beginning and an end.Between these symbolic moments, two years of solitude in captivity, marked by chains that accompanied him during the long starry nights of the desert. Since then, Pierluigi has been very attentive to the progress in negotiations for other hostages like him, held in the Sahel and elsewhere. His chains were of freedom, as they transformed him into a hostage of peace, of words and of unarmed hands. However, for those who have not had the same dramatic and privileged destiny as his friend and confrere mentioned, life can pass as if they were prisoners, without realizing it or without wanting it. Sometimes, they may even prefer to live as hostages to avoid risking what is most dangerous in life: freedom. Pierluigi saw, felt and suffered the chains at his feet. For about a month, he was chained day and night to a chain one meter and twenty centimeters long. Only dogs, perhaps, can understand what that means for a person accustomed to moving, traveling and deciding where to go. There are those who do not realize that they are chained, just as Pierluigi was, and are content with the food offered to them in their daily lives.There are hostages of misery, created, reproduced and accepted as unavoidable, and sometimes maintained because that is how the world seems to have worked since the world began. Some are born to live as slaves, resigned to their destiny written in a book of sand, while others can decide the kind of future they will have for themselves and their children. There are also hostages of the humanitarian world that thrives right where the cry of those suffering from a disease that kills more than war resonates loudest: hunger. Hostages who, often, have never been told that what is written in the book of destiny is nothing more than sand scattered by the wind. A different world is possible when invisible chains are recognized.In the Sahel, this extraordinary space of history, cultures, traditions, conflicts and adventures, there are still hostages of fear. Fear of the present, of the possible arrival of armed groups that impose the law and death. Fear of tomorrow: sowing, harvesting, granaries, the taxes to be paid per person, forced conversions and recruitment into the jihadist nebula, which trades in religion, gold, drugs, weapons and the best years of the young. Fear of denunciation that turns everyone into a suspect, even within families and villages where for decades there has been relative harmony and acceptance of differences. Then come the fostered identities that are exclusive, deadly and divisive.Finally, there are hostages who are perhaps less recognizable and, perhaps for that reason, more harmful. They are the hostages of the lie, which prevails through rhetoric that justifies the means to an end. They associate, support, justify, defend and align themselves with the dominant thought of the moment. Politics becomes irrelevant and human rights are a commodity of ideological change, because what matters is the good of the people, as a group of “enlightened” people, often armed. Hostages who infiltrate what remains of the parties, unions, media and even the medals of merit in the field. My friend Pierluigi was right. He said that they can chain the feet but not the heart and the spirit. As a reminder of his time in captivity, he has carried with him a link of the chain. To remember that only those who have carried the chains risk their lives for the freedom of others. (Agenzia Fides, 22/10/2024)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Ten foreign citizens to receive Order of the Polar Star

    Source: Government of Sweden

    His Majesty The King has today decided on the recommendation of the Government Offices to present Royal Orders of Knighthood to ten foreign citizens.

    “These distinctions are an expression of our immense gratitude for those individuals’ efforts in conjunction with Sweden joining NATO. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Finland’s former President Sauli Niinistö, who is an earlier recipient of the Order of the Seraphim. Sweden’s membership makes NATO stronger and Sweden more secure,” says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

    “The individuals who are now receiving the Swedish Orders made significant efforts in support of Sweden’s accession to NATO,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard.

    The following individuals will be awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star:

    Former Prime Minister Sanna Marin
    Commander Grand Cross
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto
    Commander Grand Cross
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Former Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
    Commander Grand Cross
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken
    Commander Grand Cross
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    National Security Adviser Jacob Sullivan
    Commander Grand Cross
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Director General Petri Hakkarainen
    Commander, First Class
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Former Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General Stian Jenssen
    Commander, First Class
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Ambassador Julianne Smith
    Commander, First Class
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Ambassador Jeffry Flake
    Commander, First Class
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    Former Senior Director Amanda Sloat
    Commander, First Class
    For extraordinary efforts for Swedish interests

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Two years of the Meloni Government, two years of achievements and milestones for Italy

    Source: Government of Italy (English)

    On 22 October 2022, President of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni, Vice-Presidents Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini and the Government Ministers were sworn in by the President of the Republic.

    On 22 October 2024, the Meloni Government, the first in Italy’s history to be headed by a woman, turns two years old and has become the seventh longest-serving Government of the Italian Republic.

    The document attached provides a summary of the key figures and most significant measures that have been approved and launched since the Government first took office, made possible by the Government’s teamwork with the precious support of the State administration system.

    The principle guiding the Government’s work is adherence to and timely implementation of the joint programme which the centre-right coalition presented to the Italian people, winning their trust at the general election on 25 September 2022.

    This programme has enabled Italy to regain a key leading role at international level, to boost economic growth and employment, to launch long-awaited reforms, to protect the industrial and productive fabric from the impact of high energy costs and the consequences of the current geopolitical crises, to safeguard public finances, and to defend the purchasing power of households, particularly those with children and the most vulnerable.

    Over the course of its legislative term, the Government will continue working to consolidate its achievements and to fully deliver on the commitments made to citizens in its programme.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Marie-Philippe Bouchard to become the next President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Minister St-Onge announces the appointment of Marie-Philippe Bouchard as President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada

    GATINEAU, October 22, 2024

    Since its inception in 1936, CBC/Radio-Canada has been and continues to be a vital institution for Canadians. From sharing local and diverse stories to providing accessible and reliable information, Canada’s public broadcaster plays a central role in strengthening Canadian culture and democracy.

    The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today announced the appointment of Marie‑Philippe Bouchard as the next President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada for a five-year term, effective January 3, 2025. This appointment is the result of a rigorous, open, transparent and merit-based selection process led by the Independent Advisory Committee for Appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors convened in March 2024.

    Ms. Bouchard has served as President and CEO of TV5 Québec Canada since February 2016. She has been responsible for managing all aspects of the TV5 Unis channels and platforms, a leader in public broadcasting, serving Francophone audiences across the country. She has also presided over TV5 Numérique, TV5MONDE’s partner in establishing the international French-language platform TV5MONDEPlus, since September 2019.

    Prior to joining TV5 Québec Canada, Ms. Bouchard held key management and senior executive positions at CBC/Radio-Canada in legal services, strategic planning and regulatory affairs, information and digital services, and music. A member of the Québec Bar since 1985, she holds a master’s degree in public law from the Université de Montréal. She also sits on a number of boards, including the Festival international de Lanaudière, and chairs the management board of the Université de Montréal’s Centre for Research in Public Law.

    Ms. Bouchard is fluently bilingual and the first Francophone woman to serve as President and CEO of Canada’s national public broadcaster, bringing a deep understanding and experience in the unique value of public service media and public broadcasting in Canada.

    “Marie-Philippe Bouchard is a talented, strong public broadcasting leader with a proven record of transformation. As the next President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, she brings a wealth of experience to this pivotal time for our cultural and information ecosystem, as well as a solid background in organizational culture and change leadership. In a critical time of modernization, I am confident that Ms. Bouchard will provide a steady hand and be a positive guiding force for Canada’s national public service media now and into the future. I want to thank the Independent Advisory Committee, which played a crucial role in this process. I would also like to thank Catherine Tait for her work and passion for CBC/Radio-Canada as a vibrant, creative and inclusive force during her tenure as President and CEO.”

    —The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage

    “Public service media all around the world serve as a precious public asset. As society changes at a fast pace, so must our public broadcaster, continuing to build trust in order to remain relevant to all Canadians. With my experience serving audiences both at TV5/Unis TV and CBC/Radio-Canada, I look forward to this challenge and to working together with all Canadians, including the CBC/Radio-Canada team, Canadian content creators and other partners, to chart the path forward. Our national public broadcaster brings us and our understanding of one another closer together despite massive distance. CBC/Radio-Canada is our place for discovering and sharing stories that embody Francophone, Anglophone and Indigenous cultures, on a range of innovative platforms. Our national broadcaster provides us with trustworthy news and information, highlights our creativity and offers us perspectives that enrich our lives, right here in this place we call home.”

    —Marie-Philippe Bouchard, next President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Empowering Türkiye’s Energy Sector: The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) And SAMPA Sign Eur 15 Million Term Sheet

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

    For further details, please contact:Nabil El-Alami
    Communications & Corporate Marketing Division Manager
    nalami@isdb.orgSampa, a leading manufacturer of heavy-duty vehicle parts based in Türkiye, has transformed from a small workshop into a globally recognized industry leader. With a robust global presence across multiple industries, the company is dedicated to innovation, sustainability, and promoting equal opportunities within its workforce. Through strategic expansion, Sampa has established a foothold in key markets across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is a multilateral development financial institution and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. Established in November 1999, ICD supports the economic development of its member countries through financing private sector projects, promoting competition and entrepreneurship, providing advisory services to governments and private companies, and encouraging cross-border investments. ICD is rated by international credit agencies, including A2 by Moody’s, A+ by Fitch, and A- by S&P.

    ICD aims to complement the activities of IsDB and national financing institutions in member countries by focusing on private sector institutions across various activities and operations in full compliance with the principles of Islamic Shari’ah. The organization focuses its financing on development projects such as infrastructure and private equity funds that aim to create job opportunities and encourage exports. For more information, please visit: http://www.ICD-PS.org.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: [User Guide] Unlock New Possibilities With Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra

    Source: Samsung

     
    The Galaxy Tab series serves as a versatile companion to professionals who prioritize work-life balance, supporting both work and leisure. The lightweight, portable design maximizes productivity with powerful multitasking capabilities during the workday — while the rich selection of entertainment and streaming features elevates relaxation after work.
     
    The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is Samsung Electronics’ first AI-powered tablet and latest premium offering. Through various features optimized for a larger screen, the device has garnered enthusiastic responses from Galaxy fans and set a new standard for next-generation tablets. Samsung Newsroom explored how the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra can support modern individuals as they pursue balance in their work and personal lives.
     

     
     
    Unleashing the Power of AI on an Ultra-Large Screen
    The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra boasts the largest screen in the Galaxy Tab series so far — and with the integration of Galaxy AI, the device has become even more capable. Designed to be a dependable tool for professionals who frequently handle extensive documents and search for various resources online, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is poised to significantly enhance work efficiency.
     
    ▲ (From left) The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Circle to Search
     
    When viewed vertically, the huge 14.6-inch screen allows users to read large amounts of text without the need to scroll through multiple pages. The screen can be divided into three sections to create a multitasking environment that improves productivity and adapts to individual workflows.
     
    Circle to Search, a feature that enables instant searches with a simple gesture, becomes even more powerful with the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. Streamlined for the massive screen, this intuitive image-based search can display more results and information than before.
     

    ▲ Press and hold the Home button, then tap Translate to instantly translate comments on social media.
     

    ▲ Translation
     
    Furthermore, the large screen proves invaluable when viewing resources on social media or PDF documents in foreign languages. With a press of the Galaxy AI button, PDF files are translated in real time. The Translation feature allows users to absorb information quickly and efficiently.
     
     
    Making Meetings Smarter From Note-Taking to Minute-Taking
    Meetings are an integral part of work, but lengthy sessions can make keeping track of information and conversations difficult. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers a smarter way to participate in meetings and stay organized with features designed for efficient note- and minute-taking.
     
    ▲ Note Assist
     
    Note Assist is handy for meetings since the feature records users’ voices and automatically transcribes the content. AI technology will summarize meetings and provide translations if necessary, allowing users to focus entirely on the discussions at hand. What’s more, Galaxy AI assists in taking minutes — significantly reducing the time required for post-meeting tasks.
     

    ▲ Handwriting mode
     
    The benefits of the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra continue even after meetings end. The tablet’s large screen provides a comprehensive view of the conversation’s flow, ensuring that key points can be reviewed without missing any details. When jotting down notes in a hurry, users need not worry about messy handwriting. Handwriting mode enhances the legibility of scribbles by leveling text, aligning lines, adjusting word spacing and more. Now, users can keep their notes neat and organized to make reviews a breeze.
     
     
    Working Without Boundaries Anytime, Anywhere
    ▲ More portable than ever, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra can serve as a secondary monitor for a laptop.
     
    Although the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has the largest ever screen in the Galaxy Tab series, the device remains comfortably portable with a sleek 5.4-mm thickness and lighter weight when compared to its predecessor. Perfect for different working styles, the tablet can be taken anywhere — whether that’s home, a café or a coworking space.
     
    For those with a laptop, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s Second screen feature is a game-changer. By connecting the tablet to a laptop, users can extend or duplicate their screen to enhance productivity and multitask on a larger workspace.
     
    ▲ The Book Cover Keyboard with the AI Assistant key allows the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra to be used like a laptop.
     
    Equipped with a Book Cover Keyboard and Bluetooth mouse, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra works just like a laptop. Both the Book Cover Keyboard and Book Cover Keyboard Slim accessories include a dedicated key for instant access to AI Assistant. With a single tap, users can work smarter and more efficiently.
     

     
    The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra takes after-work leisure to the next level by elevating creativity, enhancing entertainment and enriching enjoyment of life’s simple pleasures.
     
     
    Transform Sketches Into Masterpieces With S Pen

    ▲ Sketch to Image with the S Pen
     
    True to its title as an AI tablet, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s S Pen also leverages AI. By simply picking up the S Pen and pressing the pen-shaped icon on the right side of the screen, users can activate Air Command for a range of AI capabilities. Sketch to Image automatically transforms simple sketches into high-quality images through AI recognition. These images can then be rendered into various styles — including watercolor, illustration, pop art and 3D cartoon — making it easy for anyone to create art. The tablet’s large screen further enhances this experience, providing a spacious digital canvas for unleashing creativity.
     
     
    Playing Immersive Games With Uninterrupted Performance
    
    ▲ The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers smooth gameplay for even the most demanding games.
     
    The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra handles demanding, high-performance mobile games by leveraging the advanced cooling system to prevent the tablet from overheating, even during extended gaming sessions.
     
     
    Maximizing Immersion for Unparalleled Viewing Experiences

     
    The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s 14.6-inch screen provides an immersive experience for both video watching and gaming. The Dynamic AMOLED 2X display delivers accurate colors and crisp, high-definition images as the 120Hz refresh rate supports smoother transitions. While the anti-reflection screen minimizes glare, Vision Booster adjusts the display based on external brightness for more comfortable viewing.
     
    ▲ Go to Sound quality and effects in Settings and select Dialogue Boost
     
    Notably, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s Dialogue Boost uses AI technology to analyze voices and isolate conversational speech for enhanced clarity when watching content on YouTube or streaming platforms. To activate this feature, select Sound quality and effects under Settings and tap Dialogue Boost. Users will be able to more clearly hear conversations in TV and movies for a fully immersive experience.
     

     
    After a long day at work, relaxing in bed while watching YouTube or streaming videos is truly one of life’s small pleasures. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra enhances these moments by offering superior picture and sound quality along with convenient features to enrich leisure time beyond mere content consumption.
     
    The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra delivers a comprehensive mobile experience on an expansive screen — improving productivity and maximizing immersion through its unique Galaxy AI features. For today’s professionals, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra will be a premium tablet bringing new meaning to work-life balance.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Security: B-2 bomber undergoes key maintenance overhaul in record time

    Source: United States Strategic Command

    PALMDALE, Calif.  –  

    In a big win for U.S. Air Force readiness, the “Spirit of Nebraska” a B-2 bomber, returned to operations 91 days ahead of schedule, after completing programmed depot maintenance (PDM) at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Oct. 15, 2024.

    Previously, it has taken B-2s approximately 470 days to go through PDM. However, the “Spirit of Nebraska” was able to get through PDM in only 379 days due to several changes the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Bombers Directorate made to improve efficiency.

    “Bringing these jets into PDM, getting the work done quickly, and delivering them back to the warfighter early is a big deal,” said Col. Francis Marino, B-2 System Program Manager within the Bombers Directorate. “This accomplishment would not have been possible without the great partnership between our team, Air Force Global Strike Command and Northrop Grumman.”

    PDM occurs every nine years, and is an exhaustive inspection, overhaul, and repair of the bomber, with much of the work focused on restoration of the bomber’s Low Observable (LO) or stealth materials.

    “PDM’s main objective is to accomplish LO restoration of the aircraft,” said Staci Gravette, B-2 PDM Program Manager. “Since the aircraft is stripped [for LO restoration] we are also able to do other maintenance work as well.”

    One of the ways the Air Force was able to reduce PDM time for the aircraft, was to conduct the fuel system inspection earlier in the PDM cycle.

    In the past, if an inspection identified a fuel leak, the team would have to pull parts and materials back off the aircraft, repair the leak, and redo previous work, often causing a 45-day delay. Moving the fuel system inspection up in the PDM cycle, eliminated duplicate work and delay.

    Additionally, the team was able to reduce time by conducting pre-inspections of the aircraft before it arrived at PDM. This allowed them to catch issues ahead of time, order parts, and work specific repairs into the schedule.

    “As any aircraft continues to age, you’re going to see more and more issues that need to be repaired on a PDM line,” Marino said. “The pre-inspection is great because it reduces the number of surprises at PDM.”

    Maintaining the B-2s dominance is a priority for the Bombers Directorate. Improving the PDM process and other sustainment and modernization efforts the directorate is leading, ensures the aircraft continues to operate.

    “Nothing else can even come close,” said Shawn Clay, B-2 Product Support Manager, referring to the capabilities of the B-2. “When you take into account that this is 1980s technology [on the aircraft] that is still leading the world today, it just speaks volumes to the amazing aircraft weapon system that it is. On top of that, the actual mission – holding our enemies at bay and giving them a moment of pause … like the thought of a B-2 coming in and before you even know it’s there, the fight’s all over.”
     
    “Until the B-21 is fielded, the B-2 is the world’s only long-range penetrable strike bomber and the only aircraft that can do what we need it to do today,” added Marino. “As long as the aircraft is operational and our adversaries continue to come out with new and advanced weaponry across the electromagnetic spectrum, we’re going to have to continuously invest in the B-2s lethality, its survivability, and of course its readiness. The work we’re doing on the PDM line will play a key role in all of this.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Dot plots for the Eurosystem? | Speech at Harvard University

    Source: Deutsche Bundesbank in English

    Check against delivery.
    1 Introduction
    Ladies and gentlemen,
    it is a great pleasure to be at Harvard again, to meet long time companions like Hans-Helmut Kotz and to exchange ideas with top scientists such as Benjamin Friedman. When I was in this round two years ago, we were dealing with an unprecedented global inflation spike.[1] Fortunately, the worst is behind us, and inflation in the euro area is heading back to the Eurosystem’s target. We have not brought the inflation ship safely back into the 2% harbour, but the port is in sight. Thus, I can focus on another question today.
    Before I do that, let me share an analogy to set the stage for my discussion. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the field of economics was split into two seemingly incompatible schools of thought: New Keynesian and New Classical. Their proponents were not too polite in their language, calling assumptions “foolishly restrictive” or comparing an opponent to someone attempting to pass himself off as Napoleon Bonaparte.[2] But, over time, ideas from both camps ultimately merged to form a consensus called the New Neoclassical Synthesis, the very foundation of modern macroeconomics.[3] Gregory Mankiw neatly described this story in his essay “The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer”.[4]
    The takeaway from this analogy is that complex issues are rarely black or white. With this in mind, I want to explore whether the conduct of monetary policy in the euro area could be enhanced by offering more detailed and nuanced information regarding its future outlook. More specifically, today I will address the following question: Should the Eurosystem introduce dot plots?
    To explore this, I will first examine current experience with dot plots and other forms of forward guidance in both the United States and the euro area. I will then evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating dot plots into the Eurosystem’s communication strategy. In this analysis, I will concentrate on the implications for policymakers’ independence, the effectiveness of monetary policy and the management of uncertainty.
    2 The dot plot and other forms of forward guidance
    Let me begin with some basics. Most central banks in advanced economies have a clear mandate to keep prices stable. They do this mainly by setting the policy rate and communicating their decisions in order to manage the expectations of economic agents, including market participants, households and firms. When central banks provide explicit signals about the future path of the policy rate, we call it forward guidance.
    We can classify forward guidance into two ideal types: “Odyssean” and “Delphic”.[5] Odyssean forward guidance means the central bank makes a firm commitment to a future course of action, like promising to keep interest rates at a certain level for a certain time. Like Odysseus, who famously tied himself to the mast of his ship to resist the call of the sirens, central banks are committing to staying on course – whatever the future brings.
    In contrast, Delphic forward guidance is conditional and involves sharing information about the central bank’s economic outlook and policy intentions without making firm commitments. This term comes from the Oracle of Delphi, famous for its prophecies and predictions, which were so ambiguous and open to interpretation that they always seemed to be borne out in hindsight. A prime example of Delphic forward guidance is the policy rate forecasts published by central banks such as Norges Bank and Sweden’s Riksbank.
    A more subtle way of monetary policy communication is through the central bank’s reaction function. A reaction function indicates how the central bank adjusts its policy rate in response to key macroeconomic variables like the inflation rate or economic growth. When economic agents have a clear understanding of this reaction function, communication about the expected development of these macroeconomic variables can also help shape their expectations regarding the future trajectory of the policy rate.
    2.1 The Fed’s dot plot
    To consider if the Eurosystem should introduce dot plots, let me briefly recall what the Fed dot plots are and how market observers view them. Twelve years ago, the Fed began publishing the federal funds rate projections of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants. Its intention was to boost transparency and communication with financial markets and the general public. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Eurosystem has, from its inception, held public press conferences and published monetary policy statements, the minutes of its meetings, and the results of its quarterly macroeconomic projections.
    As you are well aware, before the FOMC meeting, FOMC participants share their individual assessment of the appropriate level of the fed funds rate for the end of the current year, the end of the coming two to three years and over the longer run. The longer run projection refers to “each participant’s assessment of the value to which each variable would be expected to converge, over time, under appropriate monetary policy and in the absence of further shocks to the economy.”[6]
    Due to its visual representation in the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), the combined projections of all FOMC members are known as the dot plot. These dots complement the FOMC participants’ projections for GDP growth, unemployment and inflation. While each FOMC participant submits their funds rate projection together with corresponding projections for macroeconomic variables, these correspondences are not revealed by the SEP. Accordingly, market observers cannot directly link the interest rate projections to the projections of the other macro variables.
    The dot plot was meant to complement the Fed’s communication, not to replace the forward guidance it provided in the monetary policy statement at that time during the press conference. For example, in January 2012, the FOMC statement provided explicit forward guidance on rates, saying that the Committee “[…] anticipates that economic conditions […] are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.”[7] During the accompanying press conference, Chairman Ben Bernanke introduced the dot plot, observing that “[…] eleven participants expect that the appropriate federal funds rate at the end of 2014 will be at or below 1 percent, while six participants anticipate higher rates at that time.”[8]
    Although the Federal Reserve did not introduce the dot plots as an explicit tool for forward guidance, many market analysts began to interpret them as such. When the forward guidance in the statement and the dot plot sent mixed signals, FOMC chairs often downplayed the dot plot’s importance.
    In 2014, Janet Yellen famously stated: “[…] one should not look to the dot plot, so to speak, as the primary way in which the Committee wants to or is speaking about policy […].”[9] Similarly, in 2019, Jerome Powell noted that “[…] the dot plot has, on occasion, been a source of confusion. Until now, forward guidance in the statement has been a main tool for communicating committee intentions and minimizing that confusion.”[10]
    And this is also how Fed watchers now see the dot plot, ranking it as the Fed’s fifth most important communication tool.[11] The top communication tools are the press conference, the Summary of Economic Projections (excluding the dots), the FOMC statement, and speeches by the chair.
    Numerous studies show that the Fed has successfully used monetary policy communication to influence long-term interest rates and other asset prices.[12] And some research suggests that the dot plots significantly and independently influence market interest rates. [13] But there is a fundamental issue about these results: it is very challenging to determine how much each communication channel contributes to the overall effect.
    To identify the causal effect of monetary policy, scholars often define a so-called event window around central banks’ monetary policy meetings. Changes in market interest rates during this event window are then attributed to monetary policy.
    But there is a problem: when the dot plot is released, it is published together with the monetary policy statement. That makes it hard to determine which one caused the interest rate changes observed during the event. And because of this, it is unclear whether those channels actually provide complementary information or are just substitutes.
    2.2 Monetary policy communication at the Eurosystem
    So, what does the Eurosystem’s monetary policy communication look like? The Eurosystem began using explicit forward guidance in the introductory statement to its July 2013 meeting. At that time, inflation in the euro area was low, and the Eurosystem expected underlying price pressures to stay subdued in the medium term. Interest rates were already at the effective zero lower bound.
    To provide further accommodation, the ECB’s Governing Council, which is the counterpart of the FOMC, announced in its July 2013 meeting that it “expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time.”[14] The Governing Council continued to use variations of this statement for almost a decade. And there is now also ample evidence that the Eurosystem has been successful in implementing its forward guidance.[15]
    With the resurgence of inflation in 2021 and high uncertainty caused by major shocks and structural changes, the Eurosystem shifted to a data-dependent, meeting-by-meeting approach, largely stepping away from explicit forward guidance.
    More specifically, we now base our interest rate decisions on three elements: first, our assessment of the inflation outlook in light of the incoming economic and financial data, second, the dynamics of underlying inflation, and third, the strength of monetary policy transmission. These three elements can be seen as a further specification of our reaction function. However, the Governing Council does not pre-commit to any specific rate path.
    Taken together, apart from the publication of the dot plot, the approaches to monetary policy communication taken by the Federal Reserve System and the Eurosystem are largely comparable. Both institutions regard the monetary policy statement and the press conference as their primary communication tools. And both central banks have recently shifted from explicit forward guidance towards a data-dependent meeting-by-meeting approach.
    But the Eurosystem also continues to provide signals about future policy rates. It simply does it more implicitly. For example, the wording of the monetary policy statement and the answers of the ECB President during press conferences provide insights into future policy rates. As do speeches and interviews given by Governing Council members. Additionally, the Eurosystem influences market expectations through its quarterly staff projections.[16]
    Unlike some other central banks, the Eurosystem uses the interest rate implied by financial market prices on a specific cut-off day as a conditioning assumption for its macroeconomic projections. Specifically, this means that our medium-term inflation forecast aligns with market expectations for a particular policy rate path. Market participants can subsequently compare the exogenous path for the policy rate, as embedded in our macroeconomic projections, with our actual monetary policy decisions, in order to gain insights into our reaction function.
    You could say that the Eurosystem provides Athenian communication. Athena was known as the Goddess of wisdom and as a protector and guide to many Greek heroes. Rather than communicating directly with those she protected, Athena often used indirect guidance. And through her subtle guidance, Athena empowered the heroes she protected to take decisive action and make wise choices.
    3 A dot plot for the Eurosystem?
    Now, let us get to the heart of the matter. Should the Eurosystem introduce dot plots? Although this question can only be answered “yes” or “no”, complex issues are rarely black and white, as mentioned earlier.
    In the following, rather than simply listing the pros and cons of introducing dot plots in the Eurosystem, I will structure my discussion around three themes: First, the impact dot plots could have on the independence of the Eurosystem. Second, the potential for dot plots to improve the effectiveness of our monetary policy communication. And third, the role dot plots could play in capturing projection uncertainty around our baseline forecasts.
    Throughout, I will only consider adding projections for the policy rates to the existing macroeconomic projections by Eurosystem staff. For simplicity, I will not consider whether to also complement our current consensus projections for macroeconomic variables with individual macroeconomic projections.
    3.1 Independence
    Let me begin with the theme of independence. The ECB’s Governing Council consists of the six ECB Executive Board members and the 20 governors of the euro area’s national central banks. Although this setting may resemble that of the Federal Open Market Committee, which includes Federal Reserve Bank Presidents, there is a significant difference.
    The euro area is not composed of regions within a single country but of individual countries within a larger union, each with its own fiscal authority and national laws, as well as considerable differences in economic size and performance. Therefore, within the Governing Council we have a strong interest in finding and communicating a consensus perspective. This is, for example, enshrined in our statute, which states that the proceedings of the meetings of the Governing Council are confidential.
    When we discussed introducing ECB accounts from our Governing Council meetings – comparable to the published minutes of FOMC meetings – about a decade ago, we aimed to balance two things: On the one hand, to clearly articulate the consensus perspective. Yet on the other hand to represent the full spectrum of views in order to help market participants better understand the ECB Governing Council’s decision-making process.[17]
    In the end, the Eurosystem decided to represent the full spectrum of the discussion without naming individuals. Nevertheless, despite the anonymity of the arguments presented, markets and the media alike continue to attempt to discern the identities of the individuals behind them. Given that numerous members of the Governing Council express their views on monetary policy through speeches and interviews, identifying their positions is not a particular challenge.
    If there were anonymous dot plots of Governing Council members, media and the markets alike would probably attempt to match individual members to each dot as well. The primary distinction between speeches and dot plots is that Governing Council members deliver speeches voluntarily. In contrast, dot plots would force all Governing Council members to regularly articulate their perspectives on the future trajectory of interest rates. And this could potentially influence the Governing Council’s independence.
    Once national stakeholders become aware of “their” representative’s views on future interest rates, they may exert pressure on the representative to align with national interests. I am confident that, even if we were to publish dot plots, every member of the Governing Council would continue to act independently and in the best interests of the entire euro area. However, I believe we are well advised not to put ourselves in a situation that might increase pressure on us to act in ways others want us to.
    3.2 Effectiveness of monetary policy communication
    My second theme is whether a dot plot could significantly enhance the Eurosystem’s effectiveness of monetary policy communication. And here I am sceptical. To begin with, there is the previously discussed issue: the dot plot may conflict with the consensus message conveyed in the monetary policy statement. But the main reason for my scepticism is that comparative studies on different methods of monetary policy communication are inconclusive.
    A BIS working paper shows that interest rate projections provide additional information to macroeconomic projections, meaning that they are not redundant.[18] That could be seen as an argument for introducing dot plots. However, while market participants in countries that publish both interest rate projections and macroeconomic projections prefer the former, they might still be able to obtain sufficient information from macroeconomic projections alone.
    Furthermore, research on central bank communication in Norway and Sweden shows that publishing interest rate projections has not improved market understanding of what new macroeconomic information implies for future interest rate.[19] In other words, the publication of interest rate paths did not help market participants better understand the central banks’ reaction functions.
    This finding aligns with research published by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand that shows that announcements with interest rate forecasts and those with only written statements lead to similar market reactions across the yield curve.[20] The authors pointedly conclude that, while central bank communication is important, the exact form it takes is less relevant.
    This result echoes a seminal study by Blinder and co-authors, who concluded back in 2008 that there was no consensus on what constitutes an optimal communication strategy.[21]
    All things considered, I see no compelling evidence that the Eurosystem’s monetary policy communication would be significantly enhanced by the introduction of a dot plot.
    3.3 Projection uncertainty
    Now to the third and final theme – uncertainty. I am quite sure that the Eurosystem has room to improve how we handle projection uncertainty. Currently, the ECB’s Governing Council summarises its view on the uncertainty surrounding economic growth and inflation in the risk assessment section of its monetary policy statement. More specifically, the Eurosystem addresses the uncertainty around its baseline inflation forecast in two ways.[22]
    First, it produces fan charts with symmetric ranges around the point forecast, based on past projection errors. In this setup, past projection errors act as a catch-all proxy for uncertainty. Second, it occasionally publishes risk scenarios, conditional on assumptions different from those in the baseline projection. For instance, during the pandemic, the Eurosystem began using alternative assumptions about the future path of infections and contact restrictions to illustrate macroeconomic uncertainty.
    Could the use of dot plots enhance the communication of inflation forecast uncertainty within the Eurosystem? Given that dot plots offer only an indirect method for conveying uncertainty about the inflation outlook, there may be more effective alternatives.
    One might be to enhance the communication of our existing measures of uncertainty. Another might be to develop new measures, such as scenario and sensitivity analyses, as well as improved fan charts. We must carefully evaluate the pros and cons of each approach.
    Hence, it is quite fitting that the Eurosystem is currently performing an interim strategic review, which includes an analysis of how risk and uncertainty should inform both policy decisions and policy communication. I’m already looking forward to the results.
    4 Conclusion
    Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude. I began my talk by discussing different schools of thought – New Keynesian and New Classical – and argued that complex issues are rarely black or white. When it comes to central bank communication about the future, there are certainly many promising approaches. And, undoubtedly, dot plots are an intriguing instrument for central bank communication.
    However, given the prevailing evidence, I do not see a compelling case for introducing dot plots for the Eurosystem.
    On the other hand, I firmly believe that we can and should enhance how we account for uncertainty in our macroeconomic projections. I have outlined a few options which the Eurosystem will address in the ongoing strategy review.
    Footnotes:
    Nagel, J. (2022), The ECB’s mandate: maintaining price stability in the euro area, speech at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University.
    Mankiw, G. (2006), The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 20(4), pp. 29-46.
    Goodfriend, M. and R. King (1997), The New Neoclassical Synthesis and the Role of Monetary Policy, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual, Bernanke, B. and J. Rotemberg (eds.), MIT Press, pp. 231-283.
    Mankiw, G. (2006), op. cit.
    Campbell, J. et al. (2012), Macroeconomic Effects of Federal Reserve Forward Guidance, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol. 43(1), pp. 1-80. Another distinction is between time-dependent (or calendar-dependent) and state-dependent forward guidance. The former ties monetary policy to a specific time frame, whereas the latter ties future policy actions to specific economic conditions or thresholds. The concepts can overlap and be used in combination.
    SEP: Compilation and Summary of Individual Economic Projections, 24-25 January 2012.
    FOMC Statement, 25 January 2012.
    Bernanke, B. (2012), Transcript of Chairman Bernanke’s Press Conference, 25 January 2012,
    Yellen, J. (2014), Transcript of Chair Yellen’s Press Conference, 19 March 2014.
    Powell, J. (2019), Monetary Policy: Normalization and the Road Ahead, speech at the SIEPR Economic Summit, Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, Stanford, California.
    Wessel, D. and S. Boocker (2024), Federal Reserve communication – survey results, Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings.
    See, for example, Gürkaynak, R. et al. (2005), Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? The Response of Asset Prices to Monetary Policy Actions and Statements, International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, Vol. 1(1), pp. 55-93; Wright, J. (2012), What Does Monetary Policy Do to Long‐term Interest Rates at the Zero Lower Bound?, Economic Journal, Vol. 122(564), pp. 447-466; and Swanson, E. (2021), Measuring the effects of federal reserve forward guidance and asset purchases on financial markets, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 118(C), pp. 32-53.
    See, for example, Couture, C. (2021), Financial market effects of FOMC projections, Journal of Macroeconomics, Vol. 67 and Hillenbrand, S. (2023), The Fed and the Secular Decline in Interest Rates, Accepted, Review of Financial Studies.
    Draghi, M. and V. Constâncio (2013), Introductory statement to the press conference (with Q&A), Frankfurt am Main, 4 July 2013.
    See, for example, Altavilla, C. et al. (2021), Assessing the efficacy, efficiency and potential side effects of the ECB’s monetary policy instruments since 2014, ECB Occasional Paper, No. 278; Andrade, P. and F. Ferroni (2021), Delphic and Odyssean monetary policy shocks: Evidence from the euro area, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. (117), pp. 816-832; Kerssenfischer, M. (2022), Information effects of euro area monetary policy, Economics Letters, Vol. 216(C); and Monetary Policy Committee, Taskforce on Rate Forward Guidance and Reinvestment (2022), Rate forward guidance in an environment of large central bank balance sheets: A Eurosystem stock-taking assessment, ECB Occasional Paper No. 290.
    The Eurosystem produces macroeconomic projections four times a year. ECB staff produces them in March and September. In June and December, they are co-produced by ECB and national central bank staff.
    See Morris, S. and H. Shin (2005): Central Bank Transparency and the Signal Value of Prices, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol.36(2), pp. 1-66 for a general treatment of the role of transparency.
    Hofmann, B. and D. Xia (2022), Quantitative forward guidance through interest rate projections, BIS Working Paper No. 1009.
    Natvik, G. et al. (2020), Does publication of interest rate paths provide guidance?, Journal of International Money and Finance, Vol. 103.
    Detmers, G.-A (2021), Quantitative or Qualitative Forward Guidance: Does it Matter?, Economic Record, Vol. 97(319), pp. 491-503.
    Blinder, A. et al. (2008), Central Bank Communication and Monetary Policy: A Survey of Theory and Evidence, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 46(4), pp. 910-945.
    See ECB (2024), ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, March 2023, box 6 for a rundown.

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Breaking the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns for good | Joint guest contribution by Joachim Nagel and Nicolas Véron, op-ed for Politicoby Politico

    Source: Deutsche Bundesbank in English

    Twelve years after its initiation, it is time to complete the banking union
    In the early hours of 29 June 2012, boldness and clarity came together. After a long night of negotiations, European leaders laid the foundations for the banking union project. They found strong and clear words on its purpose, stating it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.
    The decision was taken in the aftermath of a twin crisis that had shaken the euro area – a sovereign debt crisis coupled with a banking crisis. The close links between sovereigns and banks had created a “doom loop”: sovereigns bailed out teetering banks, straining public finances, and rising sovereign yields put pressure on banks’ home-biased sovereign exposures. Such loops emerged as a particular vulnerability of the euro area, with its unique institutional setup as a monetary union of otherwise sovereign states, increasing the pressure on the Eurosystem to save the day. The banking union was conceived as the sword that would sever the doom loop.
    Today’s banking union is primarily the result of intensive legislative efforts between 2012 and 2014. They established a complete framework for supervising European banks, and an incomplete one for dealing with banking crises. This helped to mitigate the vicious circle, in particular by creating the Single Supervisory Mechanism under the European Central Bank and the national supervisory authorities. That has proven its effectiveness, but the vicious circle has not yet been broken.
    Before the lessons of 2012 are forgotten, the new EU term offers an opportunity to finish the task and break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns for good. Action must go both ways. First, block the direct contagion channel from banks to sovereigns. Taxpayers should not have to suffer when banks run into problems. Second, close the contagion channel from sovereigns to banks. A sovereign credit event cannot and should not be ruled out in a monetary union with sovereign fiscal policies at the national level. At the same time, it must not be permitted to drag down banks with it and thus further jeopardise financial stability.
    The first aim calls for strengthening the crisis intervention framework. Valuable progress has been made with the establishment of the Single Resolution Board and the Single Resolution Fund. The latter reached its target level, currently at €78 billion, after a decade of build-up. However, a more streamlined and predictable framework is needed. Specifically, resolution should be a credible and feasible option to manage more, if not all, failing banks under EU law, instead of the current confusing mix of European and national procedures that leaves too much scope for national state aid and moral hazard.
    The reform of the framework for crisis management is closely linked to deposit insurance. A common European deposit insurance mechanism would strengthen confidence in depositor protection and thus reduce the risk of bank runs. It is intended to weaken the link between banks and their national sovereigns and thus to contribute to making the euro area as a whole more resilient. The two of us have different views on how it should be structured, whether fully centralised or a hybrid involving national authorities. However, we share the firm conviction that deposit protection needs a European level. All banks in the euro area should participate in it. Its funding can and should be risk-based, taking into account arrangements such as the institutional protection schemes that play a significant role in Austria and Germany.
    Under that mechanism, certain risks would be shouldered jointly within the EU. Conversely, risks that are within the remit of the individual Member States must be appropriately limited. To reduce negative spillovers from sovereigns to banks – the second aim – it is crucial to avoid large and undiversified exposures of bank balance sheets to a single sovereign. Concentration limits and capital charges can serve as effective tools here. With adequate calibration and a transition phase, these tools could incentivise banks to diversify their sovereign exposures, thereby gradually overcoming home bias.
    As it turns out, the issues of crisis management, deposit insurance and banks’ sovereign exposures are intertwined. Attempts to make progress have so far failed, not least because they were not comprehensive enough. Part of why the European Commission’s 2015 legislative proposal on deposit insurance was shelved is because banks’ concentrated sovereign exposures were not tackled at the same time. It seems that Member States are unwilling to make concessions if the outcome is merely a halfway house. A comprehensive approach that addresses the interlinked issues holistically is worth considering. It could complete the work that began with a promise twelve years ago – to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.
    Nicolas Véron is a French economist. He is a senior fellow at Bruegel in Brussels, which he co-founded in 2002–05, and at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC.

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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: HMCS Montréal Returns from Operation HORIZON

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    Today, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Montréal returned to its home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, having completed its six-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region under Operation HORIZON.

    October 22, 2024 – Halifax, N.S. – National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces

    Today, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Montréal returned to its home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, having completed its six-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region under Operation HORIZON.

    Operation HORIZON is Canada’s forward-presence mission to the Indo-Pacific region to promote peace, stability, and the rules-based international order. HMCS Montréal was the first of three Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) warships that deployed under the operation in 2024 in support of the Government of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

    During this deployment, HMCS Montréal sailed in a spectrum of diverse, challenging environments; from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific. Working in unison with allies and partners in the region, the ship’s crew demonstrated the RCN’s operational capabilities during military training exercises; highlighting Canada’s commitment to international collaboration and fostering military and diplomatic partnerships.

    Canada’s routine presence in the Indo-Pacific, notably the deployment of HMC Ships, demonstrates our commitment to support peace, security, and stability in the region. The most recent actions and international engagements executed by the crew of HMCS Montréal, have presented Canada as a reliable and capable international security partner, especially in regions experiencing increasing uncertainty and instability.

    “The Royal Canadian Navy’s persistent presence in the Indo-Pacific region supports Canada’s priority to peace, security, and stability. His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Montréal exemplified this commitment again this year with their deployment under the banner of Operation HORIZON through which they circumnavigated the globe. During their 40,000 nautical mile voyage, the ship participated in three operations and eight exercises in partnership with nine navies. It is with great pride that today we celebrate Montréal’s return to their home port of Halifax. These efforts have not only bolstered the rules-based international order but have also played a crucial role in safeguarding Canada’s interests on the global stage. I extend my sincere appreciation to the crew for their dedication and professionalism, and to their families for minding the home front in their absence with equal commitment. Welcome home, team!”

    Rear-Admiral Josée Kurtz, Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic & Commander Joint Task Force Atlantic

    “I am proud to say that the crew of His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Montréal was truly extraordinary in their display of excellence at sea. Through our engagements and exercises with allied and partner navies, we successfully deepened existing relationships and fostered many new ones in the Indo-Pacific region. These accomplishments would not have been possible for us, the fleet, nor Canada without the support of our military families back home. The Ship’s Company now deserves a much-needed break to rest and reconnect with loved ones.”

    Commander Travis Bain, Commanding Officer HMCS Montréal

    Media Relations
    Department of National Defence
    Phone: 613-904-3333
    Email: mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: HSE Graduate School of Economics Wins ESG Excellence Award

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    ESG Excellence Award is an annual award for achievements in the field of sustainable development and ESG that have significant social effects. Among the laureates and nominees of the award are the largest Russian companies – leaders of the ESG agenda, as well as companies and organizations that have made a tangible contribution to the sustainable development of the Russian economy and society.

    The HSE project to prepare globally competitive and socially responsible business leaders for the digital economy, possessing professional competencies in the field of sustainable development and ESG, received well-deserved recognition from the jury of the award. The project is being implemented jointly by representatives of the academic, professional and business communities, in particular, at the international level the partners are PRME, NBS Sustainability Centres Community; at the national level – the National ESG Alliance, SBER, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the Bank of Russia, Polyus, Norilsk Nickel, RUSAL, SIBUR, Rosatom, X5 Group, KEPT, E Change, YouSocial and other representatives of Russian business.

    The main objectives of the project are:

    Creation of innovative academic disciplines covering the main aspects of sustainable development, ESG and digital technologies, and development of a modern educational and methodological complex with a focus on problem-based learning; Implementation of project-based learning through the implementation of applied projects from customers from the professional and business community, organization of internships and practices in companies integrating the principles of sustainable development and ESG into their activities; Development of a culture of responsible behavior and management within the HSB to develop leadership qualities and management skills of students and graduates aimed at cultural and social change; Conducting applied scientific research in the field of sustainable development and ESG, contributing to the identification of best practices and new approaches with the involvement of students and graduates.

    We congratulate our colleagues on their victory and wish them further success!

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Local Plan plea for more brownfield sites to come forward

    Source: City of Canterbury

    Home  »  Latest News   »   Local Plan plea for more brownfield sites to come forward

    Owners of brownfield sites in the district that could be developed are being urged to come forward. 

    The plea is the latest part in the process of pulling together a draft Local Plan, the document that allocates land in the district for new homes, jobs, new schools, a new hospital and community uses. 

    Leader of the Council, Cllr Alan Baldock, said: “When we took office in May 2023, we decided to take a fresh look at the draft Local Plan and we consulted on our proposals in the spring of this year. 

    “While our draft already prioritised development on brownfield sites, the results of the consultation made it clear people wanted us to strain every sinew to try and find more. 

    “So, to make sure we leave no stone unturned, and before any final decisions on sites are made, we are asking people to come forward with potential brownfield sites within the district that are suitable, and available, for development. 

    “We are also open to hearing about a range of other types of sites that might be suitable too.” 

    This part of the Local Plan process is officially known as a Call For Sites and will run from 9am on Monday 21 October until 5pm on Monday 16 December. 

    Officers are keen to hear about new sites for any type of future use that have not been submitted before, and are particularly interested in: 

    • brownfield land that could be suitable and available for development for any future use (capable of accommodating a minimum of five dwellings or 500sqm floorspace) 
    • small and medium-sized sites (capable of accommodating a minimum of five dwellings up to around 100 dwellings) 
    • land that could be suitable for employment and commercial development (above 0.25ha or 500sqm floorspace)  
    • land that could be suitable for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation 
    • land that could be suitable for renewable energy schemes 

    The Call For Sites process follows a decision at the end of September by Canterbury City Council’s Cabinet to extend the current Local Plan timetable by around six to seven months so council officers could consider government changes to national planning policy which are coming down the track. 

    The deadline for a final draft has now moved from the one imposed by the last government of June 2025 to spring 2026. 

    The council will use this time to: 

    • digest the feedback it received from the consultation and what it should do about it 
    • think carefully, in light of that feedback and numerous other technical considerations, about where in the district the bigger sites, known as strategic allocations, that are needed to deliver the government’s housing targets should go. It has to be remembered housing targets are likely to be mandatory and the government has suggested the district’s target needs to go up ever so slightly 
    • keep talking to stakeholders such as Kent County Council, National Highways, Natural England, the Environment Agency, other councils etc 
    • continue to assess any potential sites that may come forward 
    • make progress on the modelling needed to test the council’s transport strategy is robust 
    • ensure its net zero and biodiversity net gain policy ambitions remain as robust as humanly possible 

    What is brownfield land? 

    A brownfield site is land which has previously been developed.  

    This usually means that it is occupied by a permanent structure, or has been in the past, including the curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface infrastructure.  

    Typical brownfield sites might include land used for commercial or industrial purposes such as warehousing or offices and car parks.  

    It excludes land that: 

    • is or was last occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings 
    • was developed for minerals extraction or waste disposal by landfill, where provision for restoration has been made 
    • is in built-up areas such as residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments 
    • was previously developed but where structural remains have blended into the landscape 

    People can suggest brownfield land that is currently in use, but for a site to be able to deliver development in the future, it must be available for development now or likely to be available within the Local Plan timescales (up to 2040). 

    Find out more about the Call for Sites process.

    Published: 22 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –