NewzIntel.com

Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI China: China accelerates express delivery green packaging amid e-commerce boom

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

    China is ramping up efforts to green its booming express delivery sector, as a newly amended regulation took effect during the bustling mid-year online shopping festival.

    The revised regulation concerning the courier sector came into force on June 1, and for the first time introduced a dedicated chapter on packaging. It stipulates that packaging should minimize resource use, avoid excessive wrapping and prevent environmental pollution.

    Experts hailed the move as a milestone in the industry’s push for sustainable and high-quality development.

    China, the world’s largest express delivery market, handled over 175 billion parcels in 2024, a 21.5-percent increase from the previous year.

    This vibrant growth has led to a surge in packaging waste, making sustainable practices a critical priority, said Ding Hongtao, director of legal affair department at the China Express Association.

    The green initiative has already been felt at the manufacturing level. In Pinghu, east China’s Zhejiang Province, a local packaging company now uses 100 percent recycled cardboard to produce corrugated paper. In its factory, waste boxes are shredded, filtered, refined and pressed into new paperboard.

    “For every tonne of corrugated paper, we use about 1.1 tonnes of recycled boxes,” said Hu Zhonghua, general manager of Jingxing Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. “Even the leftover scraps from box production are cycled back into the paper mill, forming a closed-loop system.”

    Elsewhere, similar innovations are driving progress. In east China’s Anhui Province, Anhui Huayi Packaging Co., Ltd. has industrialized fully biodegradable adhesive tape after five years of research, and now produces up to 600 million square meters annually. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang, a logistics center of supply chain technology company Shunxinhui has replaced single-use plastic wrap with reusable strapping, thereby avoiding the use of 300 tonnes of plastics on average each year.

    “China is forming a green supply chain for express packaging,” said Liu Jianguo, professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Data showed that 248 types of packaging products from more than 100 companies have now been certified as green products in the country.

    In addition to greener materials, couriers have begun to use packaging more efficiently.

    At JD Logistics’ industrial park in Hangzhou, home appliances and furniture are now shipped in their original manufacturer packaging, bypassing the need for secondary wrapping.

    “By strengthening coordination with suppliers, the share of direct shipments to customers without repackaging has risen from about 5 percent a few years ago to 25 percent last year. And we expect the ratio to hit 40 percent this year,” said Gao Jiaqi, head of the industrial park. In 2024 alone, JD Logistics eliminated over 1 billion pieces of secondary packaging.

    Green practices are also gaining traction among consumers. At a mail service station at Zhejiang University, students and faculty members routinely deposit used boxes into designated recycling bins after collecting their packages.

    These boxes are sorted and reused for outbound shipments. Currently, 90 percent of boxes used at the station are recycled, significantly reducing the carbon footprint.

    Moreover, a digital screen at the station displays real-time data, converting environmental actions like recycling and walking into carbon credits — thus fostering a green digital ecosystem through incentives. Following the launch of the system, green awareness among customers has continuously increased, said Chang Xuelian, a staff member of the company managing the system.

    Thanks to concerted efforts, green packaging governance in the express delivery sector has been expanded to the entire chain — from production to consumption and recycling.

    Moving forward, the State Post Bureau pledged to speed up the implementation of packaging standards and supportive policies, while fostering innovation in products, technologies and business models, in a bid to expedite the green transition of China’s fast-growing delivery industry. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s finance ministry issues 12.5B yuan of treasury bonds in Hong Kong

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

    China’s Ministry of Finance on Wednesday issued this year’s third batch of yuan-denominated treasury bonds — worth a total of 12.5 billion yuan (about 1.74 billion U.S. dollars) — in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

    The issuance included 3.5 billion yuan of two-year bonds, 3 billion yuan of three-year bonds, 3 billion yuan of five-year bonds, and 3 billion yuan of 10-year bonds, according to the ministry. These bonds have respective interest rates of 1.49 percent, 1.52 percent, 1.6 percent, and 1.75 percent.

    This latest issuance has been well-received among investors, with the total bid amount coming in at 3.96 times the amount in circulation, the ministry said.

    Last month, it announced that it would issue six batches of yuan-denominated treasury bonds in the HKSAR this year, with all six batches totaling 68 billion yuan. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: E-commerce opens broader markets for Xizang specialties

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

    Tibetan specialties are being sold via livestreaming at the 5th China Xizang Tourism and Culture Expo in Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, June 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

    In southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, a county perched at an altitude of 3,800 meters is embracing the digital era through livestreaming.

    Tashi Lhamo, a 34-year-old resident of Qonggyai County, held up her phone and greeted her audience: “I just got back from the farm. Please give me lots of likes today.” With ease, she promoted local products to her livestream viewers, a scene that has become increasingly common in this once-isolated highland.

    Thanks to the completion of a large-scale telecom network upgrade, internet coverage has become increasingly more stable, prompting many villagers to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon. A simple smartphone now connects the area with the outside world.

    As the county’s most popular influencer, Tashi Lhamo has around 4 million followers across Chinese video-sharing platforms. Through her livestreams, she helps villagers sell local specialties like butter and tsamba — the most popular staple food in Xizang — to customers nationwide, generating an annual income of more than 1 million yuan (about 139,109 U.S. dollars).

    Across Xizang, e-commerce is gaining momentum as the regional government seeks to promote high-quality development of the sector through measures including supportive policies, online vouchers, e-commerce bases and livestreaming competitions.

    According to the regional commerce department, from January to April this year, Xizang’s online retail sales reached 10.84 billion yuan, up 36.7 percent year-on-year. Of that total, livestreaming accounted for 3.36 billion yuan, a 41.8 percent increase, while online sales of agricultural products hit 320 million yuan, up 17.5 percent from the same period last year.

    In the regional capital of Lhasa, local wool products are rolling off the production lines at a factory run by Xizang Holy Trust Industry Co., Ltd.

    “In the past, most of our orders came from offline channels. Now, by leveraging Xizang’s rich wool resources, we have developed an integrated model: e-commerce orders drive on-demand production, cooperatives facilitate procurement, and herders adjust livestock breeding and wool harvesting based on market demand,” said Lhapa Trinley, board chairman of the company.

    Today, through various online platforms, the company’s products, such as scarves, clothing and rugs, are sold across China. Semi-processed materials like washed wool, cashmere and yak wool are even exported to countries including Nepal and India.

    Beyond agricultural and pastoral goods, cultural products such as Tibetan incense and traditional accessories are also gaining popularity, introducing Tibetan culture to wider audiences.

    “E-commerce means that Xizang’s products are no longer niche,” said Li Yanping, head of the e-commerce division at the regional commerce department, adding that the region plans to improve rural logistics and support more e-commerce talent to further expand the reach of its specialties. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The pursuit of eternal youth goes back centuries. Modern cosmetic surgery is turning it into a reality – for rich people

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Gibson, Associate Professor of Sociology, Griffith University

    The Conversation, CC BY-SA

    Kris Jenner’s “new” face sparked myriad headlines about how she can look so good at 69 years old. While she’s not confirmed what sort of procedures she’s undergone, speculation abounds.

    As a US reality TV personality, socialite and Kardashian matriarch, Jenner has long curated her on-screen identity. Her fame and fortune are intimately tied to a multinational cosmetics industry that has, for centuries, bartered in the illusion of timeless beauty.

    The pursuit of cosmetic enhancement can be traced back as far as Ancient Egypt, reminding us the desire to look younger is hardly new.

    But while many women try in vain to battle the ageing process, Jenner is an example of someone who’s actually succeeded, at least visually. What does that mean for the rest of us?

    Decades of surgeries

    Modern cosmetic plastic surgery has its roots in compassion. It was developed to help disfigured first world war soldiers rebuild their faces and identities.

    But this origin story has been sidelined. Today, aesthetic procedures are overwhelmingly pursued by women and marketed as lifestyle enhancements rather than medical interventions.

    Advancements in reconstructive surgery were made after both world wars with treatments on wounded soldiers.
    AFP/Getty Images

    Plastic surgery, once considered extreme or shameful, began to gain popularity in the 1960s, and is now widespread.

    Hollywood has long played a role in shaping these standards. During its Golden Age, stars like Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne are reported to have undergone cosmetic surgeries – rhinoplasty (nose jobs), chin implants, facelifts – to preserve their screen personas.

    Even before Instagram, before-and-after images were a cultural obsession, often used to shame or expose.

    From taboo to trend

    The digital age has further normalised cosmetic enhancements, with social media influencers and celebrities promoting procedures alongside beauty products.

    It’s estimated Jenner spent upwards of US$130,000 (around A$200,000) on cosmetic interventions, resulting in a look that some media outlets suggest places her in her 30s.

    There’s been similar speculation about Lindsay Lohan, Christina Aguilera and Anne Hathaway, though none of the women have confirmed anything themselves.

    On Jenner, social media users are split. Some offer aspirational praise (“If I had the money, I’d get it all done!”), while others criticise her rejection of “ageing gracefully”.

    Today, celebrities increasingly control the narrative. Jenner has embraced her past cosmetic transformations, sharing them openly on social media and in interviews. The taboo is evolving.

    Yet many stars, including Courtney Cox, Ariana Grande, and Mickey Rourke, have spoken openly about regrets and the psychological toll of these procedures. Even with agency, the pressure remains immense.

    Youth as a cultural ideal

    This obsession with agelessness reflects a deeper societal discomfort with visible ageing, particularly in women.

    Celebrities, with access to elite medical professionals and procedures, seem to cheat time.

    Yet the outcome of is often disorienting: when Jenner appears younger than her children, the generational lines blur.

    This erasure of age difference entrenches youth as an end in itself. It also destabilises how we perceive kinship and mortality.

    Supermodel Bella Hadid has said she regrets getting a rhinoplasty as a teenager. Of Palestinian descent, she said “I wish I’d kept the nose of my ancestors”.

    In my own research, I’ve argued cosmetic enhancement is tied to a cultural denial of death.

    The ageing isn’t the problem – it’s our refusal to accept it.

    The desperate clinging to youth reflects a collective resistance to change. Celebrity culture and consumer capitalism exploit this vulnerability, making age a problem to be solved rather than a life stage to be honoured.

    We should mourn our ageing, not erase it. In another world, we could witness it, share it, and celebrate its quiet, powerful beauty.

    So what about us?

    But that’s not the world many live in, and the pressure extends beyond Hollywood.

    With filters, apps, and social media platforms, ordinary people also curate and enhance their images, playing their part in a fantasy of perfection.

    A recent study looked at the way young Australians use selfie editing tools. It found the widespread use of such apps have a significant effect on the body image of young people.



    Read more:
    ‘Perfect bodies and perfect lives’: how selfie-editing tools are distorting how young people see themselves

    The line between self-care and self-deception has never been blurrier. We all want to present the best version of ourselves, even if reality slips into illusion.

    So while women have long tried to outrun visible ageing, whether that be through anti-wrinkle creams or more invasive means, Jenner is an example of something relatively rare: a woman who’s actually managed to do it.

    In doing so, she and her celebrity counterparts set a new youthful beauty standard in what ageing should (or shouldn’t) look like.

    And while that standard may be felt by a variety of women, few will be able to achieve it.

    Extremely wealthy beauty moguls like Kris Jenner can afford elite treatments, while most people face growing financial pressure and a cost-of-living crisis. The divide isn’t just aesthetic – it’s economic.

    Beauty, in this context, is both a product and a privilege.

    And of course, judgement of women’s appearances remains a powerful force for discrediting their political, social, and moral worth. For every bit of praise there is for Jenner’s “youthful” appearance, there are videos claiming she’s “ruined her face” and questioning of whether she should spend so much money on such a cause.

    As long as gender inequality persists and beauty remains a currency of value, the pressure to conform will endure.

    Margaret Gibson 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 pursuit of eternal youth goes back centuries. Modern cosmetic surgery is turning it into a reality – for rich people – https://theconversation.com/the-pursuit-of-eternal-youth-goes-back-centuries-modern-cosmetic-surgery-is-turning-it-into-a-reality-for-rich-people-257969

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Security: CORRECTION: Coast Guard responds to vessel fire offshore Adak, Alaska

    Source: United States Coast Guard

    News Release

    		  

    U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska
    Contact: 17th District Public Affairs
    Office: (907) 463-2065
    After Hours: (907) 463-2065
    17th District online newsroom

     

    06/04/2025 08:37 PM EDT

    Corrections: Updated vehicle numbers are 3,048 total vehicles, with 70 being fully electric vehicles and 681 being partial hybrid electric vehicles.  Vessel is Liberian-flagged and U.K.-managed The crew evacuated aboard a life boat, not life raft Zodiac Maritime is the vessel’s manager, not parent company KODIAK, Alaska — The Coast Guard is responding to a vessel fire approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Wednesday.   Watchstanders at the Seventeenth Coast Guard District command center received a distress alert Tuesday at approximately 3:15 p.m. reporting a fire aboard the cargo ship Morning Midas, a 600-foot Liberian-flagged and U.K. managed cargo vessel with 22 crew members and reportedly carrying several thousand vehicles. Watchstanders immediately issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast requesting assistance from vessels in the vicinity of the Morning Midas. Three good Samaritan vessels responded to the incident.  Watchstanders also diverted the crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) to the area, directed the launch of a C-130J Super Hercules aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, and positioned an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter aircrew in Adak. All 22 crew members aboard the Morning Midas evacuated the ship aboard a life boat and were subsequently rescued by the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, one of the good Samaritan vessels on scene, with no reported injuries. The status of the fire is currently unknown, but smoke is still emanating from the vessel. “As the search and rescue portion of our response concludes, our crews are working closely with the vessel’s manager, Zodiac Maritime, to determine the disposition of the vessel,” said Rear Admiral Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District. “We are grateful for the selfless actions of the three nearby vessels who assisted in the response and the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, who helped save 22 lives.” The Morning Midas is estimated to have approximately 350 metric tons of gas fuel and 1,530 metric tons of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) onboard. They are also reportedly carrying a total of 3,048 vehicles, with 70 being fully electric vehicles and 681 being partial hybrid electric vehicles. This is based on reports to the Coast Guard and is subject to change pending the development of any new information.  The Coast Guard is working with the Morning Midas’s manager Zodiac Maritime to coordinate recovery efforts of the vessel. Zodiac Maritime can be contacted via email at media@navigateresponse.com or by phone at 44-207-283-9915 or 65-6222-6375.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Facing Extreme Hurricane & Wildfire Seasons, Cantwell Slams Admin’s Erosion of Weather Forecasting: “NOAA Has Been Transparent That They Can’t Keep Up”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
    06.04.25
    Facing Extreme Hurricane & Wildfire Seasons, Cantwell Slams Admin’s Erosion of Weather Forecasting: “NOAA Has Been Transparent That They Can’t Keep Up”
    Meteorologists from WA, OK and FL sound the alarm on laying off 100s of National Weather Service employees, creating unprecedented staffing shortages; Earlier today, Trump’s Commerce Secretary misled a Senate subcommittee that NOAA was “fully staffed” heading into hurricane & wildfire season
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined renowned meteorologists from across the country for a virtual presser to sound the alarm on cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) as the United States heads into peak hurricane and wildfire season – and call on the Trump Administration to restore the agency to full capacity.
    “We have already seen these impacts from the Administration failing to heed these warnings. For at least a half a century, the National Weather Service has provided forecasts for 24 hours a day, seven days a week — until now. At least eight weather forecasting offices no longer have a meteorologist to cover overnight shifts. They are planning on eliminating the NOAA buoy program. You can’t map a hurricane if you don’t have the buoy information,” Sen. Cantwell said. “NOAA has been transparent that they can’t keep up. They have said that they can’t keep the lights on in a number of forecast offices. The Department of Commerce needs to be clear to the American people that the staffing shortages will impact our ability to compute that science [and] get those wildfire crews and emergency response where they need to go.”
    “We’re already a handful of days into the 2025 hurricane season. But the National Weather Service and NOAA are dealing with their own storm right now in the form of short staffing and budget cuts,” said Brian LaMarre, former Meteorologist in Charge in the Tampa Bay area. “There are eight [NWS offices] that are below a certain number of employees that work at that particular office, and that means that they can’t work 24/7 operations. That’s never before happened in my career.”
    “For the first time in 35 years, I have real concerns due to the staffing situation,” said Alan Gerard, a 35-year meteorologist with the NWS and the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, OK. “And the very fact that some offices aren’t able to operate 24/7 and that the administration has authorized these hires during a hiring freeze, tells you that there’s recognition that there’s serious shortages.”
    “I find it frankly shameful that we even have to have this sort of discussion,” said Jeff Renner, retired meteorologist of 39 years at KING 5 in Seattle. “More people such as you and I now utilize weather apps such as I have on my telephone, yet there is a lack of fundamental appreciation that most of those forecasts, if not all of them, stem from National Weather Service forecasts.”
    Video of today’s virtual press conference is available HERE; a transcript is HERE.
    Over the past several months, the NWS lost over 560 employees due to layoffs and retirements spurred by the Trump Administration. On Monday, they announced they’d hire 126 – amounting to “a flimsy band-aid,” Sen. Cantwell said.
    This dangerous decision to leave critical jobs unfilled comes as the National Interagency Fire Center, a partnership which includes NWS, released its Fire Maps for the next four months predicting above normal significant fire potential across the West, in Hawaii, the coasts of North and South Carolina, and parts of Texas and Florida. The National Weather Service predicts an above-normal hurricane season, which began June 1.  Last year, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there were 27 weather disaster events that cost over $1 billion each and resulted in 568 deaths.
    Earlier this week, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) baffled his staff when he stated that he did not know that the United States had a hurricane season.
    And earlier today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testified in a Senate hearing and claimed, falsely, that NOAA is “fully staffed” heading into the summer.
    Lutnick was plainly incorrect:
    National Hurricane Center in Miami has at least five vacancies.
    At least eight NWS weather forecasting offices no longer have enough meteorologists to cover overnight shifts.
    30 of the 122 weather forecast offices don’t currently have a meteorologist-in-charge, their most experienced weather expert. Some of these vacancies are in major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Cleveland, Houston, and hurricane-prone Tampa.
    Since mid-March, at least 10 weather forecast offices have suspended or limited their weather balloon launches needed for daily forecasts.
    NOAA is short more than 90 staffers whose job is maintaining Doppler radar and automated airport weather sensors operational across the nation.
    Last Thursday, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter demanding that the Trump Administration immediately exempt the NWS from its current federal hiring freeze so that citizens and communities will not be left to fend for themselves without adequate warnings as both hurricane season and wildfire season rapidly approach.
    Monday’s action by the administration lifted the hiring freeze on 126 positions across four roles – meteorologists, hydrologists, physical scientists, and electronic technicians. However, many other important roles remain subject to the freeze, including credentialed mariners needed to safety operate NOAA research vessels, weather scientists, and weather satellite technicians. NOAA vessels and satellites are crucial to maintaining forecast and weather infrastructure needed for meteorologists to issue quality and timely forecasts. These firings also impact our economy, with a number of commercial fishing surveys cancelled this year, including for Alaska pollock and salmon. Elimination of surveys will take catch from fishing families, which will result in job loss and increased cost for consumers who want access to high-quality American seafood at their local markets and restaurants.
    Multiple recent reports have documented the impacts of the hiring freeze. The Washington Post reports that “Some…forecasting teams are so critically understaffed that the agency is offering to pay moving expenses for any staff willing to transfer to those offices, according to notices recently sent to employees…” And the New York Times found that “The National Weather Service is preparing for the probability that fewer forecast updates will be fine-tuned by specialists, among other cutbacks, because of ‘severe shortages’ of meteorologists and other employees, according to an internal agency document.” These reports make clear that action must be taken immediately to avoid a catastrophic gap in capacity in the face of a future storm or wildfire.
    In February, Sen. Cantwell sent Lutnick a letter warning of the likelihood of this exact situation.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. Announces $18 Million Public Offering and Uplisting to NYSE American

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAS VEGAS, June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. (“BitMine” and the “Company”) (NYSE American: BMNR), a technology company focused on the accumulation of bitcoin for long-term investment, whether acquired by their bitcoin mining operations or from the proceeds of capital raising transactions, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 2,250,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $8.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $18 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. In addition, the Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 337,500 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on June 6, 2025 subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

    The Company also announced today that its common stock has been approved for listing on the NYSE American LLC stock exchange (“NYSE American”). Trading on NYSE American is expected to commence on June 5, 2025 under the trading symbol “BMNR.” Prices for the Company’s common stock will cease being quoted on the OTC Markets’ OTCQX Best Market concurrent with the NYSE American listing. Current stockholders of the Company do not need to take any action as a result of the uplisting.

    The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to purchase bitcoin.

    ThinkEquity is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.

    A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-284361) relating to the shares was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and became effective on June 4, 2025. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from ThinkEquity, 17 State Street, 41st Floor, New York, New York 10004. The final prospectus will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at http://www.sec.gov.

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

    About BitMine:
    BitMine is a Bitcoin Network Company, with a focus on Bitcoin mining, Synthetic Bitcoin Mining through involvement in Bitcoin mining hashrate as a financial product, offering advisory and mining services to companies interested in earning Bitcoin denominated revenues, and general Bitcoin advisory to public companies. BitMine’s operations are located in low-cost energy regions in Trinidad; Pecos, Texas; and Silverton, Texas.

    Forward Looking Statements:
    This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements.” The statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. This document specifically contains forward-looking statements regarding the offering, the expected proceeds from such offering, the expected use of proceeds from such offering, the expected start of trading on the NYSE American and the expected closing date of the offering. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including our ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; our ability to finance our current business and proposed future business; and the competitive environment of our business, as well as the performance of the stock market in general. Actual future performance outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond BitMine’s control, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of BitMine’s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 3, 2025, as well as any other SEC filings, as amended or updated from time to time. Copies of BitMine’s filings with the SEC are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. BitMine undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

    BitMine Immersion Technologies Contact:
    Jonathan Bates, Chairman and CEO
    info@bitminetech.io

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Getting away with it … sort of. How a dictator and a fugitive Nazi advanced international human rights law

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Olivera Simic, Associate Professor in Law, Griffith University

    Pinochet and Rauff? They were alike. Each had two faces. One gentle, the other hard. They were joined.

    And they both got away with it … Sort of.

    Philippe Sands loves to tell stories. A master of historical non-fiction, he has become known for his unique blend of deeply personal, legal and historical narratives, which weave together incredible coincidences with moving stories of human courage in the face of mass atrocities and horror.

    Sands is a leading practitioner of international law, a professor at University College London, an author, a playwright, and the recipient of numerous literary awards. He is also someone whose family was murdered in the vortex of the Holocaust in Ukraine.

    With his previous two books, East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity (2016) and The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive (2020), he demonstrated his unique skill in presenting complex legal cases to avid readers.

    His latest book, 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia, rounds out the trilogy.

    If it weren’t based on facts, one might think it was a brilliantly crafted thriller.

    Review: 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia – Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

    38 Londres Street weaves together several narratives, but at its heart is the story of the legal attempts to end impunity for two accused criminals. One is Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The other is Walther Rauff, a former SS officer who fled to South America and allegedly worked with Pinochet’s Secret Intelligence Service.

    Sands brings these two men into a single narrative to highlight the legal struggle against impunity for mass atrocities, though he never loses sight of the victims and their human stories of suffering, courage and persistence.

    These were people whose lives were abruptly and violently taken. Sands includes many of their names and tragic fates in his book. He informs his readers that the Cementerio Sara Braun in Punta Arenas, Chile, has a memorial bearing the names of Pinochet’s many victims. He clearly wants these individuals never to be forgotten.

    Universal jurisdiction and the Pinochet precedent

    The building at 38 Londres Street in Santiago was once a site of pain. At this secret interrogation centre, one of many across Santiago and the rest of Chile, Pinochet’s agents imprisoned, tortured, executed and disappeared tens of thousands of people deemed leftists, socialists, communists or “other undesirables”.

    Pinochet came to power on September 11, 1973, overthrowing the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende in a military coup. He would rule Chile with an iron fist until 1990.

    Chile’s youth became the targets of his murderous regime. Sands notes that most victims were between 21 and 30 years old. The majority of them were workers; the rest mainly comprised academics, professionals and students. The atrocities were committed with impunity.

    Like all dictators, Pinochet believed himself untouchable. But in October 1998, while visiting the UK, he was arrested in London. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón was seeking Pinochet’s extradition to Spain in order to try him for human rights abuses.

    Garzón was acting under the then-controversial legal principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows courts in one country to prosecute grave human rights violations committed outside its borders, regardless of the nationality of the accused.

    Never before had a former head of state of one country been arrested by, and in another, for committing international crimes.

    Sands would become involved in one of the most famous cases in international law since the Nuremberg trials more than 50 years earlier. Pinochet’s lawyers offered him an opportunity to participate in the case, arguing for the former dictator’s immunity as a former head of state. His wife threatened to divorce him if he accepted.

    He declined the offer. Instead, Sands represented Human Rights Watch when the Pinochet case was considered by the Law Lords.

    Pinochet had been indicted for crimes against humanity and genocide. At issue was the question of whether Pinochet, as a former head of state, had immunity before the English courts for acts committed in another country while he was in office. Should there be a legal protection for former dictators?

    The proceedings in London were novel and remarkable, writes Sands, because this was an open legal question when Pinochet was arrested. His arrest raised an unprecedented issue: was there an exception to the rule of immunity for a former head of state when a crime in international law was involved? And did the exception apply before a national court, rather than an international one?


    Many believed Pinochet’s immunity should be lifted and extradition proceedings should go ahead, so that he could answer for the deaths of Spanish nationals and others. If that did not happen, it was argued, the travesty of justice would signal that any dictator could get away with genocide. As Sands writes, immunity and impunity often go hand in hand.

    In this landmark case, Pinochet was stripped of the immunity from prosecution he had enjoyed as a former president. He was ordered to stand trial on charges of human rights abuses.

    For the next 16 months, he remained in the UK, awaiting extradition to Spain. But it never happened. The initial judgement on immunity was quashed, due to concerns about possible bias of one of the judges. The case returned to square one. New hearings took place.

    In January 2000, the UK eventually decided not to proceed with extradition, claiming that Pinochet was too ill to stand trial and that “it would not be fair”. He was allowed to return to Chile as a free man, thanks to medical doctors rather than lawyers.

    Political leaders in Europe generally welcomed the ruling. Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister and Pinochet’s longstanding ally, was adamant that the lengthy legal wrangle had been a waste of public money. Seemingly agitated, she said in front of the cameras:

    Senator Pinochet was a staunch friend of Britain throughout the Falklands War. His reward from this government was to be held prisoner for 16 months. In the meantime, his health has been broken, his reputation tarnished, and vast funds of public money have been squandered on a political vendetta.

    Subsequent attempts to prosecute Pinochet in Chile were unsuccessful. He died in 2006 at the age of 91, without ever being tried for the human rights abuses that occurred while he was in power. Retributive justice, in the end, was not served. But Pinochet’s case opened the gates for efforts to bring other former and serving heads of state to justice.

    Today, the 38 Londres Street serves as a place of national memory where visitors can walk through its halls and learn about its dark past.

    The Nazi who invented the gas chambers

    Running parallel with Pinochet’s story is that of Nazi fugitive Walther Rauff.

    Rauff invented the mobile gas chambers that were precursors to the gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps. At the end of the second world war, he escaped to South America, settling in Chile. Germany made numerous attempts to have Rauff extradited to face charges, but the Chilean government refused these demands. He spent his days in the backwaters of Patagonia, running a king-crab cannery business.

    Sands travels to Patagonia and meets people who remember Rauff, whose identity seems to have been common knowledge among his neighbours and co-workers: “everyone knew rumours and stories of his past”; they knew about “the gas vans” and that he “once killed many people”. But no one seemed to be bothered. They describe Rauff as “cultivated and kind”. To many of Sands’ interlocutors, the stories about Rauff “were long ago and far away”.

    While dealing with the failed attempts for his extradition, Rauff put his energies into “harvesting crabs, making sure the tins were packed tight, [and] managing the workers”. He continued to do so, enjoying the company of his dog Bobby, when Pinochet became Chile’s new leader.

    Pinochet was an old friend. Sands records that the two men met in the 1950s in Quito, Ecuador, where Rauff was staying, having fled an Italian prison camp at the end of the war. The men shared a contempt for communism and an affinity for German culture. Pinochet encouraged Rauff to move to Chile.

    Rauff delighted in Pinochet’s murderous regime. Sands tell us that Pinochet used Rauff’s “expertise” to help with the murder and disappearance of thousands of people. But the controversy over whether Rauff worked for the Chilean military, becoming “chief advisor” to its intelligence services, or perhaps even its “head”, remains unresolved. Definitive and provable evidence about the assistance Rauff may have given to Pinochet was never obtained.

    Holding dictators to account

    One of the many coincidences Sands stumbles upon is that Rauff lived in Punta Arenas in southern Chile on a street called “Jugoslavija”, named after the country where I was born, which disintegrated in the 1990s in a brutal civil war marked by mass atrocities and genocide.

    Former Yugoslavian and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević would become the first-ever serving head of state to be charged with international crimes and extradited to an international court.

    Milošević was extradited to The Hague in 2001 after he was indicted for war crimes committed in Kosovo and Croatia, and for genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina following an order from the Serbian government. His trial is widely hailed as a landmark moment in the development of international criminal law, though he died in his cell before his trial ended, dying “innocent” like his counterparts Pinochet and Rauff.

    Slobodan Milošević in The Hague, July 2001.
    Robert Goddyn, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    In 38 Londres Street, Sands brings to light the behind-the-scenes struggles to hold Pinochet and Rauff accountable. The book explores the intricacies and politics of international law. Despite its bitter ending, Pinochet’s case remains one of the most far reaching and important in the field of human rights. It caused other countries to reflect on their own legal immunities.

    As a researcher and academic, I found the book significant because it also offers insight into what it takes to conduct such expansive archival and qualitative research. Over several years, “in between work and life”, Sands travels to different corners of the globe and speaks to informants from all walks of life, including descendants of the perpetrators. He visits the sites of the events he recounts, most of them places marked by pain. He seeks to see and feel a past that still lingers.

    His method requires stamina, passion and unwavering diligence. His strong commitment to neutrality, decency and impartiality makes him stand out not only as a highly skilled writer, but a survivor who continues to unpack and share the legacy of the Holocaust. There is much to respect and learn from in Sands’ account, not least about the intricacies of writing a compelling story.

    Holding dictators to account is hard. Pinochet and Rauff deprived victims of the retributive justice they needed and deserved. Yet justice and reparations have many different meanings. They can be symbolic too, and still profoundly meaningful to victims. As one of the survivors of Pinochet’s regime replied to Sands when asked whether he believed his case was one of total impunity: “Not quite total […] Dawson [an island detention camp] has been recognised as a site of national memory, a protected monument, and that means something.”

    Pinochet and Rauff were never convicted, but they were not free. Pinochet spent years under house arrest, bitter and devastated, unable to walk the streets. Rauff lived in constant fear of being arrested and extradited. They were both haunted. This, after all, may have brought some satisfaction to the victims.

    Sands was once asked: “Do you believe in justice?” He replied: “Sort of.” Sands comes to understand that justice is “uneven in its delivery”. He has learned “to tamper expectations”. Maybe we all need to learn that skill from him too. Ultimately, justice remains a work-in-progress, just like the process of learning from a dark past.

    Olivera Simic 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. Getting away with it … sort of. How a dictator and a fugitive Nazi advanced international human rights law – https://theconversation.com/getting-away-with-it-sort-of-how-a-dictator-and-a-fugitive-nazi-advanced-international-human-rights-law-257241

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Taylor Swift now owns all the music she has ever made: a copyright expert breaks it down

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Wellett Potter, Lecturer in Law, University of New England

    On Friday, Taylor Swift announced she now owns all the music she has ever made. This reported US$360 million acquisition includes all the master recordings to her first six albums, music videos, concert films, album art, photos and unreleased material.

    The purchase of this catalogue from private equity firm Shamrock Capital is a profoundly happy event for Swift. She has expressed how personal and difficult it was not to own these works.

    In her announcement, Swift acknowledged that it was due to her fans purchasing her rerecorded music (known as “Taylor’s Version”) and the financial success of the record-breaking Eras Tour which enabled this purchase.

    The story behind “Taylor’s Version” and why she didn’t own the catalogue to her original six albums is due to copyright, music industry practices and contractual terms. Let’s break it down.

    What’s in a music catalogue?

    When it comes to valuing a music catalogue, it largely comes down to two types of rights: master rights and publishing rights.

    Master rights are rights pertaining to the ownership of the actual sound recordings – the final recorded version. These are called “masters” because they’re the original source from which all copies are made.

    Under traditional music industry contracts, record labels usually hold ownership of masters and associated materials. This can be music videos, tour videos, unreleased works, photographs and album covers.

    Through licensing, the label controls the use of this material and retains the majority of the royalties. In return, the label provides the artist with financial backing, recording resources and marketing.

    Publishing rights, on the other hand, relate to the underlying composition – the music and lyrics. The rights to music publishing usually belong to the songwriter, regardless of who performs the song.

    Publishing rights govern how a song can be used and who earns royalties from that use. For example, a song may be played on a streaming platform, covered in a live performance or licensed for a commercial or film.

    Swift’s contracts

    Swift was 15-years-old when she was signed to Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine record label.

    The agreed contractual terms were typical of the music industry. In exchange for the financial support to make, record and promote her subsequent albums and tours, Big Machine held the rights to Swift’s master recordings and associated materials in her first six albums. Her relationship with the label lasted 13 years.

    As a songwriter, Swift retained separate publishing rights to her songs (the music and lyrics) from her first six albums, which she licensed through Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

    In 2018, Swift was reportedly offered to re-sign with Big Machine, in a deal which would involve her “earning” the rights to one original album for each new one she produced.

    Swift did not renew her contract and moved to Republic Records (Universal Music Group), who allow her to own her masters. She also moved to Universal Music Publishing Group for her music publishing.

    Subsequent sales

    In June 2019, Big Machine’s catalogue was sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, for a reported US$330 million, with US$140 million representing Swift’s catalogue.

    Swift described this as her “worst case scenario”, as she had a tumultuous history of alleged bullying from Braun. She also alleged she found out about the acquisition at the time it was announced to the world, without being given the opportunity to purchase her catalogue.

    Throughout 2019 and 2020 it was reported she attempted to regain ownership, but negotiations fell through.

    In October 2020, Swift’s catalogue was sold to Shamrock Capital, a private equity firm, for an estimated US$300+ million. In recent years, private equity firms have been purchasing music catalogues as profitable long-term financial assets, rather than for artistic or cultural reasons.

    These events led Swift to rerecord her first six albums, branding them “Taylor’s Version”. Four have been released.

    Swift rerecorded her albums, branding them ‘Taylor’s Version’.
    melissamn/Shutterstock

    She was able to create new versions of her songs, with their own intellectual property rights attached.

    As owner of these new masters, she has control over where these songs are used, and she receives a greater portion of the income from the streams, downloads and licensing.

    The decision was enormously successful. Mobilising her fans’ support via social media, they prioritised purchasing “Taylor’s Version” over the original masters, diluting the value of the originals.

    Successful futures

    Swift has repeatedly emphasised the need for artists to retain control over their work and to receive fair compensation. In a 2020 interview she said she believes artists should always own their master records and licence them back to the label for a limited period.

    This would mean the label could monetise, control and manage the recordings for a certain time, but the artist retains the ownership. They eventually gain back full control, rather than handing over permanent rights to the label.

    Swift’s experience has sparked conversations within the industry, prompting emerging artists to approach record labels with caution and advocate for fairer deals and ownership rights. Olivia Rodrigo negotiated her contract with Swift’s saga as a cautionary tale.

    Purchasing her catalogue and masters gives Swift autonomy about how the rights to all of her music is used. Her fans are likely to continue to support her and purchase both the originals and “Taylor’s Version”, so the value of her original albums may rise.

    And, in the long-run, her new acquisition will likely make her much wealthier.

    Wellett Potter 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. Taylor Swift now owns all the music she has ever made: a copyright expert breaks it down – https://theconversation.com/taylor-swift-now-owns-all-the-music-she-has-ever-made-a-copyright-expert-breaks-it-down-257965

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Recognizes C-SPAN’s Decades of Senate Coverage, Discusses Need for Public Access Across All Platforms

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) celebrated the 39th anniversary of C-SPAN 2’s first Senate broadcast on June 2, 1986. Earlier today, Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced a bipartisan resolution to celebrate C-SPAN’s historic coverage and urge all television providers, including streaming services, to carry the network.

    [embedded content]

    VIDEO

    Today is the 39th year celebration of the United States Senate being covered by C-SPAN 2. 

    I’ve come to the floor countless times since my first term in the United States Senate. beginning in 1981. It’s a privilege to represent Iowans and my home state here in the greatest deliberative body in the world.

    For more than four decades, and counting, I’ve joined my colleagues here in this chamber to debate public policy, shed light on wrongdoing and celebrate historic milestones.

    I’ve cast votes on behalf of Iowans, giving my assent or dissent to nominations and legislation on matters both foreign [and] domestic, on issues from A to Z.

    For a period of time – spanning more than 27 years – I held the longest voting streak in Senate history. My 8,927 consecutive roll call votes ended in November of 2020, when I was quarantined for exposure to COVID-19.

    My good friend from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, now holds the baton, as she continues her unbroken voting streak since she was sworn into office in 1997.

    During the 116th Congress and now the 119th Congress, I’m honored to serve as Senate President pro tem. From this leadership position, I open the Senate daily, lead the Pledge of Allegiance and often take the opportunity to deliver brief remarks during what we call Morning Business.

    Since 1986, every minute of the people’s business conducted here in the Senate chamber has been made available live to the public, from memorable moments – including televising 16 Supreme Court nomination debates and three presidential impeachment trials – to subjects that are often very mundane.

    Thanks to C-SPAN 2, this public service allows our constituents to see the swearing-in of newly elected members, watch all-night sessions during vote-a-ramas and tune in to history being made.

    Speaking of the historic moments, it was 39 years ago today, [on] June 2, when C-SPAN 2 started its gavel-to-gavel coverage of the United States Senate. 

    That was seven years after C-SPAN started broadcasting live coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. At that time, I was a member of the House and appreciated C-SPAN’s mission to foster civic engagement and let the sunshine in on the people’s business.

    So, today, I wish C-SPAN 2 a happy birthday and thank those who are dedicated to its mission to bring the people’s business to the people of our country. C-SPAN does not receive one penny of taxpayer dollars. It is funded primarily from satellite and cable providers.

    Senator Klobuchar of Minnesota and I have introduced a bipartisan resolution to recognize C-SPAN 2 and the public service it provides the American people through its live, nonpartisan coverage. Our resolution calls for television providers, including streaming services, to make C-SPAN public affairs programming available to all Americans in real time on all platforms. 

    For [the] tens of millions of Americans who have cut the cord and get their content from streaming services, they should not be cut off from the civic content made available by C-SPAN.

    C-SPAN gives our constituents a front row seat to the legislative branch, providing unfiltered access to debates and deliberations that impact their lives and their livelihoods.

    C-SPAN 2 has recorded more than 43,830 hours of Senate sessions that span the spectrum of political views, policy debates and personal testimony, including more than 169,000 speeches.

    It has documented more than 23,439 roll call votes, providing a live testimonial of Senate decision-making. Its coverage helps hold elected officials accountable to our constituents who are able to see every roll call vote, as it actually happens.

    And it just so happens, on C-SPAN 2’s inaugural day on June 2, 1986, I took my turn as presiding officer during the Senate session.

    I also delivered remarks to introduce a bill on human rights and free speech issues that involved protestors outside of the then-Soviet embassy here in Washington, D.C. Thanks to C-SPAN, Americans can watch history unfold before their very eyes.

    As an advocate for civic engagement and transparency, I applaud C-SPAN’s commitment to chronicling democracy in action here in the Congress.

    In fact, for more than 20 years, I’ve pushed to allow cameras into the federal courthouses, including the Supreme Court, to foster a better understanding of the federal judiciary and its role in our system of checks and balances and in resolving legal disputes.

    Keeping C-SPAN’s cameras rolling here in Congress keeps lawmakers accountable to our constituents by providing a valuable conduit for civic engagement and civic education. As James Madison wrote in 1822, after he had been President six years before, some 35 years after he helped write the Constitution:

    “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a Farce or Tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowle[d]ge will for ever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own Governours, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

    C-SPAN helps arm Americans with knowledge in real time in a refreshing, nonpartisan lens. In this era of civic discord and polarization, C-SPAN serves the public interest, not a partisan agenda. 

    I encourage my colleagues to support our bipartisan resolution that Sen. Klobuchar and I have introduced.

    And I’ll finish with another James Madison [quote], as he noted: an engaged and educated citizenry is necessary to advance the public good and secure the longevity of our republic.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Grassley Discusses AI Whistleblower Protection Act During “A Starting Point” Interview

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined “A Starting Point” to share details about his AI Whistleblower Protection Act.
    The legislation provides explicit whistleblower protections to those developing and deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI). Currently, some AI companies’ restrictive severance and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) create a chilling effect on current and former employees looking to make whistleblower disclosures to the federal government, including Congress.
    Video and excerpts of Grassley’s remarks follow.

    VIDEO
    On the Importance of Whistleblowers:
    “A whistleblower can be anybody, most often in government that I deal with, but sometimes in the private sector. People that know something isn’t right, [that a] law might be violated. People might be stealing taxpayers’ money [or] taxes aren’t being paid, whatever the case might be. They think it’s not right. They may not even think of themselves as a whistleblower. I think of them as just patriotic Americans that want the government to do what the government’s supposed to do: obey the laws [and] spend the taxpayers’ money the way Congress intended.”
    On the Need for AI-Specific Whistleblower Protections:
    “I’ve had [AI] whistleblowers come to me and say that things aren’t right. They want to expose it … That’s why we need laws that would protect whistleblowers within the AI community, as we would any place in government or in the private sector …
    “My bill will explicitly protect communications of current and former AI employees making legally protected disclosure to Congress or a federal agency or to a supervisor. It seems as time goes on, AI is growing. My timely legislation will bring transparency and accountability to the artificial intelligence sector before it’s too late.”
    On Shady Non-Disclosure Agreements:
    “[These] non-disclosure statements that would say ‘you can’t talk about this,’ and it just prohibits and inhibits people that know something’s wrong coming to Congress to talk about it. It’s a violation of free speech, [and] it’s a way of covering up things that are wrong, that either people in government don’t want public, or private business wants to keep the information within the business.”
    On the Free Market System:
    “I believe in the free enterprise system. And of course, that causes me to support pro-business, pro-growth policies. I don’t see my whistleblower protection interest in any way violating that, because the government is legitimately a referee within the free enterprise system. So, all of this legislation isn’t about upending any non-disclosure agreements or ending companies’ rights to confidentiality. This is pretty simply stated as being something to ensure people who see wrongdoing can speak up without retribution before more harm is done to the public.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed Hammers Lutnick for Creating Waste, Inefficiency & Needless Bureaucratic Gridlock at Commerce

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WATCH: Sen. Reed warns Lutnick’s micromanagement and short-staffing of NOAA could leave states vulnerable to future disasters

    WASHINGTON, DC – In his partisan zeal to root out so-called waste, redundancy, and abuse, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is generating unprecedented bureaucratic waste and delays that are hampering the U.S. Department of Commerce’s mission, particularly at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  Whistleblowers within the agency have come forward in the press to sound the alarm that Secretary Lutnick is causing bureaucratic gridlock and hindering the agency’s ability to assist local communities with preparations for extreme weather events.

    “Staff shortages and new layers of bureaucracy are suffocating NOAA and threatening its ability to accurately predict extreme weather events, ensure U.S. ports stay open and safeguard the nation’s commercial and recreational fisheries, say current and former agency officials,” according to E&E News by Politico.

    Things have gotten so bad at Commerce that even President Trump’s staunch ally U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has sounded the alarm.  Noting that NOAA has 5,700 contracts set to expire this year, Senator Cruz reported at a Congressional hearing last month that Secretary Lutnick typically reviews about two dozen contracts a week — at that pace, only 1,248 contracts would be reviewed in a year, and many of them require immediate attention and action.

    E&E News by Politico reported: “These contracts include everything from post-hurricane flood assessment to janitorial services,” Cruz said. He added that a data center at Texas A&M University was shut down for days, “depriving Texas emergency and water managers of critical drought forecasts that help them manage reservoirs and track storm surge data and hurricane forecasts in real time.”

    The report notes: “The coil around NOAA squeezes in two ways, they say. The first is personnel. More than 1,000 NOAA employees have left the agency since the start of the Trump administration, and the empty desks have led to staffing issues in key weather service offices — just as hurricane season approaches… The second issue is the slow pace of approval for outside contracts and grants… But fewer than 20 percent of outstanding grants have been approved, and more than 1,000 are in the queue with more added every day, according to a current NOAA official who was granted anonymity to speak without fear of reprisal.”

    Today, at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) grilled Secretary Lutnick about the growing backlog of contracts that are still awaiting his sign off and how his inefficient and insufficient micromanagement tactics have slowed down the vital work of NOAA just as hurricane season is getting underway.

    “We’ve all been talking about bottlenecks, in fact, in the Department and elsewhere throughout the government. In fact, last month, Senator Cruz warned about the growing backlog of contracts awaiting approval at the Department of Commerce.  He warned that NOAA alone has 5,700 contracts set to expire this year. And it’s been reported in the press that you are insisting on personally reviewing every commerce contract over $100,000,” Reed asked.

    Secretary Lutnick admitted: “That is true.”

    Reed responded: “Well, that seems to be something that is not particularly efficient. And that results in the 5,700 contracts just in NOAA. So again, if you can’t find reliable support to do those reviews, I think you’re wasting your time, frankly.”

    To achieve costs savings and efficiently achieve its diverse missions, NOAA operations rely on a significant number of contractors.  While every Administration carefully reviews each contract to ensure it is an effective use of taxpayer dollars, what sets the Trump Administration apart is its own inefficiency and bureaucratic bottleneck that slows the reviews down to the point where the work in the contract either can’t be done or is approved at the last second and could raise costs in the long run.

    This is not a red state or blue state issue.  In addition to Senators Cruz and Reed, several other Senators – including Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) — have raised concerns in recent months about missing or delayed funding, according to Politico.

    During the hearing, Reed pressed Lutnick about when the backlog of contract reviews would be completed and Lutnick, surprisingly, claimed there are no more NOAA contracts he needs to review:

    SEN. REED: Well, let’s go ahead and get those 5,700 contracts done. This weekend?

    SEC. LUTNICK: There are not, under any circumstances, any contracts in there. There are none.

    SEN. REED: How about this weekend?

    SEC. LUTNICK: None. 

    SEN. REED: Can you get it done this weekend? Work overtime with the gang and get it done?

    SEC. LUTNICK: There are no contracts waiting for me, and if there were, I’ll be there all night tonight, making sure they get turned out with my team, teaching my team how to do it.

    Noting that the Trump Administration has proposed drastic cuts to NOAA, slashing the agency’s annual budget from the current level of $6.1 billion down to $4.5 billion next year, and eliminating NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Reed quoted longtime NOAA researcher Craig McLean, who served as NOAA’s top scientist during the first Trump Administration, and warned that the drastic cuts Secretary Lutnick is backing would “take us back to the 1950s in terms of our scientific footing and the American people” if enacted.

    Lutnick’s claim that the National Weather Service budget would remain unimpacted is undermined by steep cuts to other areas of NOAA, such as technology, research, and satellites that would grossly undercut the agency’s climate, weather, and ocean capabilities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: The Government of Canada outlines 2025 measures to protect Southern Resident killer whales

    Source: Government of Canada News

    The Government of Canada recognizes that Southern Resident killer whales continue to face imminent threats to their survival and recovery, and that protecting these iconic marine mammals requires comprehensive and immediate action. The 2025 management measures focus on addressing the three primary threats to Southern Resident killer whales: acoustic and physical disturbance; prey availability and accessibility; and contaminants.

    1. Acoustic and physical disturbances from vessels

    Approach distance

    Vessels must stay at least 400 metres away and must not impede the path of all killer whales year-round in Southern British Columbia coastal waters between Campbell River to just north of Ucluelet. Commercial whale-watching and ecotourism companies who receive an authorization from the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade will be able to view non-Southern Resident killer whales (such as transient (Biggs) killer whales) from 200 metres, given their expertise in identifying different types of killer whales.

    If a vessel finds itself within 400 metres of a killer whale, they are asked to turn off fish finders and echo sounders and put the engine in neutral when safe to do so to allow animals to pass.

    If a vessel is within 1,000 metres of a killer whale, they are asked to reduce speed to less than seven knots when safe to do so to lessen engine noise and vessel wake.

    To address imminent threats to Southern Resident killer whale survival and the Government of Canada’s commitment to develop longer-term actions for the recovery of Southern Resident killer whales, Fisheries and Oceans Canada proposes to increase the approach distance to 1,000 metres for Southern Resident killer whales through amendments to the Marine Mammal Regulations under the Fisheries Act. The process for amending the Marine Mammal Regulations remains ongoing. The exact scope and implementation of any regulatory measures will be informed by future consultations with directly affected First Nations, Wildlife Management Boards, stakeholders, and other affected parties upon publication of the draft regulation in the Canada Gazette, Part 1. The consultations are intended to seek feedback on the scope of these measures and identify and mitigate, to the extent possible, potential impacts.

    Speed restricted zones

    The 2025 measures continue the mandatory speed restricted zones near Swiftsure Bank, co-developed with the Pacheedaht First Nation.

    • From June 1 until November 30, 2025, all vessels must slow down to a maximum of 10 knots over ground in two speed restricted zones near Swiftsure Bank. The first area is in the Protected Fisheries Management Area 121-1 and the second speed restricted zone is located near the mouth of the Nitinat River from Carmanah Point to Longitude 125 degrees west.
    • Exemptions are in place for the following:
      • vessels in distress or providing assistance to a vessel or person in distress
      • vessels avoiding immediate or unforeseen danger
      • government or law enforcement on official business
      • permitted research if the research requires higher speed; and
      • a sailing vessel proceeding under sail and not being propelled by machinery
    • While the mandatory speed restricted zones and the voluntary slowdowns coordinated by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s Enhancing Cetacean and Habitat Observation (ECHO) Program both cover known foraging areas at or near Swiftsure Bank, they are separate measures from each other and take place in different locations. The ECHO Program slowdown at Swiftsure Bank is a voluntary ship slowdown which takes effect across 23 nautical miles in both the outbound and inbound lanes at Swiftsure Bank.

    Vessel restricted zones (Formerly Interim sanctuary zones)

    Formerly known as Interim Sanctuary Zones, Vessel Restricted Zones create spaces of refuge for the whales. The location of these zones is based on scientific and Indigenous knowledge of historically important foraging areas for Southern Resident killer whales.

    • From June 1 until November 30, 2025, no vessel traffic or fishing activity is allowed in vessel restricted zones off the southwest coast of South Pender Island and the southeast end of Saturna Island. Exceptions will be allowed for emergency situations and vessels engaged in Indigenous food, social, and ceremonial fisheries.
    • To ensure the safety of those operating human-powered vessels, a 20-metre corridor next to shore will allow kayakers and other paddlers to transit through these zones. If a killer whale is in the sanctuary at the time, paddlers must remain 400 metres away from the whales.

    Voluntary speed reduction zone

    In 2025, Transport Canada is continuing with a voluntary speed reduction zone in Tumbo Channel, in effect once again from June 1 to November 30, 2025. When travelling through this area, it is recommended that vessels reduce their speed to 10 knots, when safe to do so.

    2. Prey availability

    Chinook, chum and coho salmon are an essential part of the Southern Resident killer whale diet. Last year’s process developed and consulted on salmon fisheries management measures for both 2024 and 2025, which were announced on June 3, 2024.

    To address the limited availability of prey, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is continuing a combination of fishing restrictions in key foraging areas within their critical habitat, along with voluntary measures coastwide. These measures will reduce disturbance and competition for salmon between fish harvesters and killer whales. Opportunities will be available for non-salmon related recreational and commercial fisheries, for Indigenous food, social and ceremonial harvest as well as Treaty-defined fishing access.

    For 2025, the following measures will help protect the whales’ access to salmon and minimize disturbance in key foraging areas:

    • Area-based closures in Southern Resident killer whale key foraging areas for recreational and commercial salmon fisheries:
      • around the Strait of Juan de Fuca (portions of Subareas 20-4 and 20-5) in effect from August 1 until October 31
      • Swiftsure Bank (portions of Subareas 20-1, 21-0, 121-1 and 121-2) in effect from July 15 until October 31
      • around the mouth of the Fraser River (a portion of Subarea 29-3) from August 1 to September 30
    • The Southern Gulf Islands area-based closures (Subarea 18-9 and portions of 18-2, 18-4 and 18-5) will be in effect as early as May 1, based on confirmed presence of Southern Resident killer whales. These closures will be in place until November 30, 2025.
    • All fishers are encouraged to temporarily cease fishing activities (e.g., do not haul in gear where appropriate) when killer whales are within 1,000 metres. This voluntary measure is in place year-round throughout Canadian Pacific waters.

    To address the ongoing imminent threats to Southern Resident killer whale survival and recovery, proposed adjustments to the Southern Resident killer whale commercial and recreational salmon fishing closures are being considered and consulted on for 2025 and or 2026 under the Fisheries Act to address the threat of reduced prey availability. The exact scope and implementation of any regulatory measures will be informed by consultations with directly affected First Nations, Wildlife Management Boards, industry stakeholders, and other affected parties. The consultations are intended to seek feedback on the scope of these measures and identify and mitigate, to the extent possible, potential impacts.

     

    Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation Program (ECHO)

    For the ninth year in a row, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority-led Enhancing Cetacean and Habitat Observation (ECHO) Program will coordinate large-scale threat reduction measures to support the recovery of endangered southern resident killer whales. These measures will include a ship slowdown in Haro Strait, Boundary Pass and Swiftsure Bank, and a route alteration in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Full details of the ECHO Program’s voluntary measures, including dates, target slowdown speeds and location coordinates, are available on the ECHO Program’s website (www.portvancouver.com/echo).

    3. Contaminants

    Considering the persistence of many contaminants in the environment, the Government of Canada and its partners continue to progress on long-term actions to support Southern Resident killer whale recovery in the following areas:

    The Government of Canada has also developed and updated the online Pollutants Affecting Whales and their Prey Inventory Tool, which maps estimates of pollutant releases within the habitats of Southern Resident killer whales and their primary prey, Chinook salmon. This tool will help model the impacts of additional mitigation measures and controls.

    To better understand the threat of contaminants and to provide input into government action, the Government of Canada leads a technical working group focused on contaminants in the environment. This group is comprised of key partners from all orders of government, academia and non-governmental organizations and:

    • has identified priority contaminants of concern;
    • has provided recommendations for the long-term actions to support Southern Resident killer whale recovery; and
    • conducts important monitoring and research, to identify contaminant exposures to Southern Resident killer whales, their habitat and their prey.

    In addition, the group continues to recommend and develop environmental quality guidelines for the protection of Southern Resident killer whales and their prey and compares them with monitoring data to identify areas of potential risk for further action.

    Compliance with management measures depends on public awareness. The Government of Canada continues to collaborate with educational organizations, environmental groups, Indigenous partners, and government bodies to raise awareness of the Southern Resident killer whale protection measures through public education and outreach efforts. For further information, please see Whales and contaminants – Canada.ca and how Canada is reducing the threat of contaminants to Southern Resident Killer Whales – Canada.ca.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Seven exceptional students score Space Scholarships

    Source: Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE)

    During their 3-month internship programme at JPL they’ll work alongside scientists and engineers who are part of world-leading NASA missions.

    Their experience at JPL will not only support their studies, it will also provide real-world skills to start exciting careers in New Zealand’s fast-growing space industry.

    The students received their scholarships at a ceremony in Parliament today.

    Congratulations to:

    • Asif Rasha (Auckland University of Technology)
    • Felix Goddard (University of Canterbury)
    • Jack Patterson (University of Canterbury)
    • Mark Bishop (Victoria University of Wellington)
    • Shivam Desai (University of Auckland)
    • Sofie Claridge (Victoria University of Wellington)
    • Taran John (Victoria University of Wellington).

    Space and advanced aviation are growing sectors in New Zealand, and the New Zealand Space Scholarships support the development of a workforce that is skilled, innovative, and meets the capability and capacity needs of the space and advanced aviation sectors.

    Read more about the students and what they’ll be working on:

    New Zealand Space Scholarship

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI: SPEC Resumes Global Collaboration with Companies on U.S. BIS Entity List

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    GAINESVILLE, Va., June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC), the trusted leader in computing benchmarks, announced today that SPEC International Standards Group (ISG) successfully advocated that the United States clarify export policies to allow companies on the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List to participate in creating standards. SPEC ISG invites the return of member companies excluded from collaborating due to policy reasons, bringing together the strength of industry, academia, and research from all over the world to cooperate on future computing energy efficiency standards.

    A few years ago, in order to ensure the safe application of 5G technology, the US government stipulated that US agencies should not cooperate with companies on the BIS Entity List. This ban was never intended to restrict the development of global standards. However, due to the overly strict definition of the term “standard” in the original exemption clause of BIS, the SPEC SERT suite was classified as a restricted technology, which prevented SPEC (an international standards organization with 12 Chinese member companies) from continuing to develop standards with its members on the Entity List.

    Harmonized standards are best suited to consistent design and regulatory requirements, resulting in significant cost reduction for manufacturers to meet additional benchmark requirements worldwide.

    SPEC President David Reiner said: “Restricting companies on the Entity List from participating in the development of energy efficiency benchmarks risks dividing the global standards process, negating the primary goal of standardization. Through years of hard work, in collaboration with other international organizations, we are pleased to have successfully promoted changes to U.S. policies to remove the unintended restrictions on the development of international standardized benchmarks.”

    SPEC successfully advocated changes to U.S. rules

    In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s BIS changed its rules to allow U.S. companies to work in standards organizations to ensure U.S. proposals take full account of international standards that underlie product development and interoperability. While this was an important milestone, the change did not allow SPEC to invite Entity List businesses that were among its former members to re-join, nor to invite other entities on the Entity List to join. In response, SPEC took a series of actions to advocate for the revision of relevant U.S. laws and to promote international technology exchanges and innovation. As part of these efforts, SPEC created the International Standards Group (ISG), specifically designed to comply with the updated BIS requirements and provide a clear separation between SPEC’s international standards work and other SPEC projects.

    As a result of SPEC’s successful efforts, BIS improved regulations in late 2022. Under the final regulations, organizations on the BIS Entity List are no longer restricted from licensing, obtaining updates, or participating in the development of the SPEC SERT Suite within the SPEC ISG. These standards development activities related to the implementation, promulgation, or maintenance of the ISO/IEC 21836:2020 standard qualify for the BIS updated standards-related activities exemption. As a result, BIS listed entities are now able to obtain SPEC SERT Suite licenses, updates, and membership status in the SPEC ISG Server Efficiency Committee.

    The return of excluded members is critical because it will enable SPEC to continue to promote effective global standardized benchmarks and apply them to government energy efficiency regulations. The successful adoption of SPEC SERT suites by government regulations such as China National Institute of Standardization, EU Lot9 Ecodesign, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the U.S. EPA Energy Star is critical to SPEC’s efforts to promote sustainable technology development around the world. For example, computer servers that are ENERGY STAR certified are, on average, about 38% more energy efficient than standard servers. This means that if all computer servers sold in the United States were ENERGY STAR certified, end users would save more than $4 billion per year.

    The next-generation energy efficiency rating tool is currently under development by the SPEC ISG Server Committee, which includes representatives from Ampere, AMD, Dell, HPE, IBM, Intel, IEIT, Microsoft, Nvidia, and the University of Würzburg. The SERT 3 Suite utilizes the SPECpower Committee’s innovative modular architecture, allowing streamlined integration of the latest versions of the Chauffeur benchmark harness and the PTDaemon Interface, which are also utilized by other SPEC benchmarks. This modular design reduces the time required for developing future workloads, adding new architectures, and supporting new power analyzers and temperature sensors.

    Klaus-Dieter Lange, Chair of SPEC ISG, said: “We are pleased that SPEC was able to successfully work with the U.S. Department of Commerce to find a solution to this critical issue. We welcome the world’s innovative companies to join in the development of the next-generation SPEC SERT Suite, which will enable governments and businesses to more effectively achieve sustainable development and carbon emission reduction goals.”

    About SPEC
    SPEC is a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks and tools to evaluate performance for the newest generation of computing systems. Its membership comprises more than 120 leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions, research organizations and government agencies worldwide.

    Media contact:
    Brigit Valencia
    360.597.4516
    brigit@compel-pr.com

    Images available upon request.

    SPEC® and SERT® are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Government of Canada announces 2025 measures to protect Southern Resident killer whales

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    June 4, 2025            British Columbia, Canada                            

    The government is acting to protect Canada’s nature, biodiversity and water. Southern Resident killer whales are iconic to Canada’s Pacific coast and hold deep cultural significance for Indigenous Peoples and coastal communities in British Columbia.  

    That’s why today, the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, the Minister of Fisheries, the Honourable Joanne Thompson, and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, announced measures to protect Southern Resident killer whales on the west coast.

    These measures will primarily address acoustic and physical disturbance to Southern Resident killer whales from recreational, fishing, and whale watching vessels.

    The 2025 vessel and fishery measures include: 

    • Two mandatory speed restricted zones near Swiftsure Bank, effective June 1 to November 30, 2025.
    • Two vessel restricted zones off Pender and Saturna Islands, effective June 1 to November 30, 2025.
    • The continued requirement for vessels to stay at least 400 metres away from all killer whales, and a prohibition from impeding the path of all killer whales in Southern British Columbia coastal waters between Campbell River and Ucluelet, including Barkley and Howe Sound. This is now in effect until May 31, 2026.
    • A voluntary speed reduction zone in Tumbo Channel, off the North side of Saturna Island, effective June 1 to November 30, 2025.
    • An agreement with authorized local whale watching and ecotourism industry partners to abstain from offering or promoting tours viewing Southern Resident killer whales.
    • Fishery closures for commercial and recreational salmon fisheries in key Southern Resident killer whale foraging areas.  
    • Continued actions to reduce contaminants in the environment affecting whales and their prey, including developing tools to track pollutants and their sources and monitoring contaminants in air, freshwater, sediments, and wastewater.

    Fisheries and Oceans Canada proposes to increase the approach distance to 1,000 metres for Southern Resident killer whales through amendments to the Marine Mammal Regulations under the Fisheries Act.

    The federal government will continue its ongoing efforts and long-term actions alongside all partners, including First Nations, stakeholders, and the marine and tourism industries to support the protection and recovery of the Southern Resident killer whale population.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Crapo, Mullin, Kelly, Cramer Introduce Legislation to Strengthen Broadband Connectivity in Rural America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo

    Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) and Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) introduced the Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2025 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require proper contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF) from edge providers and broadband providers.  Requiring edge providers to cover associated costs for rural fiber networks will reduce the financial burden on consumers and rural providers while strengthening broadband connectivity throughout rural America.

    “Idahoans rely heavily upon broadband technology,” said Crapo.  “Addressing the ‘digital divide’ in broadband deployment between rural and urban or suburban areas will ensure communities, regardless of size, can access the necessary connection for modern life.”

    Currently, more than 100,000 households in Idaho lack access to broadband internet, according to the U.S. Census.  On Idaho’s tribal lands, more than 83 percent of residents cannot connect to high-speed internet.

    “Fair contributions to the USF from edge providers are long overdue,” said Mullin.  “Video streaming services account for 75 percent of all traffic on rural broadband networks.  However, unrecovered costs from streaming companies are often shifted and borne by small rural broadband providers.  Available, affordable internet will close the digital divide and increase telehealth, educational and employment opportunities for those who previously went without.  Rural Oklahomans deserve the same connectivity as those living in urban areas.”

    “In an interconnected world, high-speed internet access is part of our daily lives–from scheduling a doctor’s appointment to keeping in touch with family,” said Kelly.  “This bipartisan bill will have big corporations contribute to the expansion of affordable high-speed internet in areas that desperately need it.” 

    The Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act would:

    • Direct the FCC to reform the USF by expanding the base so that edge providers and broadband providers contribute on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis to preserve and advance universal service.
    • Limit assessments of edge providers to only those with more than three percent of the estimated quantity of broadband data transmitted in the United States and more than $5 billion in annual revenue. 
    • Direct the FCC to adopt a new mechanism under the current USF high-cost program to provide specific, predictable and sufficient support for expenses incurred by broadband providers that are not otherwise recovered.
    • Limit the FCC’s authority over edge providers and broadband providers only to requiring contributions to the USF.

    Full text of the Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2025 can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Hochul Speaks at Axios AI + NY Summit

    Source: US State of New York

    arlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul participated in Axios AI+ NY Summit fireside chat with Ina Fried.

    VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

    AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

    PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

    Ina Fried, Axios: Next up, we are joined by a governor who’s putting AI front and center of her tech policy agenda. Please welcome New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Thanks so much. First off, I think we’re both big sports fans, although I think yours are more concentrated in Buffalo than my teams.

    Governor Hochul: I love all my New York teams. All the ones that play in New York in particular.

    Ina Fried, Axios: We have a very lively crowd.

    Governor Hochul: We can annex the Meadowlands and bring them back home for anybody’s paying attention. I think I’m going to run on that.

    Ina Fried, Axios: We just have to annex the Meadowlands.

    Governor Hochul: Trump can take Canada. I should at least be able to get the Meadowlands right.

    Ina Fried, Axios: You focused a lot on bringing high tech jobs to New York, not just AI but CHIPS. I think there was another announcement today, Global Foundries is going to increase its investment by another $3 billion. Talk about those efforts, but also in the context of what’s coming with AI. I mean, if the predictions are right, we had the Anthropic founder, Dario Amodei, saying, this could be half of jobs over a few years. Is it enough to just have incentives to bring high tech jobs here? If generative AI eliminates this many jobs, is even retraining feasible? Like what do we really need?

    Governor Hochul: No, it’s all in the realm of possibility. I want New York to be the home of innovation. We always have that. All the great inventions, all the technological revolutions that proceed. IBM is home here. Micron will soon find its way here, and that’s 50,000 jobs in upstate New York. I’m from Buffalo, as you may have figured out from the first question. That’s a lot. That’s for an economy that you see based on manufacturing and building. And my dad and grandpa were steelworkers and now my dad left a steel plant and started a tech company back in the sixties.

    So I’m hardwired to be part of an economy that’s devoted to risk. The people are willing to go out there and do something that’s quite unprecedented, but also the returns are very high. So I want New York to be that place that people look to as they already are. I mean, we have over 2,000 AI startups right now, but your question is, will these new jobs of manufacturing semiconductors, for example, and others, will that replace the jobs that can be lost?

    It does not have to be that way. AI can increase productivity dramatically. So why can’t we harness that to be the most productive nation on the planet — that we can have more output and use human capital in the ways that have not been harnessed before? Because people are too busy working on an assembly line in the past. Let’s take that talent and refocus it on innovation.

    We have a workforce, for example, of over 188,000. I have a plan to train 100,000 New York State employees. Train them in the uses of AI, how it can supplement us, how we can be more responsive to the public. I’m not looking to eliminate their jobs. I want them to have a better — have people have a better customer experience when they come into a DMV or other offices.

    So I see great potential here, and I leaned hard into this. We will talk about Empire AI I presume, but this is something that’s so natural. I’m very competitive. I’m proud that New York City is now the number one destination for new tech jobs. I mean, that’s us. I won’t name any other cities or what coast they’re on.

    Ina Fried, Axios: Before I came here, I left a few AI companies in San Francisco to come here.

    Governor Hochul: Anybody not a New Yorker here? I’m just pointing it out. This is the smartest people on the planet. They’re here and they’re saying they’re New Yorkers. So, just an observation.

    Ina Fried, Axios: Obviously as a sports fan, it’s hard to beat home field advantage. So jobs is obviously one big piece of this, but another is making sure that society is ready to adapt and use it safely. I want to broaden out, but one place to start — we had a conversation with Aura, which is a startup that’s working on, how do we make this safe for kids and families? And obviously that’s something you’ve also been focused on.

    How do you see the role of AI in education? You’ve had some bills around phone use, around deep fakes among students. How do we make sure that kids are learning the technology they need to be learning, but also protected from chatbots that might increase addiction and that sort of thing. What else do we need?

    Governor Hochul: No. New York State is nation-leading when it comes to protecting our children — and I can go into the details because we enacted these last year against a lot of opposition.

    But I said to the big tech companies that were saying, “Well, we were able to kill this in some other states. We plan on killing it in New York.” I said, “Why don’t you get out of the courtroom and come into my conference room and we’ll talk about this.” There is a path forward, but I know all of you have kids.

    And I’m sure you want someone to be looking out for them. Well, I’m New York State’s first Mom Governor, and I look out for all the kids. So that’s where I approach this from is what we can do to protect our children, but not unnecessarily constrained what AI is all about and the potential.

    So we did this, but I’ll tell you what’s most concerning is what Washington did — their House Republicans just did a few days ago — and if this gets through the Senate, it says that no state or municipality can regulate any form of artificial intelligence for the next decade.

    So that means my ban on sexual exploitation of young girls on social media and using AI and the fact that there are these AI undressing sites. In the first half of 2024, there were 16 sites that had 200 million views. I mean, this is what’s going on to our kids, our girls sitting in high schools, and we have to stop that.

    And so I have a whole list of reforms — I encourage every other state to undertake it because right now I am not holding my breath that Washington will have the courage to stand up and do what’s right, which really should be a nationwide policy to protect our children. We’ll keep at it. And I’m concerned. We’ll see the Trump administration in court, once again, because — and this is a real growth industry for lawyers, right? I’m getting sued, I’m suing them, and I’m a lawyer too, I’d probably make more money on the other side, but I like what I do.

    Ina Fried, Axios: So what I hear from the tech companies all the time is, “Oh, we’re fine with regulation, we just don’t want a patchwork of regulation. We don’t want different regulations in 50 states.” Are they being genuine when they say that or do they just not want regulation?

    Governor Hochul: Well, then here’s what we’ll do. We’ll let you work with New York State as we did. We’ll be the gold standard. I was just with a room full of crypto leaders yesterday. I said, “You want to do virtual currency in New York because we’ll have the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. We always do things to make sure it’s protecting our citizens, our consumers, our viewers, and we’ll always have the highest standards. So come join us, and then you can create it here with us and other states can replicate it. So I’m happy to do that.

    As a former member of Congress — really happy I’m not there right now — I know that this is really Washington’s responsibility, because it’s hard for companies to have a different policy they have to adhere to in 50 different states. That is not ideal.

    Ina Fried, Axios: So if we don’t want 50 regulations and Congress seemingly is not gonna do anything, could you work with other states?

    Governor Hochul: Oh yeah. Yeah.

    Ina Fried, Axios: Is there efforts already in that regard there?

    Governor Hochul: Yeah, there’s a democratic governor’s organization that is more forward thinking in this space, and we do work together, we share ideas. But our legislation is just one-year-old now, and I’m sure they want to see the — our law is one-year-old, the regulations are following, so there’s a little bit of work to do. But that’s exactly what we do, we share best practices.

    Ina Fried, Axios: So as we’ve alluded to, there’s a bunch of individual policies in place in New York, laws that have passed around things like kids’ privacy, deepfake porn. One thing New York doesn’t have is a real comprehensive statewide privacy law, similar to Washington and some other states. Does New York need a privacy bill?

    Governor Hochul: We’re looking at that as well. What we focused on primarily were kids right off the bat, and even with respect to social media algorithms, we are the first state in the nation to ban social media companies from bombarding our kids with algorithms throughout the day, and really many times taking them to a dark place. I mean, if a young person is contemplating suicide and they put in “suicide” and it comes back with — not resources and support and uplifting messages to make them think differently, it tells them how to commit suicide. So when we have triggering words like that that show up, we have our police alerted to that and others who are alerted to this.

    So this is what we’re focusing on, how to send out the warning signals of what can be done. But privacy is very important to us as well. We’ll get to that, I just need to take care of the kids first.

    Ina Fried, Axios: And on that front, you mentioned social media. That’s obviously been a huge concern for a long time is the impact that’s having on our kids. It seems like the next thing down the road is AI companions, where they’re not talking to a real person, but they’re talking to an AI companion. What should that relationship — should kids not be talking to AI companions at all?

    Governor Hochul: We have in our law, and I don’t know that other states have done this, that there has to be some warning or indication over and over that this is not a real person. This is not a real person. We have that in our laws now. We did that already just to give that young person just a reality check.

    And I can’t stop the whole phenomenon from happening, but the stories that have been coming out, not just the 14-year-old in Florida who committed suicide, but the New York Times did quite a story about all the different relationships. And adults can make their own decisions, kids are very impressionable, and those are the ones that we have to take the extra measure to protect.

    And we should not get any opposition from these companies at all. I mean, tell them it’s bad for your image to be standing up against a mom and protecting kids. I mean, just don’t even go there. It’s just not worth the fight.

    Ina Fried, Axios: So every now and then, folks who have been coming to this conference for a while know, I very occasionally give out a magic wand and allow someone to— if you could wave this magic wand and have the ideal regulation in place, what would it look like? So I’m going to let you borrow — you can’t keep it — borrow my magic wand.

    If you could wave your wand and have some ideal legislation in place around how AI can be embraced safely, what would be part of that package?

    Governor Hochul: Part of that would be that there’s a lot of education of people. People do not understand this gap between virtual reality and reality, and I’m afraid that’s something that a lot of kids are falling into.

    So, I would want to make sure that all your personal information is protected. What we did last year was our Child Protection Act — you cannot sell data collected on kids, anyone under 18; you cannot amass this data based on their preferences, where they’re going — you can no longer send algorithms to them; you can no longer sell that to other people. I think that’s something adults are entitled to as well. Those are some of the privacy protections. You can’t be capturing all this personal data and monetizing it. So that’s an area I think we should be focused more on and get some cooperation from the companies.

    Ina Fried, Axios: I know you leave a bunch of the court battles to your very active Attorney General — I get emails from her on a practically daily basis of what she’s challenging the White House on. What are the things that have happened in the first few months of the Trump administration that have you personally most concerned? What are the fights that you want more people to take up?

    Governor Hochul: You do not have enough time.

    Ina Fried, Axios: We got three minutes.

    Governor Hochul: God. I mean, my latest fight was to save offshore wind. They literally, on April 16, pulled the plug on a 10 year, $5 billion project from a company called Equinor from Norway, which will be powering 500,000 homes in Brooklyn with renewable energy. That is a big win for our climate, our renewable energy efforts, and to meet our climate goals. On April 16, the Secretary of Interior gave them a stop work order. The project was going to be stopped a few weeks ago. They’re losing $50 million a week.

    I went down to the White House; I had long conversations; I had more phone calls; and I’m proud to say we saved not just renewable energy, but 1,500 clean energy jobs in the process. So, that’s the most recent. They’re attacking congestion pricing every single month on the 21st — I get, basically, a hostage letter that if you don’t turn off the cameras, we’re going to kidnap you or whatever it is and I usually take it, and do a social media of it, and throw it away — here we go.

    So we’re fighting on that, but also on other areas about my rights to — we just had a win in court on that, where they’re threatening to withhold federal dollars. Anytime they don’t like something you do, whether it’s the State of Maine — my friend Janet Mills was subjected to this; we were together in the White House when she got harassed — they threatened withholding federal dollars. We just got a temporary restraining order from them threatening to withhold our federal dollars when it came. So that’s — I can’t keep it all straight.

    We litigated birthright citizenship. We’re going to have a lot of complicated challenges with the immigration issue. I have to testify before the House Oversight Committee on that very issue next week — really looking forward to that. You see who’s on that committee? Check it out. And, by the way, it’s someone who said, “I didn’t even read the bill. No, it’s a thousand pages.” Use ChatGPT to figure it out — right?

    They’re claiming they did not know that there was a 10 year ban on any social media. I mean, I’m sorry, any AI.

    Ina Fried, Axios: AI.

    Governor Hochul: “Oh, I didn’t know.” You voted for it. Just ask GPT. Anything I should worry about in here?

    Ina Fried, Axios: All right. I would love to keep the —

    Governor Hochul: Just some humble advice for them.

    I would love to keep the conversation going. Unfortunately, I know you have somewhere to go and we’re almost out of time. I have a quick question that I think only you can answer. So, I love buffalo sauce, but I don’t really like the bones.

    Ina Fried, Axios: Do boneless wings count?

    Governor Hocul: There’s chicken fingers.

    Ina Fried, Axios: That’s what my 12-year-old likes.

    Governor Hocul: Okay, chicken fingers are close enough, no one will mock you out, but the damning thing — if you ever eat chicken wings with ranch dressing, you’ll be barred from the entire region. Just don’t go. Just —

    Ina Fried, Axios: All right.

    Governor Hocul: Take it from me, everybody. That’s your pro-tip today. All right, so you heard it here: the Meadowlands is now part of New York, boneless wings are okay, but don’t you dare put them in ranch.

    Ina Fried, Axios: Thank you so much, Governor Hochul.

    Governor Hocul: Thank you.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: ETF Approval Sparks Institutional Mining Rush, PAIRMiner Scales Up

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LOS ANGELES, June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — More offline retail inverter community can now participate in the mining economy without the hassle of hardware or technical knowledge using PAIRMiner, a UK-regulated cloud mining platform, as Bitcoin experiences a surge driven by growing institutional adoption and recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

    Founded in 2009, PAIRMiner offers users remote access to hash power for mining Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and other cryptocurrencies. Interest in the platform sharply rose in early June 2025, coinciding with broader market enthusiasm following regulatory breakthroughs that have brought institutional investors more deeply into the crypto ecosystem.

    Institutional Momentum Reshapes the Crypto Industry

    The trajectory of Bitcoin in 2025 has been greatly influenced by several notable measures enacted by various authorities and organizations. This year, certain regions, including parts of the US and Europe, approved spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), allowing direct investment in Bitcoin via standard brokerage accounts. This has significantly expanded market participation by pension funds, asset managers, and sovereign wealth funds.

    “The approval of spot ETFs has not only validated Bitcoin’s role as an asset class but also created structural demand from institutions that were previously hesitant due to regulatory uncertainties,” said Heindrova, spokesperson for PAIRMiner. “ Individual investors are now looking for efficient and straightforward methods to be involved with the digital asset economy, particularly through mining, as this change is streaming down to retail. “

    These developments have also led to a tightening of available Bitcoin supply, increasing the attractiveness of mining as a method of accumulation.PAIRMiner serves as a connection between the changing institutional environment and personal involvement, providing a secure, cloud-based platform for mining cryptocurrencies without the need to own physical mining rigs. 

    Regulated, Accessible, and Built for All Investors

    Recognized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), PAIRMiner presents a compliant and clear entry point into the world of crypto mining for all investors. Its platform is designed for both beginners and seasoned crypto users and provides access to mining services without the need for capital-intensive hardware or ongoing maintenance.

    Fundamental highlights of the platform include:  

    • $150 Free Cloud Hashrate Credit: New users get a free allocation to start mining right away, and every new user qualifies for a free allocation.
    • Unique Mining Contracts: A range of flexible options suitable to cater to different financial plans and levels of risks.
    • Instant Income Tracking: An easy-to-use dashboard that helps users to efficiently manage and adjust their passive income approach.
    • Secure and Safe  Withdrawals: Users can withdraw their profits at any time, fully supported by platform transparency and fund control.

    Market Sentiment Turns Positive

    Bitcoin trading above major support levels and spot ETF inflows reaching record levels, PAIRMiner has noticed a jump in activity on its platform. The company reveals a 40% surge in registrations since the beginning of Q2 2025, more users have chosen to go with short-term mining contracts that are delivering daily consistent rewards to them.

    The change mirrors the whole crypto space’s upbeat mood. From hedge funds redistributing portfolios to retail investors looking for alternative to dormant savings accounts, digital asset is again the leading financial innovation—the mining is still one of the few ways to get crypto directly.

    Forward Outlook

    While PAIRMiner stays in its three-dimensional growth and innovation on user-core mining features, it keeps on the path of supporting safe and scalable participation. The platform’s clear operation and FCA compliance put it at the very centre of the game, helping it to satisfy the newcomers and well-experienced investors in the market of rapid maturity.

    To get more details or check out contract options, visit https://pairminer.com/

    Media Contact:
    Agnes Heindrova
    PR Manager
    Email: agnes@pairminer.com
    Web: https://pairminer.com

    Disclaimer: This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, legal advice, or investment recommendations.Cryptocurrency involves risk and market volatility. Please research or consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions a Pairminer.com and associated parties are not liable for any financial loss incurred.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Pfluger Introduces Bill to Protect Small Biotech Companies

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)

    WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11), alongside Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Congressman David Kustoff (TN-08), introduced legislation to protect innovative small biotech manufacturers from the Medicare drug price negotiation program. The Small Biotech Innovation Act will establish a new exemption for small biotech companies based on the amount of revenue they reinvest in research and development.

    “The Inflation Reduction Act has proven to fall short in several areas, including its small biotech exemption that disincentivizes companies from investing in R&D and hinders the development of innovative therapies. By tying eligibility to R&D spending, we can better incentivize companies to develop new treatments that will benefit patients nationwide,” said Rep. Pfluger. “The bicameral Small Biotech Innovation Act is a forward-thinking approach that will strengthen America’s leadership in life-saving science by modernizing the small biotech exemption to reward real innovation and research investment, and ultimately protect these innovative small biotech companies.”

    “When the federal government stands in the way of developing better care, there’s a problem. The cures developed through small biotech innovation change the future for many patients. Instead of limiting it, we should encourage it,” said Dr. Cassidy.

    “It is critical that the United States remains at the forefront of developing new medical technologies, treatments, and drugs,” said Rep. Kustoff. “The Small Biotech Innovation Act will help smaller companies invest in research and development by alleviating the excessive Biden-era regulations placed on them. This legislation is an important step in boosting innovation and helping find new cures for patients across the globe.”

    Read the full text of the legislation

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Gas supply reducing faster and sooner than previously forecast

    Source: Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE)

    “Natural gas reserves continue to reduce faster and sooner than previously forecast,” says Karlene Tipler, Head of Data Service Delivery, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.

    “In 2024 natural gas proven plus probable (2P) reserves reduced from 1300 PJ to 948 PJ. The reduction in natural gas reserves is largely driven by field operators reducing their estimates of gas readily extractable in the ground by 234 PJ. The remaining reduction of 119 PJ reflects the portion of gas reserves that were used during the year.

    “Contingent natural gas reserves, which is gas that exists in the ground, but cannot be extracted due to current economic or technical conditions, has increased by 184 PJ or 10% on last year’s figure.

    “Some of this increase can be attributed to natural gas reserves being downgraded to contingent resources. A significant contributor to this is Pohokura field, which included a large volume of contingent gas which had previously not been reported.

    “As economic and technical conditions change, some contingent gas may have the potential to be upgraded to 2P reserves.”

    “Decreases in the majority of gas reserves were partially offset by the Turangi field, whose reserves were revised upward by 22 PJ. This resulted in a net increase, after accounting for 2024 production, of 2 PJ.

    “Natural gas delivered from gas fields also reduced 22% in 2024 compared to 2023. The greatest contributors to this were Pohokura, Maui, Mangahewa, and Kupe fields, who between them dropped 109 TJ/day compared to last year’s data.

    “Previous forecasts had annual gas production falling below 100 PJ by 2029, but due to revised production forecasts we now expect to reach this level by 2026.”

    Read the full Petroleum Reserves 2025 data release:

    Petroleum reserves data

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: More classrooms for children with high needs

    Source: New Zealand Government

    The Government is ensuring more students with the highest learning support needs have access to warm, safe, dry and fit-for-purpose learning environments.
    “We know many parents of children with high needs want the option of a specialist education setting. Right now, those choices are limited because our specialist schools are stretched beyond capacity. This investment is about giving families more choice and confidence their children can learn in the environment that best supports them,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
    $30 million through Budget 2025 will expand specialist school property across New Zealand. Investment will fund the construction of 18 new satellite classrooms at host schools nationwide and 5 additional classrooms at two base specialist schools, relieving pressure on the network.
    This funding will deliver:

    Two classrooms for Blomfield Special School at Selwyn Park School in Dargaville,
    Two classrooms for Hamilton North School at Ngaruawahia School in Waikato,
    Two classrooms for Kimi Ora School at Taita College in Lower Hutt,
    Two classrooms for Tauranga Special School at Te Puke Primary School in the Bay of Plenty,
    Two classrooms for Rosehill School at Papakura Normal School in Auckland,
    Two classrooms for Fairhaven School at Onekawa School in Napier,
    Four classrooms for Central Auckland Specialist School at an Auckland school,
    Two classrooms for Oaklynn Special School at Kelston Intermediate in Auckland,
    Two classrooms at Ferndale School in Christchurch,
    Three classrooms at Sara Cohen School in Dunedin.

    “Specialist schools play a vital role in our education system. This investment recognises the incredible work these schools do and builds on the largest boost to learning support in a generation.
    “The classrooms are set to enter construction over the next 12 months. The majority will be delivered using offsite manufacturing or repeatable designs which enable the funding to go further, so more schools get the extra classrooms they need. The sooner we build, the sooner schools can provide tailored support, so more children have the chance to thrive,” Ms Stanford said.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s finance ministry issues 12.5 billion yuan of treasury bonds in Hong Kong

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

    BEIJING, June 4 — China’s Ministry of Finance on Wednesday issued this year’s third batch of yuan-denominated treasury bonds — worth a total of 12.5 billion yuan (about 1.74 billion U.S. dollars) — in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

    The issuance included 3.5 billion yuan of two-year bonds, 3 billion yuan of three-year bonds, 3 billion yuan of five-year bonds, and 3 billion yuan of 10-year bonds, according to the ministry. These bonds have respective interest rates of 1.49 percent, 1.52 percent, 1.6 percent, and 1.75 percent.

    This latest issuance has been well-received among investors, with the total bid amount coming in at 3.96 times the amount in circulation, the ministry said.

    Last month, it announced that it would issue six batches of yuan-denominated treasury bonds in the HKSAR this year, with all six batches totaling 68 billion yuan.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: 20 million workers set to benefit from new Pension Schemes Bill

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    20 million workers set to benefit from new Pension Schemes Bill

    Millions of people across the UK will find it easier to manage and get more from their pensions thanks to the Government’s new Pension Schemes Bill.

    • The Pension Schemes Bill will tackle schemes delivering poor returns for savers, combine smaller pension pots, and create bigger and better pension funds.
    • These measures will drive costs down and returns up on workers’ retirement savings – putting more money in people’s pockets as part of the Plan for Change.

    Millions of people planning their retirement will find it easier to manage and get more from their pension pots thanks to the new Pension Schemes Bill introduced today [Thursday 5 June].

    The Bill is designed to support working people plan for their retirement by making pensions simpler to understand, easier to manage, and drive better value over the long term – delivering on the Plan for Change to put more money into people’s pockets.

    One of its biggest benefits is the merging of small pension pots. Many people build up several small pensions as they move between jobs, and these can be hard to keep track of. The new rules will bring these pots together, helping savers see their full pension picture in one place.

    The Bill also introduces a new system to show how well pension schemes are performing, this will help savers understand whether their scheme is giving them good value and protect them from getting stuck in underperforming schemes for years on end, to help working people feel more secure about their retirement savings.

    For those approaching retirement, the Bill will require schemes to offer clear default options for turning savings into a retirement income. This means people will have clearer, more secure routes to decide how they use their pension money over time. 

    Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:

    Hardworking people across the UK deserve their pensions to work as hard for them as they have worked to save, and our reforms will deliver a huge boost to future generations of pensioners.

    The Bill is about securing better value for savers’ pensions and driving long-term investment in British businesses to boost economic growth in our country.

    As part of our Plan for Change we’re helping people find work, stay in work, and ensuring that work pays them back to give them the secure income in retirement they deserve.

    Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: 

    The Bill is a game changer, delivering bigger pension pots for savers and driving £50 billion of investment directly into the UK economy– putting more money into people’s pockets through the Plan for Change.

    The Bill will transform the £2 trillion pensions landscape to ensure savers get good returns for each pound they save, and drive investment into the economy, through a suite of measures, including:

    • Requiring DC schemes to prove they are value for money, to protect savers from getting stuck in underperforming schemes. 
    • Simplifying retirement choices, with all pension schemes offering default routes to an income in retirement. 
    • Bringing together small pension pots worth £1,000 or less into one pension scheme that is certified as delivering good value to savers, making pension saving less hassle and more rewarding. 
    • New rules creating multi-employer DC scheme “megafunds” of at least £25 billion, so that bigger and better pension schemes can drive down costs and invest in a wider range of assets. 
    • Consolidating and professionalising the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), with assets held in six pools that can invest in local areas infrastructure, housing and clean energy.
    • Increased flexibility for Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes to safely release surplus worth collectively £160 billion, to support employers’ investment plans and to benefit scheme members. 

    Minister for Pensions Torsten Bell said: 

    We are ramping up the pace of pensions reform. Workers deserve to get better bang for each buck saved, and these sweeping reforms will make sure they do.

    Pension saving is a long game, but getting this right is urgent so that millions can look forward to a higher income in retirement.

    The Pension Schemes Bill is part of this Government’s significant pension reform agenda. It follows the major consolidation of the UK pension system set out in the Pension Investment Review. 

    Today’s legislation will create a more efficient, resilient pension landscape, and lay the foundation for the upcoming Pensions Review to examine outcomes for pensioners and set out how to develop a fair and sustainable pensions system, ultimately benefiting both individual savers and the broader UK economy. 

    Andy Briggs, CEO, Phoenix Group said:

    The Bill sets a clear direction for the future of pensions with the emphasis on building scale and ensuring savers receive value for money. People across the country will feel the impact of these changes with plans to consolidate small pots, ensure the dashboard delivers and provide default retirement income options at the point of retirement. Individually these initiatives would be significant but in combination they have the potential make a significant difference to people’s retirement across the UK and we look forward to working through the detail with government and other stakeholders.

    Patrick Heath-Lay, Chief Executive, People’s Partnership said: 

    This is a pivotal moment in pension reform. The Bill contains many measures that will require providers to deliver better outcomes for savers and improve the workplace pension system.

    Ian Cornelius, CEO, NEST said: 

    At Nest, everything we do is with our members’ best interests at heart. We believe that large, well-governed schemes can drive great outcomes for their members by using their scale and expertise to diversify where money is invested, and gain access to attractive investment opportunities not available to smaller investors at low cost. I am proud of how Nest has used its scale to invest on behalf of our members, developing sophisticated investment opportunities which generate great risk adjusted returns, and play a role in supporting communities in the UK. We welcome this new Pension Schemes Bill, and the invitation it sends to keep innovating in the best interests of UK savers.

    Nausicaa Delfas, Chief Executive, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) said: 

    The Pension Schemes Bill is a once in a generation opportunity to address unfinished business in the UK pension system. Making sure all schemes are focused on delivering value for money, helping to stop small, and often forgotten pension pots forming, and guiding savers towards the right retirement products for them, will mean savers benefit from a system fit for the future. We have long advocated for fewer, larger well-run schemes with the size and skill to deliver better outcomes for savers. As such we are also pleased to see the proposed legislative framework for DB superfunds, providing options and choice in defined benefit consolidation.

    Michelle Ostermann, Chief Executive, Pension Protection Fund (PPF) said: 

    We welcome the introduction of this important Bill, especially the measures which would give the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) greater flexibility to reduce the levy, enable PPF and Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) member data to be made available for pension dashboards, and better support members with a terminal illness. We will support the government and policy makers as the Bill progresses so we can achieve the best outcomes for all our stakeholders.

    Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Which? said: 

    Pensions have become far too complex and fragmented, so it’s good to see the government taking steps to simplify them and ensure schemes provide value for money. Which? has campaigned for years for the consolidation of small pots, so we are delighted that this Bill is seeking to do just that – a move that will provide greater value for savers and support them to keep track of their pensions. “Which? looks forward to working with the government to ensure the pensions system is fit for the future.” 

    Jamie Jenkins, Policy Director, Royal London said: 

    The Pension Schemes Bill brings together several initiatives aimed at improving the pensions landscape for savers. While there are still many details to work through, this hopefully marks the start of a long-term strategic plan for pensions.

    Patrick Luthi, CEO, NOW:Pensions said: 

    NOW:Pensions have been campaigning on small pots for a number of years, and we are pleased to see measures to deliver on the ‘multiple default consolidator’ solution included.  We look forward to seeing the details which will be crucial to supporting members in an efficient way

    Further Information

    • To build scale in the pensions industry and stimulate UK investment, the Pension Schemes Bill will: 

    • Require multi-employer Defined Contribution schemes, unless exempt, to have at least £25 billion of assets in their main default arrangement by 2030 or be on route to achieving that scale by 2035 through having £10 billion in their main default.
    • Allow trustees of well-funded Defined Benefit pension schemes to release money back to employers and their scheme members, when safe to do so, unlocking some of the £160 billion surplus funds to be reinvested across the UK economy and boost business productivity and deliver for members.
    • Legislate for Defined Benefit pension scheme superfunds to encourage growth of the superfund market and underpin the security of members’ benefits
    • Remove the restrictions that prevent the Board of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) from reducing the annual pension protection levy it collects, when it is not required – allowing the PPF to collect less from businesses up and down the country

    • Extend the definition of ‘terminal illness’ in the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme legislation, so that eligible members who are diagnosed as terminally ill can receive payments at an earlier stage of their illness.

    • To ensure better outcomes for savers, the Pension Schemes Bill will:

    • Introduce a Value for Money framework to enable a shift in focus from cost towards value and protect savers from becoming stuck in underperforming arrangements for extended periods.

    • Implement Default Pension Benefit Solutions which will mean savers will still have the options available to them through pension freedoms, but they will get an extra offer of support – through being enrolled into default solution(s) – which could include CDC provision, and they can take this or make their own choices. 

    • Authorise providers to act as a consolidator scheme which will see members pots automatically transferred to their largest pot. This will also aid the building of scale with pots worth £1,000 or less consolidated into a small number of large, good value schemes.
    • Support the introduction of pensions dashboards to improve engagement by providing users with their whole pensions picture, including workplace and state pensions, securely and all in one place online. By providing this comprehensive overview of retirement savings, pensions dashboards will address key barriers to engagement, such as information fragmentation and lack of visibility.

    • Facilitate PPF and FAS information to be displayed on the Government-backed pensions dashboard service provided by the Money and Pensions Service. 

    • The Competent Court measure in the Bill will also re-establish the legal standing of The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) to make enforceable determinations in pensions overpayment recoupment cases without requiring a county court judge’s order, leading to quicker customer journeys and shorter waiting times. 
    • More information on the Government’s Pension Investment Review can be found here: Pensions Investment Review: Final Report – GOV.UK

    Updates to this page

    Published 5 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Biggest shake-up of jobcentres in decades gets underway

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Biggest shake-up of jobcentres in decades gets underway

    Launch of a new, locally-led approach to jobseeker support begins in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. 

    • Jobs and careers service Pathfinder will test bold ideas including a new Coaching Academy and more personalised jobcentre appointments 
    • Further Pathfinders to be rolled out across the country this year to break down barriers to opportunity and put more money in people’s pockets as part of the Government’s Plan for Change. 

    Jobseekers across the country are set to benefit from a groundbreaking new approach to the service Jobcentres provide. This will include a new Coaching Academy; careers events focused on local growth sectors and more personalised Jobcentre appointments.   

    The jobs and careers service in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, yesterday (Wednesday 4th June) became the first to trial the new scheme – marking the start of the biggest reform of Jobcentres in decades.   

    The Jobcentre will test bold ideas to better work with employers, deliver services and get people into work. The reforms are aimed at involving local areas in the design of services and bring to an end a Whitehall-led, one-size-fits-all approach.   

    Following the launch of the jobs and careers service Pathfinder in Wakefield, further Pathfinders will be rolled out across the country this year as the Government drives forward with its plan to Get Britain Working.

    This is a key part of the growth mission, as we help more people across the country into good, secure jobs so they can get on in life and fulfil their ambitions.

    Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern said:   

    Our one-size-fits-all, tick box approach to jobs support is outdated and does not serve those looking to better their lives through work.   

    We are building a proper public employment service in partnership with local leaders that truly meets community challenges and unlocks opportunity.   

    The launch of the Pathfinder in Wakefield is the first step in this transformation as we continue to Get Britain Working, boost living standards and put more money in people’s pockets, under our Plan for Change.

    The Pathfinder will look at new ways to support customers and how everyone, not just Jobcentre customers, can receive employment support. It is being co-designed with local leaders from West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Wakefield Local Authority.

    As part of this and in a direct response to insight that only 9% of employers currently recruit through Jobcentres, a series of careers events focused on local growth sectors will be delivered in Wakefield to match local talent with local opportunities.

    The first of these events took place during yesterday’s launch and focused on West Yorkshire’s thriving creative sector. It was attended by skills providers and local employers including Production Park – home to sets of Netflix series’ including Bank of Dave. Events to serve the local manufacturing and technology sectors will take place in the coming months and are open to all, not just Jobcentre customers.

    In addition to this tests of a new Get Britain Working ‘Coaching Academy’ to train up DWP staff will help ensure jobseekers receive improved support. Changes to appointments will also mean DWP services in Wakefield will provide more personalised support for claimants to help them move into stable, long-term work.

    Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin said:  

    People stand a better chance of landing a good job when they are treated with dignity and respect at a trusted local Jobcentre. 

    These reforms will empower us to build on our West Yorkshire model of joining up employment support with health and employer-led services, to provide personalised support that gets people into work and puts more money in people’s pockets.

    Working with the government, we’re investing almost £40 million to help guarantee a healthy working life to everyone in our region, and as the test-bed for the new national Jobs and Careers Service, Wakefield will lead the way on transforming our welfare system to get Britain working.

    Wakefield will be the first city to test new ideas for the new jobs and careers service, ensuring that the service and its policies can be scaled up before being rolled out across the nation. Further Pathfinders, including ones that are focused on support for young people and those with health conditions will be launched later this year.  

    The Jobs and Careers Service Pathfinder builds on wider investment in West Yorkshire, including £18 million for an inactivity trailblazer and an NHS Accelerator. The inactivity trailblazer launched in April, to boost employment in areas with the highest levels of economic inactivity, as the government gets Britain back to health and back to work. The NHS Accelerator will help to prevent people from falling out of work completely due to ill health. 

    The Pathfinder comes as the government continues to drive to Get Britain Working through boosting the National Living Wage, creating more secure jobs through the Employment Rights Bill and delivering a Youth Guarantee so every young person is either learning or earning.  

    Further Information

    • Key findings from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 2024 Employer Survey: DWP Employer Survey 2024 – GOV.UK  
    • The local Get Britain Working Plan guidance has been published: Guidance for Developing local Get Britain Working plans (England) – GOV.UK  
    • The guidance will ensure all areas are working towards the government’s 80% employment ambition.  
    • Employment support measures are fully transferred to Northern Ireland. Jobcentre Plus services is reserved in both Scotland and Wales, but the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government also deliver other forms of employment support. The funding announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper is UK wide, the share of funding for devolved Governments will be calculated in the usual way.  
    • The UK Government also plans to establish new governance arrangements with the Scottish and Welsh Governments to help frame discussions around the reform of Jobcentres and agree how best to work in partnership on shared employment ambition across devolved and reserved provision.

    Updates to this page

    Published 5 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Gas data proves Government correct to act now

    Source: New Zealand Government

    New figures released today showing a decline in New Zealand’s gas reserves is a stark reminder why the Government is taking decisive action to bolster the industry and seek more investment in exploration and production, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.

    “New Zealand needs a secure supply of affordable and reliable gas – for industry to continue and for Kiwis to keep the lights on. A 27 percent year on year decline in our natural gas reserves is further proof that the Coalition Government has made the right decisions in overturning the oil and gas ban, and is willing to become a cornerstone investor in gas production,” Mr Jones says.

    “We simply cannot allow the de-industrialisation of New Zealand to continue. Our manufacturing sector, particularly in the regions, which rely on gas are at the mercy of the market. Rising gas prices are putting increasing pressure on manufacturers and are harming the competitiveness of our businesses, risking their viability.

    “As an island nation we should be taking full advantage of our indigenous gas reserves to power our homes and businesses. The idea that we could transition to 100 percent renewable energy without the back-up of any kind of thermal energy is as naïve as it is unattainable. 

    “That’s why the Government has made some bold decisions about how we can arrest the impending degradation of our energy system. It is not too late to turn around our fortunes in this area.

    “The Government has committed, through Budget 2025, $200 million over four years for Crown co-investment in new domestic gas field developments. This funding will allow the Government to take a commercial stake of up to 15 percent in new gas projects that feed the domestic market, helping to reduce sovereign risk and attract offshore investment.

    “As well as removing the exploration ban, the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill which comes back before the House soon, better balances the regulatory burden and risk of decommissioning and gives the regulator more flexibility in how exploration permits are issued, giving the sector confidence to get to work.”

    Other action the Government has taken includes the Investment Boost policy announced in the Budget.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: TOMORROW: Governor Newsom to make announcement on literacy and student success

    Source: US State of California Governor

    Jun 4, 2025

    LOS ANGELES COUNTY — Governor Gavin Newsom will make an announcement to support literacy and the success of young students across the state.

    WHEN: Thursday, June 5 at approximately 12:15 p.m.

    LIVESTREAM: Governor’s Twitter page, Governor’s Facebook page, and the Governor’s YouTube page. This event will also be available to TV stations on the LiveU Matrix under “California Governor.”

    NOTE: This in-person press event will be open to credentialed media only. Media interested in attending must RSVP by clicking here no later than 10:15 a.m., June 5. Location information will be provided upon confirmation.

    Media advisories, Recent news

    Recent news

    Jun 4, 2025

    News What you need to know: California added a record of nearly 7,000 megawatts of new clean energy capacity in 2024, marking the largest single-year increase in state history and the third consecutive year of unprecedented growth. SACRAMENTO – California has achieved…

    Jun 4, 2025

    News What you need to know: California leads the nation in strong gun safety laws, correlating with thousands of lives saved. Sacramento, California – Year after year, California is ranked as the #1 state in the country for its strong gun safety laws — along with some…

    Jun 4, 2025

    News SACRAMENTO – For the second year in a row, California ranks highest on Fortune 500’s list as the state with the most corporations generating the largest revenues. As host to 58 Fortune 500 companies, California leads the nation – followed by Texas with 54 and New…

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warner, Kaine, Colleagues Press Trump Administration for Answers and Demand Reversal of Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghans Living in the U.S.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, (both D-VA) joined nearly 100 of their congressional colleagues in pressing the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and State regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan nationals living in the United States. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, nearly 200,000 Afghans came to the U.S. From 2018 to 2022, nearly 20,000 of these individuals settled in Virginia—the most of any state after California.
    In the letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers noted the thousands of lives this decision could endanger—particularly the lives of many Afghans who supported the U.S. efforts during the war in Afghanistan and face significant danger upon their return to Afghanistan. The lawmakers also urged the Trump Administration to reverse course and continue TPS for Afghans.
    “We write with deep concern about the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan, which is scheduled to take effect on July 14, 2025. This decision is devastating for resettled Afghan nationals in the United States who have fled widespread violence, economic instability, challenging humanitarian conditions, and human rights abuses in their home country,” the lawmakers wrote. “Many of these Afghans fearlessly served as strong allies to the United States military during the war in Afghanistan, and we cannot blatantly disregard their service. We respectfully ask that you redesignate Afghanistan for TPS to ensure Afghan nationals in the U.S. are not forced to return to devastating humanitarian, civic, and economic conditions.”
    The lawmakers continued, “The Secretary of Homeland Security ‘may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.’  This is why, following the withdrawal of American troops and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, in May 2022 the U.S. designated Afghanistan for TPS.”
    “The grave conditions that forced Afghan nationals to flee and seek refuge in the U.S. following the return of the Taliban to power remain. Because of this harsh reality, forcing Afghan nationals in the U.S. to return to Afghanistan would be reckless and inhumane, and would threaten the safety and well-being of thousands of individuals and families, especially women and girls,” the lawmakers stressed.
    The lawmakers closed the letter requesting the following information:
    Please provide any reports that credibly determine that conditions have improved in Afghanistan since 2023. 
    The TPS termination announcement stated that “there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security.” Please provide additional details on how the Administration made this determination and how widespread these allegations of fraud and threats are.
    Describe the collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State to reach the determination that Afghanistan no longer meets the conditions for designation for TPS.
    Please provide any reports that indicate the Taliban is no longer a threat to Afghan nationals that assisted the United States military during the war in Afghanistan.
    What steps are you taking to ensure that Afghan nationals who previously had TPS will not be sent back to persecution or torture in Afghanistan?
    In addition to Warner and Kaine, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Ed Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). The letter is signed by 72 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
    A copy of the letter is available here and below.
    Dear Secretary Noem and Secretary Rubio:
    We write with deep concern about the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan, which is scheduled to take effect on July 14, 2025. This decision is devastating for resettled Afghan nationals in the United States who have fled widespread violence, economic instability, challenging humanitarian conditions, and human rights abuses in their home country. Many of these Afghans fearlessly served as strong allies to the United States military during the war in Afghanistan, and we cannot blatantly disregard their service. We respectfully ask that you redesignate Afghanistan for TPS to ensure Afghan nationals in the U.S. are not forced to return to devastating humanitarian, civic, and economic conditions.
    The Secretary of Homeland Security “may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.”  This is why, following the withdrawal of American troops and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, in May 2022 the U.S. designated Afghanistan for TPS.  In September 2023, the U.S. extended and redesignated TPS for Afghanistan. The Administration’s decision to terminate TPS for Afghanistan negatively impacts approximately 9,000 Afghan nationals.
    In your announcement, you state that “there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.”  But you also concede that threats of violence and terrorism, as well as humanitarian concerns, remain.  The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), continues to launch attacks against ethnic and religious minorities and against the Taliban, leading to innocent civilian casualties. If Afghan nationals are forced to return to Afghanistan, they will be caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and ISKP.  According to Human Rights Watch, in 2024, Taliban authorities intensified their crackdown on human rights, especially against women and girls. Women and girls are banned from attending secondary school or university and are unable to move freely. The Taliban also continues to detain and torture journalists, curtailing free speech and media. The 2023 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report covering Afghanistan found that women’s rights rapidly declined and restrictions on freedom of expression increased. The horrific human rights conditions in Afghanistan are unsafe for Afghan nationals to return to and returning would put their personal safety at immediate risk.
    We are also deeply concerned about the State Department Human Rights Report finding that widespread arbitrary and unlawful killings against officials associated with the pre-August 2021 government have occurred.  Afghan nationals who assisted the U.S. military should not be put in harm’s way because they supported the U.S. in its fight against the Taliban. This would be a betrayal of those who bravely served alongside our servicemembers for nearly two decades.
    Afghan civilians still face devastating humanitarian and economic conditions. Over half of the population in Afghanistan needs urgent humanitarian assistance. Human Rights Watch reports that in 2024, 12.4 million people were facing food insecurity and 2.9 million were at emergency levels of hunger.  The World Bank also found that in Afghanistan, as of May 2025, “per capita income has stagnated, while poverty and food insecurity remain pressing challenges, exacerbated by high unemployment and restrictions on women’s economic participation.” 
    The grave conditions that forced Afghan nationals to flee and seek refuge in the U.S. following the return of the Taliban to power remain. Because of this harsh reality, forcing Afghan nationals in the U.S. to return to Afghanistan would be reckless and inhumane, and would threaten the safety and well-being of thousands of individuals and families, especially women and girls.
    In August 2021, Americans welcomed Afghan nationals at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia with open arms, and we refuse to turn our backs on them now.  We strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to terminate TPS for Afghanistan and ask that you respond to the following requests no later than two weeks of receipt of this letter:
    Please provide any reports that credibly determine that conditions have improved in Afghanistan since 2023. 
    The TPS termination announcement stated that “there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security.” Please provide additional details on how the Administration made this determination and how widespread these allegations of fraud and threats are.
    Describe the collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State to reach the determination that Afghanistan no longer meets the conditions for designation for TPS.
    Please provide any reports that indicate the Taliban is no longer a threat to Afghan nationals that assisted the United States military during the war in Afghanistan.
    What steps are you taking to ensure that Afghan nationals who previously had TPS will not be sent back to persecution or torture in Afghanistan?
    Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and we hope to receive your responses soon.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Shaheen Grills Secretary Lutnick on Impacts of Damaging Steel Tariff on Granite State Businesses, Defense Supply Chain

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen

    (Washington, NH) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations and Small Business Committees, today questioned U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick during a Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee hearing examining the U.S. Department of Commerce’s budget request. During the hearing, Shaheen grilled Secretary Lutnick on President Trump’s damaging steel tariffs – which were recently doubled – and drew attention to the impacts on New Hampshire businesses and the nation’s defense supply chain. You can watch the Senator’s full remarks and questions here.

    “Last month I visited a New Hampshire company that makes ball bearings for the aerospace industry. And I agree we should be protecting the aerospace industry in this country. It’s our biggest export in New Hampshire – aerospace parts. They were very concerned about the impact of the steel tariffs on their ability to get ball bearings. They said not only has their costs gone up, but the lead time to get the steel to make the bearings. They only have one domestic supplier. While they had suppliers in the Indo-Pacific and in Canada, those have been eliminated under the tariffs. They said that their lead times have gone from 20 weeks to two and a half years because of the tariffs. I think this creates a real challenge with respect to our national security. A good percentage of the work they do is with the Department of Defense,” Shaheen said of the impacts tariffs are having on a Granite State manufacturer.

    Secretary Lutnick dismissed Senator Shaheen’s concerns about rising costs for small businesses.

    Shaheen also raised concerns over Secretary Lutnick’s plans to eliminate the Manufacturing Extension Partnership whose Centers provide access to expert advisors and technological services that help grow the U.S. manufacturing base, reduce operating costs, develop new technology and jobs and compete on a global scale. Shaheen noted that in Fiscal Year 2023, every dollar of federal investment in the program generated $24.60 in new sales growth and $27.50 in new client investment.

    Senator Shaheen is helping lead efforts in Congress to mitigate the harmful impacts of President Trump’s tariffs. In January, Shaheen introduced the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes on Imported Goods Act which would limit the president’s ability to leverage sweeping tariffs that increase costs for American consumers and families. Her effort to pass this bill by unanimous consent was blocked by Senate Republicans. In recent months, Shaheen has traveled across the Granite State to visit businesses including Chatila’s Bakery, C&J, DCI Furniture, Mount Cabot Maple, American Calan Inc., NH Ball Bearings and Colby Footwear. to hear directly from Granite Staters impacted by the administration’s tariffs. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy Releases Statement After Another Great Meeting with President Trump

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today releases a statement after President Trump invited him for another productive meeting along with other members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. The group discussed President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
    “There was very good conversation with President Trump about the One Big Beautiful Bill. The goal is to develop a bill that preserves the American Dream and keeps taxes low. The President and I want to eliminate tax on tips, stop illegal immigration, and develop American resources. I look forward to continuing the process while working to put Louisiana in the best position to benefit,” said Dr. Cassidy.
    In March, Cassidy met with President Trump at the White House to discuss reconciliation priorities. 

    MIL OSI USA News –