Category: Business

MIL-OSI USA: Heinrich, Luján Slam Trump Administration for Illegally Gutting Agency Dedicated to Growing Local Businesses

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
Amid Commerce Department’s stonewalling, senators ask GAO to investigate if Trump officials violated the law or engaged in misconduct & what officials are doing with funding Congress appropriated to serve minority enterprises & create jobs
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, joined U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to slam the Trump Administration for its illegal dismantling of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). The senators asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate whether actions by Trump Commerce Department officials or others in the Administration violated Congressional directives, the extent to which they undermined MBDA’s Congressional mandate, and whether any officials have engaged in misconduct.
“On May 2, 2025, the White House released its recommendations on discretionary funding levels for fiscal year (FY) 2026, which expressly acknowledge that the Commerce Department under Secretary Howard Lutnick has ‘fully eliminated’ the MBDA,” the senators wrote in a letter to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. “Prior to this admission, my colleagues and I repeatedly raised concerns about the Department’s efforts to dismantle the MBDA unilaterally, particularly given Secretary Lutnick’s clear testimony during his confirmation hearing stating he did not support dismantling the agency. We sent multiple letters to Secretary Lutnick and the Department seeking basic information about the current state of the MBDA. To date, the Department has failed to substantively respond to any of our requests, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Department leadership is not taking these concerns seriously.”
The senators have raised concerns and demanded accountability and answers from the Trump Administration since the president issued his unlawful executive order. This letter follows a letter the senators wrote to Keith Sonderling, Acting Under Secretary for MBDA, demanding the Trump Administration detail its compliance with a May 13 federal court injunction ordering it to stop the illegal dismantling of the agency and reinstate its personnel and grantmaking capacities. The senators previously sent a May 1, 2025 inquiry to Sonderling to demand he promptly turn over key documents and information related to the dismantling of the MBDA and recent funding termination notices sent to all grantees by DOGE. On June 3, the senators also sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting that they investigate whether actions by Trump Commerce Department officials or others in the Administration violated congressional directives, the extent to which they undermined MBDA’s congressional mandate and whether any officials have engaged in misconduct.
In October 2024, Heinrich led the unveiling of a new, larger office space for the New Mexico Minority Business Development Center in Albuquerque to expand support for local businesses across the state as they create the types of careers New Mexicans can build their families around. Heinrich wrote the legislative provision that established and funded the New Mexico Business Center in 2020, securing more than $2.5 million in federal resources through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency for its staffing and programming.
In May, during the Senate Commerce hearing on the nomination of Paul Dabbar to be U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Luján pressed Mr. Dabbar on the dismantling of the MBDA by the Trump Administration and highlighted the successes of the MBDA. Luján championed an amendment in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make the MBDA permanent. He also secured passage of a provision to double the funding level for the MBDA’s Rural Business Development Center Program and to expand this program’s eligibility to include all Minority-Serving Institutions, which will expand opportunities for New Mexico’s colleges and universities. Additionally, in 2021, Luján championed legislation to make permanent and expand the reach of the Minority Business Development Agency.
The text of the letter can be found HERE and below:
Comptroller General Dodaro:
We write to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a review of the actions taken by the Trump Administration to dismantle the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), despite Congress statutorily authorizing the agency and appropriating funding to further its mission. A robust investigation by GAO would help shed light on whether officials at the Department of Commerce (Department) or elsewhere in the Administration circumvented the directives of Congress, the extent to which the MBDA’s ability to administer its grants and combat potential fraud has been undermined, and whether any officials have engaged in misconduct.
On May 2, 2025, the White House released its recommendations on discretionary funding levels for fiscal year (FY) 2026, which expressly acknowledge that the Commerce Department under Secretary Howard Lutnick has “fully eliminated” the MBDA. Prior to this admission, my colleagues and I repeatedly raised concerns about the Department’s efforts to dismantle the MBDA unilaterally, particularly given Secretary Lutnick’s clear testimony during his confirmation hearing stating he did not support dismantling the agency. We sent multiple letters to Secretary Lutnick and the Department seeking basic information about the current state of the MBDA. To date, the Department has failed to substantively respond to any of our requests, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Department leadership is not taking these concerns seriously.
The MBDA was created by Executive Order in 1969. In 2021, Congress statutorily authorized the MBDA in bipartisan legislation, the Minority Business Development Act of 2021 (MBDA Act), which was enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In so doing, Congress directed the MBDA to, among other things, “enable the Federal Government to better serve the needs of minority business enterprises.” The bipartisan law also established a new Senate-confirmed position to lead the agency. By making the MBDA and its programs permanent, Congress made a deliberate decision to promote job creation, spur innovation, and support business owners from a variety of backgrounds.
Last Congress, the Congress funded the MBDA pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, which contained a $68.25 million appropriation for the “necessary expenses of the Minority Business Development Agency in fostering, promoting, and developing minority business enterprises, as authorized by law.” These investments have paid significant dividends: In FY 2024 alone, the MBDA helped the country’s more than 12 million minority businesses access over $1.5 billion in capital and create or retain approximately 23,000 jobs. That same level of funding has been appropriated through the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4).
Despite Congress’s clear statutory directive, on March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order effectively eliminating the MBDA and certain other federal entities. In so doing, the Executive Order called for the head of the MBDA to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget within seven days “confirming full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.” In the weeks that followed, the Trump Administration has unilaterally dismantled the MBDA—terminating effectively all its staff, canceling its grant programs, and removing its signage from the Department.
As part of these efforts, our offices reviewed a funding termination notice that was sent to an MBDA grantee by a member of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) named Nate Cavanaugh, who was purportedly acting “Under the Authority of Keith Sonderling, Acting Undersecretary of MBDA.” In the notice, the Department claims the grant is being terminated because it “is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interests of the United States and the MBDA Program.” The termination notice further states that “MBDA is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda.” The notice is silent about why the grants are inconsistent with the MBDA’s priorities and programs, which Congress, not the Department, set by statute. And the notice also suggests that the Department of Commerce or others in the Administration may be using funding appropriated for the MBDA for other, unrelated purposes.
Fortunately, on May 13, 2025, a federal district court issued a Preliminary Injunction requiring the Trump Administration to reverse its actions to eliminate the MBDA, including by restoring agency employees to their status prior to the Executive Order issued on March 14, 2025. However, the Trump Administration quickly appealed this order, making clear it intends to continue pursuing its efforts to fully eliminate the MBDA notwithstanding Congress’s clear directives.
It is essential that Congress and the public understand how the Trump Administration’s recent actions have affected the MBDA’s ability to carry out its statutory mission and obligations and to understand how funds appropriated to the MBDA are being used. Therefore, we are requesting your assistance to investigate activities that have occurred at MBDA since January 20, 2025, and report on the following:
A detailed review of all actions taken by the Department of Commerce, including any acting leadership, to “fully eliminate” or otherwise dismantle the MBDA, including any efforts to pause or halt MBDA work functions, lower or eliminate the agency’s budget, or otherwise reduce the resources available to MBDA to complete its work.
A detailed review of all actions taken by the any member of DOGE, including any volunteers, special government employees, contractors, or Department employees affiliated with DOGE, to “fully eliminate” or otherwise dismantle the MBDA, including any efforts to pause or halt MBDA work functions, lower or eliminate the agency’s budget, or otherwise reduce the resources available to MBDA to complete its work.
A detailed review of actions taken by the Department of Commerce, including MBDA leadership and acting leadership, to pause, halt, or terminate any grants or funding that were administered or approved by the MBDA as of January 20, 2025. Please include information on the involvement of DOGE or DOGE-affiliated employees, including any volunteers, special government employees, and contractors, in decisions to pause, halt, or terminate MBDA grants or funding.
A detailed review of the status of all MBDA grants, including:
The extent to which grants have been terminated or funds continue to be disbursed;
A description of the types of funded activities that are considered “consistent with the agency’s priorities” and that “serve the interests of the MBDA program”; and
A detailed explanation of how the MBDA intends to repurpose its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda, including any specific program or activity that has received or is expected to receive repurposed funding.

A detailed review of actions taken by the Department of Commerce, including MBDA leadership and acting leadership, to reduce the MBDA’s workforce after January 20, 2025. Please include information on the involvement of DOGE or DOGE-affiliated employees, including any volunteers, special government employees, and contractors, in decisions to reduce the MBDA’s workforce.
A detailed review of the effects of recent Department of Commerce and DOGE actions on:
The operations of the MBDA’s statutorily created offices, how responsibilities are being allocated to any remaining staff, and the status of physical office space; and
The ability of the agency to fulfill its statutorily required functions under the Minority Business Development Act of 2021 (Division K of the Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act, Pub. L. 117-58), including but not limited to:

                                                              i.      The MBDA’s statutory responsibilities for private and public sector development;
                                                           ii.      The MBDA’s efforts to conduct research and provide outreach and educational services;
                                                         iii.      The operation of the MBDA’s Business Center Program, Rural Minority Business Center Program, and the national network of public-private partnerships;
                                                          iv.      The administration of the minority business development grants program;
                                                            v.      The functioning of the Minority Business Enterprises Advisory Council; and
                                                          vi.      The extent to which the Administration’s actions regarding MBDA are consistent with the statutory obligations under the Minority Business Development Act of 2021.
The ability of the agency to effectively administer its current grants, detect and prevent potential fraud in its programs, and cooperate with any investigations into potential fraud or other wrongdoing.
A detailed review of the Commerce Department’s or MBDA’s development and implementation of plans to reorganize, restructure, or eliminate the MBDA’s work, and how these plans may affect the Administration’s ability to meet its statutory responsibilities, including a review of which “components or functions” of the MBDA the Trump Administration found to be “statutorily required and to what extent,” pursuant to President Trump’s March 14, 2025, Executive Order on “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.”

MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Saskatchewan Adds Over 15,000 Full Time Jobs in May and Unemployment Rate Remains Lowest in the Nation
Source: Government of Canada regional news

Released on June 6, 2025

Statistics Canada latest labour force numbers show that Saskatchewan has maintained a strong labour market and steady growth throughout the year. Saskatchewan has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 4.2 per cent. This is well below the national average which has now increased to 7.0 per cent.

“There are more people working in Saskatchewan than ever before,” Deputy Premier and Minister of Immigration and Career Training Jim Reiter said. “We are experiencing record job growth and our province continues to be an economic leader in Canada. Our government is working to ensure this growth continues and that our province remains attractive for businesses to invest while continuing to be the best place to live and work in Canada.”

The province led the nation in year-over-year job growth, adding 16,300 jobs year-over-year in May, ranking first among provinces in terms of percentage change at 2.7 per cent.

May 2025 saw all-time historical highs (aged 15 and over), with:
- Saskatchewan’s labour force reaching 653,900;
- Saskatchewan’s full-time employment reaching 518,800; and
- Saskatchewan’s women employment reaching 294,300.
Year-over-year, full-time employment increased by 15,300, an increase of 3.0 per cent. Employment for women is up 10,900 which is an increase of 3.8 per cent, and employment for men is up 5,300 an increase of 1.6 per cent.

Saskatchewan’s two biggest cities also saw year-over-year growth. Compared to May 2024, Saskatoon’s employment was up 7,900, an increase of 4.1 per cent, and Regina’s employment was up 5,100, an increase of 3.5 per cent.

Major year-over-year gains were reported for health care and social assistance up 11,400, an increase of 12.4 per cent. Construction is up 7,000 an increase of 16.3 per cent and public administration is up 6,100 an increase of 16.8 per cent.

The province continues to see economic growth in other areas. Saskatchewan GDP reached 80.5 billion in 2024 and increase of 3.4 per cent from 2023. In March 2025, Saskatchewan also ranked highest amongst provinces for year-over-year growth in building construction investment (27.8 per cent) and second in retail trade value (8.2 per cent).

This economic growth is backed by the Government of Saskatchewan’s recently released Building the Workforce for a Growing Economy: The Saskatchewan Labour Market Strategy, a roadmap to build the workforce needed to support Saskatchewan’s strong and growing economy, and Securing the Next Decade of Growth: Saskatchewan’s Investment Attraction Strategy, a plan to increase investment in the province and to furth advancing Saskatchewan’s Growth plan goal of $16 billion in private capital investment annually.

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For more information, contact:

MIL OSI Canada News –
June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: House Republicans Codify Another Set of President Trump’s Executive Orders

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — House Republicans continue to enact President Trump’s legislative agenda and codify executive orders. Speaker Johnson released the following statement after the House passed a series of legislation this week to protect America’s small businesses.

“This week, House Republicans codified another set of President Trump’s executive orders to protect American small businesses. The Biden-Harris Administration ignored Main Street America and instead prioritized illegal aliens and dismantled the American people’s trust in the Small Business Administration (SBA), but Republicans have fought and won support for hardworking Americans and entrepreneurs,” Speaker Johnson said. “From ending taxpayer-subsidized open borders to restoring oversight capabilities at SBA, House Republicans continue to bring common sense back to government and refocus agencies on their core missions. We will keep passing the President’s executive orders and working in lockstep with this Administration to fulfill our commitment to the American people.”

“For the past four years, American small business owners have been tossed aside by the Biden-Harris SBA for illegal immigrants and government bureaucrats,” House Committee on Small Business Chairman Williams said. “This week, we took a critical step in codifying President Trump’s executive orders and protecting small businesses. Thank you to my colleagues in the House Republican Conference for advancing legislation that will restore trust and accountability to the SBA and prioritize the hardworking entrepreneurs of Main Street America.”

H.R. 2987 – Capping Excessive Awarding of SBLC Entrants (CEASE) Act

“Small businesses deserve a reliable program that works for them, and that means keeping our community banks at the core of the system,” Rep. Bresnahan said. “President Trump and I agree, we shouldn’t be incentivizing fraud and abuse by flooding the program with risky, underregulated institutions. My legislation caps the number of non-bank SBLC licenses, ensuring taxpayer-backed guarantees are not handed out to lenders the SBA cannot properly oversee. I am proud to see my legislation passed, and I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to send the legislation to the White House.”

H.R. 2966 – American Entrepreneurs First Act

“By passing my American Entrepreneurs First Act, House Republicans have, once again, come together to support common sense reforms protecting America’s hard-earned tax dollars from being lost to waste, fraud, abuse, and theft by hostile foreign actors,” Rep. Van Duyne said. “The American Entrepreneurs First Act ensures Small Business Administration funds are directed to American businesses and not accessible by individuals or businesses with foreign or undocumented ownership and verifies the age of all recipients. I urge our Senate colleagues to quickly pass this important measure, which is supported by President Trump and SBA Administrator Loeffler, as a vital verification step to confirm American tax dollars are being spent to strengthen American small businesses.”

H.R. 2931 – Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act

“By circumventing federal law and encouraging illegal immigrants to come into our communities, failed sanctuary city policies have created a growing public safety crisis,” Rep. Finstad said. “This important legislation codifies two of President Trump’s pro-business executive orders that protect SBA employees and safeguard our entrepreneurs by relocating SBA offices out of sanctuary cities. In doing so, it ensures that communities which uphold the rule of law will have access to the resources they need to better serve small business owners. I am proud that my House colleagues passed this legislation, and I look forward to supporting it through the legislative process.”

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MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Art dealer jailed for terrorism offence

Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

An art dealer from London has been jailed after an investigation by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command revealed £140,000 of sales to a suspected financier of the proscribed group Hizballah.

Oghenochuko Ojiri 53 (05.05.72) of west London, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, 6 June after he admitted eight counts of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said:

“This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups.

“Oghenochuko Ojiri wilfully obscured the fact he knew he was selling artwork to Nazem Ahmad, someone who has been sanctioned by the UK and US Treasury and described as a funder of the proscribed terrorist group Hizballah.

“Financial investigation is a crucial part of the counter-terrorism effort. A team of specialist investigators, analysts and researchers in the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit works all year round to prevent money from reaching the hands of terrorists or being used to fund attacks.”

Ojiri was arrested on 18 April 2023 in Wrexham on the same day the UK Government announced sanctions against Nazem Ahmad, a wealthy art collector, based in Lebanon, suspected of providing funding to Hizballah, a proscribed organisation.

Officers subsequently obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks belonging to Ahmad held in two UK-based warehouses.

The artwork, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, were seized on 4 May 2023 and the NTFIU obtained a forfeiture order later the same year. The artwork, valued at almost £1 million, is due to be sold and the funds will be reinvested back into the police, CPS and Home Office.

The Met’s investigation into Ojiri was carried out in partnership with US Homeland Security, which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies.

Officers from the NTFIU analysed a series of invoices for sales of art by Ojiri and identified that eight purchases were completed with names inserted on the invoices that were not Ahmad’s – despite Ojiri knowing the sale was being conducted for him and on his behalf.

The art market became regulated in 2019 under Anti-Money Laundering regulations. This brought the art market in line with other regulated sectors such as banking and solicitors. The regulator is HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

People who operate in the art market, like gallery owners, must be registered with the HMRC as an Art Market Participant (AMP), undertake due diligence and report any suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing.

Detectives from the NTFIU recovered WhatsApp messages on Ojiri’s mobile phone from 31 January 2020, which showed Ojiri discussing the new money laundering regulations with a colleague.

Analysis of messages and web history on Ojiri’s mobile phone also showed that he was aware of the financial sanctions by the US Treasury against Ahmad due to his suspected involvement in being a high-level financier of Hizballah.

In police interview, Ojiri apologised for his actions but denied that money or greed were the motivating factors behind dealing with Ahmed, claiming it was the excitement and kudos of dealing with a ‘name’ in the art collecting world.

Ojiri pleaded guilty to the charges, which relate to a period from October 2020 to December 2021, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 9 May.

On Friday, 6 June Ojiri was sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment.

The prosecution, believed to be the first of its kind, followed an investigation by the NTFIU, alongside the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in HM Treasury, HMRC, and the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit.

Bethan David, Head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division, said: “It is clear that Oghenochuko Ojiri was aware of new money laundering regulations in the art world and that he had knowledge of Nazem Ahmad’s background.

“Ojiri engaged in activity designed to conceal the identity of the true purchaser by changing the details on invoices and storing Mr Ahmad’s name under a different alias in his mobile phone.

“His motivation appears to be financial along with a broader desire to boost his gallery’s reputation within the art market by dealing with such a well-known collector.

“This prosecution is believed to be the first of its kind, and the CPS will not hesitate to bring criminal charges against individuals who flout the law in this way.”

Louise MacDonald, Deputy Director of Economic Crime at HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said:

“This landmark case clearly shows how government and law enforcement is effectively tackling those who may fund terrorism.

“As a money laundering supervisor, we know criminals prey on weaknesses. That’s why we work tirelessly with sectors like the art market to ensure they have the defences in place to stop criminals in their tracks.”

MIL Security OSI –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI: Equasens: availability of AGM preparatory materials
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Villers-lès-Nancy, 6 June 2025 – 6:00 p.m. (CET)

PRESS RELEASE

ANNUAL ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

MEETING NOTICE

ON-LINE AVAILABILITY OF MEETING MATERIALS

WEBCAST LIVE

EQUASENS hereby provides notice to shareholders of the Annual Ordinary General Meeting to be held on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 5.30 pm at the Company’s registered office located in Villers-lès-Nancy (Technopôle de Nancy-Brabois – 5 Allée de Saint Cloud).

The original French language version of the agenda and the resolutions submitted by the Board of Directors to the Ordinary Annual General Meeting were published in the French publication for legal announcements (Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires) on 16 May, 2025 (https://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/pages/balo-annonce-unitaire/?q.id=id_annonce:20250516250176059).

The Meeting Notice was published on the June 6, 2025 in the BALO (https://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/pages/balo-annonce-unitaire/?q.id=id_annonce:20250606250278068) and in the Official Journal “La Gazette France” (https://www.lagazettefrance.fr/annonce-legale/91361579) including the procedures for participating and voting and the main methods to exercise shareholders’ rights.

Both of these notices are available on the Company’s website: www.equasens.com. Translations are also available https://equasens.com/investisseurs/assemblee-generale/.

Pursuant to article R. 22-10-23 of the French commercial code, EQUASENS has also made available, since June 4, 2025, all the documents and information prescribed by this article and the voting form on its website www.equasens.com – Section Investisseurs, Assemblée Générale tab.

For the purpose of communications between the Company and its shareholders, it is strongly recommended that requests or documents be sent, in priority, by email, to the following address: actionnaires@equasens.com.

In accordance with Article R22-10-29-1 of the French Commercial Code, the Annual General Meeting will be broadcast live online in its entirety. Information on how to connect to this live webcast will be made available no later than 48 hours before the Annual General Meeting on the Company’s website www.equasens.com – Section Investisseurs, Assemblée Générale tab. In addition, as required by law, a replay of the meeting will also be available on the same website for subsequent viewing

About Equasens Group

Founded over 35 years ago, Equasens Group, a leader in digital healthcare solutions, today employs over 1.300 people across Europe.
Equasens Group’s specialised business applications facilitate the day-to-day work of healthcare professionals and their teams, working in private practice, collaborative medical structures or healthcare establishments. The Group also provides comprehensive support to healthcare professionals in the transformation of their profession by developing electronic equipment, digital solutions and healthcare robotics, as well as data hosting, financing and training adapted to their specific needs.
And reflecting the spirit of its tagline “Technology for a More Human Experience”, the Group is a leading provider of interoperability solutions that improve coordination between healthcare professionals, their communications and data exchange resulting in better patient care and a more efficient and secure healthcare system.

Listed on Euronext Paris™ – Compartment B

Indexes: MSCI GLOBAL SMALL CAP – GAÏA Index 2020 – CAC^®SMALL and CAC^®All-Tradable
Included in the Euronext Tech Leaders segment and the European Rising Tech label

Eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (“Service à Réglement Différé” – SRD) and equity savings accounts invested in small and mid-caps (PEA-PME).
ISIN: FR 0012882389 – Ticker Code: EQS

Get all the news about Equasens Group www.equasens.com and on LinkedIn

CONTACTS

EQUASENS Group
Analyst and Investor Relations:
Chief Administrative and Financial Officer: Frédérique Schmidt
Tel: +33 (0)3 83 15 90 67 – frederique.schmidt@equasens.com

Financial communications agency:
FIN’EXTENSO – Isabelle Aprile

Tel.: +33 (0)6 17 38 61 78 – i.aprile@finextenso.fr

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- EQUASENS_PRESSRELEASE_20250606_GENERAL MEETING EQUASENS
The MIL Network –
June 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: ABC arbitrage: Report on the General meeting of 6 June 2025 and update on the pace of activity

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ABC arbitrage
Report on the General meeting of 6 June 2025
and update on the pace of activity

The Combined General Meeting of ABC Arbitrage shareholders, chaired by Dominique Ceolin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, was held on Friday June 6, 2025, and adopted all the resolutions submitted to it. The documents detailing the voting results, resolution by resolution, for both the ordinary and extraordinary general meetings, as well as the presentation, have been published on the company’s website (abc-arbitrage.com).

Nomination – Among the adopted resolutions, shareholders decided to reappoint Sophie GUIEYSSE as an independent director, for a term of 4 years, until the close of the Annual General Meeting to be held to approve the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2028.

Dividend – The company’s General Meeting held today approved a balance to be distributed in respect of the year ended 31 December 2024 of €0.04 net per ordinary share. Payment will be made entirely in cash, according to the following schedule: detachment on Tuesday 8 July 2025 and payment on Thursday 10 July 2025.

This distribution is in addition to two interim dividends of €0.10 per share, paid in October 2024 and December 2024 respectively, and a third interim dividend of €0.10 per share, also paid in April 2025. Distributions for the 2024 financial year amount to €0.34 per share.

ABC arbitrage intends to pay interim dividends of €0.10 per share in October 2025, December 2025, and April 2026. These distributions will be subject to approval by the upcoming Board of Directors meetings, in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Group’s Activity – The Trading Update, the webinar and the Annual General Meeting provided an opportunity to review the Group’s activities and answer shareholders’ questions.

This year, in accordance with article R22-10-29-1 of the French Commercial Code, the Annual General Meeting was broadcast live in its entirety, and the full recording will be available for consultation on the company’s website (abc-arbitrage.com) no later than seven (7) business days following the date of the meeting and will remain accessible for at least two years from the date of posting.

As a reminder, a webinar hosted by Dominique CEOLIN was also held on Monday, June 2, 2025. The presentation and replay are available on the company’s website (abc-arbitrage.com).

The company did not receive any written questions prior to this year’s AGM. As mentioned above, the replays of the webinar and the AGM are available to view the answers to oral questions.

Contacts : abc-arbitrage.com
Relations actionnaires : actionnaires@abc-arbitrage.com
Relations presse: VERBATEE / v.sabineu@verbatee.com

EURONEXT Paris – Compartiment B
ISIN : FR0004040608
Reuters BITI.PA / Bloomberg ABCA FP

Attachment

ABCA CP AG 2025 compte rendu assemblee generale VEng.docx (1)

The MIL Network –

June 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: HAProxy Technologies Announces Kubernetes Innovations at HAProxyConf 2025 Day Two

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SAN FRANCISCO, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HAProxyConf 2025 concluded yesterday, successfully completing two days of groundbreaking announcements, insightful customer presentations, and vibrant community engagement. Day One was built around HAProxy One’s advances as a modern security platform; Day Two featured the announcement of the HAProxy Unified Kubernetes Gateway, which will provide flexible, Kubernetes-native traffic management using both the Ingress API and the newer Gateway API.

The conference brought together hundreds of passionate users, customers, and developers at the Mission Bar Conference Center in San Francisco in an outstanding demonstration of open source community spirit.

“HAProxy is defined as much by the people in our community as by the technology,” said Willy Tarreau, CTO and Lead Developer, HAProxy Technologies. “We built HAProxy with performance, efficiency, reliability, flexibility, and longevity in mind, and the community lives out those values. We’ve been growing for nearly 25 years, always adapting to whatever comes. These are people you can count on to always excel in what they do.”

Introducing the HAProxy Unified Kubernetes Gateway

In a morning session titled “Evolving Kubernetes networking: HAProxy’s journey with Ingress, Gateway API, and HAProxy Fusion,” HAProxy Technologies engineers Zlatko Bratkovic, Hélène Durand, and Dario Tranchitella unveiled the company’s newest product for Kubernetes users.

The HAProxy Unified Kubernetes Gateway will be available as a standalone open source product, designed for single Kubernetes clusters and Gateway classes; it will also be incorporated directly into HAProxy Fusion (the centralized control plane of HAProxy One), which will enable use with multiple Kubernetes clusters and multiple Gateway classes, as well as providing all the benefits of HAProxy Fusion for scalable management, monitoring, and automation.

“HAProxy is a key component in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation landscape, and with the HAProxy Unified Kubernetes Gateway users will have even more flexibility in how they route external traffic into Kubernetes applications,” said Zlatko Bratkovic, Development Team Lead, HAProxy Technologies. “This is great news for open source users, who will be able to use the latest Kubernetes standards in a product built on HAProxy’s legendary performance and reliability. And for our enterprise customers, HAProxy Fusion will provide even richer capability.”

HAProxy Fusion also includes Kubernetes service discovery and automation of HAProxy Enterprise’s load balancing capabilities, which can enable external load balancing, multi-cluster routing, and direct-to-pod load balancing – either on-premises or in the cloud. With the HAProxy Unified Kubernetes Gateway incorporated into HAProxy Fusion, customers will have the flexibility to manage Kubernetes traffic using Kubernetes-native methods, HAProxy-native methods, or a combination of both – accommodating the widest possible range of deployment scenarios and platform user expertise.

HAProxy One is the world’s fastest application delivery and security platform, from the company behind HAProxy. The platform consists of a flexible data plane (HAProxy Enterprise), a scalable control plane (HAProxy Fusion), and a secure edge network (HAProxy Edge), which together enable multi-cloud load balancing as a service (LBaaS), web app and API protection, API/AI gateways, Kubernetes networking, application delivery network (ADN), and end-to-end observability.

PayPal presents large-scale Kubernetes application routing with HAProxy One

In one of the highlights of Day Two, Srivignessh Pacham, Sr Software Engineer at PayPal, showed how the company uses HAProxy One to manage traffic to tens of thousands of dynamic Kubernetes backends. HAProxy Fusion’s Kubernetes integration provides PayPal near-instantaneous service discovery – allowing them to manage 60,000 services per HAProxy Fusion cluster, and automate one thousand configuration updates per minute across their fleet of HAProxy Enterprise nodes.

PayPal’s presentation showed how the HAProxy One platform makes it simple to manage large-scale Kubernetes traffic in complex and highly dynamic applications, with rich analytics for every request in HAProxy Fusion’s modern UI.

For more information on what’s possible with HAProxy One and Kubernetes, visit the Kubernetes solution page or watch the on-demand webinar, “External Load Balancing and Multi-Cluster Routing for Kubernetes.”

Key highlights from HAProxyConf 2025

Day One of HAProxyConf 2025 focused on the security applications of HAProxy One. The opening keynote unveiled the new Threat Detection Engine for HAProxy Enterprise and the new Security Control Plane for HAProxy Fusion, which together provide a unique combination of next-generation security performance and a next-generation security user experience (UX). In addition, a new SSL library from AWS and certificate automation using the ACME protocol improve the performance and management of secure traffic encryption with HAProxy. The day concluded with a deep and reflective panel discussion that included industry leader Kelsey Hightower, who also delivered a morning keynote address, and thought leaders in and around the HAProxy project.

The conference theme of a modern security platform continued on Day Two with real-world use cases from Roblox and Infobip using the HAProxy Enterprise WAF to secure traffic with near-zero latency and without false positives. More presentations were delivered by Dartmouth College, DeepL, and community influencer Hussein Nasser.

HAProxy Technologies extends its sincere gratitude to all attendees, speakers, and partners for making HAProxyConf 2025 an outstanding success. The community is encouraged to continue its engagement by joining the Slack channel and GitHub project, following HAProxy on social media (LinkedIn, X, Bluesky), subscribing to the company blog, and looking out for on-demand session recordings and presentations, which will be available soon on haproxy.com/user-spotlight-series.

About HAProxy Technologies

HAProxy Technologies is the company behind HAProxy One, the world’s fastest application delivery and security platform, and HAProxy, the most widely used software load balancer. Leading companies and cloud providers trust HAProxy to simplify, scale, and secure modern applications, APIs, and AI services in any environment. HAProxy Technologies is headquartered in Newton, MA, with multiple offices across the US and Europe. Learn more at HAProxy.com.

For questions or comments, please contact press@haproxy.com.

The MIL Network –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI: BW Offshore: Exercise of employee share options

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Exercise of employee share options

BW Offshore has completed an exercise window under its Long-Term Incentive Program (LTIP), during which a total of 400,852 vested options were exercised. The company’s obligation under the program was settled using existing treasury shares. A third-party conducted sale process has now concluded, with the shares sold at a price of NOK 32.73 each.

No primary insiders of the Company have exercised any options in this exercise window.

BW Offshore holds 3,740,585 treasury shares following the option exercise.

For further information, please contact:
Ståle Andreassen, CFO, +47 91 71 86 55

IR@bwoffshore.com or www.bwoffshore.com

About BW Offshore:
BW Offshore engineers innovative floating production solutions. The Company has a fleet of FPSOs with potential and ambition to grow. By leveraging four decades of offshore operations and project execution, the Company creates tailored offshore energy solutions for evolving markets world-wide. BW Offshore has around 1,100 employees and is publicly listed on the Oslo stock exchange.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

The MIL Network –

June 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: Siili Solutions Plc: Share Repurchase 6.6.2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Siili Solutions Plc	Announcement 6.6.2025


Siili Solutions Plc: Share Repurchase 6.6.2025

In the Helsinki Stock Exchange

Trade date	6.6.2025
Bourse trade	Buy
Share	SIILI
Amount	1 000	Shares
Average price/ share	6,3400	EUR
Total cost	6 340,00	EUR


Siili Solutions Plc now holds a total of 6 098 shares
including the shares repurchased on 6.6.2025

The share buybacks are executed in compliance with Regulation
No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and Council (MAR) Article 5
and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052.

On behalf of Siili Solutions Plc

Nordea Bank Oyj

Sami Huttunen	Ilari Isomäki

Further information:
CFO Aleksi Kankainen
Email: aleksi.kankainen@siili.com
Tel. +358 50 584 2029

www.siili.com

Attachment

SIILI 6.6.2025 Trades

The MIL Network –

June 7, 2025

MIL-OSI Africa: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Mining Minister encourages Industry to Gather at DRC Mining Week in Lubumbashi from 11 June
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Mining Minister encourages Industry to Gather at DRC Mining Week in Lubumbashi from 11 June Organisers can be rightfully proud of building such a legacy over 20 years CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 6, 2025/APO Group/ — The DRC Minister of Mines, H.E. Kizito Pakabomba Kapinga Mulume, says he is looking forward to visiting “the legendary DRC Mining Week,” which is taking place from 11–13 June in Lubumbashi. The organisers of this longstanding expo and conference, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary edition this month, have extended the event until 14 June for the official visit of mining Minister Mulume who will address and engage with delegates during a special ministerial session. Minister Mulume says in a statement: “I have my ticket for DRC Mining Week, and I am really truly looking forward to experiencing the legendary atmosphere of the event in Lubumbashi, combining straight-talking business discussions with networking and good times. The organisers can be rightfully proud of building such a legacy over 20 years; this is a true testament to their staying power, tenacity and passion for the industry: essential traits for being a good partner in mining. I want to invite anyone who has not yet made plans to travel to Lubumbashi to come out and join the more than 11,500 mining professionals who will be there.” H.E. Kapinga Mulume will deliver the closing remarks during the special ministerial session on 14 June. 20 years of shaping mining in the DRC From its inception, DRC Mining Week has evolved into the largest mining and infrastructure platform in the DRC and the Copperbelt, bringing together over 11,500 attendees from 50+ countries. Under the theme “20 Years of Shaping Mining in the DRC: Investing in Infrastructure Development and Energy Security – Vision 2025–2030,” this landmark edition will highlight the progress made and the opportunities that lie ahead. With mining at the heart of the country’s industrialisation, the focus will be on investment, infrastructure development and energy security to drive long-term growth. Longstanding support “We are always delighted to welcome government luminaries to Lubumbashi; therefore we have added a VIP bonus day to our event on 14 June, in order to ensure that high-level government representatives are able to engage with industry leaders,“ says event organiser Samukelo Madlabane, Events Director – Mining for the VUKA Group. “Particularly in the light of DRC Mining Week’s 20th anniversary, which would not have been possible without the government’s invaluable, longstanding support for this event, which has been fostering collaboration and development within the mining sector for over two decades now.” Valuable exposure More than 11,500+ local and international mining professionals are expected at DRC Mining Week this week, promising valuable exposure and potential contacts for participating partners. The event provides a broad spectrum of thought-provoking content and opportunities to meet existing and prospective partners and clients in the mining and extractive sectors, including:
- Investment Forum;
- High-level conference sessions, with topics that include: the Mining Roadmap 2025–2030; expert think-tank; market dynamics and price volatility; and positioning DRC as a leading mining country.
- Countless meeting and networking occasions for 1300+ elite decision-makers, including mining executives and government officials;
- An expansive expo with 280+ sponsors and exhibitors showcasing the latest and trusted technologies and services for the industry, including country pavilions;
- US Government Business Forum (invitation only);
- European Union Business Forum (invitation only);
- The Ambassador’s Forum and networking business lunch (invitation only)
- Executive Business Forum (strictly by invitation);
- CEO Roundtable (Strictly by invitation);
- Value Chain Investment Forum;
- Regional Development Forum;
- Women Mine & Leadership Forum—always a hot ticket and an event highlight;
- Glittering gala dinner (strictly for ticket holders);
- Kamoa Site Visit (sold out).
The packed programme brochure for the 2025 edition of DRC Mining Week is available on the event website. Click here (https://apo-opa.co/3SEBgOz). Industry support As has become customary for DRC Mining Week, this year too the event boasts broad industry backing and institutional support, including the official partners, the DRC Ministry of Mining and FEC (Federation of Enterprises of Congo). Its main sponsors include Standard Bank as lead sponsors. The diamond plus sponsors are Ecobank, Equity BCDC, Kamoa Copper S.A., Glencore, Kamoto Copper Company S.A. and MUMI. Other mining houses that will be in attendance this year include Barrick, CMOC, ERG Africa, Gecamines, Ivanhoe Mines and MMG. DRC Mining Week dates and venue:
- Expo and conference: 11–13 June 2025
- Farewell lunch on the 14th of June (Strictly by invitation);
- Location: The Pullman Grand Karavia Hotel, Lubumbashi, DRC
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Vuka Group. Social Media: Twitter: https://apo-opa.co/3SEBtBl Facebook: DRC Mining Week (https://apo-opa.co/4kMdcp4) LinkedIN: https://apo-opa.co/3FMgoSF About DRC Mining Week: DRC Mining Week is organised by The VUKA Group (formerly Clarion Events Africa) (https://apo-opa.co/43QupH4), a leading Cape Town-based and multi-award-winning organiser of exhibitions, conferences and digital events across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining, mobility, ecommerce and CX sectors. Other well-known events by The Vuka Group include DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum (https://apo-opa.co/43Pw8w8), Nigeria Mining Week (https://apo-opa.co/445y3y0), Enlit Africa (https://apo-opa.co/3FMgCJv), Africa’s Green Economy Summit (https://apo-opa.co/445yhoQ), Smarter Mobility Africa (https://apo-opa.co/3Zmimjf), ECOM Africa (https://apo-opa.co/4dOzzrw) and CEM Africa (https://apo-opa.co/45hC3wB). Mining Review Africa (https://apo-opa.co/43QipW7), the leading monthly magazine and digital platform in the African mining industry, is the event’s premium media partner. Website: http://www.DRCMiningWeek.com
Text copied to clipboard.

MIL OSI Africa –
June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper, Colleagues Demand Trump Admin Reinstate All Fired Workers at NOAA, NWS Prior to Peak Hurricane, Wildfire Season

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator John Hickenlooper – Colorado
Staff reductions at both agencies pose a threat to public safety, wildfire preparedness
WASHINGTON – As the nation enters peak hurricane and wildfire season, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper reiterated his call on the Trump administration to fully reinstate all fired federal employees at the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect Americans from natural disasters.
“NWS employees and the programs they support are essential to the safety of the millions of Americans impacted by storms and disasters each year,” wrote the senators. “NWS would be unable to provide accurate and timely forecasts without sufficient staffing levels at weather forecast offices nationwide.”
NWS maintains 122 weather forecast offices across the United States which are responsible for providing 24/7 weather monitoring and forecasts. The Department of Commerce is reportedly planning to eliminate an additional 1,000 staff from NOAA, including at NWS, in the coming weeks. These cuts, combined with current staffing constraints, could reduce the NWS workforce by 15% just months into 2025.
The Trump administration’s decision this week to partially reinstate about 126 personnel to ‘stabilize operations’ at NWS field offices is progress – but falls short of what’s needed to keep Colorado safe.
Hickenlooper previously raised alarm about the Trump admin’s plans to cut funding for NOAA and Colorado-based research centers. He also called for an investigation into the mass layoffs at NOAA and its impacts on crucial services, including relaying emergency alerts in wildfires and supporting farmers’ drought mitigation efforts.
In their letter, the senators requested answers to the following questions:
How many of the NWS regional weather forecast offices were impacted by terminations or deferred resignations since January 20, 2025? Please provide a list of affected offices, including how many staff departed and how many remain.
With reports of at least one weather forecast office in Goodland, Kansas stopping 24/7 operations due to staffing shortages, how do the Department of Commerce and NOAA plan to maintain continued 24/7 operation of forecasting offices without requiring excessive overtime hours from staff?
With a requested budget cut of $1.311 billion for NOAA’s overall budget, and a $209 million cut for NWS procurement of weather satellites and infrastructure, how does the Department of Commerce and NOAA plan to ensure adequate staffing and preparedness in the midst of worsening storm seasons, increasing heat waves, and changing weather patterns?
As NWS employees are critical to public safety, especially heading into hurricane season, will the Department of Commerce grant an exemption to the hiring freeze to fill these crucial positions?
Full text of the letter available HERE and below.
Dear Secretary Lutnick, and Acting Administrator Grimm,
We write to express our concern with recent layoffs at the National Weather Service (NWS). Reports indicate that over 550 employees have been terminated or accepted deferred resignation offers. We believe that these staff reductions pose a threat to public safety and emergency preparedness by undercutting essential forecasting and weather monitoring systems. We urge you to reinstate terminated NWS employees and request additional information on how the administration plans to address staffing at NWS.
NWS maintains 122 weather forecast offices across the United States which are responsible for providing 24/7 weather monitoring and forecasts. NWS would be unable to provide accurate and timely forecasts without sufficient staffing levels at weather forecast offices nationwide. In addition to daily forecasting operations, weather forecast offices are responsible for issuing emergency weather warnings ahead of events such as major floods, wildfire hazards, hurricanes, and blizzard conditions. As the frequency and severity of such disasters increase, maintaining
NWS’s real-time forecasting operations is essential to saving lives and reducing the cost of recovery for disaster-affected communities.
NWS employees and the programs they support are essential to the safety of the millions of Americans impacted by storms and disasters each year. On February 27, 2025, 108 probationary NWS employees were terminated, adding to the 170 staff who accepted the Administration’s “deferred resignation” plan earlier that month. These staffing cuts are already impacting NWS services, forcing NWS to halt weather balloon launches in New York, Maine, and Alaska that provide daily weather data to meteorologists at weather forecast offices across the country. As we head into hurricane season, 30 weather forecast offices are without a meteorologist-in-charge, one is completely without any managers at all, and nearly a dozen are preparing to shut down 24/7 services without immediate action to address shortages.
The Department of Commerce is reportedly planning to eliminate an additional 1,000 staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including at NWS, in the coming weeks. All told, NWS offices, already suffering from staffing constraints, could see a 15% reduction in force just months into 2025.
We request a response to the following questions by June 10, 2025:
How many of the NWS regional weather forecast offices were impacted by terminations or deferred resignations since January 20, 2025? Please provide a list of affected offices, including how many staff departed and how many remain.
With reports of at least one weather forecast office in Goodland, Kansas stopping 24/7 operations due to staffing shortages, how do the Department of Commerce and NOAA plan to maintain continued 24/7 operation of forecasting offices without requiring excessive overtime hours from staff?
With a requested budget cut of $1.311 billion for NOAA’s overall budget, and a $209 million cut for NWS procurement of weather satellites and infrastructure, how does the Department of Commerce and NOAA plan to ensure adequate staffing and preparedness in the midst of worsening storm seasons, increasing heat waves, and changing weather patterns?
As NWS employees are critical to public safety, especially heading into hurricane season, will the Department of Commerce grant an exemption to the hiring freeze to fill these crucial positions?
We urge you to reassess the staffing needs at NOAA and NWS and reinstate terminated probationary employees swiftly. We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,

MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Chinese authorities have allocated 580 million yuan to strengthen flood prevention measures.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities have allocated 580 million yuan (about 80.73 million U.S. dollars) to provincial-level regions to strengthen local flood control efforts, the Ministry of Finance said Friday.

The funds, provided jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water Resources, were sent to 29 provincial-level regions as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Local authorities have been ordered to carry out in-depth inspections for hidden hazards at hydraulic structures that are critical to flood control, such as river and lake dams, reservoirs and key seawalls.

They were also ordered to make every effort to work on flood prevention and preparation during China’s main flood season. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The Central Bank of the Russian Federation reduced the key rate from 21 to 20 percent.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

Moscow, June 6 /Xinhua/ — The Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia on Friday decided to lower the key rate from 21 to 20 percent per annum.

“Current inflationary pressure, including persistent inflation, continues to decline. While domestic demand continues to outpace the ability to expand the supply of goods and services, the Russian economy is gradually returning to a balanced growth trajectory,” the Central Bank of the Russian Federation said in a press release.

The Bank of Russia predicts “a prolonged period of tight monetary policy.”

“Further decisions on the key rate will be made depending on the speed and sustainability of the decline in inflation and inflation expectations,” the Central Bank of the Russian Federation said in a statement.

According to the Bank of Russia’s forecast, given the current monetary policy, annual inflation will return to 4 percent in 2026. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Rosatom CEO Asks IAEA Director General to Become Mediator in Issues of Using American Fuel at Zaporizhzhya NPP

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

Moscow, June 6 /Xinhua/ — Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev has asked International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi to mediate on the issue of using American fuel at the Zaporizhzhya NPP. He told reporters following talks with the IAEA chief in Kaliningrad.

“An important point – we have spoken about it many times – is the issue of American fuel, fuel from Westinghouse… At today’s consultations, we discussed this topic with the IAEA leadership, and I asked Mr. Grossi to become a mediator in resolving this problem in cooperation with the American side – both in the person of the company and in the person of government bodies, in the person of nuclear supervision. We are grateful to the IAEA Director General for the positive steps in response. I very much hope that we will find this solution in cooperation directly with the fuel manufacturer and determine its future fate,” TASS quotes the head of Rosatom as saying.

R. Grossi announced that the IAEA will take part in the World Atomic Week in Moscow, which will take place in September 2025.

“The good news for the global nuclear industry is that a major event will be held in the second half of this year in September in Russia, in Moscow, and the IAEA is going to participate in this event. This is a major event for the development of the nuclear industry in the world,” said R. Grossi. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: China’s foreign trade in services shows rapid growth in first four months of 2025

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) — China’s foreign trade in services grew rapidly in the first four months of 2025, with travel-related services registering a sharp uptick, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed Friday.

According to the agency, the volume of foreign trade in services in the country during the reporting period exceeded 2.63 trillion yuan (about 366.1 billion US dollars), increasing by 8.2 percent year-on-year.

In particular, service exports reached nearly 1.13 trillion yuan, up 14.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports grew 3.9 percent to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan, leaving a trade deficit of 375.02 billion yuan.

Trade in tourism-related services continued its rapid growth momentum, rising 14.7 percent year on year to 756.78 billion yuan, the data showed.

At the same time, the volume of trade in knowledge-intensive services showed a 5.5 percent increase year-on-year and approached the mark of about 1.02 trillion yuan. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Minister’s statement on May Labour Force Survey results

Source: Government of Canada regional news

Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, has issued the following statement on the release of Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for May 2025:

“Now, more than ever, it’s critical for B.C. to focus on diversifying our economy and protecting jobs for British Columbians, and we are doing that work.

“This week, we announced the launch of our ease-of-doing-business review, to continue the work to cut red tape, modernize our regulatory and permitting systems, and foster innovation, as we secure B.C.’s position as the engine of Canada’s new economy. Businesses are invited to share their ideas, challenges and suggestions through an online website portal until fall 2025. Information gathered will help us to make it easier for companies and organizations of all sizes and sectors to do business in B.C., and to create more jobs so people can find stable full-time work in their home communities.

“Today’s Labour Force Survey data shows that despite the economic challenges posed by the U.S., in May, B.C. led across the country with a gain of 13,000 jobs compared to last month. So far this year, B.C. has gained 67,000 full-time jobs, the highest increase among provinces.

“In May, private-sector employment has increased by 8,900 jobs compared to last month. Since July 2017, B.C. has gained 183,300 private-sector jobs. So far this year, we have the second-highest increase in private-sector employment among provinces at 14,700 jobs.

“B.C. leads in women’s employment, an increase of 11,000 this month. So far this year, B.C. has the highest increase in women’s full-time employment among provinces at 32,900. Youth employment also increased in May by 1,400 jobs.

“Our unemployment rate is 6.4%, below the national average of 7.0%. And B.C. continues to lead the country with an average hourly wage of $38.07, with our average wage increased by 2.9% compared to this time last year, the fourth-highest growth among provinces.

“The data this morning shows that in May, B.C. had employment increases in the construction sector at 23,800 jobs compared to this time last year. Professional, scientific and technical services continue to show strong and steady growth overall with gains of 11,100 in May.

“Next week, I will be leading a B.C. delegation to Europe to meet with investors, key government officials and stakeholders to build connections and showcase our world-class, made-in-B.C. technology. This mission will build on the work underway on Premier David Eby’s trade mission focused on key markets in Asia, as we work to create trade opportunities for businesses in the province and good-paying jobs for British Columbians.

“Growing a stronger and more diverse economy will help protect people in B.C. from instability outside our borders, with investments that will bring good-paying jobs to the province as part of robust and sustainable industries.”

Learn More:

To learn more about B.C.’s Response to Tariffs, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/tariffs

To learn more about the European Union Trade Mission, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/32442

To learn more about the Ease-of-doing-business Review, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025JEDI0022-000544

MIL OSI Canada News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Lamont Signs Legislation Supporting Economic Growth by Increasing Trade and Promoting Business Exchanges Between Connecticut and Puerto Rico

Source: US State of Connecticut

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has signed into law legislation recently approved by the Connecticut General Assembly requiring the establishment of the Connecticut-Puerto Rico Trade Commission.

“Economic growth cannot happen in a bubble, and there remains untapped potential to mutually benefit economic and business partnerships between Connecticut and Puerto Rico,” Governor Lamont said. “By collaborating with the business community and those in Connecticut’s strong Puerto Rican community, this commission has the potential to develop the forward-thinking steps that improve trade and investment between our state and Puerto Rico.”

The 23-member commission, which will begin meeting this fall, will be responsible for developing and recommending policy and legislative changes that advance bilateral trade and investment between Connecticut and Puerto Rico, while also promoting business and academic exchanges, encouraging mutual economic support and infrastructure investment, and initiating joint action on policy issues of mutual interest. The group will be required to submit a report to the governor and the legislature annually.

House Deputy Speaker Chris Rosario (D-Bridgeport) championed passage of the legislation.

“I want to sincerely thank Governor Ned Lamont for signing this legislation I introduced to establish the Connecticut-Puerto Rico Trade Commission,” Representative Rosario said. “With nearly 300,000 Puerto Ricans calling Connecticut home, this is a natural partnership that promises new opportunities for collaboration and shared prosperity.”

“Establishing a Connecticut-Puerto Rico Trade Commission is a powerful opportunity to strengthen our trades and manufacturing sector,” State Representative Geraldo Reyes Jr. (D-Waterbury) said. “By building direct partnerships with Puerto Rico, we can expand skilled workforce pipelines, increase the flow of goods and materials, and open new markets for Connecticut-made products. This collaboration will drive innovation, economic growth, and good-paying jobs for both regions.”

Appointments to the commission will be made by the top six bipartisan legislative leaders, the co-chairs and ranking members of the legislature’s Commerce Committee, and the governor. The commission will serve as a function of the General Assembly, and the chairperson of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, in consultation with the Office of Legislative Management, will be responsible for appointing administrative staff to support the commission’s work.

The members serve as volunteers and are not compensated for their service.

The legislation is Public Act 25-13, An Act Establishing the Connecticut-Puerto Rican Trade Commission. It went into effect immediately upon receiving Governor Lamont’s signature.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Congressman David Scott Announces Key Priorities for Georgia’s 13th District in the 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David Scott (GA-13)

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13), a senior member of the House Agriculture and House Financial Services Committees, announced a list of legislative priorities in the upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill. These program requests will help create good-paying jobs for residents and businesses in the 13^th district and rebuild Georgia’s roads, bridges, and transit infrastructure.

“In every vote I cast and every bill I fight for, I remain focused on prioritizing the people I represent in the 13^th District,” said Congressman David Scott. “This year’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill provides us with an opportunity to build on the success of House Democrats’ landmark 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, which I proudly voted for. The priorities I have requested in this reauthorization will improve public transportation services across the Atlanta metro area. These programs will protect the architectural integrity of our roads, reduce roadway deaths, protect small businesses impacted by transportation construction, and create good paying jobs. I look forward to working closely with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to move these priorities across the finish line.”

Reauthorization of surface transportation programs is the process by which Congress renews, revises, and funds major federal transportation programs that support highways, public transit, rail, and safety initiatives. Grants provide funding directly to states, local governmental entities, and regional commissions to improve Georgia’s transportation infrastructure. Reauthorization ensures continuity, funding, and policy direction of core federal transportation programs.

Below are summaries of the surface transportation programs Congressman David Scott requested in 2026:

1.       Department of Transportation Wide: Increasing the federal cost-share match for transportation projects from 80% to 90% to allow local entities to more easily complete infrastructure projects. (Atlanta Regional Commission)

2.      Department of Transportation Wide: Develop a voluntary centralized product registry to help localities meet existing “Build America, Buy America” requirements. (Atlanta Regional Commission)

3.      Federal Highway Administration: Requesting to maintain the 80,000-pound weight limit for trucks on roadways to protect the structural integrity of our roads. (GA-13 Elected Officials)

4.      Federal Highway Administration: Increasing the percentage of the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) provided based on population to bring more federal grant funding to the metro Atlanta area. (Atlanta Regional Commission)

5.      Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, and Federal Transit Administration: Building upon the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act by increasing the total public transit and passenger rail investment in the 2026 reauthorization to help transit authorities increase and expand services. (MARTA)

6.      Federal Transit Administration: Request to streamline the approval process for capital projects so that local transit authorities like the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) can more quickly extend bus routes across the metro Atlanta region. (MARTA)

7.      Federal Highway Administration: Reauthorizing the Safe Streets for All Program (SS4A), which helps local governments create plans and infrastructure to reduce roadway deaths. (League of American Cyclists)

8.     Department of Transportation Wide: Reauthorize the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, to remove barriers for minority- and women-owned businesses in securing contracts with the Department of Transportation. (Congressional Black Caucus)

9.      Department of Transportation Wide: Codifying the definition of “labor organization” in infrastructure projects to increase good-paying, union jobs for federal transportation programs. (Transport Workers Union of America)

10. Federal Transit Administration: Incentivizing transit projects to prioritize the needs and concerns of small businesses impacted by transit construction. (MARTA)

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Trahan Rips Trump’s Plan to Let Palantir Build Dossiers on American Citizens

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) railed against the Trump administration’s plan to turn over Americans’ most personal information that was harvested by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers to Palantir so the company can build dossiers on every American.
“Under the Trump Administration, DOGE aggressively collected sensitive data across agencies, breaking down firewalls that are supposed to protect us. Then came the Executive Order directing agencies to ‘eliminate information silos’ – basically, to share and pool that data,” Congresswoman Trahan said. “And just last week, we learned that Palantir, a Silicon Valley company known for building surveillance tools, is being hired to build AI-powered profiles on every American using the data DOGE collected. It’s hard to overstate how dangerous this is.”
CLICK HERE or the image below to watch Trahan’s remarks. A transcript is embedded below.

Last week, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration has drastically increased federal contracting with Palantir, a Silicon Valley tech firm started by Peter Thiel who has donated heavily to Republican campaigns. Palantir has historically worked closely with the Pentagon and the intelligence community to provide big data analytics and AI products, and in recent years has expanded its customer base to include private companies, civilian agencies, and state and local governments. According to the Times report, the company is now being directed to use its AI systems to merge the personal data of Americans collected by different federal agencies into one database, essentially creating a profile on every person in the country.
During the hearing today, Trahan pointed out how this type of system could be weaponized by the government against Americans.
“Let me just give you an example – a hypothetical, of course, but not a far-fetched one. Sarah is a regular American. She pays her taxes, owns a gun legally, and is raising her daughter Emma on her own. She and Emma rely on Medicaid to get the care they need,” Congresswoman Trahan continued. “One day, Sarah shares a post on Facebook. She’s concerned about something the President said about firearms, and she posts so. But in Washington, an AI-powered monitoring system flags her post. A political appointee digs into her personal data and sends emails to agency heads urging them to take action against her.”
“Within days, Sarah’s life falls apart,” Congresswoman Trahan said. “The IRS audits her and claims she owes thousands. Emma’s doctor says her Medicaid isn’t active anymore, and now Sarah has to pay out of pocket. Now, to be clear, this story is made up. But it’s not science fiction. It’s an alarm. It’s a warning.”
In March, Trahan announced an effort to rewrite the Privacy Act of 1974, a 50-year-old law designed to protect Americans’ privacy that has not been meaningfully updated since its passage in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Dozens of organizations and individuals have responded to Trahan’s request for information about how to strengthen privacy protections while preserving the ability to modernize and improve the efficiency of government services.
“I’ve spent the past three months talking with civil liberties groups, privacy experts, and people across the country – and the one thing is clear: We need stronger privacy laws,” Congresswoman Trahan concluded. “I believe we can protect people’s data and modernize government to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. These goals are not at odds – they’re linked.”
—————————————–
Congresswoman Lori Trahan
Remarks As Delivered
House Oversight and Government Reform Hearing: The Federal Government in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
June 5, 2025

Trahan: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you allowing me to be a part of this important conversation.
Over on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which is where I usually serve, we have a lot of conversations about technology, and one thing is always clear: data is at the heart of AI. That’s why I believe that any serious discussion about AI has to start with a conversation about privacy. And that’s what I’m here to do today – to sound the alarm about a deeply troubling trend: our own government’s growing appetite for Americans’ personal data.
Let me just give you an example – a hypothetical, of course, but not a far-fetched one.
Sarah is a regular American. She pays her taxes, owns a gun legally, and is raising her daughter Emma on her own. She and Emma rely on Medicaid to get the care they need.
One day, Sarah shares a post on Facebook. She’s concerned about something the President said about firearms, and she posts so. But in Washington, an AI-powered monitoring system flags her post. A political appointee digs into her personal data and sends emails to agency heads urging them to take action against her.
Within days, Sarah’s life falls apart. The IRS audits her and claims she owes thousands. Emma’s doctor says her Medicaid isn’t active anymore, and now Sarah has to pay out of pocket.
Now, to be clear, this story is made up. But it’s not science fiction. It’s an alarm. It’s a warning.
Mr. Schneier, you talked in your testimony about coercion as an “adversarial use” of data. What kinds of coercion could bad actors inside the government use if they had detailed profiles on every American?

Mr. Schneier: I would think of it as selective investigation. The government has enormous powers to investigate people, and the question is who they choose to investigate. There’s a famous book from many years ago called “Three Felonies a Day” – that we in our normal lives commit three felonies a day because there are just so many rules and we don’t know them.
So given things like that, who you choose to enforce the law on matters. So this data can be used to select people whom to investigate, people whom to charge. And this could be used selectively by any regime – even not the U.S. – any country that wants to do this.
Trahan: Unfortunately, this isn’t a hypothetical trend – it’s already happening.
Under the Trump Administration, DOGE aggressively collected sensitive data across agencies, breaking down firewalls that are supposed to protect us. Then came the Executive Order directing agencies to “eliminate information silos” – basically, to share and pool that data. And just last week, we learned that Palantir, a Silicon Valley company known for building surveillance tools, is being hired to build AI-powered profiles on every American using the data DOGE collected.
It’s hard to overstate how dangerous this is.
Mr. Schneier, are you worried that once this data is centralized, future administrations – no matter their party – could weaponize it? I mean, are we on the verge of opening Pandora’s box?
Mr. Schneier: I don’t know if Pandora’s Box has been open years ago, but certainly giving this power to a government is something that feels very un-American. There are reasons why this data was siloed. There are reasons why we didn’t have these powers.
I mean you can imagine humans doing this well before AI, but we chose not to. So AI can certainly make this more efficient, but yes this is power in the hands of a human who wants to wield it for ill can do that very efficiently.
Trahan: We need a national reckoning on privacy. That means strong oversight of this Administration and its tech partners, and real legislation to protect Americans’ rights.
You know, I’ve spent the past three months talking with civil liberties groups, privacy experts, and people across the country – and the one thing is clear: We need stronger privacy laws.
I believe we can protect people’s data and modernize government to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. These goals are not at odds – they’re linked.
So if you’re listening and you’re concerned about what’s happening – about Big Tech, about government overreach, about your family’s privacy – call my office. Let’s have a national conversation. Let’s protect the freedom our founders fought for and the privacy we all deserve.
And one last thing I just wanted to mention because over the course of this hearing, the Chair has suggested that no one on the other side of the aisle called attention to the harms of the Republicans’ ten-year ban on state AI regulations. That’s patently false.
We had robust debate on the Energy and Commerce Committee with several Democratic members, myself included, calling attention to this provision during and after our 26-hour markup. In fact, Democrats offered an amendment to strike the language entirely. So Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the results of the recorded vote.
Chairman: Without objection.
Trahan: Thank you. I yield back.
###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI: Hyperscale Data Subsidiary askROI Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Customer Service Agent
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LAS VEGAS, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hyperscale Data, Inc. (NYSE American: GPUS), a diversified holding company (“Hyperscale Data” or the “Company”), today announced that its indirectly wholly owned subsidiary askROI, Inc. (“askROI”), has officially launched an advanced Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Agent designed to transform customer service operations across industries.

The new AI-powered agent leverages state-of-the-art natural language processing and machine learning capabilities to deliver real-time, context-aware support to customers on a 24/7 basis. Built with enterprise scalability, security, and flexibility at its core, the askROI AI Agent empowers businesses to improve response times, boost customer satisfaction, and significantly reduce support costs.

Key features of the AI Agent:
- Natural Language Understanding: Advanced comprehension of customer intent, even in complex or multi-step queries; and
- Enterprise Integration: Plug-and-play compatibility with CRM, helpdesk, and analytics platforms.
askROI has already instituted its AI Agent within its own customer service system as well as at Hyperscale Data and is rolling it out further to its family of companies.

“Our mission at askROI is to augment human potential with intelligent tools,” said Darren Magot, President of askROI. “With this launch, we are providing customer service teams with a scalable, reliable, and deeply insightful solution that will evolve with their needs.”

askROI encourages any interested users to visit askROI.com for more details on its AI Agent.

For more information on Hyperscale Data and its subsidiaries, Hyperscale Data recommends that stockholders, investors and any other interested parties read Hyperscale Data’s public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section at hyperscaledata.com or available at www.sec.gov.

About Hyperscale Data, Inc.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary Sentinum, Inc., Hyperscale Data owns and operates a data center at which it mines digital assets and offers colocation and hosting services for the emerging AI ecosystems and other industries. Hyperscale Data’s other wholly owned subsidiary, Ault Capital Group, Inc. (“ACG”), is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact.

Hyperscale Data expects to divest itself of ACG on or about December 31, 2025 (the “Divestiture”). Upon the occurrence of the Divestiture, the Company would solely be an owner and operator of data centers to support high-performance computing services, though it may at that time continue to mine Bitcoin. Until the Divestiture occurs, the Company will continue to provide, through ACG and its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including an AI software platform, social gaming platform, equipment rental services, defense/aerospace, industrial, automotive, medical/biopharma and hotel operations. In addition, ACG is actively engaged in private credit and structured finance through a licensed lending subsidiary. Hyperscale Data’s headquarters are located at 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 190, Las Vegas, NV 89141.

On December 23, 2024, the Company issued one million (1,000,000) shares of a newly designated Series F Exchangeable Preferred Stock (the “Series F Preferred Stock”) to all common stockholders and holders of the Series C Convertible Preferred Stock on an as-converted basis. The Divestiture will occur through the voluntary exchange of the Series F Preferred Stock for shares of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock of ACG (collectively, the “ACG Shares”). The Company reminds its stockholders that only those holders of the Series F Preferred Stock who agree to surrender such shares, and do not properly withdraw such surrender, in the exchange offer through which the Divestiture will occur, will be entitled to receive the ACG Shares and consequently be stockholders of ACG upon the occurrence of the Divestiture.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” or similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of them publicly in light of new information or future events. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors. More information, including potential risk factors, that could affect the Company’s business and financial results are included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company’s Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All filings are available at www.sec.gov and on the Company’s website at hyperscaledata.com.

Hyperscale Data Investor Contact:
IR@hyperscaledata.com or 1-888-753-2235

The MIL Network –
June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI: IDEX Biometrics ASA: Final result of the Subsequent Offering

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, HONG KONG OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Reference is made to the stock exchange notice from IDEX Biometrics ASA (the “Company”) on 21 May 2025 regarding the commencement of the subscription period (the “Subscription Period”) in the subsequent offering (the “Subsequent Offering”) consisting of up to 600,000,000 new shares (the “Offer Shares”) in the Company at a subscription price of NOK 0.01 per share (“Offer Price”). The Subscription Period commenced on 22 May 2025 and expired on 5 June 2025.

By the end of the Subscription Period, the Subsequent Offering was 8x oversubscribed. Pursuant to the resolution by the Extraordinary General Meeting dated 11 April 2025, the Company’s board of directors has today resolved to allocate and issue a total of 600,000,000 Offer Shares at the Offer Price in accordance with the allocation criteria set out in the prospectus dated 21 May 2025, raising gross proceeds of NOK 6 million.

Investors that are allocated Offer Shares can access information on the number of Offer Shares allocated to them through VPS on or about 6 June 2025. The due date for payment of the Offer Shares is on 11 June 2025.

Subject to duly and timely payment of the Offer Shares, the share capital increase pertaining to the Subsequent Offering is expected to be registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises (“NRBE”) on or about 13 June 2025. Following registration of the share capital increase associated with the Subsequent Offering in the NRBE, the Company’s share capital will be NOK 44,316,309.99 consisting of 4,431,630,999 shares, each having a par value of NOK 0.01.

The Offer Shares will be delivered to the VPS accounts of the subscribers shortly thereafter, expected on or about 13 June 2025. A separate announcement will be made when the share capital increase has been registered. The Offer Shares will have equal rights and rank pari passu with the Company’s other shares.

Arctic Securities AS is acting as manager in connection with the Subsequent Offering (the “Manager”). Ræder Bing advokatfirma AS is acting as the Company’s legal advisor.

For further information, please contact:

Kristian Flaten, CFO, Tel: +47 95092322

E-mail: ir@idexbiometrics.com

IMPORTANT NOTICE

This announcement is not and does not form a part of any offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities of the Company. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures.

The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and accordingly may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in accordance with applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Company does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.

In any EEA Member State, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State. The “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, as amended (together with any applicable implementing measures) in any Member State. This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons in the United Kingdom that are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”).

This communication must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only for relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Persons distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in the Company is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither the Company nor the Managers assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions. The distribution of this release may in certain jurisdictions be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “strategy”, “intends”, “estimate”, “will”, “may”, “continue”, “should” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond their control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not make any guarantee that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this announcement are free from errors nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this announcement or any obligation to update or revise the statements in this announcement to reflect subsequent events. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this announcement. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review, update, confirm, or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this announcement. This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities of the Company. The distribution of this announcement and other information may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions. This announcement is an advertisement and is not a prospectus for the purposes of the Prospectus Regulation as implemented in any Member State.

About IDEX Biometrics:

IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX) is a global technology leader in fingerprint biometrics, offering authentication solutions across payments, access control, and digital identity. Our solutions bring convenience, security, peace of mind and seamless user experiences to the world. Built on patented and proprietary sensor technologies, integrated circuit designs, and software, our biometric solutions target card-based applications for payments and digital authentication. As an industry-enabler we partner with leading card manufacturers and technology companies to bring our solutions to market. For more information, visit www.idexbiometrics.com

About this notice:

This notice was issued by Kristian Flaten, CFO, on 6 June 2025 at 17:20 CET on behalf of IDEX Biometrics ASA. The information is published in accordance with section 5-8 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act (STA) and released in accordance with section 5-12 of the STA.

The MIL Network –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: The GREATEST invasion in Army history

Source: US Army (video statements)

About the U.S. Army:

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FQ1ii1lF8Y

MIL OSI Video –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: TRA investigates hot-rolled steel plate from South Korea
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

TRA investigates hot-rolled steel plate from South Korea

The TRA has opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot-rolled steel plate from South Korea.
The Trade Remedies Authority has today (6 June 2025) opened a new investigation into imports of hot-rolled steel plate from South Korea.

Hot-rolled steel plates are flat steel products often used in bridge construction, machine manufacturing and shipbuilding.

The new investigation is in response to an application by UK producer Spartan UK Ltd, which has alleged that imports of hot-rolled steel plate products from South Korea are being dumped into the UK and that these dumped imports are causing injury to domestic industry.

According to the TRA’s initial analysis, imports of hot-rolled steel plate from South Korea have grown from 14 million tonnes in 2021 to more than 40 million tonnes last year.

Where the TRA recommends a remedy is necessary, it will conduct an Economic Interest Test to assess whether the implementation of the remedy is in the UK’s economic interest.

Interested parties can contribute to this investigation by visiting the TRA’s public file.

Background information

The period of investigation for this case will be between April 1 2024 and March 31 2025.

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

The TRA is an arm’s length body of the Department for Business and Trade.

UK industries concerned about imports have been able to submit applications for a new trade remedy measure since January 2021. These applications are considered by the TRA to see if there are grounds for an investigation.

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Published 6 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA News: TRUMP EFFECT: Higher Pay for American Workers
Source: US Whitehouse
“President Trump’s America First Economic Agenda has created a BOOMING economy — jobs are up, unemployment is down, wages are increasing, and inflation is dead. More than 139,000 good jobs were added to the private sector in May, all accounted for by American-born workers. Americans should continue to trust in President Trump, who continues to beat expectations.” — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

President Donald J. Trump’s America First agenda is making its mark on the American economy — with explosive private sector growth, job gains, and wage increases for American workers.

Look no further than today’s jobs report for proof:
- In May, the U.S. added 139,000 jobs — smashing expectations for the third straight month, with the private sector accounting for all net job gains.
  
  Leisure and hospitality: +48,000 new jobs
  
  Transportation and warehousing: +5,800 new jobs
  
  Construction: +4,000 new jobs — the fourth straight month of job increases
- Wages for everyday Americans continue to rise, with real average hourly earnings up by nearly 4% over the past year — far higher than economists’ expectations.
  
  Since President Trump took office, real disposable personal income has risen at a 7.5% annualized pace — more than three times the pace than the final year of the Biden Administration.
- Native-born American workers now account for ALL job gains since President Trump took office in January — reversing the opposite trend from the past two years.
- Since President Trump took office, 99.8% of job gains have been in the private sector. During the final two years of the Biden Administration, one in four jobs created were in government.
Here’s what they’re saying:
- Council of Economic Advisers Chair Steve Miran: “The President is succeeding in creating hundreds of thousands of jobs since he came into office — more than half a million jobs since he came into office — and they’re all going to native-born Americans.”
- Economist Steve Moore: “This is a blockbuster economy we’re seeing … 4.5% GDP for the second quarter, low inflation — this is telling us right now the jobs are out there for people who want them.”
- Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz: “The small business economy is growing and the private economy is growing. This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted to do for reversing everything that Biden had done … It’s so good to see that we’re actually creating private economy jobs again.”
- Fox Business Network’s Cheryl Casone: “The markets might be encouraged by the fact that you aren’t seeing job losses … that means that people are maybe going to start spend this summer. They might go actually take a trip they weren’t planning to take — and look, gas prices are lower right now. We’ve got great gas prices, so I think this could be a really good economic story.”
- ERShares CEO Joel Shulman, Ph.D.: “There’s optimism here on the horizon … CPI last month was a catalyst. I think we’re going to see another catalyst on June 11, coupled with this better-than-expected jobs report — so I think things are looking more optimistic.”
MIL OSI USA News –
June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: What the UK’s ‘Nato-first’ defence approach tells us about Britain’s place in a volatile world

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nick Whittaker, Subject Lead in Social Sciences & Law, University of Sussex

Since the end of the cold war, the relevance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has regularly been questioned, even by its most prominent leaders. Its members, therefore, find it necessary to remind each other and the world of its value from time to time.

The latest example of this is the UK government’s new strategic defence review, which announces a “Nato-first” posture.

Nato has long been a cornerstone of UK foreign, defence and security policies. But this marks a particularly strident prioritisation of the organisation. It comes just a few years after Boris Johnson’s government began moving the country’s foreign and defence policy priorities towards the Indo-Pacific.

It tells us much about how Keir Starmer’s administration sees the UK’s place in the world in an unsettled era: as both an influential ally of the US and a reliable partner to European powers, eager to maintain regional and global influence.

Signed in 1949, the North Atlantic treaty committed its original 12 members to collective security: an attack on one would be an attack on all. In the shadow of the second world war, Nato went further than the nascent United Nations in its defence and security commitments. It brought together a somewhat eclectic mix of states straddling the Atlantic, from the North American behemoths of the US and Canada to tiny Iceland and Luxembourg, the dictatorship of Salazar’s Portugal and the democracies of Norway and Belgium.

The UK’s participation was largely heralded across an enthusiastic parliament. Winston Churchill, then leader of the opposition, praised this new “fraternal association”. The foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, celebrated the community of interest [and] cooperation with like-minded people”. UK politicians saw Nato as a means to connect with the US and Canada in particular.

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

Sign up for our weekly politics newsletter, delivered every Friday.

The language at the time also reflected the casting of the Soviet Union as a threat to European security. Although the UK welcomed Nato as a liberal democratic organisation dominated by English-speaking peoples, its primary purpose was always to act as a strategic counterweight to the influence and encroachment of the Soviet Union in Europe. Hence the claimed irrelevance of Nato in the 1990s after the cold war, and its renewed importance today in the face of Russian aggression.

As always with UK foreign and defence policies, the relationship with the US is paramount. The UK’s Nato-first position is no exception. Starmer clearly believes he can forge a working relationship with the US president. Although seemingly far from natural bedfellows (although neither were John F. Kennedy and Harold Macmillan or even, politics aside, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher), Donald Trump appears unthreatened by the sober, understated Starmer.

The thought within Starmer’s foreign policy circle may well be that a loud and unequivocal statement of the UK’s commitment to Nato could help persuade Trump to stay the course with an organisation that he has often threatened to pull the US out of.

If, on the other hand, Starmer et al are more pessimistic and fear Trump making good on his threats, Nato clearly remains an attractive proposition in terms of the UK’s defence policy. While it does commit the UK to the defence of, say, the Baltic States and Finland, by the same token, Nato puts the UK in lockstep with fellow nuclear power, France, as well as the growing military power of Germany and significant others such as Turkey. In uncertain times, such allies are to be valued.

Global influence

Even before Brexit, a fear of losing global and regional influence has stalked every British government since 1945.

Questioning the wisdom of the departure from the EU remains a Westminster taboo. Yet one might forgive the incoming Labour government for feeling the chill of isolation while Trump occupies the White House and Russia threatens the continent. Nato thus also represents a valuable opportunity to retain regional and global influence. Note the language in Starmer’s introduction to the report when he refers to a desire to “lead in Nato”.

Can Starmer’s ‘Nato-first’ pivot convince Trump to stay?
Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, CC BY-NC-ND

While the other defenestrated European colonial powers found post-1945 influence through the Francophonie or becoming leading civilian forces in what became the EU, the UK had the Commonwealth and Nato. These were the prime proxies for the lost colonial influence, even during the long EU interregnum.

Without the EU and with a more restive Commonwealth, Nato is of even greater importance. Although France’s president Emmanuel Macron is generally enthusiastic about Nato, there is a history of French ambivalence. The UK could well make the claim to be the most steadfastly committed of all the larger European members.

This renewed commitment to Nato from the UK government is consistent with the historic prioritisation of the organisation by successive administrations. The difference here is the urgency of the context: Europe faces an unprecedented military threat, while the US president is unpredictable and dubious in his attitude towards continental defence.

The Nato-first stance is a recognition of grim, strategic realities and also a “Hail Mary”, both pragmatic and hopeful. The UK is not alone in desperately hoping to keep the US commitment to European security alive. The strategic review’s commitment to a Nato-first policy may help – at the very least, it signals a UK administration keen to maximise its influence and retain robust ties with European allies.

Nick Whittaker 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. What the UK’s ‘Nato-first’ defence approach tells us about Britain’s place in a volatile world – https://theconversation.com/what-the-uks-nato-first-defence-approach-tells-us-about-britains-place-in-a-volatile-world-258336

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The UK is gearing up for autonomous warfare – but missing the reality of war today

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anthony King, Professor of War Studies, University of Exeter

The UK is facing a security crisis. Great power competition has returned, and the threat of hostility from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea is increasing. The west can no longer assume military superiority, and the UK can no longer depend unconditionally on the US. The character of war itself is changing as new technology is introduced.

This is the situation laid out in the latest strategic defence review. The implications for the UK are clear: the country must prepare for high-intensity, protracted war, not counter-insurgency operations like Iraq or Afghanistan.

In order to address these challenges, the review says, “the UK must pivot to a new way of war.” Nuclear weapons are important here, and will be renewed and expanded. But the recommendations in the review focus on conventional weaponry and, above all, new remote and autonomous technology.

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The ongoing Ukraine war underpins much of the thinking about the military changes the UK needs to make. That conflict has demonstrated a significant change in the character of 21st-century warfare. Most obviously, it has involved a proliferation of cheap, expendable remote systems, some of which have autonomous capabilities.

Remote first-person-view drones, and drones controlled by unjammable fibre-optic cables, have become ubiquitous on the frontline – reconnoitring, targeting and striking troops on both sides. They have made conventional strategic manoeuvres at the front almost impossible, while also striking civilian and military targets deep in Russia and Ukraine.

At sea, uncrewed naval drones have struck Russian shipping and infrastructure in Crimea. The Ukrainian armed forces have also developed a digital battle management system and live-data, AI-enabled targeting system, drawing together information from satellite, open-source, ground-sensor and signal intelligence. This has allowed Ukrainian commanders to see deeply across the battlespace, and target Russian forces with an unprecedented depth and precision.

As a result of remote systems enabled by digitised targeting, military forces have become exponentially more lethal in close battle – and also in the deep.

The strategic defence review aims for the UK to incorporate these two elements into its war-fighting capabilities, recommending massive investment in remotely controlled and autonomous systems.

It calls for the UK to create a “leading, tech-enabled defence power”. Part of this involves integrating UK forces and the construction of a unified “digital targeting web”. This would be fed by sensors from every domain (land, air and sea) so that all forces have access to the same intelligence and a common operating picture. The idea is that a target identified in one domain might be prosecuted by forces in another, to “enhance the Armed Forces’ precision and lethality at scale and reach”.

In order to achieve this, the review also calls for improved and more innovative relationships between British defence, tech and industry. Once again, a lot has been learnt from Ukraine, whose industrial and tech sectors have been integrated into the war from the start.

The missing link

The review’s authors – three external experts led by former defence secretary and Nato chief, Lord Robertson – are correct to highlight the increasing importance of remote (and sometimes autonomous) systems in warfare. They are clear that military forces should increasingly draw on live data, processed by artificial intelligence, to help them understand the battlespace, plan and target. The UK must remain competitive with peer enemies who are developing these capabilities.

However, even assuming that all of this is affordable at 2.5% of the UK’s GDP from 2027 (a 0.2% rise from where defence spending is now), there is a serious gap in the review’s proposals.

As a scholar who has studied war in the 21st century, and has just completed a book on AI and war, I believe the document vastly overexaggerates the capability of AI and autonomy. For example, it states:

In modern warfare, simple metrics such as the number of people and platforms deployed are outdated and inadequate. It is through dynamic networks of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous assets and data flows that lethality and military effect are now created.

This analysis presumes that autonomy will be vital in the future, and implies it will displace the need for large numbers of human combatants. In fact, true autonomy is still rare in combat – and will remain so, according to my research.

Even if autonomous drone swarms appear, they will not eliminate the need for human programmers or operators behind the frontline. AI has limited military functions which require a huge amount of human input.

Defence secretary John Healey being shown unmanned and autonomous units on a demonstration.
UK MOD Crown Copyright 2025

The review prioritises preparedness for protracted inter-state war. But it ignores the blindingly obvious from Ukraine: the imperative of mass.

The Ukrainian frontline combat forces have expanded to about 300,000 – Ukraine claims its whole force, including allied fighters, is around 1 million. There are about 400,000 Russian combat troops in Ukraine. Casualties have been eye-watering: the Russians have suffered about 800,000 casualties, the Ukrainians nearly 500,000.

In my view, the strategic defence review has been mesmerised by the prospect of new technology – and, perhaps, by some wishful thinking.

In 21st-century war, troop mass matters. Fleets of drones and the most sophisticated digital targeting will be irrelevant without human forces willing to fight and to operate them.

What is the review’s answer to this? While acknowledging that in the cold war, the British fielded forces of 311,000, UK regular armed forces are to remain the same size: 136,000, of which the army will consist of only 73,000 troops and staff.

The review proposes that active reserves (volunteer, part-time forces) will be increased by 20%, and that the strategic reserve (ex-regulars) “is central to military mobilisation and must be reinvigorated”.

It is not surprising that the review’s authors have offered such thin solutions to the question of mass. There has been profound resistance from successive governments, Whitehall and civil society to any expansion in the size of British military forces in the UK. But it is doubtful that an expanded reserve and a reinvigorated strategic reserve will be remotely enough for the UK to fight and win a war of any kind in the coming decade.

Anthony King 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 UK is gearing up for autonomous warfare – but missing the reality of war today – https://theconversation.com/the-uk-is-gearing-up-for-autonomous-warfare-but-missing-the-reality-of-war-today-258240

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: “Our program is an intensive path of personal and professional transformation”

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

Three groups, more than 100 students, successfully completed the MBA program. Over a year and a half, they completed 16 educational modules, including two on-site ones: to China and to Lake Baikal. The 2025 graduates include entrepreneurs, founders of successful businesses, and top managers of leading Russian companies: Sber, VTB, Rostelecom, NOVATEK, Rosatom, Yandex.Technologies, Almaz-Antey Concern, SKB Kontur, Belkacar, SONET Group, and others.

Volkov Dmitry Leonidovich

First Deputy Director of the Higher School of Business

“The MBA program not only provides knowledge, but also strong networking in the leadership community; for a modern entrepreneur and top manager, it is extremely important to remain in the educational environment and continue learning throughout life.”

The updated MBA program of the HSE Graduate School of Business covers key areas of modern management: from strategic management and corporate finance to marketing, operations management and innovation, including the use of AI in business.

All graduates note an important advantage of the HSE Graduate School of Business: a very strong team of teachers, which unites both practitioners, leaders of successful businesses, and outstanding representatives of academic science from across the HSE University.

Positioning itself as a first-choice business school, HSE has invested a lot of effort into developing its MBA program, including innovative educational formats: business simulations, interactive projects, group assignments to develop practical skills and networking among program students.

The hallmarks of the MBA program at the Higher School of Business at the National Research University Higher School of Economics are effective on-site modules. The leadership intensive is traditionally held on Lake Baikal and is aimed at developing team management skills, crisis management, and the ability to make decisions under stress and in situations of uncertainty.

And the recent overseas module was organized jointly with Fudan University, one of the leading centers of business education in Asia. The university is among the best universities in China and Asia, widely recognized for its high level of teaching, quality of scientific research and international programs in the field of economics and management. The overseas modules are the leaders in the most positive feedback from the program participants.

The final part of the program was the defense of final projects. Participants presented solutions for a wide range of industries: from energy and tourism to industrial production and digital services. Among the initiatives: development of a new data management product, launch and development of a business community, a service for generating income from excess energy capacity, a strategy for bringing self-propelled electric lifts to market.

The graduation ceremony took place at the HSE campus. The graduates were congratulated by the program teachers and the business school management.

Koptsev Vladimir Sergeevich

Head of the MBA program at the Higher School of Business, National Research University Higher School of Economics

“Our program is an intensive path of personal and professional transformation. We see how students change over the course of a year and a half: their confidence grows, their horizons expand, their ability to make strategic decisions strengthens. It is especially valuable that they leave the program with a clear understanding of their role in business and with a readiness for new challenges.”

During their studies, participants not only expanded their professional horizons, but also built new strong horizontal connections—the alumni community remains one of the program’s key resources.

Ekaterina Artemenkova

Director of the Financial Department, Insurance Company “Guardia”

“I asked my classmates to name three associations with the program and collected them in a word cloud. The most frequent word turned out to be unexpected, but very accurate – “pleasure”. In the program, we learned to enjoy studying, communicating, challenges. And, perhaps, the main thing we learned was the ability to maintain inner calm in the most stressful situations and to see opportunities even in difficulties.”

Andrey Dementyev

Founder of the family project “Elephant Park” in Sochi

“Over these one and a half years, we have not only mastered the tools of strategic management, Agile and financial analysis – we have learned to see value in people, in the team, in the environment. We have learned from each other, admired, supported – and it is in this atmosphere that ideas, projects and a real team are born.”

Olga Komleva

Director of IT Solutions Department, SONET Group of Companies

“This morning, when I was driving to the airport, I was thinking that this is my last trip as part of the MBA program. It is a warm sadness and great pride at the same time. We have gained knowledge, found friends, and most importantly, made the right choice by coming here. I would like to wish everyone not to lose interest, to study and move forward.”

The graduation of the HSE Graduate School of Business MBA program has become a significant contribution to the preparation of innovative responsible leaders who change organizations and the world. Start of a new cohort MBA programs is scheduled for this fall and the admissions campaign has already begun.

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.

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 7, 2025

MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2025 Article IV Consultation with Spain

Source: IMF – News in Russian

June 6, 2025

The Spanish economy has been performing strongly, supported by services exports and labor force growth. Growth is expected to remain significantly above the euro area average in the near term, before slowing gradually as its recent drivers normalize and demographic aging intensifies. Most risks are to the downside, including from a further escalation of trade measures and domestic political fragmentation.
The authorities should seize the growth momentum to more swiftly rebuild fiscal space and reduce sovereign debt risks through a clearer consolidation strategy grounded in well-identified tax increase and spending reduction priorities. Additional measures should also be taken to address fiscal pressures from rising future pension expenditures, and to improve the pension system’s safeguard clause.
Raising productivity is key to boosting income per capita gains, which have been modest since the pandemic. This should be achieved through a new wave of reforms to facilitate firms’ scaling-up and strengthen innovation.

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the Article IV Consultation for Spain.^[1] The authorities have consented to the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.^[2]

With a growth rate of 3.2 percent in 2024, Spain has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the euro area. Growth has been fueled by robust services exports and labor force growth, including due to immigration. Because high GDP growth has been accompanied by high employment growth, GDP per capita gains have been more modest. Despite recent progress, Spain still has one of the lowest employment rates in Europe, and a persistent gap in (hourly labor) productivity vis-à-vis the euro area and—even more so—the US.

Growth is projected to reach 2.5 percent in 2025 before slowing to 1.8 percent in 2026 as export and working-age population gains normalize. Growth will be primarily supported by private domestic demand, including due to a decline in the household saving rate and a pickup in investment. Inflation is projected to decline further and return close to the ECB’s target by end-2025.

Executive Board Assessment^[3]

The Spanish economy has continued to outperform the euro area but per-capita income gains have been more modest. Two major drivers of Spain’s strong growth have been, on the supply side, labor force growth, and on the demand side, services exports. Labor force growth has particularly benefitted from recent migration inflows, which have risen sharply above pre-pandemic levels. Services exports have been fueled by the strong post-COVID recovery in tourism, but also by improvements in the performance of Spanish exporters in non-tourism services. Amid strong exports and still subdued imports, the external position in 2024 is preliminarily assessed to be stronger than implied by medium-term fundamentals and desirable policies. Because high GDP growth has been accompanied by high employment growth, GDP per capita gains have been more modest. Still, Spain reduced its per-capita income gap vis-à-vis the highest-income euro area economies by over 3 percentage points during 2022-24, helped by an acceleration in productivity growth. Despite recent progress in reducing the unemployment rate, it remains the highest in the euro area at about 11 percent. Looking through recent volatility, disinflation has continued to proceed steadily.

Growth is projected to remain robust in the near term and to slow gradually thereafter as its recent drivers normalize, with risks predominantly to the downside. Growth should remain strong at 2.5 percent in 2025 before declining to about 1.8 percent next year, close to its medium-term potential. On the demand side, tourism is expected to expand at a slower rate, while a weaker global environment—including elevated trade policy uncertainty and US tariffs—will also weigh on external demand. This drag is expected to be partly offset by robust domestic demand, including a pick-up in investment. On the supply side, a gradual slowdown in net migration and demographic aging will slowly weigh on labor force gains. Key downside risks include an escalation of trade measures, particularly those involving the EU, and domestic political fragmentation, which could hamper the response of fiscal policy in the event Spain’s deficit reduction fell short of its commitments or market concerns about sovereign risks were to emerge.

The authorities should seize upon the strong growth momentum to more swiftly rebuild fiscal space and reduce sovereign debt risks, in the context of an enhanced medium-term fiscal plan. Staff projects that, in the absence of further consolidation measures besides social security contribution increases from the 2021-2023 pension reforms and the non-indexation of PIT brackets (about 1 percent of GDP overall over 2025-29), the deficit would stabilize above 2 percent of GDP by 2030, while the debt-to-GDP ratio would remain above 90 percent before rising again in the longer term as fiscal pressures from aging intensify. Weighing fiscal risks on the one hand, and the economy’s strong cyclical position on the other, staff recommends frontloading the authorities’ planned 3 percent of GDP adjustment over 2025-2029 rather than 2025-2031. This effort, which would require about 2 percentage points of GDP in new measures, should be underpinned by an enhanced medium-term fiscal plan that lays out well-identified tax increase and spending reduction priorities. Harmonizing VAT and enhancing environmental taxation would deliver the recommended effort while reducing economic distortions. Given the widening projected gap between pension expenditures and social security contributions over the coming decades, pension reforms should also be undertaken, prioritizing employment-friendly options. Should downside risks materialize, fiscal policy should remain flexible, letting automatic stabilizers play out. Temporary discretionary support should be considered only in the event of a severe shock and provided sovereign funding costs remain low.

Systemic risks in the financial system remain low but ongoing efforts to further bolster its resilience should be maintained. Banks are well-capitalized, liquid, and profitable, though capital ratios are still somewhat below euro area peers. Household and corporate balance sheets are sound, supported by low debt and rising incomes. The rapid growth in house prices has eroded affordability and should be primarily addressed through measures that stimulate housing supply. While it does currently not raise financial stability risks, pre-emptive borrower-based measures should be considered if there were early signs of an easing in lending standards. Staff supports the ongoing phasing-in of the one-percent positive neutral CCyB and encourages continued implementation of other 2024 FSAP recommendations to further enhance resilience.

Fostering income-per-capita convergence toward higher-income advanced economies requires further raising the employment rate and boosting productivity. Despite recent progress, Spain still has one of the lowest employment rates in Europe, and its (hourly labor) productivity gap vis-à-vis the euro area—which has itself been falling behind the US—remains about as wide as it was 25 years ago. Enhancing activation policies and financial incentives for jobseekers is key to durably reducing unemployment to single digits. The planned reduction of the working week in the private sector should be carefully designed to mitigate adverse effects on output and workers’ incomes, with a major role for collective bargaining including in setting the level and remuneration of overtime. Closing the productivity gap will require reforms that facilitate firms’ scaling-up and innovation. These include completing both the Spanish and EU single markets for goods and services, streamlining firm size-related tax and regulatory thresholds, boosting venture capital through progress toward the CMU complemented by domestic incentives, and promoting excellence in higher education—including through greater autonomy and performance-based funding of universities.

Spain: Selected Economic Indicators (Annual percentage change, unless noted otherwise)
				Projections 1/
	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027
Demand and supply in constant prices
Gross domestic product	6.2	2.7	3.2	2.5	1.8	1.7
Private consumption	4.8	1.8	2.9	2.1	2.0	1.9
Public consumption	0.6	5.2	4.1	3.5	1.7	1.9
Gross fixed investment	3.3	2.1	3.0	5.0	2.1	1.2
Total domestic demand	3.9	1.7	2.9	2.9	2.0	1.8
Net exports (contribution to growth)	2.5	1.2	0.4	-0.2	-0.1	0.0
Exports of goods and services	15.0	3.3	3.4	2.2	2.5	3.1
Imports of goods and services	7.8	0.4	2.6	3.0	3.2	3.4

Potential output	2.1	2.7	2.6	2.6	2.3	2.1
Output gap (percent of potential)	1.1	1.1	1.6	1.6	1.1	0.7

Prices
GDP deflator	4.7	6.2	3.0	2.4	2.4	2.4
Headline Inflation (average)	8.3	3.4	2.9	2.2	2.0	2.1
Headline Inflation (end of period)	5.5	3.3	2.8	1.9	1.9	2.1
Core inflation (average)	5.2	5.8	3.0	1.9	2.0	2.0
Core inflation (end of period)	6.7	4.0	2.6	1.8	2.0	2.0

Employment and wages
Unemployment rate (percent of total labor force)	13.0	12.2	11.3	11.1	11.0	11.0
Labor costs, private sector	2.6	5.6	4.7	3.5	3.4	3.4
Employment	3.6	3.1	2.2	1.3	0.9	0.7

Balance of payments (percent of GDP)
Current account balance	0.4	2.7	3.0	2.5	2.4	2.2
Net international investment position	-57.7	-51.3	-44.0	-38.5	-33.5	-29.7

Public finance (percent of GDP)
General government balance	-4.6	-3.5	-3.2	-2.8	-2.4	-2.3
Primary balance	-2.5	-1.7	-1.3	-0.6	0.1	0.1
Structural balance	-5.3	-4.1	-3.1	-3.2	-2.8	-2.7
General government debt	109.4	105.0	101.8	100.7	99.1	97.7

Sources: IMF, World Economic Outlook; data provided by the authorities; and IMF staff estimates.
1/ The projections incorporate spending financed by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (including the grant and the loan component) amounting to about 0.7, 1.7, 1.3 and 0.3 percent of GDP from 2024 to 2027.

[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

[2] Under the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The staff report will be shortly published on the www.imf.org/en/Countries/ESP page.

[3] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Camila Perez

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/05/pr25183-spain-imf-executive-board-concludes-2025-article-iv-consultation-with-spain

MIL OSI

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 7, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Governor Ivey Taps Cynthia Lee Almond to Serve as Public Service Commission President

Source: US State of Alabama

MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Friday announced she is tapping Cynthia Lee Almond to serve as president of the Public Service Commission. This fills the seat previously held by Twinkle Cavanaugh, who has taken a role with the Trump Administration.

“Cynthia has proven to be an extremely effective public servant and leader, and I am confident the people of Alabama will be even better served when she takes the helm at the Public Service Commission,” said Governor Ivey. “Since 2021, I have been able to count on Cynthia to get real, meaningful work done in the Legislature, and while I know the people of Tuscaloosa will miss her representation in the State House, every person across this state will now benefit from her leadership on the Public Service Commission.”

As president, Almond will lead the three-person board responsible for regulating utilities in Alabama. Almond is a seasoned attorney and currently works in the private practice of law. She also takes the helm at the Public Service Commission after serving as a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives for District 63.

Almond brings a wealth of experience to the Public Service Commission and has a solid track-record of serving the people she represents well, whether that be in the House of Representatives or as an attorney. She works directly with a variety of people through her legal work, which has largely concentrated on estate planning, as well as probate, business law and real estate. Additionally, she owns a title company. In the State House, she served as chair of the Tuscaloosa County Local Legislative Delegation and as a member of the Ways and Means Education Committee, Judiciary Committee, Rules Committee and as vice-chair of the Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee.

Throughout her tenure in the Legislature, Almond has been a partner to Governor Ivey on priorities like the governor’s Safe Alabama public safety package, the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences, and the Game Plan economic development legislation, among other areas.

Almond is a true public servant, well-respected and recognized as a strong leader by her peers. Previously, she served four terms on the Tuscaloosa City Council where she was elected president pro tem by her colleagues on the Council, as well as chair of the Finance committee.

“I am honored to have been asked by Governor Ivey to fill this important position. It is one I accept with great enthusiasm,” said Almond. “I know how important this commission is to the people of Alabama and to the industry sectors it regulates. I believe my training as an attorney and legislator will prove to be helpful in performing this role. I appreciate greatly the confidence shown in me by Governor Ivey, and I will work hard for her and for this great state of Alabama.”

Almond attended Vanderbilt University and is a graduate of both The University of Alabama and University of Alabama School of Law.

Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Almond gives much back to the community today. She is a graduate of Leadership Alabama and was co-chair for its West Alabama Regional Council. She serves as a Sunday School teacher at First United Methodist Church, has two children and enjoys a variety of activities from playing the piano and tennis to mountain bike riding and more.

Since 2021, she has represented the people of House District 63 effectively and plans to vacate her seat in the Legislature on Sunday, June 15 ahead of joining the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission appointment is effective Monday, June 16, which is when the governor will swear her in as president.

An official headshot of Cynthia Lee Almond is attached.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 7, 2025
MIL-OSI: Bitget Puts Spotlight on Affiliate Program, Turning Influence Into Income for Crypto Creators

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

VICTORIA, Seychelles, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, is drawing attention to its affiliate program as a streamlined path for creators, educators, and crypto communities to turn engagement into earnings. Built on the spirit of Web3, the program dishes out generous commissions, layered rewards, and handy tools to help partners grow their clout—and their crypto. Supporting everyone, from solo content creators to large-scale Web3 communities, the affiliate program offers a smart, scalable model for monetizing crypto influence.

Affiliates can earn up to 50% commission on trading fees from referred users, with extra bonuses available for milestones and high-performing partners. The program is built to scale, whether for individual content creators or larger crypto-focused communities. Real-time tracking, dedicated support, and marketing resources give affiliates tools to expand their reach and monetize effectively.

In a first for centralized exchanges, Bitget launched an on-chain affiliate program in 2025—ushering in a new level of transparency and control. The system leverages on-chain data to verify referrals and track payouts, eliminating guesswork and giving partners greater confidence in their earnings. Affiliates can monitor everything from wallet engagement to payouts in real time, all powered by smart contracts.

The affiliate program aligns with Bitget’s broader ecosystem, which includes copy trading, high-liquidity markets, advanced API integrations, and localized support. This makes it easier for partners to tailor campaigns, engage their audiences, and grow with the platform.

“The creator economy in crypto is growing fast, but monetization hasn’t always kept pace,” said Vugar Usi Zade, COO at Bitget. “By bringing affiliate rewards on-chain and designing tools for creators of all sizes, Bitget is turning influence into a real, scalable revenue stream, with no smoke and mirrors.”

With top-tier rewards, transparent tracking, and on-chain infrastructure, Bitget’s affiliate program offers a fresh take on crypto monetization. Built for those who drive conversations, shape communities, and grow the space from the ground up.

For more information, visit here.

About Bitget

Established in 2018, Bitget is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 120 million users in 150+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions, while offering real-time access to Bitcoin price, Ethereum price, and other cryptocurrency prices. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, token swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more.

Bitget is at the forefront of driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships, such as its role as the Official Crypto Partner of the World’s Top Football League, LALIGA, in EASTERN, SEA and LATAM markets, as well as a global partner of Turkish National athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist) and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team), to inspire the global community to embrace the future of cryptocurrency.

For more information, visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet

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

Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, please refer to our Terms of Use.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fd38e9a6-0f58-495e-b04a-3d10c64d5b52

The MIL Network –

June 7, 2025

Category: Business

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