NewzIntel.com

Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI invites comments on the draft circular on ‘Responsible Lending Conduct – Levy of Foreclosure Charges/ Pre-payment Penalties on Loans’

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    In pursuance of the announcement made in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated October 09, 2024 regarding the review of extant regulatory guidelines on levy of foreclosure charges/ pre-payment penalties on loans, Reserve Bank has released today the draft circular in this regard.

    Comments/feedback by the stakeholders and members of public on the draft circular may be submitted by March 21, 2025 through e-mail. Final circular shall be issued after considering the stakeholder/ public comments.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2231

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI: PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. Closes New Securitization, Substantially Lowering Borrowing Costs

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIAMI, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (the “Company”) (NYSE: PFLT) today announced that it completed a $474.6 million term debt securitization transaction with a four-year reinvestment period, twelve-year final maturity in the form of a collateralized loan obligation (“CLO”).

    The debt issued in this securitization transaction (the “ Debt”) is structured in the following manner:

    Class Par Amount
    ($ in millions)    		 % of Capital
    Structure    		 Coupon Expected
    Rating
    (S&P)    		 Issuance
    Price
    A-1L-A Loans $ 10,000,000 2.1 % 3 Mo SOFR + 1.49% AAA 100.0 %
    A-1L-B Loans   45,000,000 9.5 % 3 Mo SOFR + 1.49% AAA 100.0 %
    A-1 Notes   220,500,000 46.5 % 3 Mo SOFR + 1.49% AAA 100.0 %
    A-2 Notes   19,000,000 4.0 % 3 Mo SOFR + 1.60% AAA 100.0 %
    B Notes   28,500,000 6.0 % 3 Mo SOFR + 1.75% AA 100.0 %
    C Notes   38,000,000 8.0 % 3 Mo SOFR + 2.20% A 100.0 %
    D Notes   28,500,000 6.0 %          Retained BBB- 100.0 %
    Subordinated Notes   85,100,000 17.9 %   NR NA
    Total $ 474,600,000        
     

    “We are delighted to close on the lowest spread debt financing in PFLT’s 14-year history, which will support the Company’s growth and net investment income. The weighted average spread of 159 basis points on $361 million of financing is a 66-basis point reduction from the bank facility this capital is replacing. We are also thrilled about the continued momentum and positive market recognition that our senior lending strategy has received, which is demonstrative of our industry-leading team as well as the merits of our disciplined and differentiated approach to core middle market credit investing,” said Arthur Penn, Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud to have onboarded several new investors into our securitization liabilities as part of this transaction and now have over 75 unique investors across our securitization platform. With their support, we were able to issue our largest securitization to date while also achieving our lowest cost of capital to date. Together, these attributes will continue to enable and further enhance PFLT’s ability to offer attractive risk-adjusted returns to its investors. With the closing of its eleventh securitization, PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC currently manages approximately $3.7 billion in CLO assets, and we look forward to continued growth with the support of our current and new investors.”

    PFLT will continue to retain the Class D Notes and the Subordinated Notes. The reinvestment period for the term debt securitization ends no later than April 2029 and the Debt is scheduled to mature in April 2037. The term debt securitization is expected to be approximately 100% funded at close. In addition, the Company acts as retention holder in the transaction to retain exposure to the performance of the securitized assets. GreensLedge Capital Markets LLC acted as lead placement agent on the CLO transaction.

    The notes offered as part of the term debt securitization have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or any state “blue sky” laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under Section 5 of the Securities Act or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The CLO is a form of secured financing incurred and consolidated by the Company. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the notes in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

    ABOUT PENNANTPARK FLOATING RATE CAPITAL LTD.

    PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is a business development company which primarily invests in U.S. middle-market private companies in the form of floating rate senior secured loans, including first lien secured debt, second lien secured debt and subordinated debt. From time to time, the Company may also invest in equity investments. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is managed by PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC.

    ABOUT PENNANTPARK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, LLC

    PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC is a leading middle-market credit platform, managing approximately $9.5 billion of investable capital, including available leverage. Since its inception in 2007, PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC has provided investors access to middle-market credit by offering private equity firms and their portfolio companies as well as other middle-market borrowers a comprehensive range of creative and flexible financing solutions. PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC is headquartered in Miami and has offices in New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Amsterdam.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should understand that under Section 27A(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Act and Section 21E(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 do not apply to forward-looking statements made in periodic reports PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. files under the Exchange Act. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. You should not place undue influence on such forward-looking statements as such statements speak only as of the date on which they are made.

    CONTACT:
    Richard T. Allorto, Jr.
    PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd.
    (212) 905-1000
    www.pennantpark.com

    Source: PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Revealing the Real Scale of Modern Slavery | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025

    Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)

    An estimated 50 million people are victims of modern slavery today, hidden in supply chains and industries worldwide. Data fragmentation and limited measurement continue to hinder efforts to address this crisis effectively.

    How can innovative data-sharing partnerships drive accountability to eradicate forced labour and modern slavery?

    This session marks the launch of the Global Data Partnership Against Forced Labour.

    Speakers: John Schultz, Amy Pope, Brandon Daniels, Ishaan Tharoor, Ashif Shaikh

    The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.

    This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.

    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/
    X ► https://twitter.com/wef
    LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
    TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
    Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF

    #Davos2025 #WorldEconomicForum #wef25

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUZxUxj9tls

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Fairer Aberdeen Fund marks anniversary with showcase event

    Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

    The Fairer Aberdeen Fund marked 10 years of supporting organisations to tackle poverty and deprivation across the city in a showcase event today (Friday 21 February).

    Those attending the showcase event were able to hear from projects which have benefited from funding on how they have supported individuals and communities, and watch a selection of short films on the work that they have been carrying out. 

    Councillor Alex McLellan, Convener of Finance and Resources Committee, who is also Chair of the Fairer Aberdeen Board, said: “There is so much positive work being done by the Fairer Aberdeen Funded organisations across Aberdeen to support people and families.

    “Our Fairer Aberdeen funded partners are dealing are helping people struggling wtih the cost-of-living crisis 10 years on from the start of the fund, highlighting that poverty remains a huge issue in our city.” 

    Over the last year, 38 initiatives were delivered across the city by 26 voluntary and third sector organisations, that have supported over 50,000 people to access support for employability, financial inclusion, family support, youth work, mental health, learning and volunteering. 

    The keynote speaker for the event was Ruth Boyle, Policy and Campaign Manager at The Poverty Alliance, and featured talks from Cameron McCready, CEO of Homestart Aberdeen and Graeme Kinghorn, CEO of Mental Health Aberdeen, who highlighted their work tackling social isolation and improving mental health across the city.

    Cameron McCready, CEO of Homestart Aberdeen said: “Poverty in Aberdeen affects families in many ways, from financial insecurity to social isolation. With the support of FAF, we’ve been able to provide early intervention services that strengthen family wellbeing and build stronger, more connected communities.”

    Graham Kinghorn, CEO of Mental Health Aberdeen said: “The Fairer Aberdeen Fund is vital in tackling poverty and inequality, supporting essential services from mental health to financial advice and employability. Continued investment is crucial to strengthening communities and improving lives.”

    Organisations supported by the Fund have included Station House Media Unit (SHMU), Community Food Initiatives North East (CFINE) and Pathways. 

    The Fairer Aberdeen Fund is allocated by Aberdeen City Council and is dispersed by the Fairer Aberdeen Board to third sector organisations, charities and voluntary groups.  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Rate Insurance Partners with Spot Pet Insurance to Expand Product Offerings

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rate Insurance, LLC, one of the fastest-growing national personal lines and small commercial insurance brokers, today announced its partnership with Spot Pet Insurance, a leading pet insurance provider.

    Through this partnership, Rate Insurance customers can quickly get pricing for pet insurance policies and explore Spot Pet’s benefits, including:

    • Save up to 20%: Rate Insurance customers get a 10% discount on all pets, and an additional 10% multi-pet discount*
    • Customizable Coverage: Spot Pet offers flexible pet insurance plans that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of each pet, ensuring you can get comprehensive coverage for accidents, illnesses, and optional preventive care.
    • 24/7 Veterinary Support: Spot Pet’s plans include access to a 24/7 Pet Telehealth Helpline, providing Rate Insurance customers with professional guidance and advice whenever needed.
    • Hassle-Free Claims Process: Spot Pet Insurance is committed to simplifying the claims process, making it easy for Rate Insurance customers to submit and track claims online.

    “At Rate Insurance, we’re continuously looking for ways to provide value and meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Jeff Wingate, President, Rate Insurance. “Partnering with Spot Pet Insurance allows us to expand our portfolio of offerings with flexible and accessible coverage that supports the health and well-being of pets—a growing priority for families nationwide.”

    This collaboration aligns with the growing trend of pet owners’ continued investment in their pets, including the increased demand for comprehensive pet insurance solutions as a standard insurance product offering.

    To learn more, please visit: https://spotpet.com/partners/rateinsurance?utm_source=rateins&utm_medium=affiliate&pcode=SPOT_RATEINS

    About Rate Insurance
    Rate Insurance is a national insurance brokerage licensed in all 50 states that offers comprehensive personal, commercial, specialty, and life insurance products. Founded in 2008 and owned by Rate, the second-largest retail mortgage lender in the country, Rate Insurance has been recognized as a Top 50 Personal Lines Agency and a Top 100 Property & Casualty Agency in the U.S. Additionally, the company has been honored as the 2023 Agent for the Future, Outstanding Overall Agency Award winner.

    Rate Insurance has built a reputation for exceptional customer service, as demonstrated by its 4.9-star rating from 2.5k+ Google-verified reviews. Combining a growing team of insurance agents and a cutting-edge digital platform, Rate Insurance leverages its relationships with over 100 top-rated insurance carriers to provide customers with competitive rates and a personalized shopping experience. For more information, visit rate.com/insurance.

    About Spot Pet Insurance
    Spot Pet Insurance is a passionate team of pet-health-obsessed pet parents driven by a shared vision to educate, empower, and engage pet lovers about the benefits of pet insurance. They aim to help pet owners access plans that help pay for covered veterinary bills, helping ensure that their dogs and cats can lead healthier, happier lives.

    To learn more about Spot Pet Insurance, please visit spotpet.com.

    *10% strategic partner discount on all pets. 5% in LA, NE, TX, VA, and WA. Not available in FL, HI, MN, TN. Additional 10% multi-pet discount on all pets after the first.

    Insurance plans are underwritten by either Independence American Insurance Company (NAIC #26581. A Delaware insurance company located at 11333 N. Scottsdale Rd, Ste. 160, Scottsdale, AZ 85254) or United States Fire Insurance Company (NAIC #21113. Morristown, NJ), and are produced by Spot Pet Insurance Services, LLC. (NPN # 19246385. 990 Biscayne Blvd Suite 603, Miami, FL 33132. CA License #6000188).

    Media Contact
    For Rate Insurance:
    Rachel Alvarez Campbell
    Rachel.AlvarezCampbell@rateins.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: MultiCorp International, Inc. Formalizes Agreement to LBO Bitcoin

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AGOURA HILLS, CALIFORNIA, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MultiCorp International, Inc. (OTC Markets PINK: MCIC) and 40 Brightwater LLC are pleased to announce their current discussions to purchase an initial $25,000,000 (twenty-five million USD) in Bitcoin utilizing a leveraged buy-out structure funded through Edwards Capital N.A. LLC’s correspondent bank loan.

    The initial $25,000,000 (twenty-five million USD) Bitcoin to be purchased will become the first of several diversified assets of MultiCorp International, Inc. 

    As previously announced on February 12th, 2025 a $50,000,000 (fifty million USD) collateralized loan from Edwards Capital N.A. LLC’s correspondent bank will be provided to MultiCorp International, Inc. for targeted acquisitions, and ongoing discussions to access more capital through the collateralized loan structure are proceeding.

    About MultiCorp International, Inc.:

    MultiCorp International, Inc., a diversified leader in health, energy and agriculture, announces a series of strategic initiatives aimed at accelerating its growth and expanding its market presence. The company is actively pursuing joint ventures and acquisitions, is fortifying its organizational infrastructure and is preparing for significant advancements in the stock market.

    About Edwards Capital N.A. LLC:

    Edwards Capital is a private Family Office focused on comprehensive, proactive, and robust solutions in the enhancement of private wealth based on robust strategic initiatives in and approaches to specific asset classes and financial markets. The Office is dedicated to pursuing optimal bespoke solutions to achieve the best outcomes with consistent results.

    https://www.edwardscapital.ca/

    About 40 Brightwater LLC:

    40 Brightwater LLC is a private holding company focusing specifically on acquiring private entities and merging its holdings with public companies by leveraging its financial network and resources through its Managing Member, President & CEO Shannon Newby.

    Disclaimer

    This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicit an offer to buy, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction where such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful before registration or qualification under applicable securities laws. Any offer will be made only through a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus as part of an effective registration statement.

    Contact Information:  J. A. Coleman,  J.a.coleman1512@gmail.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Immunefi Launches the Magnus Platform to Protect the Next Trillion Dollars Moving Onchain

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Singapore, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    • Onchain security today is fragmented, inefficient, and dangerously reliant on manual workflows. As capital flows into a rapidly expanding web of protocols, the complexity of securing the ecosystem grows—exposing projects to immeasurable risk and inevitable large-scale breaches. Without a fundamental shift in how security is managed, the next trillion dollars won’t move onchain.
    • Immunefi is solving this problem by launching Magnus, a unified security platform that integrates all essential tools in the onchain security stack in a single command center, unifying threat intelligence and automating SecOps using AI agents across CI/CD pipeline security, vulnerability scanning, audits, bug bounties, onchain monitoring, and firewalls.
    • Magnus will be powered by Immunefi’s own products and the best providers in each product and service category, a proprietary agentic security workflow automation engine, and threat intelligence built upon the largest onchain vulnerability dataset available today. 

    Immunefi, the leader in onchain crowdsecurity protecting over $190 billion in assets, launches Magnus, an AI-powered security orchestration platform that unifies and automates security operations across a protocol’s security stack for maximum protection.

    Onchain security is fragmented and inefficient, relying on manual workflows that struggle to keep up with the relentless pace of threats the ecosystem faces 24/7. This scenario will only get worse as liquidity spreads across a growing number of protocols and the complexity of securing the ecosystem compounds. This leaves the ecosystem vulnerable to a future where major breaches remain inevitable, hindering the adoption and growth of the onchain economy.

    The lack of trust that digital assets are fully secure remains one of the biggest obstacles to TradFi investment in the onchain economy, even as interest continues to grow. While Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has surpassed $124 billion in total value locked (TVL), the industry is still plagued by catastrophic hacks. If security remains fragmented, the next trillion dollars in finance won’t move onchain. The only way to address this and mitigate threats at scale is by unifying security into a single platform that enables protocols to access, automate, and coordinate best-in-class security tools. 

    Immunefi leverages years of experience securing over $190B in assets across a network of 500+ projects to launch Magnus, an AI-powered security platform that unifies threat intelligence and automates security workflows across the best tools in the onchain security stack. Immunefi has integrated its pioneering bug bounty products and audit competitions into Magnus and is partnering with top-tier security researchers, auditors, service providers, and tooling companies to provide a comprehensive security platform. 

    • Unified Security Toolstack: A seamlessly integrated suite of best-in-class security solutions, including CI/CD pipeline security, vulnerability scanning, audits, bug bounty programs, audit competitions, Safe Harbor, onchain monitoring, and a firewall, ensuring protocols can detect and mitigate threats at every stage.
    • Security Swarm: An automation engine that orchestrates task-specific AI agents, enabling instant threat response and drastically reducing manual workloads. As more tools are added to Magnus, Security Swarm will become more autonomous in managing security and ensuring the safety of funds.
    • CODEX: The industry’s largest and most comprehensive onchain vulnerability dataset, proprietary to Immunefi—built from processing over 90% of all industry reports and additional materials related to onchain bug bounties. CODEX powers AI security models, allowing protocols to train and refine AI agents for onchain security applications, advanced threat detection, and defense.

    “Security must evolve as fast as the onchain economy itself, or the industry will remain trapped in a cycle of catastrophic breaches,” said Mitchell Amador, Founder and CEO of Immunefi. “Magnus marks the first time security in web3 is being addressed as a cohesive, integrated, and efficient system rather than a patchwork of tools. We’re transforming the way the security industry works altogether and equipping protocol teams with the ability to anticipate, prevent, and respond to threats at unprecedented speed and scale. All from a single platform, with technology that will continue to evolve alongside the industry and its projects.”

    Due to its foundational position in the web3 security industry, Immunefi has established partnerships with top-tier security providers such as Nexus Mutual, Halborn, Sigma Prime, and Asymmetric Research, amongst others. Immunefi has already secured interest from a number of top tier security service and tooling providers to integrate with Magnus that will be announced soon.

    About Immunefi
    Immunefi is the leading crowdsourced security platform for Web3. It guards over $190 billion in user funds and is trusted by 370+ projects, including Ethereum Foundation, Lido, Sky, Polymarket, Optimism, LayerZero, Hyperlane, and Stacks. The company has paid out the most significant bug bounties in the software industry, amounting to over $112 million, and has pioneered the scaling Web3 bug bounties standard. For more information, please visit https://immunefi.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: STEALTHGAS INC. Reports Fourth Quarter and Twelve Months 2024 Financial and Operating Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — STEALTHGAS INC. (NASDAQ: GASS), a ship-owning company serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry, announced today its unaudited financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2024.

    OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

    • All-time record Net Income of $69.9 million for the twelve month period of 2024, a 34.7% increase compared to the same period last year. Strong profitability continued for the fourth quarter, with Net income of $14.2 million corresponding to a basic EPS of $0.38.
    • Revenues increased by 27.3% compared to the same period of last year to $43.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2024.
    • Further increased period coverage. About 70% of fleet days for 2025 are secured on period charters, with total fleet employment days for all subsequent periods generating over $200 million (excl. JV vessels) in contracted revenues.
    • Continued reducing leverage, making $108.2 million in debt repayments during the twelve month period of 2024 and $34.4 million in the current quarter of 2025. Currently, 26 out of 28 vessels in the fully owned fleet are unencumbered.
    • Maintaining ample cash and cash equivalents (incl. restricted cash) of $84.5 million as of December 31, 2024 enabling the Company to further reduce debt.

    Fourth Quarter 2024 Results1:

    • Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2024 amounted to $43.5 million compared to revenues of $34.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, based on an average of 27.6 vessels and 27.0 vessels owned by the Company, respectively, as the vessels remaining in the fleet earned higher revenues due to better market conditions.
    • Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2024 were $3.2 million and $13.6 million, respectively, compared to $3.3 million and $12.9 million, respectively, for the three months ended December 31, 2023. The $0.7 million increase in vessels’ operating expenses was mainly due to increase in crew costs and maintenance expenses, while the voyage expenses remained stable between 2024 and 2023.
    • Drydocking costs for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $1.9 million and $0.03 million, respectively. Drydocking expenses during the fourth quarter of 2024 mainly relate to the completed drydocking of three vessels, compared to no drydocking of vessels in the same period of last year.
    • General and administrative expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $3.0 million and $1.7 million, respectively. The change is mainly attributed to the increase in stock-based compensation expense.
    • Depreciation for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $6.6 million and $5.6 million, respectively, a $1.0 million increase is mainly related to the increase in average number of vessels owned by the Company and to the partial replacement of some of the older vessels with newer and larger ones which have a higher cost.
    • Interest and finance costs for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, were $1.4 million and $2.3 million, respectively. The $0.9 million decrease from the same period of last year is primarily due to continued debt prepayments.
    • Interest income for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, were $1.1 million and $1.0 million, respectively.
    • Equity earnings in joint ventures for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was a gain of $0.5 million and $0.9 million, respectively. The $0.4 million decrease was primarily due to decrease in number of vessels in joint ventures.
    • As a result of the above, for the three months ended December 31, 2024, the Company reported net income of $14.2 million, compared to net income of $8.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023. The weighted average number of shares outstanding, basic, for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was 35.3 million and 35.3 million, respectively.
    • Earnings per share, basic, for the three months ended December 31, 2024 amounted to $0.38 compared to earnings per share, basic, of $0.25 for the same period of last year.
    • Adjusted net income was $16.4 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS, basic, of $0.44 for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to Adjusted net income of $10.3 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS, basic, of $0.29 for the same period of last year.
    • EBITDA for the three months ended December 31, 2024 amounted to $21.2 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income are set forth below.
    • An average of 27.6 vessels were owned by the Company during the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to 27.0 vessels for the same period of 2023.

    Twelve months 2024 Results:

    • Revenues for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, amounted to $167.3 million, an increase of $23.8 million, or 16.6%, compared to revenues of $143.5 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, as the vessels remaining in the fleet earned higher revenues due to better market conditions.
    • Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 were $11.7 million and $49.8 million, respectively, compared to $13.2 million and $53.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. The $1.5 million decrease in voyage expenses was mainly due to the decrease in spot days, while the $3.3 million decrease in vessels’ operating expenses was mainly due to the decrease in the average number of owned vessels in our fleet.
    • Drydocking costs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $5.3 million and $2.6 million, respectively. The costs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 mainly related to the completed drydocking of seven vessels, while the costs for the same period of last year mainly related to the completed drydocking of three of the larger handysize vessels.
    • General and administrative expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $10.3 million and $5.3 million, respectively. The change is mainly attributed to the increase in stock-based compensation expense.
    • Depreciation for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, was $26.1 million, a $2.4 million increase from $23.7 million for the same period of last year, as the Company partly replaced some of the older vessels with newer and larger vessels which have a higher cost.
    • Impairment loss for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was nil and $2.8 million, respectively. The impairment loss for the year ended December 31, 2023, related to two vessels for which the Company had entered into separate agreements to sell to third parties.
    • Gain on sale of vessels for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 was $0.05 million compared to $7.6 million for the same period last year. The decrease is attributed to the sale of four of the Company’s vessels during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the sale of two vessels during the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, which had been classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2023.
    • Interest and finance costs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $9.1 million and $10.0 million, respectively. The $0.9 million decrease from last year is primarily due to continued debt prepayments.
    • Interest income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $3.4 million and $3.7 million, respectively. The $0.3 million decrease is mainly attributed to decrease in interest rates and over the corresponding period.
    • Equity earnings in joint ventures for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was a gain of $15.6 million and a gain of $12.3 million, respectively. The $3.3 million increase from the same period of last year is mainly due to a profitable sale of one of the Medium Gas carriers owned by one of our joint ventures.
    • As a result of the above, the Company reported a net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 of $69.9 million, compared to a net income of $51.9 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. The weighted average number of shares outstanding, basic, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was 35.2 million and 37.2 million, respectively.
    • Earnings per share, basic, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 amounted to $1.91 compared to earnings per share, basic, of $1.38 for the same period of last year.
    • Adjusted net income was $77.3 million, corresponding to an Adjusted EPS, basic, of $2.11 per share, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 compared to adjusted net income of $50.5 million, or $1.34 per share, for the same period of last year.
    • EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 amounted to $101.6 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income are set forth below.
    • An average of 27.2 vessels were owned by the Company during the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, compared to 29.3 vessels for the same period of 2023.

      As of December 31, 2024, cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) amounted to $84.5 million and total debt amounted to $84.9 million.

      1  EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS are non-GAAP measures. Refer to the reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in accordance with GAAP set forth later in this release.

    Fleet Update Since Previous Announcement

    The Company announced the conclusion of the following chartering arrangements (of three or more months duration):  

    • A twelve months time charter for its 2024 built LPG carrier Eco Wizard, until Dec 2025.
    • A twelve months time charter for its 2020 built LPG carrier Eco Alice, until Feb 2026.
    • A twelve months time charter for the JV-owned 2007 built LPG carrier Gas Haralambos, until Dec 2025.
    • A three months time charter for the 2012 built LPG carrier Gas Husky, until April 2025.

    As of February 2025, the Company has total contracted revenues of approximately $200 million.

    As of February 2025, the Company has circa 70% of fleet days secured under period contracts and contracted revenues of approximately $107 million for the remainder of the year.

    On January 21, 2025, the previously announced sale of the Gas Shuriken was concluded and the vessel was delivered to its new owners.

    Share Repurchase Program Increase

    Today the Board of Directors authorized a $5 million increase to the existing $25 million common stock repurchase program for a total aggregate amount of $30 million. Shares of common stock may be purchased, from time to time, in open market or privately negotiated transactions, at times and prices that are considered to be appropriate by the Company, and the program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. As of the date hereof, the Company has repurchased an aggregate of approximately $19.4 million.

    CEO Harry Vafias Commented

    It is with great pride that we announce today for the third consecutive year record annual profits. After a successful fourth quarter we concluded 2024 reporting net income of $70 million for the year, a 35% increase, far outpacing the underlying market improvement for our vessels. We are delivering on our strategic priorities, modernizing the fleet, securing revenues and de-risking the business, aiming to bring strong value to StealthGas shareholders. We can now say we are net debt free, after having further reduced our debt in the current quarter. We are close to completing our deleverage that will bring a long term advantage to the fleet and the Company is in a solid footing. As successful as we have been we are established in the shipping markets long enough not to forget that we operate in a volatile sector where fortunes can be made and lost quite rapidly. We are optimistic for the future albeit evermore cautiously not least because the current global geopolitics that can have a strong influence on shipping markets are for the time being quite opaque with too many developing situations. Finally, in order to give further value back to our shareholders, we are renewing our share repurchases and increasing up to $10.5 million the amount available to us for this task.

     Conference Call details:

    On February 21, 2025 at 10:00 am ET, the company’s management will host a conference call to discuss the results and the company’s operations and outlook.

    Conference call participants should pre-register using the below link to receive the dial-in numbers and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.

    https://register.vevent.com/register/BIa607c71e1abf4ac08816dfc43bd8d733

    Slides and audio webcast:
    There will also be a live and then archived webcast of the conference call, through the STEALTHGAS INC. website (www.stealthgas.com). Participants to the live webcast should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast.

    About STEALTHGAS INC.

    StealthGas Inc. is a ship-owning company serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry. StealthGas Inc. has a fleet of 31 LPG carriers, including three Joint Venture vessels in the water. These LPG vessels have a total capacity of 349,170 cubic meters (cbm). StealthGas Inc.’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and trade under the symbol “GASS.”

    Visit our website at www.stealthgas.com

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although STEALTHGAS INC. believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, STEALTHGAS INC. cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including changes in charter hire rates and vessel values, charter counterparty performance, changes in demand that may affect attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled drydockings, shipyard performance, changes in STEALTHGAS INC’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in our financing arrangements, actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, domestic and international political conditions, the conflict in Ukraine and related sanctions, the conflict in Israel and Gaza, potential disruption of shipping routes due to ongoing attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or  accidents and political events or acts by terrorists.

    Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by STEALTHGAS INC. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Fleet List        
    For information on our fleet and further information:
    Visit our website at www.stealthgas.com

    Fleet Data:
    The following key indicators highlight the Company’s operating performance during the periods ended December 31, 2023 and 2024.

    FLEET DATA Q4 2023   Q4 2024   12M 2023   12M 2024  
    Average number of vessels (1) 27.0   27.6   29.3   27.2  
    Period end number of owned vessels in fleet 27   28   27   28  
    Total calendar days for fleet (2) 2,484   2,542   10,698   9,944  
    Total voyage days for fleet (3) 2,441   2,446   10,566   9,677  
    Fleet utilization (4) 98.3 % 96.2 % 98.8 % 97.3 %
    Total charter days for fleet (5) 2,207   2,265   9,544   8,930  
    Total spot market days for fleet (6) 234   181   1,022   747  
    Fleet operational utilization (7) 96.8 % 95.0 % 96.6 % 95.4 %
                     

    1) Average number of vessels is the number of owned vessels that constituted our fleet for the relevant period, as measured by the sum of the number of days each vessel was a part of our fleet during the period divided by the number of calendar days in that period.
    2) Total calendar days for fleet are the total days the vessels we operated were in our possession for the relevant period including off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
    3) Total voyage days for fleet reflect the total days the vessels we operated were in our possession for the relevant period net of off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
    4) Fleet utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels were available for revenue generating voyage days, and is determined by dividing voyage days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.
    5) Total charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels operated on time or bareboat charters for the relevant period.
    6) Total spot market charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels operated on spot market charters for the relevant period.
    7) Fleet operational utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels generated revenue, and is determined by dividing voyage days excluding commercially idle days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.

    Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS:

    Adjusted net income represents net income before loss/gain on derivatives excluding swap interest paid/received, impairment loss, net gain/loss on sale of vessels and share based compensation. EBITDA represents net income before interest and finance costs, interest income and depreciation. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income before interest and finance costs, interest income, depreciation, impairment loss, net gain/loss on sale of vessels, share based compensation and loss/gain on derivatives.

    Adjusted EPS represents Adjusted net income divided by the weighted average number of shares.

    EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are included herein because they are a basis, upon which we and our investors assess our financial performance. They allow us to present our performance from period to period on a comparable basis and provide investors with a means of better evaluating and understanding our operating performance.

    EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are not recognized measurements under U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS may not be comparable to that reported by other companies in the shipping or other industries. In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income and Adjusted EPS, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation.

    (Expressed in United States Dollars,
    except number of shares)    		 Fourth Quarter Ended
    December 31st,    		 Twelve months Periods
    Ended December 31st,
      2023 2024 2023 2024
    Net Income – Adjusted Net Income        
    Net income 8,889,046   14,198,527   51,936,829   69,862,177  
    Plus/(Less) loss/(gain) on derivatives 255,736   —   (237,618 ) (99,286 )
    (Less)/Plus swap interest (paid)/received 216,432   —   1,027,127   208,127  
    (Less)/Plus (gain)/loss on sale of vessels, net —   —   (7,645,781 ) (46,384 )
    Plus impairment loss —   —   2,816,873   —  
    Plus share based compensation 940,216   2,206,295   2,589,405   7,326,807  
    Adjusted Net Income 10,301,430   16,404,822   50,486,835   77,251,441  
             
    Net income – EBITDA        
    Net income 8,889,046   14,198,527   51,936,829   69,862,177  
    Plus interest and finance costs 2,344,430   1,425,886   9,956,712   9,062,562  
    Less interest income (952,287 ) (1,052,786 ) (3,712,239 ) (3,416,221 )
    Plus depreciation 5,565,955   6,598,549   23,707,797   26,076,687  
    EBITDA 15,847,144   21,170,176   81,889,099   101,585,205  
             
    Net income – Adjusted EBITDA        
    Net income 8,889,046   14,198,527   51,936,829   69,862,177  
    Plus/(Less) loss/(gain) on derivatives 255,736   —   (237,618 ) (99,286 )
    (Less)/Plus (gain)/loss on sale of vessels, net —   —   (7,645,781 ) (46,384 )
    Plus impairment loss —   —   2,816,873   —  
    Plus share based compensation 940,216   2,206,295   2,589,405   7,326,807  
    Plus interest and finance costs 2,344,430   1,425,886   9,956,712   9,062,562  
    Less interest income (952,287 ) (1,052,786 ) (3,712,239 ) (3,416,221 )
    Plus depreciation 5,565,955   6,598,549   23,707,797   26,076,687  
    Adjusted EBITDA 17,043,096   23,376,471   79,411,978   108,766,342  
             
    EPS – Adjusted EPS        
    Net income 8,889,046   14,198,527   51,936,829   69,862,177  
    Adjusted net income 10,301,430   16,404,822   50,486,835   77,251,441  
    Weighted average number of shares, basic 35,300,965   35,345,251   37,166,449   35,237,059  
    EPS – Basic 0.25   0.38   1.38   1.91  
    Adjusted EPS – Basic 0.29   0.44   1.34   2.11  
     
    StealthGas Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
    (Expressed in United States Dollars, except for number of shares)
      Quarters Ended
    December 31,    		   Twelve month Periods Ended
    December 31,
      2023   2024   2023   2024
               
    Revenues              
    Revenues 34,139,248     43,467,117     143,527,769     167,262,185  
                   
    Expenses              
    Voyage expenses 2,878,732     2,679,927     11,429,716     9,594,880  
    Voyage expenses – related party 426,108     535,991     1,779,488     2,063,228  
    Vessels’ operating expenses 12,690,873     13,404,725     52,206,248     48,961,137  
    Vessels’ operating expenses – related party 207,500     212,500     911,250     875,002  
    Drydocking costs 27,696     1,855,672     2,641,706     5,312,614  
    Management fees – related party 1,048,800     1,089,040     4,531,920     4,258,240  
    General and administrative expenses 1,657,671     3,010,733     5,331,029     10,309,693  
    Depreciation 5,565,955     6,598,549     23,707,797     26,076,687  
    Impairment loss —     —     2,816,873     —  
    Net gain on sale of vessels —     —     (7,645,781 )   (46,384 )
    Total expenses 24,503,335     29,387,137     97,710,246     107,405,097  
                   
    Income from operations 9,635,913     14,079,980     45,817,523     59,857,088  
                   
    Other (expenses)/income              
    Interest and finance costs (2,344,430 )   (1,425,886 )   (9,956,712 )   (9,062,562 )
    (Loss)/gain on derivatives (255,736 )   —     237,618     99,286  
    Interest income 952,287     1,052,786     3,712,239     3,416,221  
    Foreign exchange (loss)/gain (27,829 )   25,598     (190,722 )   (70,692 )
    Other expenses, net (1,675,708 )   (347,502 )   (6,197,577 )   (5,617,747 )
                   
    Income before equity in earnings of investees 7,960,205     13,732,478     39,619,946     54,239,341  
    Equity earnings in joint ventures 928,841     466,049     12,316,883     15,622,836  
    Net Income 8,889,046     14,198,527     51,936,829     69,862,177  
                   
    Earnings per share              
    – Basic 0.25     0.38     1.38     1.91  
    – Diluted 0.25     0.38     1.37     1.90  
                   
    Weighted average number of shares              
    – Basic 35,300,965     35,345,251     37,166,449     35,237,059  
    – Diluted 35,430,883     35,409,350     37,236,951     35,333,160  
     
    StealthGas Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (Expressed in United States Dollars)
      December 31,   December 31,  
      2023   2024  
             
    Assets        
    Current assets        
    Cash and cash equivalents 77,202,843     80,653,398  
    Trade and other receivables 4,506,741     6,156,300  
    Other current assets 130,589     193,265  
    Claims receivable 55,475     55,475  
    Inventories 1,979,683     3,891,147  
    Advances and prepayments 1,409,418     733,190  
    Restricted cash 659,137     —  
    Assets held for sale 34,879,925     —  
    Fair value of derivatives —     387,630  
    Total current assets 120,823,811     92,070,405  
             
    Non current assets        
    Advances for vessel acquisitions 23,414,570     —  
    Operating lease right-of-use assets 99,379     —  
    Vessels, net 504,295,083     608,214,416  
    Other receivables 48,040     370,053  
    Restricted cash 5,893,721     3,867,752  
    Investments in joint ventures 39,671,603     27,717,238  
    Deferred finance charges 1,105,790     —  
    Fair value of derivatives 1,858,677     —  
    Total non current assets 576,386,863     640,169,459  
    Total assets 697,210,674     732,239,864  
             
    Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity        
    Current liabilities        
    Payable to related parties 955,567     388,130  
    Trade accounts payable 9,953,137     10,994,434  
    Accrued liabilities 5,681,144     4,922,587  
    Operating lease liabilities 71,173     —  
    Deferred income 5,386,126     4,304,667  
    Current portion of long-term debt 16,624,473     23,333,814  
    Total current liabilities 38,671,620     43,943,632  
             
    Non current liabilities        
    Operating lease liabilities 28,206     —  
    Deferred income 1,928,712     213,563  
    Long-term debt 106,918,176     61,555,855  
    Total non current liabilities 108,875,094     61,769,418  
    Total liabilities 147,546,713     105,713,050  
             
    Commitments and contingencies        
             
    Stockholders’ equity        
    Capital stock 453,434     370,414  
    Treasury stock (44,453,836 )   —  
    Additional paid-in capital 446,938,868     409,912,934  
    Retained earnings 145,993,681     215,855,858  
    Accumulated other comprehensive income 731,814     387,608  
    Total stockholders’ equity 549,663,961     626,526,814  
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity 697,210,674     732,239,864  
     
    StealthGas Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (Expressed in United States Dollars)
     
      Twelve month Periods Ended
    December 31,
      2023   2024
       
    Cash flows from operating activities      
    Net income for the year 51,936,829     69,862,177  
           
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash      
    provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation 23,707,797     26,076,687  
    Amortization of deferred finance charges 1,345,941     711,378  
    Amortization of operating lease right-of-use assets 99,379     99,379  
    Share based compensation 2,589,405     7,326,807  
    Change in fair value of derivatives 789,509     108,841  
    Proceeds from disposal of interest rate swaps —     1,018,000  
    Equity earnings in joint ventures (12,316,883 )   (15,622,836 )
    Dividends received from joint ventures 14,589,215     20,570,036  
    Impairment loss 2,816,873     —  
    Gain on sale of vessels (7,645,781 )   (46,384 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:      
    (Increase)/decrease in      
    Trade and other receivables 238,627     (1,971,610 )
    Other current assets 139,925     (62,676 )
    Inventories 1,365,189     (1,664,736 )
    Changes in operating lease liabilities (99,379 )   (99,379 )
    Advances and prepayments (728,005 )   676,228  
    Increase/(decrease) in      
    Balances with related parties (1,532,943 )   (555,589 )
    Trade accounts payable (1,813,377 )   628,898  
    Accrued liabilities (100,515 )   (758,558 )
    Deferred income 2,058,409     (2,796,608 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 77,440,215     103,500,055  
           
    Cash flows from investing activities      
    Insurance proceeds 126,666     —  
    Proceeds from sale of vessels, net 80,109,781     34,679,584  
    Acquisition and improvements of vessels (85,201 )   (106,169,013 )
    Maturity of short term investments 26,500,000     —  
    Return of investments from joint ventures 4,688,785     7,007,164  
    Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities 111,340,031     (64,482,265 )
           
    Cash flows from financing activities      
    Proceeds from exercise of stock options 747,500     356,250  
    Stock repurchase (19,080,455 )   (338,176 )
    Deferred finance charges paid (988,166 )   (22,167 )
    Advances from joint ventures 11,847     —  
    Advances to joint ventures —     (11,847 )
    Loan repayments (154,870,215 )   (108,236,401 )
    Proceeds from long-term debt —     70,000,000  
    Net cash used in financing activities (174,179,489 )   (38,252,341 )
           
    Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 14,600,757     765,449  
    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 69,154,944     83,755,701  
    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year 83,755,701     84,521,150  
    Cash breakdown      
    Cash and cash equivalents 77,202,843     80,653,398  
    Restricted cash, current 659,137     —  
    Restricted cash, non current 5,893,721     3,867,752  
    Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash shown in the statements of cash flows 83,755,701     84,521,150  

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: SADA Recognized as a 2025 Google Public Sector AI and ML, Data Analytics, Maps & Geospatial, Security, and Work Transformation Expertise Partner

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    RESTON, Va., Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SADA, An Insight company, a leading services and solutions Google Cloud consultancy driving transformative change for its customers, has received five Google Public Sector Partner Expertise Badges in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML), Data Analytics, Maps & Geospatial, Security, and Work Transformation.

    In 2024, SADA achieved significant milestones in these badge areas, demonstrating its commitment to driving impactful results for public sector organizations. These accomplishments include helping state governments centralize and modernize online services with cloud-native applications, enhancing digital infrastructure for executive offices, optimizing government technology ecosystems, and supporting cutting-edge research capabilities.

    Notably, SADA helped the Chicopee Police Department (CPD) to modernize its operations and enhance public safety. By implementing Google Workspace, SADA helped CPD reduce paperwork, achieve 100% compliance with CJIS standards, streamline communication, and enable real-time alerts, ultimately freeing up officers to focus on core policing activities and better serve their community. This success story highlights SADA’s ability to use Google Cloud’s technology to help drive meaningful change in the public sector.

    SADA is being recognized for its proven delivery capabilities within these five solution areas across Google Public Sector. These achievements underscore SADA’s commitment to helping public sector organizations modernize their operations, enhance citizen services, improve their security posture, and transform how they work. SADA’s expertise in these key areas translates to tangible benefits for organizations, including:

    • AI/ML: SADA can help agencies leverage AI/ML to improve decision-making, automate processes, and personalize citizen experiences. Examples include predictive analytics for resource allocation, AI-powered chatbots for citizen inquiries, and machine learning models for fraud detection.
    • Data Analytics: SADA empowers public sector organizations to unlock the power of their data with advanced analytics solutions. This includes data warehousing, business intelligence, and data visualization, enabling agencies to gain valuable insights, improve operational efficiency, and make data-driven decisions.
    • Maps & Geospatial: SADA’s geospatial expertise enables agencies to leverage location data for enhanced planning, improved emergency response, and better management of critical infrastructure. SADA serves organizations with Google Maps solutions. Its teams have foundational technical knowledge in Maps APIs, providing services to organizations needing support in analyzing spatial data and developing location-based services.
    • Security: SADA helps public sector organizations strengthen their security posture with comprehensive solutions that protect sensitive data, prevent cyberattacks, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. These solutions include security assessments, vulnerability management, and incident response planning.
    • Work Transformation: SADA enables public sector agencies to modernize their workplaces and improve employee productivity with Google Workspace solutions. This includes streamlining communication and collaboration and automating workflows.

    “These Google Public Sector Partner Expertise badges validate our team’s dedication to providing cutting-edge solutions that address the unique challenges faced by public sector organizations and the meaningful outcomes we’re helping drive for those organizations who are committed to serving their constituents,” said Michelle Ambrose, SVP Strategic Partnerships and International GTM at SADA.

    SADA will share how it has helped the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development spearhead a groundbreaking digital transformation to enhance services for employers and job seekers in an upcoming session at Google Cloud Next, which will take place April 9-11 in Las Vegas, NV. To learn more and register for the event, visit sada.com/next.

    About SADA, An Insight company
    SADA, An Insight company, is a market leader in professional services and an award-winning solutions provider of Google Cloud. Since 2000, SADA has been committed to helping customers in healthcare, media, entertainment, retail, manufacturing, and the public sector solve their most complex challenges so they can focus on achieving their boldest ambitions. With offices in North America, India, and Armenia providing sales and customer support teams, SADA is positioned to meet customers where they are in their digital transformation journey. SADA is a 7x Google Cloud Partner of the Year award winner with 11 Google Cloud Specializations and was recognized as a Niche Player in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Public Cloud IT Transformation Services. Learn more at www.sada.com.

    Media Contact
    Stephanie Krivacek
    press@sada.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Germany’s far right hates the Bauhaus movement

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Katrin Schreiter, Senior Lecturer in German and History, King’s College London

    Shutterstock/meunierd

    At a time of political tension in Germany, the Bauhaus – arguably one of most influential architecture, art and design schools in the world – has become the target of far-right attacks.

    Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a member of the regional parliament of Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany, has blamed his area’s economic problems on Bauhaus modernism.

    His unlikely diagnosis came in response to the regional conservative CDU government’s “think modern” campaign, which seeks to attract investment into the area and cites the Bauhaus movement as an example of locally grown excellence.

    Tillschneider asserts that for the area’s economic stagnation to be resolved “we do not need to think modern, we need to think conservatively.” He rejects Bauhaus ideas as diffused with communist ideology. With these attacks, Tillschneider has started a quasi-re-enactment of a historical culture war over German national identity and social anxieties.

    Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius.
    Wikipedia/Louis Held

    Founded in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius in the German city of Weimar, the Bauhaus and its staff shared a programme of material utopianism. This was expressed via an explorative workshop concept that departed from traditional modes of teaching.

    Such avant-garde practices moved the Bauhaus politically to the left, which would make it vulnerable to ideological attack throughout the Weimar republic, Germany’s first (and failed) democracy.

    In the contentious debate about national identity that followed the end of the monarchy in 1918, Bauhaus artists inhabited an uncomfortable position between two schools of thought among the educated elite.

    One side had opened up to modern aesthetics (such as impressionism and expressionism). The other – the conservatives – instead embraced an artistic nationalism that had manifested with German unification in 1871.

    They saw “true art” as coming from the people and in turn educating them as loyal citizens. Aesthetically, conservatives found these values expressed in Weimar classicism. Curiously, given the emphasis on art by the people, this was a rather exclusive, high-brow form of literature, theatre and visual arts.

    Bauhaus ideas, instead, were anti-bourgeois, avant-garde and experimental, while at the same time postulating the importance of creating art for everyone to access and enjoy. Such democratisation of style, however, was difficult to achieve, and most of what the Bauhaus produced remained unaffordable to the masses. Nevertheless, these clashing visions politicised culture during the interwar years.

    The reconstructed Bauhaus school in Dessau.
    Wikipedia/Lelikron, CC BY-SA

    In 1925, the school had to move from Weimar to Dessau (in Saxony-Anhalt) after it lost its funding. This was the fallout of a dispute with the conservative political parties that ruled the city at the time.

    In Dessau, the Bauhaus teachers built a school building that followed their modern aesthetic principles. Despite repeated attempts by Gropius to depoliticise the Bauhaus by pointing to its aesthetic pluralism, internal debates about the place of architecture in society and politics continued.

    The point of contention was the concept of “New Objectivity” (Neue Sachlichkeit) which found expression in Neues Bauen: modularised construction which introduced the industrialised pre-fabrication of building parts in a turn away from traditional crafts.

    Eventually, Gropius left the Bauhaus and in his place came the openly socialist architect Hannes Meyer. After taking over as director in 1928, he repoliticised the school and moved it back to the left.

    In the heated political climate of the late Weimar republic, the Bauhaus encountered a new existential threat. When the Nazis took over in local elections in 1931, they requested the destruction of the Bauhaus school.

    The Bauhaus moved again in 1932, this time to Berlin, where it continued as a private institution to avoid renewed conflict with the ever more powerful Nazis. Nevertheless, when Adolf Hitler seized power in early 1933, the school and its staff became victims of the Nazis’ anti-socialist measures.

    The Bauhaus school closed on July 20 1933 and its staff dispersed, often to faraway places. Many went to the United States, where they continued in the legacy of the “Bauhaus spirit” by joining the international modernism movement that became the defining Western aesthetic in the 1950s.

    Although the artistic influences and expressions had remained diverse throughout the lifetime of the school, postwar discourse has streamlined it to simple geometric shapes, a preference for the colours white, blue, red and yellow, and an emphasis on horizontal lines and perspectives.

    The Nazis had labelled Bauhaus aesthetics as “degenerate”. In the cold war era, the socialist East German government called out Bauhaus modernism and its disciples as cosmopolitan in the pejorative sense.

    They were accused of abandoning German national heritage for the sake of international “formalism”, elevating form – as pertaining to function – over cultural content. Tillschneider has put it even more provocatively: “They denied man’s connection to land and his cultural roots”. While a huge interpretative overstretch, these statements do not come as a surprise.

    This year marks the centennial of the move to Dessau, where the school building still stands proudly as a Unesco world heritage site. Tillschneider used this moment to perpetuate the culture war that the AfD has become known for over the past decade.

    He is equating the CDU to an oversimplified depiction of the Bauhaus legacy – one that is anti-crafts, anti-bourgeois and internationalist – he implies his political rivals are against German tradition and culture. These are the nativist sentiments that fuel the AfD. It is a strategy of cheap wins at the expense of the electorate’s anxieties about Germany’s cultural and national identity.

    Katrin Schreiter 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. Why Germany’s far right hates the Bauhaus movement – https://theconversation.com/why-germanys-far-right-hates-the-bauhaus-movement-250416

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What is the AfD? Germany’s far-right party, explained

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Léonie de Jonge, Professor of Research on Far-Right Extremism, Institute for Research on Far-Right Extremism (IRex), University of Tübingen

    In the weeks ahead of the German election, the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) consistently polled around 20%. For the first time, the AfD poses a challenge to mainstream parties’ longstanding strategy of isolating the far right.

    The rise of the AfD is striking, given the country’s history of authoritarianism and National Socialism during the 1930s and 1940s. For decades, far-right movements were generally stigmatised and treated as pariahs. Political elites, mainstream parties, the media and civil society effectively marginalised the far right and limited its electoral prospects.

    The AfD’s breakthrough in the 2017 federal election shattered this status quo. Winning 12.6% of the vote and securing 94 Bundestag seats, it became Germany’s third-largest party — unlocking viable political space to the right of the centre-right party CDU/CSU for the first time in the postwar era.

    Want more politics coverage from academic experts? Every week, we bring you informed analysis of developments in government and fact check the claims being made.

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    The AfD was founded in 2013 by disaffected CDU members. This included economics professors Bernd Lucke and Joachim Starbatty, and conservative journalists Konrad Adam and Alexander Gauland. It began as a single-issue, anti-euro party advocating Germany’s exit from the Eurozone.

    Dubbed a “party of professors”, it gained credibility through the support of academics and former mainstream politicians, lending it an “unusual gravitas” for a protest party. While nativist elements were arguably present from the start, the AfD was not initially conceived as a far-right party.

    When it first ran for the Bundestag in 2013, its four-page manifesto focused exclusively on dissolving the Eurozone. At the time, the party advocated political asylum for the persecuted and avoided harsh anti-immigrant or anti-Islam rhetoric, cultivating more of a “bourgeois” image.

    This helped the AfD build what political scientist Elisabeth Ivarsflaten has called a reputational shield — a legacy used to deflect social stigma and accusations of extremism.

    Initially, the AfD distanced itself from far-right parties in neighbouring countries. However, successive leadership changes between 2015 and 2017 saw the party adopt a more hardline position, particularly on immigration, Islam and national identity. By 2016, its platform had largely aligned with those of populist radical right parties elsewhere.

    Far-right views

    Today, the party can unequivocally be classified as far right. This umbrella term captures the growing links between “(populist) radical right” (illiberal-democratic) and “extreme right” (anti-democratic) parties and movements. Ideologically, the far right is characterised by nativism and authoritarianism.

    Nativism is a xenophobic form of nationalism, which holds that non-native elements form a threat to the homogeneous nation-state. In Germany, nativism carries a historical legacy. “Völkisch nationalism” was one of the core ideas of the 19th and early 20th centuries that was broadly adopted by National Socialism to justify deportations and, ultimately, the Holocaust.

    Völkisch ideology is based on the essentialist idea that the German people are inextricably connected to the soil. Thus, other people cannot be part of the völkisch community.

    The AfD has evolved into a far-right party by continuously radicalising its positions. It acted like a Trojan horse, importing völkisch nationalist ideology into the parliamentary and public arena, which used to be blocked by the gatekeeping mechanisms of German democracy.

    The AfD carved out a niche for itself by advocating stricter anti-immigration policies. This came in response to the so-called “refugee crisis”, when then-Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed more than a million asylum seekers into Germany. At its campaign kickoff rally in January 2025, AfD’s chancellor candidate Alice Weidel vowed to implement “large-scale repatriations” (or “remigration”) of immigrants.

    The party advocates a return to a blood-based citizenship, insisting that, with very few exceptions for well-assimilated migrants, citizenship can only be determined by ancestry and bloodline rather than birthright.

    Additionally, the party upholds the white, nuclear family as an ideal and has pledged to dismiss university professors accused of promoting “leftist, woke gender ideology”. The party also calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposes weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

    In recent years, the party has embraced the far-right strategy of flooding the media and public discourse with controversy, misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric, to dominate attention and transgress traditional political norms.

    A striking example is former AfD-leader Alexander Gauland’s 2018 claim that the 12 years of Nazi rule were “mere bird shit in over 1,000 years of successful German history”. With this remark, he sought to reframe modern Germany as a continuation of its pre-1933 history, while downplaying the significance of the Nazi era.

    Normalising the AfD

    Until recently, the far right was consistently excluded by mainstream political parties. It was a founding myth of the old Federal Republic of Germany that democratic forces do not cooperate with the far right. At least on the parliamentary level, this worked quite well as a part of Germany’s “militant democracy”.

    However, the political firewall — the Brandmauer — has started to crumble. The AfD has since celebrated the election of its first mayors at the local level.

    The success of the AfD has especially been fuelled by the narrative of a “refugee crisis” in Germany. Harsh political rhetoric about migration has contributed to the party’s electoral success, as well as mainstream adoption of some of its positions.

    Oddly enough, the AfD is especially successful in rural, remote areas with low levels of migration. It is weak in more globalised, university-oriented urban areas.



    Read more:
    German party leaders are united against immigration – but there is little evidence for a key part of their argument

    Ahead of the 2025 elections, Friedrich Merz, the lead candidate of the CDU, broke a longstanding political taboo when his proposal to tighten asylum policies narrowly passed in the Bundestag with backing from the AfD. Meanwhile, German media have increasingly treated AfD representatives as legitimate political contenders.

    Once marginalised in political debates, they are now regularly invited to talk shows. And they have received international legitimacy from figures such as US vice-president J.D. Vance, and X owner Elon Musk.

    This election may give an indication of how far the AfD’s normalisation will go and how it will affect Germany’s political future. Beyond electoral success, the main question will be to what extent mainstream parties will incorporate far-right ideas in their political agenda.

    What is already clear, however, is that the political landscape has shifted. The boundaries that once kept the far right at the margins are no longer as firm as they once were

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

    – ref. What is the AfD? Germany’s far-right party, explained – https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-afd-germanys-far-right-party-explained-250218

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Keir Starmer may gamble on increasing Britain’s defence spending

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Peter Bloom, Professor of Management, University of Essex

    leshiy985/Shutterstock

    Amid rising tensions around the world, the UK government faces pressure to increase defence spending. External threats and uncertainty over the nature of peace talks with Russia over Ukraine have been in the spotlight. But there are also broader political and economic interests shaping these decisions.

    The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, must navigate commitments to Nato, expectations from allies and the influence of the defence industry. All the while, the squeeze on domestic spending and public scepticism loom large.

    The UK’s total military spending for 2024-2025 is expected to be £64.4 billion, with a rise to £67.7 billion in 2025-26. This is equal to 2.3% of the entire UK economy (GDP). It would continue the trend of making the UK one of the highest military spenders in Europe. But it’s still not enough as far as the US president, Donald Trump, is concerned.

    In 2023-2024, the UK’s Ministry of Defence spent its budget across several key areas. Around one-third went towards investment in things such as equipment, infrastructure and technology. Another big area of spending was personnel costs, accounting for around one-fifth of the spend.

    In recent years, UK military spending has fluctuated, reflecting a balance between modernisation, deterrence and operational readiness. One of the most significant areas of investment has been in the UK’s nuclear deterrent (Trident).

    At the same time, cyber defence has become a growing focus, with £1.9 billion allocated to counter threats such as increased cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns from foreign governments and political extremists. The UK has also committed to expanding its next-generation air capabilities.

    Britain’s recent escalation in defence investment mirrors a global surge in military spending. In 2024, worldwide defence expenditures reached an unprecedented US$2.46 trillion (£1.95 trillion), marking a 7.4% real-term increase from the previous year.

    This trend is particularly pronounced in Europe, where nations are bolstering their military capabilities in response to geopolitical tensions such as the war in Ukraine. Germany’s defence budget experienced a significant 23.2% real-term growth, making the country the world’s fourth-largest defence spender.

    In the UK, Labour has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, aligning with Nato expectations. It also serves as a response to concerns about the country’s military readiness. This could require several billion pounds more annually, raising questions about how this would be funded.

    Publicly, the party presents this commitment as a necessary investment in the UK’s global standing and ability to deter aggression. However, you can argue that there is more at play.

    Political and economic pressures

    Starmer’s government inherited a complex set of geopolitical challenges, from European security concerns to the UK’s international relationships post-Brexit. Nato commitments remain a significant driver of defence spending, particularly as European allies anticipate shifts in US foreign policy under the second Trump presidency.

    The UK must also respond to regional tensions beyond Europe, due to its military alliances in the Indo-Pacific and its arms trade relationships with Middle Eastern states.

    Domestically, Labour’s commitment to raising defence spending is not just about security – it is also a political calculation. Starmer wants to dispel any perceptions that Labour is weak on defence.

    However, it comes at a time of fiscal constraint. Any new defence commitments must compete with demands for public investment in healthcare, education and infrastructure. Without additional taxation or significant budget cuts, Labour may struggle to meet its defence spending targets without compromising other commitments.

    Beyond geopolitical necessity, increased military spending benefits the UK’s powerful military-industrial complex (the relationship between the country’s military and its defence industry). Major defence contractors such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Lockheed Martin UK secure billions in government contracts.

    The so-called “revolving door” between government and defence firms frequently sees former military officials and politicians taking on lucrative roles in private-sector defence companies.

    The cross-party consensus on expanding Britain’s defence industry, now embraced by trade unions and political commentators, reflects a narrow vision of economic security that overlooks more sustainable alternatives.

    The sector’s 200,000 jobs are frequently claimed to justify increased military spending. But investment in renewable energy infrastructure and domestic energy production could both boost employment and address fundamental security challenges exposed by the Ukraine crisis.

    The reliance on foreign energy sources can be weaponised by adversarial states, as reflected in the continued reliance of EU countries on Russia for their energy needs. By investing in domestic renewable energy infrastructure, the UK can insulate itself from geopolitical energy threats. Stable energy supplies can underpin both economic resilience and military readiness.

    But there is a disconnect between strong government protection for arms manufacturers and relatively limited support for green technology development. This, even as climate change poses an escalating threat to national stability.

    Labour faces a difficult balancing act. Increasing defence spending helps solidify the party’s credibility on national security. But domestically, it risks alienating voters who favour investment in social welfare over military expansion.

    Additionally, higher military expenditure could make tax hikes or borrowing necessary. Both pose political hazards. And there is a real risk that increased spending will disproportionately benefit corporate defence giants rather than the public.

    Starmer hopes increased defence spending will show that he is serious about European security.
    Fred Duval/Shutterstock

    Internationally, Starmer aims to signal Britain’s continued reliability as a Nato ally amid uncertainties about the US commitment to European security. This positioning becomes especially significant given the UK’s post-Brexit need to demonstrate its global relevance and military capability.

    Labour’s drive to increase defence spending is also shaped by economic imperatives that extend beyond immediate security needs. The party faces pressure to expand a major sector of British manufacturing. At stake are not just defence capabilities but jobs, regional development and industrial strategy.

    The government now finds itself caught between competing pressures. The commitment to military expansion reflects not just geopolitical imperatives but also domestic political calculations and economic concerns, which appear to be equally influential. And it raises fundamental questions about how national security priorities are truly determined in an era of multiple challenges.

    Peter Bloom 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. Why Keir Starmer may gamble on increasing Britain’s defence spending – https://theconversation.com/why-keir-starmer-may-gamble-on-increasing-britains-defence-spending-250447

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: YouTube was born from a failed dating site – 20 years on, the world’s biggest video platform faces new challenges

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Evelyn Polacek Kery, PhD Researcher in Social Work & Social Care, School of Education & Social Work, University of Sussex

    When three former PayPal employees, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim, registered the domain www.youtube.com 20 years ago, they wanted to create an online dating site based around videos of users. In 2016, Chen told the SXSW conference: “We thought dating would be the obvious choice.”

    But despite offering to pay users to upload videos of themselves, nobody came forward. When their concept failed, they hatched a new idea for the same domain: “OK, forget the dating aspect, let’s just open it up to any video,” said Chen.

    What followed was revolutionary. Having started as a small project, YouTube rapidly grew into one of the most influential platforms in media history, reshaping journalism, media, entertainment and social interactions.

    Its first-ever video, “Me at the Zoo” – featuring Karim casually describing the elephants at San Diego Zoo – set the tone for democratised content creation, and also the type of content that would become so significant for YouTube: vlogging – where people communicate their own blog-style entries on video, often delivered direct to camera.

    The simplicity of uploading and sharing any type of video, combined with the potential of online content going viral, made the platform an instant hit.

    In October 2006, just over a year after the video platform’s launch, Google acquired YouTube for US$1.65 billion (£1.3 billion) – a move that proved one of the most significant tech acquisitions in history. The platform embarked on monetising its growing library of content via online advertising, not only generating huge profits for Google but also providing content creators with a share.

    The increasing profits prompted content creators to deliver better content.

    Whereas traditional media outlets such as television controlled video production and distribution, YouTube suddenly allowed anyone with a camera to share their voice. This shift led to the rise of independent creators, from beauty vloggers and gamers to educators and activists.

    And so the platform has given birth to an entirely new profession: the YouTuber. Early pioneers built massive audiences, inspiring a new wave of content creators who could earn a living through ad revenue, sponsorships and crowdfunding.

    In the UK in 2010, for example, a group of young content creators nicknamed “Brit Crew” became popular on YouTube. They were relatable, fun to watch, and uploaded videos regularly.

    Today, the highest-paid YouTuber worldwide, according to Forbes magazine, is MrBeast, with more than 360 million subscribers and 10 billion views. In reality, MrBeast is Jimmy Donaldson, a content creator and businessman from Greenville, North Carolina. But the views his videos attract are still nowhere near the most-watched YouTube video of all time, “Baby Shark”, with 15 billion views.

    Baby Shark: the YouTube video with most views to date.

    Donaldson has often talked about understanding YouTube metrics and its algorithm as a key component to his success. He particularly pays attention to a measure known as “retention rate”, noting where viewers stop watching to improve his future videos. He says the algorithm prioritises things that are difficult to accomplish, such as getting high retention rates on a long video, over simply getting a large number of views.

    MrBeast is emblematic of the rise of influencers on YouTube: content creators with lots of followers who look to them for inspiration and lifestyle tips. Established companies and brands have sought to develop partnerships with key influencers in order to promote products and services to their often huge global audiences.

    Overall, detailed audience numbers for YouTube are difficult to come by. However, Statista reports that the platform now has more than 2.5 billion active monthly users.

    Citizen journalism

    YouTube also plays a critical role in modern journalism. The platform, along with others such as Facebook and Twitter-X, has allowed citizen journalists to document events in real time, from protests and social movements to natural disasters and political uprisings – especially since YouTube introduced live streaming in 2011.

    During major global events such as the Arab Spring and Black Lives Matter protests, influential coverage emerged from people capturing and sharing their footage on YouTube. This shift has challenged traditional news media, which now often relies on user-generated content as a key source of reporting.

    Similarly, some major world events are streamed live on YouTube, from election coverage to the Olympics to the Glastonbury music festival. There has also been growth in the popularity of video podcasts on the platform – one of the most popular, the Joe Rogan Experience, attracts millions of views per episode.

    Misinformation and conspiracy theories

    Despite its success, YouTube has faced significant challenges. The rapid spread of hate speech, misinformation and conspiracy theories has led the platform to implement stricter content moderation policies. In recent years, YouTube says there has been a substantial drop in the number of videos that violate its policies as a result, although some experts say these numbers can be interpreted in different ways.

    YouTube also continues to face controversies over its data collection, and how its algorithms reinforce conspiracy “rabbit holes”.

    Regulation has become a pressing concern. Governments worldwide are scrutinising YouTube for its role in spreading harmful content. Many countries are discussing how to better protect children online: in the UK, YouTube is the most popular website or app among younger users, used by nearly nine in ten children aged 3-17. (Officially, YouTube does not allow children below the age of 13 to use the platform without supervision, but there are clearly many ways around this for younger users.)

    There is a also drive among regulators to ensure fair competition in the digital marketplace, given YouTube’s dominant position.

    As YouTube enters its third decade, AI could become a powerful tool for creators – from speeding up the process of adding effects to videos, to creating video content from scratch. YouTube will also face continued competition from short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

    In my opinion, the growing demand for high-quality, authentic content will shape YouTube’s future. The platform needs to focus on protecting and empowering its creators and their diversity, while nurturing its existing community.

    One thing is clear: YouTube has transformed the way we both consume and create media. From its humble beginnings to becoming a cultural phenomenon, YouTube’s 20-year journey is a testament to the power of digital platforms and social media in shaping modern society. Whether it continues growing or evolves into something entirely new, its impact on global culture is undeniable.

    Evelyn Polacek Kery works for the Guardian and is a judge at the Press Awards 2025.

    – ref. YouTube was born from a failed dating site – 20 years on, the world’s biggest video platform faces new challenges – https://theconversation.com/youtube-was-born-from-a-failed-dating-site-20-years-on-the-worlds-biggest-video-platform-faces-new-challenges-250164

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: China: Xi Jinping has learned from Trump’s first trade war and is ready to fight back

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tom Harper, Lecturer in International Relations, University of East London

    The start of 2025 has been good for China and its reputation as a high-tech innovator. The unveiling of the Chinese-made artificial intelligence (AI) tool, DeepSeek, caused consternation on the US stock exchange and from potential competitors in Silicon Valley.

    Chinese firms are increasingly at the forefront of key high-level technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and AI, as reflected by the success of China’s electric vehicles, BYD, and now DeepSeek.

    These moves have made the Chinese economy more self sufficient than it was during Trump’s first term, and has made Beijing more confident about pushing back politically against Trump.

    This is all underlined by a high-level meeting hosted by President Xi Jinping at China’s Great Hall of the People this week. He told the heads of China’s leading tech firms it was time for them “to give full play to their capabilities” and spoke of it as a patriotic duty, according to official accounts.

    This comes as China starts being hit by US tariffs of an additional 10% on its goods, as well as a slew of anti-China rhetoric from the Trump government.

    But China’s high tech industries are on the up, and this is a significant boost for Xi. For instance, in January this year, sales of the Chinese EVs exceeded those of Tesla in the UK for the first time.

    Part of the Chinese EV’s success could be attributed to a backlash against Tesla’s co-founder Elon Musk, after he started backing far-right parties around the world.

    Another factor that Chinese high-tech goods have in their favour are lower prices. Prices for Chinese EVs start at £7,697 in the UK, for example – much lower than Tesla’s Model 3 at £25,490.

    This price difference will be significant in the latest phase of the Sino-US trade war, particularly in countries struggling with a cost-of-living crisis. China is also hoping its cheap prices and tech innovations will help it find new trading allies to counteract Washington’s proposed tariffs.

    What China has to offer

    China is a fast-growing economic and political power and is expected to account for nearly a quarter of the global economy by 2030.

    The success of BYD and DeepSeek comes at a time where Beijing feels more prepared for Trump’s tough tariffs and tension with Washington, than it did in his previous term. China has responded to Trump’s threats with reciprocal tariffs on US coal and liquefied gas, as well as a ban on the export of critical minerals. These are a key component for many US military technologies varying from communications equipment to missiles.

    China accounts for 72% of all rare earth imports for the US. Such measures contrast with the cautious approach taken by Beijing in 2017, when US tariffs during Trump’s first term met little retaliation from Beijing.

    The changes in China’s tactics can partly be attributed to what Beijing learned from the previous trade war. In 2017 there were weaknesses in the supply chains of many Chinese firms, most notably ZTE and Huawei.

    They struggled when Washington pressurised its own chipmakers and those of allied states, such as Britain’s Arm, to stop sales of semiconductor technology to China. As a result, finding long-term alternatives to US technology in the supply chain has become a key priority for Beijing.

    What is Deep Seek?

    Xi has recognised the value of firms such as Huawei and BYD in aiding China’s wider technological (and geopolitical) ambitions, most notably as part of the Made in China 2025 strategy, a national strategy to make China a leader in high-tech technology.



    Read more:
    DeepSeek: how China’s embrace of open-source AI caused a geopolitical earthquake

    Traditionally, China was seen as the home of cheap, low-quality goods, which had been central to its development in the 1980s and 1990s. But many of companies producing these products are increasingly moving to south-east Asia to take advantage of lower labour costs.

    However, Chinese industries are now gaining ground in fields that have traditionally been the preserve of developed nations. For instance, Huawei has developed a spin off, Honor, which has gone from producing cheap, simple smartphones and into AI technology.

    Meanwhile, the success of BYD and DeepSeek have demonstrated that China is, in some ways at least, far better placed for a prolonged trade war. Beijing is feeling more confident, which explains its willingness to push back against Washington this time.

    So the White House will have to deal with higher prices for US goods going into China, as well as additional trade spats with the EU, Canada and the UK. It might be a bumpy ride for US consumers.

    How Beijing responds and its new-found clout may determine the course of this new trade war, and potentially add to its long-term standing in the world.

    Tom Harper 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. China: Xi Jinping has learned from Trump’s first trade war and is ready to fight back – https://theconversation.com/china-xi-jinping-has-learned-from-trumps-first-trade-war-and-is-ready-to-fight-back-250101

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: EU Archives: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the new 20 euro banknote, the Treaty of Nice

    Source: European Commission (video statements)

    Have you ever wondered what the European Union was up to 50 years ago? Dive with us into the European Commission’s audiovisual archives and discover important anniversaries with our new weekly AV history teaser!

    Upcoming anniversaries in the teaser. Click on the links for the complete material for each anniversary:
    · 1975: The Signature of the Lomé I Convention (https://europa.eu/!YJ87GY)
    · 2001: Signature of the Treaty of Nice (https://europa.eu/!vN88Mg)
    · 2015: Unveiling of the new 20 euro banknote (https://europa.eu/!Vp33Rx)
    · 2022: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine (https://europa.eu/!xbThrb)

    Watch on the Audiovisual Portal of the European Commission: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-267996
    Follow us on:
    -X: https://twitter.com/EU_Commission
    -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/europeancommission/
    -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanCommission
    -LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-commission/
    -Medium: https://medium.com/@EuropeanCommission

    Check our website: http://ec.europa.eu/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwx9KulS22o

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI: Middlefield Canadian Income PCC – Withdrawal of General Meeting Requisition

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    21 February 2025

    Middlefield Canadian Income PCC (the “Company”)
    including Middlefield Canadian Income – GBP PC (the “Fund”), a cell of the Company
    Registered No:  93546
    Legal Entity Identifier: 2138007ENW3JEJXC8658

    Withdrawal of General Meeting Requisition

    As announced on 13 February 2025, Middlefield Canadian Income PCC (the “Company”) and Middlefield Canadian Income – GBP PC (the “Fund”) received a letter from a nominee account acting on behalf of the custodian and prime broker for Saba Capital Management, L.P. (“Saba”) requisitioning the Board of the Company and Fund (the “Board”) to convene a general meeting of shareholders (the “Requisition”).

    Since the receipt of the Requisition, the Board has consulted with a number of the Company’s largest shareholders, including Saba. Following constructive discussions, Saba has agreed to withdraw the Requisition for a period of 60 days to enable the Company and its advisers to formulate proposals that are in the best interests of all shareholders.

    The Board will provide a further update in due course.

    For further information, please contact:

    Middlefield Canadian Income – GBP PC                                        via Investec Bank plc
    Michael Phair (Chairman)

    Investec Bank plc                                                                             020 7597 4000
    Corporate Broker
    Helen Goldsmith/David Yovichic
                                                                    

    JTC Fund Solutions (Jersey) Limited                                             01534 700 000
    Secretary
    Matt Tostevin/Hilary Jones/Jade Livesey
                                                                    

    Burson Buchanan                                                                             020 7466 5000
    PR Advisers
    Charles Ryland/Henry Wilson

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A Palestinian film is an Oscars favorite − so why is it so hard to see?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Drew Paul, Associate Professor of Arabic, University of Tennessee

    Directors Basel Adra, left, and Yuval Abraham on stage at the 62nd New York Film Festival on Sept. 29, 2024. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

    For many low-budget, independent films, an Oscar nomination is a golden ticket.

    The publicity can translate into theatrical releases or rereleases, along with more on-demand rentals and sales.

    However, for “No Other Land,” a Palestinian film nominated for best documentary at the 2025 Academy Awards, this exposure is unlikely to translate into commercial success in the U.S. That’s because the film has been unable to find a company to distribute it in America.

    “No Other Land” chronicles the efforts of Palestinian townspeople to combat an Israeli plan to demolish their villages in the West Bank and use the area as a military training ground. It was directed by four Palestinian and Israeli activists and journalists: Basel Adra, who is a resident of the area facing demolition, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor. While the filmmakers have organized screenings in a number of U.S. cities, the lack of a national distributor makes a broader release unlikely.

    Film distributors are a crucial but often unseen link in the chain that allows a film to reach cinemas and people’s living rooms. In recent years it has become more common for controversial award-winning films to run into issues finding a distributor. Palestinian films have encountered additional barriers.

    As a scholar of Arabic who has written about Palestinian cinema, I’m disheartened by the difficulties “No Other Land” has faced. But I’m not surprised.

    The role of film distributors

    Distributors are often invisible to moviegoers. But without one, it can be difficult for a film to find an audience.

    Distributors typically acquire rights to a film for a specific country or set of countries. They then market films to movie theaters, cinema chains and streaming platforms. As compensation, distributors receive a percentage of the revenue generated by theatrical and home releases.

    The film “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat,” another finalist for best documentary, shows how this process typically works. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024 and was acquired for distribution just a few months later by Kino Lorber, a major U.S.-based distributor of independent films.

    The inability to find a distributor is not itself noteworthy. No film is entitled to distribution, and most films by newer or unknown directors face long odds.

    However, it is unusual for a film like “No Other Land,” which has garnered critical acclaim and has been recognized at various film festivals and award shows. Some have pegged it as a favorite to win best documentary at the Academy Awards. And “No Other Land” has been able to find distributors in Europe, where it’s easily accessible on multiple streaming platforms.

    So why can’t “No Other Land” find a distributor in the U.S.?

    There are a couple of factors at play.

    Shying away from controversy

    In recent years, film critics have noticed a trend: Documentaries on controversial topics have faced distribution difficulties. These include a film about a campaign by Amazon workers to unionize and a documentary about Adam Kinzinger, one of the few Republican congresspeople to vote to impeach Donald Trump in 2021.

    The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of course, has long stirred controversy. But the release of “No Other Land” comes at a time when the issue is particularly salient. The Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip have become a polarizing issue in U.S. domestic politics, reflected in the campus protests and crackdowns in 2024. The filmmakers’ critical comments about the Israeli occupation of Palestine have also garnered backlash in Germany.

    Locals attend a screening of ‘No Other Land’ in the village of A-Tuwani in the West Bank on March 14, 2024.
    Yahel Gazit/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    Yet the fact that this conflict has been in the news since October 2023 should also heighten audience interest in a film such as “No Other Land” – and, therefore, lead to increased sales, the metric that distributors care about the most.

    Indeed, an earlier film that also documents Palestinian protests against Israeli land expropriation, “5 Broken Cameras,” was a finalist for best documentary at the 2013 Academy Awards. It was able to find a U.S. distributor. However, it had the support of a major European Union documentary development program called Greenhouse. The support of an organization like Greenhouse, which had ties to numerous production and distribution companies in Europe and the U.S., can facilitate the process of finding a distributor.

    By contrast, “No Other Land,” although it has a Norwegian co-producer and received some funding from organizations in Europe and the U.S., was made primarily by a grassroots filmmaking collective.

    Stages for protest

    While distribution challenges may be recent, controversies surrounding Palestinian films are nothing new.

    Many of them stem from the fact that the system of film festivals, awards and distribution is primarily based on a movie’s nation of origin. Since there is no sovereign Palestinian state – and many countries and organizations have not recognized the state of Palestine – the question of how to categorize Palestinian films has been hard to resolve.

    In 2002, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected the first ever Palestinian film submitted to the best foreign language film category – Elia Suleiman’s “Divine Intervention” – because Palestine was not recognized as a country by the United Nations. The rules were changed for the following year’s awards ceremony.

    In 2021, the cast of the film “Let It Be Morning,” which had an Israeli director but primarily Palestinian actors, boycotted the Cannes Film Festival in protest of the film’s categorization as an Israeli film rather than a Palestinian one.

    Film festivals and other cultural venues have also become places to make statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and engage in protest. For example, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, the right-wing Israeli culture minister wore a controversial – and meme-worthy – dress that featured the Jerusalem skyline in support of Israeli claims of sovereignty over the holy city, despite the unresolved status of Jerusalem under international law.

    Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev wears a dress featuring the old city of Jerusalem during the Cannes Film Festival in 2017.
    Antonin Thuillier/AFP via Getty Images

    At the 2024 Academy Awards, a number of attendees, including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Mahershala Ali, wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, and pro-Palestine protesters delayed the start of the ceremonies.

    So even though a film like “No Other Land” addresses a topic of clear interest to many people in the U.S., it faces an uphill battle to finding a distributor.

    I wonder whether a win at the Oscars would even be enough.

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

    – ref. A Palestinian film is an Oscars favorite − so why is it so hard to see? – https://theconversation.com/a-palestinian-film-is-an-oscars-favorite-so-why-is-it-so-hard-to-see-249233

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: From ancient emperors to modern presidents, leaders have used libraries to cement their legacies

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Myrsini Mamoli, Lecturer of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology

    The Library of Celsus was a famous landmark in its time – and today. Myrsini Mamoli

    Here in Atlanta, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum has been part of my daily life for years. Parks and trails surrounding the center connect my neighborhood to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park downtown and everything in between.

    At the end of December 2024, thousands of people walked to the library to pay their respects to the former president as he lay in repose. The cold, snow and darkness of the evening were a stark contrast to the warmth of the volunteers who welcomed us in. Our visit spiraled through galleries exhibiting records of Carter’s life, achievements and lifelong work promoting democracy around the world.

    U.S. presidents have been building libraries for more than 100 years, starting with Rutherford B. Hayes. But the urge to shape one’s legacy by building a library runs much deeper. As a scholar of libraries in the Greek and Roman world, I was struck by the similarities between presidential and ancient libraries – some of which were explicitly designed to honor deceased sponsors and played a significant role in their cities.

    Trajan’s library

    The Ulpian Library, a great library in the center of Rome, was founded by Emperor Trajan, who ruled around the turn of the second century C.E. Referenced often by ancient authors, it could have been the first such memorial library.

    Trajan’s Column now stands at the center of Rome.
    AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito

    Today, someone visiting Rome can visit Trajan’s Column, a roughly 100-foot monument to his military and engineering achievements after conquering Dacia, part of present-day Romania. A frieze spirals from bottom to top of the column, depicting his exploits. The monument now stands on its own. Originally, however, it was nestled in a courtyard between two halls of the Ulpian Library complex.

    Most of what scholars know about the library’s architecture comes from remains of the west hall, an elongated room almost 80 feet long, whose walls were lined with rectangular niches and framed by a colonnade. The niches were lined with marble and appear to have had doors; this is where the books would have been placed. Writers from the first few centuries C.E. describe the library having archival documents about the emperor and the empire, including books made of linen and books bound with ivory.

    Trajan dedicated the column in 113 C.E. but died four years later, before the library was complete. Hadrian, his adoptive son and successor, oversaw the shipment of Trajan’s cremated remains back to Rome, where they were placed in Trajan’s Column. Hadrian completed the surrounding library complex in 128 C.E. and dedicated it with two identical funerary inscriptions to his adopted parents, Trajan and Plotina. Scholars Roberto Egidi and Silvia Orlandi have argued that Trajan’s remains could later have been transferred from the column into the library hall.

    Memorial model

    Either way, I would argue that Trajan’s decision to have his remains included in the library complex, instead of in an imperial mausoleum, established a model adopted by other officials at a smaller scale. In the eastern side of the Roman empire – what is now Turkey – at least two other library-mausoleum buildings have been identified.

    One is the library at Nysa on the Maeander, a Hellenistic city named for the nearby river. Under the floor of its entry porch is a sarcophagus with the remains of a man and a woman, possibly the dedicators, that dates to the second century C.E., the time of Hadrian’s reign.

    The ruins of the library at Nysa on the Maeander.
    Myrsini Mamoli

    Another is the Library of Celsus, the most recognizable ancient library today, found in the ancient city of Ephesus. Named after a regional Roman consul and proconsul during the reign of Trajan, the building was founded by Celsus’ son, designed as both a place of learning and a mausoleum.

    The library’s ornate, sculpted facade contained life-size female statues, making it an immediately recognizable landmark. Inscriptions identify the statues as the personifications of Celsus’ character, elevating him into a role model: virtue, intelligence, knowledge and wisdom.

    Upon entering the room, the funerary character of the library became quite literal. The hall was designed like the Ulpian Library, but a door gave access to a crypt underneath. This held the marble sarcophagus with the remains of Celsus, the patron of the library. The sarcophagus itself was visible from the hall, if one stood in front of the central apse and looked down through two slits in the podium.

    An endowment covered the library’s operational expenses in ancient times, as well as annual commemorations on Celsus’ birthday, including the wreathing of the busts and statues and the purchasing of additional books.

    The life-size statues on the facade of the Library of Celsus.
    Myrsini Mamoli

    Power and knowledge

    These two provincial libraries highlight how sponsors hoped to be associated with the virtues a library fosters. Books represent knowledge, and by dedicating a library, one asserted his possession of it. Providing access to learning was an instrument of power on its own.

    Beyond the handful of memorial libraries, many other ancient Roman public libraries were great cultural centers, including the Forum of Peace in Rome, dedicated by Emperor Vespasian; the Library of Hadrian in Athens; and the Gymnasium in Side, a city in present-day Turkey.

    The most magnificent libraries combined access to manuscripts and artworks with spaces for meetings and lectures. Several had great leisure areas, including landscaped sculptural gardens with elaborate water features and colonnaded walkways. Literary sources and material evidence testify to the treasures that were held there: busts of philosophers, poets and other accomplished literary figures; statues of gods, heroes and emperors; treasures confiscated as spoils of war and exhibited in Rome.

    A model of how Hadrian’s Library may have looked, complete with a landscaped courtyard.
    Joris/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Like the Ulpian Library itself, they continued the long tradition of Hellenistic public libraries, established by the most famous library of antiquity: the Library of Alexandria. Founded and lavishly endowed by the Hellenistic kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, the building was meant to portray the king as a patron of intellectual activities and a powerful ruler, collecting knowledge from conquered civilizations.

    In ancient Greece and Rome, anybody who could read had access to public libraries. Rules of use varied: For example, literary sources imply that the Ulpian Library in Rome was a borrowing library, whereas an inscription from the Library of Pantainos in Athens explicitly forbid any book to be taken out.

    But these buildings were also meant to shape their sponsors’ legacies, portraying them as benevolent and learned. Presidential libraries in the United States today follow the same principle: They become monuments to the former presidents, while giving back to their local communities.

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

    – ref. From ancient emperors to modern presidents, leaders have used libraries to cement their legacies – https://theconversation.com/from-ancient-emperors-to-modern-presidents-leaders-have-used-libraries-to-cement-their-legacies-248423

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: We study mass surveillance for social control, and we see Trump laying the groundwork to ‘contain’ people of color and immigrants

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Brittany Friedman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California

    Black and Latino communities are disproportionately affected by mass surveillance, studies show. Vicente Méndez/Getty Images

    President Donald Trump has vowed to target his political enemies, and experts have warned that he could weaponize U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct mass surveillance on his targets.

    Mass surveillance is the widespread monitoring of civilians. Governments typically target specific groups – such as religious minorities, certain races or ethnicities, or migrants – for surveillance and use the information gathered to “contain” these populations, for example by arresting and imprisoning people.

    We are experts in social control, or how governments coerce compliance, and we specialize in surveillance. Based on our expertise and years of research, we expect Trump’s second White House term may usher in a wave of spying against people of color and immigrants.

    A man apprehended in an immigration raid on Jan. 28, 2025, sits in a holding cell in New York City.
    Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

    Spreading moral panic

    Trump is already actively deploying a key tactic in expanding mass surveillance: causing moral panics. Moral panics are created when politicians exaggerate a public concern to manipulate real fears people may have.

    Take Trump on crime, for example. Despite FBI data showing that crime has been dropping across the U.S. for decades, Trump has repeatedly claimed that “crime is out of control.” Stoking fear makes people more likely to back harsh measures purportedly targeting crime.

    Trump has also worked to create a moral panic about immigration.

    He has said, for example, that “illegal” migrants are taking American jobs. In truth, only 5% of the 30 million immigrants in the workforce as of 2022 were unauthorized to work. And in his Jan. 25, 2025, presidential proclamation on immigration, Trump likened immigration at the southern border to an “invasion,” evoking the language of war to describe a population that includes many asylum-seeking women and children.

    The second step in causing moral panics is to label racial, ethnic and religious minorities as villains to justify expanding mass surveillance.

    Building on his rhetoric about crime and immigration, Trump frequently connects the two issues. He has said that migrants murder because they have “bad genes,” echoing beliefs expressed by white supremacists. During the 2016 campaign, Trump’s coinage “bad hombre” invoked stereotypes of dangerous migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to steal jobs and sell drugs.

    The president has similarly connected Black communities with crime. At an August 2024 rally in Atlanta, Georgia, Trump called the majority-Black city “a killing field.” The month prior, he said the same thing about Washington, D.C.

    Primary targets

    History shows that in the U.S. moral panics are most likely to target Latino, Indigenous and Black communities as a precursor to surveillance and subjugation.

    In the 18th century, Colonial politicians passed legislation likening the Indigenous people of the American colonies to “savages” and passed laws identifying Indigenous tribes as political enemies to be assimilated. If “killing the Indian” out of people didn’t work, they were to be tracked down and removed from the population through imprisonment or death.

    Another early form of moral panics escalating to spying and mass surveillance were southern slave patrols, which emerged in the early 1700s after pro-slavery politicians proclaimed that Black escapees would terrorize white communities. Slave patrols tracked down and captured not only Black escapees but also free Black people, whom they sold into bondage. They also imprisoned any person, enslaved or not, suspected of sheltering escapees.

    Once a group of people becomes the subject of moral panics and targeted for government surveillance, our research shows, the effects are felt for generations.

    Black and Indigenous communities are still arrested and incarcerated at disproportionately high rates compared with their percentage in the U.S. population. This even affects children, with Indigenous girls imprisoned at four times the rate of white girls, and Black girls at more than twice the rate of white girls.

    Low-tech methods

    These 21st-century numbers reflect decades of targeted surveillance.

    In the 1950s, the FBI under Director J. Edgar Hoover created the counter-intelligence programs COINTELPRO, allegedly for investigating communists and radical political groups, and the Ghetto Informant Program. In practice, both programs broadly targeted people of color. From Martin Luther King Jr. to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Black activists were identified as a threat, spied on, investigated and sometimes jailed.

    A 1964 letter from J. Edgar Hoover expressing his dislike for Martin Luther King Jr.
    Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

    President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on crime,” a sweeping set of federal changes that militarized local police in urban communities, continued this mass surveillance in the 1960s. Later came the “war on drugs,” which an aide to President Richard Nixon later said was designed explicitly to target Black people.

    In subsequent decades, politicians would stir up new moral panics about Black communities – remember the “crack babies” who never really existed? – and use fear to justify police surveillance, arrests and mass incarceration.

    These early examples of mass surveillance lacked the technology that enables spying today, such as CCTV and hacked laptop cameras. Nonetheless, past U.S. administrations have been remarkably effective at achieving social control by creating moral panics then deploying mass surveillance to contain the “threat.” They enlisted droves of police officers, recruited informants to infiltrate groups and locked people away.

    These textbook surveillance methods are still routinely used now.

    Police fusion centers

    For many Americans, the term “mass surveillance” evokes the Department of Homeland Security, which was founded after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This national agency, which forms part of a federal intelligence apparatus of more than 20 agencies focused on surveillance, has played a key role in mass surveillance since 2001, especially of Muslim Americans.

    But it has local help in the form of police units known as fusion centers. These units feed identification information and physical evidence such as video footage to federal agencies such as the FBI and CIA, according to a 2023 whistleblower report from Rutgers Law School.

    The New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center, for example, is a police fusion center overseeing New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It employs advanced military technology to gather massive amounts of personal data on people perceived as potential security threats. According to the Rutgers report, these “threats” are highly concentrated in Black, Latino and Arab communities, as well as areas with a high concentration of political organizing, such as Black Lives Matter groups and immigrant aid organizations.

    The New Jersey police fusion approach leads to increased arrest rates, according to the report, but there’s no real evidence that it prevents crime or terrorism.

    Guantanamo and black sites

    Given Trump’s pledges to further militarize border enforcement and expand U.S. jails and prisons, we anticipate a rise in spending on fusion centers and other tools of mass surveillance under Trump. The moral panics he’s been stirring up since 2015 suggest that the targets of government surveillance will include immigrants and Black people.

    Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on April 2, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Sometimes, victims of mass surveillance go missing.

    The Guardian reported in 2015 that Chicago police had been temporarily “disappearing” people at local and federal police “black sites” since at least 2009. At these clandestine jails, under the guise of national security, officers questioned detainees without attorneys and held them for up to 24 hours without any outside contact. Many of the victims were Black.

    Another infamous black site was housed at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, where the CIA detained and secretly interrogated suspected terrorists following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

    Trump seems to be reviving the Guantanamo black site, flying about 150 Venezuelan migrants to the base since January 2025. It’s unclear whether the U.S. government can lawfully detain migrants there abroad, yet deportation flights continue.

    The administration has not shared the identities of many of the people imprisoned there.

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

    – ref. We study mass surveillance for social control, and we see Trump laying the groundwork to ‘contain’ people of color and immigrants – https://theconversation.com/we-study-mass-surveillance-for-social-control-and-we-see-trump-laying-the-groundwork-to-contain-people-of-color-and-immigrants-221073

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Survey shows immigrants in Florida – even US citizens – are less likely to seek health care after passage of anti-immigrant laws

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Aranda, Professor of Sociology, University of South Florida

    For decades, many U.S. immigrants have received subpar health care, and asking about immigration status can make those disparities worse. Maskot via Getty Images

    Since arriving in the United States four years ago, Alex has worked at a primary care office. He has witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for immigrants to access preventive care.

    When he heard of the implementation of Florida’s Senate Bill 1718, Alex feared it would have dire consequences for the patients he served.

    Alex is a pseudonym for one of our research subjects.

    SB 1718, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May 2023, imposed sweeping restrictions aimed at discouraging unauthorized immigration. Among its provisions, it requires hospitals that accept Medicaid funds to question patients about their immigration status and share data about how many immigrants they are serving within the state.

    The law had several more provisions. It mandated E-Verify, a system to check employment eligibility, be used for new hires in businesses employing more than 25 employees. It also criminalized driving into Florida with an unauthorized immigrant, and restricted community organizations from issuing IDs.

    After the law passed, Alex told his patients that they could refuse to divulge their legal status when asked on hospital forms. But he says his reassurances didn’t work. He watched as many immigrant patients hesitated to access necessary medical care for themselves and their children – or even left the state.

    Alex had legal documentation to be in the country, but as his immigrant community shrank, he wondered if he, too, should leave Florida.

    We are a group of social science professors and graduate students studying immigrant communities in Florida. We believe SB 1718 has important implications for immigrants, for Floridians and all Americans – particularly as the country faces surges in outbreaks of communicable diseases like measles and the flu.

    An environment of fear

    These concerns are based on our survey of 466 immigrants to Florida and adult U.S.-born children of immigrants between May and July of 2024.

    Nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. citizens and one-third of U.S. citizens who responded to our survey said they hesitated to seek medical care in the year after SB 1718 passed.

    “I was very sick recently and needed medical care, but I was scared,” one survey participant told us.

    While hospitals cannot deny care based on a patient’s immigration status, our data shows that anticipating they would be asked deterred not only immigrants lacking permanent legal status but also those with legal status, including U.S. citizens, from seeking care.

    We believe U.S. citizens are affected by spillover effects because they are members of mixed-status families.

    Our survey took place during the intense 2024 presidential election season when anti-immigrant rhetoric was prevalent. The immigrants we surveyed also reported experiencing discrimination in their everyday lives, and these experiences were also associated with a reluctance to access health care.

    Laws like SB 1718 amplify preexisting racial and structural inequities. Structural inequities are systemic barriers within institutions — such as health care and employment — that restrict access to essential resources based on one’s race, legal or economic status.

    These kinds of laws discourage immigrants from utilizing health resources. They foster an exclusionary policy environment that heightens fears of enforcement, restricts access to essential services and exacerbates economic and social vulnerabilities. Moreover, restrictive immigration policies exclude people from accessing services based on their race. Immigrants who have been discriminated against in everyday settings may internalize the expectation that seeking care will result in further hostility – or even danger.

    Consequences for public health

    U.S. history holds numerous examples of racial and ethnic barriers to health care. Examples include segregation-era hospitals turning away Black patients . It also involves systemic restrictions on health care access for non-English speakers, including inadequate language assistance services, reliance on untrained interpreters and lack of culturally competent care.

    President Donald Trump’s new executive orders signed in January 2025 threaten to further ostracize certain communities. For example, the order terminating federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs dismantles efforts to address racial disparities in public institutions. New restrictions on federally funded research on race and equity could hinder efforts to study and address these disparities.

    Civil rights advocates believe these measures represent a systemic rollback of rights and diversity practices that generations fought to secure and could accelerate a national shift toward exclusion based on race under the guise of immigration enforcement.

    Supporters of immigrants’ rights protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on Feb. 7, 2025 in Homestead, Florida.
    Joe Raedle via Getty Images

    The results of our survey in Florida may be a warning sign for the rest of the country. Health care hesitancy like we documented could increase the likelihood of delayed treatment, undiagnosed conditions and worsening health disparities among entire communities.

    These legal restrictions are likely to increase the spread of communicable diseases and strain health care systems, increasing costs and placing a greater burden on emergency services and public health infrastructure.

    Elizabeth Aranda is affiliated with American Sociological Association.

    Deborah Omontese is affiliated with American Sociological Association

    Elizabeth Vaquera is a member of the American Sociological Association and has previously received funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health,

    Emely Matos Pichardo is affiliated with the Southern Sociological Society.

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

    – ref. Survey shows immigrants in Florida – even US citizens – are less likely to seek health care after passage of anti-immigrant laws – https://theconversation.com/survey-shows-immigrants-in-florida-even-us-citizens-are-less-likely-to-seek-health-care-after-passage-of-anti-immigrant-laws-248952

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s moves to strip employment protections from federal workers threaten to make government function worse – not better

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By James L. Perry, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs Emeritus, Indiana University

    Federal workers’ jobs may become more precarious than in the past. mathisworks/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

    On top of efforts to fire potentially tens of thousands of federal workers, an early executive order from President Donald Trump’s second term seeks to reclassify the employment status of as many as 50,000 other federal workers – out of more than 2 million total – to make them easier for the president to fire as well.

    The order has already been challenged in court by two federal workers’ unions and other interest groups, though no judge has yet issued any orders. The Trump administration is drafting rules to put the order into effect.

    The Conversation U.S. politics editor Jeff Inglis spoke to James Perry, a scholar of public affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington, to understand what the order is trying to achieve and how it would affect federal workers, the government and the American public. What follows is an edited transcript of the discussion.

    Andrew Jackson, depicted here giving a speech, believed the president should be in control of most federal workers.
    PHOTOS.com / Getty Images Plus

    What is the standard situation for government employees?

    In the 1820s and 1830s, President Andrew Jackson popularized the idea that the president could, and should, hire supporters into government jobs. But by the early 1880s, there was concern on the parts of both Democrats and Republicans that the victor would control a lot of workers who would serve the president, not the American people whose tax dollars paid their salaries.

    So the parties came together in 1883 to pass the Pendleton Act stipulating that government workers are hired based on their skills and abilities, not their political views. That law was updated in 1978 with the Civil Service Reform Act, which added more protections for workers against being fired for political reasons.

    Those rules cover about 99% of staff in the federal civil service. Currently, there are just about 4,000 political appointees. I’ve seen various estimates that this new executive order would shift at least 50,000 positions from career positions to the political-appointments list.

    Some states, such as Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and Florida, have moved to strip employment protections from state government employees, turning protected employees into at-will workers, who can be fired at any time for any reason. These are largely red states, with strong control by Republican governors. Supporters of this move at the federal level argue that at-will employment can work in federal civil service.

    This argument is not backed by strong evidence. The evidence supporters offer is that human resources directors, who are often appointees of the governor who changed the statute, claim no one has complained about the change in policy. But that doesn’t include people who are likely to have a different perspective.

    It could be that nobody is talking about people being fired for political reasons in these states because they are afraid of getting fired themselves.

    What does this executive order change, and why?

    The rationale for the new policy is that the administration wants to get rid of federal workers whom leaders perceive as either intransigent or insubordinate – or who they fear might oppose Trump’s policy initiatives. This sets up a conflict between how government workers see their duties and how Trump appears to view them.

    Federal employees interviewed by sociologist Jamie Kucinskas during Trump’s first term say they are obligated to look beyond the president’s bidding: They took an oath to the Constitution when they started their jobs, and their salaries and benefits are paid for with taxpayer dollars.

    Trump, by contrast, says workers in the executive branch must answer to him and follow his orders.

    Trump and others have tried to cloak this effort in language about removing workers who perform poorly at their jobs. That concern is legitimate. The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which surveys hundreds of thousands of federal workers every year about various aspects of their work and working conditions, indicates that in 2024, 40% of those surveyed said people who perform poorly are not fired and do not improve.

    But taking action against only 50,000 of the 2 million-plus federal employees isn’t going to address such a wide problem.

    There’s a stereotype that in government it can be hard to discipline or fire workers who are not competent at their jobs. The flip side of that stereotype is, however, false: Private businesses are not better at holding poor performers accountable. Survey evidence shows the private sector has just as much difficulty as the government with getting workers to perform effectively.

    There’s room for legitimate disagreement about how far federal employees have to go to comply with presidential directives. The people who think loyalty is the key to merit still might not agree on whether that loyalty is owed to the person sitting in the Oval Office or to the Constitution.

    Protests against the Trump administration have been widespread, including against its policies aimed at federal workers.
    AP Photo/Sejal Govindarao

    How does this affect government workers?

    It’s not clear which positions might be targeted. The order calls them “policy influencing positions,” but drawing the line between policy and administration isn’t always easy.

    It’s also not clear whether the change will stick. When the George W. Bush administration reduced job protections for Department of Homeland Security employees in 2005, a major federal workers’ union sued the administration and won.

    In the first round of this effort under the first Trump administration, it seemed that most of the people affected would be at the top of the federal hierarchy, probably mostly based in Washington, D.C.

    Most of the workers in the federal civil service, though, are not there. They work for the Social Security Administration, giving out checks in Bloomington, Indiana, or other departments and offices around the country. It would be very difficult to classify them as influencing political policy or advocating for policies.

    But there are people who are not Senate-confirmed who do have an influence on policy. For instance, at the Department of Justice, assistant and deputy assistant secretaries have influence on civil rights policy or other policies that affect the president’s ability to pursue his agenda. The February 2025 resignation of Danielle Sassoon from her role as U.S. attorney in New York is an example of legitimate divergence between an appointee and the president’s policy direction.

    Any workers who lost their protections would likely feel threatened with losing their job and their livelihood. They might, out of fear, be more responsive to the dictates of their superiors.

    That might sound good – that if you do what your boss says, you’re doing a good job. But it’s different if your obligations are to the public interest and the Constitution.

    How does this affect everyday Americans?

    Large majorities of Americans believe government workers are serving the public over themselves. And as many as 87% of Americans say they want a merit-based, politically neutral civil service.

    The U.S. has attracted to government service workers who are good at their jobs and able to remain politically neutral at work. Saying that’s no longer important would change the relationship between government workers and their jobs. And it would hurt the nation as a whole if government cannot attract the best and the brightest, or if it sends the best and the brightest packing because they are not comfortable with their work situation, or if they stay but their performance declines.

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

    – ref. Trump’s moves to strip employment protections from federal workers threaten to make government function worse – not better – https://theconversation.com/trumps-moves-to-strip-employment-protections-from-federal-workers-threaten-to-make-government-function-worse-not-better-248086

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Brazil coup charges could end Bolsonaro’s political career − but they won’t extinguish Bolsonarismo

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Anthony Pereira, Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University

    The former president looked disappointed on Jan. 18, 2025, after a judge denied his request to travel to the U.S. for Donald Trump’s inauguration. Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images

    Brazilian politics are getting more dramatic again.

    The South American country’s attorney general filed five criminal charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others in its Supreme Court on Feb. 18, 2025, detonating political shock waves. The charges include plotting a coup d’état to prevent Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidency. The other defendants include several former prominent officials, including a former spy chief, defense minister, national security adviser and Bolsonaro’s running mate.

    Lula took office in Brazil for a third time in January 2023, after he defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election. Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, had served the previous four-year term. Bolsonaro and his codefendants are also charged with trying to poison Lula and assassinate his vice presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes; participating in an armed criminal organization; and seeking to violently overthrow the democratic rule of law. He denies doing anything wrong.

    As a professor of Brazilian politics, I believe that Bolsonaro’s legal troubles threaten to definitively end his political career. There’s also a possibility that the 69-year-old former president will be sentenced to prison. But, at the same time, the charges could also galvanize Bolsonaro’s base – playing into a narrative that sees the right-wing leader as stymied, unfairly, by the government he used to run.

    No sash passed

    Bolsonaro’s behavior before, during and after his second presidential campaign was unusual for any president seeking another term. He claimed, when he was still in office, that Brazil’s electronic voting system was not secure and predicted that fraud might crop up in the 2022 elections.

    Although he never produced any evidence to support this claim, he promoted it on social media, fostering skepticism about the election among some voters.

    Bolsonaro never formally conceded his narrow electoral defeat to Lula in October 2022, insinuating that instead the election had been stolen. In 2023, Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court ruled that he had abused his power and banned him from running for political office again for the next eight years.

    Instead of attending Lula’s inauguration on Jan. 1, 2023, where he would have been expected to participate in the traditional passing of the sash from the incumbent to the incoming president, Bolsonaro flew to Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 30, 2022. He stayed in Kissimmee, Florida, for the next three months.

    That meant Bolsonaro was not in Brazil when thousands of his supporters rampaged through and vandalized three government buildings in Brasília on Jan. 8, 2023. The incident was strikingly similar to Trump supporters’ assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

    The new charges accuse Bolsonaro of taking part in a conspiracy to delegitimize the elections. The indictment also alleges that after the results were announced, Bolsonaro and the other defendants encouraged protests and urged the armed forces to intervene, declare a state of siege and prevent the peaceful transition of power from Bolsonaro to Lula.

    Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro can still draw crowds of supporters, as happened on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on April 21, 2024.
    Buda Mendes/Getty Images

    Possibility of prison

    The evidence in this indictment is based, in part, on plea-bargained testimony by one of the alleged conspirators, the former presidential adviser and army Lt. Col. Mauro Cid.

    The attorney general has also accused Bolsonaro and his associates of being linked to businessmen who paid for buses to take Bolsonaro supporters to Brasília so they could participate in the Jan. 8 attacks, which caused damage estimated at 20 million Brazilian reais (US$3.5 million). And the indictment alleges that the coup plot failed because the commanders of Brazil’s army and air force refused to support the conspiracy, although the commander of the navy did, which explains why he was named as a defendant.

    If Brazil’s Supreme Court accepts the charges, which seems likely, the legal battle will begin. If Bolsonaro is convicted, he could go to prison.

    Bolsonaro’s defense team, for its part, says that the charges are “inept” and unconvincing. His lawyers expressed confidence that they could win the case.

    President Lula, wearing a hat, walks alongside Brazil’s first lady, Rosangela Janja da Silva, in a pink suit, during a rally in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2025 – two years after supporters of his predecessor staged a failed coup attempt.
    Claudio Reis/Getty Images

    Narrow path

    Bolsonaro and his supporters have long criticized Brazil’s Supreme Court, arguing that it has exceeded its constitutional powers and become a judicial “dictatorship.” They have also pushed for Congress to grant amnesty to everyone who took part in or helped carry out the Jan. 8 attacks, including Bolsonaro.

    To date, Brazil’s Supreme Court has convicted 371 people for participating in the attacks. Those convicted have received prison sentences of between three and 17 years.

    Unlike in the United States, however, there has been a broad consensus in Brazil that the attacks were illegitimate and unacceptable. This consensus includes many lawmakers on the right and center-right in Brazil’s Congress, as well as in state and local governments.

    So, although the example of Donald Trump returning to the presidency and pardoning the participants in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol inspires Bolsonaro’s supporters, his path to achieving a similar result is narrower than was Trump’s.

    Meanwhile, Trump’s media company, which owns Truth Social and Rumble, sued Moraes, the judge Bolsonaro is accused of plotting to kill, for ordering the suspension of social media accounts and thereby undermining the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. The case was filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 19.

    Any trial of Bolsonaro and the other alleged coup plotters could spark a political struggle.

    Brazil’s right wing is currently divided between advocates of hard-line Bolsonarismo – a disruptive ideology that advocates social conservatism, a lightly regulated economy, militarism and a strong executive branch – and a more pragmatic conservatism that works within the conventional rules of politics and is mainly focused on patronage and the management of the spoils of office.

    Should Bolsonaro and his fellow defendants be tried in the Supreme Court, those hard-liners could be mobilized and energized.

    They would see the trial as the political establishment’s persecution of their political hero. And a struggle to find Bolsanaro’s successor, most likely between his son Eduardo and the former president’s wife, Michelle, would ensue.

    The successor would claim the mantle of opposition to Lula, who is eligible to seek a fourth presidential term and claims to want to run for reelection in 2026 – when he would be about to celebrate his 81st birthday.

    High stakes

    There are, to be sure, some Brazilian politicians who are more moderate than Bolsonaro and would also like to run against Lula next time. They would bring much less baggage to that presidential race.

    Their candidacies might offer a possible return to the relative political stability Brazil had experienced for almost two decades before 2013, when the main dividing line in Brazilian politics was between coalitions led by the center-right Social Democratic Party and the center-left Workers’ Party.

    To be clear, it’s hard to overstate the potential consequences of the Supreme Court’s deliberation and judgment in this case.

    The trial, should it occur, would be televised and also have a geopolitical dimension, because it would be closely watched by advocates of hard-right populism in other countries across the Americas and beyond. The stakes are high.

    In the meantime, I have no doubt that Bolsonaro’s supporters will try to use his legal woes to rally his political movement. The judgment of Brazil’s Supreme Court, should it decide to hear this case, could therefore end Bolsonaro’s political career. However, no matter what happens, I believe that Bolsonarismo would still be alive and well as a political force in Brazil and a factor in the 2026 elections.

    Anthony Pereira has received funding in the past from the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the UK.

    I am a senior fellow at Canning House, a think tank based in London. This is an unpaid position.

    – ref. Brazil coup charges could end Bolsonaro’s political career − but they won’t extinguish Bolsonarismo – https://theconversation.com/brazil-coup-charges-could-end-bolsonaros-political-career-but-they-wont-extinguish-bolsonarismo-250478

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Colliding plasma ejections from the Sun generate huge geomagnetic storms − studying them will help scientists monitor future space weather

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Shirsh Lata Soni, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Michigan

    The Sun periodically ejects huge bubbles of plasma from its surface that contain an intense magnetic field. These events are called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. When two of these ejections collide, they can generate powerful geomagnetic storms that can lead to beautiful auroras but may disrupt satellites and GPS back on Earth.

    On May 10, 2024, people across the Northern Hemisphere got to witness the impact of these solar activities on Earth’s space weather.

    The northern lights, as seen here from Michigan in May 2024, are caused by geomagnetic storms in the atmosphere.
    Shirsh Lata Soni

    Two merging CMEs triggered the largest geomagnetic storm in two decades, which manifested in brightly colored auroras visible across the sky.

    I’m a solar physicist. My colleagues and I aim to track and better understand colliding CMEs with the goal of improving space weather forecasts. In the modern era, where technological systems are increasingly vulnerable to space weather disruptions, understanding how CMEs interact with each other has never been more crucial.

    Coronal mass ejections

    CMEs are long and twisted – kind of like ropes – and how often they happen varies with an 11-year cycle. At the solar minimum, researchers observe about one a week, but near the solar maximum, they can observe, on average, two or three per day.

    During the solar maximum, solar flares and coronal mass ejections are more common.

    When two or more CMEs interact, they generate massive clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields that may compress, merge or reconnect with each other during the collision. These interactions can amplify the impact of the CMEs on Earth’s magnetic field, sometimes creating geomagnetic storms.

    Why study interacting CMEs?

    Nearly one-third of CMEs interact with other CMEs or the solar wind, which is a stream of charged particles released from the outer layer of the Sun.

    In my research team’s study, published in May 2024, we found that CMEs that do interact or collide with each other are much more likely to cause a geomagnetic storm – two times more likely than an individual CME. The mix of strong magnetic fields and high pressure in these CME collisions is likely what causes them to generate storms.

    During solar maxima, when there can be more than 10 CMEs per day, the likelihood of CMEs interacting with each other increases. But researchers aren’t sure whether they become more likely to generate a geomagnetic storm during these periods.

    Scientists can study interacting CMEs as they move through space and watch them contribute to geomagnetic storms using observations from space- and ground-based observatories.

    In this study, we looked at three CMEs that interacted with each other as they traveled through space using the space-based observatory STEREO. We validated these observations with three-dimensional simulations.

    The CME interactions we studied generated a complex magnetic field and a compressed plasma sheath, which is a layer of charged particles in the upper atmosphere that interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.

    When this complex structure encountered Earth’s magnetosphere, it compressed the magnetosphere and triggered an intense geomagnetic storm.

    Four images show three interacting CMEs, based on observations from the STEREO telescope. In images C and D, you can see the northeast flank of CME-1 and CME-2 that interact with the southwest part of CME-3.
    Shirsh Lata Soni

    This same process generated the geomagnetic storm from May 2024.

    Between May 8-9, multiple Earth-directed CMEs erupted from the Sun. When these CMEs merged, they formed a massive, combined structure that arrived at Earth late on May 10, 2024. This structure triggered the extraordinary geomagnetic storm many people observed. People even in parts of the southern U.S. were able to see the northern lights in the sky that night.

    More technology and higher stakes

    Scientists have an expansive network of space- and ground-based observatories, such as the Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, the Solar Dynamics Observatory and others, available to monitor the heliosphere – the region surrounding the Sun – from a variety of vantage points.

    These resources, coupled with advanced modeling capabilities, provide timely and effective ways to investigate how CMEs cause geomagnetic storms. The Sun will reach its solar maximum in the years 2024 and 2025. So, with more complex CMEs coming from the Sun in the next few years and an increasing reliance on space-based infrastructure for communication, navigation and scientific exploration, monitoring these events is more important than ever.

    Integrating the observational data from space-based missions such as Wind and ACE and data from ground-based facilities such as the e-Callisto network and radio observatories with state-of-the-art simulation tools allows researchers to analyze the data in real time. That way, they can quickly make predictions about what the CMEs are doing.

    These advancements are important for keeping infrastructure safe and preparing for the next solar maximum. Addressing these challenges today ensures resilience against future space weather.

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

    – ref. Colliding plasma ejections from the Sun generate huge geomagnetic storms − studying them will help scientists monitor future space weather – https://theconversation.com/colliding-plasma-ejections-from-the-sun-generate-huge-geomagnetic-storms-studying-them-will-help-scientists-monitor-future-space-weather-248384

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Army Ranger = DANGEROUS

    Source: US Army (video statements)

    : AEMO

    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 #Rangers #Dangerous

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP0ps0TJTQM

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: De Oppressor Liber! | U.S. Army

    Source: US Army (video statements)

    : United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)

    How many special forces groups currently exist in the U.S. Army?

    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 #IronSharpensIron #GreenBeret #USASOC

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXTMQo0nt8s

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI: American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) CEO Andy Ross Promotes the American Dream and Patriotic Products on NBC KSHB 41 Kansas City Morning Show KC Spotlight

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Nashville, TN, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) (“American Rebel” or the “Company”), creator of American Rebel Light Beer (americanrebelbeer.com), and a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of branded safes and personal security and self-defense products (americanrebel.com), proudly announces that CEO Andy Ross will appear on the local NBC television affiliate, KSHB 41, in his home state, promoting the values of the American Dream and the Company’s patriotic products.

    Hometown “American Rebel” Andy Ross appears on Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB 41

    NBC affiliate KSHB 41 (KSHB 41 Kansas City: News, Weather, Chiefs, Traffic and Sports), home of the Kansas City Chiefs and known for its award winning news, is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company and is the Kansas City market’s fastest growing news outlet. The segment featuring American Rebel Andy Ross is schedule to air Friday, February 20, 2025, at some point during the 11 am Central hour-long broadcast.

    “We believe in the American Dream, and our products reflect the values and pride that come with it,” said Andy Ross – CEO American Rebel Holdings, Inc. “I’m thrilled to share our story on KSHB 41, the home of my favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs, and with the people of Kansas. I’ve spent my time in Kansas City visiting key accounts to ensure that American Rebel Light Beer is readily available to those who appreciate quality and patriotism.”

    American Rebel Holdings, Inc. Focuses on Media Exposure to Expand America’s Patriotic Beer in New Markets

    A key strategic focus at American Rebel is to continually share America’s Patriotic Brand Story as told by our CEO – Andy Ross. To truly expand America’s Patriotic Brand, we needed to have a product that reaches the masses and is consumable. American Rebel Beer has always been at the top of the list and due to current events and opportunities that have opened up in the market, American Rebel is well positioned to continue to expand into new markets that allow our consumers to enjoy America’s Patriotic Beer (americanrebelbeer.com).

    The American Rebel Brand Story is all about chasing the American Dream as a NASDAQ company

    “I have been blessed to turn my passions into success. On my show, Maximum Archery World Tour, I bowhunted the world for 10 years on outdoor TV. By incorporating my music into the show, and with the emergence of digital music distribution, I had a springboard to develop a great music career. In 2015 a decision was made to build a brand around my song ‘American Rebel,’ and America’s Patriotic Brand was born. In February 2022, we became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ, symbol: AREB.” – Andy Ross, CEO American Rebel Holdings

    American Rebel Light Beer positioned for success throughout Kansas and the Kansas City Area

    During his appearance, Mr. Ross passionately discussed the inspiration behind American Rebel Light Beer, a premium light lager that embodies the spirit of America’s Patriotic, God-Fearing, Constitution-Loving, National Anthem-Singing, Stand Your Ground Beer. He also highlighted Champion Safe Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Rebel Holdings known for its American-made safes designed to protect what matters most to American families. Champion Safe Co. manufactures Champion, Superior and American Rebel branded safes.

    In addition to his media appearance, Mr. Ross has been actively focusing on expanding American Rebel Beer’s presence in the eastern Kansas area. With the support of distribution partner Standard Beverage, the Company is strategically targeting key accounts to enhance both on-premise and off-premise locations. This effort is part of a larger initiative to bring American Rebel’s exceptional products to a wider audience.

    Mr. Ross’s recent meetings with several key accounts in Kansas have yielded promising results, further solidifying the Company’s growth plans in the region. By leveraging the strength of the Standard Beverage distribution network, American Rebel is poised to make a significant impact in the Kansas market.

    Premium Safes, Concealed Carry Backpacks and Apparel at our Overland Park, Kansas store.

    We build American Rebel Safes – one of the most desirable residential safes on the market. We are also the proud owners of Champion Safe Co. Our safes are specifically designed to meet the needs of homeowners and gun aficionados.

    In a time when National Spirit is being rekindled, American Rebel positions itself as “America’s Patriotic Brand.” We are proud advocates of the 2nd Amendment and encourage safe and responsible gun ownership.

    American Rebel’s store is located at 8500 Marshall Drive in Overland Park, Kansas, next to the Bushnell Factory Outlet conveniently located right off I-35.

    For more information about American Rebel Holdings, Inc. and its products, please visit americanrebel.com, championsafe.com and americanrebelbeer.com.

    About American Rebel Holdings, Inc.

    American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) has operated primarily as a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of branded safes and personal security and self-defense products and has recently transitioned into the beverage industry through the introduction of American Rebel Light Beer. The Company also designs and produces branded apparel and accessories. To learn more, visit americanrebel.com and americanrebelbeer.com. For investor information, visit americanrebel.com/investor-relations.

    About American Rebel Light Beer

    Produced in partnership with AlcSource, American Rebel Light Beer (americanrebelbeer.com) is a premium domestic light lager celebrated for its exceptional quality and patriotic values. It stands out as America’s Patriotic, God-Fearing, Constitution-Loving, National Anthem-Singing, Stand Your Ground Beer.

    American Rebel Light is a Premium Domestic Light Lager Beer – All Natural, Crisp, Clean and Bold Taste with a Lighter Feel. With approximately 100 calories, 3.2 carbohydrates, and 4.3% alcoholic content per 12 oz serving, American Rebel Light Beer delivers a lighter option for those who love great beer but prefer a more balanced lifestyle. It’s all natural with no added supplements and importantly does not use corn, rice, or other sweeteners typically found in mass produced beers.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB; AREBW) (the “Company,” “American Rebel,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “forecasts,” “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include benefits of marketing outreach efforts, actual placement timing and availability of American Rebel Beer, success and availability of the promotional activities, our ability to effectively execute our business plan, and the Risk Factors contained within our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

    Media Inquiries:
    Matt Sheldon
    Precision Public Relations
    Matt@PrecisionPR.co
    917-280-7329

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Stop notice served to prevent further unauthorised works at Earlsdon property

    Source: City of Coventry

    The Council has taken the action to serve a Stop Notice and Enforcement Notice to prohibit further works being undertaken on the site of a former Natwest Bank in Earlsdon.

    The Council’s Planning Enforcement Team served a Temporary Stop Notice (TSN) following unauthorised demolition of 34-36 Earlsdon Street at the beginning of January.

    Since then, the Local Authority has been listening to the concerns of local residents and working hard with ward cllrs to find a solution.

    The existing TSN required all unauthorised works of construction / development and / or demolition to cease immediately. The legislation only permits a TSN to have effect for a maximum period of 56 days and consequently the Notice expires at midnight on Tuesday 25 February 2025.

    Unfortunately, to date no valid planning application has been received for the rebuilding of 34-36 Earlsdon Street and so the Council considers it necessary to take the further action to ensure that no further unauthorised works happen on site until planning permission has been the granted.

    This is the first time in around 20 years that the Council has served a Stop Notice.  

    Legislation does not permit a further TSN to be served which is why the Council has therefore served a Stop Notice and Enforcement Notice to prohibit further works being undertaken on site.

    Andrew Walster, Director of City Services at the Council, said: “We have been listening to the concerns of residents and working with ward councillors to find a solution, but so far, we have not received any future plans from the property owners.

    “This is frustrating for everyone concerned and we are determined to find a way forward. That’s why we have taken the step of servicing a Stop Notice.

    “The Earlsdon area was designated a conservation area, and the demolition work carried out so far has had a serious impact on the character of the neighbourhood.”

    Friday, 21st February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Paul Y liquidation impact monitored

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    In response to Paul Y Engineering Group’s application for provisional liquidation, the Development Bureau today said it is believed the impact of Paul Y’s situation on relevant public works projects is manageable and it will closely monitor the situation.

    The Government noted that an application was made by Paul Y to the court recently to appoint a provisional liquidator for its five subsidiaries to handle debts and formulate a restructuring plan, and the court approved the application today.

    As there have been market rumours and media reports of financial difficulties and layoffs at Paul Y for some time, the Government has been paying close attention to the situation and making preparations to reduce the impact on works projects and subcontractors and assist the affected employees.

    Paul Y’s subsidiaries are undertaking the construction of 13 public works contracts, among which 12 are undertaken by Paul Y and other construction companies by way of joint venture.

    These contracts are managed by government departments including the Civil Engineering & Development Department, the Architectural Services Department, the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, the Highways Department, the Drainage Services Department, the Water Supplies Department and the Environmental Protection Department.

    As the majority of the contracts are undertaken by joint ventures, regardless of whether Paul Y is liquidated eventually, the other participants of the joint venture contracts must complete the remaining works in accordance with the contract requirements.

    The bureau has assessed that the joint venture participants concerned are capable of undertaking the remaining works, and they have also expressed that they will continue to execute the contracts. The only project solely undertaken by Paul Y has largely entered the completion stage.

    On the other hand, Paul Y has also undertaken works projects of other public organisations, some of which are undertaken by joint ventures. The bureau said it is believed the impact is manageable.

    For other projects solely undertaken by Paul Y, the public sector owners have replaced the main contractor of most of the projects in accordance with the established mechanism to ensure their smooth completion. Owners of a few other projects are also carrying out such arrangements to minimise the impact on the projects.

    The bureau said that as the majority of the government and public sector projects will be undertaken by other participants of the joint ventures or have the main contractor replaced in accordance with the mechanism, if Paul Y is liquidated by the court eventually, the succeeding contractor will follow the Government and public sector owners’ request to try to accommodate the situation of existing subcontractors and workers so that they can continue to work on the projects for the sake of maintaining continuity.

    Employees of Paul Y and its subcontractors who have enquiries on their employment rights and benefits may call the Labour Department’s dedicated hotline at 3580 8721 or visit the branch offices of its Labour Relations Division.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI: DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. Announces First Quarter 2025 Earnings Release Date and Conference Call Details

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces it will release financial results for its first quarter 2025 ending December 31, 2024 on Monday, March 3, 2025 after the market close.

    First Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call Details

    The Company will host a conference call to review its results and provide a corporate update on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET. Participants should register for the call via the registration link.

    In addition to a live Q&A session via chat, management will also address pre-submitted questions. Those wishing to submit a question may do so via email at investors@dmgblockchain.com, using the subject line ‘Conference Call Question Submission,’ through 2:00 PM ET on March 4, 2025.

    About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.

    DMG is a publicly traded and vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company that manages, operates and develops end-to-end digital solutions to monetize the digital asset and artificial intelligence compute ecosystems. Systemic Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of DMG, is an integral component of DMG’s carbon-neutral Bitcoin ecosystem, which enables financial institutions to move bitcoin in a sustainable and regulatory-compliant manner.

    For more information on DMG Blockchain Solutions visit: www.dmgblockchain.com
    Follow @dmgblockchain on X and subscribe to DMG’s YouTube channel.

    For further information, please contact:

    On behalf of the Board of Directors,

    Sheldon Bennett, CEO & Director
    Tel: +1 (778) 300-5406
    Email: investors@dmgblockchain.com
    Web: www.dmgblockchain.com

    For Investor Relations:
    investors@dmgblockchain.com

    For Media Inquiries:
    Chantelle Borrelli
    Head of Communications
    chantelle@dmgblockchain.com

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

    This news release contains forward-looking information or statements based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include the filing of the first quarter 2025 results and hosting a conference call, the Company’s strategy for growth, the planned monetization of certain product and service offerings, developing and executing on the Company’s products, services and business plans, the launch of products and services, events, courses of action, and the potential of the Company’s technology and operations, among others, are all forward-looking information.

    Future changes in the Bitcoin network-wide mining difficulty or Bitcoin hashrate may materially affect the future performance of DMG’s production of bitcoin, and future operating results could also be materially affected by the price of bitcoin and an increase in hashrate and mining difficulty.

    Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. 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 the Company, including but not limited to, market and other conditions, volatility in the trading price of the common shares of the Company, business, economic and capital market conditions; the ability to manage operating expenses, which may adversely affect the Company’s financial condition; the ability to remain competitive as other better financed competitors develop and release competitive products; regulatory uncertainties; access to equipment; market conditions and the demand and pricing for products; the demand and pricing of bitcoin; security threats, including a loss/theft of DMG’s bitcoin; DMG’s relationships with its customers, distributors and business partners; the inability to add more power to DMG’s facilities; DMG’s ability to successfully define, design and release new products in a timely manner that meet customers’ needs; the ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; competition in the industry; the impact of technology changes on the products and industry; failure to develop new and innovative products; the ability to successfully maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights and defend third-party claims of infringement of their intellectual property rights; the impact of intellectual property litigation that could materially and adversely affect the business; the ability to manage working capital; and the dependence on key personnel. DMG may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, the ability to successfully develop software, that there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business, anticipated costs, the ability to secure sufficient capital to complete its business plans, the ability to achieve goals and the price of bitcoin. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The securities of DMG are considered highly speculative due to the nature of DMG’s business. For further information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to the Company’s filings on www.sedarplus.ca. In addition, DMG’s past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance.

    Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, failure to obtain regulatory approval, the continued availability of capital and financing, equipment failures, lack of supply of equipment, power and infrastructure, failure to obtain any permits required to operate the business, the impact of technology changes on the industry, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company’s ability to operate, secure equipment, and hire personnel, competition, security threats including stolen bitcoin from DMG or its customers, consumer sentiment towards DMG’s products, services and blockchain technology generally, failure to develop new and innovative products, litigation, adverse weather or climate events, increase in operating costs, increase in equipment and labor costs, equipment failures, decrease in the price of Bitcoin, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of or statements made by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Corporate and Municipal CUSIP Request Volumes Decline in January

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NORWALK, Conn., Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for January 2025. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity over the next quarter, found a monthly decrease in request volume for new corporate and municipal identifiers.

    North American corporate CUSIP requests totaled 4,505 in January, which is down 36.9% on a monthly basis. On an annualized basis, North American corporate requests were down 24.2% over January 2024 totals. The monthly decrease in volume was driven by a 32.6% decline in request volume for U.S. corporate debt identifiers. Request volumes for short-term certificates of deposit (-27.1%) and longer-term certificates of deposit (-14.8%) also fell in January.

    The aggregate total of identifier requests for new municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – fell 14.1% versus December totals. On a year-over-year basis, overall municipal volumes were up 1.8%. Texas led state-level municipal request volume with a total of 78 new CUSIP requests in January, followed by California and New York, each of which had 59 new municipal CUSIP requests in the first month of the year.

    “Monthly CUSIP request volume may appear to be off to a slow start when compared to the strong volumes we saw in the second half of 2024, but most major asset classes are seeing gains versus year-ago totals,” said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CGS. “While it’s still early in the year, and there is no shortage of uncertainty about the future of interest rates and the broader economy, issuers are likely to enter the markets at a historically brisk pace.”

    Requests for international equity CUSIPs fell 19.5% in January and international debt CUSIP requests rose 14.0%. On an annualized basis, international equity CUSIP requests were down 13.0% and international debt CUSIP requests were up 33.3%.

    To view the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report for January, please click here.

    Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through January 2025:


    Asset Class    		 2025 YTD 2024 YTD YOY Change

    Long-Term Municipal
    Notes    		 37 8 362.5%

    Canada Corporate
    Debt & Equity    		 562 378 48.7%

    International Debt    		 520 390 33.3%

    U.S. Corporate Equity    		 1,161 914 27.0%

    Syndicated Loans    		 197 173 13.9%

    Municipal Bonds    		 610 579 5.4%

    Private Placement
    Securities    		 266 253 5.1%

    U.S. Corporate Debt
    		 1,605 1,540 4.2%

    International Equity    		 120 138 -13.0%

    CDs > 1-year Maturity    		 539 724 -25.6%

    CDs < 1-year Maturity    		 542 763 -29.0%

    Short-Term Municipal
    Notes    		 59 86 -31.4%


    About CUSIP Global Services

    CUSIP Global Services (CGS) is the global leader in securities identification. The financial services industry relies on CGS’ unrivaled experience in uniquely identifying instruments and entities to support efficient global capital markets. Its extensive focus on standardization over the past 50 plus years has helped CGS earn its reputation as the industry standard provider of reliable, timely reference data. CGS is also a founding member of the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) and co-operates ANNA’s hub of ISIN data, the ANNA Service Bureau. CGS is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association (ABA) by FactSet Research Systems Inc., with a Board of Trustees that represents the voices of leading financial institutions. For more information, visit www.cusip.com.

    About The American Bankers Association

    The American Bankers Association is the voice of the nation’s $24.2 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ approximately 2.1 million people, safeguard $19.1 trillion in deposits and extend $12.6 trillion in loans.

    For More Information:

    John Roderick
    john@jroderick.com
    +1 (631) 584.2200

    The MIL Network –