NewzIntel.com

Category: Economy

  • MIL-OSI USA: BOLSTERING INNOVATION: GOVERNOR HOCHUL AND SENATOR SCHUMER ANNOUNCE $65 MILLION EXPANSION OF NEXT-GENERATION BATTERY INNOVATION COMPANY BAE SYSTEMS IN THE SOUTHERN TIER

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
    BAE Systems Commits To The Creation Of More Than 130 New Good-Paying Jobs At Village Of Endicott Location
    Continued New York State Investments Support The Southern Tier Region’s Comprehensive Strategy To Revitalize Communities And Grow the Economy By Focusing On Clean Energy Solutions
    Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Charles Schumer today announced that BAE Systems is investing $65 million to expand operations in the Village of Endicott, Broome County. The company will add a total of 150,000 square-feet to its existing site to make way for the addition of a new battery production line and lab space, and new office space. As a result of the expansion, the company has committed to creating up to 134 good-paying jobs onsite. BAE Systems is a global defense, aerospace and security company with approximately 93,500 employees worldwide. The BAE Systems facility in Endicott designs, develops and produces a broad portfolio of safety-critical electronic systems from flight and engine controls to power and energy management systems. The company has been operational at the Huron Campus site since 2011.
    “BAE Systems’ decision to further expand its business represents yet another win for New York State and for the Southern Tier, which is laser focused on becoming a global hub for next-generation battery innovation efforts,” Governor Hochul said. “Since taking office, I have remained committed to bringing jobs back to Upstate New York. This incredibly successful company chose to grow its operations here, spurring top-quality, good-paying job creation in the region because they have seen firsthand how hardworking New Yorkers are.”
    Senator Charles Schumer said, “BAE Systems is adding 130+ good-paying jobs right here in the Southern Tier to make sure the next generation of America’s batteries are stamped ‘Made in Upstate NY.’ This $65 million expansion to add a new battery production line, research lab, and office helps show how we can bring this supply chain back from overseas, with the Southern Tier leading the way to make sure the future of battery manufacturing is manufactured in Broome County, not Beijing. BAE Systems is a vital part of the Southern Tier economy, with a world-class workforce of over 1200 people, and selecting this area for their major battery production expansion is no accident. I’m proud of the millions in federal support I’ve delivered – via the American Rescue Plan and my bipartisan CHIPS & Science Act – to the region to make it a global center for battery research and set the stage for today’s announcement. Today BAE is helping add another loop to establish this region as a core of manufacturing and innovation for America’s battery belt.”
    The project involves the expansion of BAE Systems battery production line, including the purchase and installation of machinery and equipment to efficiently produce an energy storage system for electric/hybrid electric aircraft. This facility will include an automated state-of-the-art production line, an engineering lab, and an aftermarket center, and is expected to be fully complete in 2027.
    Empire State Development is assisting the project with up to $8.5 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program in exchange for the job creation commitments. Broome County is also providing assistance for the project.
    BAE Systems Senior Director Jim Garceau said, “This facility expansion reinforces our commitment to the Southern Tier and builds on New York State’s vision to create a regional hub for battery innovation.  With this investment, we will enhance our capabilities to address the emerging needs of the next-generation hybrid/electric aircraft.”
    Bolstering Next-Generation Battery Innovation
    Governor Hochul and Senator Schumer were instrumental in the company’s decision having worked closely with company officials to ensure that the project would move ahead in New York’s Southern Tier region which is laser-focused on supporting next-generation energy efforts – a top priority for the governor and senator.
    In January 2024, the Governor and Senator announced that the U.S. National Science Foundation had designated the New Energy New York (NENY) Storage Engine as a Regional Innovation Engine (NSF Engine), which was created by the Senator’s bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law. The NENY Storage Engine, anchored at Binghamton University in the Southern Tier Region, will receive up to $15 million in federal funding for two years and up to $160 million over 10 years to establish a hub that will accelerate innovation, technology translation and the creation of a skilled workforce to grow the capacity of the domestic battery industry. Through Empire State Development, New York State will match up to 20 percent for the first five years of the project as well as provide support through established programs. The NENY Storage Engine was chosen for its diverse, cross-sector coalition that will build a leading ecosystem driving battery technology innovation, workforce development and manufacturing to support U.S. national security and global competitiveness.
    Schumer has long fought to secure federal investment to boost the Southern Tier’s battery manufacturing and R&D. In 2021, Schumer created the Build Back Better Regional Challenge in the American Rescue Plan that he led to passage as Majority Leader. The senator personally advocated for the selection of the Binghamton University-led New Energy New York’s (NENY) battery hub proposal, helping deliver a $63.7 million federal investment with a $50 million funding match from New York State. In 2023, Schumer also delivered the prestigious federal Tech Hub designation, also created by his bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law for the Binghamton University-led NENY proposal.
    Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Hope Knight said, “Governor Hochul’s strategic and laser-focused support for next-generation clean energy companies accelerates this cutting-edge industry’s growing presence in New York State. BAE Systems’ expansion will create top-quality jobs and opportunities in the Southern Tier, furthering the region’s leadership in battery technology innovation.”
    New York State’s Climate Agenda
    New York State’s climate agenda calls for an affordable and just transition to a clean energy economy that creates family-sustaining jobs, promotes economic growth through green investments, and directs a minimum of 35 percent of the benefits to disadvantaged communities. New York is advancing a suite of efforts to achieve an emissions-free economy by 2050, including in the energy, buildings, transportation, and waste sectors.
    New York Power Authority President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll said, “BAE Systems has been a major driver of economic growth in Broome County, and I congratulate them on their new $65 million expansion. Thanks to strategic investments from Governor Hochul and Senator Schumer, New York has become a testbed for battery storage innovation, and NYPA will continue to support firms like BAE Systems developing cutting-edge technology and spurring economic growth with low-cost power.”
    New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “With this investment in next generation battery technology at their Broome County location, BAE Systems is supporting local jobs and strengthening the state’s clean energy supply chains, ensuring New York continues to lead the way in innovation and clean tech economic opportunity. The expansion will also advance clean transportation in the aviation industry and support NYSERDA’s efforts in research, development, and demonstration of new technologies in the energy storage sector.”
    State Senator Lea Webb said, “It’s exciting to see BAE Systems expand its next-generation battery innovation operations right here in the Southern Tier, bringing up to 134 new jobs to the Village of Endicott, ” said State Senator Lea Webb. “This investment strengthens our region’s role as a leader in clean energy technology and advanced manufacturing. I want to thank Governor Hochul for her commitment to growing our local economy and everyone who made this expansion possible. This investment not only creates new opportunities for workers but also reinforces New York’s leadership in the future of sustainable energy solutions.”
    Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, “Years of hard work and dedication have made our area a designated hub for battery innovation and manufacturing. BAE’s expansion to include a new battery production line will further establish our community as a leader in clean-energy technology. Their work on electric/hybrid bus and aircraft battery systems are game changers for the industry and for our local workforce. I’d like to thank BAE Systems for their continued investment in our community, and the Governor and Empire State Development for their ongoing support of this important work.”
    Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said, “BAE Systems’ expansion in Endicott is another major win for Broome County, reinforcing our region’s role as leader in next-generation battery innovation while creating even more job opportunities for our community. Thank you to Governor Hochul for her continued commitment to economic growth in the Southern Tier and to BAE Systems for choosing to expand here in Broome County.”
    Village of Endicott Mayor Nick Burlingame said, “BAE Systems’ decision to expand its operations in Endicott is a testament to the strength of our community, our workforce, and our region’s commitment to innovation. This investment not only reinforces Endicott’s legacy as a hub for cutting-edge technology but also brings new opportunities for local families and businesses. We are proud to support BAE Systems as they continue to grow and shape the future of clean energy and battery innovation right here in our village. We look forward to the jobs, economic impact, and advancements this expansion will bring to Endicott.”
    For additional information about BAE Systems, visit: https://jobs.baesystems.com/global/en/.
    Accelerating Economic Development in the Southern Tier
    Today’s announcement advances the Southern Tier Strategic Plan and complements “Southern Tier Soaring” strategy by facilitating economic growth and community development. These regionally designed plans focus on attracting a talented workforce, growing business and driving next-generation innovation. More information is available here.
    About Empire State Development
    Empire State Development is New York’s chief economic development agency, and promotes business growth, job creation, and greater economic opportunity throughout the state. With offices in each of the state’s 10 regions, ESD oversees the Regional Economic Development Councils, supports broadband equity through the ConnectALL office, and is growing the workforce of tomorrow through the Office of Strategic Workforce Development. 
    The agency engages with emerging and next generation industries like clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing looking to grow in New York State, operates a network of assistance centers to help small businesses grow and succeed, and promotes the state’s world class tourism destinations through I LOVE NY. For more information, please visit esd.ny.gov, and connect with ESD on LinkedIn, Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Türkiye’s reaction to the completion of Greece’s mandatory maritime spatial planning – E-000017/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    1. The Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) Directive[1] does not provide exemptions to the obligation to submit a maritime spatial plan by 31 March 2021. Therefore, under the MSP Directive the obligation to establish maritime spatial plans remains applicable irrespective of the existence of challenges regarding the delimitation of maritime zones with a third State. As guardian of the Treaties, the Commission ensures that all EU law obligations are complied with. An infringement procedure[2] against Greece for failure to adopt and submit maritime spatial plans has been referred to the Court of Justice and is now pending judgment.

    2. As guardian of the Treaties, the Commission may take enforcement action in any case of non-compliance by a Member State with its obligations under EU law, including by pursuing infringement procedures. The Commission is committed to supporting Member States in completing their maritime spatial planning obligations. The Commission also engages in dialogue with Member States to address any challenges they may face in implementing the directive.

    3. The Commission remains available to provide technical and financial support to facilitate the implementation of the maritime spatial planning acquis.

    • [1] Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning.
    • [2] https://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?langCode=EN&version=v1&typeOfSearch=byDecision&refId=INFR(2021)2226&page=1&size=10&order=desc&sortColumns=decisionDate
    Last updated: 21 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Serious deficiencies in the management of EU agencies – E-003074/2024(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    Evaluations of decentralised agencies are conducted as required by the agencies’ establishment acts adopted by the co-legislators. Agencies’ activities are evaluated in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and EU added value. The scope for synergies between decentralised agencies is also assessed.

    The evaluations are conducted by independent evaluators consulting all relevant stakeholders, including the main beneficiaries/users (often Member States and national authorities), the agencies’ Management Board representatives, external experts, international counterparts, and the Commission.

    Decentralised agencies’ governance is set out in the 2012 Common Approach[1]. They are autonomous EU bodies managed by an Executive Director and a Management Board which is composed of Member States’ representatives, the Commission and in some cases stakeholder representatives. The Commission only has a limited number of votes in the Management Board (usually one — two votes) and has no veto right.

    Ten decentralised agencies also have small Executive Boards, which oversee the application of audit results and support the administrative and budgetary management.

    The Commission systematically proposes to the co-legislators to introduce such Executive Boards for all new decentralised agencies.

    The Commission monitors each decentralised agency’s budgetary implementation as well as financial and human resource needs and proposes resource adjustments to the budgetary authority in the annual budget procedure, whenever justified and possible.

    Moreover, the discharge of the decentralised agencies’ annual budget is granted by the European Parliament, upon recommendation by the Council.

    To achieve synergies, the Commission proposes, when appropriate, to merge agencies or to harbour new tasks in an existing agency instead of creating a standalone agency or to link a new small agency to a big one to rely on the support departments of the latter.

    The Commission proposes the creation of a new standalone agency only when the new activities are too large or different for one of the above options to be viable.

    The Commission also presents in detail to the co-legislators the budgetary and staffing needs related to a proposal to create — or expand the mandate of — an agency[2].

    • [1] Joint statement of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on decentralised agencies including the annexed Common Approach of 19 July 2012 (https://european-union.europa.eu/document/download/d4199ff4-1e3d-45e6-af7e-90cf1a7b10bc_en?filename=joint_statement_on_decentralised_agencies_en.pdf).
    • [2] In line with the requirement of Article 35 of the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202402509) and Article 27 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32020Q1222(01)).

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Flood and landslide risk assessment in Sicily: a decade of inertia and consequences for public safety – E-002993/2024(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    1. Sicily’s second Flood Risk Management Plan[1] plans the updating of flood hazard and risk maps[2]. The Italian authorities informed the Commission that, although the updating of such maps was suspended for administrative reasons, the Regional Council gave a mandate to the Regional Department for Financial Planning and Programming to avail itself of the funding available for updating the maps by 31 December 2026.

    2. Cohesion policy[3] supports climate change adaptation, disaster risk prevention, and resilience. Under the European Regional Development Fund[4], EUR 103 million are indicatively allocated for floods and landslides, with the possibility for prevention measures[5]. Still, under shared management, in line with the applicable regulations, responsibility to select measures lies with the Managing Authority based on a programme approved by the Commission. While the Recovery and Resilience Facility[6] supports Italy in hydrogeological risk reduction and the development of a monitoring system to predict and mitigate climate change risks with a focus on Southern Italy, the Council Implementing Decision Annex[7] does not require resource allocation specifically to Sicily. Any allocation to this region is a decision of the Italian authorities[8].

    3. Existing measures to assess landslides include the European landslide susceptibility map[9] and the European Ground Motion Service[10]. Strengthening the knowledge base and promoting soil health can mitigate floods and droughts whilst making the environment more resilient to landslides and soil erosion thanks to improved water retention[11].

    • [1] Covering 2022-2027, https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water/floods_en
    • [2] Page 55 https://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_LaStrutturaRegionale/PIR_PresidenzadellaRegione/PIR_AutoritaBacino/PIR_Areetematiche/PIR_Pianificazione/PIR_PianoGestioneDirettiva200760CE/PIR_PianoGestioneRischioAlluvioni2021/PIR_PGRAIICiclo/PIR_RelazioneMedotologicaPGRAIICiclo/Relazione%20metodologica%20PGRA%20II%20ciclo%20di%20gestione.pdf
    • [3] https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/what/investment-policy_en
    • [4] 2021-2027 Regional Programme for Sicily, https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/european-regional-development-fund-erdf_en
    • [5] Such measures could include the implementation of databases, the development of forecasting models and territorial analyses for risk studies and mitigation models.
    • [6] https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en#national-recovery-and-resilience-plans
    • [7] Annex to the Council Implementing Decision amending Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Italy: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15114-2024-ADD-1-REV-1/en/pdf
    • [8] For example: https://pnrr.protezionecivile.gov.it/it/il-pnrr-il-dipartimento-della-protezione-civile/. Projects in Sicily are relevant for reporting under the RRF if they contribute to the milestones and targets of the investments mentioned above, as set out in the annex of the Council Implementing Decision.
    • [9] https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/european-landslide-susceptibility-map-elsus-v2
    • [10] https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/european-ground-motion-service
    • [11] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_3637
    Last updated: 21 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Enhancing Computing Power for the Public Good

    Source: US State of New York

    Governor Kathy Hochul today announced further details of her proposal to expand New York’s first-in-the-nation Empire AI Consortium. The Governor’s FY26 Executive Budget includes $90 million in capital funding to substantially increase the computing power of Empire AI, expand access for SUNY researchers, and support the addition of new members including the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The proposal will be matched by $50 million in private funding from new members and $25 million in SUNY operating funding over ten years. This investment will make the Empire AI supercomputer more powerful, leading to more research for the public good being done faster and more efficiently compared with currently available computing power.

    “The United States is in a race with China and the rest of the world in the global AI revolution, and with our first-in-the-nation Empire AI Consortium, New York is leading the way in research and innovation,” Governor Hochul said. “With Empire AI, we are setting the standard for harnessing the power of AI for the public good and ultimately creating a better future for New Yorkers.”

    Last year, Governor Hochul reached historic agreement with the state legislature as part of the FY25 Budget to establish Empire AI, a first-of-its-kind independent consortium to secure New York’s place at the forefront of artificial intelligence research. The consortium will leverage a $275 million state investment to create and launch a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence computing center on the University at Buffalo’s campus. The center will be used by leading New York institutions to promote responsible research and development, create jobs and advance AI for the public good. The founding members of Empire AI include SUNY, CUNY, Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron Institute.

    In October 2024, only six months after Budget enactment, Governor Hochul launched the first phase of Empire AI thanks to a philanthropic contribution from the Simons Foundation. Housed at the University at Buffalo, the Empire AI Alpha system is operating at maximum capacity and has allowed over 200 researchers across the seven founding members to begin work aimed at addressing major societal challenges.

    Researchers are already using Empire AI to conduct groundbreaking research, from medical breakthroughs in treating cancer to making better weather predictions, which will make life better for everyday New Yorkers. Current projects include:

    • Developing technologies that could provide adaptive speech and language therapies to children with special needs.
    • Building models of the climate, which can help communities prepare for future impact of extreme weather events.
    • Building models to help analyze CT scans to better diagnose and treat lung cancer.

    Now, Governor Hochul’s proposed expansion will allow Empire AI to secure a future full-scale computing system that supports expanded capacity for SUNY and the addition of new members. The proposed new members of Empire AI consortium include:

    • University of Rochester, a leading research university and the largest health care system in Upstate New York, will vastly improve AI-powered medical research and give consortium researchers unparalleled access to medical technologies and information.
    • Rochester Institute of Technology, which announced the formation of its Artificial Intelligence Hub last August, has proven to be a nationwide leader developing AI solutions for teaching and learning. By joining the consortium, they are contributing academic and strategic power to Empire AI’s member schools and researchers.
    • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, one of the top medical schools in the country, the first medical school to establish a Department of Artificial Intelligence (the Windreich Department of AI and Human Health) and is ranked as number 1 in AI according to Nature AI Index, has expressed intent to join the Empire AI consortium. The School will work collaboratively with the other healthcare and public health partners to accelerate health AI research with a focus on translation, aimed at improving New York’s health care and public health infrastructure.
    • SUNY will double its participation in Empire AI’s consortium, allowing more researchers and students from SUNY’s most research-intensive campuses to access the world-class computing power.

    Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “Thanks to Governor Hochul’s vision and commitment, New York State is a clear leader in harnessing the power of AI – one of the most revolutionary technologies of this century – to improve people’s lives and promote the public good. ESD is proud of its pioneering part in its effort, and eager to work with the expanded consortium, to not only leverage AI to tackle society’s most vexing challenges, but also cultivate New York’s AI ecosystem, which will create quality jobs, attract additional investments, and further grow the state’s economy.”

    SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “Thanks to Governor Hochul, New York State is leading the nation in the use of artificial intelligence to advance the public good. SUNY’s world-class researchers are already accelerating groundbreaking work on climate change, curing diseases, and civic discourse thanks to Empire AI, and Governor Hochul’s budget proposal will help SUNY and other higher education institutions conduct research that strengthens our economic well-being and national security.”

    Empire AI Interim Executive Director Robert Harrison said, “Empire AI is advancing research in public health, environmental science, computing and countless other areas, and we’re doing it at a scale and pace that would have been unthinkable even a few short months ago. This is only possible because of Governor Hochul’s leadership and the legislature’s vision to partner with some of the state’s leading research institutions and invest in New York’s computing capabilities. And thanks to Governor Hochul, we now have the opportunity to do even more, adding new members and increasing our research capabilities to cement New York as the national leader in AI research for the public good.”

    Rochester Institute of Technology Research Vice President Ryne Raffaelle said, “Joining Empire AI would strengthen our commitment to leading the way in the higher education artificial intelligence space. Our researchers would have unique opportunities to access cutting-edge equipment, connect with other thought leaders, and engage students in work related to responsible artificial intelligence. This partnership would be valuable for our university and would escalate our state as a national leader in this area.”

    University of Rochester Research Vice President Steve Dewhurst said, “AI is rapidly changing our lives in fundamental and profound ways. That’s why we would be so excited to join Empire AI to leverage our incredible assets and strengths in AI and supercomputing. In partnership with our state’s leading experts, we could enhance how we learn, discover, heal, and create, while harnessing our collective strengths to best position New York to lead and benefit from this technology. I am grateful to Governor Hochul for her leadership and vision in creating this innovative collaboration and look forward to working with our partners when it passes in the Budget.”

    Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience Director, The Friedman Brain Institute Dean for Academic Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Chief Scientific Officer, Mount Sinai Health System Dr. Eric Nestler said, “Joining Empire AI would ensure that we remain at the forefront of AI innovation and progress — where AI-driven insights enhance diagnosis, personalize treatments, and revolutionize research and practice. Together, we and members of this consortium would harness the power of AI technology to improve patient health, drive medical breakthroughs, and shape the future of healthcare.”

    State Senator Jeremy Cooney said, “The Rochester region is fortunate to have nationally renowned universities on the cutting edge of technological research like Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Rochester. Today’s announcement from Governor Hochul that these institutions will be bringing their expertise to the Empire AI consortium is a win for our universities, their students, and our area as a whole. With the inclusion of RIT and University of Rochester, area researchers will be leading the way on AI innovation and helping to establish New York on the forefront of this vital work.”

    Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson said, “Congratulations to the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester on their intention to join Empire AI consortium. This collaboration will connect the Rochester region to the world-class talent and cutting-edge technologies needed to prepare the workforce of today and tomorrow, and ensure these universities continue to lead the way in pioneering technological advancements. As Chair of Labor, I recognize that this initiative is critical to growing our economy by guaranteeing we have the expertise and qualified workforce required for nation-leading research and education.”

    Expanding Artificial Intelligence Across New York State
    Access to the computing resources that power AI systems is prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain. These resources are increasingly concentrated in the hands of large technology companies and other global competitors, who maintain outsized control of the AI development ecosystem. As a result, researchers, public interest organizations, and small companies are being left behind, which has enormous implications for AI safety and society at large. Empire AI is bridging this gap and accelerating the development of AI centered in the public interest for New York State. Enabling this pioneering AI research and development is also helping educational institutions nurture the next generation of talent that will create AI-focused technology startups, driving job growth.

    By increasing collaboration between New York State’s world-class research institutions, Empire AI is creating efficiencies of scale not achievable by any single university, empowering and attracting top notch faculty, expanding educational opportunity, and enabling responsible innovation that will significantly strengthen our state’s economy and our national security.
    The initiative is currently funded by over $400 million in public and private investment, including a $250 million State capital grant investment and $25 million over ten years in SUNY operating funding. The project will also receive more than $125 million from the founding institutions and other private partners, including the Simons Foundation, whose Flatiron Institute works to advance research through computational methods, and Tom Secunda, co-founder of Bloomberg LP and the Secunda Family Foundation, which provides millions of dollars a year in grants to conservation, health care, scientific advancement and other causes.

    Governor Hochul’s Innovation Agenda
    Governor Hochul’s commitment to advancing New York’s leadership in artificial intelligence builds on her broader agenda to expand cutting-edge technology development in the Empire State. Last year, Governor Hochul announced that IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Girls Who Code CEO Dr. Tarika Barrett would co-chair the new Emerging Technology Advisory Board (the Board) — an independent group of industry leaders tasked with informing and accelerating New York’s transformation into a hub for growth and innovation. The Board released their initial recommendations in December 2024.

    The Governor previously signed New York’s historic Green CHIPS legislation to drive semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing in New York State and announced a $10 billion partnership to bring next-generation chips research to NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex. The Governor has continued to advance a $620 million Life Science Initiative to support innovation in biomedical research. And through strategic investments like the $113.7 million Battery-NY initiative, Governor Hochul has fueled the growth of the sustainability, green technology and energy storage economies in New York State.

    The Governor’s innovation agenda has catalyzed major public and private investments, transforming New York’s economy and creating good-paying jobs of the future. GlobalFoundries recently announced an $11.6 billion investment to expand its chip manufacturing campus in New York’s Capital Region, creating 1,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. In 2022, Micron announced a 20-year, $100 billion investment to create a megafab campus in Central New York, creating 50,000 new direct and indirect jobs and unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in community benefits.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Ambridge Water Authority Manager Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay Restitution of More Than $1 Million for Defrauding Utility

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court on February 20, 2025, to 27 months of incarceration, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,073,185 on his conviction of mail fraud, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

    United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Michael Dominick, 44, who pleaded guilty to the mail fraud charge on October 8, 2024 (read the plea news release here).

    According to information presented to the Court, Dominick was a former manager at the Ambridge Water Authority (AWA), where, during the period of January 2020 through August 2022, Dominick defrauded AWA of money and property totaling approximately $1,073,185. As manager of AWA, Dominick was responsible for overseeing all daily business and financial activity and had access to AWA’s bank accounts as well as cash and check payments made to AWA for water and related services. Dominick secretly diverted AWA’s money into his own personal bank accounts by writing checks to himself, depositing cash and checks issued to AWA into his personal bank accounts, using the AWA debit card to make purchases of personal items, and adjusting or failing to report the true location of AWA’s funds on critical financial records. As part of his sentencing, Dominick was ordered to pay restitution to the AWA and one of its insurers in the full amount stolen.

    Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Bissoon stated that the sentence imposed would reflect Dominick’s significant abuse of public trust in perpetrating the fraud.

    Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

    Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and investigators with the Beaver County District Attorney’s Office for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Dominick.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Lendmark Financial Services Expands Georgia Presence with Grayson Branch, Marking its Fifth Branch Opening in 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    GRAYSON, Ga., Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark), a leading provider of household credit and consumer loan solutions, continues to expand its Georgia footprint, opening a new branch in Grayson and its 53rd in the state.

    The branch is located at 1950 Grayson HWY, Suite 130 and is expected to serve hundreds of customers in its first year. Amber Cotton, who serves as the branch manager, will be responsible for the administration of all daily operations. These include building personal relationships with customers and integrating into the community to ensure area residents receive a superior level of individualized loan services that meet their unique financial needs.

    “Our very first Lendmark branch opened in Georgia in 1996 and 29 years later we are still expanding right where we started. Continued growth in Georgia shows the tremendous impact we make by focusing on delivering the tailored loan solutions our customers need to meet planned and unplanned life events,” said Jerry Sharp, Vice President of Branch Operations at Lendmark. “Our Georgia branch openings and overall branch growth demonstrate an ongoing need for diverse household financial options for consumers here and throughout the country.”

    In addition to serving consumers directly, Lendmark provides financing solutions for thousands of retailers and independent auto dealerships, allowing these businesses’ customers to obtain Lendmark financing. Local businesses that are interested in partnering with Lendmark to provide financing solutions for their customers should visit the branch or call 470-226-3828.

    Lendmark’s ‘Climb to Cure’ is its signature cause-related initiative. The company has committed to raising $10 million by 2025 to mark its 10-year anniversary partnering with CURE Childhood Cancer. So far, Lendmark’s employees, partners and customers have raised $8.83 million to support CURE, an Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to funding targeted pediatric cancer research that is utilized nationwide.

    Lendmark customers can participate by donating $1 when closing their loan. Lendmark matches the donation.

    About Lendmark Financial Services
    Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark) provides personal and household credit and loan solutions to consumers. Founded in 1996, Lendmark strives to be the lender, employer, and partner of choice by protecting household wealth, offering stability and helping consumers meet both planned and unplanned life events through affordable loan offerings. Today, Lendmark operates more than 515 branches in 22 states across the country, providing personalized services to customers and retail business partners with every transaction. Lendmark is headquartered in Lawrenceville, Ga. For more information, visit www.lendmarkfinancial.com.

    Media Contact
    Jeff Hamilton
    Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
    jhamilton@lendmarkfinancial.com
    678-625-3128

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Boston Globe: As Cerberus CEO faces Senate confirmation for Trump post, Warren seeks answers on Steward

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    February 18, 2025

    The chief executive of the private equity group that yielded a roughly $800 million profit from its investment in Steward Health Care is set to face the US Senate soon in his bid to serve as a top official at the Pentagon, and his company’s involvement in the now-troubled hospital chain is drawing scrutiny.

    The extent of Cerberus Capital Management chief executive Stephen Feinberg’s involvement with Steward were among the questions Senator Elizabeth Warren posed in a letter sent Monday night ahead of his upcoming confirmation hearing. The letter includes dozens of concerns the Massachusetts Democrat has over the billionaire’s nomination as deputy defense secretary.

    “Cerberus, under your leadership, has exemplified the concerns that I have long had about private equity firms: that its focus on debt-fueled acquisitions, managed for the short-term and for the benefit of insider executives, ultimately leaves the companies it acquires as hollowed-out shells and hurts workers, customers, and communities,” Warren wrote in the letter shared with The Boston Globe.

    Steward is listed as one of several companies Warren says Cerberus invested in that later went bankrupt or struggled financially, including Chrysler, gun maker Remington, defense contractor DynCorp, and grocery chain Albertsons.

    …

    Read the full article here.

    By:  Tal Kopan
    Source: Boston Globe

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to see how Trump supporters are feeling − for them, a ‘golden age’ has begun

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University – Newark

    Attendees take selfies at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 20, 2025. Andrew Harnick/Getty Images

    At the start of his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump declared, “The golden age of America begins right now!”

    A month later, Trump’s supporters gathered at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, from Feb. 19-22 to celebrate the advent of this golden age.

    Gold glitter jackets, emblazoned with phrases like “Trump the Golden Era,” are for sale in the CPAC exhibition hall. There, attendees decked out in other MAGA-themed clothing and accessories network and mingle. They visit booths with politically charged signs that say “Defund Planned Parenthood” and collect brochures on topics like “The Gender Industrial Complex.”

    Another booth with a yellow and black striped backdrop resembling a prison cell’s bars was called a “Deportation Center.” Attendees photographed themselves at this booth, posing beside full-size cutouts of Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan.

    Former Jan. 6 prisoners, including Proud Boys’ former leader Enrique Tarrio, have also been a visible – and controversial – presence at CPAC.

    The conference’s proceedings kicked off on Feb. 20 with an Arizona pastor, Joshua Navarrete, saying, to loud applause, “We are living in the greatest time of our era – the golden age!”

    Many subsequent speakers repeated this phrase, celebrating the country’s “golden age.”

    For many outside observers, claims of a golden age might seem odd.

    Just months ago during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said that an American apocalypse was underway, driven by a U.S. economy in shambles and major cities overrun by an “invasion” of “illegal alien” “terrorists,” “rapists” and “murderers.”

    Now, Trump’s critics argue, the U.S. is led by a convicted felon who is implementing policies that are reckless, stupid and harmful.

    Further, these critics contend, Trump’s illegal power grabs are leading to a constitutional crisis that could cause democracy to crumble in the U.S.

    How, they wonder, could anyone believe the country is in a golden age?

    As an anthropologist of U.S. political culture, I have been studying the Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement for years. I wrote a related 2021 book, “It Can Happen Here.” And I continue to do MAGA research at places like this year’s CPAC, where the mood has been giddy.

    Here are three reasons why the MAGA faithful believe a golden age has begun. The list begins, and ends, with Trump.

    Elon Musk holds a painting of himself during CPAC in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 20, 2025.
    Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

    1. The warrior hero

    Trump supporters contend that after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attacks, which they consider a “peaceful protest,” Trump became a political pariah and victim.

    Like many a mythic hero, Trump’s response was “never surrender.” In 2023, he repeatedly told his MAGA faithful, “I am your warrior, I am your justice.”

    Trump’s heroism, his supporters believe, was illustrated after a bullet grazed his ear during an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July 2024. Trump quickly rose to his feet, pumped his fist in the air and yelled, “Fight, fight, fight.”

    The phrase became a MAGA rally cry and, in February 2025, it has been stamped on CPAC attendees’ shirts and jackets.

    After Trump’s 2024 election victory, many Trump supporters dubbed it
    “the greatest comeback in political history.” MAGA populist Steven Bannon invoked this phrase at a pre-CPAC event on Feb. 19.

    When Bannon spoke on the CPAC main stage on Feb. 20, he led the crowd in a raucous “fight, fight, fight” chant. He compared Trump with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and called for him to run again for president in 2028.

    This is despite the fact that Trump running for a third term would violate the Constitution.

    2. A wrecking ball

    The MAGA faithful believe that Trump is like a human “wrecking ball,” as evangelical leader Lance Wallnau said in 2015. This metaphor speaks to how Trump supporters believe the president is tearing down an entrenched, corrupt system.

    The day Trump took office, MAGA stalwarts underscore, he began to “drain the swamp” with a slew of executive orders.

    One established the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is devoted to eliminating government waste. DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has dismantled USAID and fired thousands of government workers whom MAGA views as part of an anti-Trump “deep state.”

    Musk stole the show at CPAC on Feb. 20. Speaking to a cheering crowd, Musk held up a large red chain saw and yelled, “This is the chain saw for bureaucracy.”

    Speaker after speaker at this year’s CPAC have celebrated this and other wrecking-ball achievements on panels with titles like “Red Tape Reckoning,” “Crushing Woke Board Rooms” and “The Takedown of Left Tech.”

    3. The Midas touch

    A golden age requires a builder. Who better, the MAGA faithful believe, than a billionaire businessman with a self-proclaimed “Midas touch.” This refers to King Midas, a figure in Greek mythology who turns everything he touches into pure gold.

    “Trump Will Fix It” signs filled his 2024 campaign rallies. And MAGA supporters note that Trump began fixing the country on Day 1 by “flooding the zone” with executive orders aimed at implementing his four-pronged “America First” promise. In addition to draining the swamp, this plan pledges to “make America safe again,” “make America affordable and energy dominant again” and “bring back American values.”

    These themes run through the remarks of almost every CPAC speaker, who offer nonstop praise about how Trump is securing the country’s borders, increasing energy independence, repatriating who they call illegal aliens, restoring free speech and reducing government regulation and waste.

    CPAC speakers said that Trump has already racked up a slew of successes just a month into his presidency.

    This includes Trump using the threat of tariffs to bring other countries to the negotiating table.

    Meanwhile, Trump supporters are pleased that he has been working to cut deals to end the conflict in Gaza and the war between Russia and Ukraine, while reorienting U.S. foreign policy to focus on China.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed the prevailing MAGA sentiment when he stated at CPAC that Trump “wrote the art of the deal. He knows what he’s doing.”

    CPAC attendees wear Trump-themed clothing at the four-day political conference on Feb. 20, 2025.
    Andrew Harnick/Getty Images

    American exceptionalism restored

    The golden-age celebration at CPAC centered on Trump and his mission to “make America great again.”

    Speaker after speaker, including foreign conservative leaders from around the world, paid homage to Trump and this message.

    During her CPAC speech, Liz Truss, the former prime minister of the U.K., stated, “This is truly the golden age of America.” Truss, who does not have a current political position, told the CPAC audience that she wanted to copy the MAGA playbook in order to “make Britain great again.”

    The MAGA faithful believe that Trump is restoring an era of American exceptionalism in which the U.S. is an economic powerhouse, common sense is the rule, and traditional values centered on God, family and freedom are celebrated.

    And they believe in a future where the U.S. is, as Trump said in his inaugural address, “the envy of every nation.”

    Alex Hinton receives funding from Alex Hinton receives funding from the Rutgers-Newark Sheila Y. Oliver Center for Politics and Race in America, Rutgers Research Council, and Henry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.

    – ref. I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to see how Trump supporters are feeling − for them, a ‘golden age’ has begun – https://theconversation.com/i-went-to-cpac-as-an-anthropologist-to-see-how-trump-supporters-are-feeling-for-them-a-golden-age-has-begun-250219

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: The All-Russian online Olympiad on financial literacy and entrepreneurship for schoolchildren will begin on March 4

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    The Olympiad has been held for five years in a row, and this year, for the first time, students in grades 10–11 will be able to join in. You can take part any day up to and including April 3 on the educational platform Uchi.ru.

    Schoolchildren will learn how to plan a budget, assess risks, and resist fraudulent schemes. They will also try themselves in the role of entrepreneurs — they will analyze input data, forecast demand, and manage resources in their own project to increase profits. The tasks are adapted for all age groups: primary school students will get acquainted with the basic concepts and principles of financial literacy, and high school students will work out scenarios with changing conditions.

    The Olympiad will open with an online lesson by Vadim Uvarov, Director of the Information Security Department of the Bank of Russia, “Droppers: How to Avoid Fraudsters.” The broadcast will take place on March 4 at 9:30 Moscow time and will be available onevent page, in the personal accounts of users on the platform Uchi.ru, as well as in the official community of the Bank of Russia inVKontakte, where participants will be able to ask questions to the speaker.

    “Fraudsters are increasingly involving teenagers in their schemes, mainly via the Internet under the pretext of easy money. During the lesson, I will talk about common traps that criminals lure young people into. We will talk about what droppering is and what the risks are. The lesson will also be useful for parents: I will give some practical advice on how to help a child avoid becoming an accomplice to financial crimes,” Vadim Uvarov noted.

    To participate, you must register. on the website or log in using your login and password from Uchi.ru. Depending on the result, participants will receive a certificate, diploma or diploma, and teachers will receive letters of thanks.

    The Olympiad is organized by the ANO National Priorities, the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Finance of Russia, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the educational platform Uchi.ru in accordance with the goals and objectives of the national project Effective and Competitive Economy. The event will be held with the support of the all-Russian public and state movement of children and youth Movement of the First.

    Interest in the Olympiad is constantly growing: in 2021, 800 thousand schoolchildren joined it, in 2024 – more than 2.3 million.

    Preview photo: Wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock / Fotodom

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

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV.KBR.ru/Press/Event/? ID = 23393

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Seventeen Defendants Sentenced To Prison In Multi-State Drug Trafficking And Money Laundering Conspiracy

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge John Antoon II has sentenced Dudzinski Poole and sixteen co-conspirators to federal prison terms ranging from six years, up to life, imprisonment in a multi-state drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy. Poole was the leader of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that was responsible for distributing thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine and fentanyl with sources of supply or distributors in California, multiple other states, and China. The organization also laundered millions of dollars in drug money. Two of Poole’s co-conspirators (Michael Chester and George King, Jr.) were convicted after a ten-day jury trial in July 2024. The rest of the defendants entered guilty pleas. A summary chart of the sentences is below:

    Name (Age, Residence)

    Charges

    Sentence

    Dudzinski Edwinn Poole

    a/k/a “Zink”

    (50, Apopka, FL)

    Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

    (two counts)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 21 years, 10 months’ imprisonment

    Melvin Tyrone Patterson, Jr.

    a/k/a “Goon”

    (34, Wildwood, FL)

    Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine (two counts)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 18 years, 7 months’ imprisonment

    Andrew Woodruff, Jr.

    a/k/a “Smurf”

    (40, Mount Dora, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 30 years’ imprisonment

    Jose Ivan Carbajal

    a/k/a “Primo”

    (35, California)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 40 years’ imprisonment

    Antonio Holmes

    a/k/a “Tone”

    (36, Davenport, FL)

    Possession with intent to distribute fentanyl

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    		 15 years, 8 months’ imprisonment

    Diego Navarro- Martinez

    a/k/a “Shooter”

    (34, California)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 15 years’ imprisonment

    Michael Andre Chester

    a/k/a “Dre”

    (50, Apopka, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 Life in prison

    Samantha Tiesha King

    a/k/a “Mamp”

    (34, Altamonte Springs, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 17 years, 6 months’ imprisonment

    George Nelvin King, Jr.

    (47, Altamonte Springs, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 14 years, 8 months’ imprisonment

    Felisha Denise Williams

    a/k/a “Lil Momma”

    (35, Apopka, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 12 years, 7 months’ imprisonment

    Nathaniel Donnell, Jr.

    a/k/a “Bob”

    (60, Wildwood, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 13 years’ imprisonment

    Rodrieka Lashay Manning

    a/k/a “Drieka”

    (27, Apopka, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 11 years, 3 months’ imprisonment

    Mohammed McDowell

    a/k/a “Mo”

    (45, Wildwood, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 10 years, 10 months’ imprisonment

    Janice Denise Anderson

    a/k/a “Butter”

    (67, Mount Dora, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 10 years, 4 months’ imprisonment

    Latonya Sharee Conley

    a/k/a “Hershey”

    (47, Mount Dora, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 10 years’ imprisonment

    Oveda Denise Miller

    a/k/a “Gangsta Granny”

    (62, Mount Dora, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 10 years’ imprisonment

    Roland Richardson

    (65, Mount Dora, FL)

    Drug trafficking conspiracy

    Money laundering conspiracy

    		 6 years’ imprisonment

    According to court records and the evidence presented at trial, between 2017 and 2023, the DTO operated largely out of Lake County, Florida, where Poole received hundreds of shipments of methamphetamine and fentanyl from sources of supply in California, including Jose Carbajal. The drugs were transported or shipped via commercial planes and through the mail. DEA seized more than 250 pounds of drugs (mostly methamphetamine and fentanyl) during the course of the investigation.

    The defendants played various roles in the DTO, such as suppliers, distributors, couriers, and courier coordinators. The couriers would fly to California from Florida with large sums of cash to purchase drugs and transport checked luggage full of drugs back to Florida on commercial flights. The conspirators sometimes purchased tickets and checked the suitcases full of drugs or cash at the airport but did not fly on the plane. The suitcases would travel to the destination where they would be picked up by other conspirators awaiting their arrival. Nearly all the flights were between the Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Florida and the Palm Springs Airport (PSP) or the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California. Flight records during a two-year period show more than 400 flights between California and Orlando among the various conspirators.

    The DTO also used couriers to transport large amounts of methamphetamine from Orlando to Virginia via train. In April 2022, one of these couriers was arrested at a train station in Virginia with approximately 10 pounds of methamphetamine inside a suitcase.

    In addition to transporting drugs on commercial flights and trains, Poole and his associates had multiple stash houses and received hundreds of mailed packages of methamphetamine and fentanyl from California and other drugs, including fentanyl, from China. Poole’s source of supply in California (Carbajal) would ship packages that contained an average of five to ten pounds of drugs at a time. Poole would provide Carbajal various addresses to ship the drugs, including co-conspirators’ residences. Investigators identified almost 400 packages that were shipped from California as part of this conspiracy from 2019 to 2023.

    The members of this DTO also conspired with one another to engage in money laundering. Poole developed an entertainment business that he used to promote concerts with famous rap artists, whom he paid with drug proceeds. Poole then commingled the profits from the ticket sales with the drug proceeds in the same business account. Members of the conspiracy also used drug proceeds to pay for various expenses of the DTO (such as flights) or funneled the proceeds through numerous financial accounts into purchases of expensive jewelry, vehicles, residences, and payments to coconspirators.

    “This multi-state drug trafficking organization used a vast network to move methamphetamine and fentanyl to poison our communities,” said DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter. “I’m proud of the way our agents and numerous law enforcement partners worked together to bring this criminal element to justice.”

    “Greed is the biggest motivation these criminal organizations know,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Tampa Field Office. “Motivated by money, they will try to place themselves above the law to the detriment of our communities. Fortunately, our agents and staff are extremely skilled at following the money to ensure these perpetrators face justice. We are proud to work alongside our partner agencies to put a stop to these dangerous drug trafficking organizations and ensure they are held accountable.”  

    This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the United States Secret Service; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; the Orlando Police Department’s Special Enforcement Division and Crime Center and Forensics Division; the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s including the Gang Enforcement Unit; the Florida Highway Patrol; the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office; the Casselberry Police Department; the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation; the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office; the Marion County Sheriff’s Office; the Lake County Sheriff’s Office; the Kissimmee Police Department; the St. Cloud Police Department; the Winter Park Police Department; the St. Cloud IRS Financial Crimes Task Force; and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (California). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tyrie K. Boyer and Belkis H. Callaos.

    This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Lendmark Financial Services Expands North Carolina Presence with Laurinburg Branch, Marking its 4th Branch Opening in 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAURINBURG, N.C., Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark), a leading provider of household credit and consumer loan solutions, continues to expand its North Carolina footprint, opening a new branch in Laurinburg and its 64th in the state.

    The branch is located at 929 S 401 Bypass Hwy, and is expected to serve hundreds of customers in its first year. Domonic Davis, who serves as the branch manager, will be responsible for the administration of all daily operations. These include building personal relationships with customers and integrating into the community to ensure area residents receive a superior level of individualized loan services that meet their unique financial needs.

    “As we grow our footprint in North Carolina, we will continue to focus on delivering the tailored loan solutions our customers need to meet planned and unplanned life events,” said Chad DeBoard, Vice President of Branch Operations at Lendmark. “With over 60 branches in North Carolina and more slated to open, our continued growth demonstrates an ongoing need for diverse household financial options for consumers here and throughout the country.”

    In addition to serving consumers directly, Lendmark provides financing solutions for thousands of retailers and independent auto dealerships, allowing these businesses’ customers to obtain Lendmark financing. Local businesses that are interested in partnering with Lendmark to provide financing solutions for their customers should visit the branch or call 225-453-0987.

    Lendmark’s ‘Climb to Cure’ is its signature cause-related initiative. The company has committed to raising $10 million by 2025 to mark its 10-year anniversary partnering with CURE Childhood Cancer. So far, Lendmark’s employees, partners and customers have raised $8.83 million to support CURE, an Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to funding targeted pediatric cancer research that is utilized nationwide.

    About Lendmark Financial Services
    Lendmark Financial Services (Lendmark) provides personal and household credit and loan solutions to consumers. Founded in 1996, Lendmark strives to be the lender, employer, and partner of choice by protecting household wealth, offering stability and helping consumers meet both planned and unplanned life events through affordable loan offerings. Today, Lendmark operates more than 515 branches in 22 states across the country, providing personalized services to customers and retail business partners with every transaction. Lendmark is headquartered in Lawrenceville, Ga. For more information, visit www.lendmarkfinancial.com.

    Media Contact
    Jeff Hamilton
    Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
    jhamilton@lendmarkfinancial.com
    678-625-3128

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial News: One Million Retail Investors Became Shareholders in Money Market ETFs in a Year

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    On February 20, 2025, Moscow Exchange held a conference “The Collective Investment Market – from the First Trillion to a Place in Every Investor’s Portfolio”. The event was timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the start of trading in units of exchange-traded mutual investment funds (EMIF) of the money market.

    The event discussed the current state and development prospects of the collective investment market as a whole and one of its flagship products – money market exchange-traded funds. Participants reviewed and assessed the market from different angles: regulatory, client and commercial – and during the discussions outlined the main trends in the industry and investors’ expectations.

    As of February 1, 2025, the number of investors who invested in money market funds on the Moscow Exchange approached 1.4 million people. Thus, over the year, one million private investors became shareholders.

    Trading in the first money market mutual fund started on the Moscow Exchange stock market on January 20, 2020. Today, investors have access to 16 money market mutual funds (13 ruble and 3 yuan), 10 of which were launched in 2024. Money market funds account for 85% of the total net asset value of all mutual funds (more than 1 trillion rubles in absolute terms as of February 1 of this year) and 83% of the total trading turnover in mutual funds.

    Viktor Zhidkov, Chairman of the Board of Moscow Exchange:

    “The Russian collective investment industry is still relatively young and is in the stage of active growth, the significant potential of which is embedded in the retail segment. Collective investment mechanisms contribute to the best implementation of this potential, and Moscow Exchange is interested in their further development and distribution. Funds, primarily exchange-traded funds, are the instrument with which one should begin to get acquainted with the financial market and which should find a place in the portfolio of every investor. We welcome the efforts of management companies to develop new mutual funds and are always ready to meet market participants halfway, both by creating new benchmarks for them and by helping to solve problems that arise when launching exchange trading in units. We congratulate the industry on its anniversary and wish it stable growth rates, new products and grateful investors.”

    At the end of the conference, a ceremonial award ceremony was held for management companies – market leaders with the largest money market funds by net asset value:

    UK VIM Investments for the mutual fund “Liquidity” with assets of 379.6 billion rubles; UK Pervaya for the mutual fund “Pervaya – Savings Fund” with assets of 227.6 billion rubles; UK Alfa-Capital for the mutual fund “Alfa-Capital Money Market” with assets of 210.5 billion rubles.

    Also awarded were the money market fund managers of UK BrokerCreditService, UK AAA Capital Management, Finam Management, UK Promsvyaz, UK Sistema Capital, Finstar Capital, AK Bars Capital, UK DOKHOD and T-Capital.

    There are currently 80 mutual funds on the Moscow Exchange. As of the end of 2024, the number of shareholders in exchange-traded funds was 6.2 million, of which 3.8 million made at least one transaction per month on average.

    The Moscow Exchange Money Market is one of the most important segments of the Russian financial market, with the help of which both large corporations and small companies and individual investors manage their monetary liquidity. The list of money market instruments includes repo with the Central Credit Union, repo with the Central Credit Union, repo with the Bank of Russia, interdealer repo, deposits with the Central Credit Union, loans, as well as deposit and loan auctions. The Moscow Exchange acts as the organizer of trades, clearing and settlements are carried out by the National Clearing Center (NCC, part of the Moscow Exchange Group).

    Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232Pr@moex.kom

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

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Statement by the Prime Minister welcoming the new Premier of Prince Edward Island

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement to welcome the new Premier of Prince Edward Island:

    “I congratulate Rob Lantz on becoming interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island and being sworn in as the province’s new Premier.

    “We will work together to protect our workers, create good-paying jobs, grow the economy, and put Canadians at the forefront of every opportunity. This includes breaking down barriers between provinces and territories and making progress on other priorities of Islanders and all Canadians – from health care, to affordability, to climate action.

    “I thank Dennis King for his service to Prince Edward Island as Premier and for his valuable partnership over the last six years.”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Greenpeace organizations go to trial on high-stakes SLAPP lawsuit that could redefine protest rights

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    430+ orgs and 330,000+ individuals support Greenpeace organizations in fight against abuse of the legal system and corporate overreach

    Mandan, North Dakota (February 21, 2025)–North Dakota is set to become the battleground for one of the most consequential free speech cases in recent history. Energy Transfer, the Big Oil corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, is seeking $300 million in damages from Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International, accusing these organizations of playing a central role in organizing the Indigenous-led resistance to the pipeline back in 2016. The lawsuit is one of the largest Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) cases ever filed, and one of the biggest cases to go to court in North Dakota. Trial begins on February 24, 2025.

    “This case is a prime example of corporations abusing the legal system to silence critics and keep their operations secret,” said Sushma Raman, Greenpeace USA Interim Executive Director. “It is also a critical test of the future of the First Amendment – both freedom of speech and peaceful protest – under the Trump Administration and beyond. But we are fighting back, and we are not fighting back alone.”

    More than 430 organizations signed an open letter to Energy Transfer including 350.org, Public Citizen, ACLU North Dakota, SEIU, Indigenous Environmental Network, and Amnesty International USA (view full organization list) along with public figures such as Billie Eilish, Jane Fonda, Adam McKay, and Susan Sarandon – plus more than 350,000 individuals from around the world.

    The claims

    Energy Transfer’s claims against the Greenpeace entities fall into three broad categories: defamation, tortious interference, and on the ground claims. 

    The claims related to defamation allege that the Greenpeace entities made false statements, which caused damages to the company.

    “The important thing to note here is that by the time Greenpeace entities made any of these statements that are at issue, these were statements that were already widely circulated in the public,” said Deepa Padmanabha. “These were not statements that Greenpeace invented, and they were all legitimate expressions of the First Amendment protected right to speak.”

    Energy Transfer also claims that Greenpeace made alleged false statements to financial institutions involved with financing the Dakota Access Pipeline – and that based on those statements, the financial institutions took action that cost Energy Transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The financial institutions, however, had their own commitments and conducted their own due diligence regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline.

    “The last bucket of claims are related to on the ground incidents such as trespass, conversion, and aiding and abetting,” said Padmanabha. “This is the area of claims that makes it clear that Energy Transfer’s target is much bigger than Greenpeace. Beyond the impact that this could have on the Greenpeace entities, one of the most worrisome things about the case is that it could establish dangerous new legal precedents that could hold any participant at protests responsible for the actions of others at those protests – including unknown individuals. And you can imagine that this would have a serious chilling effect on anybody who wants to engage in protest.”

    “Greenpeace played an extremely limited role at Standing Rock, and is proud of showing up in solidarity with Standing Rock activists. At no time did Greenpeace engage in property destruction or violence. All claims to the contrary are a reckless disregard for the truth.”

    Fighting back against SLAPP lawsuits

    SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. These types of cases masquerade as ordinary civil lawsuits, but their true purpose is to retaliate against those who speak out against harms. Such meritless lawsuits are meant to silence or bankrupt opponents by dragging defendants through a long, lengthy, expensive legal process. 

    As SLAPPs are a growing threat, most U.S. states have put legal protections in place to protect advocates. But in North Dakota – and 17 other states – no anti-SLAPP statutes exist. Last Congress, Representatives Raskin, Wyden, and Kiley introduced bipartisan legislation to deter corporations from filing SLAPP suits and to protect everyone’s right to free speech. In Europe, the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive entered into force in May 2024. 

    On Feb 11th, 2025, Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the EU’s new anti-SLAPP Directive by filing a lawsuit against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands.

    “Energy Transfer is attempting to hold Greenpeace International, a dutch-based nonprofit foundation accountable for hundreds of millions of dollars of alleged damages for signing on to a letter with over 500 organisations from more than 50 countries,” said Greenpeace International General Counsel Kristin Casper. “It is this, along with many more reasons, we believe Energy Transfer’s pending US$300 million suit is a contender for the award of the most blatant SLAPP anywhere in the world.”

    Big Oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against Greenpeace entities in recent years. Just last year, Shell came after Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International in a multimillion dollar lawsuit. After a quarter of a million people spoke out, the lawsuit was settled in December 2024.

    “Greenpeace has faced a long history of threats,” said Charlie Cray, Greenpeace USA Senior Strategist. “When the Rainbow Warrior ship was bombed in 1985, we said ‘you can’t sink a rainbow.’ And now we’re saying: ‘you can’t sue a movement.’ Whatever happens in North Dakota, we will continue to campaign for a green and peaceful future.”


    Partner quotes

    “The lawsuit against Greenpeace is also an attack on the Indigenous movement in our fight for self-determination to protect Mother Earth, our waters, sacred and cultural sites and our youth and future generations. These colonialist lawsuits are trying to send a warning to anyone who might consider speaking out and to be quiet – any of you could be next.” – Morgan Brings Plenty, Standing Rock Youth Council

    “The case against Greenpeace illustrates how mega-corporations can use lawsuits to silence, intimidate and ruin their critics. America must demand, and Congress must pass, bipartisan legislation to protect First Amendment rights against ruinous litigation practices.” – Rep. Jamie Raskin

    “Amnesty International USA stands steadfast with Greenpeace USA in their fight against Big Oil’s attempt to punish and silence a strong advocate for environmental rights and climate justice for its fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. As we experience the continual warming of our planet year over year due to the burning of fossil fuels, we need Greenpeace USA now more than ever to advocate and be a strong voice for the communities most at risk from the impacts of the climate crisis, rather than defending itself against retaliatory lawfare.” – Justin Mazzola, Researcher, Amnesty International USA

    “Everyone who says they care about freedom – of whatever political stripe – should join together to support the Greenpeace campaign to protect people’s right to speak out against corporate abuses. As Greenpeace knows from its own experience, too often corporations use their political, economic and legal power not just to run PR campaigns justifying their wrongdoing, but to threaten public interest advocates with bad-faith lawsuits (SLAPPs) and other intimidation tactics.” – Robert Weissman, Co-president of Public Citizen

    “Protesters and advocacy groups should never have to fear the weight of groups like ETP [Energy Transfer Partners] as a condition for expressing their First Amendment rights. The court should see this lawsuit for what it is and toss it.” – Brian Hauss, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU 

    “No matter how hard they try, corporate powers will never silence the voice of the people. Working alongside movement allies, we know our collective pursuit of liberation and transformative change endangers what corporations like Energy Transfer rely on: a status quo built on injustice. We know this through our year-round issue-based and electoral organizing. TOP is proud to be in solidarity with Greenpeace as it fights this shameful attempt to stifle dissent and protest.” – David Villalobos, Political Director of Texas Organizing Project (TOP)

    Contact: Madison Carter, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, [email protected]

    Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: York and Yorkshire-based investigators help secure jail for plumbing fraudster who exploited vulnerable homeowners

    Source: City of York

    A man from Bolton who targeted victims across the North West has been sentenced to four years in prison at Bradford Crown Court today, after defrauding vulnerable customers out of a total of £250,000.

    Suhaib Sirajudin, 39, of Fifth Avenue, Bolton, operated as an ‘emergency plumber’ and pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent trading on 9 October 2024. The court heard how he took advantage of homeowners’ urgent need for a plumber by charging grossly inflated emergency callout and repair fees, frequently targeting victims who were older, vulnerable or lived alone. As well as seriously overcharging for initial works he often deliberately damaged victims’ properties in order to charge more for repairs.

    Between June 2021 and December 2022, trading as Plumbing Emergency 24/7 Limited and Expert Plumbing Limited 24/7, Mr Sirajudin advertised his services online and responded to emergency callouts from householders seeking urgent help with leaks. Mr Sirajudin would then exploit his victims, pressurising them into paying ‘extortionate’ sums for works that he completed to such a poor standard that the problem was either unresolved, or got worse.

    One older victim watched her kitchen ceiling fall in after Mr Sirajudin said a hole needed to be made in it to repair a bathroom leak. In total she and her husband, who was bedbound, paid almost £10,000 – almost all their savings. Another victim paid over £3,000 for the repair of a toilet leak that should have cost around £300. An expert said even that minor repair was not done properly.

    Another elderly couple were quoted £39,000 to repair their gas fire and boiler – which Mr Sirajudin was not qualified to do. They said Sirajudin made them feel belittled and as though they could not question the bill. They eventually paid £21,000.

    Many victims describe how Mr Sirajudin became aggressive when challenged, shouting and refusing to leave or threatening to take away new parts if payment was not made immediately. When victims or their relatives later contacted the companies to complain, their refund requests were often refused and they were cut off on the phone.

    As well as the financial losses, the emotional, mental and physical toll taken on victims has been significant, with a loss of confidence, depression and problems sleeping being among the lasting impacts of Mr Sirajudin’s crimes.

    The defendant was sentenced following an investigation by the National Trading Standards Yorkshire and Humber Regional Investigations Team, hosted by City of York Council, and the National Trading Standards eCrime Team, hosted by North Yorkshire Council.

    As well as the custodial sentence, Mr Sirajudin is also subject to a £250,000 confiscation order for victim compensation and £30,000 in prosecution costs. He will be disqualified from being a company director for 8 years.

    Cllr Jenny Kent, Executive Member with portfolio for Trading Standards at City of York Council, said:

    Mr Sirajudin intimidated and exploited people at a time when they needed emergency plumbing help, often late at night, in their own homes. Many victims were elderly or vulnerable and were charged extortionate amounts for often minor repairs which were badly done; in some cases made considerably worse. I hope they gain some small comfort from the sentencing today, and I’m very grateful for the persistence and dedication of our investigating teams here in York and North Yorkshire who worked hard to bring this case to trial.”

    Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, said:

    “With householders in desperate need of a plumber, often in the middle of the night, Mr Sirajudin was already in a position of power by the time he arrived at a caller’s home. If he saw that a customer was older, vulnerable or lived alone he took the opportunity to exploit them, leaving many feeling frightened in their own homes as well as thousands of pounds out of pocket.

    “I hope today’s sentencing provides some comfort for those involved and serves as a stark reminder that this type of callous intimidation and deceit will be investigated, and perpetrators brought to justice.

    “If you or someone you know has fallen victim to a fraud like this you should report it to the Citizens Advice consumer service helpline by calling 0808 223 1133.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Bringing 893 New Jobs to Western Colorado: Morgan Mining to Expand Manufacturing Industry in Grand Junction and Mesa County

    Source: US State of Colorado

    GRAND JUNCTION – Today, Governor Polis, the Global Business Development Division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), and the Grand Junction Economic Partnership (GJEP) announced that Morgan Mining, a leading interdisciplinary construction, mining, engineering, and management firm, has selected Grand Junction, Colorado, for expansion. This project will grow the advanced manufacturing industry and create new, good-paying jobs in rural Colorado.

    “I’m thrilled that Morgan Mining is expanding in western Colorado, bringing 893 new good-paying jobs to Grand Junction and Mesa County. Colorado is the best place to live, work, and do business, and this exciting announcement shows that our leadership to lower costs for workers and build a strong workforce continues to attract businesses to our strong economy, strengthening our Colorado for All,” said Governor Polis.

    Morgan Mining provides specialized mining labor, production management, and mining supplies for mining operations and other ancillary services. The company plans to expand its business through additional contracts throughout the United States and has identified the need to purchase a new site and refurbished mining equipment. The new site will serve as a hub for product and material suppliers to consign substantial inventory and equipment that would provide faster delivery to end users.

    “We are excited to move forward with our expansion plans in Mesa County. We decided that creating a mining-focused hub in Mesa County provided the best economic and growth opportunities for Morgan.  From the outset of this expansion project, OEDIT and GJEP were very actively engaged with us and ultimately provided the support needed to tip the scales in favor of Mesa County.  We look forward to continuing our relationship with these entities, as well as other local leaders, as this expansion moves forward,” said Justin Morgan, President of Morgan Mining.  

    In Mesa County, Morgan Mining expects to create 893 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $92,447, or 167% of the average annual wage in Mesa County. The positions will include engineers, electricians, and finance roles.

    “We are thrilled to partner with Grand Junction Economic Partnership and support Morgan Mining’s expansion in Mesa County. When advanced manufacturing companies expand in rural Colorado, they strengthen and diversify regional communities and economies. That’s a win for western Colorado and a win for the state of Colorado,” said OEDIT Executive Director Eve Lieberman.

    “Morgan Mining’s investment into Mesa County represents a significant milestone for the regional economy. With up to 893 new jobs projected over the next eight years, this expansion provides incredible opportunities for local workforce development while reinforcing the region’s reputation for supporting industry growth. We are proud to partner with Project West Co Mining as they invest in our community’s future,” said Curtis Englehart, Executive Director for the Grand Junction Economic Partnership.

    The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved up to $10,890,875 in a performance-based Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit for the company over an eight-year period. These incentives are contingent upon Morgan Mining, referred to as Project WesCo Mining throughout the OEDIT review process, meeting net new job creation and salary requirements.

    In addition to Colorado, Morgan Mining considered Tennessee for expansion. The company currently has 226 employees, 196 of whom are in Colorado.

    About Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade

    The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) works to empower all to thrive in Colorado’s economy. Under the leadership of the Governor and in collaboration with economic development partners across the state, we foster a thriving business environment through funding and financial programs, training, consulting and informational resources across industries and regions. We promote economic growth and long-term job creation by recruiting, retaining, and expanding Colorado businesses and providing programs that support entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes at every stage of growth. Our goal is to protect what makes our state a great place to live, work, start a business, raise a family, visit and retire—and make it accessible to everyone. Learn more about OEDIT.

    About the Grand Junction Economic Partnership

    The Grand Junction Economic Partnership (GJEP) works to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life in the Grand Junction area by supporting high-impact capital investment and job creation. GJEP is a single stop for businesses looking to relocate or expand in the cities of Grand Junction and Fruita, the Town of Palisade, and surrounding communities in Mesa County. Operating as a 501(c)3, GJEP offers free services that help businesses navigate incentives and opportunity zones and connect with realtors and developers, the workforce, local leadership, and more. Visit www.gjep.org for more information.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Issues Joint Statement on Lawsuit to Preserve Funding for Medical and Public Health Research Ahead of Hearing

    Source: US State of New York

    NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in issuing a joint statement ahead of a court hearing in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health. At today’s hearing, the attorneys general will seek an extension of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Trump administration’s unlawful cuts to funds that support life-saving medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country, such as research institutes at CUNY and SUNY, including Stony Brook University, University at Buffalo, University at Albany, and others. The coalition today released the following statement:

    “The Trump administration’s attempt to cut research funding at thousands of research institutions across the country is not only unlawful; it undermines public health, our economy, and our competitiveness. There are laws in place that protect this funding, and the President cannot simply toss those laws aside.  

    “This research funding covers expenses that facilitate critical components of biomedical research, such as lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without it, lifesaving and life-extending research, including clinical trials, could be significantly compromised. These cuts would have a devastating impact on universities around the country, many of which are at the forefront of groundbreaking research efforts – while also training future generations of researchers and innovators. They would force many universities to redirect funds and ultimately reduce research activities. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health has found new treatments for adult and childhood cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, PTSD, and more.  

    “Attorneys general are not just fighting for the rule of law; we are fighting for our loved ones, our friends, and our neighbors, and we will not allow President Trump to play politics with our public health. We are heartened that less than six hours after filing our lawsuit, the court recognized the devastating impacts of this directive and granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing the administration from implementing these unlawful cuts. Today, we urge the court to continue to block these funding cuts as we keep fighting this reckless abuse of power.” 

    On February 10, Attorney General James joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country. Less than six hours after the attorneys general filed their lawsuit, the court issued a TRO against NIH, barring it from cutting billions in funding for biomedical and public health research. 

    Joining Attorney General James in making today’s statement are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Carbeeza Inc. Announces Private Placement Financing

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Carbeeza Inc. (“Carbeeza” or the “Company“) (TSXV:AUTO) (OTCQB: CRBAF) today announced that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 25,000,000 units (each, a “Unit”) at a price of $0.05 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $1,250,000 (the “Offering”). Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.15 for a period of 24 months from issuance.

    All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day. Completion of the Offering is subject to a number of conditions, including without limitation, receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

    It is anticipated that insiders of the Company will subscribe to the Offering. Participation by insiders of the Company in the Offering constitutes a related-party transaction as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101“). The issuance of securities is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 on the basis that the fair market value of the insiders’ participation in the Offering, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101, shall not exceed 25% of the Company’s market capitalization.

    Carbeeza Inc.

    Carbeeza is a Canadian-based software company whose platform is targeted to the automotive marketplace. It is the first application to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence to accurately predict the best financing scenario for consumers, all while keeping the consumer anonymous. Using state-of-the-art technology, Carbeeza brings the process of buying a car right to the phone, tailor-made for the consumer. Carbeeza is highly beneficial to both consumers and auto dealers.

    ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CARBEEZA INC.

    Sandro Torrieri, Chief Executive Officer

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

    For further information please contact:

    Sandro Torrieri, Chief Executive Officer

    Email: Investorrelations@carbeeza.com

    Telephone: 1-855-216-8802

    Website: www.carbeeza.com

    Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

    This news release contains forward-looking statements including but not limited to statements regarding the Company’s business, assets or investments, as well other statements that are not historical facts. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, investor interest in the business and prospects of the Company.

    The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made, by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Afreximbank to Set up $1 Billion Oil Service Financing Facility in Guyana

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    GEORGETOWN, Guyana, February 21, 2025/APO Group/ —

    In a significant announcement at the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo being held from, February 18 – 21, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com), declared the multilateral Bank’s intention to establish a $1 billion oil service financing facility in Guyana. This initiative aims to enhance local participation in the country’s fast growing oil industry, in alignment with the government’s local content policies. The Bank will deploy the $1 billion facility directly to qualifying corporate clients or through a factoring line via local banks, enabling them to finance invoices from local contractors.

    President Oramah highlighted the transformative potential of Guyana’s estimated 12 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. Emphasising the transformative power in proactive resource management, he advised Guyana to aggressively harness and build capital from its oil resources.

    He said, “Given the level of oil production in Guyana and its offshore location, I estimate that the oil service sector would amount to 5 to 8 billion US dollars annually. But where will it go? Most of it would be paid to oil service companies abroad, if Guyana does nothing to avoid that. A 50% retention in Guyana would increase Guyana’s GDP by 29% to 47%.” As such, he called for robust local content policies that would enable Guyanese entrepreneurs to become significant players in the oil value chain.

    Based on Afreximbank’s rich history of supporting commodity-dependent economies, President Oramah shared insights to complement the ongoing efforts of the Guyanese government. He acknowledged the inherent risks associated with dependency on a single commodity and laid stress on the importance of diversification.

    He cautioned, “The commodity market is prone to volatility and cyclicality; hence, the reliance on crude revenues as a primary source of government funding could expose the national economy to volatile commodity markets.” As such, he advised the government to secure long-term off-take contracts with oil service companies, which will enhance market access and price stability.

    In the spirit of deepening Afri-Caribbean partnership, President Oramah remarked that skilled oil service companies from Ghana, Egypt, and South Africa, are “ready and willing to support Guyanese… And of course, Afreximbank is there to underwrite the marriage.”

    He added that: “These measures are necessary if Guyana and other new entrants in the Caribbean and Africa are to avoid the painful “Dutch Disease. We make these suggestions based on the three long decades of financing oil and gas activities across Africa. We have witnessed oil-dependent economies transform for better or worse through these periods. In all these, the difference reflected the policy choices the leaders made.”

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Barrasso Bill Ends Outdated Handouts to China

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wyoming John Barrasso

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) recently introduced legislation that would end handouts to China funded by American taxpayers by removing China’s outdated designation as a “developing country” in international treaties.
    The Ending China’s Unfair Advantage Act would prohibit any American taxpayer dollars from funding a United Nations treaty known as the Montreal Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) until China is no longer defined as a developing country. China’s current designation as a developing nation under these treaties allows it to abide by a different set of rules and access funding – including American taxpayer dollars – from the multilateral funds.
    “American tax dollars have been funneled to China for decades because of special treatment from the United Nations,” said Senator Barrasso. “By maintaining its classification as a developing country, China keeps getting handouts from American taxpayers and gets to play by a different set of rules. This ridiculous and outdated policy must end now. This bill forces the United Nations to end China’s unfair advantage once and for all.”
    Cosponsors of this legislation include U.S Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
    Full text of the legislation can be found here.
    Background:
    Under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, developing countries are eligible for financial assistance through a special multilateral fund. The U.S. is the largest contributor to the fund, giving almost $1 billion.
    China has received nearly $1.4 billion from this multilateral fund over the years, due to their classification as a developing country under the Montreal Protocol.
    The U.S. is required to phase down production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, by 85% by 2036 and China has until 2045 to reduce HFC use by 80%. China is given an extra decade, under the Kigali Amendment, to produce HFCs. It is also allowed an extra 5% in HFC production and consumption.
    In 2023, the U.S. delegation at the 35th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP35) proposed removing the PRC from the Protocol’s list of “developing countries.” Objections from the PRC and its supporters prevented its inclusion in the agenda.
    In 2022, the Senate passed an amendment declaring that China is not a developing country and that the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations should not treat China as such. It also conditioned the Senate’s ratification on the administration submitting a proposal to remove China as a developing country before the next meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.
    Senator Barrasso introduced this bill in the 117th and 118th Congresses.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Last minute tinkering does little to ease pressure of Councils – Plaid Cymru Council leaders

    Source: Party of Wales

    Councils are “in an impossible position”, forced to cut services and increase Council tax, as a result of the Labour Welsh Government’s budget, Plaid Cymru Council leaders have warned.

    Responding to the final budget, the Leaders of Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Ynys Môn and Ceredigion councils said that “last minute tinkering” will do little to ease pressures on already fragile services.

    After learning of the Labour government’s final plans, Darren Price, Nia Jeffreys, Gary Pritchard and Bryan Davies said:

    “It has been clear for some time that Councils would be put in an impossible position, forced to cut services, and increase Council tax.

    “Regrettably, that remains the case and this last-minute tinkering from the Labour Welsh Government does little to ease the pressure on already fragile services.

    “Plaid Cymru council leaders warned in December of the perilous financial outlook for local services.

    “We cautioned Ministers that the average 4.3% increase for councils announced for next year clearly falls short of meeting the pressure on council budgets.

    “Despite an additional £30m being made available for social care, the fact that it isn’t included in the base line doesn’t afford councils the opportunity to mitigate the upcoming increases in Council Tax.

    “The increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions announced by the UK Government last year is also a huge cause of concern for councils. The Welsh Local Government Association has estimated that the cost to local authorities stands at £109m, and this cost will not be fully met. That represents yet another cost pressure to councils’ already squeezed budgets.

    “If the Labour Welsh Government’s “partnership in power” with their counterparts in Westminster is to mean anything, then the Spring Statement at the end of March will give Wales a cash injection we so desperately need to make up for decades of unfair funding.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Trade conflict: What can the Bank of Canada do?

    Source: Bank of Canada

    We are starting our framework renewal

    Since 1995, the Bank’s framework for monetary policy has been to target 2% inflation, the midpoint of a range between 1% and 3%. The post-pandemic inflation shock tested this framework like never before. But monetary policy worked, and inflation returned to 2%.

    Canada’s economy is now facing a future rife with more frequent shocks and more structural change. That’s why we’ll be asking a few key questions as we begin the review of our framework—a process that happens every five years:

    • With more supply shocks ahead, do we need a richer playbook for how we achieve the inflation target?
    • How do we best measure underlying inflation in a more volatile world?
    • How do monetary policy and housing interact?

    The monetary policy framework has worked well for decades, so the bar for change is high. But the world economy is shifting, and the Bank must be as ready as possible for what lies ahead.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Tariffs, structural change and monetary policy

    Source: Bank of Canada

    What monetary policy can and cannot do

    If the economy is on a lower path and there’s upward pressure on inflation, what’s the response from monetary policy and the Bank of Canada?

    What the Bank can do is help the economy adjust. With inflation now back around the 2% target, we are better positioned to contribute to economic stability. However, with a single instrument—our policy interest rate—we can’t lean against weaker output and higher inflation at the same time. As we consider our monetary policy response, we will need to carefully assess the downward pressure on inflation from weakness in the economy and weigh that against the upward pressure on inflation from higher import prices and supply chain disruptions.

    Unlike the pandemic, if tariffs persist there will be no economic bounce-back. Long-lasting tariffs mean lower potential output because our economy works less efficiently. Monetary policy cannot restore the lost supply. At most, it can smooth the decline in demand.

    The sharp fall in exports and investment when tariffs are imposed, combined with weaker consumption, means that initially demand would fall more than potential output, creating excess supply in the economy. Provided the inflationary impact of tariffs is not too big, monetary policy can help smooth the adjustment by supporting demand so it doesn’t weaken too much more than supply. But how much support monetary policy can provide is constrained by the need to control inflation.

    The initial impact of tariffs is a one-time rise in the level of consumer prices. Monetary policy cannot change that. What monetary policy can—and must—do is ensure that higher prices do not become ongoing inflation. This means making sure that households and businesses continue to expect inflation to remain well anchored on the 2% target. Simply put, monetary policy needs to ensure the increase in inflation is temporary.

    Strengthening Canada’s economic union

    I hope—we all hope—Canada can continue open trade with the United States. A trusted open trade relationship benefits both countries. But if we are faced with a prolonged trade conflict, the only way to offset this negative structural change is with a positive structural change.

    Structural policies are appropriately the responsibility of elected governments and parliaments—not the Bank of Canada. So I will tread lightly here.

    The Bank has previously highlighted Canada’s productivity challenge. And it’s good to see more focus by federal and provincial governments on structural reforms to increase productivity and investment by strengthening our economic union.

    Removing rules that restrict interprovincial trade and harmonizing or mutually recognizing provincial regulations could provide some offset to increased trade friction with the United States. Provinces could also make it easier for workers to move within Canada by mutually recognizing different labour accreditations. There is also scope for all levels of government to reduce the timelines and uncertainty related to regulatory approvals. And better east-west transportation links would make trade within Canada less expensive—and help get Canadian products to overseas markets.

    Again, it is not for the Bank of Canada to prescribe these policies or investments. But higher productivity means higher potential output and more capacity for growth without inflation. As Canada confronts the reality of increased trade friction with the United States, a concerted focus on productivity has rarely been more important.

    Renewing our monetary policy framework

    In some ways, the US tariff threat is part of a broader global economic shift. The structural tailwinds of peace, globalization and demographics that helped keep inflation low are turning into headwinds—and the world looks increasingly shock prone. Higher long-term interest rates, elevated sovereign debt and slower economic growth have made the global economy more vulnerable. Compounding these vulnerabilities are war, rising trade protectionism and economic fragmentation. Canada also has a structural supply challenge in its housing market. For years, the supply of housing has not kept up with demand, and housing affordability has deteriorated.

    These shifts all have implications for inflation. They may put more upward pressure on prices, and a more shock-prone world means more volatility in inflation. And that brings me to my original topic: the Bank’s flexible inflation-targeting framework.

    Since 1995, the 2% target has been jointly agreed with the Government of Canada. This gives it political legitimacy and gives the Bank the operational independence to conduct monetary policy.

    For 25 years leading up to the pandemic, inflation was low and stable. But the pandemic tested the framework like never before. We faced huge shocks to both demand and supply, a deep recession and a rapid rebound. As the economy reopened, inflation rose sharply, hitting 8%. Guided by the framework, the Bank raised the policy rate forcefully to bring inflation down. Since last summer, inflation has been close to 2%, and we’ve cut our policy rate to keep it there. In short, the framework was tested—and it proved resilient.

    The measure of the framework’s success is not only whether inflation is close to 2%. It’s also how the framework performs in the face of shocks, especially big ones.

    The next renewal of the framework is set for 2026, and the review begins now. Our focus in this review will be how we can improve the framework and its implementation to best address structural changes. We will consider several questions.

    With more supply shocks, do we need a richer playbook for monetary policy? The usual response to supply shocks is to look through their temporary impact on inflation. But we saw in the pandemic that supply shocks can be persistent, and they can accumulate. The best response will depend on the situation.

    In a world with more volatility, how should we measure underlying inflation? No single measure of core inflation works for all circumstances. What measures are most robust in a shock-prone world? Should we focus on two or three preferred measures, or is a broader approach better?

    We also want to consider the interaction of monetary policy and housing. Housing affordability is a major concern for Canadians, and rising housing costs feed inflation. But monetary policy cannot directly increase housing supply—that’s an issue for elected governments at all levels. Still, we must consider how monetary policy affects housing demand and supply and how the imbalance between them feeds into inflation in shelter prices.

    The question of housing market imbalances also matters for the measurement of underlying inflation. Does persistently high inflation in shelter prices distort our measures of core inflation?

    Finally, each time we’ve reviewed our framework we’ve asked about the inflation target itself. In our five reviews since 1995, we’ve considered whether 2% is the right target and we’ve weighed alternatives, including price-level targeting and nominal GDP targeting, among others. Each time, we’ve concluded that 2% inflation is the right target. Canadians have told us they don’t want higher inflation. They have also told us that the 2% target is well known and well understood. That has helped anchor inflation expectations through thick and thin, including through the pandemic crisis. With trade conflict on our doorstep, we need to focus our resources on the most pressing and important issues for our framework review. In my view, now is not the time to question the anchor that has proven so effective in achieving price stability.

    Conclusion

    We have covered a lot of ground, and it’s time for me to conclude.

    Canada’s economy is on a better footing. Inflation has returned to target, interest rates have come down substantially, and household spending has strengthened. But a new crisis is on the horizon. If US tariffs play out as threatened, the economic impact would be severe. A protracted trade conflict would sharply reduce exports and investment. It will cost jobs and boost inflation in the next few years and lower our standard of living in the long run. The uncertainty alone is already causing harm.

    Central banks can do little to mitigate the damage caused by a trade war. Our role will be to balance the upside risks to inflation from higher costs with the downside risks from weaker demand. Our focus will be to help smooth the painful adjustment to a lower path for the economy while preventing price increases from becoming higher ongoing inflation.

    The inflation-targeting framework has proven both flexible and durable. Its review every five years is an opportunity to reflect on what’s working well and what could be improved. The framework proved itself time and again, and the bar for change is high.

    But the world economy is shifting. At the Bank of Canada, we are committed to ensuring we are as prepared as possible for the changes to come.

    Thank you.

    I would like to thank Daniel de Munnik, Mikael Khan, Oleksiy Kryvtsov and Stephen Murchison for their help in preparing this speech.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NREL Plant Biologist Maureen McCann Named Senior Research Fellow

    Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    Senior Research Fellow Maureen McCann poses with a mass spectrometer in a research lab. Photo by Agata Bogucka, NREL

    The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has selected Maureen McCann, an internationally renowned plant biologist, to its highest technical position for a scientist: Senior Research Fellow.

    Of the more than 4,000 people who work at NREL, only 16 are current senior research fellows. Fellows are nominated by the leaders of NREL’s five research directorates, and recommendations from peer scientists play a large role in the selection process. In this prestigious role, McCann will advise NREL’s executive leadership on the strategic direction of laboratory research as it works toward advanced energy solutions.

    “The role of senior research fellow carries great responsibility at NREL,” Laboratory Director Martin Keller said. “They are in the trenches every day, conducting and overseeing research while also keeping an eye on the bigger picture and evaluating our long-term approaches. Elevation to this position is a recognition of Maureen’s talent, experience, and leadership and our belief that she can help take the laboratory to new heights. Congratulations to a fellow biologist.”

    McCann joined NREL in 2020 to direct the laboratory’s Biosciences Center. The center’s team of researchers aims to understand, predict, and control pathways and processes in living organisms to benefit the bioindustrial and agricultural sectors of the bioeconomy.

    Before NREL, she was a professor of biological sciences and director of the NEPTUNE Center for Power and Energy at Purdue University. While there, she also led an Energy Frontier Research Center, the Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels, in which NREL was a senior partner. 

    In 2023, McCann took on a leadership role as associate director of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, a partnership between NREL and the University of Colorado Boulder.

    Speaking on her new role, McCann said she is excited for this next phase of her work at NREL.

    “I’m delighted and honored—it’s a little overwhelming—but can’t wait to step up to this new role and contribute my passion for how life sciences can be entrained for the bioeconomy and biomanufacturing,” McCann said.

    Maureen McCann presents her research at the Senior Research Fellows Dinner. McCann was awarded the distinction prior to her talk at the event. Photo by Agata Bogucka, NREL

    Her career of research uses biochemical, genetic, and molecular biology approaches to understand how the plant cell wall influences the final form and stature of plants. Using basic science to study the proteins and structural properties of the cell wall, McCann can engineer plants to be more productive and resilient for their use as sources of biofuels, chemicals, and materials.

    She is widely cited for her 1990 Journal of Cell Science article, “Direct Visualization of Cross-Links in the Primary Plant Cell Wall,” a field-defining study where measurements were obtained, for the first time, by directly visualizing the primary cell wall of an onion using novel electron microscopy techniques.   

    McCann’s work has also made advancements in the molecular basis of biomass recalcitrance, or the cell wall’s natural resistance to being broken down by microbes and enzymes. Converting plant biomass into usable sugars and aromatics, such as capturing glucose and xylose from cell wall polysaccharides, is an avenue to create economic value from heterogeneous waste streams. McCann’s discoveries on recalcitrance could help companies decrease energy inputs needed to prepare biomass for multiple conversion processes, therefore lowering the costs and making biofuel and biochemical production more efficient.

    McCann has authored or co-authored more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and has a lifetime h-index of 65, with nearly 22,000 citations. She is a graduate of Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, where she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in natural sciences before gaining a Ph.D. in botany from the University of East Anglia.

    Learn more about NREL’s science of biological energy conversion research that McCann will help lead.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: South Africa’s fight over VAT raises a key question: who should bear the burden of taxes?

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fabio Andrés Díaz Pabón, Research Fellow, African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR), University of Cape Town

    The unprecedented postponement of the tabling of South Africa’s 2025 budget because of disagreement within the coalition government over a two percentage point increase in value added tax (VAT), highlights the country’s dilemma.

    The government needs to raise revenue to deliver on its constitutional obligations. But in a context where the global outlook is uncertain and unpredictable, trade-offs are required.

    South Africa has a deficit of around 4.3% of GDP, accounting for R377 billion (US$20,479 billion). According to the Unpublished budget review public debt stands at 76.1% of its GDP.

    Whereas the public debt as a percentage of GDP is in line with that of similarly sized economies, its debt servicing costs are considerably higher. The country pays around 5% on public debt interest as a share of GDP while developing and upper-middle-income countries pay, on average, 2.2% and 1.8% respectively.

    These figures point to why the finance minister wanted to raise more revenue. Treasury’s estimates in the 2025 unpublished Budget Review were that the increase in Vat and other tax adjustments plus factoring in tax foregone due to expanding the basket of zero-rated goods would have brought in an additional R58 billion (US$3.1 billion) for the 2025/26 financial year.

    To date, debates around previous years’ budgets have mostly been about expenditure, with very little scrutiny of the revenue side. Not since the 2013 Davis Tax Committee has there been public debate about reforming the tax policy.

    Read more: South Africa’s economy needs a shot in the arm, not austerity: 3 key areas where more public spending would get results

    Based on our academic research we believe the crucial question around tax reform is: who will bear the burden of the reform? And how taxes connect to the promise of the South African social compact. The social compact since democracy, expressed in the constitution, promises to uphold the rights of all citizens.

    Evidence shows that increases in the rate of VAT affect poor households more, particularly women-headed households.

    While the government is concerned about financing its budget and being able to raise the resources needed to make the state work, a rethink is needed about who must bear the burden of raising the money.

    The cost of food

    VAT is a flat tax on consumption of goods and services, usually paid by the end consumer. It affects lower income households more because they spend a greater share of their income on goods such as food, electricity and water.

    The uproar over the recent proposed increase is therefore not surprising.

    At least 34% of the yearly income of poor households is spent on food and groceries. Almost 50% of South Africans live under the poverty line. This is where the impact will be felt in a number of ways.

    Firstly, the net effect of an increase in VAT will mean that mean that already financially stretched households will be paying more for food. This comes on top of food inflation was 8% between 2023 and 2024.

    Secondly, meagre increases in social grant payments in the last decade – over 28 million grants are paid out every month – have not kept pace with inflation.

    One of the largest grants is the old age pension grant. There are around 3.9 million beneficiaries. It amounts to R2,190 (US$118) a month for those between 65 and 74 years and is the sole source of income for many families.

    Between 2023 and 2024 this grant increased by R110 (US$5.45) – a 5.2 % increase, while inflation stood at 4.5%. However, after taking into account inflation, the grant amounts to R2,091 (just over US$107), having the net grant increase (after adjusting for inflation) of meagre R11 (the grant was in 2023 R2.080).

    A VAT increase would raise their cost of living for working-class South African households (those earning between R8,000 (US$432) and R22,000 (US$1,188) a month) too. This cohort is already using 67% of their income to cover their debts. Middle class households (earning between R22,000 (US$1,188) and R35,000 (US$1,893) a month) use 69% of their income to cover their debts. A VAT-induced increase in the cost of living may push some to neglect servicing debt to maintain their living standards.

    If middle and working class households defaulted in large numbers on their debt obligations, a vicious cycle might unfold.

    Firstly, banks and financial institutions might face significant losses due to unpaid loans. This could trigger an economic recession as consumption could fall, leading to lower revenue collection. This could increase government debt as the state might need to bail out banks or get loans to cover the revenue shortfall. The result would be a credit downgrade which might make it more expensive to borrow money on international markets.

    In a country with such a limited and vulnerable tax base (in 2024, only 7.4 million people of 63 million paid income tax) these risks should not be taken lightly.

    Poor households spend 34% of their income on food. Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

    Wealthy South Africans

    Wealthy South Africans will not be as badly affected by an increase in VAT. Their consumption as a share of their incomes is less. Yet they remain central to the government’s dilemma about raising money from taxes. That’s because taxing wealthier South Africans will result in a push-back, and in some cases put a strain on struggling companies and industries that are central for job creation.

    However, the most likely reason a VAT increase was chosen as opposed to a higher income tax for high income earners, taxes on capital gains, or taxes on wealth is that the government knows the wealthy elites (including those in government) will oppose increases taxes targeted at them. They are more organised and have more leverage over the government than vulnerable households.

    What next?

    The government needs to spend money properly and meet its constitutional obligations. And corruption must be reduced.

    What the standoff over the VAT increase has highlighted is that, if South Africa aims to be a society where everyone actually counts, it should place the well-being of all its citizens at the forefront. This should be the principle that informs the process of raising the resources needed to drive future.

    – South Africa’s fight over VAT raises a key question: who should bear the burden of taxes?
    – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-fight-over-vat-raises-a-key-question-who-should-bear-the-burden-of-taxes-250412

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement Ahead of Hearing on Federal Funding Freeze Lawsuit

    Source: US State of California

    OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement ahead of the hearing on the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction in litigation challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to unlawfully freeze up to $3 trillion in federal funding previously appropriated by Congress.  

    “The Trump Administration has recklessly and illegally threatened to cut off vital federal assistance funding for everything from healthcare and childcare programs to housing assistance and infrastructure projects. In California alone, a funding freeze could cost millions of dollars each day, devastating many small businesses and endangering the lives and livelihoods of our most vulnerable,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We are in court today seeking to prevent the Trump Administration from moving forward with this freeze while our litigation continues. Despite what he may think, President Trump is not a king, and the power of the purse remains with Congress. As state attorneys general, we will not stop fighting to uphold the rule of law and to protect our people, values, and resources when they come under attack.” 

    Background 

    Last month, a coalition of 23 attorneys general, led by the attorneys general of California, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, and Massachusetts, sued the Trump Administration over its attempt to freeze up to $3 trillion in vital federal funding. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island quickly granted the attorneys general’s request for a temporary restraining order, blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order from the court. 

    Soon after, the attorneys general filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze and preserve federal funding that families, communities, and states rely on. In just this fiscal year, California is expected to receive $168 billion in federal funds – 34% of the state’s budget – not including funding for the state’s public college and university system. This includes $107.5 billion in funding for California’s Medicaid programs, which serve approximately 14.5 million Californians, including 5 million children and 2.3 million seniors and people with disabilities. Additionally, over 9,000 full-time equivalent state employee positions are federally funded. As detailed in the preliminary injunction motion, without access to federal financial assistance, many states could face immediate cash shortfalls, making it difficult to administer basic programs like funding for healthcare and food for children and to address their most pressing needs. 

    The next day, the court granted the motion for enforcement, ordering the Administration to immediately comply with the temporary restraining order and stop freezing federal funds. The court’s hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction can be viewed remotely at 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET at https://www.rid.uscourts.gov/. 

    Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in the seeking the preliminary injunction.   

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Smart Agriculture Under Climate Change

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Climate change remains at the forefront of global discourse and policymaking, driving an unprecedented push for impactful climate action. Yet, despite its prominence in the collective consciousness, deep divisions persist over what constitutes effective policy. Now more than ever, understanding the complexities of global policy, financing, and their impact—particularly on agriculture—is crucial.

    This book lays the foundation for a holistic understanding of the linkages between climate change and agriculture, exploring the historical drivers of environmental challenges and the evolving interconnections between global economies. It examines how sectoral interdependencies have shifted over time and what this means for designing effective climate policies and shaping the future of climate finance.

    As a comprehensive guide to the what, how, and why of climate change and agriculture development, this book brings together key aspects of policy, practice, and finance. It identifies critical gaps in climate action within the context of agricultural growth and offers strategies to bridge them—equipping stakeholders at all levels with the insights needed to drive sustainable and impactful change.
     

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: South Africa’s fight over VAT raises a key question: who should bear the burden of taxes?

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fabio Andrés Díaz Pabón, Research Fellow, African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR), University of Cape Town

    The unprecedented postponement of the tabling of South Africa’s 2025 budget because of disagreement within the coalition government over a two percentage point increase in value added tax (VAT), highlights the country’s dilemma.

    The government needs to raise revenue to deliver on its constitutional obligations. But in a context where the global outlook is uncertain and unpredictable, trade-offs are required.

    South Africa has a deficit of around 4.3% of GDP, accounting for R377 billion (US$20,479 billion). According to the Unpublished budget review public debt stands at 76.1% of its GDP.

    Whereas the public debt as a percentage of GDP is in line with that of similarly sized economies, its debt servicing costs are considerably higher. The country pays around 5% on public debt interest as a share of GDP while developing and upper-middle-income countries pay, on average, 2.2% and 1.8% respectively.

    These figures point to why the finance minister wanted to raise more revenue. Treasury’s estimates in the 2025 unpublished Budget Review were that the increase in Vat and other tax adjustments plus factoring in tax foregone due to expanding the basket of zero-rated goods would have brought in an additional R58 billion (US$3.1 billion) for the 2025/26 financial year.

    To date, debates around previous years’ budgets have mostly been about expenditure, with very little scrutiny of the revenue side. Not since the 2013 Davis Tax Committee has there been public debate about reforming the tax policy.



    Read more:
    South Africa’s economy needs a shot in the arm, not austerity: 3 key areas where more public spending would get results

    Based on our academic research we believe the crucial question around tax reform is: who will bear the burden of the reform? And how taxes connect to the promise of the South African social compact. The social compact since democracy, expressed in the constitution, promises to uphold the rights of all citizens.

    Evidence shows that increases in the rate of VAT affect poor households more, particularly women-headed households.

    While the government is concerned about financing its budget and being able to raise the resources needed to make the state work, a rethink is needed about who must bear the burden of raising the money.

    The cost of food

    VAT is a flat tax on consumption of goods and services, usually paid by the end consumer. It affects lower income households more because they spend a greater share of their income on goods such as food, electricity and water.

    The uproar over the recent proposed increase is therefore not surprising.

    At least 34% of the yearly income of poor households is spent on food and groceries. Almost 50% of South Africans live under the poverty line. This is where the impact will be felt in a number of ways.

    Firstly, the net effect of an increase in VAT will mean that mean that already financially stretched households will be paying more for food. This comes on top of
    food inflation was 8% between 2023 and 2024.

    Secondly, meagre increases in social grant payments in the last decade – over 28 million grants are paid out every month – have not kept pace with inflation.

    One of the largest grants is the old age pension grant. There are around 3.9 million beneficiaries. It amounts to R2,190 (US$118) a month for those between 65 and 74 years and is the sole source of income for many families.

    Between 2023 and 2024 this grant increased by R110 (US$5.45) – a 5.2 % increase, while inflation stood at 4.5%. However, after taking into account inflation, the grant amounts to R2,091 (just over US$107), having the net grant increase (after adjusting for inflation) of meagre R11 (the grant was in 2023 R2.080).

    A VAT increase would raise their cost of living for working-class South African households (those earning between R8,000 (US$432) and R22,000 (US$1,188) a month) too. This cohort is already using 67% of their income to cover their debts. Middle class households (earning between R22,000 (US$1,188) and R35,000 (US$1,893) a month) use 69% of their income to cover their debts. A VAT-induced increase in the cost of living may push some to neglect servicing debt to maintain their living standards.

    If middle and working class households defaulted in large numbers on their debt obligations, a vicious cycle might unfold.

    Firstly, banks and financial institutions might face significant losses due to unpaid loans. This could trigger an economic recession as consumption could fall, leading to lower revenue collection. This could increase government debt as the state might need to bail out banks or get loans to cover the revenue shortfall. The result would be a credit downgrade which might make it more expensive to borrow money on international markets.

    In a country with such a limited and vulnerable tax base (in 2024, only 7.4 million people of 63 million paid income tax) these risks should not be taken lightly.

    Wealthy South Africans

    Wealthy South Africans will not be as badly affected by an increase in VAT. Their consumption as a share of their incomes is less. Yet they remain central to the government’s dilemma about raising money from taxes. That’s because taxing wealthier South Africans will result in a push-back, and in some cases put a strain on struggling companies and industries that are central for job creation.

    However, the most likely reason a VAT increase was chosen as opposed to a higher income tax for high income earners, taxes on capital gains, or taxes on wealth is that the government knows the wealthy elites (including those in government) will oppose increases taxes targeted at them. They are more organised and have more leverage over the government than vulnerable households.

    What next?

    The government needs to spend money properly and meet its constitutional obligations. And corruption must be reduced.

    What the standoff over the VAT increase has highlighted is that, if South Africa aims to be a society where everyone actually counts, it should place the well-being of all its citizens at the forefront. This should be the principle that informs the process of raising the resources needed to drive future.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. South Africa’s fight over VAT raises a key question: who should bear the burden of taxes? – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-fight-over-vat-raises-a-key-question-who-should-bear-the-burden-of-taxes-250412

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ukraine war three years on: the bloodiest battles may be still to come

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alexander Titov, Lecturer in Modern European History, Queen’s University Belfast

    Just ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the conflict has taken a dramatic and unexpected turn. The US is abruptly disengaging from its support of Ukraine, having previously promised that they would stand with Kyiv for “as long as it takes”.

    Europe is in panic mode, while Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is having public spats with the freshly installed US president, Donald Trump.

    At this stage, it seems that Vladimir Putin is firmly on top. But Trump is not the main cause of the current crisis, he merely reflects a more serious problem for Ukraine.

    When war broke out in the early hours of February 24 2022, the world was shocked, but not entirely surprised. Warnings of Russia’s attack on Ukraine had the advantage of preparing a united western front against Russia.

    Western resolve strengthened as expectations of a quick Moscow victory faded and Ukraine’s self-confidence grew. This mood was reflected in Josep Borrell’s statement the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs on April 9 that Russia must be defeated on the battlefield.

    Two weeks earlier, US president Joe Biden declared that Putin “cannot stay in power”. In September 2022, when the Ukrainian army recaptured a large part of the territory occupied by Russia in the Kharkiv region, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told the EU parliament that “Russia’s industry is in tatters,” and that Moscow was using dishwashing machine chips for its missiles.

    In an atmosphere of euphoria on October 4, Zelensky issued an official ban on negotiations with Putin. There would be only one outcome to this war: Putin’s defeat.

    Indeed, Putin’s original plan had failed. Russia was retreating in Kharkiv and abandoning its strategic foothold on the right bank of the Dnieper in Kherson. On September 21 Putin had to declare a partial mobilisation, the first since the second world war, because Russia’s professional army was running out of men.

    Fortunes of war

    How things have changed: as the war approaches its three-year mark the west’s triumphalist mood is now a distant memory. Mark Rutte, secretary general of Nato, warned on January 13 that “what Russia now produces in three months, that’s what the whole of NATO from Los Angeles to Ankara produces in a year”. It’s a far cry from von der Leyen’s “Russian economy in tatters” jubilation of 2022.

    In its dying days, the Biden administration rushed more weapons to Ukraine and imposed ever harsher sanctions on Moscow. This could not hide the fact that the US could not continue to fund Ukraine as it had for the first three years. Any US president would now struggle to get another Ukraine funding bill through Congress.

    And Donald Trump is not just any US president. In his first month he has changed his country’s Ukraine policy in a characteristically dramatic and abrupt way.

    But the underlying problem was always there: what to do with this war that Ukraine is not going to win and in which Russia is slowly getting the upper hand. It’s been clear since the failure of Ukraine’s much touted counteroffensive in summer 2023 that Ukraine can’t win militarily. So continuing to supply Ukraine at current levels can only prolong the fight, not change the course of the war.

    From Trump’s perspective, this is a Biden war that has already been lost. And politically, it’s much easier for Trump to seek peace than his European counterparts because he campaigned on an anti-war message, repeatedly blaming Biden for the war and saying it would never have happened if he were president. Trump wants to find a quick fix and move on. If it fails, he can wash his hands of it and let the Europeans deal with it.

    Europe clearly doesn’t know what to do now: it can’t accept defeat, but neither can it pretend that Ukraine can win the war without US support. It is a sign of their desperation that in “emergency meetings” called by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, they spend so much time discussing hypothetical and, frankly, highly unlikely scenarios for sending European troops into Ukraine.

    After talks with the US in Saudi Arabia, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov made clear the Russian position: “The troops of Nato countries [in Ukraine] under a foreign flag – an EU flag or any national flag … is unacceptable.” And the Europeans are simply not in a position to impose conditions on the Kremlin.

    The best that the EU can do on the third anniversary of the invasion is to unveil yet another sanctions package: number 16. But now that the US has changed its mind about its war aims, there’s no hiding the fact that Europe’s war strategy is in tatters.

    The end point

    Russia is under no pressure to rush into a deal it doesn’t like. Moscow’s terms are known: formal recognition that the four regions it annexed in September 2022 plus Crimea are now part of Russia, and withdrawal of the remaining Ukrainian troops from those regions. Kyiv must pledge permanent neutrality, limits on its armed forces. It must recognise and establish Russian language rights in Ukraine and ban far-right parties.

    But these terms are completely unacceptable to Kyiv. And while there’s no good way out for Ukraine, it’s not yet in a desperate enough position to accept such a deal.

    The only way to force it on Kyiv is either a complete military collapse by Ukraine’s forces, which is not looking likely at the moment, or concerted pressure from a united west to accept Russia’s unpalatable terms. But the west is divided on this issue, with the Europeans insisting that Ukraine should keep fighting until it can negotiate “from a position of strength”.

    It’s a heroic assumption that Ukraine will be in a stronger position by this time next year. After the peak of confidence in early 2023, when Zelensky declared that “2023 will be the year of our victory!” each subsequent anniversary of the invasion saw Kyiv’s position weaker. But still, on current trends, it would take Russia until the end of the year to capture the rest of the eastern province of Donbas, without which an end to the war is unlikely anyway.

    For these reasons, there is no guarantee that the US-Russian talks will lead to a resolution of the conflict. Unfortunately, this means that the bloodiest battles of the war are yet to come, as the Russian military pushes to maximise its military advantage.

    In keeping with the wishes of Josep Borrell, the outcome of this war is still likely to be decided on the battlefield.

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

    – ref. Ukraine war three years on: the bloodiest battles may be still to come – https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-three-years-on-the-bloodiest-battles-may-be-still-to-come-250422

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –