Category: Business

MIL-OSI Global: Black on the ballot: New research sheds light on the experiences of Black Canadians in politics

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Erin Tolley, Canada Research Chair in Gender, Race, and Inclusive Politics and Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Carleton University

Twenty. That’s it. That’s the total number of Black Canadians ever elected to the House of Commons of Canada. There have been 372 Johns and 77 Jeans.
You can easily find data on women parliamentarians, members of Parliament with military experience and even parliamentarians who have died in office. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a complete list of Black Canadians in politics, never mind a comprehensive account of their experiences.

Because of their relative absence from accounts of Canada’s political history, Black Canadians’ contributions to politics are often overlooked or ignored. This erasure prevents governments, political parties, and researchers from crafting strategies to address political inequality.

When we lack relevant racial data on political candidacy and electoral outcomes, we can’t track progress or identify barriers. And when Black Canadians aren’t present in politics, public policies are less likely to reflect their circumstances and less responsive to their needs.

Groundbreaking new research from Carleton University and Operation Black Vote Canada aims to change that. Through archival research, a survey and more than 30 in-depth interviews, our report, Black on the Ballot documents the presence, backgrounds, motivations and experiences of Black Canadians in politics. Here’s what we found.

Black Canadians in elected office

Our research helped to identify more than 380 Black Canadians who have run for and served in elected office over the past two decades. Our focus was on candidates and officeholders at the school board, municipal, provincial and federal levels of politics.

Undoubtedly, there are holes in this list, especially further back in history and at the municipal and school board levels, where more ephemeral record-keeping and gaps in local news coverage make this type of historical research challenging.

From this pool, we tracked down contact information for 212 possible respondents. In January 2023, we invited them to complete the first-ever national survey of Black Canadian candidates and officeholders. Ninety-five did so. This is what they told us.

The local level is an important political entry point for Black candidates. Most survey respondents said they had run at the municipal level as councillors (52 per cent) or mayor (six per cent), while 23 per cent ran as school board trustees. Less costly campaigns and the absence of gatekeeping by political parties contribute to lower barriers to entry at the local level. Nineteen per cent of respondents had run provincially, and 21 per cent federally.

Most Black Canadians in politics are first- or second-generation Canadians. A majority of respondents, 62 per cent, identified as Caribbean. Black candidates and officeholders have high levels of education; 40 per cent have earned a graduate or professional degree, and over half (56 per cent) have a college or university degree.

Business is the most common profession for Black Canadian politicians, followed by government and politics and law. This pipeline into politics roughly mirrors that of other elected officials.

We found that Black men and women were equally likely to run for office. This pattern diverges from research that finds women, in general, are less likely than men to come forward as candidates, at least at the federal level.

More than one-third of survey respondents ran for a provincial or federal party; of these, most (47 per cent) ran for the Liberals, 26 per cent for the New Democratic Party, 12 per cent each for the Greens or Conservatives, and three per cent for the Bloc or Parti Québécois.

Motivations for running

When asked about the factors that influenced their decision to run for office, 73 per cent of Black candidates said they felt it was important for people like them to have a strong voice in government. Just over half (52 per cent) said they were interested in addressing a particular policy issue.

Although Black men and women are equally likely to run for office, our research shows other differences in candidate emergence. Just over half of women respondents said they had not seriously considered running until someone else suggested it, compared to 28 per cent of men. While 47 per cent of Black men said running for office was entirely their own idea, just 26 per cent of Black women said the same.

Encouragement is thus an important catalyst for political engagement, especially for Black women. Other research indicates women are less likely to be recruited by political parties to run for elected office.

In our survey, 52 per cent of Black women said a party official suggested they run, compared to just 16 per cent of Black men. Ten times as many women respondents as men said party recruitment was consequential to their decision to run. Political parties seem to play an important facilitative role in Black women candidate’s emergence; this phenomenon is known as “affirmative gatekeeping.”

Improving Black Canadians’ representation in politics

Our research identifies a number of challenges to gaining elected office, including difficulties raising funds and recruiting volunteers. Half of survey respondents said others had discouraged them from running for office, while 71 per cent said they faced discrimination while running for or serving in office.

We heard that it’s important to share stories of Black success in politics, to adopt multi-pronged recruitment strategies, to demystify the process of running for office and to ensure elections are accessible to all voters.

A clip from the podcast series that accompanies the Black on the Ballot report.

We also heard that diversification initiatives need to focus on the inclusiveness of political spaces, rather than just how many Black Canadians run for office. Candidates and officeholders reported hostility and feelings of isolation, as well as individual and institutional refusals to address discrimination. These experiences are reiterated by guests on the podcast that accompanies our report.

Despite these challenges, when asked whether they would run again, 87 per cent of survey respondents said yes, a number that reveals Black Canadians’ unflinching commitment to public service and to community. We need to stoke this spark, not extinguish it.

Erin Tolley receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This research was undertaken in partnership with Operation Black Vote Canada.

– ref. Black on the ballot: New research sheds light on the experiences of Black Canadians in politics – https://theconversation.com/black-on-the-ballot-new-research-sheds-light-on-the-experiences-of-black-canadians-in-politics-249335

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: While the U.S. threatens tariffs and builds walls around its economy, China opens up

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Shaun Narine, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, St. Thomas University (Canada)

The United States is threatening to impose tariffs on its major trading partners. In the meantime, China is consolidating its position as the world’s manufacturing and technological innovation hub by increasing trade with the Global South.

If the American role in globalization has been to consume the world’s products and resources by building on a foundation of ever-increasing debt, China’s has been to make tangible goods for the international market.

China is opening up its economy, especially to the nations of the Global South.

Effective December 2024, China eliminated all tariffs on goods from the least developed countries. Chinese Premier Li Quang has also described China as an economic opportunity for global investment.

The centre of Asian trade

China’s trade surplus with the rest of the world is almost US$1 trillion dollars. Its share of global exports was 14 per cent in 2023, compared to 8.5 per cent for the U.S.

China is working with regional states to make itself the centre of Asian trade. China’s Belt and Road Initiative is funding infrastructure in about 150 countries as Chinese companies invest internationally, both to avoid American tariffs and diversify their markets.

At the moment, China accounts for 35 per cent of the world’s manufacturing. By 2030, the United Nations projects this will rise to 45 per cent.

China has achieved this status by building efficient, high-quality infrastructure.

It’s also fostered highly competitive and innovative technological and commercial ecosystems. The recent emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup that is dramatically disrupting the sector, illustrates this reality.

China also controls global industrial supply chains in a host of critical areas.

The Chinese powerhouse

Despite its ongoing economic slowdown, China’s economy grew by almost five per cent in 2024 and has potential to grow further as it transitions to a high-tech economy.

By 2030, the country will have what’s known as a consuming class of 1.1 billion people, making it the world’s largest consumer market.

Only 7.8 per cent of the population has the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, but China produces about 65 per cent of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates globally on an annual basis.

China is also leading the world in most new technologies and industries, but there is room for infrastructure investment in smaller cities and rural areas. Because China is a global leader in using automation and AI, it will also need to lead in managing these technologies’ social and economic effects.

China has economies of scale that no other country — except India — can match. Its manufacturing dominance is the logical outcome of introducing an increasingly technologically sophisticated country with a vast population to the modern global system.

The first Donald Trump administration used tariffs to try to draw investment into the U.S. and stimulate domestic industry. He believed tariffs would create more manufacturing jobs, shrink the federal deficit and lower food prices.

The second Trump administration has returned to tariffs, again with the goal of pulling jobs and investment from other countries into the U.S.

Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

He’s already put 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. and imposed additional 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese goods. He’s also threatening tariffs on Taiwan, attempting to strip it of its semiconductor industry.

Trump is basically demanding that other countries address trade imbalances by buying more expensive American exports in exchange for unimpeded access to the U.S. market.

He’s trying to recreate an American industrial dominance that existed only under unique circumstances after the Second World War. Similarly, the historical circumstances that led to China’s decline in the 19th and 20th centuries are long past.

To compete with China’s advantages, the U.S. needs a competent and effective government capable of long-term planning. Under Trump, the U.S. is losing this already-weak capacity every day.

American debt

The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer economy because both the government and Americans go into extraordinary debt to finance their consumption.

Currently, the American national debt is more than $36 trillion while consumer debt was $17.5 trillion in 2024.

The U.S. can accumulate enormous debt because of the American dollar’s status as the world reserve currency. But the U.S. has weaponized the dollar by freezing the dollar assets of sovereign states and using the dollar’s reserve status to apply American laws and sanctions beyond its borders.

This has created a major push — led by the BRICS countries of Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates — to replace the U.S. dollar with other financial instruments.

In response, Trump has threatened 100 per cent tariffs on any countries that try to drop the U.S. dollar.

The American economy has grown through pumping up asset bubbles, but there’s been a decline in most measures of social well-being in the U.S. This aligns with increasing American social, political and economic instability.

Chinese products dominate

China’s exports to the Global South exceed its exports to the western world. Chinese companies and products are dominant in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

To the Global South, there are clear benefits to accessing affordable, high-quality technology and industrial products from China. The industrialized world can also benefit significantly from Chinese manufacturers, but possibly at the cost of its own established industrial capacity.

While some states may block Chinese imports to protect their industries, China’s increasing manufacturing dominance means that every country will need at least some Chinese products to develop or to sustain industry. It would be next to impossible for most countries to definitively cut all trade with China.

The world is entering a new era of globalization. For many states, that means trying to keep from being economically undermined by the U.S. while deciding how to manage the economic and political costs and benefits of engaging with China’s massive industrial capabilities.

Shaun Narine 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. While the U.S. threatens tariffs and builds walls around its economy, China opens up – https://theconversation.com/while-the-u-s-threatens-tariffs-and-builds-walls-around-its-economy-china-opens-up-245012

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: B-A-N-G! | U.S. Army

Source: US Army (video statements)

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undWXri5Nqo

MIL OSI Video –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Ukraine three years on: Pain, loss, solidarity and hope for a better future

Source: United Nations MIL OSI

By Nargiz Shekinskaya

23 February 2025 Humanitarian Aid

24 February 2025 marks the third year of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the civilian population continues to face near daily-attacks. The UN staff living alongside them, enduring the same difficult conditions, have been a lifeline throughout the war.

“I’m trying not to cry, but I can’t help it. I’m glad I have tissues on hand,” admits Natalia Datchenko, a Ukrainian staff member of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, struggling to hold back her tears as she recounts the explosions that awoke many Ukrainians three years ago, heralding the start of the conflict.

Courtesy of Natalia Datchenko

Natalia Datchenko, employee of UNICEF-Ukraine

Alongside feelings of shock and anger, Ms. Datchenko also felt a surge of energy. “I knew, with absolute clarity, that I wanted to help others, to protect people. I knew I had to do something,” she recalls.

UNICEF leadership instructed staff to prioritise their own safety and that of their families before resuming their work. Ms. Datchenko evacuated to Lviv, a city in the west of Ukraine, with her family.

“There were 12 of us crammed into a small train compartment,” she says. “I held someone else’s child in my arms because there was no place for them to sit. The train moved slowly to avoid being targeted. When we finally arrived, we saw families with children sitting directly on the cold stone floor of the Lviv station. It was February, and it was freezing.”

Life goes on

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, a staff member of the UN Women office in Ukraine, lived near Kyiv International Airport, one of the war’s first targets.

“We woke up at five in the morning to the sound of explosions,” she explains. “It was shocking. Even though we had heard warnings of an impending invasion, we couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”

Photo provided by Ludmila Kovalchuk

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, UN-Women Ukraine staff member

After three years, exhaustion has set in but life and work continue. Women in Ukraine need the UN’s support – psychological, legal, logistical and financial. Many Ukrainian women are raising children alone, searching for jobs to support them and constantly moving to keep them safe from the war. Ms. Kovalchuk says that about 75,000 Ukrainian women are serving in the military and represent a group with unique needs that require specific support.

“We have adapted to working under new conditions,” Ms. Kovalchuk says. “Whenever we arrange to meet somewhere, we check if there is a shelter nearby in case of an attack. We don’t plan long events as the risk of shelling increases the longer we stay in one place. During the pandemic, we learned to work in a hybrid format, and that experience has been invaluable.”

‘Hardest part was hearing their stories’

Anastasia Kalashnyk, another UN Women staff member, used to live in Zaporizhzhia. Two years ago, she relocated to Kyiv with her family. “After 24 February 2022, my children stopped attending daycare and school, and my husband lost his job – the foreign company he worked for immediately shut down operations and left the country,” she says.

However, Ms. Kalashnyk’s workload increased significantly. Since 2017, she has been responsible for emergency aid provided by UN Women in Ukraine, focusing on women in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. After 2022, many of these women were forced to flee their homes.

© DRC Ukraine/Svitlana Koval

In a town in Mykolaivska Oblast, a reconstructed kindergarten shelter now provides 200 children with a safe, fully equipped space for learning during frequent air alerts.

“Looking back, the hardest part was hearing their stories – women I had known for years – about how they escaped occupied territories and what happened to their husbands who had gone to fight,” she says.

For these and other Ukrainian women in need, UN Women, in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), established so-called “safe spaces”. These centres provide essential support, allowing women to connect, share experiences and heal.

“I watched as Olga, one of the women who came to the centre, quite literally come back to life after experiencing trauma,” a UN worker recalls. “She started smiling again. Now, Olga is one of the centre’s activists, helping others.”

The cost of war

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 12,600 civilians have been confirmed killed and over 29,000 injured over the last three years. At least 2,400 children are among the casualties.

Millions live in constant fear, while those in occupied territories face severe restrictions and limited access to humanitarian aid. An entire generation of Ukrainians is growing up in wartime.

© UNICEF/Oleksii Filippov

Alina, 12, stands next to her damaged home in Kobzartsi, Mykolaiv region.

Relentless attacks on infrastructure are deepening the crisis. Over 10 per cent of Ukraine’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, leaving at least two million families without adequate shelter. More than 3,600 schools and universities have been hit, forcing hundreds of thousands of children into remote learning.

Repeated strikes on the energy system – three winters in a row – have left towns without electricity, heating and essential services in freezing conditions. A total of 12.7 million people require humanitarian aid.

Hopes for the future

“Of course, everything that has happened is exhausting,” Ms. Kalashnyk says. “But my children give me hope for a better future. What they are going through now is unfair. I have to be strong, not just for them but for all Ukrainian families.”

She adds that she also finds hope in the solidarity shown by the UN and other organizations. “They didn’t abandon Ukraine,” she explains. “They stayed. They continue to help. They didn’t come just for a month or two. They’ve been here for years. And now, they’re talking about rebuilding. These discussions about the future give me confidence that we have one.”

Ms. Datchenko from UNICEF also speaks of unity and solidarity. “At first, we were all united by anger,” she recalls. “We shared our burdens. We shared our pain. We were furious together. But anger is no longer the driving force. Now, we are united by the desire to rebuild what has been destroyed. We want to restore our communities, support families and rebuild our country, not as it was, but better, to leave behind the Soviet legacy and create a truly new nation, built on human rights.”

© UNFPA/Danil Pavlov

Supplies are distributed by UNFPA at a centre for survivors of gender-based violence in Kherson, Ukraine.

She says her work gives her hope. “I have a unique opportunity to reassess old programmes, create new ones, listen to the voices of the most vulnerable, direct resources where they are truly needed and bridge different sectors to bring together the best for those in need. I believe that working for UNICEF has helped me survive—it’s still my survival strategy.”

‘We have to become stronger’

Ms. Datchenko also finds solace in culture. “I seek inspiration and motivation in the beauty that still exists in Ukraine. Our museums are open, concerts are happening, music is playing. For many, culture is a survival strategy.”

Today, many Ukrainians are searching for their own survival strategies. “One of the biggest challenges we face in our work is the psychological toll, not only in supporting ourselves, but also our colleagues,” Ms. Kovalchuk says. “Recently, one of our colleague’s brothers went missing. Sometimes, it’s incredibly difficult to find the right words of comfort, yet we work with people – women and girls affected by war – who need our support.”

“But, on the other hand, when you face one tragedy after another, one crisis after another, you start to feel stronger and more experienced. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

Then, with a sad smile, she adds that “maybe it’s true, but I always say I wish I didn’t have the experience I have now. But I have no choice. This experience is mine to bear.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: View from The Hill: Dutton tries to neutralise health issue by saying, ‘we’ll do just what Labor does’

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

Peter Dutton has launched a game of one-upmanship after Anthony Albanese at the weekend unveiled Labor’s $8.5 billion health policy that promises near universal bulk billing for GP visits by 2030.

Dutton wants to neutralise health as an election battleground. So he immediately pledged to match the Albanese policy. He’s included another $500 million, from an already announced Coalition policy for mental health, so he can get to the bigger number of $9 billion.

What’s more, the Opposition leader said the government should legislate the health plan before the election. There are two issues with that call.

On the present parliamentary sitting timetable, legislation could in theory be passed in budget week, which is set to start March 25. But, as everyone who’s paying attention knows, the current speculation is there probably won’t be a budget, with many players and observers anticipating Albanese will soon announce an April election.

Secondly, however, legislation is not needed. The changes can be made by regulation.

The Coalition decision to take over the Labor health policy holus bolus may be tactically smart – time will tell. Fixing up bulk billing will be popular; the opposition knows it would be on risky ground getting into an argument about it, even on detail.

But just adopting such a big Labor policy, within hours of seeing it, without further thought or strutiny, raises questions about the Coalition’s policy rigour.

Doesn’t it have a few ideas of its own? Labor’s policy, while welcomed, has already come under some criticisms. For instance, there are suggestions it might be harder to address the bulk billing issue in certain areas than in others, so maybe the claims for the policy are too sweeping. And some experts would prefer greater attention on more fundamental reforms to Medicare.

In strict policy terms, as distinct from political expediency, the Coalition’s approach just seems lazy. Shadow health minister Anne Ruston is said to have been out and about with stakeholders – did she come to exactly the same policy conclusions as Labor? Presumably, given the policy’s expense, a Coalition government would not be able to spend more on other health initiatives, which restricts its scope to do further or different things.

On the fiscal side, Dutton is looking for general spending cuts but says there will be no cuts in health. “The Coalition always manages the economy more effectively and that’s why we can afford to invest in health and education,” he said on Sunday.

Can we believe in this “no cuts” line? The government points back to Tony Abbott’s time when similar promises were made and the reality didn’t match the rhetoric. Dutton was health minister then and the government tried to introduce a Medicare co-payment. That attempt fizzled in face of opposition, but some voters might think that a Coalition that puts on Labor’s clothes so readily might shed some of them when in office, pleading the weather was hotter than it expected. That’s especially possible when it is a policy that stretches out several years, as this one does.

Certainly Labor has already been homing in on Dutton’s record from more than a decade ago.

None of this alters the fact that something needs to be done to boost bulk billing, which has now fallen to about 78% of GP visits. The govenrment’s disputes the opposition’s figure that it reached 88% under the Coalition but indisputably, it has certainly tumbled from where it once was.

The question now is, who will people trust more to fix it up?

Dr Chalmers goes to Washington

Meanwhile, the government is still battling on all fronts to make its case heard in Washington for an exemption from the US tariffs on aluminium and steel.

In a flying trip at the start of this week Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be the first Australian minister to visit there since President Trump announced the tariffs.

The treasurer will have discussions with the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, whom he met (courtesy of ambassador Kevin Rudd) before the presidential election. So the talks will have the advantage of familiarity.

Chalmers on Sunday played down the prospect of any finality on tariffs coming out of his visit, which will also take in a conference of superannuation fund investors looking to put money into American businesses. The conference is being held at the Australian embassy.

If Australia eventually gets a favourable result on tariffs in the near term, the treasurer will be able to claim at least a tick for his efforts.

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

– ref. View from The Hill: Dutton tries to neutralise health issue by saying, ‘we’ll do just what Labor does’ – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-dutton-tries-to-neutralise-health-issue-by-saying-well-do-just-what-labor-does-250606

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI: Bybit Launches Recovery Bounty Program with Rewards up to 10% of Stolen Funds

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

DUBAI, , Feb. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is calling on the brightest minds in cyber security and crypto analytics to join the global hunt for the perpetrators of crypto’s largest heist in history. With a reward of 10% of the amount recovered, the contributors stand to share a bounty of potentially up to 140 million USD in value in the scenario of a full recovery.

Recovery Bounty Program

As part of the investigation and recovery efforts, Bybit is pledging 10% of recovered funds to reward ethical cyber and network security experts who play an active role in retrieving the stolen cryptocurrencies in the incident.

The total amount of the bounty is calculated based on verifiable recovery of the compromised ETH worth over $1.4 billion at the time of the incident.

Bybit values transparency and using blockchain technology for good.

“Within 24 hours of the event, we were overwhelmed with support from some of the best people and organizations in the industry, and we do not take it for granted. We have shared in a dark moment of crypto history, and we’ve proven we are better than the malicious actors,” said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit. “We want to officially reward our community who lent us their expertise, experience and support through the Recovery Bounty Program, and our efforts to make this difficult lesson a valuable one does not stop here. Bybit is determined to rise above the setback and fundamentally transform our security infrastructure, improve liquidity, and be a steadfast partner to our friends in the crypto community,” he added.

How to Get Involved

Individuals and organizations interested in participating in the Recovery Bounty Program can contact us via email at bounty_program@bybit.com

Trust and security are at the core of the crypto industry. As the ecosystem grows, collective action is essential to maintaining its strength. We encourage exchanges, analysts, and the broader community to collaborate in protecting digital assets. Together, we can reinforce security, deter malicious activities, and uphold confidence in the industry.

#Bybit / #TheCryptoArk

About Bybit

Bybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 60 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com.

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press

For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com

For updates, please follow: Bybit’s Communities and Social Media

Contact
Head of PR
Tony Au
Bybit
tony.au@bybit.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e4aca083-7ecb-45f5-aefd-d050eeaa79c9

The MIL Network –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: From Wukong to Ne Zha, powerhouse IPs make waves in China’s consumer market

Source: China State Council Information Office 3

Amid the immense popularity of “Ne Zha 2,” fans of the Chinese blockbuster are facing a race against time to purchase blind boxes featuring the film’s main character, as stocks quickly deplete both online and at retail locations.

“Ne Zha-themed products sell out quickly as soon as they are put on the shelf. Recently, we’ve seen dozens of people signing up for pre-sales every day,” said a staff member at Pop Mart, China’s popular toy maker, in Beijing.

Like “Black Myth: Wukong,” the country’s first 3A video game taking the world by storm in 2024, “Ne Zha 2” has become another cherished domestic creation rooted in traditional Chinese culture. Both cultural phenomena have successfully turned fan enthusiasm for their intellectual properties (IPs) into lasting profits.

As of Saturday, the sequel to the Chinese mythical franchise “Ne Zha” has seen its box office revenue worldwide, including presales, surpass 13 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars), securing the eighth spot on the list of highest-grossing films of all time worldwide, according to ticketing platforms.

Beyond the silver screen, the animation is also making waves in other areas of the consumer market. Sales of its merchandise on Taobao, a leading e-commerce platform in China, surpassed 50 million yuan earlier this month.

Noticing the surge in demand for “Ne Zha 2” merchandise, an authorized manufacturer in Dongguan, located in south China’s Guangdong Province, quickly ramped up production after the film’s Chinese New Year release, aiming to seize the significant market opportunity created by the rise of Chinese IP.

“We have received orders for nearly 1.4 million sets of peripheral products. While operating overtime every day to produce the products, our factory is also developing new items based on the film,” said Chen Qi, general manager of the company, noting that the company hopes to cooperate with more domestic brands to develop IP derivatives in the future.

This growing interest in domestic IPs is reflected across factories in China, where companies are shifting their focus from exports to tapping into the expanding opportunities within the domestic market.

This year, China’s IP derivatives market is expected to exceed 500 billion yuan, CITIC Securities said in a research report.

More than 49,000 enterprises in China are involved in the trendy toy economy, with approximately 13,000 of them having registered in 2024, according to Tianyancha, a corporate information provider.

The rapid growth of China’s trendy toy market highlights the country’s strengths in IP, supply chain capabilities and consumer potential, said Li Yongjian, a researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“Ne Zha 2” isn’t the first IP to spark a surge in merchandise consumption in China. In 2023, another domestic hit, “The Wandering Earth 2,” raised over 140 million yuan through crowdfunding for its merchandise.

Moreover, in January, Chinese retailer MINISO launched a store themed around “Black Myth: Wukong” in Beijing, attracting considerable attention as fans eagerly queued to purchase limited-edition items.

As the IP economy continues to grow, retailers like MINISO are capitalizing on the cultural and emotional appeal of beloved franchises.

Ye Guofu, founder of MINISO, said that Chinese consumers, especially younger generations, are increasingly prioritizing the emotional value attached to products, and this shift is expected to further drive the demand for IP-based merchandise.

These IPs not only showcase the depth of China’s cultural heritage but also demonstrate how modern technology and creativity can breathe new life into ancient stories, making them relevant and appealing to today’s generation. This synergy between tradition and innovation has laid a solid foundation for the booming IP derivatives market.

“Traditional culture needs to be revitalized with a modern touch,” said “Ne Zha 2” director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi, adding that literary classics are the most valuable source of cultural IPs for animated films.

Zhao Xinli, dean of the Advertising School at the Communication University of China, noted that with the vast potential of the domestic consumer market, a well-established animation production system and the rich heritage of China’s traditional culture, the country’s cultural industry is set for an even brighter future.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: ‘Ne Zha 2’ dominates Australian cinemas 2 weeks on

Source: China State Council Information Office 3

The Hoyts Sunnybank cinema in Brisbane, Australia’s third largest city, presented 14 sessions of the Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” on Sunday, significantly more than other popular films including “Captain America: Brave New World” which was shown in eight sessions.

This photo taken on Feb. 13, 2025 shows a projected poster for the Chinese fantasy feature “Ne Zha 2” at a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

While Sunnybank has a concentrated Chinese diaspora population, another Brisbane cinema Event Garden City Mt Gravatt showed “Ne Zha 2” in 11 sessions, the same as “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.”

About two weeks after the release and pre-screening of the Chinese animation blockbuster, mainstream Australian cinemas have greatly increased their screening schedules of “Ne Zha 2” across the country due to strong demand from local audiences, with a majority of the seats taken in most sessions.

“Ne Zha 2” entered the top three at Australia’s weekend box office in its debut last week in 91 cinemas, following “Captain America” and “Bridget Jones” last weekend, according to box office reporting company Numero on Monday.

Where was the marketing

Peter Koevari, director of GP2 Entertainment, a Brisbane-based independent film production company, attended the opening screening of “Ne Zha 2” and was shocked by how little promotion this film received, although “the cinema was absolutely packed out and the film was excellent.”

“Fantastic sound, fantastic imagery and characterization … but … where was the marketing?” said Koevari who is also director at Queensland-based FilmLab Academy. His voice-acting students recently tried their hand at dubbing a trailer for “Ne Zha 2.”

Following the tale of an iconic boy god from Chinese mythology, “Ne Zha 2,” the highest-grossing animated movie of all time globally, has seen its box office revenue worldwide, including presales, surpass 13 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars), according to ticketing platforms on Saturday.

“The film is breaking records worldwide at exceeding levels, but it hasn’t really been marketed at all in the West — there wasn’t even a poster up and the trailers cannot be seen anywhere. The only people that know about this are those in the Chinese community or those who know people in the Chinese community… Just imagine how this film would be doing if it was marketed properly,” Koevari said.

Ancient philosophies

“Ne Zha 2,” the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha,” is more than a high-octane, action-packed and visually stunning animated spectacle, full of hilarious moments and thrilling fight scenes. Beneath all that, it’s something much deeper: a bold re-imagining of Chinese traditional mythology, cultural history and philosophies, said Hong Yanyan, PhD candidate in communication and media studies at the University of Adelaide.

“Ne Zha 2” carries the weight of Eastern cultural essence — Daoist balance, Confucian ethics, Mohist resistance, Legalist reform and the strategic wisdom of “The Art of War,” Hong said.

In Daoist philosophy, evil and good, often known as Yin and Yang, are not absolute, but are rather shifting, interconnected forces, which is embodied in Ne Zha’s character in the film, she said, adding the film proves that even the smallest, most underestimated individual can change the world.

Maryam, a viewer from Adelaide, said, “The movie really made me think about how good people are not always good, and bad people are not always bad, which made me really even look into human nature more deeply.”

“Ren” (benevolence), a core Confucian virtue, is reflected in the film’s emotional climax when Ne Zha is struck by the “heart-piercing curse,” a brutal spell that covers his body in ten thousand thorns, causing unbearable pain and keeping him under control by targeting his heart. Ne Zha’s human mother, Lady Yin, clings to him as his thorns pierce her skin — yet she refuses to let go.

“It’s a moment of heartbreak, parental love and inner awakening. As his mother takes her final breath, in Ne Zha’s grief, his body shatters into a million pieces. And then, he is reborn,” Hong said.

She also highlighted the most profound transformation which comes from the dragon prince Ao Bing, whose once-imposing father Dragon King releases his grip: “Your path is yours to forge.” The weight of tradition gives way to something new, reflecting a changing China where younger generations are defining their own paths, she added.

Beyond Daoist and Confucian ideals, “Ne Zha 2” also weaves in Legalist reform and Mohist resistance, she said, adding these philosophies challenge rigid hierarchies, or in Ne Zha’s case, “divine order,” and advocate for collective justice. The celestial-demon war itself plays out like a lesson in Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

Penetrating cultural barriers

“‘Ne Zha 2’ is undoubtedly another success story. People love the imaginative and legendary old story, and the high-tech special effects give the movie a new charm,” Associate Professor Gong Qian at the School of Education of Curtin University told Xinhua.

Despite the expansion of the Chinese community in Australia, young people’s enthusiasm for Chinese culture is still some way off compared to their affinity for Japanese and Korean culture, she said.

While lion and dragon dances, kung fu, dragon boats and Chinese festivals, often with fixed ritual times, are not easily integrated into the daily lives of Australians, Chinese vlogger Li Ziqi’s short videos, the video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” the TV series Three-Body, and TikTok are popular among Australian young people because they are more modern forms of art and entertainment, Gong added.

“Ne Zha 2” has a “coolness” that easily penetrates cultural barriers and enters the hearts and minds of Australians, Gong said, adding there are still countless intellectual properties (IPs) in Chinese culture that need to be developed.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: US urged to stop proposed restrictions on China’s maritime, logistics, shipbuilding sectors

Source: China State Council Information Office

China on Sunday urged the United States to stop its wrongdoing in proposing to impose restrictive measures on China’s maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors as part of its Section 301 investigation.

The proposed measures, including the imposition of port fees, are self-damaging, said a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce. “The U.S. measures will not only fail to revitalize its shipbuilding industry but will also raise shipping costs on related routes, exacerbate its domestic inflation, reduce the global competitiveness of U.S. goods, and hurt the interests of its port operators and dockworkers,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that these measures have aroused significant opposition within the United States, and relevant countries and organizations have also expressed their opposition to and dissatisfaction with the U.S. move.

Earlier, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the Section 301 tariffs violate WTO rules. Driven by domestic political needs, the United States further undermined the multilateral trading system by abusing the Section 301 investigation mechanism, the spokesperson noted.

Since March 2024, China and the United States have communicated multiple times regarding the U.S. investigation into China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.

The spokesperson said China has repeatedly reaffirmed its views on the Section 301 investigation and presented the non-paper on its position, urging the United States to adopt a rational and objective stance and stop blaming China for its domestic industrial problems.

However, it is regrettable that the United States remains obstinate and is going further down the wrong path, the spokesperson added.

China urged the United States to respect the facts and multilateral rules and stop its wrongdoing, the spokesperson said, noting that China will closely monitor U.S. actions and take necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on Feb. 21 that it is seeking public comment on proposed actions in the Section 301 investigation into China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Labor and the Coalition have pledged to raise GP bulk billing. Here’s what the Medicare boost means for patients

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne

Labor yesterday foreshadowed a major Medicare change to address the falling rate of bulk billing, with an A$8.5 billion election announcement. The government said it would increase incentive payments for GPs to bulk bill all patients, from November 1 2025.

Today the Coalition said it would match Labor’s Medicare investment dollar-for-dollar.

Medicare was designed as a universal scheme to eliminate financial barriers to access to health care. The contemporary slogan is that you only need your Medicare card, not your bank card, to see your doctor.

But fewer than half of Australians are always bulk billed when the see a doctor. So how did we get into this situation? And what could these changes mean for access to care?

Read more:
Albanese pledge: nine in ten GP visits bulk billed by 2030, in $8.5 billion Medicare injection

Why bulk billing has been declining

Until changes introduced by then Health Minister Tony Abbott in 2003, Medicare was the same for everyone.

But in response to declining rates of GP bulk billing at the time, the then Coalition government backed away from Medicare’s universality and introduced targeted bulk billing incentives for pensioners and health-care card-holders, children, people in rural and remote Australia and, in a political fix to appease then Tasmanian independent Senator Brian Harradine, all Tasmanians.

Fast-forward to 2014 and then Health Minister Peter Dutton introduced legislation as part of the budget for a compulsory copayment for GP consultations – a proposal that did not survive six months and failed in the Senate. A smaller optional payment also failed to get approval.

But the idea of getting Australians to pay out of pocket to see a GP survived. It was introduced by stealth by freezing GP rebates, rather than adjusting them to inflation. This slowly forced GPs to introduce patient co-payments as their costs increased and their rebates didn’t.

By the time Labor was elected, bulk billing was said to be in freefall.

Labor’s first response was to restore the indexation of rebates, so they increase increase in line with inflation in November of each year.

It then tripled the bulk billing incentive. This meant GPs received a greater rebate when they didn’t charge patients an out-of-pocket fee.

But the new incentive was not enough to cover the gap between rebate and fees in metropolitan areas.

What proportion of Australians are now bulk billed?

Only about 48% of people have the security of “always” being bulk billed when they see a GP. A further 24% are “usually” bulk billed.

Bulk billing rates are highest in poorer areas – South West Sydney has an “always” rate of 81%, almost quadruple the rate in the ACT (23%), which has Australia’s lowest “always” rate.

The always bulk billed rate – excluding special COVID items which required bulk billing – has dropped from about 64% in 2021–22.

The rate of bulk billing as a percentage of all visits to the GP, rather than people, is much higher. Around 78% of all attendances (aka visits) in the second half of 2024 were bulk billed. The higher rate is because more frequent users, such as older Australians, are bulk billed at a higher rate than younger people.

What does the new bulk billing package include?

The initiative announced yesterday includes three positive changes.

First, it again increases the bulk billing incentive.

It also introduces an additional bonus for general practices which achieve 100% billing.

The new combined Medicare rebate in metropolitan areas for a standard bulk billed visit to the GP is A$69.56 when both changes are applied. This is $27 above the current rebate of $42.85 (without any bulk billing incentive).

The current average out-of-pocket payment when a service is not bulk billed is $46. So there will still be a gap, but the difference between bulk billing and not is now significantly smaller.

*Totals include item Medicare rebate, Bulk Billing Incentive item rebate, and 12.5% Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program payment.
Government Press Release

The government expects a major uplift – to 90% of visits bulk billed – as a result.

State government payroll taxes, also encourage bulk billing, by not requiring GPs to pay payroll tax on consultations that are bulk billed. This will provide a further incentive to increase the bulk billing rate.

The second positive change is that the new initiatives are for everyone. This ends the two-tiered incentive the Coalition introduced in 2003 and restores Medicare as a truly universal scheme.

Australia will now rejoin all other high-income countries (other than the United States) in having health funding underpinned by universality.

Third is the introduction of a 12.5% “practice payment” bonus for practices that bulk bill all patients.

This starts the necessary transition from a reliance on fee-for-service payments as the main payment type for general practice.

A “practice payment” is more holistic and better suited to a world where more people have multiple chronic disease which require care for the whole person, rather than episodic care. It signals payments need to be redesigned for that new reality.

Over time, this could fund and encourage multi-disciplinary teams of GPs, nurses and allied health professionals such as psychologists and physiotherapists – rather than patients always seeing a GP.

The downsides

The main risk practices face in contemplating these changes is the fear of how long this new scheme will last. A previous Coalition government showed it was prepared to use a rebate freeze to achieve its policy of a shift away from Medicare as a universal scheme.

The best way of reducing that risk would be to build in indexation of the rebate, and the incentive, into legislation.

The Royal Australian College of GPs says not everyone will be bulk billed because rebates are still too low to cover the cost of care.

This is true, as the gap between the prevailing metro bulk billed fee and the new rebate plus incentive will be about $20. But the aim is to increase bulk billing to 90% not 100% – and that is probably achievable.

Bottom line

The new arrangements will likely reverse the decline in the rates of bulk billing. The government can reasonably expect a bulk billing rate of around 90% of visits in the future.

For consumers facing cost-of-living pressures, it will be a very welcome change. There will be more 100%-bulk-billing practices and patients will no longer face a lottery based on a doctor’s or receptionist’s mood or whim about whether they will be bulk billed.

Yesterday’s announcement and the Coalition’s backing is a watershed, benefiting patients and general practices.

Labor is playing to its strengths and it will hope to reverse its current polling trends with this announcement.

The Coalition obviously hopes to negate the impact of a popular announcement by matching it. What will weigh in voters’ minds, though, is whether today’s Coalition announcement will be delivered after the election. The Coalition has a long history – dating back to Malcolm Fraser – of promising one thing about health policy before an election and reversing it after the vote, and this will probably fuel a “Mediscare” campaign by Labor.

Stephen Duckett 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. Labor and the Coalition have pledged to raise GP bulk billing. Here’s what the Medicare boost means for patients – https://theconversation.com/labor-and-the-coalition-have-pledged-to-raise-gp-bulk-billing-heres-what-the-medicare-boost-means-for-patients-250604

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: View from The Hill: Dutton tries to nautralise health issue by saying, ‘we’ll do just what Labor does’

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

Peter Dutton has launched a game of one-upmanship after Anthony Albanese at the weekend unveiled Labor’s $8.5 billion health policy that promises near universal bulk billing for GP visits by 2030.

Dutton wants to neutralise health as an election battleground. So he immediately pledged to match the Albanese policy. He’s included another $500 million, from an already announced as Coalition policy for mental health, so he can get to the bigger number of $9 billion.

What’s more, the Opposition leader said the government should legislate the health plan before the election.

On the present parliamentary sitting timetable, legislation could in theory be passed in budget week, which is set to start March 25. But, as everyone who’s paying attention knows, the current speculation is there probably won’t be a budget, with many players and observers anticipating Albanese will soon announce an April election.

The Coalition decision to take over the Labor health policy holus bolus may be tactically smart – time will tell. Fixing up bulk billing will be popular; the opposition knows it would be on risky ground getting into an argument about it, even on detail.

But just adopting such a big Labor policy, within hours of seeing it, without further thought or strutiny, raises questions about the Coalition’s policy rigour.

Doesn’t it have a few ideas of its own? Labor’s policy, while welcomed, has already come under some criticisms. For instance, there are suggestions it might be harder to address the bulk billing issue in certain areas than in others, so maybe the claims for the policy are too sweeping. And some experts would prefer greater attention on more fundamental reforms to Medicare.

In strict policy terms, as distinct from political expediency, the Coalition’s approach just seems lazy. Shadow health minister Anne Ruston is said to have been out and about with stakeholders – did she come to exactly the same policy conclusions as Labor? Presumably, given the policy’s expense a Coalition government would not be able to spend more on other health initiatives, which restricts its scope to do further or different things.

On the fiscal side, Dutton is looking for general spending cuts but says there will be no cuts in health. “The Coalition always manages the economy more effectively and that’s why we can afford to invest in health and education,” he said on Sunday.

Can we believe in this “no cuts” line? The government points back to Tony Abbott’s time when similar promises were made and the reality didn’t match the rhetoric. Dutton was health minister then and the government tried to introduce a Medicare co-payment. That attempt fizzed, but some voters might think that a Coalition that puts on Labor’s clothes so readily might shed some of them when in office, pleading the weather was hotter than it expected. That’s especially possible when it is a policy that stretches out several years, as this one does.

Certainly Labor has already been homing in on Dutton’s record from more than a decade ago.

None of this alters the fact that something needs to be done to boost bulk billing, which has now fallen to about 78% of GP visits. The govenrment’s disputes the opposition’s figure that it reached 88% under the Coalition but indisputably, it has certainly tumbled.

The question now is, who will people trust more to fix it up?

Dr Chalmers goes to Washington

Meanwhile, the government is still battling on all fronts to make its case heard in Washington for an exemption from the US tariffs on aluminium and steel.

In a flying trip at the start of this week Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be the first Australian minister to visit there since President Trump announced the tariffs.

The treasurer will have discussions with the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, whom he met (courtesy of ambassador Kevin Rudd) before the presidential election. So the talks will have the advantage of familiarity.

Chalmers on Sunday played down the prospect of any finality on tariffs coming out of his visit, which will also take in a conference of superannuation fund investors looking to put money into American businesses. The conference is being held at the Australian embassy.

If Australia eventually gets a favourable result on tariffs in the near term, the treasurer will be able to claim at least a tick for his efforts.

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

– ref. View from The Hill: Dutton tries to nautralise health issue by saying, ‘we’ll do just what Labor does’ – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-dutton-tries-to-nautralise-health-issue-by-saying-well-do-just-what-labor-does-250606

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Caitlin Johnstone: Israel pushes new atrocity narrative just as ceasefire deadline approaches

Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. –

COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone

A new narrative is being aggressively pushed by Israel and its apologists to justify resuming the Gaza genocide, conveniently just as an important deadline for ceasefire negotiations draws near.

The Israeli “Defence” Force (IDF) is now claiming that the Israeli children Kfir and Ariel Bibas “were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza, no later than November 2023.”

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told the press on Friday that, “Contrary to Hamas’ lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood.

“The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys, they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”

Anyone who has been following the events in Gaza over the last year and a half will be unsurprised to learn that Israel provided no evidence to support these incendiary claims.

Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement in his signature American English waving around an enlarged photograph of the children and talking about what savage monsters the Palestinians are.

“Hamas murdered them in cold blood,” Netanyahu says, while the camera zooms in on the adorable little redheads. “As the prime minister of Israel, I vow that I will not rest until the savages who executed our hostages are brought to justice. They do not deserve to walk this earth.

“Nothing will stop me. Nothing.”

[embedded content]

Sabotaging ceasefire negotiations
This happens just as Netanyahu has been working to sabotage ceasefire negotiations by adding new non-starter demands that were not in the original agreement, just as sources in Israeli media predicted he would do upon his return from Washington earlier this month.

The six-week-long first stage of the ceasefire deal with Hamas is set to expire at the beginning of March next weekend

This is obvious babies-on-bayonets atrocity propaganda, being released at the most convenient of times. After Israel has been caught lying about beheaded babies and mass rapes and so much more, only an idiot would take any of these claims on faith.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Today is a tragic day. It’s a day of boundless sorrow, of indescribable pain.

Four-year-old Ariel Bibas, his baby brother one-year-old Kfir and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz were brutally murdered by Hamas savages. pic.twitter.com/7TMchvOZ9E

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 21, 2025

But it’s doing the job. Now everywhere you look you’ll see Israel supporters calling to end the ceasefire and reignite the Gaza holocaust to avenge these innocent children. I just saw an article from Tablet Magazine titled “Their Time Is Up,” subtitled “The murder of the Bibas children caps off an 18-month catalog of horrors that has told us exactly who our Palestinian neighbors are.

“Backed by a friend in the White House, Israel must secure its future through strong unilateral action.”

Most likely cause of death
All this despite the fact that we know the most likely cause of the children’s death was the fact that their own government was raining military explosives on places where hostages were being held during that time.

Hamas reported back in November 2023 that the Bibas children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike along with their mother. In December 2023 it was reported in the mainstream press that Hamas had offered to return their bodies to Israel but Israel had refused, telling the press that “Israel will not address propaganda-based reports coming from Hamas”.

You don’t need to trust Hamas or anyone else to deduce that a woman and two children being killed by Israeli airstrikes in an area where many women and children were being killed by Israeli airstrikes every day is a much more likely scenario than Palestinian resistance fighters spontaneously deciding to murder children with their bare hands instead of using them as negotiating leverage as planned.

As journalist Muhammad Shehada recently noted on Twitter, Israel already has an established track record of lying about Hamas killing hostages who were actually killed in Israeli airstrikes.

In December 2023, Israel informed the families of three hostages that they had been murdered by Hamas. The mother of one of the hostages kept digging and eventually discovered that they had died of asphyxiation when IDF troops “gassed” the tunnel they were hiding in.

Last September, the IDF admitted that they had killed the hostages in an airstrike and lied about it.

Three weeks ago Shehada correctly predicted in an article with Zeteo that Israel was preparing to use the Bibas deaths as an excuse to terminate the ceasefire, long before any of this started.

Shehada noticed the way pro-Israel narrative managers had been pushing the line that great vengeance must be exacted upon Gaza if it turns out the Bibas children have been harmed, despite Hamas having announced their deaths more than a year ago.

They knew those children were dead, so after the ceasefire was announced in late January they began circulating the narrative that discovery of their demise would be a valid reason to end it.

🚨BREAKING | Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian children, ages 12 and 13, in the illegally occupied West Bank today. Both were reportedly shot in the back. https://t.co/6iqVf7Nasg

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 21, 2025

Israel forces shoot dead 2 Palestinian children
Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian children in the West Bank just yesterday — both of them shot in the back. You could be forgiven for not knowing that this happened, because the Western political/media class has been too focused on the deaths of two little white kids to pay attention to such trivialities.

Israel needs to keep “discovering” new Hamas atrocities from 2023 because otherwise it just looks like one-sided atrocities being committed by Israel this whole time. First it was beheaded babies, then later it was “We’ve discovered Hamas did mass rapes!”, and now it’s the Bibas kids.

They need to do this because the Hamas attack was the last time anything happened where Israel could frame itself as the victim, so they’ve been milking it and milking it and milking it for as long as possible while committing orders of magnitude worse abuse in Gaza.

It’s all designed to drum up outrage, and to draw sympathy toward Israel and away from the obvious victims who Israel has been abusing, displacing and mass murdering for a year and a half.

As calls to rain vengeance upon Gaza grow louder, remember this: the Bibas kids aren’t the reason, they’re the excuse. The excuse to advance pre-planned agendas against the Palestinians that have been in place since long before those children were born.

Caitlin Johnstone is an Australian independent journalist and poet. Her articles include The UN Torture Report On Assange Is An Indictment Of Our Entire Society. She publishes a website and Caitlin’s Newsletter. This article is republished with permission.

This article was first published on Café Pacific.

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Trump says to impose retaliatory tariffs on digital taxes

Source: China State Council Information Office

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will impose retaliatory tariffs on countries that levy digital taxes on U.S. tech companies.

When asked whether he would sign an order regarding digital taxes, Trump gave an affirmative answer.

“We are going to be doing that, digital. What they’re doing to us in other countries is terrible with digital, so we’re going to be announcing that,” he said.

“Though America has no such thing, and only America should be allowed to tax American firms, trading partners hand American companies a bill for something called a digital service tax,” read a fact sheet released earlier this month by the White House.

“Canada and France use these taxes to each collect over 500 million (U.S.) dollars per year from American companies,” the White House said. “Overall, these non-reciprocal taxes cost America’s firms over 2 billion dollars per year.”

In recent years, several European countries have actively pushed for digital taxes on the operations of large tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple and Meta in their countries, which has been strongly opposed by the United States.

During Trump’s first term, he initiated a “301 investigation” into the digital services taxes of several trade partners, accusing these tax measures of unfairly affecting American businesses.

After Joe Biden took office, the United States reached a compromise with Austria, Britain, France, Italy and Spain regarding the digital services tax dispute in October 2021, and agreed to resolve the issue under the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s global tax deal.

But on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, Trump signed a presidential memorandum that the global corporate minimum tax deal reached under the OECD framework had “no force or effect” in the United States, effectively withdrawing from the agreement that the Biden administration had negotiated with nearly 140 countries.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: 2025 GDC offers platform for AI industry exchange

Source: China State Council Information Office

People interact with a robot dog at the 2025 Global Developer Conference held in Shanghai, east China, Feb. 21, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Haoming)

Open-source large model technologies and products have taken center stage at the ongoing 2025 Global Developer Conference (GDC) , which is being held in Shanghai from Friday to Sunday.

The event has brought together top domestic and international artificial intelligence (AI) companies to showcase their latest technologies and solutions, attracting developers, scientists, and investors from around the world.

At the conference, a humanoid robot developed by Chinese firm Unitree Robotics — famous for its dancing robots featured on China’s nationally televised Spring Festival gala — walked the company’s robot dog, drawing a cheering crowd of onlookers.

“With the support of a broad base of developers, artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, particularly as recent breakthroughs in open-source large model technologies and products create new opportunities and space for the development of China’s artificial intelligence industry,” said Xiong Jijun, vice minister of industry and information technology in a speech at the conference, on Saturday.

Xiong noted that China’s AI industry is thriving, particularly with the widespread acceptance of open-source principles. Currently, the country ranks second in the world in terms of the number of open-source contributors.

Yang Haijun, chief engineer of the Shanghai municipal cyberspace administration, told the conference that China is among the first countries to introduce regulations for the management of generative AI services.

Data from iResearch, an industry research and consulting institute, indicates that China’s AI industry is projected to reach 811 billion yuan (about 111.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2028, with emerging sectors such as AI and robotics poised to unlock significant market potential and development opportunities.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Summit on women global investment kicks off in Libyan capital

Source: China State Council Information Office

The Women Global Investment Summit kicked off here on Saturday with more than 60 entrepreneurs and economic experts from 15 countries.

Libya’s Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Houria Al-Tarmal told Xinhua that the Government of National Unity — the internationally-recognized western-based government — “supports and enables women economically and logistically.”

“Women are essential partners in the national economy,” said Al-Tarmal, hoping the summit will help businesswomen in Libya overcome challenges by exchanging experience with other women entrepreneurs and experts worldwide.

The two-day event includes workshops and training sessions to economically empower women and increase their participation in the national economy, as well as the signing of cooperation agreements and protocols between local and international agencies to support Libya’s national development.

Since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has been struggling with fragmentation. The country is now divided between two main rival administrations: the eastern-based government, backed by the House of Representatives, and the western-based government in Tripoli.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Fate of 8 workers trapped in south India tunnel remains uncertain

Source: China State Council Information Office

The fate of eight workers who were trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in India’s southern state of Telangana remained uncertain on Sunday, as rescue work was hit by a fresh roadblock, said a senior official supervising the rescue work.

An official reportedly said the collapsed portion of the tunnel was inaccessible, and they would have to look for an alternative to reach out to the trapped workers.

The incident happened on Saturday morning in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district when a part of the roof of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project suddenly collapsed.

At the time of the incident, there were around 50 workers inside it to repair a leakage. While the rest managed to escape, eight remained trapped inside the tunnel.

Those trapped included two engineers, two technical staff and four laborers.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Chinese hybrid rice thrives in Philippines, enhancing food security

Source: China State Council Information Office

Every day, 98-year-old Melencio Maniego walks the narrow earthen banks between his 16-hectare rice fields to inspect his crops.

“I’ve planted Chinese hybrid rice for over a decade,” the Filipino said, gazing across the green and yellow paddies in Central Luzon, dubbed “rice granary of the Philippines.”

Rice is a staple in the Southeast Asian country, and Chinese hybrid rice has gained trust among local farmers for its high yield and resilience against diseases and strong winds. “We believe in China’s advanced farming technology and expertise,” Maniego said.

Maniego was among the first in Victoria town, Tarlac province, to adopt hybrid rice developed by Longping High-tech, a Chinese agricultural company named after Yuan Longping, affectionately known as the “father of hybrid rice.”

“Since using Chinese hybrid rice, my yield has increased by over 30 percent,” he said with a thumbs-up.

As the world’s top rice importer in 2024, the Philippines faces pressure to boost domestic production. “There’s huge potential for agricultural cooperation between China and the Philippines,” said Guo Xiaobo, head of Longping High-tech Philippine R&D Center.

Guo, who has worked in the Philippines for nearly a decade, said his team concentrates on developing high-yield, disease-resistant rice varieties. The center operates 200 mu (about 13.3 hectares) of experimental fields in Nueva Ecija province, home to the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT).

Inside the PhilSCAT’s lobby, a mural depicts two doves flying towards a shower of rice grains. Nearby brass plaques in Filipino and Chinese languages highlight the center as a symbol of bilateral cooperation.

John Davidson was trained at the PhilSCAT before he got his job as a technician at Longping High-tech in 2018.

“I learned modern farming techniques there, and the Chinese experts were willing to share their knowledge,” said the 34-year-old Filipino.

Davidson said hybrid rice has steadily improved yields, strengthening food security and boosting farmers’ livelihood.

“I hope the bilateral agricultural cooperation continues. It brings real benefits to us,” he said.

In early February, the Philippines declared a food security emergency to bring down the cost of rice. “This emergency declaration allows us to release rice buffer stocks held by the National Food Authority to stabilize prices and ensure that rice, a staple food for millions of Filipinos, remains accessible to consumers,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said in a statement.

On Maniego’s farm, increased production has led to higher wages for his workers.

“Thanks to Chinese hybrid rice, I’m sure a good harvest is coming soon,” Maniego said.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Meeting with Secretary of the Treasury of the United States

Source: Australian Treasurer

Tonight, I will fly to Washington, D.C. Once there, I plan to meet with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

Our established relationship predates this meeting, but this will be our first discussion since confirmation in his new role.

We will meet at an important time for the global economic outlook.

The United States – Australian economic partnership brings significant benefits to both sides. From capital markets to critical minerals and trade, there is much to discuss.

Before flying back to Australia on Tuesday afternoon, I will also address the Australian Superannuation Investment Summit being convened by U.S. Ambassador Kevin Rudd.

This Summit will bring together some of Australia’s largest super funds with leading figures from the U.S. investment community at the Australian Embassy in Washington.

MIL OSI News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Honduran Guilty of Illegally Using Social Security Number to Obtain Employment

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that CESAR ALVAREZ-ESPINAL (“ALVAREZ-ESPINAL”), a native of Honduras, pleaded guilty on February 20, 2025 to illegally using a social security number to qualify for employment, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(7)(B).

ALVAREZ-ESPINAL faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five (5) years, up to three (3) years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.

According to court documents, in November 2024, Homeland Security Investigations received information that certain individuals had used fraudulent Social Security cards in an initial application to obtain employment. Prior to finalizing employment with their prospective company, the individuals were required to report to the Gulf Coast Safety Council. The Gulf Coast Safety Council provides safety courses to applicants applying for work with companies that service petrochemical processing plants. On November 13, 2024, ALVAREZ-ESPINAL arrived at the Gulf Coast Safety Council office in St. Rose, Louisiana to complete the safety course. On that day, ALVAREZ-ESPINAL presented a fraudulent United States Social Security card bearing the name and United States Social Security number of a United States citizen, that he represented to be his own in order to obtain employment.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jon M. Maestri of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

MIL Security OSI –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: China sees robust growth in loans to small, micro firms

Source: China State Council Information Office

Official data showed that China saw robust growth in the outstanding sum of loans to small and micro companies by the end of 2024 amid government efforts to encourage inclusive financing.

By the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) of last year, the balance of loans issued by banking financial institutions to small and micro firms totaled 81.4 trillion yuan (about 11.4 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

The outstanding loan to small and micro companies with a credit limit of 10 million yuan or less reached 33.3 trillion yuan, surging 14.7 percent year on year, data from the administration showed.

The quality of commercial banks’ credit assets has remained generally stable. By the end of Q4, the non-performing loan ratio for commercial lenders stood at 1.5 percent, edging down 0.05 percentage points from the previous quarter.

China has been stepping up financial support for the country’s small businesses, with reserve requirement ratio cuts and policy interest rate reductions to lower borrowing costs and boost the vitality of the small market players.

In 2024, the number of registered enterprises in China reached 61.226 million, most of which were middle, small and micro-sized businesses.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025

MIL-OSI: Prospera Energy Inc. Announces 2024 Year-End-Reserves

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Prospera Energy Inc. (TSX.V: PEI, OTC: GXRFF) (“Prospera“, “PEI” or the “Corporation“)

Prospera Energy Inc. (TSXV: PEI, OTC: GXRFF) (“Prospera,” “PEI,” or the “Corporation”) is pleased to announce its 2024 year-end reserves, highlighting significant growth in Proven Developed Producing (“PDP”) and Total Proved plus Probable (“2P”) reserves. The reserves and future net revenue of the Corporation were prepared by InSite Petroleum Consultants Ltd. (“InSite”), an independent qualified reserves evaluator, in accordance with the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (“COGEH”) standards. InSite prepared a report dated February 21, 2025 (the “InSite Report”), in which it has evaluated, as of December 31, 2024, the oil and gas reserves attributable to the principal properties of the Corporation. The evaluation assumes that each property included in the estimate will be developed, without considering the Corporation’s ability to secure the necessary funding for that development. The oil and gas annual disclosure can be found on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

Corporate Overview:

The Corporation’s core strategy is focused on proven developed non-producing (“PDNP”) and proven undeveloped (“PUD”) to PDP conversions through a series of low-risk, low-decline workovers, recompletions and reactivations in our core Cuthbert, Luseland, and Hearts Hill properties. To increase gross production above 1,000 barrels per day, the Corporation will bring online incremental wells with capital intensity of less than $8,000 per flowing barrel to ensure efficient usage of capital. Progress related to these programs will be provided in the Corporation’s future monthly operational updates.

Notably, the Corporation has successfully converted wells with no reserves assigned (“NRA”) into PDNP and PUD reserves, further increasing proven reserves and positioning for additional capital deployment in 2025. Furthermore, the acceleration of well reactivations has deferred asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) by extending the economic life and productivity of these assets. By reactivating wells instead of abandoning them, the Corporation is transforming liabilities into revenue-generating assets, in turn, increasing cash flow rather than incurring abandonment costs. By prioritizing conversion of PDNP and PUD wells into PDP assets, the Corporation will further bolster its production, cash flow, and ability to attract additional growth capital to support its long-term reserves development vision.

Key Highlights:

NPV before tax for PDP reserves increased 3% from $27.1MM to $28.0MM at a 10% discount rate
NPV before tax for PDNP reserves doubled from $8.5MM to $18.9MM at a 10% discount rate
NPV before tax for 1P reserves increased 24% from $89.9MM to $111.4MM at a 10% discount rate.
NPV before tax for 2P reserves increased 20% from $133.3MM to $159.3MM at a 10% discount rate
Gross 2P reserves increased by 26% from 5,403 to 6,793 Mboe (98% liquids)
Total Proved (“1P”) reserve life index (“RLI”) increased by 8% from 24.8 to 26.7 years
2P RLI increased by 5% from 30.1 to 31.7 years
2P Finding and Development (“F&D”) costs of $10.59/boe
Net asset value per share: 1P at $0.17 and 2P at $0.28 at a 10% discount rate

^{_{Net present value (“NPV”) is estimated using forecast prices and costs}}

Net Present Value Growth and Market Capitalization Trends (2020-2024)

NI 51-101 Table 2.1.1
The following table discloses, in the aggregate, the Corporation’s gross and net proved and probable reserves, estimated using forecast prices and costs, by product type. “Forecast prices and costs” means future prices and costs in the InSite Report that are generally accepted as being a reasonable outlook of the future or fixed or currently determinable future prices or costs to which the Corporation is bound.

Prospera Energy Inc.
Summary of Oil and Gas Reserves as of December 31, 2024
Forecast Prices and Costs
Reserves Category	Light and Medium Oil (Mbbl)		Heavy Oil (Mbbl)		Solution Gas (MMcf)		Sales Gas (MMcf)
Reserves Category	Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Gross	Net
Proved Developed Producing	232	196	1,136	1,070	24	-34	–	–
Proved Developed Non-Producing	112	92	587	573	9	2	269	226
Proved Undeveloped	96	77	2,576	2,460	11	11	–	–
Total Proved	440	365	4,299	4,103	44	-22	269	226
Total Probable	153	126	1,769	1,595	13	-8	464	421
Total Proved + Probable	593	491	6,068	5,698	57	-29	733	647

_{^{Gross reserves are the working interest share only. Net reserves are the working interest gross reserves plus all royalty interest reserves receivable less all royalty burdens payable. Conventional natural gas (solution) includes all gas produced in association with light, medium and heavy crude oil.}}

After Tax Results
As mandated by NI 51-101, after tax results are shown in the various tables of the InSite Report. After-tax calculations at the company level incorporated tax legislation and tax pool details for the Corporation, complying with the guidelines and philosophy of NI 51-101 in all material aspects. All future capital cost estimates herein have been categorized by tax pool definitions and used to supplement the year-end tax pool information provided by the Corporation. The year-end tax pool, as provided by the Corporation, is summarized below:

Canadian Oil and Gas Property Expense (COGPE) $19,242,826
Canadian Development Expense (CDE) $17,217,048
Non-Capital Losses (100%) $28,436,034

Remaining Reserves
Remaining reserves of oil and gas have been determined as of December 31, 2024. A summary of property gross and total company reserves follows:

Prospera Energy Inc.
Summary of Reserves as of December 31, 2024
	Proved Developed Producing	Total Proved Plus Probable
Oil – Mbbl
Property Gross	1,425	7,113
Company WI	1,369	6,661
Company Net	1,267	6,189

Gas – MMcf
Property Gross	24	790
Company WI	24	790
Company Net	-34	618

BOEs – MBOE
Property Gross	1,429	7,245
Company WI	1,373	6,793
Company Net	1,261	6,292

Product Prices
The InSite base product price forecast, effective January 1, 2025, was used for this evaluation. A copy of which is included in the InSite Report. To estimate actual received prices, adjustments were made to crude oil and by-products prices for quality and transportation tariffs. Similarly, adjustments were made to gas prices for heating value and transportation. It is assumed that the adjustment factors and increments will remain constant throughout the forecasts. Revenue data provided by the Corporation was used to quantify price adjustments. If such data was unavailable, typical values for the area were used to estimate price adjustments. Risks of political and economic uncertainties could affect future results and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in this evaluation.

Qualification
To prepare their evaluation, a technical presentation of properties was made by the Corporation to InSite. Data required by them was sourced from the Corporation, industry references and regulatory bodies. Neither field inspection nor environmental review of these properties were conducted by InSite, nor deemed necessary. Generally accepted engineering methods were employed to estimate reserves and forecast production. The InSite Report follows the Practice Standards and Guidelines of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (“APEGA”) and adheres in all material aspects to the business practices, evaluation procedures, and reserve definitions contained within NI 51-101 and the COGEH.

NI 51-101 Table 2.1.2
The following table discloses, in the aggregate, the NPV of the Corporation’s future net revenue attributable to the reserves categories previously tabulated, estimated using forecast prices and costs, before and after deducting future income tax expenses, and calculated without discount and using discount rates of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Future net revenue includes all resource income and is after capital investments, operating expenses, and royalties.

Prospera Energy Inc.
Summary of Net Present Values of Future Net Revenue as of December 31, 20232024
Forecast Prices and Costs
Reserves Category	Before Income Tax (MM$)					After Income Tax (MM$)					Before Tax Net value ($/BOE)
	Discounted at (%/year)					Discounted at (%/year)					(%/year)
	0	5	10	15	20	0	5	10	15	20	10
Proved Developed Producing	3032.91	2931.3	28.10	25.0	22.26	2832.81	2831.03	2528.40	2225.90	2022.86	520.4
Proved Developed Non-Producing	1025.90	921.67	818.59	716.55	614.75	723.74	620.96	618.11	15.49	414.80	1925.13
Proved Undeveloped	89122.53	6887.60	5464.46	4449.25	3638.79	6691.30	5064.11	3947.11	3135.38	2528.60	2024.61
Total Proved	131179.33	108140.10	89111.94	7690.19	6575.96	102146.85	85116.0	7093.62	5976.67	5164.26	1623.13
Total Probable	7898.30	5666.85	4347.49	3436.51	2828.2	5772.72	4148.77	3135.70	2526.3	2020.45	1923.19
Total Proved + Probable	209277.53	164206.95	144159.73	110127.70	93104.1	160218.7	126164.77	102128.31	84103.70	7185.60	1623.85

Future operating costs are based on historical data. Wherever unavailable, they were estimated from analogous operations in the vicinity of the properties. The inflation of capital and operating costs is assumed to be 2.0% per annum after 2025. InSite has included cost estimates of well abandonment and reclamation for all existing wells, regardless of reserves assignment, and undeveloped locations assigned reserves. Estimates have been prepared based on historical costs and published guidance from provincial liability management or rating. It is understood that all abandonment and reclamation costs of wells and facilities have been accounted for by the Corporation.

About Prospera

Prospera Energy Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian energy company specializing in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Prospera is dedicated to optimizing recovery from legacy fields using environmentally safe and efficient reservoir development methods and production practices. The company’s core properties are strategically located in Saskatchewan and Alberta, including Cuthbert, Luseland, Hearts Hill, and Brooks. Prospera Energy Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEI and the U.S. OTC Market under GXRFF.

For Further Information:

Shawn Mehler, PR
Email: investors@prosperaenergy.com

Chris Ludtke, CFO
Email: cludtke@prosperaenergy.com

Shubham Garg, Chairman of the Board
Email: sgarg@prosperaenergy.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Corporation and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” “expects” and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Corporation, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Although Prospera believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because Prospera can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures.

The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Prospera. As a result, Prospera cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize, and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward- looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Prospera does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a2427c7d-19dd-4737-9dbc-7ded2930b4a4

The MIL Network –

February 23, 2025

MIL-OSI New Zealand: Going for Growth: Overseas investment changes to drive higher wages
Source: New Zealand Government

Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced the Government’s plan to reform the Overseas Investment Act and make it easier for New Zealand businesses to receive new investment, grow and pay higher wages.

“New Zealand is one of the hardest countries in the developed world for overseas people to invest in businesses, and our productivity growth is woeful. Those two facts are closely linked.

“We are introducing reforms to improve New Zealand’s overseas investment laws. The package will speed up decisions and provide more confidence to investors, while protecting our national interests.

“Overseas investment can support economic growth because when workers work with better tools and technologies, they are more productive and get paid more.

“I’ve seen the difference that overseas investment can make. I once visited two businesses in the same industry on the same afternoon. Both had skilled and passionate people with good ideas. One had overseas investment, though, and benefited in two ways. They had more money for machinery, and they had more know-how for manufacturing and marketing their product by receiving knowledge from their partners offshore.

“New Zealand’s productivity growth has closely tracked the amount of capital workers have had to work with. Our capital-to-labour ratio has seen very little growth in the last 10 years, averaging approximately 0.7 per cent annually. That’s compared to growth of around 2 percent a year in the previous 10 to 15 years. Unsurprisingly, productivity growth averaged 1.4 percent a year between 1993 and 2013, but only 0.2 percent between 2013 and 2023.

“The Government has agreed on a reform package which includes:
- better acknowledging the benefits investment can provide to New Zealand’s economy,
- for all investments aside from residential land, farmland and fishing quota, making decisions in just 15 days, unless the application could be contrary to New Zealand’s national interest,
- strengthening the Government’s ability to intervene on the rare occasion that a transaction is not in the national interest,
- giving LINZ more powers to grant consent without involving Ministers.
“High-value investments, such as significant business assets, existing forestry and non-farmland, account for around $14 billion of gross investment each year. Cabinet has agreed to remove the barriers for these investments, while retaining existing protections for residential land, farmland and fishing quota.

“Nearly every other developed country has less obstructive laws than New Zealand. They benefit from the flow of money and the ideas that come with overseas investment. If we are going to raise wages, we can’t afford to ignore the simple fact that our competitors gain money and know-how from outside their borders.”

MIL OSI New Zealand News –
February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: BusinessNZ Statement – Overseas investment overhaul: NZ means business
Source: BusinessNZ

BusinessNZ says the Government’s announcement to reform the Overseas Investment Act sends a positive signal to the world that New Zealand is ready to do business.

Chief Executive Katherine Rich says existing rules make it difficult and uncertain for overseas investors to consider investing here.

“New Zealand’s settings for overseas investment have been some of the most restrictive in the OECD. These rules have held us back from achieving our potential as we say no to investment which has been accepted by other economies.

“As one example, any non-urban land parcel larger than five hectares is deemed sensitive in the current Act. For the likes of a manufacturer looking to set up shop and invest here, anything less is far too small.

“BusinessNZ has long advocated for new policy settings which could allow us to gain the benefits of overseas capital and grow businesses, assets, and the incomes of New Zealanders. We know that business will be heartened by today’s announcement.

“Changing settings will be a positive first step in showing the rest of the world that we welcome investment – but more changes are required to encourage it.

“Settings related to taxation of overseas earnings and incentives for research and development need to be more internationally competitive. Otherwise, investors will choose to put their money and talent where they see a better return.”

BusinessNZ commissioned NZIER to review influences that affect the favourability of business investment in Zealand. Read the report here: https://businessnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Business-investment-in-NZ.pdf

BusinessNZ also published a paper considering the case for change in the framework for managing FDI. Read the paper here: https://businessnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/240906-A-future-for-Foreign-Direct-Investment-into-NZ.pdf

The BusinessNZ Network including BusinessNZ, EMA, Business Central, Business Canterbury and Business South, represents and provides services to thousands of businesses, small and large, throughout New Zealand.
MIL OSI New Zealand News –
February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: 2025 Global Developer Conference offers platform for AI industry exchange

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

SHANGHAI, Feb. 22 — Open-source large model technologies and products have taken center stage at the ongoing 2025 Global Developer Conference, which is being held in Shanghai from Friday to Sunday.

The event has brought together top domestic and international artificial intelligence (AI) companies to showcase their latest technologies and solutions, attracting developers, scientists, and investors from around the world.

At the conference, a humanoid robot developed by Chinese firm Unitree Robotics — famous for its dancing robots featured on China’s nationally televised Spring Festival gala — walked the company’s robot dog, drawing a cheering crowd of onlookers.

“With the support of a broad base of developers, artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, particularly as recent breakthroughs in open-source large model technologies and products create new opportunities and space for the development of China’s artificial intelligence industry,” said Xiong Jijun, vice minister of industry and information technology in a speech at the conference, on Saturday.

Xiong noted that China’s AI industry is thriving, particularly with the widespread acceptance of open-source principles. Currently, the country ranks second in the world in terms of the number of open-source contributors.

Yang Haijun, chief engineer of the Shanghai municipal cyberspace administration, told the conference that China is among the first countries to introduce regulations for the management of generative AI services.

Data from iResearch, an industry research and consulting institute, indicates that China’s AI industry is projected to reach 811 billion yuan (about 111.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2028, with emerging sectors such as AI and robotics poised to unlock significant market potential and development opportunities.

MIL OSI China News –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Honorary Knighthood medal presented to Sunil Bharti Mittal
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

World news story

Honorary Knighthood medal presented to Sunil Bharti Mittal

Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, has today (22 February) received the insignia of the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).
Sunil Bharti Mittal

He was presented the medal at a special investiture ceremony in the presence of friends and family at the British High Commissioner’s residence in New Delhi.

The ceremony follows the announcement in 2024 that His Majesty The King has been graciously pleased to confer Mr Mittal the Honorary Knighthood for services to UK-India business relations.

Lindy Cameron, British High Commissioner to India, said:

I was delighted to present Sunil Bharti Mittal the KBE medal on behalf of His Majesty the King. Mr Mittal is a great friend of the UK – with significant investments, including BT, Gleneagles, Norlake Hospitality, and OneWeb.

Mr. Mittal’s leadership has made a lasting impact on the UK-India partnership, including through his work with the India-UK CEO Forum. Most recently, he led a senior Indian business delegation to the UK to meet with Prime Minister Starmer, the Foreign Secretary, the Chancellor, and other Cabinet Ministers to identify opportunities for accelerating economic growth across both nations. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Mr Mittal and congratulate him once again.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Founder, Bharti Enterprises, said:

It is an honour to have received the KBE from His Majesty, King Charles III.

As India and the United Kingdom continue to chart remarkable scale in our bilateral relations, I acknowledge this recognition both as a privilege and a responsibility. I remain committed to working with stakeholders in our nations towards advancing India – UK business relations.

On the occasion of this very special milestone, I extend my gratitude to all for their support through this journey.

Further information

Free-to-use images from the investiture will be available for download, here.

Mr Mittal was recognised in the Honorary British awards for foreign nationals that His Majesty The King approved during 2024, published here.

The KBE is among the highest honours awarded by His Majesty The King to foreign nationals for pre-eminent contributions in various fields

Media

For media queries, contact:

David Russell,
Communications Counsellor and Spokesperson
British High Commission,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021. Tel: 24192100

Media queries: BHCMediaDelhi@fcdo.gov.uk

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Published 22 February 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: Leaders’ Priorities 2025 & Super-Pollutants | WEF | Top Stories Week

Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)

This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Leaders’ priorities for 2025 – The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting drew leaders from business, academia and civil society. We asked them all the same question: ‘What should leaders prioritize in 2025?’

4:21 This mobile ‘smart clinic’ saves lives – It’s a 12-metre-long converted coach which is driven to remote rural communities to provide specialist care on the spot, from gynaecologists, psychologists and paediatricians. The Smart Clinic was created by Siemens Healthineers and is equipped and operated in collaboration with the Colombian Red Cross.

8:55 3 super-pollutants in our air – Super-pollutants are a category of greenhouse gases and air pollutants which trap even more heat in the atmosphere than CO2, per tonne. Including them in climate change frameworks would lead to more funding to tackle them, says Jane Burston, Founder and CEO of the Clean Air Fund

13:40 The possible end of AIDS – A revolutionary treatment could spell the end of this terrible disease. 40 million people around the world are living with HIV. Every year 1.3 million more become infected with HIV and every day 1,700 people die from an AIDS-related illness.

_____________________________________________

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/
YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/wef
Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/worldeconomicforum/
Twitter ► https://twitter.com/wef
LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF

#WorldEconomicForum

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

MIL OSI Video –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: LEFT! YOUR LEFT! LEFT, RIGHT YOUR LEFT!

Source: US Army (video statements)

About the U.S. Army:

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

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

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

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

MIL OSI Video –

February 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Albanese pledge: nine in ten GP visits bulk billed by 2030, in $8.5 billion Medicare injection

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

The Albanese government on Sunday will pledge $8.5 billion for Medicare, declaring this would enable all Australians to have access to bulk billing by 2030.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce the policy at a rally in Tasmania, where the Labor seat of Lyons and the Liberal seat of Bass are in play.

Under the plan, Labor would extend the bulk billing incentive to all Australians, and also create an extra incentive payment for practices that bulk billed all their patients.

The changes would mean an extra 18 million bulk billed GP visits annually, the government says. Nine out of ten GP visits would be bulk billed by 2030. On the government’s figures, this would increase the number of fully bulk billing practices to about 4,800, triple the present figure.

The government says its plan would produce patient savings of up to $859 million a year by 2030.

It says this is the single largest investment in Medicare since it was created more than 40 years ago.

The promised big health spend is designed both to focus the election campaign on an area of traditional strength for Labor, and to address the serious erosion of bulk billing rates in recent years. The rate is currently down to about 78%.

The health package also promises to boost the number of nurses and doctors in the system. Four hundred nursing scholarships would be provided. By 2028 2,000 new GP trainee places would be funded each year in federally-funded GP training programs. The number funded in 2025 is 1600.

The government has peviously tripled the bulk billing incentive for pensioners, concession card holders and families with children. From November 1, that would be widened to all Australians.

Also from November 1, in addition to the bulk billing incentive, practices that fully bulk billed would receive an extra 12.5% loading on their Medicare rebates.

“The combined investment means around 4,800 practices will be in a better financial position if they adopt full bulk billing,” Albanese and Health Minister Mark Butler said in a statement.

Albanese said the plan “will make Medicare even stronger, help with cost of living pressures and ensure every Australian receives the best health care that they deserve”.

Butler said people would be worse off if Peter Dutton became PM. “Peter Dutton tried to end bulk billing with a GP tax and then started a six-year freeze to Medicare rebates that froze GP incomes and stripped billions out of Medicare.”

Proposed New Bulk Billing Arrangments

The table below shows how total Medicare payments for common visits would increase from November 1, with the expansion of the bulk billing incentive to all Australians and the new incentive payment for practices that bulk billed every patient.

The bulk billing incentive is scaled according to how far a general practice is from a major city or metropolitan area, with larger Medicare payments as communities get more remote.

The total cost of the bulk billing initiatives over the forward estimates is nearly $7.9 billion.

The costs year-by -year are: 2025-26, nearly $1.2 billion; 2026-27, nearly $2 billion; 2027-28, $2.3 billion, and 2028-29, $2.4 billion.

The government said most of the cost of the Medicare package is accounted for the the December budget update and the rest would be in the next budget.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners this month called for the extension of bulk billing incentives to those under 35. It said this would boost the national rate to 85%.

The Greens have called for tripling the bulk billing incentive for everyone with a Medicare card.

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

– ref. Albanese pledge: nine in ten GP visits bulk billed by 2030, in $8.5 billion Medicare injection – https://theconversation.com/albanese-pledge-nine-in-ten-gp-visits-bulk-billed-by-2030-in-8-5-billion-medicare-injection-249948

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 23, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Greens to force vote on Scottish Government funding for Israel’s arms dealers

Source: Scottish Greens

22 Feb 2025

No public funds for companies complicit in genocide.

The Scottish Greens will use an opposition debate on Wednesday to hold a vote on ending all Scottish Government support for companies who have armed and supported Israel’s genocide against Gaza.

The Scottish Government has strongly opposed the bombing and collective punishment of Gaza. Despite this, since the assault began it has given over £1 million to companies that have armed Israel via Scottish Enterprise.

This week one of those companies, arms giant BAE systems, announced profits of more than £3 billion for 2024.

The party’s co-leader, Lorna Slater, said:

“Israel’s assault on Gaza is one of the worst war crimes of this century. There is no justification for the collective punishment and mass killing they have inflicted.

“The Israeli government has been condemned by the International Criminal Court and every reputable human rights organisation for the atrocities it has carried out against Palestinians, and now it is working with Donald Trump to ethnically cleanse Gaza.

“The Scottish Government has rightly stood against the genocide, but it continues to give public money to the arms dealers who are directly enabling it.

“Scotland can’t control UK foreign policy, but we can control where our public money goes and the companies and industries that we choose to support.

“It’s time for the Scottish Government to put their money where their mouth is and end all subsidies for the war profiteers making such a killing.”

In 2018 the Scottish Greens secured new requirements for Scottish public bodies to conduct human rights checks for grant applicants. Despite this, Scottish Enterprise has continued to fund the world’s biggest arms dealers.

Ms Slater added:

“If a human rights check still allows public money to flow to companies profiting from war crimes, then it’s clearly not fit for purpose.

“Every MSP who is horrified by the destruction in Gaza should support our motion and call for an end to government grants to the world’s biggest arms companies.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Albanese Government provides tax relief to support investment and jobs

Source: Minister for Trade

The Albanese Labor Government will provide tax relief for Australia’s distillers, brewers and wine producers.

Currently brewers and distillers get a full refund of any excise paid up to $350,000 each year. The Government will increase the excise remission cap to $400,000 for all eligible alcohol manufacturers. The Government will also increase the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) producer rebate to $400,000.

Adjusting the taxation arrangements will back an important local industry as well as supporting regional tourism, investment and job creation. Currently around 1,500 brewers and distillers and 3,000 wine producers access these tax incentives.

The proposal will apply from 1 July 2026.

In addition to the tax relief, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) will be providing Australian distillers, brewers and wine producers with additional support to help them grow their exports in high priority overseas markets.

This support includes the opportunity to join in trade missions, expert advice and connections to help our small and medium size exporters tap into fast growing markets, including in Southeast Asia and beyond.

The tax relief is estimated to decrease tax receipts by $70 million over five years from 2024-25.

Quotes attributable to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“To build Australia’s future, we need strong small and medium sized businesses generating jobs and economic opportunity for Australians.

“This common sense measure will back thriving local industries and open the way for growth.”

Quotes attributable to the Treasurer Jim Chalmers:

“We’re pleased to have found room in a tight budget to provide some tax relief for a really important industry creating jobs and opportunities around Australia.

“Brewers, distillers and winemakers play a large role in many local economies and this support will help them invest and grow.”

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell:

“Supporting small distillery, brewing and wine businesses is not just about producing exceptional products – it’s about creating jobs, fostering local economies, and building a better Australia.

“By boosting our export support for these businesses, we are helping fast-track their success in international markets which will create even more jobs at home.”

MIL OSI News –

February 22, 2025

Category: Business

Black Canadians in elected office

Motivations for running

Improving Black Canadians’ representation in politics

The centre of Asian trade

The Chinese powerhouse

American debt

Chinese products dominate

Life goes on

‘Hardest part was hearing their stories’

The cost of war

Hopes for the future

‘We have to become stronger’

Dr Chalmers goes to Washington

Why bulk billing has been declining

What proportion of Australians are now bulk billed?

What does the new bulk billing package include?

The downsides

Bottom line

Dr Chalmers goes to Washington

Source: BusinessNZ

Honorary Knighthood medal presented to Sunil Bharti Mittal

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Proposed New Bulk Billing Arrangments