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Category: AM-NC

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla Statement on 5th Circuit DACA Case Oral Arguments

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, issued the following statement as oral arguments were heard in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Texas v. United States case on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:
    “Dreamers are integral members of our communities and culture, working essential jobs, contributing billions to our economy, and keeping our families safe. They do all this despite not knowing what their future holds. Today is yet another reminder of the fear and uncertainty caused by these obstructive lawsuits.
    “It’s past time for my Republican colleagues in Congress to join us in passing legislation to provide permanent protections for Dreamers. Failing to act now would deprive these young Americans of the American Dream and deprive us all of the benefits they bring to our country.”
    Senator Padilla is a leading voice in Congress for immigration reform. To commemorate the 12th anniversary of DACA, Padilla joined immigration advocates, DACA recipients, and other lawmakers to urge Congress to pass a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and call on President Biden to protect Dreamers and long-term undocumented communities through executive action. He previously joined his Senate colleagues and directly impacted immigrant youth leaders for a press conference calling on Republicans in Congress to work with Democrats to pass permanent protections for DACA recipients after the 5th Circuit’s 2022 ruling.
    Padilla continues to fight relentlessly to expand pathways to citizenship for millions of long-term U.S. residents. His bill, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, would update the existing Registry statute so that an immigrant may be eligible for lawful permanent resident status if they meet certain conditions, providing a much-needed pathway to a green card for more than 8 million people, including Dreamers, TPS holders, children of long-term visa holders, essential workers, and highly skilled members of our workforce. Padilla also recently celebrated President Biden’s executive actions to protect certain noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens from deportation and ease certain DACA recipients’ ability to be employed in the United States following his advocacy. He previously introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, which would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers, including Dreamers, as his first bill in Congress.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren Releases Report Highlighting Senate Record of Plans Passed Into Laws, Fights Won for Massachusetts

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    October 10, 2024
    Senator Warren has beaten special interests, fought for workers and consumers, and worked across the aisle to lift up the middle class in Massachusetts and beyond
    Senator Warren has passed 44 bills into law; 60% of passed bills are bipartisan
    Text of Report (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new report detailing her record of fighting — and winning — for consumers and working families in Massachusetts and across the country. The report, titled “From Plans to Law: Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Record of Accomplishments from 2013 – 2024,” provides a comprehensive overview of Senator Warren’s record of success in the Senate, from taking on special interests, to fighting for workers and consumers, to working across the aisle to lift up the middle class. 
    Senator Warren has passed 44 bills into law by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Over 60% of these bills passed into law were bipartisan. In addition to standalone legislation, Senator Warren secured 110 provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) signed into law by Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. Senator Warren has also secured more than $50 billion in federal investments for Massachusetts, including more than $20 billion during the Biden-Harris Administration.
    Senator Warren has attended hundreds of hearings and served as the chair of three subcommittees: the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s Economic Policy subcommittee, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Personnel subcommittee, and the Senate Finance Committee’s Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth subcommittee. She has chaired 28 subcommittee hearings over the last three and a half years — including three held in Massachusetts.
    Senator Warren has also aggressively used the power of congressional oversight to fight for working families, writing thousands of oversight letters to government officials and private sector CEOs, and using the information she obtains to effect change by the private sector and by the executive branch, and to inform her legislative work. She has released over 40 investigative reports exposing issues from broken policies in U.S. trade agreements to the failure of big banks to rein in scams to the failure of the pharmaceutical industry to meet its promises to provide lower-cost insulin for patients.
    Key accomplishments include:
    Senator Warren made corporations pay a fairer share — and used the revenue to combat the climate crisis. Senator Warren introduced legislative proposals to make big corporations pay their fair share, and published a report showing how multi-billion-dollar corporations exploit loopholes to pay pennies on the dollar of what they should owe. Congress enacted Senator Warren’s 15 percent corporate alternative minimum tax (CAMT) as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, meaning the CAMT helped pay for the largest climate package in U.S. history. It was the first corporate tax increase in three decades.
    This year, Senator Warren worked across the aisle to guarantee automatic cash refunds for canceled flights. Senator Warren worked with Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) to pass a bipartisan amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act, requiring airlines to guarantee automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights — defeating airline lobbyists’ efforts to block the provision.
    Senator Warren pushed to get rid of junk pharma patents, paving the way for more generics to come to market. In response to Big Pharma’s abuse of the patent system, which keeps generic competitors from entering the market and lowering costs for consumers, Senator Warren pushed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and FDA to strengthen their oversight of pharmaceutical companies and close regulatory loopholes that these companies exploit to limit competition. She also pushed the FTC to crack down on junk patents. The FTC’s subsequent enforcement caused multiple companies to remove junk patents from the FDA’s Orange Book and contributed to the overwhelming public pressure on inhaler manufacturers that led them to slash costs for patients from hundreds of dollars to just $35.
    Read the full report here.
    Senator Warren has used her legislative power to score major wins for working people, including:
    Securing $50 billion in federal investment for Massachusetts through the American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Chips and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.
    Preventing a collapse in child care infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic by rapidly developing a plan to inject $50 billion in emergency funding into the child care system and leading the Child Care is Essential Act.
    Breaking the hearing aid monopoly in partnership with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), lowering costs for people with hearing loss.
    Securing $100 million to fight the opioid crisis and passing her slate of five bipartisan bills, as part of the SUPPORT Act.
    Safeguarding abortion care for military veterans and servicemembers.
    Protecting servicemembers from blast overpressure with a bipartisan bill (co-led with Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)), many elements of which the Department of Defense later incorporated into its updated blast overpressure policies.
    Defending servicemembers’ rights by requiring the Department of Defense to create the first-ever military housing complaint database and investigate sexual assault and harassment of students in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (JROTC).
    Securing investments in scientific research and development, and passed her bipartisan proposal to increase the inclusion of women participants in medical research, which was adopted as part of the 21st Century Cures Act.
    Passing a bipartisan bill (co-led with Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.)) to help workers and retirees keep track of their retirement accounts across jobs.
    Cracking down on wealthy tax cheats by introducing a bill to increase funding for the IRS — a priority which was later included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which appropriated a historic $80 billion increase in IRS funding over ten years.
    Lowering prescription drug costs by championing key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that directly reduced the cost of insulin, limited out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for seniors, and allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers for the first time.
    Senator Warren’s oversight work has reined in corporate abuse, including:
    Pressuring Wells Fargo CEOs John Stumpf and Tim Sloan, as well as members of the Wells Fargo Board of Directors, to resign after cheating consumers..
    Pressuring Zelle to reimburse defrauded customers and change policies to protect consumers.
    Helping to block powerful mergers that would have raised costs, including Jet Blue / Spirit, Choice Hotels / Wyndham Hotels, Aetna / Humana, and Lockheed Martin / Aerojet.
    Securing relief for victims of Corinthian College and other predatory for-profit schools.
    Holding student loan servicers accountable, leading to Navient exiting the federal student loan system.
    Protecting renters by opening an investigation into RealPage, a software that helped corporate landlords engage in apparent price fixing.
    Prompting the delisting of key sham patents in FDA’s Orange Book, paving the way for more generic competition for critical drugs.
    Helping return $16.1 million of taxpayer money to the Department of Defense from military contractor TransDigm.
    Securing ethics commitments from high-level nominees to avoid conflicts of interest and shut the revolving door.
    Senator Warren has influenced executive actions and policy-making to advance key priorities, including:
    Laying the groundwork for regulators to put money back in Americans’ pockets by curbing overdraft fees and credit card late fees.
    Successfully encouraging the FDA to follow the science and reduce barriers to accessing mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, including by allowing the medication to be dispensed at certified pharmacies and by mail.
    Helping to ban non-competes, making wages and benefits more competitive for workers.
    Helping establish a program for millions of Americans to file their taxes directly with the IRS, for free.
    Protecting seniors by securing a minimum staffing requirement for nursing homes, which will save over 13,000 lives each year.
    Protecting retirees from bad advice from investment brokers by leading an investigation into conflicts of interest.
    Fighting against the FDA’s discriminatory blood donation ban for men who have sex with men, leading FDA to replace the policy with one that better reflects the most up-to-date science.
    Working to stop Big Tech’s attempt to sneak unfair practices into digital trade agreements.
    Leading the charge to cancel student loan debt for almost 5 million Americans.
    Sounding the alarm about bank consolidation for years, contributing to President Biden’s action to strengthen DOJ bank merger guidelines.
    Read the full report here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren, Lawmakers Renew Legislative Push to Stop Private Equity Looting

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    October 10, 2024
    Warren, Lawmakers Renew Legislative Push to Stop Private Equity Looting
    The bill would close loopholes and end incentives for private equity pillaging.
    Updated text responds to private equity’s ruinous takeover of now-bankrupt Steward Health Care, preventing a similar collapse from ever happening again.
    Text of Bill (PDF) | Text of One-Pager (PDF) | Text of Section-by-Section (PDF) | Text of Economic Analysis (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. – Today, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.),Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), along with Representatives Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), reintroduced the Stop Wall Street Looting Act, comprehensive legislation to fundamentally reform the private equity industry and level the playing field by forcing private investment firms to take responsibility for the outcomes of companies they take over, empowering workers and protecting investors. This reintroduction comes after private equity firm Cerberus looted Steward Health Care, leaving hospitals, patients, and workers hanging out to dry.
    “Private equity takeovers are legal looting that make a handful of Wall Street executives very rich while costing thousands of people their jobs, putting valuable companies out of ­business, and in the case of health care, is literally a matter of life and death,” said Senator Warren. “Our bill is designed to close loopholes and end incentives for private equity pillaging – and it will make sure what happened at Steward never happens again.”
    “When out-of-state investors buy Wisconsin companies only to turn a quick profit and shutter their doors, it’s Wisconsin workers and communities that suffer. I’m committed to ensuring that when Wisconsin businesses are purchased, Wisconsin families are protected and not left high and dry like we’ve seen in places like Janesville, Green Bay, and Waukesha,” said Senator Baldwin. “Our legislation will help put workers and our community first – protecting them from predatory practices that too often result in devastating job losses for Wisconsin’s working families.”
    “More and more Americans are feeling the presence of private equity in our economy, including in critical sectors like housing and health care,” said Senator Smith. “They arrive promising to revitalize communities and turn around struggling hospitals and companies, but far too often, they extract value for themselves at the expense of workers and ordinary people. This bill will help put an end to their most egregious practices and provide accountability.”
    “The greed of private equity robs too many Americans of stability, security, and prosperity. In Massachusetts, the Steward Health Care crisis is just one example of private equity sacrificing the long-term prosperity of workers, customers, and communities for their short-term profits. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act would finally prevent private equity firms from monetizing productive sectors of the economy and hollowing them out by laying off workers and closing businesses. We need to put in guardrails for private equity to ensure they cannot sacrifice people for profits,” said Senator Markey.
    “It’s long past time for billionaires and big corporations to stop gambling with hardworking Americans’ and their communities’ assets in service of corporate greed,” Representative Pocan said. “In Wisconsin, we’ve seen what happens when private equity firms like Sun Capital raid companies for their wealth and leave workers and communities to pick up the pieces. When Sun Capital took over Shopko – a Wisconsin-based retail chain that had stood strong for more than 50 years – they drained it dry, buried it in debt, pushed it into bankruptcy, and abandoned roughly 14,000 workers. This bill will finally hold these predatory firms accountable and protect workers from being plundered by corporate greed.”
    Since 2020, private equity fund assets have grown exponentially, reaching nearly $8 trillion in 2023 compared to $4.5 trillion in 2020. Private equity funds have purchased companies in nearly every sector of the economy — from nursing homes, to newspapers, to grocery stores — laying off hundreds of thousands of workers and ruining thousands of companies in the process.
    The private equity industry claims to invest in companies while also earning high returns for investors by using their management expertise to make the companies’ operations more efficient, and then selling the companies at a profit. In reality, private equity funds often load mountains of debt on the companies they buy, strip them of their assets, and extract exorbitant fees and dividends, guaranteeing payouts for themselves regardless of how the investment performs. When their debt-ridden investments go belly-up, private equity funds walk away with no responsibility for the mess they create, leaving workers in the lurch and forcing communities to clean up their mess.
    It’s time to level the playing field, protect workers, consumers, and investors, and force private equity firms to take responsibility for the companies they control. This bill does so by closing the loopholes that allow private equity to capture all the rewards of their investments while insulating themselves from risk and liability. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act will:
    Require Private Investment Funds to Have Skin in the Game: Private equity firms, the firm’s general partners, and their insiders will all be on the hook for the liabilities of companies under their control—including debt, legal judgments, and pension-related obligations—to better align the incentives of private equity firms and the companies they own. Liability would not extend to the fund’s limited partners, ensuring that only those that control portfolio firms are on the hook. In order to encourage more responsible use of debt, the bill ends the tax subsidy for excessive leverage and closes the carried interest loophole.
    End Looting of Portfolio Companies. To give portfolio companies a shot at success, the bill limits how much money private equity firms can extract from companies and closes the loophole that private equity firms have used to hide certain assets from bankruptcy courts. Every transaction since Steward Health Care was bought by private equity would be subject to review as part of Steward’s bankruptcy to determine whether it can be clawed back as a fraudulent transfer.
    Protect Workers, Customers and Communities. This proposal prevents private equity firms from walking away when a company fails and protects workers and communities by:
    Prioritizing workers’ pay in the bankruptcy process and amending the laws to increase the priority claims for unpaid earnings and other benefits from $10,000 to $20,000 per worker.
    Creating incentives for job retention so that workers can benefit from a company’s second chance.
    Ending the immunity of private equity firms from legal liability when their portfolio companies break the law, including the WARN Act. When workers at a plant are shortchanged or residents at a nursing home are hurt because private equity firms force portfolio companies to cut corners, the firm should be liable.
    Expanding protections for striking workers by clarifying unfair labor practices and the employer duty to bargain.
    Empower Investors by Increasing Transparency. Private equity managers will be required to disclose fees, returns, and other information about their funds and the corporate loans they make so that investors can monitor their investments. This would have required Cerberus to disclose the terms of its investments in Steward Health Care, which Cerberus continues to withhold from Congress.
    Put Guardrails Around Accessing Public Funds. Firms receiving any funds from a federal or state agency must publicly disclose how the funds are used and will be prohibited from acquiring any company or making a distribution to investors for two years after receipt.
    Drive REITS out of Health Care. Prohibits payments from federal health programs to entities that sell assets or use assets for a loan collateral made to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) d; repeals a rule in the Tax Code that allows taxable REIT subsidiaries to exert influence on the operations of health care entities; and removes the 20 percent pass-through deduction, passed in the 2017 Trump tax cuts, for all REIT investors. Ralph de la Torre executed a sale-leaseback transaction of the Steward properties in exchange for a $1.25B payout from a REIT; this would have banned the hospitals from continuing to receive federal dollars upon executing the property sale—thus likely preventing the sale.
    The bill is supported by Action Center on Race and the Economy, AFL-CIO, American Economic Liberties Project, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Popular Democracy, Coalition for Patient-Centered Care, Communications Workers of America, Community Catalyst, Economic Policy Institute, Indivisible, Massachusetts Nurses Association, National Employment Law Project, National Nurses United, National Women’s Law Center, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, People’s Action, Public Citizen, SEIU, Strong for All, Student Borrower Protection Center, Take Medicine Back, Take on Wall Street, UNITE HERE, United for Respect, Working Families Party, and Worth Rises.
    “Private equity has an immense impact on the U.S. economy, touching virtually every aspect of life from healthcare to housing to technology to retail and more. Private equity’s extractive playbook harms workers and communities, diminishes access to quality affordable health care, worsens the housing crisis and the climate crisis, and perpetuates systemic racism. Without major changes, a handful of ultra wealthy Wall Street executives will continue getting richer at everyone else’s expense. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act takes important, much needed steps to reign in Wall Street predatory practices and promote a just and sustainable economy,” said Lisa Donner, Executive Director, Americans for Financial Reform.
    “Union busting, pollution, and bankruptcy aren’t side effects of the private equity model: they are the model,” said Porter McConnell, Take on Wall Street. “It’s a smash-and-grab, plain and simple. That’s why we are so pleased to see comprehensive legislation like the Stop Wall Street Looting Act introduced in Congress today. We created the loopholes in the law that allowed the private equity industry to thrive, and we can end them. Our communities, our economy, and our democracy are depending on it.” 
    “As we fight for more public investment in the child care sector, we must also rein in private equity’s ability to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. Building guardrails – such as those in the Stop Wall Street Looting Act – will help put the wellbeing of children and families ahead of private equity’s profits,” said Melissa Boteach, Vice President, Income Security and Child Care/Early Learning, National Women’s Law Center.
    “Private equity firms, which control nearly $15 trillion in assets, routinely prioritize quick, outsized profits, at the expense of workers, patients, renters, and local economies as part of their business model,” said Chris Noble, Policy Director for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “The Stop Wall Street Looting Act provides an essential check on this opaque industry. By addressing the systemic risks tied to debt-laden private equity buyouts, this legislation prioritizes the long-term health of businesses and communities over short-term profits for wealthy private equity executives.” 
    “Private equity should have no influence over medical treatment decisions made jointly by independent physicians and their patients. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act goes a long way towards ensuring physicians, in consultation with their patients, are able to deliver quality, patient-centered, cost-efficient care without corporate interference,” said Dr. Stephen M. McCollam, Chair, Coalition for Patient-Centered Care.
    “Wall Street private equity firms have proven themselves to be a parasite on workers, our economy, and American retailers by gutting companies for profit and driving mass layoffs. Holding billionaire profiteers accountable for the damage they do to our working families and communities is imperative to addressing growing economic inequality,” said United for Respect Co-Executive Directors Bianca Agustin and Terrysa Guerra in a joint statement. “The Stop Wall Street Looting Act will help close loopholes in our laws that for too long have allowed private equity to pillage companies and amass huge profits while workers lose their jobs and are left with nothing. United For Respect is proud to support this bill — and we need all legislators to join us in protecting workers and putting Wall Street on the hook for the havoc they reap.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Leads Illinois Delegation In Requesting $50 Million In Reimbursements For MWRD’s Work On the Thornton Reservoir

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    10.10.24
    The reimbursed funds would be used to support environmental justice communities in becoming more climate-resilient
    CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), today sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor urging the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) to include $50 million in construction funds in its Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Work Plan to reimburse the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago for the work it has completed on the design and construction of the Thornton Composite Reservoir.  As the lawmakers noted in their letter, including funding to reimburse MWRD would allow the agency to focus on supporting environmental justice communities.
    “We are writing to request that you include $50 million in Construction funds in the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Work Plan to reimburse the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago for design and construction work conducted on the Thornton Composite Reservoir,” the lawmakers wrote.
    “This funding will allow MWRD to reinvest in the historically underserved and low-income communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois,” the lawmakers continued their letter.
    In 2009, MWRD executed an amendment to its Project Cooperation Agreement with the Army Corps for the design and construction of the Thornton Composite Reservoir, enabling MWRD to work on the project while being eligible for federal reimbursement.  Despite the reservoir being in service since 2015 and providing $40 million per year in flood reduction benefits to 14 communities, the Army Corps still owes MWRD approximately $200 million in reimbursements.
    “Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers owes MWRD approximately $200 million in reimbursements for the cost of designing and constructing the Thornton Reservoir, which is needed to support disadvantaged communities struggling with flooding.  For example, Cook County experienced extreme flooding during two storms events in 2023 that led to two major disaster declarations,” the lawmakers wrote.  “Some of these reimbursement funds would be used to match FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant funding for projects to address flood damages in Chicago’s south suburbs.  Including a $50 million reimbursement in the FY2025 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan will ensure that MWRD can work to protect these communities from the next set of disasters driven by the climate crisis.”
    MWRD has preemptively ensured that the reimbursed funds would be used to support environmental justice communities, addressing existing damage and improving climate-resilience.
    “MWRD has applied the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and confirmed that the requested funding will be used to fund stormwater management projects in six Justice40 disadvantaged communities,” the lawmakers wrote.  “These communities include areas that meet both the socioeconomic indicators and the CEQ/Justice 40 Initiative Key Categories, including: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, reduction and remediation of legacy pollution, critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure, health burdens, and workforce development. This reimbursement will help these communities create resilient futures.”
    The lawmakers concluded their letter by emphasizing the necessity of including the reimbursement funds in the FY25 Work Plan to support environmental justice communities.
    “As the Corps determines how to best address its environmental justice obligations, we strongly urge you to include $50 million in Construction funds for reimbursement to MWRD in the FY 2025 Work Plan.  The reimbursement to MWRD will help create a better future for the disadvantaged communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois,” the lawmakers concluded the letter.
    Durbin has previously secured additional reimbursements from the Corps for its work on Thornton Reservoir.  In Fiscal Year 2022, Durbin secured $12 million in reimbursement funds in the Army Corps’ FY22 Work Plan.  The following year, Durbin secured $7.2 million in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Construction Spend Plan for the project.  In Fiscal Year 2024, Durbin also secured $20 million in the Army Corps’ work plan for reimbursement.
    A copy of the letter is available here and below:
    October 10, 2024
    Dear Assistant Secretary Connor:
    We are writing to request that you include $50 million in Construction funds in the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Work Plan to reimburse the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago for design and construction work conducted on the Thornton Composite Reservoir.
    This funding will allow MWRD to reinvest in the historically underserved and low- income communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois. It will build on this year’s $20 million in the FY2024 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan; last year’s $7.2 million reimbursement to MWRD inthe Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Construction Spend Plan, Summer 2023 Addendum; and the $12 million in the FY2022 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan, allowing MWRD to complete construction of the Robbins Flood Protection Project. 
    In 2009, MWRD executed an amendment to its Project Cooperation Agreement with the Army Corps for the design and construction of the Thornton Composite Reservoir. This enabledMWRD to design and construct the Thornton Composite Reservoir project and allowed it to be eligible for federal reimbursement. The reservoir was put into service in 2015 and now provides an estimated $40 million per year in flood reduction benefits to 14 communities, protecting more than 35,000 structures from flooding. 
    Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers owes MWRD approximately $200 million in reimbursements for the cost of designing and constructing the Thornton Reservoir, which is needed to support disadvantaged communities struggling with flooding.  For example, Cook County experienced extreme flooding during two storms events in 2023 that led to two major disaster declarations.  Some of these reimbursement funds would be used to match FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant funding for projects to address flood damages in Chicago’s south suburbs.  Including a $50 million reimbursement in the FY2025 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan will ensure that MWRD can work to protect these communities from the next set of disasters driven by the climate crisis.
    MWRD has applied the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and confirmed that the requested funding will be used to fund
    stormwater management projects in six Justice40 disadvantaged communities.  The Thornton Reservoir’s service area also is in a census tract considered to be disadvantaged under CEQ’s
    criteria. These communities include areas that meet both the socioeconomic indicators and the CEQ/Justice 40 Initiative Key Categories, including: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, reduction and remediation of legacy pollution, critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure, health burdens, and workforce development. This reimbursement will help these communities create resilient futures.
    As the Corps determines how to best address its environmental justice obligations, we strongly urge you to include $50 million in Construction funds for reimbursement to MWRD in the FY 2025 Work Plan.  The reimbursement to MWRD will help create a better future for the disadvantaged communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois.  Thank you for your consideration of our request.
    Sincerely,
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth, Leaders Commemorate 1908 Race Riot National Monument Designation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    October 09, 2024

    [SPRINGFIELD, IL] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined local and federal leaders in commemorating the designation of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot site as a national monument. Duckworth has worked for years to secure national monument recognition for the site, which the Biden-Harris Administration designated in August. The 1908 Springfield Race Riot was a pivotal event in American history that spurred the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). With less than a quarter of National Parks devoted to recognizing the histories of diverse peoples and cultures, designating this site as a national monument also helps guarantee that public lands reflect the diversity of our country. Photos from today’s event are available on the Senator’s website.

    “The 1908 Race Riots and the history that happened here deserve to be commemorated,” said Duckworth. “And now, I’m proud it will be, thanks to President Biden’s action to designate this site as a national monument—an action which not only makes sure the painful lessons learned here will not be lost for generations to come, but also helps ensure our national parks better reflect our nation’s people and stories.”

    Duckworth was joined today by local and national leaders including U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton and more.

    116 years ago, a violent mob of white residents murdered at least six Black Americans, burned down Black homes and businesses and attacked hundreds of residents for no other reason than the color of their skin. Duckworth began calling for national monument recognition in 2018, first leading the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument Act, with U.S Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), in 2019 and again in 2021. Last year they re-introduced the legislation, which was reported favorably out of committee, with U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) introducing companion legislation in the House.

    During an excavation as part of the Springfield High Speed Rail project, foundations and artifacts from homes destroyed during the riot were uncovered. An agreement with community members was reached in 2018 to excavate the remains and designate the uncovered site a memorial.

    Duckworth has made elevating disenfranchised communities and their stories one of her main priorities while in Congress. Last year, after continued efforts from Duckworth, the Biden-Harris Administration designated the church that held Emmett Till’s pivotal open-casket wake in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood as a national monument. Duckworth’s leadership was critical in the site designation, originally introducing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, and Roberts Temple National Historic Site Act in 2021 and again in 2023.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: AI affects everyone – including Indigenous people. It’s time we have a say in how it’s built

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tamika Worrell, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Critical Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University

    Since artificial intelligence (AI) became mainstream over the past two years, many of the risks it poses have been widely documented. As well as fuelling deep fake porn, threatening personal privacy and accelerating the climate crisis, some people believe the emerging technology could even lead to human extinction.

    But some risks of AI are still poorly understood. These include the very particular risks to Indigenous knowledges and communities.

    There’s a simple reason for this: the AI industry and governments have largely ignored Indigenous people in the development and regulation of AI technologies. Put differently, the world of AI is too white.

    AI developers and governments need to urgently fix this if they are serious about ensuring everybody shares the benefits of AI. As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people like to say, “nothing about us, without us”.

    Indigenous concerns

    Indigenous peoples around the world are not ignoring AI. They are having conversations, conducting research and sharing their concerns about the current trajectory of it and related technologies.

    A well-documented problem is the theft of cultural intellectual property. For example, users of AI image generation programs such as DeepAI can artificially generate artworks in mere seconds which mimic Indigenous styles and stories of art.

    This demonstrates how easy it is for someone using AI to misappropriate cultural knowledges. These generations are taken from large data sets of publicly available imagery to create something new. But they miss the storying and cultural knowledge present in our art practices.

    AI technologies also fuel the spread of misinformation about Indigenous people.

    The internet is already riddled with misinformation about Indigenous people. The long-running Creative Spirits website, which is maintained by a non-Indigenous person, is a prominent example.

    Generative AI systems are likely to make this problem worse. They often conflate us with other global Indigenous peoples around the world. They also draw on inappropriate sources, including Creative Spirits.

    During last year’s Voice to Parliament referendum in Australia, “no” campaigners also used AI-generated images depicting Indigenous people. This demonstrates the role of AI in political contexts and the harm it can cause to us.

    Another problem is the lack of understanding of AI among Indigenous people. Some 40% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Australia don’t know what generative AI is. This reflects an urgent need to provide relevant information and training to Indigenous communities on the use of the technology.

    There is also concern about the use of AI in classroom contexts and its specific impact on Indigenous students.

    Looking to the future

    Hawaiian and Samoan Scholar Jason Lewis says:

    We must think more expansively about AI and all the other computational systems in which we find ourselves increasingly enmeshed. We need to expand the operational definition of intelligence used when building these systems to include the full spectrum of behaviour we humans use to make sense of the world.

    Key to achieving this is the idea of “Indigenous data sovereignty”. This would mean Indigenous people retain sovereignty over their own data, in the sense that they own and control access to it.

    In Australia, a collective known as Maiam nayri Wingara offers important considerations and principles for data sovereignty and governance. They affirm Indigenous rights to govern and control our data ecosystems, from creation to infrastructure.

    The National Agreement on Closing the Gap also affirms the importance of Indigenous data control and access.

    This is reaffirmed at a global level as well. In 2020, a group of Indigenous scholars from around the world published a position paper laying out how Indigenous protocols can inform ethically created AI. This kind of AI would centralise the knowledges of Indigenous peoples.

    In a positive step, the Australian government’s recently proposed set of AI guardrails highlight the importance of Indigenous data sovereignty.

    For example, the guardrails include the need to ensure additional transparency and make extra considerations when it comes to using data about or owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to “mitigate the perpetuation of existing social inequalities”.

    Indigenous Futurisms

    Grace Dillon, a scholar from a group of North American Indigenous people known as the Anishinaabe, first coined the term “Indigenous Futurisms”.

    Ambelin Kwaymullina, an academic and futurist practitioner from the Palyku nation in Western Australia, defines it as:

    visions of what-could-be that are informed by ancient Aboriginal cultures and by our deep understandings of oppressive systems.

    These visions, Kwaymullina writes, are “as diverse as Indigenous peoples ourselves”. They are also unified by “an understanding of reality as living, interconnected whole in which human beings are but one strand of life amongst many, and a non-linear view of time”.

    So how can AI technologies be informed by Indigenous ways of knowing?

    A first step is for industry to involve Indigenous people in creating, maintaining and evaluating the technologies – rather than asking them retrospectively to approve work already done.

    Governments need to also do more than highlight the importance of Indigenous data sovereignty in policy documents. They need to meaningfully consult with Indigenous peoples to regulate the use of these technologies. This consultation must aim to ensure ethical AI behaviour among organisations and everyday users that honours Indigenous worldviews and realities.

    AI developers and governments like to claim they are serious about ensuring AI technology benefits all of humanity. But unless they start involving Indigenous people more in developing and regulating the technology, their claims ring hollow.

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

    – ref. AI affects everyone – including Indigenous people. It’s time we have a say in how it’s built – https://theconversation.com/ai-affects-everyone-including-indigenous-people-its-time-we-have-a-say-in-how-its-built-239605

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Joins 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument Commemoration

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    10.10.24
    SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) last night attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to designate the 1908 Springfield Race Riot site as a National Monument alongside U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13).
    This designation ensures the historic site will be preserved to tell the story of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908—a critical event in American history that spurred the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). One hundred sixteen years ago, a violent mob of white residents murdered at least eight Black Americans, burned down Black homes and businesses, and attacked hundreds of residents for no other reason than the color of their skin. With less than a quarter of National Parks devoted to recognizing the histories of diverse peoples and cultures, this designation of the 1908 Race Riot Site as a National Monument will help guarantee that units of the National Park Service reflect the diversity of the country.
    “The 1908 Springfield Race Riot was a violent and hateful tragedy, but it’s a part of Illinois’ and our nation’s history that we cannot turn a blind eye to.  The story, which led to the creation of the NAACP, must be told,” said Durbin.  “I have worked with Senator Duckworth and Representative Budzinski to push for this historical site to be recognized as a national monument, and I’m grateful that President Biden understood the gravity of designating this site in Springfield.  Together, we can honor the lives lost during the deadly riots and reaffirm our commitment to fighting prejudice in Illinois and across the country.”
    Durbin, Duckworth, and Budzinski’s leadership has been critical in creating this site as a National Monument. Durbin and Duckworth first introduced the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument Act in 2019 and again in 2021. In January 2021, Durbin and Duckworth penned a letter to then-President-Elect Biden calling on the incoming Biden Administration to declare the site a national monument and increase the number of national parks devoted to recognizing the histories of diverse peoples and culture. Last year, they reintroduced the legislation, with Budzinski introducing companion legislation in the House. In August, the President signed a proclamation establishing the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument.
    During an excavation as part of the Springfield High Speed Rail project, foundations and artifacts from homes destroyed during the riot were uncovered. An agreement with community members was reached in 2018 to excavate the remains and designate the uncovered site a memorial.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘Violence at all levels’: UN report into the abuse of women and girls in sport is a wake-up call for Australia

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor (Practice), Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, Monash University

    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

    This week the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls presented a report detailing the violence experienced by women and girls in sport globally.

    The report provides a global snapshot of the abuse women athletes experience, who is most likely to perpetrate the violence, and makes recommendations on what should been done to promote safety of women and girls.

    Off the back of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic games, where Australia cheered on the record-breaking success of women athletes, the report should be a wake-up call for Australian sports and clubs.

    Abuse of women and girls in sport

    Drawing on more than 100 submissions and consultations with 50 people, the report finds:

    Women and girls in sport face widespread, overlapping and grave forms and manifestations of violence at all levels.

    These abusive behaviours include coercive control, physical violence, corporal punishment, verbal abuse, social exclusion, bullying and identity abuse.

    The impacts of this violence are wide-ranging: physical injuries, insomnia, fear and anxiety, reduced self-confidence, substance misuse, eating disorders, self harm, and decline in athletic performance and participation.

    These impacts can extend well beyond the athlete’s involvement in their sport.

    Women and girls also experience economic violence in sport. For example, when women athletes do not have control over their earnings, or when they are coerced into signing exploitative contracts.

    The report notes women athletes also experience heightened rates of abusive and harassing behaviours in online settings. This includes sexual harassment and threats, racism, ridicule, body shaming, sexualised comments, stalking, doxing and revenge porn.

    Perpetrators are wide-ranging. They include coaches, managers, spectators, teachers, peers, sports lawyers, referees and medical staff.

    The report describes sexual harassment and abuse as “rampant” and acknowledges the high rate of sexual violence, in particular with relationships between coaches and athletes.

    This includes grooming of younger athletes, where power and control dynamics, combined with an abuse of trust between an adult and child athlete, provide the conditions for sexual abuse to proliferate.

    It follows a 2023 report from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and UN Women, which estimates 21% of girls worldwide have experienced at least one form of sexual abuse as a child in sport.

    Is this a problem in Australia?

    Australians often pride themselves on how sports bring the nation, communities and families together but we too have a wide-reaching problem in this area.

    In 2021, a review of Swimming Australia found women athletes and coaches had experienced physical and mental abuse while the “Change the Routine” review of Gymnastics Australia revealed child abuse and neglect, misconduct, bullying, abuse, sexual harassment and assault towards gymnasts.

    More recently, a review by Sports Integrity Australia into Australian volleyball, which revealed systemic verbal and physical abuse of athletes, prompted a formal apology to past athletes.

    And a 2024 Deakin University study showed 87% of Australian sportswomen had experienced online harm within the past year.

    A lack of accountability and consequence

    In the traditionally male-dominated culture of sport, abusers have often gone unsanctioned, while those who experience abuse often leave their sport early and with significant consequences to their careers, financial stability, and mental and physical wellbeing.

    There are examples where abuse has been minimised or ignored by those in leadership to protect the reputation of the team or the sporting code, and where coaches have been able to move between teams without consequence.

    Take, for example, the sexual abuse of young female gymnasts by United States coach Larry Nassar.

    The first complaint against Nassar was made in 1997. Despite this, and the numerous other complaints which followed, Nassar remained in his coaching position with USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University until 2015. In December 2017 he was convicted of numerous counts of sexual abuse of minors.

    Outcomes of investigations by sporting bodies often remain confidential. For example, in 2017 the Fremantle Dockers and the AFL were criticised for their use of a “confidentiality agreement” in settling a sexual harassment matter.

    This impunity demonstrates a significant lack of accountability.

    The barriers to reporting abuse in sport

    There are significant barriers to reporting.

    Women elite athletes may fear losing their funding and sponsorship deals if they report abuse.

    In Australia, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard child athletes are most at risk of experiencing abuse by a person of authority (such as a coach) when they are about to achieve their best performance.

    As the UN Report states, it is at this time that “there is very little to gain by revealing the abuse and too much to lose”.

    This must change.

    When sporting codes put a desire to win above safeguarding and accountability, the clear message sent to victims is that violence is excusable, and that sporting heroes are immune to the consequences of their abusive actions.

    Raising awareness around early identification of abusive behaviours is key.

    The UN report reveals athletes often feel uncertain and uncomfortable in identifying early forms of abusive behaviours and lack information on what supports are available to them when they do.

    Ensuring a suite of reporting pathways is also critical. There is no one-size-fits-all model.

    Why Australia should take the lead

    Participating in sport has significant benefits. But sport settings must be safe for all.

    Many sporting organisations and clubs have recognised the problem of abuse of women and girls in sport, rolling out respect and responsibility programs, sexual harassment policies, as well as clearer reporting and investigation policies.

    This is a good start but must be built on.

    Indeed, the safety of women and girls must be a key focus of the Australian High Performance “Win Well” strategy for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Recent initiatives and policy changes should be monitored to examine how they work and whether they deliver safer outcomes for women and girls in sport at all levels.

    Responses to proven allegations of abuse must hold perpetrators to account. And critically, investigations must be independent, transparent and timely.

    The UN report reminds us “sports is a microcosm of society”.

    Violence against women and children in Australia has been declared a national emergency – ensuring the safety of women and girls in all sport settings is one critical component of addressing that crisis.

    Kate has received funding for family violence-related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, the Victorian, Queensland and ACT governments, the Commonwealth Department of Social Services and the Victorian Women’s Trust. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her role at Monash University and is wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria.

    – ref. ‘Violence at all levels’: UN report into the abuse of women and girls in sport is a wake-up call for Australia – https://theconversation.com/violence-at-all-levels-un-report-into-the-abuse-of-women-and-girls-in-sport-is-a-wake-up-call-for-australia-239085

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A patchwork of spinifex: how we returned cultural burning to the Great Sandy Desert

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Braedan Taylor, Traditional Owner; Karajarri Lands Trust Association/UWA, Indigenous Knowledge

    How can a desert burn? Australia’s vast deserts aren’t just sand dunes – they’re often dotted with flammable spinifex grass hummocks. When heavy rains fall, grass grows quickly before drying out. That’s how a desert can burn.

    When our Karajarri and Ngurrara ancestors lived nomadic lifestyles in what’s now called the Great Sandy Desert in northwestern Australia, they lit many small fires in spinifex grass as they walked. Fires were used seasonally for ceremonies, signalling to others, flushing out animals, making travel easier (spinifex is painfully sharp), cleaning campsites, and stimulating fresh vegetation growth ready for foraging or luring game when people returned a few months later. The result was a patchwork desert.

    After colonisation, this ended. Without management, the spinifex and grassy deserts began to burn in some of the largest fires in Australia.

    But now the work of caring for desert country (pirra) with fire (jungku, or warlu) has begun again. We are Karajarri and Ngurrara rangers who care for 110,000 square kilometres of the Great Sandy Desert. Our techniques have changed – we now drop incendiaries from helicopters to cover more distance – but our goals are similar. Guided by our elders, we are combining traditional knowledge with modern technologies and science to refine how we manage fire in a changing world.

    In research published today, we and our co-authors paired analysis of historic fire patterns with five years of fauna surveys. Put together, we found mature spinifex was important for creatures of the Great Sandy Desert – and that means we should burn small and often, like our ancestors.

    Fire and sand

    In the 1940s and ‘50s, the Royal Australian Air Force photographed the Great Sandy Desert from the air. These photos were taken before our people moved to settlements and pastoral stations between the 1960s and ’80s.

    That means these aerial photographs capture a time when traditional burns were still happening.

    Our ranger teams are studying these photographs to draw out the fire patterns produced by our ancestors.

    These photographs tell a story. Our ancestors burned many small areas, creating a complicated patchwork of spinifex at different stages of regrowth after fire.

    But they also left a great deal of mature spinifex – large old hummocks that hadn’t burnt for years. This patchwork of burned and unburned areas made it hard for bushfires to spread far and fast. When traditional burning practices stopped, bushfires became common.

    The knowledge contained in these old photos is very valuable. The images give us clear goals for our fire management. We combine this with guidance from elders and information on fuel loads across Country gleaned from remote sensing and weather modelling, to plan our fire management.

    We could see where our ancestors burnt (white patches) in the Karajarri Indigenous Protected Area in this aerial photo from the late 1940s.
    National Library of Australia, CC BY-NC-ND

    What does fire mean for desert creatures?

    Australian deserts are remarkably biodiverse, especially in reptiles. In a single clump of mature spinifex, you might find up to 18 different species of lizard. Then there are snakes and goannas, as well as mammals such as marsupial moles found only in the arid zone.

    Spinifex hummocks are crucial to many of these species, offering shelter, food and prey. What does fire do to spinifex-dwellers?

    On this topic, scientific knowledge is playing catchup with Indigenous traditional knowledge but we see value in using the scientific method – a universal language – to help us manage Country, and tell other people about what we are doing.

    The past few decades have been a time of major change for the Great Sandy Desert. Cultural burns stopped, and feral animals such as camels and cats grew in number. As a result, many native animals are disappearing or already gone.

    We think larger, more frequent fires play a part. Our Karajarri and Ngurrara rangers are using science to make sure our patchwork burns – known as right-way fire – are good for native animals.

    Between 2018 and 2022, we surveyed reptiles and mammals from 32 sites across the Karajarri and Warlu Jilajaa Jumu (Ngurrara) Indigenous Protected Areas in the desert. We caught almost 3,800 mammals and reptiles from 77 species. Reptiles made up the lion’s share, with 66 species. We also recorded when fire had come through, and how big the burnt patches were.

    The data showed reptile species care a lot about where they live. Some prefer recently burned areas, where the spinifex is gone or still very small. Others like old spinifex, huge hummocks going unburned for years. And others still liked mid-sized spinifex.

    We found mammals were rare in recently burned areas and more common in mature spinifex. We also found more mammal diversity in areas with fine-scale patchworks of fires.

    This shows we must keep our fires small, burning different areas at different times, and protect enough mature spinifex.

    This patchwork approach will help spinifex hopping mice, desert mice, planigales, dunnarts, and dozens of small reptile species to survive. But it will also help now-rare game species, the marlu (red kangaroo in Walmajarri language) and pijarta (emu in Karajarri).

    Our research tells us returning to the traditional burning techniques of our ancestors is still the right thing to do – even though the desert has changed.

    Karajarri Rangers talk about the Pirra Junkgu-Warlu project.

    Rare finds

    Scientists have rarely surveyed the Great Sandy Desert. As a result, our surveys have turned up important findings.

    The kaluta (Dasykaluta rosamondae), for instance, is a feisty little carnivorous marsupial. We found it on the Canning Stock Route, 500km further north than the distribution known to scientists.

    Similarly, we found the threatened Dampierland sandslider (Lerista separanda), a vividly coloured skink, in the Karajarri Indigenous Protected Area, expanding its distribution 450km southeast. Karajarri people call sandsliders winkajurta, or “lice eaters”, because in the old days you could use them to hunt lice in your hair.

    Our research gives us confidence that bringing back traditional burns helps desert creatures. We want more people to know that right-way fire is part of healthy Country, including our own mob and tourists who pass through, so we can all look after the desert.

    In our work, we take our old people out onto Country to get advice on burning and their knowledge of animals. As one told us, seeing the old ways return made him “real happy [and] to come alive” – just like the desert.

    We thank Karajarri and Ngurrara Traditional Owners and acknowledge past and present elders. Thanks to the many rangers and coordinators who helped in these surveys, and our partners: Environs Kimberley, Charles Darwin University, Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, and Indigenous Desert Alliance. Special thanks to Hamsini Bijlani, our project coordinator.

    Braedan Taylor and other rangers in this project were funded by the Australian Government’s Indigenous Protected Area Program, Indigenous Ranger Program, and the National Environmental Science Program via the Threatened Species Recovery Hub; by the Western Australia State Natural Resource Management, Aboriginal Ranger Program, Lotteries West, and via in kind support from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions; by the Indigenous Desert Alliance/10Deserts; and by the Australian Research Council.

    Jacqueline Shovellor receives funding from the same sources as the lead author.

    Frankie McCarthy receives funding from the same sources as the lead author.

    Sarah Legge receives funding from the Australian Research Council. The work reported here was partly funded by the National Environmental Science Program via the Threatened Species Recovery Hub.

    Thomas Narda receives funding from the same sources as the lead author.

    – ref. A patchwork of spinifex: how we returned cultural burning to the Great Sandy Desert – https://theconversation.com/a-patchwork-of-spinifex-how-we-returned-cultural-burning-to-the-great-sandy-desert-240447

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Are you over 75? Here’s what you need to know about vitamin D

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elina Hypponen, Professor of Nutritional and Genetic Epidemiology, University of South Australia

    OPPO Find X5 Pro/Unsplash

    Vitamin D is essential for bone health, immune function and overall wellbeing. And it becomes even more crucial as we age.

    New guidelines from the international Endocrine Society recommend people aged 75 and over should consider taking vitamin D supplements.

    But why is vitamin D so important for older adults? And how much should they take?

    Young people get most vitamin D from the sun

    In Australia, it is possible for most people under 75 to get enough vitamin D from the sun throughout the year. For those who live in the top half of Australia – and for all of us during summer – we only need to have skin exposed to the sun for a few minutes on most days.

    The body can only produce a certain amount of vitamin D at a time. So staying in the sun any longer than needed is not going to help increase your vitamin D levels, while it will increase your risk of skin cancer.

    But it’s difficult for people aged over 75 to get enough vitamin D from a few minutes of sunshine, so the Endocrine Society recommends people get 800 IU (international units) of vitamin D a day from food or supplements.

    Why you need more as you age

    This is higher than the recommendation for younger adults, reflecting the increased needs and reduced ability of older bodies to produce and absorb vitamin D.

    Overall, older adults also tend to have less exposure to sunlight, which is the primary source of natural vitamin D production. Older adults may spend more time indoors and wear more clothing when outdoors.

    As we age, our skin also becomes less efficient at synthesising vitamin D from sunlight.

    The kidneys and the liver, which help convert vitamin D into its active form, also lose some of their efficiency with age. This makes it harder for the body to maintain adequate levels of the vitamin.

    All of this combined means older adults need more vitamin D.

    Deficiency is common in older adults

    Despite their higher needs for vitamin D, people over 75 may not get enough of it.

    Studies have shown one in five older adults in Australia have vitamin D deficiency.

    In higher-latitude parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom, almost half don’t reach sufficient levels.

    This increased risk of deficiency is partly due to lifestyle factors, such as spending less time outdoors and insufficient dietary intakes of vitamin D.

    It’s difficult to get enough vitamin D from food alone. Oily fish, eggs and some mushrooms are good sources of vitamin D, but few other foods contain much of the vitamin. While foods can be fortified with the vitamin D (margarine, some milk and cereals), these may not be readily available or be consumed in sufficient amounts to make a difference.

    In some countries such as the United States, most of the dietary vitamin D comes from fortified products. However, in Australia, dietary intakes of vitamin D are typically very low because only a few foods are fortified with it.

    Why vitamin D is so important as we age

    Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, which is essential for maintaining bone density and strength. As we age, our bones become more fragile, increasing the risk of fractures and conditions like osteoporosis.

    Keeping bones healthy is crucial. Studies have shown older people hospitalised with hip fractures are 3.5 times more likely to die in the next 12 months compared to people who aren’t injured.

    People over 75 often have less exposure to sunlight.
    Aila Images/Shutterstock

    Vitamin D may also help lower the risk of respiratory infections, which can be more serious in this age group.

    There is also emerging evidence for other potential benefits, including better brain health. However, this requires more research.

    According to the society’s systematic review, which summarises evidence from randomised controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation in humans, there is moderate evidence to suggest vitamin D supplementation can lower the risk of premature death.

    The society estimates supplements can prevent six deaths per 1,000 people. When considering the uncertainty in the available evidence, the actual number could range from as many as 11 fewer deaths to no benefit at all.

    Should we get our vitamin D levels tested?

    The Endocrine Society’s guidelines suggest routine blood tests to measure vitamin D levels are not necessary for most healthy people over 75.

    There is no clear evidence that regular testing provides significant benefits, unless the person has a specific medical condition that affects vitamin D metabolism, such as kidney disease or certain bone disorders.

    Routine testing can also be expensive and inconvenient.

    In most cases, the recommended approach to over-75s is to consider a daily supplement, without the need for testing.

    You can also try to boost your vitamin D by adding fortified foods to your diet, which might lower the dose you need from supplementation.

    Even if you’re getting a few minutes of sunlight a day, a daily vitamin D is still recommended.

    Elina Hypponen receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Foundation, Medical Research Future Fund, Australian Research Council, and Arthritis Australia.

    Joshua Sutherland’s studentship is funded by the Australian Research Training Program Scholarship, and he volunteers on the board for the Australasian Association and Register of Practicing Nutritionists.

    – ref. Are you over 75? Here’s what you need to know about vitamin D – https://theconversation.com/are-you-over-75-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-vitamin-d-231820

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: It’s time to talk about how the media talks about sexual harassment

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rawan Nimri, Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality, Griffith University

    Sexual harassment is all too common in hospitality and tourism. One Australian survey found almost half of the respondents had been sexually harassed, compared to about one in three in workplaces more generally.

    Hospitality and tourism are marked by intense and close interpersonal interactions and dismissive treatment by some customers, including verbal and physical aggression, bullying and sexual suggestions.

    Workers who are young, female, low-paid and casual are especially vulnerable.

    The scandals at the Merivale Hospitality Group and Sydney’s Swillhouse restaurant are only the most recent.

    The widely held view that “the customer is always right” gives customers power. The power imbalance is magnified where tipping makes up a substantial part of workers’ earnings.

    What newspapers report

    To examine how sexual harassment is reported, we identified about 2,000 newspaper articles across a number of countries published between 2017 and 2022 dealing with the treatment of hotel room attendants, airline cabin crew and massage therapists. We zeroed in on 273 for closer analysis.

    This was a period in which the public awareness of sexual harassment climbed with the rise of the #MeToo movement and media coverage probably peaked.

    Media coverage matters because of its effect on public opinion.

    Computer-assisted thematic analysis showed four different types of coverage, some overlapping, relating to legal matters, celebrities, power dynamics, and calls to action.

    The language used varied according to the countries in which the newspapers were located.

    In the United States and the United Kingdom, the accused were often described by their social or economic status, with cases involving famous people getting a lot of attention. In Asia and Africa, the reports focused on basic details such as the offender’s age and where they lived.

    Women infantilised

    But universally we found the terms used to describe victims were highly gendered and dated in ways that suggested subservience and undermined their professional skills. Cabin crew were called “air hostesses”. Room attendants were called “maids”.

    Framing these professionals as modern-day servants has the potential to foster and perpetuate an expectation that sexual harassment is to be expected.

    Reports involving celebrity harassers highlighted victims’ narratives with emotionally charged quotes using words such as “awful” and “terrible”. These words were perhaps intended to evoke empathy for the victims but also serve to further victimise them.

    Female aggression under-reported

    In all cases, women were heavily featured as victims but never as aggressors. It is a gender bias that does not match the established statistics, which show that almost one-quarter of aggressors are women.

    This misrepresentation creates a skewed understanding of who commits and suffers from sexual harassment. It has the potential to discourage victims of harassment by women from coming forward.

    It’s important for the tourism industry to foster secure and dignified working conditions. But it is also important that the media reflect the actual behaviour of aggressors and victims.

    Done better, reporting could help

    The media could play a crucial role in bringing about better policies and practices in these industries by emphasising the severe consequences of ignoring the problem and the benefits of taking proactive steps.

    More respectful and accurate reporting might be able to help drive lasting change, making a positive difference in the lives of the skilled workers on whom so many of us depend.

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

    – ref. It’s time to talk about how the media talks about sexual harassment – https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-talk-about-how-the-media-talks-about-sexual-harassment-238771

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Use of AI in property valuation is on the rise – but we need greater transparency and trust

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Cheung, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    New Zealand’s economy has been described as a “housing market with bits tacked on”. Buying and selling property is a national sport fuelled by the rising value of homes across the country.

    But the wider public has little understanding of how those property valuations are created – despite their being a key factor in most banks’ decisions about how much they are willing to lend for a mortgage.

    Automated valuation models (AVM) – systems enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) that crunch vast datasets to produce instant property values – have done little to improve transparency in the process.

    These models started gaining traction in New Zealand in the early 2010s. The early versions used limited data sources like property sales records and council information. Today’s more advanced models include high-quality geo-spatial data from sources such as Land Information New Zealand.

    AI models have improved efficiency. But the proprietary algorithms behind those AVMs can make it difficult for homeowners and industry professionals to understand how specific values are calculated.

    In our ongoing research, we are developing a framework that evaluates these automated valuations. We have looked at how the figures should be interpreted and what factors might be missed by the AI models.

    In a property market as geographically and culturally varied as New Zealand’s, these points are not only relevant — they are critical. The rapid integration of AI into property valuation is no longer just about innovation and speed. It is about trust, transparency and a robust framework for accountability.

    AI valuations are a black box

    In New Zealand, property valuation has traditionally been a labour-intensive process. Valuers would usually inspect properties, make market comparisons and apply their expert judgement to arrive at a final value estimate.

    But this approach is slow, expensive and prone to human error. As demand for more efficient property valuations increased, the use of AI brought in much-needed change.

    But the rise of these valuations models is not without its challenges. While AI offers speed and consistency, it also comes with a critical downside: a lack of transparency.

    AVMs often operate as “black boxes”, providing little insight into the data and methodologies that drive their valuations. This raises serious concerns about the consistency, objectivity and transparency of these systems.

    What exactly the algorithm is doing when an AVM estimates a home’s value is not clear. Such opaqueness has real-world consequences, perpetuating market imbalances and inequities.

    Without a framework to monitor and correct these discrepancies, AI models risk distorting the property market further, especially in a country as diverse as New Zealand, where regional, cultural and historical factors significantly influence property values.

    Transparency and accountability

    A recent discussion forum with real estate industry insiders, law researchers and computer scientists on AI governance and property valuations highlighted the need for greater accountability when it comes to AVMs. Transparency alone is not enough. Trust must be built into the system.

    This can be achieved by requiring AI developers and users to disclose data sources, algorithms and error margins behind their valuations.

    Additionally, valuation models should incorporate a “confidence interval” – a range of prices that shows how much the estimated value might vary. This offers users a clearer understanding of the uncertainty inherent in each valuation.

    But effective AI governance in property valuation cannot be achieved in isolation. It demands collaboration between regulators, AI developers and property professionals.

    Bias correction

    New Zealand urgently needs a comprehensive evaluation framework for AVMs, one that prioritises transparency, accountability and bias correction.

    This is where our research comes in. We repeatedly resample small portions of the data to account for situations where property value data do not follow a normal distribution.

    This process generates a confidence interval showing a range of possible values around each property estimate. Users are then able to understand the variability and reliability of the AI-generated valuations, even when the data are irregular or skewed.

    Our framework goes beyond transparency. It incorporates a bias correction mechanism that detects and adjusts for constantly overvalued or undervalued estimates within AVM outputs. One example of this relates to regional disparities or undervaluation of particular property types.

    By addressing these biases, we ensure valuations that are not only accountable or auditable but also fair. The goal is to avoid the long-term market distortions that unchecked AI models could create.

    The rise of AI auditing

    But transparency alone is not enough. The auditing of AI-generated information is becoming increasingly important.

    New Zealand’s courts now require a qualified person to check information generated by AI and subsequently used in tribunal proceedings.

    In much the same way financial auditors ensure accuracy in accounting, AI auditors will play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of valuations.

    Based on earlier research, we are auditing the artificial valuation model estimates by comparing them with the market transacted prices of the same houses in the same period.

    It is not just about trusting the algorithms but trusting the people and systems behind them.

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

    – ref. Use of AI in property valuation is on the rise – but we need greater transparency and trust – https://theconversation.com/use-of-ai-in-property-valuation-is-on-the-rise-but-we-need-greater-transparency-and-trust-240880

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its harrowing, visceral impact has been rarely matched, 50 years on

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Godfrey, Senior Lecturer, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a product of a unique time in American filmmaking, when independent exploitation films were nastier than ever, and equally capable of piercing the mainstream consciousness.

    Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film arrived in a recently transformed exhibition landscape. The 1967 outcry over onscreen violence in Bonnie and Clyde marked the end of Hollywood’s Motion Picture Production Code and the introduction of film ratings.

    Films like Easy Rider (1969) elevated the standing of formerly disreputable exploitation fare within Hollywood. By 1973, The Exorcist was packing out cinemas and producing lines around city blocks with the promise of the most unremitting horror film yet made.

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was shot quickly on a shoestring budget, financed in part by the newly-formed Texas Film Commission. The film assembled its cast and crew from Austin’s circles of recent college graduates and dropouts.

    Its plot is straightforward enough: a group of young people are stranded when they run out of gas in rural Texas. They are terrorised and subsequently murdered by an eccentric local family, including the chainsaw wielding Leatherface – a nonverbal, childlike giant who wears masks made from the skin of his flayed victims.

    We learn this family have lost their jobs at the local slaughterhouse with the introduction of bolt gun technologies, leaving them sell roadside meat made from human victims.

    This detail has inspired a range of thematic interpretations for the film, encompassing commentary on class and family, gender and animal rights.

    The film lays bare the horrors of meat production, inflicted on human victims. The family home is the site where these themes come into conflict.

    Porn and violence on screen

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was picked up by the Bryanston Distributing Company. In 1972, Bryanston was the distributor for the theatrical release of the hardcore pornographic film Deep Throat. The film’s success shifted popular discourse around pornography, and helped Bryanston widen the theatrical release for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

    In subsequent years, media reported on alleged abusive on-set conditions on Deep Throat, along with claims Bryanston was connected with organised crime. Director Hooper, and many of the Chain Saw Massacre cast, alleged they never received their share of box office from the distributor.

    A 1974 poster.
    Ralf Liebhold/Shutterstock

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s proximity to Deep Throat stoked controversy, conflating concern about increasingly extreme depictions of sex and violence onscreen.

    Two years earlier, young filmmaker Wes Craven had transitioned from making pornography to horror film. His low budget rape-revenge exploitation film The Last House on the Left (1972) was originally developed as a hardcore pornographic film. This approach was abandoned when it entered production.

    Unlike Craven’s notorious film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is not overtly sexualised. While there may be a sexual undertone to Leatherface’s pursuit of Sally and her companions, it does not escalate to onscreen acts of sexual violence.

    Regardless, the film drew condemnation, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it was banned, and later figured in public debates about the censorship of “video nasties” in the 1980s.

    For my part, I remember encountering The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at the video rental store as a child: its title, cover and R-rating promised horrors beyond comprehension, many years before I actually saw the film itself.

    Horrors implied, rather than shown

    Beyond its controversies, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre played an important role in the developing field of horror film studies. It figures prominently in Robin Wood’s taxonomy of “reactionary” horror movies (which uphold traditional values) and “progressive” horror movies, which take a more ambivalent stance on the figure of the monster, challenging conservative social values. Wood counts The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the latter category.

    It is also central to Carol J. Clover’s influential codification of the “final girl” narrative trope, in which a sole young woman is able to withstand the monster’s onslaught.

    Alongside Halloween (1978), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre helped steer the trajectory of American horror films in the 1980s.

    Halloween is situated within the manicured surroundings of suburbia, and conveys its menace through the slick technical qualities of its gliding camera, and John Carpenter’s staccato synth score.

    By contrast, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre locates its horror in the backroads and decrepit farmhouses of central Texas. The idea of Texas looms large, connoting a place of lawlessness, violence and danger.

    Hooper punctuates his long shots with extreme close ups via rapid editing. The film’s most grotesque horrors are implied, rather than shown. Its most visceral impact comes from its extended chase sequences, and via its soundtrack: Sally’s piercing screams, and Leatherface’s ever-present chainsaw.

    While the Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned several sequels and influenced even more imitators over the years, from the Ramones to Wolf Creek (2005) and X (2022), it has rarely been matched in its intensity, and its harrowing, visceral impact.

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

    – ref. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its harrowing, visceral impact has been rarely matched, 50 years on – https://theconversation.com/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-and-its-harrowing-visceral-impact-has-been-rarely-matched-50-years-on-236700

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sorensen Helps Secure Over $22,000 for Illinois State University Police

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17)

    PEORIA, IL – Today, Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) announced that he helped secure over $22,000 for Illinois State University (ISU) Police. The money will be used to improve relations with underserved communities on campus. 

    “We need to make sure Illinois State University police have the tools to keep every student and neighbor safe,” said Sorensen. “That means providing them with the resources to engage with the many diverse communities that exist on campus and across Bloomington and Normal. I was proud to help ISU secure this important grant funding that will make their campus safer for students, university police, staff, and faculty.”   

    “Illinois State University Police is grateful to Representative Sorensen for supporting this effort to engage and uplift marginalized voices on our campus,” said Illinois State University Chief of Police Aaron Woodruff. “This funding will create new training, accreditation, and engagement opportunities that will enrich our student experience and enhance safety for the broader Bloomington/Normal community.” 

    The $22,005 in funding for ISU is coming from the Community Policing Development (CPD) Program under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office, which provides funding to local and state law enforcement agencies to implement demonstration or pilot projects that offer creative ideas to advance crime fighting, community engagement, problem solving, or organizational changes in support of community policing.  

    This past May, Sorensen wrote a letter on behalf of ISU to the CPD grant program manager in support of the university receiving this grant. Sorensen also led a group of 24 of his colleagues in calling on Congress to fully fund the COPS program in direct response to roundtable discussions and meetings he has hosted with law enforcement from across Central and Northwestern Illinois.   

    Congressman Eric Sorensen serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Prior to serving in Congress, Sorensen was a local meteorologist in Rockford and the Quad Cities for nearly 20 years. His district includes Illinois’ Quad Cities, Rockford, Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sorensen Announces $200,000 for Local Police in Winnebago County to Improve Mental Health

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17)

    ROCKFORD, IL – Today, Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) announced $200,000 for law enforcement in Winnebago County to improve access to mental health and wellness services. 

    “When our police are out keeping our neighborhoods safe, they see and encounter problems that we can’t even imagine dealing with,” said Sorensen. “Making sure they have access to proper mental health care is giving our law enforcement the tools they need to thrive. I am grateful that this funding will have a huge impact on improving the daily lives of our brave men and women in law enforcement. I will continue fighting to bring home more resources from the federal government to support our police in Northern Illinois.”   

    “Law enforcement professionals, police officers, correctional officers, telecommunicators and support staff face unique challenges that can impact their mental well-being, making it essential to provide them with the necessary resources and support,” said Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana. “This grant will enable us to implement comprehensive mental health programs, wellness training, and peer support initiatives. We are committed to fostering a supportive environment where our members can prioritize their mental health, ensuring they can serve the community effectively and safely. We greatly appreciate the support from our congressional partners and the community as we work toward this important goal.”  

    The $200,000 in funding for Winnebago County is coming from the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office, which provides funding to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement through training and technical assistance, demonstration projects, and implementation of promising practices related to peer mentoring programs that are national in scope.  

    This past May, Sorensen led a group of 24 of his colleagues in calling on Congress to fully fund the COPS program in direct response to roundtable discussions and meetings he has hosted with law enforcement from across Central and Northwestern Illinois.   

    Congressman Eric Sorensen serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Prior to serving in Congress, Sorensen was a local meteorologist in Rockford and the Quad Cities for nearly 20 years. His district includes Illinois’ Quad Cities, Rockford, Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Pettersen Announces $850,000 for Affordable Housing in Leadville, Stops by Tourism & Economic Development Office

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brittany Pettersen (Colorado 7th District)

    U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) recently traveled across the high country of the 7th Congressional District of Colorado, announcing federal funding for an affordable housing project in Leadville, meeting with constituents at a community coffee, and stopping by the newly renovated Tourism and Economic Development Office. 

    At her first stop in Lake County, Rep. Pettersen attended the weekly Leadville Community Coffee to hear firsthand from local nonprofits and other organizations about updates on their work in the community. During the visit, Pettersen provided an update on her work in Congress. Despite dysfunction in Washington, Pettersen reiterated resources her office offers to rural communities like Leadville – from the Community Funding Project process to federal grants and more.    

    Earlier this year, Rep. Pettersen secured $13.9 million in federal funding for 15 community projects, including $850,000 for an affordable housing development in Leadville. She recently toured the site with local leaders, including County Commissioners Jeff Fiedler, Hal Edwards, and Sarah Mudge, Leadville Mayor Dana Greene, and Lake County Regional Housing Authority Director Jackie Whelihan, and several members of the Housing Authority Board. The project, located just outside downtown Leadville, will provide walkable access to stores, schools, and the library.

    To close out her visit to Lake County, Pettersen stopped by the new Tourism and Economic Development Office. During the visit, Pettersen discussed her bipartisan legislation – the Special District Grant Accessibility Act – to codify a definition of “special district” in federal law and ensure that districts are eligible for all appropriate forms of federal assistance. Additionally, Pettersen discussed the need to bring more federal dollars back home to communities in Lake County to update aging water infrastructure and ensure everyone has access to clean drinking water.      

    “There’s no better place to kick off my rural tour than Leadville,” said Pettersen. “From announcing federal funding to meeting face-to-face with constituents and community leaders, it was great to hear directly from the people of Lake County. I promise to always be a voice for our rural communities and fight to ensure they have the resources they need – whether it’s funding for community-driven investments or support for critical water infrastructure projects.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pfluger Joins Texans in Demanding Action from Biden-Harris Administration to Prevent Noncitizens on Voter Rolls

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) joined U.S. Representatives Randy Weber (TX-14), Chip Roy (TX-21), and other Texas Republican lawmakers in calling on the Biden-Harris Administration to immediately provide the necessary data to protect the integrity of Texas elections and ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote in the State of Texas. The letter to the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) follows Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s request for citizenship verification data and the federal government’s failure to meet the deadline for providing this crucial information.

    “Americans deserve confidence in knowing that only legal citizens are casting their vote in the United States of America,” said Congressman August Pfluger. “I am proud to work alongside other Texans in demanding that the Biden-Harris Administration protect the integrity of our elections.”

    “The Harris-Biden administration’s refusal to provide Texas with crucial information is a clear dereliction of duty,” said Rep. Weber. “They’re turning a blind eye to noncitizens influencing our elections, and they even killed the SAVE Act, which would have barred noncitizens from voting. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting, so why won’t they hand over the voter rolls Texas needs to keep our elections clean? My Texas Republican colleagues and I demand they release the information without delay.”

    “Texas has a duty to prevent noncitizens from voting. The Biden-Harris administration is trying to prevent that for the same reason they fought the SAVE Act (H.R. 8281): they want noncitizens — especially illegal aliens — to vote,” said Rep. Roy. “Public confidence in elections is a necessary cornerstone of any representative government. That confidence must be earned through diligence and transparency.”

    In recent weeks, Governor Greg Abbott announced the removal of 6,500 potential noncitizens from Texas voter rolls, highlighting the critical need for further verification before the upcoming election. The federal government has thus far failed to comply with an urgent request made by the State of Texas for access to USCIS data, which is crucial in verifying voter eligibility.

    Other Texas Republicans who signed the letter include Representatives Lance Gooden (TX-5), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Troy Nehls (TX-22), John Carter (TX-31), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Brian Babin (TX-36), Keith Self (TX-3), Wesley Hunt (TX-38), Pat Fallon (TX-4), and Morgan Luttrell (TX-8).

    Read the letter here or below.

    We write to you today as Members of Congress, and as Texans, in support of Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s September 18, 2024 request to your agency to assist the State of Texas in verifying that noncitizens are not registered to vote in our great state of Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has already announced the removal of 6,500 potential noncitizens from Texas voter rolls; given this unsettling reality, the federal government has a duty to ensure that Texas can accurately verify the citizenship of its voters.

    As you know, and as Secretary Nelson notes in her letter to you, both federal and Texas law prohibit noncitizens from registering to and casting a vote in the State of Texas. Although the Biden-Harris administration refuses to take any action to protect states against the influx of illegal aliens at our southern border-1,254 miles of which borders Texas-you still retain a constitutional, statutory, and moral imperative to assist the state in doing what is right.

    The request submitted by the state to obtain USCIS citizenship data regarding voter registration in Texas is not only legal, but urgent. The election is around the corner, with the deadline for voter registration already passed on October 7th, and the deadline for absentee and mail-in ballots is October 25th. It is paramount that the state’s county registrars can check and confirm the eligibility of each voter, and your agency is the only entity with the data to help. The deadline provided by the state, October 2nd, left your agency with ample time to provide that information. On the afternoon of October 2nd, Secretary of State Nelson informed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that, “my office has not received any reply from the federal government.”

    This is an unacceptable dereliction of your duty.

    Texas’s situation is not an isolated case. The Biden-Harris administration has consistently dismissed the prospect of non-citizens voting, erroneously claiming, “current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working.” Yet the administration is preventing states from enforcing those laws, as evidenced by the failure to provide Texas with citizenship data, and its recent lawsuit against Alabama’s removal of non­citizens from its voter rolls. In June 2012, the State of Florida was forced to sue DHS to gain access to the SAVE System to help verify the citizenship status of voters in Florida.

    We reiterate our intent that you expeditiously provide the data requested by the state-data that you are required to provide under federal law. To that end, please provide our offices with copies of your correspondence with Secretary of State Nelson. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠ Harris Administration Celebrates International Day of the Girl and Continues Commitment to Supporting Youth in the U.S. and  Abroad

    Source: The White House

    International Day of the Girl provides an opportunity to celebrate the leadership of girls around the world and recommit to addressing the barriers that continue to limit their full participation. Today, to commemorate International Day of the Girl, First Lady Jill Biden will host the second “Girls Leading Change” event at the White House to recognize outstanding young women from across the United States who are making a difference in their communities. This year’s event will honor 10 young women leaders, selected by the White House Gender Policy Council, who are leading change and shaping a brighter future for generations to come.  

    The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that girls can pursue their dreams free from fear, discrimination, violence, or abuse; and to advancing the safety, education, health, and wellbeing of girls everywhere. Investing in young people means investing in our future; and they should have the opportunity and resources they need to succeed.

    That’s why, since day one in office, this Administration has taken action to advance the safety, education, health, and well-being of girls, including:

    • Accelerating Learning and Improving Student Achievement. The American Rescue Plan, the largest one-time education investment in our history, included $130 billion to help schools address the impact of the pandemic on student well-being and academic achievement. To sustain these efforts, the Biden-Harris Administration increased funding and targeting of federal grants to better support academic recovery—from the Education Innovation and Research program to extended-day and afterschool programming through 21st Century Community Learning Centers. And the Administration’s Improving Student Achievement Agenda for 2024 is helping accelerate academic performance for every child in school.
    • Canceling Student Debt. President Biden and Vice President Harris vowed to fix the federal student loan program and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class—not a barrier to opportunity. The Biden-Harris Administration has approved nearly $170 billion in loan forgiveness for almost 5 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions with the goal of helping these borrowers get more breathing room in their daily lives, access economic mobility, buy homes, start businesses, and pursue their dreams.
    • Cutting Child Poverty Nearly in Half in 2021. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that no child should grow up in poverty. Their expansion of the Child Tax Credit helped cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021 to a record low of 5.2%. President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to restore this expansion, which would lift over a million girls out of poverty and narrow racial disparities. The Biden-Harris Administration has also lifted hundreds of thousands of girls out of poverty by updating the Thrifty Food Plan and creating SunBucks, a new program that helps low-income families afford groceries over the summer when they don’t have access to school meals.
    • Supporting Youth Mental Health. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care—period. That’s why they invested almost $1.5 billion to strengthen the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and launched the National Mental Health Strategy, with ongoing investments to strengthen the mental health workforce, ensure parity for mental health and substance use care, connect Americans to care, and better protect youth from the harms of social media. The Biden-Harris Administration is also delivering the largest investments in school-based mental health services ever, bringing 14,000 new mental health professionals into schools across the country and making it easier for schools to leverage Medicaid to deliver care.
       
    • Preventing Gun Violence, Including Domestic Violence with Firearms. Gun violence is the leading killer of children and teenagers in the United States. President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken historic executive action to reduce gun violence and violent crime. In 2022, President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the most significant new gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years. The intersection between guns and domestic violence can be especially deadly, and BSCA expanded background checks to keep guns out of the hands of more domestic abusers, narrowed the “boyfriend loophole” so an individual convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against a dating partner is prohibited from purchasing a firearm, and expanded funding for red flag laws that allow for temporary removal of firearms from an individual who is a danger to themselves or others. President Biden established the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. The Biden-Harris Administration has made historic investments in law enforcement and community-led crime prevention and intervention strategies and has announced more executive actions to reduce gun violence than any other administration. Most recently, building on life-saving actions that the Administration has already taken, President Biden signed a new Executive Order in September 2024 to improve school-based active shooter drills and combat emerging firearms threats. The President and Vice President also announced new actions to support survivors of gun violence, promote safe gun storage, fund community violence intervention, and improve the gun background check system, among other actions.
       
    • Launching the American Climate Corps. President Biden launched the American Climate Corps to give a diverse new generation of young people the tools to fight the impacts of climate change today and the skills to join the clean energy and climate-resilience workforce of tomorrow. The American Climate Corps is tackling the climate crisis, including by restoring coastal ecosystems, strengthening urban and rural agriculture, investing in clean energy and energy efficiency, improving disaster and wildfire preparedness, and more. More than 15,000 young Americans have already been put to work in high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience workforce training and service opportunities through the American Climate Corps—putting the program on track to reach President Biden’s goal of 20,000 members in the program’s first year ahead of schedule.
       
    • Providing Children with Healthier, More Sustainable Environments. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $3 billion and funded approximately 8,700 electric and low-emission school buses nationwide, protecting children from air pollution by transforming school bus fleets across America. The Biden-Harris Administration also invested $15 billion toward replacing every toxic lead pipe in the country within a decade, protecting children and schools from lead exposure that can cause irreversible harm to cognitive development and hamper children’s learning. And earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency provided $58 million to protect children from lead in drinking water at schools and child care facilities.
    • Fighting Online Harassment and Abuse. Online harassment and abuse is increasingly widespread in today’s digitally connected world and disproportionately affects women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals. President Biden established the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse to coordinate comprehensive actions from more than a dozen federal agencies, and his Executive Order on artificial intelligence directs federal agencies to address deepfake image-based abuse. The Department of Justice also funded the first-ever national helpline to provide 24/7 support and specialized services for victims of online harassment and abuse, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate images; raised awareness of new legal protections against the non-consensual distribution of intimate images that were included in the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022; and funded a new National Resource Center on Cybercrimes Against Individuals.
    • Keeping Students Safe and Addressing Campus Sexual Assault. The Department of Education restored and strengthened vital Title IX protections against discrimination on the basis of sex for students and employees. The Department of Justice awarded more than $20 million in FY 2024 to support colleges and universities in preventing and responding to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. And the Department of Education—in collaboration with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services—launched a Task Force on Sexual Violence in Education that has released data on sexual violence at educational institutions and is working to improve sexual violence prevention and response on campus.
    • Supporting Vulnerable Youth. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to support the needs of vulnerable and underserved youth—from helping prevent youth homelessness and human trafficking to supporting employment initiatives for youth with disabilities. This includes $800 million in dedicated funding to support students experiencing homelessness through the President’s American Rescue Plan. The Department of Health and Human Services also issued landmark rules to improve the child welfare system, particularly for the most vulnerable children, and to advance the safety and wellbeing of families across the country, including for LGBTQI+ children in foster care. And the Department of Justice has funded programs to help communities develop, enhance, or expand early intervention programs and treatment services for girls who are involved in the juvenile justice system.

    The Biden-Harris Administration has also taken action to support girls around the globe by fighting to advance the human rights of women and girls and promote access to education, health, and safety, including:

    • Promoting Girls’ Education Globally. The United States is investing in girls’ education around the world, which in turn advances health and economic development. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) invested more than $2.5 billion from FY 2021-2023 to increase access to quality basic and higher education, and reached 18.7 million girls and women in 69 countries in FY23 alone to advance gender equality in and through education. The Departments of State and Labor have also supported efforts to promote girls’ education through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs in Kenya and Namibia, as well as technical and vocational education training centers for adolescent girls in Ethiopia. The United States has strongly condemned the restriction of girls’ education in Afghanistan, including by restricting visas for individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls by limiting or prohibiting access to education.
    • Closing the Gender Digital Divide. Last year, Vice President Harris launched the Women in the Digital Economy Fund (Wi-DEF) to accelerate progress towards closing the gender digital divide. To date, Wi-DEF has raised over $80 million, including an initial $50 million commitment from USAID. Building on the success of the Fund, the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative includes commitments from governments, private sector companies, foundations, civil society, and multilateral organizations that have pledged more than $1 billion to accelerate gender digital equality. This Initiative supports girls’ access to digital learning opportunities, provides employment and educational skills, and helps fulfill the historic commitment of G20 Leaders to halve the digital gender gap by 2030. Since the launch of Wi-DEF, the United States has invested $102 million in direct and aligned commitments to closing the gender digital divide and accelerating gender digital equality.
    • Preventing and Responding to Online Harassment and Abuse Globally. To address the scourge of online harassment and abuse against girls and women, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the 15-country Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which has advanced international policies to address online safety and supported programs to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Since the Global Partnership was launched in 2022, the Department of State has supported projects in every region to prevent, document, and address technology-facilitated gender-based violence, cultivate safe online use, and respond to survivors’ needs. 
    • Championing Girls’ Leadership in Addressing the Climate Crisis. In 2023, Vice President Harris announced the Women in the Sustainable Economy Initiative—an over $2 billion public-private partnership to promote women’s access to jobs in the green and blue industries of the future—including by advancing girls’ access to STEM education. Through WISE, the Department of State is investing more than $12 million in programs to benefit girls, including programs that promote girls’ economic skills and opportunities in STEM and that foster girls’ roles in leading, shaping, and informing equitable and inclusive climate policies and actions.
    • Strengthening HIV Prevention Services for Girls. To address key factors that make adolescent girls and young women particularly vulnerable to HIV, the United States launched the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) public-private partnership as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2014. Announced in 2023, PEPFAR’s DREAMS NextGen program is the next phase of DREAMS that will take a more nuanced approach that is responsive to the current context within each of the 15 DREAMS countries. PEPFAR has invested more than $2 billion in comprehensive HIV prevention programming for girls through DREAMS—including $1.3 billion since the start of the Administration—and the program reaches approximately 2.5 to 3 million girls annually.
    • Increasing Efforts to End Child Marriage Globally. To address the global scourge of child, early, and forced marriage, USAID and the Department of State invested $86 million in 27 countries to support programs that prevent and respond to this harmful practice, including by equipping girls and young women with education and workforce readiness skills; providing education, health, legal, and economic support; and raising awareness. Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States also made its first-ever contribution to the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to End Child Marriage, which works in 12 countries in Africa and South Asia to promote the rights of adolescent girls, and is contributing more than $2 million in FY 2024 to UNFPA to help reach refugee adolescent girls and prevent child marriages in humanitarian settings.
    • Leading Programs to End Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting. To address the harmful practice of female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C), USAID invested in programs to address this issue in Djibouti, Egypt, Mauritania, and Nigeria. The United States is a long-standing donor to the UNICEF-UNFPA Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, and invested $20 million from FY 2020-FY 2023 in this partnership, which has succeeded in advocating for legal and policy frameworks banning FGM/C in 14 of 17 countries and supported more than 6.3 million women and girls with FGM/C-related protection and care services.
    • Promoting Young Women’s Civic and Political Participation. The Biden-Harris Administration has advanced the political and civic participation of women and girls as a pillar of democracy promotion efforts worldwide. The Administration launched Women LEAD, a $900 million public-private partnership focused on building the pipeline of women leaders around the world, including by supporting programs to reach girls and young women. Under this umbrella, the USAID-led Advancing Women’s and Girls’ Civic and Political Leadership Initiative provides more than $25 million to identify and dismantle the individual, structural, and socio-cultural barriers to the political empowerment of women and girls in ten focus countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Kyrgyz Republic, Yemen, and Fiji. Furthermore, the State Department is launching a new $1.25 million program in Africa that will empower and equip young women leaders to take on decision-making roles in democratic transition processes.
    • Protecting Girls in Humanitarian Emergencies. The United States government has increased its support for girls in humanitarian and fragile contexts. Since 2021, USAID has more than doubled the percentage of its humanitarian budget allocated to the protection sector, which includes child protection and gender-based violence activities serving girls. In FY 2023, USAID provided $163 million specifically towards addressing gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies. In 2022, USAID and the Department of State launched Safe from the Start: ReVisioned, which seeks to better address the needs of girls and women from the onset of a conflict or crisis.
    • Combatting Child Trafficking. To combat child trafficking, including trafficking of girls, the Department of State has committed $37.5 million through Child Protection Compacts, building capacity in Jamaica, Peru, and Mongolia, and establishing new partnerships with Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Romania. These partnerships strengthen country responses to child trafficking to more effectively prosecute and convict traffickers, provide comprehensive trauma-informed care for child victims—including girls—and prevent child trafficking in all its forms.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: First Lady Jill  Biden Announces 2024 “Girls Leading Change”  Honorees

    Source: The White House

    In celebration of International Day of the Girl, the First Lady is honoring ten young women who are leading change and shaping a brighter future in their communities 

    In honor of International Day of the Girl, First Lady Jill Biden will celebrate ten young women leaders, selected by the White House Gender Policy Council, who are leading change and shaping a brighter future in their communities across the United States.    

    As an educator for more than 40 years, Dr. Biden has continued to be a champion for young people here in the United States and abroad. Together with the White House Gender Policy Council, Dr. Biden is hosting the second “Girls Leading Change” event at the White House to recognize the profound impact young women are having on their communities and their efforts to strengthen our country for generations to come.     

    “Everywhere I travel, I see inspiring girls leading change in their communities,” said First Lady Jill Biden. “These incredible honorees are meeting the challenges they see in the world by developing innovative new technologies, expanding access to education, erasing silence through the power of art and poetry and more. It is an honor to celebrate these young leaders at the White House and I hope that their courage and determination inspires the next generation.”  

    The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that girls can pursue their dreams free from fear, discrimination, violence, or abuse; and to advancing the safety, education, health, and wellbeing of girls everywhere. Investing in young people means investing in our future; they should have the opportunity and resources they need to succeed. Since day one in office, this Administration has taken actions to advance the safety, education, health, and well-being of girls. A full summary of these actions can be found via a White House Fact Sheet released today HERE.  

    “Girls Leading Change” will begin at 5:30 PM ET today, Thursday, October 10th, and be available via livestream at whitehouse.gov/live  

      2024 Girl Leading Change Honorees   

    Cheyenne Anderson (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 

    Cheyenne Anderson, Iztac Citlali (White Star), age 17, is an artist and photographer who aims to lift up underrepresented communities, including those of her own Chicana, Mexica, and Apache heritage, through creative art forms. In ninth grade, Cheyenne created and co-edited a book, titled South Valley, which features poetry and artwork from fellow youth poets and local community members that showcase the beauty and spirit of Albuquerque’s South Valley. Through her art and elevating the art of others, Cheyenne hopes to inspire people of all backgrounds to share their unique stories. 

    Emily Austin (Alcabideche, Portugal) 

    Emily Austin, age 17, is a proud daughter of a U.S. Navy service member. Emily and her family have moved to seven different duty stations. She has attended seven different schools, over the course of her education. She currently serves as the Chief of Staff at Bloom, an organization started by military-connected teens dedicated to empowering teens from military families and elevating their voices. Emily started the Bloom Ambassador program to directly connect teens from military families to Bloom staff members and opportunities in their region, cultivating a sense of community and providing peer support through the shared joys and challenges of the military lifestyle. 

    Sreenidi Bala (Farmington, Connecticut) 

    Sreenidi Bala, age 16, is an advocate for the accessibility of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for students of all abilities. After recognizing a gap in STEM education for neurodivergent students in her school district, Sreenidi developed an elective to fill that gap called ASPIRE Adaptive STEM. Sreenidi also founded Code for All Minds—a free online platform offering educators and families comprehensive lessons in coding, digital citizenship, and essential technology skills tailored for students with learning disabilities. Through partnerships with neurodiversity advocacy groups and local college access programs, Code for All Minds has created and distributed adaptive STEM curriculums to schools across the country. 

    Noel Demetrio (Lake Forest, Illinois) 

    Noel Demetrio, age 17, is dedicated to supporting refugee and immigrant communities. Noel is the founder of Project Xenia, a local program that aims to educate students about displacement and show how they can support and welcome refugees into their community. Project Xenia has also helped fund scholarships for Ukrainian refugees in her local community. Noel serves as a Girl Delegate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to the United Nations and attended the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to advocate for the rights of girls all over the world. 

    Serena Griffin (Oakland, California) 

    Serena Griffin, age 17, is passionate about empowering youth through poetry, songwriting, and storytelling, and using creative expression as a tool for social change. She is the founder of EmpowHer Poets, a free afterschool program that provides writing workshops to local Bay Area youth, particularly young girls of color, to encourage them to find power in their voices. In addition, Serena is the current Berkeley Vice Youth Poet Laureate. She also serves as a member of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls Youth Advisory Council, advising on the impact of state legislation on youth and its implementation in schools.  

    Pragathi Kasani-Akula (Cumming, Georgia) 

    Pragathi Kasani-Akula, age 17, is a scientist and innovator dedicated to developing novel solutions that make health care more accessible to people across the world. Following her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis, she developed a prototype for a low-cost, less invasive test to detect triple negative breast cancer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pragathi also worked with the ScioVirtual Foundation to teach an online course on epidemiology to students across the nation, including education on how to advance public health. 

    Meghna “Chili” and Siona “Dolly” Pramoda (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) 

    Meghna “Chili” Pramoda, age 17, and Siona “Dolly” Pramoda, age 16, are advocates for digital safety for all. As co-founders of SafeTeensOnline (STO), the Pramoda sisters have educated and empowered over 5 million teens worldwide. STO’s work consists of year-round online awareness campaigns through social media and teen-led large-scale survey and research initiatives on topics such as internet usage and patterns of cyber incidents. During the COVID-19 pandemic when the world moved online, the Pramoda sisters noticed that older members of their community often felt isolated due to a lack of digital literacy. As a result, STO expanded from a teen-focused organization to one that also educates parents, teachers, and grandparents on safe digital practices and on how to build judgment-free spaces online. 

    Kira Tiller (Gainesville, Virginia) 

    Kira Tiller, age 18, is a disability rights activist who aims to expand accessibility and amplify the voices of young people with disabilities. After Kira discovered that the flashing lights during school fire drills posed a seizure risk for her due to her epilepsy, she dedicated herself to advocating for legislation to ensure students with disabilities are fully accommodated and protected during emergency situations at school. Kira founded and is the executive director of a national, student-led organization called Disabled Disrupters, which advocates for state and federal disability rights legislation and helps students take action to advance disability equity. 

    Morgaine Wilkins-Dean (Denver, Colorado) 

    Morgaine Wilkins-Dean, age 18, is a Gold Award Girl Scout who is working to eliminate gun violence in her community and across the country.  Morgaine’s high school experienced three firearm-related incidents in a single year that resulted in the loss of two of her classmates. As a result, Morgaine worked with the Denver Public School Board on gun violence prevention and safe gun storage policies. Due in part to Morgaine’s advocacy, this school year, for the first time, Denver Public Schools are required to educate families about the risks associated with unsecured firearms at home. 

    ### 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Connecticut National Guard Soldiers deliver critical supplies to Little Switzerland, North Carolina

    Source: US National Guard (video statements)

    A Connecticut Army National Guard aircrew delivers essential supplies to the remote community of Little Switzerland, North Carolina, aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter as part of Hurricane Helene relief efforts, Oct. 7, 2024. The highly skilled pilots executed a technical landing in a small area to deliver life-saving supplies to this cut-off community. (U.S. Army National Guard video by Sgt. 1st Class Christy Van Drunen)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMN9cFlCBno

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: Delivering on Our Commitments, 12th U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Lao  PDR

    Source: The White House

    The Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen our ties with ASEAN and deliver on our commitments to the region. Over the past three and a half years, we have pursued an unprecedented expansion in the breadth and depth of U.S.-ASEAN relations, including upgrading our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and institutionalizing cooperation in five new areas—health, transportation, women’s empowerment, environment and climate, and energy—as well as deepening our cooperation in foreign affairs, economics, technology, and defense. To date, we have made significant progress in fulfilling 98.37 percent of our commitments in the ASEAN-U.S. Plan of Action (2022-2025) and its Annex. The United States will continue working with ASEAN, including through ASEAN-led mechanisms, to build an open, inclusive, transparent, resilient, and rules-based regional architecture in which ASEAN is its center.
     
    DELIVERING ON OUR COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

    This year, the United States and ASEAN are celebrating 47 years of U.S.-ASEAN relations. President Biden and Vice President Harris remain committed to ASEAN centrality and supporting the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which shares fundamental principles with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy. ASEAN is at the heart of the U.S. approach to the Indo-Pacific, as reflected in numerous U.S. initiatives to promote economic prosperity and regional stability. Through the U.S.-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the United States has demonstrated that we are a reliable and enduring partner for our combined one billion people. Key U.S.-ASEAN accomplishments under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership include:

    • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) extended the U.S.-ASEAN Regional Development Cooperation Agreement to 2029 enabling the launch of the new five-year ASEAN USAID Partnership Program in March 2024. 
    • The United States plans to conduct a second U.S.-ASEAN maritime exercise in 2025, co-hosted by Indonesia. U.S. and ASEAN Member States’ navies will exercise communication, information sharing, and the implementation of maritime security protocols in accordance with international law.
    • In August 2024, the United States and ASEAN agreed to formalize U.S.-ASEAN health cooperation, elevating our engagement to a biennial U.S.-ASEAN Health Ministers Dialogue. USAID also officially launched the U.S.-ASEAN-Airborne Infection Defense Platform to bolster the region’s tuberculosis response capacity.
    • The United States is launching a cybersecurity training program for the ASEAN Secretariat that will enhance the cybersecurity awareness, knowledge, and skills of our partners who are the backbone of ASEAN institutions.  
    • At the third U.S.-ASEAN High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate this year, the United States unveiled the U.S.-ASEAN Climate Solutions Hub to help ASEAN members states develop and implement their contributions under the Paris Agreement.
    • In 2023, the United States and ASEAN held the inaugural Dialogue on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to advance human rights for persons with disabilities across Southeast Asia, including working with private sector to find ways to support accessibility across Southeast Asia.

    As a reflection of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership reaching its full potential, the United States and ASEAN celebrated the launch of the U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, DC in December 2023. The Center has already hosted several high-profile ASEAN-related events and is on track to become the key hub for ASEAN’s engagement with the United States.

    • In June 2024, the Center hosted the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, for his first working visit to the United States, where he launched a speaker series.
    • In August 2024, the Center hosted an ASEAN Day celebration, showcasing a wide array of cultural activities from ASEAN Member States.
    • The Center is also partnering with the Antiquities Coalition to host a Cultural Property Agreement workshop.

    The U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership (USASCP) is a key mechanism for our engagement on innovating sustainable cities of the future. Since it was launched in 2018, USASCP has invested more than $19 million in over 20 projects across urban sectors throughout the region. USASCP tackles the varied challenges of rapid urbanization, including accelerating climate action and promoting sustainable urban services.

    • In 2024, the USASCP Smart Cities Business Innovation Fund 2.0 will grant $3 million for net-zero urban innovation projects to strengthen private sector investment in sustainability and climate action across the ASEAN region.
    • In 2022, the Smart Cities Business Innovation Fund 1.0 granted a total of $1 million to six awardees across the region, including a solar panel recycling facility in Da Nang Vietnam and a seaweed/bioplastics manufacturer in Tangerang Indonesia.
    • The United States paired municipal water and wastewater facility operators from five cities across the United States and the ASEAN Smart Cities Network to share their expertise.

    This year marks the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative’s (YSEALI) second decade of building youth leadership capabilities across Southeast Asia to promote cross-border cooperation on regional and global challenges. YSEALI’s 160,000 strong digital network and 6,000 plus alumni community is creating new opportunities for its members to shape YSEALI’s next 10 years of impact. The State Department is well on its way to doubling the number of Southeast Asian youth participating in the YSEALI Academic and Professional Fellowships by 2025, in line with the commitments laid out by President Biden and Vice President Harris during the May 2022 U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit.

    • The United States has invested over $1.8 million to empower nearly 500 young women as part of the YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy (WLA). In celebration of the WLA’s 10th anniversary, the U.S. Mission to ASEAN granted $44,000 to alumni groups to foster collaboration and find innovative ways to close the gender leadership gap.
    • The YSEALI Seeds for the Future Program—a grant program intended to support innovative initiatives in Southeast Asia—has provided nearly $3 million for more than 500 young leaders to carry out projects that improve their communities.
    • The Department of State’s YSEALI Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund supported 16 YSEALI alumni-led public service projects in 2024. 

    ENHANCING CONNECTIVITY AND RESILIENCE

    The Biden-Harris Administration continues to build greater connectivity with ASEAN and enhancing regional resilience to bolster economic development and integration. The United States is ASEAN’s number one source of foreign direct investment, and U.S. goods and services trade totaled an estimated $500 billion in 2023. Since 2002, the United States has provided more than $14.7 billion in economic, health, and security assistance to Southeast Asian allies and partners. During that same period, the United States provided nearly $1.9 billion in humanitarian assistance, including life-saving disaster assistance, emergency food aid, and support to refugees throughout the region. As a durable and reliable partner of ASEAN, the United States supports the governments and people of Southeast Asia in enhancing the region’s connectivity and resilience. In addition to U.S. companies’ substantial investments, the United States is cooperating with the private sector to equip the region’s workforce with the skills needed to succeed in Southeast Asia’s burgeoning digital economy. Other key U.S. initiatives supporting this effort include:

    • USAID announces $2 million of new funding to support the sustainable development of critical minerals, supporting ASEAN’s goal of raising environmental, social, and governance standards for mineral sector development. 
    • Through the Japan-U.S.-Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP), the U.S. Department of State has implemented over 60 technical assistance activities to strengthen national power sectors and regional electricity market, enhancing the clean energy export potential of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam to the ASEAN market. 
    • The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is supporting a feasibility study to develop two cross-border interconnections, further expanding our longstanding support to connect the ASEAN Power Grid.
    • USAID is expanding cooperation with the ASEAN Center for Energy to support private sector and multilateral development bank investment to operationalize regional connectivity through the ASEAN Power Grid.
    • Through the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting and Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting, we are intensifying our cooperation on trusted information and communications technology infrastructure – including undersea cables, cloud computing, and wireless networks, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and combatting online scams.
    • The United States supported development of the ASEAN Responsible AI Roadmap and provided AI technical assistance for the Digital Economy Framework Agreement. Our collective effort ensures ASEAN can foster an inclusive environment where affirmative, safe, secure, and trustworthy AI innovation can flourish.
    • Under the U.S.-ASEAN Connect framework, the U.S. Mission to ASEAN is leveraging the U.S. government and private sector expertise to advance economic engagement, including through workshops covering topics such as best practices to strengthen cybersecurity and how to harness digital technologies.

    Over the past three and a half years, the Biden-Harris Administration has also spurred investment and economic growth through the advancement of over $1.4 billion in private sector investments in the ASEAN region. This past year alone, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has invested over $341 million in ASEAN markets. To further our cooperation and support, DFC has announced that it will open new offices in Vietnam and the Philippines to source more opportunities and further advance private sector investment. DFC’s key initiatives and investments have included:

    • Loaning up to $126 million loan to power company PT Medco Cahaya Geothermal to strengthen Indonesia’s energy security.
    • Initiating DFC’s first investment in Lao PDR with a $4 million loan portfolio guarantee to Phongsavanh Bank, which will work with Village Funds to give farmers financing to scale their businesses, increase their incomes, and improve their livelihoods.
    • Initiating DFC’s first investment in East Timor with a $3 million loan to microfinance institution Kaebauk Investimentu No Finansas, which will provide financing to small businesses, especially rural and unbanked ones.

    We look forward to continue advancing our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with ASEAN in 2025 by formulating a new plan of action to guide the next five years of our enduring partnership as we work to further the prosperity of our combined one billion people.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: LIVE: DoD Press Briefing from the Pentagon on October 10, 2024

    Source: United States Department of Defense (video statements)

    Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder briefs the news media at the Pentagon. The briefing will also be livestreamed on Defense.gov.
    —————
    Your military is an all-volunteer force that serves to protect our security and way of life, but Service members are more than a fighting force. They are leaders, humanitarians and your fellow Americans. Get to know more about the men and women who serve, who they are, what they do, and why they do it.

    For more on the Department of Defense, visit: http://www.defense.gov
    —————
    Keep up with the Department of Defense on social media!

    Like the DoD on Facebook: http://facebook.com/DeptofDefense
    Follow the DoD on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeptofDefense
    Follow the DoD on Instagram: http://instagram.com/DeptofDefense
    Follow the DoD on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/DeptofDefense

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHPyQz3qEfk

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and it’s not just stubbornness

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, Research Associate, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder

    Evacuation is more difficult for people with health and mobility issues. Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

    As Hurricane Milton roared ashore near Sarasota, Florida, tens of thousands of people were in evacuation shelters. Hundreds of thousands more had fled coastal regions ahead of the storm, crowding highways headed north and south as their counties issued evacuation orders.

    But not everyone left, despite dire warnings about a hurricane that had been one of the strongest on record two days earlier.

    As Milton’s rain and storm surge flooded neighborhoods late on Oct. 9, 2024, 911 calls poured in. In Tampa’s Hillsborough County, more than 500 people had to be rescued, including a dozen people trapped in a flooding home after a tree crashed though the roof at the height of the storm.

    In Plant City, 20 miles inland from Tampa, at least 35 people had been rescued by dawn, City Manager Bill McDaniel said. While the storm wasn’t as extreme as feared, McDaniel said his city had flooded in places and to levels he had never seen. Traffic signals were out. Power lines and trees were down. The sewage plant had been inundated, affecting the public water supply.

    Evacuating might seem like the obvious move when a major hurricane is bearing down on your region, but that choice is not always as easy as it may seem.

    Evacuating from a hurricane requires money, planning, the ability to leave and, importantly, a belief that evacuating is better than staying put.

    I recently examined years of research on what motivates people to leave or seek shelter during hurricanes as part of a project with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Natural Hazards Center. I found three main reasons that people didn’t leave.

    Evacuating can be expensive

    Evacuating requires transportation, money, a place to stay, the ability to take off work days ahead of a storm and other resources that many people do not have.

    With 1 in 9 Americans facing poverty today, many have limited evacuation options. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for example, many residents did not own vehicles and couldn’t reach evacuation buses. That left them stranded in the face of a deadly hurricane. Nearly 1,400 people died in the storm, many of them in flooded homes.

    When millions of people are under evacuation orders, logistical issues also arise.

    Two days ahead of landfall, Milton was a Category 5 hurricane. About 5 million people were under evacuation orders, and highways were crowded.

    Gas shortages and traffic jams can leave people stranded on highways and unable to find shelter before the storm hits. This happened during Hurricane Floyd in 1999 as 2 million Floridians tried to evacuate.

    People who experienced past evacuations or saw news video of congested highways ahead of Hurricane Milton might not leave for fear of getting stuck.

    Health, pets and being physically able to leave

    The logistics of evacuating are even more challenging for people who are disabled or in nursing homes. Additionally, people who are incarcerated may have no choice in the matter – and the justice system may have few options for moving them.

    Evacuating nursing homes, people with disabilities or prison populations is complex. Many shelters are not set up to accommodate their needs. In one example during Hurricane Floyd, a disabled person arrived at a shelter, but the hallways were too narrow for their wheelchair, so they were restricted to a cot for the duration of their stay. Moving people whose health is fragile, and doing so under stressful conditions, can also worsen health problems, leaving nursing home staff to make difficult decisions.

    At least 700 people stayed in chairs or on air mattresses at River Ridge Middle/High School in New Port Richey, Fla., during Hurricane Milton.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    But failing to evacuate can also be deadly. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, seven nursing home residents died in the rising heat after their facility lost power near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In some cases, public water systems are shut down or become contaminated. And flooding can create several health hazards, including the risk of infectious diseases.

    In a study of 291 long-term care facilities in Florida, 81% sheltered residents in place during the 2004 hurricane season because they had limited transportation options and faced issues finding places for residents to go.

    Some shelters allow small pets, but many don’t. This high school-turned-shelter in New Port Richey, Fla., had 283 registered pets.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    People with pets face another difficult choice – some choose to stay at home for fear of leaving their pet behind. Studies have found that pet owners are significantly less likely to evacuate than others because of difficulties transporting pets and finding shelters that will take them. In destructive storms, it can be days to weeks before people can return home.

    Risk perception can also get in the way

    People’s perceptions of risk can also prevent them from leaving.

    A series of studies show that women and minorities take hurricane risks more seriously than other groups and are more likely to evacuate or go to shelters. One study found that women are almost twice as likely than men to evacuate when given a mandatory evacuation order.

    If people have experienced a hurricane before that didn’t do significant damage, they may perceive the risks of a coming storm to be lower and not leave.

    Video from across Florida after Hurricane Milton shows flooding around homes, trees down and other damage. At least five people died in the storm, and more than 3 million homes lost power.

    In my review of research, I found that many people who didn’t evacuate had reservations about going to shelters and preferred to stay home or with family or friends. Shelter conditions were sometimes poor, overcrowded or lacked privacy.

    People had fears about safety and whether shelter environments could meet their needs. For example, religious minorities were not sure whether shelters would be clean, safe, have private places for religious practice, and food options consistent with faith practices. Diabetics and people with young children also had concerns about finding appropriate food in shelters.

    How to improve evacuations for the future

    There are ways leaders can reduce the barriers to evacuation and shelter use. For example:

    • Building more shelters able to withstand hurricane force winds can create safe havens for people without transportation or who are unable to leave their jobs in time to evacuate.

    • Arranging more shelters and transportation able to accommodate people with disabilities and those with special needs, such as nursing home residents, can help protect vulnerable populations.

    • Opening shelters to accommodate pets with their owners can also increase the likelihood that pet owners will evacuate.

    • Public education can be improved so people know their options. Clearer risk communication on how these storms are different than past ones and what people are likely to experience can also help people make informed decisions.

    • Being prepared saves lives. Many areas would benefit from better advance planning that takes into account the needs of large, diverse populations and can ensure populations have ways to evacuate to safety.

    Carson MacPherson-Krutsky works for the Natural Hazards Center (NHC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. She receives grant and contract funding for her work at NHC through the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other funders.

    – ref. Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and it’s not just stubbornness – https://theconversation.com/evacuating-in-disasters-like-hurricane-milton-isnt-simple-there-are-reasons-people-stay-in-harms-way-and-its-not-just-stubbornness-240869

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and not just stubbornness

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, Research Associate, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder

    Evacuation is more difficult for people with health and mobility issues. Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

    As Hurricane Milton roared ashore near Sarasota, Florida, tens of thousands of people were in evacuation shelters. Hundreds of thousands more had fled coastal regions ahead of the storm, crowding highways headed north and south as their counties issued evacuation orders.

    But not everyone left, despite dire warnings about a hurricane that had been one of the strongest on record two days earlier.

    As Milton’s rain and storm surge flooded neighborhoods late on Oct. 9, 2024, 911 calls poured in. More than 500 people were rescued in Tampa’s Hillsborough County. Tampa police helped more than a dozen adults and children from a flooding home after a tree crashed though the roof at the height of the storm.

    In Plant City, 20 miles inland from Tampa, at least 35 people had been rescued by dawn, City Manager Bill McDaniel said. While the storm wasn’t as extreme as feared, he said his city had flooded in places and to levels he had never seen. Traffic signals were out. Power lines and trees were down. The sewage plant had been inundated, affecting the public water supply.

    Evacuating might seem like the obvious move when a major hurricane is bearing down on your region, but that choice is not always as easy as it may seem.

    Evacuating from a hurricane requires money, planning, the ability to leave and, importantly, a belief that evacuating is better than staying put.

    I recently examined years of research on what motivates people to leave or seek shelter during hurricanes as part of a project with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Natural Hazards Center. I found three main reasons that people didn’t leave.

    Evacuating can be expensive

    Evacuating requires a car, gas money, a place to stay, the ability to take off work days ahead of a storm and other resources that many people do not have.

    With 1 in 9 Americans facing poverty today, many have limited evacuation options. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for example, many residents did not own vehicles and couldn’t reach evacuation buses. That left them stranded in the face of a deadly hurricane. Nearly 1,400 people died in the storm, many of them in flooded homes.

    When millions of people are under evacuation orders, logistical issues also arise.

    Two days ahead of landfall, Milton was a Category 5 hurricane. About 5 million people were under evacuation orders, and highways were crowded.

    Gas shortages and traffic jams can leave people stranded on highways and unable to find shelter before the storm hits. This happened during Hurricane Floyd in 1999 as 2 million Floridians tried to evacuate.

    People who experienced past evacuations or saw news video of congested highways ahead of Hurricane Milton might not leave for fear of getting stuck.

    Health, pets and being physically able to leave

    The logistics of evacuating are even more challenging for people who are disabled or in nursing homes. Additionally, people who are incarcerated may have no choice in the matter – and the justice system may have few options for moving them.

    Evacuating nursing homes, people with disabilities or prison populations is complex. Many shelters are not set up to accommodate their needs. In one example during Hurricane Floyd, a disabled person arrived at a shelter, but the hallways were too narrow for their wheelchair, so they were restricted to a cot for the duration of their stay. Moving people whose health is fragile, and doing so under stressful conditions, can also worsen health problems, leaving nursing home staff to make difficult decisions.

    At least 700 people stayed in chairs or on air mattresses at River Ridge Middle/High School in New Port Richey, Fla., during Hurricane Milton.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    But failing to evacuate can also be deadly. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, seven nursing home residents died in the rising heat after their facility lost power near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In some cases, public water systems are shut down or become contaminated. And flooding can create several health hazards, including the risk of infectious diseases.

    In a study of 291 long-term care facilities in Florida, 81% sheltered residents in place during the 2004 hurricane season because they had limited transportation options and faced issues finding places for residents to go.

    Some shelters allow small pets, but many don’t. This high school-turned-shelter in New Port Richey, Fla., had 283 registered pets.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    People with pets face another difficult choice – some choose to stay at home for fear of leaving their pet behind. Studies have found that pet owners are significantly less likely to evacuate than others because of difficulties transporting pets and finding shelters that will take them. In destructive storms, it can be days to weeks before people can return home.

    Risk perception can also get in the way

    People’s perceptions of risk can also prevent them from leaving.

    A series of studies show that women and minorities take hurricane risks more seriously than other groups and are more likely to evacuate or go to shelters. One study found that women are almost twice as likely than men to evacuate when given a mandatory evacuation order.

    If people have experienced a hurricane before that didn’t do significant damage, they may perceive the risks of a coming storm to be lower and not leave.

    Video from across Florida after Hurricane Milton shows flooding around homes, trees down and other damage. At least five people died in the storm, and more than 3 million homes lost power.

    In my review of research, I found that many people who didn’t evacuate had reservations about going to shelters and preferred to stay home or with family or friends. Shelter conditions were sometimes poor, overcrowded or lacked privacy.

    People had fears about safety and whether shelter environments could meet their needs. For example, religious minorities were not sure whether shelters would be clean, safe, have private places for religious practice, and food options consistent with faith practices. Diabetics and people with young children also had concerns about finding appropriate food in shelters.

    How to improve evacuations for the future

    There are ways leaders can reduce the barriers to evacuation and shelter use. For example:

    • Building more shelters able to withstand hurricane force winds can create safe havens for people without transportation or who are unable to leave their jobs in time to evacuate.

    • Arranging more shelters and transportation able to accommodate people with disabilities and those with special needs, such as nursing home residents, can help protect vulnerable populations.

    • Opening shelters to accommodate pets with their owners can also increase the likelihood that pet owners will evacuate.

    • Public education can be improved so people know their options. Clearer risk communication on how these storms are different than past ones and what people are likely to experience can also help people make informed decisions.

    • Being prepared saves lives. Many areas would benefit from better advance planning that takes into account the needs of large, diverse populations and can ensure populations have ways to evacuate to safety.

    Carson MacPherson-Krutsky works for the Natural Hazards Center (NHC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. She receives grant and contract funding for her work at NHC through the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other funders.

    – ref. Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and not just stubbornness – https://theconversation.com/evacuating-in-disasters-like-hurricane-milton-isnt-simple-there-are-reasons-people-stay-in-harms-way-and-not-just-stubbornness-240869

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: US inflation rate fell to 2.4% in September − here’s what that means for interest rates and markets

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jason Reed, Associate Teaching Professor of Finance, University of Notre Dame

    All eyes on the CPI. Sila Damrongsaringkan/Getty Images Plus

    It wasn’t that long ago that the Federal Reserve, the central bank for the United States, was worrying that annual inflation would surpass 9% in the middle of 2022. The U.S. economy hadn’t seen prices rise that fast since the 1980s, and most everyone feared that a series of interest rate hikes would plunge the economy into a recession.

    What a difference two years can make.

    Inflation cooled to 2.4% in September 2024, according to consumer price index data released by the Labor Department on Oct. 10. That’s down from 2.5% the previous month and in line with market expectations of 2.3% to 2.4%. The inflation rate peaked at 8.9% in June 2022 – a 41-year high.

    The news brings the Fed – and its chair, Jerome Powell – much closer to reaching its 2% inflation target. It also marks the fourth straight month that year-over-year price changes have been below 3% and the third consecutive month of declining inflation rates.

    Speaking as an economist and finance professor, I think this could be a big deal for the Federal Reserve, which next meets – and could again cut interest rates – in November.

    Fodder for another rate cut?

    The Fed has what’s called a dual mandate: It pursues both low inflation and stable employment, two goals that can sometimes be at odds. Cutting interest rates can help employment but worsen inflation, while hiking them can do the opposite.

    Since inflation started to take off during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fed officials have emphasized that their job isn’t done until price increases are back down to the 2% target.

    But in light of recent labor market news, Powell and his colleagues have changed their messaging a bit. This indicates that the upside risks of inflation are lower than the risks associated with a weakening labor market.

    And in September, the Fed slashed the federal funds rate by 0.5 percentage point, or 50 basis points – the first cut since it began hiking rates in March 2022. The move came as unemployment had ticked up to 4.3% in July, job openings plummeted and broader labor markets weakened.

    Increasingly optimistic markets

    Equity markets rallied on the news of the September rate cut. Investors believe reductions in the federal funds rate, which is a prime rate that helps to dictate mortgage rates, auto loans, credit card rates and home equity lines of credit, will spur increases in investment and consumption, guiding the economy to a so-called soft landing instead of a recession.

    After that meeting, most members of the Federal Reserve Board indicated they would also favor cutting rates by 25 basis points at each of their upcoming November and December meetings.

    Between today’s inflation news and the unexpectedly sunny jobs report on Oct. 4, investors and markets have a lot of news to digest as they consider what path interest rates will take in the months ahead. Many continue to believe that we may well see two 25-basis-point cuts by the end of 2024 – and so do I.

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

    – ref. US inflation rate fell to 2.4% in September − here’s what that means for interest rates and markets – https://theconversation.com/us-inflation-rate-fell-to-2-4-in-september-heres-what-that-means-for-interest-rates-and-markets-240872

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: DDG Ellard: Effective trade policies essential for clean energy transition

    Source: WTO

    Headline: DDG Ellard: Effective trade policies essential for clean energy transition

    DDG Ellard noted that trade policies can help lower clean energy costs, decarbonize supply chains, harmonize standards, redirect subsidies toward sustainability, and create new economic opportunities in emerging low-carbon markets, ultimately fostering sustainable development.
    Highlighting key challenges, DDG Ellard pointed to significant tariff disparities that currently favour high-carbon goods over renewable energy equipment. For instance, while crude oil and coal face minimal tariffs, renewable technologies can incur duties as high as 12%. Reassessing these tariffs could enhance the competitiveness of renewable energy and accelerate its adoption.
    DDG Ellard also highlighted the challenges arising from the 73 different carbon pricing schemes globally, which inflate compliance costs and threaten climate objectives. Trade policies can facilitate greater interoperability and collaboration on carbon pricing frameworks, helping to alleviate trade tensions and expedite the transition to sustainability, she added.
    Furthermore, DDG Ellard emphasized the importance of redirecting harmful subsidies toward more beneficial objectives, highlighting that government support for fossil fuels exceeded USD 1.4 trillion in 2022. “By reallocating these funds to nature-positive initiatives, we can stimulate innovation and significantly reduce emissions,” she said. She noted that the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted by WTO members in 2022, is a valuable blueprint for future efforts on environmental sustainability.  The Agreement demonstrates how economies can collaborate across geopolitical divides and eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies while redirecting resources toward more beneficial initiatives. DDG Ellard urged members that have yet to deposit their instruments of acceptance for this groundbreaking Agreement to do so promptly.
    DDG Ellard noted that the clean energy transition presents immense opportunities for developing economies rich in renewable energy resources and critical minerals. However, to fully harness this potential, targeted and effective trade policy actions are essential. These actions include aligning standards and implementing green procurement practices to establish stable frameworks that can reduce capital costs for large-scale renewable projects. WTO members are actively engaged in discussions aimed at supporting this process, exploring concrete pathways for trade-related climate actions, including promoting renewable technologies and addressing market distortions caused by fossil fuel subsidies.
    DDG Ellard also noted the importance of a solid investment climate in developing economies to build investor confidence and attract financing in ways to encourage environmental sustainability.  She highlighted that more than two-thirds of WTO members, including 89 developing members, of which 27 are least-developed countries (LDCs), concluded the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, designed to streamline investment procedures and encourage foreign direct investment in sustainable projects.
    Looking ahead to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), DDG Ellard emphasized the significant opportunity for global leaders to integrate climate finance, investment, and trade, adding that the WTO Secretariat plans to co-host a Trade Day for the second year to highlight this intersection. She explained that in preparation for the last conference, the WTO Secretariat issued a 10-point set of “Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action “, launched at COP28. This publication explores how integrating trade policy options, such as reviewing import tariffs on low-carbon solutions, can help mitigate climate change impacts. The WTO Secretariat also presented a joint report with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on “International Trade in Green Hydrogen ,” providing insights into global hydrogen trade and scaling up production.
    Additionally, DDG Ellard said, the WTO Secretariat’s support for collaboration in the steel sector has led to the establishment of Steel Standards Principles, endorsed by over 40 organizations, aimed at promoting common methodologies for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. The WTO is also examining the role of trade in addressing the high demand for energy-related critical minerals to alleviate supply chain pressures. These initiatives reflect the diverse perspectives of WTO members, all sharing the common goal of harnessing trade to combat climate change while promoting sustainable development.
    DDG Ellard concluded by emphasizing that a sustainable clean energy transition is both an environmental necessity and an economic opportunity, achievable only through collaboration. “The WTO Secretariat remains committed to supporting WTO members in creating a global trade environment that leverages trade tools to achieve sustainable environmental goals and bolster the resilience of renewable energy supply chains, all while ensuring that such efforts do not create barriers to trade”, she said.

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    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Global goods trade on track for gradual recovery despite lingering downside risks

    Source: World Trade Organization

    In the October 2024 update of “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics,” WTO economists note that global merchandise trade turned upwards in the first half of 2024 with a 2.3% year-on-year increase, which should be followed by further moderate expansion in the rest of the year and in 2025. The rebound comes on the heels of a -1.1% slump in 2023 driven by high inflation and rising interest rates. World real GDP growth at market exchange rates is expected to remain steady at 2.7% in 2024 and 2025. 

    Inflation by the middle of 2024 had fallen sufficiently to allow central banks to cut interest rates.  Lower inflation should raise real household incomes and boost consumer spending, while lower interest rates should raise investment spending by firms.

    Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: “We are expecting a gradual recovery in global trade for 2024, but we remain vigilant of potential setbacks, particularly the potential escalation of regional conflicts like those in the Middle East. The impact could be most severe for the countries directly involved, but they may also indirectly affect global energy costs and shipping routes. Beyond the economic implications, we are deeply concerned about the humanitarian consequences for those affected by these conflicts.”

    “It is imperative that we continue to work collectively to ensure global economic stability and sustained growth, as these are fundamental to enhancing the welfare of people worldwide. In the past three decades since the WTO was established, per capita incomes in low- and middle-income economies have nearly tripled. We must continue our efforts to foster inclusive global trade,” DG Okonjo-Iweala said.

    Diverging monetary policies among major economies could lead to financial volatility and shifts in capital flows as central banks bring down interest rates. This might make debt servicing more challenging, particularly for poorer economies. There is also some limited upside potential to the forecast if interest rate cuts in advanced economies stimulate stronger than expected growth without reigniting inflation.

    Regional trade outlook

    “The latest forecasts for world trade in 2024 and 2025 only show modest revisions since the last Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report in April, but these projections do not capture some important changes in the regional composition of trade. Historical trade volume data have been revised substantially, including downward revisions to European exports and imports back to 2020.  There have also been notable changes in GDP forecasts by region, including a 0.4 percentage point upgrade to North America’s growth, which could influence trade flows in other regions as well,” WTO Chief Economist Ralph Ossa said.

    Europe is now expected to post a decline of 1.4% in export volumes in 2024; imports will meanwhile decrease by 2.3%. Germany’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the second quarter, with manufacturing indicators hitting 12-month lows in September. European exports have been dragged down by the region’s automotive and chemicals sectors. A slump in EU exports of automotive products is worrying due to the potential impact on the sector’s extensive supply chains. Meanwhile, organic chemical exports — some associated with medicines — are returning to normal trends following a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. EU machinery imports also plummeted, particularly from China. This trend extends beyond geopolitical tensions, affecting imports from the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, rising imports from India and Viet Nam suggest their growing roles in global supply chains.

    Asia’s export volumes will grow faster than those of any other region this year, rising by as much as 7.4% in 2024. The region saw a strong export rebound in the first half of the year driven by key manufacturing economies such as China, Singapore and the Republic of Korea. Asian imports show divergent trends: while China’s growth remains modest, other economies such as Singapore, Malaysia, India and Viet Nam are surging. This shift suggests their emerging role as “connecting” economies, trading across geopolitical blocs, thereby potentially mitigating the risk of fragmentation.

    South America (1) is rebounding in 2024, recovering from weaknesses in both exports and imports experienced in 2023. North American trade is largely driven by the United States although Mexico stands out with stronger import growth compared to the region as a whole. Mexican imports are rebounding after a contraction in 2023, underscoring the country’s growing role as a “connecting” economy in trade.

    Africa’s export growth is in line with the global trend. It has been revised downward from the April forecast, driven by an overall revision of Africa’s trade statistics, and a greater-than-expected weakening in Europe’s imports, Africa’s main trade partner. In April, WTO economists forecasted a contraction in the CIS region’s (2) imports for 2024, but now it is projected to post 1.1% growth, driven by stronger-than-expected GDP expansion. The Middle East had a major revision in its data, explaining the discrepancy between the April forecast and the current projections.

    Merchandise exports of least-developed countries (LDCs) are projected to increase by 1.8% in 2024, marking a slowdown from the 4.6% growth recorded in 2023. Export growth is expected to pick up in 2025, reaching 3.7%. Meanwhile, LDC imports are forecast to grow 5.9% in 2024 and 5.6% in 2025, following a 4.8% decline in 2023. These projections are underpinned by GDP growth estimates for LDCs of 3.3% in 2023, 4.3% in 2024 and 4.7% in 2025.

    Trade in services

    The short-term outlook for services is more positive than for goods, with 8% year-on-year growth in the US dollar value of commercial services trade recorded in the first quarter of 2024. Comprehensive services statistics for the second quarter will be released later in October, but data for available reporters through June suggest that relatively strong growth is likely to be sustained in the second quarter as well. 

    The services new export orders index rose to 51.7 in August, its highest level since July 2023. The services Purchasing Managers’ Index remained firmly in expansion territory at 52.9 as of August, although it did turn down in September.

    The full report is available here.

    Detailed quarterly and annual trade statistics can be downloaded from the WTO Stats portal. In addition, the interactive tool WTO | World Trade Statistics 2023 presents key data and trends for international trade, allowing users to view the latest trends, in terms of both value and volume, using filters to display the data by economy, region, selected grouping, product group and services sector.

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    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Meeting of 11-12 September 2024

    Source: European Central Bank

    Account of the monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank held in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday and Thursday, 11-12 September 2024

    10 October 2024

    1. Review of financial, economic and monetary developments and policy options

    Financial market developments

    Ms Schnabel noted that since the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting on 17-18 July 2024 there had been repeated periods of elevated market volatility, as growth concerns had become the dominant market theme. The volatility in risk asset markets had left a more persistent imprint on broader financial markets associated with shifting expectations for the policy path of the Federal Reserve System.

    The reappraisal of expectations for US monetary policy had spilled over into euro area rate expectations, supported by somewhat weaker economic data and a notable decline in headline inflation in the euro area. Overnight index swap (OIS) markets were currently pricing in a steeper and more frontloaded rate-cutting cycle than had been anticipated at the time of the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting. At the same time, survey expectations had hardly changed relative to July.

    Volatility in US equity markets had shot up to levels last seen in October 2020, following the August US non-farm payroll employment report and the unwinding of yen carry trades. Similarly, both the implied volatility in the euro area stock market and the Composite Indicator of Systemic Stress had spiked. However, the turbulence had proved short-lived, and indicators of volatility and systemic stress had come down quickly.

    The sharp swings in risk aversion among global investors had been mirrored in equity prices, with the weaker growth outlook having also been reflected in the sectoral performance of global equity markets. In both the euro area and the United States, defensive sectors had recently outperformed cyclical ones, suggesting that equity investors were positioning themselves for weaker economic growth.

    Two factors could have amplified stock market dynamics. One was that the sensitivity of US equity prices to US macroeconomic shocks can depend on prevailing valuations. Another was the greater role of speculative market instruments, including short volatility equity funds.

    The pronounced reappraisal of the expected path of US monetary policy had spilled over into rate expectations across major advanced economies, including the euro area. The euro area OIS forward curve had shifted noticeably lower compared with expectations prevailing at the time of the Governing Council’s July meeting. In contrast to market expectations, surveys had proven much more stable. The expectations reported in the most recent Survey of Monetary Analysts (SMA) had been unchanged versus the previous round and pointed towards a more gradual rate path.

    The dynamics of market-based and survey-based policy rate expectations over the year – as illustrated by the total rate cuts expected by the end of 2024 and the end of 2025 in the markets and in the SMA – showed that the higher volatility in market expectations relative to surveys had been a pervasive feature. Since the start of 2024 market-based expectations had oscillated around stable SMA expectations. The dominant drivers of interest rate markets in the inter-meeting period and for most of 2024 had in fact been US rather than domestic euro area factors, which could partly explain the more muted sensitivity of analysts’ expectations to recent incoming data.

    At the same time, the expected policy divergence between the euro area and the United States had changed signs, with markets currently expecting a steeper easing cycle for the Federal Reserve.

    The decline in US nominal rates across maturities since the Governing Council’s last meeting could be explained mainly by a decline in expected real rates, as shown by a breakdown of OIS rates across different maturities into inflation compensation and real rates. By contrast, the decline in euro area nominal rates had largely related to a decline in inflation compensation.

    The market’s reassessment of the outlook for inflation in the euro area and the United States had led to the one-year inflation-linked swap (ILS) rates one year ahead declining broadly in tandem on both sides of the Atlantic. The global shift in investor focus from inflation to growth concerns may have lowered investors’ required compensation for upside inflation risks. A second driver of inflation compensation had been the marked decline in energy prices since the Governing Council’s July meeting. Over the past few years the market’s near-term inflation outlook had been closely correlated with energy prices.

    Market-based inflation expectations had again been oscillating around broadly stable survey-based expectations, as shown by a comparison of the year-to-date developments in SMA expectations and market pricing for inflation rates at the 2024 and 2025 year-ends.

    The dominance of US factors in recent financial market developments and the divergence in policy rate expectations between the euro area and the United States had also been reflected in exchange rate developments. The euro had been pushed higher against the US dollar owing to the repricing of US monetary policy expectations and the deterioration in the US macroeconomic outlook. In nominal effective terms, however, the euro exchange rate had depreciated mildly, as the appreciation against the US dollar and other currencies had been more than offset by a weakening against the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen.

    Sovereign bond markets had once again proven resilient to the volatility in riskier asset market segments. Ten-year sovereign spreads over German Bunds had widened modestly after the turbulence but had retreated shortly afterwards. As regards corporate borrowing, the costs of rolling over euro area and US corporate debt had eased measurably across rating buckets relative to their peak.

    Finally, there had been muted take-up in the first three-month lending operation extending into the period of the new pricing for the main refinancing operations. As announced in March, the spread to the deposit facility rate would be reduced from 50 to 15 basis points as of 18 September 2024. Moreover, markets currently expected only a slow increase in take-up and no money market reaction to this adjustment.

    The global environment and economic and monetary developments in the euro area

    Mr Lane started by reviewing inflation developments in the euro area. Headline inflation had decreased to 2.2% in August (flash release), which was 0.4 percentage points lower than in July. This mainly reflected a sharp decline in energy inflation, from 1.2% in July to -3.0% in August, on account of downward base effects. Food inflation had been 2.4% in August, marginally up from 2.3% in July. Core inflation – as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) excluding energy and food – had decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 2.8% in August, as the decline in goods inflation to 0.4% had outweighed the rise in services inflation to 4.2%.

    Most measures of underlying inflation had been broadly unchanged in July. However, domestic inflation remained high, as wages were still rising at an elevated pace. But labour cost pressures were moderating, and lower profits were partially buffering the impact of higher wages on inflation. Growth in compensation per employee had fallen further, to 4.3%, in the second quarter of 2024. And despite weak productivity unit labour costs had grown less strongly, by 4.6%, after 5.2% in the first quarter. Annual growth in unit profits had continued to fall, coming in at -0.6%, after -0.2% in the first quarter and +2.5% in the last quarter of 2023. Negotiated wage growth would remain high and volatile over the remainder of the year, given the significant role of one-off payments in some countries and the staggered nature of wage adjustments. The forward-looking wage tracker also signalled that wage growth would be strong in the near term but moderate in 2025.

    Headline inflation was expected to rise again in the latter part of this year, partly because previous falls in energy prices would drop out of the annual rates. According to the latest ECB staff projections, headline inflation was expected to average 2.5% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026, notably reaching 2.0% during the second half of next year. Compared with the June projections, the profile for headline inflation was unchanged. Inflation projections including owner-occupied housing costs were a helpful cross-check. However, in the September projections these did not imply any substantial difference, as inflation both in rents and in the owner-occupied housing cost index had shown a very similar profile to the overall HICP inflation projection. For core inflation, the projections for 2024 and 2025 had been revised up slightly, as services inflation had been higher than expected. Staff continued to expect a rapid decline in core inflation, from 2.9% this year to 2.3% in 2025 and 2.0% in 2026. Owing to a weaker economy and lower wage pressures, the projections now saw faster disinflation in the course of 2025, resulting in the projection for core inflation in the fourth quarter of that year being marked down from 2.2% to 2.1%.

    Turning to the global economy, Mr Lane stressed that global activity excluding the euro area remained resilient and that global trade had strengthened in the second quarter of 2024, as companies frontloaded their orders in anticipation of shipping delays ahead of the Christmas season. At the same time downside risks were rising, with indicators signalling a slowdown in manufacturing. The frontloading of trade in the first half of the year meant that trade performance in the second half could be weaker.

    The euro had been appreciating against the US dollar (+1.0%) since the July Governing Council meeting but had been broadly stable in effective terms. As for the energy markets, Brent crude oil prices had decreased by 14%, to around USD 75 per barrel, since the July meeting. European natural gas prices had increased by 16%, to stand at around €37 per megawatt-hour amid ongoing geopolitical concerns.

    Euro area real GDP had expanded by 0.2% in the second quarter of this year, after being revised down. This followed 0.3% in the first quarter and fell short of the latest staff projections for real GDP. It was important not to exaggerate the slowdown in the second quarter of 2024. This was less pronounced when excluding a small euro area economy with a large and volatile contribution from intangible investment. However, while the euro area economy was continuing to grow, the expansion was being driven not by private domestic demand, but mainly by net exports and government spending. Private domestic demand had weakened, as households were consuming less, firms had cut business investment and housing investment had dropped sharply. The euro area flash composite output Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) had risen to 51.2 in August from 50.2 in July. While the services sector continued to expand, the more interest-sensitive manufacturing sector continued to contract, as it had done for most of the past two years. The flash PMI for services business activity for August had risen to 53.3, while the manufacturing output PMI remained deeply in contractionary territory at 45.7. The overall picture raised concerns: as developments were very similar for both activity and new orders, there was no indication that the manufacturing sector would recover anytime soon. Consumer confidence remained subdued and industrial production continued to face strong headwinds, with the highly interconnected industrial sector in the euro area’s largest economy suffering from a prolonged slump. On trade, it was also a concern that the improvements in the PMIs for new export orders for both services and manufacturing had again slipped in the last month or two.

    After expanding by 3.5% in 2023, global real GDP was expected to grow by 3.4% in 2024 and 2025, and 3.3% in 2026, according to the September ECB staff macroeconomic projections. Compared to the June projections, global real GDP growth had been revised up by 0.1 percentage points in each year of the projection horizon. Even though the outlook for the world economy had been upgraded slightly, there had been a downgrade in terms of the export prices of the euro area’s competitors, which was expected to fuel disinflationary pressures in the euro area, particularly in 2025.

    The euro area labour market remained resilient. The unemployment rate had been broadly unchanged in July, at 6.4%. Employment had grown by 0.2% in the second quarter. At the same time, the growth in the labour force had slowed. Recent survey indicators pointed to a further moderation in the demand for labour, with the job vacancy rate falling from 2.9% in the first quarter to 2.6% in the second quarter, close to its pre-pandemic peak of 2.4%. Early indicators of labour market dynamics suggested a further deceleration of labour market momentum in the third quarter. The employment PMI had stood at the broadly neutral level of 49.9 in August.

    In the staff projections output growth was expected to be 0.8% in 2024 and to strengthen to 1.3% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026. Compared with the June projections, the outlook for growth had been revised down by 0.1 percentage points in each year of the projection horizon. For 2024, the downward revision reflected lower than expected GDP data and subdued short-term activity indicators. For 2025 and 2026 the downward revisions to the average annual growth rates were the result of slightly weaker contributions from net trade and domestic demand.

    Concerning fiscal policies, the euro area budget balance was projected to improve progressively, though less strongly than in the previous projection round, from -3.6% in 2023 to -3.3% in 2024, -3.2% in 2025 and -3.0% in 2026.

    Turning to monetary and financial analysis, risk-free market interest rates had decreased markedly since the last monetary policy meeting, mostly owing to a weaker outlook for global growth and reduced concerns about inflation pressures. Tensions in global markets over the summer had led to a temporary tightening of financial conditions in the riskier market segments. But in the euro area and elsewhere forward rates had fallen across maturities. Financing conditions for firms and households remained restrictive, as the past policy rate increases continued to work their way through the transmission chain. The average interest rates on new loans to firms and on new mortgages had stayed high in July, at 5.1% and 3.8% respectively. Monetary dynamics were broadly stable amid marked volatility in monthly flows, with net external assets remaining the main driver of money creation. The annual growth rate of M3 had stood at 2.3% in July, unchanged from June but up from 1.5% in May. Credit growth remained sluggish amid weak demand.

    Monetary policy considerations and policy options

    Regarding the assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission, Mr Lane concluded that confidence in a timely return of inflation to target was supported by both declining uncertainty around the projections, including their stability across projection rounds, and also by inflation expectations across a range of indicators that remained aligned with a timely convergence to target. The incoming data on wages and profits had been in line with expectations. The baseline scenario foresaw a demand-led economic recovery that boosted labour productivity, allowing firms to absorb the expected growth in labour costs without denting their profitability too much. This should buffer the cost pressures stemming from higher wages, dampening price increases. Most measures of underlying inflation, including those with a high predictive content for future inflation, were stable at levels consistent with inflation returning to target in a sufficiently timely manner. While domestic inflation was still being kept elevated by pay rises, the projected slowdown in wage growth next year was expected to make a major contribution to the final phase of disinflation towards the target.

    Based on this assessment, it was now appropriate to take another step in moderating the degree of monetary policy restriction. Accordingly, Mr Lane proposed lowering the deposit facility rate – the rate through which the Governing Council steered the monetary policy stance – by 25 basis points. This decision was robust across a wide range of scenarios. At a still clearly restrictive level of 3.50% for the deposit facility rate, upside shocks to inflation calling into question the timely return of inflation to target could be addressed with a slower pace of rate reductions in the coming quarters compared with the baseline rate path embedded in the projections. At the same time, compared with holding the deposit facility rate at 3.75%, this level also offered greater protection against downside risks that could lead to an undershooting of the target further out in the projection horizon, including the risks associated with an excessively slow unwinding of the rate tightening cycle.

    Looking ahead, a gradual approach to dialling back restrictiveness would be appropriate if the incoming data were in line with the baseline projection. At the same time, optionality should be retained as regards the speed of adjustment. In one direction, if the incoming data indicated a sustained acceleration in the speed of disinflation or a material shortfall in the speed of economic recovery (with its implications for medium-term inflation), a faster pace of rate adjustment could be warranted; in the other direction, if the incoming data indicated slower than expected disinflation or a faster pace of economic recovery, a slower pace of rate adjustment could be warranted. These considerations reinforced the value of a meeting-by-meeting and data-dependent approach that maintained two-way optionality and flexibility for future rate decisions. This implied reiterating (i) the commitment to keep policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary to achieve a timely return of inflation to target; (ii) the emphasis on a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach in setting policy; and (iii) the retention of the three-pronged reaction function, based on the Governing Council’s assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission.

    As announced in March, some changes to the operational framework for implementing monetary policy were to come into effect at the start of the next maintenance period on 18 September. The spread between the rate on the main refinancing operations and the deposit facility rate would be reduced to 15 basis points. The spread between the rate on the marginal lending facility and the rate on the main refinancing operations would remain unchanged at 25 basis points. These technical adjustments implied that the main refinancing operations and marginal lending facility rates would be reduced by 60 basis points the following week, to 3.65% and 3.90% respectively. In view of these changes, the Governing Council should emphasise in its communication that it steered the monetary policy stance by adjusting the deposit facility rate.

    2. Governing Council’s discussion and monetary policy decisions

    Economic, monetary and financial analyses

    Looking at the external environment, members took note of the assessment provided by Mr Lane. Incoming data confirmed growth in global activity had been resilient, although recent negative surprises in PMI manufacturing output indicated potential headwinds to the near-term outlook. While the services sector was growing robustly, the manufacturing sector was contracting. Goods inflation was declining sharply, in contrast to persistent services inflation. Global trade had surprised on the upside in the second quarter, likely owing to frontloaded restocking. However, it was set to decelerate again in the third quarter and then projected to recover and grow in line with global activity over the rest of the projection horizon. Euro area foreign demand followed a path similar to global trade and had been revised up for 2024 (owing mainly to strong data). Net exports had been the main demand component supporting euro area activity in the past two quarters. Looking ahead, though, foreign demand was showing signs of weakness, with falling export orders and PMIs.

    Overall, the September projections had shown a slightly improved growth outlook relative to the June projections, both globally and for the major economies, which suggested that fears of a major global slowdown might be exaggerated. US activity remained robust, despite signs of rebalancing in the labour market. The recent rise in unemployment was due primarily to an increasing labour force, driven by higher participation rates and strong immigration, rather than to weakening labour demand or increased slack. China’s growth had slowed significantly in the second quarter as the persistent downturn in the property market continued to dampen household demand. Exports remained the primary driver of growth. Falling Chinese export prices highlighted the persisting overcapacity in the construction and high-tech manufacturing sectors.

    Turning to commodities, oil prices had fallen significantly since the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting. The decline reflected positive supply news, dampened risk sentiment and the slowdown in economic activity, especially in China. The futures curve suggested a downward trend for oil prices. In contrast, European gas prices had increased in the wake of geopolitical concerns and localised supply disruptions. International prices for both metal and food commodities had declined slightly. Food prices had fallen owing to favourable wheat crop conditions in Canada and the United States. In this context, it was argued that the decline in commodity prices could be interpreted as a barometer of sentiment on the strength of global activity.

    With regard to economic activity in the euro area, members concurred with the assessment presented by Mr Lane and acknowledged the weaker than expected growth outcome in the second quarter. While broad agreement was expressed with the latest macroeconomic projections, it was emphasised that incoming data implied a downward revision to the growth outlook relative to the previous projection round. Moreover, the remark was made that the private domestic economy had contributed negatively to GDP growth for the second quarter in a row and had been broadly stagnating since the middle of 2022.

    It was noted that, since the cut-off for the projections, Eurostat had revised data for the latest quarters, with notable changes to the composition of growth. Moreover, in earlier national account releases, there had already been sizeable revisions to backdata, with upward revisions to the level of activity, which had been broadly taken into account in the September projections. With respect to the latest release, the demand components for the second quarter pointed to an even less favourable contribution from consumption and investment and therefore presented a more pessimistic picture than in the September staff projections. The euro area current account surplus also suggested that domestic demand remained weak. Reference was made to potential adverse non-linear dynamics resulting from the current economic weakness, for example from weaker balance sheets of households and firms, or originating in the labour market, as in some countries large firms had recently moved to lay off staff.

    It was underlined that the long-anticipated consumption-led recovery in the euro area had so far not materialised. This raised the question of whether the projections relied too much on consumption driving the recovery. The latest data showed that households had continued to be very cautious in their spending. The saving rate was elevated and had rebounded in recent quarters in spite of already high accumulated savings, albeit from a lower level following the national accounts revisions to the backdata. This might suggest that consumers were worried about their economic prospects and had little confidence in a robust recovery, even if this was not fully in line with the observed trend increase in consumer confidence. In this context, several factors that could be behind households’ increased caution were mentioned. These included uncertainty about the geopolitical situation, fiscal policy, the economic impact of climate change and transition policies, demographic developments as well as the outcome of elections. In such an uncertain environment, businesses and households could be more cautious and wait to see how the situation would evolve.

    At the same time, it was argued that an important factor boosting the saving ratio was the high interest rate environment. While the elasticity of savings to interest rates was typically relatively low in models, the increase in interest rates since early 2022 had been very significant, coming after a long period of low or negative rates. Against this background, even a small elasticity implied a significant impact on consumption and savings. Reference was also made to the European Commission’s consumer sentiment indicators. They had been showing a gradual recovery in consumer confidence for some time (in step with lower inflation), while perceived consumer uncertainty had been retreating. Therefore, the high saving rate was unlikely to be explained by mainly precautionary motives. It rather reflected ongoing monetary policy transmission, which could, however, be expected to gradually weaken over time, with deposit and loan rates starting to fall. Surveys were already pointing to an increase in household spending. In this context, the lags in monetary policy transmission were recalled. For example, households that had not yet seen any increase in their mortgage payments would be confronted with a higher mortgage rate if their rate fixation period expired. This might be an additional factor encouraging a build-up of savings.

    Reference was also made to the concept of permanent income as an important determinant of consumer spending. If households feared that their permanent income had not increased by as much as their current disposable income, owing to structural developments in the economy, then it was not surprising that they were limiting their spending.

    Overall, it was generally considered that a recession in the euro area remained unlikely. The projected recovery relied on a pick-up in consumption and investment, which remained plausible and in line with standard economics, as the fundamentals for that dynamic to set in were largely in place. Sluggish spending was reflecting a lagged response to higher real incomes materialising over time. In addition, the rise in household savings implied a buffer that might support higher spending later, as had been the case in the United States, although consumption and savings behaviour clearly differed on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

    Particular concerns were expressed about the weakness in investment this year and in 2025, given the importance of investment for both the demand and the supply side of the economy. It was observed that the economic recovery was not expected to receive much support from capital accumulation, in part owing to the continued tightness of financial conditions, as well as to high uncertainty and structural weaknesses. Moreover, it was underlined that one of the main economic drivers of investment was profits, which had weakened in recent quarters, with firms’ liquidity buffers dissipating at the same time. In addition, in the staff projections, the investment outlook had been revised down and remained subdued. This was atypical for an economic recovery and contrasted strongly with the very significant investment needs that had been highlighted in Mario Draghi’s report on the future of European competitiveness.

    Turning to the labour market, its resilience was still remarkable. The unemployment rate remained at a historical low amid continued robust – albeit slowing – employment growth. At the same time, productivity growth had remained low and had surprised to the downside, implying that the increase in labour productivity might not materialise as projected. However, a declining vacancy rate was seen as reflecting weakening labour demand, although it remained above its pre-pandemic peak. It was noted that a decline in vacancies usually coincided with higher job destruction and therefore constituted a downside risk to employment and activity more generally. The decline in vacancies also coincided with a decline in the growth of compensation per employee, which was perceived as a sign that the labour market was cooling.

    Members underlined that it was still unclear to what extent low productivity was cyclical or might reflect structural changes with an impact on growth potential. If labour productivity was low owing to cyclical factors, it was argued that the projected increase in labour productivity did not require a change in European firms’ assumed rate of innovation or in total factor productivity. The projected increase in labour productivity could simply come from higher capacity utilisation (in the presence of remaining slack) in response to higher demand. From a cyclical perspective, in a scenario where aggregate demand did not pick up, this would sooner or later affect the labour market. Finally, even if demand were eventually to recover, there could still be a structural problem and labour productivity growth could remain subdued over the medium term. On the one hand, it was contended that in such a case potential output growth would be lower, with higher unit labour costs and price pressures. Such structural problems could not be solved by lower interest rates and had to be addressed by other policy domains. On the other hand, the view was taken that structural weakness could be amplified by high interest rates. Such structural challenges could therefore be a concern for monetary policy in the future if they lowered the natural rate of interest, potentially making recourse to unconventional policies more frequent.

    Reference was also made to the disparities in the growth outlook for different countries, which were perceived as an additional challenge for monetary policy. Since the share of manufacturing in gross value added (as well as trade openness) differed across economies, some countries in the euro area were suffering more than others from the slowdown in industrial activity. Weak growth in the largest euro area economy, in particular, was dragging down euro area growth. While part of the weakness was likely to be cyclical, this economy was facing significant structural challenges. By contrast, many other euro area countries had shown robust growth, including strong contributions from domestic demand. It was also highlighted that the course of national fiscal policies remained very uncertain, as national budgetary plans would have to be negotiated during a transition at the European Commission. In this context, the gradual improvement in the aggregated fiscal position of the euro area embedded in the projections was masking considerable differences across countries. Implementing the EU’s revised economic governance framework fully, transparently and without delay would help governments bring down budget deficits and debt ratios on a sustained basis. The effect of an expansionary fiscal policy on the economy was perceived as particularly uncertain in the current environment, possibly contributing to higher savings rather than higher spending by households (exerting “Ricardian” rather than “Keynesian” effects).

    Against this background, members called for fiscal and structural policies aimed at making the economy more productive and competitive, which would help to raise potential growth and reduce price pressures in the medium term. Mario Draghi’s report on the future of European competitiveness and Enrico Letta’s report on empowering the Single Market stressed the urgent need for reform and provided concrete proposals on how to make this happen. Governments should now make a strong start in this direction in their medium-term plans for fiscal and structural policies.

    In particular, it was argued that Mario Draghi’s report had very clearly identified the structural factors explaining Europe’s growth and industrial competitiveness gap with the United States. The report was seen as taking a long-term view on the challenges facing Europe, with the basic underlying question of how Europeans could remain in control of their own destiny. If Europe did not heed the call to invest more, the European economy would increasingly fall behind the United States and China.

    Against this background, members assessed that the risks to economic growth remained tilted to the downside. Lower demand for euro area exports, owing for instance to a weaker world economy or an escalation in trade tensions between major economies, would weigh on euro area growth. Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine and the tragic conflict in the Middle East were major sources of geopolitical risk. This could result in firms and households becoming less confident about the future and global trade being disrupted. Growth could also be lower if the lagged effects of monetary policy tightening turned out stronger than expected. Growth could be higher if inflation came down more quickly than expected and rising confidence and real incomes meant that spending increased by more than anticipated, or if the world economy grew more strongly than expected.

    With regard to price developments, members concurred with the assessment presented by Mr Lane in his introduction and underlined the fact that the recent declines in inflation had delivered good news. The incoming data had bolstered confidence that inflation would return to target by the end of 2025. Falling inflation, slowing wage growth and unit labour costs, as well as higher costs being increasingly absorbed by profits, suggested that the disinflationary process was on track. The unchanged baseline path for headline inflation in the staff projections gave reassurance that inflation would be back to target by the end of 2025.

    However, it was emphasised that core inflation was very persistent. In particular, services inflation had continued to come in stronger than projected and had moved sideways since November of last year. Recent declines in headline inflation had been strongly influenced by lower energy prices, which were known to be very volatile. Moreover, the baseline path to 2% depended critically on lower wage growth as well as on an acceleration of productivity growth towards rates not seen for many years and above historical averages.

    Conversely, it was stressed that inflation had recently been declining somewhat faster than expected, and the risk of undershooting the target was now becoming non-negligible. With Eurostat’s August HICP flash release, the projections were already too pessimistic on the pace of disinflation in the near term. Moreover, commodity prices had declined further since the cut-off date, adding downward pressure to inflation. Prices for raw materials, energy costs and competitors’ export prices had all fallen, while the euro had been appreciating against the US dollar. In addition, lower international prices not only had a short-term impact on headline euro area inflation but would ultimately also have an indirect effect on core inflation, through the price of services such as transportation (e.g. airfares). However, in that particular case, the size of the downward effect depended on how persistent the drop in energy prices was expected to be. From a longer perspective, it was underlined that for a number of consecutive rounds the projections had pointed to inflation reaching the 2% target by the end of 2025.

    At the same time, it was pointed out that the current level of headline inflation understated the challenges that monetary policy was still facing, which called for caution. Given the current high volatility in energy prices, headline inflation numbers were not very informative about medium-term price pressures. Overall, it was felt that core inflation required continued attention. Upward revisions to projected quarterly core inflation until the third quarter of 2025, which for some quarters amounted to as much as 0.3 percentage points, showed that the battle against inflation was not yet won. Moreover, domestic inflation remained high, at 4.4%. It reflected persistent price pressures in the services sector, where progress with disinflation had effectively stalled since last November. Services inflation had risen to 4.2% in August, above the levels of the previous nine months.

    The outlook for services inflation called for caution, as its stickiness might be driven by several structural factors. First, in some services sectors there was a global shortage of labour, which might be structural. Second, leisure services might also be confronted with a structural change in preferences, which warranted further monitoring. It was remarked that the projection for industrial goods inflation indicated that the sectoral rate would essentially settle at 1%, where it had been during the period of strong globalisation before the pandemic. However, in a world of fragmentation, deglobalisation and negative supply shocks, it was legitimate to expect higher price increases for non-energy industrial goods. Even if inflation was currently low in this category, this was not necessarily set to last.

    Members stressed that wage pressures were an important driver of the persistence of services inflation. While wage growth appeared to be easing gradually, it remained high and bumpy. The forward-looking wage tracker was still on an upward trajectory, and it was argued that stronger than expected wage pressures remained one of the major upside risks to inflation, in particular through services inflation. This supported the view that focus should be on a risk scenario where wage growth did not slow down as expected, productivity growth remained low and profits absorbed higher costs to a lesser degree than anticipated. Therefore, while incoming data had supported the baseline scenario, there were upside risks to inflation over the medium term, as the path back to price stability hinged on a number of critical assumptions that still needed to materialise.

    However, it was also pointed out that the trend in overall wage growth was mostly downwards, especially when focusing on growth in compensation per employee. Nominal wage growth for the first half of the year had been below the June projections. While negotiated wage growth might be more volatile, in part owing to one-off payments, the difference between it and compensation per employee – the wage drift – was more sensitive to the currently weak state of the economy. Moreover, despite the ongoing catching-up of real wages, the currently observed faster than expected disinflation could ultimately also be expected to put further downward pressure on wage claims – with second-round effects having remained contained during the latest inflation surge – and no sign of wage-price spirals taking root.

    As regards longer-term inflation expectations, market-based measures had come down notably and remained broadly anchored at 2%, reflecting the market view that inflation would fall rapidly. A sharp decline in oil prices, driven mainly by benign supply conditions and lower risk sentiment, had pushed down inflation expectations in the United States and the euro area to levels not seen for a long time. In this context it was mentioned that, owing to the weakness in economic activity and faster and broader than anticipated disinflation, risks of a downward unanchoring of inflation expectations had increased. Reference was made, in particular, to the prices of inflation fixings (swap contracts linked to specific monthly releases for euro area year-on-year HICP inflation excluding tobacco), which pointed to inflation well below 2% in the very near term – and falling below 2% much earlier than foreseen in the September projections. The view was expressed that, even if such prices were not entirely comparable with measured HICP inflation and were partly contaminated by negative inflation risk premia, their low readings suggested that the risks surrounding inflation were at least balanced or might even be on the downside, at least in the short term. However, it was pointed out that inflation fixings were highly correlated with oil prices and had limited forecasting power beyond short horizons.

    Against this background, members assessed that inflation could turn out higher than anticipated if wages or profits increased by more than expected. Upside risks to inflation also stemmed from the heightened geopolitical tensions, which could push energy prices and freight costs higher in the near term and disrupt global trade. Moreover, extreme weather events, and the unfolding climate crisis more broadly, could drive up food prices. By contrast, inflation might surprise on the downside if monetary policy dampened demand more than expected or if the economic environment in the rest of the world worsened unexpectedly.

    Turning to the monetary and financial analysis, members largely concurred with the assessment provided by Ms Schnabel and Mr Lane in their introductions. Market interest rates had declined significantly since the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting in July. Market participants were now fully pricing in a 25 basis point cut in the deposit facility rate for the September meeting and attached a 35% probability to a further rate cut in October. In total, between two and three rate cuts were now priced in by the end of the year, up from two cuts immediately after the June meeting. The two-year OIS rate had also decreased by over 40 basis points since the July meeting. More generally it was noted that, because financial markets were anticipating the full easing cycle, this had already implied an additional and immediate easing of the monetary policy stance, which was reflected in looser financial conditions.

    The decline in market interest rates in the euro area and globally was mostly attributable to a weaker outlook for global growth and the anticipation of monetary policy easing due to reduced concerns about inflation pressures. Spillovers from the United States had played a significant role in the development of euro area market rates, while changes in euro area data – notably the domestic inflation outlook – had been limited, as could be seen from the staff projections. In addition, it was noted that, while a lower interest rate path in the United States reflected the Federal Reserve’s assessment of prospects for inflation and employment under its dual mandate, lower rates would normally be expected to stimulate the world economy, including in the euro area. However, the concurrent major decline in global oil prices suggested that this spillover effect could be counteracted by concerns about a weaker global economy, which would naturally reverberate in the euro area.

    Tensions in global markets in August had led to a temporary tightening of conditions in some riskier market segments, which had mostly and swiftly been reversed. Compared with earlier in the year, market participants had generally now switched from being concerned about inflation remaining higher for longer in a context of robust growth to being concerned about too little growth, which could be a prelude to a hard landing, amid receding inflation pressures. While there were as yet no indications of a hard landing in either the United States or the euro area, it was argued that the events of early August had shown that financial markets were highly sensitive to disappointing growth readings in major economies. This was seen to represent a source of instability and downside risks, although market developments at that time indicated that investors were still willing to take on risk. However, the view was also expressed that the high volatility and market turbulence in August partly reflected the unwinding of carry trades in wake of Bank of Japan’s policy tightening following an extended period of monetary policy accommodation. Moreover, the correction had been short-lived amid continued high valuations in equity markets and low risk premia across a range of assets.

    Financing costs in the euro area, measured by the interest rates on market debt instruments and bank loans, had remained restrictive as past policy rate increases continued to work their way through the transmission chain. The average interest rates on new loans to firms and on new mortgages had stayed high in July, at 5.1 and 3.8% respectively. It was suggested that other elements of broader financing conditions were not as tight as the level of the lending rates or broader indicators of financial conditions might suggest. Equity financing, for example, had been abundant during the entire period of disinflation and credit spreads had been very compressed. At the same time, it was argued that this could simply reflect weak investment demand, whereby firms did not need or want to borrow and so were not prepared to issue debt securities at high rates.

    Against this background, credit growth had remained sluggish amid weak demand. The growth of bank lending to firms and households had remained at levels not far from zero in July, with the former slightly down from June and the latter slightly up. The annual growth in broad money – as measured by M3 – had in July remained relatively subdued at 2.3%, the same rate as in June.

    It was suggested that the weakness in credit dynamics also reflected the still restrictive financing conditions, which were likely to keep credit growth weak through 2025. It was also argued that banks faced challenges, with their price-to-book ratios, while being higher than in earlier years, remaining generally below one. Moreover, it was argued that higher credit risk, with deteriorating loan books, had the potential to constrain credit supply. At the same time, the June rate cut and the anticipation of future cuts had already slightly lowered bank funding costs. In addition, banks remained highly profitable, with robust valuations. It was also not unusual for price-to-book ratios to be below one and banks had no difficulty raising capital. Credit demand was considered the main factor holding back loan growth, since investment remained especially weak. On the household side, it was suggested that the demand for mortgages was likely to increase with the pick-up in housing markets.

    Monetary policy stance and policy considerations

    Turning to the monetary policy stance, members assessed the data that had become available since the last monetary policy meeting in accordance with the three main elements of the Governing Council’s reaction function.

    Starting with the inflation outlook, the latest ECB staff projections had confirmed the inflation outlook from the June projections. Inflation was expected to rise again in the latter part of this year, partly because previous sharp falls in energy prices would drop out of the annual rates. It was then expected to decline towards the target over the second half of next year, with the disinflation process supported by receding labour cost pressures and the past monetary policy tightening gradually feeding through to consumer prices. Inflation was subsequently expected to remain close to the target on a sustained basis. Most measures of longer-term inflation expectations stood at around 2%, and the market-based measures had fallen closer to that level since the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting.

    Members agreed that recent economic developments had broadly confirmed the baseline outlook, as reflected in the unchanged staff projections for headline inflation, and indicated that the disinflationary path was progressing well and becoming more robust. Inflation was on the right trajectory and broadly on track to return to the target of 2% by the end of 2025, even if headline inflation was expected to remain volatile for the remainder of 2024. But this bumpy inflation profile also meant that the final phase of disinflation back to 2% was only expected to start in 2025 and rested on a number of assumptions. It therefore needed to be carefully monitored whether inflation would settle sustainably at the target in a timely manner. The risk of delays in reaching the ECB’s target was seen to warrant some caution to avoid dialling back policy restriction prematurely. At the same time, it was also argued that monetary policy had to remain oriented to the medium term even in the presence of shocks and that the risk of the target being undershot further out in the projection horizon was becoming more significant.

    Turning to underlying inflation, members noted that most measures had been broadly unchanged in July. Domestic inflation had remained high, with strong price pressures coming especially from wages. Core inflation was still relatively high, had been sticky since the beginning of the year and was continuing to surprise to the upside. Moreover, the projections for core inflation in 2024 and 2025 had been revised up slightly, as services inflation had been higher than expected. Labour cost dynamics would continue to be a central concern, with the projected decline in core and services inflation next year reliant on key assumptions for wages, productivity and profits, for which the actual data remained patchy. In particular, productivity was low and had not yet picked up, while wage growth, despite gradual easing, remained high and bumpy. A disappointment in productivity growth could be a concern, as the capacity of profits to absorb increases in unit labour costs might be reaching its limits. Wage growth would then have to decline even further for inflation to return sustainably to the target. These factors could mean that core inflation and services inflation might be stickier and not decline as much as currently expected.

    These risks notwithstanding, comfort could be drawn from the gradual decline in the momentum of services inflation, albeit from high levels, and the expectation that it would fall further, partly as a result of significant base effects. The catching-up process for wages was advanced, with wage growth already slowing down by more than had previously been projected and expected to weaken even faster next year, with no signs of a wage-price spiral. If lower energy prices or other factors reduced the cost of living now, this should put downward pressure on wage claims next year.

    Finally, members generally agreed that monetary policy transmission from the past tightening continued to dampen economic activity, even if it had likely passed its peak. Financing conditions remained restrictive. This was reflected in weak credit dynamics, which had dampened consumption and investment, and thereby economic activity more broadly. The past monetary policy tightening had gradually been feeding through to consumer prices, thereby supporting the disinflation process. There were many other reasons why monetary policy was still working its way through the economy, with research suggesting that there could be years of lagged effects before the full impact dissipated completely. For example, as firms’ and households’ liquidity buffers had diminished, they were now more exposed to higher interest rates than previously, and banks could, in turn, also be facing more credit risk. At the same time, with the last interest rate hike already a year in the past, the transmission of monetary policy was expected to weaken progressively from its peak, also as loan and deposit rates had been falling, albeit very moderately, for almost a year. The gradually fading effects of restrictive monetary policy were thus expected to support consumption and investment in the future. Nonetheless, ongoing uncertainty about the transmission mechanism, in terms of both efficacy and timing, underscored the continuing importance of monitoring the strength of monetary policy transmission.

    Monetary policy decisions and communication

    Against this background, members considered the proposal by Mr Lane to lower the deposit facility rate – the rate through which the Governing Council steered the monetary policy stance – by 25 basis points. As had been previously announced on 13 March 2024, some changes to the operational framework for implementing monetary policy would also take effect from 18 September. In particular, the spread between the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the deposit facility rate would be set at 15 basis points. The spread between the rate on the marginal lending facility and the rate on the main refinancing operations would remain unchanged at 25 basis points. Accordingly, the deposit facility rate would be decreased to 3.50% and the interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility would be decreased to 3.65% and 3.90% respectively.

    Based on the updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission, it was now appropriate to take another step in moderating the degree of monetary policy restriction. The recent incoming data and the virtually unchanged staff projections had increased members’ confidence that disinflation was proceeding steadily and inflation was on track to return towards the 2% target in a sustainable and timely manner. Headline inflation had fallen in August to levels previously seen in the summer of 2021 before the inflation surge, and there were signs of easing pressures in the labour market, with wage growth and unit labour costs both slowing. Despite some bumpy data expected in the coming months, the big picture remained one of a continuing disinflationary trend progressing at a firm pace and more or less to plan. In particular, the Governing Council’s expectation that significant wage growth would be buffered by lower profits had been confirmed in the recent data. Both survey and market-based measures of inflation expectations remained well anchored, and longer-term expectations had remained close to 2% for a long period which included times of heightened uncertainty. Confidence in the staff projections had been bolstered by their recent stability and increased accuracy, and the projections had shown inflation to be on track to reach the target by the end of 2025 for at least the last three rounds.

    It was also noted that the overall economic outlook for the euro area was more concerning and the projected recovery was fragile. Economic activity remained subdued, with risks to economic growth tilted to the downside and near-term risks to growth on the rise. These concerns were also reflected in the lower growth projections for 2024 and 2025 compared with June. A remark was made that, with inflation increasingly close to the target, real economic activity should become more relevant for calibrating monetary policy.

    Against this background, all members supported the proposal by Mr Lane to reduce the degree of monetary policy restriction through a second 25 basis point rate cut, which was seen as robust across a wide range of scenarios in offering two-sided optionality for the future.

    Looking ahead, members emphasised that they remained determined to ensure that inflation would return to the 2% medium-term target in a timely manner and that they would keep policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary to achieve this aim. They would also continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction. There should be no pre-commitment to a particular rate path. Accordingly, it was better to maintain full optionality for the period ahead to be free to respond to all of the incoming data.

    It was underlined that the speed at which the degree of restrictiveness should be reduced depended on the evolution of incoming data, with the three elements of the stated reaction function as a solid anchor for the monitoring and decision-making process. However, such data-dependence did not amount to data point-dependence, and no mechanical weights could be attached to near-term developments in headline inflation or core inflation or any other single statistic. Rather, it was necessary to assess the implications of the totality of data for the medium-term inflation outlook. For example, it would sometimes be appropriate to ignore volatility in oil prices, but at other times, if oil price moves were likely to create material spillovers across the economy, it would be important to respond.

    Members broadly concurred that a gradual approach to dialling back restrictiveness would be appropriate if future data were in line with the baseline projections. This was also seen to be consistent with the anticipation that a gradual easing of financial conditions would support economic activity, including much-needed investment to boost labour productivity and total factor productivity.

    It was mentioned that a gradual and cautious approach currently seemed appropriate because it was not fully certain that the inflation problem was solved. It was therefore too early to declare victory, also given the upward revisions in the quarterly projections for core inflation and the recent upside surprises to services inflation. Although uncertainty had declined, it remained high, and some of the key factors and assumptions underlying the baseline outlook, including those related to wages, productivity, profits and core and services inflation, still needed to materialise and would move only slowly. These factors warranted close monitoring. The real test would come in 2025, when it would become clearer whether wage growth had come down, productivity growth had picked up as projected and the pass-through of higher labour costs had been moderate enough to keep price pressures contained.

    At the same time, it was argued that continuing uncertainty meant that there were two-sided risks to the baseline outlook. As well as emphasising the value of maintaining a data-dependent approach, this also highlighted important risk management considerations. In particular, it was underlined that there were alternative scenarios on either side. For example, a faster pace of rate cuts would likely be appropriate if the downside risks to domestic demand and the growth outlook materialised or if, for example, lower than expected services inflation increased the risk of the target being undershot. It was therefore important to maintain a meeting-by-meeting approach.

    Conversely, there were scenarios in which it might be necessary to suspend the cutting cycle for a while, perhaps because of a structural decline in activity or other factors leading to higher than expected core inflation.

    Turning to communication, members agreed that it was important to convey that recent inflation data had come in broadly as expected, and that the latest ECB staff projections had confirmed the previous inflation outlook. At the same time, to reduce the risk of near-term inflation data being misinterpreted, it should be explained that inflation was expected to rise again in the latter part of this year, partly as a result of base effects, before declining towards the target over the second half of next year. It should be reiterated that the Governing Council would continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach, would not pre-commit to a particular rate path and would continue to set policy based on the established elements of the reaction function. In view of the previously announced change to the spread between the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the deposit facility rate, it was also important to make clear at the beginning of the communication that the Governing Council steered the monetary policy stance through the deposit facility rate.

    Members also agreed with the Executive Board proposal to continue applying flexibility in the partial reinvestment of redemptions falling due in the pandemic emergency purchase programme portfolio.

    Taking into account the foregoing discussion among the members, upon a proposal by the President, the Governing Council took the monetary policy decisions as set out in the monetary policy press release. The members of the Governing Council subsequently finalised the monetary policy statement, which the President and the Vice-President would, as usual, deliver at the press conference following the Governing Council meeting.

    Monetary policy statement

    Other ECB staff

    • Mr Proissl, Director General Communications
    • Mr Straub, Counsellor to the President
    • Ms Rahmouni-Rousseau, Director General Market Operations
    • Mr Arce, Director General Economics
    • Mr Sousa, Deputy Director General Economics

    Release of the next monetary policy account foreseen on 14 November 2024.

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  • MIL-OSI Europe: Italy: InvestEU – EIB and Intesa Sanpaolo announce agreement to back wind industry investment of up to €8 billion

    Source: European Investment Bank

    ©maxpro/ Shutterstock

    • The operation includes a €500 million EIB counter-guarantee enabling Intesa Sanpaolo to create a portfolio of bank guarantees of up to €1 billion, helping to unlock €8 billion of investment in the real economy.
    • The agreement is part of the EIB’s €5 billion wind power package to accelerate Europe’s green energy transition.
    • The operation is backed by InvestEU, the EU programme aiming to mobilise investment of more than €372 billion by 2027.
    • The EIB has signed agreements totalling almost €5 billion with Intesa Sanpaolo over the last five years.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Intesa Sanpaolo (IMI CIB Division) have announced a new initiative helping to unlock investment of up to €8 billion for the European wind industry. It is the first agreement supported by InvestEU and the second overall under the EIB’s €5 billion wind power package, an investment plan announced by the EU bank at COP28 in Dubai. This programme aims to support the production of 32 GW of the 117 GW of wind capacity needed to enable the European Union to meet its goal of generating at least 45% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

    “Wind energy is central to European energy independence,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti. “Producers are facing challenges such as high costs, uncertain demand, slow permitting, supply chain bottlenecks and strong international competition. This agreement shows how the EIB’s risk-sharing instruments help overcome these difficulties and finance key projects for the green transition and the decarbonisation of the European economy.”

    In concrete terms, the EIB will provide a €500 million counter-guarantee to Intesa Sanpaolo, enabling the Italian bank to create a portfolio of bank guarantees of up to €1 billion. These will back the supply chain and power grid interconnection for new wind farms projects across the European Union. The high leverage effect of the EIB counter-guarantee will free up additional funding to support increasing production and accelerating wind energy development, helping to support an estimated €8 billion of investment in the real economy.

    European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni said: “This agreement marks another important step in Europe’s efforts to support the wind power manufacturing sector. Amid global uncertainty, the InvestEU programme is mobilising crucial investments where they are most needed. With €8 billion in investments flowing into the real economy, we are reinforcing our commitment to achieving the climate neutrality and energy independence, while contributing to economic growth and job creation.”

    Intesa Sanpaolo’s IMI Corporate and Investment Banking Division will use the EIB funds to provide bank guarantees on advances received and plant performance to wind energy producers.

    Mauro Micillo, Chief of Intesa Sanpaolo’s IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division, commented: “The energy transition requires huge investments and virtuous collaboration between public and private sectors. In this context, the development of renewable energy is one of the fundamental objectives of strategies at national and European level. Thanks to its many years of collaboration with the EIB, the IMI CIB Division has developed an innovative tool aimed at supporting large international groups active in interconnection infrastructures with electricity grids, allowing the start of strategic works at a European level. The recently concluded transactions confirm our support for the entire wind energy supply chain and for ESG goals, in collaboration with our clients and European institutions. The Intesa Sanpaolo Group thus confirms its dual role as a driver of innovation and support of the productive and entrepreneurial companies for sustainable economic development”.

    Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said: “Ensuring that the European wind manufacturing sector remains a strong power player is key to achieve our clean energy and climate goals and keep our industry competitive. I welcome this further initiative of the EIB with Intesa Sanpaolo. It will help deliver our European Wind Power Package by unlocking investments in this crucial sector for the green transition.”

    Background information

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It provides long-term financing for sound investments that contribute to EU policy. The Bank finances projects in four priority areas: infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Between 2019 and 2023, the EIB Group provided €58 billion in financing for projects in Italy.

    The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

    Intesa Sanpaolo, with over €422 billion in loans and €1.35 trillion in customer financial assets at the end of June 2024, is the largest banking group in Italy, with a significant international presence. It is a European leader in wealth management, with a strong focus on digital and fintech. In the environmental, social and governance domain, it plans to make €115 billion in impact contributions to the community and green transition by 2025. Its programme to support people in need totals €1.5 billion (2023-2027). Intesa Sanpaolo’s Gallerie d’Italia museum network is an exhibition venue for its artistic heritage collection and cultural projects of recognised value.

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  • MIL-OSI Banking: DG Okonjo-Iweala welcomes “meeting of minds” on moving farm trade talks forward

    Source: World Trade Organization

    The Director-General said she detected a “meeting of minds” on an initiative from the Chair of the agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye, outlining two options for advancing the negotiations. 

    “I sense that there’s a willingness to try to break the gridlock on agriculture and to try and move the process forward,” she said.  “I also sense that people like the idea of meeting in various configurations with each other and trying to find common ground.”

    More than 50 members took the floor to voice their views on the Chair’s report outlining two options for advancing the negotiations.  The first option is based on group discussions, where members can form smaller groups to discuss specific issues and then feed their outcomes into broader talks at the Committee on Agriculture in special session (CoA SS) and its dedicated sessions. The second option is based on a facilitator-led process, whereby facilitators appointed by the Chair would guide inclusive discussions on various topics, provide updates and ensure members’ inputs shape substantive negotiations.

    DG Okonjo-Iweala said she sensed an “appetite” to see both options going forward but that a number of delegations have questions about the process and wanted clarity on several issues.  She said she and the Chair would convene a meeting to seek answers to those questions and then lay out a process and timelines for engagement for members’ consideration.

    Ambassador Acarsoy said members recognized the need to resume negotiations after recent setbacks this year at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi and the July General Council. Members emphasized that rebuilding trust is crucial for progress and agreed the status quo is undesirable, requiring fresh ideas to break the deadlock, he said.

    “So, the question before us today is how we take concrete steps forward,” Ambassador Acarsoy said. He also said some members support the idea of establishing “milestones” on the road to the WTO’s next Ministerial Conference (MC14) for achieving progress. He stressed that periodic meetings may be needed at the Heads of Delegations level, with senior officials where necessary, to help ensure progress on the most intractable issues.

    The Director-General noted members’ calls for updating and reforming WTO multilateral disciplines in agriculture, emphasizing that while agriculture is crucially important to the world, reform “hasn’t gone very far” in the past 25 years. She said: “We don’t want to continue to see agriculture as an issue that is put on the back burner. We want it to be the process that is alive.”

    DG Okonjo-Iweala voiced her support for the process proposed by the Chair. “We need to start somewhere,” she said. “We need to give the process that the CoA SS Chair just outlined a chance.” The Chair’s proposal, she added, offers members a fresh opportunity, respecting past mandates while considering new challenges such as climate change and water issues.

    DG Okonjo-Iweala said:   “I intend to accord as much time, importance, and priority to agriculture in the coming weeks and months, but that depends on you.”

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