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Category: CTF

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Advances Bills to Boost American Manufacturing, Crackdown on COVID Fraudsters

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

    Published: July 16, 2025

    Small Business Committee passes Made In America Manufacturing Act and SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act.

    WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship advanced a pair of Chair Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) bills to unleash domestic manufacturing and hold COVID criminals accountable.
    “Republican leadership is unleashing growth across the country and making government more accountable to taxpayers,” said Ernst. “The Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act builds upon the domestic manufacturing explosion under President Trump and gives small businesses access to the resources they need to make ‘Made in America’ the norm instead of the exception. Equally as important is making sure Washington responsibly uses each tax dollar like an entrepreneur looks after their budget. After Biden’s bureaucrats were asleep at the wheel in pursuing billions in COVID fraud, my SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act ensures that justice will be carried out for criminals and stolen tax dollars will be recouped.”
    With manufacturing loans already soaring 74% under President Trump, the Made In America Manufacturing Finance Act allows small businesses to access the capital they need to invest in new equipment, hire new employees, and grow their businesses by doubling the individual loan limit for 7(a) and 504 small manufacturing loans from $5 million to $10 million.
    The SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act extends the statute of limitations from five to ten years for COVID fraudsters who stole from the Shuttered Venue Grant Operators Grant (SVOG) and Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF).
    Ernst initially led the legislation after a shocking report revealed that the Biden Small Business Administration (SBA) failed to pursue nearly two million individuals suspected of stealing pandemic aid.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Capito Joins President Trump for Signing of HALT Fentanyl Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today joined President Donald Trump at the White House for the signing of the HALT Fentanyl Act. The legislation, which Senator Capito co-sponsored, makes permanent the temporary classification of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

    The legislation also removes barriers that impede the ability of researchers to conduct studies on these substances and allows for exemptions if such research provides evidence that it would be beneficial for specific analogs to be classified differently than Schedule I, such as for medical purposes.

    “West Virginia has been disproportionately impacted by the drug crisis, with fentanyl being one of the deadliest drugs that has made the crisis exponentially worse. The HALT Fentanyl Act will help equip law enforcement with the resources needed to crack down on traffickers and keep these deadly substances off the streets once and for all. I was proud to stand alongside President Trump—and join some of our fellow West Virginians—to watch him sign this important legislation into law, which marks another critical step forward in our ongoing efforts to combat the crisis and protect West Virginians from the scourge of illicit fentanyl,” Senator Capito said. 

    BACKGROUND:

    Drug overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids like Fentanyl account for 66% of the total U.S. overdose deaths.

    Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 80,391 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2024. West Virginia so far has confirmed 787 deaths between January 2024 and January 2025.

    Nearly 70% of those deaths across the country were attributed to opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. In 2024, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized more than 60 million fentanyl-laced fake pills and nearly 8,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. The 2024 seizures are equivalent to more than 380 million lethal doses of fentanyl.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amelia Scott, Honorary Affiliate and Clinical Psychologist at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University

    klebercordeiro/Getty

    If you spend any time in the wellness corners of TikTok or Instagram, you’ll see claims women need one to two hours more sleep than men.

    But what does the research actually say? And how does this relate to what’s going on in real life?

    As we’ll see, who gets to sleep, and for how long, is a complex mix of biology, psychology and societal expectations. It also depends on how you measure sleep.

    What does the evidence say?

    Researchers usually measure sleep in two ways:

    • by asking people how much they sleep (known as self-reporting). But people are surprisingly inaccurate at estimating how much sleep they get

    • using objective tools, such as research-grade, wearable sleep trackers or the gold-standard polysomnography, which records brain waves, breathing and movement while you sleep during a sleep study in a lab or clinic.

    Looking at the objective data, well-conducted studies usually show women sleep about 20 minutes more than men.

    One global study of nearly 70,000 people who wore wearable sleep trackers found a consistent, small difference between men and women across age groups. For example, the sleep difference between men and women aged 40–44 was about 23–29 minutes.

    Another large study using polysomnography found women slept about 19 minutes longer than men. In this study, women also spent more time in deep sleep: about 23% of the night compared to about 14% for men. The study also found only men’s quality of sleep declined with age.

    The key caveat to these findings is that our individual sleep needs vary considerably. Women may sleep slightly more on average, just as they are slightly shorter on average. But there is no one-size-fits-all sleep duration, just as there is no universal height.

    Suggesting every woman needs 20 extra minutes (let alone two hours) misses the point. It’s the same as insisting all women should be shorter than all men.

    Even though women tend to sleep a little longer and deeper, they consistently report poorer sleep quality. They’re also about 40% more likely to be diagnosed with insomnia.

    This mismatch between lab findings and the real world is a well-known puzzle in sleep research, and there are many reasons for it.

    For instance, many research studies don’t consider mental health problems, medications, alcohol use and hormonal fluctuations. This filters out the very factors that shape sleep in the real world.

    This mismatch between the lab and the bedroom also reminds us sleep doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Women’s sleep is shaped by a complex mix of biological, psychological and social factors, and this complexity is hard to capture in individual studies.

    Let’s start with biology

    Sleep problems begin to diverge between the sexes around puberty. They spike again during pregnancy, after birth and during perimenopause.

    Fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones, particularly oestrogen and progesterone, seem to explain some of these sex differences in sleep.

    For example, many girls and women report poorer sleep during the premenstrual phase just before their periods, when oestrogen and progesterone begin to fall.

    Perhaps the most well-documented hormonal influence on our sleep is the decline in oestrogen during perimenopause. This is linked to increased sleep disturbances, particularly waking at 3am and struggling to get back to sleep.

    Some health conditions also play a part in women’s sleep health. Thyroid disorders and iron deficiency, for instance, are more common in women and are closely linked to fatigue and disrupted sleep.

    How about psychology?

    Women are at much higher risk of depression, anxiety and trauma-related disorders. These very often accompany sleep problems and fatigue. Cognitive patterns, such as worry and rumination, are also more common in women and known to affect sleep.

    Women are also prescribed antidepressants more often than men, and these medications tend to affect sleep.

    Society also plays a role

    Caregiving and emotional labour still fall disproportionately on women. Government data released this year suggests Australian women perform an average nine more hours of unpaid care and work each week than men.

    While many women manage to put enough time aside for sleep, their opportunities for daytime rest are often scarce. This puts a lot of pressure on sleep to deliver all the restoration women need.

    In my work with patients, we often untangle the threads woven into their experience of fatigue. While poor sleep is the obvious culprit, fatigue can also signal something deeper, such as underlying health issues, emotional strain, or too-high expectations of themselves. Sleep is certainly part of the picture, but it’s rarely the whole story.

    For instance, rates of iron deficiency (which we know is more common in women and linked to sleep problems) are also higher in the reproductive years. This is just as many women are raising children and grappling with the “juggle” and the “mental load”.

    Women in perimenopause are often navigating full-time work, teenagers, ageing parents and 3am hot flashes. These women may have adequate or even high-quality sleep (according to objective measures), but that doesn’t mean they wake feeling restored.

    Most existing research also ignores gender-diverse populations. This limits our understanding of how sleep is shaped not just by biology, but by things such as identity and social context.

    So where does this leave us?

    While women sleep longer and better in the lab, they face more barriers to feeling rested in everyday life.

    So, do women need more sleep than men? On average, yes, a little. But more importantly, women need more support and opportunity to recharge and recover across the day, and at night.

    Amelia Scott is a member of the psychology education subcommittee of the Australasian Sleep Association. She receives funding from Macquarie University.

    – ref. Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains – https://theconversation.com/do-women-really-need-more-sleep-than-men-a-sleep-psychologist-explains-259985

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: More support to help Australian business go global

    Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

    To help Australian businesses access new export opportunities and navigate the global trading environment, the Albanese Labor Government is expanding the Go Global Toolkit and launching the Go Global Export Academy.

    The Go Global Toolkit is a one-stop-shop for businesses of all sizes to assess and improve their export readiness, providing Australian businesses with better understanding of markets, local laws, regulations and requirements as well as information on tariffs and taxes.

    More than 200,000 users have accessed the Go Global Toolkit in the past year, and research indicates it has saved businesses thousands of hours over the course of their export journey.

    The expanded Toolkit will be complemented by the launch of the Go Global Academy, and will feature a series of Market Spotlight webinars to support the launch. The series will showcase insights from key export markets in Asia, Europe, UK, the Middle East, America and the Pacific. The Market Spotlight series kicks off this week, and businesses can register for free at https://export.business.gov.au/.

    The Go Global Toolkit forms part of the Government’s Simplified Trade System reforms, which is streamlining our trade system to make it cheaper, faster and easier for Australian importers and exporters to do business.

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell:

    “Trade is vital to Australia’s economic prosperity – one in four Australian jobs are trade-related, with jobs in export industries pay 10 per cent more on average.”

    “The Albanese Government is working to create new opportunities for Aussie businesses, including in India, Southeast Asia, the UK and the Middle East.”

    “We want to make it as easy as possible for Australian businesses to discover and take up opportunities – and that’s exactly what the Go Global Toolkit does.”

    Austrade General Manager for Trade, Jay Meek:

    “Using the resources in the Go Global Toolkit – including live and on demand webinars through the Go Global Export Academy – will enable exporters to pivot when market conditions change or be first to market when new opportunities open up.”

    “Businesses can use the Go Global Toolkit Tariff Finder to explore what tariffs and taxes apply to their goods – knowledge that will arm them with the tools to navigate an increasingly complex world.”

    “The Go Global Toolkit now features a more personalised user experience with content tailored to individual business needs. Central to this is providing the right information to help exporters compare markets and build a resilient diversification strategy.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden, Merkley Join Colleagues to Introduce Bill to Safeguard Consumers from Online Subscription Traps

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

    July 16, 2025

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they are joining colleagues in reintroducing legislation that would protect consumers in Oregon and nationwide from online free trial scams and hard-to-cancel recurring-payment programs.

    The Consumer Online Payment Transparency and Integrity (OPT-IN) Act puts the responsibility on companies rather than consumers when it comes to subscriptions and memberships, including a shift from “opt-out” default conditions  to “opt-in.” This reintroduction comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit last week vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s 2023 “click to cancel” rule, which would have made it easier to get out of unwanted subscriptions. 

    “Unexpected charges and confusing websites can make unsubscribing from a service a headache,” Wyden said. “Relief was in sight, but Donald Trump’s administration killed new protections for consumers and handed a huge gift to his corporate pals. I’m proud to work with Sen. Van Hollen and my colleagues on the OPT-IN Act to ensure it’s just as easy for Americans to unsubscribe from services as it is to sign up.”

    “Consumers shouldn’t have to jump over roadblocks from greedy corporations to cancel a subscription,” Merkley said. “Our bill will make it as simple to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up – no tricks, no gimmicks, no waiting on hold. Let’s pass this common-sense solution that makes sure Americans know what they’re signing up for.”

    Companies increasingly use free trial offers and unclear terms and conditions to trap consumers into subscriptions. Additionally, companies often use software and interfaces that subtly trick users, making it harder for consumers to end these subscriptions and stop unwanted charges. While the FTC has dedicated significant resources to combating the worst of these business practices, more action is needed to effectively deter companies from employing these practices and better protect consumers.

    Specifically, the Consumer OPT-IN Act would: 

    • Require companies to get express informed consent from consumers before converting free trials into automatically renewing contracts and charging consumers.
    • Require companies to notify consumers of the first automatic renewal and obtain express informed consent from consumers before automatically renewing long-term contracts. 
    • Require that companies offering contracts that automatically renew on a short-term basis get express informed consent from consumers annually. 
    • Require companies that have knowledge that a consumer isn’t using their product or service for 6 months to get the consumer’s express informed consent to continue billing, and allow consumers to request a refund for the remaining portion of the contract. 
    • Provide consumers with refunds when violations occur.
    • Give the FTC rulemaking authority over negative option contracts, automatic renewals, and dark patterns.

    The legislation is led by Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Representative Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y. Along with Wyden and Merkley, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai’i, Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Peter Welch, D-Vt.,  and Representatives Robin Kelly, D-Ill., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif.

    This legislation is endorsed by Public Citizen, National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Action, Americans for Financial Reform, and American Economic Liberties Project.

    The text of the bill is here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: On Senate Floor, Klobuchar Fights Cuts to Public Broadcasting

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Minnesota Amy Klobuchar

    WATCH KLOBUCHAR’S FULL REMARKS HERE

    WASHINGTON — On the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke in opposition to legislation to clawback funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and foreign aid, which was previously approved on a bipartisan basis last Congress.

    “This clawback doesn’t just eliminate funding for, say, NPR, PBS. The primary impact of that part of the funding cuts is going to be on local radio and TV. 1,500 local public media stations across the country that receive 70% of this funding – jeopardizing these stations that provide local community services…

    I know because I know some of my communities that rely on these stations. Grand Marais, MN – the very tip of our state, the tip of Minnesota.  Do you think all these other stations are covering the Canadian wildfires? Hourly. They do because of the smoke, and people need to know the air quality when they’re making decisions about what they’re going to do that day or the next day.  

    Do you think people know when on Hwy. 61 there’s a tree over the road or there’s been a deer that’s been hit by a car and the emergency? No, they hear it on WTIP….

    This isn’t a partisan issue. 77% of Republicans and 78% of Democrats report relying on public radio for emergency alerts and news. That’s part of the reason why, for a half a century, we have agreed on a bipartisan basis in the US Senate to invest in public broadcasting. Yet now, Congressional Republicans are using a partisan process to rubber stamp the president’s unchecked power and rip away these resources.”

    Download Klobuchar’s full floor speech here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NSU student creates app for recognition, digitization and analysis of classical Tibetan texts using machine learning

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Novosibirsk State University –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    A system for automatic recognition and transliteration of texts in classical Tibetan, focused on old printed documents made using Tibetan syllabic writing, which goes back to the ancient Indian Brahmi script, was created by a student of the Fundamental and Applied Linguistics program working at the Institute of Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Humanitarian Institute of Novosibirsk State University Anna Murashkina. In her research, she used images of pages of classical Tibetan texts from the 18th-20th centuries from the archive of the Center for Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

    — The relevance of my work is due to the need to preserve and make digitally accessible the Tibetan cultural heritage, presented in the form of many historical manuscripts. Old printed documents, manuscripts and xylographs contain unique information about philosophy, religion, medicine, history and art, playing a key role in the study of the cultural traditions of the region. This knowledge is passed down from generation to generation in Tibet. However, over time, under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors, paper media are subject to physical destruction, which leads to the loss of priceless information and limits access to these unique materials. Currently, the Tibetan Fund of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences contains up to 70 thousand units of chronicles that are at risk of being lost. One of the most reliable ways to preserve and systematize historical documents is to digitize them, — said Anna Murashkina.

    The young researcher set herself the task of using machine learning to build a model that would recognize Tibetan alphabet symbols from images, translate them into machine-readable form, and at the same time show greater accuracy than existing open solutions, including Tesseract.

    — To do this, I manually performed linguistic markup of Tibetan text lines from the IMBT SB RAS collection. Then, taking into account the specifics of Tibetan graphics, I developed a system for assessing the quality of optical character recognition (OCR). Then I compared existing architectures and chose a convolutional neural network model, which required additional training, — explained Anna Murashkina.

    She implemented additional training of the model on a marked corpus of documents, and as a result, a complete modular OCR algorithm was created, including the stages of pre-processing, segmentation, recognition and post-processing.

    — For me, the value of the project is that I helped digitize an archive that stores history — documents created by people of the past who wanted to pass on their knowledge to future generations. I am glad that I am helping to transfer this knowledge through time, preserve it and make it available to a wider audience. My development will be used by employees of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The possibility of cooperation with the Buddhist Center for Digital Technologies, which digitizes the archives of temples and monasteries, is also being discussed. In cooperation with this organization, we will expand the possibilities of digitizing Tibetan manuscripts using open resources developed jointly with researchers from organizations in different countries, so that later everyone can touch this priceless heritage and get acquainted with the documents that are in temples and archive repositories, — said Anna Murashkina.

    Material prepared by: Elena Panfilo, NSU press service

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Closing performance of 2025 China-US Youth Choir Festival staged in Beijing

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

    Teenagers from China and the United States sing during a performance at China National Opera House in Beijing, capital of China, July 16, 2025. A closing performance of Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival, with the theme of “Singing for Peace,” was staged in Beijing on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Ye)

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    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: FISU World University Games open in Duisburg

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

    The 2025 Rhine-Ruhr World University Games opened Wednesday at the Schauinsland Reisen Arena, the exact same stadium where the Duisburg 1989 Universiade’s opening ceremony was celebrated.

    Barbel Bas, German federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, officially opened the 32nd FISU Summer Universiade, which is co-hosted by six cities in Germany, including Berlin, Essen, Duisburg, Bochum, Mulheim an der Ruhr and Hagen, mainly from the Rhine-Ruhr region.

    The opening ceremony began at 8:15 p.m. and ended at 11:00 p.m., starting with the overture “Now and Together”. The composition, created by Jan Loechel for the 2025 FISU World University Games, was performed by the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra.

    Leonz Eder, President of FISU, delivered an opening speech. “I wish you very success at the competitions, which will be unforgettable experiences and relished wealth in your life,” he said.

    The ceremony opted to underline the festival’s character, combining classical music, big board sound, and modern band performance in an impressive scenography with the defining, central element being music.

    Recalling the Ruhr area’s industrial history was a fundamental conceptual thread of the ceremony. The stage was surrounded by six huge chimney-shaped LED towers on the pitch, functioning as the cornerstones of the arena.

    The ceremony managed to create a connection between the Ruhr region’s industrial past and its future. Approximately 500 people, composed of retired miners and school choirs, sang in chorus the “Steigerlied”, the German miners’ folk song.

    The spectators gave rhythmic hand-clapping throughout the athletes’ parading as volunteers made the leading group heading into the stadium, holding banners saying “no Games without U”.

    Hendrik Wust, Minister-president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, gave a welcome speech, saying “University Games are a celebration of respect, tolerance and friendship. I hope this theory spreads around the world driven by your experiences. Each and every one of you is invited to be an ambassador of friendship and peace.”

    The big screen had a brief look back at the flag-handover performance for the 2025 Games during the closing ceremony in Chengdu in 2023.

    The flame arrived at the stadium in the hands of Heide Ecker-Rosendahl, the long jump gold medalist at the 1972 Munich Olympics. She passed it on to six other athletes, who proceeded to and approached the LED towers.

    The flames slowly rose virtually, accompanied by the anthem “Now and Together.” At the climax of Jan Loechet’s song, real flames are ignited on the six towers, representing all the competing cities of the Rhine-Ruhr University Games.

    At the end of the ceremony, the flames on the towers were transferred into six mining lamps.

    The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 Games will see over 9,200 participants from more than 150 countries and regions compete from July 16 to 27.

    Host Germany is represented by its largest delegation ever: 305 athletes and 177 team officials.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Poland appoint Jan Urban as new manager

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

    Jan Urban became the new coach of the Poland men’s football team, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) announced on Wednesday.

    The 63-year-old replaced Michal Probierz, who resigned after the 2-1 defeat to Finland in Helsinki in the FIFA World Cup qualifier.

    “I’m very happy that I have a chance to work in the national team. Every coach has his own style and ideas. The most important thing is to use the maximum potential of the team,” Urban was quoted as saying by the official site of the PZPN.

    “Our goal is to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. I wish the coach every success and assure him he can count on our full support,” said the PZPN president Cezary Kulesza.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Monster’s on the hunt for title shot

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

    Wounded, yet never tamed, China’s former world champion boxer Xu Can, aka “The Monster”, is back on the prowl, more bloodthirsty than ever, as he targets another title shot in a heavier division.

    Following a career setback that saw him lose his belt in 2021, China’s former WBA featherweight world champion Xu Can (right) is ready to punch his way back into title contention in the super featherweight class and become China’s first two-division champion. XINHUA

    The former World Boxing Association featherweight (126 pound, 57kg) belt holder will have his mettle for the title in the 130-pound class seriously tested on Aug 15, when he defends his International Boxing Organization international title in the super featherweight division against French challenger Jaouad Belmehdi on home soil in Beijing.

    The fight was announced on Tuesday as the main event of the “Kzmall’s Night”, a multi-bout boxing show, organized by Beijing-based Max Power Promotions and sanctioned by the IBO, which will be staged at the National Convention Center in the Chinese capital’s Olympic park.

    Xu, China’s first featherweight world champion under a major sanctioning body, is embracing his defense of the intercontinental belt as a statement of his lofty ambition to become the first Chinese man to win world titles across two weight classes.

    “My goal since coming back (from two straight defeats) is to become China’s first two-division world champion,” said Xu, who claimed his first world title by beating Puerto Rico’s Jesus Rojas via a unanimous decision in January 2019 in Houston to snatch up the WBA featherweight strap.

    “And to do so, I need to climb the rankings all over again by taking on some legitimate opponents. I am ready for it, I am serious about my mission and I will let my punches do the talking.”

    After wresting the title from Rojas, Xu kept his momentum rolling with two successful defenses against Japan’s Shun Kubo and Manny Robles III of the United States in the same year. It cemented his status as China’s most internationally recognized pro boxer, which was underlined by a five-star rating on BoxRec in 2019, while drawing another wave of mainstream attention to the sport following retired Olympian Zou Shiming’s back-to-back light flyweight gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

    The pandemic, unfortunately, hit at the worst possible time for Xu’s career ascent, severely disrupting his preparations for a third title defense against then British champ Leigh Wood in a bout that later proved to be a Waterloo for the Chinese star, and pushed him almost to the brink of quitting the sport.

    “It was a huge blow for me, psychologically and emotionally, that made me want to give up boxing,” said Xu, who was knocked out by Wood with a 12th-round right hook in July 2021 in England, losing his WBA title.

    Xu’s attempt at an immediate riposte was denied by a split-decision loss to Mexico’s Brandon “Leoncito” Benitez in October 2022, dragging him abruptly out of the sport’s spotlight.

    However, the resilient fighter — known for his slogan: “I am Can, I can!” — refuses to hang up his gloves just yet, having rekindled his fire for a comeback after a yearlong break, accompanied by family and friends, during a healing process that “helped restore his love” for the brutally competitive sport.

    “Looking back at the setbacks, I feel like it was just part of the process of my growth as a pro,” said Xu, a 31-year-old native of Fuzhou, East China’s Jiangxi province.

    “Perhaps, I’ve had too smooth of an early career to be true, progressing on a flat path all the way until losing the belt. Now, I have just started the uphill climb. I am taking steps slower than before, but I am making solid progress — one step at a time,” said Xu, who beat Panama’s Jhonatan Arenas via TKO in his most recent fight in December, claiming the vacant IBO 130-pound international title.

    Standing 1.75 meters tall with impressive range, Xu has built a reputation for high-volume punching and superior endurance during his featherweight reign. However, learning from his defeats, he realizes that striking power, timing and finesse are the keys for success in the super featherweight realm, should he make a convincing run for a world title in the heavier, and more competitive, division.

    Supported by his agency Max Power at Beijing gym M23, Xu, who keeps a 20-4-0 win-loss-draw record, has been focusing on his strength conditioning, footwork and combination diversity to prepare for the fight against Belmehdi (23-1-3), a knockout specialist known as “The Moroccan Bomber “and who is currently rated at three stars on BoxRec.

    “Can is a very good boxer, but I am very confident of my skill. See you on August 15 for an explosive fight,” said the 27-year-old Belmehdi, who’s chalked up 11 KO wins.

    Justin Kennedy, vice-president of IBO, said the winner between Xu and Belmehdi will move closer to a shot at the division’s ultimate prize.

    “This is going to be a great event in the heart of Beijing, in a country that is moving forward rapidly in world boxing with a lot of really world-class fighters coming through,” Kennedy said in a video message played at the news conference launching the event on Tuesday.

    “The fight between these two highly skilled fighters will be a great display of boxing. Please tune in and turn up for what will be an amazing night.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China lose to France in Men’s Volleyball Nations League

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

    China lost to France in four sets 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 in the final week of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League preliminary phase in Gdansk, Poland on Wednesday.

    Opposite Theo Faure was the gamen’s top scorer with 20 points, while outside hitters Trevor Clevenot and Yacine Louati contributed 15 points each for France. Wen Zihua scored 13 points for China, including 11 kills, one block, and one ace. Middle blocker Rao Shuhan and outside hitter Wang Bin added seven points each.

    France, the Olympic champion, aimed to start the third and final week of the preliminary phase with a victory. However, China surprised the favorite in the opening set, as Andrea Giani’s team struggled to establish an advantage but then China shifted the pace.

    Two effective spikes by veteran Ji Daoshuai put China ahead 22-20. Shortly after, Wang Bin delivered an ace to extend China’s lead. France fought until the end but couldn’t turn the set in their favor. A key center attack by Li Yongzhen secured China’s set win.

    France opened the second set with several powerful serves from Louati, took an early 6-1 lead and controlled the set throughout, with Clevenot scoring six points in the latter part of the set. Wen Zihua’s effective block helped China close the gap to 22-24, but Faure’s attack sealed it a 25-22 set win for France.

    In the third set, Francois Huetz replaced Nicolas Le Goff and made a significant impact for France, earning seven points during his service to help France take a 12-9 lead. Despite nine service errors committed in this set, France ended it 25-23 with Faure’s powerful spike.

    Giani’s team demonstrated their quality in the fourth set, claiming a 25-17 set win and sealing the match victory.

    Also on the day, Cuba edged Bulgaria in a five-set thriller 23-25, 25-16, 23-25, 27-25, 15-13. Outside hitter Marlon Yant Herrera scored 23 points for Cuba, equaling Aleksandar Nikolov’s tally for Bulgaria.

    Later, host Poland defeated Iran in five sets 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-8. Outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk scored 21 points for Poland, while opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad contributed 19 for Iran. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s booming low-altitude economy reshaping industries, daily life

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

    A drone photo taken on July 2, 2025 shows an electric vertical take-off-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft performing flight demonstration at Luogang Park in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

    Amid the pines of a scenic area in southwest China’s Chongqing, two drones rose with a low hum, weaving through branches to hover 10 meters above the treetops as a fine mist of pesticide drifted down to target hidden pine caterpillars below.

    “This canopy-level spraying hits where pests hide, boosting efficiency 30-fold over manual work and eliminating blind spots,” said Ni Liufa, deputy director of Liangping District’s forest resources monitoring and pest control station.

    This scene exemplifies the quiet revolution of China’s booming low-altitude economy, evolving from novelty to essential practical use.

    Anchored by its inclusion in China’s central government work reports for 2024 and 2025, the sector is soaring. The Civil Aviation Administration of China projects the market size to reach 1.5 trillion yuan (about 209.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025, with potential growth up to 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.

    The 1st West China Low-altitude Economy Expo in Liangping, which concluded Sunday, showcased the rapid diversification. Exhibits ranged from 5-tonne cargo drones and 4-passenger eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft to advanced communication and air traffic management systems. The applications spanned logistics, passenger transport, tourism, public safety, emergency response, surveying, and agriculture.

    “Low-altitude economy is evolving from traditional services to integrated formats,” said Liu Daxiang, professor at Beihang University. “Deep development in agriculture, logistics, tourism, and emergency response is reshaping entire value chains.”

    Growth is expanding from China’s eastern hubs to the central and western regions, reaching beyond cities into the countryside.

    Chongqing, leveraging its unique landscape, is actively building an ecosystem integrating low-altitude operations with urban life and industry. The city recorded 190,000 flight hours in the first half of 2024, a surge of 109.2 percent year on year, with flight operations jumping 67.3 percent to over 1.15 million.

    Drones are transforming logistics, especially in less accessible areas. “Our ‘air-to-air intermodal transport’ connects drones with China Postal Airlines cargo flights,” said Sun Liye, vice president of United Aircraft. “Fresh plums from Chongqing’s Wushan County can now reach supermarkets in eastern coastal regions such as Nanjing or Shanghai the same afternoon, 17 times faster than before.”

    In south China’s Shenzhen, 483 low-altitude takeoff and landing points and a pioneering city-wide safety network have been established. In Jinzhai County, east China’s Anhui province, drones are used to overcome the mountainous “last mile,” delivering more than 1,000 tonnes of produce each year. In Altay Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, drones are boosting the efficiency of grassland ecological monitoring.

    “Low-altitude economy isn’t some distant industry; it’s right here,” said Zhou Yuyun, a Chongqing resident exhilarated by a powered paragliding experience. “Seeing the world from above instead of the ground is breathtaking.”

    Experts at the expo concurred that China’s low-altitude economy is experiencing an unprecedented boom, driven by rapid advancements in aircraft manufacturing, flight services and diverse application scenarios, alongside a strengthening industrial chain and accelerating innovation.

    “With continuous policy refinement and technological breakthroughs, China’s low-altitude economy will continue to expand,” said Wang Huizheng, deputy head of the low-altitude economy branch of the China Information Industry Association.

    “This vast ‘blue sky’ market holds immense potential, and is poised to inject powerful new momentum into economic and social development,” Wang added. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Weather News – A mixed bag of weather on the way – MetService

    Source: MetService

    Covering period of Thursday 17th – Monday 21st July – A mixed bag of weather on the way

    Key points
    – Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watches, and a Road Snowfall Warning for parts of the north on Thursday and Friday
    – Fine spells return for many, with chilly southwesterlies bringing frosts this weekend
    – An extreme first half of the year, with at least 38 weather records broken

    A grab bag of winter weather is in store for Aotearoa New Zealand over the coming days, as the country shifts between weather systems, each bringing its own set of features. Rain, wind, fine spells, chilly mornings, and frosts are all on the cards from Thursday through to early next week.

    The wettest and windiest weather is already being felt across the north, as a low-pressure system sweeps across the island. This system is bringing widespread rain and strong southwesterly winds, with Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watches in place for parts of the North Island, particularly across Northland where gusts may reach severe gale in exposed places. In contrast, much of the South Island is enjoying sunny skies.

    MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden says, “Thursday is the most active weather day in the mix, with some decent rain for the North Island and strong gusty winds in the far north. We are expecting some settled conditions to follow heading into the weekend, with a chilly edge, thanks to persistent cooler southwesterlies.”

    A weekend of calmer weather is on the horizon. A ridge moves in behind the departing low, setting the stage for a cold and frosty country, with Hamilton well into single digits on Saturday night. “Make sure to wrap up if you’re attending the rugby,” advises Lynden.

    The colder conditions arrive alongside a more settled pattern, with sunshine expected for large parts of both islands over the weekend. Motorist in inland South Island areas should also watch for black ice on the roads, as freezing overnight temperature could create hazardous driving conditions.

    Some patchy cloud, fog and showers will linger in a few places, especially for eastern areas like Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, but for most, it’s looking like a crisp winter weekend with cold starts, blue skies, and a return to calmer weather.

    A more settled weekend may come as a relief for many, as 2025 so far has seen at least 38 weather records broken across weather stations in the MetService network. These span the wettest, driest, coldest, and warmest weather. What they do not include are record-breaking runs of weather, such as the coldest start to the year experienced in places like Wellington and Gisborne in January. It also does not feature the fact that the top of the South Island is seeing its wettest midway point in the year for more than 30 years, so the tally of records broken could well be far higher.

    It is worth mentioning that the length of the measurement record varies between stations. For example, Ashburton only has data from 2006 onwards, while Nelson and Blenheim have records going back to 1941.

    Stay up to date with the latest forecasts, Watches and Warnings at metservice.com.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fire and Emergency – Wellington Local Advisory Committee Appointed

    Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the seven inaugural members of Wellington’s new Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
    The LAC members were appointed by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board and will provide the Board with independent advice about what their communities value, their needs and the risks they face.
    Te Ūpoko Region Manager, Bruce Stubbs says the Wellington LAC will provide a voice for the communities across Wellington, Porirua, Kapiti Coast, Hutt City and Wairarapa.
    “Members represent a diverse range of interests, offer strong local knowledge and will bring real value to the table. We look forward to working with them,” he says.
    The committee’s first task will be to plan how to best engage and seek feedback about local needs from people in their communities, and to build a shared understanding with them about the service Fire and Emergency delivers.
    You can read more details about the newly appointed members on Fire and Emergency’s website.
    Fire and Emergency has also established a new LAC for Canterbury this month concluding the national implementation of all 16 LACs.
    Every community in New Zealand is now represented by a Local Advisory Committee. As well as the two new LACs in Wellington and Canterbury, there are LACs in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Whanganui-Manawatū, Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Otago, Southland and the Chatham Islands.
    An additional three new Chatham Islands committee members were also appointed to the Chatham Islands LAC this month.
    Wellington Local Advisory Committee
    Adrienne Staples (Chair)
    Shamia Love Shariff (Deputy Chair)
    Maleeha Ahmad
    Asher Wilson Goldman
    Sara Williams
    Andrew Brown
    Maria Mitimeti.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fire and Emergency – Canterbury Local Advisory Committee appointed

    Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the eight inaugural members of the new Canterbury Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
    The LAC members were selected by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board and will provide the Board with independent advice about what their communities value, their needs and the risks they face.
    Te Ihu Region Manager, Brad Mosby says the Canterbury LAC will provide a voice for the communities across both Canterbury and Mid-South Canterbury.
    “Our Canterbury LAC members are well connected and respected within their communities, and we look forward to working with them.
    “They’ll engage with community groups about local needs and support our local teams in building a shared understanding with communities about the service we deliver.”
    You can read more details about the newly appointed members on Fire and Emergency’s website.
    Fire and Emergency has also established a new LAC for Wellington this month concluding the national implementation of all 16 LACs.
    Every community in New Zealand is now represented by a Local Advisory Committee. As well as the two new LACs in Wellington and Canterbury, there are LACs in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Whanganui-Manawatū, Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Otago, Southland and the Chatham Islands.
    An additional three new Chatham Islands committee members were also appointed to the Chatham Islands LAC this month.
    Canterbury Local Advisory Committee
    Darin Cusack (Chair)
    Wendy Smith (Deputy Chair)
    Ross Paniora
    Mark Adams
    Brett King
    Cherie Leckner
    Andrew Cocking
    Habib Marwat.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Heritage – KAKANUI CHURCH LISTED AS CATEGORY 1 HISTORIC PLACE

    Source: Heritage New Zealand

    The owners of the former Kakanui Church, Michael Simpson and Anna Miles, are thrilled to see their restoration project entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 1 place.

    The Presbyterian church at Kakanui was designed by Robert Arthur Lawson, an important Scottish Dunedin-based architect, who designed many ecclesiastical buildings over his career. The wooden, gothic-style church at Kakanui was built in three months to accommodate 100 people. It was built at a time when Kakanui had just built a port in the hopes of becoming a major export port. This growth never eventuated but the Presbyterian church remained a key community hub.
    The church’s architecture was part of what attracted Michael and Anna to the property when they first saw it was for sale. “We like that it’s Robert Lawson’s smallest, most modest surviving building” says Michael. “It was pretty exciting when we looked at it and saw that it was one of his before we bought it.”
    For Michael and Anna, the purchase and restoration of the church has been a pleasure – they describe the restoration as their “hobby”. When they bought the church, it needed significant work but that didn’t scare the couple. Michael is an experienced carpenter with heritage expertise, and Anna is also hands-on. Gradually they have put new subfloor bearing joists in, replaced corner studs and weatherboards, restored windows, painted, and improved the drainage. “We never had a particular plan except to restore it,” says Michael. “There was no timeframe, no budget and that’s why it’s been such a pleasure. It is going really well at this stage.”
    Part of the journey of restoration has been discovering the emotional ties so many people have to the church. In addition to regular services, the church ran Sunday School classes, which were so popular that in 1933 a dedicated Bible Class Hall was added to the main church. In 1955, two further small buildings were purchased to accommodate the growing Sunday school numbers. The local branch of Brownies used one of these huts as their den.
    When Michael and Anna work on their church they have an open-door policy, they’ve found that people come to visit and chat. “The more we’ve got to know the building, the more we’ve realised it’s a special space that means a lot to a lot of other people”, says Anna. “For us, we’re looking after it at the moment and fixing it up. We see ourselves as stewards of the building.” Now that the church is weathertight and stable, Anna and Michael have opened it up to community use.
    Michael says, “we’ve had weddings in it, gigs, art exhibitions, and carol services. It doesn’t need to be a commercial space, but we’ve realised it should have a life of its own and a reason to exist. We get quite emotional seeing all the life in the building. We never expected that side of what is our hobby. It’s not what we went looking for but it’s rewarding to see.”
    The listing process has highlighted the social and historical value to the Kakanui community. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Heritage Assessment Advisor, Alison Breese, has loved working on the project. “This place is highly significant to the Kakanui community and has outstanding aesthetic, architectural and historic significance. As one of only two surviving Presbyterian timber churches in New Zealand designed by Lawson it’s been a pleasure seeing the love and hard mahi the owners have put into it.”
    For Michael and Anna, the church entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/ Rārangi Kōrero is an important recognition of the significance of the church and will support its ongoing protection and recognition.
    ABOUT HERITAGE NEW ZEALAND POUHERE TAONGA
    Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is the leading national historic heritage agency for Aotearoa New Zealand, operating as an autonomous Crown Entity. Our mission is to identify, protect, and promote heritage – Kia mōhiotia atu, kia tiakina, kia hāpaingia ā tātau taonga tuku iho.
    We actively engage with communities, foster partnerships, and provide valuable resources to support those who are passionate about exploring, learning, and connecting with our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit our website at www.heritage.org.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: ASEAN Young Business Leaders to meet in Viet Nam, marking 50 years of ASEAN-New Zealand relations

    Source: Asia New Zealand Foundation

    Business leaders from New Zealand and Southeast Asia will gather in Viet Nam this July for the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative (YBLI) Summit, taking place from 23-27 July 2025 in Da Nang and Hue. The event is hosted by the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono in partnership with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
    The Summit brings together YBLI programme alumni and entrepreneurs from a range of industries – including agribusiness, technology, tourism, fashion, health, and food and beverage – to connect, collaborate, and explore new growth opportunities.
    “Through this Summit, we aim to build lasting connections among entrepreneurs from New Zealand and ASEAN,” says Suzannah Jessep, Chief Executive at the Asia New Zealand Foundation. “Viet Nam is an important partner in the region and strengthening relationships, trade and economic ties here benefits both sides.”
    Nick Siu, Director of Business and Entrepreneurship at the Foundation, adds, “This is a chance for emerging leaders to learn from each other, find ways to collaborate, and develop new ideas that could lead to partnerships.”
    “YBLI opened doors for my business, helping to secure our first export customer in Singapore. I look forward to strengthening these connections at the upcoming event,” says Nick Carey, Managing Director, Green Meadows Beef, New Zealand.
    “The Summit is a great opportunity to connect with fellow changemakers and discover ways to advance our sectors together,” says Bicky Nguyen, Co-founder, Cricket One, Viet Nam.
    “Since attending the last YBLI event, I’ve grown my consulting firm and am now expanding into Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region,” says Kaye-Maree Dunn, Managing Director Making Everything Achievable and Āhau NZ Limited.
    The Summit marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and both ASEAN and Viet Nam, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
    “New Zealand is proud to be a close friend and partner of ASEAN for more than 50 years,” says New Zealand Ambassador to Viet Nam, Caroline Beresford. “Strengthening these ties goes beyond diplomacy – the Summit empowers young leaders, builds partnerships, and creates mutually beneficial opportunities for both ASEAN and New Zealand.”
    -END-
    About the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono
    Established in 1994, the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono is New Zealand’s leading provider of Asia insights and experiences. Its mission is to equip New Zealanders to excel in Asia, by providing research, insights and targeted opportunities to grow their knowledge, connections and experiences across the Asia region. The Foundation’s activities cover more than 20 countries in Asia and are delivered through eight core programmes: arts, business, entrepreneurship, leadership, media, research, Track II diplomacy and sports.
    About the ASEAN Young Business leaders Initiative
    The ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative (YBLI) is a key part of the New Zealand Government’s ASEAN strategy. The aim of the programme is to facilitate trade and build connections between business leaders and entrepreneurs in New Zealand and Southeast Asia. This is achieved through short, targeted visits to New Zealand and Southeast Asia for ASEAN entrepreneurs and Kiwi entrepreneurs respectively.  

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: USINDOPACOM hosts Transnational Security Cooperation Course 25-1

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, hosted 40 senior U.S. and international military and civilian officials at USINDOPACOM headquarters on Camp H.M. Smith in Honolulu for the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies’ Transnational Security Cooperation Course 25-1, July 16, 2025.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SIGNED INTO LAW: Bipartisan Legislation That Secures Permanent Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan

    Washington, D.C. – Today the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act, bipartisan legislation that U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen helped introduce and was supported by Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), was signed into law. This law permanently schedules all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act to ensure law enforcement can keep them off the streets and hold drug traffickers accountable.

    “The vast majority of drug-related deaths in New Hampshire have been caused by the trafficking of illicit fentanyl. That’s why I have consistently engaged with law enforcement, public health experts, and colleagues across the aisle to ensure that the scheduling of fentanyl analogues did not lapse and is finally made permanent,” said Congressman Pappas. “The enactment of this legislation represents an important step forward and will ensure law enforcement retains the full suite of tools they need to take on the opioid crisis and crack down on drug traffickers, but we cannot rest here. I remain committed to delivering the resources our communities need to stop traffickers, bring down drug-related deaths, and support people in recovery.”

    “In the Granite State we’ve lost far too many lives due to fentanyl overdoses, and we must do everything we can to prevent more deaths,” said Senator Shaheen. “I was proud to help introduce this bipartisan legislation in the Senate and I’m glad the President has signed it into law so that we can stop the flow of fentanyl into our communities, hold traffickers accountable and save lives.”

    “Too many families across New Hampshire have experienced the devastating effects of the fentanyl crisis,” said Senator Hassan. “The HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently classify fentanyl analogues at the strongest level allowed under the law, boosting penalties and giving law enforcement more tools to get these deadly illicit drugs off our streets. This bill marks a step forward in combatting fentanyl and I am glad the President has signed it into law.”

    “Illicit fentanyl is the leading driver of overdose deaths in New Hampshire, taking the lives of hundreds of loved ones every year. We can and must do more to combat this epidemic and help save lives,” said Congresswoman Goodlander. “The HALT Fentanyl Act will help stop the flow of these dangerous drugs into our communities and hold illicit distributors accountable. I will continue working to ensure our law enforcement partners have the tools they need to keep New Hampshire communities safe.” 

    Pappas has led efforts to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances in the House, securing several extensions of the temporary scheduling order while working to ensure the passage of permanent legislation. The HALT Fentanyl Act contains identical key provisions from Pappas’s bipartisan SAFE Act, which he first introduced in the 117th Congress.

    Shaheen has spearheaded crucial legislation and funding to fight the substance use disorder epidemic, including through her leadership on the pivotal U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which funds the U.S. Department of Justice. Shaheen recently introduced her bipartisan Keeping Drugs Out of Schools Act to help prevent youth opioid use and overdoses by establishing a new grant program that allows current or former Drug-Free Communities (DFC) coalitions to partner with schools to provide resources educating students about the dangers of synthetic opioids. Shaheen has also led the bipartisan Cooper Davis Act which would crack down on online drug sales through social media and helped enact the FENTANYL Results Act to increase global cooperation in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking.

    Senator Hassan has worked to stop drug trafficking and support communities devastated by the fentanyl crisis. She helped advance the DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act, which was signed into law last year and is supporting law enforcement with enhanced tools to find and eliminate illegal substances such as fentanyl and xylazine. Senators Hassan, Shaheen, and their colleagues also passed into law the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which targets the illicit fentanyl supply chain and imposes sanctions on traffickers. Senator Hassan also developed the END FENTANYL Act, signed into law last year, which helps Customs and Border Protection crack down on fentanyl trafficking at the border.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Intonation” Sets Beijing on Fire: How Russian Musicians Conquered the Chinese Public

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    The Russian Cultural Center in Beijing hosted a concert that became a true celebration of friendship and music. The group “Intonation” did not just perform – it created the magic of unity, blurring the boundaries between the stage and the audience, between Russia and China.

    From the very first minutes, the artists captured the attention of the audience, but the real sensation was caused by a surprise – a song in Chinese. The sincere performance touched the audience to the depths of their souls: the applause did not subside, and after the concert, many came up to thank the musicians for respecting their culture.

    But the surprises did not end there. The musicians descended into the hall, inviting the audience to dance in a circle, involving everyone in improvised dances and joint singing. It seemed that for several hours the cultural center turned into a big friendly party, where there is no place for shyness – only joy, laughter and music.

    This concert became more than just a performance. It was a dialogue of two cultures, where Russian warmth met Chinese hospitality. The musicians of “Intonation” proved that art knows no language barriers. When hearts burn on stage, the audience responds in kind – and then a real miracle is born.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged with stolen property and firearms offences

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Man charged with stolen property and firearms offences

    Thursday, 17 July 2025 – 12:46 pm.

    A man has been charged as investigations continue into the stealing of five vehicles from a North Hobart car yard in May.
    Last month, police from the South East, Glenorchy and Bridgewater Criminal Investigation Branches executed several searches in the Montrose and Derwent Valley areas, alongside the Southern Drugs and Firearms Unit.
    A Toyota Rav 4 stolen from a North Hobart car yard was located at an address in Magra, as well as close to $150,000 of other property also believed to be stolen.
    The property included a firearm, several motor vehicles, a trailer, a generator, and about one tonne of fuel. A quantity of illicit drugs was also located.
    A 36-year-old Magra man has since been charged with various stolen property and firearms offences and will reappear in the Hobart Magistrates Court on 12 September 2025.
    Four of the five vehicles stolen from the North Hobart car yard have been recovered.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: UPDATE: Fatal Crash – Delamere

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force are continuing to investigate the fatal crash in Delamere yesterday.

    One vehicle, a silver Mitsubishi Pajero, was carrying four occupants, aged 63, 63, 70 and 76, while the second vehicle, a Toyota 76 series troop carrier, was carrying a 25-year-old man.

    The 76-year-old man was declared deceased at the scene.

    Investigations have now confirmed that the Toyota was stolen from a residence on Heron Crescent, Katherine.

    Police urge anyone with information to make contact on 131 444.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Marine Environment – Alliance renews call for bottom trawling ban in Hauraki Gulf

    Source: Greenpeace

    Members of the Hauraki Gulf Alliance have deployed a massive ‘Ban Bottom Trawling’ banner on the deck of the Rainbow Warrior, demanding an end to destructive bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.The Alliance, which includes Forest & Bird, LegaSea and Greenpeace, has a long-running campaign to remove trawling from Hauraki Gulf and the renewed call comes as bottom trawling faces increased public scrutiny.
    Speaking from the Rainbow Warrior, in the Gulf, “Heal the Hauraki” documentary producer Mandy Kupenga says:”For too long, the practice of bottom trawling has bulldozed the rich and fragile ecosystems beneath the surface of the Hauraki Gulf. Entire ocean communities have been devastated. What happens beneath the waves doesn’t stay there-when we lose biodiversity in the sea, we lose part of what sustains life on land as well.
    “We cannot continue turning a blind eye. It’s time to restore the mauri-the life force-of the Gulf, and honour our responsibility to future generations. Ending bottom trawling in and around the Hauraki Gulf isn’t just a conservation decision. It’s a moral one.”
    Gulf advocate Shaun Lee says the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries “needs to listen to 97.2% of 8,909 submitters who have asked for a full ban on bottom impact fishing in the Gulf”. LegaSea spokesperson Benn Winlove says he is disappointed the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries is willing to ignore such strong public sentiment against bottom trawling.
    “Public opposition to environmental destruction is growing and it’s incredible that a Minister in charge of ensuring sustainability of fish populations and their habitat is willing to let bottom trawling continue in the Gulf, let alone in the Marine Park.”
    Bianca Ranson, campaigner from Forest & Bird, says:
    “97% of submitters have called for a complete ban of bottom impact fishing in the Hauraki Gulf yet the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, mocks Tīkapa Moana calling it ‘just a mud-stained bottom’. That is an insult to every living thing that dep

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Pillen Appoints David Jones as Sarpy County Election Commissioner

    Source: US State of Nebraska

    . Pillen Appoints David Jones as Sarpy County Election Commissioner

    LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen announced his appointment of David Jones of Papillion as election commissioner for Sarpy County, effective July 18. Jones will complete the term vacated by Emily Ethington, who resigned in early April.

    Jones comes to the role with two decades of leadership experience in the areas of project management, digital operations and strategic coordination. His career began in the U.S. Air Force where he served in multiple roles, including deputy director of staff for the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base. In the private sector, Jones was operations manager for MacAulay-Brown, Inc. in Ohio, where he oversaw a $147 million defense program supporting the U.S. Strategic Command. Most recently, Jones worked for Gallup in Omaha as a technical project manager and Scrum master.

    Jones graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences.

    Per state law, the Governor appoints election commissioners for counties larger than 100,000 people. Those counties include Sarpy, Lancaster and Douglas.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Pillen Highlights Bills to Increase Government Efficiency

    Source: US State of Nebraska

    . Pillen Highlights Bills to Increase Government Efficiency

     

    LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen was joined by agency leadership and state senators in highlighting bills that will help cut red tape, streamline processes, eliminate requirements and generally, maximize delivery of services to Nebraskans. Those legislative initiatives were contained in LB346, LB347 and LB660. During the news conference, Gov. Pillen signed ceremonial copies of each of the bills.

    Since assuming office, Gov. Pillen has made identifying government efficiencies and related savings a cornerstone of his administration. Using a systems approach, state agencies have been able to improve customer service, while at the same time reducing General Fund appropriations. 

    “Improving government efficiency while lowering costs is essential for accountability, economic growth, and effective delivery of services for Nebraskans,” said Gov. Pillen. “These bills contribute to those goals, and I am grateful to the legislature for getting these measures passed.”

    LB346, brought on the Governor’s behalf by Speaker of the Legislature John Arch, eliminates or modifies approximately 40 boards, commissions, committees and other bodies that have been created over the years, but are no longer serving their intended purpose. Many now have a termination date of July 1, 2026.  LB346 was passed by the Legislature on a unanimous vote.

    “I was enthusiastic to introduce and support LB346, a ‘good government’ bill that results in efficiencies across state government,” said Speaker Arch. “The successful elimination of boards and commissions that are duplicative or no longer serving a purpose is an excellent example of the administration and the Legislature working together to improve the functioning of our state government.”

    LB376, which was advanced by the Health and Human Services Committee, eliminated 28 outdated reports and modified eight others that had been produced by the Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS CEO Steve Corsi noted that prior to passage of the bill, it was estimated that the agency was required, on average, to submit one report to the Legislature every other day, amounting to more than 1800 pages per year. 

    “Instead of wasting time on outdated reports that serve no useful purpose, DHHS public servants can focus on what really matters: protecting kids, improving public health, and helping Nebraskans most in need,” said CEO Corsi. “This law is a win for efficiency and common sense.”

    Senator Bob Anderson addressed LB660, an omnibus bill that also received unanimous support from senators and included multiple pieces of legislation aimed at boosting government efficiency, including LB662. 

    “This legislative package strengthens Nebraska’s economic security, both in terms of protecting our infrastructure from foreign surveillance and ensuring our financial commitments are transparent and accountable to taxpayers,” said Sen Andersen. “LB662, in particular, promotes long-overdue transparency in how Nebraska’s agencies request, manage and rely on federal funds. Good governance begins with accountability. Nebraskans are asking for efficiency and transparency from their government and the bills being signed here today deliver just that.”

    LB664 was also amended into LB660 before final passage. It makes several changes when it comes to submitting comments, written materials and issuing challenges under the state’s regulatory process for state agencies.  

    “LB664 is a vital, commonsense reform that enhances government accessibility and responsiveness,” said Sen. Storer. “It alleviates the undue burden on small businesses and individuals in Nebraska who previously had to travel across the state to pursue justice. This bill levels the playing field, ensuring fairness and accountability are available to every Nebraskan, regardless of their location, by allowing legal challenges to be filed closer to home.”

    “I think it’s important that we all continue to be committed to getting government out of our hair and shrinking government,” said Gov. Pillen “It’s easy to talk about, but it takes perseverance and a lot of dedication by senators to help make it happen.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Pillen Highlights Bills to Increase Government Efficiency

    Source: US State of Nebraska

    . Pillen Highlights Bills to Increase Government Efficiency

     

    LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen was joined by agency leadership and state senators in highlighting bills that will help cut red tape, streamline processes, eliminate requirements and generally, maximize delivery of services to Nebraskans. Those legislative initiatives were contained in LB346, LB347 and LB660. During the news conference, Gov. Pillen signed ceremonial copies of each of the bills.

    Since assuming office, Gov. Pillen has made identifying government efficiencies and related savings a cornerstone of his administration. Using a systems approach, state agencies have been able to improve customer service, while at the same time reducing General Fund appropriations. 

    “Improving government efficiency while lowering costs is essential for accountability, economic growth, and effective delivery of services for Nebraskans,” said Gov. Pillen. “These bills contribute to those goals, and I am grateful to the legislature for getting these measures passed.”

    LB346, brought on the Governor’s behalf by Speaker of the Legislature John Arch, eliminates or modifies approximately 40 boards, commissions, committees and other bodies that have been created over the years, but are no longer serving their intended purpose. Many now have a termination date of July 1, 2026.  LB346 was passed by the Legislature on a unanimous vote.

    “I was enthusiastic to introduce and support LB346, a ‘good government’ bill that results in efficiencies across state government,” said Speaker Arch. “The successful elimination of boards and commissions that are duplicative or no longer serving a purpose is an excellent example of the administration and the Legislature working together to improve the functioning of our state government.”

    LB376, which was advanced by the Health and Human Services Committee, eliminated 28 outdated reports and modified eight others that had been produced by the Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS CEO Steve Corsi noted that prior to passage of the bill, it was estimated that the agency was required, on average, to submit one report to the Legislature every other day, amounting to more than 1800 pages per year. 

    “Instead of wasting time on outdated reports that serve no useful purpose, DHHS public servants can focus on what really matters: protecting kids, improving public health, and helping Nebraskans most in need,” said CEO Corsi. “This law is a win for efficiency and common sense.”

    Senator Bob Anderson addressed LB660, an omnibus bill that also received unanimous support from senators and included multiple pieces of legislation aimed at boosting government efficiency, including LB662. 

    “This legislative package strengthens Nebraska’s economic security, both in terms of protecting our infrastructure from foreign surveillance and ensuring our financial commitments are transparent and accountable to taxpayers,” said Sen Andersen. “LB662, in particular, promotes long-overdue transparency in how Nebraska’s agencies request, manage and rely on federal funds. Good governance begins with accountability. Nebraskans are asking for efficiency and transparency from their government and the bills being signed here today deliver just that.”

    LB664 was also amended into LB660 before final passage. It makes several changes when it comes to submitting comments, written materials and issuing challenges under the state’s regulatory process for state agencies.  

    “LB664 is a vital, commonsense reform that enhances government accessibility and responsiveness,” said Sen. Storer. “It alleviates the undue burden on small businesses and individuals in Nebraska who previously had to travel across the state to pursue justice. This bill levels the playing field, ensuring fairness and accountability are available to every Nebraskan, regardless of their location, by allowing legal challenges to be filed closer to home.”

    “I think it’s important that we all continue to be committed to getting government out of our hair and shrinking government,” said Gov. Pillen “It’s easy to talk about, but it takes perseverance and a lot of dedication by senators to help make it happen.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 17, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 17, 2025.

    Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amelia Scott, Honorary Affiliate and Clinical Psychologist at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University klebercordeiro/Getty If you spend any time in the wellness corners of TikTok or Instagram, you’ll see claims women need one to two hours more sleep than

    I created a Vivaldi-inspired sound artwork for the Venice Biennale. The star of the show is an endangered bush-cricket
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miriama Young, Associate Professor Music Composition, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne Marco Zorzanello It was late January when I got the call. I’m asked to bring my sound art to a collaborative ecology and design project, Song of the Cricket, for the Venice Biennale

    Is it okay to boil water more than once, or should you empty the kettle every time?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Faisal Hai, Professor and Head of School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Wollongong Avocado_studio/Shutterstock The kettle is a household staple practically everywhere – how else would we make our hot drinks? But is it okay to re-boil water that’s already in the kettle

    What does Australian law have to say about sovereign citizens and ‘pseudolaw’?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeleine Perrett, PhD Candidate in Law, University of Adelaide Armed with obscure legal jargon and fringe interpretations of the law, “sovereign citizens” are continuing to test the limits of the Australian justice system’s patience and power. A few weeks ago, two Western Australians were jailed for 30

    Is childbirth really safer for women and babies in private hospitals?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University A study published this week in the international obstetrics and gynaecology journal BJOG has raised concerns among women due to give birth in Australia’s public hospitals. The study compared the outcomes

    We were part of the world heritage listing of Murujuga. Here’s why all Australians should be proud
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jo McDonald, Professor, Director of Centre for Rock Art Research + Management, The University of Western Australia Senior Ranger, Mardudunhera man Peter Cooper, oversees the Murujuga landscape Jo McDonald, CC BY-SA On Friday, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape in northwest Western Australia was inscribed on the UNESCO World

    Is our mental health determined by where we live – or is it the other way round? New research sheds more light
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hobbs, Associate Professor and Transforming Lives Fellow, Spatial Data Science and Planetary Health, Sheffield Hallam University Photon-Photos/Getty Images Ever felt like where you live is having an impact on your mental health? Turns out, you’re not imagining things. Our new analysis of eight years of data

    The secret stories of trees are written in the knots and swirls of your floorboards. An expert explains how to read them
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne Magda Ehlers/Pexels, CC BY Have you ever examined timber floorboards and pondered why they look the way they do? Perhaps you admired the super-fine grain, a stunning red hue or a

    Tasmania is limping towards an election nobody wants. Here’s the state of play
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hortle, Deputy Director, Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania In the darkest and coldest months of the year, Tasmanians have been slogging through an election campaign no one wanted. It’s been a curious mix of humdrum plodding laced with cyanide levels of bitterness, with the most

    What is astigmatism? Why does it make my vision blurry? And how did I get it?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Ground Picture/Shutterstock Have you ever gone to the optometrist for an eye test and were told your eye was shaped like a football? Or perhaps you’ve noticed

    From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Ronnie Yoshiko Fujiyama: how electric guitarists challenge expectations of gender
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janelle K Johnstone, Associate Lecturer Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, PhD Candidate School of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University American gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe playing a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar on stage in 1957. Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images I’ve been playing a

    Ken Henry urges nature law reform after decades of ‘intergenerational bastardry’
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide Former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has warned Australia’s global environmental reputation is at risk if the Albanese government fails to reform nature laws this term. In his speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Henry

    David Robie: New Zealand must do more for Pacific and confront nuclear powers
    Rongelap Islanders on board the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior travelling to their new home on Mejatto Island in 1985 — less than two months before the bombing. Image: ©1985 David Robie/Eyes of Fire He accused the coalition government of being “too timid” and “afraid of offending President Donald Trump” to make a stand on the

    First-hand view of peacemaking challenge in the ‘Holy Land’
    Occupied West Bank-based New Zealand journalist Cole Martin asks who are the peacemakers? BEARING WITNESS: By Cole Martin As a Kiwi journalist living in the occupied West Bank, I can list endless reasons why there is no peace in the “Holy Land”. I live in a refugee camp, alongside families who were expelled from their

    Politics with Michelle Grattan: Malcolm Turnbull on Australia’s ‘dumb’ defence debate
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government remains in complicated territory on the international stage. It has to tread carefully with China, despite the marked warming of the bilateral relationship. It is yet to find its line and length with the unpredictable Trump administration.

    Why is Israel bombing Syria?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University Conflict in Syria has escalated with Israel launching bombing raids against its northern neighbour. It follows months of fluctuating tensions in southern Syria between the Druze minority and forces aligned with the new government in Damascus. Clashes erupted

    Bougainville election: More than 400 candidates vie for parliament
    By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist More than 400 candidates have put their hands up to contest the Bougainville general election in September, hoping to enter Parliament. Incumbent President Ishmael Toroama is among the 404 people lining up to win a seat. Bougainville is involved in the process of achieving independence from Papua New

    Scientists could be accidentally damaging fossils with a method we thought was safe
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mathieu Duval, Adjunct Senior Researcher at Griffith University and La Trobe University, and Ramón y Cajal (Senior) Research Fellow, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) 185,000-year-old human fossil jawbone from Misliya Cave, Israel. Gerhard Weber, University of Vienna, CC BY-ND Fossils are invaluable archives

    Right-wing political group Advance is in the headlines. What is it and what does it stand for?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Riboldi, Lecturer in Social Impact and Social Change, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney Advance/Facebook Political lobby group Advance has been back in the headlines this week. It was revealed an organisation headed by the husband of the Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Jillian Segal,

    We travelled to Antarctica to see if a Māori lunar calendar might help track environmental change
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Winton, Senior Research Fellow in Climatology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Holly Winton, CC BY-SA Antarctica’s patterns of stark seasonal changes, with months of darkness followed by a summer of 24-hour daylight, prompted us to explore how a Māori lunar and environmental calendar

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Australia – From 4 trades to 40,000: How 30 years of CommSec has shaped Aussie investing – CBA

    Source: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

    CommSec reflects on its 30-year journey and the future of investing.

    When CommSec launched on 17 July 1995, just four trades were placed via telephone and fax, at $75 each. Investing was slow and largely reserved for the few who had the time, knowledge, and access.

    But that day marked the beginning of a shift that would help reshape how Australians engage with financial markets. Fast forward to today, and investors can trade on the bus to work with the tap of their phone.

    “Many younger investors would find it hard to imagine what it was like buying and selling shares 30 years ago. Back in the early ‘90s, investing wasn’t exactly easy. Picture having to put in a call to a stockbroker, sometimes even fax orders, fill out reams of paperwork, and then wait for what felt like weeks for your share certificate to arrive,” said CommSec’s Executive General Manger James Fowle.

    “In 2025, that same process now takes a matter of seconds and you can do it straight from your mobile.”

    https://youtu.be/AforSgYeUQA?si=k1ocLNyupyitvbCr

    CommSec’s vision 30 years ago was to make the stock market easy, accessible and affordable.

    Three decades later, CommSec customers now execute around 40,000 trades daily, with the average value of shares bought and sold on the platform reaching $575 million each day. In the past 30 years, CommSec has completed nearly 160 million orders, worth more than $2.5 trillion – roughly the equivalent size of Australia’s economy.

    CommSec’s journey in many ways mirrors the broader evolution of investing in Australia, moving from the margins to the mainstream and becoming a core part of how Australians build wealth.

    Through a commitment to empower more Australians to grow their wealth, CommSec has helped transform how Aussies invest.

    “Over the past 30 years, CommSec has played a critical role in shaping the way Australians invest. Whether a first-time investor or seasoned portfolio builder, we’ve always pathed new ground to make investing more accessible to all Australians through innovation and education. Trust is key to who we are and I’m thankful to the millions of Australians who continue to trust us to grow their wealth,” said Fowle.

    The evolution of investing

    CommSec’s path to becoming Australia’s leading online broker has transpired largely due to the platform’s ability to meet the evolving needs of investors.

    In 1997, CommSec became the first Australian broker to launch a share trading website, paving the way for a digital trading future.

    By 2001, around 80 percent of CommSec’s trades were being placed online, mirroring a broader trend: Australians wanted more control, more transparency, and more speed when they invested.

    In 2008, CommSec launched Australia’s first iPhone trading app, making trading accessible to Aussies with a smartphone.  And in 2019, CommSec Pocket was launched – a low cost, simple investing app that aims to empower more Australians to start their investing journey.

    Fast forward to today, and nearly 50 per cent of trades are made via mobile.

    Over the years, market participation has also grown across demographics as government privatisations, the rise of self-managed super funds (SMSFs), the popularity of exchange traded funds (ETFs), and the increasing use of mobile apps have all contributed to a more engaged and informed investor base.

    Ten years ago, 20 per cent of CommSec’s customers were under 40 – today, that number has more than doubled to 43 per cent. Meanwhile, the percentage of female investors on CommSec has almost tripled in the past 5 years.

    “Markets have become more dynamic, and so have investors,” said Tom Piotrowski, CommSec’s long-time market analyst.

    “We’ve gone from a world where people waited for the morning paper to receive market news, to one where they’re trading on their phones during a lunch break. Now we’re pushing out a daily podcast and educating our customers on TikTok. That shift has been extraordinary to witness.”

    Not only that, CommSec has taken great strides in making investing more accessible through education. Initiatives like CommSec Learn offers tips to beginners, while the CommSec Invest podcast breaks down the fundamentals of investing. Also, bite sized content is delivered through channels like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

    A trusted partner through volatility

    From bull markets to the GFC, CommSec has supported customers through the uncertainty and volatility of the market.

    In CommSec’s 30-year history, the top 10 trading days have all occurred over the last 5 years.

    “Covid really changed the market – the number of first-time traders has more than doubled since February 2020,” said Fowle.

    “The introduction of tariffs by President Trump on April 2 rattled global financial markets, with the three-day drop in the S&P 500 being one of the worst market sell-offs since World War II, while the ASX witnessed its biggest one-day drop since 2020. In fact, April 7 was CommSec’s largest trading day in three years, with the team processing over $1.4 billion in trades.

    “What makes me proud is not just how we responded to the high and low moments like these; but how over three decades, CommSec has remained a trusted partner for Australians on their investment journey.”

    Looking forward to the future

    As technology continues to evolve at an ever-accelerating pace, CommSec is committed to remaining at the forefront of innovation to help more Aussies invest and grow their wealth.

    “The Australian stock market is poised for continued evolution, with technology playing a central role in shaping trading practices and investor engagement,” Fowle said.

    “I’m incredibly proud that CommSec, 30 years on, continues to make investing easy, accessible and affordable. As innovation continues to accelerate, we are well positioned to continue to harness new technologies to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

    30 Years of CommSec by the Numbers

    Australian Markets Since 1995

    The ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index has risen 335%
    Average NSW house prices have increased by 751%
    CBA’s share price has grown from $9.34 (30/6/95) to $184.75 (30/6/25), a 1878% increase
    Wealth per capita has surged from $96,810 to $810,000

    CommSec Firsts

    July 1995: First direct broker
    1997: First free live share price quotes
    November 2003: First retail Stop Loss order
    July 2008: First Financial Services iPhone App

    Average number of trades

    Four trades on day 1
    10,000 trades per day by 2002
    40,000 /$575m per day by 2025

    Method of Trading

    Telephone and Fax only on launch 31 July 1995 ($75 per trade)
    Internet access was offered in October 1996, providing information only. Trading started March 1997. 80% of trades made online by 2001

    Top trading days

    2020 and 2021 dominate the top five biggest trading days showing the impacts of COVID.
    The sixth biggest trading day was on 7 April 2025, following the announcement of U.S. tariffs.
     

    Stocks over time

    Top 5 stocks: 25 June 1995

    1. BHP
    2. News Corp
    3. NAB
    4. CRA
    5. WBC  

    Top 5 Stocks: 26 June 2025  

    1. CBA
    2. BHP
    3. Rio Tinto
    4. NAB
    5. CSL

    CommSec customers

    Percentage of customers under 40:

    Now: 39.80%
    5 years ago: 25.57%
    10 years ago: 20.19%
    30 years ago: 26.42%

    Percentage of female customers with holdings:

    Now: 27.46%
    3 years ago: 12.62%
    5 years ago: 10.60%.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: US Army Deploys, Fires Mid-Range Capability During Talisman Sabre 25

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia — The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) deployed a Mid-Range Capability (MRC) to Australia and conducted a Standard Missile 6 live fire on July 15th, 2025, successfully sinking a maritime target in support of Exercise Talisman Sabre 25, a bilateral exercise between the U.S. and Australian militaries. The deployment demonstrates the 3rd MDTF’s ability to deploy and support regional security and stability.

    MIL Security OSI –