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  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israel’s evacuation warnings have been ‘misleading and inadequate’ – new analysis

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Analysis of more than a dozen Israeli evacuation warnings show how Lebanese civilians were given contradictory information and exposed to heightened danger 

    Some warnings issued in middle of night on social media and with only 30 minutes notice 

    Backdrop of comments from Netanyahu and others indicates that Israel considers Lebanese civilians and property to be legitimate targets

    ‘This is not a warning, it’s torture. It’s a sadistic game’ – resident of Burj al-Barajneh

    ‘We’re extremely concerned that Israel may be seeking to replicate the approach it followed in Gaza, resulting in unprecedented civilian harm’ – Agnès Callamard

    The evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut and south Lebanon have been inadequate – and in some cases misleading – said Amnesty International.

    Amnesty analysed more than a dozen Israeli military evacuation warnings and conducted interviews with 12 residents who fled various districts in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh following the Israeli evacuation warnings on 27-28 September, including al-Laylaki, Hay El Sellom, Hadi Nasrallah highway and Burj al-Barajneh. Amnesty also interviewed three residents of villages in south Lebanon.

    Amnesty examined two warnings issued to residents of the crowded urban areas of Dahieh overnight on 27-28 September, after the attack that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The airstrikes demolished entire residential buildings in the densely-populated area. Each warning identified three military targets and said that residents should evacuate a 500-metre radius around that location. The warnings were issued through the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson on X at night, without a clear timeline or details on safe routes. 

    In the two Dahieh warnings, maps published by the Israeli military alongside the evacuation warnings covering six different areas were misleading. In each case the area highlighted on the maps indicating the danger zone for civilians covered a much smaller area than the 500-metre radius that the Israeli military had advised civilians was the minimum distance civilians should evacuate. To be effective, warnings must give clear and timely instructions for civilians on moving away from military objectives that are going to be targeted, with information on safe routes and destinations.

    The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings to residents of approximately 118 towns and villages in south Lebanon between 1-7 October, following the start of its ground invasion. These warnings, which included towns that were more than 35 km from the border with Israel and outside the UN-declared buffer zone, do not – said Amnesty – make south Lebanon a free-fire zone.  

    Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict have a clear obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid – or at least minimise – harm to civilians when carrying out attacks. This includes giving effective advance warning of attacks to civilians in affected areas unless circumstances do not permit. In any case, emphasised Amnesty, issuing warnings does not absolve Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law to never target civilians and to take all possible measures to minimise harm to them.

    According to the UN, a quarter of Lebanese territory has been affected by evacuation warnings. 

    Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

    “The warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of Dahieh – the densely-populated southern suburbs of Beirut – were inadequate. 

    “Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice – in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began – in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports.

    “Instructing the residents of entire towns and villages in south Lebanon to evacuate is an overly-general warning that is inadequate and raises questions around whether this is intended to create the conditions for mass displacement. 

    “Regardless of the efficacy of the warnings, they do not mean that Israel can treat any remaining civilians as targets. 

    “Having spent the last 12 months investigating Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, we’re extremely concerned that Israel may be seeking to replicate the approach it followed in Gaza, resulting in unprecedented civilian harm.

    “Amnesty International is calling on Israel’s allies, including the United States, to suspend all arms transfers and other forms of military assistance to Israel due to the significant risk that these weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law. 

    “The organisation is also calling for a suspension of all arms transfers to Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon.”

    Case studies – southern suburbs of Beirut

    Starting at 11:06 pm on 27 September, the Israeli military began to issue evacuation warnings to residents of Dahieh, a suburb in the south of Beirut. In the first warning, the Israeli military instructed residents via X to move 500 metres away from three buildings in the districts of al-Laylaki and al-Hadath, both densely-populated areas, alleging that residents are “located near Hezbollah interests”. The order did not give a timeframe for the evacuation. The map published alongside this warning highlighted an area around the buildings to indicate what was supposedly the 500-metre radius that residents should leave. However, the highlighted area in fact only covered approximately a 135-metre radius. While the map showed 30 buildings within the red circle, there are in fact 500 buildings within the 500-metre radius. The same is true for the evacuation warnings in the al-Hadath district: the areas highlighted on the maps warning residents to stay 500 metres away from the Sheet building and the al-Salam Complex, showed only at approximately 125m and 100m radiuses respectively.

    At around 12:36am, just an hour and a half later, local media reported an Israeli airstrike on al-Laylaki. Over the next hour and 10 minutes, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported 11 further attacks on Dahieh, including on buildings and areas that had not received an evacuation warning. Fatima, a journalist who lives in al-Laylaki, told Amnesty that her brother called her at around 11:15pm while she was covering news of the strike on Nasrallah, warning her to leave the area. She said:

    “I jumped in the car and drove erratically … I arrived in al-Laylaki and found that everyone was acting as crazily as I was. If people could throw themselves off the balcony to leave faster [they would]. Screaming, running, cars honking, motorcycles, plastic bags … I quickly helped my parents down the stairs to my car, and I only took my cat with me … I currently have no belongings at all.”

    Fatima explained that al-Laylaki is a crowded residential area that remained fully populated until that night because it is on the outskirts of Dahieh and residents did not expect it to be targeted.  

    Abir, who lives with her mother close to al-Laylaki, told Amnesty that she could not immediately evacuate her house because her mother is older and sick, and needs to be carried down the stairs: 

    “It was a night from hell. I laid my mother on the floor in the safest room, which is the old bathroom, we hid our heads with our arms [throughout the bombardment].” 

    They were only able to leave a few hours later after a friend helped carry her mother down from the sixth floor.

    At 3am on 28 September, the Israeli military issued another evacuation warning via X to residents in the districts of Burj al-Barajneh and al-Hadath, again in Beirut’s southern suburbs, instructing them to move 500 metres away from three other identified buildings. The warning did not give a timeframe for evacuation and maps of the affected areas were similarly misleading, highlighting areas much smaller than the indicated 500 metre radius.  

    At 5:47 am, the National News Agency reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted al-Hadath and al-Laylaki as well as the Chouiefat and al-Kafaat districts in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which were not listed in the evacuation warning. Local media reported continued airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs throughout the day. 

    Taghreed, a resident of Hay el-Sellom, said that she had not heard about the Israeli warning and took the decision to flee after the major attack that killed Hassan Nasrallah. She told Amnesty: “We were hiding and couldn’t reach the television. I don’t have social media so I don’t know what the Israelis said.” 

    Ahmad, a resident of Burj al-Barajneh, also said that he made the decision to leave Dahieh immediately after the airstrike that killed Nasrallah, as he lives with his elderly parents. He said:

    “While we were still stuck on the road out of Dahieh, with all the ambulances trying to prioritise the wounded people, we heard about the warning on the radio in the van. I felt bitter. This is not a warning, it’s torture. It’s a sadistic game: ‘we will kill you and your family soon. Show us how you can escape’.”

    On 30 September, the Israeli military issued a warning to evacuate from the surroundings of residential buildings in al-Laylaki, Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh. The Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes just 30 minutes later. Similarly, on 3 October, at 10:51 pm, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the residents of Burj al-Barajneh, telling them to leave immediately. Local media reported a “heavy strike” minutes after the evacuation order was issued, and at least four attacks by 11:30 pm. 

    Under international law, Hezbollah and other armed groups must, to the extent feasible, avoid locating military objectives, including fighters, ammunition, weapons, and military infrastructure, in or near densely-populated areas. However, the presence of military objectives in populated areas does not absolve Israeli forces of their obligations under international humanitarian law to avoid indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks as well as to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians, including civilians who fail to leave the area after an evacuation warning. Failure to provide effective advance warnings of attacks which may affect civilians, unless circumstances do not permit, and not taking all other feasible precautions to protect civilians, constitute violations of international humanitarian law. 

    Case studies – southern Lebanon

    On 1 October, the Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings to residents of southern Lebanon. The first, at 9:21 am, instructed residents not to move vehicles south of the Litani River “until further notice,” alleging that Hezbollah is using “the civilian environment and the population as human shields”. At 12:18 pm, the Israeli military instructed residents of more than 25 towns across southern Lebanon to evacuate and move north of the Awwali River, some 58 km from the border with Israel and about 30km farther than the Litani River, which marks the UN buffer zone created after the 2006 war. 

    On 2 October, at 9:11 am and then at 11:15 am, the Israeli military issued warnings for a further 24 towns and villages across southern Lebanon, telling residents to “save their lives and leave their homes immediately”, ordering them to move north of the Awwali River and saying that any movement south could expose them to danger. The Israeli military issued a similar warning at 12:49 pm on 3 October for a further 25 towns and villages, at 9:11 am on 4 October for a further 35 villages, and at 12:58 pm on 7 October for 25 additional villages. 

    None of the “orders” offered safe and effective evacuation information, just instructing residents to leave “immediately”. 

    Amnesty’s concerns about the warnings to civilians in south Lebanon are heightened by some statements from Israeli political and military leaders indicating that they considered Lebanese civilians and property to be legitimate targets. Benjamin Netanyahu said on 27 September there is “a missile in every kitchen, a rocket in every garage”. The Israeli Education Minister said on television on 21 September that there was no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon and that Lebanon “would be annihilated”. In June, the Israeli Defence Minister said that Israel is capable of returning Lebanon “to the stone age”. 

    The south Lebanon warnings and instructions that vehicles do not travel south of the Litani River also raise serious concerns over civilians’ access to essential supplies and services, including food, medication, healthcare and fuel. The mukhtar of Rmeich, a village south of the Litani river close to the border with Israel, which did not receive an evacuation warning but is within the area in which Israel has said vehicles are prohibited from travelling, told Amnesty that supplies in the town were rapidly dwindling. “The area is going to become destitute. How can we continue? It’s like they want to displace us,” he said.

    The conditions being created by Israel’s actions in south Lebanon risk forcibly displacing the majority of the civilian population there. One of the towns in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military warned must be evacuated is Ain Ebel, where the majority of residents are Christian and have no known affiliation with Hezbollah. 

    Rakan Diab, an Ain Ebel resident, told Amnesty that residents of the village were surprised when, on 1 October, Ain Ebel was included in the Israeli military’s evacuation warning on X. Shortly afterwards, the village mayor received a call from a person purporting to be a member of the Israeli military warning residents to flee within around 45 minutes because there were weapons in the village. “People panicked … we needed to pack and leave immediately,” Rakan Diab said, explaining how the majority fled to the nearby village of Rmeich and the Lebanese army and the Lebanese Red Cross facilitated safe passage for a convoy of around 100 cars from Rmeich to north of the Awwali River. 

    Year of Israel-Lebanon conflict

    Israel’s intensified military attacks in Lebanon began on 23 September. During the first day, Israeli forces carried out at least 1,600 attacks in areas across Lebanon, killing more than 500 people and injuring more than 1,800 in the first 24 hours. Hezbollah also launched more than 200 rockets towards Israel that day, with around 10 people sustaining shrapnel or debris wounds. 

    Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in ongoing cross-border hostilities since the group launched attacks into northern Israel following the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Gaza last October. Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 7 October 2023 have killed at least 2,083 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, and at least 400,000 have crossed the border to Syria. 

    Since 8 October 2023, Hezbollah and other armed groups have launched thousands of missiles at northern Israel, killing 16 civilians. A further 12 civilians, all children, were killed on 27 July in an attack on Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. Around 63,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated since 8 October. In one Hezbollah attack, on 12 November 2023, an anti-tank missile hit a group of electricity company workers who were doing infrastructure work near Dovev. One worker was killed and another lightly injured. In another attack, on 9 July, two civilians were killed when a missile hit their car while driving on highway 91 in the Golan Heights. In a statement released that day, Hezbollah took responsibility and said that it targeted the nearby Nafah military base in response to the assassination of one of its members. Many of Hezbollah’s rockets are unguided and cannot be aimed at a specific target. Firing inherently inaccurate rockets into areas where civilians are present are indiscriminate attacks, and thus violate international humanitarian law. Direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks which kill or injure civilians constitute war crimes.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israel’s evacuation ‘warnings’ for civilians misleading and inadequate

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut and south Lebanon were inadequate, and in some cases also misleading, said Amnesty International today, highlighting that these warnings do not absolve Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law to never target civilians and to take all possible measures to minimize harm to them.

    Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict have a clear obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid, or at least minimize, harm to civilians when carrying out attacks; this includes giving effective advance warning of attacks to civilians in affected areas unless circumstances do not permit.

    “The warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of Dahieh, the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut, were inadequate. Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice – in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began – in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

    “Furthermore, instructing the residents of entire towns and villages in south Lebanon to evacuate is an overly general warning that is inadequate and raises questions around whether this is intended to create the conditions for mass displacement. Regardless of the efficacy of the warnings, they do not mean that Israel can treat any remaining civilians as targets. People who choose to stay in their homes or are unable to leave because members of their household have limited mobility, due to disability, age or other reasons, continue to be protected by international humanitarian law.  Israel must at all times abide by its obligations under international law, including by taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians, wherever they are.”

    According to the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) one quarter of Lebanese territory has been impacted by evacuation warnings.

    Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice – in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began – in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports

    Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

    To be effective a warning must be timely and provide information on safe routes and destinations. Amnesty International examined two warnings issued to residents of the crowded urban area of Dahieh overnight on 27/28 September, after the surprise strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The airstrikes demolished entire residential buildings in the densely populated area. Each warning identified three military targets and requested that residents evacuate a 500-metre radius around that location. The warnings were issued through the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson on X (formerly Twitter), at night, without a clear timeline or details on safe routes.

    In the two warnings issued to residents of Dahieh, the maps published by the Israeli military alongside the evacuation warnings, covering six different areas, were misleading. In each of these cases the area highlighted on the maps to indicate the danger zone for civilians covered a much smaller area than the 500-metre radius that the Israeli military had advised civilians was the minimum distance civilians should evacuate.

    The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings to residents of around 118 towns and villages in south Lebanon between 1 -7 October, following the start of its ground invasion. These warnings, which included towns that were more than 35 km from the border with Israel and outside the UN-declared buffer zone, do not make south Lebanon a free-fire zone. 

    To be effective, warnings must give clear instructions for civilians on moving away from military objectives that are going to be targeted. While warnings can, in some circumstances, be general in character, the definition of what constitutes general does not include overly broad warnings that ask civilians to evacuate entire areas (see for instance the 1987 Commentary on Protocol I).  

    Israel’s warnings in southern Lebanon covered large geographical areas, raising concerns as to whether they were designed instead to trigger mass relocation. Principle 5 of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement states that, in all circumstances, authorities and international actors must abide by their obligations under international law so as “to prevent and avoid conditions that might lead to displacement of persons”.

    Methodology

    Israel’s Operation Northern Arrows began on 23 September with intense aerial bombardment of several areas across Lebanon, including the south, the Bekaa valley and Dahieh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. According to the Lebanese government, the number of displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes has risen to 1.2 million – the vast majority in the last three weeks alone.

    Amnesty International reviewed over a dozen evacuation warnings by the Israeli military and conducted interviews with 12 residents who fled Dahieh following the Israeli evacuation warnings on 27/28 September 2024, including al- Laylaki, Hay El Sellom, Hadi Nasrallah highway, and Burj al-Barajneh. The organization also interviewed three residents of villages in south Lebanon.

    Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab mapped the areas covered by Israel’s evacuation warnings to analyse the areas impacted by the strikes.

    In its analysis of these warnings, Amnesty International is not seeking at this time to determine whether Israel struck military objectives in their attacks, but rather to investigate whether or not the warnings that Israel issued were effective at protecting civilians and adhered to international law.

    Southern suburbs of Beirut: ‘This is not a warning, it’s torture’

    Starting at 11:06 pm on 27 September, the Israeli military began to issue evacuation warnings to residents of Dahieh.  In the first warning, the Israeli military instructed residents via X (formerly Twitter) to move 500 metres away from three buildings in the neighbourhoods of al-Laylaki and al-Hadath, both of which are densely populated areas, alleging residents there are “located near Hezbollah interests”. The order did not give a timeframe for evacuation. 

    The map published alongside this warning highlights an area around the buildings to indicate what was supposedly the 500-metre radius that residents should leave. However, the highlighted area in fact only covered approximately a 135-metre radius. While the map showed 30 buildings within the red circle, there are in fact 500 buildings within the 500-metre radius.

    Caption: A map published by the Israeli military on X misrepresents the area affected by an evacuation warning. The text over the red dotted line reads “500 metres” in Arabic, but the line covers approximately 135 metres.  

    Caption: Satellite imagery shows the al-Laylaki neighborhood, in southern Beirut. The red circle shows the area highlighted by the Israeli military on the map published on social media. The wider area shows the full 500 metre radius impacted by the evacuation warning.

    The same is true for the evacuation warnings in the al-Hadath neighbourhood: the areas highlighted on the maps warning residents to stay 500 metres away from the Sheet building and the Al-Salam Complex, showed only approximately 125m and 100m radiuses respectively.

    Caption: Satellite imagery shows the al-Hadath neighbourhood, in southern Beirut. The red circles show the area highlighted in the map published by the Israeli military on social media. The wider circles show the area impacted by the evacuation warning.

    At around 12:36am, just an hour and a half later, local media reported an Israeli strike on al-Laylaki. Over the next hour and 10 minutes, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported 11 further strikes on Dahieh, including on buildings and areas that had not received an evacuation warning.

    Fatima, a journalist who lives in al-Laylaki, told Amnesty International that her brother called her at around 11:15pm while she was covering news of the strike on Nasrallah, warning her to leave the area:

     “I jumped in the car and drove erratically… I arrived to al-Laylaki and found that everyone was acting as crazily as I was. If people could throw themselves off the balcony to leave faster [they would]. Screaming, running, cars honking, motorcycles, plastic bags…I quickly helped my parents down the stairs to my car, and I only took my cat with me… I currently have no belongings at all.”

    Fatima explained that Al-Laylaki is a crowded residential area that remained fully populated until that night because it is on the outskirts of Dahieh and residents did not expect it to be targeted.  

    Abir, who resides with her mother close to al-Laylaki, told Amnesty International that she could not immediately evacuate her house because her mother is older and sick, and needs to be carried down the stairs: “It was a night from hell. I laid my mother on the floor in the safest room, which is the old bathroom, we hid our heads with our arms [throughout the bombardment].”  They were only able to leave a few hours later after a friend helped carry her mother down from the sixth floor.

    It was a night from hell. I laid my mother on the floor in the safest room, which is the old bathroom, we hid our heads with our arms 

    Abir, whose mother is older and sick and needed to be carried down from the sixth floor to be evacuated

    At 3am on 28 September, the Israeli military issued another evacuation warning via X to residents in the neighbourhoods of Burj al-Barajneh and al-Hadath, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, instructing them to move 500 metres away from three other identified buildings. The warning did not state a timeframe for evacuation and maps of the affected areas were similarly misleading, highlighting areas much smaller than the indicated 500 metre radius.  

    Caption: Satellite imagery shows the Burj al-Barajneh and al-Hadath, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The red circles show the area highlighted in the map published by the Israeli military on social media. The wider circles show the actual area impacted by the evacuation warning.

    At 5:47 am, the National News Agency reported that Israeli strikes targeted al-Hadath and al-Laylaki as well as the Chouiefat and al-Kafaat neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which were not listed in the evacuation warning. Local media reported continued strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs throughout the day.

    Taghreed, a resident of Hay el-Sellom, said that she had not heard about the Israeli warning and took the decision to flee after the major attack that killed Hassan Nasrallah. “We were hiding and couldn’t reach the television. I don’t have social media so I don’t know what the Israelis said,” she told Amnesty International.

    Ahmad, a resident of Burj al-Barajneh, also said that he made the decision to leave Dahieh immediately after the strike that killed Nasrallah, as he lives with his elderly parents. “While we were still stuck on the road out of Dahieh, with all the ambulances trying to prioritize the wounded people, we heard about the warning on the radio in the van. I felt bitter. This is not a warning; it’s torture. It’s a sadistic game: ‘we will kill you and your family soon. Show us how you can escape’.”

    On 30 September 2024, the Israeli military issued a warning to evacuate from the surroundings of residential buildings in al-Laylaki, Haret Hreik, and Burj al-Barajneh. The Israeli military launched a series of strikes just 30 minutes later. Similarly, on 3 October 2024, at 10:51 pm, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the residents of Burj al-Barajneh, urging them to leave immediately. Local media reported a “heavy strike” minutes after the evacuation order was issued, and at least four strikes by 11:30 pm.

    Under international law, Hezbollah and other armed groups must, to the extent feasible, avoid locating military objectives, including fighters, ammunition, weapons, and military infrastructure, in or near densely populated areas. However, the presence of military objectives in populated areas does not absolve Israeli forces of their obligations under international humanitarian law to avoid indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks as well as to take all feasible precautions to spare all civilians, including civilians who fail to leave the area after an evacuation warning. Failure to provide effective advance warnings of attacks which may affect civilians, unless circumstances do not permit, and not taking all other feasible precautions to protect civilians, constitute violations of international humanitarian law.

    En masse evacuation warnings to residents of south Lebanon

    On 1 October, the Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings to residents of south Lebanon. The first, at 9:21am, instructed residents not to move vehicles south of the Litani River “until further notice,” alleging that Hezbollah is using “the civilian environment and the population as human shields.” 

    At 12:18 pm, the Israeli military instructed residents of over 25 towns across southern Lebanon to evacuate and move north of the Awwali River, some 58 km from the border with Israel and about 30km farther than the Litani River, which marks the UN buffer zone created after the 2006 war.

    On 2 October 2024, at 9:11 am and then at 11:15 am, the Israeli military  issued warnings for a further 24 towns and villages across southern Lebanon, telling residents to “save their lives and leave their homes immediately,” ordering them to move north of the Awwali River, and saying that any movement south could expose them to danger. The Israeli military issued a similar warning at 12:49 pm on 3 October for a further 25 towns and villages, at 9:11 am on 4 October for a further 35 villages, and at 12:58 pm on 7 October for 25 additional villages.

    None of the “orders” offered safe and effective evacuation, just instructing residents to leave “immediately”.

    Caption: A map showing the towns and villages impacted by evacuation warnings across southern Lebanon

    Amnesty International’s concerns about the warnings to civilians in south Lebanon are heightened by some statements from Israeli political and military leaders indicating that they considered Lebanese civilians and property to be legitimate targets.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said on 27 September 2024 there is “a missile in every kitchen, a rocket in every garage”. The Israeli Education Minister said on television on 21 September 2024 that there was no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon and that Lebanon “would be annihilated”. The Israeli Defense Minister has also previously warned in June 2024 that  Israel is capable of returning Lebanon “to the stone age”.

    “The massive loss of life in Lebanon in recent days raises fears that Israeli forces may be flouting their obligation to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians wherever they are, including through issuing effective warnings.  Having spent the last 12 months investigating Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, Amnesty International is extremely concerned that Israel may be seeking to replicate the approach it followed in Gaza, resulting in unprecedented civilian harm,” said Agnes Callamard.

    The south Lebanon warnings and the instructions that vehicles do not travel south of the Litani River also raise serious concerns over civilians’ access to essential supplies and services, including food, medication, healthcare and fuel.  

    The mukhtar of Rmeich, a village south of the Litani river close to the border with Israel, which did not receive an evacuation warning but is within the area in which Israel has said vehicles are prohibited from travelling, told Amnesty International that supplies in the town were rapidly dwindling. “The area is going to become destitute. How can we continue? It’s like they want to displace us,” he said.

    The conditions being created by Israel’s actions in south Lebanon risk forcibly displacing the majority of the civilian population there.

    One of the towns in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military warned must be evacuated is Ain Ebel, where the majority of residents are Christian and have no known affiliation with Hezbollah.

    Rakan Diab, an Ain Ebel resident, told Amnesty International that residents of the village were surprised when Ain Ebel was included in the Israeli military’s evacuation warning on X (formerly Twitter) on 1 October.  Shortly afterwards, the mayor of the village received a call from an individual purporting to be a member of the Israeli military warning residents to flee within around 45 minutes because there were weapons in the village.

    “People panicked… we needed to pack and leave immediately,” he said explaining how the majority fled to the nearby village of Rmeich and the Lebanese army and the Lebanese Red Cross facilitated safe passage for a convoy of around 100 cars from Rmeich to north of the Awwali River.

    “Amnesty International is calling on Israel’s allies, including the United States, to suspend all arms transfers and other forms of military assistance to Israel due to the significant risk that these weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law.  The organization is also calling for a suspension of all arms transfers to Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon,” said Agnès Callamard.

    Background

    Israel’s Operation Northern Arrows began on 23 September. During the first day, Israeli forces carried out at least 1,600 strikes in areas across Lebanon, killing more than 500 people and injuring over 1800 in the first 24 hours. Hezbollah also launched more than 200 rockets towards Israel that day, with around 10 people sustaining shrapnel or debris wounds.

    Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in ongoing cross-border hostilities since the group launched attacks into northern Israel following the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the occupied Gaza Strip in October 2023. 

    Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 7 October 2023 have killed at least 2083 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, and at least 400,000 have crossed the border to Syria.

    Many of Hezbollah’s rockets are unguided and cannot be aimed at a specific target. Firing inherently inaccurate rockets into areas where civilians are present are indiscriminate attacks, and thus violate international humanitarian law. Direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks which kill or injure civilians constitute war crimes.

    Since 8 October 2023, Hezbollah and other armed groups have launched thousands of missiles at northern Israel, killing 16 civilians. A further 12 civilians, all children, were killed on 27 July in an attack on Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. Around 63,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated since 8 October.

    In one Hezbollah attack, on 12 November 2023, an anti-tank missile hit a group of electricity company workers who were doing infrastructure work near Dovev. One worker was killed in the attack, and another lightly injured.  

    In another attack, on 9 July 2024, two civilians were killed when a missile hit their car while driving on highway 91 in the Occupied Golan Heights. In a statement released that day, Hezbollah took responsibility and said that it targeted the nearby Nafah military base in response to the assassination of one of its members. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Verizon donates $50,000 to Los Angeles Mission

    Source: Verizon

    Headline: Verizon donates $50,000 to Los Angeles Mission

    IRVINE, C.A. – In honor of World Mental Health Day, Verizon is proud to announce a $50,000 donation to Los Angeles Mission. This funding will enable the organization to expand its services and provide critical relief supplies to the unhoused community during severe weather events, such as the intense heat waves of summer and the frigid cold snaps of winter.

    This marks the second consecutive year that Verizon has supported Los Angeles Mission’s vital work providing seasonal weather disaster relief. Last year’s donation was instrumental in providing resources like clothing, food, emergency shelter, and inclement weather supplies to the vulnerable unhoused population across Los Angeles County. With this year’s donation, Verizon aims to continue that support, especially as extreme weather conditions increasingly pose a threat to the physical and mental well-being of unhoused individuals.

    “We are profoundly grateful to Verizon for their ongoing partnership in providing life-saving disaster relief to the most vulnerable among us,” said Pastor Troy Vaughn, President and CEO of Los Angeles Mission. “As we face both historic heat waves and the upcoming cold weather season in Los Angeles County and throughout California, many of our unhoused neighbors, veterans, and individuals fleeing domestic violence are left without safe refuge amid worsening weather extremes. This generous grant from Verizon will enable us to expand our capacity and secure vital supplies to protect more people during these severe weather events, ensuring they have access to shelter, safety, and hope in these trying times. We commend corporate partners like Verizon for standing by our side in moments of community crisis.”

    Verizon’s donation aligns with the significance of World Mental Health Day, emphasizing the connection between stable housing, mental health, and overall well-being. The organization recognizes that the unhoused population faces disproportionate risks, not only from the physical toll of harsh weather but also from the stress and trauma that accompanies housing instability. This funding will help alleviate some of those pressures by ensuring individuals have access to important resources when they need them most.

    “At Verizon, we believe that connecting with our community goes beyond technology—it’s about extending a hand to those in need. The Los Angeles Mission has been a beacon of hope for the unhoused population, providing essential services and support” said Steven Keller, Pacific Market President at Verizon. “On World Mental Health Day, we are humbled to contribute to their vital work, helping to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors.”

    Verizon’s continued support of local organizations like Los Angeles Mission underscores the company’s broader commitment to social responsibility and its mission to help bridge the gap for underserved communities through both corporate giving and volunteer efforts.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Energy experts appointed to deliver clean power 2030 mission

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Government appoints leading industry and academic experts to the Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission to help accelerate UK’s mission to decarbonise the electricity grid.

    • Eight energy and nature experts have been appointed to accelerate UK’s mission for clean power by 2030
    • the 8 commissioners have almost 200 years’ worth of experience across energy policy, environment, industry and academia
    • experts will form new Advisory Commission for Mission Control, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband attending their first meeting today

    Eight leading figures from across industry and academia have been appointed to help accelerate the government’s world leading target to deliver clean power by 2030.

    The Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission will support Chris Stark, Head of Mission Control, in developing a Clean Power 2030 system – providing expertise to deliver the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, expected later this year.

    The Action Plan will set out the path to decarbonise the electricity grid, helping protect billpayers from volatile gas prices and strengthening Britain’s energy security.

    The 8 commissioners come from across industry and academia with a wealth of expertise and experience to advise on specific aspects of developing a clean power system, including planning, infrastructure, nature, and supply chains.

    The full list of commissioners include:

    • Nick Winser: Over 30 years’ experience in the energy sector, including having been CEO of National Grid across UK and Europe, and President of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

    • Tim Pick: Over 25 years in the energy sector and is a passionate advocate for offshore wind having been the UK’s first Offshore Wind Champion.

    • Juliet Davenport: Founder of the Good Energy company and President of the Energy Institute. Juliet has been an innovator for over 20 years, working on ideas to fight climate change and transform the energy sector for the better.

    • Robert Gross: As well as being Director of the UK Energy Research Centre since 2020, Rob is Professor of Energy Policy and Technology at Imperial College.

    • Craig Bennett: Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trust and former CEO of Friends of the Earth, Craig has 20 years’ experience of designing and contributing to executive education and leadership programmes at numerous universities and business schools.

    • Jo Coleman: 35 years’ experience in the energy industry. Board member of several energy organisations, with a background in engineering and major project delivery in the oil and gas sector.

    • Lucy Yu: CEO and founder at Centre for Net Zero, Octopus Energy Group’s not-for-profit AI and data-driven research institute, which was set up to advance tech-driven energy systems that benefit humanity.

    • Dr Simon Harrison: A leading voice in public policy around the ways engineering can help with the energy transition and decarbonisation. Was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2023 – the highest accolade in the profession.

    The Energy Secretary chaired the first Advisory Commission meeting this afternoon, emphasising the importance of the new group for removing barriers and accelerating the energy system towards clean power by 2030.

    Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:

    The best way to take back control of our energy security and create highly skilled jobs is to speed up the rollout of renewables and transition towards clean homegrown power.

    The Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission, benefiting from decades of experience across industry and academia, under Chris Stark’s leadership, will have a laser-like focus on delivering our mission for clean power by 2030.

    Head of Mission Control Chris Stark said:

    The Clean Power by 2030 is a statement of our ambition. This mission will unlock good jobs and protect the consumer, and it is key to our energy security.

    We will work closely with our partners in industry to deliver this mission at pace – these are 8 leading figures in their field to drive that partnership.

    I’m looking forward to working with all 8 commissioners to unblock barriers, spot the opportunities, and deliver a clean power system by 2030.

    Updates to this page

    Published 10 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Microsoft expands AI capabilities to shape a healthier future

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Microsoft expands AI capabilities to shape a healthier future

    REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 10, 2024 — On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. is unveiling several Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare innovations that connect care experiences, enhance team collaboration, empower healthcare workers, and unlock clinical and operational insights.

    Through new healthcare AI models in Azure AI Studio, capabilities for healthcare data solutions in Microsoft Fabric, the healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio, and an AI-driven nursing workflow solution, Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is supporting healthcare organizations on every step of their journey toward shaping a healthier future.

    “We are at an inflection point where AI breakthroughs are fundamentally changing the way we work and live,” said Joe Petro, corporate vice president, Healthcare and Life Sciences Solutions and Platforms at Microsoft. “Across the broader healthcare and life sciences industry, these advancements are dramatically enhancing patient care and also rekindling the joy of practicing medicine for clinicians. Microsoft’s AI-powered solutions are helping lead these efforts by streamlining workflows, improving data integration, and utilizing AI to deliver better outcomes for healthcare professionals, researchers and scientists, payors, providers, medtech developers, and ultimately the patients they all serve.”

    Expanding the reach of AI beyond text: healthcare AI models in Azure AI Studio

    Microsoft is announcing the launch of healthcare AI models, a collection of cutting-edge multimodal medical imaging foundation models available in the Azure AI model catalog. Developed in collaboration with partners like Providence and Paige.ai, these models enable healthcare organizations to integrate and analyze diverse data types — ranging from medical imaging to genomics and clinical records. By using these advanced models as a foundation, healthcare organizations can rapidly build, fine-tune and deploy AI solutions tailored to their specific needs, all while minimizing the extensive compute and data requirements typically associated with building multimodal models from scratch.

    “The development of foundational AI models in pathology and medical imaging is expected to drive significant advancements in cancer research and diagnostics,” said Carlo Bifulco, MD, chief medical officer of Providence Genomics and a co-author of the Prov-GigaPath study. “These models can complement human expertise by providing insights beyond traditional visual interpretation and, as we move toward a more integrated, multimodal approach, will reshape the future of medicine.”

    Harnessing the power of healthcare data with Microsoft Fabric

    Historically, healthcare data has been difficult to access due to its unstructured nature and the limitations of existing data management systems. These challenges have limited organizations’ ability to gain a comprehensive view of patient experiences and access valuable insights.

    With the general availability of healthcare data solutions in Microsoft Fabric, healthcare organizations can overcome these barriers by reshaping how users access, manage and act on data with a single, unified AI-powered platform. Additionally, healthcare security application templates for Microsoft Purview, an innovative suite of features designed to help govern healthcare data, are available in public preview. We’re also launching new capabilities in public preview within healthcare data solutions in Microsoft Fabric including:

    • Conversational data integration: Send conversational data, such as patient conversations, from DAX Copilot to the Fabric platform. By sending DAX Copilot audio files, transcripts and draft clinical notes to Fabric, customers and partners can leverage various native tools in Azure and Fabric to analyze this data and/or combine it with other data to generate comprehensive insights.
    • Social determinants of health (SDOH) public dataset transformation: Ingest, persist, harmonize and consume SDOH national and international public datasets to enable healthcare organizations to identify risks and health-related social needs to help create equitable healthcare for all patients and communities.
    • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) claim and claim line feed (CCLF) data ingestion: Streamline the ingestion of claims data and harmonize with clinical, imaging and SDOH data to unlock actionable insights on patients and populations.
    • Care management analytics: Leverage unified healthcare data and care management analytical templates to enhance patient care by identifying high-risk individuals, optimizing treatment plans and improving care coordination.
    • Data discovery and cohorting: Utilize an integrated workflow that allows healthcare organizations to create, manage, analyze and share patient cohorts.

    Building a safe and responsible healthcare agent

    Healthcare organizations face numerous challenges, including workforce shortages, rising costs and increasing patient care demands. Generative AI offers a potential solution to these challenges by automating administrative tasks, analyzing vast amounts of data for actionable insights and assisting healthcare professionals in decision-making.

    To address this, Microsoft is announcing the public preview of healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio to build Copilot agents for appointment scheduling, clinical trial matching, patient triaging and more. Organizations can leverage the healthcare agent service to help create connected patient experiences, improve clinical workflows, and empower healthcare professionals while helping organizations meet industry expectations with Microsoft Copilot Studio. Early adopters, like Cleveland Clinic, which provided feedback to help optimize the solution for a healthcare setting, are already using these innovations to enhance patient experiences and improve operational efficiency.

    Enhancing nursing workflows with AI: nursing early outcomes

    With the World Health Organization (WHO)1 predicting a shortage of 4.5 million nurses by 2030, the urgency to deliver technology to support the nursing profession is felt more than ever.

    Last month at Epic’s UGM, we announced the next focus area for our collaboration in Epic Workshop. Today, we’re sharing more about how we’re actively collaborating with several leading healthcare organizations — including Advocate Health, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Duke Health, Intermountain Health Saint Joseph Hospital, Mercy, Northwestern Medicine, Stanford Health Care, and Tampa General Hospital — to build an AI solution using ambient technology that addresses nursing documentation by drafting flowsheets for review, allowing nurses to focus less on paperwork and more on their patients. This innovation expands on the company’s long-standing strategic collaboration and joint development initiatives with Epic.

    “AI is transforming nursing workflows by streamlining administrative tasks, allowing nurses to focus more on patient care,” said Corey Miller, vice president of R&D at Epic. “Together with Microsoft, we’re using AI-powered ambient voice technology to populate patient assessments. Nurses using the tool are already sharing positive feedback on how it enhances personalized patient interactions.”

    “For nurses, the integration of AI-driven solutions into our workflows is a game changer,” said Terry McDonnell, DNP, ANCP-BC, senior vice president and chief nurse executive, Duke University Health System, vice dean for Clinical Affairs, Duke University School of Nursing, Duke Health. “It allows us to focus more on patient care rather than the administrative burden of documentation. By automating tedious tasks, Microsoft’s ambient AI solution helps alleviate burnout and gives us more time to connect with our patients at the bedside, where we truly make a difference.”

    Empowering responsible AI practices across healthcare

    In line with Microsoft’s dedication to responsible AI, these new solutions adhere to the company’s AI principles established in 2018 to help guide AI development and use. Microsoft remains committed to developing responsible AI by design, ensuring that these technologies positively impact both the healthcare ecosystem and broader society. In practice this means properly building, testing and monitoring systems to avoid undesirable behaviors, such as harmful content, bias, misuse and other unintended risks. Over the years, we have made significant investments in building out the necessary governance structure, policies, tools and processes to uphold these principles and build and deploy AI safely. At Microsoft, we are committed to sharing our learnings on this journey of upholding our Responsible AI principles with our customers. We use our own best practices and learnings to provide people and organizations with capabilities and tools to build AI applications that share the same high standards we strive for.

    For more information on Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare and the new data and AI solutions and their impact, visit https://news.microsoft.com/hlth-2024, or visit Microsoft at booth #4004 at HLTH 2024.

    Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

    1Nursing and midwifery, World Health Organization, 2024

    For more information, press only:

    Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

    Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit Microsoft Source at https://news.microsoft.com/source. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

    This press release includes key announcements on AI-driven healthcare innovations by Microsoft and includes a quote emphasizing AI’s transformative role in healthcare.

    Epic is a registered trademark of Epic Systems Corp.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Education under siege: How cybercriminals target our schools​​

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Education under siege: How cybercriminals target our schools​​

    Introduction | Security snapshot | Threat briefing
    Defending against attacks | Expert profile 

    Education is essentially an “industry of industries,” with K-12 and higher education enterprises handling data that could include health records, financial data, and other regulated information. At the same time, their facilities can host payment processing systems, networks that are used as internet service providers (ISPs), and other diverse infrastructure. The cyberthreats that Microsoft observes across different industries tend to be compounded in education, and threat actors have realized that this sector is inherently vulnerable. With an average of 2,507 cyberattack attempts per week, universities are prime targets for malware, phishing, and IoT vulnerabilities.¹ 

    Security staffing and IT asset ownership also affect education organizations’ cyber risks. School and university systems, like many enterprises, often face a shortage of IT resources and operate a mix of both modern and legacy IT systems. Microsoft observes that in the United States, students and faculty are more likely to use personal devices in education compared to Europe, for example. Regardless of ownership however, in these and other regions, busy users do not always have a security mindset. 

    This edition of Cyber Signals delves into the cybersecurity challenges facing classrooms and campuses, highlighting the critical need for robust defenses and proactive measures. From personal devices to virtual classes and research stored in the cloud, the digital footprint of school districts, colleges, and universities has multiplied exponentially.  

    We are all defenders. 

    A uniquely valuable and vulnerable environment 

    The education sector’s user base is very different from a typical large commercial enterprise. In the K-12 environment, users include students as young as six years old. Just like any public or private sector organization, there is a wide swath of employees in school districts and at universities including administration, athletics, health services, janitorial, food service professionals, and others. Multiple activities, announcements, information resources, open email systems, and students create a highly fluid environment for cyberthreats.

    Virtual and remote learning have also extended education applications into households and offices. Personal and multiuser devices are ubiquitous and often unmanaged—and students are not always cognizant about cybersecurity or what they allow their devices to access.

    Education is also on the front lines confronting how adversaries test their tools and their techniques. According to data from Microsoft Threat Intelligence, the education sector is the third-most targeted industry, with the United States seeing the greatest cyberthreat activity.

    Cyberthreats to education are not only a concern in the United States. According to the United Kingdom’s Department of Science Innovation and Technology 2024 Cybersecurity Breaches Survey, 43% of higher education institutions in the UK reported experiencing a breach or cyberattack at least weekly.² 

    QR codes provide an easily disguised surface for phishing cyberattacks

    Today, quick response (QR) codes are quite popular—leading to increased risks of phishing cyberattacks designed to gain access to systems and data. Images in emails, flyers offering information about campus and school events, parking passes, financial aid forms, and other official communications all frequently contain QR codes. Physical and virtual education spaces might be the most “flyer friendly” and QR code-intensive environments anywhere, given how big a role handouts, physical and digital bulletin boards, and other casual correspondence help students navigate a mix of curriculum, institutional, and social correspondence. This creates an attractive backdrop for malicious actors to target users who are trying to save time with a quick image scan. 

    Recently the United States Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert on the rising threat of malicious QR codes being used to steal login credentials or deliver malware.³

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 telemetry shows that approximately more than 15,000 messages with malicious QR codes are targeted toward the educational sector daily—including phishing, spam, and malware. 

    Legitimate software tools can be used to quickly generate QR codes with embedded links to be sent in email or posted physically as part of a cyberattack. And those images are hard for traditional email security solutions to scan, making it even more important for faculty and students to use devices and browsers with modern web defenses. 

    Targeted users in the education sector may use personal devices without endpoint security. QR codes essentially enable the threat actor to pivot to these devices. QR code phishing (since its purpose is to target mobile devices) is compelling evidence of mobile devices being used as an attack vector into enterprises—such as personal accounts and bank accounts—and the need for mobile device protection and visibility. Microsoft has significantly disrupted QR code phishing attacks. This shift in tactics is evident in the substantial decrease in daily phishing emails intercepted by our system, dropping from 3 million in December 2023 to just 179,000 by March 2024. 

    Source: Microsoft incident response engagements.

    Universities present their own unique challenges. Much of university culture is based on collaboration and sharing to drive research and innovation. Professors, researchers, and other faculty operate under the notion that technology, science—simply knowledge itself—should be shared widely. If someone appearing as a student, peer, or similar party reaches out, they’re often willing to discuss potentially sensitive topics without scrutinizing the source. 

    University operations also span multiple industries. University presidents are effectively CEOs of healthcare organizations, housing providers, and large financial organizations—the industry of industries factor, again. Therefore, top leaders can can be prime targets for anyone attacking those sectors.

    The combination of value and vulnerability found in education systems has attracted the attention of a spectrum of cyberattackers—from malware criminals employing new techniques to nation-state threat actors engaging in old-school spy craft.  

    Microsoft continually monitors threat actors and threat vectors worldwide. Here are some key issues we’re seeing for education systems. 

    Email systems in schools offer wide spaces for compromise 

    The naturally open environment at most universities forces them to be more relaxed in their email hygiene. They have a lot of emails amounting to noise in the system, but are often operationally limited in where and how they can place controls, because of how open they need to be for alumni, donors, external user collaboration, and many other use cases.  

    Education institutions tend to share a lot of announcements in email. They share informational diagrams around local events and school resources. They commonly allow external mailers from mass mailing systems to share into their environments. This combination of openness and lack of controls creates a fertile ground for cyberattacks.

    AI is increasing the premium on visibility and control  

    Cyberattackers recognizing higher education’s focus on building and sharing can survey all visible access points, seeking entry into AI-enabled systems or privileged information on how these systems operate. If on-premises and cloud-based foundations of AI systems and data are not secured with proper identity and access controls, AI systems become vulnerable. Just as education institutions adapted to cloud services, mobile devices and hybrid learning—which introduced new waves of identities and privileges to govern, devices to manage, and networks to segment—they must also adapt to the cyber risks of AI by scaling these timeless visibility and control imperatives.

    Nation-state actors are after valuable IP and high-level connections 

    Universities handling federally funded research, or working closely with defense, technology, and other industry partners in the private sector, have long recognized the risk of espionage. Decades ago, universities focused on telltale physical signs of spying. They knew to look for people showing up on campus taking pictures or trying to get access to laboratories. Those are still risks, but today the dynamics of digital identity and social engineering have greatly expanded the spy craft toolkit. 

    Universities are often epicenters of highly sensitive intellectual property. They may be conducting breakthrough research. They may be working on high-value projects in aerospace, engineering, nuclear science, or other sensitive topics in partnership with multiple government agencies.  

    For cyberattackers, it can be easier to first compromise somebody in the education sector who has ties to the defense sector and then use that access to more convincingly phish a higher value target.  

    Universities also have experts in foreign policy, science, technology, and other valuable disciplines, who may willingly offer intelligence, if deceived in social-engineering cyberattacks employing false or stolen identities of peers and others who appear to be in individuals’ networks or among trusted contacts. Apart from holding valuable intelligence themselves, compromised accounts of university employees can become springboards into further campaigns against wider government and industry targets.

    Nation-state actors targeting education 

    Peach Sandstorm

    Peach Sandstorm has used password spray attacks against the education sector to gain access to infrastructure used in those industries, and Microsoft has also observed the organization using social engineering against targets in higher education.  

    Mint Sandstorm 

    Microsoft has observed a subset of this Iranian attack group targeting high-profile experts working on Middle Eastern affairs at universities and research organizations. These sophisticated phishing attacks used social engineering to compel targets to download malicious files including a new, custom backdoor called MediaPl. 

    Mabna Institute  

    In 2023, the Iranian Mabna Institute conducted intrusions into the computing systems of at least 144 United States universities and 176 universities in 21 other countries.  

    The stolen login credentials were used for the benefit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and were also sold within Iran through the web. Stolen credentials belonging to university professors were used to directly access university library systems. 

    Emerald Sleet

    This North Korean group primarily targets experts in East Asian policy or North and South Korean relations. In some cases, the same academics have been targeted by Emerald Sleet for nearly a decade.  

    Emerald Sleet uses AI to write malicious scripts and content for social engineering, but these attacks aren’t always about delivering malware. There’s also an evolving trend where they simply ask experts for policy insight that could be used to manipulate negotiations, trade agreements, or sanctions. 

    Moonstone Sleet 

    Moonstone Sleet is another North Korean actor that has been taking novel approaches like creating fake companies to forge business relationships with educational institutions or a particular faculty member or student.  

    One of the most prominent attacks from Moonstone Sleet involved creating a fake tank-themed game used to target individuals at educational institutions, with a goal to deploy malware and exfiltrate data. 

    Storm-1877  

    This actor largely engages in cryptocurrency theft using a custom malware family that they deploy through various means. The ultimate goal of this malware is to steal crypto wallet addresses and login credentials for crypto platforms.  

    Students are often the target for these attacks, which largely start on social media. Storm-1877 targets students because they may not be as aware of digital threats as professionals in industry. 

    A new security curriculum 

    Due to education budget and talent constraints and the inherent openness of its environment, solving education security is more than a technology problem. Security posture management and prioritizing security measures can be a costly and challenging endeavor for these institutions—but there is a lot that school systems can do to protect themselves.  

    Maintaining and scaling core cyberhygiene will be key to securing school systems. Building awareness of security risks and good practices at all levels—students, faculty, administrators, IT staff, campus staff, and more—can help create a safer environment.  

    For IT and security professionals in the education sector, doing the basics and hardening the overall security posture is a good first step. From there, centralizing the technology stack can help facilitate better monitoring of logging and activity to gain a clearer picture into the overall security posture and any vulnerabilities. 

    Oregon State University 

    Oregon State University (OSU), an R1 research-focused university, places a high priority on safeguarding its research to maintain its reputation. In 2021, it experienced an extensive cybersecurity incident unlike anything before. The cyberattack revealed gaps in OSU’s security operations.

    “The types of threats that we’re seeing, the types of events that are occurring in higher education, are much more aggressive by cyber adversaries.”

    —David McMorries, Chief Information Security Officer at Oregon State University

    In response to this incident, OSU created its Security Operations Center (SOC), which has become the centerpiece of the university’s security effort. AI has also helped automate capabilities and helped its analysts, who are college students, learn how to quickly write code—such as threat hunting with more advanced hunting queries. 

    Arizona Department of Education 

    A focus on Zero Trust and closed systems is an area that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) takes further than the state requirements. It blocks all traffic from outside the United States from its Microsoft 365 environment, Azure, and its local datacenter.

    “I don’t allow anything exposed to the internet on my lower dev environments, and even with the production environments, we take extra care to make sure that we use a network security group to protect the app services.”

    —Chris Henry, Infrastructure Manager at the Arizona Department of Education 

    Follow these recommendations:  

    • The best defense against QR code attacks is to be aware and pay attention. Pause, inspect the code’s URL before opening it, and don’t open QR codes from unexpected sources, especially if the message uses urgent language or contains errors. 
    • Consider implementing “protective domain name service,” a free tool that helps prevent ransomware and other cyberattacks by blocking computer systems from connecting to harmful websites. Prevent password spray attacks with a stringent password and deploy multifactor authentication.  
    • Educate students and staff about their security hygiene, and encourage them to use multifactor authentication or passwordless protections. Studies have shown that an account is more than 99.9% less likely to be compromised when using multifactor authentication.   

    Corey Lee has always had an interest in solving puzzles and crimes. He started his college career at Penn State University in criminal justice, but soon realized his passion for digital forensics after taking a course about investigating a desktop computer break-in.  

    After completing his degree in security and risk analysis, Corey came to Microsoft focused on gaining cross-industry experience. He’s worked on securing everything from federal, state, and local agencies to commercial enterprises, but today he focuses on the education sector.  

    After spending time working across industries, Corey sees education through a different lens—the significantly unique industry of industries. The dynamics at play inside the education sector include academic institutions, financial services, critical infrastructure like hospitals and transportation, and partnerships with government agencies. According to Corey, working in such a broad field allows him to leverage skillsets from multiple industries to address specific problems across the landscape. 

    The fact that education could also be called underserved from a cybersecurity standpoint is another compelling challenge, and part of Corey’s personal mission. The education industry needs cybersecurity experts to elevate the priority of protecting school systems. Corey works across the public and industry dialogue, skilling and readiness programs, incident response, and overall defense to protect not just the infrastructure of education, but students, parents, teachers, and staff. 

    Today, Corey is focused reimagining student security operations centers, including how to inject AI into the equation and bring modern technology and training to the table. By growing the cybersecurity work force in education and giving them new tools, he’s working to elevate security in the sector in a way that’s commensurate with how critical the industry is for the future. 

    Next steps with Microsoft Security

    To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

    ¹The Institutional Impacts of a Cyberattack, University of Florida Information Technology. January 18, 2024.

    ²Cyber security breaches survey 2024: education institutions annex, The United Kingdom Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. April 9, 2024

    ³Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to steal your information, Federal Trade Commission (Alvaro Puig), December 6, 2023.

    Methodology: Snapshot and cover stat data represent telemetry from Microsoft Defender for Office 365 showing how a QR code phishing attack was disrupted by image detection technology and how Security Operations teams can respond to this threat. Platforms like Microsoft Entra provided anonymized data on threat activity, such as malicious email accounts, phishing emails, and attacker movement within networks. Additional insights are from the 78 trillion daily security signals processed by Microsoft each day, including the cloud, endpoints, the intelligent edge, and telemetry from Microsoft platforms and services including Microsoft Defender. Microsoft categorizes threat actors into five key groups: influence operations; groups in development; and nation-state, financially motivated, and private sector offensive actors. The new threat actors naming taxonomy aligns with the theme of weather.  

    © 2024 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Cyber Signals is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. This document is provided “as is.” Information and views expressed in this document, including URL and other Internet website references, may change without notice. You bear the risk of using it. This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any Microsoft product. 

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Neurodiversity Workshops to be Delivered at No Cost to Corporate America through UConn and Wells Fargo Collaboration

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Wells Fargo has partnered with the University of Connecticut’s Center for Neurodiversity & Employment Innovation to introduce free neurodiversity workshops for corporate America. The new workshops, an academic and corporate collaboration, aim to provide instruction to key leaders from Fortune 500 companies to help design neurodiversity initiatives end-to-end.

    The full-day workshops are part of a larger $3.75 million grant from Wells Fargo to create the Wells Fargo Center for Neurodiversity and Inclusive Employment at UConn. There are three components to the grant: 1) Providing neurodiversity education and training; 2) funding groundbreaking academic research study to capture much-needed metrics about the business outcomes of neurodiversity programs and to create standards for measuring success in this arena; and 3) working with universities, non-profits, and vocational rehab agencies nationwide to bring efficiency, programming, and education to their regions and better connect job seekers and inclusive employers within their local communities.

    Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in the ways people think, behave, and communicate. Neurodivergence is when that variation falls outside of what is typical, often creating barriers to success in finding and keeping meaningful employment. Neurodivergent conditions commonly include autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, and other differences.

    Only about half of autistic college graduates are fully employed compared to their peers, according to Stephen DeStefani, the Wells Fargo team’s program executive who has led the initiative to partner with UConn.

    “Partnering with Wells Fargo’s team has been amazing,” says Judy Reilly, Executive Director of UConn’s Center for Neurodiversity and Employment Innovation. “Wells Fargo’s willingness to share their real-world industry expertise to create—and deliver at no cost—education for corporate America that’s grounded in academic and research excellence is unheard of in this field.”

    “This partnership enables UConn to blend academic instructional design and research with real-world industry application and expertise to create solutions for corporate America,” Reilly says.

    “The workshops further the Center’s mission to create inclusive workplaces by increasing employer awareness and understanding of the value of neurodivergent talent,” says Anne D’Alleva, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at UConn. “This is a great example of how UConn’s research provides novel approaches to solve real-world problems in Connecticut and nationwide.”

    “Since we launched our Neurodiversity program in 2020, we’ve experienced first-hand the significant impact these highly skilled individuals can have on the nation’s largest organizations,” said Kristy Fercho, head of Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion at Wells Fargo. “With continued underemployment of neurodivergent talent, we understand our responsibility to work with our corporate partners to collectively educate and bring awareness to this extraordinarily valuable and untapped talent pool.”

    Job seekers and organizations can learn more about the new workshops and programming at https://neurodiversity-employment.org or neurodiversity.employment@uconn.edu.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden Joins Legislation to Build and Renovate Homes for Working Families

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
    October 10, 2024
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he is cosponsoring legislation that would provide tax credits to generate incentives for new investments and additional resources for single-family home construction and renovations for working families in Oregon and nationwide.
    Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., who led the New Homes Tax Credit Act, released a report on housing supply in America, which found that underbuilding, restrictive zoning policies, and home financing hurdles have caused the supply of starter homes to shrink and prices to rise. High interest rates and mangled supply chains have also contributed to increased home prices. The legislation would address the lack of housing inventory for individuals and families whose incomes are up to 120 percent of the area median income, particularly in areas where middle-income families have historically been priced out. 
    “Democrats are focused on attacking the cost of living, and with rents and home prices climbing every year, the key to solving our housing crisis is to build, build, build. That’s what this bill is all about,” said Wyden. “The housing crisis is no longer just about big cities like Portland, it’s all over Oregon and the entire country – urban centers, suburban communities, even a lot of rural areas. Congress needs to look at every available solution that’ll get more housing built so that families don’t have to break the bank to pay the rent every month.”
    The New Homes Tax Credit would be administered under the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. That fund certifies Housing Development Entities, which can be Community Development Financial Institutions, government and quasi-governmental entities, or non-profits. Following certification, Housing Development Entities will use the capital raised from exchanging their tax credits with investors to provide funds for construction companies that build or renovate single-family homes. 
    Along with Wyden, The New Homes Tax Credit Act is cosponsored by Senators Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
    The legislation is supported by the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Home Builders, National Association of Realtors, Housing New Mexico, Homewise, Yes Housing, Inc., and Strong Towns Albuquerque. 
    The text of the bill is here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Press release: Ministerial Appointments: 10 October 2024

    Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

    The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Poppy Gustafsson OBE as Minister of State (Minister for Investment) jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury.

    The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Poppy Gustafsson OBE as Minister of State (Minister for Investment) jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury.

    His Majesty has also been pleased to signify His intention of conferring a Peerage of the United Kingdom for Life on Poppy Gustafsson OBE.

    Updates to this page

    Published 10 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: The Board of Directors of the Tourism.RF Corporation has adopted the master plan for the Novaya Anapa resort

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the board of directors of JSC Corporation “Tourism.RF”

    October 10, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the board of directors of JSC Corporation “Tourism.RF”

    October 10, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the board of directors of JSC Corporation “Tourism.RF”

    October 10, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the board of directors of JSC Corporation “Tourism.RF”

    October 10, 2024

    Previous news Next news

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the board of directors of JSC Corporation “Tourism.RF”

    Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the board of directors of JSC Corporation Tourism.RF. At the meeting, the participants reviewed and adopted a master plan for the development of the tourist territory Novaya Anapa in Krasnodar Krai. The launch of the first stage of infrastructure facilities is scheduled for 2030.

    The meeting was attended by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov, the Minister of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities Irek Faizullin, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Vakhrukov, the Deputy Minister of Finance Pavel Kadochnikov, the General Director of Tourism.RF Sergey Sukhanov, the General Director of the ANO Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects Svetlana Chupsheva, the Deputy Governor of Krasnodar Krai Alexander Ruppel and others.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko recalled that in March of this year the project of the resort “New Anapa” was presented to the President by the Governor of Krasnodar Krai Veniamin Kondratyev and the head of state supported it.

    “The project will be implemented on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin and will become part of the federal project “Five Seas and Lake Baikal” of the new national project “Tourism and Hospitality”. In November last year, an open all-Russian architectural competition with international participation for the development of the tourist territory “New Anapa” was held. The competition became a platform for joint work of experts, government representatives and potential investors. More than 60 applications from 11 countries were submitted. The original architectural solutions of the winner and finalists of the competition became the basis for the formation of the external appearance of the resort and were taken into account when developing the master plan,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the master plan for “New Anapa” was developed by the corporation over the course of a year and was approved by the coordinating council, which included leading Russian experts in urban development, architecture, ecology, representatives of interested federal and regional authorities, including the administration of Krasnodar Krai and the resort city of Anapa.

    “The project of the family resort “New Anapa” provides for the construction of more than 15 thousand rooms of categories from three to five stars. 100 investment lots have been formed for investors: 69 lots of collective accommodation facilities, 31 lots of tourist and service infrastructure. The facilities will be introduced in stages until 2034,” said Sergey Sukhanov, General Director of “Tourism.RF”.

    The investment volume is estimated at 457.9 billion rubles, of which 148.9 billion rubles is provisional infrastructure, 309 billion rubles is tourist infrastructure created by private investors.

    The master plan provides for the creation of a thematic aqua complex and amusement park, health and balneological centers, schools of water and wind sports, a congress and exhibition center, a phygital center and other modern infrastructure facilities on the resort territory. It also provides for the construction of a multi-level embankment, the arrangement of a large number of recreational areas, squares and parks.

    The master plan includes solutions to issues of supporting and transport infrastructure, such as the reconstruction and expansion of the flat structures of the Vityazevo airport, the construction of access and internal roads to the resort, electricity, gas, water supply and sanitation networks, the creation of sports, recreational, health, educational and event centers.

    In implementing the project, it is planned to use government support measures from the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Construction with the assistance of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

    The next stage of work on the project should be the joint development with the region of documentation on the planning of the territory of the future resort.

    The all-Russian beach family resort “New Anapa” will be located near the village of Blagoveshchenskaya, 36 km from Anapa and 24 km from the international airport Anapa (Vityazevo) named after V.K. The resort will be built on an area of 940 hectares, along the sand spit between the Black Sea and picturesque estuaries.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://government.ru/nevs/52963/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Ministerial Appointments: 10 October 2024

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Poppy Gustafsson OBE as Minister of State (Minister for Investment) jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury.

    The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Poppy Gustafsson OBE as Minister of State (Minister for Investment) jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury.

    His Majesty has also been pleased to signify His intention of conferring a Peerage of the United Kingdom for Life on Poppy Gustafsson OBE.

    Updates to this page

    Published 10 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: IAM Brings ‘Be More Than a Bystander’ Training to Local 99 Finning Members in Canada

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    IAM Women’s and Young Workers Director Julie Frietchen recently traveled to Alberta, Canada to conduct a training on Ending Violence Association’s Be More Than Bystander program for IAM Local 99 members and management at Finning, a tool and machine rental company, in Fort McMurray.

    In January 2023, the IAM became the first labor group in the United States to be trained in the Be More Than a Bystander program when 19 male IAM staff members attended a three-day train-the-trainer course at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center.

    Now, Frietchen is spreading the program across the IAM, most recently visiting IAM members at Finning Canada to teach two sessions, each with over 30 attendees. IAM District 14 Directing Business Representative Kyle Franzon and Business Representative Steve Luba welcomed Frietchen and attended the training as well.

    “I just love this program and I am so happy to see its success in our union,” said Frietchen. “It’s one of the best harassment modules I have come across; it really connects the dots on how it’s a safety issue for everyone.”

    Finning’s Fort McMurray site manager asked Frietchen to conduct the training for all employees after hearing about it from an IAM steward who had attended the class at the IAM’s William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center, where Frietchen is based.

    Frietchen also took advantage of the opportunity to visit Finning’s other IAM-represented facility in Fort McKay and said she was thrilled to experience the workplace of Finning IAM members whom she’s built relationships with through the IAM’s educational programs.

    “This was the first time I facilitated the training in Canada and I hope there is more to come,” said Frietchen.

    “The ‘Be More Than A Bystander’ program, which was developed in British Columbia, has had unparalleled success in guiding employees through gendered harassment intervention,” said IAM Canada General Vice President David Chartrand. “Our union was the first union to adopt the program, and we will proudly team up with any employer to help IAM members and anyone else learn how to be more than a bystander when it comes to discrimination, especially in our workplaces.”

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  • MIL-OSI USA: Together We are Unstoppable: IAM Leadership Gives Boost to Local 774 Textron Strike Lines

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    In a show of solidarity, IAM International President Brian Bryant visited the picket lines of Local 774, currently on strike against Textron. This demonstration of support highlights the union’s commitment to standing by its members during labor disputes. 

    Also joining the International President was Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin, General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes; Resident General Vice President Jody Bennett; Chief of Staff to the International President Vinny Addeo; Southern Territory Chief of Staff Reggie Dixon; and Special Assistant to the General Secretary-Treasurer Bryan Pinette.

    Local 774 has been on strike due to ongoing negotiations for better wages, healthcare, and other conditions of employment. The members of Local 774, who primarily work in aerospace and defense manufacturing, have expressed their frustrations with Textron’s proposals, which they feel do not adequately address their needs – by rejecting their offer and hitting the streets.

    During his visit, the IAM International President addressed the strikers, emphasizing the importance of remaining united. He reinforced that the fight for fair treatment and respect is a shared struggle among all union members nationwide. 

    WATCH: National union president shows support for Textron Aviation machinists on strike

    “Members all across the country, just like here in Wichita, have been pushed to their limits with corporate greed and insecurities,” said Bryant. “They have had enough and are willing to stay out here as long as needed until the company addresses their issues.”

    The strike has drawn attention from other unions, community members, and local leaders, highlighting the broader implications of labor rights in the manufacturing sector. The IAM’s support signals a unified front, encouraging the workers of Local 774 to continue their efforts to fight until a fair agreement is reached.

    “Our members here at Local 774 are standing for an agreement that they can raise their families on,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “Our members will remain strong to secure those hard-earned wages, a solid healthcare package, and an essential retirement.”

    As the strike progresses, the solidarity shown by the IAM leadership is expected to bolster the resolve of Local 774 members, reminding them that they are not alone in their fight for justice and equity in the workplace.

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    WE STAND WITH IAM Local Lodge 774 MEMBERS AT TEXTRON!

    IAM Leadership Stands with Striking Textron Workers In Wichita

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  • MIL-OSI USA: SEC Charges Rimar Capital Entities and Owner Itai Liptz for Defrauding Investors by Making False and Misleading Statements About Use of Artificial Intelligence

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    Rimar Capital USA, Inc. Board Member Clifford Boro also Charged

    The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Rimar Capital USA, Inc. (Rimar USA), Rimar Capital, LLC (Rimar LLC), Itai Liptz, and Clifford Boro for making false and misleading statements about Rimar LLC’s purported use of artificial intelligence, or AI, to perform automated trading for client accounts and numerous other material misrepresentations. The parties agreed to settle the SEC’s charges and pay $310,000 in total civil penalties.

    According to the SEC order, Liptz, owner and CEO of Rimar LLC and Rimar USA, with the help of Boro, a Rimar USA board member, raised nearly $4 million from 45 investors for the development of Rimar LLC, an investment adviser that was falsely described as having an AI-driven platform for trading securities. The order found that the Rimar entities, Liptz, and Boro also made misrepresentations about Rimar LLC’s assets under management and its investment returns. In addition, the order found that Rimar LLC and Liptz obtained advisory clients using the misleading statements and that Liptz misappropriated company funds for personal expenses.

    “Through entities he controlled, Liptz lured investors and clients with multiple fabrications, including with buzzwords about the latest AI technology,” said Andrew Dean, Co-Chief of the SEC’s Asset Management Unit. “As AI becomes more popular in the investing space, we will continue to be vigilant and pursue those who lie about their firms’ technological capabilities and engage in ‘AI washing’.”

    Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Rimar USA, Rimar LLC, Liptz, and Boro consented to the entry of an order finding antifraud violations and to cease and desist from violating the charged provisions. Liptz consented to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $213,611, to pay a $250,000 civil penalty, and to be subject to an investment company prohibition and associational bar with the right to reapply in five years. Boro agreed to pay a $60,000 civil penalty. Rimar LLC consented to be censured.

    The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Alert about AI and investment fraud.

    The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Payam Danialypour under the supervision of Brent Wilner, Associate Regional Director of the Los Angeles Regional Office, and Mr. Dean. Roberto Grasso of the Division of Examinations, Office of Risk and Strategy assisted with the investigation.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Eight-time US Army Ten-Miler competitor teams up with rookie for big race

    Source: United States Army

    1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, pose for a photo in Vicenza, Italy, Oct. 3, 2024. Together they will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, pose for a photo in Vicenza, Italy, Sept. 24, 2024. Together they will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL

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    U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

    VICENZA, Italy – Under a moonlit sky, two lone soldiers run side-by-side, their breath rising in misty clouds through the crisp morning air. For most, two miles worth of 400-meter sprints would conclude the running portion of their workout. However, this duo trains with ten more miles in their future.

    The 40th annual U.S. Army Ten-Miler will take place on Oct. 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C., featuring teams and individuals from across the Army. This year, Capt. Jessica Knoll and 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo will represent Italy on the U.S. Army Europe and Africa team at the historic race.

    “Every time I go to D.C., I call it my ‘Army family reunion’ because I see at least 10 people I either ran with or know from other installations,” Knoll said. “My family goes every year to support me, especially when I’ve been stationed outside the U.S.”

    For Knoll, this year marks her eighth Army Ten-Miler, the fourth she has traveled to while based overseas.

    U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, trains at the Caserma Del Din track in Vicenza, Italy, Sept. 24, 2024. Together with U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, she will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL

    Knoll runs this year’s race as the commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade. The previous two years, she represented U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF). In 2015, she flew to D.C. all the way from South Korea as a member of the Eighth Army racing team.

    ”The Ten-Miler has been the one piece of continuity I’ve held onto throughout my Army career,” she said. “Wherever I’m stationed, I always call the Morale, Welfare and Recreation office asking about tryouts and local running events.”

    Whereas Knoll is a veteran to the event, her teammate will be running in his first-ever Army Ten-Miler.

    1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, pose for a photo in Vicenza, Italy, Oct. 3, 2024. Together they will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, pose for a photo in Vicenza, Italy, Sept. 24, 2024. Together they will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL

    Fiorillo is a platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, and views the Ten-Miler as more than just a competition. He sees the race as a stepping-stone toward broader aspirations.

    “I decided to run the Ten-Miler because I see it as an opportunity to expand my potential and bring me to the next level,” he said. “Racing against the Army’s best, including the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), has always been my dream. I want to reach my full human potential and see my limits.”

    Fiorillo says the race is also a test of leadership. He sees it as an opportunity to lead by example, demonstrating how to tackle challenges.

    “As a leader, I need to take challenges head-on to inspire my subordinates, compete with my peers, and show my supervisors that I can overcome adversity to accomplish the mission,” he said.

    Both Knoll and Fiorillo tally over 40 miles each week, with a mix of shorter speed runs and at least one longer distance run of over 12 miles. They also mix in strength training, as well as high intensity interval training, stretching, proper nutrition and recovery.

    1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, train at the Caserma Del Din track in Vicenza, Italy, Sept. 24, 2024. Together they will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL
    2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, train at the Caserma Del Din track in Vicenza, Italy, Sept. 24, 2024. Together they will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL

    On race day, they will approach the starting line with different emotions.

    “There are generally two feelings I have on race day: excitement, knowing that I’m as prepared as I can be, or nervousness,” said Fiorillo. “I’ve had races where I felt amazing at the start, but it turned out to be my worst race. On the flip side, I’ve had races where I felt terrible but ended up running a personal best.”

    U.S. Army 2nd Lt. David “Alex” Fiorillo, platoon leader with Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, trains at the Caserma Del Din track in Vicenza, Italy, Sept. 24, 2024. Together with U.S. Army Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, he will represent U.S. Army Europe and Africa at the 40th annual Army Ten-Miler (ATM) in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2024. Over 459,685 runners have run the ATM since 1985, generating over $8 million in support of U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs since its inception. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Joe Legros) (Photo Credit: Maj. Joe Legros) VIEW ORIGINAL

    Knoll looks forward to the race-day surroundings; but for now, her focus is squarely on the finish line.

    “When people talk about taking in all the sights and sounds, I can never relate,” said Knoll. “But one thing is for sure, whether I’m representing the 173rd Airborne, SETAF-AF or U.S. Army Europe and Africa, I’m very grateful to be there and it’s an honor to run the Ten-Miler.”

    As race day approaches, both Knoll and Fiorillo are focused on giving their best. Their dedication to the Army Ten-Miler represents not just a personal achievement, but also the spirit of Army excellence.

    “I will show up ready to give it my all and see where the cards fall,” said Fiorillo. “The unknown is the reason for the excitement because it’s always possible something special can happen.”

    About SETAF-AF

    SETAF-AF provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe and Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe.

    Follow SETAF-AF on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn & DVIDS

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Senior Defense and Military Official Host a Background Briefing on Russia’s War in Ukraine

    Source: United States Department of Defense

    PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER: Hey, good afternoon. Can I have a quick comms check? Can you hear me ok?

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Great. All right. Well, good afternoon, everyone. This is Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary. Thanks very much for joining us today for today’s background briefing and update on the situation in Ukraine.

    As you may be aware, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group originally scheduled for October 12th has been postponed, so we’ll provide updates on that in the near future regarding a date and location for the next UDCG session. However, we thought it would still be useful to provide you with an update on where things stand in Ukraine, to include US support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, and we’ll endeavor to host these background briefings on a fairly regular basis since many of you have requested them.

    As a reminder, today’s call is on background attributable to a senior defense official and a senior military official, not for reporting.

    Please note I will call on reporters try to get to as many of your questions as possible in the time we have available. And before we begin, I would ask you to please keep your phones on mute unless you’re asking a question. With that, I will turn it over to our senior defense official, followed by our senior military official for an opening.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks. Thanks, everyone, for the opportunity to speak with you today. Certainly, I had hoped to brief you ahead of a leader level Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. But as I’m sure everyone understands, President Biden decided to remain in the United States to coordinate the response to Hurricane Milton.

    As you heard during the president’s bilateral meeting with President Zelenskyy on September 26th, the administration remains focused on surging security assistance and taking other steps through the end of the term to help Ukraine prevail. I want to begin with a brief discussion of some of our recent security assistance packages.

    The president exercised his authority on September 26th to ensure the $5.55 billion of remaining presidential drawdown, or PDA, authority did not expire before the end of the fiscal year, ensuring that the United States can continue supporting Ukraine with this authority. Preserving this authority will allow us to continue our steady support with security assistance to Ukraine via these PDA packages.

    In the 66th package announced on September 26th at a value of $375 million, the department will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent battlefield needs, including air to ground weapons, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

    President Biden also announced a $2.4 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package. This package will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems, and air to ground munitions as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements. Through this package, we will make a significant investment in Ukraine’s drone capability, providing thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles and providing components to enable Ukraine’s domestic production of drones.

    That support has been critical to augmenting Ukraine’s successes on the battlefield. Since February 2022, Ukraine has inflicted more than 600,000 casualties on Russian forces. In September of this year, Russia — Russian forces sustained more casualties in terms of both killed and wounded in action than in any other month of the war. Russian losses, again both killed and wounded in action, in just the first year of the war exceeded the total of all Russian losses — Soviet losses in any conflict since World War II combined.

    Ukrainian forces also have sunk, destroyed or damaged at least 32 medium to large Russian Federation navy vessels in the Black Sea, forcing Russia to relocate its Black Sea fleet away from Crimea. They have also destroyed more than two thirds of Russia’s pre-war inventory of tanks, forcing the Russian military to dig into Soviet era stockpiles and field tanks from World War II.

    And most recently, Ukrainian forces have used indigenously produced drones to strike Russian strategic ammunition depots at Toropets and Tihoretsk, making a serious dent in Russian supply lines. The total tonnage of ammunition destroyed in strikes on these facilities represents the largest loss of Russian and North Korean supplied ammunition during the war, with hundreds of thousands of rounds destroyed. Russian efforts to minimize risk to existing ammunition depots probably will force the Russian military to undertake inefficient adaptations that will slow delivery of ammunition to the front.

    Now, I am not, however, suggesting that Ukraine has an easy path to victory. Russia does continue to devote significant amounts of resources and, as I underscored earlier, lives toward a grinding campaign, redoubling its efforts in the east despite Ukraine’s offensive into Kursk. Russia has also demonstrated time and time again a willingness to do whatever it takes to attempt to force the Ukrainians to capitulate, including purposely targeting Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure.

    Despite these challenges, the United States and our allies and partners remain committed to supporting Ukraine as it defends against Russian aggression. Thank you, and I look forward to the questions.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you very much.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Just a couple of things that I’ll start out with and then happy to talk more specifics as we go into question and answer afterwards.

    But broadly speaking, no major changes in the overall strategy on either side. It’s an attritional strategy on the Russian side, and of course the Ukrainians are mounting a strong defense both on the ground and from an air defense perspective.

    For the battlefield itself, the two areas that remain most active are up in the Kursk area and then out in Donetsk. I would say that there have been overall minor changes to where the forward line of troops are on the battlefield in both of those areas.

    Up in Kursk, there have been some limited counterattacks by the Russians, but really no meaningful gains or exchanges of territory in the last several weeks. And then down in Donetsk, while the Russians did make some advances earlier in the summer, those advances have slowed compared to that time period. And again, I’m happy to go into some more specifics on that during question and answer.

    As far as long range strikes, we’ve seen some successful one way attack drone strikes by the — by the Ukrainians against ammo storage points in Russia. We’ve also seen some strikes against fuel facilities down in Crimea. We do think that those will have some impact on the battlefield. As most of you would understand, those sorts of deep targets, when they’re hit, there’ll be a delayed impact on how things are looking on the battlefield, but over time it certainly would manifest. So, we do think that those have been effective, and we’ll see when those effects manifest in a meaningful way on the battlefield.

    And then finally, I’ll just highlight Ukrainian air defense. The Ukrainians do continue to defend their skies with the capabilities that they have. It’s a tough fight, with a large number of attacks coming from the Russians each day, but the Ukrainians are doing a sound job of defending their critical infrastructure and defending at the front — on the front lines as well. We, of course, are keeping a very close eye on their inventories of weapons that they have to defend themselves and working that with our policy counterparts to try to increase the stocks that they have on hand for their — for their defense against those attacks.

    So, I’ll leave it at that as just a broad overview, and then I’d be happy to go into more detail or specifics during question and answer.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Great. Thank you very much to our senior defense official and our senior military official. First question will go to Associated Press, Lita Baldor.

    Q: Hi. Good afternoon and thank you both for doing this. Can you — you know, first of all,  can you address sort of — at the risk of beating a dead horse here, the Ukrainians continue to press for the permission of the US to do longer range strikes into Russia. Do you see a change in US policy on that coming, and/or do you see any shift that the US will give Ukraine something else that will sort of make up for not allowing that?

    And then just quickly, can you give us a sense of sort of how the — both countries are setting up for the winter months and whether one or the other can gain some sort of advantage with this — at this point this year? Thank you.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Great. So, Lita, on the long range strike issue, we have not changed the position on this. I think I’ve spoken with some of you about this before in terms of how we consider, you know, decisions on capability. We always look at kind of risks and benefits. And in this particular case, we certainly have to look at risks in terms of readiness.

    This is a — you know, a munition that has, you know, finite quantities. And we also, obviously, have to look at risks of escalation. But in terms of effectiveness, we also have to look at whether the quantities that exist, and again, they are limited, whether they would have the strategic effect.

    And we certainly know that many of the capabilities that are of greatest concern, particularly for glide bomb use, for instance, have actually moved out beyond ATACMS range. And we also know that we’ve seen tremendously effective Ukrainian strikes using their indigenously produced capabilities.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Lita, on the question of how they’re setting up for the winter months, I think the way I’d characterize it is I expect more of the same from the Russians. I expect them to continue to try to make incremental gains to try to attrit Ukrainian defenses.

    As I know that you’re aware, that’s a really tall task for them, and that’s why we’ve seen such incremental gains out of the Russians over the last while, despite, you know, a significant force ratio advantage in many places on the front. And so, as a — as the senior defense official mentioned, we do see a large and growing number of Russian casualties as they do this, but I think we’ll see more of the same. It’s kind of the Russian way of war, that they continue to throw mass into the — into the problem, and I think we’ll continue to see high losses.

    On the Ukrainian side, I think it’s a little bit more nuanced. And of course, it’ll be up to the Ukrainians on exactly how this plays out. But in general, I would characterize their thinking as a little bit deeper in time and space, and that they’re thinking certainly of how they defend through the winter months and at the tactical front, you know, where are the most defendable lines where they can impose the most costs on the Russians as the Russians advance.

    But I’d say that, in my estimation, the Ukrainians are thinking forward to the — 2025 and how they set themselves up for battlefield success then. And so, that includes things like ensuring that the additional brigades can come online as they increase their recruitment, as they get better equipment and training, reconstituting brigades that they’re cycling off the front line, and really building up their combat power for the future.

    So, I think that’s how I would characterize the Ukrainian approach. Certainly, they’re focused on how they get through the winter, but they’re thinking a little bit longer term about how they set conditions for success next year.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you both. Next question will go to Washington Post, Missy Ryan. Missy, are you there?

    Q:  Yeah, I’m here, but I actually think Alex Horton is — has a question that he’s going to ask.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok. We’ll go to Alex in Ukraine.

    Q: Appreciate that. Yeah, this is for the SDO and Russian losses. You know, this sort of harkens back to Vietnam. It’s very General Westmoreland-ish to sort of characterize Russian casualties as some sort of metric for success. So, I was curious if you could put more meat on the bone on what we’re supposed to exactly take away from that when we know that, you know, in between Bakhmut and down all the way to Vuhledar, they’ve gained more territory than they have in the last two years. So, they are trading for bodies for space, and that seems to be working for them at least in terms of the space aspect. So, what exactly is the body count suggesting that is, you know, something we should take away from?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, Alex, thanks, and glad to hear that you’re reporting from Ukraine. I’ll look forward to seeing — to seeing your writing. I think that in terms of, you know, mentioning the Russian casualties is not to suggest that this is a definitive metric for the war, but it is an important factor. And, you know, certainly we do know that, you know, Putin is trying to avoid a mass mobilization because of the effect that would have on, you know, Russia’s domestic population.

    At this point, he has been able to significantly increase the pay of these voluntary soldiers, and he has been able to continue to field those forces without doing a major mobilization. And I think we’re just watching very closely how long that stance can actually be one that he can maintain. And I think it’s an important one for all of us watch very closely.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you very much. Next question will go to New York Times, Eric Schmitt. Eric, are you there? Ok, nothing heard, we’ll go to CBS, Charlie D’Agata.

    Q:  Yes. Thank you. I wanted to actually follow up from what Alex was saying. Those are extraordinary numbers, 600,000 casualties, and I’m more — paying attention to more casualties in September than exceeded any other month of the war. That in itself says something. Where are these casualties happening? Where is the ferocious fighting happening? As was already pointed out, the Russians are making ground. Is this on Russian territory? Is it along concentrated front lines? And is there a reason for an increase, or is just — is this just a spike in ferocity of the fighting in the past couple of months?

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Yeah. Charlie, I’ll take the first answer to that and let the senior defense official fill in if she’d like. But I would say, you know, the Russians have been — as Alex mentioned, they’ve been attempting to move on the offensive, and they have had some success with taking minor amounts of terrain.

    And as they — the cost of taking that minor amount of terrain, particularly in Donetsk and down around Pokrovsk and Vuhledar, has been the substantial casualties that they’ve incurred there. So, they have attempted to overcome fires with mass of maneuver. And that, I think, is probably the — that is where I would say most of their casualties have come, is because of that offensive.

    I mean, if you look at the salient around Pokrovsk or pointing toward Pokrovsk, the number of Russian forces in there is astounding. It’s tens of thousands of forces that they’ve put into that very small area. And as you know, when you have that many forces in a very small area, indirect fire of any kind or any — or direct fire, for that matter, it’s a target rich environment. So, that’s what I think is the proximate cause or one of the leading proximate causes of those casualties.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you. Let’s go to —

    Q: Wait. Can I just follow up that? Is this artillery war that we’re seeing? Is this the kind of fight? And more to that point, as the time that I’ve spent in Ukraine, they were begging for more artillery shells. Where’s the equipment pinch if any, at the moment?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I’ll allow the senior military official to talk about kind of the nature of the fight. But we are co-chairing the Artillery Capability Coalition with France to support Ukraine’s artillery needs, both for today but also for the future. And what we have seen in the past six months of assiduous work to both increase production, and the US has really led the way here, with increased production of 155 millimeter artillery shells, but also in terms of, you know, increased procurement, increased donations from stocks, and the Czech initiative, which is really sourcing ammunition from around the world, we have seen a much more steady supply of artillery munitions for the Ukrainian forces, and it really has tangibly changed the situation on the battlefield from what you saw, you know, as much as a year ago in terms of the shortages that were being experienced. But there may be more detail from the SMO.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: I don’t know, Charlie, that I have too much to add except, yeah, there is, as you know, a huge amount of artillery that’s being exchanged back and forth.

    I would just note, and again, this is probably fairly obvious to all, that if you’re undergoing an artillery barrage while you’re on defense, that’s a little bit better than if you’re undergoing an artillery barrage while you’re on the offense and you’re exposed. You have to leave from, you know, the revetments that you’re hiding behind, the berms, etc., and move out across open terrain. So, I think that that — those two factors combine to add up to what we’re seeing in terms of casualty producing effects.

    Q: Thanks to both.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thanks. Let’s go to Chris Gordon, Air and Space Forces Magazine.

    Q:  Thanks, Pat. And thank you to the officials. For the senior military official, how are Ukraine’s F-16s being used? What sort of missions is Ukraine conducting with its F-16s, and how much are they still reliant on their Soviet era fleet?

    And then secondly for either official, the US announced last month it will train 18 Ukrainian F-16 pilots next year. Where will those pilots be trained? What’s the timeline for that training? What is the experience level of the pilots that will be trained? Could it include newer pilots, if we have any more fidelity on that announcement? Thank you.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, Chris, thanks. I’ll take the first part of the question. You know, I can’t go into a lot of detail on exactly how the Ukrainians are using their F-16s, except to say, you know, it is a different kind of weapon system, as you’re well aware, from the Soviet and Russian technology that they’ve employed in the past, and so there is a bit of a transition there.

    Our — you know, the overall recommendation is, whenever you’re adopting a new technology to make sure that you’re mastering it, you know how to use it, you’ve got the appropriate amount of experience with it before you try to do too much with it. And I’ll just leave it at that.

    You know, as far as how they’re — as far as how they’re employing it, etc., I really can’t go into those details here. But I do think that over time, as they increase their proficiency, as the numbers increase, as the pilots that the senior defense official will give you a little bit of background here on a second increases, you’ll see the battlefield effects that that platform is able to provide increase.

    And, you know, I would also just highlight, you know, the F-16 program, many of us seem to — we tend to think of it as what is its immediate impact going to be. But this is really about the long term security of Ukraine and how we set them up to be — interoperability with Western forces over the longer term and how they can defend their airspace over the longer term. So, some of it certainly is going to apply to the current battle, but I think of this as a much more longer term project.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Great. And the 18 pilots, this is really just the latest number of pilots that we are pulling into the F-16 training pipeline. As you may recall, the Air Force Capability Coalition is a co-led effort by the Netherlands, Denmark and the United States. And working with the Ukrainians and those allies, we actually work together to identify slots in multiple countries.

    So, the US is hosting some, but there’s other countries that host other pieces of the training pipeline, and that includes everything from, you know, the English language training that is typically necessary at the front end to basic pilot training to the more advanced F-16 pilot training. So, we work together to construct a pipeline that makes sense for the skill level of each individual pilot.

    And it is a mix. Some have been experienced pilots, and we still are, you know, receiving more experienced pilots, but there’s also those that do not have that kind of pilot training and experience.

    Q: Can I just clarify one thing you said there? Of those 18, are those a mix of countries, or are those all in the US?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: It’s — there’s a mix of locations for the different pieces of the training pipeline. And that’s true not just of the 18, that’s true across the board. And I won’t get into the specific details of exactly who is training in which location out of respect for operational security.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you. Let’s go to NBC, Courtney Kube.

    Q:  Hey, I’m sorry. We had some technical problems on our end early, so forgive me if you’ve already addressed this. But can you tell us anything about the South Korean announcement that some North Korean troops may be joining Russia to fight in Ukraine? Have you seen any seen any indications of that, whether it’s individuals or equipment that’s moving in that direction?

    And then on the — on F-16s in general, I wonder has Ukraine I guess briefed you on the F-16 crash from several weeks ago on the cause of that yet? Can you share anything that you’ve learned on that?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I’ll just say on the question about the reports coming out, including the one from South Korea, we don’t have anything additional to add. In the past, we have spoken about the support that North Korea has provided Russia in terms of munitions. But I don’t have anything to add to this latest — this latest news report.

    And in terms of F-16s and the specific investigation, we would refer you to the Ukrainians on anything they may want to offer on that.

    Q: When you say you don’t have anything to add on the North Korea, I mean, do you — does that mean that the US doesn’t have any indications that’s true? Are you — I mean, are you — it’s from South Korea, a close US ally. So, I mean, is it that you just haven’t seen anything of that, or do you not think that it’s actually accurate?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I don’t have any other specific information to add beyond what you have seen in the — in the media reporting.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok. Thank you very much. Let’s go to Defense News, Noah Robertson.

    Q: Hey, thank you both for doing this. I have two questions. The first is on the discussion of Ukrainian made drones that you had at the top. As early as this summer, some senior US military officials were saying, including in interviews that I did, about Ukrainian drones are more of a nuisance rather than a capability that could replace some of the precision strikes being provided by the US. I now hear a more positive tone coming from the two officials on this call. I’m wondering if you can describe, A, whether anything has changed with the advanced nature of their capabilities, or B, whether the Ukrainians are just getting better at integrating these capabilities in counter EW operations? And then I have a second question. Thank you.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL Noah, thanks. Thanks for the question. I certainly am more positive than some of that — some of the other officials that you are referencing. I do think the Ukrainian made drones are doing very well. And we’ve seen — you know, there’s clear evidence of that with some of the one-way attack drone. Attacks against the ammo storage points is a very easy example to leverage.

    I think — you know, I would say it’s a little bit of both. I would say that there’s some capability enhancements, and I wouldn’t want to go into the details of those for operational security reasons. But I know, of course, that the Ukrainians are rapidly innovating on the battlefield with their capabilities. The pressure of war will have that effect on any military. And so, there certainly are capability enhancements that have happened very rapidly.

    And also, they are getting just, you know, more sophisticated in their tactics, techniques and procedures. And so, I think it’s a combination of both of those things that have — if there has been an increase of effectiveness, which, again, I think it’s reasonable to say that there has, and that these will continue to improve in effectiveness over time. It’s for those two reasons.

    Q: A second question is on the provision of aid by China. I know to this point US officials in the Pentagon have described this as dual use aid. Kurt Campbell went out publicly and said that it went beyond that last month. Do you have indications that China is providing direct lethal aid, or has that still not changed?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I don’t have any new information beyond what the administration has released previously on China’s support for Russia.

    Q: Is it fair to say that it’s increased at least?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I think it depends on what time frame you look at. I wouldn’t be able to give you a specific sense of kind of quantitative or even qualitative over time. But certainly, we are concerned about China’s support for Russia in the midst of this horrific war.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok, we’ve got time for just a couple more. Let’s go to Fox News, Jen Griffin.

    Q: Thank you, Pat. I wanted to ask about the Ukraine Contact Group and whether the postponement or canceling has anything to do with the fact that it is harder and harder to get donations of weaponry. Anything that you can quantify in terms of difficulties in getting weaponry right now for Ukraine?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Absolutely not, Jen. I would say that this is really just all about the president wanting to take care of his responsibilities here in the United States as Hurricane Milton bears down on US territory, and it has absolutely nothing to do with international support.

    We were really looking forward to a host of countries participating and also making new donation announcements. So, I see continued very strong support from the donor community, both in terms of individual donations but also, increasingly, in terms of participation in these capability coalitions, where you see countries coming together to coordinate how they are making future procurements for Ukraine’s future force and giving Ukraine a better sense of predictability about its weapons supplies over time.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok. And last question. We’ll go to Bloomberg, Tony Capaccio.

    Q:  I think Tony just stepped away, so I’m going to take it for us if that’s ok, Natalia Drozdiak. Thanks so much for doing this. I just have two questions. For the SMO on Kursk, are you still confident that Ukraine can hold that territory through the winter, given the likely difficulties they’re going to have in terms of maintaining supply lines?

    And then secondly, for the senior defense official, about the aid package to support Ukraine’s drone production, was that the first time that the US was investing directly in Ukraine’s industrial production? And if so, have there been any sort of conditions set around that, like when it comes to preventing corruption or anything? Thanks.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, thanks, Natalia. On the Kursk question, my assessment is that the Ukrainians will be able to maintain their position in Kursk for some amount of time here into the future, I think several months and potentially beyond. You know, the battlefield is ultimately unpredictable.

    But if I look at the combat power ratios, you know, you mentioned supply issues for the Ukrainians, I haven’t seen a significant supply issue on their side. I would tell you I’ve — I would argue that, because this is not the main area where major Russian combat formations have been operating, they have significant logistical issues on their side in terms of repositioning troops and organizing themselves to go on the offensive, etc.

    So, I still think — as I mentioned, there have been some uneven counteroffensives, some limited counteroffensives by the Russians, but there’s been nothing that would indicate to me that they’re ready to make a major play toward taking Kursk back. And I don’t think they’ll be able to do it anytime soon.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, in terms of your question about kind of investments in Ukrainian defense industry, we have cooperated with Ukrainian defense industry in the past. And I think it’s important to note that, with our Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative authorities, these are contracting mechanisms, so these are procurement mechanisms in which we have contract with companies. So, it’s a very um kind of rigorous way of accounting for the procurement. And we will do the same with this as we would do with any other procurement.

    And I would say that we — the experiences that we’ve had most recently with Ukraine defense industry in the context of the war that have been tremendously successful revolve around our — what we call our FrankenSAM project. So, it’s the project where we combined Soviet type air defense systems with Western technologies and munitions. And we actually partnered US companies with Ukrainian companies and engineers to devise this very creative way forward that has helped Ukraine deal with massive shortages in air defense interceptors and systems. So, from that experience, we took away a very positive sense of the possibilities of cooperating with Ukraine’s defense industry.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: All right. Well, thank you.

    Q: This is Phil Stewart. Is there any way — is there any way we could just clarify, because I think a lot of people are confused, if the senior defense official was confirming that there are North Korean soldiers fighting in — alongside Russia and Ukraine?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sorry, Phil. No, I am just saying that the only information I have is this open source information, and I do not have additional information to offer.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Right. In other words, we have nothing to corroborate those reports, if that makes sense. Ok. All right.

    Well, again, I want to thank our senior defense official, our senior military official. As a reminder, this discussion today was on background. Thank you for joining us. That’s all the time we have. Out here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Holiday Change in Disaster Recovery Center Hours

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Holiday Change in Disaster Recovery Center Hours

    Holiday Change in Disaster Recovery Center Hours

    Who: The joint Disaster Recovery Centers operating in Lycoming, Potter and Tioga.

    What: Change in hours of operation for the federal holiday, Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.

    When: Monday, October 14, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Normal 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours resume October 15.

    Where: Lycoming: Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Company, 615 East Route 973 Highway, Cogan Station

    Potter: Penn-York Retreat Center, 266 Northern Potter Road, Ulysses

    Tioga: Valley Christian Church, 146 Maple Street, Westfield.

    Contact: FEMA News Desk 215-931-5597 or FEMAR3NewsDesk@fema.dhs.gov.

    For more information on Pennsylvania’s disaster recovery, visit the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Facebook page, fema.gov/disaster/4815 and facebook.com/FEMA. 

                                                                                              ###                                                                 

    FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters. FEMA Region 3’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Follow us on X at x.com/FEMAregion3 and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/femaregion3.

    Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency, or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 833-285-7448. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish and 3 for other languages).

    erika.osullivan

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Disaster Recovery Centers to Relocate in Ascension and St. John the Baptist Parishes

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Disaster Recovery Centers to Relocate in Ascension and St. John the Baptist Parishes

    Disaster Recovery Centers to Relocate in Ascension and St. John the Baptist Parishes

    BATON ROUGE, La. – Two Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) serving Louisiana survivors of Hurricane Francine in Ascension and St. John the Baptist parishes will close at 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 11 and move to new locations next week. 

    Ascension Parish 

    Closes on Oct 11 at: Lemann Memorial Center, 1100 Clay Street, Donaldsonville, LA 70346 at 5 p.m.

    Reopens on Oct 15 at: Lamar Dixon Expo Center, 9039 St. Landry Road, Gonzales, LA 70737 

    St. John the Baptist Parish

    Closes on Oct 11 at: Reserve Library, 1482 Hwy 44, Reserve, LA 70084 at 5 p.m.

    Reopens on Oct 16 at: Westbank Library, 2979 Hwy 18, Edgard, LA 70049

    The centers will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

    Additional locations in Assumption, Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes are open. To find the DRC nearest to you, visit DRC Locator (fema.gov).

    Residents in all nine parishes can visit any DRC to meet with representatives of FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration, along with other community partners. No appointment is needed to visit the center. 

    The centers are accessible to people with disabilities or access and functional needs and are equipped with assistive technology. If you need a reasonable accommodation or sign language interpreter, please call 833-285-7448 (press 2 for Spanish).

    You do not have to visit a center to apply for FEMA disaster assistance. The quickest way to apply is by going online at disasterassistance.gov/.

    Additional options when applying include:

    • Download the FEMA App for mobile devices. 
    • Call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Help is available in most languages. If you use a relay service, such as video relay (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service.
    • To view an accessible video about how to apply visit: Three Ways to Register for FEMA Disaster Assistance – YouTube.

    For the latest information visit fema.gov/disaster/4817. Follow FEMA Region 6 social media at X.com/FEMARegion6 or on Facebook at facebook.com/femaregion6.

    alexa.brown

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal court order requires Tennessee sawmill to pay $73K in penalties, turn over $10K in profits for endangering children at work

    Source: US Department of Labor

    Lee esto en Espanol. 

    CLARKRANGE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent decree requiring a Clarkrange lumber producer to stop violating federal child labor regulations, pay penalties for their violations and surrender profits earned for products made while violations occurred.

    Entered in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on July 15, 2024, the consent decree comes after the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Plateau Sawmill LLC employed two children – as young as 14-years-old – at the sawmill to unload wooden boards from a conveyor belt in violation of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, the sawmill employed a 13-year-old, which violated the FLSA’s minimum age standard of 14 years for non-agricultural work. Investigators learned the three children worked as early as 6 a.m., an hour earlier than the law permits. 

    The sawmill operator was ordered to pay $73,847 in civil money penalties for its child labor violations. The sawmill operator was also ordered to surrender $10,000 in profits earned between May 26 and June 26, 2024. These funds will be used to benefit the children employed illegally. 

    “Federal labor laws protect children from being employed in dangerous jobs. By employing minors to do hazardous work, Plateau Sawmill put children at risk of serious harm or worse,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “Once we learned of the employer’s violations, the Department of Labor acted immediately to hold the company accountable for failing to protect these children.”

    In addition to paying civil money penalties, disgorging profits and agreeing to comply with federal child labor regulations in the future, Plateau Sawmill agreed to do the following:

    • Audit machinery at all of its establishments to identify equipment deemed hazardous by the FLSA, and mark the identified equipment with stickers to alert employees that no one under 18 can operate it.
    • Review and enhance existing policies and training materials related to compliance with federal child labor regulations. The employer must also revise its policies, training materials and programs for management, employees and new hires as it on-boards them at any owned establishment.
    • Impose disciplinary sanctions to include termination or suspension for any manager responsible for child labor violations or retaliation against any employee reporting suspected violations. 
    • Allow unannounced and warrantless inspections for five years.
    • Refrain from taking retaliatory actions against employees, including family members, for filing a complaint related to FLSA concerns.

    “This consent decree holds Plateau Sawmill accountable while also discouraging future violations,” said Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta. “We’ve seen an alarming rise of child labor violations in recent years across the nation. The action announced today sends a clear message that we will not tolerate companies profiting on the backs of children employed unlawfully in dangerous occupations.”

    In fiscal year 2023, the department investigated 955 cases with child labor violations, involving 5,792 children nationwide, including 502 children employed in violation of hazardous occupation standards. The department addressed those violations by assessing employers more than $8 million in civil money penalties. 

    Based in Clarkrange, Plateau Sawmill was founded in 2015 and has about nine employees.

    Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including child labor regulations on dangerous jobs that are prohibited for workers under age 18.

    The division offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone – regardless of where they are from – with questions about their wages or how to stay in compliance with the law by calling the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal workplace safety investigation finds Janesville recycling company continues to expose workers to dangerous levels of lead, cadmium

    Source: US Department of Labor

    JANESVILLE, WI ‒ A follow-up inspection by federal workplace safety investigators in April 2024 found a Janesville recycling company continuing to expose employees to unsafe levels of lead and cadmium while they dismantled cathode ray tubes from older TVs, despite being cited for the same violations in April 2023.

    The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined Universal Recycling Technologies LLC failed to implement adequate engineering controls and did not keep surfaces as free as practicable from lead and cadmium accumulations. 

    “Chronic overexposures to these toxic metals may cause severe damage to blood-forming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems,” said OSHA Area Director Chad Greenwood in Madison, Wisconsin. “Universal Recycling Technologies cannot solely rely on personal protective equipment as the primary source of protection. The company must focus on continuous improvement of engineering controls to reduce employee exposures to hazardous air contaminants.”

    OSHA cited the company for two repeat and six serious violations and one other-than-serious violation and proposed $202,820 in penalties.

    Specifically, the agency found Universal Recycling Technologies failed to do the following:

    • Provide biological monitoring of employees for overexposure every six months. 
    • Collect samples for representative full shift exposures to both lead and cadmium.
    • Ensure workers removed protective clothing contaminated with lead and cadmium at the completion of the shift and left the clothing at the workplace.
    • Require workers exposed to lead and cadmium to shower at the end of their shift.
    • Establish a regulation area to reduce the spread of contamination when employees were exposed to lead or cadmium over the permissible exposure limit. 
    • Train employees on the additive effects of lead and cadmium.

    Based in Janesville, Universal Recycling Technologies LLC also operates facilities in Dover, New Hampshire; Clackamas, Oregon; and Fort Worth, Texas. 

    The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. 

    Learn more about OSHA’s National Emphasis Program on Lead and read the CDC’s report on Metal Exposures in an Electronic Scrap Recycling Facility. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren Releases Report Highlighting Senate Record of Plans Passed Into Laws, Fights Won for Massachusetts

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    October 10, 2024
    Senator Warren has beaten special interests, fought for workers and consumers, and worked across the aisle to lift up the middle class in Massachusetts and beyond
    Senator Warren has passed 44 bills into law; 60% of passed bills are bipartisan
    Text of Report (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new report detailing her record of fighting — and winning — for consumers and working families in Massachusetts and across the country. The report, titled “From Plans to Law: Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Record of Accomplishments from 2013 – 2024,” provides a comprehensive overview of Senator Warren’s record of success in the Senate, from taking on special interests, to fighting for workers and consumers, to working across the aisle to lift up the middle class. 
    Senator Warren has passed 44 bills into law by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Over 60% of these bills passed into law were bipartisan. In addition to standalone legislation, Senator Warren secured 110 provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) signed into law by Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. Senator Warren has also secured more than $50 billion in federal investments for Massachusetts, including more than $20 billion during the Biden-Harris Administration.
    Senator Warren has attended hundreds of hearings and served as the chair of three subcommittees: the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s Economic Policy subcommittee, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Personnel subcommittee, and the Senate Finance Committee’s Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth subcommittee. She has chaired 28 subcommittee hearings over the last three and a half years — including three held in Massachusetts.
    Senator Warren has also aggressively used the power of congressional oversight to fight for working families, writing thousands of oversight letters to government officials and private sector CEOs, and using the information she obtains to effect change by the private sector and by the executive branch, and to inform her legislative work. She has released over 40 investigative reports exposing issues from broken policies in U.S. trade agreements to the failure of big banks to rein in scams to the failure of the pharmaceutical industry to meet its promises to provide lower-cost insulin for patients.
    Key accomplishments include:
    Senator Warren made corporations pay a fairer share — and used the revenue to combat the climate crisis. Senator Warren introduced legislative proposals to make big corporations pay their fair share, and published a report showing how multi-billion-dollar corporations exploit loopholes to pay pennies on the dollar of what they should owe. Congress enacted Senator Warren’s 15 percent corporate alternative minimum tax (CAMT) as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, meaning the CAMT helped pay for the largest climate package in U.S. history. It was the first corporate tax increase in three decades.
    This year, Senator Warren worked across the aisle to guarantee automatic cash refunds for canceled flights. Senator Warren worked with Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) to pass a bipartisan amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act, requiring airlines to guarantee automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights — defeating airline lobbyists’ efforts to block the provision.
    Senator Warren pushed to get rid of junk pharma patents, paving the way for more generics to come to market. In response to Big Pharma’s abuse of the patent system, which keeps generic competitors from entering the market and lowering costs for consumers, Senator Warren pushed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and FDA to strengthen their oversight of pharmaceutical companies and close regulatory loopholes that these companies exploit to limit competition. She also pushed the FTC to crack down on junk patents. The FTC’s subsequent enforcement caused multiple companies to remove junk patents from the FDA’s Orange Book and contributed to the overwhelming public pressure on inhaler manufacturers that led them to slash costs for patients from hundreds of dollars to just $35.
    Read the full report here.
    Senator Warren has used her legislative power to score major wins for working people, including:
    Securing $50 billion in federal investment for Massachusetts through the American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Chips and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.
    Preventing a collapse in child care infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic by rapidly developing a plan to inject $50 billion in emergency funding into the child care system and leading the Child Care is Essential Act.
    Breaking the hearing aid monopoly in partnership with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), lowering costs for people with hearing loss.
    Securing $100 million to fight the opioid crisis and passing her slate of five bipartisan bills, as part of the SUPPORT Act.
    Safeguarding abortion care for military veterans and servicemembers.
    Protecting servicemembers from blast overpressure with a bipartisan bill (co-led with Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)), many elements of which the Department of Defense later incorporated into its updated blast overpressure policies.
    Defending servicemembers’ rights by requiring the Department of Defense to create the first-ever military housing complaint database and investigate sexual assault and harassment of students in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (JROTC).
    Securing investments in scientific research and development, and passed her bipartisan proposal to increase the inclusion of women participants in medical research, which was adopted as part of the 21st Century Cures Act.
    Passing a bipartisan bill (co-led with Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.)) to help workers and retirees keep track of their retirement accounts across jobs.
    Cracking down on wealthy tax cheats by introducing a bill to increase funding for the IRS — a priority which was later included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which appropriated a historic $80 billion increase in IRS funding over ten years.
    Lowering prescription drug costs by championing key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that directly reduced the cost of insulin, limited out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for seniors, and allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers for the first time.
    Senator Warren’s oversight work has reined in corporate abuse, including:
    Pressuring Wells Fargo CEOs John Stumpf and Tim Sloan, as well as members of the Wells Fargo Board of Directors, to resign after cheating consumers..
    Pressuring Zelle to reimburse defrauded customers and change policies to protect consumers.
    Helping to block powerful mergers that would have raised costs, including Jet Blue / Spirit, Choice Hotels / Wyndham Hotels, Aetna / Humana, and Lockheed Martin / Aerojet.
    Securing relief for victims of Corinthian College and other predatory for-profit schools.
    Holding student loan servicers accountable, leading to Navient exiting the federal student loan system.
    Protecting renters by opening an investigation into RealPage, a software that helped corporate landlords engage in apparent price fixing.
    Prompting the delisting of key sham patents in FDA’s Orange Book, paving the way for more generic competition for critical drugs.
    Helping return $16.1 million of taxpayer money to the Department of Defense from military contractor TransDigm.
    Securing ethics commitments from high-level nominees to avoid conflicts of interest and shut the revolving door.
    Senator Warren has influenced executive actions and policy-making to advance key priorities, including:
    Laying the groundwork for regulators to put money back in Americans’ pockets by curbing overdraft fees and credit card late fees.
    Successfully encouraging the FDA to follow the science and reduce barriers to accessing mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, including by allowing the medication to be dispensed at certified pharmacies and by mail.
    Helping to ban non-competes, making wages and benefits more competitive for workers.
    Helping establish a program for millions of Americans to file their taxes directly with the IRS, for free.
    Protecting seniors by securing a minimum staffing requirement for nursing homes, which will save over 13,000 lives each year.
    Protecting retirees from bad advice from investment brokers by leading an investigation into conflicts of interest.
    Fighting against the FDA’s discriminatory blood donation ban for men who have sex with men, leading FDA to replace the policy with one that better reflects the most up-to-date science.
    Working to stop Big Tech’s attempt to sneak unfair practices into digital trade agreements.
    Leading the charge to cancel student loan debt for almost 5 million Americans.
    Sounding the alarm about bank consolidation for years, contributing to President Biden’s action to strengthen DOJ bank merger guidelines.
    Read the full report here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren, Lawmakers Renew Legislative Push to Stop Private Equity Looting

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    October 10, 2024
    Warren, Lawmakers Renew Legislative Push to Stop Private Equity Looting
    The bill would close loopholes and end incentives for private equity pillaging.
    Updated text responds to private equity’s ruinous takeover of now-bankrupt Steward Health Care, preventing a similar collapse from ever happening again.
    Text of Bill (PDF) | Text of One-Pager (PDF) | Text of Section-by-Section (PDF) | Text of Economic Analysis (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. – Today, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.),Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), along with Representatives Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), reintroduced the Stop Wall Street Looting Act, comprehensive legislation to fundamentally reform the private equity industry and level the playing field by forcing private investment firms to take responsibility for the outcomes of companies they take over, empowering workers and protecting investors. This reintroduction comes after private equity firm Cerberus looted Steward Health Care, leaving hospitals, patients, and workers hanging out to dry.
    “Private equity takeovers are legal looting that make a handful of Wall Street executives very rich while costing thousands of people their jobs, putting valuable companies out of ­business, and in the case of health care, is literally a matter of life and death,” said Senator Warren. “Our bill is designed to close loopholes and end incentives for private equity pillaging – and it will make sure what happened at Steward never happens again.”
    “When out-of-state investors buy Wisconsin companies only to turn a quick profit and shutter their doors, it’s Wisconsin workers and communities that suffer. I’m committed to ensuring that when Wisconsin businesses are purchased, Wisconsin families are protected and not left high and dry like we’ve seen in places like Janesville, Green Bay, and Waukesha,” said Senator Baldwin. “Our legislation will help put workers and our community first – protecting them from predatory practices that too often result in devastating job losses for Wisconsin’s working families.”
    “More and more Americans are feeling the presence of private equity in our economy, including in critical sectors like housing and health care,” said Senator Smith. “They arrive promising to revitalize communities and turn around struggling hospitals and companies, but far too often, they extract value for themselves at the expense of workers and ordinary people. This bill will help put an end to their most egregious practices and provide accountability.”
    “The greed of private equity robs too many Americans of stability, security, and prosperity. In Massachusetts, the Steward Health Care crisis is just one example of private equity sacrificing the long-term prosperity of workers, customers, and communities for their short-term profits. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act would finally prevent private equity firms from monetizing productive sectors of the economy and hollowing them out by laying off workers and closing businesses. We need to put in guardrails for private equity to ensure they cannot sacrifice people for profits,” said Senator Markey.
    “It’s long past time for billionaires and big corporations to stop gambling with hardworking Americans’ and their communities’ assets in service of corporate greed,” Representative Pocan said. “In Wisconsin, we’ve seen what happens when private equity firms like Sun Capital raid companies for their wealth and leave workers and communities to pick up the pieces. When Sun Capital took over Shopko – a Wisconsin-based retail chain that had stood strong for more than 50 years – they drained it dry, buried it in debt, pushed it into bankruptcy, and abandoned roughly 14,000 workers. This bill will finally hold these predatory firms accountable and protect workers from being plundered by corporate greed.”
    Since 2020, private equity fund assets have grown exponentially, reaching nearly $8 trillion in 2023 compared to $4.5 trillion in 2020. Private equity funds have purchased companies in nearly every sector of the economy — from nursing homes, to newspapers, to grocery stores — laying off hundreds of thousands of workers and ruining thousands of companies in the process.
    The private equity industry claims to invest in companies while also earning high returns for investors by using their management expertise to make the companies’ operations more efficient, and then selling the companies at a profit. In reality, private equity funds often load mountains of debt on the companies they buy, strip them of their assets, and extract exorbitant fees and dividends, guaranteeing payouts for themselves regardless of how the investment performs. When their debt-ridden investments go belly-up, private equity funds walk away with no responsibility for the mess they create, leaving workers in the lurch and forcing communities to clean up their mess.
    It’s time to level the playing field, protect workers, consumers, and investors, and force private equity firms to take responsibility for the companies they control. This bill does so by closing the loopholes that allow private equity to capture all the rewards of their investments while insulating themselves from risk and liability. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act will:
    Require Private Investment Funds to Have Skin in the Game: Private equity firms, the firm’s general partners, and their insiders will all be on the hook for the liabilities of companies under their control—including debt, legal judgments, and pension-related obligations—to better align the incentives of private equity firms and the companies they own. Liability would not extend to the fund’s limited partners, ensuring that only those that control portfolio firms are on the hook. In order to encourage more responsible use of debt, the bill ends the tax subsidy for excessive leverage and closes the carried interest loophole.
    End Looting of Portfolio Companies. To give portfolio companies a shot at success, the bill limits how much money private equity firms can extract from companies and closes the loophole that private equity firms have used to hide certain assets from bankruptcy courts. Every transaction since Steward Health Care was bought by private equity would be subject to review as part of Steward’s bankruptcy to determine whether it can be clawed back as a fraudulent transfer.
    Protect Workers, Customers and Communities. This proposal prevents private equity firms from walking away when a company fails and protects workers and communities by:
    Prioritizing workers’ pay in the bankruptcy process and amending the laws to increase the priority claims for unpaid earnings and other benefits from $10,000 to $20,000 per worker.
    Creating incentives for job retention so that workers can benefit from a company’s second chance.
    Ending the immunity of private equity firms from legal liability when their portfolio companies break the law, including the WARN Act. When workers at a plant are shortchanged or residents at a nursing home are hurt because private equity firms force portfolio companies to cut corners, the firm should be liable.
    Expanding protections for striking workers by clarifying unfair labor practices and the employer duty to bargain.
    Empower Investors by Increasing Transparency. Private equity managers will be required to disclose fees, returns, and other information about their funds and the corporate loans they make so that investors can monitor their investments. This would have required Cerberus to disclose the terms of its investments in Steward Health Care, which Cerberus continues to withhold from Congress.
    Put Guardrails Around Accessing Public Funds. Firms receiving any funds from a federal or state agency must publicly disclose how the funds are used and will be prohibited from acquiring any company or making a distribution to investors for two years after receipt.
    Drive REITS out of Health Care. Prohibits payments from federal health programs to entities that sell assets or use assets for a loan collateral made to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) d; repeals a rule in the Tax Code that allows taxable REIT subsidiaries to exert influence on the operations of health care entities; and removes the 20 percent pass-through deduction, passed in the 2017 Trump tax cuts, for all REIT investors. Ralph de la Torre executed a sale-leaseback transaction of the Steward properties in exchange for a $1.25B payout from a REIT; this would have banned the hospitals from continuing to receive federal dollars upon executing the property sale—thus likely preventing the sale.
    The bill is supported by Action Center on Race and the Economy, AFL-CIO, American Economic Liberties Project, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Popular Democracy, Coalition for Patient-Centered Care, Communications Workers of America, Community Catalyst, Economic Policy Institute, Indivisible, Massachusetts Nurses Association, National Employment Law Project, National Nurses United, National Women’s Law Center, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, People’s Action, Public Citizen, SEIU, Strong for All, Student Borrower Protection Center, Take Medicine Back, Take on Wall Street, UNITE HERE, United for Respect, Working Families Party, and Worth Rises.
    “Private equity has an immense impact on the U.S. economy, touching virtually every aspect of life from healthcare to housing to technology to retail and more. Private equity’s extractive playbook harms workers and communities, diminishes access to quality affordable health care, worsens the housing crisis and the climate crisis, and perpetuates systemic racism. Without major changes, a handful of ultra wealthy Wall Street executives will continue getting richer at everyone else’s expense. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act takes important, much needed steps to reign in Wall Street predatory practices and promote a just and sustainable economy,” said Lisa Donner, Executive Director, Americans for Financial Reform.
    “Union busting, pollution, and bankruptcy aren’t side effects of the private equity model: they are the model,” said Porter McConnell, Take on Wall Street. “It’s a smash-and-grab, plain and simple. That’s why we are so pleased to see comprehensive legislation like the Stop Wall Street Looting Act introduced in Congress today. We created the loopholes in the law that allowed the private equity industry to thrive, and we can end them. Our communities, our economy, and our democracy are depending on it.” 
    “As we fight for more public investment in the child care sector, we must also rein in private equity’s ability to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. Building guardrails – such as those in the Stop Wall Street Looting Act – will help put the wellbeing of children and families ahead of private equity’s profits,” said Melissa Boteach, Vice President, Income Security and Child Care/Early Learning, National Women’s Law Center.
    “Private equity firms, which control nearly $15 trillion in assets, routinely prioritize quick, outsized profits, at the expense of workers, patients, renters, and local economies as part of their business model,” said Chris Noble, Policy Director for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “The Stop Wall Street Looting Act provides an essential check on this opaque industry. By addressing the systemic risks tied to debt-laden private equity buyouts, this legislation prioritizes the long-term health of businesses and communities over short-term profits for wealthy private equity executives.” 
    “Private equity should have no influence over medical treatment decisions made jointly by independent physicians and their patients. The Stop Wall Street Looting Act goes a long way towards ensuring physicians, in consultation with their patients, are able to deliver quality, patient-centered, cost-efficient care without corporate interference,” said Dr. Stephen M. McCollam, Chair, Coalition for Patient-Centered Care.
    “Wall Street private equity firms have proven themselves to be a parasite on workers, our economy, and American retailers by gutting companies for profit and driving mass layoffs. Holding billionaire profiteers accountable for the damage they do to our working families and communities is imperative to addressing growing economic inequality,” said United for Respect Co-Executive Directors Bianca Agustin and Terrysa Guerra in a joint statement. “The Stop Wall Street Looting Act will help close loopholes in our laws that for too long have allowed private equity to pillage companies and amass huge profits while workers lose their jobs and are left with nothing. United For Respect is proud to support this bill — and we need all legislators to join us in protecting workers and putting Wall Street on the hook for the havoc they reap.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Leads Illinois Delegation In Requesting $50 Million In Reimbursements For MWRD’s Work On the Thornton Reservoir

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    10.10.24
    The reimbursed funds would be used to support environmental justice communities in becoming more climate-resilient
    CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), today sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor urging the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) to include $50 million in construction funds in its Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Work Plan to reimburse the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago for the work it has completed on the design and construction of the Thornton Composite Reservoir.  As the lawmakers noted in their letter, including funding to reimburse MWRD would allow the agency to focus on supporting environmental justice communities.
    “We are writing to request that you include $50 million in Construction funds in the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Work Plan to reimburse the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago for design and construction work conducted on the Thornton Composite Reservoir,” the lawmakers wrote.
    “This funding will allow MWRD to reinvest in the historically underserved and low-income communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois,” the lawmakers continued their letter.
    In 2009, MWRD executed an amendment to its Project Cooperation Agreement with the Army Corps for the design and construction of the Thornton Composite Reservoir, enabling MWRD to work on the project while being eligible for federal reimbursement.  Despite the reservoir being in service since 2015 and providing $40 million per year in flood reduction benefits to 14 communities, the Army Corps still owes MWRD approximately $200 million in reimbursements.
    “Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers owes MWRD approximately $200 million in reimbursements for the cost of designing and constructing the Thornton Reservoir, which is needed to support disadvantaged communities struggling with flooding.  For example, Cook County experienced extreme flooding during two storms events in 2023 that led to two major disaster declarations,” the lawmakers wrote.  “Some of these reimbursement funds would be used to match FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant funding for projects to address flood damages in Chicago’s south suburbs.  Including a $50 million reimbursement in the FY2025 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan will ensure that MWRD can work to protect these communities from the next set of disasters driven by the climate crisis.”
    MWRD has preemptively ensured that the reimbursed funds would be used to support environmental justice communities, addressing existing damage and improving climate-resilience.
    “MWRD has applied the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and confirmed that the requested funding will be used to fund stormwater management projects in six Justice40 disadvantaged communities,” the lawmakers wrote.  “These communities include areas that meet both the socioeconomic indicators and the CEQ/Justice 40 Initiative Key Categories, including: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, reduction and remediation of legacy pollution, critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure, health burdens, and workforce development. This reimbursement will help these communities create resilient futures.”
    The lawmakers concluded their letter by emphasizing the necessity of including the reimbursement funds in the FY25 Work Plan to support environmental justice communities.
    “As the Corps determines how to best address its environmental justice obligations, we strongly urge you to include $50 million in Construction funds for reimbursement to MWRD in the FY 2025 Work Plan.  The reimbursement to MWRD will help create a better future for the disadvantaged communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois,” the lawmakers concluded the letter.
    Durbin has previously secured additional reimbursements from the Corps for its work on Thornton Reservoir.  In Fiscal Year 2022, Durbin secured $12 million in reimbursement funds in the Army Corps’ FY22 Work Plan.  The following year, Durbin secured $7.2 million in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Construction Spend Plan for the project.  In Fiscal Year 2024, Durbin also secured $20 million in the Army Corps’ work plan for reimbursement.
    A copy of the letter is available here and below:
    October 10, 2024
    Dear Assistant Secretary Connor:
    We are writing to request that you include $50 million in Construction funds in the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Work Plan to reimburse the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago for design and construction work conducted on the Thornton Composite Reservoir.
    This funding will allow MWRD to reinvest in the historically underserved and low- income communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois. It will build on this year’s $20 million in the FY2024 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan; last year’s $7.2 million reimbursement to MWRD inthe Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Construction Spend Plan, Summer 2023 Addendum; and the $12 million in the FY2022 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan, allowing MWRD to complete construction of the Robbins Flood Protection Project. 
    In 2009, MWRD executed an amendment to its Project Cooperation Agreement with the Army Corps for the design and construction of the Thornton Composite Reservoir. This enabledMWRD to design and construct the Thornton Composite Reservoir project and allowed it to be eligible for federal reimbursement. The reservoir was put into service in 2015 and now provides an estimated $40 million per year in flood reduction benefits to 14 communities, protecting more than 35,000 structures from flooding. 
    Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers owes MWRD approximately $200 million in reimbursements for the cost of designing and constructing the Thornton Reservoir, which is needed to support disadvantaged communities struggling with flooding.  For example, Cook County experienced extreme flooding during two storms events in 2023 that led to two major disaster declarations.  Some of these reimbursement funds would be used to match FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant funding for projects to address flood damages in Chicago’s south suburbs.  Including a $50 million reimbursement in the FY2025 Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan will ensure that MWRD can work to protect these communities from the next set of disasters driven by the climate crisis.
    MWRD has applied the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and confirmed that the requested funding will be used to fund
    stormwater management projects in six Justice40 disadvantaged communities.  The Thornton Reservoir’s service area also is in a census tract considered to be disadvantaged under CEQ’s
    criteria. These communities include areas that meet both the socioeconomic indicators and the CEQ/Justice 40 Initiative Key Categories, including: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, reduction and remediation of legacy pollution, critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure, health burdens, and workforce development. This reimbursement will help these communities create resilient futures.
    As the Corps determines how to best address its environmental justice obligations, we strongly urge you to include $50 million in Construction funds for reimbursement to MWRD in the FY 2025 Work Plan.  The reimbursement to MWRD will help create a better future for the disadvantaged communities of Robbins, Harvey, Glenwood, Ford Heights, South Holland, Dolton, Calumet City, Lansing, Markham, Dixmoor, and Thornton, Illinois.  Thank you for your consideration of our request.
    Sincerely,
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: AI affects everyone – including Indigenous people. It’s time we have a say in how it’s built

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tamika Worrell, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Critical Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University

    Since artificial intelligence (AI) became mainstream over the past two years, many of the risks it poses have been widely documented. As well as fuelling deep fake porn, threatening personal privacy and accelerating the climate crisis, some people believe the emerging technology could even lead to human extinction.

    But some risks of AI are still poorly understood. These include the very particular risks to Indigenous knowledges and communities.

    There’s a simple reason for this: the AI industry and governments have largely ignored Indigenous people in the development and regulation of AI technologies. Put differently, the world of AI is too white.

    AI developers and governments need to urgently fix this if they are serious about ensuring everybody shares the benefits of AI. As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people like to say, “nothing about us, without us”.

    Indigenous concerns

    Indigenous peoples around the world are not ignoring AI. They are having conversations, conducting research and sharing their concerns about the current trajectory of it and related technologies.

    A well-documented problem is the theft of cultural intellectual property. For example, users of AI image generation programs such as DeepAI can artificially generate artworks in mere seconds which mimic Indigenous styles and stories of art.

    This demonstrates how easy it is for someone using AI to misappropriate cultural knowledges. These generations are taken from large data sets of publicly available imagery to create something new. But they miss the storying and cultural knowledge present in our art practices.

    AI technologies also fuel the spread of misinformation about Indigenous people.

    The internet is already riddled with misinformation about Indigenous people. The long-running Creative Spirits website, which is maintained by a non-Indigenous person, is a prominent example.

    Generative AI systems are likely to make this problem worse. They often conflate us with other global Indigenous peoples around the world. They also draw on inappropriate sources, including Creative Spirits.

    During last year’s Voice to Parliament referendum in Australia, “no” campaigners also used AI-generated images depicting Indigenous people. This demonstrates the role of AI in political contexts and the harm it can cause to us.

    Another problem is the lack of understanding of AI among Indigenous people. Some 40% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Australia don’t know what generative AI is. This reflects an urgent need to provide relevant information and training to Indigenous communities on the use of the technology.

    There is also concern about the use of AI in classroom contexts and its specific impact on Indigenous students.

    Looking to the future

    Hawaiian and Samoan Scholar Jason Lewis says:

    We must think more expansively about AI and all the other computational systems in which we find ourselves increasingly enmeshed. We need to expand the operational definition of intelligence used when building these systems to include the full spectrum of behaviour we humans use to make sense of the world.

    Key to achieving this is the idea of “Indigenous data sovereignty”. This would mean Indigenous people retain sovereignty over their own data, in the sense that they own and control access to it.

    In Australia, a collective known as Maiam nayri Wingara offers important considerations and principles for data sovereignty and governance. They affirm Indigenous rights to govern and control our data ecosystems, from creation to infrastructure.

    The National Agreement on Closing the Gap also affirms the importance of Indigenous data control and access.

    This is reaffirmed at a global level as well. In 2020, a group of Indigenous scholars from around the world published a position paper laying out how Indigenous protocols can inform ethically created AI. This kind of AI would centralise the knowledges of Indigenous peoples.

    In a positive step, the Australian government’s recently proposed set of AI guardrails highlight the importance of Indigenous data sovereignty.

    For example, the guardrails include the need to ensure additional transparency and make extra considerations when it comes to using data about or owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to “mitigate the perpetuation of existing social inequalities”.

    Indigenous Futurisms

    Grace Dillon, a scholar from a group of North American Indigenous people known as the Anishinaabe, first coined the term “Indigenous Futurisms”.

    Ambelin Kwaymullina, an academic and futurist practitioner from the Palyku nation in Western Australia, defines it as:

    visions of what-could-be that are informed by ancient Aboriginal cultures and by our deep understandings of oppressive systems.

    These visions, Kwaymullina writes, are “as diverse as Indigenous peoples ourselves”. They are also unified by “an understanding of reality as living, interconnected whole in which human beings are but one strand of life amongst many, and a non-linear view of time”.

    So how can AI technologies be informed by Indigenous ways of knowing?

    A first step is for industry to involve Indigenous people in creating, maintaining and evaluating the technologies – rather than asking them retrospectively to approve work already done.

    Governments need to also do more than highlight the importance of Indigenous data sovereignty in policy documents. They need to meaningfully consult with Indigenous peoples to regulate the use of these technologies. This consultation must aim to ensure ethical AI behaviour among organisations and everyday users that honours Indigenous worldviews and realities.

    AI developers and governments like to claim they are serious about ensuring AI technology benefits all of humanity. But unless they start involving Indigenous people more in developing and regulating the technology, their claims ring hollow.

    Tamika Worrell 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. AI affects everyone – including Indigenous people. It’s time we have a say in how it’s built – https://theconversation.com/ai-affects-everyone-including-indigenous-people-its-time-we-have-a-say-in-how-its-built-239605

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘Violence at all levels’: UN report into the abuse of women and girls in sport is a wake-up call for Australia

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor (Practice), Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, Monash University

    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

    This week the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls presented a report detailing the violence experienced by women and girls in sport globally.

    The report provides a global snapshot of the abuse women athletes experience, who is most likely to perpetrate the violence, and makes recommendations on what should been done to promote safety of women and girls.

    Off the back of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic games, where Australia cheered on the record-breaking success of women athletes, the report should be a wake-up call for Australian sports and clubs.

    Abuse of women and girls in sport

    Drawing on more than 100 submissions and consultations with 50 people, the report finds:

    Women and girls in sport face widespread, overlapping and grave forms and manifestations of violence at all levels.

    These abusive behaviours include coercive control, physical violence, corporal punishment, verbal abuse, social exclusion, bullying and identity abuse.

    The impacts of this violence are wide-ranging: physical injuries, insomnia, fear and anxiety, reduced self-confidence, substance misuse, eating disorders, self harm, and decline in athletic performance and participation.

    These impacts can extend well beyond the athlete’s involvement in their sport.

    Women and girls also experience economic violence in sport. For example, when women athletes do not have control over their earnings, or when they are coerced into signing exploitative contracts.

    The report notes women athletes also experience heightened rates of abusive and harassing behaviours in online settings. This includes sexual harassment and threats, racism, ridicule, body shaming, sexualised comments, stalking, doxing and revenge porn.

    Perpetrators are wide-ranging. They include coaches, managers, spectators, teachers, peers, sports lawyers, referees and medical staff.

    The report describes sexual harassment and abuse as “rampant” and acknowledges the high rate of sexual violence, in particular with relationships between coaches and athletes.

    This includes grooming of younger athletes, where power and control dynamics, combined with an abuse of trust between an adult and child athlete, provide the conditions for sexual abuse to proliferate.

    It follows a 2023 report from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and UN Women, which estimates 21% of girls worldwide have experienced at least one form of sexual abuse as a child in sport.

    Is this a problem in Australia?

    Australians often pride themselves on how sports bring the nation, communities and families together but we too have a wide-reaching problem in this area.

    In 2021, a review of Swimming Australia found women athletes and coaches had experienced physical and mental abuse while the “Change the Routine” review of Gymnastics Australia revealed child abuse and neglect, misconduct, bullying, abuse, sexual harassment and assault towards gymnasts.

    More recently, a review by Sports Integrity Australia into Australian volleyball, which revealed systemic verbal and physical abuse of athletes, prompted a formal apology to past athletes.

    And a 2024 Deakin University study showed 87% of Australian sportswomen had experienced online harm within the past year.

    A lack of accountability and consequence

    In the traditionally male-dominated culture of sport, abusers have often gone unsanctioned, while those who experience abuse often leave their sport early and with significant consequences to their careers, financial stability, and mental and physical wellbeing.

    There are examples where abuse has been minimised or ignored by those in leadership to protect the reputation of the team or the sporting code, and where coaches have been able to move between teams without consequence.

    Take, for example, the sexual abuse of young female gymnasts by United States coach Larry Nassar.

    The first complaint against Nassar was made in 1997. Despite this, and the numerous other complaints which followed, Nassar remained in his coaching position with USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University until 2015. In December 2017 he was convicted of numerous counts of sexual abuse of minors.

    Outcomes of investigations by sporting bodies often remain confidential. For example, in 2017 the Fremantle Dockers and the AFL were criticised for their use of a “confidentiality agreement” in settling a sexual harassment matter.

    This impunity demonstrates a significant lack of accountability.

    The barriers to reporting abuse in sport

    There are significant barriers to reporting.

    Women elite athletes may fear losing their funding and sponsorship deals if they report abuse.

    In Australia, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard child athletes are most at risk of experiencing abuse by a person of authority (such as a coach) when they are about to achieve their best performance.

    As the UN Report states, it is at this time that “there is very little to gain by revealing the abuse and too much to lose”.

    This must change.

    When sporting codes put a desire to win above safeguarding and accountability, the clear message sent to victims is that violence is excusable, and that sporting heroes are immune to the consequences of their abusive actions.

    Raising awareness around early identification of abusive behaviours is key.

    The UN report reveals athletes often feel uncertain and uncomfortable in identifying early forms of abusive behaviours and lack information on what supports are available to them when they do.

    Ensuring a suite of reporting pathways is also critical. There is no one-size-fits-all model.

    Why Australia should take the lead

    Participating in sport has significant benefits. But sport settings must be safe for all.

    Many sporting organisations and clubs have recognised the problem of abuse of women and girls in sport, rolling out respect and responsibility programs, sexual harassment policies, as well as clearer reporting and investigation policies.

    This is a good start but must be built on.

    Indeed, the safety of women and girls must be a key focus of the Australian High Performance “Win Well” strategy for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Recent initiatives and policy changes should be monitored to examine how they work and whether they deliver safer outcomes for women and girls in sport at all levels.

    Responses to proven allegations of abuse must hold perpetrators to account. And critically, investigations must be independent, transparent and timely.

    The UN report reminds us “sports is a microcosm of society”.

    Violence against women and children in Australia has been declared a national emergency – ensuring the safety of women and girls in all sport settings is one critical component of addressing that crisis.

    Kate has received funding for family violence-related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, the Victorian, Queensland and ACT governments, the Commonwealth Department of Social Services and the Victorian Women’s Trust. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her role at Monash University and is wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria.

    – ref. ‘Violence at all levels’: UN report into the abuse of women and girls in sport is a wake-up call for Australia – https://theconversation.com/violence-at-all-levels-un-report-into-the-abuse-of-women-and-girls-in-sport-is-a-wake-up-call-for-australia-239085

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: It’s time to talk about how the media talks about sexual harassment

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rawan Nimri, Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality, Griffith University

    Sexual harassment is all too common in hospitality and tourism. One Australian survey found almost half of the respondents had been sexually harassed, compared to about one in three in workplaces more generally.

    Hospitality and tourism are marked by intense and close interpersonal interactions and dismissive treatment by some customers, including verbal and physical aggression, bullying and sexual suggestions.

    Workers who are young, female, low-paid and casual are especially vulnerable.

    The scandals at the Merivale Hospitality Group and Sydney’s Swillhouse restaurant are only the most recent.

    The widely held view that “the customer is always right” gives customers power. The power imbalance is magnified where tipping makes up a substantial part of workers’ earnings.

    What newspapers report

    To examine how sexual harassment is reported, we identified about 2,000 newspaper articles across a number of countries published between 2017 and 2022 dealing with the treatment of hotel room attendants, airline cabin crew and massage therapists. We zeroed in on 273 for closer analysis.

    This was a period in which the public awareness of sexual harassment climbed with the rise of the #MeToo movement and media coverage probably peaked.

    Media coverage matters because of its effect on public opinion.

    Computer-assisted thematic analysis showed four different types of coverage, some overlapping, relating to legal matters, celebrities, power dynamics, and calls to action.

    The language used varied according to the countries in which the newspapers were located.

    In the United States and the United Kingdom, the accused were often described by their social or economic status, with cases involving famous people getting a lot of attention. In Asia and Africa, the reports focused on basic details such as the offender’s age and where they lived.

    Women infantilised

    But universally we found the terms used to describe victims were highly gendered and dated in ways that suggested subservience and undermined their professional skills. Cabin crew were called “air hostesses”. Room attendants were called “maids”.

    Framing these professionals as modern-day servants has the potential to foster and perpetuate an expectation that sexual harassment is to be expected.

    Reports involving celebrity harassers highlighted victims’ narratives with emotionally charged quotes using words such as “awful” and “terrible”. These words were perhaps intended to evoke empathy for the victims but also serve to further victimise them.

    Female aggression under-reported

    In all cases, women were heavily featured as victims but never as aggressors. It is a gender bias that does not match the established statistics, which show that almost one-quarter of aggressors are women.

    This misrepresentation creates a skewed understanding of who commits and suffers from sexual harassment. It has the potential to discourage victims of harassment by women from coming forward.

    It’s important for the tourism industry to foster secure and dignified working conditions. But it is also important that the media reflect the actual behaviour of aggressors and victims.

    Done better, reporting could help

    The media could play a crucial role in bringing about better policies and practices in these industries by emphasising the severe consequences of ignoring the problem and the benefits of taking proactive steps.

    More respectful and accurate reporting might be able to help drive lasting change, making a positive difference in the lives of the skilled workers on whom so many of us depend.

    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. It’s time to talk about how the media talks about sexual harassment – https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-talk-about-how-the-media-talks-about-sexual-harassment-238771

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Use of AI in property valuation is on the rise – but we need greater transparency and trust

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Cheung, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    New Zealand’s economy has been described as a “housing market with bits tacked on”. Buying and selling property is a national sport fuelled by the rising value of homes across the country.

    But the wider public has little understanding of how those property valuations are created – despite their being a key factor in most banks’ decisions about how much they are willing to lend for a mortgage.

    Automated valuation models (AVM) – systems enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) that crunch vast datasets to produce instant property values – have done little to improve transparency in the process.

    These models started gaining traction in New Zealand in the early 2010s. The early versions used limited data sources like property sales records and council information. Today’s more advanced models include high-quality geo-spatial data from sources such as Land Information New Zealand.

    AI models have improved efficiency. But the proprietary algorithms behind those AVMs can make it difficult for homeowners and industry professionals to understand how specific values are calculated.

    In our ongoing research, we are developing a framework that evaluates these automated valuations. We have looked at how the figures should be interpreted and what factors might be missed by the AI models.

    In a property market as geographically and culturally varied as New Zealand’s, these points are not only relevant — they are critical. The rapid integration of AI into property valuation is no longer just about innovation and speed. It is about trust, transparency and a robust framework for accountability.

    AI valuations are a black box

    In New Zealand, property valuation has traditionally been a labour-intensive process. Valuers would usually inspect properties, make market comparisons and apply their expert judgement to arrive at a final value estimate.

    But this approach is slow, expensive and prone to human error. As demand for more efficient property valuations increased, the use of AI brought in much-needed change.

    But the rise of these valuations models is not without its challenges. While AI offers speed and consistency, it also comes with a critical downside: a lack of transparency.

    AVMs often operate as “black boxes”, providing little insight into the data and methodologies that drive their valuations. This raises serious concerns about the consistency, objectivity and transparency of these systems.

    What exactly the algorithm is doing when an AVM estimates a home’s value is not clear. Such opaqueness has real-world consequences, perpetuating market imbalances and inequities.

    Without a framework to monitor and correct these discrepancies, AI models risk distorting the property market further, especially in a country as diverse as New Zealand, where regional, cultural and historical factors significantly influence property values.

    Transparency and accountability

    A recent discussion forum with real estate industry insiders, law researchers and computer scientists on AI governance and property valuations highlighted the need for greater accountability when it comes to AVMs. Transparency alone is not enough. Trust must be built into the system.

    This can be achieved by requiring AI developers and users to disclose data sources, algorithms and error margins behind their valuations.

    Additionally, valuation models should incorporate a “confidence interval” – a range of prices that shows how much the estimated value might vary. This offers users a clearer understanding of the uncertainty inherent in each valuation.

    But effective AI governance in property valuation cannot be achieved in isolation. It demands collaboration between regulators, AI developers and property professionals.

    Bias correction

    New Zealand urgently needs a comprehensive evaluation framework for AVMs, one that prioritises transparency, accountability and bias correction.

    This is where our research comes in. We repeatedly resample small portions of the data to account for situations where property value data do not follow a normal distribution.

    This process generates a confidence interval showing a range of possible values around each property estimate. Users are then able to understand the variability and reliability of the AI-generated valuations, even when the data are irregular or skewed.

    Our framework goes beyond transparency. It incorporates a bias correction mechanism that detects and adjusts for constantly overvalued or undervalued estimates within AVM outputs. One example of this relates to regional disparities or undervaluation of particular property types.

    By addressing these biases, we ensure valuations that are not only accountable or auditable but also fair. The goal is to avoid the long-term market distortions that unchecked AI models could create.

    The rise of AI auditing

    But transparency alone is not enough. The auditing of AI-generated information is becoming increasingly important.

    New Zealand’s courts now require a qualified person to check information generated by AI and subsequently used in tribunal proceedings.

    In much the same way financial auditors ensure accuracy in accounting, AI auditors will play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of valuations.

    Based on earlier research, we are auditing the artificial valuation model estimates by comparing them with the market transacted prices of the same houses in the same period.

    It is not just about trusting the algorithms but trusting the people and systems behind them.

    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. Use of AI in property valuation is on the rise – but we need greater transparency and trust – https://theconversation.com/use-of-ai-in-property-valuation-is-on-the-rise-but-we-need-greater-transparency-and-trust-240880

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its harrowing, visceral impact has been rarely matched, 50 years on

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Godfrey, Senior Lecturer, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a product of a unique time in American filmmaking, when independent exploitation films were nastier than ever, and equally capable of piercing the mainstream consciousness.

    Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film arrived in a recently transformed exhibition landscape. The 1967 outcry over onscreen violence in Bonnie and Clyde marked the end of Hollywood’s Motion Picture Production Code and the introduction of film ratings.

    Films like Easy Rider (1969) elevated the standing of formerly disreputable exploitation fare within Hollywood. By 1973, The Exorcist was packing out cinemas and producing lines around city blocks with the promise of the most unremitting horror film yet made.

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was shot quickly on a shoestring budget, financed in part by the newly-formed Texas Film Commission. The film assembled its cast and crew from Austin’s circles of recent college graduates and dropouts.

    Its plot is straightforward enough: a group of young people are stranded when they run out of gas in rural Texas. They are terrorised and subsequently murdered by an eccentric local family, including the chainsaw wielding Leatherface – a nonverbal, childlike giant who wears masks made from the skin of his flayed victims.

    We learn this family have lost their jobs at the local slaughterhouse with the introduction of bolt gun technologies, leaving them sell roadside meat made from human victims.

    This detail has inspired a range of thematic interpretations for the film, encompassing commentary on class and family, gender and animal rights.

    The film lays bare the horrors of meat production, inflicted on human victims. The family home is the site where these themes come into conflict.

    Porn and violence on screen

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was picked up by the Bryanston Distributing Company. In 1972, Bryanston was the distributor for the theatrical release of the hardcore pornographic film Deep Throat. The film’s success shifted popular discourse around pornography, and helped Bryanston widen the theatrical release for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

    In subsequent years, media reported on alleged abusive on-set conditions on Deep Throat, along with claims Bryanston was connected with organised crime. Director Hooper, and many of the Chain Saw Massacre cast, alleged they never received their share of box office from the distributor.

    A 1974 poster.
    Ralf Liebhold/Shutterstock

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s proximity to Deep Throat stoked controversy, conflating concern about increasingly extreme depictions of sex and violence onscreen.

    Two years earlier, young filmmaker Wes Craven had transitioned from making pornography to horror film. His low budget rape-revenge exploitation film The Last House on the Left (1972) was originally developed as a hardcore pornographic film. This approach was abandoned when it entered production.

    Unlike Craven’s notorious film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is not overtly sexualised. While there may be a sexual undertone to Leatherface’s pursuit of Sally and her companions, it does not escalate to onscreen acts of sexual violence.

    Regardless, the film drew condemnation, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it was banned, and later figured in public debates about the censorship of “video nasties” in the 1980s.

    For my part, I remember encountering The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at the video rental store as a child: its title, cover and R-rating promised horrors beyond comprehension, many years before I actually saw the film itself.

    Horrors implied, rather than shown

    Beyond its controversies, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre played an important role in the developing field of horror film studies. It figures prominently in Robin Wood’s taxonomy of “reactionary” horror movies (which uphold traditional values) and “progressive” horror movies, which take a more ambivalent stance on the figure of the monster, challenging conservative social values. Wood counts The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the latter category.

    It is also central to Carol J. Clover’s influential codification of the “final girl” narrative trope, in which a sole young woman is able to withstand the monster’s onslaught.

    Alongside Halloween (1978), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre helped steer the trajectory of American horror films in the 1980s.

    Halloween is situated within the manicured surroundings of suburbia, and conveys its menace through the slick technical qualities of its gliding camera, and John Carpenter’s staccato synth score.

    By contrast, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre locates its horror in the backroads and decrepit farmhouses of central Texas. The idea of Texas looms large, connoting a place of lawlessness, violence and danger.

    Hooper punctuates his long shots with extreme close ups via rapid editing. The film’s most grotesque horrors are implied, rather than shown. Its most visceral impact comes from its extended chase sequences, and via its soundtrack: Sally’s piercing screams, and Leatherface’s ever-present chainsaw.

    While the Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned several sequels and influenced even more imitators over the years, from the Ramones to Wolf Creek (2005) and X (2022), it has rarely been matched in its intensity, and its harrowing, visceral impact.

    Nicholas Godfrey 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. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its harrowing, visceral impact has been rarely matched, 50 years on – https://theconversation.com/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-and-its-harrowing-visceral-impact-has-been-rarely-matched-50-years-on-236700

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠ Harris Administration Celebrates International Day of the Girl and Continues Commitment to Supporting Youth in the U.S. and  Abroad

    Source: The White House

    International Day of the Girl provides an opportunity to celebrate the leadership of girls around the world and recommit to addressing the barriers that continue to limit their full participation. Today, to commemorate International Day of the Girl, First Lady Jill Biden will host the second “Girls Leading Change” event at the White House to recognize outstanding young women from across the United States who are making a difference in their communities. This year’s event will honor 10 young women leaders, selected by the White House Gender Policy Council, who are leading change and shaping a brighter future for generations to come.  

    The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that girls can pursue their dreams free from fear, discrimination, violence, or abuse; and to advancing the safety, education, health, and wellbeing of girls everywhere. Investing in young people means investing in our future; and they should have the opportunity and resources they need to succeed.

    That’s why, since day one in office, this Administration has taken action to advance the safety, education, health, and well-being of girls, including:

    • Accelerating Learning and Improving Student Achievement. The American Rescue Plan, the largest one-time education investment in our history, included $130 billion to help schools address the impact of the pandemic on student well-being and academic achievement. To sustain these efforts, the Biden-Harris Administration increased funding and targeting of federal grants to better support academic recovery—from the Education Innovation and Research program to extended-day and afterschool programming through 21st Century Community Learning Centers. And the Administration’s Improving Student Achievement Agenda for 2024 is helping accelerate academic performance for every child in school.
    • Canceling Student Debt. President Biden and Vice President Harris vowed to fix the federal student loan program and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class—not a barrier to opportunity. The Biden-Harris Administration has approved nearly $170 billion in loan forgiveness for almost 5 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions with the goal of helping these borrowers get more breathing room in their daily lives, access economic mobility, buy homes, start businesses, and pursue their dreams.
    • Cutting Child Poverty Nearly in Half in 2021. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that no child should grow up in poverty. Their expansion of the Child Tax Credit helped cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021 to a record low of 5.2%. President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to restore this expansion, which would lift over a million girls out of poverty and narrow racial disparities. The Biden-Harris Administration has also lifted hundreds of thousands of girls out of poverty by updating the Thrifty Food Plan and creating SunBucks, a new program that helps low-income families afford groceries over the summer when they don’t have access to school meals.
    • Supporting Youth Mental Health. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care—period. That’s why they invested almost $1.5 billion to strengthen the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and launched the National Mental Health Strategy, with ongoing investments to strengthen the mental health workforce, ensure parity for mental health and substance use care, connect Americans to care, and better protect youth from the harms of social media. The Biden-Harris Administration is also delivering the largest investments in school-based mental health services ever, bringing 14,000 new mental health professionals into schools across the country and making it easier for schools to leverage Medicaid to deliver care.
       
    • Preventing Gun Violence, Including Domestic Violence with Firearms. Gun violence is the leading killer of children and teenagers in the United States. President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken historic executive action to reduce gun violence and violent crime. In 2022, President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the most significant new gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years. The intersection between guns and domestic violence can be especially deadly, and BSCA expanded background checks to keep guns out of the hands of more domestic abusers, narrowed the “boyfriend loophole” so an individual convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against a dating partner is prohibited from purchasing a firearm, and expanded funding for red flag laws that allow for temporary removal of firearms from an individual who is a danger to themselves or others. President Biden established the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. The Biden-Harris Administration has made historic investments in law enforcement and community-led crime prevention and intervention strategies and has announced more executive actions to reduce gun violence than any other administration. Most recently, building on life-saving actions that the Administration has already taken, President Biden signed a new Executive Order in September 2024 to improve school-based active shooter drills and combat emerging firearms threats. The President and Vice President also announced new actions to support survivors of gun violence, promote safe gun storage, fund community violence intervention, and improve the gun background check system, among other actions.
       
    • Launching the American Climate Corps. President Biden launched the American Climate Corps to give a diverse new generation of young people the tools to fight the impacts of climate change today and the skills to join the clean energy and climate-resilience workforce of tomorrow. The American Climate Corps is tackling the climate crisis, including by restoring coastal ecosystems, strengthening urban and rural agriculture, investing in clean energy and energy efficiency, improving disaster and wildfire preparedness, and more. More than 15,000 young Americans have already been put to work in high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience workforce training and service opportunities through the American Climate Corps—putting the program on track to reach President Biden’s goal of 20,000 members in the program’s first year ahead of schedule.
       
    • Providing Children with Healthier, More Sustainable Environments. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $3 billion and funded approximately 8,700 electric and low-emission school buses nationwide, protecting children from air pollution by transforming school bus fleets across America. The Biden-Harris Administration also invested $15 billion toward replacing every toxic lead pipe in the country within a decade, protecting children and schools from lead exposure that can cause irreversible harm to cognitive development and hamper children’s learning. And earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency provided $58 million to protect children from lead in drinking water at schools and child care facilities.
    • Fighting Online Harassment and Abuse. Online harassment and abuse is increasingly widespread in today’s digitally connected world and disproportionately affects women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals. President Biden established the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse to coordinate comprehensive actions from more than a dozen federal agencies, and his Executive Order on artificial intelligence directs federal agencies to address deepfake image-based abuse. The Department of Justice also funded the first-ever national helpline to provide 24/7 support and specialized services for victims of online harassment and abuse, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate images; raised awareness of new legal protections against the non-consensual distribution of intimate images that were included in the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022; and funded a new National Resource Center on Cybercrimes Against Individuals.
    • Keeping Students Safe and Addressing Campus Sexual Assault. The Department of Education restored and strengthened vital Title IX protections against discrimination on the basis of sex for students and employees. The Department of Justice awarded more than $20 million in FY 2024 to support colleges and universities in preventing and responding to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. And the Department of Education—in collaboration with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services—launched a Task Force on Sexual Violence in Education that has released data on sexual violence at educational institutions and is working to improve sexual violence prevention and response on campus.
    • Supporting Vulnerable Youth. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to support the needs of vulnerable and underserved youth—from helping prevent youth homelessness and human trafficking to supporting employment initiatives for youth with disabilities. This includes $800 million in dedicated funding to support students experiencing homelessness through the President’s American Rescue Plan. The Department of Health and Human Services also issued landmark rules to improve the child welfare system, particularly for the most vulnerable children, and to advance the safety and wellbeing of families across the country, including for LGBTQI+ children in foster care. And the Department of Justice has funded programs to help communities develop, enhance, or expand early intervention programs and treatment services for girls who are involved in the juvenile justice system.

    The Biden-Harris Administration has also taken action to support girls around the globe by fighting to advance the human rights of women and girls and promote access to education, health, and safety, including:

    • Promoting Girls’ Education Globally. The United States is investing in girls’ education around the world, which in turn advances health and economic development. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) invested more than $2.5 billion from FY 2021-2023 to increase access to quality basic and higher education, and reached 18.7 million girls and women in 69 countries in FY23 alone to advance gender equality in and through education. The Departments of State and Labor have also supported efforts to promote girls’ education through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs in Kenya and Namibia, as well as technical and vocational education training centers for adolescent girls in Ethiopia. The United States has strongly condemned the restriction of girls’ education in Afghanistan, including by restricting visas for individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls by limiting or prohibiting access to education.
    • Closing the Gender Digital Divide. Last year, Vice President Harris launched the Women in the Digital Economy Fund (Wi-DEF) to accelerate progress towards closing the gender digital divide. To date, Wi-DEF has raised over $80 million, including an initial $50 million commitment from USAID. Building on the success of the Fund, the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative includes commitments from governments, private sector companies, foundations, civil society, and multilateral organizations that have pledged more than $1 billion to accelerate gender digital equality. This Initiative supports girls’ access to digital learning opportunities, provides employment and educational skills, and helps fulfill the historic commitment of G20 Leaders to halve the digital gender gap by 2030. Since the launch of Wi-DEF, the United States has invested $102 million in direct and aligned commitments to closing the gender digital divide and accelerating gender digital equality.
    • Preventing and Responding to Online Harassment and Abuse Globally. To address the scourge of online harassment and abuse against girls and women, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the 15-country Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which has advanced international policies to address online safety and supported programs to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Since the Global Partnership was launched in 2022, the Department of State has supported projects in every region to prevent, document, and address technology-facilitated gender-based violence, cultivate safe online use, and respond to survivors’ needs. 
    • Championing Girls’ Leadership in Addressing the Climate Crisis. In 2023, Vice President Harris announced the Women in the Sustainable Economy Initiative—an over $2 billion public-private partnership to promote women’s access to jobs in the green and blue industries of the future—including by advancing girls’ access to STEM education. Through WISE, the Department of State is investing more than $12 million in programs to benefit girls, including programs that promote girls’ economic skills and opportunities in STEM and that foster girls’ roles in leading, shaping, and informing equitable and inclusive climate policies and actions.
    • Strengthening HIV Prevention Services for Girls. To address key factors that make adolescent girls and young women particularly vulnerable to HIV, the United States launched the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) public-private partnership as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2014. Announced in 2023, PEPFAR’s DREAMS NextGen program is the next phase of DREAMS that will take a more nuanced approach that is responsive to the current context within each of the 15 DREAMS countries. PEPFAR has invested more than $2 billion in comprehensive HIV prevention programming for girls through DREAMS—including $1.3 billion since the start of the Administration—and the program reaches approximately 2.5 to 3 million girls annually.
    • Increasing Efforts to End Child Marriage Globally. To address the global scourge of child, early, and forced marriage, USAID and the Department of State invested $86 million in 27 countries to support programs that prevent and respond to this harmful practice, including by equipping girls and young women with education and workforce readiness skills; providing education, health, legal, and economic support; and raising awareness. Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States also made its first-ever contribution to the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to End Child Marriage, which works in 12 countries in Africa and South Asia to promote the rights of adolescent girls, and is contributing more than $2 million in FY 2024 to UNFPA to help reach refugee adolescent girls and prevent child marriages in humanitarian settings.
    • Leading Programs to End Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting. To address the harmful practice of female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C), USAID invested in programs to address this issue in Djibouti, Egypt, Mauritania, and Nigeria. The United States is a long-standing donor to the UNICEF-UNFPA Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, and invested $20 million from FY 2020-FY 2023 in this partnership, which has succeeded in advocating for legal and policy frameworks banning FGM/C in 14 of 17 countries and supported more than 6.3 million women and girls with FGM/C-related protection and care services.
    • Promoting Young Women’s Civic and Political Participation. The Biden-Harris Administration has advanced the political and civic participation of women and girls as a pillar of democracy promotion efforts worldwide. The Administration launched Women LEAD, a $900 million public-private partnership focused on building the pipeline of women leaders around the world, including by supporting programs to reach girls and young women. Under this umbrella, the USAID-led Advancing Women’s and Girls’ Civic and Political Leadership Initiative provides more than $25 million to identify and dismantle the individual, structural, and socio-cultural barriers to the political empowerment of women and girls in ten focus countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Kyrgyz Republic, Yemen, and Fiji. Furthermore, the State Department is launching a new $1.25 million program in Africa that will empower and equip young women leaders to take on decision-making roles in democratic transition processes.
    • Protecting Girls in Humanitarian Emergencies. The United States government has increased its support for girls in humanitarian and fragile contexts. Since 2021, USAID has more than doubled the percentage of its humanitarian budget allocated to the protection sector, which includes child protection and gender-based violence activities serving girls. In FY 2023, USAID provided $163 million specifically towards addressing gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies. In 2022, USAID and the Department of State launched Safe from the Start: ReVisioned, which seeks to better address the needs of girls and women from the onset of a conflict or crisis.
    • Combatting Child Trafficking. To combat child trafficking, including trafficking of girls, the Department of State has committed $37.5 million through Child Protection Compacts, building capacity in Jamaica, Peru, and Mongolia, and establishing new partnerships with Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Romania. These partnerships strengthen country responses to child trafficking to more effectively prosecute and convict traffickers, provide comprehensive trauma-informed care for child victims—including girls—and prevent child trafficking in all its forms.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: Delivering on Our Commitments, 12th U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Lao  PDR

    Source: The White House

    The Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen our ties with ASEAN and deliver on our commitments to the region. Over the past three and a half years, we have pursued an unprecedented expansion in the breadth and depth of U.S.-ASEAN relations, including upgrading our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and institutionalizing cooperation in five new areas—health, transportation, women’s empowerment, environment and climate, and energy—as well as deepening our cooperation in foreign affairs, economics, technology, and defense. To date, we have made significant progress in fulfilling 98.37 percent of our commitments in the ASEAN-U.S. Plan of Action (2022-2025) and its Annex. The United States will continue working with ASEAN, including through ASEAN-led mechanisms, to build an open, inclusive, transparent, resilient, and rules-based regional architecture in which ASEAN is its center.
     
    DELIVERING ON OUR COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

    This year, the United States and ASEAN are celebrating 47 years of U.S.-ASEAN relations. President Biden and Vice President Harris remain committed to ASEAN centrality and supporting the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which shares fundamental principles with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy. ASEAN is at the heart of the U.S. approach to the Indo-Pacific, as reflected in numerous U.S. initiatives to promote economic prosperity and regional stability. Through the U.S.-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the United States has demonstrated that we are a reliable and enduring partner for our combined one billion people. Key U.S.-ASEAN accomplishments under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership include:

    • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) extended the U.S.-ASEAN Regional Development Cooperation Agreement to 2029 enabling the launch of the new five-year ASEAN USAID Partnership Program in March 2024. 
    • The United States plans to conduct a second U.S.-ASEAN maritime exercise in 2025, co-hosted by Indonesia. U.S. and ASEAN Member States’ navies will exercise communication, information sharing, and the implementation of maritime security protocols in accordance with international law.
    • In August 2024, the United States and ASEAN agreed to formalize U.S.-ASEAN health cooperation, elevating our engagement to a biennial U.S.-ASEAN Health Ministers Dialogue. USAID also officially launched the U.S.-ASEAN-Airborne Infection Defense Platform to bolster the region’s tuberculosis response capacity.
    • The United States is launching a cybersecurity training program for the ASEAN Secretariat that will enhance the cybersecurity awareness, knowledge, and skills of our partners who are the backbone of ASEAN institutions.  
    • At the third U.S.-ASEAN High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate this year, the United States unveiled the U.S.-ASEAN Climate Solutions Hub to help ASEAN members states develop and implement their contributions under the Paris Agreement.
    • In 2023, the United States and ASEAN held the inaugural Dialogue on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to advance human rights for persons with disabilities across Southeast Asia, including working with private sector to find ways to support accessibility across Southeast Asia.

    As a reflection of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership reaching its full potential, the United States and ASEAN celebrated the launch of the U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, DC in December 2023. The Center has already hosted several high-profile ASEAN-related events and is on track to become the key hub for ASEAN’s engagement with the United States.

    • In June 2024, the Center hosted the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, for his first working visit to the United States, where he launched a speaker series.
    • In August 2024, the Center hosted an ASEAN Day celebration, showcasing a wide array of cultural activities from ASEAN Member States.
    • The Center is also partnering with the Antiquities Coalition to host a Cultural Property Agreement workshop.

    The U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership (USASCP) is a key mechanism for our engagement on innovating sustainable cities of the future. Since it was launched in 2018, USASCP has invested more than $19 million in over 20 projects across urban sectors throughout the region. USASCP tackles the varied challenges of rapid urbanization, including accelerating climate action and promoting sustainable urban services.

    • In 2024, the USASCP Smart Cities Business Innovation Fund 2.0 will grant $3 million for net-zero urban innovation projects to strengthen private sector investment in sustainability and climate action across the ASEAN region.
    • In 2022, the Smart Cities Business Innovation Fund 1.0 granted a total of $1 million to six awardees across the region, including a solar panel recycling facility in Da Nang Vietnam and a seaweed/bioplastics manufacturer in Tangerang Indonesia.
    • The United States paired municipal water and wastewater facility operators from five cities across the United States and the ASEAN Smart Cities Network to share their expertise.

    This year marks the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative’s (YSEALI) second decade of building youth leadership capabilities across Southeast Asia to promote cross-border cooperation on regional and global challenges. YSEALI’s 160,000 strong digital network and 6,000 plus alumni community is creating new opportunities for its members to shape YSEALI’s next 10 years of impact. The State Department is well on its way to doubling the number of Southeast Asian youth participating in the YSEALI Academic and Professional Fellowships by 2025, in line with the commitments laid out by President Biden and Vice President Harris during the May 2022 U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit.

    • The United States has invested over $1.8 million to empower nearly 500 young women as part of the YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy (WLA). In celebration of the WLA’s 10th anniversary, the U.S. Mission to ASEAN granted $44,000 to alumni groups to foster collaboration and find innovative ways to close the gender leadership gap.
    • The YSEALI Seeds for the Future Program—a grant program intended to support innovative initiatives in Southeast Asia—has provided nearly $3 million for more than 500 young leaders to carry out projects that improve their communities.
    • The Department of State’s YSEALI Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund supported 16 YSEALI alumni-led public service projects in 2024. 

    ENHANCING CONNECTIVITY AND RESILIENCE

    The Biden-Harris Administration continues to build greater connectivity with ASEAN and enhancing regional resilience to bolster economic development and integration. The United States is ASEAN’s number one source of foreign direct investment, and U.S. goods and services trade totaled an estimated $500 billion in 2023. Since 2002, the United States has provided more than $14.7 billion in economic, health, and security assistance to Southeast Asian allies and partners. During that same period, the United States provided nearly $1.9 billion in humanitarian assistance, including life-saving disaster assistance, emergency food aid, and support to refugees throughout the region. As a durable and reliable partner of ASEAN, the United States supports the governments and people of Southeast Asia in enhancing the region’s connectivity and resilience. In addition to U.S. companies’ substantial investments, the United States is cooperating with the private sector to equip the region’s workforce with the skills needed to succeed in Southeast Asia’s burgeoning digital economy. Other key U.S. initiatives supporting this effort include:

    • USAID announces $2 million of new funding to support the sustainable development of critical minerals, supporting ASEAN’s goal of raising environmental, social, and governance standards for mineral sector development. 
    • Through the Japan-U.S.-Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP), the U.S. Department of State has implemented over 60 technical assistance activities to strengthen national power sectors and regional electricity market, enhancing the clean energy export potential of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam to the ASEAN market. 
    • The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is supporting a feasibility study to develop two cross-border interconnections, further expanding our longstanding support to connect the ASEAN Power Grid.
    • USAID is expanding cooperation with the ASEAN Center for Energy to support private sector and multilateral development bank investment to operationalize regional connectivity through the ASEAN Power Grid.
    • Through the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting and Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting, we are intensifying our cooperation on trusted information and communications technology infrastructure – including undersea cables, cloud computing, and wireless networks, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and combatting online scams.
    • The United States supported development of the ASEAN Responsible AI Roadmap and provided AI technical assistance for the Digital Economy Framework Agreement. Our collective effort ensures ASEAN can foster an inclusive environment where affirmative, safe, secure, and trustworthy AI innovation can flourish.
    • Under the U.S.-ASEAN Connect framework, the U.S. Mission to ASEAN is leveraging the U.S. government and private sector expertise to advance economic engagement, including through workshops covering topics such as best practices to strengthen cybersecurity and how to harness digital technologies.

    Over the past three and a half years, the Biden-Harris Administration has also spurred investment and economic growth through the advancement of over $1.4 billion in private sector investments in the ASEAN region. This past year alone, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has invested over $341 million in ASEAN markets. To further our cooperation and support, DFC has announced that it will open new offices in Vietnam and the Philippines to source more opportunities and further advance private sector investment. DFC’s key initiatives and investments have included:

    • Loaning up to $126 million loan to power company PT Medco Cahaya Geothermal to strengthen Indonesia’s energy security.
    • Initiating DFC’s first investment in Lao PDR with a $4 million loan portfolio guarantee to Phongsavanh Bank, which will work with Village Funds to give farmers financing to scale their businesses, increase their incomes, and improve their livelihoods.
    • Initiating DFC’s first investment in East Timor with a $3 million loan to microfinance institution Kaebauk Investimentu No Finansas, which will provide financing to small businesses, especially rural and unbanked ones.

    We look forward to continue advancing our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with ASEAN in 2025 by formulating a new plan of action to guide the next five years of our enduring partnership as we work to further the prosperity of our combined one billion people.

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    MIL OSI USA News –