Category: Business

MIL-OSI: ITS Logistics March Port Rail Ramp Index: Trucking Capacity-to-Demand Ratio Could Increase Rates for Dray and Rail Capacity

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

RENO, Nev., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ITS Logistics today released the March forecast for the ITS Logistics US Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index. This month, the index reveals that Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LB) import volumes remain strong following the Lunar New Year, and there are signs that the trucking capacity-to-demand ratio may soon start pushing rates up for dray and rail capacity. In addition, equipment availability for exports is still an issue affecting individual ocean carrier lines throughout North America.

“Should rates begin to increase, this may affect truckers’ ability to honor dedicated pricing and tender acceptance in Q2,” said Paul Brashier, Vice President of Global Supply Chain for ITS Logistics. “It could be alleviated as more volumes return to the U.S. East & Gulf Coasts, now that labor strikes are no longer a concern. With the return of volumes back to the U.S. East & Gulf Coasts, there has been a tightening of capacity and terminal congestion at the major gateways of New York/New Jersey, Norfolk, Savannah, and Houston.”

On March 11, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) signed an extension to its Master Contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). This agreement is set to last until September 30, 2030, and includes workforce protection guidelines that require a detailed explanation of the technology that will be used and its effects on capacity and efficiency. The agreement also requires determination on the manning for new equipment to be included with stipulations that new work created by the technology be identified with training included for workers.

Despite this new agreement, the supply chain continues to experience challenges, including the current equipment availability concerning exporters, which has been a lingering concern thus far in 2025.

“This latest supply chain challenge in equipment availability that ITS is closely monitoring is driven primarily by equipment imbalance and rail operations,” continued Brashier. “Rail operations are seeing similar sporadic challenges regionally. LA/Long Beach IPI dwell remains high for imports moving east. That, combined with rail transit delay and lower inland transportation costs, are pushing some shippers to move imports back to the ports on the East Coast and draying inland to avoid IPI legs.”

As concerns over labor strikes ease, import volumes have begun redistributing from the West back to East and Gulf Coast ports. However, the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) recent proposal targeting Chinese vessels threatens to disrupt U.S. port operations once again. Announced in late January, the proposal includes fees targeting Chinese vessel operators, Chinese-built vessels, and operators with a certain percentage of vessels ordered from Chinese shipyards. Research from the World Shipping Council (WSC) has found that the proposal could add up to $3.5 million in fees per individual port call to 98% of vessels entering the U.S. The WSC notes that ocean carriers have already indicated they may eliminate service to smaller ports to avoid these costs—a move that would severely impact regional logistics ecosystems and exacerbate congestion at major North American ports.

ITS Logistics offers a full suite of network transportation solutions across North America and distribution and fulfillment services to 95% of the U.S. population within two days. These services include drayage and intermodal in 22 coastal ports and 30 rail ramps, a full suite of asset and asset-lite transportation solutions, omnichannel distribution and fulfillment, LTL, and outbound small parcel.

The ITS Logistics US Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index forecasts port container and dray operations for the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf regions. Ocean and domestic container rail ramp operations are also highlighted in the Index for both the West Inland and East Inland regions. Visit here for a full comprehensive copy of the Index, with expected forecasts for the U.S. port and rail ramps.

About ITS Logistics

ITS Logistics is one of North America’s fastest-growing, asset-based modern 3PLs, providing solutions for the industry’s most complicated supply chain challenges. With a people-first culture committed to excellence, the company relentlessly strives to deliver unmatched value through best-in-class service, expertise, and innovation. The ITS Logistics portfolio features North America’s #19 asset-lite freight brokerage, the #12 drayage and intermodal solution, a top 50 dedicated fleet, an innovative cloud-based technology ecosystem, and a nationwide distribution and fulfillment network.

Media Contact
Amber Good
LeadCoverage
amber@leadcoverage.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c3fabce8-2035-4eae-84e0-05646b143c0f

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Palestinian City chosen for City of Friendship

Source: City of Preston

Preston City Council Members have chosen the city of Hebron in Palestine to explore the possibilities of an informal friendship agreement between the two cities.

The city council announced last year that it was keen to strike up a friendship with a town or city in the Palestinian territories that had a shared interest with Preston.

The alliance would form a friendship to promote lasting peace, understanding and solidarity across the miles.

Hebron is considered one of the oldest cities in the Middle East, located in the southern part of the Occupied West Bank, 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of Jerusalem.

It has a population of more than 201,000 and is believed to have lots of commonalities with Preston including a multi-cultural and diverse population.

Hebron is a chief commercial and industrial centre in the region with its main trade in limestone from nearby quarries and with a local reputation for grapes, figs, ceramics, plastics and pottery.

The City of Derby signed an agreement as a Sister City Relationship between themselves and the City of Hebron (Al Khalil), Palestine in January 2014, in recognition of their friendly ties.

Councillor Nweeda Khan, Cabinet Member for Communities and Social Justice at Preston City Council said:

We are working with Derby City Council, which is formally twinned with Hebron to learning from them and their positive experience of a successful friendship agreement with this progressive Middle Eastern city. We are looking forward to progressing our friendship plans and are supported by the Friendship of Palestine organisation.

Mukhtar Master, Muslim Representative on the Preston Faith Covenant said:

Hebron, also known as Al-Khalil, would be an excellent choice by Preston City Council. 

The mosques of Preston made the formal approach to the council to establish a twinning or friendship arrangement with a Palestinian city. Hebron (Al-Khalil) is the resting place of the Prophet Abraham, hence it has immense significance, not only for Islam, but also for Christianity and Judaism.

Councillor Matthew Brown, Leader of Preston City Council said;

This is a friendship arrangement that could have mutual benefits for both cities, promoting peace and understanding throughout both ours and Hebron’s multi-cultural communities. I welcome the friendship between the two cities, as a symbol of solidarity between all faiths and communities, one that will foster communication, inclusion and tolerance.

Preston City Council would consider friendship alliances with other towns and cities around the world on request from Preston-based communities, including Jewish Faith Covenant representatives and a similar friendship organisation to form a future friendship arrangement with a town or city in Israel.

Additional Information

Preston City Council actively applies and prioritises the principles of Community Wealth Building wherever applicable and appropriate. Community Wealth Building is an approach which aims to ensure the economic system builds wealth and prosperity for everyone.

Image source – from the Welcome to Palestine website.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PR Cruise Ships and Manche Iles Express 2025 Thursday 20 March 2025

Source: Channel Islands – States of Alderney

Press Release
Date: 20th March 2025

Alderney is getting ready to welcome 9 luxury cruise ship visits this summer.

The Island’s special brand of welcoming hospitality will also be in full swing for several visits of the France-based ferry company Manche Iles Express.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase Alderney’s famous warm welcome,” said Visit Alderney’s Caroline Gauvain. “Although the cruise ship guests are here for only a short time, we are confident they’ll enjoy our hospitality and our unique island and want to come back for a longer stay next time.”

The scheduled cruise ship visits are:
• Tuesday April 29 – Ocean Nova (morning)
• Wednesday July 2 – MS Hamburg (morning)
• Sunday July 13 – MS Hamburg (morning)
• Wednesday August 6/Thursday 7 August – Hebridean Princess (overnight 8.30pm-1pm)
• Saturday August 9/Sunday 10 August – Hebridean Princess (overnight 1pm-8am)
• Sunday August 31 – Island Sky (all day)
• Monday September 1/Tuesday 2 September – Hebridean Princess (overnight 5pm-1pm)
• Sunday September 7 – Island Sky (all day)
• Tuesday September 9 – MS Hamburg (afternoon)

The full schedule is available at www.harbours.gg/cruiseships.

Scheduled visits by Manche Iles Express from Dielette are:
Sunday 4 / Friday 23 / Sunday 25 May
Sunday 6 /Sunday 20 July
Monday 4 / Monday 18 August
Sunday 7 September

They will also be running from Alderney to Diélette for the French Exchange on 7 June, with a return sailing on 8 June evening. Information: www.manche-iles.com/en

End

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Military and Defense Drone Industry Witnessing Exponential Growth as Improved Technology and Products Hit the Market

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

PALM BEACH, Fla., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – A recent report from Straits Research said that the global military drone market size was valued at USD $21.81 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow from USD $24.25 billion in 2025 to reach USD $56.69 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 11.20% during the forecast period (2025-2033). The report said: “A military drone, also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is a type of aircraft that operates without a human pilot on board. These drones are equipped with advanced technologies for surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and, in some cases, targeted strikes. Military drones are used extensively in modern warfare for a variety of roles, including combat, surveillance, logistical support, and search-and-rescue missions. The global market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by technological advancements and increasing global demand for enhanced surveillance, intelligence, and reconnaissance capabilities. As nations recognize the strategic advantages of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in military operations, drones are increasingly deployed in both combat and non-combat roles.” Active companies in the markets this week include: Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO), RTX Corporation (NYSE: RTX), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).

Straits Research continued: “Despite the promising growth, there are significant challenges facing the global market, including complex regulatory issues and ethical concerns surrounding the use of autonomous weapons. However, innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), miniaturization, and battery life are expected to open new growth opportunities, enabling more advanced, efficient, and versatile drone capabilities in the near future. The integration of emerging technologies into military drones presents a significant growth opportunity for the market. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, autonomous navigation systems, and advanced sensors are revolutionizing the capabilities of military drones. AI-driven systems, for instance, can enable drones to analyze vast amounts of real-time data, enhancing decision-making and targeting accuracy. Autonomous navigation allows drones to operate with minimal human intervention, improving operational efficiency and reducing the risk to personnel… Moreover, the integration of 5G technology will enable drones to transmit high-definition video feeds in real-time, improving situational awareness for military personnel on the ground. These advancements are transforming military drones into more effective, versatile tools, driving demand across defense sectors globally.”

Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO) Announces Chris Miller, Former Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Appointed by President Trump, Joins the Draganfly Board of Directors – Draganfly Inc. (FSE: 3U8A) (“Draganfly” or the “Company”), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, is proud to announce that Christopher C. Miller, former Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Donald Trump, has joined the Company’s Board of Directors.

Miller, a seasoned national security expert with decades of experience in defense and intelligence, will help guide Draganfly’s strategic initiatives in the government, defense, and aerospace sectors. His extensive leadership in military operations and national security policy aligns with Draganfly’s commitment to providing cutting-edge, American-made drone technology for critical applications.

“Chris Miller’s experience at the highest levels of defense and national security will be invaluable to Draganfly as we continue to expand our role in government and security operations. His insights and expertise will help continue to position Draganfly as a leader in North American-made drone solutions for defense, law enforcement, and public safety,” said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly.

Miller served as the Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense, overseeing the Department of Defense during a critical transition period. Prior to that, he held senior positions at the National Security Council and Special Operations Command, where he played a key role in shaping U.S. counterterrorism strategies.

“Draganfly is at the forefront of innovation in drone technology, and I’m honored to join the Board at such a pivotal time,” said Chris Miller. “As the demand for secure, American-made drone solutions grows, Draganfly’s commitment to innovation, safety, and strategic partnerships will be essential in supporting national security and defense initiatives. I look forward to contributing to the Company’s success.”

Miller’s appointment strengthens Draganfly’s leadership team as the Company continues to expand its work with government and defense partners. His deep understanding of security, policy, and military operations will help Draganfly further solidify its position as a key player in the rapidly evolving drone and aerospace industries. CONTINUED… Read this full press release and more news for Draganfly at: https://draganfly.com/news/

Other recent developments in the defense/military industries of note include:

Collins Aerospace, an RTX Corporation (NYSE: RTX) business, recently said it is preparing the first shipments of its Airshow™ HD entertainment system integrated into Venue™ smart monitors, providing an all-in-one, standalone in-flight entertainment (IFE) solution for business aviation.

For the first time, business jet customers flying everything from light jets to super midsize and heavy aircraft will have access to Collins’ Airshow HD interactive moving maps, streaming entertainment and brilliant 4Kresolutions in a singular hardware solution, without needing to upgrade to a full Venue cabin management system.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), a technology company specializing in defense, national security, and global markets, recently announced the groundbreaking of Kratos’ Hypersonic System Indiana Payload Integration Facility (IPIF) in Crane, Indiana. This state-of-the-art 68,000-square-foot office, laboratory, integration and test complex will support critical hypersonic vehicle and payload activities and systems for the Multi-Service Advanced Capabilities Hypersonic Testbed (MACH-TB) program. The project demonstrates Kratos’ commitment to advancing hypersonic system payload integration and test capabilities and expanding crucial infrastructure needed to accelerate the time to Mach 5+ flight testing.

Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos, said: “The Kratos Hypersonic System Indiana Payload Integration Facility represents a strategic investment in our Nation’s hypersonic infrastructure, workforce and capabilities. Kratos is committed to achieving, if not exceeding, the MACH-TB program’s primary goals, which include, increasing the cadence of flight tests and to mature and qualify advanced hypersonic technologies. Kratos’ IPIF will provide a vital commercial launch vehicle environmental test and assembly capability to supplement existing DoD and NASA facilities.”

Frequency Electronics, Inc., a leading provider of precision timing and frequency control products, recently announced that Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has recognized Frequency Electronics Inc. (FEIM) as one of its top supplier partners during the company’s Supplier Excellence Awards.

Ken Brown, vice president, enterprise global supply chain, Northrop Grumman, said, “Frequency Electronics has supported Northrop Grumman in delivering technologies that enhance national security for the U.S. and our allies. The high-quality performance, dedication and partnership of our supplier teams drive operational excellence to ensure warfighters have next generation advantages in advanced weapons, aircraft, missile defense and space.”

Recognized for Strategic Excellence, Frequency Electronics is instrumental in supporting Northrop Grumman with delivering innovative and cost-effective military and security solutions to give its customers the advantage in a complex world.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) recently announced that the global F-35 fleet has surpassed 1 million flight hours, further proof of the program’s size and strength in ensuring America’s warfighter and those of our allies maintain air dominance around the world.

“Reaching 1 million flight hours is a monumental achievement for the F-35 program. It highlights the unwavering dedication of our pilots, maintainers, industry partners and our international partners and foreign military sales customers,” said Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office. “This milestone is not just a testament to the F-35’s unmatched capability, but also to the resilience and commitment of everyone involved in this program. As we continue to expand the fleet and advance the F-35’s capabilities, we are ensuring the warfighters of today and tomorrow have the most advanced, reliable, and effective tool to protect our nations.”

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The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s phone call with Putin fails to deliver a full ceasefire – here’s what could happen next

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham

After more than two hours on the phone on Tuesday, March 17, the US president, Donald Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed only to confidence-building measures, not a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. The two leaders came away from the call having agreed on a limited prisoner exchange, a suspension of attacks on energy infrastructure, and the creation of working groups to explore further steps towards a ceasefire and ultimately a peace agreement, a proposal which Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky has since agreed to in his call with the US president.

A less charitable way of looking at the outcome of the second call between the two presidents since Trump returned to the White House would be that the ball is now back in America’s court. Putin made it crystal clear to Trump that he is not (yet) in the mood for any compromise.

This is hardly surprising given recent events.

The US has pressured Ukraine mercilessly into accepting a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Trump hoped Russia would also agree to. But apart from a vague statement by Trump that he might consider sanctions against Russia, he has so far seemed unwilling to contemplate putting any meaningful equivalent pressure on Putin.

Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

On the ground, Russia has gained the upper hand in the Kursk region where Ukrainian troops have ceded most of the territory they captured after a surprise offensive last summer. Once Putin’s forces, assisted by thousands of North Korean soldiers, have succeeded in driving the Ukrainians out of Russia, Kyiv will have lost its most valuable bargaining chip in negotiations with Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russia has also made further gains on the frontlines inside Ukraine especially in parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. These are two of the four regions (the other two are Donetsk and Luhansk) that Putin has claimed for Russia in their entirety since sham referendums in September 2022, despite not yet having full control of them.

If Russia were to capture yet more Ukrainian territory, Putin would probably find it even easier to convince Trump that his demands are reasonable. The fact that Trump already hinted at a “dividing of assets”, including the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s largest before its forced shutdown in September 2022 – is a worrying indication of how far the Russian president has already pushed the envelope.

Ukraine war: territory occupied by Russia as at March 18 2025.
Institute for the Study of War

But a deal solely between Russia and the US is not going to work. In that sense, time is not only on Putin’s side but also on Zelensky’s.

The Russian readout of the call between the two presidents claimed that they had discussed “the complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv” as a key condition for moving forward – something that Trump subsequently denied in an interview with Fox. This means that, for now, Kyiv is likely to continue to receive US aid.

Europe at the ready

Perhaps more importantly in the long term, Europe is also doubling down on support for Ukraine. While Trump and Putin were discussing a carve-up of Ukraine over the phone, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, left no doubt on where the EU stands.

In a speech at the Royal Danish Military Academy foreshadowing the publication of the commission’s Readiness 2030 white paper on bolstering European defences, she recommitted to developing European “capabilities to have credible deterrence” against a hostile Russia.

A few hours later, the German parliament passed a multi-billion Euro package that loosens the country’s tight borrowing rules to enable massive investments in defence. This follows announcements of increased defence elsewhere on the continent, including in the UK, Poland, and by the EU itself.

Meanwhile, the UK and France are leading efforts to assemble a coalition of the willing to help Ukraine. Representatives of the 30-member group gathered in London on March 15 for further talks.

Afterwards, the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, released a statement saying that Ukraine’s western partners “will keep increasing the pressure on Russia, keep the military aid flowing to Ukraine and keep tightening the restrictions on Russia’s economy”.

Undoubtedly, these measures would be more effective if they had Washington’s full buy-in – but they send a strong signal to both the Kremlin and the White House that Ukraine is not alone in its fight against Russia’s continuing aggression.

Putin’s options

Putin, meanwhile, may have time on his side in the short term – but he should take note of this. Russian manpower and firepower may dwarf that of Ukraine, but it would be no match for a Ukraine backed by such a coalition of the willing.

Putin’s apparent plan to drag Trump into the minutiae of negotiating a comprehensive deal may eventually backfire in more ways than one. For a start, really detailed discussions will test the US president’s notoriously short attention span.

But this will also buy time for Ukraine and its supporters to strengthen Kyiv’s position in future negotiations. And it will continue to strain – but not immediately break – Russia’s economy.

For now, Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine have stalled. He is attempting to broker a complex ceasefire deal that involves separate agreements with Kyiv and Moscow, pressure on Nato allies, and an attempt to drive a wedge between Russia and China. It’s not clear how this will succeed or indeed where it will end.

The only certainty is that they are not bringing a just and stable peace for Ukraine any closer.

Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU’s Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

Tetyana Malyarenko 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’s phone call with Putin fails to deliver a full ceasefire – here’s what could happen next – https://theconversation.com/trumps-phone-call-with-putin-fails-to-deliver-a-full-ceasefire-heres-what-could-happen-next-252417

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Ukraine war: how Zelensky rebuilt his relationship with Trump to turn the tables on Putin

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex

After Donald Trump’s “very good and productive” phone call with Vladimir Putin earlier this week, all eyes were on his subsequent call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Would it, when they last met in the flesh on February 28 at the White House, descend into disastrous acrimony? Or would Zelensky manage to engage with the US president in a cooperative way that encourages him to see Ukraine and its leader in a more favourable light?

The latter, it seems. In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump referred to their “very good telephone call”, which got the two leaders “very much on track”. Zelensky for his part, talked of a “very good” and “frank” phone call and seemed to agree with everything the US president had to say, taking pains to emphasise and praise Trump and America’s leadership.

With his vocal support of Trump’s proposal for peace, Zelensky has put the attention back on Putin. He clearly wants to appear to be the more reasonable negotiating partner by going along with the US president’s proposals.

In spite of Zelensky’s misgivings about how trustworthy Putin is, he has agreed to a limited ceasefire with Russia on energy infrastructure (while stressing that, unlike Putin, he agrees with Trump’s aim for a complete ceasefire).

Zelensky clearly knows that Russia has a great deal to gain from a pause on attacks on energy grids and oil refineries, given Ukraine’s increasing capacity to use long-range drone attacks. And a maritime ceasefire, if agreed, would also favour Russia.

Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

But by publicly voicing Ukraine’s support for Trump’s plan for a ceasefire, Zelensky has exposed Putin’s disinterest in stopping hostilities.

In the call, Zelensky emphasised that Ukraine was happy to support the US call for a ceasefire, without conditions. Putin, meanwhile, in his call with Trump laid out a set of frankly unreasonable demands.

These included the complete cessation of military aid and intelligence sharing by Ukraine’s allies, including the US. He also demanded a complete halt on Ukrainian troop mobilisation and rearmament.

The demands were so ridiculous, they were designed to get Ukraine to reject them. Interestingly Trump, when he was interviewed after his phone call with Putin, denied that the pair had discussed aid. Crucially, he didn’t say whether this was something he would agree to.

But the fact that the two leaders discussed the possibility of an ice hockey match between their two countries is an indication of how Putin is able to manipulate the US president with flattery. It helps that Trump clearly admires Putin and has repeatedly said that he trusts the Russian leader.

Has Putin overplayed his hand?

But this could come with a time limit. Trump, who wants a peace deal to trumpet as a crowning achievement, could well get tired of the fact that Putin has made no concessions to allow that deal to progress.

The Russian leader is clearly hoping that by seeming to engage with the “peace” process, while at the same time dangling the prospect of doing business with Russia – for example by offering the US the chance to explore Russia’s own reserves of rare earth minerals – he can keep Trump on side.

But while Trump still leans toward Putin, his relationship with Zelensky seems to have improved. The Ukrainian president appears to have learned that Trump doesn’t have a long memory and that flattery goes a long way with the US president.

Trump, meanwhile, is no longer calling Zelensky a dictator, and as yet there is no mention of halting US military aid or intelligence to Ukraine. There is the opposite, in fact, as the US has said it will assist in finding more Patriot missile defence systems after Zelensky mentioned that they were sorely needed.

By giving Trump credit for the ceasefire initiative, Zelensky is putting the ball in Russia’s court. And his apparent receptiveness to Trump’s idea about the US taking over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants will appeal to Trump’s transactional instincts. In addition to offering Trump business deals, Zelensky is now consistently offering Trump praise for his peace efforts.

And it’s clear from the tone of the briefing given by White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, after the call that the US was happy with how it went. Leavitt stressed Zelensky’s praise for Trump’s leadership several times.

The White House reports on a “fantastic” phone call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky has also successfully turned Trump’s attention to the 35,000 missing children abducted from Ukraine into Russia during the war. The US state department had stopped tracking them and had deleted the evidence it had gathered, but Trump is now vowing to return the children home.

Putin is generally thought to be stringing these negotiations out as long as possible in order to maximise the amount of Ukrainian territory his army occupies. This could be a risky strategy.

Ending the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible was one of Trump’s repeated campaign promises. So the question is how long Trump can remain distracted or satisfied by Putin’s false engagement with the peace process.

The American president seems to be changing his tune on Ukraine more generally. His disastrous Oval Office press conference last month with Zelensky was viewed by some as a ploy to portray Ukraine as a difficult and ungrateful partner compared to Russia who he maintained was only interested in achieving a peaceful end to the war. Now, with Zelensky seemingly agreeing with whatever Trump says, it’s become harder for him to take that line.

For now, at least, the pressure is back on Putin.

Natasha Lindstaedt 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. Ukraine war: how Zelensky rebuilt his relationship with Trump to turn the tables on Putin – https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-how-zelensky-rebuilt-his-relationship-with-trump-to-turn-the-tables-on-putin-252693

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Trump administration seeks to starve libraries and museums of funding by shuttering this little-known agency

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Devon Akmon, Director of the MSU Museum and CoLab Studio, Michigan State University

ExplorationWorks, a children’s museum in Helena, Mont., received $151,946 in 2024 from the IMLS to expand its early childhood programs. Lisa Wareham

On March 14, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order that called for the dismantling of seven federal agencies “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” They ranged from the United States Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, to the Minority Business Development Agency.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services was also on the list. Congress created the IMLS in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act. The law merged the Institute of Museum Services, which was established in 1976, with the Library Programs Office of the Department of Education.

By combining these two departments, Congress sought to create an overarching agency that could more cohesively and strategically support American museums and libraries. The agency’s mission, programs and funding have been reaffirmed through subsequent legislation, such as the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003.

The Conversation U.S. interviewed Devon Akmon, who is the director of the MSU Museum at Michigan State University. He explained how the agency supports the nation’s cultural institutions and local communities – and what could be lost if the agency were dissolved.

What does the Institute of Museum and Library Services do?

The agency provides financial support to a wide array of cultural and educational institutions, including art, science and history museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and historic sites. Libraries of all types – public, academic, school and research – also benefit from the agency’s funding.

Through grants, research and policy initiatives, the IMLS helps these institutions better serve their communities.

Anne-Imelda Radice, right, former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, inspects Denver city records and neighborhood histories in 2008. The volumes were digitized to make them more accessible to the public.
Brian Brainerd/The Denver Post via Getty Images

In the 2019 fiscal year, for example, the IMLS awarded funds to libraries in Nebraska to support economic development in 30 rural communities. The project created rotating “innovation studios” in local libraries and provided residents with tools, instructional materials and programming to foster entrepreneurship and creativity. More recently, IMLS awarded a grant to the Hands On Children’s Museum to develop a toolkit that museums across the country can use to support families with relatives who are in prison.

For libraries, the IMLS might fund technology upgrades, such as virtual reality learning stations, AI-assisted research aids or digitization of rare books. The agency also pays for community programs that take place in libraries, from early childhood reading initiatives to workshops that help people land jobs.

How has the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported your work at the MSU Museum?

IMLS grants have played a vital role in enabling the MSU Museum to preserve, enhance and expand access to its collections.

For example, we’ve used IMLS grants to develop high-quality audio aids for museum visitors who are blind or have poor vision. Recent funding has supported the digitization of over 2,000 vertebrate specimens, including rare and endangered species.

Beyond financial support, the MSU Museum benefits from IMLS policy papers, professional training opportunities and resources developed through the National Leadership Grants for Museums program. Our staff members also contribute to national campaigns spearheaded by the IMLS, such as its Strategies for Countering Antisemitism & Hate initiative.

Through these efforts, the IMLS, alongside the American Alliance of Museums, operate as cornerstones of learning and innovation within the museum field.

Looking beyond Michigan State, what might be lost with its shuttering?

The IMLS is more than a grantmaking entity – it is the only federal agency dedicated to sustaining the entire museum and library ecosystem in the United States.

Its funding has sustained museums, advanced digital preservation, expanded accessibility for low-income communities and fueled innovation in educational programming. In 2024 alone, the agency distributed US$266.7 million through grants, research initiatives and policy development. For example, ExplorationWorks, a children’s museum in Helena, Montana, received $151,946 in 2024 from the IMLS to expand its early childhood programs that serve low-income and rural families.

Without this support, many institutions will struggle to hire and retain qualified staff, leading to fewer exhibitions, stalled research and reduced educational outreach.

The consequences would be particularly severe for small museums and rural museums, which lack the fundraising capacity of larger urban institutions. They’re often the only sources of cultural and historical education in their regions, and their loss would create cultural voids that cannot easily be filled.

Trump’s executive order dictated that the Institute of Museum and Library Services and other agencies be eliminated “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” What is the applicable law in this case?

I’m not a lawyer. But my understanding is that the “applicable law” in this case primarily refers to the Museum and Library Services Act, which, as I noted earlier, was created in 1996 and has been reauthorized multiple times since then.

Since the IMLS was created through this congressional legislation, it cannot simply be eliminated by an executive order. Congress would need to pass a law to repeal or defund it.

President George W. Bush signs into law the Museum and Library Services Act on Sept. 25, 2003.
Tina Hager/White House via Getty Images

Additionally, the Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from operating without appropriated funding. If Congress were to defund the IMLS rather than repeal its authorizing statute, the agency would be forced to cease operations due to a lack of money, even if the legal framework for its existence remained intact.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Museums are among the most trusted institutions in the country. They are rare bipartisan beacons of credibility in an era of deep division.

A 2021 American Alliance of Museums report found that 97% of Americans view museums as valuable educational assets, while 89% consider them trustworthy sources of information. A 2022 American Library Association survey revealed that 89% of voters and 92% of parents believe local public libraries have an important role to play in communities.

More than just cultural repositories, museums and libraries bring together citizens and offer learning opportunities for everyday people. By presenting science and history through engaging, evidence-based storytelling, museums help bridge ideological divides and encourage informed discourse. People of all political stripes rely on libraries for free internet access, job searches and literacy programs.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is central to this work. The agency provides leadership, while funding programs and research that help museums and libraries expand their offerings to reach all Americans.

Stripping this support would threaten the sustainability of these institutions and weaken their ability to serve as pillars of education, civic engagement and truth. I see it as a disinvestment in an informed, connected and resilient society.

Devon Akmon receives funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. He also serves as the vice chair and secretary of the board of directors for the American Alliance of Museums.

– ref. Trump administration seeks to starve libraries and museums of funding by shuttering this little-known agency – https://theconversation.com/trump-administration-seeks-to-starve-libraries-and-museums-of-funding-by-shuttering-this-little-known-agency-252455

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: 5 years on, true counts of COVID-19 deaths remain elusive − and research is hobbled by lack of data

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Dylan Thomas Doyle, Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder

National COVID-19 memorial wall for the five-year anniversary on March 11, 2025, in London, England. Andrew Aitchison/In Pictures via Getty Images

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers struggled to grasp the rate of the virus’s spread and the number of related deaths. While hospitals tracked cases and deaths within their walls, the broader picture of mortality across communities remained frustratingly incomplete.

Policymakers and researchers quickly discovered a troubling pattern: Many deaths linked to the virus were never officially counted. A study analyzing data from over 3,000 U.S. counties between March 2020 and August 2022 found nearly 163,000 excess deaths from natural causes that were missing from official mortality records.

Excess deaths, meaning those that exceed the number expected based on historical trends, serve as a key indicator of underreported deaths during health crises. Many of these uncounted deaths were later tied to COVID-19 through reviews of medical records, death certificates and statistical modeling.

In addition, lack of real-time tracking for medical interventions during those early days slowed vaccine development by delaying insights into which treatments worked and how people were responding to newly circulating variants.

Five years since the beginning of COVID-19, new epidemics such as bird flu are emerging worldwide, and researchers are still finding it difficult to access the data about people’s deaths that they need to develop lifesaving interventions.

How can the U.S. mortality data system improve? I’m a technology infrastructure researcher, and my team and I design policy and technical systems to reduce inefficiency in health care and government organizations. By analyzing the flow of mortality data in the U.S., we found several areas of the system that could use updating.

Critical need for real-time data

A death record includes key details beyond just the fact of death, such as the cause, contributing conditions, demographics, place of death and sometimes medical history. This information is crucial for researchers to be able to analyze trends, identify disparities and drive medical advances.

Approximately 2.8 million death records are added to the U.S. mortality data system each year. But in 2022 – the most recent official count available – when the world was still in the throes of the pandemic, 3,279,857 deaths were recorded in the federal system. Still, this figure is widely considered to be a major undercount of true excess deaths from COVID-19.

In addition, real-time tracking of COVID-19 mortality data was severely lacking. This process involves the continuous collection, analysis and reporting of deaths from hospitals, health agencies and government databases by integrating electronic health records, lab reports and public health surveillance systems. Ideally, it provides up-to-date insights for decision-making, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, these tracking systems lagged and failed to generate comprehensive data.

Getting real-time COVID-19 data from hospitals and other agencies into the hands of researchers proved difficult.
Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

Without comprehensive data on prior COVID-19 infections, antibody responses and adverse events, researchers faced challenges designing clinical trials to predict how long immunity would last and optimize booster schedules.

Such data is essential in vaccine development because it helps identify who is most at risk, which variants and treatments affect survival rates, and how vaccines should be designed and distributed. And as part of the broader U.S. vital records system, mortality data is essential for medical research, including evaluating public health programs, identifying health disparities and monitoring disease.

At the heart of the problem is the inefficiency of government policy, particularly outdated public health reporting systems and slow data modernization efforts that hinder timely decision-making. These long-standing policies, such as reliance on paper-based death certificates and disjointed state-level reporting, have failed to keep pace with real-time data needs during crises such as COVID-19.

These policy shortcomings lead to delays in reporting and lack of coordination between hospital organizations, state government vital records offices and federal government agencies in collecting, standardizing and sharing death records.

History of US mortality data

The U.S. mortality data system has been cobbled together through a disparate patchwork of state and local governments, federal agencies and public health organizations over the course of more than a century and a half. It has been shaped by advances in public health, medical record-keeping and technology. From its inception to the present day, the mortality data system has been plagued by inconsistencies, inefficiencies and tensions between medical professionals, state governments and the federal government.

The first national efforts to track information about deaths began in the 1850s when the U.S. Census Bureau started collecting mortality data as part of the decennial census. However, these early efforts were inconsistent, as death registration was largely voluntary and varied widely across states.

In the early 20th century, the establishment of the National Vital Statistics System brought greater standardization to mortality data. For example, the system required all U.S. states and territories to standardize their death certificate format. It also consolidated mortality data at the federal level, whereas mortality data was previously stored at the state level.

However, state and federal reporting remained fragmented. For example, states had no unifom timeline for submitting mortality data, resulting in some states taking months or even years to finalize and release death records. Local or state-level paperwork processing practices also remained varied and at times contradictory.

Death record processing varies by state.
eric1513/iStock via Getty Images Plus

To begin to close gaps in reporting timelines to aid medical researchers, in 1981 the National Center for Health Statistics – a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – introduced the National Death Index. This is a centralized database of death records collected from state vital statistics offices, making it easier to access death data for health and medical research. The system was originally paper-based, with the aim of allowing researchers to track the deaths of study participants without navigating complex bureaucracies.

As time has passed, the National Death Index and state databases have become increasingly digital. The rise of electronic death registration systems in recent decades has improved processing speed when it comes to researchers accessing mortality data from the National Death Index. However, while the index has solved some issues related to gaps between state and federal data, other issues, such as high fees and inconsistency in state reporting times, still plague it.

Accessing the data that matters most

With the Trump administration’s increasing removal of CDC public health datasets, it is unclear whether policy reform for mortality data will be addressed anytime soon.

Experts fear that the removal of CDC datasets has now set precedent for the Trump administration to cross further lines in its attempts to influence the research and data published by the CDC. The longer-term impact of the current administration’s public health policy on mortality data and disease response are not yet clear.

What is clear is that five years since COVID-19, the U.S. mortality tracking system remains unequipped to meet emerging public health crises. Without addressing these challenges, the U.S. may not be able to respond quickly enough to public health crises threatening American lives.

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

– ref. 5 years on, true counts of COVID-19 deaths remain elusive − and research is hobbled by lack of data – https://theconversation.com/5-years-on-true-counts-of-covid-19-deaths-remain-elusive-and-research-is-hobbled-by-lack-of-data-244799

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Tyrannical leader? Why comparisons between Trump and King George III miss the mark on 18th-century British monarchy

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carla Gardina Pestana, Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair of America in the World, University of California, Los Angeles

Are there legitimate comparisons between President Donald Trump and King George III? Rebecca Noble/Getty Images; Kean Collection/Getty Images

George III, king of Great Britain and its colonies at the time of the American Revolution, has been maligned unfairly.

During both the first and now the second term of President Donald Trump, commentators in the U.S. have invoked the king’s misdeeds to criticize Trump. When the president bypassed Congress to create a new government agency, appointed its head and stopped payment of millions of dollars of allocated federal funds, his critics noted that he assumed the role of Congress, a power grab that supposedly made him similar to George III. According to this criticism, the president engaged in tyranny, just as the founders accused George of doing.

As a scholar of early America, I believe, however, that George III has gotten a bad rap. He was not the all-powerful monarch that Trump allegedly aspires to be.

In the 1770s, the power of the British king was limited by the authority of Parliament. In that system, which Americans and others praised at the time as balanced, the king and the legislature each had specific duties and powers so that neither could control the government alone.

George III was not an absolutist monarch, to use the language of the day for a power-hungry ruler. The English had struggled in the previous century over the extent of the king’s power. After fighting two civil wars, executing one king, and, eventually, forcing the monarch to agree to rule with Parliament rather than on his own, they believed their liberties were safeguarded.

This system, known as limited monarchy, was the pride of Great Britain. It was also admired by the American founders. As late as 1774, in his Summary View of the Rights of British America, Thomas Jefferson praised the “free and ancient principles” of the British constitution in which “kings are the servants, not the proprietors of the people.”

Trump has been compared with King George III by many writers and commentators; the White House on Feb. 19, 2024, issued the fake magazine cover of Trump crowned like a king.
Various

No kingly tyranny

Britons, whether in Great Britain or the colonies, did fear a tyrant, a controlling and abusive leader.

Some fears came from their study of political theory, which taught that government worked best when composed of various branches that represented the concerns of the different political classes.

As this theory went, an unbalanced government would descend into tyranny with a too-powerful monarch; oligarchy under a dominant aristocratic class; or anarchy with the people out of control. They believed these perils could be avoided only by maintaining balance.

Even though the British did not fear imbalance or a tyrant king in their own case, they could see the danger threatening elsewhere in Europe.

France represented a worst-case scenario. Its absolutist kings had ruled without France’s legislature – the Estates General – for more than a century and a half at the time of the American Revolution. British poet Robert Wolseley’s often reprinted poem declared: “Let France grow proud beneath the tyrant’s lust, While the rackt people crawl and lick the dust. The mighty Genius of this isle disdains Ambitious slavery and golden chains.”

Within a few years, Anglo-American criticism of kingly tyranny in France would be validated: That country descended into a violent revolution that resulted in decades of warfare and political violence, including the execution of the entire royal family.

This experience confirmed for the British and Americans that a balanced system was best and that they should count their blessings.

Why revolt?

A list of grievances held by the American Colonies against King George III, set down in Thomas Jefferson’s first draft of the American Declaration of Independence, which ultimately included 27 grievances against the king.
MPI/Getty Images

If the American revolutionaries admired the British system and sought to copy it in the United States, why did they reject the link to Britain and revolt in the first place?

Americans did not revolt against the nature of British government. Rather they objected to their changing place within the British Empire. The revolutionary crisis had a number of roots, but most of them arose out of changes in the management of the relationship between the American Colonies and the imperial center.

From the 1760s, the British government took a more activist role in its American Colonies, limiting their geographical expansion and imposing taxes directly on the population. In the past, Colonists had been free to move west, challenged only by the indigenous residents who fought to defend their lands.

Now the British government, aiming to put an end to these wars, blocked expansion. At the same time, to pay down the debt accrued in recent war with France – and fought in part in North America – the government levied taxes not via the Colonial legislatures, as it had before, but directly on residents. This change sparked revolt and, eventually, revolution.

Turning on the king

American Colonists pull down a statue of King George III in New York City during the American Revolution.
Corbis via Getty Images

Before 1776, the Colonists believed that George III would come to their rescue and halt these changes imposed by Parliament. They thought initially that he did not realize how the new policies affected them.

Only in 1776 did they accept that George III supported the policy changes and would not defend their rights. It was in that context that they turned on him and declared him tyrannical, blaming him for the new policies and calling for a break with Britain. As the Declaration of Independence said: “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

Although they complained about the tyranny of George III, their true objection was that their subordinate position within the empire gave them little leverage when opposing policies that king and Parliament agreed to impose on them.

Once independent, the founders created a system that imitated the British model of mixed governance and created barriers – the powers of Congress and the oversight of the Supreme Court – that they hoped would safeguard their liberties against the threat of renewed tyranny.

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

– ref. Tyrannical leader? Why comparisons between Trump and King George III miss the mark on 18th-century British monarchy – https://theconversation.com/tyrannical-leader-why-comparisons-between-trump-and-king-george-iii-miss-the-mark-on-18th-century-british-monarchy-251869

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Atlantic sturgeon were fished almost to extinction − ancient DNA reveals how Chesapeake Bay population changed over centuries

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Natalia Przelomska, Research Associate in Archaeogenomics, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Sturgeon can be several hundred pounds each. cezars/E+ via Getty Images

Sturgeons are one of the oldest groups of fishes. Sporting an armor of five rows of bony, modified scales called dermal scutes and a sharklike tail fin, this group of several-hundred-pound beasts has survived for approximately 160 million years. Because their physical appearance has changed very little over time, supported by a slow rate of evolution, sturgeon have been called living fossils.

Despite their survival through several geological time periods, many present-day sturgeon species are at threat of extinction, with 17 of 27 species listed as “critically endangered.”

Conservation practitioners such as the Virginia Commonwealth University monitoring team are working hard to support recovery of Atlantic sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay area. But it’s not clear what baseline population level people should strive toward restoring. How do today’s sturgeon populations compare with those of the past?

VCU monitoring team releases an adult Atlantic sturgeon back into the estuary.
Matt Balazik

We are a molecular anthropologist and a biodiversity scientist who focus on species that people rely on for subsistence. We study the evolution, population health and resilience of these species over time to better understand humans’ interaction with their environments and the sustainability of food systems.

For our recent sturgeon project, we joined forces with fisheries conservation biologist Matt Balazik, who conducts on-the-ground monitoring of Atlantic sturgeon, and Torben Rick, a specialist in North American coastal zooarchaeology. Together, we wanted to look into the past and see how much sturgeon populations have changed, focusing on the James River in Virginia. A more nuanced understanding of the past could help conservationists better plan for the future.

Sturgeon loomed large for millennia

In North America, sturgeon have played important subsistence and cultural roles in Native communities, which marked the seasons by the fishes’ behavioral patterns. Large summertime aggregations of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in the Great Lakes area inspired one folk name for the August full moon – the sturgeon moon. Woodland Era pottery remnants at archaeological sites from as long as 2,000 years ago show that the fall and springtime runs of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) upstream were celebrated with feasting.

Archaeologists uncover bony scutes – modified scales that resemble armor for the living fish – in places where people relied on sturgeon for subsistence.
Logan Kistler and Natalia Przelomska

Archaeological finds of sturgeon remains support that early colonial settlers in North America, notably those who established Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1607, also prized these fish. When Captain John Smith was leading Jamestown, he wrote “there was more sturgeon here than could be devoured by dog or man.” The fish may have helped the survival of this fortress-colony that was both stricken with drought and fostering turbulent relationships with the Native inhabitants.

This abundance is in stark contrast to today, when sightings of migrating fish are sparse. Exploitation during the past 300 years was the key driver of Atlantic sturgeon decline. Demand for caviar drove the relentless fishing pressure throughout the 19th century. The Chesapeake was the second-most exploited sturgeon fishery on the Eastern Seaboard up until the early 20th century, when the fish became scarce.

Conservation biologists capture the massive fish for monitoring purposes, which includes clipping a tiny part of the fin for DNA analysis.
Matt Balazik

At that point, local protection regulations were established, but only in 1998 was a moratorium on harvesting these fish declared. Meanwhile, abundance of Atlantic sturgeon remained very low, which can be explained in part by their lifespan. Short-lived fish such as herring and shad can recover population numbers much faster than Atlantic sturgeon, which live for up to 60 years and take a long time to reach reproductive age – up to around 12 years for males and as many as 28 years for females.

To help manage and restore an endangered species, conservation biologists tend to split the population into groups based on ranges. The Chesapeake Bay is one of five “distinct population segments” the U.S. Endangered Species Act listing in 2012 created for Atlantic sturgeon.

Since then, conservationists have pioneered genetic studies on Atlantic sturgeon, demonstrating through the power of DNA that natal river – where an individual fish is born – and season of spawning are both important for distinguishing subpopulations within each regional group. Scientists have also described genetic diversity in Atlantic sturgeon; more genetic variety suggests they have more capacity to adapt when facing new, potentially challenging conditions.

The study focused on Atlantic sturgeon from the Chesapeake Bay region, past and present. The four archaeological sites included are highlighted.
Przelomska NAS et al., Proc. R. Soc. B 291: 20241145, CC BY

Sturgeon DNA, then and now

Archaeological remains are a direct source of data on genetic diversity in the past. We can analyze the genetic makeup of sturgeons that lived hundreds of years ago, before intense overfishing depleted their numbers. Then we can compare that baseline with today’s genetic diversity.

The James River was a great case study for testing out this approach, which we call an archaeogenomics time series. Having obtained information on the archaeology of the Chesapeake region from our collaborator Leslie Reeder-Myers, we sampled remains of sturgeon – their scutes and spines – at a precolonial-era site where people lived from about 200 C.E. to about 900 C.E. We also sampled from important colonial sites Jamestown (1607-1610) and Williamsburg (1720-1775). And we complemented that data from the past with tiny clips from the fins of present-day, live fish that Balazik and his team sampled during monitoring surveys.

Scientists separate Atlantic sturgeon scute fragments from larger collections of zooarchaeological remains, to then work on the scutes in a lab dedicated to studying ancient DNA.
Torben Rick and Natalia Przelomska

DNA tends to get physically broken up and biochemically damaged with age. So we relied on special protocols in a lab dedicated to studying ancient DNA to minimize the risk of contamination and enhance our chances of successfully collecting genetic material from these sturgeon.

Atlantic sturgeon have 122 chromosomes of nuclear DNA – over five times as many as people do. We focused on a few genetic regions, just enough to get an idea of the James River population groupings and how genetically distinct they are from one another.

We were not surprised to see that fall-spawning and spring-spawning groups were genetically distinct. What stood out, though, was how starkly different they were, which is something that can happen when a population’s numbers drop to near-extinction levels.

We also looked at the fishes’ mitochondrial DNA, a compact molecule that is easier to obtain ancient DNA from compared with the nuclear chromosomes. With our collaborator Audrey Lin, we used the mitochondrial DNA to confirm our hypothesis that the fish from archaeological sites were more genetically diverse than present-day Atlantic sturgeon.

Strikingly, we discovered that mitochondrial DNA did not always group the fish by season or even by their natal river. This was unexpected, because Atlantic sturgeon tend to return to their natal rivers for breeding. Our interpretation of this genetic finding is that over very long timescales – many thousands of years – changes in the global climate and in local ecosystems would have driven a given sturgeon population to migrate into a new river system, and possibly at a later stage back to its original one. This notion is supported by other recent documentation of fish occasionally migrating over long distances and mixing with new groups.

Our study used archaeology, history and ecology together to describe the decline of Atlantic sturgeon. Based on the diminished genetic diversity we measured, we estimate that the Atlantic sturgeon populations we studied are about a fifth of what they were before colonial settlement. Less genetic variability means these smaller populations have less potential to adapt to changing conditions. Our findings will help conservationists plan into the future for the continued recovery of these living fossils.

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

– ref. Atlantic sturgeon were fished almost to extinction − ancient DNA reveals how Chesapeake Bay population changed over centuries – https://theconversation.com/atlantic-sturgeon-were-fished-almost-to-extinction-ancient-dna-reveals-how-chesapeake-bay-population-changed-over-centuries-241104

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Thea Energy Demonstrates Performance and Controllability of Small and Simple Magnets for Fusion Energy
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

The world’s first superconducting planar coil magnet array successfully created and controlled stellarator-relevant magnetic field structures

The test campaign results include the hardware validation to the leading approach for a maintainable and dynamically controllable stellarator fusion system

KEARNY, N.J., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Thea Energy, Inc., a fusion technology company advancing the stellarator for the commercialization of a carbon-free and abundant source of energy, today announced the successful operation of the world’s first superconducting planar coil 3×3 magnet array system. This magnet array demonstrates that small and simple electromagnets can practically, precisely, and dynamically create and control stellarator-relevant magnetic fields. Eos, Thea Energy’s initial integrated fusion system, will leverage this proprietary magnet array architecture and its benefits in addition to the inherent advantages of the stellarator, including steady-state operation. “Prototyping and Test of the ‘Canis’ HTS Planar Coil Array for Stellarator Field Shaping” outlines specific details of the system, including operation and results. This paper is available as a preprint on the Company’s website under “Presentations & Publications” and being submitted to a peer-reviewed publication.

The magnet array operated at a temperature of 20 K and created a precisely controlled magnetic field of up to 47.2 mT on a plane 25 cm from the coils, with maximum field at the coils calculated to be greater than 3 T, in line with the Company’s underwritten performance requirements. Multiple magnetic iso-surfaces were produced corresponding to different locations of the Eos planar coil system. The magnet array also successfully demonstrated the controllability of the inductively coupled neighboring coils, thereby validating that the coils can be controlled individually despite the strong magnetic interactions between them.

“A herculean effort from the Thea Energy team to establish the processes, infrastructure, and know-how to manufacture and test all magnets in-house has resulted in the successful hardware validation of the peer-reviewed physics basis of our novel system architecture that shows stellarators can be built without complicated coils,” said David Gates, Ph.D., co-founder and chief technology officer of Thea Energy. “The operation and notably, the controllability of this magnet array demonstrates a new key enabler to commercialized fusion energy. We have built a system that uses simpler hardware paired with dynamic software controls to adjust magnet parameters in real time.”

Brian Berzin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Thea Energy, added, “Shifting system complexity from hardware to software means we can make rapid progress, resulting in the successful construction and operation of this magnet array in a matter of months. Using these mass-manufacturable magnets, we look forward to further testing to show that we can eliminate hardware defects and system wear and tear via scalable software controls. This will enable systems to continually work with high uptime under real-world conditions. These advantages of a practical system architecture will carry through to future generations of Thea Energy fusion power plants.”

Steven Cowley, Ph.D., laboratory director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), which is managed by Princeton University, added, “The stellarator is a well-studied form of fusion technology and the practicality brought to the design by the team at Thea Energy, combined with the established physics basis since its invention over 70 years ago at PPPL, presents another possible fusion system design. This magnet array milestone confirms a concept that was created at PPPL – that arrays of planar magnets can be utilized to create and control the magnetic fields required to stabilize the plasma to produce sustained fusion energy. I am excited to see the Company build and scale its hardware while sharing its breakthroughs and results with the broader community.”

Specific campaign results:
- The magnet array operated at 20 K, with up to ±140 A in all coils and an estimated maximum total stored energy achieved in the array of 34.5 kJ.
- The array achieved a magnetic field strength of 47.2 mT at 25 cm from the coils, with maximum field at the coils calculated to be greater than 3 T.
- The magnet array recreated multiple unique iso-surfaces derived from Eos within 1% error of simulated predictions via fixed physical hardware and dynamic software controls.
Future testing of unique single-coil and multi-coil quench scenarios will support analytical models showing recovery and reliability of systems leveraging the planar coil stellarator architecture, where systems can continue to operate if a coil fails. Additional work is also planned to further demonstrate the resiliency of this architecture and its ability to actively control and tune out hardware errors via Thea Energy’s closed-loop software control system.

The U.S. Department of Energy has also certified the completion of this test campaign that included performance markers outlined in the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program.

About Thea Energy, Inc.
Thea Energy, Inc. is building an economical and scalable fusion energy system utilizing arrays of mass-manufacturable magnets and dynamic software controls. Commercial fusion energy can uniquely provide an abundant source of zero-emission power for a sustainable future. Thea Energy is leveraging recent breakthroughs in computation and controls to reinvent the stellarator, a scientifically mature form of magnetic fusion technology. Thea Energy was founded in 2022 as a spin-out of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University, where the stellarator was originally invented. Thea Energy is currently designing its first integrated fusion system, Eos, based on its planar coil stellarator architecture which will produce fusion neutrons at scale and in steady state. To learn more about Thea Energy’s mission, visit https://thea.energy/ and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

Investor Contact
Robin Brown
robin@thea.energy

Media Contact
Madeline Joanis
maddy@thea.energy

The MIL Network –
March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta Announces $50 Million Available Through 2025 Affordable Housing Program General Fund

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ATLANTA, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) will allocate $50 million through its 2025 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) General Fund, which opens for applications on April 21, 2025. Developers and housing organizations partner with a FHLBank Atlanta member financial institution to apply for grant funding to support affordable housing projects that involve the purchase, construction and rehabilitation of owner-occupied, rental, or transitional housing.

This year, FHLBank Atlanta is increasing the maximum subsidy amount per project to $1.25 million, up from $1 million in 2024, given the current market environment of higher construction costs and home prices.

“Each year we offer the AHP General Fund to provide much needed support for the development of affordable housing, and we are pleased to work with our members to distribute grants to worthwhile projects across our district,” said FHLBank Atlanta President and CEO Kirk Malmberg. “Importantly, our funds assist both for-profit and non-profit developers and community organizations to increase single family and multifamily affordable housing inventory.”

AHP General Fund applications will be accepted through May 22, 2025. A one-time registration is required by May 9, 2025 for all first-time AHP project sponsors. Visit the FHLBank Atlanta website for information on registration as well as webinars detailing the application process, scoring and financial guidelines.

“The General Fund plays a vital role in addressing housing challenges by funding a range of projects from new construction to adaptive reuse and expansion initiatives,” said FHLBank Atlanta Director of Community Investment Services Tomeka Strickland. “We look forward to another successful year of collaboration with our members and community partners to drive meaningful, lasting change in the housing sector.”

Developers or community organizations seeking to identify an FHLBank Atlanta member financial institution can visit the Bank’s Find a Member page, or contact Community Investment Services at 800.536.9650, Option 3 or ahpprog@fhlbatl.com.

About FHLBank Atlanta
FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank’s members are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district Banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $9.1 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than 1.2 million households.

For more information, visit www.fhlbatl.com.

CONTACT: Sheryl Touchton
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
stouchton@fhlbatl.com

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear Energy Adds Two Additional Senior Nuclear Engineers to its Technical Team

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

NANO Nuclear Continues to Attract Top Tier talent to Propel the Development of its Innovative Microreactor Technologies

New York, N.Y., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing clean energy solutions, today announced the additions of James Leybourn and Simon Boddington as Senior Nuclear Engineers. Both Mr. Leybourn and Mr. Boddington are based in the U.K. and recently joined NANO Nuclear’s U.K.-based nuclear science and engineering partner Cambridge AtomWorks, led by Professors Ian Farnan and Eugene Shwageraus.

The additions of Mr. Leybourn and Mr. Boddington build upon the recently announced appointment of Andrew Steer, Ph.D. as NANO Nuclear’s Head of Regulatory Engagement. Their addition to the team brings extensive knowledge in molten salt reactor physics, deep understanding of nuclear safety cases, advanced reactor engineering and innovative fuel system design, all of which will be essential for the ongoing development of NANO Nuclear’s proprietary ‘ZEUS’ and ‘ODIN’ microreactors, as well as the KRONOS MMR^TMEnergy System and the LOKI MMR^TM.

Mr. Leybourn is a Chartered Physicist with over 12 years’ experience of Physics and Engineering within the U.K. nuclear industry. He has a proven track record of leading diverse projects, including thermal hydraulics, engineering design and safety case preparation. Prior to joining Cambridge AtomWorks, Mr. Leybourn played a key role in leading the development of a risk-informed work program and introducing systems engineering practices, including fuel route development, at MoltexFLEX, a British nuclear energy company developing advanced small modular molten salt reactors. He is a fuel route expert, having spent much of his career supporting the fuel route of the U.K. Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (AGR) fleet. He also led significant projects supporting the AGR defueling programs and has provided support to the Rolls-Royce small modular reactor project.

Mr. Boddington is a reactor physicist with over 10 years of industry experience covering pressurized water reactors as well as thermal and fast spectrum molten salt reactor designs. Much of his experience is focused on reactor physics and he has assembled, managed and technically led the physics team that designed and delivered the molten salt MolexFLEX and SSR-W reactor concepts, with a focus on maintaining economic design objectives. He has extensive experience in applying analytical and stochastic reactor physics methods to develop core designs, including validation and verification. He graduated with an MPhys from the University of Southampton in 2014, then, completed the nuclear graduate’s scheme, before joining the Core Physics Group at Rolls-Royce.

“NANO Nuclear continues to expand its technical teams with top professionals and innovators with diverse reactor engineering expertise that we will need to propel our programs forward. These hires also reflect our commitment to becoming a global leader in advanced nuclear energy solutions,” said Professor Ian Farnan, Lead of Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Radiation and Materials of NANO Nuclear. “With expertise spanning molten salt reactor physics, fuel handling, and high-temperature thermal-hydraulics, James and Simon will significantly strengthen NANO Nuclear’s ability to develop, demonstrate, gain regulatory approval, and, eventually commercialize and deploy its next-generation microreactors.”

Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. Appoints James Leybourn and Simon Boddington as Senior Nuclear Engineers.

“The talent we’ve attracted speaks volumes about the progress we’re making,” said Professor Eugene Shwageraus, Lead of Nuclear Reactor Engineering of NANO Nuclear. “NANO Nuclear’s success in recruiting top engineering minds with such outstanding credentials and experience from world-class companies underscores our leadership in next-generation nuclear energy development.”

“It is essential for us to strengthen our technical capabilities as we enter the next phase of development for our portfolio of energy systems,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear. “Bringing Mr. Leybourn and Mr. Boddington on board demonstrates NANO Nuclear’s ambitions of being an innovative and global leader in the industry. Their extensive experience will be invaluable, and I welcome them to NANO Nuclear.”

About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across five business lines: (i) cutting edge portable and other microreactor technologies, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation, (iv) nuclear applications for space and (v) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s reactor products in development include patented KRONOS MMR^™ Energy System, a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that is in construction permit pre-application engagement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in collaboration with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, “ZEUS”, a portable solid core battery reactor, “ODIN”, a portable low-pressure coolant reactor, and the space focused, portable LOKI MMR^™, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as the LOKI MMR^™ system and other power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.

For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

For further NANO Nuclear information, please contact:

Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
Business Tel: (212) 634-9206

PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:

NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN
NANO Nuclear Energy YOUTUBE
NANO Nuclear Energy X PLATFORM

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. In this press release, forward-looking statements includes those related to the anticipated benefits to NANO Nuclear of the appointment of the senior nuclear engineers, as well as the Company’s regulatory plans in general, as described herein. These and other forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state or non-U.S. nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology and the acquisition of complimentary technology or businesses, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, regulatory delays, integration issues and the development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations, (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of U.S. and non-U.S. government regulation, policies and licensing requirements, including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the operating an early stage business a highly regulated and rapidly evolving industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

Attachment

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Poet Ships Advanced Optical Engine Samples to Three Global Technology Customers for AI Applications

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TORONTO, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — POET Technologies Inc. (“POET” or the “Company“) (TSX Venture: PTK; NASDAQ: POET), a leader in the design and implementation of highly-integrated optical engines and light sources for artificial intelligence networks, today announced it has fulfilled orders from three global customers for samples of its advanced optical transmit engines.

The Company announced that it has shipped final design samples of its POET Infinity transmit product line for 400G and 800G applications to three major technology leaders. The products include 400G FR4, 800G 2xFR4 and 800G DR8 transmit formats, all assembled at our high volume production facility in Malaysia. The FR4 optical engines incorporate the multiplexer and can be paired with POET receiver engines for a highly integrated pluggable transceiver. POET’s customers have designed and are building pluggable transceivers using a two-chip solution, i.e., one transmit chip and one receive chip for 400G and three-chip solution for 800G. The receive optical engines have already been qualified and the availability of the transmit engine samples will allow the shipment of completed modules to end customers for qualification, with production orders expected in the second half of 2025.

“Each of our customers has expressed intense enthusiasm for the results they have seen from POET’s integrated, chip-level solutions,” said Raju Kankipati, Chief Revenue Officer of POET. “The sampling of the transmit engines is the final piece that allows our customers to complete their modules and get them qualified. We are increasingly a vendor of record for these enterprises and that is how we know we are on the right track for wider adoption and greater commercial success,” said Kankipati.

POET has previously worked with each customer on integrating the transmit and receive optical engines into their final module products. The demand for 400G and 800G modules remains strong. The demand for these three module types (400G FR4, 800G 2xFR4 and 800G DR8) is forecasted by LightCounting, a market research firm, to be about 20 million units per year for next 5 years.

Dr. Suresh Venkatesan, POET’s Chairman & CEO added: “POET’s advantages of cost, reliability and power efficiency have gained the trust of industry leaders who look to our optical interposer-based product portfolio for solutions that can power AI development and improve optical networking.”

IR Consultant Engagement
The Company also announced that it is increasing its commitment to a broad-based investor relations program with a one-month trial engagement with IR Agency, LLC. During this period, IR Agency will assist POET in communicating information about the Company to relevant stakeholders and financial audiences. IR Agency will receive compensation of US$250,000 for the services rendered through the contract term.

About POET Technologies Inc.
POET is a design and development company offering high-speed optical modules, optical engines and light source products to the artificial intelligence systems market and to hyperscale data centers. POET’s photonic integration solutions are based on the POET Optical Interposer™, a novel, patented platform that allows the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single chip using advanced wafer-level semiconductor manufacturing techniques. POET’s Optical Interposer-based products are lower cost, consume less power than comparable products, are smaller in size and are readily scalable to high production volumes. In addition to providing high-speed (800G, 1.6T and above) optical engines and optical modules for AI clusters and hyperscale data centers, POET has designed and produced novel light source products for chip-to-chip data communication within and between AI servers, the next frontier for solving bandwidth and latency problems in AI systems. POET’s Optical Interposer platform also solves device integration challenges in 5G networks, machine-to-machine communication, self-contained “Edge” computing applications and sensing applications, such as LIDAR systems for autonomous vehicles. POET is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with operations in Allentown, PA, Shenzhen, China, and Singapore. More information about POET is available on our website at www.poet-technologies.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking information” (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws) and “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such statements or information are identified with words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “potential”, “estimate”, “propose”, “project”, “outlook”, “foresee” or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding any potential outcome. Such statements include the Company’s expectations with respect to the success of the Company’s product development efforts, the performance of its products, operations, meeting revenue targets, and the expectation of continued success in the financing efforts, the capability, functionality, performance and cost of the Company’s technology as well as the market acceptance, inclusion and timing of the Company’s technology in current and future products and expectations regarding its successful development of high speed transceiver solutions and its penetration of the Artificial Intelligence hardware markets.

Such forward-looking information or statements are based on a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which may cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated and which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the completion of its development efforts with its customers, the ability to build working prototypes to the customer’s specifications, the performance of the samples provided to customers, and the size, future growth and needs of Artificial Intelligence network suppliers. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including, without limitation, the failure of the samples to meet industry specs, the failure to produce optical engines on time and within budget, the failure of Artificial Intelligence networks to continue to grow as expected, the failure of the Company’s products to meet performance requirements for AI and datacom networks, operational risks in the completion of the Company’s projects, the ability of the Company to generate sales for its products, and the ability of its customers to deploy systems that incorporate the Company’s products. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information or statements are reasonable, prospective investors in the Company’s securities should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because the Company can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release are as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise this forward-looking information and statements except as required by law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
120 Eglinton Avenue, East, Suite 1107, Toronto, ON, M4P 1E2- Tel: 416-368-9411 – Fax: 416-322-5075

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Safe Harbor Financial Names Mike Regan as Head of Investor Relations and Data Science

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

GOLDEN, Colo., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SHF Holdings, Inc., d/b/a Safe Harbor Financial (“Safe Harbor” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SHFS), a fintech leader in facilitating financial services and credit facilities to the regulated cannabis industry, is proud to announce that Michael (Mike) Regan has joined the team as Head of Investor Relations and Data Science.

In this role, Mike will help investors gain a deeper understanding of the Company’s growth initiatives, while also spearheading the development of innovative, differentiated new products leveraging Safe Harbor’s extensive databases. He earned an MBA from MIT Sloan, where he was the TA for a class on creating and quantitatively analyzing new institutional investment strategies, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majoring in Finance from Georgetown University. His career spans research roles at Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, hedge funds Roubaix Capital and Hawkshaw Capital, as well as product innovation at Liberty Mutual. Since 2019, Mike has focused on the legal cannabis sector, most recently as Founder and Director of Research at Excelsior Equities, an investment bank and broker-dealer that provided research, custody, and trading of cannabis equities.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mike Regan to Safe Harbor as Head of Investor Relations and Data Science,” said Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor. “Mike’s exceptional track record in investment analysis, product innovation, and his thorough understanding of the legal cannabis sector make him uniquely qualified to advance our growth initiatives. His expertise will be instrumental in developing new solutions for our growth strategies Safe Harbor Protects, Safe Harbor Lends, Safe Harbor Connects, and Safe Harbor Enables programs, ensuring we continue to lead and grow in this evolving industry.”

“I am excited to join Safe Harbor and contribute to its mission of driving innovation and growth to better serve operators in the legal cannabis sector and beyond,” said Mike Regan. “I see tremendous potential to create meaningful value for our shareholders and clients, and to develop solutions that will shape the future of this industry.”

About Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor is among the first service providers to offer compliance, monitoring and validation services to financial institutions, providing traditional banking services to cannabis, hemp, CBD and ancillary operators, making communities safer, driving growth in local economies and fostering long-term partnerships. Safe Harbor, through its financial institution clients, implements high standards of accountability, transparency, monitoring, reporting and risk mitigation measures while meeting Bank Secrecy Act obligations in line with FinCEN guidance on cannabis-related businesses. Over the past decade, Safe Harbor has facilitated more than $25 billion in deposit transactions for businesses with operations spanning more than 41 states and US territories with regulated cannabis markets. For more information, visit www.shfinancial.org.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to trends in the cannabis industry, including proposed changes in U.S and state laws, rules, regulations and guidance relating to Safe Harbor’s services; Safe Harbor’s growth prospects and Safe Harbor’s market size; Safe Harbor’s projected financial and operational performance, including relative to its competitors and historical performance; success or viability of new product and service offerings Safe Harbor may introduce in the future; the impact volatility in the capital markets, which may adversely affect the price of Safe Harbor’s securities; the outcome of any legal proceedings that have been or may be brought by or against Safe Harbor; and other statements regarding Safe Harbor’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “outlook,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would,” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in Safe Harbor’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Safe Harbor undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

Contact Information
Mike Regan, Head of Safe Harbor Investor Relations
ir@SHFinancial.org
(720) 826-6282

KCSA Strategic Communications
Ellen Mellody
safeharbor@kcsa.com

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: VERB to Host Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Call on Tuesday, March, 25, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. ET

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LAS VEGAS and LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Verb Technology Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERB) (“VERB” or the “Company”), the company behind MARKET.live, the livestream social shopping platform, telehealth platforms VANITYPrescribed.com and GoodGirlRx.com, and GO FUND YOURSELF.show, the TV show disrupting crowdfunding, today announced that VERB CEO Rory J. Cutaia will host a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024 on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time (10:00 a.m. Pacific time). Financial results will be issued in a press release prior to the call.

VERB Q4 and FY 2024 Earnings Call
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern time (10:00 a.m. Pacific time)

To access by phone: Please call the conference telephone number 10-15 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization.

Meeting Link: https://callme.viavid.com/viavid/?callme=true&passcode=13728166&h=true&info=company&r=true&B=6
Toll Free: 1-877-407-4018
Toll/International: 1-201-689-8471

A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available after 04:00 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through Tuesday, April 08, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET.
Toll Free:1-844-512-2921
Toll/International: 1-412-317-6671
Replay Pin Number: 13752553
Replay Expiry: April 8^th at 11:59 PM ET

ABOUT VERB

Verb Technology Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERB), is the innovative force behind interactive video-based social commerce. The Company operates three business units, each of which leverages its social commerce technology and video marketing expertise. The Company’s MARKET.live platform is a multi-vendor, livestream social shopping destination at the forefront of the convergence of e-commerce and entertainment, where brands, retailers, creators, and influencers engage their customers, clients, fans, and followers across multiple social media channels simultaneously. GO FUND YOURSELF!, is a revolutionary interactive social crowd funding platform for public and private companies seeking broad-based exposure across social media channels for their crowd-funded Regulation CF and Regulation A offerings. The platform combines a ground-breaking interactive TV show with MARKET.live’s back-end capabilities allowing viewers to tap, scan or click on their screen to facilitate an investment, in real time, as they watch companies presenting before the show’s panel of “Titans”. Presenting companies that sell consumer products are able to offer their products directly to viewers during the show in real time through shoppable onscreen icons. VANITYPrescribed.com and GoodGirlRx.com are telehealth portals, intended to redefine telehealth by offering a seamless, digital-first experience that empowers individuals to take control of their healthcare needs. They were designed and developed to disrupt the traditional healthcare model by providing tailored healthcare solutions at affordable, fixed prices — without hidden fees, membership costs, or inflated pharmaceutical markups. GoodGirlRx.com, a partnership with Savannah Chrisley, a well-known lifestyle personality and advocate for health and wellness, offers customers access to convenient, no-hassle telehealth services and pharmaceuticals, including the new weight-loss drugs, with fixed pricing regardless of dosage, breaking away from the industry’s traditional model of excessive pricing and pharmaceutical gatekeeping.

The Company is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV and operates full-service production and creator studios in Los Alamitos, California.

For more information, please visit: www.verb.tech.

Follow VERB AND MARKET.live here:

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance, or achievements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, those identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our annual, quarterly and current reports filed with the SEC and the risk factors included in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 1, 2024. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact:
investors@verb.tech

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Data Storage Corporation to Participate in the 2025 iAccess Alpha Virtual Conference
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Data Storage Corporation (Nasdaq: DTST) (“DSC” and the “Company”), a leading provider of multi-cloud hosting, managed cloud services, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and IT automation, that integrates with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, today announced that its management will be participating in the iAccess Alpha Virtual Best Ideas Spring Investment Conference 2025 being held March 25 and 26, 2025.

Why Investors Should Tune In:
- Gain insight into DSC’s expanding footprint in cloud hosting and IT modernization.
- Learn about the Company’s scalable, secure, and high-performance cloud solutions.
- Understand how DSC leverages partnerships with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud to drive innovation.
Chuck Piluso, CEO of Data Storage Corporation, and Chris Panagiotakos, CFO of Data Storage Corporation, will be presenting at 10:00 a.m. ET on March 25, sharing insights into DSC’s business strategy, growth trajectory, and market opportunities. Management will also participate in one-on-one meetings with investors on March 26. The live webcast of the Company’s presentation will be available at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/3083/52117, and a replay will be accessible afterward. The presentation will also be available on the company’s website under the “News & Events” tab, https://www.dtst.com/news-events/ir-calendar.

For more information about the iAccess Alpha Virtual Best Ideas Spring Investment Conference 2025, or to register and schedule a one-on-one meeting with Data Storage Corporation, please visit the conference website at: https://www.iaccessalpha.com/home.

About Data Storage Corporation
Data Storage Corporation (Nasdaq: DTST) through its subsidiaries is a leading provider of multi-cloud hosting, fully managed cloud services, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, IT automation, and voice & data solutions. Recognizing that data migration is a critical step in transitioning from on-premises systems to the cloud, DTST provides comprehensive migration services to ensure seamless, secure, and efficient data transfer, minimizing downtime and optimizing performance.

Through its CloudFirst platform, built on IBM Power Cloud infrastructure, DTST delivers high-performance, scalable, and secure cloud solutions with interoperability across its infrastructure partners, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

With data centers supporting cloud platform deployments across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, DTST provides mission-critical cloud services to a diverse clientele, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations.

As a leader in the multi-billion-dollar cloud hosting and business continuity market, DTST is recognized for its expertise in cloud infrastructure, IT modernization, and data migration, enabling clients to transition to the cloud with confidence and operational continuity.

For more information, please visit www.dtst.com or follow us on X @DataStorageCorp.

Safe Harbor Provision

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created thereby. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “plans” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may” and “could” are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include the Company’s ability to grow its presence in Europe. These risks should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was initially made. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

Contact:
Crescendo Communications, LLC
212-671-1020
DTST@crescendo-ir.com

The MIL Network –
March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: High Wire Networks Secures New Bundle Contract, Showcasing the Power of Integrated Cybersecurity Solutions

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

BATAVIA, Ill., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — High Wire Networks, Inc. (OTCQB: HWNI) has finalized a new bundled services contract with an MSP partner, demonstrating the growing momentum behind its integrated approach to cybersecurity.

High Wire – Overwatch’s newly launched managed cybersecurity service bundles — CORE, PROACTIVE, and COMPLETE — are purpose-built to provide partners and their customers with flexible, scalable protection tailored to growing security threats and aligned with strategic business objectives.

The signed contract, valued at more than $275,000 over 24 months, includes the CORE bundle, which delivers essential coverage for critical threat vectors, including network, email, endpoint, and phishing protection. This foundational package is ideal for organizations seeking strong baseline defenses with simplified deployment and ongoing support.

“Our bundle offerings are designed to help partners deliver greater value, faster time-to-protection, and long-term security maturity to their customers,” said Mark Dallmeier, Chief Revenue Officer at Overwatch. “Our partners gain a true competitive edge by moving beyond transactional service delivery and embracing an integrated, consultative approach. Bundles like CORE don’t just protect — they empower. They provide an unfair advantage in the marketplace by reducing complexity, driving operational efficiency, and improving security posture from day one.”

The partner CEO based in New Jersey emphasized the real-world benefits of the bundled approach, saying, “The new bundled offerings from Overwatch allow us to simplify cybersecurity solutions for our clients, eliminating the friction of multiple proposals, approvals, and lengthy decision-making processes. With fixed costs and license counts, we can confidently offer proof-of-concept trials without restrictions, ensuring clients experience the full value of a comprehensive security approach.

The CORE bundle delivers protection across key attack surfaces—endpoints, network traffic, email, and even end-user security awareness training—providing layered defense against modern threats. Relying on endpoint protection, or any single offering, alone is like installing a state-of-the-art security system but leaving the front door unlocked. Overwatch’s integrated approach enables us to provide truly effective, proactive security for our clients,” he continued.

“Since introducing the CORE bundle, our clients’ response has been overwhelmingly positive. They recognize the growing risks and immediately see the value in the alerting and reporting capabilities we can now provide. Clients also report a drastic reduction—if not total elimination—of malicious email threats, reinforcing the power of this comprehensive security strategy,” he concluded.

Overwatch is committed to giving partners and their customers an unfair advantage by providing the tools, scalability, and support needed to outperform in a rapidly changing threat environment. By continuing to invest in solutions that make cybersecurity more accessible, profitable, and impactful, High Wire – Overwatch empowers its partners to deliver next-generation security across their client base — transforming the economics of managed cybersecurity and driving stronger outcomes at scale.

About High Wire Networks

High Wire Networks, Inc. (OTCQB: HWNI) is a fast-growing, award-winning global provider of managed cybersecurity. Through over 200 channel partners, it delivers trusted managed services for more than 1,100 managed security customers worldwide. End customers include Fortune 500 companies and many of the nation’s largest government agencies. Its U.S.-based 24/7 Network Operations Center and Security Operations Center is in Chicago, Illinois.

High Wire was ranked by Frost & Sullivan as a Top 15 Managed Security Service Provider in the Americas for 2024. It was also named to CRN’s MSP 500 and Elite 150 lists of the nation’s top IT-managed service providers for 2023 and 2024.

Learn more at HighWireNetworks.com. Follow the company on X, view its extensive video series on YouTube or connect on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

The above news release contains forward-looking statements. The statements contained in this document that are not statements of historical fact, including but not limited to, statements identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “appear,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “hope,” “indicate,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and other variations or negative expressions of these terms, including statements related to expected market trends and the Company’s performance, are all “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on assumptions that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, and include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performances and are subject to a wide range of external factors, uncertainties, business risks, and other risks identified in filings made by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in the company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any statement is based except as required by applicable law and regulations.

Media Contact:
Lori Aleman
Director of Marketing
O: 630-635-8477 | C: 602-920-0902
lori.aleman@highwirenetworks.com

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Karnataka Co-operative Bank Ltd., Muddebihal, Karnataka

Source: Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 18, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹5.00 lakh (Rupees Five Lakh only) on The Karnataka Co-operative Bank Ltd., Muddebihal, Karnataka (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Priority Sector Lending (PSL) – Targets and Classification’ and specific directions issued by RBI on making contribution to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Refinance Fund due to shortfall in achievement of PSL. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The bank was directed by RBI through specific direction to deposit a certain amount in the MSE Refinance Fund administered by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) against the shortfall in achievement of PSL target for the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23. On failure to deposit the specified amount, a cautionary letter was issued by RBI advising the bank to deposit the specified amount, but the bank failed to deposit the same. Based on the above-mentioned non-compliance and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the RBI directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

The bank had failed to deposit the prescribed amount in the MSE Refinance Fund maintained with SIDBI against the shortfall in achievement of PSL target for FY 2022-23 even after the issuance of cautionary letter.

This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.

(Puneet Pancholy)
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2024-2025/2427

MIL OSI Economics –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Karaikudi Co-operative Town Bank Ltd., Tamil Nadu

Source: Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 18, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) on The Karaikudi Co-operative Town Bank Ltd., Tamil Nadu (the bank) for non-compliance with specific directions issued by RBI under ‘Supervisory Action Framework (SAF)’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

The bank had sanctioned fresh loans and advances, in non-adherence to directions under SAF, which were (a) beyond the applicable single and group borrower exposure limits; and (b) not backed by collateral security of term deposits/NSCs/KVPs/insurance policies.

(Puneet Pancholy)
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2024-2025/2425

MIL OSI Economics –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Karimnagar Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Telangana

Source: Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 18, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹3.10 lakh (Rupees Three Lakh Ten Thousand only) on The Karimnagar Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Telangana (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Priority Sector Lending (PSL) – Targets and Classification’ and specific directions issued by RBI on making contribution to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Refinance Fund due to shortfall in achievement of PSL. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The bank was directed by RBI through specific direction to deposit a certain amount in the MSE Refinance Fund administered by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) against the shortfall in achievement of PSL target for the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23. On failure to deposit the specified amount, a cautionary letter was issued by RBI advising the bank to deposit the specified amount, but the bank failed to deposit the same. Based on the above-mentioned non-compliance and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the RBI directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

(Puneet Pancholy)
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2024-2025/2426

MIL OSI Economics –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Sind Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Telangana

Source: Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 18, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.30 lakh (Rupees One Lakh Thirty Thousand only) on Sind Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Telangana (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Priority Sector Lending (PSL) – Targets and Classification’ and specific directions issued by RBI on making contribution to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Refinance Fund due to shortfall in achievement of PSL. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The bank was directed by RBI through specific direction to deposit a certain amount in the MSE Refinance Fund administered by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) against the shortfall in achievement of PSL target for the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23. On failure to deposit the specified amount, a cautionary letter was issued by RBI advising the bank to deposit the specified amount, but the bank failed to deposit the same. Based on the above-mentioned non-compliance and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the RBI directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

(Puneet Pancholy)
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2024-2025/2428

MIL OSI Economics –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Sreenivasa Padmavathi Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Telangana

Source: Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 18, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.20 lakh (Rupees One Lakh Twenty Thousand only) on Sreenivasa Padmavathi Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Telangana (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Priority Sector Lending (PSL) – Targets and Classification’ and specific directions issued by RBI on making contribution to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Refinance Fund due to shortfall in achievement of PSL. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The bank was directed by RBI through specific direction to deposit a certain amount in the MSE Refinance Fund administered by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) against the shortfall in achievement of PSL target for the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23, but the bank failed to deposit the same. Based on the above-mentioned non-compliance and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the RBI directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

The bank had failed to deposit the prescribed amount in the MSE Refinance Fund maintained with SIDBI against the shortfall in achievement of PSL target for FY 2022-23.

(Puneet Pancholy)
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2024-2025/2429

MIL OSI Economics –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: AGNICO EAGLE ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT IN CARTIER RESOURCES INC.

Source: Agnico Eagle Mines

Stock Symbol: AEM (NYSE and TSX)

TORONTO, March 20, 2025 /CNW/ – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) (“Agnico Eagle”) announced today that it has agreed to subscribe for 20,770,000 units (“Units”) of Cartier Resources Inc. (“Cartier”) in a non-brokered private placement at a price of C$0.13 per Unit for total consideration of C$2,700,100 (the “Private Placement”). Each Unit is comprised of one common share of Cartier (a “Common Share”) and one common share purchase warrant of Cartier (each, an “Offering Warrant”). Each Offering Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one Common Share at a price of C$0.18 for a period of five years following the closing date of the Private Placement, subject to acceleration in certain circumstances. Closing is expected to occur on or about April 10, 2025 and is subject to certain conditions.

Agnico Eagle currently owns, or exercises control and direction over, an aggregate of 97,022,944 Common Shares and 7,000,000 Common Share purchase warrants entitling Agnico Eagle to acquire 7,000,000 Common Shares (the “Existing Warrants”), representing approximately 26.6% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis and 28.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on a partially-diluted basis (assuming the exercise of the Existing Warrants). On closing of the Private Placement, assuming that 39,432,000 Common Shares are issued by Cartier in connection with the concurrent “best efforts” private placement offering announced by Cartier, Agnico Eagle will own 117,792,944 Common Shares, 20,770,000 Offering Warrants and 7,000,000 Existing Warrants, representing approximately 27.7% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis and approximately 32.2% of the Common Shares on a partially-diluted basis (assuming the exercise of the Existing Warrants and Offering Warrants held by Agnico Eagle).

Agnico Eagle and Cartier were party to an amended and restated investor rights agreement dated May 20, 2022 (the “Existing Agnico IRA”), pursuant to which Agnico Eagle was entitled to certain rights (subject to maintaining certain ownership thresholds), including: (a) the right to participate in certain equity financings by Cartier in order to acquire up to a 19.97% ownership interest in Cartier; and (b) the right to nominate one person (and in the case of an increase in the size of the board of directors of Cartier to 10 or more directors, two persons) to the board of directors of Cartier. In addition, Agnico Eagle Abitibi Acquisition Corp. (successor to O3 Mining Inc.), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Agnico Eagle, and Cartier were party to an investor rights agreement dated April 21, 2022 (the “Existing O3 IRA”), pursuant to which Agnico Eagle Abitibi Acquisition Corp. was entitled to certain rights (subject to maintaining certain ownership thresholds), including: (i) the right to participate in certain equity financings by Cartier in order to maintain its then-current ownership interest in Cartier; and (ii) the right to nominate one person to the board of directors of Cartier.

Immediately prior to entering into the subscription agreement in respect of the Private Placement, the Existing O3 IRA was terminated and the Existing Agnico IRA was amended and restated in order to, among other things: (a) increase the ownership interest ceiling in the participation right and top-up right from 19.97% to the greater of Agnico Eagle’s pro rata ownership interest in Cartier at the applicable time and 32%; (b) amend the nomination right to permit Agnico Eagle to nominate between one and three individuals to the board of directors of Cartier (based on certain ownership thresholds and the size of the board of directors of Cartier); and (c) grant Agnico Eagle demand registration and piggy-back registration rights in respect of the potential sale of Common Shares by Agnico Eagle.

Agnico Eagle is acquiring the Common Shares and Offering Warrants for investment purposes. Depending on market conditions and other factors, Agnico Eagle may, from time to time, acquire additional Common Shares, common share purchase warrants or other securities of Cartier or dispose of some or all of the Common Shares, Offering Warrants, Existing Warrants or other securities of Cartier it owns at such time.

An early warning report will be filed by Agnico Eagle in accordance with applicable securities laws. To obtain a copy of the early warning report, please contact:

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
c/o Investor Relations
145 King Street East, Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2Y7
Telephone: 416-947-1212
Email: investor.relations@agnicoeagle.com

Agnico Eagle’s head office is located at 145 King Street East, Suite 400, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2Y7. Cartier’s head office is located at 1740, chemin Sullivan, bureau 1000, Val d’Or, Québec J9P 7H1.

About Agnico Eagle

Agnico Eagle is a Canadian based and led senior gold mining company and the third largest gold producer in the world, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, with a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading sustainability practices. Agnico Eagle was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this news release has been prepared as at March 20, 2025. Certain statements in this news release, referred to herein as “forward-looking statements”, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” under the provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. These statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may”, “will” or similar terms.

Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements relating to the expected closing of the Private Placement (including the expected closing date), Agnico Eagle’s ownership interest in Cartier upon closing of the Private Placement and Agnico Eagle’s acquisition or disposition of securities of Cartier in the future.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Agnico Eagle as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, known and unknown, could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Other than as required by law, Agnico Eagle does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agnico-eagle-announces-additional-investment-in-cartier-resources-inc-302406980.html

SOURCE Agnico Eagle Mines Limited

MIL OSI Economics –

March 21, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s PBS means consumers pay less for expensive medicines. Here’s how this system works
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bonny Parkinson, Associate Professor, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University

The United States pharmaceutical lobby has complained to US President Donald Trump that Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is damaging their profits and has urged Trump to put tariffs on pharmaceutical imports from Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the scheme, saying Australia’s pharmaceutical subsidy scheme was “not up for negotiation”. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would also protect the PBS, which was the “envy of the world”.

But what exactly is the PBS, and why does it matter?

How did the PBS start?

In the early 1900s, Australians had to pay for medicines out-of-pocket. Some could get free or cheap medicines at public hospitals or through Friendly Society Dispensaries, but otherwise access was restricted to those who could afford to pay.

At the time, few effective medicines were available. But the development of insulin and penicillin in the 1920s made access to medicines much more important.

The Constitution gave the federal government limited powers in the provision of health and welfare, which were largely the responsibility of the states. After World War II, the federal government wanted to expand these powers but it encountered several constitutional roadblocks.

A rare successful referendum in 1946 changed that, enabling the National Health Act 1953 to pass. This established the PBS as we know it today.

How does the PBS work in practice?

The PBS covers the cost of medicines prescribed by doctors. Most are dispensed at community pharmacies (such as treatments for heart disease, the pill and antibiotics), but some more expensive ones are available at public hospitals or specialist treatment centres (such as chemotherapies and IVF medicines).

In 2023–24 there were 930 different medicines and 5,164 brands listed on the PBS, costing the government $17.7 billion.

The government negotiates the price of each medicine with the pharmaceutical company. Pharmacies then buy these medicines from wholesalers or companies.

When a patient fills a prescription at a pharmacy, they pay a co-payment. The government pays the difference between the agreed price and the co-payment to the pharmacy – costs that may amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There are two co-payments: one for concession card holders ($7.70) and one for the general consumer ($31.60). When a patient hits the annual spending limit (safety net threshold), the co-payment falls to $0 for concession patients and $7.70 for the general consumer.

Overall, patients contribute 8.4% to the total cost of the PBS, while the government pays the rest.

How are medicine prices set?

The PBS is split into two categories:

– F1: new, patent-protected medicines with no competition

– F2: medicines with multiple brands, including generics.

F1 medicines

To be listed on the PBS, a new medicine goes through the following process:
1. It’s evaluated for safety, efficacy and quality.
2. A panel of experts (including doctors, pharmacists, epidemiologists, health economists, health consumer advocates and a pharmaceutical industry representative) recommends which medicines should be listed on the PBS, based on effectiveness, safety, cost-effectiveness and the total cost on the budget of the medicine versus alternative treatments.
3. If the panel recommends a medicine, the price and details of the listing may be further negotiated with the government. (If the panel rejects a medicine, companies may revise their application and re-submit.)
4. Finally, the health minister, and subsequently the Cabinet, formally approves or rejects the panel’s recommendation. If approved, the medicine is listed on the PBS.
F2 medicines

Generic medicine companies may apply to list another brand on the PBS after a medicine loses patent protection. When this happens, the medicine moves from F1 to F2. Immediately, it incurs a mandatory price discount.

Generic medicine companies may offer pharmacists discounts on the PBS list price (for example, ten for the price of nine). Pharmacists then encourage patients to switch to the cheaper medicine.

Companies must disclose these discounts to the government, resulting in further price reductions.

Is the PBS system unique?

Australia is not special. Many countries use similar assessments to determine whether governments should subsidise new medicines, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom, Canada’s Drug Agency, and Pharmac in New Zealand.

Small differences exist, including whether the list of medicines is a positive (and they’re subsidised) or negative (meaning they’re not subsidised), whether the lists are established at the central level (such as the PBS in Australia) or local level (such as by province in Canada) or a mixture, and how co-payments are set.

Generic medicine companies in Australia may offer pharmacists discounts on their products.
National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

The biggest outlier is the US. Similar to its health system, the medicines system is a complex and decentralised mix of public and private organisations, including government agencies, independent organisations, health-care providers and payers such as health insurers.

What are the benefits of the PBS?

The PBS ensures all Australian patients have access to highly effective medicines. This contributes to a high life expectancy, while keeping health-care costs low relative to other developed countries.

This has been achieved by keeping prices down for both F1 and F2 medicines. By doing so, it creates room in the government budget to fund other new medicines.

Without the PBS, either taxes or co-payments would have to increase, or fewer medicines funded.

Other benefits include having a level playing field for all medicines, while maintaining flexibility to fund highly effective medicines for patients with unmet needs.

What are the drawbacks of the PBS system?

No system is without its drawbacks and risks. The PBS’s drawbacks include:
- limited patient involvement in the process
- the high frequency of re-submissions and delays to PBS listing
- companies being unwilling to submit off-patent medicines for PBS listing due to high costs and low rewards
- the ongoing lack of high-quality clinical evidence about medicines to treat rare diseases and certain patient populations, such as children.
Another issue is medicine shortages. When PBS-listed brands aren’t available due to supply chain issues, other non-PBS listed brands may be available at full cost to the patient. Increased medicine costs can discourage patients from filling necessary prescriptions, which can have longer-term impacts on health and health expenditure.

Finally, companies have argued Australia’s small market size plus low PBS prices can make it financially unviable to bring new medicines to Australia.

The PBS is a crucial part of Australia’s health system, making essential medicines affordable, while keeping costs down. Like any system, it has its challenges and there is ongoing debate about whether and how the system should change.

Read more:
Will the US trade war push up the price of medicines in Australia? Will there be drug shortages?

Bonny Parkinson receives funding from the Australian government to conduct evaluations of medicines to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. She also supervises students funded by PhD scholarships (received by the student, not Bonny Parkinson), including the Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship and Macquarie University Australian Pharmaceutical Scholarship, with support from six pharmaceutical companies: Amgen Australia, Janssen Australia, MSD Australia, Pfizer Australia, Roche Australia, and Abbvie Australia.

– ref. Australia’s PBS means consumers pay less for expensive medicines. Here’s how this system works – https://theconversation.com/australias-pbs-means-consumers-pay-less-for-expensive-medicines-heres-how-this-system-works-252736
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: VATICAN – Cardinal Tagle consecrates Bishops Sangalli and Sarrió Cucarella: Like Saint Joseph, be ‘silent’ heralds of the Word of God

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Bishops are called to be “silent” heralds of the Word of God. They do their work well when, without being protagonists, they become humble “guardians of the active presence of God in his Church”. And if their projects do not progress, it is better to “sleep” like Saint Joseph and “dream the dreams of God,” said Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle in an address to Samuele Sangalli and Diego Ramón Sarrió Cucarella during the liturgy of their episcopal ordination in the Vatican Basilica on the afternoon of March 19, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph.Samuele Sangalli, Adjunct Secretary and Head of the Administration of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches), was appointed Archbishop and Titular Bishop of Zella by Pope Francis on February 6 (see Fides, 6/2/2025). Diego Ramn Sarrió Cucarella, former President of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), of the Missionaries of Africa, was appointed by the Pope as the new Bishop of Laghouat, Algeria, on January 25.More than 30 bishops and Cardinals participated in the solemn ordination liturgy at the main Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Missions and Principal Consecrator, had as co-consecrators Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio of Lombardy and Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Department for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches).On the Solemnity of Saint Joseph and exactly 12 years after the solemn inauguration of Pope Francis’s Petrine Ministry (“for whose complete recovery we pray”), Cardinal Tagle turned his attention to the Spouse of Mary in his homily to offer the two new bishops valuable inspiration for their new journey as Successors of the Apostles. According to the Second Vatican Council, they are called “to care for the flock of which they are shepherds in God’s place, as teachers of doctrine, priests of worship, and ministers of the government of the Church”, and “to be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with the blood of his own Son,” as Saint Paul says. “Beautiful teachings,” remarked the Filipino Cardinal, “which make even bishops tremble. How can a bishop live up to such a great responsibility? Surely only by the grace of God.””Saint Joseph too,” Cardinal Tagle emphasized, “accepted God’s call in faith.” Faith “is the source of Joseph’s courage and creativity, who always subordinates his project to God’s, even when it is incomprehensible and uncomfortable.” Similarly, the ordained ministry of priests and bishops must be “rooted in a response of faith in God and exercised as a response of faith.” Often, Cardinal Tagle noted, “we plan and expect God to carry out our plans.” In reality, however, “we are not the planners, and God is not the executor of our plans.” And “if your vision and your plans do not seem to be moving forward,” he added, addressing the new Bishops, “sleep like Saint Joseph.” For “when we sleep, we are vulnerable, have less control, and are therefore more receptive and open. Sleep and dream the dreams of God. Wake up to realize the dreams of God with obedience and zeal.”Saint Joseph, according to the Pro-Prefect of the Missionary Dicastery, is also considered a “silent saint.” Not a single word of his is recorded in the Gospels. Nevertheless, “he accompanies, nurtures, and preserves the Word of God, made flesh in Mary’s womb, the most important Word.” And “every thought, every heartbeat, and every action of Joseph speaks of one Word: Jesus. It is the only thing that matters. His own words pale before the greatest Word. He can remain silent.” Following in the footsteps of Saint Joseph, “deacons, priests, and bishops must also remain ‘silent’ when proclaiming the Word of God.” For “it is not our word that counts and must be preserved for posterity, but the Word of God.” And “if our thoughts, plans, decisions, and actions do not speak of Jesus, we could be “like resounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”Furthermore, Saint Joseph is “a reliable guardian of Jesus.” And while carrying out his mission to guard the Son of God, “Joseph knows that Jesus belongs to his Father’s house. Joseph’s house in Nazareth has value only if it remains a shadow of the Father’s house, from which he must draw light.” Along these same lines, Cardinal Tagle noted: “Deacons, priests, and bishops are also called to be guardians of God’s active presence in his Church.” Because “bishops are not substitutes for the eternally living God nor competitors of the Redeemer.” And like Saint Joseph, they are called to be “authentic signs of God’s presence in the Church” with a “discreet visibility of the shadow that depends on the light.”Precisely, imitating the “sober and essential style of Saint Joseph,” at the end of the solemn liturgy, Archbishop Sangalli read a few simple “words of thanks.” They were addressed primarily to the “Providence of God, which has granted this afternoon full of grace” and to Pope Francis, “who has called us to be bishops and to whom we renew our affection and our prayers for a complete recovery as Head of the Church.”The new bishop’s thanks were also directed to the three consecrators, “who truly express the universality of the Church, and to all the other concelebrating cardinals and bishops, for whose service we were admitted to the College of Bishops through the gift of the ‘Spiritus principalis,’ the Spirit who governs and guides the Church.” This Spirit, Archbishop Sangalli added, “I received from the Church” and “from the good example of my dear parents, who today are already in eternal Life.” Finally, the new Archbishop’s thanks also went to the “brothers and family members who have accompanied, supported, and encouraged my journey,” as well as to the clergy and “the Ambrosian people of Lecco and the Seminary of Milan, with my former companions.”Archbishop Sangalli also thanked “the communities and associations I served, not least the Sinderesi Foundation,” as well as the academic communities of the Pontifical Gregorian University and the various universities where Sangalli was a student and professor.The gratitude of the new Archbishop was also expressed towards the Dicastery of Bishops, where Sangalli served for 20 years and lived “in contact with the vibrant heartbeat of the building of the local Churches and the election of their pastors.” The new Archbishop’s final words of thanks went to “the great family of the Dicastery for Evangelization, which opens the whole world to the richness of different traditions and cultures, each capable of sharing and transmitting the Gospel in its own singular way.” (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 19/3/2025)
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MIL OSI Europe News –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI: Alarum Technologies Announces Fourth Quarter and Annual 2024 Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

A Pivotal Year, Marking Accomplishment of Strategic Shift to Data Collection,
Hits Milestones Toward Becoming a Driving Force in the AI Revolution

2024 revenue increased to $31.8 million, of which $7.4 million was in the fourth quarter;
2024 net profit rose to $5.8 million and adjusted EBITDA reached $9.4 million;
Cash and liquid investments balance at year-end amounted to $25 million

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Alarum Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq, TASE: ALAR) (“Alarum” or the “Company”), a global provider of web data collection solutions, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

Shachar Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Alarum, said: “2024 was a landmark year for Alarum, as we successfully executed our strategic vision, to focus on data collection. This transformation comes at a time when AI is reshaping the world at an unprecedented pace. As data fuels intelligence, the companies that will lead this revolution are those that anticipate change, build a strong foundation, and position themselves for long-term success. This is exactly what we are striving for – taking it step by step.”

Market Trends Shaping Business Short-and Long-Term

Alarum Engaged in AI Model Training Trial Projects: as AI trends accelerated toward the end of 2024, collecting accurate data at massive scales has become increasingly critical. In the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, leading global companies, including one of the world’s largest online marketplace corporates, have selected Alarum’s Data Collection solutions for initial AI model training of mega-scale trial projects.
Industry Trends and Market Dynamics: With the growing demand for data, AI companies and data providers are forced to adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape, with websites implementing new technological barriers to data collection. This dynamic environment has led to revenue fluctuation across the industry. Alarum’s financial strength and operational efficiency allow it to capitalize on long-term market growth, leveraging its robust technological foundation, established customer base, and strategic engagements with industry leaders.
Financial Resilience: Alarum’s solid balance sheet and efficient operations enable it to stay ahead of the competition, seize opportunities promptly and adapt its long-term plans as required.
Long-term Product Strategy and Vision: Evolving market needs validate Alarum’s focus on in-depth research and aligned roadmaps. Recognizing the current era as a paramount opportunity, the Company continues to prioritize and allocate resources to seize and focus mainly on long-term growth opportunities, aiming to elevate its position to the next level.

Recent Developments and Business Highlights

Network Expansion: Alarum significantly scaled its IP network (IPPN) infrastructure in 2024, reinforcing its position as a key player in large-scale data collection. Its leadership was also acknowledged in the comprehensive public report on the IPPN industry, the 2024 PROXYWAY Market Research¹, which named Alarum’s NetNut Ltd. (“NetNut”) as a top performer.
Introducing Innovative Data Collection & Labeling Solutions: Alarum has introduced cutting-edge solutions, designed to provide seamless and scalable access to high-quality data. In the second half of 2024, the Company recorded initial sales from the Website Unblocker and SERP API (Search Engine Results Page Application Programming Interface) products, and it also made progress with the development of an AI Data Collector.
NetNut’s Net Retention Rate (“NRR”)² reached 1.27 as of December 31, 2024, compared to 1.53 as of December 31, 2023, yet another consecutive quarter of achieving an NRR well-above 1.

Chen Katz, Chairman of The Board of Alarum, commented: “Our 2024 results showcase the success of our strategic shift, which is well supported by our financial resilience. With a sharp focus on data collection, we have built a solid foundation for long term sustainability in the AI data-driven era. I am excited to see how our continued innovation and execution will shape the future of our company.”


Summary of Financial Results³
(in millions of U.S. dollars, rounded, except per share amounts and margins)

	For the Year Ended December 31,						For the Three Months Ended December 31,
	2024			2023			2024			2023
	(Audited)			(Audited)			(Unaudited)			(Unaudited)

Total Revenue		31.8			26.5			7.4			7.1
of which, Web Data Collection Revenue was		30.9			21.3			7.2			6.7
Gross profit		23.9			18.8			5.3			5.3
Gross margin (in percentage)		75.1	%		70.9	%		72.4	%		75.0	%
Non-IFRS gross margin (in percentage)		77.0	%		74.3	%		74.3	%		77.2	%
Total operating expenses		17.2			24.3			5.0			3.6
Financial income (expense), net		0.3			(0.6	)		0.2			(0.1	)
Tax benefit (expense)		(1.2	)		0.5			(0.1	)		(*	)
Net profit (loss) from continuing operations		5.8			(5.6	)		0.4			1.7
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations		9.4			5.2			1.5			2.2
Basic earnings (loss) per ADS from continuing operations (in U.S. dollars)	$	0.87		$	(1.35	)	$	0.06		$	0.28
Non-IFRS basic earnings (loss) per American Depository Share (“ADS”) from continuing operations (in U.S. dollars)	$	1.26		$	(1.14	)	$	0.20		$	0.38

Cash, cash equivalents and debt investments (including accrued interest)⁴		25.0			10.9			25.0			10.9
Shareholders’ equity³		26.4			13.2			26.4			13.2

* Less than $0.1 million

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Analysis

Revenue in Q4 2024 grew 4% year-over-year to $7.4 million (Q4 2023: $7.1 million). The increase is attributed to our NetNut web data collection business, which grew 7% to $7.2 million in Q4 2024, up from $6.7 million in Q4 2023. Revenue for the whole year 2024 grew 20%, rising to a record of $31.8 million (2023: $26.5 million). The Web Data Collection revenue reached a Company record $30.9 million in 2024, achieving 45% year-over-year growth (2023: $21.3 million).
Cost of revenue in Q4 2024 was $2.0 million (Q4 2023: $1.8 million). Full year 2024, cost of revenue was $7.9 million, (2023: $7.7 million). During these periods, costs have shifted towards investment in the Company’s IP network, as per its strategic decision announced in July 2023 to focus solely on its web data collection business.
Operating expenses in Q4 2024 totalled $5.0 million (Q4 2023: $3.6 million). The quarterly change was driven mainly by the increase in the NetNut Data Collection operations, primarily research and development salary costs. For the full year 2024, operating expenses were down to $17.2 million (2023: $24.3 million), mainly due to 2023-related impairment costs of goodwill and intangible assets and the strategic decision to scale down the Company’s consumer internet access business operations, partially offset by the increase in Data Collection operating expenses.
Financial income, net, in Q4 2024 was $0.2 million (Q4 2023: financial expense, net, of $0.1 million). Financial income, net, for 2024, increased to $0.3 million (2023: financial expense, net, of $0.6 million). This shift to financial income, net, from an expense, net, was mainly due to the increase in interest income from cash deposits as well as lower financial expenses related to short- and long-term loans.
2024 cash flow from operating activities rose 93%, to $8.9 million, compared to last year (2023: $4.6 million).
Bottom line, 2024 net profit from continuing operations rose to a record $5.8 million (2023: loss of $5.6 million), and the corresponding 2024 Adjusted EBITDA was up at a Company record $9.4 million (2023: $5.2 million).
As of December 31, 2024, shareholders’ equity doubled, totalling $26.4 million, up from $13.2 million as of December 31, 2023. The increase was driven by the switch to net profit from net loss as well as warrants and options exercises.
Outstanding ordinary share count as of December 31, 2024, was approximately 69.1 million shares, or 6.9 million in ADSs.

Financial Outlook

“In line with our guidance, total fourth quarter 2024 revenues increased to $7.4 million, of which $7.2 million were attributed to Web Data Collection, and fourth quarter 2024 Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.5 million. Our cash and liquid investment balance on December 31, 2024, increased to $25 million, demonstrating once again success in cashflow generation,” said Mr. Shai Avnit, Chief Financial Officer of Alarum.

“As we look ahead, our revenue guidance reflects the ongoing shifts in the global data collection. First quarter 2025 revenues are estimated at $7.3 million ±3% and Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter 2025 is expected to range from $0.8 million to $1.2 million. We are navigating a period of adjustment as the industry evolves, and while short-term revenue growth may be lower than in previous quarters, we remain focused on the bigger picture, and on generating long-term and sustainable value for the Company’s stakeholders,” Mr. Avnit concluded.

We are unable to present a reconciliation of our estimated Adjusted EBITDA to net profit from continuing operations as we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty, and without unreasonable effort, the impact and timing of certain expenses on our net profit from continuing operations. The financial impact of these expenses is uncertain and is dependent on various factors, including timing, and could be material to our consolidated statements of profit or loss and other comprehensive income (loss).

Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call

Mr. Shachar Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Alarum, and Mr. Shai Avnit, Chief Financial Officer of Alarum, will host a conference call today, March 20, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. ET, 5:30 a.m. Pacific time, 2:30 p.m. Israel, to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2024 results and the first quarter 2025 outlook, followed by a Q&A session. To attend, please dial one of the following numbers, at least five minutes before the call starts: 1-877-407-0789 or 1-201-689-8562. If you are unable to connect using the toll-free number, please try the international dial-in number. An Israeli toll-free number is: 1 809 406 247. Participants will be required to state their name and company upon dialling in.

Replay: The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay here, after 11:30 a.m. ET on March 20, 2025, through April 20, 2025. Toll-free replay numbers: 1-844-512-2921 or 1-412-317-6671, ID: 13751807.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates” and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For example, Alarum is using forward-looking statements in this press release when it discusses strategic vision, benefits, advantages and capabilities of Alarum’s solutions, the growing demand for data, that Alarum’s financial strength and operational efficiency allow it to capitalize on long-term market growth, that Alarum’s solid balance sheet and efficient operations enable it to stay ahead of the competition, seize opportunities promptly and adapt its long-term plans as required, that the Company continues to prioritize and allocate resources to seize and focus mainly on long-term growth opportunities and its aim to elevate its position to the next level, the estimates of the revenues for the first quarter 2025 revenues and Adjusted EBITDA, that short-term revenue growth may be lower than in previous quarters, and the Company’s focus on the bigger picture, and on generating long-term and sustainable value for the Company’s stakeholders. Because such statements deal with future events and are based on Alarum’s current expectations, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties and actual results, performance or achievements of Alarum could differ materially from those described in or implied by the statements in this press release. The forward-looking statements contained or implied in this press release are subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in Alarum’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 20, 2025, and in any subsequent filings with the SEC. Except as otherwise required by law, Alarum undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. References and links to websites have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release. Alarum is not responsible for the contents of third-party websites.


Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
(in thousands of U.S. dollars)

	December 31,
	2024		2023
	(Audited)
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	15,081		10,872
Trade receivables, net	3,231		1,994
Other receivables	503		399
	18,815		13,265

Non-current assets:
Long-term deposits	121		104
Other non-current assets	85		145
Property and equipment, net	130		88
Right-of-use assets	498		779
Deferred tax assets	422		181
Debt investments at fair value through other comprehensive income	9,256		–
Debt investments at fair value through profit or loss	555		–
Intangible assets, net	811		1,386
Goodwill	4,118		4,118
Total non-current assets	15,996		6,801
Total assets	34,811		20,066

Liabilities and equity
Current liabilities:
Trade payables	251		369
Other payables	4,484		2,439
Current maturities of long-term loan	938		290
Contract liabilities	1,987		1,983
Derivative financial instruments	148		109
Short-term lease liabilities	359		370
Total current liabilities	8,167		5,560

Non-current liabilities:
Long-term lease liabilities	261		523
Long-term loans, net of current maturities	32		802
Total non-current liabilities	293		1,325
Total liabilities	8,460		6,885

Equity:
Ordinary shares	–		–
Share premium	111,892		100,576
Other equity reserves	11,012		14,938
Accumulated deficit	(96,553	)	(102,333	)
Total equity	26,351		13,181
Total liabilities and equity	34,811		20,066


Condensed Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts)

	For the Year Ended December 31,					For the Three Months Ended December 31,
	2024			2023		2024		2023
	(Audited)			(Audited)		(Unaudited)		(Unaudited)
Continuing operations
Revenue		31,824		26,521		7,370		7,107
Cost of revenue		7,915		7,711		2,032		1,778
Gross profit		23,909		18,810		5,338		5,329

Operating expenses:
Research and development		4,495		3,557		1,210		795
Sales and marketing		7,033		10,035		1,988		1,579
General and administrative		5,661		4,406		1,749		1,207
Impairment of goodwill		–		6,311		–		–
Total operating expenses		17,189		24,309		4,947		3,581

Operating profit (loss)		6,720		(5,499	)	391		1,748

Financial income (expense), net		281		(590	)	163		(54	)
Profit (loss) from continuing operations before income tax		7,001		(6,089	)	554		1,694
Tax benefit (expense)		(1,221	)	482		(112	)	(22	)
Profit (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax		5,780		(5,607	)	442		1,672
Profit from discontinued operations, net of income tax		–		82		–		–
Net profit (loss) for the period		5,780		(5,525	)	442		1,672
Other comprehensive income (loss) for the period Change in fair value of debt investments		(80	)	–		(80	)	–
Total comprehensive income (loss) for the period		5,700		(5,525	)	362		1,672

Basic profit (loss) per share:
Continuing operations	$	0.09		(0.14	)	0.01		0.03

Discontinued operations		–		*		–		–
	$	0.09		(0.14	)	0.01		0.03

Diluted profit (loss) per share:
Continuing operations	$	0.08		(0.14	)	0.01		0.03

Discontinued operations		–		*		–		–
	$	0.08		(0.14	)	0.01		0.03

Basic profit (loss) per ADS:

Continuing operations	$	0.87		(1.35	)	0.06		0.28

Discontinued operations		–		*		–		–
	$	0.87		(1.35	)	0.06		0.28
* Less than $0.01

Use of Non-IFRS Financial Results

In addition to disclosing financial results calculated in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, this press release contains non-IFRS financial measures of EBITDA (EBITDA loss), Adjusted EBITDA (Adjusted EBITDA loss), non-IFRS net profit (loss), non-IFRS gross profit, non-IFRS gross margin and non-IFRS basic earnings (loss) per share or ADS for the periods presented. The Company defines EBITDA (EBITDA loss) as net profit (loss) from continuing operations before depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets, financial income (expense) and income tax; defines Adjusted EBITDA (Adjusted EBITDA loss) as EBITDA (EBITDA loss) as further adjusted to remove the impact of (i) impairment of goodwill (if any); and (ii) share-based compensation; defines non-IFRS net profit (loss) as net profit (loss) from continuing operations before depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, financial income (expense) effects primarily related to derivative financial instruments as well as long-term loans, deferred tax effects and share-based compensation; defines non-IFRS gross profit as gross profit from continuing operations adjusted to remove the impact of depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets and share-based compensation recorded under cost of revenues; defines non-IFRS gross margin as the percentage of the non-IFRS gross profit out of revenues; and defines non-IFRS basic earnings (loss) per share or ADS as non-IFRS net profit (loss) divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares or ADSs. The Company’s management believes the non-IFRS financial information provided in this press release is useful to investors’ understanding and assessment of the Company’s ongoing operations. Management also uses both IFRS and non-IFRS information in evaluating and operating its business internally, and as such deemed it important to provide this information to investors. The non-IFRS financial measures disclosed by the Company should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with IFRS, and the financial results calculated in accordance with IFRS and reconciliations to those financial statements should be carefully evaluated. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliations of these non-IFRS measures to their most directly comparable IFRS financial measures provided in the financial statement tables herein.

Other Metrics

Net retention rate (NRR) is a key indicator of customer base health and revenue expansion. It is based on NRR point in time, which measures the revenue growth of customers over the past four quarters, compared to the revenue generated from these customers during the same period a year earlier.
NRR is calculated as an average of the NRR points in time for the end of the current period and the three preceding quarters.
NRR > 1 (or 100%): Indicates revenue growth driven by existing customers, where upsells and cross-sells outweigh churn.
NRR < 1 (or 100%): Shows revenue loss due to churn exceeding gains from upsells or cross-sells.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures
(in millions of U.S. dollars, rounded)

The following tables present the reconciled effect of the above on the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA (EBITDA loss); non-IFRS net profit (loss); and non-IFRS gross profit for the year and three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:

	For the Year Ended December 31,				For the Three Months Ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2024		2023

Net profit (loss) from continuing operations	5.8		(5.6	)	0.4		1.7
Adjustments:
Depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets	0.6		3.5		0.2		0.1
Financial expense (income), net	(0.4	)	0.6		(0.1	)	0.1
Tax expense (benefit)	1.4		(0.5	)	0.1		*
EBITDA (EBITDA loss)	7.4		(2.0	)	0.6		1.9
Adjustments:
Impairment of goodwill	–		6.3		–		–
Share-based compensation	2.0		0.9		0.9		0.3
Adjusted EBITDA for the period	9.4		5.2		1.5		2.2
* Less than $0.1 million


	For the Year Ended December 31,				For the Three Months Ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Net profit (loss) from continuing operations	5.8		(5.6	)	0.4		1.7
Adjustments:
Depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets	0.6		3.5		0.2		0.1
Financial expense (income), net effects	0.1		0.1		(*	)	0.2
Deferred tax effects	(0.1	)	(0.5	)	(0.1	)	*
Impairment of goodwill	–		6.3		–		–
Share-based compensation	2.0		0.9		0.9		0.3
Non-IFRS net profit for the period	8.4		4.7		1.4		2.3
* Less than $0.1 million


	For the Year Ended December 31,		For the Three Months Ended December 31,
	2024	2023	2024	2023
Gross profit from continuing operations	23.9	18.8	5.3	5.3
Adjustments:
Depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets	0.6	0.9	0.2	0.2
Share-based compensation	*	*	*	*
Non-IFRS gross profit for the period	24.5	19.7	5.5	5.5
* Less than $0.1 million

About Alarum Technologies Ltd.

Alarum Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq, TASE: ALAR) is a global provider of web data collection solutions, empowering organizations to gain a competitive edge by streamlining the collection, extraction, and analysis of large-scale structured data from public online sources. Our data collection solutions by NetNut, are based on our world’s fastest and most advanced and secured hybrid proxy network, which comprises both exit points based on our proprietary reflection technology and hundreds of servers located at our ISP partners around the world. Pushing the boundaries of innovation in data collection, we are building a robust platform, complemented by the Website Unblocker, Data Collector, Data Sets and AI data collector. As the impact of the AI revolution unfolds, Alarum, with its robust market-leading data collection offerings is preparing itself to play a meaningful role as the world reshapes in a new form.

For more information about Alarum and its web data collection solutions, please visit www.alarum.io.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Investor Relations Contact:
investors@alarum.io

________________________
¹https://proxyway.com/research/proxy-market-research-2024
² See definition under “Other Metrics”
³ The table below contains certain non-IFRS financial measures. See “Use of Non-IFRS Financial Results” for additional information regarding these measures and reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.
⁴ As of the last day of the period.

The MIL Network –

March 21, 2025

MIL-OSI: Alm. Brand A/S – Chairman Jørgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen will not be standing for re-election at upcoming annual general meeting
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alm. Brand A/S Jørgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen will not be standing for re-election at the upcoming general meeting. The Board of Directors nominates Jais Valeur as new chairman.

Jais Valeur has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2023, and he has many years of experience with complex corporate structures, business development, transformation and M&A. Jais Valeur also has extensive board experience, including as deputy chairman of Royal Unibrew A/S. With Jais Valeur as chairman of the Board of Directors, Alm. Brand A/S will be ensured both continuity and sustained growth.

“I am extremely honoured to be nominated as chairman of Alm. Brand A/S. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jørgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen for his many years of dedication to Alm. Brand Group and for his efforts in spearheading the extensive transformation of the group, including the acquisition of Codan. Together with the other members of the Board of Directors and in close dialogue with management, I will ensure that Alm. Brand Group continues on a strong trajectory in the upcoming strategy period,” says Jais Valeur.

Jørgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen has made comprehensive changes in Alm. Brand Group over the past couple of years. Alm. Brand Group has transitioned from being a financial supermarket spanning banking, insurance and pension services to being a fully-focused, major Danish non-life insurance company.

“I want to thank Alm. Brand’s shareholders and the Board of Directors for their confidence during the transformation of the group and not least management and the many dedicated employees for delivering on the long-term goals we have set for Alm. Brand Group. Together, we have changed and strengthened the group, and in particular with the acquisition of Codan and the divestment of the Energy & Marine business, we have created a strong launch pad for the future. I am therefore pleased to pass the baton to Jais Valeur, who is every bit as dedicated to continuing the strong trajectory,” says Jørgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen.

A list of candidates for the Board of Directors is included as part of the agenda for the 2025 annual general meeting, which is available on the company’s website under “Investors”.

The elected members of the Board of Directors will appoint the new chairman immediately after the annual general meeting.

The CV for Jais Valeur is included as an attachment to this announcement.

Contact

Please direct any questions regarding this announcement to:

Investors and equity analysts:

Head of IR, Rating & ESG Reporting
Mads Thinggaard
Mobile no. +45 2025 5469

Press:

Head of Communications and Media Relations
Mikkel Luplau Schmidt
Mobile no. +45 2052 3883

Attachments
- CV_Jais Valeur_UK
- AS 24 2025 – Chairman Jørgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen will not be standing for re-election at upcoming annual general meeting
The MIL Network –
March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: Focus Session – The Eurosystem Collateral Management System

Source: European Central Bank (video statements)

The Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS) is set to launch in June 2025. Learn more about the current status of the project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S1244keqnw

MIL OSI Video –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: TRA initiates transition review into glass fibre from Egypt
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

News story

TRA initiates transition review into glass fibre from Egypt

The TRA has initiated a transition review of a countervailing measure on imports of Continuous Glass Fibre from Egypt.
The TRA has initiated a transition review of a countervailing measure on imports of Continuous Glass Fibre from Egypt.

The TRA will be reviewing the measure transitioned from the EU to determine whether it is still suitable for the UK’s needs. This measure is due to expire on 26 June 2025.

Glass fibres are used in the creation of wind turbine blades and in such industries as transport (automotive, marine, aerospace), building and construction and electric/electronics, as well as the manufacturing of various consumer goods.

Last year, the UK imported around 27 million kg of continuous glass fibre, with products from Egypt accounting for around 10% of that volume.

Businesses that may be affected by this measure can register their interest through our public file by 2 April 2025. Interested parties that register after this date may not be able to participate fully in the review.

Notes to editors

The Trade Remedies Authority is the UK body that investigates whether new trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports.

Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission on the UK’s behalf until the UK left the EU. A number of EU trade remedy measures of interest to UK producers were transitioned into UK law when the UK left the EU and the TRA has been reviewing these to assess whether they are suitable for UK needs.

The goods to be reviewed are described as:

chopped glass fibre strands, of a length of not more than 50mm, or

glass fibre rovings, excluding glass fibre rovings which are impregnated and coated and have a loss on ignition of more than 3% (as determined by the ISO Standard 1887).

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Published 20 March 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
March 21, 2025

Category: Business

Preston City Council Members have chosen the city of Hebron in Palestine to explore the possibilities of an informal friendship agreement between the two cities.

Councillor Nweeda Khan, Cabinet Member for Communities and Social Justice at Preston City Council said:

Mukhtar Master, Muslim Representative on the Preston Faith Covenant said:

Councillor Matthew Brown, Leader of Preston City Council said;

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TRA initiates transition review into glass fibre from Egypt

Notes to editors

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