Category: Banking

MIL-OSI: Information to be delivered by Šiaulių Bankas at the Investor Conference Webinar on Rebranding
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

The webinar will be hosted by Vytautas Sinius, CEO and Raimonda Gudaitė, CMO, who will introduce the Rebranding of the Bank.

Please find enclosed the information to be delivered during the presentation.

Additional information:
Tomas Varenbergas
Head of Investment Management Division
tomas.varenbergas@sb.lt

Attachment
- Šiaulių Bankas Artea Webinar on Rebranding 2025
The MIL Network –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Announcement on Open Market Operations No.52 [2025]

Source: Peoples Bank of China

Announcement on Open Market Operations No.52 [2025]

(Open Market Operations Office, March 18, 2025)

In order to keep the liquidity adequate in the banking system, the People’s Bank of China conducted reverse repo operations in the amount of RMB273.3 billion through quantity bidding at a fixed interest rate on March 18, 2025.

Details of the Reverse Repo Operations

Maturity

Volume

Rate

7 days

RMB273.3 billion

1.50%

Date of last update Nov. 29 2018

2025年03月18日

MIL OSI China News –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Reed: Trump’s Cancellation of USDA Local Food Purchasing Programs Hurts Hungry Students & Families, Local Farmers, & the Economy
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

WASHINGTON, DC – As the Trump Administration confirms it is halting more than $1 billion in federal assistance that enables public schools and food banks to purchase nutritious produce and food from local farmers, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) says these cancellations will harm hungry students and low-income families, farmers and food producers, and local economies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs on the chopping block include the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). In a statement to The Hill, Trump’s USDA claimed that the essential programs that help provide nutritious food to hungry Americans “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency.”

This year, the programs were set to distribute $660 million for schools and child care facilities and $500 million for food banks to work with local farmers within a set geographic range to purchase local food from farmers, fishermen, and food producers. The successful programs have increased access to locally-grown, nutritious food in underserved communities and helped family farmers, fishermen, and local food producers significantly expand their markets.

Senator Reed joined with U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and 30 other colleagues in urging USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to reverse course on these cuts and provide additional information about implementation of the USDA programs set to be cancelled.

“At a time when food insecurity remains high, providing affordable, fresh food to food banks and families while supporting American farmers is critical. Notably, LFPA and LFS have benefitted producers and consumers by providing funding for purchases through all 50 states, four territories, and 84 tribal governments,” the Senators wrote. “Through LFPA and LFS, USDA has prioritized the procurement and distribution of healthy, nutritious, domestic food. It has also taken an important step towards igniting rural prosperity by expanding and strengthening markets among farmers and rural economies. As of December 2024, the programs had supported over 8,000 producers, providing increased marketing

opportunities.”

According to Farm Fresh Rhode Island, these cuts would cost Rhode Island approximately $3 million and negatively impact about 100 small businesses in the Ocean State.

Senator Reed noted that these drastic cuts come as Republican budget proposals threaten access to critical nutrition assistance programs and as the demand on local food banks across the nation continues to soar in Rhode Island and across the nation.

“Making it harder for schools and food banks to serve up fresh, nutritious, local foods to students and struggling families is a shameful way to scrounge up cash for President Trump’s billionaires-first tax giveaway. We know that hungry students do not perform as well in the classroom as their peers who have access to regular, nutritious meals. These reckless cuts to essential USDA programs will have an outsized impact on low-income families and on the local farmers, fishermen, and food producers who have benefitted significantly from expanded local markets for their goods,” said Senator Reed. “Time and time again, President Trump has insisted that his Administration’s devastating cuts will magically not impact vulnerable American families. By cutting these vital USDA programs, he is making his priorities crystal clear – billionaires come first and American families come last.”

During the COVID pandemic, Congress made $900 million available for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food purchasing efforts through the LFPA. These programs helped strengthen local and regional food systems, improved agricultural supply-chain resiliency, and supported underserved producers and communities. Using LFPA funds, states set up approved programs to purchase food produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination, which was then distributed through food banks, pantries, and other food distribution centers where hungry families in need can receive food.

In Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), working with nonprofits like Farm Fresh Rhode Island, was awarded a total of $1.78 million to purchase local foods for distribution within the state. To date, DEM, Farm Fresh, and their partners, have purchased food from 95 local producers and distributed that nutritious, local food to over 65,000 Rhode Islanders.

Last year, Senator Reed introduced legislation that would codify LFPA into law, providing permanent funding to ensure the program continues. Reed’s EAT Local Foods Act gained the support of a wide range of farmers, food hubs, coalitions, and business networks across the nation in addition to several leading Rhode Island organizations, including: the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, and Southside Community Land Trust.

In addition to Senators Reed and Schiff, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Ben Ray Luján (D-NM); Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Tina Smith (D-MN); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); Ron Wyden (D-OR); Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Michael Bennet (D-CO); Elissa Slotkin (D-MI); Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Elizabeth Warren (D-MA); Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Raphael Warnock (D-GA); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Richard Durbin (D-IL); Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV); Patty Murray (D-WA); Angus King (I-ME); Bernie Sanders (I-VT); John Hickenlooper (D-CO); Gary Peters (D-MI); Jacky Rosen (D-NV); Peter Welch (D-VT); Alex Padilla (D-CA); Cory Booker (D-NJ); Ed Markey (D-MA); and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

Full text of the letter follows:

March 14, 2025

Ms. Brooke Rollins

Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave SW

Washington, DC 20250

Dear Secretary Rollins:

We write to express serious concerns regarding the cancellation of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs supporting local and regional food purchases providing assistance to those in need. These successful programs, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), allow states, territories, and Tribes to purchase local foods from nearby farmers and ranchers to be used for emergency food providers, schools, and child care centers.

At a time when food insecurity remains high, providing affordable, fresh food to food banks and families while supporting American farmers is critical. Notably, LFPA and LFS have benefitted producers and consumers by providing funding for purchases through all 50 states, four territories, and 84 tribal governments.

Through LFPA and LFS, USDA has prioritized the procurement and distribution of healthy, nutritious, domestic food. It has also taken an important step towards igniting rural prosperity by expanding and strengthening markets among farmers and rural economies. As of December 2024, the programs had supported over 8,000 producers, providing increased marketing

opportunities.

Most importantly, we ask that you reverse the cancellation of LFPA and LFS. We also ask that you provide a thorough and complete update on USDA’s implementation of LFPA and LFS,

including answers to the following questions:
1. What is the status of reimbursements for entities that have agreements with USDA through LFPA and LFS? What is the last date for which states, territories, and Tribes received reimbursements for food purchases under LFPA and LFS?
2. Has the Administration conducted any assessments of how these program cancellations will impact producers and recipient organizations (e.g., food banks, schools, child care centers)? If so, please provide a copy of any such assessments.
We have grave concerns that the cancellation of LFPA and LFS poses extreme harm to producers and communities in every state across the country. At a time of uncertainty in farm country, farmers need every opportunity to be able to expand market access for their products.

Please provide responses to the information requested in our questions no later than Friday, April 4. Thank you for your attention to this urgent and important matter.

Sincerely,
MIL OSI USA News –
March 18, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Keith Rankin Analysis – Geopolitical fractures, and untidy yet workable solutions
Analysis by Keith Rankin.

Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

As most of us appreciate, there is a whole geopolitical world that overlays the formal political world of about 200 ‘nation states’ (aka ‘polities’). Geopolitical fractures – a result of the ‘big games’ over and above the ‘rules-based order’ – occur in all sorts of places, sometimes through provinces, even counties. Their significances wax and wane, as geopolitics itself is a dynamic game of changing exceptions and allegiances, and the expansions or contractions of ‘real estate assets’.

How about this one, given the apparent detaching of the United States of America from the liberal democratic western alliance? (Is the western alliance – which includes Canada – in the process of becoming a set of American proxies, like certain Latin American countries, rather than a partnership? Or is it a process of divorce?) Point Roberts is a United States enclave within the Greater Vancouver urban area. Should Canada – or British Columbia – file for Point Roberts? It would be the tidy thing to do, as part of the divorce settlement.

Geopolitics operates on at least two levels. There are the big fractures, where potential world wars – hot and cold – are simmering. Then there are the smaller fractures, such as those between the European Union and its neighbours: Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Cyprus. And those within the world’s mini-empires: Denmark vis-à-vis Greenland; Australia vis-à-vis Norfolk Island; New Zealand vis-à-vis Cook Islands; France vis-à-vis New Caledonia.

At an intermediate level are boundary disputes between Japan and Russia (Kuril Islands), India and Pakistan (Kashmir), India and China (Himalayas), and Rwanda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Then there are new hot-fractures being created through civil wars; such as that between the Arabic and African worlds within Sudan, Islamic and Buddhist populations within Myanmar, and different ethno-cultural minorities within (and on the edges of) Syria and in the west of China.

There’s also a growing north-south sectarian divide in Nigeria (reflecting complex geopolitical game-playing in the Sahel, to Nigeria’s north and northwest), Africa’s most populous country. And there are geopolitical pushes and pulls in the non-EU Balkans. Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina (European countries with majority Islamic populations) have become effective proxies of the United States; the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina is fractured almost fifty-fifty, the other part being the autonomous though unrecognised Russian-aligned Republika Srpska. (China is currently building a north-south railway through the Balkans from Piraeus in Greece to Budapest in Hungary, while the European Union is sponsoring a new railway from Albania in the Adriatic Sea to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.)

Finally, there’s a big geopolitical tension within the core Islamic world, which has led to the long-running civil war in Yemen; the two sides being proxies for Iran and for Saudi Arabia; for Tehran and for Riyadh.

The players – the ‘Great Powers’

At present, it would seem, the United States of America, which sees itself as the world’s preeminent geopolitical player, is impatient for conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine to end, so that it can get on with its ‘game of choice’, namely the ‘new cold war’ conflict with China.

We should note that, in Geopolitics, the players are typically identified by the countries’ capital cities. Thus, the United States becomes Washington, the United Kingdom becomes London, and the European Union becomes Berlin or Brussels. Sometimes the players are or have been referred to by power-centres within cities, such as the Kremlin (Moscow), or the Quai d’Orsay (Paris). (The New Zealand equivalent might be ‘Bowen Street’!)

Beijing and Taiwan; and Washington

I saw this Daily Telegraph story in the New Zealand Herald last weekend: Chinese navy practices amphibious landings with new barges in South China Sea. To this end Taiwan is the American proxy through which the conflict may be waged; just as Ukraine and Israel are American proxies; proxies in the most visible of the world’s current geopolitical hot wars.

From the story: ‘Emma Salisbury, a sea power research fellow at the Council on Geostrategy’ says “The fact Beijing has permitted details of these barges to become public signals the threat China poses in the region.” No, it doesn’t. It indicates that China is – had has been for decades – playing the geopolitical game of ‘optics’. Beijing is saying to Washington “don’t mess with us”, rather than “we are going to mess with you”.

Kinmen and Lienchiang Counties, Fujian. But what country?

Is this the world’s least understood geopolitical faultline?

The central piece of geography in the New Cold War is understood to be the Taiwan Strait; indeed we routinely see pictures of that Strait on our news bulletins. Usually, they look like these BBC versions:
- How China is fighting in the grey zone against Taiwan, 5 Oct 2023
- China and Taiwan: A really simple guide, 8 Jan 2024
- Taiwan country profile, 15 Jan 2024
The clear tale being told here in these maps is that there is a simple border in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China, and that there are two countries, Taiwan and China. The constitutional reality is that there are two regimes claiming constitutional sovereignty over a single estate. We may call these regimes China-Taipei and China-Beijing. (In the Olympic Games and other sports, Taiwan competes as Chinese-Taipei.) The official name of the two regimes are Republic of China (RoC), and Peoples Republic of China (PRC). (I once watched a story on TV3 News involving some Beijing-Chinese people in New Zealand. TV3 mistakenly showed pictures of a China Airlinesaircraft, when it should have been Air China.)

The BBC’s two-country optics are neat and tidy (compared to the one-territory two-regime reality), but is negated by the presence of two Taiwanese counties in the territory of Fujian province, PRC; Kinmen and Lienchiang (although Kinmen is sometimes called Jinmen or Quemoy, and in China Lienchiang is spelt ‘Lianjiang’). At its closest point, Kinmen (Taiwan) is 4km from the large Chinese city of Xiamen (and 190 km from the Taiwanese mainland); indeed Kinmen is located in Xiamen harbour, just as Rangitoto Island is in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour. (Xiamen has the same population size as New Zealand, just over five million people.) Lienchieng is the Taiwanese portion of Lianjiang county, a subdivision of Fujian. (We note that Taiwan still uses the ‘postal’ style of anglicisation of Chinese names that was generally used before the 1970s; eg Peking instead of the Pinyin form, Beijing.)

From the inception of the United nations in 1945, until 1971, China-Taipei (aka Taiwan) held a permanent seat on the Security Council, with the right of veto). This only changed in 1971 after US President Nixon, committing to reality over narrative, moved towards rapprochement towards China (although the United States was not ready for the UN recognition switch in 1971); while at the same time fudging the issue of the status of Taiwan. That fudge remains the official status quo in the international ‘rules-based-order’.

We should also note that Taiwan (RoC) withdrew from the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games, due to its erosion of status as a recognised nation-state, with particular note that Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, had led the realpolitik move, recognising China in 1970.

This map correctly shows all of Taiwan, noting the black dashed lines. And this shows Taiwanese Fujian. This huge geopolitical boundary between West and East passes through the Chinese province of Fujian.

Geopolitical Implications

Presumably the people in these counties, for the most part, prefer the status quo and hope that it can be maintained indefinitely, and without military hostilities.

If there was a push for Taipei to repudiate its constitutional claim to all of China – for example as a means to de jureindependence as its own sovereign state – it is difficult to see how this could happen without Taipei ceding Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to Beijing. That would indeed be the minimum price Taipei would have to pay for Beijing to abandon its claim over all of Taiwan.

In effect, these two counties are hostages to both regimes. If the United States or any other United States’ aligned nation-state invaded China, then it would be realistic to expect that Kinmen and Lienchiang would be snaffled-up by Beijing; maybe one county immediately and, for leverage, the other staying on as a hostage.

On the other hand, if the United States was to escalate its optical war against Beijing into a fully-fledged ‘cold war’, it might install threatening military equipment into Kinmen or Lienchiang, much as the Soviet Union did in Cuba in 1962. Thus these counties represent leverage of Taipei (acting as a proxy for the United States) over China.

It would be hard to see China not-responding to such provocation. Further, in such a hostile context, China would be tempted to activate its claim over the whole of Taiwan, and not just the two counties in Fujian.

So, the untidy one-country two-regime status quo should be simply left as it is. Speculative political rhetoric against Beijing or Taipei should be treated by the international community as tantamount to diplomatic ‘hate-speech’. And simplistic media stories which represent Taiwan only as an island 100 kilometres away from China, should be corrected. Responsible media – unlike the BBC or the Daily Telegraph – do not distort the known truth.

We don’t want to end up in a major geopolitical conflict as a result of politicians and political journalists not even knowing or understanding the location of the China/Taiwan border. The border anomalies result from the pragmatic settlement of a military conflict between the two Chinese regimes; a conflict that took place in the decade after 1949.

Lessons for the Ukraine-Russia conflict

The present military boundary between Ukraine and Russia passes inside three recognised provincial boundaries of Ukraine: Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. (The provinces of Luhansk and Crimea should be off the negotiating table; the world has to accept that they are now, for better or worse, de facto or de jure, territories of Russia; albeit unrecognised in the same way that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russian territories unrecognised by the United Nations. (And Northern Cyprus for that matter, as an unrecognised Turkish territory inside the European Union nation of Cyprus; a territory which untidily passes through the Cyprus’s capital, Nicosia.)

Successful negotiations to end wars have to take account of military realities. China’s 1950s’ concessions to Taiwan over Kinmen and Lienchiang show that such splits need not impede a long-lasting and workable peace. What does impede a transition to peace is the insistence on substantial one-sided deviations from the military reality at the time of a ‘cease-fire’; certainly, the side that is at a military disadvantage should not be demanding one-sided concessions from the other side.

Lessons for Palestine-Israel conflict

In 1967 and 1973, there were major wars between, in essence, Israel and Egypt. The lands most under contention were those that we call ‘Occupied Palestine’ (and ‘Occupied East Jerusalem’) today; though other lands were captured (especially the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria). The 1967 War was started by Israel under the pretext that Egypt was about to invade Israel. Israel unambiguously won this war. (In 1967, Israel even attacked – deliberately – an American naval vessel: USS Liberty.)

Israel had not thought-through the strategic consequences of its annexation (from Egypt and Jordan) of Gaza and the West Bank. Israel was working towards an acceptable way of incorporating Palestinian Israelis into the ‘Jewish State’. Now, all of a sudden, they found themselves with an enlarged country with a majority (or near-majority) Palestinian population. A legal fiction – replacing the language of ‘annexation’ with that of ‘occupation’ – enabled the non-Jewish populations of the ‘occupied territories’ to be treated as, at best, third -class citizens.

The 1973 War – started by Egypt, principally to regain its Sinai territory – triggered changes to the global architecture of capitalism. After the advantage switched from Egypt to Israel, Israeli troops crossed the Suez Canal and were heading towards Cairo when the cease-fire was called. Subsequent negotiations, over six years, saw Israel’s military successes eroded into something like the present situation in which Palestinians living in Palestine are citizens of nowhere.

After two military victories, through the 1978 Camp David Accords, Israel found that it had forfeited almost all its military gains; for Israel it felt like they had won the war but lost the peace. The result of the process was a substantial and unfortunate switch to the Right in Israeli politics. Since then, especially since the 1990s, Israel has been looking for ways to annex a Palestine free of Palestinians; to cleanse Palestine of Palestinians as part of an unapologetic annexation process undertaken with the full blessing of its geopolitical patron.

Proxy Warfare

Most wars today, including ‘civil wars’, are proxy-wars funded (on one side at least) by external patrons. While Ukraine has been a proxy of the United States for most of this century, Ukraine is now morphing into a proxy of Brussels and London; of the barely-elected Starmer (one-third of the vote in a low turn-out election) and an unelected Ursula von de Leyen (a bureaucrat who’s not even a Member of the European Parliament).

On Al Jazeera News (6am New Zealand summer time, 18 March 2025), it was reported that Donald Trump posted this message on his favoured social-media platform: “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” (See this quote on U.S. Air Campaign Against Houthis Continues Into Third Day, TWZ, The War Zone.)

This is a clear statement that the United States President, at least, believes that the patrons of proxies are the real antagonists, and should be deemed responsible – indeed ‘criminally responsible’ for misdeeds of aggression – for acts performed by their proxies. It should be quite easy to apply this dictum, at least allegorically, to the big hot wars of the moment: Ukraine and Palestine.

Conclusion

We can avoid most wars by finding pragmatic solutions to geopolitical conflicts, accepting realities as they stand, and avoiding inflammatory rhetoric towards others. We have avoided violent conflict in and around the Fujian geopolitical faultline by not, so far, trying to find and impose final tidy solutions.

Likewise, to find peace in the world’s current military hotspots, we have to accept and negotiate around the current realities of those situations. Most importantly, we follow the ‘first law of holes’: ‘if you are in a hole, stop digging’. Inflaming sensitive situations through speculative assertions about the other side’s escalating malevolence are unhelpful.

In today’s wars the western ‘liberal democratic’ side is not even close to being the ‘good guys’ in wars framed as good-versus-evil. The conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine demonstrate that these wars – like most past wars – represent the ‘hot’ phases of geopolitical game playing; wars are ‘bad guys’ versus ‘bad guys’, and such wars end through transactional deals. (The antagonists may be different shades of bad; and there are always good victims, though many of these are not ‘perfect victims’.) The ‘bad guys’ include the patrons of the proxies. Further, contemporary warfare targets civilians rather than soldiers.

*******

Keith Rankin (keith at rankin dot nz), trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Australia – Helping Australia’s small businesses unlock value and reduce costs with CommBank Yello for Business – CBA

Source: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

CBA Business Bank’s customer recognition program is now available to more than 340,000 small business customers.

More than 340,000 small businesses across Australia now have access to a broad range of exclusive benefits and discounts with the rollout of CommBank Yello for Business.

“It takes grit, determination and hard work to run a small business, particularly as a sole trader, but with some goods and services costing 20 per cent more today than five years ago, business owners are having to work harder and get even savvier when it comes to managing costs,” said CBA’s Group Executive Business Banking Mike Vacy-Lyle. 

“We know that our customers count on us to be there for them, which is why we’re expanding our CommBank Yello for Business program to help more than 340,000 eligible small business customers across Australia access discounts and special deals from our partners,” Mr Vacy-Lyle said.

“Through our customer recognition program, business owners can access a variety of offers ranging from discounted internet plans to better deals on equipment hire. No matter their industry, there’s an opportunity for business owners to unlock savings,” Mr Vacy-Lyle said.

The expansion of CommBank Yello for Business means all eligible sole proprietor and single director corporate customers can unlock business benefits from our partners1including:

Discounted pricing on More Business nbn®, SIM-only Mobile and Business Phone Systems for 12 months when paying with your CommBank Debit or Credit card
Various discounts on Nine Ad Manager orders (minimum spend applies)
Exclusive pricing on all Samsung products via the Samsung portal for CommBank Yello for Business2
20% off BioPak certified compostable food packaging (for new BioPak customers only)
20% off equipment hire with Kennards Hire (applicable to general hire products only)
3 months free for new Doshii customers, then 10% off thereafter
Various discounts on products from Workwear brands Hard Yakka, NNT, and KingGee (minimum spend applies)

These benefits are available to eligible small business customers who hold a business transaction account with CBA and who meet certain eligibility criteria. Eligible business customers can access one of two benefit sets, based on the customer’s transaction volumes and lending relationship, with eligibility typically assessed in the second week of each month, for the previous month(s).

CommBank Yello for Business is an extension of CommBank Yello, delivering even greater value to our customers.

Find our more information here: commbank.com.au/business/latest/commbank-yello-for-business

About CommBank Yello

CommBank Yello, launched in 2023, is the bank’s customer recognition program where eligible retail customers can access benefits like cashbacks, discounts and prize draws simply by being a customer.
Customers can check their eligibility status in the CommBank Yello hub within the latest version of the CommBank app by simply tapping ‘CBA Yello’, then ‘View all’ in the CommBank app to see their personalised offers. https://www.commbank.com.au/commbank-yello.html
CommBank Yello for Business, an extension of CommBank Yello, rewards business customers for banking with us.

MIL OSI – Submitted News –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Scott Highlights Historic Ten-Week Voting Streak in Senate

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Tim Scott

The Senate concludes a historic commencement of the 119th Congress following ten consecutive weeks of voting, representing the longest continuous stretch in more than 15 years.

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) marked the completion of the Senate’s historic ten-week voting streak, the longest continuous stretch in over 15 years. The productive and intense work period has set a tone for the 119th Congress, with Senate Republicans working hard to advance President Trump’s agenda. Senator Scott reaffirmed his commitment to building on this progress and continuing to advocate for South Carolinians and the American people.

“This work period has been dynamic, exciting, and extremely productive. I have loved seeing so many South Carolinians in DC over the last three months,” said Senator Scott. “Senate Republicans have taken monumental steps in getting President Trump the cabinet he deserves, passing critical legislation and rolling back burdensome regulations. While the work is far from over, I remain committed to building on these efforts and delivering results for folks back home and across the country! America will be the shining city on a hill once again!”

Since January, Senator Scott has introduced 16 pieces of legislation and resolutions including his Alan T. Shao II Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Prevention Act, Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025, Protect Small Businesses from Excessive Paperwork Act of 2025, Securing our Border Act, Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act, and the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act.

On the Senate’s duty of advice and consent…

President Trump has selected various nominees to serve in critical positions throughout this new administration. Senator Scott has met with and voted to confirm the following nominees, now Cabinet-level positions, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Education, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, SBA Administrator, and the Directors of the FBI, USTR, National Intelligence, and National Institutes of Health. Each cabinet appointee is critical to delivering on the promise to secure our borders, unleash American energy, and promote economic freedom. Senate Republicans are working hard to swiftly confirm President Trump’s nominees and bring safety and prosperity back to the American people!

On creating greater access to educational opportunities…

Senator Scott celebrated the impact education freedom has on the lives of so many students and families during National School Choice Week. He also highlighted a quality education is still out of reach to countless children who desperately need it during Secretary McMahon’s confirmation hearing.

As co-chair of the Congressional School Choice Caucus and member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Scott led his colleagues in introducing a Senate resolution recognizing January 26 – February 1 as National School Choice Week. The Senator continues to champion parental rights so families can choose the education that best fits their child’s individual talents and needs.

On disaster recovery and SBA reform efforts…

After hearing from hundreds of South Carolina businesses in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Senator Scott introduced the SBA Disaster Transparency Act, which requires the Small Business Administration to make its monthly reporting requirements for the Disaster Loan Account available to the public. During the 10-week work period, the bill successfully moved out of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, marking a significant step forward in providing essential resources to communities in need. By introducing this legislation, Senator Scott is committed to ensuring that those affected by natural disasters have the tools they need to rebuild their lives.

On unlocking economic freedom…

Senator Scott has been actively laying the groundwork to advance pro-growth tax policies that strengthen the economy and protect hard working Americans. That includes preventing a $5 trillion tax hike on the middle-class by pushing to extend theTax Cuts and Jobs Act that would ensure small businesses and families aren’t burdened with higher taxes.

As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Scott is focused on advancing solutions to support pro-growth policies and economic opportunity across the country – with the goal of unlocking up to $1 trillion in investments for underserved communities. Senator Scott’s effort is about building a future where every American has access to the tools and resources they need to succeed. To that end, Senator Scott joined Walter Davis, founding member of Peachtree Providence partners, for an important conversation as part of Senator Scott’s Opportunity Summit series. The Opportunity Summit is designed to establish an ecosystem that drives economic growth in underserved communities, building on the success of his Opportunity Zones from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Senator Scott’s goal is to create lasting economic opportunities that will continue to empower communities for generations to come, ensuring that all Americans have the chance to thrive and achieve their fullest potential.

On the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Scott is leading Senate Republican efforts to address the un-American practice of debanking, holding hearings, meeting with industry leaders, and introducing legislation. In his committee’s first legislative markup of the 119th Congress, Senator Scott successfully advanced his debanking legislation, as well as a bipartisan bill that establishes a clear regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. Senator Scott will continue using his position as Chairman to prioritize serious solutions to support hardworking Americans and rein in burdensome regulations.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Monetary Policy: Forward Looking and Data Dependent in the Face of Uncertainty
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

I would first like to pay respect to the traditional and original owners of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, to pay respect to those who have passed before us and to acknowledge today’s custodians of this land. I also extend that respect to any First Nations people joining us here today.

Introduction

Three weeks ago, the Reserve Bank Board cut interest rates for the first time since 2020. Naturally there is a lot of interest in what lies behind the Board’s decision-making process. Today I want to shine a light on three key inputs to the process, how they interact with one another and how they fit together to support the Board in its decision making.

The first is our view of how changes in the cash rate affect the economy. The impact of policy changes takes time to flow through the economy; looking at the response of banking credit flows to interest rate changes, which many here today know intimately, clearly highlights this. So policy decisions today shape inflation and employment outcomes in the future.

This necessitates a forward-looking approach to meeting our mandate. Policy decisions require both a view of the outlook for the economy and an understanding of how policy is likely to affect that outlook. That helps the Board set the cash rate to give the best chance of achieving the RBA’s objectives over time.

The second is how we form our view of the outlook – our baseline forecast – and how it responds to incoming data. When we talk about being ‘data dependent’, we are referring to the way we update our view of where the economy is and the outlook. The implication of continuously updating our view on the outlook means we also continuously update our policy advice to the Board; the future pathway for the cash rate is not predefined.

Finally, I will say a bit about the Board’s approach to setting policy under uncertainty. In practice we are uncertain about both the outlook for the economy, and the effect of monetary policy, and this complicates policy decisions. Under uncertainty, policy depends on more than just the central forecast – judgements about the risks and uncertainties matter too. That’s why, as we have discussed on a number of occasions recently, it’s important to consider alternative possible pathways for the economy and how policy would have to respond.

Monetary policy is forward looking …

Central bankers and macroeconomists often say that monetary policy impacts the economy with a lag.

So, if inflation moves away from our target, or employment falls below full employment, monetary policy cannot immediately offset those moves. Instead, central banks have to look ahead. Ideally we would know when and by how much the economy is going to move away from our targets in the future. Knowing this, we would calibrate policy today to prevent this from happening, and the economy would stay at full employment and inflation at target.

In practice of course, this isn’t what happens. We can’t foresee shocks, and even in times of relative calm outcomes are rarely (if ever) exactly as we expect. The economy and our understanding of it is always evolving and our models, analysis and judgements aren’t perfect; we don’t have a crystal ball and even if we did it would be very cloudy.

Despite this, given the lags in monetary policy transmission, we always have to forecast how we think the economy will evolve, and set policy now so that we expect to achieve our mandate once any policy change has had time to have its effect. In practice, as I will explain later, policy decisions also take account of uncertainties about the outlook. We put significant effort into identifying and understanding the risks around the baseline forecast, and the Board explicitly considers such risks in its decision-making.

… because there are lags in transmission

It is important, then, to understand how policy changes affect the economy. In a speech in 2023 my colleague Christopher Kent set out the RBA’s view of how monetary policy works, and how the sequence of increases in the cash rate up to that point had affected the Australian economy. I plan to use the same framework to explore the lags in transmission, so let me briefly summarise it here.

Figure 1: How Changes in the Cash Rate Flow through the Economy

When the cash rate changes, the first step in transmission is that other short and longer term market interest rates and other asset prices (including the exchange rate) adjust, more or less straightaway. Then these changes affect economic activity and ultimately inflation through a number of ‘channels’:
- Cash flow: lower interest rates flow into households’ disposable income; borrowers pay less to service their debt, and savers earn less on their deposits.
- Savings and investment: a decrease in saving and borrowing rates typically encourages people and businesses to borrow, invest and consume more, and save less.
- Asset prices: A cut in interest rates typically encourages investment in assets, resulting in higher house, equity and other asset prices. Higher household wealth tends to increase household consumption.
- Credit: Lower interest rates can increase the flow of loans to households and the availability of external funding to businesses.
- Exchange rate: a decrease in interest rates can contribute to a depreciation of the exchange rate, making imports less competitive and exports more competitive, leading to stronger growth. Higher import prices also directly increase inflation.
Macroeconomists often talk about expectations, and whether or not an interest rate change is partially or fully anticipated by financial markets, households and businesses is an important determinant of the size of each transmission channel. If the change is fully anticipated by financial markets then we may see little if any change in asset prices and the exchange rate, which limits the size of the exchange rate and asset price channels after the decision. Households and businesses may also start to adapt their spending and investment decisions ahead of a change in the cash rate, but they typically respond less than financial markets prior to the policy decision.

Overall, then, the size and timing of the impact of policy changes through these channels varies.

Take the cash flow channel as an example. Some variable loan and savings rates change quickly, as we saw following the Board’s latest decision. Households in aggregate have more interest-sensitive loans than deposits, so lower interest rates increase household disposable income. That prompts higher spending by borrowers, though households typically adjust their spending by less than the changes in their incomes in the short run. For those with fixed-rate mortgages, cash flows remain unchanged until loans roll over, though they might start adjusting their spending in anticipation (Graph 1).

Or consider the exchange rate channel. All else equal, an interest rate cut in Australia lowers the relative rate of return on Australian assets compared with overseas. This typically leads to a depreciation of the dollar, making exports cheaper and imports more expensive. However, while the exchange rate adjusts immediately, the volume of traded goods responds more gradually. Domestic businesses will have existing contracts to purchase goods from overseas, while foreign buyers are similarly committed to purchasing Australian products at previously agreed prices. If there is a trade deficit this price effect may exacerbate it. But as these contracts come up for renewal, and as firms and consumers adjust their purchasing behaviour, there will be a gradual increase in the volume of exports and a decline in imports, leading to an increase in net trade over time.

So far I’ve been discussing the direct channels through which cash rate changes impact the economy; these start working immediately, though they take time to fully play out. But there are also indirect spillovers, such as the impact of spending decisions by businesses, households, and importers on employment and income. For example, a business might hire new workers for an investment project that is made viable by a rate cut, boosting household income and spending. This ripple effect can amplify the direct impact of policy and may occur quickly or over time. Recent research suggests these indirect effects could be a major part of the transmission mechanism.

While identifying these channels helps us think through how monetary policy operates, in practice they operate at the same time and there is no precise way to isolate or quantify the contribution of each one. Nevertheless, one simple way to build intuition about their relative roles is to look at how the components of GDP evolve after a change in monetary policy.

To do this we can use a model of the economy – here I will use MARTIN, the RBA’s main macroeconomic model, to illustrate the transmission of a reduction in interest rates.

There are a number of helpful insights from the decomposition shown in Graph 2:
1. The immediate GDP response to lower interest rates is relatively limited – it takes time for everyone to adjust
2. In MARTIN it takes 9–12 months for a loosening in monetary policy to have its peak effect on economic output.
3. The effect from total investment is an important channel over the first year, with dwelling investment in particular responding relatively quickly compared with business investment, whose response builds fairly gradually. Intuitively this makes sense – businesses might immediately be encouraged to invest more by higher valuations and cheaper credit, but it takes time to get projects off the ground, and some businesses will wait to respond once they see an increase in the demand for their goods and services from consumers.
4. Changes in imports and exports also play an important role in driving the initial response of GDP, at least according to this particular model. This highlights that the exchange rate channel is important and operates relatively quickly compared with other channels; if overseas holidays become expensive, households tend to quickly switch to vacationing at home and vice versa.
5. The response of household consumption to lower interest rates is initially small but grows over time. This suggests the ‘cash flow channel’ – which should start working quickly – plays a minor role in the overall transmission mechanism, as the boost from lower debt payments is offset by reduced interest income on deposits. The slow response likely reflects the indirect effects of transmission channels and households’ tendency to smooth their spending changes.
While it takes about nine months for the cash rate to have its biggest impact on GDP, the peak effect on inflation is estimated to take nearly twice as long (Graph 3). This could be because it takes time for an increase in demand to affect the hiring decisions of firms and the job search decisions of households, which then ultimately feed into price setting. Or it may simply reflect some ‘stickiness’ in prices.

This tells us that – according to MARTIN at least – the decisions we make today will have their largest effect on economic output at the end of 2025, and on inflation in mid-2026.

Monetary policy is always data dependent …

So to set policy we need an estimate of how changes in the cash rate affect the economy and a view of the outlook for the economy – a forecast.

As forecasters, we essentially try to do two things. First, we try to understand the state of the economy now. Second, we use models based on economic theory and capturing historical patterns in the data combined with our judgement, to extrapolate from the current state of the economy into the future.

In both cases this comes down to our understanding of the data – both quantitative information such as official ABS data, surveys and financial market data, and qualitative information such as liaison. Extracting reliable signals from noisy data and forming a coherent economic picture is challenging. New or revised data can alter our view of the starting point or how the economy might evolve. As things constantly change, we continuously update our views with new information.

In recent years many central banks have described their policy setting as ‘data dependent’. Rather than meaning that policy responds mechanically to particular pieces of data, we are data dependent in the sense that incoming data affects our view of where the economy is today and the outlook, and this in turn influences the path for policy. At times of heightened uncertainty about how the economy is responding to shocks – for example, during the pandemic and the immediate aftermath –central banks may put a higher weight on real time data relative to baseline forecasts and models. But these weights change over time, as conditions evolve and we learn more about how the economy is responding; policymakers must always take a forward-looking view on the outlook. So, how does this work in practice?

… because data informs our view of the outlook

To give a sense of how we draw this information together into a forecast, I am going to use the example of our household consumption forecasts.

In our most recent Statement on Monetary Policy (SMP), one of our key judgments was that household consumption growth had started to recover in line with the pick-up in real household incomes. This judgement was informed by analysis of a range of timely indicators – such as the ABS Household Spending Indicator, and credit and debit card spending indices – which suggested that consumption growth had picked up in the December quarter.

But was this just a temporary pick-up as financially squeezed households concentrated their spending around Black Friday and other sales? Digging further into the data suggested there was more to it than that (Graph 4). Not surprisingly, spending on the types of goods that tend to have significant sales, such as household goods and clothing, did grow strongly in the quarter. However, we had also seen a modest lift in household disposable income from the middle of 2024, and discretionary spending not impacted by sales (e.g. eating out) also showed signs of picking up, which suggested a genuine improvement in underlying momentum. Information from our liaison contacts also supported this assessment.

Our read of the data is a crucial input to our forecasts. In fact, one way to think about the forecast is that it captures and projects forward what we think is signal from the latest data, while disregarding what we think is mostly noise.

The outlook for consumption is only one part of the forecast, and we spend considerable time thinking about how different assumptions impact different sectors, and how these interactions might magnify or offset one another. But underneath it all, the links between data, forecast and policy sits at the heart of us saying that policy is ‘data-dependent’.

Policy under uncertainty

As I set out earlier, the link between our forecast and the Board’s policy decision is not mechanical. It is not as simple as constructing our central forecasts, then working out what the Board needs to do with the cash rate to meet its objectives.

The main reason for this is that there are always risks and uncertainties around the central forecast; the baseline pathway is just one of a vast number of possible outcomes. Board decisions are always made in an uncertain environment, which means thinking about the distribution of risks around the central forecast. One of the things we are focused on right now is US policy settings, the impact of these on the global economy and how this flows through to activity and inflation here in Australia; we have been using scenarios, analysis and judgement to assess the policy implications.

As the Governor and Deputy Governor have both indicated recently, the February decision reflected a judgement by the Board that it was the right time to take some restrictiveness away, but the Board were more cautious than the market about prospects for further easing.

In all of this, the RBA uses a range of timely indicators to form its economic forecasts. These data help to distinguish between temporary fluctuations and more sustained trends, informing policy decisions. The RBA’s policy decisions are made in the context of various risks and uncertainties. The Board considers a wide range of possible outcomes and uses scenarios, analysis and judgment to assess the implications of different policy paths, ensuring a balanced and forward-looking approach. This is why being forward looking is not in tension with being data dependent.

MIL OSI News –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Governor Lombardo Applauds FHLBank San Francisco’s $10 Million Affordable Housing Investment in the Silver State

Source: US State of Nevada

Carson City, NV March 17, 2025

In case you missed it, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco announced a new $10 million investment in affordable housing in Nevada today.

“Attainable homeownership for all Nevadans is one of my highest priorities and we can’t do this alone,” said Governor Lombardo. “The partnership and commitment of FHLBank San Francisco through this investment will give stability to many of Nevada’s essential workers.”

The full press release from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is below:

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) is deepening its commitment to increasing access to affordable housing and homeownership by investing in Nevada Housing Division Mortgage Revenue Bonds. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo celebrates FHLBank San Francisco’s investment in the state.

“Attainable homeownership for all Nevadans is one of my highest priorities and we can’t do this alone,” said Governor Lombardo. “The partnership and commitment of FHLBank San Francisco through this investment will give stability to many of Nevada’s essential workers.”

This $10 million investment strengthens FHLBank San Francisco’s efforts to support low- and moderate-income homebuyers in the state of Nevada, which include down payment assistance grant programs to support homebuyers.

“Our investment in Nevada Housing Division Mortgage Revenue Bonds allows us to reinforce our commitment to safe, affordable homes in Nevada while also delivering on our mission to provide reliable, low-cost liquidity and community investment resources to our member financial institutions,” said Joe Amato, interim president and CEO of FHLBank San Francisco. “By working together with the Nevada Housing Division, we can strengthen communities in Nevada, foster economic growth and create a more vibrant and resilient future for all.”

Supporting Home Affordability in Nevada

Nevada has a severe shortage of affordable homes. The demand for more housing supply in the state has made it more difficult for Nevada residents to keep up with the housing market – both in buying and renting. The Nevada Housing Division Mortgage Revenue Bonds are highly rated investment securities (AA+ rating from S&P) backed by single-family mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that facilitate homeownership by supporting loans designed specifically for Nevada households aspiring to own a home.

“The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is uniquely positioned to address affordability issues for homebuyers in Nevada,” said Stephen Aichroth, Administrator of the Nevada Housing Division. “We thank the Bank for their confidence in the Nevada Housing Division and their commitment to affordable homeownership for Nevadans.”

FHLBank San Francisco is dedicated to supporting housing initiatives throughout its three-state region of Arizona, California, and Nevada. Since the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) was created in 1990, FHLBank San Francisco has awarded over $1.38 billion in affordable housing and community program grants to support the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of over 155,000 homes affordable to lower-income households, including $61.8 million AHP grants in 2024 alone. Together, the 11 regional FHLBanks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank System are one of the largest privately capitalized sources of grant funding for affordable housing in the United States.

About the Nevada Housing Division

The Nevada Housing Division, a division of the Department of Business and Industry, was created by the Nevada Legislature in 1975, with a mission to provide affordable housing opportunities and improve the quality of life for Nevada residents. They connect Nevadans with homes by providing financing to developers to build affordable housing, innovative mortgage solutions and down payment assistance programs and making homes more energy efficient, thereby lowering utility expenses. To learn more, visit http://housing.nv.gov.

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MIL OSI USA News –

March 18, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: New Zealand and Gaza: Confronting and not confronting the unspeakable

ANALYSIS: By Robert Patman

New Zealand’s National-led coalition government’s policy on Gaza seems caught between a desire for a two-state diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and closer alignment with the US, which supports a Netanyahu government strongly opposed to a Palestinian state

In the last 17 months, Gaza has been the scene of what Thomas Merton once called the unspeakable — human wrongdoing on a scale and a depth that seems to go beyond the capacity of words to adequately describe.

The latest Gaza conflict began with a horrific Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 that prompted a relentless Israel ground and air offensive in Gaza with full financial, logistical and diplomatic backing from the Biden administration.

During this period, around 50,000 people – 48,903 Palestinians and 1706 Israelis – have been reported killed in the Gaza conflict, according to the official figures of the Gaza Health Ministry, as well as 166 journalists and media workers, 120 academics,and more than 224 humanitarian aid workers.

Moreover, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, signed in mid-January, seems to be hanging by a thread.

Israel has resumed its blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza and cut off electricity after Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to extend phase 1 of the ceasefire deal (to release more Israeli hostages) without any commitment to implement phase 2 (that envisaged ending the conflict in Gaza and Israel withdrawing its troops from the territory).

Hamas insists on negotiating phase 2 as signed by both parties in the January ceasefire agreement

Over the weekend, Israel reportedly launched air-strikes in Gaza and the Trump administration unleashed a wave of attacks on Houthi rebel positions in Yemen after the Houthis warned Israel not to restart the war in Gaza.

New Zealand and the Gaza conflict
Although distant in geographic terms, the Gaza crisis represents a major moral and legal challenge to New Zealand’s self-image and its worldview based on the strengthening of an international rules-based order.

New Zealand’s founding document, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, emphasised partnership and cooperation between indigenous Māori and European settlers in nation-building.

While the aspirations of the Treaty have yet to be fully realised, the credibility of its vision of reconciliation at home depends on New Zealand’s willingness to uphold respect for human rights and the rule of law in the international arena, particularly in states like Israel where tensions persist between the settler population and Palestinians in occupied territories like the West Bank.

New Zealand’s declaratory stance towards Gaza
In 2023 and 2024, New Zealand consistently backed calls in the UN General Assembly for humanitarian truces or ceasefires in Gaza. It also joined Australia and Canada in February and July last year to demand an end to hostilities.

The New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, told the General Assembly in April 2024 that the Security Council had failed in its responsibility “to maintain international peace and security”.

He was right. The Biden administration used its UN Security Council veto four times to perpetuate this brutal onslaught in Gaza for nearly 15 months.

In addition, Peters has repeatedly said there can be no military resolution of a political problem in Gaza that can only be resolved through affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination within the framework of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

The limitations of New Zealand’s Gaza approach
Despite considerable disagreement with Netanyahu’s policy of “mighty vengeance” in Gaza, the National-led coalition government had few qualms about sending a small Defence Force deployment to the Red Sea in January 2024 as part of a US-led coalition effort to counter Houthi rebel attacks on commercial shipping there.

While such attacks are clearly illegal, they are basically part of the fallout from a prolonged international failure to stop the US-enabled carnage in Gaza.

In particular, the NZDF’s Red Sea deployment did not sit comfortably with New Zealand’s acceptance in September 2024 of the ICJ’s ruling that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza) was “unlawful”.

At the same time, the National-led coalition government’s silence on US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to “own” Gaza, displace two million Palestinian residents and make the territory the “Riviera” of the Middle East was deafening.

Furthermore, while Wellington announced travel bans on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank in February 2024, it has had little to say publicly about the Netanyahu government’s plans to annex the West Bank in 2025. Such a development would gravely undermine the two-state solution, violate international law, and further fuel regional tensions.

New Zealand’s low-key policy
On balance, the National-led coalition government’s policy towards Gaza appears to be ambivalent and lacking moral and legal clarity in a context in which war crimes have been regularly committed since October 7.

Peters was absolutely correct to condemn the UNSC for failing to deliver the ceasefire that New Zealand and the overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly had wanted from the first month of this crisis.

But the New Zealand government has had no words of criticism for the US, which used its power of veto in the UNSC for more than a year to thwart the prospect of a ceasefire and provided blanket support for an Israeli military campaign that killed huge numbers of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

By cooperating with the Biden administration against Houthi rebels and adopting a quietly-quietly approach to Trump’s provocative comments on Gaza and his apparent willingness to do whatever it takes to help Israel “to get the job done’, New Zealand has revealed a selective approach to upholding international law and human rights in the desperate conditions facing Gaza

Professor Robert G. Patman is an Inaugural Sesquicentennial Distinguished Chair and his research interests concern international relations, global security, US foreign policy, great powers, and the Horn of Africa. This article was first published by The Spinoff and is republished here with the author’s permission.

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Minister Champagne chairs G7 Finance Ministers’ Meeting

Source: Government of Canada News

March 17, 2025 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

Earlier today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance, chaired his first G7 virtual Finance Ministers’ Meeting.

The ministers discussed various issues of common interest, including global trade, competitiveness, and economic growth.

This meeting was a first opportunity for Minister Champagne, as Minister of Finance, to discuss important global issues with his counterparts ahead of the upcoming G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting that will be held in May in Banff, Alberta, and the G7 Leaders’ Summit in June in Kananaskis, Alberta, under Canada’s G7 Presidency.

MIL OSI Canada News –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI: Home BancShares, Inc. Announces First Quarter Earnings Release Date and Conference Call

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CONWAY, Ark., March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE: HOMB), parent company of Centennial Bank, today announced it expects to release First Quarter 2025 earnings after the market closes on April 16, 2025. Following this release, management will conduct a conference call to review these earnings at 1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 p.m. ET) on Thursday, April 17, 2025.

We strongly encourage all participants to pre-register for the conference call webcast or the live call using one of the following links. First, participants can pre-register for the conference call webcast using the following link: https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/447517977. Participants who pre-register will be given a unique webcast link to gain immediate access to the conference call webcast. Second, participants can pre-register for the live call using the following link: https://www.netroadshow.com/events/login?show=a44e9900&confId=79637. Participants who pre-register will be given the phone number and unique access codes to gain immediate access to the live call. Participants may pre-register now, or at any time prior to the call, and will immediately receive simple instructions via email. The Home BancShares conference call will also be scheduled as an event in your Outlook calendar.

Those without internet access or unable to pre-register may dial in and listen to the live call by calling 1-833-470-1428, Passcode: 947933. A replay of the call will be available by calling 1-866-813-9403, Passcode: 685290, which will be available until April 24, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. CT. Internet access to the call will be available live or in recorded version on the Company’s website at www.homebancshares.com.

Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financial services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals and municipalities. Centennial Bank has branch locations in Arkansas, Florida, South Alabama, Texas and New York City, with branches in Texas operating as Happy State Bank, a division of Centennial Bank. The Company’s common stock is traded through the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HOMB.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Home BancShares, Inc.
Donna Townsell
Senior Executive Vice President &
Director of Investor Relations
(501) 328-4625
Ticker symbol: HOMB

The MIL Network –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Baltimore Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Role in Maryland Unemployment Insurance Scheme

Source: United States Department of Justice (National Center for Disaster Fraud)

Defendant obtained people’s personal information to file false and fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Devante Smith, 30, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, in connection with his role in an unemployment insurance fraud scheme. Through the conspiracy, victims lost at least $298,685.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Baltimore Field Office.

According to the guilty plea, beginning in June of 2020, and continuing through at least May 2021, Smith engaged in a conspiracy to defraud and obtain money under fraudulent pretenses in connection with an unemployment insurance scheme. Smith obtained personal identifiable information of identity victims to fraudulently file claims for unemployment insurance with the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL).

Smith and his co-conspirators used the unemployment insurance benefits, which were designated to assist persons who were unemployed or underemployed due to the COVID-19 national emergency, for their own personal use. Additionally, Smith and co-defendant Tiia Woods, 47, of Jacksonville, Florida, stole identification cards, social security cards, and/or birth certificates from identity victims, to submit with fraudulent UI applications to MD-DOL.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — a federal law enacted in March 2020 — provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized increased unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefits. UI benefits have historically been a state and federal program that provided monetary benefits to eligible workers. The CARES Act expanded states’ ability to provide UI benefits for many workers impacted by COVID-19, including self-employed workers or independent contractors, who would not normally be eligible for UI benefits.

The District of Maryland Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud, including fraud relating to the CARES Act. The CARES Act was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds.

For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DOL-OIG and FBI, along with Bank of America – Detection and Complex Investigations Fraud Rings and Analytics, for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evelyn Lombardo Cusson and Harry M. Gruber who prosecuted the federal case

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

# # #

MIL Security OSI –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: African Development Bank, African Water Facility, Association of European Development Finance Institutions to hold Investment Event for Water and…

Source: African Development Bank Group

The African Development Bank Group, African Water Facility, and the Association of European Development Finance Institutions will host a high-level event to generate investment for water and sanitation services in Africa. Taking place on 18 March 2025 in Brussels, the event will bring together development finance institutions, private sector investors, and philanthropic organizations.

During the event, the African Development Bank and African Water Facility will showcase investment-ready projects and those in their pipeline, offering opportunities for investors and development financiers to support high-impact water and sanitation projects, including homegrown solutions that will drive economic growth, social stability, and public health improvements across Africa.

Why This Matters

Africa faces significant water and sanitation challenges, amplified by increasing pressure on strained water resources by the continent’s growing population, which is expected to double by 2050. Currently, 411 million people lack access to safe drinking water, 779 million are without essential sanitation services, and 839 million do not have access to basic hygiene services, according to a 2020 report by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).

This lack of access contributes to severe public health challenges, including the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera and diarrhea, which have caused over 400,000 deaths annually on the continent, according to the WHO.

The economic cost of inadequate access to water and sanitation is also high. Inadequate sanitation alone results in losses of up to $5.5 billion per year in sub-Saharan Africa due to healthcare costs and lost productivity. However, investing in climate-resilient water and sanitation services could yield at least $7 in economic returns for every $1 spent.

“Water and sanitation infrastructure is fundamental to economic growth. Investing in it is not only a necessity, but good business sense. By securing funding for high-impact projects, we can create jobs, improve public health, and grow local economies,” said Mtchera Chirwa, Director for Water Development and Sanitation at the African Development Bank and Coordinator of African Water Facility.

Beyond funding, the event will facilitate discussions on public-private partnerships, blended finance models, and innovative financing mechanisms to accelerate progress in achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 – universal access to clean water and sanitation by 2030.

Association of European Development Finance Institutions CEO David Kuijper said. “As stakeholders in development, together, we have the resources to make transformative change happen. The Association of European Development Finance Institutions values the partnership with the African Development Bank and African Water Facility to convene this event to find financial and technical resources for solutions through projects already on the market in Africa.”

MIL OSI Economics –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: In the Centre of Cameroon, pineapple farming is transforming the daily lives of women

Source: African Development Bank Group
On the green hills of Ngoumou, cocoa, coffee, banana and pineapple plantations stretch as far as the eye can see. The district in the Centre Region of Cameroon is a rapidly developing agricultural hub and a key supplier to neighbouring markets.

MIL OSI Economics –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Speech by Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President and Chairman of the Boards of Directors, African Development Bank Group at the State House event on the…

Source: African Development Bank Group
Your Excellency, Dr. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, C.G.H.
Your Excellency, Professor Kithure Kindiki, Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya.
Honorable Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary,
Honorable Cabinet Secretaries,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

MIL OSI Economics –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI: RBAZ Bancorp, Inc. Closing of Asset Sale and Stock Transfer Records

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

PHOENIX, March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RBAZ Bancorp, Inc. (OTCPK: RBAZ) (“RBAZ”), the holding company of Republic Bank of Arizona, an Arizona state bank (“Republic Bank”), today announced that all necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained to complete the sale of substantially all of the assets and liabilities (the “Asset Sale”) of Republic Bank to Pima Federal Credit Union (“Pima Federal”) under the Purchase and Assumption Agreement, dated as of May 16, 2024 (the “Purchase Agreement”), by and among RBAZ, Republic Bank and Pima Federal. RBAZ shareholders also have approved the Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby. RBAZ expects to close the Asset Sale on May 2, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions under the Purchase Agreement.

“We are pleased to have received all necessary regulatory approvals to move ahead to closing on our transaction announced May 16, 2024,” said Alan Sparks, Chairman of RBAZ and Republic Bank. “This is another significant milestone in completing this transformational business combination. We are excited about the expansion of Pima Federal’s product offerings in the high-growth metro market of Phoenix and look forward to bringing these two strong companies together to deliver service excellence to our customers and communities across our market.”

“We’re excited this step in the process has been completed,” said Mr. Sparks. “As we have said all along, Pima Federal’s like-minded culture and customer approach are an ideal fit for our team, along with the customers and communities we serve. This partnership will allow us to continue delivering the products, services and expertise they expect and deserve. This is a great outcome for our shareholders, as well.”

After the closing of the Asset Sale, RBAZ will begin the process of voluntarily dissolving Republic Bank and RBAZ, and distributing RBAZ’s net assets, including the net cash proceeds from the Asset Sale, to the shareholders of RBAZ. RBAZ anticipates making two or more distributions to the shareholders, with the first occurring shortly after the closing of the Asset Sale and the final occurring as soon as practicable in connection with the final dissolution of RBAZ. The actual timing of the distributions will be based on the closing of the Asset Sale and the satisfaction of conditions to the dissolution of Republic Bank and RBAZ.

RBAZ intends to cause its common stock to no longer trade or be quoted on the OTC Pink Market after the closing of the Asset Sale. RBAZ anticipates closing its stock transfer records at the same time. Thereafter, RBAZ common stock will represent only the right to receive distributions.

After the closing of the Asset Sale, RBAZ shareholders will receive transmittal documents from RBAZ’s transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A. RBAZ shareholders must surrender their stock certificate(s) (if applicable) and return the transmittal documents to receive the distributions.

About RBAZ Bancorp, Inc.

RBAZ Bancorp, Inc. was established on June 10, 2021 as a single-bank holding company for its Arizona state-chartered bank subsidiary, Republic Bank of Arizona. The Company is traded over-the-counter as RBAZ.

About Republic Bank of Arizona

Republic Bank of Arizona is a locally owned, community bank in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Gilbert, Arizona. RBAZ is a full service, community bank providing deposit and loan products and convenient, online and mobile banking to individuals, businesses and professionals. The Bank was established in April 2007 and is headquartered at 645 E. Missouri Avenue, Suite 108, Phoenix, AZ. Additional branches are located at 7373 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite A-195, Scottsdale, AZ and 1417 W. Elliot Road, Gilbert, AZ. The Bank is the wholly-owned subsidiary of RBAZ Bancorp, Inc. For further information, please visit our web site: www.republicbankaz.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by their reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “would,” “could,” or “intend.” Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. A number of factors – many of which are beyond the control of RBAZ – could cause actual conditions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated, discussed, projected, expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of RBAZ and Republic Bank include the nature and amount of the liabilities remaining at RBAZ and Republic Bank following the proposed Asset Sale, including material federal income tax liabilities, the results of any litigation involving RBAZ and Republic Bank, and the amount of costs and expenses associated with dissolving RBAZ and Republic Bank, all of which must be satisfied or provided for before RBAZ may distribute its residual assets to its shareholders. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. RBAZ and Republic Bank do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Brian Ruisinger
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (602) 280-9404
Email: bruisinger@republicaz.com

The MIL Network –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Arkansas Man Convicted of Armed Bank Robbery

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal jury has convicted BRIAN KEITH MAYS, 58, of Arkansas, of committing armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On January 21, 2025, a federal Grand Jury returned a two-count Superseding Indictment, charging Mays with armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. On March 13, 2025, after a three-day trial, a federal jury found Mays guilty of both counts.

According to evidence presented at trial, on July 5, 2024, Mays brandished a pistol at the FNB Community Bank in Harrah, Oklahoma, and demanded money from the tellers. The tellers complied, and Mays left the bank with $12,123.00. Agents with the FBI reviewed surveillance footage from the bank and an adjoining store, where they viewed Mays flee the scene. An eyewitness was able to obtain the tag number of the get-away vehicle, and an investigation into that car led authorities to Mays. Location data from Mays’s cell phone showed that Mays was in the area of the bank at the time of the robbery and visited a Walmart shortly after the robbery. While at Walmart, Mays transferred approximately $3,000.00 dollars to a person in Arkansas and could be seen on surveillance video pulling a large amount of cash from his pocket to pay for an item.

At sentencing, Mays faces up to life in federal prison and fines of up to $500,000.00.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City and Fort Smith Field Offices, Harrah Police Department, Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oklahoma City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Gridley and Drew E. Davis are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Reference is made to public filings for additional information.

MIL Security OSI –

March 18, 2025

MIL-OSI: Hallador Energy Company Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial and Operating Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

– Q4 2024 Total Revenue of $94.2 Million; FY’24 Total Revenue of $404.4 Million –
– Q4 2024 Operating Cash Flow up Materially to $32.5 Million; FY’24 Operating Cash Flow of $65.9 Million –
– Q4 2024 Adjusted EBITDA up ~3x YoY to $6.2 Million; FY’24 Adjusted EBITDA of $16.8 Million –

TERRE HAUTE, Ind., March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hallador Energy Company (Nasdaq: HNRG) (“Hallador” or the “Company”) today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

“2024 was a transformative year for Hallador as we continued our evolution from a bituminous coal producer to a vertically integrated independent power producer (“IPP”), while also advancing our products and services up the energy value chain,” said Brent Bilsland, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This deliberate transition aligns with market trends and reflects our conviction in the superior economics of the IPP business model. In fall 2024, we reached an important milestone in our transformation by signing a non-binding term sheet with a leading global data center developer on a transaction that would, if completed, sell a majority of our power production and accredited capacity at enhanced margins for more than a decade to come. We are making meaningful progress toward finalizing definitive agreements for this transaction within the exclusivity period that runs from January through early June 2025, further strengthened by our partner’s commitment to pay up to $5 million during this period. While navigating these complex transactions requires coordination across multiple stakeholders and while there can be no assurance that definitive agreements will be entered into, we remain encouraged by our partner’s commitment and believe this strategic partnership will drive long-term value for our shareholders.”

“The ongoing industry shift from dispatchable generators, such as coal and natural gas, to non-dispatchable resources like wind and solar, has increased the value of our Hallador Power subsidiary due to the enhanced reliability, resilience and consistency that we provide over the less predictable non-dispatchables. At the same time, the retirement of coal-based generation has reduced demand for coal supply, impacting the value of our Sunrise Coal subsidiary. In anticipation of these market dynamics, we proactively reduced production volume and shifted our focus away from the higher cost coal reserves, which lowered our operational cash costs in the fourth quarter. These strategic actions along with lower long-term coal price projections resulted in a fourth-quarter non-cash write-down of Sunrise Coal’s carrying value by approximately $215 million, which underscores the foresight of our transition to power generation in the coming years.”

Bilsland continued, “Looking ahead, our focus remains on maximizing the value of our Merom Power Plant while actively pursuing opportunities to acquire additional dispatchable generators that can add durability, scale, and geographic expansion to our electric operations. Additionally, we are forging strong relationships with sophisticated counterparties to secure favorable collateral terms and effectively manage our forward power sales in 2025 and 2026, which we believe will enhance our financial flexibility in the short to medium term. During 2024, we also reduced our bank debt by more than 50% to $44 million at year-end. We are excited about our continued transformation from a commodity-focused coal producer to an IPP with a secure fuel supply, a strategy we believe will unlock expanding energy market margins, drive sustainable growth, and enhance cash flow generation for our shareholders.”

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights

Hallador advanced its restructuring efforts for its subsidiary Sunrise Coal, focusing on production optimization and cost reductions to strengthen its operations.
- During 2024, the Company reduced its coal production volume by approximately 40% and shifted its focus away from the higher cost portions of its coal reserves. This optimization of coal production reduced Hallador’s operational cash cost structure to better align its coal strategy to support its internal electric generation.
- As a result of reducing coal production, optimizing its reserve base, and the declining price of contracted coal sales, Hallador realized an approximate $215 million non-cash write down in the fourth quarter associated with the carrying value of its Sunrise Coal subsidiary.
The Company continues to shift its revenue mix to prioritize electric sales as an independent power producer.
- Fourth quarter electric sales were $69.7 million or 74% of total Q4 revenue, compared to $37.1 million or 31% of total Q4 revenue in the year-ago period.
- Fourth quarter Coal sales were $23.4 million or 25% of total revenue, compared to $81.3 million or 68% of total revenue in the year-ago period.
Hallador continues to focus on forward sales to secure its energy position.
- At year-end, Hallador had total forward energy, capacity and coal sales to 3rd party customers of $1.1 billion through 2029, up from $937.2 million at the end of the third quarter.
- Subsequent to year end, Hallador signed an exclusive commitment agreement with a leading global data center developer, effective January 2, 2025. This agreement is in furtherance of the previously announced non-binding term sheet signed during the third quarter of 2024, reflecting an important milestone as both the Company and the developer seek to finalize a definitive transaction agreement to support the delivery of energy and capacity (through a utility partner) to a potential data center development within the State of Indiana. The completion of this proposed transaction is subject to, among other matters, the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements and there can be no assurance that definitive agreements will be entered into or that the proposed transaction will be consummated on the terms or timeframe currently contemplated, or at all.
The Company continues to strengthen its balance sheet.
- Total bank debt was $44.0 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $70.0 million at September 30, 2024 and $91.5 million at December 31, 2023.
- Total liquidity was $37.8 million at December 31, 2024 compared to $34.9 million at September 30, 2024 and $26.2 million at December 31, 2023.


Financial Summary ($ in Millions and Unaudited)

	Q1 2024			Q2 2024			Q3 2024			Q4 2024
Electric Sales	$	60.7		$	59.4		$	71.7		$	69.7
Coal Sales– 3^rd Party	$	49.6		$	32.8		$	31.7		$	23.3
Other Revenue	$	1.3		$	1.0		$	1.4		$	1.8
Total Operating Revenue	$	111.6		$	93.2		$	104.8		$	94.8
Net Income (Loss)	$	(1.7	)	$	(10.2	)	$	1.6		$	(215.8	)
Operating Cash Flow	$	18.5		$	26.1		$	(11.2	)	$	32.5
Adjusted EBITDA*	$	6.8		$	(5.8	)	$	9.6		$	6.2

_________________________________

_*_{Non-GAAP financial measure, defined as operating cash flows} _{less effects of certain subsidiary and equity method investment activity, plus bank interest, less effects of working capital period changes, plus other amortization}

Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net income, income from operations, cash flows from operating activities or any other measure of financial performance presented in accordance with GAAP. Our method of computing Adjusted EBITDA may not be the same method used to compute similar measures reported by other companies.

Management believes the non-GAAP financial measure, Adjusted EBITDA, is an important measure in analyzing our liquidity and is a key component of certain material covenants contained within our Credit Agreement, specifically the minimum quarterly EBITDA. Noncompliance with the covenants could result in our lenders requiring the Company to immediately repay all amounts borrowed. If we cannot satisfy these financial covenants, we would be prohibited under our Credit Agreement from engaging in certain activities, such as incurring additional indebtedness, making certain payments, and acquiring and disposing of assets. Consequently, Adjusted EBITDA is critical to the assessment of our liquidity. The required amount of Adjusted EBITDA is a variable based on our debt outstanding and/or required debt payments at the time of the quarterly calculation based on a rolling prior 12-month period.

Reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure, Adjusted EBITDA, to Income (Loss) before Income taxes, the most comparable GAAP measure, is as follows (in thousands) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.


Reconciliation of GAAP “Income (Loss) before Income Taxes” to non-GAAP “Adjusted EBITDA” (In $ Thousands and Unaudited)

	Year Ended
	December 31,
	2024			2023
NET INCOME (LOSS)	$	(226,138	)	$	44,793
Interest expense		13,850			13,711
Income tax expense (benefit)		(9,404	)		4,465
Depreciation, depletion and amortization		65,626			67,211
EBITDA		(156,066	)		130,180
Other operating revenue		(275	)		10
Stock-based compensation		4,454			3,554
Asset impairment		215,136			—
Asset retirement obligations accretion		1,628			1,804
Other amortization		(46,310	)		(30,613	)
(Gain) loss on disposal or abandonment of assets, net		(50	)		398
Loss on extinguishment of debt		2,790			1,491
Equity method investment (loss)		746			552
Settlement of litigation		2,750			—
Other reclassifications		(8,043	)		—
Adjusted EBITDA	$	16,760		$	107,376


Solid Forward Sales Position – Segment Basis, Before Intercompany Eliminations (unaudited):

	2025		2026		2027		2028		2029		Total
Power
Energy
Contracted MWh (in millions)		4.25		3.36		1.78		1.09		0.27		10.75
Average contracted price per MWh	$	37.24	$	44.43	$	54.66	$	52.94	$	51.33
Contracted revenue (in millions)	$	158.27	$	149.28	$	97.29	$	57.70	$	13.86	$	476.40

Capacity
Average daily contracted capacity MWh		773		727		623		454		100
Average contracted capacity price per MWd	$	201	$	230	$	226	$	225	$	230
Contracted capacity revenue (in millions)	$	55.95	$	61.12	$	51.40	$	37.33	$	3.47	$	209.27

Total Energy & Capacity Revenue

Contracted Power revenue (in millions)	$	214.22	$	210.40	$	148.69	$	95.03	$	17.33	$	685.67

Coal
Priced tons – 3rd party (in millions)		2.95		2.50		2.50		0.50		—		8.45
Avg price per ton – 3rd party	$	51.04	$	55.49	$	56.74	$	59.00	$	—
Contracted coal revenue – 3rd party (in millions)	$	150.57	$	138.73	$	141.85	$	29.50	$	—	$	460.65

TOTAL CONTRACTED REVENUE (IN MILLIONS) – CONSOLIDATED	$	364.79	$	349.13	$	290.54	$	124.53	$	17.33	$	1,146.32

Priced tons – Intercompany (in millions)		2.30		2.30		2.30		2.30		—		9.20
Avg price per ton – Intercompany	$	51.00	$	51.00	$	51.00	$	51.00	$	—
Contracted coal revenue – Intercompany (in millions)	$	117.30	$	117.30	$	117.30	$	117.30	$	—	$	469.20

TOTAL CONTRACTED REVENUE (IN MILLIONS) – SEGMENT	$	482.09	$	466.43	$	407.84	$	241.83	$	17.33	$	1,615.52

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act“), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act“). Statements that are not strictly historical statements constitute forward-looking statements and may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words such as “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “guidance,” “target,” “potential,” “possible,” or “probable” or statements that certain actions, events or results “may,” “will,” “should,” or “could” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those relating to our ability to execute definitive agreements with respect to the non-binding term sheet with a leading global data center developer. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and analyses made by Hallador and its management in light of experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors appropriate under the circumstances that involve various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, those set forth in Hallador’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Hallador undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Conference Call and Webcast

Hallador management will host a conference call on Monday, March 17, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time to discuss its financial and operational results, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Time: 5:30 p.m. Eastern time
Dial-in registration link: here
Live webcast registration link: here

The conference call will also be broadcast live and available for replay in the investor relations section of the Company’s website at www.halladorenergy.com.


Hallador Energy Company Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets As of December 31, (in thousands) (unaudited)

	2024			2023
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	7,232		$	2,842
Restricted cash		4,921			4,281
Accounts receivable		15,438			19,937
Inventory		36,685			23,075
Parts and supplies		39,104			38,877
Prepaid expenses		1,478			2,262
Assets held-for-sale		—			1,540
Total current assets		104,858			92,814
Property, plant and equipment:
Land and mineral rights		70,307			115,486
Buildings and equipment		429,857			537,131
Mine development		92,458			158,642
Finance lease right-of-use assets		13,034			12,346
Total property, plant and equipment		605,656			823,605
Less – accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization		(347,952	)		(334,971	)
Total property, plant and equipment, net		257,704			488,634
Equity method investments		2,607			2,811
Other assets		3,951			5,521
Total assets	$	369,120		$	589,780

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Current portion of bank debt, net	$	4,095		$	24,438
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		44,298			62,908
Current portion of lease financing		6,912			3,933
Contract liabilities – current		97,598			66,316
Total current liabilities		152,903			157,595
Long-term liabilities:
Bank debt, net		37,394			63,453
Convertible notes payable		—			10,000
Convertible notes payable – related party		—			9,000
Long-term lease financing		8,749			8,157
Deferred income taxes		—			9,235
Asset retirement obligations		14,957			14,538
Contract liabilities – long-term		49,121			47,425
Other		1,711			1,789
Total long-term liabilities		111,932			163,597
Total liabilities		264,835			321,192
Commitments and contingencies (Note 22)
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, $.10 par value, 10,000 shares authorized; none issued		—			—
Common stock, $.01 par value, 100,000 shares authorized; 42,621 and 34,052 issued and outstanding, as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively		426			341
Additional paid-in capital		189,298			127,548
Retained earnings (deficit)		(85,439	)		140,699
Total stockholders’ equity		104,285			268,588
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	369,120		$	589,780


Hallador Energy Company Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations For the years ended December 31, (in thousands, except per share data) (unaudited)

	2024			2023
SALES AND OPERATING REVENUES:
Electric sales	$	261,527		$	267,927
Coal sales		137,448			361,926
Other revenues		5,419			5,025
Total sales and operating revenues		404,394			634,878
EXPENSES:
Fuel		49,343			103,388
Other operating and maintenance costs		118,364			199,855
Cost of purchased power		10,888			—
Utilities		15,914			17,730
Labor		116,164			152,417
Depreciation, depletion and amortization		65,626			67,211
Asset retirement obligations accretion		1,628			1,804
Exploration costs		260			904
General and administrative		26,527			26,159
Asset impairment		215,136			—
(Gain) loss on disposal or abandonment of assets, net		(50	)		398
Settlement of litigation		2,750			—
Total operating expenses		622,550			569,866

INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS		(218,156	)		65,012

Interest expense (1)		(13,850	)		(13,711	)
Loss on extinguishment of debt		(2,790	)		(1,491	)
Equity method investment (loss)		(746	)		(552	)
NET INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES		(235,542	)		49,258

INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT):
Current		(169	)		(164	)
Deferred		(9,235	)		4,629
Total income tax expense (benefit)		(9,404	)		4,465

NET INCOME (LOSS)	$	(226,138	)	$	44,793

NET INCOME (LOSS) PER SHARE:
Basic	$	(5.72	)	$	1.35
Diluted	$	(5.72	)	$	1.25

WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING
Basic		39,504			33,133
Diluted		39,504			36,827


Hallador Energy Company Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows For the years ended December 31, (in thousands) (unaudited)

	2024			2023
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net income (loss)	$	(226,138	)	$	44,793
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Deferred income tax (benefit)		(9,235	)		4,629
Equity method investment (loss)		746			552
Cash distribution – equity method investment		—			625
Depreciation, depletion and amortization		65,626			67,211
Asset impairment		215,136			—
Loss on extinguishment of debt		2,790			1,491
(Gain) loss on disposal or abandonment of assets, net		(50	)		398
Amortization of debt issuance costs		1,747			3,233
Asset retirement obligations accretion		1,628			1,804
Cash paid on asset retirement obligation reclamation		(1,407	)		(3,384	)
Stock-based compensation		4,454			3,554
Amortization of contract asset and contract liabilities		(70,203	)		(97,018	)
Director fees paid in stock		150			—
Change in current assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable		4,499			9,952
Inventory		(13,610	)		15,548
Parts and supplies		(227	)		(10,582	)
Prepaid expenses		784			1,186
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(14,580	)		(18,992	)
Contract liabilities		103,181			33,804
Other		643			610
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	65,934		$	59,414


Hallador Energy Company Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows For the years ended December 31, (in thousands) (continued) (unaudited)

	2024			2023
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Capital expenditures	$	(53,367	)	$	(75,352	)
Proceeds from sale of equipment		4,239			62
Proceeds from held-for-sale assets		3,200			—
Investment in equity method investments		(542	)		—
Net cash used in investing activities		(46,470	)		(75,290	)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Payments on bank debt		(147,000	)		(59,713	)
Borrowings of bank debt		99,500			66,000
Payments on lease financing		(5,633	)		—
Proceeds from sale and leaseback arrangement		5,134			11,082
Issuance of related party notes payable		5,000			—
Payments on related party notes payable		(5,000	)		—
Debt issuance costs		(673	)		(6,013	)
ATM offering		34,515			7,318
Taxes paid on vesting of RSUs		(277	)		(2,101	)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities		(14,434	)		16,573
Increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash		5,030			697
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of year		7,123			6,426
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of year	$	12,153		$	7,123

CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS, AND RESTRICTED CASH:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	7,232		$	2,842
Restricted cash		4,921			4,281
	$	12,153		$	7,123

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
Cash paid for interest	$	10,511		$	9,966

SUPPLEMENTAL NON-CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
Change in capital expenditures included in accounts payable and prepaid expense	$	356		$	1,882

About Hallador Energy Company

Hallador Energy Company (Nasdaq: HNRG) is a vertically-integrated Independent Power Producer (IPP) based in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Company has two core businesses: Hallador Power Company, LLC, which produces electricity and capacity at its one Gigawatt (GW) Merom Generating Station, and Sunrise Coal, LLC, which produces and supplies fuel to the Merom Generating Station and other companies. To learn more about Hallador, visit the Company’s website at http://www.halladorenergy.com/.

Company Contact

Marjorie Hargrave
Chief Financial Officer
(303) 917-0777
MHargrave@halladorenergy.com

Investor Relations Contact

Sean Mansouri, CFA
Elevate IR
(720) 330-2829
HNRG@elevate-ir.com

The MIL Network –

March 18, 2025

MIL-OSI: South Plains Financial, Inc. Publishes 2024 Community Impact Report
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LUBBOCK, Texas, March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — South Plains Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPFI) (“South Plains” or the “Company”), the parent company of City Bank (the “Bank”), today announced the release of the Company’s 2024 Community Impact Report. This report demonstrates South Plains’ ongoing commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen in each of the unique communities in which the Company and the Bank operate.

“At South Plains, we value the importance of doing business the right way, for our customers, employees and our communities,” commented Curtis Griffith, South Plains’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our core purpose at City Bank is to use the power of relationships to help people succeed and live better by creating a great place to work, helping people achieve their goals, and investing generously in our communities. I am very proud of our achievements over the past year and excited with the many opportunities that lie ahead as we continue to strive to make a positive impact and help people live better.”

Highlights from the 2024 Community Impact Report:
- Provided more than $400 million in loans for small businesses, farms and community development during the year ended December 31, 2024.
- Employees volunteered more than 4,200 hours to 184 organizations.
- South Plains Food Bank recognized City Bank as the group of the year, as we continue to help serve more than 57,000 individuals annually.
- Provided 1,257 hours of learning to more than 500 students in our Texas and New Mexico markets in our first full year with our EverFi partnership.
For more information, please read the Company’s 2024 Community Impact Report, available at www.spfi.bank/communityimpact.

About South Plains Financial, Inc.

South Plains is the bank holding company for City Bank, a Texas state-chartered bank headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. City Bank is one of the largest independent banks in West Texas and has additional banking operations in the Dallas, El Paso, Greater Houston, the Permian Basin, and College Station, Texas markets, and the Ruidoso, New Mexico market. South Plains provides a wide range of commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals in its market areas. Its principal business activities include commercial and retail banking, along with investment, trust and mortgage services. Please visit https://www.spfi.bank for more information.

Available Information

The Company routinely posts important information for investors on its web site (under www.spfi.bank and, more specifically, under the News & Events tab at www.spfi.bank/news-events/press-releases). The Company intends to use its web site as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, investors should monitor the Company’s web site, in addition to following the Company’s press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts.

The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, the Company’s web site is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.

Contact:
Mikella Newsom, Chief Risk Officer and Secretary

investors@city.bank

(866) 771-3347

Source: South Plains Financial, Inc.

The MIL Network –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Commission payments to media in Europe – E-000839/2025
Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000839/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Ondřej Knotek (PfE), Klara Dostalova (PfE), Jaroslav Bžoch (PfE), Ondřej Kovařík (PfE), Tomáš Kubín (PfE), Jana Nagyová (PfE), Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (PfE)

According to reports from Il Fatto Quotidiano[1], Echo24[2] and Tichys Einblick[3] of 11 February 2025, the Commission allegedly distributed EUR 132.82 million to media outlets across Europe in a non-transparent manner. The allocation of these funds was reportedly decided upon by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, with the support of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council, the European Investment Bank and the European Economic and Social Committee. These grants are in addition to the millions awarded annually to the media, which have already been subject to past criticism. Instead of using public tenders for media funding, the Commission allegedly relied on a so-called ‘framework contract’ under which all funds were channelled through the advertising agency Havas Media France (Vivendi Group). The agency then determined the actual distribution of the funds in consultation with the EU’s leadership, without public scrutiny.

1.Which media outlets received these payments totalling EUR 132.82 million and for what specific purpose?

2.Were those funds intended to influence the outcome of the 2024 European elections?

3.In light of these revelations, how does the Commission intend to dispel concerns that it has interfered in independent, democratic elections?

Submitted: 25.2.2025

[1] https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/in-edicola/articoli/2025/02/11/ben-130-milioni-dati-ai-media-cosi-lue-ottiene-buona-stampa/7872331/.

[2] https://www.echo24.cz/a/HVv3s/zpravy-svet-dalsi-skandal-v-bruselu-evropska-unie-poslala-desitky-milionu-medialnim-domum-pred-volbami#dop_ab_variant=1446310&dop_source_zone_name=hpfeed.sznhp.box.

[3] https://www.tichyseinblick.de/daili-es-sentials/geheime-millionen-eu-finanziert-medien/.
Last updated: 17 March 2025
MIL OSI Europe News –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: CCI approves the acquisition of certain additional shareholding in Tata Play Limited (Tata Play) by Tata Sons Private Limited (Tata Sons) from Baytree Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd.

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 17 MAR 2025 8:32PM by PIB Delhi

The Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of certain additional shareholding in Tata Play Limited (Tata Play) by Tata Sons Private Limited (Tata Sons) from Baytree Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd.

The Proposed Combination involves the acquisition of 10% shareholding in Tata Play by Tata Sons.

Tata Sons is an investment holding company, which is registered as a core investment company with the Reserve Bank of India and classified as a “Systemically Important Non-Deposit Taking Core Investment Company”.

Tata Play, formerly known as Tata Sky, is one of India’s leading content distribution platforms providing Pay TV and Over-the-top (OTT) services. It provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) television, offering broadcaster’s satellite television channels and platform services across genres and languages. Tata Play also provides Tata Play Binge, an OTT platform that brings diverse and popular OTT apps on a single user interface.

Detailed order of the Commission will follow.

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launches PM Internship Scheme App in presence of MoS, Corporate Affairs Shri Harsh Malhotra
Source: Government of India (2)

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launches PM Internship Scheme App in presence of MoS, Corporate Affairs Shri Harsh Malhotra

PM Internship Scheme has the potential to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations- Finance Minister

Posted On: 17 MAR 2025 8:18PM by PIB Delhi

The Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, in the presence of MoS Corporate Affairs, and MoS Road and Transport Shri Harsh Malhotra launched a dedicated mobile app for the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme on 17^th March, at Samanvay Hall No. 5, at Parliament, New Delhi.

The App has the following features:
- Intuitive interface with a clean design and effortless navigation
- Easy registration through Aadhaar face authentication
- Effortless navigation – Eligible candidates can sift through opportunities by location etc.
- Personalized dashboard
- Access to a dedicated support team
- Real time alerts to keep candidates abreast of new updates
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman commended the Prime Minister’s vision in introducing a package of five schemes to promote employment, skilling, and opportunities. She emphasized that the PM Internship Scheme has the potential to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations, thereby enhancing youth employability. She further urged the industry to actively participate in the scheme, highlighting that their involvement would contribute to nation-building while fostering a skilled workforce in the country.

The Minister of State, Shri Harsh Malhotra observed that the launch of the PMIS App will significantly enhance accessibility to internship opportunities for the youth.

With the PMIS application, the users can also explore the referral program recently announced by Ministry of Corporate Affair (MCA). The referral program would enable the registered youth to refer other eligible candidates for the scheme and win rewards. The registered youth on the PM Internship portal (web browser) can also participate in this referral program.

The Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS Scheme) announced in the Budget 2024-25, aims to provide internship opportunities to one crore youth in top 500 companies in five years. As an initiation to this Scheme, the Pilot Project targeted at providing 1.25 lakh internship opportunities to the youth was launched on 03.10.2024 for the Financial Year 2024-25. Salient features of the Scheme are:
- 12-month paid internships in top companies of India.
- This scheme provides an opportunity to the youth to get training, and gain experience and skills within the real-life environment (at least six months) of the businesses or organizations that help in bridging the gap between academic learning and industry requirements, in turn, assisting enhancement of her/his employability.
- The scheme targets individuals aged 21 to 24 who are currently not enrolled in any full-time academic program or not in full-time employment, offering them a unique chance to kick-start their careers.
- Each intern will be supported with monthly financial assistance of ₹5,000, supplemented by one-time financial assistance of ₹6,000.
In the round I of the pilot project (October – December 2024), over 1.27 lakh opportunities in about 745 districts were posted by around 280 companies across 25 sectors. Over 82,000 offers were made to the candidates.

The round II of the Pilot Project commenced in January 2025 and about 327 companies have posted more than 1.18 lakh opportunities (both new and edited unfilled opportunities of the previous round) across the country. Of these, around 37,000 opportunities are for graduates, 23,000 for ITI holders, 18,000 for diploma holders, 15,000 for 12th-grade and 25,000 are available for candidates with 10th qualifications. Opportunities spanning across various sectors such as Automobile, Travel & Hospitality, Banking & Finance etc. and varied job roles, such as sales and marketing, technical roles for ITI passouts, HR internships, and more, have been provided. These opportunities are spread across 735 districts in all states and union territories of the country.

In Round II of the Pilot Project, initiatives have been undertaken to enhance access to and spread awareness about the PM Internship Scheme. The dashboard of the PMIS Portal has been simplified, made more user-friendly, and greater details of the opportunities and roles offered have been provided. Officials from the MCA, state governments, and industry partners interacted with the youth at more than 80 outreach events held at various educational institutes, such as colleges and Rozgar Melas.

A framework for assessment of the implementation of the Pilot Project, and to acknowledge and reward the efforts of the State and UTs in the implementation of the PMIS, has been introduced in round II of PMIS.

The internship application window for round II is open up till 31^ST March, 2025.

Eligible youth can apply through the new mobile app or through the Portal accessible at https://pminternship.mca.gov.in/.

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Researchers created sound that can bend itself through space, reaching only your ear in a crowd

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jiaxin Zhong, Postdoctoral Researcher in Acoustics, Penn State

For your ears only. Cinefootage Visuals/iStock via Getty Images Plus

What if you could listen to music or a podcast without headphones or earbuds and without disturbing anyone around you? Or have a private conversation in public without other people hearing you?

Our newly published research introduces a way to create audible enclaves – localized pockets of sound that are isolated from their surroundings. In other words, we’ve developed a technology that could create sound exactly where it needs to be.

The ability to send sound that becomes audible only at a specific location could transform entertainment, communication and spatial audio experiences.

What is sound?

Sound is a vibration that travels through air as a wave. These waves are created when an object moves back and forth, compressing and decompressing air molecules.

The frequency of these vibrations is what determines pitch. Low frequencies correspond to deep sounds, like a bass drum; high frequencies correspond to sharp sounds, like a whistle.

Sound is composed of particles moving in a continuous wave.
Daniel A. Russell, CC BY-NC-ND

Controlling where sound goes is difficult because of a phenomenon called diffraction – the tendency of sound waves to spread out as they travel. This effect is particularly strong for low-frequency sounds because of their longer wavelengths, making it nearly impossible to keep sound confined to a specific area.

Certain audio technologies, such as parametric array loudspeakers, can create focused sound beams aimed in a specific direction. However, these technologies will still emit sound that is audible along its entire path as it travels through space.

The science of audible enclaves

We found a new way to send sound to one specific listener: through self-bending ultrasound beams and a concept called nonlinear acoustics.

Ultrasound refers to sound waves with frequencies above the human hearing range, or above 20 kHz. These waves travel through the air like normal sound waves but are inaudible to people. Because ultrasound can penetrate through many materials and interact with objects in unique ways, it’s widely used for medical imaging and many industrial applications.

In our work, we used ultrasound as a carrier for audible sound. It can transport sound through space silently – becoming audible only when desired. How did we do this?

Normally, sound waves combine linearly, meaning they just proportionally add up into a bigger wave. However, when sound waves are intense enough, they can interact nonlinearly, generating new frequencies that were not present before.

This is the key to our technique: We use two ultrasound beams at different frequencies that are completely silent on their own. But when they intersect in space, nonlinear effects cause them to generate a new sound wave at an audible frequency that would be heard only in that specific region.

Audible enclaves are created at the intersection of two ultrasound beams.
Jiaxin Zhong et al./PNAS, CC BY-NC-ND

Crucially, we designed ultrasonic beams that can bend on their own. Normally, sound waves travel in straight lines unless something blocks or reflects them. However, by using acoustic metasurfaces – specialized materials that manipulate sound waves – we can shape ultrasound beams to bend as they travel. Similar to how an optical lens bends light, acoustic metasurfaces change the shape of the path of sound waves. By precisely controlling the phase of the ultrasound waves, we create curved sound paths that can navigate around obstacles and meet at a specific target location.

The key phenomenon at play is what’s called difference frequency generation. When two ultrasonic beams of slightly different frequencies, such as 40 kHz and 39.5 kHz, overlap, they create a new sound wave at the difference between their frequencies – in this case 0.5 kHz, or 500 Hz, which is well within the human hearing range. Sound can be heard only where the beams cross. Outside of that intersection, the ultrasound waves remain silent.

This means you can deliver audio to a specific location or person without disturbing other people as the sound travels.

Advancing sound control

The ability to create audio enclaves has many potential applications.

Audio enclaves could enable personalized audio in public spaces. For example, museums could provide different audio guides to visitors without headphones, and libraries could allow students to study with audio lessons without disturbing others.

In a car, passengers could listen to music without distracting the driver from hearing navigation instructions. Offices and military settings could also benefit from localized speech zones for confidential conversations. Audio enclaves could also be adapted to cancel out noise in designated areas, creating quiet zones to improve focus in workplaces or reduce noise pollution in cities.

A sound only you can hear.
Daly and Newton/The Image Bank via Getty Images

This isn’t something that’s going to be on the shelf in the immediate future. For instance, challenges remain for our technology. Nonlinear distortion can affect sound quality. And power efficiency is another issue – converting ultrasound to audible sound requires high-intensity fields that can be energy intensive to generate.

Despite these hurdles, audio enclaves present a fundamental shift in sound control. By redefining how sound interacts with space, we open up new possibilities for immersive, efficient and personalized audio experiences.

Yun Jing receives funding from NSF.

Jiaxin Zhong 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. Researchers created sound that can bend itself through space, reaching only your ear in a crowd – https://theconversation.com/researchers-created-sound-that-can-bend-itself-through-space-reaching-only-your-ear-in-a-crowd-252266

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: BBC Gaza documentary: how an editorial blame game overshadowed an important film and destroyed trust

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dorothy Byrne, President of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge

The war in Gaza has been a notoriously controversial and difficult story to cover as a journalist. The Israeli government banned international journalists from the territory. At least 171 journalists and media workers in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank have been killed since the war began.

The BBC has faced relentless accusations of bias from all sides. You would think, then, that when it commissioned the film Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, billed as a “vivid and unflinching view of life” in Gaza seen through the eyes of children, it would have been meticulous in its commissioning and oversight.

Yet almost as soon as the programme was broadcast on February 17, a journalist outside the BBC revealed that one of the children featured in the film, 13-year-old Abdullah, who also acted as its narrator, was the son of a Hamas official. His father, Ayman Al-Yazouri, is a deputy minister of agriculture and therefore, as Hamas runs the government of Gaza, a Hamas official.

No major investigation was required to find out who this man was – an expert on wastewater treatment, in particular on the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater, who received degrees from UK universities. No evidence has emerged that he is linked to Hamas’s militant operations. But getting someone with any link to what is classified as a terrorist organisation by western governments to narrate the film was inevitably going to be criticised – especially because the link wasn’t explained to viewers.

The BBC pulled the film four days after its premiere and said it would investigate the matter. Where it really went wrong was that, for 12 days, the BBC tried to pin the blame elsewhere. It dumped on the production company, Hoyo Films, stating: “The production team had full editorial control of filming with Abdullah.” T

I argue this is a weak defence. A broadcaster can’t blame someone else when a mistake appears in a film.

Under Ofcom regulations, the broadcaster has full editorial responsibility, regardless of whether a freelance or independent crew carried out filming. Any mistake is the BBC’s mistake.

I was head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 for 17 years. We sometimes made mistakes. It happens. But the key is not to make things worse by trying to wriggle out of blame.

As it happens, Channel 4 also featured this child in some of its news coverage without initially disclosing his father’s role. “As international media access is restricted, Abdullah was sourced through an established journalist who has also worked for other major global media outlets,” Channel 4 News said in a statement.

Ofcom regulations

The BBC’s second excuse was even weaker. It said that filmmakers were asked in writing a number of times whether this child had any connection with Hamas.

Here is a journalistic tip for the BBC’s news bosses: if you ask someone a question and they don’t answer, you don’t just keep asking. You demand answers or you go and get the answer yourself. As a former news boss myself, I would have demanded to see the boy’s entire family tree.

Finally, after 12 days, the BBC took responsibility and issued an apology.
BBC chair Samir Shah told MPs that people “weren’t doing their job” when it came to oversight of the production. Shah described it as “a dagger to the heart of the BBC claim to be impartial and to be trustworthy”.

A child of 13 should arguably not have narrated the film at all. He was not narrating his own words but a script written by the programme makers, which included facts about the history and geopolitics of Gaza. I would point the BBC to Ofcom guidance that children under 16 should not be asked for views on matters likely to be beyond their capacity to answer properly without the consent of a responsible adult.

On a subject like this, I would not have had a child narrate a film – especially not when one of the responsible adults in his life was a Hamas official.

This was a powerful and beautifully shot film. It’s hard to see how any of its content could be described as pro-Hamas propaganda. The strongest moment was when a child said he hated Hamas because they had caused the war and all the misery being suffered now. But it’s almost certainly politically impossible for an amended version of the documentary to now be shown, which is a great loss.

This debacle even resulted in a bizarre decision by the Royal Television Society to drop an award recognising the brave and brilliant work of journalists in Gaza (it has since reversed this after backlash from journalists). We have relied on journalists in Gaza to show us what is happening.

They have continued filming when their own families have been killed. Their reports have been powerful and moving and true. Why should they be punished for a BBC cock-up?

Falling trust

I have never worked for the BBC, but I have always admired it for two things. First, for the brilliance of its journalists. Second, for its ability to turn a mistake into a PR catastrophe.

The film contained editorial errors, but in my view the outrage built over days, resulting in calls not just for a public inquiry, but even a police inquiry, because the BBC wouldn’t take the rap. My journalistic heart went out to the great people who work at the BBC.

This ghastly incident sits alongside other (quite different) recent scandals about the BBC: the bad behaviour (whether alleged or proven) of powerful presenters and figures Huw Edwards, Russell Brand, Tim Westwood and Gregg Wallace. In each case, it turned out that BBC bigwigs had received complaints over long periods of time before the stories went public.

For many reasons beyond the BBC’s control, trust in the broadcaster is falling. It is constantly being attacked by the right-wing press, and undermined by conspiracy theorists who say you can’t trust the so-called mainstream media and that there is no such thing as truth.

In a 2023 YouGov survey on trust in media, only 44% of Britons said they trust BBC journalists to tell the truth. That was nearly half the level of trust in the BBC 20 years earlier, yet it still made the BBC the most trusted media outlet in the UK. Other surveys by Ofcom of people who actually watch TV news put trust in its accuracy much higher – something like 70%.

There is a general fall in trust in all institutions in the UK. The politicians and tabloids who attack the BBC are trusted far less than BBC journalists. But their unfair assaults make it all the more essential that the BBC avoids errors like this, and is transparent when those errors are revealed.

Dorothy Byrne was formerly Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel Four, and Editor at Large at Channel Four.

– ref. BBC Gaza documentary: how an editorial blame game overshadowed an important film and destroyed trust – https://theconversation.com/bbc-gaza-documentary-how-an-editorial-blame-game-overshadowed-an-important-film-and-destroyed-trust-251760

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Bank of Canada announces planned changes to its Contingent Term Repo Facility
Source: Bank of Canada

The Bank of Canada is announcing changes to the eligibility criteria and review process for applications for its Contingent Term Repo Facility (CTRF). As non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) play an increasingly important role in fixed-income markets and in the global financial system, these changes provide greater clarity on the eligibility of NBFIs and define more precise criteria to guide the Bank’s review of applications for eligible counterparties. These changes will inform the Bank’s decision on whether to grant individual applicants access to the CTRF.

The Bank will also make operational changes to enhance the efficiency of the CTRF. These changes include onboarding eligible counterparties prior to activation of the CTRF, conducting occasional readiness testing, and enhancing existing systems and processes that support the CTRF when the facility is used.

CTRF eligibility criteria

To ensure the CTRF remains an effective liquidity tool to address market disruptions in times of severe market stress, eligible counterparties will be subject to the following criteria:
1. Significant activity: Eligible counterparties must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Bank, significant activity in Canadian-dollar money markets and/or fixed-income markets, either through the size of their CTRF eligible assets and/or level of repo activity.
2. Regulation: The scope of the Bank’s review of eligible counterparties will depend on the extent to which they are subject to federal or provincial financial and/or market regulation.
3. Risk assessment: Eligible counterparties that demonstrate significant activity and that are subject to federal or provincial regulation will undergo a standard risk assessment, while those that demonstrate significant activity but that are unregulated will be subject to a more comprehensive risk assessment.
To better delineate the Bank’s liquidity facilities, any deposit-taking institutions currently eligible for the Bank’s Standing Term Liquidity Facility (STLF) will no longer be eligible for the CTRF.

Additionally, to enhance efficiency and improve operational readiness, the Bank plans to transition CTRF operations from a bilateral standing facility to a fixed-rate, full allotment auction that uses the Bank of Canada Auction System (BCAS) to conduct the Bank’s other overnight and term repo operations. Under this new format, if the CTRF is activated, the auction will be conducted daily at a specified time and will include multiple predetermined tenors (up to a maximum of 30 days). Further details and implementation of these policy changes will occur later this year, at which point onboarding of new CTRF-eligible participants will commence.

For further information, please contact:

Director
Financial Markets Department
Bank of Canada

Policy and Operations Advisor
Financial Markets Department
Bank of Canada

MIL OSI Canada News –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: AI at work: Reasoning models and the future of business

Source: Microsoft

Headline: AI at work: Reasoning models and the future of business

We are now living in a new reality—one in which AI can think and reason like humans, solving complex problems that have stumped even the most capable experts. This reality emerged just a few months ago, when OpenAI released the first of its AI “reasoning” models, which can understand and solve problems by making logical inferences and adapting to new information. More recently, DeepSeek made waves with a reasoning model that was developed more quickly and cheaply than we thought possible, and Anthropic released a hybrid reasoning model that can handle both immediate responses and those that require deeper consideration.

Let’s decode what happens when AI “reasons,” and what this remarkable new capability will mean for your business.

Understanding the breakthrough—and why it matters
Most current AI models rely heavily on pattern recognition to answer questions almost instantly, but reasoning AI takes a more deliberate approach. It engages in logical, multi-step analysis—a process called chain-of-thought reasoning—to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable chunks. That lets the AI explore different paths and backtrack or pivot when it’s wrong, similar to how humans solve problems.

Until recently, the go-to method for improving AI model performance was feeding it increasingly massive data sets during the training stage. Reasoning models leverage a different strategy called test-time compute, which involves using more processing power and time during the actual problem-solving stage. This means the AI takes more time and uses more resources to think deeply and provide more complete, accurate answers.

Reasoning AI isn’t perfect: humans still have a premium on common sense, and AI struggles with tasks that require understanding context beyond logical reasoning, such as interpreting nuanced language. Still, reasoning capabilities make AI extraordinarily powerful, able to solve problems that stymie other systems.

Here’s one example of that power in action: Ethan Mollick, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, wondered if OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model could spot a recently unearthed math error in a research paper that briefly sparked a panic about the safety of black plastic cooking utensils. He asked it to “carefully check the math in this paper,” and it quickly pinpointed the mistake.

As Mollick wrote, “When models are capable enough to not just process an entire academic paper, but to understand the context in which ‘checking math’ makes sense, and then actually check the results successfully, that radically changes what AIs can do.”

Reasoning models are racking up astonishing results on intelligence benchmarks, as Mollick points out. The GPQA Diamond benchmark tests high-level science knowledge that isn’t available online, and OpenAI o3 beat human experts with a score of 87.7%. In FrontierMath, a set of incredibly tough math problems, o3 scored 25.2%, a major improvement over previous models. And on ARC-AGI, a test designed to be doable for humans but hard for AIs, o3 scored 87.5%, besting both previous AIs and the baseline human level.

All this isn’t to say that AI is going to take the place of human expertise and judgment. But reasoning as a scalable, always-on resource represents a powerful new paradigm. This is a watershed moment—one that every leader and organization will need to come to terms with.

Decoding reasoning’s potential impact on business
Reasoning AI offers huge promise for business, across industries. Think of its potential for research and development. AI can now propose hypotheses and simulate outcomes on its own—thinking that’s well beyond the capabilities of standard prompt-and-response models. That advancement could cut years off traditional R&D cycles and bring breakthroughs in fields from renewable energy to pharmaceuticals.

More broadly, reasoning AI will upend many of our assumptions about work. Leaders should keep two things in mind: First, these models can perform cognitive labor that is equivalent to or better than humans. In other words, they can perceive, understand, reason, and execute—sometimes even create—at levels that approach or surpass human abilities. For every task your team needs to tackle, ask yourself, “Can AI do this job?” If the situation doesn’t call for uniquely human skills like judgment, nuance, originality, or emotional intelligence, the answer is now yes. We need to imagine a new division of labor for humans and AI—and new approaches to managing that labor.

Second, reasoning models change the economics of work. Historically, “acquiring” reasoning meant hiring humans, but that’s no longer exclusively the case. You can now rent or purchase cognitive labor on a consumption basis, similar to acquiring any other input for your business, from electricity to equipment. And that’s a very big deal. With efficient and affordable reasoning capabilities, your organization and industry will radically change. I expect that disruption to come from AI-native firms rather than incumbent companies. AI natives will have a competitive edge simply because they’ve been weaving AI into every process from the start.

It’s still early days for AI reasoning—and these are my initial thoughts. I’m certain that reasoning will crack open possibilities—and opportunities for business—that I haven’t even begun to imagine.

For more insights on AI and the future of work, subscribe to this newsletter.

MIL OSI Global Banks –

March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: Cutting digital curbs: How Azure AI Foundry is building a more accessible world
Source: Microsoft

Headline: Cutting digital curbs: How Azure AI Foundry is building a more accessible world

As we celebrate innovation in accessibility at Microsoft’s Ability Summit 2025, we invite you to explore how Azure AI can enhance accessibility in your products and services. The future isn’t just about removing barriers—it’s about building a world where everyone moves forward together.

When my wife and I had our first child, I started seeing the world differently. Pushing a stroller through our neighborhood, I quickly realized how much I had taken for granted—sidewalks that suddenly ended, intersections without curb cuts, pathways that were technically walkable but not built for wheels.

It wasn’t just a minor inconvenience. It made me think about my elderly grandmother, who relied on a walker. And my parents, who are active now but won’t always move as easily as they do today. Mobility and accessibility are deeply connected, and for the first time, I saw how infrastructure shapes our daily experiences—whether we notice it or not.

But physical mobility is only part of the equation. In the digital world, there are just as many curbs that need cutting. Websites that don’t work with screen readers. Captions that lag behind real-time speech. AI models that fail to understand diverse voices. These barriers may be invisible to many, but they create real limitations for millions of people.

And just like curb cuts in sidewalks, digital accessibility doesn’t just benefit one group—it makes technology better for everyone. That’s where Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, and the latest innovations in multimodal AI and Responsible AI (RAI) come in—helping organizations cut digital curbs and build a world that works for all.

As we recognize the impact of accessibility innovation at Microsoft’s Ability Summit 2025, we encourage you to explore how AI can drive greater inclusion in your products and services.

The goal isn’t just to eliminate obstacles—it’s to design a world where everyone moves forward together. Here are some of my favorite real-world examples.

Build with Azure AI Foundry today

Real-world impact: How Azure AI is cutting digital curbs

The curb cuts of digital accessibility didn’t start with generative AI—Microsoft has been building inclusive technologies for decades. From early screen readers to speech-to-text innovations, AI has long played a pivotal role in expanding access. But now, we’re going even bigger.

Bridging the mental health gap with AI-powered conversations 

Technology: Azure AI

Mental health support is a growing necessity worldwide, but in Kenya, where there are only about 100 psychiatrists for a population of 50 million, access to professional care is extremely limited. Financial and cultural barriers often keep people from seeking the help they need.

Kenya Red Cross saw an opportunity to bridge this gap using Azure AI-powered chatbots. In partnership with Pathways Technologies, they developed Chat Care, an AI-based mental health assistant that provides guidance, emotional support, and referrals—all in English and Swahili.

This isn’t just a chatbot; it’s a lifeline for people who may otherwise suffer in silence. Chat Care allows users to start conversations about their mental health in a low-pressure, anonymous way, reducing stigma and offering resources that are accessible 24/7. It can suggest breathing exercises, gratitude practices, and in-person services, all tailored to the user’s responses.

And for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or unable to speak on the phone, Chat Care offers text-based support, ensuring mental health services are available to everyone, regardless of ability or circumstance.

Improving AI speech recognition for non-standard speech

Technology: Azure AI Speech x UIUC Partnership

Voice recognition technology often struggles to understand people with non-standard speech patterns, making it harder for individuals with conditions like cerebral palsy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to interact with AI-powered experiences.

To solve this, Microsoft partnered with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and fellow tech leaders to build the Speech Accessibility Project—a research initiative to train AI models that recognize diverse speech patterns.

By integrating this breakthrough into Azure AI Speech, Microsoft is ensuring that AI-powered voice technology works for everyone, making digital experiences more inclusive across industries.

Making AI more accessible from the ground up

Technology: Azure AI Foundry

With Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft has embedded accessibility into the AI development lifecycle itself. By partnering with EY, the Azure AI Foundry now empowers neurodivergent customers, and features improved usability, reducing cognitive overload and improving navigation for all people.

In 2024, Azure AI Foundry reached a milestone for usability, reflecting feedback from people with disabilities that helped improve the platform. The updates included:
- Grouping notifications and deployment errors to reduce cognitive overload.
- Ensuring screen readers provide structured, easy-to-follow AI workflows.
- Enhancing keyboard navigation for people who rely on shortcuts over mouse input.
This is a prime example of why accessibility is about building better, more intuitive technology for everyone.

Making accessible AI work for agents

Technology: Computer-Using Agent (CUA)

Microsoft’s Computer-Using Agent (CUA) in Azure AI Foundry enables AI-powered automation of digital interactions, making software more accessible for people with limited mobility or dexterity. By allowing CUA to navigate interfaces, complete multi-step tasks, and execute actions through natural language commands, it reduces reliance on traditional keyboard and mouse inputs.

This breakthrough enhances digital accessibility, empowering people who use any kind of assistive technology. As CUA dynamically interprets UI elements, it makes it easier to navigate applications and workflows.

Hope, action, and moving forward together with Azure AI

There are days when it feels like progress is slow. That accessibility, whether physical or digital, takes too long to improve. But then I think about something as simple as the sidewalks at my cross streets.

Not that long ago, they were completely inaccessible. But after making a call, filing a report, and pushing the issue, those sidewalks finally got curb cuts just in time for the birth of our second child. It was a small fix in the grand scheme of things, but it made a real difference.

The truth is, sometimes it just takes someone noticing the problem and taking action. But I also know I say that from a place of privilege—I had the time, the resources, and the ability to advocate for that change. Many people don’t. That’s why it’s so important that we build accessibility into our systems from the start—so that no one has to fight for the basics.

With Azure AI Foundry, organizations can now scale accessibility faster than ever, making the digital world more navigable, usable, and welcoming to all. The curb cuts are being built—and the future of accessibility is wide open.

Join us at Ability Summit 2025

As we celebrate innovation at Microsoft’s Ability Summit 2025, we invite you to explore how AI can enhance accessibility in your products and services.

The future isn’t just about removing barriers—it’s about building a world where everyone moves forward together. 

Join us for the fifteenth annual Ability Summit

The 2025 Ability Summit is a free digital event where you will find the latest in AI and accessibility
MIL OSI Global Banks –
March 18, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/17/2025, 16-39 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A1035Y6 (BMBankP08) were changed.

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

03/17/2025

16:39

In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 17.03.2025, 16-39 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 81.65) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 839.18 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the security RU000A1035Y6 (BMBankP08) were changed.

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.

Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.

MIL OSI Russia News –

March 18, 2025

MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2025 Article IV Consultation with Antigua and Barbuda

Source: IMF – News in Russian

March 17, 2025

Washington, DC: On March 13, 2025, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation^[1] with Antigua and Barbuda and endorsed the staff appraisal without a meeting on a lapse-of-time basis. The authorities need more time to consider the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.^[2]

Antigua and Barbuda’s post-pandemic economic expansion is continuing. Real output is estimated to have surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with growth estimated at 4.3 percent, driven by strong tourism and one-off events (including the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States and the T20 Cricket World Cup). Inflation was elevated in 2024, reflecting contributions from specific items, notably communication, as well as increases in indirect taxes.

The recovery in nominal GDP, along with improved fiscal balances, brought down the public debt from around 100 percent of GDP in 2020 to 67 percent in 2024. However, gross financing needs are projected to remain around 10 percent of GDP in the medium term. Substantial domestic and external arrears, albeit with domestic arrears uncertain in size, have limited financing options. The fiscal primary balance improved to 4.6 percent in 2024, aided by indirect tax increases, a broader economic recovery, and one-off factors (e.g., nearly 2 percent of GDP from an asset forfeiture and unusually low capital spending). The 2025 Budget envisages stronger tax revenues and higher capital spending.

According to Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) preliminary estimates, the current account deficit narrowed to 7 percent of GDP in 2024, reflecting both a higher service trade balance—mainly tourism receipts—and a smaller goods deficit due to a contraction in imports. FDI inflows were resilient to tightening global financial conditions and continued to support ongoing hotel construction. Credit growth is recovering, with nonperforming loans contained.

Executive Board Assessment^[3]

In concluding the 2025 Article IV consultation with Antigua and Barbuda, Executive Directors endorsed the staff’s appraisal, as follows:

Antigua and Barbuda’s post-pandemic economic expansion continues. Economic activity, boosted by tourism, is estimated to have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. As the recovery matures, staff projects economic growth to moderate from 3 percent in 2025 to 2½ percent over the medium term. After an increase in inflation in 2024, in part reflecting one-off factors, underlying price pressures are expected to dissipate. The external position in 2024 is assessed to be moderately weaker than the level implied by medium term fundamentals and desirable policies. Efforts to raise revenue and address debt and fiscal challenges bore fruit in 2024, though further steps will be needed to restore debt sustainability, address the stock of outstanding arrears, and reduce gross financing needs in the medium term.

Risks are currently tilted to the downside, although upside risks are also present. Downside risks emanate from elevated uncertainty about the global outlook; a deepening of geoeconomic fragmentation; commodity price volatility; climate-related vulnerabilities; and capacity constraints in the construction sector. Upside risks stem from stronger demand for tourism; improved air connectivity; new cruise port facilities; hosting of special events; and the intensification of productivity-enhancing structural reforms, which could support higher medium- and long-term growth.

Addressing external and domestic arrears is key to broadening financing options. While the fall in nominal debt in 2024 is welcome, outstanding arrears to domestic suppliers and to the Paris Club remain obstacles to debt sustainability and constrain Antigua and Barbuda’s potential access to external and domestic financing. Given the additional vulnerabilities stemming from climate change and the resulting substantial adaption and resilience-building investment needs, efforts to address the current debt challenges, bolster government revenues, and improve public financial management are all the more critical.

Recent improvements in tax revenue are welcome, with further domestic revenue mobilization needed in the medium term to ensure fiscal sustainability. Antigua and Barbuda’s tax revenues remain below the authorities’ fiscal resilience guideline targets and are low by peer country standards. The authorities’ 2024 Budget measures have started to close the gap, but more will be needed in the medium term. To mobilize revenue without recourse to a personal income tax or higher ABST rates, near-term priorities could include tighter control of tax exemptions, transitioning to HS2022 classification in customs, and modernizing the framework for property taxation. Intensifying efforts to introduce a single window system at customs and to operationalize systems to allow e-filing, e-payment and e-registration of taxes is warranted. Introducing a large taxpayer unit as well as modernized IT systems would strengthen tax administration.

Better targeted social assistance would enhance inclusion while curbing inefficiencies. The current framework of social protection is fragmented across sectors and ministries. Staff sees scope to streamline these social programs to reduce overlap and tailor social assistance to the most vulnerable households. In this vein, staff encourages the development of a centralized information system or unified database to maintain accurate records of all beneficiaries, track support received, and identify gaps or duplications in coverage.

Room remains to strengthen fiscal institutions and oversight, building on recent progress. The operationalization of the Fiscal Responsibility Oversight Committee is welcome. To promote transparency and help build public understanding, staff encourages publication of FROC reports once further experience has been gained. These goals would also be served by parliamentary endorsement of the Fiscal Resilience Guidelines and the medium-term fiscal framework. Statutory exemptions should be consistent with the Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority Act and the Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority should monitor the approved projects. The envisaged reestablishment of the SOE unit in the Ministry of Finance would enhance SOE oversight and contain potential fiscal risks.

To reinforce financial stability and build on efforts to promote financial inclusion, regional coordination remains key. Staff assesses the financial sector to be broadly stable, with credit growth recovering and non-performing loans approaching prudential levels. The launch of the regional credit bureau can promote faster access to credit while maintaining lending standards. The ECCB-led climate risk initiatives and the regional partial credit guarantee scheme should also boost credit quality and financial intermediation. A more risk-based supervisory framework for credit unions, with enhanced monitoring of asset quality and credit forbearance measures in the context of the planned regional common regulatory standards, would help put credit unions and banks on a more level playing field. The inclusion of the ECCB in the National Oversight Committee on Financial Action improves coordination among supervisory authorities. The increase in investment thresholds for the Citizenship by Investment Program and the improved due diligence process can help safeguard the program’s integrity.

Intensifying reforms to improve the business environment would support potential growth by improving the allocation of resources between firms and addressing obstacles to firms’ operations. Staff analysis finds potential for large aggregate productivity gains from the reallocation of resources between firms, and scope to continue addressing obstacles that firms report in areas such as workforce education, access to finance, and customs and trade regulations. Targeted efforts to increase educational opportunities, employer‑employee matching at the One Stop Employment Centre, and the completion of the Skills Demand Survey, are warranted. Offering courses at local institutions could increase financial literacy among MSMEs, and implementing the single electronic window at customs would increase the efficiency of importing and exporting of goods.

Table 1. Antigua and Barbuda: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators
Population (2023)	102,195				Adult literacy rate (2015)						99
GDP per capita (US$, 2023)	19,627				Mean years of schooling (2022)						10.5
Life expectancy at birth (years, 2022)		79.2			Human Development Index rank						54
Mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births, 2022) 10 (2022, of 193 economies)

						Est.	Projections
		2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027		2028		2029
National Income and Prices
Real GDP		-18.9	8.2	9.1	2.4	4.3	3.0	2.5	2.5		2.5		2.5
Nominal GDP		-18.2	13.5	16.5	7.5	10.9	6.7	5.0	4.6		4.5		4.5
Consumer prices (end of period)		2.8	1.2	9.2	3.3	6.0	3.0	2.0	2.0		2.0		2.0
Consumer prices (period average)		1.1	1.6	7.5	5.1	6.4	3.5	2.4	2.0		2.0		2.0
Money and Credit
Net foreign assets		-4.4	18.2	3.3	0.2	3.3	3.2	3.8	2.5		1.3		0.3
Net domestic assets		-0.6	-4.4	1.3	4.4	-1.3	6.4	1.3	2.0		3.2		4.2
Broad money (M2)		-8.7	13.9	4.6	4.6	2.1	9.5	5.0	4.6		4.5		4.5
Credit to private sector		4.8	-4.1	-2.1	7.0	10.2	6.0	5.5	5.0		5.0		5.0
Central Government
Primary balance		-3.7	-2.3	-0.3	0.5	4.6	0.7	0.8	0.9		1.0		1.0
Overall balance		-6.2	-4.5	-2.8	-1.7	2.5	-1.3	-1.0	-0.7		-0.6		-0.5
Total revenue and grants		19.8	18.9	17.9	17.1	21.4	19.9	20.1	20.2		20.1		20.0
Total expenditure		26.0	23.4	20.7	18.8	18.9	21.2	21.1	20.9		20.7		20.5
External Sector
Current account balance		-15.6	-17.8	-15.6	-13.5	-7.0	-10.5	-10.2	-10.1		-9.8		-9.5
Trade balance		-28.6	-29.6	-34.4	-32.8	-28.2	-30.4	-30.3	-30.2		-30.0		-29.9
Nonfactor service balance		17.3	19.5	28.2	28.4	30.4	28.8	29.1	29.4		29.6		29.9
Of which: Gross tourism receipts		29.2	30.5	44.4	45.4	46.8	46.7	47.2	47.7		48.1		48.5
Overall balance		-6.5	3.5	-0.1	-2.5	0.5	0.9	1.5	-0.1		-1.1		-1.4
External public sector debt		47.5	45.5	39.4	36.0	30.9	31.1	34.5	37.3		39.7		39.0
Savings-Investment Balance		-15.6	-17.8	-15.6	-13.5	-7.0	-10.5	-10.2	-10.1		-9.8		-9.5
Savings		22.4	28.4	25.4	25.3	28.0	25.6	25.2	25.0		24.8		24.7
Investment		38.0	46.2	41.0	38.8	35.0	36.1	35.4	35.0		34.6		34.2
Memorandum Items
Net imputed international reserves (US$ million) 222 324 346 319 322 375 443										491		517		524
(Months of prospective imports)		3.1	3.2	3.3	3.1	2.7	3.0	3.4	3.6		3.6		3.5
GDP at market prices (EC$ million)		3,811	4,326	5,040	5,416	6,007	6,408	6,731	7,037		7,353		7,684
Public debt stock (EC$ million) 1/, 2/		3,829	4,021	4,134	4,134	4,028	4,063	4,265	4,410		4,502		4,601
(Percent of GDP)		100.5	93.0	82.0	76.3	67.1	63.4	63.4	62.7		61.2		59.9
Sources: Country authorities, ECCB, UN Human Development Report, World Bank, and IMF staff estimates and projections.
1/ Includes stock of principal and interest arrears, unpaid vouchers, and suppliers’ credits.
2/ Includes central government guarantees of state enterprises’ and statutory bodies’ debt.

[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

[2] Under the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The authorities have requested additional time to decide on the publication of the staff report. A final decision is expected not later than 28 days from the Board consideration date.

[3] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Meera Louis

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/03/17/pr25067-antigua-and-barbuda-imf-executive-board-concludes-2025-article-iv-consultation

MIL OSI

MIL OSI Russia News –

March 18, 2025

MIL-OSI United Nations: FAO warns of ‘unprecedented’ avian flu spread, in call for global action

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

17 March 2025 Health

The rapid spread of the highly infectious avian flu virus H5N1 has reached an “unprecedented” scale, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly spilling over into mammals, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday.

Briefing Member States in Rome, FAO officials called for urgent action to strengthen biosecurity, surveillance and rapid-response mechanisms to curb the outbreak.

FAO Deputy Director-General Godfrey Magwenzi stressed that the crisis threatens to have “serious impacts on food security and food supply in countries, including loss of valuable nutrition, rural jobs and income, shocks to local economies, and of course increasing costs to consumers.”

With millions relying on poultry for meat and eggs, the challenge is not only to contain the virus but also to protect food production systems.

The economic impact is also being felt worldwide. For example, egg prices reached a record high in the United States during February according to the US Consumer Price Index, with farmers forced to slaughter over 166 million birds so far in total as avian flu has spread – mostly egg-laying chickens.

So far this year more than 30 million birds in the US have been killed, according to news reports.

Coordinated response needed

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol underlined the need for a global, coordinated response, calling H5N1 a “transboundary” threat that no country can tackle alone.

To address the crisis, FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) have launched a ten-year Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza.

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. By working together, we can reduce the impact of avian influenza and protect both animal and human health – locally and globally,” Ms. Bechdol said.

Over the past four years, H5N1 has expanded to new regions, causing massive losses in domestic birds, disrupting food supplies and pushing poultry prices higher.

At least 300 new wild bird species have been affected since 2021, posing a serious threat to biodiversity.

Collective action and innovation

FAO reaffirmed its commitment to global monitoring, data sharing and technical guidance to help countries contain the virus.

Ms. Bechdol also stressed the importance of private sector engagement, particularly in developing vaccines, diagnostics and high-quality animal health services.

The briefing also included a third call for funding proposals under the Pandemic Fund, hosted by the World Bank.

Over the past two years, FAO has co-led dozens of Pandemic Fund projects aimed at strengthening disease surveillance, early warning systems and health infrastructure to prevent future outbreaks.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

March 18, 2025

Contact:	Mikella Newsom, Chief Risk Officer and Secretary
	investors@city.bank
	(866) 771-3347

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Category: Banking

Introduction

Monetary policy is forward looking …

… because there are lags in transmission

Monetary policy is always data dependent …

… because data informs our view of the outlook

Policy under uncertainty

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launches PM Internship Scheme App in presence of MoS, Corporate Affairs Shri Harsh MalhotraPM Internship Scheme has the potential to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations- Finance Minister

What is sound?

The science of audible enclaves

Advancing sound control

Ofcom regulations

Falling trust

Real-world impact: How Azure AI is cutting digital curbs

Bridging the mental health gap with AI-powered conversations

Improving AI speech recognition for non-standard speech

Making AI more accessible from the ground up

Making accessible AI work for agents

Hope, action, and moving forward together with Azure AI

Join us at Ability Summit 2025

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

Coordinated response needed

Collective action and innovation

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launches PM Internship Scheme App in presence of MoS, Corporate Affairs Shri Harsh Malhotra

PM Internship Scheme has the potential to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations- Finance Minister

Bridging the mental health gap with AI-powered conversations 