Category: China

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: Bashkortostan has passed the baton of the International Sports Forum “Russia – a Sports Power” to the Samara Region

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

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    Dmitry Chernyshenko: Bashkortostan has passed the baton of the International Sports Forum “Russia – a Sports Power” to the Samara Region

    Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev inspected the exposition of the international forum “Russia – a Sports Power” and launched the sports project “The Path of the Future Games Trophy 2.0”. During the inspection, a ceremony was held to transfer the forum symbol and the right to host the event in 2025 to Samara.

    “It is extremely important that the forum “Russia – a Sports Power” will host panel discussions on issues that are relevant to everyone, related to the development and future of international sports. Such sports that are not subject to political circumstances and are not used as a weapon against other countries. The attempts of the unfriendly West to ban everything Russian, including our culture, language and sports, have truly failed. This year we held the largest international, open competitions – the Games of the Future, “Children of Asia”, the BRICS Games. And their number will only increase. Russia is open to the whole world, and this is being stated today from the rostrum of the forum “Russia – a Sports Power”, – the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko drew attention to the symbolism of holding the forum in the year of the 450th anniversary of Ufa and spoke about the region’s achievements in the field of sports development: Bashkortostan has one of the highest levels of provision of sports infrastructure and involvement of residents in regular sports.

    The Deputy Prime Minister noted that in the conditions in which our country finds itself, its unification around President Vladimir Putin is especially noticeable, including in the field of sports. The head of state set the task of increasing the number of people systematically involved in sports to 70% by 2030. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Republic of Bashkortostan is an excellent platform and example.

    “We plan that the goal of 70% of citizens regularly involved in sports will be achieved by 2030. Today, about 60% of Russians are actively involved in sports. The components of success here are our coaches, athletes, infrastructure, which, by decision of the President, has been developing at a very rapid pace in recent years. The head of state instructed us to additionally introduce 350 sports facilities per year. Money has been allocated for these purposes,” said Mikhail Degtyarev.

    The Minister of Sports also noted the joint work with the Government: “We take into account all the instructions of the President, federal programs, process events and work with the regions. Plus the comprehensive state program, which President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin supported at the suggestion of Dmitry Nikolaevich Chernyshenko. We are currently working on it. It will take into account the federal budget, and regional funds that go to sports, and extra-budgetary sources. Large companies spend a lot on sports, we thank them for this. Now these funds will be taken into account when planning expenses.”

    Dmitry Chernyshenko, together with Mikhail Degtyarev and Acting Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan Andrey Nazarov, visited the stands of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the State Sports Museum, SMP Racing, the Republic of Belarus, the Samara, Sakhalin and Tula regions, and Bashkortostan.

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia presented developments of domestic manufacturers and showed their products. A unique collection of Olympic torches from different years was presented at the stand of the State Sports Museum.

    At the Samara Region stand, Acting Prime Minister of Bashkortostan Andrey Nazarov solemnly handed over a symbolic baton to the Governor of the Samara Region Vyacheslav Fedorishchev – the right to host the Russia – Sports Power forum in 2025.

    “We are grateful to President Vladimir Putin for the trust he has shown in holding the international forum in the capital of our republic. We approached this issue with special responsibility. We have done truly large-scale work. We are handing over the symbol of the country’s main sporting event to our esteemed neighbors – the Samara Region,” Andrey Nazarov emphasized.

    Also, Dmitry Chernyshenko, together with Mikhail Degtyarev, the President of the Russian Phygital Sports Federation Nikita Nagorny and the head of the Future Games project Igor Stolyarov, launched the sports project “The Path of the Future Games Trophy 2.0” – an international motor rally with the main trophy of the Games.

    The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that in February of this year, at the initiative of President Vladimir Putin, the Games of the Future were held for the first time in human history. They were a huge success: 116 countries, 2,000 athletes, more than 3.5 billion views.

    The International Phygital Sports Federation has already been organized. The next Games will be held in 2025 in the United Arab Emirates, and the third in Kazakhstan.

    “The trophy’s route will pass through eight countries, including the countries that will host the Games of the future. The importance of this journey is difficult to overestimate, as it will popularize the phygital movement – a sports movement that unites science, technology and sports, creating new stars who are equally developed in both the virtual and physical worlds. It is they who are the effective future of our world. We are very pleased that our partners continue to support this format,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

    Mikhail Degtyarev noted that the Games trophy even went to space, and spoke about the creation of phygital centers: “Also, on the instructions of Dmitry Nikolaevich Chernyshenko, with the support of our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, we will build at least 300 phygital centers across the country by 2030. The funds are included in our budget, and are currently being approved. We have done this work, and this is the future – physical activity plus eSports give a healthy modern person of the future.”

    The international Future Games Trophy Route 2.0 rally aims to take phygital to an even bigger scale. It will run from October 17 to November 22, 2024, through Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Qatar.

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

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

    http://government.ru/nevs/53028/

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI China: Beijing reports reduced water use relative to GDP since 2013: ministry

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

    BEIJING, Oct. 17 — Beijing has seen a significant reduction in water use relative to GDP generated by the city over the past decade, the Ministry of Water Resources said Thursday.

    Water use per 10,000 yuan (1,404 U.S. dollars) of GDP generated in Beijing dropped 32.6 percent since 2013 to 9.3 cubic meters in 2023, vice minister of water resources Wang Bao’en told a press conference.

    The consumption of recycled water reached 1.28 billion cubic meters last year, accounting for 31.4 percent of the city’s total water use, said Wang.

    The achievements were made due to Beijing’s continuous efforts to restore the glamour of its rivers and lakes under the guidance of the ministry, which has released a guideline and an action plan on reviving the eco-environment of rivers and lakes nationwide, according to the vice minister.

    The Chinese capital has channeled water to replenish its major rivers since 2018, with 10.42 billion cubic meters of water delivered to the city’s rivers and lakes, official data shows.

    Meanwhile, with continuous efforts to curb groundwater overexploitation, Beijing’s groundwater resources have been recovering since 2015.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: Nearly 70 pct of autumn grains harvested in China

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

    BEIJING, Oct. 17 — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Thursday that 69.5 percent of the autumn grain harvest had been reaped across China, 2 percentage points faster than that of the previous year.

    Over 70 percent of corn, more than 69 percent of the middle-season rice, and around 83 percent of soybeans have been reaped so far, said the ministry.

    At the same time, autumn sowing has been steadily advanced. Over 27 percent of winter wheat and over 42 percent of winter rape have been sown across the country.

    More efforts should be made to support the autumn harvest as well as a bumper harvest for whole year, and consolidate the foundation of grain and oil production next summer, according to the ministry. 

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: World’s smallest dinosaur egg fossils discovered in China

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Chinese researchers have discovered a new type of dinosaur egg fossils in east China’s Jiangxi Province, with one measuring just 29 mm in length, the smallest ever found globally.
    Following a three-year study, the team comprising researchers from the Jiangxi Geological Survey and Exploration Institute (JGSEI), China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed the six egg fossils dating back to the Late Cretaceous period, over 80 million years ago, as dinosaur eggs.
    The relatively complete, irregularly arranged egg fossils were found in a well-preserved nest at a construction site in Meilin Township in Ganxian District in the city of Ganzhou in 2021.
    Using scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, the team of researchers analyzed the microstructure of the eggshells, and determined that their morphology and microstructure suggest they belong to a non-avian theropod, said Lou Fasheng, chief engineer at the JGSEI.
    The most complete egg has a maximum length of only 29 mm, setting a new record for the smallest dinosaur egg fossil, Lou said. The previously known smallest dinosaur egg fossil was found in China’s Zhejiang Province, measuring approximately 45.5 mm X 40.4 mm X 34.4 mm in dimensions.
    This latest discovery expands the diversity of dinosaur eggs from the Late Cretaceous and offers valuable insights into the evolution of theropods during that period, according to Lou.
    The findings were published online on Monday in the journal Historical Biology.
    Lou said the research team will use micro-CT scanning to reconstruct the burial state of the egg fossils, study their formation process and further pinpoint the dinosaur type that laid these eggs as well as the reproductive methods of the species.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: Beijing issues blue alert for cold wave

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Beijing released a blue alert for cold wave on Thursday afternoon as the city is expected to embrace a cold wave from Friday to Sunday, with the lowest temperature dropping by over 10 degrees Celsius, according to the municipal meteorological service.
    Zhai Liang, chief forecaster of the municipal meteorological service, said that due to the influence of cold air, Beijing will experience rain, strong winds and significant temperature drops from Thursday to Sunday. The city’s mountainous areas with high altitude are likely to see sleet.
    Starting from Friday night, temperatures in Beijing will decrease by 8 to 10 degrees Celsius. It is forecast that on Sunday, the maximum temperature during the daytime will fall to around 10 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature at night will drop to about 3 degrees Celsius, and in mountainous areas, the minimum temperature will fall below 0 degree Celsius.
    The city’s temperatures will rise slowly starting from Oct. 21, Zhai added.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese scientists develop technology for sustainable production of industrial chemicals

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Chinese scientists have developed a technology for sustainable production of bio-based ethylene glycol (EG), an important bulk energy chemical, with a production capacity of 1,000 tonnes annually, marking a significant step in the green transformation of China’s chemical industry chain.
    This breakthrough will also support China’s sustainable economic development and the realization of the nation’s “dual carbon” goal, which refers to peaking its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, according to Zheng Mingyuan, a researcher with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
    A research team from DICP and SinoSci Bio-EG (Zhengzhou) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. successfully completed pilot testing of the biomass-to-bio-EG catalytic conversion technology at a scale of 1,000 tonnes annually, which passed evaluation by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation on Thursday.
    EG, mainly used in the synthesis of polyester fibers, polyester bottles, antifreeze, coatings and pharmaceuticals, has an annual global consumption of over 30 million tonnes. China is a major producer and consumer of EG, with an annual consumption exceeding 20 million tonnes.
    However, EG is primarily produced from petroleum or coal, which has disadvantages such as reliance on non-renewable resources, high carbon dioxide emissions, and high energy consumption. Therefore, the development of green and efficient EG production technologies is urgently needed, Zheng noted.
    In 2008, the research team led by Zhang Tao, an academician at the CAS, pioneered the direct catalytic conversion of cellulose into EG at DICP, establishing a novel pathway for producing bio-based EG.
    In the subsequent years, the team conducted systematic research focusing on fundamental understanding and industrial applications. They achieved significant progress in developing low-cost catalysts, investigating reaction mechanisms, converting raw materials and creating high-efficiency reaction systems.
    In 2022, the team of researchers, in collaboration with SinoSci Bio-EG and other partners, built the world’s first pilot facility for 1,000-tonne bio-EG production through catalysis in Puyang in central China’s Henan Province. The team later carried out technological improvements for the project.
    Zheng explained that the pilot facility employs the biomass feedstock of sugars derived from starch and corn stalks to produce EG through a highly selective catalytic reaction system, combined with an efficient product separation process. The entire process follows a green, low-carbon route.
    With over 40 authorized invention patents, this technology boasts a comprehensive portfolio of independent intellectual property rights, according to Zheng.
    The pilot operation has laid the foundation for the industrial application of the technology at a scale of 10,000 tonnes annually, Zheng said.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: Beijing’s 12345 hotline: Helping citizens and businesses

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    The Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center, Oct.11, 2024. [Photo by Liao Jiaxin/China.org.cn]
    On Oct. 11, the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center was buzzing with energy. The rhythmic tapping of keyboards echoed through the room, as hundreds of operators were focused on addressing callers’ concerns and crafting tailored solutions for a wide range of needs.
    Each operator works with a “dual-screen” setup: one screen displaying the call management system, the other featuring a knowledge base search interface. “The knowledge base now contains tens of thousands of policies covering all aspects of daily life,” operator Yang Junyao explained.

    The dual-screen setup for operators in the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center, Oct.11, 2024. [Photo by Liao Jiaxin/China.org.cn]
    The center is equipped with a sophisticated real-time data analytics system, presented on a large screen that visually highlights the most common issues reported by the public. Official data reveals that over the past five years, the hotline has processed over 140 million inquiries from citizens and businesses, with a resolution rate of 96.5% and a satisfaction rate of 96.9%.
    In 2019, multiple departmental hotlines in Beijing were streamlined into the unified 12345 service hotline, significantly enhancing the city’s ability to respond swiftly and effectively to the concerns of both citizens and businesses. This initiative is part of a broader effort to refine Beijing’s urban management system in response to the city’s rapid socioeconomic development, incorporating advanced urban management and emergency service practices from around the world.

    A screen presents real-time analytics data at the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center, Oct.11, 2024. [Photo by Liao Jiaxin/China.org.cn]
    Liu Huan, a hotline supervisor with a decade of experience, has observed a shift in the types of issues being reported. “In the past, most calls were about individual problems like power outages or leaks. Nowadays, people also bring up public concerns, such as the need for timely garbage removal in residential compounds,” she said. This shift reflects the growing public expectations for higher standards in urban management and governance.
    Moreover, the 12345 hotline offers streamlined and specialized support services for businesses, such as one-touch direct calling and professional online consultations.
    To enhance its international service capabilities, the hotline began offering support in eight languages in 2008, meeting the diverse needs of the community and better assisting foreign residents, according to Yang.
    The Beijing 12345 service hotline has become a vital conduit for efficient communication between citizens, businesses and the government. The saying, “When in doubt, call 12345 — it works!” has become a common expression among Beijing’s residents, cementing the hotline’s status as a prestigious emblem of the city.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: 15 jailed for building collapse in central China

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    A total of 15 people were sentenced to prison in central China’s Hunan Province on Thursday for their roles in a deadly building collapse that claimed 54 lives in 2022.
    The defendants, including the owner of the illegally built and extended building and officials who were found of dereliction of duty, received jail terms ranging from two years and nine months to 12 years, according to their first-instance verdicts by local courts.
    The incident occurred in Wangcheng District in the provincial capital of Changsha on April 29, 2022, leaving 54 dead and nine wounded. The State Council set up an investigation team to look into the incident shortly after it occurred.
    Wu Zhiyong, the owner of the building, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for negligence leading to the incident. He had hired unqualified construction workers to illegally construct and extend the building, which he then leased as an accommodation and catering venue, according to the verdict.
    Despite clear signs of the building’s imminent collapse, Wu failed to organize emergency evacuations, resulting in heavy casualties. He was also convicted of conspiring with others to repeatedly destroy other people’s property, the verdict showed.
    Zhou Zhengmao, former deputy head of Wangcheng District, was handed a jail term of 12 years for dereliction of duty and accepting bribes.
    Others convicted include inspectors from urban management and market regulation departments, as well as shareholders and testing personnel from a company that issued fake documents for the building project.
    The company, Hunan Xiangda Engineering Testing Co., Ltd., was fined 1 million yuan (about $140,400).
    Lawmakers, political advisors and relatives of the victims and defendants attended the sentencing.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: David Lammy must use China visit to challenge Beijing’s brutal suppression of human rights

    Source: Amnesty International –

    © AFP via Getty Images

    ‘The Government should ensure that talks on trade and security relations with China aren’t pursued at the expense of human rights’- Sacha Deshmukh

    Commenting on Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s first visit to China expected to take place tomorrow and Saturday, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:

    “This visit is a crucial opportunity for the Foreign Secretary to demonstrate the Government’s true commitment to challenging publicly and privately Beijing’s brutal suppression of human rights in China and Hong Kong.

    “Behind closed doors but also in public, David Lammy needs to tackle the Chinese government over its systematic, industrial-scale repression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, its widespread imprisonment of peaceful activists and its completely unacceptable intimidation of students and campaigners here in the UK.  

    “The Prime Minister’s statement that the immediate release of the unjustly-imprisoned UK businessman Jimmy Lai is a UK priority is welcome, and Mr Lammy should also seek to secure the immediate release of fellow prisoners of conscience Hong Kong lawyer-activist Chow Hang-tung and Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, as well as the long-held Uighur economist Ilham Tohti and #MeToo activists Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing.

    “Throughout this trip, the Government should ensure that talks on trade and security relations with China aren’t pursued at the expense of human rights.”

    Long arm of Chinese state repression

    The Chinese authorities routinely target peaceful critics via pervasive online censorship, arbitrary arrest, detention and torture. Human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists and religious leaders and practitioners have been among those subjected to systematic persecution. The widespread repression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet has continued despite significant international criticism.

    In Hong Kong, journalists, broadcasters and book publishers have been among those prosecuted and imprisoned under the territory’s notorious National Security Law and other repressive legislation, while civil society organisations both in Hong Kong and abroad have faced criminal charges or harassment for their legitimate activities. The long arm of Chinese state repression has meant that Chinese and Hong Kong communities in the UK, other parts of Europe and North America have all suffered various kinds of threats and intimidation, part of a sinister pattern of “transnational repression”.

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    MIL OSI NGO

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: CNO Press Briefing: Atlantic Council

    Source: United States Navy

    GENERAL JAMES L. JONES: Good morning, everybody. And welcome to today’s event with Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti—chief of naval operations of the world’s finest Navy, I might add—to discuss her 2024 Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting [Navy].

    My name is Jim Jones, and I serve as executive chairman emeritus here at the Atlantic Council and as chairman of the Scowcroft Center. So, on behalf of the Scowcroft Center and the Atlantic Council, as well as its Forward Defense Program, I would like to welcome you to this exciting fourth installment of our 2024 Commander Series.

    As we all know, since its origin the United States has relied on her Navy to maintain global maritime dominance, ensuring freedom of navigation, the ability to project US power across the globe and played a critical role in the nation’s strategic deterrent capabilities. As we continue into this era of strategic competition with peer or near-peer adversaries, potential adversaries, namely China and Russia, and the threat landscape evolves, the Navy faces many challenges, and its capabilities are stretched across the world.

    The Navy, and I might add the Marine Corps—you’re not going to get away with a commandant introducing you without mentioning the Marine Corps—but the Navy and her Marines must be ready for the possibility of war in the near future. But beyond that, it will need to continue to enhance its long-term advantage to deter future aggression and ensure a major contribution to global stability. A critical component in the effectiveness of this strategy will be leveraging technological innovation to maintain a ready and modern force. The Navy will need to invest in newer platforms, newer weapon systems, and embrace robotic and autonomous systems as well.

    The key advantage that the United States holds over its adversaries is the strong alliance network the US maintains. The Navy must continue to strengthen these relationships, to enhance collective security, deter adversarial aggression by improving interoperability with joint and allied forces. With so many threats looming on the not-so-distant horizon, it is also imperative that the Navy has a forward-thinking strategic vision that leverages all the advantages the United States holds, and enables the readiness to respond in competition, crisis, and conflict if necessary.

    And so today, we’re extremely fortunate to be joined by the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who will discuss her recently published Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy. This is her strategic guidance for the US fleet during her tenure. A native of Pittsford, New York, Admiral Franchetti is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism and was commissioned through Northwestern University NROTC program in 1985. She earned her Surface Warfare qualification on the USS Shenandoah, went on to command at all levels, including Naval Reserve, Central Point, Oregon, USS Ross, Destroyer Squadron 21, US Naval Forces Korea, Carrier Strike Group 9 and 15, the US Sixth Fleet in Italy, and Striking and Support Forces NATO in Portugal.

    In addition to command, she has worked across the Navy and the joint force with emphasis on strategy, international engagement, and interagency collaboration, serving as the director Strategy, Plans, and Policy, J-5, and most recently as the vice chief of naval operations. As chief of naval operations, Admiral Franchetti is responsible for the command, use of resources, and operational efficiency of the naval operating forces and the Navy’s shore activities assigned by the secretary of the navy.

    Admiral Franchetti, we look forward to hearing from you today, and we’re very grateful for your presence here. After the admiral’s keynote remarks, she will be joined by Dan Lamothe for a moderated discussion. Dan has held a long career as a journalist and has written extensively about the armed forces for more than fifteen years. Since 2014, he has been covering the United States military and the Pentagon for The Washington Post. Dan, thank you very much for joining us today.

    I would also like to thank everyone attending this conversation with the admiral, whether in person or virtually. [Convenings] such [as] these are integral to the Atlantic Council’s [Scowcroft] Center for Strategy and Security, which works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and her allies and partners. Consistent with that mission, Forward Defense generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, her allies, and partners. Its work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources of the United States needed to deter and, if necessary, prevail in any future conflict.

    I would like to extend a special thanks to Saab Corporation and Michael Anderson, who, unfortunately, couldn’t be here today but is usually in attendance. Saab and the Atlantic Council launched the Commander Series back in 2009. The vision was to establish a flagship speakers forum for senior military and defense leaders to discuss the most important security challenges, both now and in the future. Over the years, the program has become one of the Council’s main institutions. And we’re thankful to Saab for their continued support and collaborations. Before I turn it over to Admiral Franchetti for her keynote remarks, I’d like to remind everybody that this event is public and on the record. Thank you all for joining the Atlantic Council for what I know will be a captivating conversation.

    Admiral Franchetti, without any further ado, the floor is yours. Welcome.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Well, thank you, General Jones, for your kind introduction and warm welcome. And I also want to thank the Atlantic Council for letting me be part of the Commander Series. It’s an incredible opportunity. And I’m very excited to have the opportunity to speak with all of you today.

    So, as General Jones just mentioned, I recently released my Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy, which is my overarching strategic guidance to the Navy to make our nation’s fleet more ready for potential conflict with the PRC by 2027, while also enhancing our Navy’s long-term warfighting advantage. But before I talk a little bit more about that, I want to talk about the why—the why behind the NAVPLAN, and what your navy is doing all around the world to protect our nation’s security and prosperity, to deter any would-be adversary, and to always be ready to fight and win decisively, if called to do so.

    As you all know, our Navy—our nation is and always has been a maritime nation. Seventy percent of our planet is made up of water. Eighty percent of the world’s population lives within two hundred kilometers of the coastline. Ninety percent of the global economy moves by sea. And 95 percent of international communications and about ten trillion dollars of financial transactions transit via undersea fiber optic cables every single day. In the United States alone, seaborn trade carries more tonnage in value than any other mode of transportation each year, generating about $5.4 trillion annually and supporting thirty-one million American jobs. And when our access to the sea is impacted, so too is our economy, our national security, and really our way of life.

    And I could think about a lot of different examples over the past years that demonstrate that intimate connection. Just think back to the impacts of COVID-19, the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal, and now Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and even the port strikes on the east and west coast—gulf coast just a few weeks ago. It’s really clear that the seas are the lifeblood of our nation. And since the days of the Revolutionary War, as General Jones pointed out, our Navy and our Marine Corps team has protected and guaranteed our access to that sea. And on Sunday, we just celebrated our 249th birthday.

    I think the events of this year and the actions taken by your Navy-Marine Corps team in the Indo-Pacific, in the Mediterranean, in the Red Sea, and beyond really underscore the enduring importance of American naval power throughout our nation’s history. With an average of about 110 ships and seventy thousand sailors and Marines deployed on any given day, the Navy-Marine Corps team is operating forward, defending our homeland, and keeping open the sea lines of communication that fuel our economy. In the Indo-Pacific right now, the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group and the America Amphibious Readiness Group, with the 31st MEU embarked, are working alongside allies and partners to sustain a free and open regional order and enhance our collective interoperability.

    In the Baltic, the Atlantic, the high north, and the Mediterranean, our navies continue to work alongside NATO and other partner navies to defend NATO and to support Ukraine as they defend their country and their democracy, to further deter Russian aggression, and to ensure that Russia’s continued unjustified and horrific invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine is a strategic failure. And in the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the western Indian Ocean, our naval forces—including aircraft carrier strike groups, amphibious readiness groups, submarines and multiple destroyers—working alongside allies and partners, are containing the Israel-Hamas conflict, deterring others, especially Iran and its proxies, from escalating hostilities into regional war, and continuing to support Israel’s defense.

    Over the last few weeks, more American destroyers—the Bulkeley, the Frank E. PetersenMichael Murphy, and the Cole—have joined about a dozen other naval assets over the last year in knocking down Iranian and Houthi-launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones in defense of the rules-based international order, in defense of innocent civilian mariners, and in defense of Israel. The ability of our forces to seamlessly operate in any theater speaks to the value our Navy has provided to our nation for the last 249 years.

    We operate in a unique domain. It’s a domain that knows no boundaries. It’s a domain that transcends lines that are drawn on a map, and one in which the Navy provides agile, flexible options and decision space to our nation’s leaders every single day. I could not be more proud of that Navy team. It’s the active and reserve sailors. It’s our civilians. And it’s our families. There’s no other Navy in the world that can operate at this scale. No other Navy in the world can train, deploy, and sustain such a lethal, globally deployed, combat credible force at the pace, the scale, and the tempo that we do.

    And while all that we have achieved these past 249 years has filled me with confidence, I know that we cannot take our foot off the gas, because there’s no doubt that our nation is at an inflection point in history. We are facing a changing and challenging security environment, a changing character of war, and real challenges in ship, submarine, aircraft, construction and maintenance, munitions production, recruiting, and infrastructure maintenance. All while acknowledging the industrial and budgetary constraints complicating our efforts to address these challenges.

    I’ve already talked a little bit about the security environment, but I want to expand on how that’s changed a little bit more. As we are seeing, the rules-based international order that we have upheld, protected, and defended for over three-quarters of a century is under threat, in every ocean. The People’s Republic of China is our pacing challenge and presents a complex, multi-domain and multi-axis threat. I am eyes wide open that the challenge posed by the PRC to our Navy goes well beyond just the size of the PLAN fleet.

    It includes gray zone and economic campaigns, expansion of dual-use infrastructure like airfields and ports, and dual-use forces like the Chinese maritime militia, and a growing nuclear arsenal. It’s backed by a massive defense industrial base, which is on a wartime footing and includes the world’s largest shipbuilding capacity. The growing capabilities, capacity, and reach of the PRC military, along with its increasingly aggressive behavior in the East and South China Seas, underscore what Chairman Xi has told his forces, that they should be ready for war by 2027.

    The PRC is not our only competitor. Russia continues to be an acute threat. Iran, a stabling actor in the Middle East. And we are seeing increasing alignment of these competitors, the PRC, Russia, Iran, North Korea, violent extremist organizations, and globally sponsored terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, ISIS-K, and more. In addition to this dynamic security environment, we’re also facing a changing character of war, with advancements in battlefield innovation and cheaper, more accessible technology available to state and nonstate actors alike. We’re all learning a great deal from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the continued Houthi ballistic missile, cruise missile, and drone attacks in the Red Sea.

    To get after all these challenges, I would love to have the resources and the industrial base capacity to just expand the size of our force overnight. And I acknowledge the need for a larger, more lethal force. But it’s no secret to any of you that we are facing financial and industrial headwinds at getting, what I like to call, more players on the field. Our budget falls short of the 3 to 5 percent increase above inflation needed to support the Navy’s growth. And we’ve had continuing resolutions for fourteen of the past fifteen years, which stifle our momentum and slow any progress in delivering the warfighting capability and capacity needed to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.

    And while we’re investing significant resources to address our industrial base challenges, change will not happen overnight. We cannot manifest a bigger Navy—a bigger traditional Navy in just a few short years. So as I came into this position, I took all of this in—the changing security environment, the changing character of war, and our own challenges—and that is what provided the context that framed my Navigation Plan. It’s a plan that lays out where we need to go to make our Navy more ready for potential conflict anytime and anywhere. As the CNO who will be at the helm into 2027, I am compelled to do more, and do more faster, to ensure that our Navy is more ready. I can’t stand still as we work to secure long-term investments for our force.

    And so my Navigation Plan essentially parks these known challenges in a box. I’m still going to work on them, but they’re not the only thing I’m going to think about. And it helps me set a course to make strategic gains in the fastest time possible with the resources I can influence. It builds on America’s Warfighting Navy, a document that I released in January that lays out my priorities of warfighting, warfighters, and the foundation that supports them. And the NAVPLAN continues where my predecessor’s 2022 NAVPLAN left off. It lays out my plan to raise our fleet’s baseline level of readiness and put more players on the field—platforms that are ready with the requisite capabilities, weapons, and sustainment, and people that are ready with the right mindset, skills, tools, and training.

    And it does that really in two ways. First, by implementing what I call Project 33, seven key areas in which we need to accelerate, areas where I will invest my personal time and resources and put my thumb on the scale to urgently move the needle, with 2027 as our North Star. And second, by expanding the Navy’s contribution to the joint warfighting ecosystem. This is all about building enduring warfighting advantage by investing in key capabilities and creating the layered effects that the Navy can contribute across all domains, to those of the joint force and those of our allies and partners. This is fundamental to my vision of how we will deter and, if necessary, fight and win our future wars.

    So, going back to the first I’d like to briefly just touch on these seven equally important Project 33 targets, as they align to my priorities of warfighting, warfighters, and the foundation that supports them.

    Under warfighting, my first target is readying our platforms.

    The second target is operationalizing robotic and autonomous systems.

    My third target is fighting from the Maritime Operations Center. That’s our command and control nerve center and it will help synchronize how we deliver effects as a Navy and as a broader joint and combined force.

    Under the warfighters’ bucket, my fourth target is recruiting and retaining talented people.

    My fifth target is delivering the quality of service that our sailors and their families deserve.

    My sixth target is investing in warfighter competency, making our live virtual constructive training as reliable, realistic, and as relevant as possible.

    And finally in the foundation bucket, my seventh target is restoring the critical infrastructure that generates, sustains, and postures our force to fight, prioritizing the Pacific theater.

    Together, these seven targets—really, stretch goals—they represent my plan to make strategic gains in the fastest time possible with the resources I can influence. I know that moving out with purpose and urgency on these targets will deter the PRC and any other potential adversary, and make us even more ready to fight and win decisively should that deterrence fail.

    I’d like to end with just a few comments about the joint warfighting ecosystem I mentioned before because my Navigation Plan is critical to expanding our Navy’s contribution to it. I know that our Navy will never fight alone, so we are laser-focused on developing and integrating key Navy capabilities with those of our joint teammates and of our allies and partners, because it’s the aggregate effects that we deliver collectively that will matter.

    The joint warfighting ecosystem is all about pooling and creating those aggregate effects. It’s a system in which a capability enables and then is enabled by each of its participants. It’s on display in the Middle East right now, and I know it’s one that Admiral Paparo will leverage in the Indo-Pacific.

    Achieving these objectives in my Navigation Plan is an all-hands-on-deck effort where everyone has a role to play—industry, Congress, academia, our joint teammates, our allies and partners, and of course our sailors and our civilians. So I would like to thank all of you here for your interest in our Navy, and I would like to thank you for all that you have done to support our Navy team and will continue to do in the future to support America’s warfighting Navy.

    I have a clock in my office that tells me that there are 807 days left until 1 January 2027. There is no time to waste, and your Navy is ready to get after it. Thank you very much, and I look forward to discussion today. Thank you.

    Dan.

    DAN LAMOTHE: All right. Good morning, everyone.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Good morning.

    DAN LAMOTHE: Thank you for your time today, ma’am.

    You just spent several minutes articulating your plan. I know you must have spent a lot of time planning that. This town often sees plans that run into headwinds, run into real-life events. Can you walk us through a bit what you think you can do to make this plan durable, make this happen, kind of clear-eyed, noting the headwinds, the budgetary constraints, and other things like that?

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Yeah. Well, thank you. And again, thanks for the chance to talk a little bit about the plan today.

    You know, I think this plan is a little bit different from some of the plans that we have had in the past, and I worked to make sure that it would be durable and it would stick. And I really spent about the last year working on this plan alongside all of our four-star commanders, our fleet commanders, our type commanders to really get after what are the things that we need to do and what we do we need to do to think, act, and operate differently to stay ahead of the challenges that we have with the resources that we can influence right now.

    And so when you look at the plan, it’s very focused—I would say it’s different in a few ways from previous plans.

    First, it’s focused on 2027. It’s focused on the PRC. So I’ve set my priorities, my sight. It’s narrowly focused on getting after those challenges.

    The other thing is that it really builds on Navigation Plan 2022, in which we had about eighteen different areas which we were really focused on and a lot of structure was put in place with single accountable individuals to drive progress in each one of those areas. I took a look, I took a fix, and I said, all right, here’s where we are based on NAVPLAN 2022, and here are seven areas where I think we can really put our foot on the gas and accelerate our progress in those to be real gamechangers in what we need to be able to do in the future.

    I think the last thing I would say what’s different about it is that it does have this single accountable individual responsible for each one of the targets that we’re trying to get after. And what we’ve found through our perform-to-plan and naval sustainment systems, processes have been put in place, if you have a stretch goal, a single accountable individual, and a cadence of accountability, that drives success.

    And the Navigation Plan will change my focus. It changes where I go, what I visit, what reports I get, what meetings I go to. And so my personal attention will be on these Project 33 goals as well as building the capabilities I talk about as the key capabilities for warfighting advantage that will get us where we need to be in the future.

    DAN LAMOTHE: OK. One of your stated goals is boosting surge readiness to 80 percent. I know talking to a lot of analysts in this town, they raise concerns whether real-life events, physics, other things would really challenge this. And I know you’ve raised previously the aircraft as a kind of parallel. Do you see 80 percent as aspirational, achievable, both? And I guess, how do you put your foot on the gas with that?

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Thanks. This is one of the most important—all seven are equally important, but you know, I’ve long said that we need to get more players on the field. There’s a lot of ways to do that. You know, one is to buy new ones. One is to get them in and out of maintenance on time, which is—that’s why I put this goal in here. One is to use what you have differently.

    I am focused on this, because the aviation example is really illustrative of what we know we can achieve. So in 2018, Secretary Mattis challenged our aviation community to get F/A-18 readiness up from 50 percent readiness/availability to 80 percent. And over the process of these—the last couple of years, and now six years on, we’ve been able to sustain 80 percent readiness in the F/A-18s because of the processes that we put in place, data-driven, daily drumbeats of accountability to make sure that we understood what the readiness was, what the barriers were to achieving that readiness, and moving forward.

    They’ve been able to scale that now through other type model series, and we’ve expanded it to the submarine force and also the surface force. So it’s a stretch goal, but I am committed and the team is committed to going after that stretch goal. So we are putting all those—we have, actually, all those processes in place now, and I’m really looking forward to that.

    I will just give another example, a metric in surface that might be useful. So, you know, on-time completion of maintenance availabilities is really important. So if you think back in 2022 we had about 27 percent completion on time, 2023 we moved it up into the 30 percents, and this year we’ll be up to 67 percent. So we put in a lot of procedures to be able to plan maintenance availabilities early in a surface, a submarine, and aviation, making sure we understand what parts we need, having available pool of parts, investing in those parts so they can be there on time; planning our stuff—maintenance availabilities at least six months ahead of time and locking them in to let industry know what’s coming and also get those parts on order. Those are some of the things we’re doing.

    So these are stretch goals, but I am confident that we’re going to work hard to get after them. And if we don’t make exactly 80 percent, we’re going to be farther along the road than we would be if I hadn’t set such an ambitious goal.

    DAN LAMOTHE: OK.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: And I will say all the communities are locked hands on these goals, so we are all committed to working together to get after them.

    DAN LAMOTHE: A lot of discussions about the future of the Navy tend to focus on ship numbers. I heard in your comments there you kind of addressed that head on. To what do you—what degree do you consider that construct limiting, and to what degree do you consider that construct necessary? You know, I—there’s a pragmatic aspect to this, but numbers are numbers, and I’m sure that’s something that you get an earful on a lot as well.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Certainly. Well, I fully acknowledge that we need a larger, more lethal Navy. You know, we have multiple assessments that say that we need to have a larger Navy, and I really want to work closely, you know, with Congress, with industry to be able to deliver that Navy that we need. And that’s a really important thing.

    But the size of the Navy is not the only thing that matters. I think if you look at that future warfighting ecosystem, it’s really about the effects you can deliver with that Navy from a widely dispersed, disaggregated force integrated with all of the other forces of our joint force, whether it’s cyber, space, Air Force, Army, Marines. You can definitely envision a different type of warfighting environment where all of those effects are layered together, and that is really how we’re going to beat any adversary.

    So, to me, it’s both. We need to focus on getting the fleet that we need with the capabilities we need, but we also need to understand how we’re going to better integrate them with the joint force and alongside our allies and partners. And really, how do we build that interoperability from the ground up with allies and partners through both weapons systems but also exercises, and make sure that we can really plug and play, plug and fight any time that we need to be able to do that?

    DAN LAMOTHE: OK. Thank you.

    Let’s talk some current ops and maybe tie it back to the plan a bit. The Navy’s been extremely busy in the Red Sea and other parts of the Middle East over the last year. You know, I think a lot of us are tracking ship movements and things like that on a level that, you know, is not always common. What is the service learning as a result as seemingly almost daily sailors are knocking, you know, munitions out of the sky? And how long do you think the service can keep this up? It seems to me that there would be concern as this stretches on on magazine depth and also on just, you know, as you’re trying to pivot elsewhere this seemingly doesn’t go away.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Well, first, I couldn’t be more proud of our Navy and Marine Corps team that’s out there. As I said earlier, you know, from day one we’ve been there to deter further escalation. And you know, I’m very proud of all of our ships—working alongside allies and partners, I would add—there in the Red Sea and in the—in the Indian Ocean to really uphold that rules-based international order.

    I think we’re learning a lot by being in the Red Sea. First, the value of allies and partners. And again, all of these exercises and training that we do all around the world, that’s enabled us to work together to get after this challenge.

    I would say a few other things. First, that our sailors are confident in their weapons system. And that’s really a testament to the development of these weapons systems over the last many years, but also to the training, the certification, all of the work we do to get our sailors, our ships, our aircraft, everything ready to go before they head into harm’s way. And our systems have performed as designed. So, again, it’s a real testament to the designers, the engineers, and now our people who are able to employ them effectively.

    I think the other thing that we’re learning is that we’ve been able to observe all of the different engagements, everything that the Houthis have used, all of their Iranian-supplied weapons systems, and we’ve been able to look at their tactics that they’re using. We’ve been able to use data and extract that information from our weapons systems, bring that back here to the US in a matter of hours. And getting that to our engineers; to our warfighting development centers where they develop tactics, techniques, and procedures; this has been really a gamechangers because then all the experts can work together, understand what’s going on. As tactics evolve, then we can introduce different tactics, adjustments to radars, whatever it is we need to do to be able to get after that.

    I’ll just give a small example. When I was out visiting one of our ships, I got to promote a fire controlman second class to first class. And he was a technician who worked with a gun weapons system, and he had an idea about how he could make the gun more effective against Houthi threats. And he wrote up his idea, he sent it back to the technical authorities, they validated it, and they put it out the rest of the fleet because it was a better way to use the gun and more effective. And so we got to put technology into the hands of a warfighter; we got him to think about how to think, act, and operate differently; and he was really a pioneer in innovating there on the battlefield.

    I always like to say in Ukraine they innovate on the battlefield every single day. They take what they have and they use it differently. We need to be able to do the same. So I think that’s another lesson that we’ve learned there.

    DAN LAMOTHE: OK.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: And to your last point about, you know, are we concerned about our sustainability to be there, of course, our job is to be there, and that is what we train our people to do. So I’m very proud to be able to do that mission. And we’re continuing to work, again, to invest in the munitions as I talk about the foundation—munitions, bases, infrastructure—all those things we need to generate and sustain the force, committed to getting after that.

    DAN LAMOTHE: All right.

    And I think we have just time for one more question. We’ve seen the Abraham Lincoln Strike Group extended. We’ve seen the Marine Expeditionary Unit extended along with the ARG. As we see this extend, you know, it occurs to me we don’t necessarily have a follow-on ARG new behind it. To what degree are you concerned about being able to sustain the tempo out there?

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Well, as you know, we train, deploy, and certify all of our forces to be able to meet the requirements that are set forth, you know, by the secretary. We’re a globally deployed force, and I think that’s one of the greatest things about the flexibility of our Navy. We can generate the forces, we can send them where they need to go, and allow the secretary to be able to move them between the different theaters to get after the missions that we have. So I’m confident in our ability to do that.

    I am very focused on readiness for all of our ships. You know, when you think about in the big picture what are my priorities, first, Columbia, our number-one acquisition priority. But after that, readiness, capability, and then capacity. I’m really focused on readiness and getting after all of these maintenance challenges that have caused some of the delays in the past, whether it’s in our amphibious force or in any one of our platforms. So, again, that’s how we’re going to get after this. And that’s why that’s a key part of our Navigation Plan.

    DAN LAMOTHE: OK. Thank you all for your time today. I’d ask you to remain seated so that the admiral can depart for another meeting.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Thank you very much.

    DAN LAMOTHE: All right.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Thank you.

    DAN LAMOTHE: Thank you.

    LISA FRANCHETTI: Oh, thanks. That was fun.

    DAN LAMOTHE: Thank you.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Lo Chung-mau meets Hainan officials

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau met a delegation led by Hainan Vice Governor Xie Jing today to introduce the initiatives on developing Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub as set out in the 2024 Policy Address.
     
    At the meeting, Prof Lo updated the delegation on the latest development of Hong Kong’s healthcare policy, including initiatives put forward in the Policy Address, including complementing technological innovation with institutional innovation through expediting the reform of the approval mechanism for drugs and medical devices, and strengthening research and development and translation of biomedical technology.
     
    The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will support the innovation and application of advanced biomedical technology, with a view to attracting the world’s top-notch biomedical enterprises and research organisations to set up operations in Hong Kong, Prof Lo stressed.
     
    Additionally, the progress of hospital accreditation of public hospitals in the Hong Kong SAR through the adoption of “China’s International Hospital Accreditation Standards (2021 Version)” was discussed during the meeting.
     
    Prof Lo pointed out that the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to actively promote the adoption of the accreditation standards by more public hospitals, including extending the adoption of the standards to two to three more public hospitals in addition to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital.
     
    The participation of public hospitals in the accreditation programme can serve as a demonstration to the international community the national hospital accreditation standards, with Hong Kong acting as a gateway to facilitate the national standards to go global, he highlighted.
     
    In this connection, both parties also explored ways to further encourage more hospitals in the two places to pursue accreditation so as to amplify the impact of the standards.
     
    “Looking ahead, we will remain committed to fostering cross-boundary medical co-operation so as to propel the important national strategy of ‘Healthy China’ through concerted contributions,” the health chief added.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Study Highlights Damage of Biden-Harris Proposed LNG Ban

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Association of Manufacturers released its “Economic Benefits of U.S. LNG Exports” report, highlighting the positive impact American liquified natural gas (LNG) has on the economy, as well as the prospective damage of the Biden-Harris administration’s ban on LNG export permits. 

    The report found that U.S. LNG exports currently support 222,450 jobs, resulting in $23.2 billion in labor income, while adding $43.8 billion of value to the American economy. It also found that the Biden-Harris January 2024 ban on LNG exports, if continued, could cost an estimated 900,000 jobs, $216 billion of economic growth, and cause American communities to lose $48 billion in tax and royalty revenues by 2044.

    In July, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) led over 50 of his colleagues in a bipartisan call for the White House to expedite approvals of new LNG export permits after a federal judge blocked the administration’s ban on new exports.

    “Since their first day in office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have launched a unilateral assault on American oil and gas, choking the lifeblood of our economy, crushing consumers with high energy costs, and sending oil production overseas – enriching our adversaries like Russia and China,” said Chairman Arrington in a July statement. “Thankfully, the Biden-Harris ban on American LNG export permits was blocked. Yet, their administration is still dragging its heels on approving these permits in an attempt to placate the far-Left. It’s critical that the DOE swiftly approve stalled export permit applications to strengthen our economy, bolster our energy security, and restore American energy dominance.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: The cumulative overall exports during April -September 2024 is estimated at USD 393.22Billion, as compared to USD 375Billion in April-September 2023, with an estimated growth of 4.86%.

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Ministry of Commerce & Industry

    The cumulative overall exports during April -September 2024 is estimated at USD 393.22Billion, as compared to USD 375Billion in April-September 2023, with an estimated growth of 4.86%.

    The cumulative value of merchandise exports during April-September 2024 was USD 213.22 Billion, as compared to USD 211.08 Billion during April-September 2023, registering a positive growth of 1.02%.

    Non-petroleum & Non-Gems & Jewellery exports registered an increase of 9.14% from USD 24.76 Billion in September 2023 to USD 27.03 Billion in September 2024.

    Major drivers of merchandise exports growth in September 2024 include Engineering Goods, Organic & Inorganic Chemicals, Plastic & Linoleum, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals and RMG of all Textiles.

    Engineering Goods exports increased by 10.55% from USD 8.89 Billion in September 2023 to USD 9.82 Billion in September 2024.

    Organic & Inorganic Chemicals exports increased by 11.21% from USD 2.12 Billion in September 2023 to USD 2.36 Billion in September 2024.

    Plastic & Linoleum exports increased by 28.32% from USD 0.62 Billion in September 2023 to USD 0.79 Billion in September 2024.

    Drugs & Pharmaceuticals exports increased by 7.22% from USD 2.39 Billion in September 2023 to USD 2.57 Billion in September 2024.

    RMG of all Textiles exports increased by 17.30% from USD 0.95 Billion in September 2023 to USD 1.11 Billion in September 2024.

    Posted On: 16 OCT 2024 6:10PM by PIB Delhi

    India’s total exports (Merchandise and Services combined) for September 2024* is estimated at USD 65.19 Billion, registering a positive growth of 3.76 percent vis-à-vis September 2023.Total imports (Merchandise and Services combined) for September 2024* is estimated at USD 71.68 Billion, registering a positive growth of 3.79 percent vis-à-vis September 2023.

    Table 1: Trade during September 2024*

     

     

    September 2024

    (USD Billion)

    September 2023

    (USD Billion)

    Merchandise

    Exports

    34.58

    34.41

    Imports

    55.36

    54.49

    Services*

    Exports

    30.61

    28.42

    Imports

    16.32

    14.58

    Total Trade

    (Merchandise +Services) *

    Exports

    65.19

    62.83

    Imports

    71.68

    69.06

    Trade Balance

    -6.49

    -6.23

    * Note: The latest data for services sector released by RBI is for August2024. The data for September 2024 is an estimation, which will be revised based on RBI’s subsequent release. (ii) Data for April-September 2023 and April-June 2024 has been revised on pro-rata basis using quarterly balance of payments data.

    Fig 1: Total Trade during September2024*

     

    India’s total exports during April-September2024* is estimated at USD 393.22 Billion registering a positive growth of 4.86 percent. Total imports during April-September 2024* is estimated at USD 448.05 Billion registering a growth of 6.89 percent.

    Table 2: Trade during April-September 2024*

     

     

    April-September 2024

    (USD Billion)

    April-September 2023

    (USD Billion)

    Merchandise

    Exports

    213.22

    211.08

    Imports

    350.66

    330.32

    Services*

    Exports

    180.00

    163.92

    Imports

    97.39

    88.86

    Total Trade

    (Merchandise +Services) *

    Exports

    393.22

    375.00

    Imports

    448.05

    419.18

    Trade Balance

    -54.83

    -44.18

     

    Fig 2: Total Trade during April-September 2024*    

          

    MERCHANDISE TRADE

    • Merchandise exports during September 2024 were USD 34.58 Billion as compared to USD 34.41 Billion in September 2023.
    • Merchandise imports during September 2024 were USD 55.36 Billion as compared to USD 54.49 Billion in September 2023.

     

    Fig 3: Merchandise Trade during September 2024

    • Merchandise exports during April-September 2024 were USD 213.22 Billion as compared to USD 211.08Billion during April-September 2023.
    • Merchandise imports during April-September 2024 were USD 350.66 Billion as compared to USD 330.32 Billion during April-September 2023.
    • Merchandise trade deficit during April-September 2024 was USD 137.44 Billion as compared to USD 119.24 Billion during April-September 2023.

    Fig4: Merchandise Trade during April-September 2024

    • Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in September 2024 were USD 27.03Billion compared to USD 24.76Billion in September 2023.
    • Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in September 2024 were USD 36.49Billion compared to USD 34.21Billion in September 2023.

     

    Table 3: Trade excluding Petroleum and Gems & Jewellery during September 2024

     

    September 2024

    (USD Billion)

    September 2023

    (USD Billion)

    Non- petroleum exports

    29.85

    27.95

    Non- petroleum imports

    42.82

    40.48

    Non-petroleum & Non-Gems & Jewellery exports

    27.03

    24.76

    Non-petroleum & Non-Gems & Jewellery imports

    36.49

    34.21

    Note: Gems & Jewellery Imports include Gold, Silver & Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones

     

    Fig 5: Trade excluding Petroleum and Gems & Jewellery during September 2024

    • Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in April-September 2024 were USD 162.77 Billion, compared to USD 153.71 Billion in April-September 2023.
    • Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in April-September 2024 were USD 222.72 Billion, compared to USD 211.34 Billion in April-September 2023.

    Table 4: Trade excluding Petroleum and Gems & Jewellery during April-September 2024

     

    April-September 2024

    (USD Billion)

    April-September 2023

    (USD Billion)

    Non- petroleum exports

    176.68

    169.33

    Non- petroleum imports

    261.75

    246.36

    Non-petroleum &Non Gems& Jewellery exports

    162.77

    153.71

    Non-petroleum & Non Gems & Jewellery imports

    222.72

    211.34

    Note: Gems & Jewellery Imports include Gold, Silver & Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones

    Fig 6: Trade excluding Petroleum and Gems & Jewellery during April-September 2024

     

    SERVICES TRADE

    • The estimated value of services export for September 2024* is USD 30.61 Billion as compared to USD 28.42Billion in September 2023.
    • The estimated value of services imports for September 2024* is USD 16.32 Billion as compared to USD 14.58Billion in September 2023.

     

    Fig 7: Services Trade during September2024*

     

    • The estimated value of service exports during April-September 2024* is USD 180 Billion as compared to USD 163.92 Billion in April-September 2023.
    • The estimated value of service imports during April-September 2024* is USD 97.39 Billion as compared to USD 88.86 Billion in April-September 2023.
    • The services trade surplus for April-September 2024* is USD 82.61 Billion as compared to USD 75.06 Billion in April-September 2023.

    Fig 8: Services Trade during April-September 2024*

    • Exports of Coffee (74.75%), Tobacco (50.9%), Handicrafts Excl. Hand Made Carpet (48.09%), Plastic & Linoleum (28.32%), Spices (26.66%), Rice (24.93%), Rmg Of All Textiles (17.3%), Jute Mfg. Including Floor Covering (16.45%), Cereal Preparations & Miscellaneous Processed Items (15.25%), Carpet (14.93%), Oil Seeds (14.73%), Oil Meals (13%), Man-Made Yarn/Fabs./Made-Ups Etc. (11.41%), Organic & Inorganic Chemicals (11.21%), Engineering Goods (10.55%), Leather & Leather Products (8.86%), Fruits & Vegetables (8.38%), Electronic Goods (7.89%), Meat, Dairy & Poultry Products (7.85%), Drugs & Pharmaceuticals (7.22%), Tea (5.73%), Cotton Yarn/Fabs./Made-Ups, Handloom Products Etc. (3.48%) and Cashew (2.23%) record positive growth during September 2024 over the corresponding month of last year.
    • Imports of Dyeing/Tanning/Colouring Mtrls. (-25.92%), Vegetable Oil  (-23.24%), Pearls, Precious & Semi-Precious Stones (-21.62%), Leather & Leather Products (-16.62%), Newsprint (-13.62%), Petroleum, Crude & Products (-10.44%), Artificial Resins, Plastic Materials, Etc. (-8.76%), Coal, Coke & Briquettes, Etc. (-2.14%), Textile Yarn Fabric, Made-Up Articles (-1.8%) and Transport Equipment (-0.38%) record negative growth during September 2024 over the corresponding month of last year.
    • Services exports is estimated to grow by 9.81percent during April-September 2024* over April-September 2023.
    • Top 5 export destinations, in terms of change in value, exhibiting positive growth in September 2024 vis a vis September 2023 are Netherland (38.6%), U Arab Emts (23.75%), U S A (4.98%), Brazil (41.98%) and Japan (36.35%).
    • Top 5 export destinations, in terms of change in value, exhibiting positive growth in April-September 2024 vis a vis April-September 2023 are Netherland (36.73%), U S A (5.6%), U Arab Emts (11.45%), Malaysia (27.91%) and U K (12.4%).
    • Top 5 import sources, in terms of change in value, exhibiting growth in September 2024 vis a vis September 2023 are U Arab Emts (49.22%), China P Rp (14.46%), Germany (32.52%), Japan (25.72%) and Taiwan (38.17%)
    • Top 5 import sources, in terms of change in value, exhibiting growth in April-September 2024 vis a vis April-September2023 are U Arab Emts (52.01%), China P Rp (11.52%), Russia (5.73%), Taiwan (39.97%) and Oman (51.52%).

    *Link for Quick Estimates

    ***

    AD/VN

     

    (Release ID: 2065486)

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Remarks by Vice President Harris Before Air Force Two Departure | Detroit,  MI

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County AirportDetroit, Michigan
    12:27 P.M. EDT
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, about last night.  So, Donald Trump — I — I found it to be quite bizarre — actually called himself the “father of IVF.”  And if what he meant is taking responsibility, well, then, yeah, he should take responsibility for the fact that one is three women in America lives in a Trump abortion ban state. 
    What he should take responsibility for is that couples who are praying and hoping and working toward growing a family have — have been so disappointed and — and harmed by the fact that IVF treatments have now been put at risk.
    What he should take responsibility for is what we have been seeing across the country since he hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court, and they undid the protections of Roe v. Wade — Wade.
    What he should take responsibility for is that he has been trying to take away the protections against preexisting conditions for, for example, women who are survivors of breast cancer. 
    So, let’s not be distracted by his choice of words.  The reality is his actions have been very harmful to women and — and families in America on this issue. 
         Q    Madam Vice President, Donald Trump did a rally —
         Q    Madam Vice President, do you agree with President Obama’s recent suggestion that Black men may be hesitant to vote for you because you’re a woman?
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Let me first say that I am very proud to have the support of former President Barack Obama.  And I think that the important point that I will make over and over again is I don’t assume to have the votes of any demographic locked down.  I have to earn their vote, and I am going to work, as I’ve been, to earn that vote and to win on November 5th.
         Q    That particular dynamic —
         Q    Ma’am, there’s been a lot of recent questions about Donald Trump’s –
    THE PRESIDENT:   Once again.
         Q    There’s been a lot of recent questions based on an event he did recently.  He played music for about 30 minutes straight.  Just questions about his mental fitness for office at this point.  Do you think Donald Trump needs to take a cognitive test?
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, I’m going to say what I have said publicly and will say many times based on my observations and, I think, the observations of many.  Donald Trump is increasingly unstable, and as has been said by the people who have worked closely with him, even when he was president, he’s unfit to be president of the United States.
         Q    Do you support the letter the administration sent Israel threatening legal action over military aid?  Are you —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I —
         Q    Do you su- —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I’ve issued my statement about that, yeah.
         Q    Are you — are you supporting calling off military aid if the situation in Gaza does not improve?
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I don’t believe that’s what the letter said.
         Q    Or what kind of legal action do you support?
         THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We’ll take it one step at a time if necessary. 
         Q    Are you —
         Q    Madam Vice President, the Chinese military has been doing drills around Taiwan, and Xi Jinping visited the province across from Taiwan.  It’s raising pressure, obviously, on Taiwan. 
    What is your position were there to be an invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese military under — if you were president at the time?
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, let me restate the point I’ve made many times.  I believe in the One China policy, and I believe that there — and that Taiwan has an — a right to defend itself.
         Q    Would the American —
         Q    As a Calif- —
         Q    Would the American government provide arms for the Taiwanese —
         Q    As a California voter, how will you vote on the “Get Tough on Crime” Measure 36 — Proposition 36?
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I have not voted yet, and I’ve actually not read it yet.  But I’ll let you know. 
         Thank you.
                            END                12:30 P.M. EDT

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Fitzgerald Responds to FTC Changes to Premerger Notification Process

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, issued the following statement in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s final rule implementing changes to the premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act:

    “When Congress passed the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022 (MFFMA), it did so with an expectation that the FTC would implement changes to premerger notification as Congress intended. Specifically, to decrease the burden on small businesses. Instead, FTC Chair Khan used this as an opportunity to propose a rule that completely contradicted the intent of MFFMA, which would have resulted in increased burdens across all businesses, and disincentivized smaller mergers relative to larger ones.

    “Last week, the FTC voted unanimously to finalize the changes to premerger notification. While I remain concerned about the additional burden this rule imposes on merging parties, I commend the work by Republican Commissioners Holyoak and Ferguson to remove many of the proposed rule’s most dangerous provisions, including the collection of labor market information, which has historically not been a standard component of merger enforcement. Additionally, in finalizing the rule, the Commission also voted unanimously to lift its suspension of early termination for mergers that pose no threat to competition, something I’ve advocated for since coming to Congress. Finally, the rule leaves intact the requirement to disclose subsidies from foreign entities of concern, as required through inclusion of my bill, the Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act, in the MFFMA. This law will enable antitrust regulators to follow the money when countries like China distort markets and harm competition.

    “The final product, which I support, demonstrates the importance of having Republican Commissioners at the FTC to push back on Chair Khan’s radical agenda. The unanimous support for removing the most dangerous provisions of the proposed rule also demonstrates that Chair Khan’s antitrust views do not align with the rest of the Commission, or the American people, and provides further evidence for why her term should not be renewed.” 

    Under the HSR Act, parties to certain mergers and acquisitions are required to submit premerger notification forms that disclose certain information about their proposed deal and business operations. The final rule, submitted to the Federal Register on October 7, 2024, makes changes to the premerger assessment process.

     ###

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-Evening Report: A new book reveals much of Trump’s success is based on a myth he is a self-made billionaire

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra

    Lucky Loser tells the story of Donald Trump’s less-than-stellar business career and how he was able to misrepresent it as a success.

    It is written by New York Times investigative journalists, Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig. Both have won Pulitzer Prizes for earlier analyses of Trump. Another badge of honour is Trump sued them – and lost.

    They are by no means the first writers to expose the Potemkin village that is Trump’s business empire. A telling insider account came from Trump’s niece, psychologist Mary Trump, who revealed the creator of Donald’s fortune was his father Fred.


    Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success – Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig (Bodley Head)


    Setting things straight

    However, at more than 500 pages, including more than 40
    pages of notes on sources, this new book is the most comprehensive rendering. It is detailed, clearly written and has been well-reviewed in the financial press and by economic historian Brad de Long.

    The authors aim to draw on financial statements and interviews to “set straight Donald Trump’s chaotic onslaught of untruths and misdirection”.

    A large part of the Trump mythology is the lie that he is a self-made billionaire. In the presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump sought to downplay the contribution of his father, saying “my father gave me a very small loan”. The book reveals his father’s contribution, in today’s money, was around half a billion US dollars.

    Trump’s first piece of luck was being born the son of hard-working, cautious and competent residential property developer Fred Trump, the son of a German immigrant. His second was that Fred’s eldest son did not have the ruthless drive to become Fred’s successor, and Fred did not consider his daughters as potential successors. So despite some characteristics that were the antithesis of his father, Donald became his heir.

    The book describes Fred’s career in some detail. The first hundred pages are mostly about him. Once Fred stepped back, Trump diversified his father’s company to form what the authors term

    an eclectic conglomerate untethered from any core competency.

    Another piece of luck was been chosen to star in the reality television series The Apprentice, from which he made a lot of money, including from licensing deals, for the small amount of time he spent on it.

    The producers of this series have a lot to answer for, as they wanted to present their star as the astute businessman they knew him not to be. As they said, it was “not a documentary”. But it enormously and misleadingly raised Trump’s profile.

    Wins followed by losses

    The authors describe how some of Trump’s ventures, such as the development of Trump Tower, went well as the Manhattan property market boomed. He also profited from some “greenmailing” (buying shares in a company with the stated or implied intention of taking it over and then selling the shares at a higher price), facilitated by exaggerated accounts in the media of his wealth.

    But Trump used up much of the proceeds of his few successes covering his losses on a range of his other business ventures.

    Among his notable failures was Trump University, where he paid A$37 million to settle lawsuits for fraud. Many other property projects, Scottish golf courses, Trump Ice bottled water and Trump Mortgage, never turned a profit. And the punters were not the only ones losing money in Trump casinos.

    While he has fought to keep them secret, what has emerged from Trump’s tax returns are a series of huge losses.

    A conundrum not really addressed in the book is why so many bankers were willing to lend to him.




    Read more:
    What would a second Trump presidency mean for the global economy?


    The book concentrates on Trump’s career before the 2016 election, when the flawed US electoral system turned his almost 3 million vote loss on the popular vote into a win in the electoral college. As president, he disregarded conflicts of interest. As the authors note, parties wanting to influence the president could funnel money to him by booking blocks of rooms at his hotel.

    After 81 million Americans voted to fire him in 2020, Trump’s businesses again performed poorly.

    Trump’s current wealth is estimated by Forbes at A$5.7 billion (less than it was a decade ago). But about half of this is from his majority stake in Truth Social, promoted as a right-wing alternative to Twitter. (Now, it could be said, an even more right-wing forum than X.) It has tiny and falling revenues and makes large losses. If Trump loses the election, its value will probably soon be close to zero. It is regarded as a “meme stock”.

    Buettner and Craig conclude Trump “would have been better off betting on the sharemarket than on himself”. Analysis cited in The Economist in 2018 concluded that had Trump just put the money from his father into a sharemarket index fund he would have had A$2.9 billion in 2018. Given subsequent rises in the US stockmarket that would have grown to around A$5.9 billion by now, more than most estimates of his wealth.

    Forbes reached a similar conclusion, as did De Long and US political commentator Professor Robert Reich. The self-described business genius destroyed rather than created value.

    A poor tycoon and a poor president

    This business record of mismanaging an inheritance is reflected in Trump’s economic performance as president. He inherited the world’s largest economy from Obama. By the end of his term it was more than 10% smaller than China’s economy. Historians rank him one of the worst performing presidents on economic management (and much else). The public gave him the lowest approval ratings during his presidential term.

    Trump has indeed been a “lucky loser”. But if this deeply flawed man is returned to the presidency, the world will be an unlucky loser.




    Read more:
    From mass deportations to huge tariff hikes, here’s what Trump’s economic program would do to the US and Australia


    John Hawkins 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. A new book reveals much of Trump’s success is based on a myth he is a self-made billionaire – https://theconversation.com/a-new-book-reveals-much-of-trumps-success-is-based-on-a-myth-he-is-a-self-made-billionaire-240648

    MIL OSI AnalysisEveningReport.nz

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tax Relief for the Heartland: Wagner Joins Ways & Means Tax Team Event in St. Louis

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO-02)

    Washington, D.C. – Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO) joined Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Ways and Means Representative Darin LaHood (IL-16) in hosting a roundtable discussion at Centene in St. Louis, Missouri, to hear from local business leaders and workers urging Congress to take action to prevent the looming $7 trillion tax hike proposed by the Biden-Harris Administration.

    “I joined my Missouri colleague Congressman Jason Smith, Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, for a roundtable in St. Louis with local business leaders. We had an extremely productive conversation about the upcoming expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and how much our local businesses, employees, and economy here in St. Louis will be harmed if taxes are hiked,” said Rep. Wagner. “If the Trump tax cuts expire, the average taxpayer in Missouri’s 2nd District would have their taxes raised by 20%, a nearly unmanageable cost, especially in the wake of Joe Biden and Kamala’s Harris’ rampant inflation.”

    “It is abundantly clear that the tax hikes proposed by the Biden-Harris Administration would be devastating for the workers and job creators of the heartland and communities across this country,” said Chairman Smith. “The Ways and Means Committee has held 120 Tax Team events in 20 states across the country, and the message is clear. Workers’ wages are still lagging behind inflation and small businesses are struggling to grow. If we want to repair the economic damage of the last four years, Congress must build on the success of the Trump Tax Cuts and deliver pro-growth policies that allow families to thrive, businesses to expand, and workers to earn a living.”

    “It was a pleasure to join Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith in St. Louis to hear from Midwest businesses about the success of the Trump Tax Cuts, bringing business back to United States, incentivizing growth, and strengthening our workforce. The Trump Tax Cuts created the best economy of my lifetime for small businesses and workers of all backgrounds, and we can’t allow that progress to be undone,” said Rep. LaHood. “Under Chairman Smith’s leadership, Ways and Means Republicans have hit the ground running through our Tax Teams to ensure that we strengthen the Trump Tax Cuts, and that House Republicans are prepared for the ‘Super Bowl of Tax’ on day one of 119th Congress. As the Chair of the American Workforce Tax Team, I’ll continue to work with Chairman Smith and our Ways and Means colleagues to advance pro-growth tax policies that allow our communities in Illinois and across the country to thrive.”

    Over the past several months, Ways and Means Committee Republicans have been traveling to communities throughout the country to listen to workers and small business owners on how best to extend key provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts before their expiration next year. The St. Louis roundtable marks the second tax team event Chairman Smith has personally hosted in Missouri to bring attention to the economic challenges facing the Show Me State.

    During the event, attendees stressed the need for Congress to extend the Section 199A small business deduction, a provision in the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts that allows small businesses to compete fairly with larger corporations and helps them expand, hire new employees, grow wages, and reinvest in their communities. Participants noted that the Biden-Harris plan to see this provision expire would increase the tax rate paid by small businesses to over 43 percent – nearly 20 percentage points higher than what businesses pay in Communist China.

    Roundtable attendees included:

    • Centene
    • Evernorth Health Services
    • Wideman Pools
    • Speed Fabrication LLC
    • Reinsurance Group of America (RGA)
    • Ameren
    • Hunter Engineering
    • Bunge
    • Sitelines
    • Emerson

    To learn more about the work of the Ways and Means Committee Tax Teams, click here.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Casey, Colleagues Call on Biden Administration to Speed Up Enforcement of Iran Sanctions

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Pennsylvania Bob Casey

    In letter, bipartisan group of Senators call out Administration for missing deadlines on Iran sanctions

    The missed deadlines were put in place by Casey’s Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, which cracks down on Iran’s petroleum trade

    Senators: “Due to the quantity of oil that Iran is able to trade and the subsequent profits, as well as their historical pattern of utilizing these funds to foster violence and chaos, it is vital that the United States take concrete action to disrupt their petroleum trade”

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) joined his colleagues Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and John Hoeven (R-ND) in a letter urging the Administration to speed up enforcement of sanctions on Iran’s petroleum trade. The letter pointed out that the Administration has missed several deadlines put in place by the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, which cracks down on foreign persons who knowingly engage in the petroleum trade with Iran.

    “Due to the quantity of oil that Iran is able to trade and the subsequent profits, as well as their historical pattern of utilizing these funds to foster violence and chaos, it is vital that the United States take concrete action to disrupt their petroleum trade. Therefore, we ask the administration to honor the reporting deadlines and enforcement requirements prescribed within the SHIP and Fight CRIME Acts,” wrote the Senators.

    On April 23, 2024, Senator Casey voted to pass an emergency supplemental spending law with legislative provisions to strengthen U.S. national security, including the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act and the Fight and Combat Rampant Iranian Missile Exports (Fight CRIME) Act

    The SHIP Act includes important provisions to sanction foreign persons that knowingly engage in the petroleum trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Fight CRIME Act restricts certain missile-related activities and transfers by Iran. The bills include a number of reporting deadlines and enforcement requirements for the Administration so that Congress can track efforts to deny Iran the resources and ability to engage in destabilizing activities, commit human rights violations, support international terrorism, and fund weapons development.

    Senator Casey has long pushed to protect American economic and national security by monitoring Iranian oil activity. Earlier this year, Casey cosponsored the bipartisan Iranian Sanctions Enforcement Actlegislation establishing a fund to cover expenses related to the seizure or forfeiture of property found in violation of sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran or a covered proxy of Iran, including Hamas, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran-sponsored militias in Iraq and Syria. Additionally, after learning about potential Iranian oil transport on Panamanian vessels in violation of U.S. sanctions, Casey urged the Panamanian Maritime Authority (AMP) to investigate the hundreds of vessels of concern. Thanks to Casey’s advocacy, AMP launched investigations into all Panamanian ships suspected of transporting Iranian oil, de-flagged vessels that had no evidence of oil transport, and removed dozens of ships from its registry.  

    Read the full letter HERE or below:

    Dear Secretary Blinken, Secretary Yellen, Acting Director Palluconi, and Administrator DeCarolis:

    On April 23, 2024, Congress passed H.R. 815, an emergency supplemental appropriation for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, that was signed into law by President Biden on April 24. The supplemental package included additional funding for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and humanitarian assistance. The national security package also included legislation to strengthen U.S. national security, including the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act and the Fight and Combat Rampant Iranian Missile Exports (Fight CRIME) Act. The SHIP Act includes important provisions to sanction foreign persons that knowingly engage in the petroleum trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Fight CRIME Act restricts certain missile-related activities and transfers by Iran. The legislation includes a number of regulation publishing and reporting requirements from the administration in order for Congress to track efforts to deny Iran the resources and ability to engage in destabilizing activities, commit human rights violations, support international terrorism, and fund weapons development.

    For decades, there has been evidence that Iran has funded direct attacks on America and our allies. Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Iran has only become more emboldened to act against democratic interests across the globe. To cite just two recent events, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in its August 2024 report that Iran continues to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium, and on September 10, 2024, the Pentagon confirmed reports that Iran has transferred shipments of Fath 360 close-range ballistic missiles to Russia to support their continued aggression against Ukraine. Iran is able to further these disrupting activities due to profits from their oil trade.  According to United Against Nuclear Iran, a non-partisan watchdog organization that tracks Iranian oil shipment, Iran exported 1,626,866 barrels per day in August 2024.  Due to the quantity of oil that Iran is able to trade and the subsequent profits, as well as their historical pattern of utilizing these funds to foster violence and chaos, it is vital that the United States take concrete action to disrupt their petroleum trade. Therefore, we ask the administration to honor the reporting deadlines and enforcement requirements prescribed within the SHIP and Fight CRIME Acts that were included in H.R. 815, the emergency supplemental appropriations.

    To date, the administration has not met the following deadlines:

    • By July 23, 2024 (90 after enactment, and every 180 days thereafter), the Secretary of State shall provide a report that identifies Iranian persons utilizing an unmanned combat aerial vehicle against a United States citizen. P.L. 118-50, Div. K Sec.6(a)
    • By August 12, 2024 (10 days before regulation enactment), the President shall notify the appropriate Congressional committees of the proposed regulations to combat proliferation of Iranian missiles. P.L. 118-50, Div. K Sec. 5(f)(2)
    • By August 22, 2024 (120 days after enactment), the President shall promulgate regulations as necessary for the implementation of sanctions to combat proliferation of Iranian missiles. P.L. 118-50, Div. K Sec. 5(f)(1)
    • By August 22, 2024 (120 days after enactment, and annually thereafter), the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration shall submit a report describing Iran’s growing exports of petroleum and petroleum products, including their exports to the People’s Republic of China and the ships and ports involved in the oil sales. P.L. 118-50, Div. J Sec. 4(a)
    • By August 22, 2024 (120 days after enactment), the Secretary of State shall submit written strategy on the role of the People’s Republic of China’s role in evading U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iranian-origin petroleum products. P.L. 118-50, Div. J Sec. 5

    The following deadlines are upcoming within the next 30 days:

    • By October 11, 2024, (10 days before regulation enactment) the President shall notify and brief the appropriate Congressional Committees on the regulations to be established to implement the SHIP Act. P.L. 118-50, Div. J Sec. 3(e)(2)
    • By October 21, 2024 (180 days after enactment), the President shall prescribe necessary regulations to implement sanctions enforcement. P.L. 118-50, Div. J Sec. 3(e)(2)
    • On and after October 21, 2024 (180 days after enactment), the President shall impose sanctions on foreign persons determined to have knowingly engaged in the Iranian petroleum trade. P.L. 118-50, Div. J Sec. 3(a)

    Given the havoc Iran is wreaking in the Middle East and the wider region, this information is both timely and vital for Congress to carry out appropriate sanctions oversight and understand what greater legislative action is required to ensure Iran does not have the resources to harm the United States or our partners and allies. We look forward to these timely reports and enhanced understanding of the administration’s plan to counter Iranian oil trade and accessible revenue for their funding of terrorism. We ask that you honor the October deadlines and work to address the deadlines already missed in order to provide Congress with the relevant reports as quickly as possible.

    We further request that you provide our offices an update on your efforts and when to expect these reports no later than October 29, 2024. Thank you for your continued work and attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI: Oriental Rise Holding Limited Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Ningde, China, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Oriental Rise Holding Limited (“Oriental Rise” or the “Company”) (NasdaqCM: ORIS), an integrated supplier of tea products in mainland China, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering (the “Offering”) of 1,750,000 ordinary shares at a public offering price of $4 per ordinary share, for total gross proceeds of $7 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. The Offering is being conducted on a firm commitment basis. The ordinary shares are expected to commence trading on Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “ORIS” on October 17, 2024.

    The Company has granted the underwriter an option, exercisable within 45 days from the date of the underwriting agreement, to purchase up to an additional 262,500 ordinary shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and expenses. The Offering is expected to close on October 18, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

    The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Offering for: i) settlement of the outstanding amount for the acquisition of the contractual agreement rights of some of its existing tea gardens; ii) establishment and construction of its new production plant; iii) acquisition of new machinery and equipment; and iv) general corporate purposes and working capital.

    US Tiger Securities, Inc. is acting as sole book runner for the Offering. The Crone Law Group is acting as counsel to the Company. VCL Law LLP is acting as counsel to the underwriter with respect to the Offering.

    A registration statement on Form F-1, as amended (File No. 333-274976), relating to the Offering was previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by the Company, and subsequently declared effective by the SEC on September 30, 2024. The Offering is being made only by means of a prospectus, forming a part of the registration statement. A final prospectus relating to the Offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Electronic copies of the final prospectus related to the Offering may be obtained, when available, from US Tiger Securities, Inc., 437 Madison Avenue, 27th Floor, New York, New York 10022, or by telephone at +1 646-978-5188.

    Before you invest, you should read the final prospectus and other documents the Company has filed or will file with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and the Offering. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

    About Oriental Rise Holding Limited

    Oriental Rise Holding Limited is an integrated supplier of tea products in mainland China. Our major tea products include (i) primarily-processed tea consisting of white tea and black tea, and (ii) refined white tea and black tea. Our business operations are vertically integrated, covering cultivation, processing of tea leaves and the sale of tea products to tea business operators (such as wholesale distributors) and end-user retail customers in mainland China. We operate tea gardens located in Zherong County, Ningde City in Fujian Province of mainland China. For more information, visit the Company’s website at https://ir.mdhtea.cn/.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    All statements other than statements of historical fact in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the Company’s proposed Offering. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, including the expectation that the Offering will be successfully completed. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company’s registration statement and in its other filings with the SEC.

    For more information, please contact:

    Investor Relations:
    Sherry Zheng
    Weitian Group LLC
    Phone: 718-213-7386
    Email: shunyu.zheng@weitian-ir.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese premier returns to Beijing from SCO meeting, official visit to Pakistan

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

    BEIJING, Oct. 17 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang returned to Beijing on Thursday aboard a chartered plane after attending the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Pakistan and paying an official visit to the country.

    Li was seen off from the airport by Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy Convenes Louisiana Energy Security Summit, Highlights Louisiana Investments and Future Economic Potential

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

    BATON ROUGE – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) hosted the “Louisiana Energy Security Summit: Unleashing American Abundance in a Changing Global Landscape” at the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, bringing together leaders from the federal, state, and local government levels, industry, the research community, and elsewhere. 

    In his keynote address, Cassidy highlighted the geopolitical challenges confronting U.S. manufacturers operating internationally. Adversaries exploit lax environmental and labor standards to gain an unfair trade advantage over American companies. 
    “We are working to preserve the jobs we have in Louisiana and create more in the future,” said Dr. Cassidy. “We can do this by requiring that trade with countries like China be fair, and not allow them to pollute the atmosphere while we’re working to clean it.”
    “The Foreign Pollution Fee Act is a trade policy that rewards U.S. businesses and workers while penalizing foreign polluters. It creates a level playing field for American companies on the global stage. It’s a win for American workers, the U.S. economy, our national security, and the environment,” added Dr. Cassidy.
    The summit featured ten panels which explored protecting U.S. interests from unfair trade practices, Louisiana’s low emissions manufacturing advantage, and the role of natural gas in strengthening U.S. geopolitical influence. Panelists included presidents and CEOs from Entergy, First Solar, Buzzi UnicemUSA, Orsted, and Aluminum Technologies, former Trump administration officials, and leaders from Louisiana trade associations and major energy and Fortune 500 companies. 

    “We have the talent, we have the resources, we have the God-given location here in Louisiana with the Mississippi River, the Gulf, so much pipeline running underneath us, some of the greatest ports in the country, we’ve got all those tools. We just need to make sure we marry those with good policy,” said Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Will Green. “If we do, we will be unstoppable here in Louisiana.”
    “This is an energy economy here in Louisiana. We send it out, and we bring it in. It’s a manufacturing powerhouse. This state embodies what we can achieve again, if we open our alliances and we shut down our adversaries,” said Former Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality James Connaughton.
    “There is a market disadvantage for U.S. producers and manufacturers,” said Former Energy Deputy Secretary Mark Menezes. “This is basic fairness. As a consumer you have choices to make on products. You can choose a U.S.-made product or something that is imported. The choice is easy. And as a consequence of making that choice you address the fundamental fairness of this, you recognize the importance of the U.S. role, and you incentivize U.S. manufacturers to come back from China.”
    “Everyone in this room knows China has not relaxed. They have increased production and are flooding the market,” said Huntsman Corporation Vice President of Global Communications and Government Affairs Kevin Gundersen. “We have gotten away from [our] competitive advantage, and we have leaned into our disadvantage as a country. I think there needs to be a course correction.”  
    “We already import more than 26 million tons [of cement] per year. All of the countries where we import cement—they don’t have all the environmental regulations we do. They don’t have all the laws. They don’t have all the regulation, so we already have a disadvantage,” said Buzzi UnicemUSA President and CEO Massimo Toso. “So we do appreciate the effort by Senator Bill Cassidy and his colleague to put in place a carbon border adjustment mechanism.”
    “Non-market actors overseas, subsidies, and unfair trade practices make it cheaper to produce goods than companies like ourselves,” said CF Industries Vice President for Public Affairs Linda Dempsey. “We’ve got the best workers and the best standards, but the second piece really is flipping the switch on the trade rules.”
    “The cheap solar panels that are brought in from China don’t have the same standards of which we hold ourselves accountable to creating an unfair blade,” said First Solar CEO Mark Widmar. “Between American ingenuity, passion, creativity, and know-how, we can outcompete, but we need fairness.”
    Background
    Cassidy and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced their Foreign Pollution Fee Act to level the playing field with Chinese manufacturing and expand American production.
    Earlier this month, he released the 3rd episode of Bill on the Hill, where he highlights his Foreign Pollution Fee Act and discusses China’s growing economy and military coming at the expense of the American worker. After hearing fellow Americans share their concerns, Cassidy presented his plan to address the nexus between economic development, national security, and the environment. His Foreign Pollution Fee Act would even the playing field while holding China accountable.
    He penned editorials in Foreign Affairs, The Washington Times, and jointly in the USA Today Network discussing the geopolitical threat that China poses to U.S. global standing. Cassidy also joined Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax to discuss his foreign pollution fee, noting the competitive advantage China receives from intentionally ignoring environmental standards. 
    Last Spring, the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution urging Congress to pursue an industrial manufacturing and trade policy to counter competition from China. Learn more here. 
    Last Congress, Cassidy released a landmark energy policy outline in response to the Biden administration’s assault on domestic energy. The outline details how we can successfully reset U.S. energy policy, including Cassidy’s plan for an Energy Operation Warp Speed to cut permitting red tape and unleash domestic energy and manufacturing. In support of this complete vision and in addition to the Foreign Pollution Fee Act, Cassidy led Republican colleagues in opposition to a domestic carbon tax and introduced the first comprehensive judicial reform for permitting bill. He also pushed back on disastrous proposals from the Biden administration to limit development in the Outer Continental Shelf with the introduction of the WHALE Act and the Offshore Energy Security Act of 2023.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Hassan Visits Semiconductor Manufacturing Business in Salem

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan

    SALEM – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan toured GPD Optoelectronics in New Hampshire on Wednesday, a local business that manufactures specialized semiconductors with applications in aerospace, defense, telecommunications, and other industries. The visit underscored the impact of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which Senator Hassan helped develop and pass into law, on boosting semiconductor production in the United States and increasing demand for American-made components, like those made by GPD Optoelectronics.

    “It was great to visit GPD Optoelectronics today, which is a prime example of the New Hampshire businesses that are driving American innovation,” said Senator Hassan. “GPD Optoelectronics’s work to produce specialized semiconductors not only continues to create excellent and well-paying jobs in New Hampshire, it also allows us to outcompete countries like China and strengthens our national security by ensuring that we meet our defense and infrastructure supply chain needs here at home.”

    Senator Hassan has been a leader in supporting small businesses and fostering innovation. She worked across the aisle to develop and pass into law the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which is strengthening our economic and national security. The law is helping to support our supply chains, lower costs, and ensure that America can outcompete countries like China by investing in research and manufacturing here at home. Additionally, Senator Hassan has led efforts to cut taxes for innovative businesses and startups, and she successfully advocated for doubling the refundable R&D tax credit for small businesses and startups in the Inflation Reduction Act, which is now law.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI China: 7th CIIE to offer platform for showcasing Tanzanian goods, services: official

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

    DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 15 — The seventh edition of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) will provide a platform for showcasing Tanzanian products and services to one of the largest consumer markets in the world, an official said on Monday.

    Tanzania’s Zanzibar Minister for Trade and Industrial Development Omar Said Shaaban revealed that 34 Tanzanian exhibitors will attend this year’s CIIE, which will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, to display goods, including agricultural produce, textiles, minerals, handicrafts, and industrial goods.

    “This is not just a journey across the continents, but a leap towards showcasing the vibrancy, richness, and diversity of Tanzania commerce on the international stage,” said Shaaban at a send-off ceremony for the exhibitors at the Chinese embassy in the port city of Dar es Salaam.

    He noted that the exhibits represented not just the diversity of Tanzania’s resources but also the ingenuity and craftsmanship of its people.

    “Through the 7th CIIE, we aim to raise global awareness of the ‘Made in Tanzania’ brand, which reflects the quality, sustainability, and uniqueness of our products,” Shaaban said.

    Speaking on behalf of the exhibitors, Elizabeth Kalambo, chief executive officer of sisal product manufacturer Sisalana (Tanzania) Company Limited, said attending the seventh CIIE will enable them to meet directly with customers and expand new client base in foreign markets.

    Kalambo said that participation in the CIIE has large economic multiplier effects for both China and Tanzania.

    Chen Mingjian, Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, said the CIIE created opportunities for companies and commodities worldwide to “buy globally, sell globally” and effectively promoted the growth of international trade volumes.

    Chen said that over the past six years, over 180 countries, regions, and international organizations have participated in the CIIE.

    “China is facilitating the participation of the least developed countries in the expo by providing preferential treatment in booth construction, exhibit transportation, and personnel reception,” she said, noting that China is Tanzania’s largest trading partner and source country of investment.

    According to the Chinese ambassador, China-Tanzania bilateral trade volume reached 8.78 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, recording an increase of 8.9 percent year on year.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Joint doorstop interview, Brisbane

    Source: Australian Treasurer

    JIM CHALMERS:

    Welcome to the most important electorate in Australia, the People’s Republic of Rankin. Welcome to the PM, Clare, Meaghan, this is our home patch. Cameron Dick and I and Shannon Fentiman, we’re really proud to represent this part of South East Queensland. We’ve got really 2 fantastic announcements to be making today.

    The first one which Clare will elaborate on is that we are announcing more money for this part of the world for more housing. More housing for Meadowbrook, more housing for South East Queensland, more housing for middle Australia, and most importantly, more housing for essential workers and social housing tenants near where the jobs and essential services are being provided. The wonderful thing about this part of South East Queensland – we’ve got a university there, a hospital and a TAFE there, a retail centre there, 2 motorways, a train station – and this is all about making sure that we build more homes for Australians where the jobs and essential services are. And so it’s a really important day to be making this announcement. This kind of funding is at risk with the worst combination of David Crisafulli and Peter Dutton and we make that clear as well today.

    More homes for our local community. Our highest priorities are housing and the cost of living and the Albanese Labor government, the Miles Labor government, we work together really closely to do whatever we can to build more homes and to ease the cost of living for more people. And a really important part of what we’re announcing today are our efforts to crack down on excessive charges when it comes to using credit cards and debit cards and tapping your phone. Too many Australians are paying too much when they tap their phone or use their credit cards. Too many Australians are paying too much when it comes to excessive fees on debit cards, in particular. We are cracking down on excessive fees for debit cards and we are funding the ACCC to do their important work in this regard as well. We are prepared to ban surcharges on debit cards subject to the important work that the RBA is doing, and also making sure that there aren’t unintended consequences for small businesses and for consumers. This is all about a better deal for consumers and small businesses. People are paying surcharges which are too high just to use their own money, and we want to see what we can do to crack down on that. We are prepared to ban the surcharges on debit cards subject to making sure that consumers and small businesses are the beneficiaries of any change. This is a really complex system. There are a number of fees at play in this system. It’s why the RBA’s work is so important, and it’s why it’s so important that this Albanese Labor government is taking action to crack down on excessive fees. While this work is being undertaken, we will provide $2.1 million to the ACCC for their education and monitoring and to make sure that businesses are doing the right thing when it comes to the charging of these fees and surcharges. We are making it really clear today. This Albanese Labor government is about easing the cost of living and building more homes. Whether it’s excessive surcharges using debit cards, whether it’s building more homes in communities, just like the Miles government, we are focused on the main game for middle Australia and that’s why we’re here today. I’ll throw you over to the Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland, Cameron Dick.

    CAMERON DICK:

    Well, thanks, Jim. It is terrific to have the Prime Minister, Jim, Clare and Meaghan in Logan here today to announce more homes for Queenslanders. And this is what happens when you have a State Labor government and a Federal Labor government working together to deliver for the people of Queensland. This isn’t something you get from the Greens and it is certainly something you would never get from the LNP. It’s also great to have 2 Queensland based institutions, the Australian Retirement Fund and the Brisbane Housing Company, collaborating together to deliver on this project. We’ve already got homes through that collaboration coming out of the ground in Redcliffe, Chermside and Southport and now we will see more homes right here in Logan for hardworking Queenslanders. And so we very much welcome this announcement today and we thank the Prime Minister and his federal team for supporting Queensland.

    I just wanted to say something briefly before I hand over to the Prime Minister on David Crisafulli and the LNP’s election commitments, their costings and of course, their plan for cuts. Yesterday, David Crisafulli said he wouldn’t borrow for the operational costs of government. That would mean David would have to cut $3 billion as soon as he took office in October. It means David Crisafulli would have to cut $10 million a day, each and every day until the 30th of June next year to deliver on his promise. That means there are 17,000 Queenslanders whose jobs are now on the line under David Crisafulli and the LNP. And that is before he even finds one cent to pay for the $18 billion in election commitments that are unfunded and that he has already announced in this campaign. David Crisafulli won’t even tell Queenslanders the total of the election commitments he’s made in this campaign so far. That’s because he would have to tell Queenslanders what he would have to cut to deliver on those promises.

    I’ll hand over to the Prime Minister and thank him again for coming to Queensland and making this important announcement for the people of our state.

    ANTHONY ALBANESE:

    Well, thanks very much, Treasurer. And it’s great to be here with 2 treasurers and 2 housing ministers and I think 3 local members here in Logan. It’s fantastic to be, particularly to be in my friend, the Treasurer’s electorate of Rankin, and to show what happens when good Labor governments work together. This is about 1,100 new homes for Queenslanders – 1,100 new homes that will be built, including right here on this site, but throughout South East Queensland as well. It comes on top of, just a couple of weeks ago, the announcement we made in Cairns with about 500 new affordable and social homes being built there. This is about increasing housing supply, which is what our commitment is to do.

    It’s also about easing the cost of living and the measures that the Treasurer spoke about before in outlawing debit card surcharges, having a real crack at making sure that people, when they use their own money, there shouldn’t be surcharges on them using their money. And that’s why we are providing additional funds – $2.1 million for the ACCC – but also the Reserve Bank doing their inquiry to make sure that the details of this are got right, that small businesses looked after on the way through. This is my government’s priority, looking after the cost of living whilst also delivering on housing supply in partnership with state and territory governments. And it stands in stark contrast to our opponents. Be it David Crisafulli, who doesn’t seem to have too many policies I’ve got to say, at the Queensland election, and certainly no costed ones, and the Federal Opposition that today Michael Sukkar was out there once again just being opposed to our investment in new housing. They said they’ll get rid of the Housing Australia Future Fund. They’ve said they’re against the targets that we’ve set in partnership with state and territory governments, with those financial incentives for better planning for state and territory governments to make sure that we increase the supply. This project here as well is about our support for infrastructure in order so that homes can be built. It’s one of the missing pieces in the puzzle of housing supply that we are addressing. Making sure that energy, sewerage, water can all be connected so that new homes can be built. Something that we are providing that was never provided under the former government that didn’t for a while even bother to have a Housing Minister. I’ll turn to Clare and then we’re happy to take questions.

    CLARE O’NEIL:

    Thank you, PM and Treasurer, can I thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful electorate. We all know a bit about Jim Chalmers and one way to get the guy talking is to ask him about his community here in Rankin and you won’t hear the end of it. He is a huge advocate for this local area, he’s very proud of where he comes from, and it’s fantastic to be here. This is a really big and important announcement for South East Queensland where the Albanese government and the Miles Labor government here are announcing 1,100 new homes for Queenslanders. Five hundred will be constructed on this site here in Meadowbrook and 600 others will be scattered around some of the nearby suburbs. This is a reflection of what gets done when state and federal governments identify something that matters hugely to our constituents and that’s housing, and then works together to make a difference to that problem. We are, without question, one of the boldest and most ambitious Commonwealth governments on housing that we have seen for a generation in this country. We came from a standing start. The Prime Minister here mentioned that for most of the time the Coalition were in power, they didn’t even have a Housing Minister. Didn’t even have a Housing Minister. That’s how tapped out they were on this critical problem. Well, we have changed all that. Our country, led as it is by a Prime Minister whose access to housing in his childhood totally transformed the rest of his life. So, what are we doing? We’re building more homes. An ambitious target to build 1.2 million homes around the country over the coming 5 years. We’re helping renters through the work we’re doing with National Cabinet and lifts to the Commonwealth Rent Assistance payment. And we’re making sure that more Australians can own their own homes. We’ve helped 120,000 citizens get into home ownership in the time we’ve been in government. And we would be able to do more if other parties in the Parliament would come together and work with us. Now, we’ve got boldness and we’ve got ambition. But what do I see when I look at other parties in the Parliament? Well, I see the Greens who say some of the right things about housing. But when it comes time to make real progress for real people, instead of helping childcare workers and aged care workers get into housing, they instead try to play politics and stand in their path. And then I see the Liberals who have not a shred of credibility when it comes to housing. We heard this morning the Shadow Housing Minister, Michael Sukkar, make extraordinary admissions in a radio interview where, firstly, he said that the government is being too ambitious about housing. He says that if the Liberals are elected federally, they will scrap having a housing target altogether. Well, it’s that kind of low ambition that got us to where we are right now. And that is in a housing crisis where this is affecting the lives of millions of people in our country and the Liberals want us to lower our ambitions. The second thing he told us is that they want to make more cuts to states and territories in the funding that we’re giving them to make housing possible. Well, this is where we are right here. 1,100 new homes that’s made through that partnership that we’ve worked through with National Cabinet and we know with the Liberals we’ll get what we always get. That is cuts, cuts, cuts that hurt real people.

    ALBANESE:

    Happy to take questions.

    JOURNALIST:

    PM, on the banking surcharge, it’s been welcomed by some, but others are saying that a few cents here and there might not save people that much in a cost living crisis. I guess, how do you expect it to assist people if they’re only saving small amounts on these surcharges?

    ALBANESE:

    We think it’ll make a difference. And when people go and they see a price up on the board at the business where they’re making a purchase – that should be the purchase price. There shouldn’t be hidden charges and surcharges there when people are using their own money. Bear this in mind – a debit card is taking money directly from people’s accounts. It is their money and there shouldn’t be surcharges on it.

    JOURNALIST:

    Prime Minister, this is a housing announcement, do you think it’s a good look to be buying a $4.2 million home during a cost‑of‑living crisis?

    ALBANESE:

    Well, Jodie and I are getting married, as is known, and I’m pleased about that. And Jodie’s a Coastie. She’s a proud Coastie. She’s as proud of being a Coastie as Jim is here, of being a Logan lifelong resident. There are 3 generations of Haydons on the coast there. And when your relationship changes, your life changes and you make decisions. But what I’m focused on is making sure that everyone can get a roof over their head. I’m focused on increased public housing and social housing investment. That’s why we have our Housing Australia Future Fund. We’re focused on increased rentals, which is why we have our Build to Rent scheme. And we’re focused, in addition to that, in getting more housing supply, such as the 1,100 homes for Queenslanders that we’re announcing right here.

    JOURNALIST:

    PM, buying a $4 million dollar home is very different to buying a modest family home or living on a block like this. Do you think it’s a good look?

    ALBANESE:

    I have – of course, I am much better off as Prime Minister. I earn a good income. I understand that. I understand that I’ve been fortunate, but I also know what it’s like to struggle. My mum lived in the one public housing that she was born in for all of her 65 years. And I know what it’s like, which is why I want to help all Australians into a home, whether it be public homes or private rentals or home ownership.

    JOURNALIST:

    PM, it’s been reported that Australia is seeking an assurance from PNG it won’t sign new security agreements with China in return for the $600 million assistance package for its NRL bid. Can you confirm if there is a security element in this agreement and what exactly it says?

    ALBANESE:

    This is a relationship between friends and what we don’t do is have our security arrangements out there in public. What we do is to work with our friends and partners. Papua New Guinea has made it very clear that Australia is their security partner of choice.

    JOURNALIST:

    PM, do you plan to retire at that house on the New South Wales Central Coast?

    ALBANESE:

    Sorry?

    JOURNALIST:

    Are you planning to retire there?

    ALBANESE:

    I’m planning to be in my current job for a very long period of time.

    JOURNALIST:

    Are you going to rent it out in the meantime?

    ALBANESE:

    I’m planning to be in my current – I haven’t bought it yet. To be clear, it hasn’t settled yet, these arrangements, I’m very transparent. I declare everything. I’ve declared, some time ago, if you followed the story that I was selling a house in the Inner West that will make a contribution towards this.

    JOURNALIST:

    There’s been a lot of commentary around the hope from Federal Labor that some of the frustration may be taken out on October 26 and then maybe go easy at the federal election. What do you make of this and are you concerned about support for Labor in Queensland?

    ALBANESE:

    I want people to vote Labor in Queensland and to return Steven Miles as the Premier and this bloke here as the Deputy Premier, because I want a government that actually cares about Queenslanders. It’s a government that’s committed to increasing housing supply, that’s committed to dealing with cost‑of‑living pressures, including the 50 cent fares. I had the privilege of going on Gold Coast Light Rail yesterday. It’s committed to the free school lunches to make sure that people are looked after. This is a government that is getting things done and is worthy of re‑election and I’m very pleased to campaign with them.

    JOURNALIST:

    PM, Canada has expelled 6 Indian diplomats, accusing them of being part of a criminal network targeting the Sikh diaspora. Have you spoken, or do you plan to speak with Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau about this?

    ALBANESE:

    I speak with the Prime Minister of Canada all the time.

    JOURNALIST:

    Does Australia –

    ALBANESE:

    I speak with the Prime Minister of Canada all the time. And what I do in my relationships with international leaders is I have proper discussions with them and that’s how we get things done. And that’s why – one of the reasons why my government has been so effective in international diplomacy.

    JOURNALIST:

    On the Bruce Highway, why won’t you match Peter Dutton’s commitment for an 80/20 split.

    ALBANESE:

    He hasn’t done anything. His commitment? He was part of a government that didn’t fund things, that was good at media releases. I’ll give you the big clue. You can’t drive on a media release. What you can drive on is a road. And to build a road, you need money. So, Rockhampton Ring Road, for example, was $700 million short in terms of its funding. The former government made announcements with $0 attached to it, from time to time. When we came into government last time, we put record funding into the Bruce Highway. $1.3 billion under the Howard government, $7.6 billion under us, and we have $10 billion in our plan for the Bruce Highway, including additional money that we put in in the last Budget.

    JOURNALIST:

    So, those accusations are credible that we were talking about just before?

    ALBANESE:

    I’ve answered your question.

    JOURNALIST:

    Queensland has – you took a 50 cent fare yesterday. Obviously it’s a fair bit more expensive in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, to take a light rail, in Canberra. Should it not be? I mean, it’s increased our patronage in Queensland and would not do the same thing elsewhere?

    ALBANESE:

    Well, it’s a matter for state and territory governments. But I say this, that the Queensland government – and Cameron or Meaghan might want to comment on this as well – it’s been a huge success. Increasing patronage gets cars off the road, saves people money and also it’s good for people’s health. It’s good for a range of reasons to increase public transport patronage and from a Commonwealth government perspective, I make this point, when it comes to infrastructure. Gold Coast Light Rail, $365 million in the 2009 budget from the government when I was the Infrastructure Minister and now stage 3 underway, will be completed next year. It was opposed by the LNP – state and federal. You had federal LNP members like Steve Ciobo collecting petitions against Gold Coast Light Rail. Cross River Rail, major project to increase the whole capacity of the network was funded $715 million from the Commonwealth with an availability payment going forward each year in partnership with what was the Queensland LNP government then, originally started under the Labor government. Tony Abbott got elected, the whole thing crashed, and then they came up with this ridiculous plan that didn’t go anywhere. Cross River Rail would be open today if Labor governments had kept being elected. That’s why we believe in this. That’s why we’re funding Sunshine Coast Rail as well.

    JOURNALIST:

    Question for Mr Dick, please.

    ALBANESE:

    Sure.

    JOURNALIST:

    Credit rating agency S&P Global has warned Queensland’s AA+ credit rating is in danger of being downgraded due to your spending. How concerning is that?

    DICK:

    Well, S&P Global and Moody’s went through the Queensland Budget books top to bottom, left to right, up and down after our Budget, and they reaffirmed our AA+ credit rating. And when you look at our competitor states, our comparative states in New South Wales and Victoria, we are streets ahead of them when it comes to budget management and fiscal management in this state. Just a week ago, I announced the unaudited financial results for Queensland. Our net debt for last financial year has been halved from $12 billion to just under $6 billion. Our surplus went up from $600 million to $1.7 billion. And let’s put that in comparison to New South Wales and Victoria. So, our net debt at the end of last financial year was $5.7 billion. In New South Wales , it was $97 billion. In Victoria it was $136 billion. So, that means New South Wales debt is 16 times higher than Queensland and Victoria’s debt is 22 times higher. And so we are in a really strong position to make commitments and deliver on them because our commitments are fully funded. And the question for David Crisafulli and David Janetzki, who did 2 train wreck interviews today, the Shadow Treasurer who’s been in an LNP witness protection program, has not been seen with the Leader on the campaign trail for 2 weeks. And that is disrespectful to train wrecks because a train needs momentum and forward movement before it can run off the rails. We haven’t seen or heard from that bloke. And when he came out today, he didn’t say to Queenslanders – he couldn’t even tell Queenslanders what the total cost of their commitments would be, nor how they would pay for them. Now, their election commitments in this campaign are twice as high as ours. The LNP election commitments in this campaign now total $18 billion, twice as high as Labor. We’ve been upfront about how we’re paying for that. The only way that David Crisafulli can deliver on his promise of not borrowing for operational costs of government, by spending more, reducing taxation, lowering debt, delivering balanced budgets, not having a fiscal deficit, having a fiscal surplus. He has promised all of those things in this campaign. The only way he can deliver that is by cutting and that is what he is going to do. And that should put a shiver down the spine of every Queenslander, because the last LNP leader who offered to the community that he would look after the money of the people of Queensland, the last LNP leader who said that he would deliver a fiscal surplus was Campbell Newman. And 14,000 Queenslanders paid for that promise with their jobs. They built nothing for 3 years. So, they cut operating expenditure and they cut infrastructure expenditure. And the hide of David Crisafulli to say to Queenslanders that he respects money. The hide of David Crisafulli. David Crisafulli doesn’t respect public or private money. This is a man who was responsible for a training company that collapsed under $3 million of debt and owed the Australian Taxation Office $750,000. That’s not a man who respects money. That’s a man who disregards every single creditor of that company, including creditors that came from this community. And so we are fighting hard for the future of Queensland. Fully costed, fully funded plans, our promises will be delivered within the budget envelope and the funding envelope we’ve set aside. You cannot say the same for David Crisafulli.

    JOURNALIST:

    He wouldn’t have said what they’d said if they didn’t have concerns, though, surely?

    DICK:

    Well, let’s see what happens when I do – if I have that privilege – when I do the Budget update in December and when I do the Budget next year. Because there are 2 aspects to budgets, one’s expenditure and one’s revenue. And so you have to look at the budget position in total before we go to the ratings agencies and before they look at us. And so we’ll continue to deliver as we’ve delivered for every budget, except my first one, we’ve beaten our debt projections in every budget that I’ve delivered as Treasurer and we’ll continue to work hard to maintain that AA+ credit rating. We are the only state of the big 3 states that didn’t have a credit rating downgrade during or subsequent to COVID. That was because of our effective and appropriate financial and budgetary management and we’re going to continue on that path and people can trust us to deliver on our promises. The only thing you can trust David Crisafulli to do if he’s elected Premier is to cut. Anything else?

    JOURNALIST:

    Mr Janetzki was on radio this morning that he would release his costings once they make their final announcement. Is that the typical convention? Are you aware of that? And do you think it’s good enough considering voters already going to the polls?

    DICK:

    Look, this is all just a smokescreen for David Crisafulli to hide his plan for cuts. Our Party, Queensland Labor, has been the most transparent of any political party in any election in history. We put our costings live 2 weeks ago. We said upfront what we would do and how we would pay for it. And I released a budget economic and tax plan 2 weeks ago. Two years ago, David Crisafulli promised to release a tax and debt plan for Queensland. It is now 11 days until the election. David Crisafulli has been the Leader of the LNP now for more than 1,200 days and he still won’t be honest with the people of Queensland. And look, it’s just obvious the reason they won’t tell Queenslanders the total of their election commitments is because they would have to reveal to Queenslanders what they need to cut to deliver those election commitments. Which is why they’re hiding their costings, hiding their funding sources, because their single biggest funding source is to cut. And that’s why they’re not being honest with you.

    JOURNALIST:

    Amy McMahon from the Greens reckons you’re a hypocrite for recommending a preference for the Katter Australia Party in North Queensland. Are you not assisting an anti‑abortion party here by putting them above the Liberal Party?

    DICK:

    I don’t take political advice from the Queensland Greens Political Party. I never have and I never will. Anything else?

    JOURNALIST:

    What have you made of voter sentiment on the ground?

    CHALMERS:

    I don’t like being called the other Treasurer, but sure, you go ahead.

    JOURNALIST:

    What have you made of voter sentiment around the area? How closely will you be watching the result, particularly around this area?

    CHALMERS:

    Oh, look, Queenslanders right around our state desperately need a re‑elected Miles Labor government. You know, I was listening to Cameron and to the PM a moment ago. You know, Cameron is running one of the strongest budgets in the Commonwealth and that’s because we have a couple of things in common. You know, we are all about responsible economic management so that we can afford to provide cost‑of‑living relief for people who really need it, whether it’s in our community right around Queensland or indeed right around Australia. So, we have that in common and we want to work with the Miles Labor government after the election in a couple of weeks’ time. Now, as Cameron rightfully pointed out a moment ago, David Crisafulli and Peter Dutton have got something in common as well. Neither of them will come clean on their secret cuts. And those cuts that Peter Dutton and David Crisafulli won’t tell us about will make Queenslanders and Australians personally financially worse off. They’ll come after wages, they’ll come after housing, they’ll come after health. They will absolutely gut the joint. And we know this because Peter Dutton did that last time with Medicare when he was the Health Minister. And we know this because David Crisafulli is essentially Campbell Newman 2.0. And that was devastating for our local community. That has been a real low point for this part of the world seeing the way that Campbell Newman slashed and hacked at the essential services that local people desperately need. You asked a moment ago about our surcharging change and what it will mean for the cost of living. Now, that’s an important step that we are taking to help ease the cost of living, but it’s not the only step. Tax cuts for every taxpayer, Energy Bill Relief for every household, cheaper medicines, Rent Assistance, cheaper early childhood education, getting wages moving again. And here we have an enthusiastic and willing partner in the Miles Labor government. Cheaper fares for these communities in the outer suburbs are absolutely transformational. I’ve lost count of the amount of times that people have come up to me and said, ‘if you run into Cameron, or if you run into Steven, can you tell him how much we value those 50 cent fares?’ So, I’ll do that in front of all of our friends now, Cam. People appreciate the Energy Bill Relief that we’re working together with Steven and Cameron and Meaghan to provide. And so we desperately need a Miles Labor government re‑elected. We love working with these guys, not because we always have an identical view about every single issue, but because we’ve got a heart for local people. And that shows when it comes to housing, when it comes to health, and when it comes to cost of living.

    JOURNALIST:

    Sorry, just on the sentiment, you pick up anything on the ground around you?

    CHALMERS:

    Yeah, well, in our communities, people are desperately relying on the cost‑of‑living help that the Miles government and the Albanese government are providing. Now, we know that people are under pressure. You know, we know that people are doing it tough, but more than acknowledge that, we’re doing something about it. In all of the ways that I ran through a moment ago. And today, in addition, when it comes to surcharging on people’s debit cards, people shouldn’t be paying huge fees to use their own money. The Prime Minister has made that clear and we’ve made that clear today. So, in these local communities, we take no votes for granted. We don’t take any outcome for granted in this election. But I know I’ve seen what it’s like to have mostly state LNP members around here. I’ve seen what it’s like to have mostly Labor state members around here. We desperately need Labor members in this part of the world to look after the interests of the people and to work with Albo and I to make sure we’re rolling out that cost‑of‑living help.

    JOURNALIST:

    So, Queensland has – the Liberal National Party in Queensland has 21 of the federal seats in Queensland. Do you think that a plebiscite on nuclear power might change that?

    CHALMERS:

    Oh, we need to do better federally in Queensland. We’ve made that clear. You know, Anthony is an honorary Queenslander. You know, he spends a lot of time here in Queensland and I think Queenslanders understand because he is a practical, pragmatic leader and we are practical and pragmatic people in Queensland. And so, we need to do better, we’ve acknowledged that. Queensland is front and centre when it comes to our efforts as a Federal Labor government, including in the upcoming federal campaign. But first, we’ve got to re‑elect these guys because 2 Labor governments working together are better for local communities like this one.

    JOURNALIST:

    Queensland Labor has announced help for GP clinics that bulk bill. Isn’t that a tacit admission that Federal Labor hasn’t done enough to stop the gap, the Medicare gap, which has led to this?

    CHALMERS:

    No, I think it’s a tacit admission that both Labor governments are investing, in our case, billions and billions of dollars in strengthening Medicare. Now, there’s an Urgent Care Clinic down the road in Browns Plains which is making a major difference, taking the pressure off Logan Hospital, which is just next door. These are the investments that Labor governments make in local communities in getting out of pocket health costs down. And we welcome the contribution that the Miles Labor government comes to the table with when it comes to providing more money for health, so that we can get out of pocket costs down, so we can get the waiting times down, so that we can take pressure off local hospitals. But most importantly, make sure that we’re providing the healthcare that local families and pensioners need.

    JOURNALIST:

    When you were in Opposition, how many days before the election did you announce your costings?

    CHALMERS:

    Well, we did, unfortunately, we had a couple of goes at it when we were in Opposition and the timing of that varied. The difference was, you know, we didn’t have a big agenda for secret cuts like David Crisafulli does, and like Peter Dutton has. You know, Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor say that there’s $315 billion of spending in the Commonwealth Budget that they don’t support. That includes pension indexation, that includes Medicare funding, that includes funding for veterans, it includes funding for housing. And David Crisafulli and Peter Dutton are joined at the hip when it comes to their secret plans for cuts. I don’t think Queenslanders are asking too much when they say to David Crisafulli, ‘come clean in time for us to make an informed decision.’ And when they do, and if they do, they will understand that the Miles Labor government is providing cost‑of‑living relief, investing in housing and health, and David Crisafulli will cut all of those things as sure as night follows day.

    JOURNALIST:

    Why upgrade the travel advice to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories?

    ALBANESE:

    It’s a dangerous place at the moment. We know that that’s the case. So, what we do is we take advice from our security agencies and the government then implements that advice. We know that travelling into an area where there is conflict is a dangerous thing to do and it’s appropriate that the federal government make announcements in accordance with that advice from the security agencies. Can I just make one further point before we wrap up, which is that I was noticing – Clare probably noticed as well this morning – Michael Sukkar actually speak about the delay in implementing the Housing Australia Future Fund roll out and Help to Buy scheme that’s stuck in the Senate. Well, Labor are the builders, they’re the blockers. Between the LNP and the Greens, they blocked the Housing Australia Future Fund and now they’re still blocking the Help to Buy scheme. They could vote for it tomorrow or the next day that Parliament sits, but they don’t. So, they vote against it, block it and then complain that there’s a delay in its implementation. That says it all about how hopeless the Opposition are when it comes to policies that will actually deliver more housing supply. Thanks very much.

    MIL OSI News

  • MIL-OSI Global: Socially distanced layout of the world’s oldest cities helped early civilization evade diseases

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By R. Alexander Bentley, Professor of Anthropology, University of Tennessee

    Excavations at Çatalhöyük show how closely people lived before the settlement collapsed. Mark Nesbitt/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    In my research focused on early farmers of Europe, I have often wondered about a curious pattern through time: Farmers lived in large dense villages, then dispersed for centuries, then later formed cities again, only to abandon those as well. Why?

    Archaeologists often explain what we call urban collapse in terms of climate change, overpopulation, social pressures or some combination of these. Each likely has been true at different points in time.

    But scientists have added a new hypothesis to the mix: disease. Living closely with animals led to zoonotic diseases that came to also infect humans. Outbreaks could have led dense settlements to be abandoned, at least until later generations found a way to organize their settlement layout to be more resilient to disease. In a new study, my colleagues and I analyzed the intriguing layouts of later settlements to see how they might have interacted with disease transmission.

    Modern excavations at what was once Çatalhöyük, where inhabitants lived in mud-brick houses that weren’t separated by paths or streets.
    Murat Özsoy 1958/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Earliest cities: Dense with people and animals

    Çatalhöyük, in present-day Turkey, is the world’s oldest farming village, from over 9,000 years ago. Many thousands of people lived in mud-brick houses jammed so tightly together that residents entered via a ladder through a trapdoor on the roof. They even buried selected ancestors underneath the house floor. Despite plenty of space out there on the Anatolian Plateau, people packed in closely.

    Homes at Çatalhöyük were so tightly packed that people entered through the roof and even buried some ancestors beneath the floor.
    Illustration by Kathryn Killackey and The Çatalhöyük Research Project

    For centuries, people at Çatalhöyük herded sheep and cattle, cultivated barley and made cheese. Evocative paintings of bulls, dancing figures and a volcanic eruption suggest their folk traditions. They kept their well-organized houses tidy, sweeping floors and maintaining storage bins near the kitchen, located under the trapdoor to allow oven smoke to escape. Keeping clean meant they even replastered their interior house walls several times a year.

    These rich traditions ended by 6000 BCE, when Çatalhöyük was mysteriously abandoned. The population dispersed into smaller settlements out in the surrounding flood plain and beyond. Other large farming populations of the region had also dispersed, and nomadic livestock herding became more widespread. For those populations that persisted, the mud-brick houses were now separate, in contrast with the agglomerated houses of Çatalhöyük.

    Was disease a factor in the abandonment of dense settlements by 6000 BCE?

    At Çatalhöyük, archaeologists have found human bones intermingled with cattle bones in burials and refuse heaps. Crowding of people and animals likely bred zoonotic diseases at Çatalhöyük. Ancient DNA identifies tuberculosis from cattle in the region as far back as 8500 BCE and TB in human infant bones not long after. DNA in ancient human remains dates salmonella to as early as 4500 BCE. Assuming the contagiousness and virulence of Neolithic diseases increased through time, dense settlements such as Çatalhöyük may have reached a tipping point where the effects of disease outweighed the benefits of living closely together.

    A new layout 2,000 years later

    By about 4000 BCE, large urban populations had reappeared, at the mega-settlements of the ancient Trypillia culture, west of the Black Sea. Thousands of people lived at Trypillia mega-settlements such as Nebelivka and Maidanetske in what’s now Ukraine.

    If disease was a factor in dispersal millennia before, how were these mega-settlements possible?

    Geophysical plot of Nebelivka settlement shows its circular layout, divided into neighborhoods.
    Duncan Hale and Nebelivka Project, CC BY-NC

    This time, the layout was different than at jam-packed Çatalhöyük: The hundreds of wooden, two-story houses were regularly spaced in concentric ovals. They were also clustered in pie-shaped neighborhoods, each with its own large assembly house. The pottery excavated in the neighborhood assembly houses has many different compositions, suggesting these pots were brought there by different families coming together to share food.

    This layout suggests a theory. Whether the people of Nebelivka knew it or not, this lower-density, clustered layout could have helped prevent any disease outbreaks from consuming the entire settlement.

    Archaeologist Simon Carrignon and I set out to test this possibility by adapting computer models from a previous epidemiology project that modeled how social-distancing behaviors affect the spread of pandemics. To study how a Trypillian settlement layout would disrupt disease spread, we teamed up with cultural evolution scholar Mike O’Brien and with the archaeologists of Nebelivka: John Chapman, Bisserka Gaydarska and Brian Buchanan.

    Simulating socially distanced neighborhoods

    To simulate disease spread at Nebelivka, we had to make a few assumptions. First, we assumed that early diseases were spread through foods, such as milk or meat. Second, we assumed people visited other houses within their neighborhood more often than those outside of it.

    Would this neighborhood clustering be enough to suppress disease outbreaks? To test the effects of different possible rates of interaction, we ran millions of simulations, first on a network to represent clustered neighborhoods. We then ran the simulations again, this time on a virtual layout modeled after actual site plans, where houses in each neighborhood were given a higher chance of making contact with each other.

    Based on our simulations, we found that if people visited other neighborhoods infrequently – like a fifth to a tenth as often as visiting other houses within their own neighborhood – then the clustering layout of houses at Nebelivka would have significantly reduced outbreaks of early foodborne diseases. This is reasonable given that each neighborhood had its own assembly house. Overall, the results show how the Trypillian layout could help early farmers live together in low-density urban populations, at a time when zoonotic diseases were increasing.

    The residents of Nebilevka didn’t need to have consciously planned for their neighborhood layout to help their population survive. But they may well have, as human instinct is to avoid signs of contagious disease. Like at Çatalhöyük, residents kept their houses clean. And about two-thirds of the houses at Nebelivka were deliberately burned at different times. These intentional periodic burns may have been a pest extermination tactic.

    Re-creation of a Trypillian house-burning, with additional straw and wood necessary to burn hot enough to match archaeological evidence.
    Arheoinvest/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    New cities and innovations

    Some of the early diseases eventually evolved to spread by means other than bad foods. Tuberculosis, for instance, became airborne at some point. When the bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, became adapted to fleas, it could be spread by rats, which would not care about neighborhood boundaries.

    Were new disease vectors too much for these ancient cities? The mega-settlements of Trypillia were abandoned by 3000 BCE. As at Çatalhöyük thousands of years before, people dispersed into smaller settlements. Some geneticists speculate that Trypillia settlements were abandoned due to the origins of plague in the region, about 5,000 years ago.

    The first cities in Mesopotamia developed around 3500 BCE, with others soon developing in Egypt, the Indus Valley and China. These cities of tens of thousands were filled with specialized craftspeople in distinct neighborhoods.

    This time around, people in the city centers weren’t living cheek by jowl with cattle or sheep. Cities were the centers of regional trade. Food was imported into the city and stored in large grain silos like the one at the Hittite capital of Hattusa, which could hold enough cereal grain to feed 20,000 people for a year. Sanitation was helped by public water works, such as canals in Uruk or water wells and a large public bath at the Indus city of Mohenjo Daro.

    These early cities, along with those in China, Africa and the Americas, were the foundations of civilization. Arguably, their form and function were shaped by millennia of diseases and human responses to them, all the way back to the world’s earliest farming villages.

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

    ref. Socially distanced layout of the world’s oldest cities helped early civilization evade diseases – https://theconversation.com/socially-distanced-layout-of-the-worlds-oldest-cities-helped-early-civilization-evade-diseases-239586

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI China: China, Nordic countries see expanding trade cooperation

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

    BEIJING, Oct. 15 — China and Nordic countries have broadened their trade and economic cooperation in recent years, with expanded scale and improved quality, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

    During the first eight months of this year, trade volume between China and five Nordic countries, including Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark, reached 35.44 billion U.S. dollars, up 5.7 percent year on year, Wang Yupeng, a commerce ministry official, told a press conference in Beijing.

    Wang said that high value-added products such as computers, communication equipment, pharmaceuticals, ships, autos and their parts constituted the mainstay of bilateral trade.

    Given the current momentum, annual trade between China and the five Nordic countries is expected to exceed 50 billion U.S. dollars this year, Wang said.

    For China, the Nordic countries are important sources of foreign investment and destinations for outbound investment, official data showed.

    The cumulative direct investment from the five Nordic countries in China has exceeded 15 billion U.S. dollars so far. In the first eight months of this year, China’s direct investment in these countries amounted to approximately 1 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for over one-fifth of China’s total investment in Europe.

    “We look forward to working with the Nordic countries to uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, maintain the stability of the China-Europe industrial and supply chains, and jointly oppose protectionism in the field of trade and investment,” Wang said.

    The 2024 China-Nordic Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum will be held this week in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, according to the press conference.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: China to work with other countries to pursue open, inclusive sci-tech cooperation

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

    China to work with other countries to pursue open, inclusive sci-tech cooperation

    BEIJING, Oct. 15 — China stands ready to work with other countries to pursue open and inclusive sci-tech cooperation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

    According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024 recently released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China moved up one spot to 11th place in the ranking of the world’s most innovative economies compared with last year, remaining the only middle-income economy in the top 30.

    In response to a related query, spokesperson Mao Ning said since the GII was launched in 2007, China has steadily moved up in various GII rankings. According to this year’s report, China is one of the fastest 10-year climbers and leads with the most science and technology clusters in the top 100, showing strong momentum in and broad prospects for innovation-driven development, she said.

    Mao said the improvement of China’s innovation capability is a result of its increasing research and development (R&D) spending and open and inclusive international cooperation.

    According to statistics, China’s R&D expenditure topped 3.3 trillion yuan (over 450 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, up 8.4 percent year on year, Mao said, adding that China has established sci-tech cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions and signed 118 inter-governmental agreements on sci-tech cooperation.

    The sound environment for innovation and rich human resources in China have attracted more and more multinational businesses to set up R&D centers in this country, she said.

    “China’s sci-tech innovation serves the interests of China and the whole world. In the face of the new round of scientific and technological revolution, we stand ready to work with other countries to pursue open and inclusive sci-tech cooperation, share the outcomes of sci-tech innovation and jointly address global challenges,” Mao said.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s methane-tracking satellite to join fight against global warming

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    China’s 2024 schedule of intense spacecraft launches will include the launch of a methane tracker — a commercial satellite designed to monitor methane emissions worldwide.
    Coded XIGUANG-004, the 75-kg satellite will carry multiple payloads, including a methane concentration detector and an imaging camera. These payloads are capable of identifying sources of methane emissions in coal mines, landfills, and oil and gas fields.
    Scientists say it is important to monitor methane emissions as the colorless, odorless gas is the second-largest contributor to climate warming, after carbon dioxide.
    “The duration of methane in the atmosphere is shorter than that of carbon dioxide, making it more urgent to reduce its emissions,” said Liu Yi, director of the Carbon Neutrality Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
    According to Liu, scientific and technological methods can help reduce methane emissions in the short term, facilitating the utilization of otherwise wasted methane produced during coal and oil mining. Increasing the number of methane-monitoring satellites is also crucial for emissions cuts.
    “One of the major challenges we are facing is that current satellites cannot provide sufficient global coverage, resulting in a lack of data,” Liu said in a media interview.
    The development of international standards for methane emissions is underway. With a sufficient number of satellites, it will become possible to effectively monitor the methane emissions of enterprises.
    “If an enterprise exceeds the set emissions standards, it will be required to provide economic compensation for failing to do so,” Liu said, explaining the role such satellites play in reducing methane emissions.
    China has set the goals of peaking its carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. This has been reinforced by its comprehensive approach to green and low-carbon development, and the new satellite is part of the efforts.
    The satellite was developed by Xiopm Space, a commercial satellite maker in Xi’an, capital city of northwestern Shaanxi Province. The firm launched a satellite into space in August 2023, and it aims to develop a constellation of 108 hyperspectral satellites by 2030.
    Qin Xiaobao, deputy director in charge of the company’s data application, said that existing technology cannot efficiently and accurately monitor small-scale human-made emissions sources, also known as point sources. In China, the main point sources of methane gas emissions are coal mining, landfill sites, rice farming areas and livestock raising areas.
    The new XIGUANG-004 satellite is capable of detecting methane leaks at such specific sources and evaluating the extent of those leakages in high spatial resolution, thus filling the gaps in existing technology, Qin said.
    “With the help of this satellite, we can effectively monitor and track point source methane emissions worldwide,” Qin added. 

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s maritime fleet sees shipping capacity growing

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    As of September, China’s maritime fleet has seen its capacity grow to 430 million deadweight tonnes, accounting for 18.7 percent of the world’s total, according to a press conference held Tuesday in Shanghai.
    From January to August this year, the country’s cargo throughput at ports exceeded 11.5 billion tonnes, up 3.7 percent year on year, and its container throughput at ports reached 220 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 8.2 percent year on year.
    During the period, the volume of China’s rail-water intermodal transport through ports notched up 7.78 million TEUs of containers, up 17.7 percent year on year, according to the press conference on the upcoming 2024 North Bund Forum, an international shipping conference.
    A total of 49 automated port terminals have been constructed nationwide, marking a continued leading global position, said Gao Haiyun, an official from the water transport bureau under the Ministry of Transport, during the press conference.
    Shanghai is accelerating the construction of an international shipping hub. In the first three quarters of this year, the Shanghai port alone handled a container throughput of more than 39 million TEUs, up 8 percent year on year.
    Scheduled from Oct. 22 to 24 in Shanghai, the 2024 North Bund Forum is co-hosted by the Ministry of Transport and the Shanghai municipal government. This year’s edition is expected to focus on the digital, intelligent and green development of global shipping services. 

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI China: Beijing explores new growth avenues by nurturing high-tech industries

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

    A technician operates a device at a workshop of Beijing CRS Medical Device Co., Ltd., a precision manufacturing company specializing in the research, production and sales of sterile dental implants in Beijing, Oct. 13, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

    BEIJING, Oct. 15 — In a sleek, automated workshop at the Daxing International Airport Economic Zone in southern Beijing, technicians from dental implant manufacturer CRS are meticulously checking their implants for any defects under microscopes.

    CRS, a precision manufacturing company specializing in the research, production and sales of sterile dental implants, began production here last month. The firm aims to produce one million implants annually. Its products are designed to be competitive by minimizing stress on bone and soft tissues, improving structural stability and simplifying clinical procedures.

    Su Hanqi, general manager of Beijing CRS Medical Device Co., Ltd., recalls that it took just an hour to choose the economic zone for their operations. “The one-stop services offered by the zone significantly reduced our efforts in navigating processes and approvals, while a range of supportive policies has fostered an exceptionally conducive entrepreneurial environment for us,” Su said.

    To promote the development of the medical and health industry, the economic zone and Daxing District offer policies that include monetary incentives for R&D, innovation application, mass production and space rentals.

    Su said that due to the support, overall operating costs are estimated to decrease by 30 percent. “For a manufacturing enterprise like ours, being able to focus on production and R&D is crucial.”

    The economic zone where Su’s firm operates aims to develop a series of industrial clusters in sectors such as life sciences, health, medical devices, logistics and international aviation. This aligns with the city’s broader goal of becoming a global hub for scientific and technological innovation.

    Data from the Beijing municipal government shows that, from January to August this year, investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 72.7 percent and 19.4 percent year on year, respectively, driven by policies aimed at accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. This surge has fostered deeper integration between technological and industrial innovation, aligning with the national push for new quality productive forces.

    According to the resolution adopted at the third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in July this year, the country seeks to establish a mechanism for ensuring funding increases for industries of the future, and improve the policy and governance systems to promote the development of strategic industries such as next-generation information technology, AI, aviation and aerospace, new energy and biomedicine, among others.

    The picture taken on Aug. 20, 2024 shows the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

    A 20-minute drive from Daxing airport is the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, home to Hypower, one of the world’s largest hydrogen refueling stations. With a maximum daily capacity of 4.8 tonnes, the station can meet the hydrogen needs of 800 hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles.

    Nearby, a workshop of SinoHytec, a Chinese high-tech company specializing in the R&D and commercialization of hydrogen fuel cells, showcases fuel cells of various capacities to visitors.

    A technician is pictured working at a hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing company located at Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone in Beijing, Aug. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

    According to Bao Jianpeng, deputy director of production operations at SinoHytec, the company’s fuel cells have been used in more than 15,000 vehicles.

    “All the components of our fuel cell systems are home-grown. Another significant breakthrough is that the fuel cells we produce, which previously could only operate above zero degrees Celsius, can now function at temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius,” he said.

    The demonstration zone is focused on creating an industrial ecosystem incorporating hydrogen production, storage, transportation and refueling, fuel cell and components production, as well as testing and certification services for fuel cell vehicles and core components.

    The demonstration zone has already attracted over 20 enterprises in the hydrogen industry, including Hypower and SinoHytec, according to the Daxing district government.

    MIL OSI China News