NewzIntel.com

Category: Asia

  • MIL-OSI Global: Tariffs are back in the spotlight, but skepticism of free trade has deep roots in American history

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Erik Guzik, Assistant Clinical Professor of Management, University of Montana

    Noted economic nationalist Alexander Hamilton. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

    One of the more surprising developments in recent American politics has been the backlash against free trade.

    As recently as a decade ago, Democrats and Republicans alike generally favored free trade. But with the 2024 presidential election just days away, both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are leaning hard on protectionism. The Trump campaign in particular is promoting tariffs that would be difficult to imagine coming from a Republican presidential candidate just a decade ago.

    This new post-neoliberal moment might seem confounding. But it hearkens back to economic policies – and political parties – from around the time of the nation’s founding, and it offers clues to our divided present.

    Back in the late 18th century, the Founding Father Alexander Hamilton helped put in place a set of policies designed to encourage U.S. industry and to promote economic development and innovation.

    That arrangement, which laid the groundwork for what became known as the “American System,” emerged in part as a counterbalance to British conceptions of free trade. And the American System quickly grew as accepted economic policy as a young America developed its industrial strength.

    Hamilton’s economic nationalism

    In the early years of the republic, the U.S. didn’t have much of a trade policy at all.

    When the U.S. officially achieved independence in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the Articles of Confederation – the nation’s first constitution – greatly limited the federal government’s powers, including its ability to regulate foreign trade.

    These restrictions reflected the reality of 13 very different states that had been more united against the British – and their trade controls – than in support of a common vision of economic development.

    The economic conditions within this loosely connected nation quickly worsened. A deepening economic crisis, rising debt, inflation, cheap British manufactured goods and rising bankruptcy soon emerged. Such changing conditions gave rise to calls for a new national economic policy.

    This economic strain was an important factor leading to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1789. The Constitution gave the federal government the capacity to regulate trade with foreign countries and, for the first time, to collect taxes. Both were privileges once held exclusively by sovereign American states.

    The ‘second American revolution’

    A strengthened American Congress made passing a national Tariff Act one of its first tasks. When it was ratified in 1789, a national import tax replaced customs previously enacted by the states. Perhaps indicating the magnitude of this change, supporters called it “the Second American Revolution,” passed as it was on July 4, 1789. In effect, it helped create a new conception of the American political and economic system, with a much stronger role for the state in economic matters.

    Duties were levied on 30 commodities, including hemp and textiles. Perhaps foreshadowing trade policy of a future era, the Tariff Act also placed duties of 12.5% on goods imported from China and India.

    The main architect of this new industrial policy was Hamilton, who released his seminal work on economic policy, Report on Manufactures, in 1791. Hamilton’s ideas were based on transforming a predominantly agricultural nation into one defined, at least in part, by growing and diversified industry.

    Though often overlooked, Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures also contained a grander vision – it sought to encourage the development of American invention and ingenuity as a form of economic policy and argued for unlocking “the genius of the people” so that “the wealth of a nation may be promoted.”

    To promote this spirit of national enterprise, Hamilton encouraged promoting technological progress, subsidizing research, attracting migrants, supporting a new financial system and implementing a patent system to promote invention. Such policies were in many ways an extension of previous policy enshrined in Section 8 of the Constitution.

    Tariffs and their discontents

    As the use of tariffs continued in the decades following Hamilton’s plan, policymakers turned increasingly protective in an attempt to more directly promote American industry. They enacted tariffs to insulate growing American industries from foreign competition, primarily from the U.K.

    By the early 19th century, this growing protectionist movement coalesced around the powerful Kentucky legislator Henry Clay and his Whig Party. Clay, who first referred to the American System by name, and his allies were instrumental in raising average national tariff rates to 20% in 1816.

    Those sweetmeats will cost you.
    Library of Congress

    When crisis appeared during the Panic of 1819, a collapse in cotton prices, a tightening of credit, widespread foreclosures and rising unemployment followed. In response, Clay and his allies raised tariff rates again, to 50% in 1828.

    The increasing use of tariffs provoked a fierce response from some in the nation’s agricultural and slave-owning class, who objected to perceived Northern dominance and a strong federal government. One prominent Southern critic at the time referred to the 1828 tariff as the “tariff of abominations.”

    Indeed, opposition to elements of the American System was one of the chief policy goals of early Democratic politicians such as Andrew Jackson, and fights over the system presaged later sectional fights leading up to the Civil War.

    As an industrial revolution took root in American society in the decades that followed, tariffs remained a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy. By the late 1850s, tariffs had become integrated into the policy of the newly formed Republican Party and an important plank of Abraham Lincoln’s economic platform.

    Toward the end of the 19th century, a changing Democratic Party, supported increasingly by a strong agricultural populist movement, continued to largely oppose the tariff system, arguing it benefited powerful industrialists at the expense of the working class while offering little to counter economic crisis.

    The breakup of the American System − and why it matters today

    Between 1861 and 1933, tariffs were a standard tool of U.S. economic policy. During this period, tariffs on dutiable goods often averaged 40% to 50%, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. U.S. policymakers didn’t seriously question tariffs as a form of industrial policy until the deepening of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

    Following World War II, the U.S. decisively shifted away from tariffs. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was widely blamed for deepening the Great Depression and contributing to the international conflicts of the 1930s and 1940s, effectively ending the protectionist era of U.S. industrial history.

    The establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913 provided policymakers with a novel tool – monetary policy – to deal with economic downturns. The Keynesian revolution provided still another policy response for governments to consider during periods of economic crisis: spending as fiscal stimulus to create jobs and income.

    Finally, as postwar American policy embraced open global trade, American economic policy pursued more direct mechanisms to foster national innovation and entrepreneurship – effectively breaking up policy once dependent on activist trade intervention. With the elimination of tariffs, one of the great periods of American economic growth and innovation followed.

    In 2024, the Republican platform has, in many ways, returned to its origins by offering tariffs as a key economic strategy. Likewise, the Democratic platform, with its skepticism of concentrated corporate power, coupled with a renewed focus on financial support for small businesses and entrepreneurship, echoes its own earlier generation.

    As Americans head to the polls, it’s worth asking how current economic proposals with deep roots in the American System of old might help shape economic policy in the future.

    Erik Guzik 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. Tariffs are back in the spotlight, but skepticism of free trade has deep roots in American history – https://theconversation.com/tariffs-are-back-in-the-spotlight-but-skepticism-of-free-trade-has-deep-roots-in-american-history-241311

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Rust Belt voters aren’t all white, but election coverage of the region often ignores the concerns of people of color there

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christabel Devadoss, Assistant Professor in Global Studies and Human Geography, Middle Tennessee State University

    Wisconsin voters lining up to cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm election, Oct. 25, 2022, in Milwaukee. Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Every four years, national media turn their attention to the Rust Belt, a term that describes Midwestern industrial and manufacturing states whose economies were decimated by the decline of those industries in the 1970s. This region contains the coveted states of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

    Many rural parts of these states have a majority of white residents. The broader Rust Belt, however, also has long and important Black and Indigenous histories and contains some of the nation’s fastest-growing minority populations – in particular Latino, Arab and Asian communities.

    Yet when reporters descend on the rural Rust Belt to understand voters, the people they talk to are almost exclusively white.

    I am a geographer who studies the experiences of communities of color in the rural Rust Belt. Rural is a relative term, but when it comes to policy research, it usually refers to nonmetropolitan areas. From 2021 to 2023, I interviewed 35 people who live or lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana and identified as Black, Indigenous or people of color.

    I found that these Rust Belt residents have pressing concerns of political importance. Some of these issues are shared by white residents – and, as such, are well documented. But Rust Belt residents of color have additional problems that politicians and the media have long overlooked.

    Local impacts

    My interviewees described typical rural Rust Belt struggles.

    They complained of limited internet access, few or no grocery stores, declining roads and other infrastructure-related challenges. Jobs and opportunities for career advancement were scarce in their communities, while death and suicide rates were high.

    These difficulties are faced by white Rust Belt residents as well. But other struggles they mentioned are less often considered part of the rural experience.

    They described feeling socially isolated and discriminated against at work and school. Many had experienced racial or ethnic profiling by potential employers and police and been verbally harassed.

    One man, Miguel, who worked in carpentry, said his colleagues openly used racial slurs against him.

    “I was putting away some boxes, and they said, ‘Oh that’s because you w–backs are good at packing things in trucks,’” he told me.

    All names used here are pseudonyms; research ethics require me to protect the identity of my subjects.

    “A lot gets brushed under the rug,” said Bao, a Vietnamese American woman whose father also works in a hostile environment. “All the management folks are white,” so “if you speak up, you lose your job or are ignored.”

    These comments conveyed an overall sense of not “belonging.”

    As one woman from rural Pennsylvania explained, people regularly ask her, “No, really, where you from?”

    “They want to hear ‘Asian’ or ‘Korean,’” she said. “It’s very uncomfortable for me.”

    These racial tensions worsen during election periods. Some people I interviewed reported having been turned away or threatened at voting stations – harassment they attributed to their religious, cultural and political backgrounds, or the way they looked.

    Many Rust Belt voters of color already lack political power because they live in racially gerrymandered districts. When news coverage of the region ignores their voices, too, it compounds that feeling of not belonging.

    In 2017, The Washington Post visited the small town of Jefferson, Ohio, in Ashtabula County, to interview voters described as “rural Americans who fear they’re being forgotten” after Donald Trump’s election. Their coverage focused almost exclusively on white residents.

    “How did you go to Ashtabula County and not see Black people?” asked Belle, a resident who identified as African American.

    Not always Republican

    In the past three presidential elections, Ashtabula County has followed state trends: It backed Obama in 2008 and 2012, then voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

    Trump won Ashtabula with 60% of the vote in 2020. That’s 26,890 votes, which means that 16,497 people still voted for Democrat Joe Biden. In the years since, Ashtabula County residents have also voted with the state in two Democratic-backed initiatives: to protect abortion rights and legalize marijuana.

    In other words, just because a state or district backs a Republican for president doesn’t mean everyone is Republican, or that Republican voters always vote the party line. They can split their votes, and have.

    Even Ohio’s largely Republican delegation in the House of Representatives is misleading about the state’s political makeup. Ohio is a heavily gerrymandered state where voting districts have been drawn to benefit Republican candidates.

    U.S. Senate elections show more diversity in Ohio’s voting base.

    In 2018, Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown won 53% of all votes in Ohio, including 51% of those cast in Ashtabula County. Four years later, both the state and Ashtabula County picked Republican JD Vance over Democrat Tim Ryan to replace the outgoing Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

    Why it matters

    In September 2024, Vance – now Trump’s vice presidential running mate – claimed that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping and eating cats and dogs. After Trump echoed that false claim on the debate stage, the city got 30-plus bomb threats and other threats of violence, and had to close multiple schools.

    During the pandemic, Trump’s derogatory branding of COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu” led to increased hate crimes against immigrants and people of color.

    In my interviews, several participants mentioned how local restaurants and stores owned by Asian Americans had been vandalized. One woman, Lanh, who lived outside Springfield, said her favorite restaurant had to close.

    “They started vandalizing the restaurant, writing graffiti and set the restaurant on fire,” she said.

    The owners were from Thailand, but, Lanh said, the vandals “thought they were Chinese. Folks around the local community like my parents didn’t feel safe,” she added. “I didn’t feel safe.”

    Hateful political rhetoric is known to increase hate crimes against immigrants and people of color.

    When the Rust Belt is stereotyped as red and white, such experiences go unheard.

    So do some good news stories.

    The emergence of Black-owned bee farms in northeast Ohio, for instance, is one small example in a host of businesses started by people of color. Together, they are helping to boost the region’s beleaguered economy, much as Haitian immigrants have been fueling Springfield’s growth.

    Rural America is nuanced

    Nationwide, 24% of rural Americans identified as people of color in the 2020 census.

    That figure is probably low because the census tends to undercount nonwhite respondents – a problem that was particularly evident in 2020. Even so, that’s a quarter of rural residents who don’t fit the national stereotype of rural America.

    Rural America is white and Republican. It’s also trans, queer, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, South Asian, Democratic and much more. Even if some are Republican, they still aren’t the rural Rust Belt Republicans portrayed in the national media.

    Ignoring these nuances reinforces stereotypes that the rural Rust Belt is the exclusive domain of white conservativism. But this region isn’t now, and never has been, simply red and white.

    Christabel Devadoss received funding from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS).

    – ref. Rust Belt voters aren’t all white, but election coverage of the region often ignores the concerns of people of color there – https://theconversation.com/rust-belt-voters-arent-all-white-but-election-coverage-of-the-region-often-ignores-the-concerns-of-people-of-color-there-224466

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Premier’s statement on Diwali

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Media Contacts

    Office of the Premier

    Media Relations
    premier.media@gov.bc.ca

    https://news.gov.bc.ca/31763

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Report by the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities: UK response, October 2024

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Ambassador Holland says the OSCE is uniquely placed to view the climate crisis though a security lens.

    Location:
    Vienna
    Delivered on:
    (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

    It has been more than six months since your inaugural address in your new role, and we continue to remain dismayed by the devastating economic and environmental effects Russia’s war of choice against Ukraine are having on our region.  

    We are pleased that your office continues to work on assessing the environmental impact of Russia’s war. The careful documentation of environmental damage provided by this project and its recommendations will be invaluable in holding Russia to account and supporting Ukraine’s recovery efforts after the war. 

    Water management was the theme of EEDIM earlier this week. As I said there, we must recognise that rivers, lakes, aquifers and glaciers often straddle borders, so regional cooperation and cross-border solutions are crucial to prevent conflicts over control of water resources.   

    At the same time, the scarcity of this natural resource is tied up with the threats posed by climate change. The OSCE is uniquely placed to view the climate crisis though a security lens, and we welcome the work your office has done via your climate security project to identify where these risks are most acute.   

    Alongside conflict and economic opportunity, climate change is one of many drivers of migration. If migration is not safe, orderly and regular it can make those on the move vulnerable to risks, put a strain on communities, and undermine public confidence in states’ and the international community’s ability to manage migration effectively.  

    In this vein, the UK is pleased to be able to contribute to the project “Strengthening the evidence-based understanding of the climate change, migration and security nexus in South-Eastern Europe”, which, as you highlight in your report, should improve our understanding of the interlinkages between climate change and human mobility, as well as of the impacts of emigration and depopulation on the environment. 

    Our work to combat money laundering and illicit finance is made more challenging by innovations in digital finance and the increasing use of virtual assets, including by serious organised crime. The UK co-funds the ExB project “Innovative Policy Solutions to Mitigate Money Laundering Risks of Virtual Assets” to build capacity in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, to deal with this fast-evolving area. 

    Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the outgoing chair of the second dimension committee and thank Ambassador Raunig for chairing this committee so ably, including by keeping the war against Ukraine a focus of the committee’s work. We look forward to working with the new chair of the second dimension committee in addressing the most pressing economic and environmental issues facing our region. 

    Ambassador, thank you again for your report, and we look forward to supporting you and your able team in the months ahead.

    Updates to this page

    Published 31 October 2024

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals Arrest Non-Compliant Sex Offenders During Operation Trick or Treat 2

    Source: US Marshals Service

    Arlington, VA – From October 1-28, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) partnered with 112 law enforcement agencies in 22 states to conduct Operation Trick or Treat 2, an enforcement initiative during the Halloween season to investigate and arrest non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders.

    Operation Trick or Treat 2 resulted in 331 total arrests, including 129 for failure to register as a sex offender, 74 sex offenders for other offenses, as well as 128 others for various criminal activities. During the operation, law enforcement personnel also conducted 3,334 sex offender compliance checks and seized 40 illegally possessed firearms.

    “Operation Trick or Treat 2 reaffirms one of our Agency’s highest priorities to ensure safety of children in our communities,” said Director Ronald L. Davis of the U.S. Marshals Service. “I applaud the women and men of the Marshals Service and all of the agencies who participated in this operation.”

    Operation Trick or Treat 2 investigators initiated federal criminal cases for failure to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act; apprehended sex offenders in violation of registration requirements or wanted on active warrants; and utilized sex offender compliance checks to increase police presence and identify non-compliant sex offenders for further investigation.

    Law enforcement personnel in select counties and tribal nations from the following federal judicial districts participated in Operation Trick or Treat 2: District of Arizona, Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas, Central District of California, Eastern District of California, District of Colorado, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois, Northern District of Indiana, Northern District of Iowa, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Missouri, District of Montana, District of Nebraska, District of Nevada, District of New Hampshire, Northern District of New York, District of Oregon, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Eastern District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Western District of Washington, and Eastern District of Wisconsin.

    Significant arrests:

    • On October 11, U.S. Marshals arrested Antonio D. Cooke in the Northern District of Illinois who was a Wisconsin Department of Corrections most wanted sex offender and had been on the run for more than four years. He was wanted on warrants for failure to register as a sex offender and probation violation with an underlying conviction for sexual abuse of a child.  Operation personnel located and arrested the fugitive sex offender at a Chicago hospital.
    • On October 16, U.S. Marshals arrested Ryan Kirkham in the Western District of Washington for failing to register as a sex offender. The subject had prior convictions for child molestation, immoral communication with a child, and possession of child pornography. Operation personnel located and arrested the individual at a residence in Everett, Wash. 
    • On October 17, U.S. Marshals arrested Isaiah Navarro in the District of Arizona for allegedly attempting to sexually exploit a minor and committing a dangerous crime against children. Operation personnel arrested the subject in Glendale, Ariz.

    All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

    As the federal government’s primary agency for sex offender and fugitive investigations, the United States Marshals Service use its resources and investigative expertise to make neighborhoods safer. The agency has a key mission to help keep non-compliant sex offenders accountable.

    Sex offenders are required to comply with federal, state, and local requirements to register as a sex offender. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA) authorizes USMS to assist state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities in the location and apprehension of non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders; investigate violations of the AWA for federal prosecution; and assist in the identification and location of sex offenders relocated because of a major disaster.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Interest of foreign citizens in studying at HSE is growing: results of 2024/25 admissions and the start of a new campaign

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    The steady growth of interest in studying at HSE, especially among applicants from the CIS and Asia, speaks to the high quality of Russian education. This year, as part of a separate competition for foreign citizens, 2,267 students were enrolled in all HSE campuses for the 2024/25 academic year, which is 14% more than last year.

    November 1st starts Admission campaign for foreign citizens planning to enter in 2025. The results of the 2024/25 admissions campaign for foreign applicants were previously announced.

    HSE Vice-Rector Victoria Panova commented on the growing demand for Russian higher education, emphasizing the campaign’s success: “There are a number of factors that explain the interest in studying at HSE. Applicants and their parents are attracted by the opportunity to receive a high-quality, world-class education in various fields of study. HSE occupies leading positions in national and international rankings. Our graduates are in demand in most sectors of the labor market and can count on a very high level of salary already at the start of their careers, which is proven, among other things, by first place in the ranking of universities with the best reputation among employers by Forbes Education“.

    Having received a diploma from the National Research University Higher School of Economics, a graduate receives a ticket to a world of great opportunities and a wide range of modern, well-paid professions.

    Total number of applicants

    The number of applications for undergraduate and graduate programs has also increased this year: 33.3% more applications for undergraduate programs and almost twice as many for graduate programs. At the same time, the ratio of the number of enrolled students to the number of applications has decreased, which indicates that the requirements for international applicants have increased. Among the first-year undergraduate students of 2024/25, as in the previous year, the majority are from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Turkmenistan. The number of students from Moldova, Vietnam and Armenia has increased. In the graduate program, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of enrolled citizens of Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, while the number of applicants from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, India and Kyrgyzstan has decreased.

    What areas do foreign applicants choose?

    Among the most popular areas for international undergraduate students are still “Design”, “Business Management” And “Economy”. Master’s programs are in demand “Data Analytics for Business and Economics”, “International Relations: European and Asian Studies” And “Finance”.

    Alexander Deev, Director of Talent Abroad, notes: “The 2024/25 admissions campaign was a success, and this was made possible by the coordinated work of all HSE campuses. We are proud that HSE attracts truly talented applicants not only from Russia, but also from around the world. Thanks to the unified admissions system, international applicants do not need to take exams at each individual campus, or travel or fly in, which makes the process more convenient and creates equal opportunities for everyone.”

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: GBA ambulance transfers set for Nov

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today conducted a second drill for the Pilot Scheme for Direct Cross-boundary Ambulance Transfer in the Greater Bay Area, which is expected to launch next month.

    It carried out the drill in collaboration with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Government to observe the simulated transfer of a patient by a cross-boundary ambulance.

    Having obtained the quota for cross-boundary ambulances of Guangdong and Hong Kong, the Shenzhen ambulance participating in the drill today is able to travel between Hong Kong and Shenzhen with dual licence plates of the Mainland and Hong Kong, further streamlining the actual operation and procedures for the direct ambulance transfer.

    Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau, together with relevant representatives of the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Government inspected the drill at the Hospital Authority’s Major Incident Control Centre.

    Prof Lo noted that the governments of the three places have finalised the mechanism and procedures for the direct cross-boundary ambulance transfer in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

    He expressed confidence that the pilot scheme could be launched next month to provide a point-to-point transfer arrangement between designated hospitals for patients with specific clinical needs, adding that by then, patients can be transferred in a safer, more timely and convenient manner.

    The direct cross-boundary ambulance transfer arrangement in the GBA concerns not only patients’ safety but also the cross-boundary travel of vehicles, healthcare personnel, medication and devices as well as dangerous goods for medical use, the health chief noted.

    He said the Hong Kong SAR Government will keep deepening collaboration with other GBA cities and harmonise rules and mechanisms among the bay area cities to ensure safety for entry or exit and quarantine.

    The pilot scheme is limited to transfers between designated hospitals with the first phase focusing on the arrangement of direct ambulance transfer of patients from designated hospitals in Shenzhen and Macau to designated public hospitals in Hong Kong.

    The University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital and the Conde S. Januario Hospital of Macao are the designated hospitals.

    The cross-boundary ambulance mechanism will only be activated when a prior agreement between these two sending hospitals and designated public hospitals in Hong Kong has been reached in advance.

    They have to take the clinical needs, safety and interests of patients as the prime concerns, and have a mechanism in place to avoid abuse, while ensuring the safety of cross-boundary transfer.

    Prof Lo also thanked various national ministries, including the State Council’s Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office, the National Health Commission and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the successful implementation of the transfer arrangement, and their support and guidance.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI China: The MND: China and India Jointly Safeguard Peace and Tranquility in the Border Areas 2024-10-31 China and India have reached resolutions on issues concerning the border areas through diplomatic and military channels. The frontline troops of the two militaries are making progress in implementing the resolutions in a orderly manner.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – Ministry of National Defense 2

      Question: It is reported that China and India have reached a deal on patrol arrangements in the border areas, which can lead to disengagement, ending a conflict began in 2020. India’s Chief of Army Staff recently said that India hopes to restore the border situation to the state before April 2020, and gradually resume normal management along the Line of Control. May I have your comment?

      Zhang Xiaogang: China and India have reached resolutions on issues concerning the border areas through diplomatic and military channels. The frontline troops of the two militaries are making progress in implementing the resolutions in a orderly manner. President Xi Jinping met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of the BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia. Both sides agreed that China and India should view and handle the bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and make sure that differences on specific issues would not affect the overall bilateral relationship. We hope the Indian side will work together with China, take the important common understandings between the two state leaders as guidance, continuously implement the above-mentioned resolutions, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas.

    loading…

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: FCDO Indo-Pacific Minister statement on North Korea ICBM launch

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The UK has condemned the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea on 30 October.

    FCDO Minister for the Indo-Pacific Catherine West said:

    The UK condemns the latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on 30 October by North Korea; these actions clearly breach multiple UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs).

    Unlawful ballistic missile launches are deeply damaging for regional stability and continue to destabilise the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula.

    The UK will continue to call out violations of UNSCRs. We urge North Korea to refrain from illegal launches, return to dialogue, and abandon its illegal nuclear and ballistic weapons programme.

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 31 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The Secretary-General strongly condemns the launch today of a long-range ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

    The DPRK’s continued launches of missiles using ballistic missile technology are clear violations of relevant Security Council resolutions.

    The Secretary-General remains concerned about the situation on the Korean Peninsula. He has consistently called for de-escalation, the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, an environment that is conducive to dialogue, and the resumption of talks. 

    Diplomatic engagement remains the only pathway to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Why NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Will Make ‘Most Colorful’ Cosmic Map Ever

    Source: NASA

    The space telescope will detect over 100 colors from hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies. Here’s what astronomers will do with all that color.
    NASA’s SPHEREx mission won’t be the first space telescope to observe hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies when it launches no later than April 2025, but it will be the first to observe them in 102 colors. Although these colors aren’t visible to the human eye because they’re in the infrared range, scientists will use them to learn about topics that range from the physics that governed the universe less than a second after its birth to the origins of water on planets like Earth.
    “We are the first mission to look at the whole sky in so many colors,” said SPHEREx Principal Investigator Jamie Bock, who is based jointly at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, both in Southern California. “Whenever astronomers look at the sky in a new way, we can expect discoveries.”
    Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, SPHEREx will collect infrared light, which has wavelengths slightly longer than what the human eye can detect. The telescope will use a technique called spectroscopy to take the light from hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies and separate it into individual colors, the way a prism transforms sunlight into a rainbow. This color breakdown can reveal various properties of an object, including its composition and its distance from Earth.

    [embedded content]
    NASA’s SPHEREx mission will use spectroscopy — the splitting of light into its component wavelengths — to study the universe. Watch this video to learn more about spectroscopy. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

    Here are the three key science investigations SPHEREx will conduct with its colorful all-sky map.
    Cosmic Origins
    What human eyes perceive as colors are distinct wavelengths of light. The only difference between colors is the distance between the crests of the light wave. If a star or galaxy is moving, its light waves get stretched or compressed, changing the colors they appear to emit. (It’s the same with sound waves, which is why the pitch of an ambulance siren seems to go up as its approaches and lowers after it passes.) Astronomers can measure the degree to which light is stretched or compressed and use that to infer the distance to the object.
    SPHEREx will apply this principle to map the position of hundreds of millions of galaxies in 3D. By doing so, scientists can study the physics of inflation, the event that caused the universe to expand by a trillion-trillion fold in less than a second after the big bang. This rapid expansion amplified small differences in the distribution of matter. Because these differences remain imprinted on the distribution of galaxies today, measuring how galaxies are distributed can tell scientists more about how inflation worked.
    Galactic Origins
    SPHEREx will also measure the collective glow created by all galaxies near and far — in other words, the total amount of light emitted by galaxies over cosmic history. Scientists have tried to estimate this total light output by observing individual galaxies and extrapolating to the trillions of galaxies in the universe. But these counts may leave out some faint or hidden light sources, such as galaxies too small or too distant for telescopes to easily detect.
    With spectroscopy, SPHEREx can also show astronomers how the total light output has changed over time. For example, it may reveal that the universe’s earliest generations of galaxies produced more light than previously thought, either because they were more plentiful or bigger and brighter than current estimates suggest. Because light takes time to travel through space, we see distant objects as they were in the past. And, as light travels, the universe’s expansion stretches it, changing its wavelength and its color. Scientists can therefore use SPHEREx data to determine how far light has traveled and where in the universe’s history it was released.
    Water’s Origins
    SPHEREx will measure the abundance of frozen water, carbon dioxide, and other essential ingredients for life as we know it along more than 9 million unique directions across the Milky Way galaxy. This information will help scientists better understand how available these key molecules are to forming planets. Research indicates that most of the water in our galaxy is in the form of ice rather than gas, frozen to the surface of small dust grains. In dense clouds where stars form, these icy dust grains can become part of newly forming planets, with the potential to create oceans like the ones on Earth.
    The mission’s colorful view will enable scientists to identify these materials, because chemical elements and molecules leave a unique signature in the colors they absorb and emit.
    Big Picture
    Many space telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble and James Webb, can provide high-resolution, in-depth spectroscopy of individual objects or small sections of space. Other space telescopes, like NASA’s retired Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), were designed to take images of the whole sky. SPHEREx combines these abilities to apply spectroscopy to the entire sky.
    By combining observations from telescopes that target specific parts of the sky with SPHEREx’s big-picture view, scientists will get a more complete — and more colorful — perspective of the universe.
    More About SPHEREx
    SPHEREx is managed by JPL for NASA’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace) built the telescope and the spacecraft bus. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data will be conducted by a team of scientists located at 10 institutions across the U.S. and in South Korea. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. The mission principal investigator is based at Caltech with a joint JPL appointment. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available.
    For more information about the SPHEREx mission visit:
    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spherex/
    News Media Contact
    Calla CofieldJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-808-2469calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
    2024-152

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Former registered contractor convicted for carrying out building works in a dangerous manner

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts today (October 31) ruled that a former registered general building contractor and its sub-contractor had contravened the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) (BO) and imposed each with a fine of $8,000. The Buildings Department (BD) will seek legal advice on whether to appeal against the amount of the fines imposed.

         The case involved a fatal incident at a construction site at Tung Yuen Street, Yau Tong in December 2022. A worker was hit by a collapsed steel section when carrying out removal works of a temporary lateral support at the construction site, and died subsequently. An investigation by the BD found that precautionary measures had not been adequately provided by the contractor and its sub-contractor during the dismantling of the temporary lateral support. The BD initiated prosecutions against the contractor and its sub-contractor under section 40(2B)(a) of the BO in December last year.

         The subject contractor (i.e. Aggressive Construction Engineering Limited) was removed from the Register of General Building Contractors on November 16 last year.

         Pursuant to section 40(2B)(a) of the BO, any person directly concerned with the relevant building works, who carries out or authorises or permits such works to be carried out, in such manner that it causes injury to any person or damage to any property, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of $1,000,000 and to imprisonment for three years.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Recruiting Media Roundtable With Service Leaders

    Source: United States Department of Defense

    PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER: Ok. All right. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I’m Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary. Thanks very much for joining us for today’s briefing and update on the Department of Defense recruiting efforts.

    As you know, the military — the US military is the strongest fighting force on Earth. For more than 50 years, our all volunteer force has been sustained by qualified patriots who stand up to serve and keep our republic secure. As Secretary of Defense Austin has said, our greatest strategic asset is our people. We must continue to recruit and retain the best that our country has to offer. The department remains deeply committed to ensuring that every qualified patriot has the opportunity to answer the call.

    We’re fortunate to have with us today a panel of defense leaders to discuss today’s recruiting environment and preview the service’s goals for fiscal year ’25: Dr. Katie Helland, DOD’s director of military accession policy; Major General Johnny Davis, commanding general, United States Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox — at Fort Knox; Brigadier General Christopher Amrhein, commander, Air Force Recruiting Service; Rear Admiral James Waters III, commander, Navy Recruiting Command; and Major General William Bowers, commanding general, Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

    As a reminder, today’s briefing is on the record. I’ll turn it over to each of our panelists for brief opening remarks before opening it up to Q&A. And please note I will call on reporters and try to get to as many of you as possible. And with that, I’ll turn it over to Dr. Helland to kick things off.

    DR. KATIE HELLAND: Thank you. Good afternoon. I am Katie Helland, the director of accession policy. Thank you for inviting me to this media roundtable. And I’d like to start by expressing a special thank you to everyone over the past year, from our recruiting commanders to our recruiters to our MEPCOM [Military Entrance Processing Command] personnel, who’ve contributed to the success of fiscal year 2024 recruiting missions following significant shortfalls during the previous years.

    The military service concluded fiscal year 2024 in a much improved position compared to this time last year despite a continuously challenging and disinterested recruiting market. At the end of September, the services enlisted just shy of 225,000 new recruits in fiscal year 2024. That’s over 25,000 more than fiscal year 2023.

    Furthermore, the services had a 35 percent increase in contracts written compared to this time last year. USMEPCOM saw a year over year increase of medical exam by 48 percent, and the active components started fiscal year 2025 with a 10 percent larger starting pool or a delayed entry program pool compared to this time last year.

    OSD and the services will continue to build off the momentum that we’ve gained in 2024. Nevertheless, we need to remain cautiously optimistic about the future recruiting operations as we continue to recruit in a market that has low youth propensity to serve, limited familiarity with military opportunities, a competitive labor market and a declining eligibility among young adults.

    More specifically, we’ve observed over the last decade a growing divide between military and civilians. Data indicate that many of today’s youth are not interested in military service and have many misperceptions about what life is like as a service member.

    Additionally, for the first time since this metric has been tracked, the majority of youth have never even considered military service as an option. That is it’s not even on the radar. This divide has been brought about by a confluence of many factors, including the shrinking military footprint and declining veteran presence across society.

    Young Americans now have fewer direct ties to a family member or a close friend who has served in the military. For example, in 1990, 40 percent of our young adults had a parent who served. That’s down to 15 percent today. In the past, those direct ties were key to conveying the boundless opportunities and experiences that are gained from military service. And without these personal connections, we find fewer young adults are familiar with the benefits of service.

    Further complicating our recruiting challenges is the low number of youth who are qualified for military service. Data show nearly 77 percent of youth between the ages of 17 and 24 are not qualified for military service without some type of waiver. This is where programs like our medical records pilot, or MARP, and service member prep courses have been helpful to expand the market.

    But we also seek to expand the market by reconnecting with young adults and their influencers on the value proposition of service. For instance, the next generation of Americans to serve should know that there has never been a better time for them to choose military service. Youth today seek a larger purpose in their lives and desire jobs where they have greater participation in decision making and can create a direct tangible impact. Military service offers all of this.

    Service provides new perspectives, a sense of purpose, the opportunity to take on great responsibilities and challenge the status quos. Service members find personal fulfillment in serving in every part of the world, responding with skills to truly make a difference. Military service has more than 250 occupations, where each person will be individually challenged to reach their peak potential by providing a path to success.

    The military represents one of the most educated organizations in the world across all ranks. We provide our service members with competitive pay packages and benefits such as retirement savings and health care, along with unprecedented opportunities for continued education and training. We offer these things that the young adults today look for when choosing a career, but in many respects they just don’t know it.

    Too often, the military is falsely seen as an alternative to college or an option of last resort. We are working to reframe this narrative so that Americans understand that military service is a pathway to greater education and career opportunities while defending democracy and the freedoms we hold dear.

    This is why the Joint Advertising Market Research and Studies program has launched the digital Calling Answer campaign to build familiarity and — with the value proposition of military service to nest with the services’ specific campaigns. Further, the department’s There Tomorrow adult influencer media campaign targets parents, educators, and other relevant adult influencers to build advocacy for military service.

    Moreover, we have collaborated with our education partners through our military enlistment data to — access to LIFT students or our metals working group with state education agencies to develop a strategy and a plan to share military data with states in order to provide credit to public high schools for military readiness, in addition to college and career readiness.

    We’ve also partnered with our fellow national service agencies like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps to help amplify a message of service because, like military service, there has been a decline in propensity for national service opportunities. So, we are working a whole of government solution.

    While we’re here to talk about recruiting efforts today, we also want to celebrate the 225,000 young adults who’ve enlisted in fiscal year 2024. Through a spirit of selfless service, we continue to build and maintain the world’s most capable military.

    I thank you for having me and thank you for your continued efforts to better understand and support the department’s recruiting mission. I look forward to your questions.

    MG RYDER: Major General Davis.

    MG JOHNNY DAVIS: Well, good afternoon everyone. I’m Johnnie Davis, US Army recruiting commander. And thank you, Dr. Helland and fellow recruiting commanders for taking the time to be here.

    As mentioned, the US Army Recruiting Command exceeded our fiscal year 2024 recruiting mission, with more than 55,000 future soldiers going to basic combat training. Additionally, our dedicated recruiters capitalized on this momentum and surpassed the fiscal year ’24 delayed entry program mission of 5,000, contracting more than 11,000 future enlistments for fiscal year ’25. This is a great start and a very positive momentum. Achieving these goals helps ensure our Army has the personnel needed to meet end strength numbers established by Congress.

    Just over a year ago, the fierce competition for talented Americans and the need to modernize recruiting efforts led the secretary of the Army to announce recruiting as the Army’s number one priority and the need for recruiting transformation. In the past year, we’ve witnessed historic changes that generated incredible positive momentum for us in the Army.

    This really started in February 2024, after about a year of putting many of these initiatives together, and it hasn’t slowed down. Our hardworking recruiters, whole of Army support, and transformation initiatives made our fiscal year ’24 success possible. We know we are — we are not out of the woods yet, but we remain steadfast to mission success this year and beyond.

    So, as I look back on the past year, I think there are two main contributors to the success we’re seeing: our investment in the recruiting force and our families and the whole of Army investment in recruiting. We know the importance of putting people first, and started this investment with adapting our recruiter assessment and selection processes.

    Incorporating recruiter feedback, we also revamped training at the recruiting college and added two weeks to our Army recruiting course to focus on people and quality of life. Our People Week brings recruiters and their families virtually together to prepare them for the demands of life away from military installations.

    Our senior leader supported recruiters with historic incentives in fiscal year ’24: recruiter incentive pay continues; authority to promote sergeants who graduate the Army recruiting course to staff sergeant. These are all volunteers. Over 927 have been promoted; meritoriously promote up to 150 qualified sergeants and staff sergeants to the next grade; and promote fully eligible sergeants and staff sergeants who enlist 24 future soldiers to basic combat training in a 12 month period. As of today, we have 21 promotions in this category.

    In addition to the investment and professional development of our people, we continue to leverage our soldier referral program, where soldiers from around the globe in every formation have an opportunity to contribute to recruiting efforts. This program is a little more than 20 months old, and we’ve already received more than 77,000 referrals from soldiers, resulting in 5,000 contracts, and many more in the pipeline.

    The Army addressed the medical backlog and surged over 60 medical providers to 33 select Military Entrance Processing Stations across the country, increasing enlistments for the Army, Army Reserve, and our sister services. Our wonderful providers completed 6,000 more physicals as compared to last year.

    The Army is paving the way in other avenues for young Americans to serve. A first of its kind life accelerating program started in 2022, the Future Soldier Prep course, invests in young men and women, helping them unlock their potential and achieve academic and fitness readiness for military service, with a graduation rate over 90 percent in both academic and physical tracks.

    With recruiting transformation, marketing efforts are even getting better. Throughout fiscal year ’24, our teammates at the Army Enterprise Marketing Office built upon the Be All You Can Be campaign while synchronizing marketing and advertising efforts to reach expanded audiences and connect with more prospects interested in military service.

    Our recruiting staff and innovation team have been hard at work to transform the enterprise’s prospecting efforts and adapt to market expansion. We continue to look beyond the high school market, and in fiscal year ’24 had an average enlistment age of 22 years and four months, and this is going up. Also, one out of every five enlistees has some college or is a college graduate.

    Our increased usage of digital job boards and rollout of the Go Recruit mobile app, which was a recruiter recommendation, have improved our efforts immensely. We started Recruit 360 pilot, a new AI prospecting experiment that utilizes machine learning and AI assisted lead identification to enhance recruiter efficiency and focus on quality over quantity. So, we’re trying to get beyond the old days of high school lists and use AI to help us refine the lead market of our qualified applicants.

    Our investment in people and Army’s investment in recruiting made fiscal year ’24 a success. There are no words to express how proud I am of the hardworking recruiters that crushed it in every community. Compared to fiscal year ’23, these young men and women increased productivity by 43 percent, an outstanding improvement.

    As we kick start ’25, we will continue to invest in the people, maintain momentum, transform the enterprise, and innovate our workforce. The secretary announced earlier this month the Army’s enlistment goal for fiscal year ’25 is 61,000 future soldiers, with a delayed entry program target of 10,000. Our recruiters are already kicking it in high gear in fiscal year ’25, and they’re doing very well right now.

    Again, thanks again for your time. I look forward to your questions. I’ll turn it over to my good friend, Brigadier General Amrhein. And of course, be all you can be.

    BG CHRISTOPHER AMRHEIN: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I’m honored to speak on behalf of the Air Force Recruiting Service and provide you with an update of where the Air Force and Space Force stand as we concluded fiscal year 2024 and look to our FY ’25 goals.

    I’m proud to say that we have met our recruiting goals for FY ’24 across all components, the active duty Air Force, Air Force Reserve, the Air National Guard, and the Space Force. This is an incredible achievement, particularly in today’s challenged recruiting environment, where we face declining youth population, lack of familiarity, and intense competition from the private sector.

    I want to start by expressing my sincere appreciation for all the hard work, dedication, and commitment from every member of the Air Force Recruiting Service, to include our Reserve and Guard partners, who were instrumental in us achieving our Department of the Air Force goals.

    There was no one single element which got us across the line this year, but rather a broader shift in how we approach recruitment. Multiple levers, such as barrier removal, incentive adjustment, increasing medical review support, and a honed focus on recruiter development all played a critical role to our total force recruiting successes as we closed out this fiscal year.

    This was a blend of Department of the Air Force headquarters, senior support from SAF/MR, HAF/A1, Space Force S-1, HAF/SJ — SG, not to mention Secretary Kendall, General Alvin, and General Saltzman. Additionally, Air Education and Training Command Commander Lieutenant General Robinson has been a zealot on barrier removal and resourcing support. Our success is a testament to our collective effort and unwavering commitment to bringing in the best and brightest talent into our Air Force and Space Force.

    I need everyone to know the Department of the Air Force is still hiring. We have full and part time opportunities in more than 130 specialties, several with bonuses. We’ve put in place new incentives and modernized outdated policies beginning in the spring of 2023, bringing in a larger pool of qualified applicants. As of 30 September, more than 10,000 total force airmen and guardians joined the Air Force or Space Force due to policy changes and incentives implemented by the Air Force’s recruiting cross-functional team.

    By eliminating these barriers, we’ve optimized our recruitment requirements without sacrificing the quality and capabilities of our recruits. Some of the changes that have expanded accession opportunities attracting high quality youth include reinstating the Enlisted College Loan Repayment program, modifying the body composition program to the baseline DOD instruction, revising the tattoo policy, and continuing the Air Force THC pilot that does not disqualify high quality applicants if they test positive on their initial test and negative on a follow-on test during the application process. In 2024, I adjusted the legal permanent resident requirement in the Air Force from ten years to two years to align with DOD allowances.

    We also reviewed our medical policies and processes. The implementation of MHS Genesis and the Health Information Exchange complicated the medical accession process by increased workloads in reviewing potentially disqualifying conditions in applicants versus the pre MHS Genesis. This created a large increase in medical waiver requests and caused applicant waiting time for waiver adjudications to increase significantly.

    Late last fall, AFRS added 63 medical administrator contractors to help gather and screen supporting medical records, increasing efficiency and allowing for recruiters to focus more on face-to-face engagements with applicants. Additionally, we bolstered recruiter training and made adjustments to the goaling methodologies.

    The Department of the Air Force has not changed its high standards nor compromised the caliber of our applicants. Rather, we have expanded the opportunities for qualified individuals to join our ranks. We have partnered with military affiliated organizations to leverage their presence and manpower in communities across the country.

    The Air and Space Force Association, or AFA, has become one of our trailblazing partners in this effort, as this is an exciting opportunity to build our recruiting network beyond our traditional recruiting force. This year we have also launched a similar partnership with Civil Air Patrol, which has the potential to expand our reach and add another 30,000 members to our total force outreach network.

    As we celebrate the success, we must also turn and focus to the future. FY ’25 brings with it an increased enlisted recruiting goal of 32,500 for the regular Air Force, and a Space Force increase by 30 percent. Additionally, Air Force Reserve requirements will also increase from 7,200 to 7,600. Achieving these goals depends on our ongoing commitment to investing in both our recruiters and the resources they need to succeed.

    The Department of the Air Force allocated more than 370 additional recruiting personnel based on manpower studies, Rand reports, and the AETC/A9 analysis. Air Force Recruiting Service is in the process of rapidly onboarding these personnel with deliberate placement in and around the United States.

    As we move forward, these goals set before us in FY ’25 are ambitious, but we believe they are achievable. Make no mistake. We cannot take our hand off the throttle, and we must remain laser focused on mission. In the end, deterring or winning future conflicts in a time of consequence starts right here at home by winning in the competition space for talent.

    With continued innovation, dedication, and a relentless commitment to our excellence, we will bring in the talent of our Air Force, be that reg AF, Guard, or reserve, as well as the Space Force and what they need to meet the challenges for tomorrow.

    Thank you. I welcome your questions. Aim high, and Semper Supra. Sir, over to you.

    RADM JAMES WATERS: Awesome. Good afternoon. I’m Rear Admiral Jim Waters. I’m Commander, Navy Recruiting Command. It’s a privilege to be here this afternoon to talk about the Navy’s recruiting efforts over the last year and to outline some of our goals for fiscal year 2025.

    We know that, to remain the most capable Navy in the world, we must recruit the best of America, building pathways for all qualified Americans who choose to serve our nation. Fiscal year 2024 was a year of significant achievement for Navy recruiting due to the hard work and dedication of our recruiters, our leadership, and support teams across the country.

    Together we contracted 40,978 active component enlisted sailors into the Navy against a goal of 40,600. This was no small feat, and I want to take a moment to recognize the front line Navy recruiters who worked tirelessly to meet our goals. They did an outstanding job navigating a highly competitive recruiting market, and their efforts are a testament to the Navy’s commitment to building a talented, mission ready force.

    This success didn’t happen by chance. It was the result of strategic changes we made to adapt to the current recruiting environment.

    Key adjustments included increasing the number of recruiters by approximately 800 and removing bureaucratic barriers to rapid decision making and contracting. When we take care of our recruiters, they take care of the mission. Because we recognize that today’s recruits are engaging online more than ever, we ramped up our presence on social media, expanded our esports efforts and employed creative talent in our award-winning Sailor Verses YouTube series.

    Additionally, our marketing and advertising efforts focused on real, authentic stories from actual sailors addressing perceived barriers, concerns and key motivators related to joining. Another major initiative in fiscal year 2024 for the Navy was the establishment of our Recruiting Operations Center, or ROC, which has proven invaluable.

    The ROC consolidated our data and analytic capacity into a single source of truth to continuously assess and improve recruiting practices. This emphasis on shared learning and best practices is helping our recruiters meet their goals and it will continue to play a key role as we move forward in 2025. Finally, we streamlined our medical waiver process to make well-informed decisions in zero to three days, giving recruiters and candidates the opportunity to act quickly.

    As we turn our attention to fiscal year 2025, I want to note that while we’re coming off a successful year, we are not taking our foot off the gas. Our goal for fiscal year 2025 is to build on our momentum and recruit another 40,600 new sailors, which reflects the growing needs of the Navy as we continue to modernize and strengthen our capabilities.

    The road ahead won’t be without obstacles. As my fellow recruiting commanders have noted, the labor market remains competitive and military service is one of many options available to young Americans today. To stand out, we’ll continue to refine our message, positioning the Navy as a premier opportunity for professional development, education and service to the nation. And while mindful of evolving societal expectations, especially with regards to work life balance and career flexibility, we will continue to highlight the opportunity for each young American to forge a better version of themselves in America’s Navy.

    In the end, I’m optimistic about the year ahead. Fiscal year 2025 will bring its own set of challenges, but with the strategies we’ve implemented and the talent we have in place, I’m confident we will meet our goals. Thank you.

    MG RYDER:  General Bowers.

    MG WILLIAM BOWERS:  Good afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow military leaders, it’s a pleasure to appear before you today to provide an update of your Marine Corps recruiting efforts. Your Marine Corps exists to fight and win our nation’s battles and our performance in recruiting speaks for itself. Our combat heritage is embedded within Marine Corps Recruiting Command’s DNA, and we share the same fierce competitive spirit to win as those Marines who’ve gone before us, no matter the challenge.

    Over the past several decades, the Marine Corps has made institutional investments into recruiting to ensure that we are resourced with the very best commanders and Marine recruiters to accomplish this demanding mission. This has been and will continue to be our greatest source of strength as we face what some refer to as the most challenging recruiting environment since the inception of the all-volunteer force.

    Marine recruiters will continue to meet the expectations of our nation by holding true to our warrior’s ethos and our core values of honor, courage and commitment. We compete for the very best young people in every zip code in our nation and our marine recruiters are actively attracting and inspiring young men and women of character, eager to take up the challenge of earning the title Marine.

    While we welcome all qualified and motivated applicants to take up this challenge, we refuse to lower our standards. We understand that to meet the high, almost mystical expectations that the American people have of their Marine Corps, that we must continue to attract and inspire young men and women of character who desire to live a life of significance by becoming a US marine.

    Despite our success in fiscal year ’24, we continue to face the same challenges as the other services, historic lows in qualification rates, low propensity to serve, a challenging labor market and a fragmented media landscape continued to have a compounding effect on the recruiting environment. To combat these conditions, Marine Corps Recruiting Command will do what Marines have always done, innovate, adapt and win.

    As such, we are focused on my priorities of one, training the most proficient recruiting force in the world; two, manning all of our recruiting sectors; three, securing resources to support our people in the field; and four, adapting our geographic laydown to reflect the changing demographics of our nation.

    And we’re moving out at speed to make these organizational changes. As we attack in the fiscal year ’25, we will continue to reinforce and expand the trust of the American people in their Marine Corps, positively shape the future of the Marine Corps and enable our Marines and their families to be happy and successful.

    I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you. Semper Fidelis.

    MG RYDER:  Thank you very much to all of our panelists today. We’ll start with Associated Press, Lita Baldor.

    Q:  Thank you. Thank you all for being here. I don’t know, Dr. Helland, if you can answer this or if this is each one of you needs to answer. I’m wondering about bonuses. Can you tell me how much Overall the Defense Department has increased the amount of money it’s providing to the services for bonuses and other sort of monetary enhancements for the services to provide for recruiting last year over this year? If you can give sort of overall or if the services need to provide their own.

    And then Admiral Waters, for the Navy, can you say how closely the Navy is tracking the CAT IV that you have been bringing in over the last year or so to determine whether or not there are any increased disciplinary or other issues with that sort of larger chunk that the Navy’s been bringing in, that the other services have not done?

    DR HELLAND:  So I’ll actually open it up to the services to talk on bonus incentives.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah. Ma’am, I don’t have the exact amount, but this is one of the areas that the, in terms of transformation, should we do the same thing that we’ve been doing every year. So we’re looking at a potential pilot to weigh bonus versus station of choice. And what we’re seeing is applicants are moving towards the station of choice. With that, has garnered savings.

    I don’t have the final amount, but it is sizable when you look at the total number of applicants. And let’s say, it could be an estimate from $3,000 to $5,000, or $6,000 each. So that’s one of the areas that when we look at transformation, how can we do something different, and I think it’s yielding — I mean what we’re seeing is applicants prefer duty station of choice over money.

    BG AMERINE:  Yeah. Ma’am, I’ll follow up with my colleague, we can get you the specific number. What we do though is the incentive options that are there, they do and can flex throughout the requirements from the Air Force, specifically AFSCs or Air Force specialty codes. And so, what we have seen is a shift in my time, a little over a year, focusing on some of the most high demand and low density jobs that are out there, specifically in our special warfare atmosphere for those Air Force specialty codes.

    And so, in many cases, several AFSCs are all eligible for a bonus, but the structure of this is always flexing based on the highest or the most demand. AFSCs right now for us, that is special warfare and a lot of our open and mechanical AFSCs, ma’am.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah, so like the other services, we look at each rating to specifically allocate enlistment bonuses. But the short answer to your primary question is there hasn’t been a significant change in the bonus amount going from ’24 to ’25. And with respect to the CAT IV, we’re tracking that closely.

    We’ve seen no increase in attrition, no increase in disciplinary actions and I attribute that mainly to the fact that every recruit that comes into the Navy meets the standard for the rating to which they are assigned. So the CAT IV is from the AFQT, which is four parts of the ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery]. Each rating is a combination of scores from those four plus the other six parts of the ASVAB, and that has never changed.

    So a CAT VI sailor that comes in with an AFQT of 22, that’s going to go be a machinist mate, meets all of the line requirements for that machinist mate and always has. We have not changed that.

    MG BOWERS:  And, ma’am, the Marine Corps does not rely on bonuses to attract and inspire young men and women of character to take up the challenge of becoming Marines. That said, we do have some new incentives for some new career fields. This year, we have $15,000 bonuses for electronic maintenance, cyber and crypto operations and information and communication tech career fields. But again, we don’t rely primarily on bonuses.

    MG RYDER:  Thank you, all. Yes, ma’am?

    Q:  Audrey Decker, DefenseOne, I want to thank you so much for doing this. I have a quick follow up. I just wanted to make sure I have this correct. So the Army and the Air Force Space Force is increasing their goal for 2025, Navy staying the same. And then I didn’t hear Major General Bowers what the Marine Corps was doing for 2025?

    MG BOWERS:  Our goal is increasing by approximately 1,800 Marines.

    Q:  And then separately, Dr. Helland, you mentioned declining eligibility and I was just wondering if there were any specific efforts to get after that and specifically in terms of previous drug use? I know there was a provision in the ’25 NDAA that would stop the services from requiring someone to test for marijuana before enlisting.

    What does the DOD think about that provision? If you could provide any more guidance there.

    DR HELLAND:  Certainly. Yeah. When we look at eligibility based on estimates, about 23 percent of youth are eligible to enlist without a waiver. That’s for any of our various standards, whether they medical dependents, moral. So with regards to medical standards, it’s something the department continually looks at and looks at advances in medical science, looking at the data for those who’ve come in with waivers to see if we can refine the medical standards.

    We’ve also instituted a medical accessions records pilot where for at this point now, 51 conditions that used to have—most of them had any history of a particular condition, we’re testing the feasibility of reducing the timeframe for those conditions. ADHD has actually been one where we’ve seen a lot of individuals come in under that [inaudible] condition.

    We’ve also seen great success as we talked through the Future Sailor Future Soldier prep course, to invest in those individuals with potential to get them to whether it be the body composition or some of our academic standards as well. With regards to drugs, certainly marijuana is still a prohibited for federal employees and we’ll have to continue to follow federal law.

    MG RYDER:  Thank you very much. Let’s go to Haley.

    Q:  Thank you. Thank you all for doing this. Dr. Helland, you mentioned that for the first time since the metric has been tracked that there is a percentage of youth who are not even considering military service. Can you say for how long has that metric been tracked?

    DR HELLAND:  I’ll have to go back and double check, but I think it’s mid like 2010 or so.

    Q:  OK. So roughly at least a decade?

    DR HELLAND:  At least a decade. Yes. Yes.

    Q:  And then I apologize, I don’t remember who mentioned MHS Genesis, but that was — I’m curious kind of what you’ve seen as the trend of that. I know that that was a pretty significant issue for a lot of recruiters and a lot of recruits of just the challenges that MHS Genesis presented. So can you kind of talk through, are you still seeing those challenges? Are those being addressed? What does that sort of look like now that we’ve kind of gotten further away from its implementation?

    DR HELLAND:  Sure. So yes, when we rolled out MHS Genesis, which is the department’s electronic health record system and when we rolled it out across MEPCOM, that provided us access to the verifiable health records, which meant we now have a lot of information on our young adults to assess Them against our medical standards.

    That did increase our workloads given the sheer volume of information that was available through those health information exchange, But we’ve been able to implement technical solutions. One of the key ones was instituting natural language processing, to go through and pick out key elements that have helped us reduce the time frame.

    We also overhauled recently our whole prescreen process, So that’s the process where we’re reviewing the documentation and then giving them the approval of our applicants to go to the various MEPs. Through our overhaul of the process, now 80 percent of our applicants are cleared to go to MEPs within 48 hours of starting that prescreened process.

    And then for those 20 percent that have more complex medical histories, we’ve reduced the timeframe where it used to be about 29 days on average to get them to Florida MEPs, we’re now down to below seven. So we’re continuing to improve our processes. And with MHS Genesis, we’re able to leverage technology more, to automate more processes, but we’ve also brought in more staff as well and working to increase the staff to address the workload.

    MG RYDER:  All right. Let’s go to the phones here. Heather Mongillo, USNI News.

    Q:  Great. Thank you so much. So I guess one of my biggest questions that I’m trying to still figure out when talking about recruiting, is it that there are a lot more people who are propense to serve right now, or is it that the different services have found that they were having roadblocks preventing people from enlisting?

    I guess I’m trying to figure out, are there just more people interested and that’s who you tapped into Or was there a problem with the way the services were recruiting that created the services not meeting the goals the past two years?

    DR HELLAND:  Certainly. I can jump in and then turn it over. But when we look at on aggregate, our measure of propensity, which is a snapshot in time when someone takes a survey, we have seen stability in a low metric for propensity. Where about 10 percent of young adults are motivated to serve, that has not changed over the past few years.

    What we are seeing is propensity growing at an individual level, right? When our recruiters get out there and make contact with the individual, they can grow propensity one person at a time. That’s where I believe we are seeing success, is the operations and what we’ve been able to get back into communities where when you think about what happened during COVID, we had to pull out of communities for almost two years. It takes time to get back in and develop those relationships again. But again, I think this is what we’re seeing is a testament to our recruiting commanders and the hard work of our recruiters.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah. Dr. Helland, if I could add, you’re absolutely right. I think not having our superstar recruiters in high schools across the nation for some two and a half years, has certainly had an impact and really bringing awareness and the face-to-face interaction really helps to fill knowledge gaps for, in our case, the United States Army.

    And so that awareness also impacts their desire to say, well, should I consider service? We have a declining veteran population. I grew up with a family of many veterans in Wisconsin, who either served in World War II or Korea or Vietnam and they were all there to answer my questions.

    Now, with the decreasing veteran population, that is also really impacting, I think, that knowledge base and propensity of those up and coming qualified military service men and women.

    BG AMERINE:  Yeah. And if I could add, I think with Dr. Helland’s comments, on 30 years ago if you asked somebody if they had a family member, 45 hands would go up. And if you ask now, it’s somewhere between 10 and 12 or so. And it is what it is, but what I would say is one of the focus areas for the Air Force and Space Force, is building back that familiarity because over time, that created this lack of familiarity.

    And then you have these exacerbating incidents like COVID that materialized. But this has been a focus point. And I know that we all spoke to this last fall as well, is all of the services are really focusing on that lack of familiarity and getting back out into the public and getting it won [ph], whether it’s one person, one touch point at a time that General Davis said, or expanding social media campaigns to meet this generation where they are.

    But I think that, for the Air Force aspect of it, it is a deliberate line of effort for us, is expanding that total force outreach or recruiting network to be able to build back that familiarity into America. Thank you.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah, I think it’s important in this to not equate low propensity with high anti-military sentiment. It’s really an expression of lack of knowledge, lack of familiarity, to play off my shipmate here. And I think to answer a little bit more of the question that was asked, to say, this reflects an increased number of recruiters.

    I mean, the Navy added recruiters, other services added recruiters and it also reflects the recognition that we need to increase propensity one American at a time. It’s that prospecting work that’s done by recruiters to go out not only in the schools but at career fairs. And making phone calls, social media connections, all of it to build that human to human relationship that leads to a young American, recognizing the value of service and then making a commitment to it.

    MG RYDER:  Let’s go back out to the phone here. Jeff Schogol, Task and Purpose.

    Q:  Thank you. A question for Dr. Helland about the medical accession records pilot or MARP. So as you mentioned, it’s now up to about 51 conditions. Do you foresee this as the start of something that becomes permanent, a change to military accession regulations that makes it easier for people with previously disqualifying medical conditions to enlist without having to get a waiver first? Thank you.

    DR HELLAND:  Yes, so the whole intent of this is write a pilot to test the feasibility. If we can shorten these timeframes and with the data, then to make that decision to then modify our medical accession standards. So that’s where we’re in right now that that pilot phase. Largely we are seeing positive results, and we’ll continue to monitor the data.

    So ultimately again to make that decision to about these conditions and whether we can build them into our standards instruction.

    MG RYDER:  Let’s go out to Steve Beynon, Military Times.

    Q:  I appreciate you all for doing this. A quick question for the services minus the Army and Navy. Those services have seen a lot of good early data on the prep courses. Nearly a quarter of the Army recruits in FY ’24 did one of those prep courses. Has the Air Force or Marine Corps looking into establishing their version of that and Space Force as well? Thank you.

    BG AMERINE:  Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for the question. From a holistic perspective across the Department of the Air Force for Recruiting, I would offer the answer is no, there’s not. There’s not the overarching compelling requirement that we’ve seen. However, I would say that for our special warfare accession pipeline, we do have a very deliberate development program for them.

    So as folks identify or are interested in the special warfare Air Force specialty codes, there is a very deliberate development program both from a, you know, from a mental resiliency standpoint, but also a very in-depth training physical training regimen to prepare them for that pipeline.

    MG BOWERS:  Yes, in the Marine Corps, we are not looking at starting a special program for future Marines. We have the delayed entry program that’s working very well for us.

    MG RYDER:  All right. Luis?

    Q:  Thank you. I just want to follow up on Steve’s question here because it was almost related exactly to that, but I’m going to direct my question to the Army and the Navy about the future sailor or Future Soldier Prep Course.

    Can you confirm the numbers of how many of your recruits this year actually participated in that? And having heard the other two services, why did the Navy choose to follow what the Army program was and was it based on their success or what did you find that, yes, we did have a base that really needed that was of motivated individuals who wanted to join the Navy who just needed that extra incentive.

    And then I have a follow up.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah, so thanks for that and I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me for how many went through for the two future sailor prep course physical or academic, but the reason that we followed the Army on this was because of their great success. I mean, General Davis talked about the percentages.

    It was a wonderful example and what we found especially for on the side of future sailor prep course physical which allows us to bring some folks in that are above body fat standards by up to 6 percent and have them work with our recruit division commanders. We had a lot of highly qualified, like nuclear trained operator qualified individuals, that couldn’t quite get there.

    And so when we saw that the Army was using that, we took it on and we’re 100 percent successful on getting folks through that course. We have a few that have tapped out because this isn’t for me, but anybody that was working toward that body fat standard has made it and is in recruit training. And what we found is those sailors are committed in a way that’s above and beyond the average that’s in recruit training command and many of them have gone on to leadership positions within their recruit divisions.

    Future sailor prep course academic allowed us to provide an opportunity for young Americans to expand the opportunities within the Navy. As I mentioned before, every rating, all of them are based on individual line scores. And so by giving them some more academic training and recognition that much of America had challenges with COVID in schools to increase that opportunity and give them the opportunity to have more choice and we can fill other ratings that we wouldn’t have otherwise. That’s why we followed the Army.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah, if I could answer the data, so if Soldier Prep course for us is about 20-21 months, total number of graduates, we’re approaching over 28,188. Now that’s just more than compo-one. So now when I talk about that number, that’s active duty, Army Reserve and National Guard, so they all benefit in the total Army with the Future Soldier Prep Course for us from last year’s mission of 55,000, over 10,326 graduated to course.

    We already have another pending shipped already to Fort Jackson about 1,500 and another, you know, 3,000 over the next, you know, quarter or so into the new year. So we are filling all of the seats because of the demand.

    So let me go back to why we’re seeing the success when we saw the during COVID the drop in test ASVAB by like ten points, that’s the segment and it wasn’t you know, recruiting command, it was actually our training and doctrine command Lieutenant Gervais and team. That said, hey, the Army’s done this before, we saw this drop, why don’t we go and try to invest in that segment and, I mean, half of them were within five points of a fully meeting, you know, three Bravo or Alpha, which allows to open up many job opportunities.

    And so that’s what we invested in and that’s why we see this transformational success. Some of them are testing out within two weeks and some of them are testing to the highest category. So now every job in the Army is now open to them just from a classroom, not, you know, from an outside agency, of course the camaraderie like students, the physical fitness, academic training every day is, I think, is building this great cohort of future soldiers.

    Now what I recommend everybody take an opportunity and visit the Future Soldier Prep Course if they haven’t down at Fort Jackson, it will be an eye opener. I’ve been many times. I love it, it’s a great course.

    Q:  My follow up is do you plan to now expand the course as it continues to get 1 in 5, So new recruits in?

    RADM WATERS:  Yes.

    Q:  And also, what do you attribute the rise in age to? You said that your average age now is 22 years, four months.

    MG DAVIS:  Yeah. So I don’t know in terms of expansion because we want to go after that labor market, expanded market. The segment that is, you know, within ten points or that that whatever the 21 to 30 we think they can test up. So I don’t think we’re going to expand that based on what we’re seeing. Now, let’s go to the — this expanded market.

    What I’m hearing from recruiters is that many are you know, graduating high school and are going on to college. And maybe that’s not for them and what our recruiters are doing is really beginning to focus on that segment of the population and it’s really starting to pay off.

    Why are they focusing on that? Because when we were short in terms of what we’re bringing in to the Army, we needed to fill training seats. So basic training battalions can be filled and we weren’t filling them. So our recruiters weren’t going to the high schools because they won’t ship until the next year, so they’re going directly into the labor market. And that has really, really blossomed for us over the last two years.

    And I want to say to our recruiters, job well done. Let’s stay at it and this, the current delayed entry program, it I think the average age is about 22 years and five months. So I see it going up and the high school market as we see the student, you know, population, let’s say decline over time, we’re going to have to expand it into the labor market or the — some college or college market.

    MG RYDER:  We have time for one more. Yes, sir.

    Q:  John Seward. Notes on the prep courses for both services. What are you all seeing in terms of retention after initial contract? And then a similar sort of related follow up for all services, which is in terms of finding qualified applicants, where does physical fitness rank as far as challenge?

    RADM WATERS:  So as far as the Future Sailor Prep Course, the physical fitness part of it has been something of a challenge to make sure that we’ve got the right fitness for folks joining the Navy, but it’s not one that’s insurmountable. And the physical part, the future sailor prep course physical has given us the ability to really get after that. Especially in our ratings that require a much, much higher-end ASVAB score to get after.

    MG DAVIS:  So for the Army, Army Research Institute is tracking every graduate, so you need more time, it’s about 20 months. So we do have a large number of graduates and what we want to do longitudinally is really find out from an academic perspective if that impacts retention as they go on to the first duty station.

    For the fitness, that’s a really good question and we’re thinking through that because we know that in the Future Soldier Prep Course they lose about 1.2 percent body fat a week. And what we want to make sure is we keep tracking them as they move on to their first duty station and figure out in terms of retention. So are they continuing on this right path or are they going down or are they going up? So that’s what we’re tracking because we really need that data to figure out, hey, is this so transformational that we need to look at, you know, other expansion opportunities.

    RADM WATERS:  Yeah. So I think some of that’s because of the length of time that we’ve been running the Future Sailor Prep Course hasn’t been significant enough to really get after that. But I can say that our attrition rates in boot camp and A-school for this cadre, both physical and academic are on par. There’s no change for that group relative to the rest of them.

    Q:  And just a follow up for all services, where does physical fitness rank in terms of?

    BG AMERINE:  For the Air Force, I had mentioned in my opening statement that over the past year, we adjusted the Air Force actually had a higher than DOD standard and we aligned with the DOD standard. Since then we brought in over 5,800 airmen under that DOD standard. We’ve had one wash out of BMT for physical fitness reasons.

    And so I think it’s, you know, from that standpoint and I will tell you we get the question a lot, hey, have you changed the standard. Well, the PFT standards have not changed for our basic training and that small policy adjustment offered 5,800 very high quality folks to come into our service and we lost one person for it. Thanks.

    MG BOWERS:  Good question. Thanks for the question. So Marine Corps recruit training is 13 weeks long. It is the toughest, most physically demanding of the entry-level training of the services. So physical fitness is therefore very important to us. This is the value of our delayed entry program. We like every applicant to spend at least 30 days in the delayed entry program so we can work with them, they can work with their recruiter and we can get them in good physical shape to improve their chances of success at recruit training.

    The delayed entry program has an additional benefit for us. While these kids are getting in good shape working with their recruiters, they bring their friends along and 25 percent of our contracts, one out of four, comes from a referral from the delayed entry program. Our Marines love the opportunity to have a delayed entry program to work with their own little squad or platoon of recruits and this gets to propensity.

    You know, we like to replace propensity with inspired. So if only 9 percent of the population is propensed [Sic], 91 percent is just waiting to be inspired. What a golden opportunity. So this is the value of our delayed entry program.

    MG RYDER:  All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. I really want to say thank you to our distinguished defense leaders, panelists today as they talk about our efforts to improve our recruiting and service goals for fiscal year ’25. Thank you very much. This concludes our press briefing.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN and Ambassador of Australia to ASEAN discuss preparations for the working visit over dinner

    Source: ASEAN – Association of SouthEast Asian Nations

    This evening, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, attended a dinner hosted by Ambassador of Australia to ASEAN, H.E. Tiffany McDonald. They discussed in detail the preparations for the upcoming Working Visit by SG Dr. Kao to Australia, scheduled for November 2024. Both sides also exchanged views on ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the follow-up to the 4th ASEAN-Australia Summit, recently held in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

    The post Secretary-General of ASEAN and Ambassador of Australia to ASEAN discuss preparations for the working visit over dinner appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Proclamation on National Entrepreneurship Month,  2024

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
         Entrepreneurs embody the essence of America — their ideas and energy have always kept our country on the cutting edge, and their determination and drive uplift communities, create millions of jobs, and keep our Nation moving forward.  This month, we celebrate their unstoppable spirit.
         Supporting entrepreneurs, especially small business owners, has always been key in growing our economy from the middle out and bottom up, giving everyone a fair shot to get ahead.  Many entrepreneurs are at the heart and soul of their communities, running the mom-and-pop shops that are the glue of our neighborhoods.  But when Vice President Harris and I took office, hundreds of thousands of small businesses had been forced to close down due to the pandemic, and millions more were hanging by a thread.  Not only were entrepreneurs’ livelihoods on the line but also their life’s savings and hopes of growing wealth for the next generation. 
         That is why Vice President Harris and I were committed to investing in America’s entrepreneurs and innovators.  My American Rescue Plan provided billions of dollars in capital and support to small businesses.  My CHIPS and Science Act is investing more into research and manufacturing than ever before, building the high-tech industries of the future and the small-business supply chains to support them right here at home while helping them expand their businesses in high-growth, high-wage industries.  And my Inflation Reduction Act is incentivizing manufacturers to help tackle the climate crisis using American suppliers while cutting down on entrepreneurs’ overhead costs like health insurance and energy bills.
         The Biden-Harris Administration is also committed to ensuring every small business and entrepreneur has a fair shot.  This year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) provided a record $56 billion through more than 100,000 small business financings — the most in more than 15 years and a 50 percent increase over 2020.  The Federal Government has invested tens of billions of dollars into small disadvantaged businesses.  The SBA is lending tens of billions of dollars to small businesses that would otherwise struggle to access capital.  Since 2020, the number of SBA-backed loans doubled for women-owned businesses, tripled for Black-owned businesses, more than doubled for Latino-owned businesses, and increased by about 70 percent for Asian American-owned businesses.  And my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also made the Minority Business Development Agency permanent to help close the gap for these and other entrepreneurs from underserved and underrepresented communities too long left behind. 
         Today, entrepreneurs across the country have filed nearly 20 million new business applications since Vice President Harris and I took office — each an act of hope and confidence in our economy.  A record number of those businesses are being opened by Black, Latino, and women entrepreneurs.  And 16 million new jobs have been created.
         I have often said that America can be defined in one word:  possibilities.  That is what entrepreneurship is all about.  During National Entrepreneurship Month, we honor every entrepreneur with a vision for something better and the grit to make it real, growing our economy and creating new possibilities for everyone.
         NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024 as National Entrepreneurship Month.  I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities and to celebrate November 19, 2024, as National Entrepreneurs’ Day.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
                                 JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month,  2024

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
         During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the history, rich cultures, and vast contributions of Native peoples.  We celebrate the hundreds of Tribal Nations that are ushering in a new era in our Nation-to-Nation relationships.  And we recommit to respecting Tribal sovereignty and self-determination and working in partnership with Tribal Nations to bring new prosperity and security to Native peoples.
         Indigenous peoples’ history in the United States is defined by strength, survival, and a deep commitment to and pride in their heritage, right to self-governance, and ways of life.  Native peoples have built and sustained powerful Tribal Nations, and the knowledge they developed still benefits us today.  However, our Nation’s failed policies of the past subjected generations of Native peoples to cruelty, violence, and intimidation.  The forced removal of Native peoples from their homes and ancestral homelands; attempts to assimilate entire generations; and stripping of Indigenous peoples of their identities, cultures, and traditions are some of the darkest chapters of our Nation’s history.  The trauma and turmoil fundamentally altered their communities.  As the first President to visit Indian Country in 10 years, I delivered a national apology for the unspeakable harms caused to Native peoples at Federal Indian Boarding Schools.
         Indigenous peoples have persisted and survived — a testament to their resilience and resolve.  Today, Native communities are leading the way forward and continuing to strengthen the fabric of the United States.  They have long served in the United States military and currently serve in the highest levels of government — including the Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, America’s first Native American Cabinet secretary.  In every field and sector, Native peoples are pushing for progress and contributing to our shared prosperity.  
         Since I came into office, the Federal Government has made record investments in Tribal Nations.  Federal contracts with Native American-owned companies increased by over $8 billion from 2020 to 2023.  My American Rescue Plan made the largest direct Federal investment in Tribal Nations ever, helping vaccinate Tribal communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and keeping the economy going.  My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made the single biggest investment in Tribal roads, bridges, water, high-speed internet, electricity, irrigation, environmental cleanup, and so much more.  My Inflation Reduction Act made the biggest investment in fighting climate change ever — including funding to help Tribal communities lead in the just transition to clean energy and ease the impact of droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels, which threaten Native lives and precious homelands. 
         My Administration is also working to ensure that Native communities are safe and secure and have the resources they need to thrive.  I signed an Executive Order that improves the Federal response to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.  When we reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in 2022, we included historic provisions to reaffirm Tribal sovereignty and expand Tribal jurisdiction in cases where outside perpetrators harm members of their Nation.  And for the first time ever, my Administration also secured advance funding for the Indian Health Service so hospitals can plan ahead, order supplies, and hire doctors.  We have provided historic funding to Tribal communities to help fight the behavioral health crisis and taken significant steps to improve maternal health for Native American women, who are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as white women. 
         I have always believed that we must know the good, the bad, and the truth of who we are as a Nation — we must acknowledge our history so that we can begin to remember and heal.  That is why I became the first President to issue a formal apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School era, one of the most horrific chapters in our Nation’s history.  For 150 years, the Federal Government mandated the removal of Native children from their families and Tribes — and as a result, generations of Native children had their childhoods stolen and whole Tribal cultures were erased.  I am proud to formally end the silence surrounding this shameful era and I remain proud that my Administration defended the Indian Child Welfare Act in court, ensuring that our Nation respects Tribal sovereignty and protects Native children by helping Native families stay together and grow up with their languages and cultures.  And we are working to support Native American families and communities as they heal from the Federal Indian Boarding School era through the Department of the Interior’s Road to Healing initiative and by supporting Native language preservation and public safety initiatives.  
         My Administration has also worked with Tribal Nations to preserve, protect, and steward important ancestral Tribal lands and waters.  Through more than 200 co-stewardship and co-management agreements signed under my leadership, we are working side by side with Tribes to make decisions about how to manage the lands that are most precious to them.  And to date, I have protected and conserved more than 45 million acres of our Nation’s lands and waters.  That includes the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, vast offshore waters off California’s coast and the first sanctuary to be proposed by Indigenous communities.  I have also established, expanded, and restored 11 national monuments, many containing sites considered sacred to Tribal Nations — from Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument to Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, and others.  
         During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the heritage and contributions of Native peoples, and we work tirelessly to build a future grounded in dignity, respect, and partnership.  We remain committed to working with Native communities to write a new and better chapter in American history for Tribal Nations — one that honors the solemn promise the United States made to Tribal Nations, fulfills our Federal trust and treaty obligations, and works together to rebuild Tribal economies and institutions.  
         NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024 as National Native American Heritage Month.  I urge all Americans, as well as their elected representatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.  Also, I urge all Americans to celebrate November 29, 2024, as Native American Heritage Day.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
                                   JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reschenthaler Announces November Mobile Office Hours

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14)

    October 31, 2024

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) announced his staff will hold mobile office hours at various locations throughout Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District next month to offer increased assistance to constituents experiencing problems with a federal agency.

    During these mobile office sessions, constituents can receive help with Social Security and Medicare issues, federal grant funding, passports and visas, immigration and naturalization services, veterans’ benefits, and the IRS.

    The upcoming schedule is outlined below:

    What: Fayette County – Uniontown Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Friday, November 1, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Fayette County Courthouse, 61 East Main Street, Uniontown, PA 15401

    What: Greene County Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Thursday, November 7, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Greene County Office Building, 93 East High Street, Waynesburg, PA 15370

    What: Indiana County Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Indiana County Courthouse Annex, 827 Water Street, Indiana, PA 15701

    What: Somerset County Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Somerset County Commissioner Office, 300 North Center Avenue, Suite 540, Somerset, PA 15501

    What: Fayette County – Connellsville Mobile Office Hours

    Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

    Location: Connellsville Municipal Building, 110 North Arch Street, Connellsville, PA 15425

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)

    Source: United Nations – English

    he Secretary-General strongly condemns the launch today of a long-range ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

    The DPRK’s continued launches of missiles using ballistic missile technology are clear violations of relevant Security Council resolutions.

    The Secretary-General remains concerned about the situation on the Korean Peninsula. He has consistently called for de-escalation, the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, an environment that is conducive to dialogue, and the resumption of talks. 

    Diplomatic engagement remains the only pathway to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: The Department of the Navy is Establishing a Naval Strategic Studies Group (NSSG) Program

    Source: United States Navy

    The Department of the Navy is establishing a Naval Strategic Studies Group (NSSG) program in January administered by the DON Office of Strategic Assessment (OSA).

    The NSSG will be modeled after the Strategic Studies Group created during the Cold War, which had a twofold mission to train future flag officers in strategic thinking and to conduct research on some of the DON’s most vexing strategic challenges.

    The first cohort will include uniformed and civilian members from the Navy and Marine Corps. These plank-owners will conduct a capstone research project that advances Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro’s strategic maritime statecraft initiative.

    “I expect my seasoned, mid-grade officers to be brilliant on naval tactics and operations by the time they report for graduate education,” Del Toro said. “I need future flag and general officers who will think strategically about how to lead naval forces in an increasingly contested maritime domain and amidst intense economic, technological and military competition.”

    The education in strategic studies the NSSG members will receive supports DON’s focus on reinvigorating the strategic workforce, under the Secretary’s enduring priority of building a culture of warfighting excellence.

    Members’ research – focused on broad strategic challenges, rather than narrower problems already addressed by fleet experimentation on specific tactics or technologies – will support DON’s aim of strengthening maritime dominance.

    “The Department of the Navy meets our nation’s maritime needs, both today and into the future. As the Office of Strategic Assessment builds a net assessment capability for the DON to understand the complex challenges we face, the Naval Strategic Studies Group will bring together a cohort of rising leaders who will address these challenges and build the strategic leadership skills to guide our Navy and Marine Corps in a dynamic and shifting global environment,” OSA Director Dr. Cara LaPointe said.

    The chief of naval operations created the previous SSG in 1981 to tackle key strategic challenges related to the Cold War. Over time, the SSG’s focus evolved to reflect the needs of the Navy until 2016, when it was sundowned.

    As the Department of the Navy returns to an era of competition, stakeholders have agreed on the need to amplify strategic leader education as the United States faces an increasingly complex web of threats that includes China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. In 2023 Secretary Del Toro released a Naval Education Strategy to guide investments to modernize naval schools and professional military education. The NSSG will focus students’ strategic leadership studies on DON’s most pressing strategic challenges for greater effect.

    “Today we face a comprehensive maritime power in the Indo-Pacific, Russian aggression in Ukraine, and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea – all of which will shape our security environment for several decades,” Del Toro said. “A revitalized, Naval SSG will help the Department of the Navy engage with and look ahead of these trends with sufficient access, resources, and guidance from leadership.”

    The first cohort will also tackle questions that will help shape the enduring NSSG program, including working with the Naval University System to deliver a world-class curriculum, and will be located in Washington, D.C.

    Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, the commanding general of the Marine Corps Training and Education Command, said recent conflicts have reinforced the importance of having Marine Corps leaders at all levels who can outthink the enemy.

    “Domains like information and cyber, along with the rise of non-state actors, don’t fit neatly into old frameworks. Our current operating environment demands nothing less than a renaissance in strategic thinking,” said Watson. “To stay ahead of our adversaries, we need to keep evolving—updating our training, sharpening our minds, and learning – not just observing – the lessons of contemporary conflict. The fight isn’t just on the battlefield anymore, and we need every Marine to possess the training, education, and intellectual agility to adapt and overcome.”

    Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, Strategy and Warfighting Development, agreed the Navy needs Sailors and civilians “with superb education and training, who are able to think, act and operate differently to ensure we can defeat our adversaries.”
    “The establishment of the NSSG will enhance our culture of warfighting excellence and strengthen our maritime dominance by developing strategically minded warfighters who will be the future senior leaders of the service and will lead our Navy through uncertain times,” said Dwyer.

    Del Toro established the Office of Strategic Assessment in October 2023 and tasked the office to reconstitute the strategic studies program to help rebuild the naval strategist community.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Senator Marshall joins Wake Up America: Farmers & Ranchers Trust Donald Trump’s Policies

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

    Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. joined Wake Up America on Newsmax to discuss how Donald Trump delivers for Farmers & Ranchers in Rural America, how Kamala Harris’ plan to ban price gouging on groceries will lead to shortages, and President Joe Biden calling Trump supporters ‘Garbage.’

    [embedded content]

    You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
    Highlights from the interview include:
    On Farmers & Ranchers Turning to Donald Trump to Deliver:
    “As agriculture goes, so goes Rural America. Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, what we saw was an attack on American agriculture. We saw a record drop in net farm income… they drowned us, they buried us in regulations, they drove up the cost for farming through energy costs… contrast that to President Trump – what President Trump gave us was access to markets. He rolled back regulations. We had record income increases as well.”
    “Guess how many trade agreements Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did? None. President Trump gave us USMCA, he gave us South Korea, he gave us Japan… You think about those purple states up there in the central and the northwest. You think about Ohio, you think about Michigan, you think about Pennsylvania, all strong dairy country. Because of President Trump’s trade agreements, we have increases from $6 billion to $9 billion in exports of dairy… And again, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, no emphasis on trade. Didn’t even try to do a trade agreement.”
    “President Trump gave us E15, about 40% of our corn crop goes towards ethanol, so President Trump, a great supporter for that Rural America.”
    On Foreign Agriculture: 
    “Food security is national security, and to your point, we’re importing more than we’re exporting when it comes to agriculture… So the Biden-Harris administration allows Europe and China to have high tariffs, on average, 10% to 25% tariffs on American agriculture products…  versus we only put 2.5% tariffs on them.”
    “Tariffs can be a weapon to use to level that playing field, to bring us about free, fair, and reciprocal trade. And that’s what President Trump has done in the past; he’ll do in the future – he’ll bring it home for American farmers.”
    On Kamala Harris’ Ban on Price Gouging 
    “There will be shortages. Think about beef, think about poultry, eggs, milk, all those things will lead to shortages… What caused the prices to go up are her policies – her policies that attack American energy. Energy is an inflation multiplier.”
    “They’re borrowing money, and borrowing more money has led to high interest rates, so that’s what’s driving up the cost at the grocery stores. Look, most of these grocery stores operate at a 1% or 2% profit margin. There’s significant competition. So, what will happen is American farmers and ranchers will stop growing wheat. They’ll stop growing up beef if we can’t get a fair price board as well.”
    On President Joe Biden Calling Trump Supporters ‘Garbage’: 
    “I think when the history books are written here, in five or 10 years, there’s going to be two iconic photos – one of President Trump working at a McDonald’s and two President Trump driving a garbage truck. When the Biden-Harris administration came out and called us garbage that was akin to Hillary Clinton’s deplorables moment… When President Trump walked in there to McDonald’s, he just proved that he cares about the working men and women across America, that we are the party of hard working Americans.”
    “Americans that were sitting on the sidelines and said, my gosh, this White House is once again insulting you and me, hard working Americans across the country. They’re condescending – take them at their word, they’re attacking our values.”
    “When I think of rural America, I think of the values we are raised on- faith and family and country, and how coastal elites are dictating to us what our values should be. Look, we want none of that in Kansas. We want to determine what our values are.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER: THIS IS IT! AFTER YEARS OF ADVOCACY, ALBANY NANOTECH SELECTED AS AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY CENTER – CREATED BY HIS CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer

    Schumer Lands A Whopping $825 Million Initial Federal Investment And Establishes Albany NanoTech As Fed Headquarters For Semiconductor Research; A Once In A Generation Recognition Making The Capital Region A Chip R&D Center For The Entire World

    Schumer Created NSTC Program — With Albany As His North Star — And Worked Relentlessly To Secure This Prestigious Investment, Bringing Good-Paying Jobs, New Companies, And Innovation With Most Advanced Machinery In World To Upstate NY

    Schumer: A Historic Moment. Uncle Sam Just Picked Upstate NY & The Capital Region As THE Place To Develop The Future Of America’s Chip Industry

    After years of relentless advocacy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced Albany NanoTech has been selected as America’s first location for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) supported by an up to $825 million federal investment from Schumer’s bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law.

    The NSTC is a critical part of Schumer’s and the Biden-Harris Administration’s mission of re-establishing America’s leadership in the semiconductor industry and will bring together industry leaders, researchers from the nation’s top universities, innovators, and entrepreneurs to help give them access to the most advanced chip making machinery in the world and drive the next frontier of innovation.

    “This is the dawn of a new day for Upstate NY and a turning point in U.S. leadership in semiconductor research. I am proud to announce America’s first major National Semiconductor Technology Center facility will be right here in Albany. This will help ensure advancements in semiconductors that will shape the next century are stamped ‘Made in America’ and not developed and made in places like China,” said Senator Schumer. “Today, Uncle Sam is saying that Albany NanoTech is THE place for developing the next frontier of America’s technological future. I wrote the NSTC in my CHIPS & Science Law with Albany NanoTech as my inspiration, and now that dream is becoming a reality. Today we help usher in America’s next era of chip research and manufacturing, with Upstate NY leading the way.”

    The Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the NSTC, will invest an initial up to $825 million to further build out equipment at Albany NanoTech, to conduct cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet (EUV) research and development (R&D), and to establish an NSTC presence with offices and support services in Albany. Today’s announcement not only makes Albany NanoTech the CHIPS for America R&D flagship facility but also the headquarters for national EUV research as the country’s NSTC EUV Accelerator. EUV technology is essential to the semiconductor industry and some of the most advanced machinery in the world, in which light is used to print patterns and make chips on wafers. EUV lithography is what has allowed the breakthroughs to make this technology nanoscopic and allows for the chips that power everything from smartphones, computers, and vehicles to artificial intelligence. Albany NanoTech will soon be one of the only two public facilities in the world with the most advanced EUV technology, a High NA Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography tool, and will be the only publicly-owned High NA EUV Center in North America.

    Schumer continued, “The NSTC is a historic and new effort by the federal government to fuel the quest to make breakthroughs in chips that engineers today cannot even fathom, just as Albany NanoTech had produced before, including most recently with the development of the world’s first 2 nanometer chip. This $825 million initial federal investment will further equip Albany NanoTech and fund EUV research projects that are central to the global chip industry, ensuring the U.S. leads the world in semiconductor innovation and manufacturing, with the Capital Region and Upstate NY central to that effort.”

    Schumer explained that the state-of-the-art new EUV facility at Albany NanoTech and today’s designation and federal investment will help the United States establish dominance in advanced semiconductor research and development. The NSTC EUV Accelerator will help address gaps in American knowledge about semiconductors and provide information to stakeholders including universities, small businesses and entrepreneurs, large manufacturers, and government agencies by providing NSTC members with access to EUV technology to facilitate research and commercialization.

    The NSTC EUV Accelerator at Albany NanoTech will be a place for leaders in the semiconductor industry to conduct research and collaborate, including bringing industry leaders like Micron, IBM, GlobalFoundries, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, ASML, and more to the table to partner on next-generation R&D. Being designated the EUV accelerator will also open up opportunities for Albany NanoTech and Upstate NY to attract further federal investment and help attract more companies from around the world to Albany to conduct research, all with the potential of creating more good-paying jobs and making Upstate NY a global leader in semiconductors. The U.S. Department of Commerce and Natcast intend for the NSTC EUV Center at Albany NanoTech to be operational by 2025. 

    Schumer added, “Having the federal headquarters for EUV research that is critical to the most advanced chip development in the world will benefit every corner of NY. It will supercharge the historic investments and thousands of new, good-paying jobs the chip industry has proposed across the state, spurred by my CHIPS & Science Law. The NSTC will help complete my vision of Upstate NY’s I-90 corridor becoming America’s Semiconductor Superhighway. From our Tech Hub in Western NY and Rochester to Micron’s massive $100+ billion planned investment near Syracuse and Wolfspeed’s investment in the Mohawk Valley, to now the National Semiconductor Technology Center here in Albany.”

    The NSTC, first authorized by Schumer in 2020 and then funded by the CHIPS & Science Law, which Schumer crafted and led to passage, will bridge the gap between research and industry to bolster semiconductor research and development for the U.S. and its allies. Today, practically none of the most advanced chips – which are critical to national security and growing industries like artificial intelligence – are manufactured in the United States. The research conducted through the NSTC will help ensure the U.S. remains on the cutting-edge globally in chip R&D and bring this manufacturing back to the United States, boosting local economies by creating good-paying jobs and strengthening the country’s national security.

    The EUV Center at Albany NanoTech is the first of three planned major NSTC facilities. The U.S. Department of Commerce has not yet made announcements about the NSTC’s Administrative and Design Facility and Prototyping and NAPMP Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility. Together, these three major hubs will lead the NSTC’s core functions and help fulfill the CHIPS & Science Law’s vision of developing more American-made technology and boosting America as a global semiconductor leader. The new NSTC EUV Center at Albany NanoTech will also open the doors to millions of dollars in additional awards and research opportunities with the federal government, as well as help bring in additional industry partners to leverage the state-of-the-art facilities to develop and manufacture advanced chips.

    Schumer said, “In the past two years, the federal government has made unprecedented investments in Upstate NY because of my CHIPS & Science Law. They listened when I said this community is the most qualified in the nation to bring this industry back from overseas, the most ready to build America’s future, and the NSTC is the crown jewel that will complete this vision as the centerpiece of research in the most cutting-edge chip development.”

    “From day one of my administration, I pledged that New York State would lead the charge to bring back advanced manufacturing and R&D to the U.S., creating good jobs and opportunity in the process,” Governor Hochul said. “Thanks to the winning combination of federal CHIPS funding and New York’s determination and ingenuity, the Albany NanoTech Complex will be home to the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator, an NSTC Facility, and fuel America’s advanced manufacturing renaissance. I thank the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Commerce, Natcast, and our federal delegation for their partnership as we continue to work together to advance U.S. semiconductor leadership, safeguard our national security and create a brighter future for all.”

    “Building up America’s domestic semiconductor industry is critical to create good-paying jobs, protect our supply chains, and strengthen our national security, and I’m proud to see New York leading this effort,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Upstate New York is already a hub for cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, research, and development, and the designation of NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex as the location of the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator will help us maintain our status as a global leader in such a vital industry. I fought hard to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, and I’m proud to see this historic legislation bring scientific innovation and economic development to the Capital Region.”

    “Today is a monumental moment for our region, for job creation, for cutting-edge research, and for our 21st century precision economy,” Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) said. “In the years since Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, I have been relentlessly advocating alongside the many stakeholders who call NY CREATES home to leverage the shovel-ready infrastructure and advanced R&D capabilities right here at the Albany NanoTech Complex. Our region has long been poised to take the reins to steer America’s semiconductor revitalization and, thanks to the pioneering work and sound investment of New York leadership, local chip manufacturers, researchers, educational institutions, and other stakeholders, that reality is upon us. I’m thrilled to celebrate this groundbreaking announcement and remain as determined as ever to secure strong federal action that delivers for American workers, consumers, and communities.”

    NY CREATES’ President Dave Anderson said, “With a legacy spanning more than 20 years of technological achievements, NY CREATES and our industry partners have been central to establishing and growing New York’s — and the nation’s — semiconductor R&D ecosystem. This is an historic moment for New York and the semiconductor industry, and we look forward to working closely with Natcast to leverage our resources, capabilities, and know-how to bring this innovative vision to fruition. We are thrilled that the NSTC at NY CREATES will become an even greater beacon of opportunity and collaboration for our partners as we transform today’s ideas into tomorrow’s technologies. Together, we can shape the future and in doing so, bolster America’s economic and national security while cementing our position as a global leader. We are grateful to Governor Hochul, whose unwavering commitment to the industry has positioned NY CREATES to host the NSTC EUV Center, and to Majority Leader Schumer, who not only helped author and lead to passage the CHIPS & Science Act but also made the case for Albany NanoTech’s leadership of the NSTC, all of which makes today’s investment possible.”

    “Nearly 20 years ago, ASML shipped one of the world’s first EUV lithography demo tools to Albany, NY. The important role that New York has played in the industrialization of this critical technology is reflected in today’s announcement that the NSTC EUV Accelerator will be based at the Albany NanoTech Complex. The first chips made using High NA, ASML’s most advanced EUV tool, will power the technology of the future: robotics, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and beyond. As we work with partners across the industry to push technology to new limits, we applaud Senator Schumer and Governor Hochul’s clear commitment to semiconductor innovation in the U.S.,” said Christophe Fouquet, President and CEO of ASML.

    “GF applauds the decision to base the NSTC EUV Accelerator in Albany, NY. Building on years of R&D, semiconductor leadership and ecosystem partnerships, this center will stimulate innovation and work to develop the talent our industry needs to continue to grow and succeed. Congratulations to NYCREATES and thank you to Senator Schumer and Governor Hochul for their enduring leadership and commitment to strengthening both the U.S. and NY semiconductor industry,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries.

    “We are thrilled that New York State has been selected as the home of our nation’s first NSTC EUV Center. For over 20 years, IBM and our public-private partners at NY CREATES’s Albany NanoTech Complex have produced many of the technical breakthroughs that have propelled the semiconductor industry forward. Thanks to Sec. Raimondo, Gov. Hochul, Sen. Schumer, and many others, the new Center in Albany will support the United States’ mission to lead global chip innovation,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM.

    “The compelling factors for Micron in choosing New York as home to our megafab are the rich ecosystem in support of research and development, synergistic university partnerships, an exceptional talent pipeline, and strong public support, which fosters an environment to grow semiconductor R&D in the U.S.  Micron is pleased to see that the U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded the NY CREATES Albany NanoTech Center the designation of being named the NSTC’s EUV Accelerator. Thanks to the leadership of Majority Leader Schumer and Governor Hochul, we will be able to scale our memory technology leadership and advance next-generation semiconductor R&D,” said Scott DeBoer, Micron’s Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Products Officer.

    “The announcement of the National Semiconductor Technology Center here in New York State is a monumental step forward, not only for Wolfspeed but for the entire U.S. semiconductor industry. This Center will become a cornerstone of innovation, helping drive the research, development, and workforce training critical to meeting the world’s surging demand for advanced semiconductor technology. Thanks to Senator Schumer’s visionary leadership, New York State is now positioned at the forefront of this vital industry, advancing our nation’s technological independence and reinforcing its global leadership,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed.

    THIS HAS BEEN A YEARS-LONG EFFORT BY SCHUMER TO LAND THE NSTC IN THE CAPITAL REGION

    Schumer has worked for years to highlight Albany NanoTech and the Capital Region’s ability to lead the country’s semiconductor research and development efforts. In December 2020, after Schumer worked with key stakeholders across the semiconductor industry, including key partners at Albany NanoTech like IBM to develop the federal CHIPS programs, including the NSTC, he successfully authorized these programs in law as part of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

    In addition to directly highlighting Albany NanoTech to President Biden, Schumer has brought top government officials to the Capital Region to promote Albany NanoTech as a major hub for the NSTC. In July 2021 prior to the passage of the CHIPS & Science Law, Schumer brought Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to Albany to show that Albany is a global leader in semiconductor research and development. Schumer brought Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves to tour Albany NanoTech’s facility in January 2022 and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard toured the facility in February 2024 after Schumer’s invitation. In 2023, Schumer additionally brought Albany Nanotech head David Anderson as his personal guest to President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union to highlight the facility and leadership.

    Schumer has also promoted Albany NanoTech while meeting with both semiconductor industry and international leaders. Schumer highlighted Albany NanoTech when pitching Micron to locate their massive $100+ billion megafab project in Upstate NY, which Micron said was a critical factor in their selection of Central NY. Schumer also secured a commitment for South Korea to partner with Albany Nanotech on research, pushed for increased collaboration on semiconductor R&D between Japan and the United States, pitched Albany NanoTech to major Japanese chip suppliers for further investment, and met with the leadership of Belgium’s imec on multiple occasions to discuss ways Albany NanoTech and imec can collaborate as the two global leading semiconductor public-private research institutions. Schumer said these international partnerships underscore the ability of Albany NanoTech’s unique and world-renowned assets to help forge deeper ties with allies and partners in building more resilient chip supply chains and encouraging R&D collaboration, a key national security priority of the CHIPS programs, including the NSTC.

    Late last year, Schumer and Governor Hochul announced a new $10 billion public-private investment at Albany Nanotech which will help install a High NA EUV lithography machine, the most advanced semiconductor equipment ever made, designed, and manufactured by ASML, at its Albany NanoTech Complex. Schumer said this helps uniquely prepare them to quickly lead the NSTC as one of only two public research institutions in the world home to the new advanced EUV tool. In September 2023, Schumer announced NY CREATES, which leads Albany NanoTech, as one of the first to tap CHIPS funding with a $40 million award through the CHIPS DoD Microelectronics Commons Program to establish a new consortium, known as the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub. In September 2024, the consortium received an additional $30 million. Schumer also recently helped secure $4.7 million from the National Science Foundation for NY CREATES to provide workforce training associated with Albany NanoTech. These funds, made possible by a program boosted in the CHIPS & Science Law, will support the establishment of the Education Alliance for Semiconductor Experiential Learning (EASEL) program to help address the growing national demand for a skilled workforce in the semiconductor industry.

    ACROSS NEW YORK THE CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW HAS DELIVERED HISTORIC INVESTMENT & IS CREATING THOUSANDS OF GOOD-PAYING JOBS

    Thanks to Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law, Upstate New York has seen a major revival in tech manufacturing. Micron has announced plans for a historic $100+ billion investment to build a cutting-edge memory megafab in Central New York with the support of an over $6 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. GlobalFoundries plans to invest over $12 billion to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory in the Capital Region, with support from a $1.5 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. Wolfspeed has opened a 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility in the Mohawk Valley, one of the largest in the world, with a $750 million preliminary CHIPS agreement accelerating their ongoing expansion in the Mohawk Valley and boosting good-paying jobs expected to be created at the Marcy facility. TTM Technologies, a printed circuit board manufacturer, plans to invest up to $130 million to expand its facilities in Onondaga County, supported by federal investment to strengthen domestic supply chains, creating up to 400 good-paying jobs. Menlo Micro will invest $150 million to build their microchip switch manufacturing facility in Tompkins County, creating over 100 new good-paying jobs. In addition, Upstate New York is home to semiconductor supply chain companies like Corning Incorporated, which manufactures glass critical to the microchip industry at its Canton and Fairport, NY plants, and following Schumer’s advocacy, Edwards Vacuum has announced a $300+ million investment to build a dry pump manufacturing facility, made possible by a $18 million preliminary CHIPS agreement, creating 600 good-paying jobs to support the growing chip industry in Western New York. Earlier this year, Schumer also secured a major $40 million in federal funding for the federally-designated “NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub”, one of only 12 awardees nationally, to further position Upstate NY as a semiconductor center for the world.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Charges Mescalero Man with Assault

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Mescalero man has been charged by criminal complaint with assault resulting in serious bodily injury after allegedly attacking a friend with a beer bottle, leaving the victim with severe facial injuries.

    According to the criminal complaint, on January 5, 2024, Lewis Michael Bigmouth, 27, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, allegedly assaulted another enrolled tribal member on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, striking the victim multiple times in the face with a beer bottle. The victim suffered severe injuries, including a partial amputation of his nose requiring multiple reconstructive surgeries.

    Bigmouth appeared before a federal judge and will remain in custody pending trial, which is has not been set.

    If convicted, Bigmouth faces up to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez, Jason T. Stevens, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso and Brendan Iber, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, made the announcement today.

    The Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Joni Autrey Stahl and Kirk Williams are prosecuting the case.

    A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Here and abroad, health-care workers bear witness to the world’s worst atrocities

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Suzanne Shoush, Indigenous Health Faculty Lead, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

    As a physician, I remember the first time I saw a child dying.

    She was in the pediatric intensive care unit, flown in from a remote First Nations community with her family on the way. Intubated and sedated to cope with the blisters covering her little body, she’d had three of her four limbs amputated — the result of a horrific meningococcal infection.

    I remember standing rooted to the ground, unable to walk away from her bedside, wanting more than anything to undo her suffering. This was long before I became involved in academic medicine as Indigenous Health Faculty lead for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, yet it profoundly shaped my understanding of suffering and the fragility of life.

    I was a medical student without a magic cure, but I needed to stay close to her simply so she wouldn’t be alone. I remember everything about those moments, from the rhythm of her breath to the stillness of her body.

    Around the world, health-care workers are trained to be observers and meticulously examine those before us, monitoring life and death with intense attention. We witness with a required objectivity, documenting and responding with specificity. We encounter incredibly difficult moments, but the ones involving children are particularly engraved in our minds.

    The horrific situation in Gaza

    I have been considering what health-care workers are experiencing in Gaza, “the world’s most dangerous place to be a child,” according to UNICEF.

    Every single day, they bear witness to a reality that the New York Times has deemed “too horrific for publication” as it declines to print images of dozens of children with gunshot wounds to the head, neck and chest.

    These images came from health-care providers, documenting the time they spent in Gaza to provide desperately needed medical care in a place where nearly half the population is children.

    They’re fighting daily to stem the tsunami of death that has often been referred to as the world’s first live-streamed genocide. With unimaginable determination and exhaustion, they are treating tens of thousands of children, some who have been mortally wounded and maimed due to indiscriminate bombing and sniping. These young people have been starved and terrorized by what the United Nations has called a war on children.

    This crisis also constitutes a war on health care as hospitals in Gaza have been attacked, besieged, burned or decimated. Hundreds of Palestinian health-care workers in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank have been killed and countless more have been injured or abducted. Human Rights Watch says some have been subjected to torture.

    Burning alive

    A UN inquiry recently accused Israel of systematically destroying Gaza’s health-care system, amounting to a “crime of extermination.”

    A distressing video captured the agonizing moment as a patient, still tethered to his IV, was seen burning alive in his hospital bed, sparking global outrage.

    Hours after it went viral, Israel banned several Canadian and American medical aid organizations from entering Gaza to provide critical emergency support — crippling the ability of health-care workers to not only support their Palestinian colleagues in providing life-saving care, but also to document what is happening in Gaza.

    Because foreign journalists are barred from entering Gaza and Palestinian journalists have been targeted and killed at an unprecedented rate, much of what the public knows about Gaza is coming from health-care teams.

    Over the past year, health-care professionals have had to learn new terminology to describe what is happening in Palestine: scholasticide, sophicide, domicide and ecocide.

    Parallels in Turtle Island

    The plight in Gaza resonates with the historical experiences of the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. As an intergenerational survivor of the Indian Residential School System, I am acutely aware of the power dynamics inherent in silence and the systemic erasure that often accompanies genocide.

    Canada recently observed the fourth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a time when the nation grapples with the ongoing impact of atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples.

    My work focuses on examining and understanding health practices and structures to better understand how to create anti-racist and anti-oppressive spaces for colleagues, learners and patients within our health-care systems, including how to engage Indigenous communities to propose and shape strategies.

    Polish jurist Raphael Lemkin coined the term “genocide,” identifying the techniques employed during genocide in eight areas: political, social, cultural, economic, biological, physical, religious and moral. Such systemic and immense violence is foundational to settler colonialism, and children bear the harshest brunt of the requisite dehumanization.

    Many of the atrocities against Indigenous people in Canada were carried out against Indigenous children, legitimized and legalized under the Indian Act — the blueprint for racial oppression within a democracy — and further enabled and enforced through secrecy, segregation and silence.

    Notable among the historical witnesses to these atrocities was Dr. Peter Bryce, a physician who documented the shocking mortality rates and abuses experienced by Indigenous children within the residential school system.

    A CBC report on Peter Bryce, a whistleblower on residential schools. (CBC News)

    As chief medical officer for the Department of Interior and Indian Affairs, Bryce went public with his findings.

    He was subsequently ostracized from the government and medical community and forced to retire. Defiantly, he went on to publish his findings in a report titled “The Story of A National Crime” in 1922.

    One hundred years later, his report remains a critical document for understanding the acts of genocide inflicted upon Indigenous Peoples.



    Read more:
    Residential school system recognized as genocide in Canada’s House of Commons: A harbinger of change

    Listening to health-care workers

    Bryce’s outspokenness shows that the voices of health-care workers are vital because we possess unique insights into the humanitarian crisis that unfolds in regions of conflict.

    They have a direct impact in areas of conflict due to their ability to provide care — and bear witness. What health-care workers are experiencing in Gaza is becoming incompatible with human life.

    Meaningful change will only emerge through an end to military aid, arms transfers and diplomatic cover for Israel, especially given it faces serious allegations from two international courts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    An immediate ceasefire and the lifting of the illegal blockade of Gaza are essential to enable health-care teams to provide critical life-saving care and to bear witness to the ongoing suffering.

    For me, personally, I carry the legacy of my ancestors as they watch down on me. Their survival of the horrors of the residential school system compel me — as a health-care professional — to break the silence around those suffering in Gaza.

    Suzanne Shoush 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. Here and abroad, health-care workers bear witness to the world’s worst atrocities – https://theconversation.com/here-and-abroad-health-care-workers-bear-witness-to-the-worlds-worst-atrocities-242076

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: International Petroleum Corporation Announces Results of Normal Course Issuer Bid and Updated Share Capital

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    International Petroleum Corporation (IPC or the Corporation) (TSX, Nasdaq Stockholm: IPCO) is pleased to announce that IPC repurchased a total of 66,800 IPC common shares (ISIN: CA46016U1084) during the period of October 28 to 31, 2024 under IPC’s normal course issuer bid / share repurchase program (NCIB).

    IPC’s NCIB, announced on December 1, 2023, is being implemented in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/1052 (Safe Harbour Regulation) and the applicable rules and policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Nasdaq Stockholm and applicable Canadian and Swedish securities laws.

    During the period of October 28 to 31, 2024, IPC repurchased a total of 52,500 IPC common shares on Nasdaq Stockholm. All of these share repurchases were carried out by Pareto Securities AB on behalf of IPC.

    For more information regarding transactions under the NCIB in Sweden, including aggregated volume, weighted average price per share and total transaction value for each trading day during the period of October 28 to 31, 2024, see the following link to Nasdaq Stockholm’s website:

    www.nasdaqomx.com/transactions/markets/nordic/corporate-actions/stockholm/repurchases-of-own-shares

    A detailed breakdown of the transactions conducted on Nasdaq Stockholm during the period of October 28 to 31, 2024 according to article 5.3 of MAR and article 2.3 of the Safe Harbour Regulation is available with this press release on IPC’s website: www.international-petroleum.com/news-and-media/press-releases.

    During the same period, IPC purchased a total of 14,300 IPC common shares on the TSX. All of these share repurchases were carried out by ATB Capital Markets Inc. on behalf of IPC.

    All common shares repurchased by IPC under the NCIB will be cancelled. During October 2024, IPC cancelled 506,400 common shares repurchased under the NCIB. As at October 31, 2024, the total number of issued and outstanding IPC common shares is 120,244,638 with voting rights and IPC holds 44,400 common shares in treasury.

    Since December 5, 2023 up to and including October 31, 2024, a total of 8,024,582 IPC common shares have been repurchased under the NCIB through the facilities of the TSX and Nasdaq Stockholm. A maximum of 8,342,119 IPC common shares may be repurchased over the period of twelve months commencing December 5, 2023 and ending December 4, 2024, or until such earlier date as the NCIB is completed or terminated by IPC.

    International Petroleum Corp. (IPC) is an international oil and gas exploration and production company with a high quality portfolio of assets located in Canada, Malaysia and France, providing a solid foundation for organic and inorganic growth. IPC is a member of the Lundin Group of Companies. IPC is incorporated in Canada and IPC’s shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange under the symbol “IPCO”.

    For further information, please contact:

    Rebecca Gordon
    SVP Corporate Planning and Investor Relations
    rebecca.gordon@international-petroleum.com
    Tel: +41 22 595 10 50    		   Robert Eriksson
    Media Manager
    reriksson@rive6.ch
    Tel: +46 701 11 26 15

    This information is information that International Petroleum Corporation is required to make public pursuant to the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information
    was submitted for publication, through the contact persons set out above, at 17:30 CET on October 31, 2024.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains statements and information which constitute “forward-looking statements” or “forward-looking information” (within the meaning of applicable securities legislation). Such statements and information (together, “forward-looking statements”) relate to future events, including the Corporation’s future performance, business prospects or opportunities. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, unless otherwise indicated. IPC does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

    All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, forecasts, guidance, budgets, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “forecast”, “predict”, “potential”, “targeting”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe”, “budget” and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the ability and willingness of IPC to continue the NCIB, including the number of common shares to be acquired and cancelled and the timing of such purchases and cancellations; and the return of value to IPC’s shareholders as a result of any common share repurchases.

    The forward-looking statements are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by IPC, including expectations and assumptions concerning: prevailing commodity prices and currency exchange rates; applicable royalty rates and tax laws; interest rates; future well production rates and reserve and contingent resource volumes; operating costs; our ability to maintain our existing credit ratings; our ability to achieve our performance targets; the timing of receipt of regulatory approvals; the performance of existing wells; the success obtained in drilling new wells; anticipated timing and results of capital expenditures; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; the timing, location and extent of future drilling operations; the successful completion of acquisitions and dispositions and that we will be able to implement our standards, controls, procedures and policies in respect of any acquisitions and realize the expected synergies on the anticipated timeline or at all; the benefits of acquisitions; the state of the economy and the exploration and production business in the jurisdictions in which IPC operates and globally; the availability and cost of financing, labour and services; our intention to complete share repurchases under our normal course issuer bid program, including the funding of such share repurchases, existing and future market conditions, including with respect to the price of our common shares, and compliance with respect to applicable limitations under securities laws and regulations and stock exchange policies; and the ability to market crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids successfully.

    Although IPC believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because IPC can give no assurances that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to: general global economic, market and business conditions; the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general such as operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to reserves, resources, production, revenues, costs and expenses; health, safety and environmental risks; commodity price fluctuations; interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations; marketing and transportation; loss of markets; environmental and climate-related risks; competition; innovation and cybersecurity risks related to our systems, including our costs of addressing or mitigating such risks; the ability to attract, engage and retain skilled employees; incorrect assessment of the value of acquisitions; failure to complete or realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or dispositions; the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; failure to obtain required regulatory and other approvals; geopolitical conflicts, including the war between Ukraine and Russia and the conflict in the Middle East, and their potential impact on, among other things, global market conditions; and changes in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws, royalties and environmental regulations. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

    Additional information on these and other factors that could affect IPC, or its operations or financial results, are included in IPC’s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2023 (See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information”, “Risks Factors” and “Reserves and Resources Advisory” therein), in the management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 (See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information”, “Risks Factors” and “Reserves and Resources Advisory” therein) and other reports on file with applicable securities regulatory authorities, including previous financial reports, management’s discussion and analysis and material change reports, which may be accessed through the SEDAR+ website (www.sedarplus.ca) or IPC’s website (www.international-petroleum.com).

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: DHS Places Additional PRC-Based Textile Companies on the UFLPA Entity List

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    UFLPA Entity List Will Now Restrict Goods from 78 PRC-Based Companies from Entering the United States

    WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of textile companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The additions reinforce DHS’s commitment to eradicate forced labor and ensure accountability for the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

    Effective November 1, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by Esquel Group, Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., and Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. will be prohibited from entering the United States. The addition of these textile entities builds on DHS’s Textile Enforcement Plan and demonstrates the FLETF’s commitment to focus on entities in high priority sectors for enforcement under the UFLPA Strategy, including the apparel and cotton and cotton products sectors. In addition to this announcement, Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. will alsobe removed from one section of the UFLPA Entity Lists and added to another. Goods produced by Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (also known as Changji Yida Textile Co., Ltd.) will continue to be subject to a rebuttable presumption that they are prohibited from entering the United States.

    “Through today’s expansion of the Entity List, we enable American businesses to better assess their supply chains and ensure they do not profit, directly or indirectly, from the use of forced labor,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Our Department will continue to aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and, in doing so, we stand up for human rights, safeguard a free and fair marketplace, and hold perpetrators accountable.”

    The FLETF – chaired by DHS and whose member agencies also include the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, Labor, State, and the Treasury – has now added 78 entities to the UFLPA Entity List since the UFLPA was signed into law in December 2021. The UFLPA Entity List includes companies that are active in the apparel, agriculture, polysilicon, plastics, chemicals, batteries, household appliances, electronics, seafood and textile sectors, among others. Identifying these additional entities provides U.S. importers with more information to conduct due diligence and examine their supply chains for risks of forced labor to ensure compliance with the UFLPA.

    “We are uncompromising in removing forced labor from U.S. supply chains,” said Under Secretary for Policy Robert Silvers, who serves as chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force. “Our enforcement efforts are yielding results. Our Administration is committed to advancing this momentum and strengthening accountability across global supply chains.”

    The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that the below entities meet the criteria for inclusion in the UFLPA Entity List under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v) of the UFLPA, which identifies facilities and entities that source material from the XUAR or from persons working with the government of XUAR or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for the purposes of the “poverty alleviation” program or the “pairing assistance” program or any other government labor scheme that uses forced labor.

    Esquel Group (also known as Esquel China Holdings Limited) is a Hong Kong-based vertically integrated textile and apparel company that engages in cotton research, as well as ginning, spinning, knitting, weaving of cotton and cotton products, in the production of textiles, apparel and accessories, including packaging and merchandising of these products. Esquel Group includes a variety of subsidiaries also involved in cotton, textile, clothing, and other products manufacturing, production, and sales, including Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., and Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Esquel Group sources cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Esquel Group satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).

    Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. is a company based in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, that is engaged in the manufacture and processing of textiles and apparel. TheFLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. sources cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).

    Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. is a company based in Turpan City, in the XUAR that is engaged in the production and sales of cotton and cotton yarn. The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. is sourcing cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).

    Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (also known as Changji Yida Textile Co., Ltd.) is a company based in Changji Prefecture, XUAR that is engaged in production and sales of cotton yarn. The company had been included as one of the original twenty entities named to the UFLPA Entity List in June 2022 as an entity that qualified for inclusion under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) of the UFLPA. The FLETF has removed Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. from Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) of the UFLPA Entity List as the FLETF has determined there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that Changji Esquel Textile Co. meets the criteria described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) of the UFLPA.The FLETF, however, has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. sources cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).

    The bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., in December 2021, mandates that CBP apply a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the XUAR or produced by entities identified on the UFLPA Entity List are prohibited from importation into the United States unless the Commissioner of CBP determines, by clear and convincing evidence, that the goods were not produced with forced labor. CBP began enforcing the UFLPA in June 2022. Since then, CBP has reviewed over 9,700 shipments valued at more than $3.5 billion under the UFLPA. Additionally, Homeland Security Investigations, through the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, conducts criminal investigations into those engaging in or otherwise knowingly benefitting from forced labor, and collaborates with international partners to seek justice for victims.

    Today’s announcement supports President Biden’s Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally. The memorandum represents the first whole-of-government approach to advance workers’ rights by directing federal agencies engaged abroad to advance international recognized labor rights, which includes DHS’s work implementing the UFLPA.

    You can read more about the FLETF by visiting: https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa  

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: DHS Places Additional PRC-Based Textile Companies on the UFLPA Entity List

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: DHS Places Additional PRC-Based Textile Companies on the UFLPA Entity List

    em>UFLPA Entity List Will Now Restrict Goods from 78 PRC-Based Companies from Entering the United StatesWASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of textile companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The additions reinforce DHS’s commitment to eradicate forced labor and ensure accountability for the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).Effective November 1, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by Esquel Group, Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., and Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. will be prohibited from entering the United States. The addition of these textile entities builds on DHS’s Textile Enforcement Plan and demonstrates the FLETF’s commitment to focus on entities in high priority sectors for enforcement under the UFLPA Strategy, including the apparel and cotton and cotton products sectors. In addition to this announcement, Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. will alsobe removed from one section of the UFLPA Entity Lists and added to another. Goods produced by Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (also known as Changji Yida Textile Co., Ltd.) will continue to be subject to a rebuttable presumption that they are prohibited from entering the United States.“Through today’s expansion of the Entity List, we enable American businesses to better assess their supply chains and ensure they do not profit, directly or indirectly, from the use of forced labor,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Our Department will continue to aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and, in doing so, we stand up for human rights, safeguard a free and fair marketplace, and hold perpetrators accountable.”The FLETF – chaired by DHS and whose member agencies also include the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, Labor, State, and the Treasury – has now added 78 entities to the UFLPA Entity List since the UFLPA was signed into law in December 2021. The UFLPA Entity List includes companies that are active in the apparel, agriculture, polysilicon, plastics, chemicals, batteries, household appliances, electronics, seafood and textile sectors, among others. Identifying these additional entities provides U.S. importers with more information to conduct due diligence and examine their supply chains for risks of forced labor to ensure compliance with the UFLPA.“We are uncompromising in removing forced labor from U.S. supply chains,” said Under Secretary for Policy Robert Silvers, who serves as chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force. “Our enforcement efforts are yielding results. Our Administration is committed to advancing this momentum and strengthening accountability across global supply chains.”The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that the below entities meet the criteria for inclusion in the UFLPA Entity List under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v) of the UFLPA, which identifies facilities and entities that source material from the XUAR or from persons working with the government of XUAR or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for the purposes of the “poverty alleviation” program or the “pairing assistance” program or any other government labor scheme that uses forced labor.Esquel Group (also known as Esquel China Holdings Limited) is a Hong Kong-based vertically integrated textile and apparel company that engages in cotton research, as well as ginning, spinning, knitting, weaving of cotton and cotton products, in the production of textiles, apparel and accessories, including packaging and merchandising of these products. Esquel Group includes a variety of subsidiaries also involved in cotton, textile, clothing, and other products manufacturing, production, and sales, including Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., and Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Esquel Group sources cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Esquel Group satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. is a company based in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, that is engaged in the manufacture and processing of textiles and apparel. TheFLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. sources cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. is a company based in Turpan City, in the XUAR that is engaged in the production and sales of cotton and cotton yarn. The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. is sourcing cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (also known as Changji Yida Textile Co., Ltd.) is a company based in Changji Prefecture, XUAR that is engaged in production and sales of cotton yarn. The company had been included as one of the original twenty entities named to the UFLPA Entity List in June 2022 as an entity that qualified for inclusion under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) of the UFLPA. The FLETF has removed Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. from Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) of the UFLPA Entity List as the FLETF has determined there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that Changji Esquel Textile Co. meets the criteria described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) of the UFLPA.The FLETF, however, has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, including publicly available information, that Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. sources cotton from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v).The bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., in December 2021, mandates that CBP apply a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the XUAR or produced by entities identified on the UFLPA Entity List are prohibited from importation into the United States unless the Commissioner of CBP determines, by clear and convincing evidence, that the goods were not produced with forced labor. CBP began enforcing the UFLPA in June 2022. Since then, CBP has reviewed over 9,700 shipments valued at more than $3.5 billion under the UFLPA. Additionally, Homeland Security Investigations, through the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, conducts criminal investigations into those engaging in or otherwise knowingly benefitting from forced labor, and collaborates with international partners to seek justice for victims.Today’s announcement supports President Biden’s Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally. The memorandum represents the first whole-of-government approach to advance workers’ rights by directing federal agencies engaged abroad to advance international recognized labor rights, which includes DHS’s work implementing the UFLPA.You can read more about the FLETF by visiting: https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa  
     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Advancing prosperity in the age of AI

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Advancing prosperity in the age of AI

    As we approach another national election in the United States, both the country and the world are rightly focused on what comes next. The next president of the United States, along with new leaders in countries like the United Kingdom and Japan, will need to navigate economic and climate challenges, societal divides, and international conflicts. Looking more broadly, the next four years—and indeed the next quarter-century—will be marked by rapid technological change. This means that success for nations and the world will depend on our collective ability to manage this change well. 

    Today, we are at the threshold of major advances in life sciences, energy, and climate technology. However, the most significant opportunities in the second quarter of the 21st century will almost certainly be driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI). This underscores the imperative for countries to develop national strategies and policies that effectively harness AI’s potential. For these strategies to succeed, it’s essential that we recognize AI’s role as a general-purpose technology and promote investments that support its broad adoption across the economy, including skilling initiatives that will position citizens to thrive in the new age of AI. 

    The World’s Next Great General-Purpose Technology 

    Economists categorize technologies into two types: single-purpose tools and general-purpose technologies, or GPTs. A single-purpose tool, like a smoke detector or lawn mower, excels at one specific task. But general-purpose technologies, like electricity or personal computers, have multiple applications and can be utilized across every economic sector. As we look ahead, it’s almost certain that AI will be regarded by economists as the next great GPT. 

    GPTs are transformative. They have the power to reshape economies and societies. A new book by Jeffrey Ding, a professor at George Washington University, documents the extraordinary degree to which GPTs have reshaped economies and even the economic balance among nations.  

    In “Technology and the Rise of Great Powers”, Professor Ding reviews the impact of GPTs over the past 250 years. He documents how the First Industrial Revolution, beginning in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, was defined by mechanization of agriculture and manufacturing based on ironworking, the most impactful GPT of the time. The Second Industrial Revolution, in the late 19th century, catapulted economic growth in the United States through the widespread adoption of two new GPTs: electricity and machine tools. The Third Industrial Revolution, which began in the 20th century, was driven by a new generation of GPTs—computerization and digital technologies—with the United States again leading the world in technology adoption. 

    Perhaps most importantly, Professor Ding documents a phenomenon that may surprise some policymakers but is familiar to many in the tech sector. He explains that the most important long-term determinant of a country’s economic growth during an industrial revolution is not whether it is at the forefront of innovation in a “leading sector” of the time. Instead, it’s whether the country “diffuses”—or spreads—the adoption of a critical GPT broadly across its economy.   

    This conclusion is intuitive, given that historically critical GPTs significantly boost productivity. The more widely a GPT is adopted, the greater its contribution to the productivity gains that drive economic growth. While it’s possible for a nation to have an advantage in both leading sector innovation and broad GPT adoption, Microsoft’s first-hand experience suggests that the sustained economic growth of nations in the first quarter of the 21st century is most closely linked to the widespread and consistent adoption of digital technologies. 

    This insight has profound implications for the impact of AI over the next 25 years. Today, policymakers in some capitals—and especially Washington, D.C.—are focused almost single-mindedly on whether their country can control and dominate cutting-edge innovation in new leading sector technologies such as graphical processing units and frontier AI models. While these are important policy issues, it’s equally, if not more, important to address what it will take to ensure the widespread and effective adoption of AI across all the societal sectors that can benefit from it. 

    Another important insight from the impact of GPTs over time is the contrast between early innovation and the delay in widespread technology adoption. The early stages of innovation often feel like an intense and even short-lived race to the technology visionaries involved, whether they are the inventors of electricity, automobiles, computers, or AI. However, broad technology adoption takes more time. Even innovations that advanced the cutting edge of technology in years required broad societal adoption that took decades. There are many reasons to believe that this pattern will hold true for AI. 

    That’s why it’s crucial to look forward now, both at the remainder of this decade and at the upcoming second quarter of the century. Countries will need to combine short and long-term strategies to be successful. These strategies will require multiple components, two of which I discuss here. 

    Building AI Skills 

    One of the vital lessons from history is the role of skilling in spreading the adoption of a critical GPT. Organizations across an economy cannot adopt new technology unless they have the skilled workers needed to use it. 

    I witnessed this firsthand during the early expansion of the PC sector. Before joining Microsoft in 1993, I spent four years in London as a lawyer helping the American PC software sector expand across Europe. In each country, this initial growth required two key components: the protection of software under copyright law to ensure organizations paid for it and investment in skilling programs to equip people with the skills to use it. 

    It’s easy to forget today that the early years of personal computing required users to study manuals or attend a class to learn how to use a computer or a new software application. When I bought my first computer in 1985, I kept a small library of manuals next to my PC, including Microsoft Word 1.0. Employers worldwide invested in PC training for their employees, but no country embraced this more broadly and rapidly than the United States between 1980 and the year 2000. 

    I recalled this experience when two weeks ago we brought more than 2,000 Microsoft employees from around the world to Seattle for a week of meetings that kicked off with a day of professional development classes. These included six different courses for non-technical employees on how to get the most from our Copilots and other AI applications. These classes were designed to help us bridge the gap between our current abilities and the evolving needs of the AI-driven workplace. While we live in a world with broad digital fluency and a vital computer science profession, the age of AI will require new efforts to learn the latest AI skills.  

    Professor Ding’s book illustrates that the need for new skills has been critical to the spread of all major GPTs since the 1700s. This extends well beyond the needs of everyday users, highlighting that an advanced skilling infrastructure is indispensable in expanding the professions that create applications that make broad use of new technologies. 

    For example, ironworking in the 1700s spread more rapidly in the United Kingdom than elsewhere because technical associations and apprenticeships in the country enabled workers to master new skills. Machine tooling in the late 1800s spread more quickly in the United States because land-grant colleges expanded the number of mechanical engineers. And the adoption of digital technology in the U.S. over the past 50 years has also benefited enormously from the rapid growth of computer science departments across American college campuses. 

    The second quarter of the 21st century will require countries to develop national AI skilling strategies. These strategies must build upon existing disciplines like computer and data science, projecting how these fields will evolve into jobs and careers for AI engineers and AI systems designers, among others. They also will need to reflect the broader array of AI fluency across different parts of the economy. And national strategies will need to build on existing educational infrastructure and determine the best ways to provide skilling opportunities across various economic sectors. 

    The Role of Social Acceptance 

    Another historical lesson involves the critical role of social acceptance of technology. This too reflects common sense: new technology never becomes truly important unless people want to use it.  

    Academic research in the 20th century made significant strides in understanding why some technologies spread more rapidly than others. Public or social acceptance typically comes down to two factors: usefulness and trust. Technologies must solve real-world problems and improve people’s lives. At the same time, they must be trustworthy, with safeguards in place to protect a country’s societal and ethical values. 

    When put in this light, it’s easy to understand why the early years of electricity involved such intense competition between Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla over the safety implications of different types of electrical currents. Each inventor was trying to prove that its approach was the safest and most reliable. They knew people would only use technology they trusted.  

    This provides important context for the evolution of both industry practices and government regulation of AI. The widespread adoption of AI will in part turn on the continued development of corporate governance models to ensure that AI is used safely, securely, and in a manner that the public regards as trustworthy. Companies that develop and deploy AI must continue to invest in AI governance processes and practices that earn the public’s trust.  

    While government leaders will change over time, every nation must continue to pursue balanced efforts to develop laws and regulations that govern these aspects of AI. Sustained public trust depends on it. And the ability for countries around the world to adopt AI broadly and inexpensively will require regulatory interoperability and consistency to ensure that AI advances in one country can move to other like-minded nations. 

    Broad social acceptance for AI will likely depend on three more factors. First, we need to ensure that AI creates new opportunities for workers, not just productivity growth. While this starts with broad AI skilling, it cannot stop there. Technology adoption across an organization requires thoughtful change management, and the most effective approaches typically involve input from the workers who will put it to work. There is a lot of room for new and innovative partnerships to spread best practices in this area, both among employer associations and with organized labor. 

    Second, the tech sector needs to take a responsible approach to AI competition issues. Elected and appointed officials will change, but if we look forward with the time horizon of the quarter century ahead, it’s apparent that governmental questions and proceedings will remain a fact of life—as they have since the United States adopted the Sherman Act to govern antitrust law in 1890 in reaction to the Second Industrial Revolution. Ultimately, public confidence in new technology requires confidence in the market that creates it. 

    This perspective is part of what led Microsoft to draft and adopt 11 AI Access Principles in February. These voluntary principles are designed to ensure open access, fairness, and responsibility as we deploy AI infrastructure, platforms, and applications around the world. We’re obviously not alone in thinking about these issues, and as always, governments will play the determinative role. This past year alone, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) adopted cutting-edge AI Principles, and the European Commission continues to focus on the application of its Digital Markets Act to AI. Plainly, these will represent an important part of the developments ahead. 

    Finally, social acceptance of AI will likely require a consistent focus on the impact of AI on another paramount challenge of our era: climate sustainability. We are optimistic about the ways that AI can help pursue new advances in climate technology and practices. However, we are also keenly aware that AI requires the construction of more datacenters and the use of more electricity. Both as companies and in partnership with governments, we need to conserve water and reduce carbon emissions. That’s why we’re investing as a company in greener technologies such as carbon-free sources of electricity and eco-friendly steel, concrete, and fuels. 

    The Path Forward 

    Ultimately, the world needs AI that is not only more powerful but also broadly accessible and trustworthy. Between now and the midpoint of the 21st century, countries can harness AI to enhance both productivity and prosperity.  

    We shouldn’t be pollyannish. Challenges are inevitable, as history shows. New leaders, both now and in the decades ahead, will need to navigate these challenges with thoughtfulness and agility. 

    But the opportunities ahead are far greater than the challenges. We can learn from history to ensure that AI creates benefits that are shared widely. Countries can invest in the skilling infrastructure needed for success. And across the public and private sectors, we can work together to earn and sustain public acceptance for the next great GPT that will not just shape but define a critical aspect of the quarter century ahead. 

    Tags: Accessibility, AI, AI for Accessibility, AI for Good, Governance, Responsible AI

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Japan election: voters took aim at an untrustworthy government beset by scandal

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Julie Gilson, Reader in Asian Studies, University of Birmingham

    Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) suffered a severe blow on October 27 when, alongside its smaller coalition partner, Komeito, it lost its majority in a snap general election. The ruling coalition took 215 seats, fewer than the 233 required, with the centre-left opposition Constitutional Democratic party making big gains.

    Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the election after winning his bid for party leadership in September. He had hoped to cement his position and draw a line under the tenure of his predecessor, Fumio Kishida, who had stepped down earlier that month amid a string of corruption scandals and public discontent over the rising cost of living.

    Ishiba has admitted that voters, who turned out in their third-lowest numbers in Japan’s post-war era, have dealt the LDP a “severe judgment”. But he has vowed to continue ruling the country.

    For its part, the opposition is not unified and therefore not in a position to offer a viable alternative. However, the ability of Ishiba’s government to push through the changes it needs to win back voter support will be severely restricted if the LDP fails to enter into coalition or garner key allies on particular issues.

    The LDP sits at the heart of the so-called “1955 system”, which has seen the party retain almost uninterrupted government control since the end of the second world war. But recent events have rocked Japanese politics.

    At the end of 2023, the public became aware of funding scandals involving dozens of LDP politicians. They were found to have diverted over ¥600 million (£3 million) of campaign donations into slush funds without recording the transactions as they were legally required to do.

    These scandals involved cabinet ministers and close allies of Kishida, who had already faced criticism over their links with the controversial Unification church. The church, whose members are commonly known as the Moonies, has been called a “dangerous cult” by its critics and is accused of exploiting its members financially.

    Japan’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was shot dead in July 2022 by a man who said he held the church responsible for bankrupting his family. Abe was not a member of the church, but his grandfather was a key figure in its establishment in Japan in the 1950s. Kishida ordered party members to end their ties with the church in the aftermath of Abe’s assassination.

    These scandals have taken place against the backdrop of rising prices, stagnant wages and a generally sluggish economy. Consumer price inflation accelerated to 3% in August, a ten-month high. The dreary outlook contributed to voter disillusionment.

    According to a survey by Tokyo-based news agency Kyodo News, the approval rating of Ishiba’s cabinet fell to 32.1% after the vote, from its pre-election rating of 50.7%.

    The electorate has expressed its doubt that a new government could end the distrust caused by the scandals. Rebuilding this trust will only become harder as the yen continues to fall, and Japan’s economic uncertainty, ageing population, and disaffection among young voters persist.

    Regional insecurity

    The electoral body blow could also weaken Japanese foreign policy, with China emerging as the main beneficiary. To its democratic allies, a stable Japan is crucial for securing geopolitical stability in a region that also includes a dominant China, a belligerent Russia and a nuclear-armed North Korea.

    The LDP has traditionally always had a hawkish foreign policy stance. And in recent decades it has moved towards a desire to revise Japan’s “pacifist” constitution in favour of enabling the military to take a more flexible approach to security threats.

    Kishida was lauded abroad for his foreign policy, having proposed increases in the defence budget and more cooperation with the US in the Indo-Pacific region. And Ishiba has previously advocated for an “Asian Nato” to counter China. He has even visited Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei – much to Beijing’s disapproval.

    At the same time, Komeito’s more conservative position on foreign policy has supported an approach towards building diplomatic bridges with China. But should the LDP enter into coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation party, which is a possibility given it won 38 seats in the recent election, a more assertive stance towards China may arise.

    Led by politician Nobuyuki Baba, the party supports the revision of Japan’s constitution and an increase in defence spending as a means of countering China’s regional influence.

    That said, a prolonged period of incapacitated politics within Japan presents a good opportunity for China to escalate its incursions into Japanese airspace and military manoeuvres around Taiwan. Japan’s leadership now needs to get its house in order quickly if the balance of security in the Indo-Pacific is to be maintained.

    Julie Gilson 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. Japan election: voters took aim at an untrustworthy government beset by scandal – https://theconversation.com/japan-election-voters-took-aim-at-an-untrustworthy-government-beset-by-scandal-242406

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How the state of our oceans is intrinsically linked to human health – new report

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Edward H. Allison, Director of Science and Research, WorldFish, CGIAR System Organization

    eedafizie/Shutterstock, CC BY-NC-ND

    A new study published in the journal OneEarth explores how marine biodiversity conservation, human health and wellbeing are connected. The results suggest that marine protected areas can be good for both planet and people. These areas of the ocean are legally recognised by governments as being important for marine conservation. They are protected by putting limits on human activity within and around them.

    Once a government declares a marine protected area, you usually can’t live in it, fish, build a beach resort, start a fish farm or drill for oil in it. The rules vary from place to place, but the idea is to allow nature to flourish by limiting human activity as much as possible.

    With plans to expand ocean protection under the UN-endorsed biodiversity plan’s “30×30” target (which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030), it’s important to know how this will affect people as well as nature.

    The study was conducted by the conservation charity World Wide Fund for Nature, Harvard Institute of Public Health and Duke University’s marine laboratory. The team, led by marine conservation scientist Daniel Viana, reviewed all the scientific articles written since 1973 on marine protected areas and their impacts on people.

    They found that, for 234 marine protected areas across the world that have been closely monitored, more than 60% showed improvement in both nature conservation and human wellbeing.

    Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle – the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing. Curious about how a strong coastal connection helps drive marine conservation, scientists are diving in to investigate the power of blue health.

    This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.

    The study included marine protected areas that do allow “sustainable use” through managed and selective fishing activities. These are fishing methods, such as using a hook and line or a fish trap, that don’t cause physical damage to delicate habitats like coral reefs.

    The paper suggests that in most cases, investing in marine protected areas directly benefits the health and livelihoods of people who live near them. Increased harvests of fish and other aquatic foods, such as shellfish and seaweeds, are usually the source of the benefits. Fisherfolk’s incomes increase and community access to nutrient-rich aquatic food improves.

    Sustainably caught fish is a vital source of protein for so many people around the globe.
    M_Kaempfer/Shutterstock, CC BY-NC-ND



    Read more:
    Targets to save 30% of the ocean by 2030 aren’t being met, new report reveals

    The benefits of marine protection for fishing-based livelihoods are largest in small island states that have big marine protected areas, such as Bonnaire, Palau and the Cook Islands, where more than 95% of fish catches are associated with area-based conservation measures.

    Despite ample evidence that marine protection improved access to aquatic food, the authors found surprisingly few studies that directly measured the impact to human nutrition. Only three out of the 237 studies reviewed had studied how creating marine protected areas affected the diets of people living around them. Only one study, in the Philippines, made the link between diets and health outcomes, because, when access to fish in diets improved due to marine conservation, there were fewer stunted children from surrounding communities.

    Plenty more nutrients in the sea?

    Our continents and islands are surrounded by seas, lakes, rivers and floodplains that are populated by edible plants and animals rich in vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. These micronutrients from aquatic foods are highly bioavailable (easily absorbed by the body). If sustainably harvested and made available to nutritionally vulnerable people, they could prevent malnutrition among millions of coastal people.

    The new report has quantified the micronutrient contributions to human diets from the aquatic foods that flourish when marine protected areas are set up. It combines data on the nutrient composition of all the aquatic foods harvested in and around marine protected areas, with fish catch data from the surrounding areas.

    The existing marine protected area network supports 14% of the global supply of six key micronutrients from marine fishing. This is achieved by protecting only 8% of the world’s oceans. By allowing marine life to grow abundantly inside protected areas, nearby fish populations are replenished. So, by conserving marine wildlife, protected areas help to sustain fish and shellfish stocks.

    That means bigger catches, more income from fishing or tourism, and more food. More nutrients means better health. This applies both to marine protected areas with a strict no-take zone, where any form of fishing is banned, and those that allow regulated fishing.

    As populations increase, demand for aquatic food rises. Wild harvests are being supplemented by aquaculture and mariculture – these are freshwater and marine equivalents to growing crops and livestock on land. Over half of the aquatic foods consumed directly by humans are now produced from aquaculture, much of it in inland waters rather than the sea.

    But in many countries, particularly island and coastal nations in the developing world, harvesting wild food from marine ecosystems remains crucial to nourishing the over 3 billion people who get more than 15% of their animal source proteins from aquatic foods.

    Seafood is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids.
    WhiteYura/Shutterstock, CC BY-NC-ND

    Despite their potential to address global micronutrient nutrition, aquatic foods have, until recently, been underrepresented in policies and programmes to end hunger and malnutrition. But with data on the nutritional composition of the world’s fish species now available, studies like this can advance an approach called “nutrition-sensitive fisheries and aquaculture”: Instead of fishing to maximise catch or profit, fisheries could be managed to optimise their contribution to human nutrition.

    Linking ocean conservation with human health is an exciting idea but there are gaps in the research. It’s not clear who benefits when income from tourism and fishing increases, or whether increased catches get to those that need it most. In the Maldives for example, more than 80% of reef fish are consumed by tourists, not locals.

    Trying to solve malnutrition with marine protected areas is going to be challenging. Many marine protected areas are not effectively managed. By contrast, 77% of catches from the world’s fisheries come from stocks that are managed sustainably, though they have little room for expansion to meet rising demand. Aquaculture can do that, but the sector is still moving towards sustainability.

    Many key threats to marine ecosystems and wild fisheries, such as climate change and pollution, are not effectively dealt with by local marine habitat protection alone. Despite these challenges, this study highlights that nature-human relationships can be regenerative, rather than exploitative.


    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Edward H. Allison currently receives funding from Canada’s International Development Research Center AQUADAPT programme for work on climate adaptive nature-based aquaculture in South East Asia, from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for work on Implementing ecosystem-based management in S and SE Asia arnd from the multi-donor Trust Fund to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research for work on aquatic food systems.

    – ref. How the state of our oceans is intrinsically linked to human health – new report – https://theconversation.com/how-the-state-of-our-oceans-is-intrinsically-linked-to-human-health-new-report-242245

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Did a Canadian developer really invent bitcoin? A new HBO show explores an intriguing theory

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jeremy Clark, Associate Professor, Information Systems Engineering, Concordia University

    The true identity of the founder of bitcoin has always been a mystery. (Shutterstock)

    In 2008, someone using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published the design of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, proposed the initial code and was active online for just under two years. In this time, they helped develop the code, answer questions and promote the project. Then, claiming to busy with new things, Nakamoto left working on bitcoin and was probably never heard from again.

    HBO’s 2024 documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery finds director Cullen Hoback looking for the real Nakamoto, motivated by bitcoin being “embraced by nation states” and “incorporated into 401(k)s.”



    Read more:
    Bitcoin turns ten – here’s how it all started and what the future might hold

    The real Nakamoto?

    Several attempts to unmask Nakamoto have been made before. Previous theories suggest that the elusive developer is Irish graduate student Michael Clear, Japanese-American systems engineer Dorian Nakamoto or one of several cypherpunks who worked on predecessors to bitcoin: Hal Finney, Nick Szabo or Adam Back.

    Hoback confronts the man he suspects of being Nakamoto on camera in the film’s climax: Peter Todd, a software developer from Toronto. On film, Todd alternates between joking about being Nakamoto and calling the theory ludicrous, perhaps necessitating him to make an unequivocal denial in the press after it aired.

    The trailer for HBO’s ‘Money Electric.’

    The documentary is entertaining, but does it play it fast and loose? I would draw attention to three things that deserve further thought.

    Online breadcrumb trail

    While stopping short of claiming to have conclusively identified bitcoin’s creator, Hoback suggests something Todd once said to Nakamoto online was a slip up.

    The background is this: with bitcoin, users leave tips to have their transactions processed. If the tip is too low, the computers running bitcoin will refuse to process it and the transaction will sit in bitcoin purgatory. Worse, bitcoin users who make this mistake cannot increase the fee without it looking like an attack on the system.

    In an online post, Nakamoto posts that transactions could be declared safe if they only changed the amount of the fee.

    Not long after, Todd chimes in that this is impossible with how bitcoin transactions work. The increased fee has to come from somewhere, namely a decrease in the amount paid out, which changes the transaction. Todd’s message is short: “Of course, to be specific, the inputs and outputs can’t match *exactly* if the second transaction has a transaction fee.”

    Hoback ponders if maybe Nakamoto meant to correct himself, but somehow accidentally used his real account.

    As the documentary recounts, Todd is smart, has developer experience and had been discussing digital cash online since he was a teenager. Todd would eventually be the one to implement the feature Nakamoto described, albeit with a fix to the issue he pointed out.

    The theory plays out well on film but leaves out a few considerations.

    Early bitcoin enthusiasts were a self-selecting group, and most were as technically minded as Nakamoto or Todd. This technical background is niche but not rare: more than 100,000 computer science students graduate annually in the United States, while there are over 500,000 certified security experts. And there are many equally capable people who are neither of these things.

    Given Hoback’s evidence for Todd is circumstantial, the weight shifts to Todd’s reaction on camera when Hoback outlines his theory: a mix of bemusement, mockery and indignation. The film frames the reaction as incriminating, while others caution against reading anything into it.

    Enter Ethereum

    Bitcoin is maintained by an open group of volunteered computers (whose operators are paid in new bitcoin for the work of validating transactions and storing them on a ledger called the blockchain) where no one is in charge, and yet maintains high security.

    Early bitcoin enthusiasts saw the potential for bitcoin’s blockchain technology to handle more than financial transactions, but the developers helming bitcoin (including Todd) thought it would be best if bitcoin stayed in its lane.

    Some bitcoin enthusiasts in Toronto then banded together and launched Ethereum. Led by 21-year-old Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum provides a platform where anyone can run their code on a blockchain simply by paying a fee and pushing a button. The code could be anything from a new digital currency to sophisticated financial technology.

    In Hoback’s documentary, many of the interviewees view bitcoin and its developers as competitors and antagonists of Ethereum.

    Ethereum gets only about two minutes of screentime, dominated by Buterin rapping about Ethereum on the mainstage of a conference and being ribbed for his hat’s safari flaps.

    Hoback’s documentary emphasizes Ethereum’s scam tokens but overlooks the innovative financial services that captured US$64 billion of assets in 2021, as well as its advancements in areas like efficiency and cryptography.

    Ironically, it is Ethereum technology that runs crypto-betting platform Polymarket, which hosted a US$44 million betting pool on who would be named as Nakamoto in Hoback’s film before it aired.

    “Polymarket turned Money Electric into a sporting event,” Hoback enthused. “Even I’m refreshing the betting pool to see how high the total volume gets.”

    The end of privacy?

    In his 2014 documentary, Terms and Conditions May Apply, Hoback did show he is willing to tackle social concerns that might seem a little dry or academic, such as privacy rights in a digital age.

    He picks up this thread again in Money Electric, embedding an earnest message about the potential privacy and surveillance implications of governments — including Canada, the United States and 130 other countries — launching central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), something my research also draws attention to.

    In theory, the technology underlying bitcoin can be expanded to provide a CBDC system as private as paper cash. However it will take a strong political will to get there.

    Jeremy Clark receives funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

    – ref. Did a Canadian developer really invent bitcoin? A new HBO show explores an intriguing theory – https://theconversation.com/did-a-canadian-developer-really-invent-bitcoin-a-new-hbo-show-explores-an-intriguing-theory-241750

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –