NewzIntel.com

Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: First Minister to attend Tartan Week events

    Source: Scottish Government

    Opportunity to promote strong business links with US.

    First Minister John Swinney will undertake a series of engagements in New York as part of Tartan Week, the annual celebration of Scottish heritage and culture in the United States.

    In recognition of the important role of the US as a key investment and trading partner, the First Minister will meet a number of high profile current and potential investors to promote the economic opportunities on offer in Scotland.

    Speaking ahead of his visit, the First Minister said:

    “Scotland enjoys deep AND ENDURING links with the US, which is both our largest inward investor, and second largest export market after the European Union.

    “In 2023, exports of Scottish goods to the US were worth £4 billion. And here in Scotland, more than 700 US-owned enterprises provide employment to more than 115,000 people.

    “Scotland is open for business and is one of the best places in the world to invest. We have a reputation as a world-class entrepreneurial nation, with the number of start-ups, spinouts, and scale up companies growing at pace. We also have the potential to become a strategic hub for future renewable energy investments, specifically by developing and scaling projects in offshore wind, green hydrogen, and energy storage.

    “Tartan Week in April is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate Scottish culture, and promote economic opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.

    “I am looking forward to attending this week’s Tartan Week events, meeting our dynamic diaspora, and engaging with some of our biggest current and potential investors. I want to showcase Scotland’s progressive international outlook, and our focus on innovation, sustainability and growth.”

    Background

    A more detailed itinerary of the First Minister’s programme will be released in due course.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Interview with Charles Croucher, Channel 9

    Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

    Charles Croucher:

    Welcome to the pre‑budget meeting. Just to ask that question, any line dancing in your Queensland days?

    Jim Chalmers:

    No, no. Blissfully free.

    Croucher:

    You’re a bit more hip‑hoppy, weren’t you? We’ve done 4 of these pre‑budget interviews. I’ve asked this question every time, so I’m going to start with it this time. When do things get easier for Australians?

    Chalmers:

    Certainly in the economy things are getting better. But we know that doesn’t always translate to how people are feeling and faring in the economy.

    That’s why when cost‑of‑living pressures are front of mind for so many Australians, they will be front and centre in the Budget that I hand down on Tuesday night.

    It will be a Budget primarily focused on helping people with the cost of living but also making our economy more resilient in the face of all of this global economic uncertainty and building Australia’s future.

    Croucher:

    Resilient? What does that mean?

    Chalmers:

    It means that the world is an uncertain place.

    There’s a lot of unpredictability, a lot of volatility. There’s a new world of uncertainty that we’re seeing unfold right around the globe and for Australia, we’re not immune from that.

    Making us more resilient means a Future Made in Australia. It means a Buy Australia Plan. It means making sure that as we get the Budget in better nick and we help with the cost of living, that we’re also investing in the jobs and industries of the future so that as the world changes all around us, we can be beneficiaries of that change, not victims of it.

    Croucher:

    You mentioned a Buy Australia Plan. This is getting more than just a catch cry or something that the Prime Minister has said in the past. This will be a laid out plan that will encourage Australians to buy Australian. How do you do that when cost is the driving factor? And what does it mean if they do that?

    Chalmers:

    One of the things that the Prime Minister said in response to the tariffs being levied around the world and on Australia was that one of the things that Australians can do, one of the decisions that Australians can make is to buy more Australian products and more Australian produce.

    There will be an opportunity for us to promote that in the Budget. That will be part of the Budget, but more broadly, making the economy more resilient means that Future Made in Australia, means making the most of our industrial opportunities, the energy transformation, human capital and skills and lifelong learning.

    That’ll be a big focus of the Budget as well. But primarily we know that cost of living is front of mind for most Australians, it will be front and centre in the Budget. You’ll see that when it comes to bulk billing, cheaper medicines and also extending the electricity bill rebates.

    Croucher:

    Let’s speak about that. Electricity bill rebates, an extra $150. How does it roll out?

    Chalmers:

    It rolls out in the second half of the year.

    The $300 that rolled out in the course of this financial year has been a really important way that we’ve helped people with the cost of living. This is more hip pocket help for households. It recognises that even as we’ve made all of this progress on inflation together, people are still under pressure and so there’s more help being rolled out on Tuesday night.

    Extending these energy bill rebates for another 6 months recognises the pressures people are under and in the most responsible way that we can, helps people with those pressures.

    Croucher:

    This time last year, I asked you if this was now baked into the Budget, this need for energy bill relief, because when it comes back on, it’s going to be inflationary right? When those subsidies are gone, it will force the price of things up. Is this just now another line item that every Treasurer from now on has to pay?

    Chalmers:

    Not necessarily.

    We keep these cost‑of‑living measures under more or less constant review. This is the third time that we’ve provided energy bill relief, but this time for 6 months rather than 12. That recognises first of all the pressures on the Budget, but also the progress that we are making on inflation.

    The Australian economy is turning a corner. We’ve got inflation down, real wages and incomes are up, unemployment’s low, we’ve got the debt down, interest rates have started to come down, growth is rebounding solidly in our economy. But we know that there’s more work to do because people are still under pressure. The global economic environment is uncertain. The Budget is designed to respond to those 2 things.

    Croucher:

    That all sounds like a really solid election or re‑election pitch, except the OECD say living standards have fallen. Now all those other things should be driving living standards. So, when do they turn around?

    Chalmers:

    They are. All of those things together are driving a recovery in living standards. Don’t forget, when we came to office, living standards were falling sharply, real wages were falling sharply, inflation and interest rates were going up. Now inflation and interest rates are coming down, incomes and wages are recovering, the tax cuts are flowing in our economy and all of that is rebuilding living standards in our economy.

    We recognise that it’s been an especially difficult period under the life of the last 2 governments. And when you recognise that, your choice is whether to do something about it or not.

    We’ve been doing something about it, getting wages moving again, tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy bill relief for every household, cheaper medicines, cheaper early childhood education, rent assistance, all of these ways that we’ve been rebuilding living standards. Because we recognise the pressure you’ve identified in your question.

    Croucher:

    David Littleproud was on the programme 10 minutes ago and he said he’d probably support these. This energy bill subsidy. But he said it is a last desperate roll of the dice from a government who’s lost control of energy prices. Is that right?

    Chalmers:

    Of course not. Energy prices in the last year to December went down by 25 per cent.

    Croucher:

    A lot of that was subsidy.

    Chalmers:

    Not all of it, but prices would have gone down even without the subsidies.

    Croucher:

    So, why is there still a need for subsidies?

    Chalmers:

    Because people are still under pressure, for all of the reasons that you and I have been talking about today and we’ve talked about on other occasions.

    But I say this about the Liberals and Nationals. They say they’ll probably support this cost‑of‑living relief. They haven’t supported the first 2 rounds of cost‑of‑living relief. They didn’t want the tax cuts to flow to every Australian taxpayer. They have opposed at almost every turn our cost‑of‑living help. That’s important for the election contest, because when Australians are doing it tough, the Labor government is helping with the cost of living.

    All they’ve got are these secret cuts that they won’t come clean on. And that’s the difference between Labor and Liberal. Our Budget’s about the cost‑of‑living. Their approach is about secret cuts. This is the week that they need to come clean on what those secret cuts mean for Medicare and pensions and payments and all of the other things that Australians rely on.

    Croucher:

    I want to move on to debt. It goes through a trillion dollars in the next couple of years. That’s been forecast for a while now. Are we at the stage now where any hope of turning surplus budgets is pretty much over?

    Chalmers:

    Not necessarily. We’ve delivered 2 surplus budgets. We took those enormous deficits that we inherited from the Liberal Party and we turned them into Labor surpluses. Even the deficit for this year is going to be substantially smaller than what was expected when we came to office 3 years ago. So, we’re making good progress. We’ve actually helped engineer the biggest ever positive turnaround in the budget in a single parliamentary term. That means $170 billion or so less Liberal debt. That means we save on interest costs.

    We’ve been able to manage the budget responsibly at the same time as we roll out cost‑of‑living help and invest in the future and that’s what you see on Tuesday night as well.

    Croucher:

    The next part of that is the next 10 years are all in deficit. So, we start going backwards and some of that money saved is still going backwards. So, how do we turn that around? It needs something bigger. Is that part of a second term agenda, a third term agenda? When do you look at that and say we can realistically get back into surplus and avoid that huge interest bill that’s coming down the pipeline?

    Chalmers:

    It requires the same combination of responsible economic management that we have been deploying, finding savings and there’ll be more savings in the Budget. Banking upward revision to revenue, most of that, we’ve seen that in the course of our time in office. Making sure that where we are making investments, we’re doing them in the most responsible way that we can. That’s what people can expect to see.

    Croucher:

    I want to be really quick on some, some overseas beef tariffs could be the next thing coming from Donald Trump. Do we have a plan B?

    Chalmers:

    It remains to be seen the nature and the magnitude of the tariffs that the Americans have flagged for early in April. We don’t take any outcome for granted. We work around the clock to make Australia’s case in that context. But we don’t pretend anything other than this is a new world of uncertainty.

    Croucher:

    And you can’t control him. What he can control is here. So, is there a plan B?

    Chalmers:

    What we’re seeing with these escalating trade tensions is casting a shadow over the global economy and over our own economy and our budget.

    Our plan A is about making our economy more resilient. What we’re seeing with all this uncertainty actually vindicates and validates the approach that we’ve taken – help people in the near term get the budget in much better nick and invest in making our economy more resilient. A Future Made in Australia, for example, investing in our industries and our jobs, our resources sector in areas like critical minerals.

    These are all of the most important things that we can do, and we are doing in the Budget in the face of all of this unpredictability around the world.

    Croucher:

    Last question on jobs, you mentioned it then. In our first interview we spoke about this collection of Australians that even though there were jobs available, that the unemployment rate was low, still weren’t out there and still weren’t working. You said it was a passion of yours. It’s something that, you know, the region you grew up in dedicates that. Same with me. How are we going with that?

    Chalmers:

    One of the things I’m proudest of is that we’ve got labour force participation, which is a measure of how many people that we can attract into work, that’s been at or around record highs during our time in office. I’m really proud of that. It’s one of a number of ways that we’ve made very substantial progress together as Australians.

    The stronger the labour market can be, the way that we can reward people by making sure that they can earn more and keep more of what they earn with the tax cuts. All of that is playing a very helpful role in our economy. This makes us exceptional around the world. Most other countries, they’ve got inflation down, but they’ve paid for that progress with much higher unemployment. Our unemployment rate, on average, over the life of this government has been the lowest of any government in 50 years. That means more people in work. It means we can address this intergenerational disadvantage that you and I care so much about.

    Croucher:

    I can hear the Liberals in my ears screaming, it’s lower. It’s now higher than when they left office at 3.9.

    Chalmers:

    Average unemployment, much lower under this government than under our predecessors. In fact, any government of the last 50 years.

    Croucher:

    Jim Chalmers, best of luck on Tuesday. Appreciate your time.

    Chalmers:

    Thanks so much Charles.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Interview with Patricia Karvelas, Afternoon Briefing, ABC

    Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

    Patricia Karvelas:

    For more on this, I want to bring in the Assistant Minister for Competition, Andrew Leigh. Andrew Leigh, lovely to speak to you.

    Andrew Leigh:

    Likewise, Patricia. Thanks for having me on.

    Karvelas:

    Now, a lot of Australians would probably fear – perhaps a little disappointed – that the report doesn’t suggest price gouging has occurred given people’s lived experience and worry that business as usual for the big 2 will occur after this. Is that a fair assessment?

    Leigh:

    Well, the report’s pretty harsh on the majors. I don’t think they’ll like it, but I think a lot of Australians will. It shows very clearly that the big supermarkets are among the biggest in the world and that they have increased their market share in the 17 years since we last had a supermarket report.

    It shows too, that there’s a bit of high‑low pricing going on where the majors take it in turns to put items on special with a sort of seesaw pattern, which looks pretty suspicious to me.

    The report makes very clear that the government’s approach of a mandatory Food and Grocery Code has been the right one, that we are on the right track with working with the states and territories on planning and zoning, and that we need to continue our action in tackling shrinkflation where the majors have become Olympic champions.

    Karvelas:

    The report says it’s not a duopoly, it’s an oligopoly. But Coles and Woolworths are among the most profitable supermarkets in the world. Does it concern you that they are that profitable? Does that demonstrate something about what’s going on here?

    Leigh:

    Absolutely, Patricia. I want families to get a fairer deal at the checkout, and I want farmers to get a fair deal at the farm gate. And that’s why we’ve got the mandatory Food and Grocery Code, the work we’re doing on shrinkflation, but also why we fund CHOICE to do quarterly grocery price monitoring, so people can see where they’re getting the very best deal.

    And it’s why we’re providing $3 million for training for suppliers, particularly those fresh produce suppliers so they can take advantage of Labor’s new mandatory supermarket code when it comes into effect next month.

    Karvelas:

    The ACCC did find that both Coles and Woolworths have a limited incentive to be competitive on prices, so without serious intervention or a serious kind of a big stick – something that they feel fear or fearful about, how does that actually change?

    Leigh:

    Yeah, I think that’s a really astute question Patricia. We’ve seen over the course of the last 17 years the rise of Aldi, but we’ve also seen the fall in Metcash. And as a result, we’ve seen the big 2 supermarkets actually increase their combined market share.

    What the ACCC recommends is we look hard at planning and zoning in order to create the opportunity for a new player if it was to come in to be able to start up. People will remember Kaufland made an attempt to enter the Australian market, and that would have brought welcome competition. We also have Costco and Amazon as potential competitors, and the report makes clear that we need the right competition settings to allow new competitors to pressure the majors in order to keep prices as low as possible.

    Karvelas:

    The regulator has also recommended the supermarkets provide more transparency in their negotiations with fresh produce suppliers. They found that there’s a bargaining imbalance, right? That’s essentially what their conclusion was. So, what does transparency there look like? Like, how would transparency be achieved?

    Leigh:

    Yeah, so what’s going on Patricia is that the fresh food suppliers are required to sign an annual contract, but then week to week they’re engaging in auctions around what the prices will be. And the ACCC has said that there ought to be price transparency as to what the prices are that come out of those auctions.

    And so farmers can say ‘well, I’m not getting a great deal from Coles, I’m going to go to Aldi or to Woollies’. That gives them greater power, and alongside the additional funding for supplier training and the new anonymous complaints process they’ll be able to make through the ACCC under Labor’s new mandatory supermarket code, that will help tilt the scales in favour of suppliers. Because let’s be honest, for too long, the supermarkets have been stacking the shelves in their favour.

    Karvelas:

    The ACCC said it had been unable to stack up claims that the big 2 were sitting on parcels of land to keep out competition. That’s been talked about as land banking. So, are you certain that they’re not doing this?

    Leigh:

    There’s a lot of sites that are being held. I think the draft report referred to about 100 sites which are being held, and so that’s certainly something we need to keep an eye on. And that’s why we’ve set up this work with the states and territories through getting National Competition Policy back on track.

    The Commonwealth has put aside $900 million into a productivity fund, which goes to things like ensuring that states and territories have competition front of mind when they’re doing planning and zoning.

    That hasn’t always been the case, as you know Patricia. But getting a competition lens across decisions like this makes sure that consumers get the best deal. We’re holding the supermarkets in check so Australians get the best deal at the checkout.

    Karvelas:

    Now, this report has landed, obviously, at the 11th hour before an election so we’re not going to get, sort of law reform before the election. There are very different policies being offered by you and the Coalition on this.

    David Littleproud, who is the Nationals leader and has really been pushing for divestiture powers, addressed this today and said that this is a report that’s been delivered that’s essentially politically palatable to you. I just want you to respond to that criticism that this is a report that essentially lets the government off the hook.

    Leigh:

    Well, that’s a shocking slur on the independent ACCC which worked hard on this report. David Littleproud’s, of course spitting in the dummy. Because this report has found what every other serious competition report has found. The Harper Review, the Hilmer Review, the Dawson Review, the Emerson Review – none of them recommended divestiture powers, and this report does not either.

    The difference between David Littleproud and Labor is we’re interested in solutions that work. He’s interested in slogans. The mandatory supermarket code which Labor put in place was voted against by the Liberals and Nationals.

    David Littleproud and his mates set up a voluntary toothless code of conduct and that’s what they wanted to continue. It took Labor to put in place a code with multi‑million dollar penalties over the votes of the Liberals and Nationals.

    Karvelas:

    He says that without that big stick and without the sort of fear of divestiture that we’re not going to see big change. Could he have a point?

    Leigh:

    He’s all hat and no cattle. The fact is the divestiture powers are very rarely used around the rest of the world, and a big stick that sits in the shed isn’t going to have very much impact on what you do.

    Really, we’re focused here on the measures that will make a difference for Australians. Measures which will help achieve results, like getting food inflation down to about half what it was when we came into office. Food inflation was running at 5.2 per cent when we took office Patricia. We’ve managed to get that down quite considerably.

    For the first time in a very long time, we’ve managed to get these additional powers for suppliers, which they just didn’t have under the Liberals and Nationals who took a hands off, laissez faire approach to this. It’s taken Labor to step on the side of the farmers and the side of the families to get both a better deal.

    Karvelas:

    I want to ask you just a couple of other questions because we’ve got a Budget coming and you have an economic hat, not a sort of farmer’s hat but an economic hat after your last hat comment, I want to talk about structural reform of the budget.

    Every day there’s another spending announcement, and some of the spending may be very worthy. So I don’t want to have a debate about whether the spending is worthy or not, because I think cheaper medicines people would probably want delivered. But there seems to be no strategy for paying for it. Are we going to see that strategy on Tuesday?

    Leigh:

    No look, I think that’s really unfair on Jim, Katy and the team that have worked to put this Budget together. The deficit that you’ll see is significantly smaller than the deficit that we inherited from our predecessors. And that follows 2 surplus Budgets where we have made difficult decisions in order to get spending under control to crack down on the rorts and waste that we inherited from the Liberals and Nationals.

    This is a Budget which is fiscally responsible, which aims to make investments for the future, which contains a big focus on dynamism and competition because we understand we need to get productivity going again.

    Ultimately, it’s that economic growth in the economy Patricia which will allow us to work towards paying down debt. That’s the very best way of managing to grow the economy. And I know that a pro‑growth progressive like Jim Chalmers is always thinking about those issues.

    Karvelas:

    Sure, growth is very important – no one would dispute that. But you have to make some tough decisions. Are they being put off until after the election? I mean, I would ask this to any Coalition people too.

    It seems to me that there is no serious discussion about the way that the budget looks in the years ahead. And we are clearly spending more than we’re taking in.

    Leigh:

    No, look, I don’t think that’s a fair critique. If you look at what we did in multinational taxation for example, no government has taken more action on multinational tax than ours. We closed the debt deduction loophole. We put in place a floor on global company tax. We’ve put in place transparency measures like country‑by‑country reporting.

    All of this is aimed at increasing the tax take and making sure multinationals pay their fair share, which also has a competition benefit too because then Aussie small businesses aren’t going up against multinationals with one hand tied behind their backs. So, that’s been an area of serious tax reform for us.

    Of course, changing the personal income tax cuts so every taxpayer got a tax cut, but within the same budget envelope was a key decision we took last year, opposed by the Liberals and Nationals but ultimately in the interest of the Australian people.

    Karvelas:

    Just finally, big tech have been lobbying the Trump administration to put tariffs on us for our approach to, you know, making them pay in our country. What’s your message to big tech? Are you prepared to take them on?

    Leigh:

    We certainly have been. The social media minimum age laws that were passed through last year were a marker of that. And the News Media Bargaining Code ensures that those platforms which benefit financially from great journalism make a financial contribution towards it.

    You know, these are sensible measures which don’t seek to curtail the platforms that many of us use and benefit from, but which recognise that in a modern economy we need the rules to advance, to keep pace.

    Karvelas:

    Do you expect that big tech will, you know, some of these bosses –Elon Musk – there are others will insert themselves into our election campaign?

    Leigh:

    I certainly hope not. I think we ought to be running an election which is free of foreign interference and one which is a contest of ideas. Now of course Patricia, I hope that in every single election, you don’t always see it, but we need to remember that goal and that the Australian democracy really is an extraordinary creation. We’re great democratic innovators, and part of that democratic innovation is ensuring we can have a contest of true ideas and strong policies.

    And, you know, I really hope the Liberals and Nationals actually start coming up with some of those policies, because I think it’s good for the nation when we have competing policy portfolios, not just a government with a big agenda and strong ideas against an opposition with hot air and a bunch of slogans.

    Karvelas:

    Andrew Leigh, lovely to speak to you. Thank you.

    Leigh:

    Likewise, thanks Patricia.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: The Year of the Warrior Celebrates Warfighting Mastery

    Source: United States Department of Defense (video statements)

    —————
    Soldiers from @1idbigredone celebrate the Warrior Spirit and 250 years of excellence for the @usarmy with the “Year of the Warrior” at Fort Riley, Kan.

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

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

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSi0TPckhPk

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: They said the perfect Army edit DIDN’T exist!

    Source: US Army (video statements)

    About the U.S. Army:

    The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.

    Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
    Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L

    Connect with the U.S. Army online:
    Web: https://www.army.mil
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USarmy/
    X: https://www.twitter.com/USArmy
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usarmy/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-army
    #USArmy #Soldiers #Military #Shorts #BeAllYouCanBe

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeX82JJkSM8

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Northland News – FEEDBACK CLOSING SOON ON MARSDEN MARITIME HOLDINGS, NORTHPORT PROPOSAL

    Source: Northland Regional Council

    FEEDBACK CLOSING SOON ON MARSDEN MARITIME HOLDINGS, NORTHPORT PROPOSAL
    Time is running out to have your say on a proposal that would see the ownership structure of Marsden Maritime Holdings (MMH) and Northport simplified, to set the region’s port up for the future.
    Together with investment partners Port of Tauranga and Tupu Tonu (Ngāpuhi Investment Fund Ltd), the Northland Regional Council is proposing to create a new joint-venture company combining MMH and Northport.
    Shareholding in the new company would be NRC (43%), Tupu Tonu (7%) and Port of Tauranga (50%), and would increase Northland’s stake in the port – a regionally-significant asset.
    Feedback on the proposal is open until 28 March – for more information go to www.nrc.govt.nz/MMHproposal
    BALLANCE FARM ENVIRONMENT AWARDS
    Northland celebrated the Regional Ballance Farm Environment Awards at Semenoff Stadium on Wednesday 19 March. The awards recognise farmers and growers who have demonstrated excellence in sustainability and environmental management, productivity and profitability, and family and community involvement.
    Kokopu beef farmers Rob and Mandy Pye of Mangere Falls Farm were the Regional Supreme Award Winner for 2025, also carrying away the Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award, Norwood Farming Efficiency Award, and the Beef & Lamb New Zealand Livestock Farm Award.
    Awards were also presented to:
    • Maria Puig and Maurico Castellano, Maulen Partnership & Northland College Farm – Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award; Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award; DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award; Hill Laboratories Agri-Science Award.
    • Pete Bond and Kelly Hackett, Bond Farms – NZ Farm Environment Trust Biodiversity Award
    • Board of Trustees and Matthew Payne, Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust – Rabobank Agribusiness Management Award; Farm Environment Trust Climate Recognition Award. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Angelus of the Third Sunday of Lent

    Source: The Holy See

    The following is the text prepared by the Holy Father Francis for the Angelus of this third Sunday of Lent:

    Text prepared by the Holy Father
    Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!
    The parable in today’s Gospel tells us about the patience of God, who urges us to make our life a time of conversion. Jesus uses the image of a barren fig tree, which has not borne the anticipated fruit and which, nevertheless, the farmer does not want to cut down: he wants to fertilize it again since “it may bear fruit in the future” (Lk 13:9). This patient farmer is the Lord, who works the soil of our lives with care and waits confidently for our return to Him.
    In this long period of my hospitalization, I have had the opportunity to experience the Lord’s patience, which I also see reflected in the tireless care of the doctors and healthcare workers, as well as in the care and hopes of the relatives of the sick. This trusting patience, anchored in God’s unfailing love, is indeed necessary in our lives, especially when facing the most difficult and painful situations.
    I am saddened by the resumption of heavy Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip, causing many deaths and injuries. I call for an immediate halt to the weapons; and for the courage to resume dialogue, so that all hostages may be released and a final ceasefire reached. In the Strip, the humanitarian situation is again very serious and requires urgent commitment from the conflicting parties and the international community.
    On the other hand, I am pleased that Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on the final text of the peace agreement. I hope that it may be signed as soon as possible, and may thus contribute to establishing lasting peace in the South Caucasus.
    You are continuing to pray for me with great patience and perseverance: thank you very much! I pray for you too. And together, let us pray for an end to wars and for peace, especially in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    May the Virgin Mary keep you and continue to accompany us on our journey towards Easter.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Wealthy Africans often don’t pay tax: the answer lies in smarter collection – expert

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Giovanni Occhiali, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, Institute of Development Studies

    Faced with some of the worse debt levels in over a decade, African countries are struggling to find ways to balance their books. Increasing revenue sources from their citizens is an obvious place to look.

    A good starting point for African countries would be to focus on the tax contribution of wealthy citizens. This is because the most under performing taxes across the African continent are those bearing on the income of wealthy individuals, namely personal income and property taxes.

    The reasons for this are two fold: People who are better off in some countries often remain invisible to tax authorities. This is even though they have higher tax liabilities. Compare this with citizens who have formal labour contracts. Think of public school teachers or supermarket clerks. Their taxes are withheld by their employers. This makes tax evasion impossible. Most taxes on personal income in Africa are paid by citizens in these forms of employment.

    In contrast, prior to 2015, only one of the top 71 Ugandan government officials and 17 of the country 60 most successful lawyers paid any personal income tax. Similarly, only 16% of all landlords identified in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, during a registration drive in 2021 had registered for taxes.

    This shows that wealthy Africans face lower effective tax rates than average citizens, replicating a trend already demonstrated for the relative tax burden of small and large companies.

    This situation is disheartening. But there are immediate steps that African revenue authorities can take to address this unfairness.

    Research led by the International Centre for Tax and Development, to which I have contributed, shows that revenue increases from wealthy citizens can be obtained by focusing on better enforcement of existing taxes rather than by introducing new ones or hiking tax rates.

    An effective approach to increase wealthy citizens tax contribution relies on three strategies:

    • their identification

    • a simplification of tax compliance processes, and

    • the effective enforcement of existing taxes.

    While these suggestions might seem banal, they can lead to some quick revenue gains: as much as US$5.5 million in Uganda or US$900,000 in a single Nigerian state in one year, or tripling property tax revenue collection in Sierra Leone.

    But these improvements require changes in the way African revenue authorities operate.

    Tax collection services need change of focus

    Revenue services in all African countries need to be better resourced. A typical tax officer on the continent might be responsible for as many as 10 times the number of taxpayers than a tax officer in the Global North.

    First, their efforts need to be redirected away from the registration of small informal businesses. These efforts have been shown to contribute little revenue in countries as diverse as South Africa and Sierra Leone.

    Instead their efforts should be directed a developing a definition of high-net-worth individual appropriate for their domestic context. In Uganda this includes criteria such as having performed land transactions of approximately US$300,000 over five years, or earning approximately US$150,000 in rental income in any given year.

    Due to its federal structure, criteria in Nigeria vary across states, for example including an yearly income above Naira 2 million in Borno and Kano state, with the threshold raising to Naira 15 million in Imo state, Naira 20 million in Niger state and Naira 25 million in Lagos state.

    However, in both countries criteria also cover less directly measurable assets, such as owning high-value commercial forestry or animal ranches in Uganda, or having received contracts from the government in Nigeria’s Kaduna state.

    Property taxes are especially important. Research in Ethiopia and Rwanda shows that investing in real estate represents one of the main strategies to store wealth when inflation and foreign exchange fluctuation make bank deposits unattractive.

    These properties then contribute to increasing the income of wealthy citizens who rent them out or resell them for profit. While we lack granular data on capital gains or rental income taxes, there are good reasons to think they are also significantly underperforming. Capital gains refers to the additional value which an investor accrues when disposing of assets such as houses or companies share previously bought at a lower price.

    Second, this should be followed by the creation of an office to follow the affairs of high net-worth individuals. This already happens for large taxpayers. Most countries, including the majority of anglophone African countries, have a dedicated office following the tax affairs of large companies active in their territory.

    Having dedicated resources for high net-worth individuals would be useful because using the international definition (a net worth of US$1 million) might be hard to operationalise. The reason for this is that most revenue authorities lack detailed data on assets owned by their taxpayers. Even when they know some information, such as the number of houses, estimates of their market value might be lacking.

    African countries are better off relying on data already in their possession as they seek to collect further useful information on their taxpayers. This allows the establishment of a set of multiple core and non-core criteria.

    Third, high-net worth individual units require substantial backing. In the first instance from revenue authorities’ senior management, who in turn needs to have the support of the government in pursuing often well-connected individuals. This backing is needed for actions as apparently easy as obtaining data from other government agencies, without which identification efforts could be quickly thwarted, and becomes crucial when its time to move to enforcement.

    However, a cooperative approach should be the initial choice. One approach is voluntary disclosure programmes with associated tax amnesties. These are useful to obtain information about the assets of wealthy citizens. Additionally, they contribute substantial revenue – as much as US$296 million in South Africa and US$192 million in Nigeria.

    Fourth, requiring candidates running for public office to obtain tax clearance certificates can also be an important source of information and revenue. This has been shown to work in both Uganda and Nigeria.

    This set of actions represents an optimal starting point for African countries looking to improve the tax contribution of wealthy citizens.

    Efforts to produce suitable guidance for wealth taxation for low-income countries by the United Nations, or to introduce a global wealth tax on billionaire by the Brazilian G20, are important to highlight the role of fiscal redistribution in addressing inequality. But many African countries are better off by first being bold about the basics of their tax systems, which can already make them more effective and progressive.

    – Wealthy Africans often don’t pay tax: the answer lies in smarter collection – expert
    – https://theconversation.com/wealthy-africans-often-dont-pay-tax-the-answer-lies-in-smarter-collection-expert-252437

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s message on World Meteorological Day [scroll down for French version]

    Source: United Nations – English

    he dark predictions of meteorologists are coming to pass. Our climate is going up in flames. Every one of the last ten years has been the hottest in recorded history. Ocean heat is breaking records. And every country is feeling the effects – whether scorched by fires, swept by floods, or pummelled by unprecedented storms.
     
    The theme of this year’s World Meteorological Day – Closing the Early Warning Gap Together – reminds us that, in this new climate reality, early warning systems are not luxuries. They are necessities and sound investments – providing an almost ten-fold return. Yet, almost half the world’s countries still lack access to these life-saving systems. It is disgraceful that, in a digital age, lives and livelihoods are being lost because people have no access to effective early warning systems.

    The United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative aims for everyone, everywhere to be protected by an alert system by 2027. The world must come together, and urgently scale-up action and investment, to realize this goal.

    We need high-level political support for the Initiative within countries, a boost in technology support, greater collaboration between governments, businesses and communities, and a major effort to scale-up finance. Increasing the lending capacity of the Multilateral Development Banks is key. The Pact for the Future agreed last year made important strides forward, it must be delivered in full. So must the COP29 finance outcome.

    At the same time, we must intensify our efforts to tackle the climate crisis at source – through rapid and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions – to prevent it getting unimaginably worse. This year all countries must honour the promise to deliver new national climate action plans that align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

    In an era of climate disaster, every person on Earth must be protected by an early warning system as a matter of justice. Together, let’s deliver. 

    ***

    Les sombres prévisions des météorologues sont en passe de se réaliser. Notre climat s’embrase. Les dix dernières années ont été les plus chaudes jamais enregistrées dans l’histoire de l’humanité. Les océans connaissent des niveaux record de chaleur. Incendies ravageurs, inondations dévastatrices ou tempêtes sans précédent : aucun pays n’est épargné par les effets des changements climatiques.

    Cette année, la Journée météorologique mondiale est placée sous le thème « Combler ensemble les lacunes en matière d’alertes précoces », qui vient nous rappeler que, dans cette nouvelle réalité climatique, les systèmes d’alerte précoce ne sont pas un luxe. En plus d’être indispensables, ils représentent des investissements judicieux, puisque les bénéfices qui en découlent sont pratiquement dix fois supérieurs aux montants investis. Pourtant, près de la moitié des pays de la planète n’ont toujours pas accès à ces systèmes d’une importance vitale. À l’ère du numérique, il est déplorable que des personnes perdent la vie ou voient leurs moyens de subsistance anéantis faute d’avoir accès à des systèmes d’alerte précoce efficaces.

    L’initiative « Alertes précoces pour tous » de l’Organisation des Nations Unies vise à ce que chaque habitant de la planète soit protégé par un système d’alerte d’ici à 2027. La communauté internationale doit unir ses forces et accroître d’urgence ses efforts et ses investissements pour atteindre cet objectif.

    Il est primordial que chaque pays accorde à l’initiative un soutien politique de haut niveau, qu’un appui plus énergique soit offert sur le plan des technologies, que les gouvernements, les entreprises et les communautés resserrent leur coopération et que les financements connaissent un véritable bond. Il est également crucial d’accroître la capacité de prêt des banques multilatérales de développement. Le Pacte pour l’avenir, adopté l’an dernier, a permis de poser des bases solides ; il doit maintenant être appliqué pleinement. Il faut également concrétiser les engagements pris en matière de financement à la vingt-neuvième session de la Conférence des Parties à la Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques (COP 29).

    Dans le même temps, il nous faut redoubler d’efforts pour chercher à résoudre la crise climatique à la source, en réduisant rapidement et fortement les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, afin d’éviter que la situation n’empire dans des proportions inimaginables. Cette année, tous les pays doivent honorer leur promesse de présenter de nouveaux plans d’action nationaux pour le climat qui soient compatibles avec l’objectif consistant à limiter le réchauffement planétaire à 1,5 degré Celsius.

    À l’ère des catastrophes climatiques, il faut que chaque personne sur Terre soit protégée par un système d’alerte précoce ; il s’agit là d’une question de justice. Ensemble, donnons corps à cette ambition.

    ***
     

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Cutting tracks for flourishing whio

    Source: Department of Conservation

    Date:  24 March 2025

    Whio are a threatened duck species unique to Aotearoa New Zealand. If they disappear from here, they’ll be gone forever.

    Work to protect whio in the Central Southern Alps began in 2004 with trapping in the Styx Valley. The trapping network quickly grew to include the valleys of Arahura, Taipo and Kawhaka behind Hokitika. The latest expansion into the Rocky and Griffin Creeks is the culmination of years of effort to protect whio in the area.

    Department of Conservation Biodiversity Ranger Antje Wahlberg says the site has been the slow and steady “tortoise” of the South Island security sites where active protection of whio is underway.

    “Although the other sites increased quickly to 50 or more protected pairs, Central Southern Alps has seen a slow but steady increase in its whio population thanks to predator control and our breed-for-release programme,” Antje says.

    “Rocky and Griffin creeks are a small but productive area for whio, and they fill a geographic gap we had in the centre of the Security Site. It feels like we’ve finally connected the dots.”

    “Thanks to the consistent support from Genesis we’ve been able to make this progress – we expect to count 50 protected pairs at our next full census.”

    DOC and Genesis have been protecting whio together since 2011, and staff involved in the partnership are excited to be celebrating Whio Awareness Week from 24-30 March.

    Kate van Praagh, GM Sustainability at Genesis, says the company’s staff are proud to support conservation efforts for whio.

    “It’s great seeing the outcomes of many years of trapping. Whio Awareness Week is a special time to shine a spotlight on whio and the amazing mahi being done to help whio thrive by communities in places such as the Central Southern Alps.”

    Antje says the steady success of whio in the Central Southern Alps has only been possible with a network of contributors including Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust, Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, Orana Wildlife Park, Kiwi Park Queenstown, and volunteers, as well as the support of Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae.

    “We can all be part of whio recovery, so look out for whio this Whio Awareness Week!”

    Background information

    • Whio Awareness Week is being celebrated 24-30 March 2025, with the theme ‘look out for whio’.
    • Whio/blue duck are a unique species found nowhere else in the world.
    • Whio are river specialists living on fast-flowing rivers.
    • Healthy whio populations indicate healthy rivers and streams. The more breeding pairs of whio, the healthier the river.
    • The survival of whio largely depends on the protection of secure source populations throughout mainland New Zealand.
    • Genesis partners with DOC to support the Whio Recovery Programme nationally.
    • Learn more about the Whio Forever programme and the Genesis – DOC partnership at Whio Forever partnership

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: African Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and Partners to host Regional Dialogue on Modernising Transparency and Accountability…

    Source: African Development Bank Group
    What:       High-Level Regional Dialogue on Public Finance Systems in Africa
    Who:        United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Development Bank Group (AfDB), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the government of the Republic of Benin
    When:      25 – 26 March 2025;…

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: No child should be forced to choose between hunger and education, King Letsie III and African Development Bank President Adesina declare

    Source: African Development Bank Group
    A school feeding organization in Kenya, Food4Education, left King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, so impressed that they made impassioned appeals to governments and corporate leaders to do more to end classroom hunger. 

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: World Water Day 2025: Preserving Africa’s Water Resources

    Source: African Development Bank Group
    Each year, World Water Day highlights the pressing challenges surrounding global water resources and the actions needed to address them. Nowhere is this more critical than in Africa, where nearly 1.4 billion people live, a number expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC Mar 23, 2025 1930 UTC Day 3 Severe Thunderstorm Outlook

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

     For best viewing experience, please enable browser JavaScript support.

    Mar 23, 2025 1930 UTC Day 3 Severe Thunderstorm Outlook

    Updated: Sun Mar 23 19:00:58 UTC 2025 (Print Version |   |  )

    Probabilistic to Categorical Outlook Conversion Table

     Forecast Discussion

    SPC AC 231900

    Day 3 Convective Outlook
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    0200 PM CDT Sun Mar 23 2025

    Valid 251200Z – 261200Z

    …NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AREAS FORECAST…

    …SUMMARY…
    Risk for severe weather appears low at this time across the U.S. on
    Tuesday.

    …Synopsis…

    An amplified upper pattern will persist on Tuesday, with an upper
    ridge over the West and an upper trough over the East. Toward the
    end of the period, an upper shortwave trough will approach the
    Pacific Northwest coast and isolated thunderstorms will be possible
    as cooling aloft allows for modest destabilization amid increasing
    southwesterly deep-layer flow.

    Isolated diurnal thunderstorm activity is also possible across
    portions of the FL Peninsula where strong heating and modest
    boundary layer moisture will support at least weak destabilization
    ahead of a southward sagging front. Large-scale ascent will be weak,
    limiting storm coverage, but some potential for locally gusty winds
    will be possible.

    Across the southern Plains, a surface front will stall in the
    vicinity of the TX Panhandle, eastward through the Red River Valley
    and ArkLaTex region. Daytime heating and boundary layer
    destabilization may be sufficient for a conditional risk of
    afternoon thunderstorm development. However, large-scale forcing
    will remain weak and some midlevel inhibition may preclude diurnal
    thunderstorm activity. Overnight, a modest low-level southwesterly
    jet will develop beneath increasing northwest flow aloft. Isolated
    thunderstorms may develop near the surface boundary. Some risk for
    isolated hail could accompany this activity, but confidence in this
    scenario is low, precluding severe probabilities at this time.

    ..Leitman.. 03/23/2025

    CLICK TO GET WUUS03 PTSDY3 PRODUCT

    NOTE: THE NEXT DAY 3 OUTLOOK IS SCHEDULED BY 0730Z

    Top/Latest Day 1 Outlook/Today’s Outlooks/Forecast Products/Home

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Crypto Whales Are Watching These 3 Altcoins – Should You Buy In Too Before the Charts Reset

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PANAMA CITY, March 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LF Labs token has captured significant attention this week as whale activity drives its price up by 13.37%, with trading volume spiking to $13.33 million. This surge has fueled speculation about the token’s potential for continued growth, as it outperforms many Ethereum-based alternatives. With increasing listings on major exchanges like Gate.io and MEXC, alongside its strong performance in DeFi markets, LF Labs is quickly emerging as a top pick for investors. As the $LF token gains momentum, crypto whales are signaling that it could be the next big breakout altcoin of 2025. Investors seeking to explore next-generation altcoins should keep a close eye on LF Labs as it positions itself for even greater potential in the coming months.

    Meanwhile, Uniswap (UNI) and PancakeSwap (CAKE) continue to attract whale interest, reinforcing the growing momentum in decentralized finance (DeFi) markets.

    Uniswap (UNI) Gains Momentum as Whale Confidence Grows

    Uniswap’s platform has received substantial investment from whales which resulted in a 3900% increase in large holder netflow within a seven-day period. The market has shown an optimistic shift through heavy investor participation in UNI’s value potential at a time of general market instability. The dollar value of tokens decreases as retail traders buy into the market thus reinforcing price stability.

    UNI Large Holders Netflow. Source: IntoTheBlock

    Market participants follow UNI’s performance because its decentralized exchange features continue to retain value through changing market conditions along with rising decentralized exchange requirements. The whale-led whale purchase demonstrates market positivity and expert analysts predict a temporary price increase. Lengthy investor interest in this pattern suggests the token will surpass comparable assets when moving forward in trading sessions.

    The increase in transactions from large wallets serves as an essential sign for potential UNI price appreciation while it captures investor attention regarding decentralized finance technologies. The combination of enhanced trading volume along with depleted availability creates conditions that could draw new investor interest in UNI. Core DeFi protocol exposure has attracted investors because of UNI’s improving conditions.

    PancakeSwap (CAKE) Rises as Meme Coin Activity Grows

    Previously dormancy-based wallets that contained significant amounts of CAKE have recently increased their activity measurements on PancakeSwap. A remarkable acquisition of 101 million CAKE tokens worth more than $250 million during the last 24 hours by whales has sparked inquiries about an upcoming strong return. The market interest in the token grows because BNB Chain has demonstrated increased meme coin trading volume.

    DEX users find PancakeSwap more attractive because decentralized trading platforms experience rising popularity enabling CAKE to become a leading selection for active virtual currency traders. The activity has established a conducive market condition that suggests CAKE may recover its value in upcoming days. Analysts observe investors showing more enthusiasm since major investors actively purchased tokens.

    CAKE Supply Distribution. Source: Santiment

    Persistent accumulation could give CAKE the chance to break out of its falling trend, which would then entice retail buyers to join. The Binance ecosystem depends on the token because it provides its users with both trading flexibility and increased liquidity. According to market analysts, short-term profitability becomes possible through sustained whale purchases.

    LF Labs ($LF) Emerges as the Top Pick Among Crypto Whales

    LF Labs’ $LF token leads whale interest this week with a 13.37% daily price jump, now trading at $0.0007578. The token’s market activity reached high levels when trading volume reached $13.33 million which elevated its volume-to-market-cap ratio to 579.58%. These figures confirm crypto whale confidence in LF Labs’ future performance and fundamentals.

    Source: CoinMarketCap

    The performance of the $LF token reached 121.90% during the past week, surpassing numerous Ethereum-based tokens in the market. 3 billion tokens presently circulate under a $6.24 million market capitalization, which indicates robust development possibilities for LF Labs. A valuation analysis of $20.80 million demonstrates major potential growth because the total possible supply of tokens surpasses current circulation levels.

    Several whale investors purchase $LF due to its cheap entry point, fast trading growth, Gate.io listing, and valuable practical applications. LF Labs has also introduced tailored liquidity solutions, 24/7 support, and global partnerships with over 700 projects. LF Labs represents a partnership between Alliance DAO Crypto Fund and passes the Certik audit standard while integrating innovation and transparent practices.

    The company known as Lovely Finance transitioned to LF Labs and delivered better brand recognition through solid building blocks and strengthened alliances. The company operates as a central DeFi growth engine through its distinctive market-making strategy and solutions that enhance scalability within Web3 ecosystems. The multiple cryptocurrency exchanges where LF Labs lists enhance both accessibility and liquidity because of growing interest from traders.

    Users who wish to trade LF Labs tokens can do so through Gate.io, HTX BitMart, and MEXC platforms. The project’s mission for a data-powered Web3 integration remains strong while LF Labs advances its worldwide expansion. People looking to invest in next-generation altcoins should consider LF Labs because its prospects are unmatchable before crypto price charts restructure.

    Contact:
    John Ellen
    CEO
    support@lflabs.fund

    Disclaimer: This press release is provided by LF Labs token. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector–including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining–complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility.

    Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/03ce3938-ad3a-47b3-8a56-1c5076b98697

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4dfbfad7-2ed4-4e24-96ba-7065487cbff5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fe1f593d-ef02-42c3-9d64-819174e1eadf

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: I was a music AI sceptic – until I actually used it

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexis Weaver, Associate Lecturer in Music Technology, University of Sydney

    Shutterstock

    With artificial intelligence programs that can now generate entire songs on demand, you’d be forgiven for thinking AI might eventually lead to the decline of human-made music.

    But AI can still be used ethically to help human musicians challenge themselves and grow their music-making abilities. I should know. As a composer and music educator, I was an AI sceptic until I started working with the technology.

    Two sides of the argument

    If you can write a text prompt, you can use AI to create a track in any genre, for almost any musical application.

    Besides generating full tracks, music AI can be used in sound analysis, noise removal, mixing and mastering, and to create entire sound palettes (such as for use in video games and podcasts). Suno, Beatoven, AIVA, Soundraw and Udio are some of the companies currently leading in the AI music space.

    In many cases, the outputs don’t have to be excellent, they just have to be good enough, and they can undercut the services of real musicians and sound designers.

    The music industry is understandably concerned. In April 2024, the US-based Artist Rights Alliance published an open letter, signed by more than 200 artists, calling for developers to stop training their AIs with copyrighted work (as this would allow companies to emulate artists’ music and image, and therefore deplete the royalties paid to artists).

    At the same time, music AI companies claim to lower the barrier to making music, such as by removing the need for physical equipment and traditional music education.

    In an interview from January, Suno’s chief executive Mikey Shulman said:

    it’s not really enjoyable to make music now. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of practice […] the majority of people don’t enjoy the majority of the time they spend making music.

    This is far from the message I want to send my students. However, it does unfortunately reflect the increasing pressure musicians feel to master their craft as soon as possible, in an increasingly fast-paced world that’s geared towards an intangible end goal, rather than enjoying the process of making mistakes and learning.

    From a sceptic to a reluctant advocate

    In 2023, I was commissioned by the Sydney Opera House create a new work with Sydney-based design company Kopi Su, and to develop a new generative music AI tool in the process. This tool, called Koup Music, is now in beta testing.

    I accepted the opportunity – but with quite a few hesitations, as I wasn’t really interested in working with AI. Would this be a huge waste of time, or end with my data added to some mysterious AI data pool? Or would it open up new creative directions for me?

    The tool was based on a text-to-image diffusion model called Riffusion. It takes a text prompt and generates a spectrogram, which is a visual representation of the various frequencies in an audio signal as they change through time. This is then converted to audio.

    First, I would upload my own recorded sample to the AI, and then choose a text prompt to transform it into a new five-second sample.

    For example, I could upload a short vocal melody and ask the AI to turn it into an insect, or re-contextualise it for a “hip hop” style. Sometimes the generated samples sounded very similar to my own voice (due to the vocals I uploaded).

    The following insect voice output became the subject of the musical piece below it.

    Somewhere between a voice and an insect.
    ·

    At the time of the project, the outputs could only be 5 or 10 seconds long – not long enough to make a full track. I considered this a positive, as it meant I had to incorporate the samples into my own larger work.

    Some samples were catchy. Some were funny. Others were boring. Some came out with scratchy, harsh timbres. The imperfection of it all gave me permission to have fun.

    I focused on generating separate musical elements with my text prompts, rather than fully arranged samples. A generated drum beat or melody line could be enough to inspire a completely new musical track in a style I would never have attempted otherwise.

    This output was used in the track How Things Grow.
    ·

    Sometimes, one generated sample was enough. Other times, I challenged myself to use only AI-generated sounds to create a full track. In these cases, I used techniques such as filtering and looping small snippets to tease out the sounds I wanted.

    For instance, I used the following audio samples to create the track below:

    These snippets were used in the track Boom Boom Boom.
    ·

    The process felt like a collaboration – like I was making music with a kooky colleague. This took away the pressure to make “perfect” music, and instead allowed me to focus on new creative possibilities.

    My takeaways

    I’ve concluded it’s not a bad idea to know what large music AIs are capable of. We can use them to further our own musical understanding, such as by studying how they use stylistic trends and mixing techniques, or how they translate musical ideas to suggest different genres.

    For me, the key to quashing my AI scepticism was using an AI that didn’t take over the entire working process. I remained flexible to its suggestions, while using my own knowledge to retain creative control.

    My experience isn’t isolated. Multiple studies have found that users of music AIs reported feeling satisfied with programs that allowed them to retain a sense of ownership over the composing process.

    The connecting factor across these projects was that the AI did not generate entire musical works in one go. Instead, a limited amount of musical information was generated (such as rhythms, melodies or chords), allowing the user to dictate the final result.

    The beauty in human imperfection

    Despite Shulman’s claims, the key to a meaningful relationship with music AI is to work alongside it – not to let it do all the work.

    Do I think every music student should start incorporating AI into their daily practice? No. But under the right circumstances, it can provide the tools to produce something truly creative.

    Making “imperfect” art that takes time – and hard work – is the price of being human. And I’m grateful for that.

    ·

    The author received a once-off financial commission from the Sydney Opera House to develop musical work made using the Koup Music AI, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House through a livestream broadcast on July 15th, 2023. After this initial performance the author continued to test the AI model for artistic research purposes. No funding was received to help prepare the manuscripts or research associated with this article. The author will not benefit financially from any promotion of the Koup Music tool, and has never received payment from Kopi Su.

    – ref. I was a music AI sceptic – until I actually used it – https://theconversation.com/i-was-a-music-ai-sceptic-until-i-actually-used-it-252499

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: This week’s federal budget will focus on cost-of-living measures – and a more uncertain global economy

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers will bring down the federal budget on Tuesday.

    It’s likely most of the major spending initiatives have already been announced. An extra A$8.5 billion in spending on Medicare will aim to ensure nine out of ten GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030. Queensland’s Bruce Highway is to be upgraded with the Albanese Government providing $7.2 billion of the $9 billion cost.

    In a speech last week, Chalmers promised “meaningful and substantial” cost-of-living relief.

    He also stressed the global economy is more volatile and unpredictable. He said the budget bottom line would be little changed from the mid-year update released in December, when the deficit was forecast to be $26.9 billion this financial year.

    It was a comprehensive dress rehearsal for tomorrow evening’s budget speech.

    No rabbits out of the hat

    Australian budgets today are well signposted in advance in speeches such as this. That is deliberate. It is seen as a mark of responsible fiscal management to have few surprises, either positive or negative.

    In past decades, treasurers were prone to announcing surprise spending measures. No longer. The rationale for rejecting the “rabbit out of a hat” approach was spelled out by former treasurer Wayne Swan in his 2008 budget lockup press conference: he said the budget had to be “responsible”. Chalmers was Swan’s deputy chief of staff at the time.

    This means calls by economists such as Chris Richardson and Ken Henry for major tax reform are unlikely to be heeded.

    Bracket creep (increases in tax revenues as taxpayers move into higher tax brackets) will do most of the work in the very gradual windback of the budget deficit. In the mid-year budget update, it was projected to take a decade to return the budget to balance.



    Read more:
    If Treasury forecasts are right, it could be a decade before Australia is ‘back in black’

    Good luck rather than good management

    Not that a balanced or surplus budget is a sign of good budgeting. The driver of recent budget surpluses under both Labor and Coalition governments has not been government policy but stronger than expected commodity prices and exports. They have been accidental, not deliberate.

    While deficits add to debt, imposing costs on future generations, what matters is whether the debts can be paid. If the economy grows faster than the rate of debt, the situation is manageable. So we are likely to see a chart in Tuesday’s budget papers showing this, with debt gradually declining as a share of Gross Domestic Product over time.

    However, these forecasts for the bottom line do not include off-budget items such as special green energy funds or student debt write-offs that total close to $100 billion, according to Deloitte Access Economics.

    This is because the budget covers only the “general government sector” – public service departments and agencies and the defence force. It is not the whole of the public sector, which includes commercial or financial entities like government business enterprises, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and various funds.

    On Sunday, the government announced further cost-of-living relief with an extension of electricity rebates, giving households another $150 this year. This will avoid headline inflation rebounding above 3%, as the Reserve Bank is currently forecasting.

    The energy rebate last year cost the budget an estimated $3.5 billion in 2024-25. Extending it for six months will cost $1.8 billion. Chalmers has also promised another reduction in the maximum cost of prescription medicines to $25.

    In December’s budget update, the unemployment rate was forecast to be around 4½% in mid-2025 and stay around that level for the next couple of years. Given the unemployment rate was steady at 4.1% in February, that forecast may be lowered.

    Inflation was forecast to stay below 3%.

    The increasing risk of a global trade war will see some reduction in forecasts for global and Australian economic growth. The OECD has lowered its forecasts for global growth and emphasised the international outlook is highly uncertain.

    This means the Australian budget forecasts are more likely than usual to be wrong. We just don’t know in which direction they will be wrong – will they be too optimistic or pessimistic?

    What will it mean for interest rates?

    The Reserve Bank board is unlikely to feel it has enough additional information to cut interest rates again at the April 1 meeting.

    Nonetheless, the government will be constrained in how much support it can provide households. It does not want undermine its narrative of future interest rate cuts by stimulating household spending too much.

    Something to watch for will be “decisions taken but not yet announced”. These are additional initiatives the government will announce during the election campaign. They will be able to answer the “where’s the money coming from?” question by saying they are already included in the budget.

    Finally, will there be increases in defence spending? US President Donald Trump is pressing US allies to do this. Trouble is, defence spending does not address the political problem of cost-of-living pressures – if anything it adds to them.

    A potential way out is for government to support more defence spending, but only “in principle”, leaving the details for future budgets. That would help manage both domestic and international pressures.

    John Hawkins was a formerly a senior economist at the Treasury and Reserve Bank.

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

    – ref. This week’s federal budget will focus on cost-of-living measures – and a more uncertain global economy – https://theconversation.com/this-weeks-federal-budget-will-focus-on-cost-of-living-measures-and-a-more-uncertain-global-economy-252515

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Trouble at Tesla and protests against Trump’s tariffs suggest consumer boycotts are starting to bite

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin O’Brien, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University

    Getty Images

    When the United States starts a trade war with your country, how do you fight back? For individuals, one option is to wage a personal trade war and boycott products from the US.

    President Donald Trump has said no nation will be exempt from his tariffs, and this includes both Australia and New Zealand. His tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, in particular, could hurt the sector in Australia, while New Zealand’s meat and wine exports to the US could also feel the effect.

    So far, political leaders have responded differently. Canada, Mexico and the European Union have imposed reciprocal tariffs on the US, while Australia has indicated it will not retaliate.

    But whether governments choose to push back or not, citizens in those and other countries are making their own stands. This includes artists such as renowned pianist András Schiff, who has cancelled his upcoming US tour.

    Most notably, collective outrage at the US president has led to a growing global boycott of Elon Musk’s Tesla due to his role in the Trump administration. Sales of new Tesla vehicles are down 72% in Australia and 76% in Germany. The share price has dropped by more than 50% since December 2024, with calls for Musk to step down as chief executive.

    Some governments are even encouraging consumer boycotts. The Canadian government, for example, has urged citizens to “fight back against the unjustified US tariffs” by purchasing Canadian products and holidaying in Canada.

    Canadians are clearly embracing this advice. Road trips to the US have dropped by more than 20% in the past month and US liquor brands have been removed from some Canadian stores altogether.

    This rise in calls for boycotts of American brands and companies is unsurprising in the Trump 2.0 era, where the lines between government and corporate America have become increasingly blurred.

    Political change by proxy

    When people want to protest a government policy, but have no political leverage because they’re not citizens of that country, boycotting corporations or brands gives them a voice. These actions are sometimes called “surrogate” or “proxy” boycotts.

    This form of “political consumerism”, where individuals align their consumption choices with their values, is now one of the most common forms of political participation in western liberal democracies.

    When France opposed the war in Iraq in 2003, US supporters of the war aimed boycotts at French imports. Consumers in the US, United Kingdom and elsewhere have boycotted Russian goods over the invasion of Ukraine, and targeted Israel over its military action and policies in Gaza and the West Bank.

    Most famously, protests against the apartheid regime in South Africa from the 1950s through to the 1990s helped isolate and eventually change its government.

    The current boycotts are not just protesting Trump’s trade war, of course. They are also about the role of unelected leaders from the corporate world, such as Musk and the heads of the Big Tech and social media companies, and their perceived self-interest and influence.

    Trump has responded angrily to consumer boycotts, calling the actions against Tesla “illegal”, which they are not. Indeed, political leaders like Trump often argue that consumer action, rather than government regulation, should be relied on to ensure corporations conform to social expectations.

    Ukrainians demonstrate in front of the Lukoil headquarters in Belgium over European imports of Russian fossil fuels, 2022.
    Getty Images

    How to wage a personal trade war

    Consumer boycotts do create change under certain conditions – typically when there is a contained problem that the targeted corporation has the power to solve.

    For example, consumer boycotts against Nestlé in the 1970s over false and dangerous marketing of powdered milk for infants led to changes in the firm’s marketing approaches. Boycotts of Nike products over sweatshop conditions for workers had a direct impact on the company’s bottom line and led to improvements.

    Things may still need to improve at Nestlé and Nike, but these boycotts show consumer pressure can catalyse corporate action. However, it is much harder – though not impossible – for boycott campaigns to succeed when the target is a government.

    Consumers boycotting American products can amplify the impact of their protest by also lobbying retailers. For example, if enough consumers stop buying a bottle of soft drink from the US, major supermarkets like Woolworths and Foodstuffs will stop buying thousands of bottles.

    There are also other ways to “vote with your wallet”. People can engage in “political investorism” by using their power as a shareholder, bank customer or pension-fund member to express their political views.

    After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for example, investors sought to divest from Russian companies, and superannuation funds were pressured by their members to do the same.

    As consumers and investors, individuals can wage a personal trade war, sending a clear message. Trump may not be willing to listen to the leaders of allied nations, but if consumer and investor pressure is sustained and spreads globally, he may yet hear the voice of corporate America.

    Erin O’Brien receives funding from the Australian Research Council to examine consumer and investor activism for social change. She is affiliated with the Australian Political Studies Association.

    Justine Coneybeer receives funding from the Australian Research Council to investigate ethical investment.

    – ref. Trouble at Tesla and protests against Trump’s tariffs suggest consumer boycotts are starting to bite – https://theconversation.com/trouble-at-tesla-and-protests-against-trumps-tariffs-suggest-consumer-boycotts-are-starting-to-bite-252489

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget Wallet and Berachain Unveil $80K BERA Airdrop for Ecosystem Users

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget Wallet, a leading Web3 non-custodial wallet, has partnered with Berachain to jointly launch an ecosystem campaign featuring a $80,000 BERA airdrop. Running from March 20 at 16:00 to April 2 at 16:00 (UTC+8), the initiative is designed to reward users who actively engage with Berachain’s rapidly expanding ecosystem through a series of interactive on-chain tasks.

    The campaign spotlights six emerging projects within the Berachain network: Dolomite, Kodiak Finance, Infrared, Wasabee (Honeypot Finance), Ramen Finance, and ZooFinance. Participants who engage with these decentralized applications (DApps) through Bitget Wallet—completing tasks such as staking, swapping, and wallet interactions—will become eligible for a share of the $80,000 BERA airdrop pool. The goal is to encourage user exploration of the Berachain ecosystem and support the growth of its early-stage protocols.

    As the first wallet to fully integrate Berachain, Bitget Wallet offers users direct access to the Berachain mainnet, along with built-in features like token swaps, cross-chain transactions, and DApp connectivity—eliminating the need for manual configuration or third-party tools. This initiative is part of a broader effort by Bitget Wallet and Berachain to lower the barrier to ecosystem adoption while supporting builders and early participants, reinforcing both teams’ commitment to making onchain participation more accessible and rewarding.

    “Berachain represents a new wave of DeFi infrastructure, and we’re excited to work closely with its ecosystem to bring users deeper on-chain experiences,” said Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet. “Through this campaign, we aim to lower the barrier to participation and reward users who help grow the next generation of decentralized protocols.”

    For more details, please visit Bitget Wallet X.

    About Bitget Wallet
    Bitget Wallet is the home of Web3, uniting endless possibilities in one non-custodial wallet. With over 60 million users, it offers comprehensive onchain services, including asset management, instant swaps, rewards, staking, trading tools, live market data, a DApp browser and crypto payment solutions. Supporting over 130 blockchains, 20,000+ DApps, and millions of tokens, Bitget Wallet enables seamless multi-chain trading across hundreds of DEXs and cross-chain bridges, along with a $300+ million protection fund to ensure safety of users’ assets. Experience Bitget Wallet Lite to start a Web3 journey.
    For more information, visit: X | Telegram | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn | TikTok | Discord | Facebook
    For media inquiries, please contact media.web3@bitget.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fa873586-8915-44f0-af6e-24c774b0bed7

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Despite some key milestones since 2000, Australia still has a long way to go on gender equality

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janeen Baxter, Director, ARC Life Course Centre and ARC Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow, The University of Queensland

    Australia has a gender problem. Despite social, economic and political reform aimed at improving opportunities for women, gender gaps are increasing and Australia is falling behind other countries.

    The World Economic Forum currently places Australia 24th among 146 countries, down from 15th in 2006. At the current rate of change, the forum suggests it will take more than 130 years to achieve gender equality globally.

    Australia has taken important steps forward in some areas, while progress in other areas remains painfully slow. So how far have we come since 2000, and how much further do we have to go?

    The good stuff

    There are now more women in the labour market, in parliament, and leading large companies than at any other time.

    Over the past 25 years, there have been major social and political milestones that indicate progress.

    These include the appointment of Australia’s first female governor-general in 2008 and prime minister in 2010, the introduction of universal paid parental leave in 2011, a high-profile inquiry into workplace sexual harassment in 2020, and new legislation requiring the public reporting of gender pay gaps in 2023.

    Timeline of equality milestones

    • 2000

      Child Care Benefit introduced, subsidising cost of children for eligible families

    • 2008

      First female Governor-General (Dame Quentin Bryce)

    • 2010

      First female Prime Minister elected (Julia Gillard)

      First Aboriginal woman from Australia elected to UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (Megan Davis)

      Australia’s first national paid parental leave scheme

    • 2012

      Julia Gillard misogyny speech

      Workplace Gender Equality Act becomes law, Workplace Gender Equality Agency established

    • 2013

      Dad or Partner Pay Leave commenced

    • 2016

      First Indigenous woman elected to House of Representatives (Linda Burney)

    • 2017

      Launch of Women’s Australian Football League

      #metoo movement spreads globally to draw attention to sexual harassment and assault

    • 2020

      Respect@Work National Inquiry into sexual harassment in the Australian workplace chaired by Kate Jenkins released.

    • 2021

      Grace Tame named Australian of the Year for her advocacy in sexual violence/harassment campaigns

      Independent review into Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces launched

    • 2022

      National plan to end violence against women is finalised

    • 2023

      Closing the Gender Pay Gap Bill passes parliament

    • 2024

      Superannuation on government-funded paid parental leave from July 1, 2025

      Parental leave to be increased to 26 weeks from July 2026.

    There are, however, other areas where progress is agonisingly slow.

    Violence and financial insecurity

    Women are more likely to be in casual and part-time employment than men. This is part of the reason women retire with about half the superannuation savings of men.

    This is also linked to financial insecurity later in life. Older women are among the fastest-growing groups of people experiencing homelessness.

    The situation for First Nations women is even more severe. The most recent Closing the Gap report indicates First Nations women and children are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised due to violence compared with non-Indigenous women.

    They are also seven times more likely to die from family violence.

    Improving outcomes for Indigenous women and children requires tackling the long-term effects of colonisation, removal from Country, the Stolen Generations, incarceration and intergenerational trauma. This means challenging not only gender inequality but also racism, discrimination and violence.

    At work, the latest data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency suggests the gender pay gap is narrowing, with 56% of organisations reporting improvements.

    On average, though, the pay gap is still substantial at 21.8% with women earning only 78 cents for every $1 earned by men. This totals an average yearly shortfall of $28,425.

    There are also some notable organisations where the gender pay gap has widened.

    The burden of unpaid work

    Another measure of inequality that has proved stubbornly slow to change is women’s unequal responsibilities for unpaid domestic and care work.

    Without real change in gender divisions of time spent on unpaid housework and care, our capacity to move towards equality in pay gaps and employment is very limited.

    Australian women do more unpaid and domestic work after having children.
    Shutterstock

    Australian women undertake almost 70% of unpaid household labour. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics time use data show that of those who participate in domestic labour, women spend an average of 4.13 hours per day on unpaid domestic and care work, compared with men’s 2.14 hours.

    This gap equates to more than a third of a full-time job. If we add up all work (domestic, care and paid), mothers have the longest working week by about 10 hours. This has changed very little over time.

    These charts, based on analyses of data from the Households, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) study, show what drives this gap.

    Women respond to increased demand for care and domestic work by doing more, while men do not. Parenthood significantly increases the time women spend on unpaid care and housework, while also reducing their time in employment.

    Men increase their time in unpaid care after a birth, but the jump is minor compared with women, and there is no change to men’s employment hours.

    Not surprisingly given these patterns, parenthood is associated with substantial declines in women’s employment hours, earnings, career progression, and mental health and wellbeing.

    The way forward

    Current policy priorities primarily incentivise women to remain in employment, while continuing to undertake a disproportionate share of unpaid family work, through moving to part-time employment or making use of other forms of workplace flexibility. This approach focuses on “fixing” women rather than on the structural roots of the problem.

    There is limited financial or cultural encouragement for men to step out of employment for care work, or reduce their hours, despite the introduction of a two-week Dad and Partner Pay scheme in 2013 and more recent changes to expand support and access.

    Fathers who wish to be more actively involved in care and family life face significant financial barriers, with current schemes only covering a basic wage. If one member of the family has to take time out or reduce their hours, it usually makes financial sense for this to be a woman, given the gender earning gap.

    The benefits of enabling men to share care work will not only be improvements for women, but will also improve family relationships and outcomes for children.

    Research shows relationship conflict declines when men do more at home. Time spent with fathers has been found to be especially beneficial for children’s cognitive development.

    Fixing the gender problem is not just about helping women. It’s good for everyone.

    Gender inequality costs the Australian economy $225 billion annually, or 12% of gross domestic product.

    Globally, the World Bank estimates gender inequality costs US$160.2 trillion. We can’t afford to slip further behind or to take more than a century to fix the problem.

    This piece is part of a series on how Australia has changed since the year 2000. You can read other pieces in the series here.

    Janeen Baxter receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (CE200100025) and an Australian Research Council Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellowship (FL230100104).

    – ref. Despite some key milestones since 2000, Australia still has a long way to go on gender equality – https://theconversation.com/despite-some-key-milestones-since-2000-australia-still-has-a-long-way-to-go-on-gender-equality-250250

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Asian Development Bank and Canada: Fact Sheet

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth across Asia and the Pacific. Working with its members and partners to solve complex challenges together, ADB harnesses innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard our planet.

    Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.

    Headquarters

    6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI: Vantage Drilling International Ltd. – Appointment of Director

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Dubai, March 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vantage Drilling International Ltd. (the “Company“) announces the appointment of David Warwick to its board of directors. Mr. Warwick has over 15 years’ experience in investment advisory, capital markets, corporate finance, commercial, strategy, and leadership. In addition, Mr. Warwick has longstanding experience in the oil and gas and shipping sectors including a decade working with the drilling contractor Seadrill in a variety of senior commercial and finance related roles. Mr. Warwick is currently the founder and principal of Artemis Investments LLC, a Dubai based entity involved in strategic investment opportunities and capital market transactions.

    About the Company

    Vantage Drilling International Ltd., a Bermuda exempted company, is an offshore drilling contractor. Vantage Drilling’s primary business is to contract drilling units, related equipment and work crews primarily on a dayrate basis to drill oil and natural gas wells globally for major, national and independent oil and gas companies. Vantage Drilling also markets, operates and provides management services in respect of drilling units owned by others. For more information about the Company, please refer to the Company’s website, www.vantagedrilling.com  

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump threats: Is foreign policy the biggest issue for Canadian voters this election?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Adam Chapnick, Professor of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of Canada

    Canadians are heading once again to the polls on April 28 to vote in a federal election.

    This election will offer voters competing visions of Canada’s future at a time when it has become all but impossible to separate foreign policy from domestic politics.

    There’s no question much of the conversation during the campaign will centre on how the next government will deal with United States President Donald Trump amid his continuing threats to Canadian sovereignty.

    But even though the Trump administration has undermined the liberal democratic world order in which Canada has prospered for close to a century, it’s unclear whether threats of a global tariff war, an ongoing divisive conflict in the Middle East and continued Russian aggression in Ukraine will directly affect how Canadians cast their votes.

    Most political scientists have traditionally argued that foreign policy does not matter to Canadians at the voting booth.

    But a recent book by historian Patrice Dutil has claimed that “at least half of Canada’s national elections featured substantive discussions of Canada’s place in the world.”

    So who’s right?

    Foreign policy as an issue

    My new report, “Foreign Policy and Canadian Elections: A Review,” finds truth on both sides.

    Foreign policy is what people who study elections call an “issue,” just like the economy, national security or health care.

    Issues compete with many other considerations — like ideology, perceptions of leadership and the need for change — to determine a voter’s ultimate decision.

    Local candidates can affect how people vote, as can party affiliation. If you live in a riding where your preferred candidate is unlikely to win, you might vote strategically.

    According to Canadian political scientist Elizabeth Gidengil, for an issue like foreign policy to really matter in an election, it must satisfy three conditions:

    • Political parties must position themselves on opposite sides of it;
    • Voters must be aware of the differences between the parties’ views;
    • The balance of opinion on the issue must clearly favour one side over the other.

    That rarely happens in relation to Canadian foreign policy. Our political parties don’t typically differ significantly on world affairs. When they do disagree, it’s unusual for the public to overwhelmingly support one side over the other.



    Read more:
    Trump’s potential embrace of ‘continentalist geopolitics’ poses grave risks to Canada

    Handling the Trump threat

    There are no real divisions between the election’s front-runners — Liberal Mark Carney and Conservative Pierre Poilievre — over how to deal with Trump.

    Both have pledged that Canada will never become the 51st state and have promised to strike back at American tariffs with economic measures of their own.

    Poilievre says he’ll manage Canada-U.S. relations more effectively than the Liberals would, but he has not proposed any different tactics to do so.

    On the other hand, Poilievre was clearly onto something in his endless quest to make the election all about the Justin Trudeau government’s carbon tax and rebate.

    Until Carney replaced Trudeau, the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals on carbon pricing were stark. Thanks to an extraordinary Conservative marketing campaign, the Canadian public was well aware of those differences — and a significant majority of Canadians sided with Poilievre.

    Now that Carney has axed the tax himself, those differences have become much less significant.

    Domestic politics aside, Trump will still loom large throughout the next five weeks.

    But international and domestic issues have been, and remain, sufficiently interconnected that it’s hard to discuss one to the exclusion of the other.

    Free trade with the United States was a key topic of debate during four election campaigns — 1891, 1911, 1935, 1988 — because of its impact on Canadians’ sense of independence.

    Canadians were divided over conscription during the 1917 election campaign. They differed over support for Britain during the 1956 Suez crisis and throughout the election the following year.

    Just as the American invasion of Iraq split the Liberals and the Canadian Alliance during the election of 2003, so did attitudes towards increased defence spending in 2000. Canadian support for Syrian refugees came up regularly during the 2015 election campaign.

    Still, it’s not clear if these differences affected more than a small number of individual Canadians when they marked their ballots.

    Voters tend to cast their ballots emotionally, and even though Trump is preoccupying the national consciousness at the moment, the leading political parties have not offered us specific policy alternatives to deal with him.

    What’s ahead this election campaign

    Over the next five weeks, Canadians should expect to learn about the leading political parties’ views on relations with the U.S., the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine, foreign interference in the affairs of state and Canada’s global defence.

    Voters can and should demand that those who wish to lead the country are thoughtful and literate on these and other international issues.

    As then Prime Minister Stephen Harper reflected in 2011:

    “Since coming to office — in fact, since becoming prime minister [in 2006] — the thing that’s probably struck me the most in terms of my previous expectations … is not just how important foreign affairs/foreign relations is, but in fact that it’s become almost everything. There’s hardly anything today of any significance that doesn’t have a huge international dimension to it.”

    But expecting party views on foreign policy to shape the election’s outcome is probably unrealistic.

    When we head to the voting booths, most Canadians will likely just listen to their gut.

    Exactly how Carney or Poilievre promises to deal with Trump probably won’t matter nearly as much as who they simply feel will do a better job on a host of issues.

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

    – ref. Trump threats: Is foreign policy the biggest issue for Canadian voters this election? – https://theconversation.com/trump-threats-is-foreign-policy-the-biggest-issue-for-canadian-voters-this-election-247065

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Can Mark Carney truly connect with Canadian voters? Canada will now find out

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Kevin Quigley, Scholarly Director of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance, Dalhousie University

    After a busy two weeks as prime minister, Mark Carney has called an election for April 28.

    As the first in Canadian history to be named prime minister without ever having held public office, Carney is hoping he can win the trust of Canadians. He’ll run for a seat in the Ottawa riding of Nepean.

    Trustworthiness is awarded to those who are at least perceived as knowledgeable, transparent and concerned. Can Carney pull it off?

    When it comes to economics, Carney is among the most knowledgeable in the country. After obtaining a PhD at the University of Oxford, Carney has had a distinguished public service career in the Canadian Department of Finance, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

    With such a high level of economic uncertainty today in the face of repeated threats from United States President Donald Trump, his supporters say he’s the right person to lead Canada. His chief rival, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, was first elected to the House of Commons at the age of 25 and has quite a different CV.

    Is Carney empathetic?

    Carney, however, might struggle more with the other characteristics of trustworthiness — seeming open and showing concern.

    The Conservatives have criticized Carney for not being more transparent about his private financial interests. While Carney is following disclosure rules, the Conservatives argue Canadians need to know more about whether he’s in a conflict of interest when he makes decisions in government.

    Carney’s answers to questions about his time at Brookfield Asset Management have on occasion been unsteady.

    On the surface, this is about transparency, but in fact it’s just as much about empathy and whether Carney can relate to working-class voters. By alluding to Carney’s wealth and connections, the Conservatives are implying that Carney is an out-of-touch elite who doesn’t share the concerns of average Canadians.

    Some of the early visuals of Carney can cut both ways.

    His recent chummy embrace at the Élysée with French President Emmanuel Macron exemplifies how immediately comfortable he is with world leaders. Some will find this reassuring, given the state of geopolitics; others might find it privileged and off-putting. Even his hockey skills, which were part of a recent photo-op in Edmonton when he practised with the Oilers, were acquired partly during his time at Harvard University, an institution among the most elite in the world.

    Empathy, instinct

    Can Carney connect with people?

    Arguably, he needs work on this front. He might consider some of his Liberal predecessors.

    Former prime minister Justin Trudeau could certainly rally a crowd. Trudeau became a motivational speaker in the 2000s and used opportunities like the WE Charity to practise public speaking to what would become an important constituency for him — young voters — when he led the Liberals to victory in 2015.

    Not everything can be taught at school. Political instinct is also crucial. It requires reconciling the knowledge of experts with the concerns of everyday citizens. There is no formula for this balance sheet.

    Here again, Trudeau had insight. Bill Morneau, a corporate executive himself and the former federal finance minister, noted after the COVID-19 pandemic that government payouts had been too generous and driven more by Trudeau’s view of the politics of the moment than by the economic analysis provided to him by the Finance Department.

    This may be so, but most would say Trudeau handled the early stages of the pandemic deftly.

    Chretien’s skills

    It was interesting that at the recent Liberal convention confirming Carney as leader, delegates gushed over former prime minister Jean Chretien, far from an elitist. A winner of three consecutive majorities, Chretien delivered a speech that went over at least as well with delegates as Carney’s.

    Chretien had unparalleled political instincts. When Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney rolled out the GST in 1991, it was deeply unpopular. Despite Chretien later famously backtracking on his original opposition to the GST, the Liberal Party under his stewardship used the issue to exact maximum damage on the Progressive Conservatives, delivering them a near-fatal blow.

    Chretien’s killer instincts trumped expert knowledge. While the Progressive Conservatives paid a heavy price for adopting the GST, the policy was largely advocated and shaped by business and economic elites, including in the Department of Finance. Good economics does not always make for good politics.

    Emotions to run high

    If the 1988 federal election that focused almost exclusively on free trade with the U.S. is any indication of what the next few weeks will look like in Canada, the election campaign is going to get heated quickly. Arguments may be more emotional than sensible.

    The fact that Carney dropped the carbon tax and capital gains tax was an early sign that he’s not an economist anymore, he’s a politician.

    The challenge for Carney — and for any politician in the heat of an election campaign battle — will be to find the sweet spot that reconciles expert opinion with public concerns and to articulate policies in a manner that voters will understand and support.

    Kevin Quigley receives funding from SSHRC.

    – ref. Can Mark Carney truly connect with Canadian voters? Canada will now find out – https://theconversation.com/can-mark-carney-truly-connect-with-canadian-voters-canada-will-now-find-out-252365

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump threats: Is foreign policy really the biggest issue for Canadian voters this election?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Adam Chapnick, Professor of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of Canada

    Canadians are heading once again to the polls on April 28 to vote in a federal election.

    This election will offer voters competing visions of Canada’s future at a time when it has become all but impossible to separate foreign policy from domestic politics.

    There’s no question much of the conversation during the campaign will centre on how the next government will deal with United States President Donald Trump amid his continuing threats to Canadian sovereignty.

    But even though the Trump administration has undermined the liberal democratic world order in which Canada has prospered for close to a century, it’s unclear whether threats of a global tariff war, an ongoing divisive conflict in the Middle East and continued Russian aggression in Ukraine will directly affect how Canadians cast their votes.

    Most political scientists have traditionally argued that foreign policy does not matter to Canadians at the voting booth.

    But a recent book by historian Patrice Dutil has claimed that “at least half of Canada’s national elections featured substantive discussions of Canada’s place in the world.”

    So who’s right?

    Foreign policy as an issue

    My new report, “Foreign Policy and Canadian Elections: A Review,” finds truth on both sides.

    Foreign policy is what people who study elections call an “issue,” just like the economy, national security or health care.

    Issues compete with many other considerations — like ideology, perceptions of leadership and the need for change — to determine a voter’s ultimate decision.

    Local candidates can affect how people vote, as can party affiliation. If you live in a riding where your preferred candidate is unlikely to win, you might vote strategically.

    According to Canadian political scientist Elizabeth Gidengil, for an issue like foreign policy to really matter in an election, it must satisfy three conditions:

    • Political parties must position themselves on opposite sides of it;
    • Voters must be aware of the differences between the parties’ views;
    • The balance of opinion on the issue must clearly favour one side over the other.

    That rarely happens in relation to Canadian foreign policy. Our political parties don’t typically differ significantly on world affairs. When they do disagree, it’s unusual for the public to overwhelmingly support one side over the other.



    Read more:
    Trump’s potential embrace of ‘continentalist geopolitics’ poses grave risks to Canada

    Handling the Trump threat

    There are no real divisions between the election’s front-runners — Liberal Mark Carney and Conservative Pierre Poilievre — over how to deal with Trump.

    Both have pledged that Canada will never become the 51st state and have promised to strike back at American tariffs with economic measures of their own.

    Poilievre says he’ll manage Canada-U.S. relations more effectively than the Liberals would, but he has not proposed any different tactics to do so.

    On the other hand, Poilievre was clearly onto something in his endless quest to make the election all about the Justin Trudeau government’s carbon tax and rebate.

    Until Carney replaced Trudeau, the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals on carbon pricing were stark. Thanks to an extraordinary Conservative marketing campaign, the Canadian public was well aware of those differences — and a significant majority of Canadians sided with Poilievre.

    Now that Carney has axed the tax himself, those differences have become much less significant.

    Domestic politics aside, Trump will still loom large throughout the next five weeks.

    But international and domestic issues have been, and remain, sufficiently interconnected that it’s hard to discuss one to the exclusion of the other.

    Free trade with the United States was a key topic of debate during four election campaigns — 1891, 1911, 1935, 1988 — because of its impact on Canadians’ sense of independence.

    Canadians were divided over conscription during the 1917 election campaign. They differed over support for Britain during the 1956 Suez crisis and throughout the election the following year.

    Just as the American invasion of Iraq split the Liberals and the Canadian Alliance during the election of 2003, so did attitudes towards increased defence spending in 2000. Canadian support for Syrian refugees came up regularly during the 2015 election campaign.

    Still, it’s not clear if these differences affected more than a small number of individual Canadians when they marked their ballots.

    Voters tend to cast their ballots emotionally, and even though Trump is preoccupying the national consciousness at the moment, the leading political parties have not offered us specific policy alternatives to deal with him.

    What’s ahead this election campaign

    Over the next five weeks, Canadians should expect to learn about the leading political parties’ views on relations with the U.S., the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine, foreign interference in the affairs of state and Canada’s global defence.

    Voters can and should demand that those who wish to lead the country are thoughtful and literate on these and other international issues.

    As then Prime Minister Stephen Harper reflected in 2011:

    “Since coming to office — in fact, since becoming prime minister [in 2006] — the thing that’s probably struck me the most in terms of my previous expectations … is not just how important foreign affairs/foreign relations is, but in fact that it’s become almost everything. There’s hardly anything today of any significance that doesn’t have a huge international dimension to it.”

    But expecting party views on foreign policy to shape the election’s outcome is probably unrealistic.

    When we head to the voting booths, most Canadians will likely just listen to their gut.

    Exactly how Carney or Poilievre promises to deal with Trump probably won’t matter nearly as much as who they simply feel will do a better job on a host of issues.

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

    – ref. Trump threats: Is foreign policy really the biggest issue for Canadian voters this election? – https://theconversation.com/trump-threats-is-foreign-policy-really-the-biggest-issue-for-canadian-voters-this-election-247065

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Child Poverty – CPAG calls on Ministers to reverse lunch cuts with Budget bid

    Source: Child Poverty Action Group

    The Child Poverty Action Group is urging senior Government Ministers to put children first and find the money needed to reverse the cuts it has made to the school lunches programme.
    CPAG has today written to Minister of Finance Nicola Willis with a ‘Budget Bid’ on behalf of the children of New Zealand.
    CPAG Executive Director Sarita Divis said David Seymour, Erica Stanford, Winston Peters and Louise Upston had been copied into the bid and CPAG wanted one of them to put the bid in.
    “It’s been problem after problem with school lunches this year: late deliveries, flies in food, inappropriate and unsafe food for students, a student in hospital with burns. Not to mention excessive wastage and lost economic opportunities for local community suppliers,” Ms Divis said.
    “The time has come for the Government to admit the cuts were a mistake and to put things right by funding the previous model properly.”
    CPAG was also concerned that nutritional information about the food under the new model was not clear. Good nutrition is essential for children, especially if they are not having breakfast or dinner.
    A recent Talbot Mills poll showed 60 percent of voters want the government to reinstate the previous Ka Ora, Ka Ako system.
    “Budgets and taxes are how we prioritise the things that really matter and the Government needs to put children first,” Ms Divis said.
    “Ministers will right now be putting in their Budget bids for Budget 2025. We ask the Ministers to consider stepping forward to do the right and compassionate thing, which is what most Kiwis want, and reverse the cuts for the children of New Zealand.”
    As well as reinstating the budgeted amount for food from $3 back to $8 per meal, CPAG wanted schools to once again be able to source school lunches from local community suppliers.
    “The new model has been bad news for children. David Seymour continues to say it’s working well, but Kiwis know that’s just not the case,” CPAG Deputy Chair Rich Greissman says.
    “Funding needs to be found in Vote Education, which is within the power of both Ministers Stanford and Seymour.”
    Ms Divis said Minister Upston, as Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, was also well within her power to call for funding to be reversed.
    “Corporate tax cuts or feeding hungry kids? It’s a no-brainer. The Government can find the money to do this. It is a choice.”
    Based on the 2023 and 2024 Budget Summary of Initiatives, CPAG refers to estimates of the cost of restoring school lunches to their 2024 standard, between $107-115 extra a year.
    There are also hidden costs to the new model, with many schools citing unexpected costs associated with the new model that are not covered by the School Lunch Collective.
    For example, schools are now having to employ people to remove waste which comes out of a school’s operations budget.
    Background
    The Ka Ora Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme was introduced in 2020 to meet genuine unmet needs in New Zealand classrooms and homes.
    It was a policy created by New Zealand First when it was in government with Labour and championed by former NZ First MP Tracey Martin which is why Winston Peters has also been copied into CPAG’s letter.
    In the lead up to the 2023 election, National leader Christopher Luxon described Ka Ora, Ka Ako as a “good programme” and promised it would “continue to improve each and every year under a National government”.
    A Ministry of Education evaluation of the original Ka Ora, Ka Ako in October 2022 found that the wellbeing results of the programme often exceeded expectations, with even greater benefits for students who rarely had enough food at home. Other benefits included less hunger at school, improvement in dietary patterns and greater local employment.
    The Child Poverty Action group is concerned the new model for school lunches, along with the cuts to the programme budget, puts these gains at risk.
    Under the Child Poverty Reduction Act (2018), the Government is legally required to address child poverty rates in the Budget with specific policies.
    The Child Poverty Action Group believes an additional $115m a year of funding for the school lunches programme represents a remarkably small cost when the wider economic and social benefits of Ka Ora, Ka Ako are considered.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI: Solana’s First Meta DEX Aggregator Titan Soft-Launches Platform

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, March 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Titan, Solana’s first meta-decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator, is today announcing the beta launch of its platform, initially providing private access to a select number of participants.

    Titan’s meta aggregation positions itself as the layer above DEX aggregators, like Jupiter or DFlow, meaning it collects all DEX aggregator quotes and routes the end user to the best one with zero fees. This ensures the user has access to all on-chain liquidity, as well as the entire set of available algorithms based on their trading profile. 

    In addition to meta aggregation, Titan has also developed its own proprietary algorithm called Talos that outperforms competitors 80% of the time. Titan deploys unique mathematical models not yet used within the Solana ecosystem that allocate routes to basis point precision, a vast improvement over current industry standards on Solana, as well as combing through significantly more liquidity sources with optimal capital allocation. 

    One of the biggest drawbacks of on-chain swaps is that a user typically receives a quote before executing, which takes around 10 seconds or 25 Solana blocks. This means the quote is fairly outdated by the time it is executed. 

    Titan solves this issue. In order to fairly compare options, quoted routes are continuously re-evaluated, giving users an up-to-date view of how well their quote performs. This effectively results in a real-time stream of current pricing data. 

    Chris Chung, CEO and co-founder of Titan, says: “Titan’s aim is to provide DeFi traders with the best possible prices while abstracting away the complexity involved. Today, crypto trading lags behind traditional markets in its order placement design. Transaction signing typically takes 10-12 seconds, creating a huge lag and opening the door to MEV bots to exploit this inefficiency. It’s time for us to upgrade our infrastructure and close this gap, and that’s what Titan is designed to do.”

    Titan raised $3.5 million in a September 2024 pre-seed fundraising round, backed by Round13 Digital Asset Fund and Beluga Labs. 

    About Titan
    Titan is Solana’s first Meta DEX Aggregator – a swap platform that leverages its own router along with the quotes of all other aggregators in the ecosystem to provide the best possible prices at all times. Battle-tested and proven during times of extremely high trading volumes, Titan’s proprietary algorithm consistently outperforms competitors 80% of the time. Its mission is to ensure that its users always get the lowest slippage and the best price, regardless of the trading environment, supporting the forthcoming mass adoption of crypto on the Solana blockchain. 
    To learn more about Titan, users can visit https://titandex.io/  

    Contact

    Managing Director
    Anna Fedorova
    Block3 PR
    anna@block3.pr

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f49cf41b-c7fc-4154-a9c6-68eab5ddd69f

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Pharmacare is now law in Canada, but negotiations with provinces could slow progress

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jane Fletcher, PhD Candidate in Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary

    Ensuring people have coverage for essential medications is crucial. (Shutterstock)

    Despite Canada’s commitment to universal health care, one in 20 Canadians cannot afford their prescribed medications, with people from Alberta, New Brunswick and British Columbia being the most likely to say they’re missing doses due to costs.

    When people skip medications, it leads to more emergency room visits, costly hospital stays and worse health.

    Ensuring people have coverage for essential medications is crucial. In October 2024, Canada took a step forward when Bill C-64, or the Pharmacare Act, received royal assent and became law.

    The act will cover contraceptives for nine million Canadians, helping with family planning and managing conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.



    Read more:
    Pharmacare’s design could further fragment and politicize Canada’s health system

    It will also cover diabetes medications for the 3.7 million Canadians living with the disease — critical for managing blood sugars and preventing complications like blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and strokes.

    Despite this historic passage of pharmacare legislation, its rollout remains uncertain. The government’s next steps are complicated by the Constitution Act of 1867, which gave provinces jurisdiction over health care.

    The federal government must now negotiate agreements with each province to implement the plan — a task made more difficult because medication coverage varies widely across Canada. Without full co-operation, pharmacare’s impact could be limited, with coverage gaps persisting for millions of Canadians.

    Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also said he’ll scrap pharmacare.

    Coverage differs among provinces

    In many provinces — including B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador — pharmacare coverage is provided universally with income-based deductibles. This means provincial coverage only kicks in after an individual reaches a spending threshold on medications. This threshold varies by age and income level.

    Alberta and New Brunswick use premium-based systems, requiring monthly membership fees.

    Most provinces also use co-payments, meaning people must cover part of the cost of each prescription — for example, 20 to 30 per cent of the full cost, or a flat fee of $5 to $10. Only Québec mandates prescription insurance coverage, either privately or through its public plan.

    Currently, a major driver of how much Canadians pay for their medications is arbitrary — it’s about where one lives. For example, a young Albertan living with diabetes and heart disease who earns $14,000 would need to pay $1,000 annually for medications. In Ontario, that same person would pay just $100.

    Such differences can influence where people choose to live and can hinder interprovincial labour mobility. It’s a driving force behind the push for pharmacare — to ensure free access to the most important medications, regardless of where someone lives.

    An opportunity for national pharmacare

    Pharmacare could have been implemented nationally, like it was for the Canadian Dental Care Plan, offering federal coverage for essential medications like contraceptives and diabetes medications, while insurers and provincial plans cover the rest.

    This would have been a simple approach that would have allowed for future changes, and could have been implemented by provinces much like vaccines are — paid for using people’s provincial health numbers, sidestepping the difficulty of enrolling people in a new plan.

    But in the waning days of the current Liberal federal government, it appears the chosen direction has been to negotiate separate agreements with each province and territory to establish a minimum standard.

    Movement in this direction has already been seen in B.C., Manitoba and P.E.I. where deals have already been made with the federal government, while other provinces remain in talks.

    The pace of these agreements remains uncertain, and it’s unclear when — or if — all the provinces and territories will sign on.

    The fight for pharmacare isn’t over

    As Canada takes its first steps toward pharmacare, many questions remain. For provinces with income-based deductibles, would the deductible simply shift to other drugs, meaning people with other health conditions won’t really save on their overall medication costs each year?

    For those with premium-based coverage, how would those who don’t enrol in the public plan access coverage? How would this be rolled out in Québec where some form of medication coverage is already mandatory?

    The push for universal drug coverage in Canada dates back decades. When medicare was first recommended in 1964 by the Hall Commission, it included a proposal for universal drug coverage that was ultimately never implemented.

    Over the decades, multiple reports, including the 1999 Kirby Report and the 2019 Pharmacare For All Report, have called for its implementation.

    Organizations like the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Nursing Association have similarly stressed its importance. Yet, despite decades of advocacy, Canada has remained the only country with a universal health-care system that doesn’t provide comprehensive drug coverage.

    With negotiations on pharmacare officially underway, its success will depend on federal-provincial co-operation, which has been increasingly strained in recent years. Advancing pharmacare is in Canadians’ best interest — especially for the 7.5 million people who cannot afford the medications their doctor prescribes.

    The question now is whether governments will act swiftly to implement pharmacare, or if political roadblocks will delay access to life-saving medications even further.

    Jane Fletcher receives funding from CANTRAIN (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and Alberta Innovates.

    David Campbell receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Diabetes Canada, and Alberta Innovates.

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

    – ref. Pharmacare is now law in Canada, but negotiations with provinces could slow progress – https://theconversation.com/pharmacare-is-now-law-in-canada-but-negotiations-with-provinces-could-slow-progress-250888

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Zaminer Cloud Mining Introduces New Opportunities in Cryptocurrency Mining

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Earn Passive Income with Zaminer

    MIDDLESEX, United Kingdom, March 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As blockchain technology continues to evolve and digital currencies gain traction, the cryptocurrency mining industry is expanding rapidly. ZA FUNDINGS LTD, through its cloud mining platform Zaminer, is introducing innovative solutions to make cryptocurrency mining more accessible, secure, and efficient for users of all levels.

    Simplified and Scalable Cloud Mining

    Zaminer eliminates the need for expensive mining hardware and complex technical setups by leveraging cloud computing. Users can easily create an account and select a computing power package that aligns with their needs, enabling a seamless entry into cryptocurrency mining.

    According to representatives from Zaminer, the platform utilizes state-of-the-art distributed data center technology and advanced mining algorithms to enhance efficiency and optimize mining operations. By removing traditional barriers to entry, Zaminer aims to create a more inclusive mining ecosystem.

    How Users Can Participate

    Zaminer provides an intuitive process for users to start mining cryptocurrencies:

    1. Register an Account: Sign up on the official Zaminer website
    2. Fund the Account: Users can deposit funds via USDT, BTC, and ETH.
    3. Select a Mining Plan: Various computing power packages are available in the “Computing Power Market”.
    4. Start Mining: Once a package is purchased, mining begins automatically, requiring no further manual intervention.
    5. Withdraw Earnings: Users can withdraw funds once their account balance meets the minimum threshold.

    Mining Potential and Considerations

    Mining outcomes depend on factors such as computing power, market conditions, and network difficulty. While some users have found mining to be a viable method of participating in the digital asset economy, results will vary.

    Contract options, durations, and potential earnings

    Key Advantages of the Zaminer Platform Include:

    • Accessibility: No need for specialized equipment or technical expertise.
    • Optimized Profitability: Advanced algorithms enhance mining efficiency
    • Security: Multi-layer encryption and distributed storage protect user assets.
    • Flexible Investment Options: Multiple computing power packages cater to different needs.
    • Global Infrastructure: A network of data centers ensures mining services.

    Advancing the Future of Digital Asset Mining

    As the global digital economy evolves, innovative cloud mining solutions continue to shape the cryptocurrency sector. Zaminer, backed by ZA FUNDINGS LTD, remains committed to developing blockchain-based solutions that provide users with secure and accessible ways to engage in cryptocurrency mining.

    “Our goal is to provide a simplified and efficient mining experience for users interested in participating in the digital economy,” said a Zaminer representative.

    About ZA FUNDINGS LTD

    ZA FUNDINGS LTD is a provider of blockchain-based financial solutions, specializing in cloud mining and digital asset management. Through its flagship platform, Zaminer, the company aims to empower individuals and businesses to participate in the growing cryptocurrency economy.

    Media Contact:
    ZA FUNDINGS LTD
    Email: info@Zaminer.com 
    Website: https://www.zaminer.com/ 

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a69f153c-2ced-4f66-802d-4ed60e20d5f3

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1a02c975-067d-4a3c-9cde-4c998777eaac

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: View from The Hill: 5 things to look for in the budget – and why we really need another budget soon

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

    Jim Chalmers likes to boast, or marvel, that he is the first treasurer since Ben Chifley to deliver four budgets in a term.

    If Labor wins the May election, the treasurer will reckon the budget will be done and dusted for this year. But actually, we really need another budget post election.

    That’s for two reasons. First, because this one will be short on any hard reforms or big savings, because it is all about chasing votes.

    From roads to health, this year has been give, give, give from the government. Much of the spending has been matched by the opposition. Just in recent days, the Coalition has said yes to the government’s initiatives to boost bulk billing and to reduce the price of pharmaceutical scripts. At the weekend, it instantly embraced the announcement to extend energy bill relief (A$150 dollars off bills in the second half of 2025).

    Secondly, the budget could, to an extent, be quickly overtaken because it is being delivered days before the Trump administration’s April 2 tariff announcement. That announcement could have big implications for the world economy, which would flow through to the outlook for Australia.

    The international fallout would be more serious for Australia than any direct hits we might take – there are worries around beef exports and pharmaceuticals – although the politics would centre on what happened to our industries.

    Given the election context, you will have to look hard for specific “nasties” in this budget. The main negative is likely to be the overall uncertainty about the future.

    So specifically, what should we look for on Tuesday? Independent economist Chris Richardson suggests, in an interview with The Conversation, five things to track.

    1. The big ‘off-budget’ number

    This is where the cost of initiatives does not directly show up in the underlying bottom line (which will be deficits through the forward estimates).

    Putting large commitments off budget has increased over the years. Richardson says the Albanese government inherited about $33 billion off-budget spending (over the forward estimates), and in this budget it could be more than $100 billion. This includes spending on student debt relief, the NBN, some housing areas, and infrastructure programs.

    Putting lots of items off budget “means less scrutiny and accountability,” Richardson says.

    2. Tax reform (or lack thereof)

    Richardson’s second item won’t involve much of a search. He asks rhetorically, “Will there be any hint the government is trying to do anything about the narrowing base of the tax take?” That is, anything to lighten the very heavy weight we place on personal and company taxes to raise revenue. As an advocate for tax reform, Richarson expects the budget will contain zero in this area.

    3. NDIS spending

    What is really happening with reining in spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme? The government has made much of its progress towards bringing the growth in its share of spending on the scheme down to a projected 8% annually.

    But Richardson says this is looking at only part of the story. Considerable responsibility is being pushed back onto the states; the federal government agreed to finance half the cost of new services to be delivered through state education and health systems for children with developmental disabilities to curb the burden on the NDIS. “To focus only on the federal spend on the NDIS is to miss the wider cost picture,” he says.

    4. The mid-year mystery

    How will the budget deal with the “mystery” that existed in its December mid-year update? That update did not seem to account for a rise in wages for public servants, even this was clearly in the pipeline.

    5. The Trump factor

    The budget will discuss the risks on the downside for the economy, but how will it deal with what is to come from Donald Trump? What assumptions will it contain on the likely actions of an unpredictable president?

    With the election so close, there will be almost as much interest in Peter Dutton’s Thursday budget reply as in the budget itself.

    The understanding is it will contain some new policy. It could hardly do otherwise. But will whatever Dutton announces stand up to scrutiny? If it is too thin, it will reinforce an impression the opposition is not presenting a credible alternative. In last year’s budget reply Dutton announced his proposed migration cuts and that quickly became mired in an argument about whether his numbers fitted together.

    Under the spotlight in budget week, the opposition also has to be careful with precisely what is being said and committed to. We’ve seen the confusion over its divestiture policy and about a possible referendum to facilitate the removal of dual citizens.

    On Sunday finance spokeswoman Jane Hume gave Labor some material for a scare campaign on the NDIS.

    She told Sky, “The NDIS, for instance, is one of those areas in the budget that has run out of control; it was growing at 14% per annum.

    “It’s been brought under control somewhat. We think that there’s more that can be done.”

    Chalmers immediately jumped on her comments, demanding detail. Labor’s spinners and ad team would have been rubbing their hands.

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

    – ref. View from The Hill: 5 things to look for in the budget – and why we really need another budget soon – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-5-things-to-look-for-in-the-budget-and-why-we-really-need-another-budget-soon-252513

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –