NewzIntel.com

Category: Economy

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Senate Budget Committee, Republicans Block Murray Amendments for Bipartisan Approach to Spending, Affirming Congressional Spending Authority, Reversing NIH Cuts, Transparency & Accountability for DOGE, and More

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ICYMI: Senator Murray Remarks at Senate Budget Resolution Markup: Blasts Roadmap to Devastating Cuts, Calls for Budget Hearing with Musk – MORE HERE
    Washington, D.C. — Today, at the Senate Budget Committee’s mark up of Senate Republicans’ budget resolution, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, put forward six amendments to steer Republicans toward a bipartisan approach to spending, affirm Congress’ power of the purse, reverse massive arbitrary cuts to NIH, deliver transparency into the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and more. Republicans unanimously opposed every amendment Murray and other Democrats offered.
    MURRAY AMENDMENT 01: Senator Murray first proposed an amendment to address defense and nondefense needs equally—tackling national security concerns and challenges at the border alongside priorities like supporting our veterans, biomedical research, child care, agriculture, and more—noting that such investments should be a part of ongoing bipartisan topline negotiations between appropriators. Rather than the $342 billion Republicans are proposing in mandatory funding through the partisan reconciliation process, Murray’s amendment would have provided $171 billion in discretionary funding for defense and $171 in discretionary funding for non-defense needs.  Unlike the partisan approach taken by Republicans, the funding under the Murray amendment would be available to address a range of critical needs, including but not limited to national security and the border.
    “Democrats share many of your concerns about investing in our national security, providing more resources to address the challenges at the border, and making sure we counter China,” said Senator Murray of her amendment to equally divide the proposed spending toward defense and non-defense priorities. “While also wanting to make sure we address critical areas like supporting veterans, agriculture, wildfires, disaster response, biomedical research, child care, and much more. So, the approach in my amendment is to say we should work together on a bipartisan basis – and really this should be part of the topline conversations we are having now as we hurtle toward the March 14th funding deadline. I want to make clear Democrats remain at the table on the FY 2025 topline – but it is getting pretty lonely for us when we see Republicans assume a trillion dollars for this year alone in unilateral DOGE cuts, remain quiet as Russ Vought and the administration continues to unlawfully impound funds, and now propose to jam through $342 billion in funding for your priorities on a partisan basis—while I am trying to negotiate in good faith a bipartisan, four-corner topline deal for fiscal year 2025. I would urge my Republican colleagues to get serious and keep your eye on the ball regarding the funding lapse on March 14th, not to mention the sequester cuts at the end of April.”
    MURRAY AMENDMENT 06: Senator Murray pressed her colleagues to pass an amendment to stand up to the Trump Administration and affirm Congress’ power of the purse which Republicans all unanimously opposed.
    “This is not a partisan issue—it is about upholding our laws and Congress’s constitutional authority over federal spending,” said Senator Murray of her amendment to affirm Congressional spending authority. “The Constitution grants Congress—not the President—the power of the purse. This has been affirmed time and again—by: The Supreme Court, Congress, The Government Accountability Office, and others. And yet, Trump, Elon Musk, and Russ Vought have been holding up huge chunks of funding that Congress passed—often on a bipartisan basis. When Presidents ignore our spending laws and the power of the purse our Constitution gives Congress—not the president—it doesn’t just block funding for the American people, it erodes the trust necessary for bipartisan negotiations in Congress. As I have emphasized, Members of Congress—on both sides—must know a deal is a deal. This amendment is about protecting the integrity of our democratic process—our most fundamental checks and balances. Every Senator—Republican or Democrat—should support this amendment to preserve Congress’s authority and maintain the trust necessary for effective governance.”
    MURRAY AMENDMENT 17: Senator Murray also offered an amendment to reverse the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate cut to biomedical research and the lifesaving work supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at research institutions across the country—which no Republican spoke in opposition to during debate, but every Republican voted in opposition.  
    “On Friday night the Trump Administration announced it was implementing a policy to arbitrarily cut National Institutes of Health funding that supports biomedical research at institutions across the country,” said Senator Murray of her amendment to reverse Trump’s proposed policy on indirect costs. “In capping indirect cost rates at 15 percent for NIH-funded grants, this policy would cut funding that is essential to conducting research – such as operating and maintaining labs and research facilities. That is in clear violation of our annual appropriations bills, which have included an explicit prohibition on NIH implementing a policy exactly like this since fiscal year 2018. Fortunately, a court has temporarily paused the policy, but let’s be clear, if the Trump administration were to be successful in gutting NIH funding in this way, it would be absolutely catastrophic for lifesaving research patients and families are counting on, including lifesaving cancer research at Fred Hutch in my home state of Washington, and at so many other institutions in Red and Blue states nationwide.”
    “Research would come to a halt, sick kids would not get the treatment they need, and clinical trials would shut down abruptly,” Murray continued. “Our commitment to supporting basic research infrastructure—which this policy does—is what helped make the American research enterprise the best in the world.  This is funding that helps produce medical breakthroughs and change patients’ lives and ensure that the U.S. continues to be the global leader in biomedical research. NIH is an important economic driver in just about every single one of our states—creating jobs and spurring innovation.”
    MURRAY AMENDMENT 05: Senator Murray pushed for passage of an amendment to have the Senate request the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review, audit and report back within 90 days on DOGE, including the appropriateness of the authorities and finances under which it is operating; internal controls and compliance with appropriations, data privacy, and other laws; the hiring, vetting, and security clearance of its employees, special government employees, and volunteers; appropriateness of actions taken to cancel contracts, reassign or otherwise change the status of federal employees; and any other areas deemed appropriate by the Comptroller General. Every Republican voted no.
    “My amendment requests the Government Accountability Office to review, audit and report back within 90 days on the so called Department of Government Efficiency so that we can understand its role, authorities, and impacts,” said Senator Murray of her amendment to provide some level of transparency into DOGE. “Mr. Chairman, your Mark assumes $1 trillion in savings over the remaining seven to eight months in 2025. That is an astronomical amount of savings to achieve in a very short amount of time and with absolutely no detail provided to us. Those savings would appear largely to come from DOGE, which is operating throughout the government without any authorization from Congress, without any normal disclosure of people, processes, or conflicts, and really with no accountability whatsoever. Whether you support some actions of DOGE or not, you should support transparency and accountability to Congress and the American public. Elon Musk and DOGE have already tried to shut down USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and we are told it is now targeting the Department of Education, with the President saying he wants Musk over at the Pentagon next. None of this is normal – not DOGE, the involvement of an unelected billionaire, the vast influence it has, or the actions they have taken to date with little or no input from Congress.”
    “Let’s be clear—no one voted to let an unelected billionaire decide what bills the federal government would or wouldn’t pay or whether our elementary schools and hospitals get funding, but President Trump is giving Elon the keys to the Treasury,” continued Senator Murray. “And, again, the lack of transparency into its people, processes, and potential conflicts should concern every one of us. So, my hope is with this amendment we can agree to some oversight of DOGE and ask Congress’s independent, nonpartisan watchdog, the GAO, to review DOGE and report back to us within 90 days. And if you are not supportive of this—I have to ask, what are you scared of finding out?”
    MURRAY AMENDMENT 15: Murray also put forward an amendment to prevent federal disaster assistance from being included in the highly partisan budget reconciliation process and ensure that federal disaster relief funds go to the communities that need them when they need them.
    MURRAY AMENDMENT 14: Murray also pressed to pass an amendment, modeled off her Veteran Families Health Services Act, to provide additional funding for improving the reproductive assistance provided by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their spouses or partners—particularly for IVF. Every Republican also opposed these amendments, notwithstanding their intention to significantly increase the size of our military through their reconciliation plan, which will result in even more servicemembers and veterans needing reproductive assistance.
    Prior to consideration of amendments, Senator Murray underscored in her opening comments that the resolution Senate Republicans have put forth is a roadmap to devastating cuts to programs families count on every day—from Medicaid to SNAP to veterans benefits—so that Republicans can later pass more tax breaks for the ultra-rich. Senator Murray emphasized that right now Congress’ focus should be on addressing the fast-approaching March 14 funding deadline and addressing President Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping, illegal funding freeze—not a partisan measure to gut investments in working people. She also called for Elon Musk to come before the Committee to discuss his already in-motion efforts to decimate programs people count on.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Padilla Slams Republican Budget Proposal That Would Raise Costs for American Families

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    WATCH: Padilla Slams Republican Budget Proposal That Would Raise Costs for American Families

    WATCH: Padilla criticizes Republican budget proposal that would cut critical programs to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered opening remarks during a hearing on the proposed budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2025.

    Padilla outlined the misguided budget proposal from Republicans to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in benefits Americans rely on to fund tax breaks for billionaires:

    • “The second Trump Administration has begun clearly laying the groundwork to cut crucial programs that American families rely on in order to fund yet another round of tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. … The budget is a reflection of our values and our priorities. And I want to talk about priorities. Not the President’s priorities. I want to talk about the American people’s priorities. I’ve heard over and over again that the outcome of last fall’s election was a mandate, and that the important takeaway from the election was Americans’ frustrations with a high cost of living. … Too many families, Republicans and Democrats, struggling to pay for groceries, to afford gas, struggling to pay the rent or the mortgage every month.”
    • “Folks, make no mistake, under these plans, life will be more expensive for working families and all for what? That’s really the big question I have. All for what? It’s crystal clear: to help pay for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations. And to achieve this, President Trump and his allies here in Congress seem determined to slash the programs that American families depend on the most: Medicaid, nutrition assistance programs, Pell grants, affordable health care coverage, cancer research, investments in our energy sector, including for hydrogen, biofuels, and carbon capture.”

    Padilla also highlighted the immense costs of mass deportations, and the essential contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy. Undocumented workers make up nearly 14 percent of construction workers — and roughly 42 percent of our agricultural workforce. Trump’s mass deportations plan would lead to skyrocketing prices for food, goods, and services, exacerbate our workforce shortages, and could drop the United States’ GDP by 6.8 percent:

    • “Here’s an inconvenient truth for many, and that’s the fact that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are also critical to the success of our economy, because the percentage of immigrants — documented, undocumented — who are violent criminals, is a very, very small percentage.”
    • “If President Trump gets his way with the mass deportations that are not focused just on violent criminals, here’s what American families can expect. Get ready also for more expensive fruit, more expensive vegetables, and that’s if grocery stores can successfully keep up with stocking the shelves. If you’ve been saving up for years to buy a home, get ready to pay more and wait longer. Why? Because construction will slow down, and prices will go up.”

    As Republicans emphasize the need for American energy independence, Padilla stressed that the Trump Administration’s executive orders and the proposed budget resolution would undo the historic investments Congress made to diversify the energy sector:

    • “Undermining renewables isn’t just undermining energy independence. It’s a threat to our national security, and it’s a threat to the good-paying jobs we’ve created across the country in red states and blue states alike.”

    Video of Senator Padilla’s full remarks is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Padilla Slams RFK Jr. Nomination to Lead Health and Human Services

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    WATCH: Padilla Slams RFK Jr. Nomination to Lead Health and Human Services

    WATCH: Padilla calls RFK, Jr. “unfit and unprepared” to serve as HHS Secretary

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor to oppose the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), raising the alarm on the disastrous public health implications if he is confirmed. Padilla called out RFK, Jr. for his severe lack of qualifications and his record of peddling dangerous public health misinformation.

    • “I oppose this nomination for his wildly misinformed beliefs and his utter lack of experience. I believe he is fundamentally unfit and unprepared — and Americans will be less healthy if he is confirmed.”

    RFK, Jr. has repeatedly spread dangerous conspiracy theories — for his own financial gain — even going as far as to say that “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” Padilla called him out for making false accusations that vaccines cause autism, lying that the COVID-19 virus targeted specific racial and ethnic groups, founding his own anti-vaccine organization, authoring several books pushing public health conspiracies, and making millions off anti-vaccination lawsuits.

    • “In the face of all the proven science, proven again and again science, Mr. Kennedy has chosen to profit off fear. And countless parents are being misled into making dangerous decisions for their children.
    • “Look — I get the fear. I’m proud to represent California in the Senate. I’m proud to have an engineering background. But I too am a parent of three boys. And I remember what it was like to hold a baby in your arms, and to worry every time there was a sniffle and a cough. I’d do anything to protect my children, just as you would do anything to protect yours.
    • “But where families have reasonable questions on everything from doctors to diets, Mr. Kennedy simply sees dollar signs.”

    Padilla, a co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus, also highlighted the dangers RFK, Jr. poses to mental health care access and Medicaid benefits. He slammed RFK, Jr. for his dangerous lack of knowledge regarding Medicaid funding and benefits. 

    • “At a time when Republicans are looking to cut funding for lifesaving services, I’d rather see a fierce defender of Medicaid at HHS. Yet, during his confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy failed to show even a basic understanding of Medicaid. Not the sources of funding, not the benefits, and at one point, he even seemed to conflate or confuse Medicaid and Medicare.
    • “Colleagues, I shouldn’t have to say this: This is not a ‘learn on the job’ nomination.”

    As Republicans threaten major cuts to Medicaid, Padilla underscored the importance of confirming a nominee with the necessary qualifications and experience to protect public health. He urged his colleagues to vote against RFK, Jr.’s confirmation.

    • “Republicans are already floating cuts to Medicaid to pay for even more tax breaks for the rich. In the White House, President Trump and his Shadow President Musk have proven they’ll shutter any agency that stands in their way.
    • “And today, we’re left wondering who will speak up to protect the health of millions of Americans. Unfortunately, Mr. Kennedy has already shown he is not up to the task. So colleagues, I urge you to join me in fighting to protect the health of our constituents and oppose the confirmation of Mr. Kennedy.”

    Video of Senator Padilla’s full remarks is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Here’s why some people still evade public transport fares – even when they’re 50 cents

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne

    Public transport in Queensland now costs just 50 cents. Yet in the first six months of the trial, it’s been revealed that thousands of commuters were fined for fare evasion.

    More than 3,000 people received fines of A$322 each, amounting to more than $1 million in penalties. And more than 21,000 were issued warnings over this period.

    Queensland’s 50 cent fares trial was designed to boost ridership and ease cost-of-living pressures. Now it has exposed a paradox: why do people evade fares even when the price is nearly free?

    Fare evasion isn’t just a Queensland problem — it’s a nationwide challenge. Queensland’s experience raises bigger questions about enforcement, policy, and the role of public transport funding.

    A nationwide challenge

    Across the country, fare evasion drains millions from state public transport budgets. In New South Wales, for example, fare evasion costs the state government about $80 million each year.

    The latest NSW Fare Compliance Survey inspected 52,152 tickets, including Opal cards, contactless payments, and single-trip tickets, across the NSW public transport network.

    Fare evasion costs the NSW government $80 million a year.
    Gordon Bell/Shutterstock

    It found most non-compliance came down to passengers travelling without a valid ticket. This included not only those customers carrying no ticket at all, but also those who did have an Opal or other payment card but hadn’t tapped on.

    Another form of non-compliance was when passengers used concessions for which they weren’t eligible.

    The survey also highlighted variations in compliance – across different modes of transport, times of day and days of the week.

    Overall, compliance did not significantly differ between weekends and weekdays.

    Looking at weekday use, Sydney Metro had the highest compliance rate at 97%. This was followed by Sydney Ferries (95.9%), all trains (93.6%), Sydney Light Rail (91%) and all buses (89.2%).

    Who evades fares and why?

    Fare evasion isn’t just about people trying to save money. Research shows there are different types of fare evaders, ranging from habitual dodgers to those who evade unintentionally.

    An international study on Santiago’s Transantiago system found that evaders could be categorised into four groups:

    • radical evaders who view non-payment as a form of protest
    • strategic evaders who evade when they believe the risk of being caught is low
    • ambivalent evaders who sometimes pay but don’t always see the value in it
    • accidental evaders who forget or run into ticketing system barriers.

    A separate study in Melbourne also identified a wide spectrum of attitudes on fare evasion, from those who consider it morally wrong to those who take calculated risks based on enforcement patterns.

    Does lowering fares reduce evasion?

    Queensland’s 50-cent fare trial presents a real-world test of a long-standing question: does cheaper public transport reduce fare evasion?

    Our calculations using the state’s early data show a 27% drop in fare evasion fines since the trial began, compared with the same period in the previous year.

    This aligns with the idea that fare evasion is, at least partially, a rational economic decision. When the price is lower, the incentive to evade diminishes – though it does not completely disappear.

    Modelling evidence from Santiago’s bus system also suggests price sensitivity, but with caveats. A 10% increase in fares led to a two-percentage-point rise in fare evasion.

    The role of trust and public perception

    A surprising insight from research is that fare evasion isn’t just an economic decision. It’s a social one, too.

    When passengers perceive the system as unfair (due to factors such as unreliable service, high fares or lack of investment), fare evasion rises.

    Further, if fare dodging behaviour is normalised within a city or demographic, it spreads like contagion.

    Studies have suggested that permissive social attitudes toward fare evasion are as strong a predictor as actual financial hardship.

    The limits of enforcement

    Most transit agencies rely on two standard deterrents: more ticket inspections, and harsher fines for fare evaders.

    Does this approach work? Research suggests only to a point.

    All states and territories have had to grapple with the issue of fare evasion.
    Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock

    Empirical evidence suggests that potential evaders are more deterred by the certainty of getting caught than by the size of the fine.

    In other words, the visibility of inspectors matters more than the penalty itself. For many, the social stigma of getting caught is a key factor, regardless of how big the penalty is.

    A crucial question in the Queensland debate is: if public transport is already nearly free, does fare evasion even matter?

    The lost revenue from the unpaid fares by those who were issued a fine over the period in question amounts to just $1,663.

    Depending on the level of crackdown, at such low fees, enforcement measures could easily end up costing more than the revenue lost. Security patrols, inspections and fine processing can amount to significant costs.

    Why it matters

    There are at least two key factors to consider in relation to whether cracking down on evaders is worth it.

    First, allowing widespread fare evasion could erode social norms around paying for public services. If the expectation of compliance disappears, what happens if fares rise again?

    And second, even when fares are zero or near-zero, requiring passengers to validate a ticket (such as by tapping on and off) allows transport agencies to track demand, plan services, and prevent system abuse.

    Even in Tallinn, Estonia — where residents ride for free — tap-ons are still required for data collection and preventing system abuse.

    Even at 50 cents a trip, authorities still expect public transport to function within a structured system, with rules that encourage accountability and predictability.

    But enforcement alone won’t solve fare evasion. Winning public trust is just as important as enforcing rules. Investing in better service quality, reliability and community engagement can be as effective as increasing inspections.

    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. Here’s why some people still evade public transport fares – even when they’re 50 cents – https://theconversation.com/heres-why-some-people-still-evade-public-transport-fares-even-when-theyre-50-cents-249739

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland Plc: Annual Financial Report 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland Plc’s IFRS financial statements and Board of Directors’ report for 2024 have been published. 

    Stock Exchange Release 
    13th of February 2025 at 6.55 am (CET +1) 

    The materials are attached to this release and available in English and Finnish at www.saastopankki.fi. 


    Further information:      

    Kai Brander
    Managing Director  
    Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland Plc 
    kai.brander@saastopankki.fi 
    +358 50 384 8220 

    Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland Plc is part of the Savings Banks Amalgamation and Savings Banks Group and operates as Group’s central credit institution. Central Bank of Savings Banks’ role is to ensure liquidity and wholesale funding of the Savings Banks Group via operating in the money and capital markets, issue payment cards, and provide payment transfer and account operator services. 

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Sp Mortgage Bank Plc: Annual Financial Report 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Sp Mortgage Bank Plc’s IFRS financial statements and Board of Directors’ report for 2024 have been published. 

    Sp Mortgage Bank Plc 
    Stock Exchange Release 
    13th of February 2025 at 6.55 am (CET +1) 

    The materials are attached to this release and available in English and Finnish at www.saastopankki.fi. 

    Sp Mortgage Bank Plc 

    Further information: 

    Tero Kangas
    Managing Director  
    Sp Mortgage Bank Plc 
    tero.kangas@saastopankki.fi 
    +358 50 420 1022 

    Sp Mortgage Bank Plc is part of the Savings Banks Group and the Savings Banks Amalgamation. The role of Sp Mortgage Bank is, together with Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland Plc, to be responsible for obtaining funding for the Savings Banks Group from money and capital markets. Sp Mortgage Bank is responsible for the Savings Banks Group’s mortgage-secured funding by issuing covered bonds. 

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Export-Import Bank of India’s GOI-supported Line of Credit of USD 180 mn to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for procurement of 4 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) in the Borrower’s Country

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    RBI//2024-2025/113
    A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 20

    February 13, 2025

    All Category – I Authorised Dealer Banks

    Madam/Sir

    Export-Import Bank of India’s GOI-supported Line of Credit of USD 180 mn to the
    Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for procurement of 4 Offshore Patrol
    Vessels (OPV) in the Borrower’s Country

    Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has entered into an agreement dated July 31, 2024, with the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (GO-VNM), for making available to the latter, Government of India supported Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 180 mn (USD One Hundred Eighty Million Only) for procurement of 4 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) in the Borrower’s Country. The export of eligible goods and services from India, as defined under the agreement, would be allowed subject to their eligibility under the Foreign Trade Policy of the Government of India and whose purchase may be agreed to be financed by the Exim Bank under this agreement.

    2. The Agreement under the LoC is effective from January 20, 2025. Under the LoC, the last date for disbursement will be 60 months after scheduled completion date of the project.

    3. Shipments under the LoC shall be declared in Export Declaration Form/Shipping Bill as per instructions issued by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

    4. No agency commission is payable for export under the above LoC. However, if required, the exporter may use his own resources or utilize balances in his Exchange Earners’ Foreign Currency Account for payment of commission in free foreign exchange. Authorised Dealer (AD) Category- I banks may allow such remittance after realization of full eligible value of export subject to compliance with the extant instructions for payment of agency commission.

    5. AD Category – I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their exporter constituents and advise them to obtain complete details of the LoC from the Exim Bank’s office at Centre One, Floor 21, World Trade Centre Complex, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai 400 005 or from their website www.eximbankindia.in.

    6. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under section 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions/ approvals, if any, required under any other law.

    Yours faithfully

    (N Senthil Kumar)
    Chief General Manager

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI China: Annual social logistics value hits 360.6 trillion yuan

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China’s total social logistics value rose 5.8 percent year on year to 360.6 trillion yuan (about 50.28 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed Tuesday.

    Industrial logistics, the main driver of the overall growth, rose by 5.8 percent to reach 318.4 trillion yuan. High-tech products, including integrated circuits, reported a logistics volume growth exceeding 15 percent.

    The ratio of social logistics costs to GDP fell to 14.1 percent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2023, reflecting improved efficiency.

    The reduction in costs is attributed to the upgrading and improvement of logistics infrastructure, as well as the optimization and enhancement of the logistics structure.

    By the end of 2024, the country had built 151 national logistics hubs and over 2,500 overseas warehouses. It also opened 168 new international cargo flight routes in 2024.

    “Logistics infrastructure upgrades and optimized networks have boosted resource allocation and cross-border connectivity,” said Hu Han, an official with the China Logistics Information Center.

    Hu said that China’s economy is fundamentally solid, resilient, and full of potential, providing strong support for the long-term development of its logistics industry.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: US stocks close mixed after hot inflation data

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    U.S. stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, as the unexpected rise in inflation led to speculation that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts to manage the economy’s overheating.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 225.09 points, or 0.50 percent, ending at 44,368.56. The S&P 500 decreased by 16.53 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 6,051.97. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up by 6.09 points, or 0.03 percent, finishing at 19,649.95.

    Within the S&P 500’s 11 primary sectors, nine closed in negative territory. Energy and real estate sectors led the declines, losing 2.69 percent and 0.91 percent, respectively. Conversely, consumer staples and communication services sectors posted gains, rising 0.23 percent and 0.04 percent, respectively.

    The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI), a comprehensive measure of the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, accelerated by 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the month, pushing the annual inflation rate to 3 percent. This outcome surpassed the estimates, which had predicted a 0.3 percent monthly increase and a 2.9 percent annual rate, with the annual rate rising by 0.1 percentage point compared to December.

    Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the CPI advanced by 0.4 percent for the month, resulting in a 12-month inflation rate of 3.3 percent — again beating the respective forecasts of 0.3 percent and 3.1 percent — and the annual core rate was up by 0.1 percentage point from December.

    “Shelter costs continue to be the main driver of core inflation as higher mortgage rates push more Americans into a rental market in which vacancy rates are near record lows,” said Erik Norland, chief economist at CME Group. “Traders appear to believe that today’s data make additional Fed cuts less likely than they had expected previously.”

    “The ‘wait and see’ Fed is going to be waiting longer than anticipated after a red-hot January CPI inflation report,” wrote Josh Jamner, investment strategy analyst at ClearBridge Investments. “This report puts the final nail in the coffin for the rate cut cycle, which we believe is over.”

    Market expectations have shifted, with traders now pricing the next rate cut to occur no earlier than September, even as Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned against reading too much into the latest CPI report. “We don’t get excited about one or two good readings and we don’t get excited about one or two bad readings,” Powell said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

    Powell reiterated Wednesday that while the Fed has made “great progress” in bringing inflation closer to its 2 percent target, it is “not quite there yet.” He emphasized the need to keep monetary policy restrictive for now.

    Meanwhile, a new round of earnings has provided insight into the resilience of Corporate America. Kraft Heinz shares slipped after the company’s 2025 profit outlook fell short of expectations, whereas CVS Health enjoyed a boost as its quarterly profit drop was smaller than anticipated.

    In after-hours trading, Reddit’s upcoming results are drawing significant attention amid lofty Wall Street expectations, and Robinhood’s report is also in the spotlight following a three-year high in its stock price.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Heads vs tails? A simple coin flip can be enough to change how we treat others

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eliane Deschrijver, Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Sydney

    Circles in a Circle (1923) Wassily Kandinsky / Philadelphia Museum of Art / The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950

    Imagine you are asked to give a small amount of money to a stranger. It’s not your money, so it doesn’t cost you anything. You’re just deciding how much they get.

    But first, a pair of coins is flipped – one for you and one for the stranger – and you are told the results.

    Would the coin flip change how much money you give? Specifically, would you give them a larger amount if you both got heads or tails than if you got different results?

    As we discovered in a series of experiments with more than 1,400 participants, the coin flip – or other seemingly insignificant points of similarity or difference – might well affect your behaviour.

    In a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we show how understanding why even a coin flip can influence behaviour might help us understand what makes people discriminate against others.

    ‘Us’ versus ‘them’

    Historically, many psychological theories that aim to explain discrimination have focused on group processes, rather than on how we respond to individual people.

    This focus on group processes followed, in part, from the discovery that people benefit their own group over another group even if the division into groups had happened based on seemingly irrelevant features.

    The use of such features has been crucial for explaining the core psychology of discrimination, stripped from any wider societal elements such as race, gender, values or attitudes.

    In the seminal “minimal group” experiment, people were assigned to one of two groups based on seemingly irrelevant differences. Some groups were split by a preference for the paintings of Paul Klee versus those of Wassily Kandinsky, others by whether they had over- or underestimated the number of dots in an image. Some were even allocated to groups by a random event like a coin flip.

    The so-called ‘minimal group’ experiment showed that separating people into groups was enough to make them favour members of their own group.
    Andrii Yalanski/Shutterstock

    The result? Klee fans tended to give financial benefits to other Klee fans ahead of Kandinsky enthusiasts. Likewise, people in the “heads” group favoured their own group over those in the “tails” group.

    The results could not be explained easily by existing research at the time. Some theories had emphasised that people show favour towards an individual after agreeing on more meaningful topics than painting preferences or dots estimations. The meaningful topics were things like one’s belief system, values or political or religious views.

    Small studies had also found that a coin flip – which didn’t lead to explicitly dividing people into groups – was not enough to make people show discriminatory tendencies.

    An influential theory called social identity theory thus concluded that social categorisation – thinking in terms of “us” versus “them” – could lead to people discriminating. This was tied to an idea that people elevate their self-image or improve their self-esteem by benefiting their own group over others.

    New research emphasises a role for even random similarity versus difference

    In our recent research, we set out to reassess whether group division is crucial to understand discriminatory tendencies.

    We carried out seven experiments with over 1,400 participants in total (all based in the United Kingdom).

    The study analysed data from participants who were asked to either repeatedly choose their preferred painting from two, estimate the number of dots presented in a “cloud”, or take part in a coin toss.

    After each choice or coin flip, participants had to assign money to another person (the same person each time).

    The result of a coin flip was enough to change how study participants treated another person.
    Motortion Films/Shutterstock

    The only information participants were given about the other individual was their outcome in the same situation. Neither participants nor the other person were assigned to groups. Someone asked to pick between two paintings, for instance, was only told which painting the person they were allocating money to preferred in that instance.

    Participants allocated on average 43.1% more money to another person who demonstrated the same judgement – or chance outcome – to their own.

    Our research demonstrates that some of our discriminatory tendencies may be driven by individual difference versus sameness even when that difference or sameness is based on random chance, like a coin flip.

    The findings raise the possibility that more basic neural processes than thinking about groups may have contributed to these outcomes.

    Detecting a difference often comes with a conflict signal in the brain, and may come with negative emotions. Sameness with another person may hence lead to a more favourable treatment. However, this potential explanation will require further research.

    Why does this matter?

    The findings can help understand our own tendencies for favouring another person.

    Previous research had suggested that “incidental similarity” with somebody, such as sharing a birthday or a name, can influence pro-social behaviour or liking because we associate the person with the way we see ourselves.

    Our research surprisingly suggests that something similar can happen on the basis of an even less-relevant chance event such as a coin flip.

    This may affect how we think about discrimination. We usually understand discrimination as making unfair distinctions between people based on groups or other social categories.

    Our research suggests future perspectives on discrimination may incorporate a role for individual-level difference, too.

    Does this new understanding suggest ways we can lessen discrimination? At this stage, they would only be speculative.

    However, earlier scientific efforts to find ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination have largely been informed by group-based theories of discrimination. For example, some interventions have aimed to influence people’s perceptions of other groups.

    In the same way, our new findings may inspire future research into interventions based on individual-level drivers of discrimination.

    Eliane Deschrijver receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Richard Ramsey 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. Heads vs tails? A simple coin flip can be enough to change how we treat others – https://theconversation.com/heads-vs-tails-a-simple-coin-flip-can-be-enough-to-change-how-we-treat-others-249611

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: CATL aiming to raise over $5B from HK listing

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, has filed for a Hong Kong listing that is expected to be the city’s biggest initial public offering in four years.

    The long-awaited CATL listing aims to raise more than $5 billion, which the company said will fund overseas production capacity and international business expansion, supporting its long-term global strategy.

    Already an A-share listed company, CATL’s Hong Kong listing will attract more international capital, further diversifying its financing channels, said analysts.

    According to public disclosures, as of June 2024, CATL had foreign currency balances of $6.74 billion and 3.86 billion euros ($4 billion), which were challenging to cover the hefty investments in Europe and other regions, as well as the ongoing need for overseas strategic expansion that often amount to billions of euros.

    Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said CATL’s Hong Kong listing is poised to assist the company in garnering funds on a global scale to support its endeavors in overseas research and development, production capacity expansion and market outreach. Additionally, the Hong Kong listing is expected to enhance CATL’s brand influence in international markets, strengthening its global competitiveness.

    “This listing opens avenues for financing. Given CATL’s expansive global reach, substantial financial support is imperative, a need that can be met through a successful IPO. In addition, CATL’s global expansion necessitates collaboration from diverse stakeholders. By opting for a Hong Kong listing, CATL can also engage with a broad spectrum of international investors. This move is pivotal in enhancing CATL’s global standing,” Zhou said.

    In recent years, CATL has accelerated its overseas expansion efforts, establishing battery factories in European countries including Germany and Hungary. In December, CATL signed a joint venture agreement with Dutch automotive group Stellantis that will build a large-scale lithium iron phosphate battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain.

    According to SNE Research — a South Korean company providing global market research and consulting services for rechargeable battery industries — CATL maintained its top position globally in terms of battery usage for electric vehicles from January to November 2024, witnessing a 28.6 percent year-on-year growth. Following CATL are BYD and LG Energy Solution.

    Many major Chinese original equipment manufacturers such as Zeekr, Aito and Li Auto, operating in the world’s largest EV market of China, have integrated CATL’s batteries into their products.

    Furthermore, prominent global OEMs including Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have also chosen CATL’s batteries for their EV models.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: February 12th, 2025 Heinrich Delivers Floor Speech Opposing the Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Health Secretary

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

    VIDEO

    WASHINGTON — This afternoon, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor amplifying the voices of New Mexicans opposing the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services.

    “I hope all of my colleagues take seriously what it would mean to confirm this anti-vaccine, anti-science snake oil salesman as our next Secretary of Health and Human Services,” said Heinrich.

    VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) delivers remarks on the Senator floor opposing the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Health Secretary, February 12, 2025.

    Heinrich began his remarks by recounting how Mr. Kennedy’s 2019 trip to the Pacific island of Samoa intensified vaccine skepticism and contributed to a deadly measles outbreak that killed 83 people, mostly children under five. Heinrich said: “As someone with a background in science, but more importantly, as a father of two, I am horrified by this story. Thanks to incredible scientific research and medical advances, we now have a vaccine that has proven to be safe and effective at protecting our kids and largely eradicated the measles outbreaks that used to result in the devastating loss of babies and young children. That is until anti-vaccine crusaders like Mr. Kennedy started promoting phony science and conspiracy theories in places like Samoa.”

    Heinrich condemned Mr. Kennedy’s long track record of spreading fear, peddling misinformation, and promoting conspiracy theories: “Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly and falsely alleged that safe and effective vaccines for tetanus, the flu, COVID, and HPV are dangerous to human health. Mr. Kennedy has promoted the completely discredited conspiracy theory that vaccines lead to autism. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to more than one million deaths in the United States alone, Mr. Kennedy campaigned to end the nationwide vaccination effort that helped us save millions more lives. Mr. Kennedy has — again without any sound evidence — also pushed conspiracy theories claiming that antidepressant medications cause mass shootings and chemicals in our water make children gay. If those claims sound ludicrous, it’s because they are.”

    Heinrich warned that, if he is confirmed to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Kennedy has committed to following President Trump’s orders to further roll back women’s reproductive rights: “During his confirmation process, Mr. Kennedy also reportedly made commitments to my Republican colleagues to support restrictions on mifepristone, a medication abortion and miscarriage management drug. Mr. Kennedy has also signaled to Republican senators that he will go along with whatever President Trump wants to further roll back women’s reproductive rights.”

    Heinrich also cautioned that Mr. Kennedy would help to enact President Trump and Elon Musk’s dangerous agenda to drastically cut federal funding for everything from New Mexicans’ Medicaid health coverage to medical research at the University of New Mexico. Heinrich warned: “The Department of Health and Human Services oversees health coverage programs that serve half of all Americans, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. HHS also supports the medical research that helps us develop the next vaccines, prevent the next pandemic, and find cures to cancer and chronic diseases like diabetes. We have also already seen President Trump, Elon Musk, and his DOGE minions target scientific and medical research at agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Just last week, we saw them announce an estimated $4 billion cut for NIH health research at universities all across our country—including an estimated $17 million impact at the University of New Mexico alone.”

    Heinrich finished his remarks by amplifying the concerns of New Mexicans who have written or called into his office expressing concern over Mr. Kennedy’s nomination. Watch a video of Heinrich uplifting New Mexicans’ voices here.

    “I agree with these New Mexicans that Mr. Kennedy is unprepared, unqualified, and dangerously unfit to be confirmed as our next Health Secretary,” Heinrich concluded. “To protect our kids’ health from debunked conspiracy theories, to defend women’s reproductive rights, to safeguard the future of Medicare and Medicaid, and to continue lifesaving medical research and medical care in my state and across the country, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting NO on confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”

    Heinrich has been amplifying the voices of New Mexicans who have written or called into his office expressing concern over President Trump’s harmful actions and unqualified nominees.

    Last night on the Senate floor, Heinrich uplifted New Mexicans’ concerns over Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination for the Director of National Intelligence. In his remarks, Heinrich emphasized the risk Gabbard’s nomination poses to our national security and discussed Ms. Gabbard’s lack of qualifications and judgment, particularly relating to her 2017 trip to Bashar al-Assad’s Syria. Heinrich zeroed in on Ms. Gabbard’s false denial during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee about meeting with Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, Syria’s most senior Sunni Muslim cleric during the Assad regime who made threats to conduct suicide bomb attacks in the United States.

    Last week, Heinrich delivered remarks on the Senate floor amplifying the voices of New Mexicans opposing the nomination of Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Mr. Vought is the lead architect of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the policy blueprint for Donald Trump’s harmful agenda to throw the government into chaos and harm working families.

    Last month, Heinrich delivered the longest speech of his career, where he slammed President Trump’s unlawful unilateral blockade of all federal grant funding. In his remarks, Heinrich uplifted stories from New Mexicans on how Trump’s federal funding freeze endangered New Mexicans and threatened communities across the state. Find the video of Heinrich sharing letters from New Mexicans on the Senate floor here.

    Heinrich is leading Senate Democrats in sounding the alarm on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s destructive actions that are wreaking havoc on Americans, weakening our economy, and threatening the livelihoods of New Mexicans.

    Last week, in an interview with Jim Sciutto on CNN’s The Situation Room, Heinrich vocalized the concerns of his constituents who continue to write-in and call his office opposing Trump’s harmful actions, which are impacting New Mexico families and their financial security. Watch the full video of that interview here.

    Since Trump took office in 2025, Heinrich:

    • Introduced a resolution condemning Trump’s pardons of people found guilty of assaulting police officers on January 6.
    • Led Senate Democrats in sounding the alarm on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s destructive actions that are wreaking havoc on Americans, weakening our economy, and threatening the livelihoods of New Mexicans.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: The National Credit Guarantee Mechanism Invigorates Offshore Wind Power Financing Mechanisms and Strengthens Market

    Source: Republic Of China Taiwan 2

    According to Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), domestic enterprises have a large and competitive demand for green electricity (such as RE100) to enhance international competitiveness, and advanced manufacturing processes require higher proportions of green electricity. Thus, increasing the share of green electricity in products made in Taiwan by 2030 has become an urgent priority. The National Credit Guarantee Mechanism aims to encourage investments from banks and insurance funds to support offshore wind farms and accelerate offshore wind power construction, thus ensuring sufficient green electricity for domestic high-tech industry to enhance export competitiveness and achieve the 2050 net-zero target.

    Amid public skepticism over the National Credit Guarantee Mechanism, the Energy Administration (EA) of the MOEA explained that the development of offshore wind power has progressed to the Zonal Development phase, with an estimated financing demand of NT$1.08 trillion between 2026 and 2031. The National Development Council (NDC), the Ministry of Finance, and the MOEA have jointly launched initiatives involving the National Development Fund and eight major state-owned banks to provide financing guarantees, with a total capacity of NT$90 billion. This mechanism assists offshore wind farms in obtaining financing and also offers guarantees to eliminate barriers for general enterprises seeking to purchase green electricity. The government remains committed to fostering a benign investment environment for offshore wind power development.

    The EA further stated that the MOEA and the NDC have recently collaborated to raise the national credit guarantee ratio from 60% to 80% for green energy construction projects by project financing developers, enhancing the full credit guarantees for banks to participate in wind farm projects, incentivizing state-owned banks and other financial institutions to finance offshore wind farms, and supports the sustainable development of offshore wind power market in Taiwan.

    Furthermore, the EA noted that offshore wind power financing operations require the long-term and stable financial capacity for electricity procurement. Therefore, the National Credit Guarantee Mechanism can provide any single general business up to 80% of credit guarantees for procurement of green electricity, which provides additional credit protection for domestic electricity-purchasing enterprises without long-term international credit ratings, and, at the same time, boosts the banks’ confidence when reviewing Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPA), improving the financial structure of wind farms.

    Spokesperson for Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs:
    Deputy Director General, Chun-Li Lee
    Phone: 02-2775-7700, 0936-250-838
    Email: chunlee@moeaea.gov.tw

    Business Contact: Director, Chung-Hsien Chen
    Phone: 02-2775-7770, 0919-998-339
    Email: ctchen2@moeaea.gov.tw

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI: TRANSOCEAN SHAREHOLDER ALERT: CLAIMSFILER REMINDS INVESTORS WITH LOSSES IN EXCESS OF $100,000 of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuits Against Transocean Ltd. – RIG

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until February 24, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in securities class action lawsuits against Transocean Ltd. (the “Company”) (NYSE: RIG), if they purchased the Company’s securities between May 1, 2023 and September 2, 2024, inclusive (the “Class Period”). These actions are pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

    Get Help

    Transocean investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-rig-2/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

    About the Lawsuits

    Transocean and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (1) the Discoverer Inspiration and the Development Driller III were considered non-strategic assets; (2) the Company’s recorded asset valuations were overstated; (3) as a result, the Company would take nearly twice the vessels’ sale price in impairment if sold; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

    On September 3, 2024, pre-market, the Company disclosed that it had agreed to sell the Development Driller III and the Discoverer Inspiration rigs and associated assets for an aggregate $342 million “as part of the Company’s effort to dispose of non-strategic assets,” which would result in an estimated third-quarter non-cash charge of up to $645 million associated with the impairment of said assets. On this news, the price of Transocean’s shares fell $0.42, or 8.86%, to close at $4.32 per share on September 3, 2024, on unusually heavy trading volume.

    The case is Gábor v. Transocean Ltd., et al., No. 24-cv-9964. A subsequently filed case, Matteson v. Transocean Ltd., et al., No. 25-cv-1112, expanded the class period.

    About ClaimsFiler

    ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

    To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: INTEGRAL AD SHAREHOLDER ALERT: CLAIMSFILER REMINDS INVESTORS WITH LOSSES IN EXCESS OF $100,000 of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. – IAS

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until March 31, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (the “Company”) (NasdaqGS: IAS), if they purchased the Company’s shares between March 2, 2023 and February 27, 2024, inclusive (the “Class Period”). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

    Get Help

    Integral Ad investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nasdaq-ias/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

    About the Lawsuit

    Integral and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

    On February 27, 2024, post-market, the Company announced its 4Q 2023 results, disclosing disappointing revenue guidance below analysts’ estimates due to pricing cuts issued to customers across the Company’s measurement and optimization businesses. On this news, the price of Integral’s shares declined approximately 41%, from $17.10 per share to close at $10.01 per share on February 28, 2024.

    The case is Oklahoma Firefighters Pension And Retirement System v. Integral Ad Science Holding Corp., et al., No. 25-cv-00847.

    About ClaimsFiler

    ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

    To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ICON SHAREHOLDER ALERT: CLAIMSFILER REMINDS INVESTORS WITH LOSSES IN EXCESS OF $100,000 of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against ICON plc – ICLR

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until April 11, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against ICON plc (the “Company”) (NasdaqGS: ICLR), if they purchased the Company’s shares between July 27, 2023 and October 23, 2024, inclusive (the “Class Period”). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

    Get Help

    ICON investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nasdaq-iclr/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

    About the Lawsuit

    ICON and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

    On October 23, 2024, the Company reported financial results for 3Q 2024, disclosing quarterly revenues of just $2.03 billion, revealing a shocking “revenue shortfall” that significantly missed consensus estimates of $2.13 billion by more than $100 million, that quarterly net new business wins had declined sequentially to $2.3 billion during the quarter, and that its book-to-bill ratio fell sequentially to 1.15, down from 1.22 in the prior quarter, due to ongoing cost containment measures by customers.

    On this news, the price of ICON’s shares declined more than 20% over a two-day trading period, from $280.76 per share on October 23, 2024 to $220.47 per share on October 25, 2024.

    The case is Shing v. ICON plc, No. 25-cv-00763.

    About ClaimsFiler

    ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

    To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Euronet Reports Record Results Across All Financial Metrics For The Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LEAWOOD, Kan., Feb. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Euronet (or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: EEFT), a global leader in payments processing and cross-border transactions, today announced fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results. 

    Euronet reports the following consolidated results for the fourth quarter 2024 compared with the same period of 2023:

    • Revenues of $1,047.3 million, a 9% increase from $957.7 million (10% increase on a constant currency1 basis).
    • Operating income of $122.7 million, a 26% increase from $97.4 million (27% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted operating income2 of $122.7 million, a 23% increase from $99.9 million (24% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA3 of $165.8 million, a 12% increase from $147.6 million (13% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Net income attributable to Euronet of $45.2 million, or $0.98 diluted earnings per share, compared with $69.3 million, or $1.43 diluted earnings per share.
    • Adjusted earnings per share4 of $2.08, a 10% increase from $1.88.
    • Euronet’s cash and cash equivalents were $1,278.8 million and ATM cash was $643.8 million, totaling $1,922.6 million as of December 31, 2024, and availability under its revolving credit facilities was approximately $1,335 million.

    Euronet reports the following consolidated results for the full year 2024 compared with the same period of 2023:

    • Revenues of $3,989.8 million, an 8% increase from $3,688.0 million (9% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $503.2 million, a 16% increase from $432.6 million (18% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted operating income of $502.8 million, a 16% increase from $432.1 million (18% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $678.5 million, a 10% increase from $618.7 million (11% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Net income attributable to Euronet of $306.0 million, or $6.45 diluted earnings per share, compared with $279.7 million, or $5.50 diluted earnings per share.
    • Adjusted earnings per share of $8.61, a 15% increase from $7.46.

    See the reconciliation of non-GAAP items in the attached financial schedules.

    “I am pleased we delivered 15% growth in Adjusted EPS for the full year — at the top end of our range, driven by strong performance in all three segments. As we entered 2024, we told shareholders that we expected our Adjusted EPS to grow between 10% and 15%, and we would be driving to go through the range. Throughout the year our results increasingly demonstrated that it was likely we would perform at the upper end of that range. Now with these very good fourth quarter results, you can see we performed at the top of the range and even ahead of our historical 10- and 20-year CAGR rates. I would like to also point out that our 2024 adjusted EPS of $8.61 was adversely impacted by significant increases in interest and tax expense, but also benefited from share repurchases. With interest, taxes and share repurchases netting each other, you can see that the 15% increase in adjusted EPS was driven by the 16% increase in operating income made possible by strong revenue growth, scale and cost management. For the fourth quarter we delivered record adjusted EPS of $2.08, a 10% year-over-year increase as well as double-digit growth in operating income and adjusted EBITDA,” stated Michael J. Brown, Euronet’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “EFT delivered double-digit growth across all metrics driven by international travel, growth in merchant acquiring business, fee increase opportunities, and expansion into new markets. Money Transfer produced strong fourth quarter results across all metrics including a 33% growth in digital transactions. In epay, our core business delivered strong results from continued digital branded payments and mobile growth.”

    Adjusted operating income and adjusted EBITDA were adjusted for non-cash purchase accounting adjustments in the EFT Segment during the fourth quarter and full-year of 2023 and the full year of 2024 and a non-cash gain in the full year 2023.

    Taking into consideration recent trends in the business and the global economy, the Company anticipates its 2025 adjusted EPS will grow 12% to 16% year-over-year, consistent with its 10 and 20 year compounded annualized growth rates. This outlook does not include any changes that may develop in foreign exchange rates, interest rates or other unforeseen factors.

    Segment and Other Results

    The EFT Processing Segment reports the following results for the fourth quarter 2024 compared with the same period or date in 2023:

    • Revenues of $265.6 million, a 12% increase from $237.9 million (13% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $37.3 million, a 46% increase from $25.5 million (48% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted operating income of $37.3 million, a 33% increase from $28.0 million (35% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $61.7 million, an 18% increase from $52.2 million (19% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Transactions of 3,203 million, a 35% increase from 2,369 million.
    • Total of 55,248 installed ATMs as of December 31, 2024, a 5% increase from 52,652 at December 31, 2023. Operated 49,945 active ATMs as of December 31, 2024, a 6% increase from 47,303 as of December 31, 2023.

    The EFT Processing Segment reports the following results for the full year 2024 compared with the same period in 2023:

    • Revenues of $1,161.2 million, a 10% increase from $1,058.3 million (10% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $256.0 million, a 24% increase from $206.3 million (25% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted operating income of $255.6 million, a 24% increase from $205.8 million (25% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $353.5 million, an 18% increase from $300.4 million (19% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Transactions of 11,424 million, a 35% increase from 8,473 million.

    Revenue, operating income, and adjusted EBITDA growth for both the fourth quarter and full year 2024 was driven by continued growth in transactions in nearly all markets, new market expansion, fee increase opportunities, cost management and growth in the merchant acquiring business with adjusted EBITDA doubling in the last two years.

    The EFT Segment’s total installed ATMs at December 31, 2024 grew 5% over December 31, 2023 ATMs due to the net addition of 1,729 Euronet-owned ATMs, 773 new outsourcing ATMs and the addition of 94 low-margin ATMs in India. The difference between installed and active ATMs relates to ATMs that have been seasonally deactivated. 

    The epay Segment reports the following results for the fourth quarter 2024 compared with the same period or date in 2023:

    • Revenues of $342.2 million, an 8% increase from $316.7 million (10% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $48.0 million, a 10% increase from $43.6 million (12% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $49.9 million, a 10% increase from $45.4 million (12% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Transactions of 1,185 million, a 31% increase from 906 million.
    • POS terminals of approximately 777,000 as of December 31, 2024, a 5% decrease from approximately 821,000.
    • Retailer locations of approximately 362,000 as of December 31, 2024, a 3% increase from approximately 352,000.

    The epay Segment reports the following results for the full year 2024 compared with the same period in 2023:

    • Revenues of $1,150.5 million, a 6% increase from $1,082.4 million (7% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $129.9 million, a 3% increase from $126.2 million (4% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $137.2 million, a 3% increase from $133.1 million (4% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Transactions of 4,374 million, a 15% increase from 3,789 million.

    Fourth quarter and full year 2024 constant currency revenue, operating income and adjusted EBITDA growth was driven by continued expansion of digital branded payment and mobile sales.

    The Money Transfer Segment reports the following results for the fourth quarter 2024 compared with the same period or date in 2023:

    • Revenues of $441.9 million, a 9% increase from $405.1 million (9% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $58.4 million, a 13% increase from $51.9 million (12% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $64.4 million, a 9% increase from $59.3 million (9% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Total transactions of 46.9 million, an 11% increase from 42.4 million.
    • Network locations of approximately 607,000 as of December 31, 2024, a 5% increase from approximately 580,000.

    The Money Transfer Segment reports the following results for the full year 2024 compared with the same period in 2023:

    • Revenues of $1,686.5 million, an 8% increase from $1,555.2 million (9% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Operating income of $201.0 million, an 8% increase from $185.4 million (9% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $227.0 million, a 5% increase from $216.4 million (5% increase on a constant currency basis).
    • Total transactions of 176.9 million, a 9% increase from 161.7 million.

    Fourth quarter constant currency revenue, operating income and adjusted EBITDA growth was the result of 14% growth in U.S.-outbound transactions, 11% growth in international-originated money transfers and 8% growth in xe transactions, partially offset by a 14% decline in the intra-U.S. business. These transaction growth rates include 33% growth in direct-to-consumer digital transactions.

    Full year 2024 constant currency revenue, operating income, and adjusted EBITDA growth was the result of 12% growth in U.S.-outbound transactions, 11% growth in international-originated money transfers and 16% growth in xe transactions, partially offset by a 14% decline in the intra-U.S. business. These transaction growth rates include 28% growth in direct-to-consumer digital transactions.

    Corporate and Other reports $21.0 million of expense for the fourth quarter 2024 compared with $23.6 million for the fourth quarter 2023. For the full year 2024, Corporate and Other reports $83.7 million of expense compared with $85.3 million for the full year 2023. The decrease in corporate expenses for both the fourth quarter and full year 2024 is largely the result of a decrease in long-term compensation expenses based on lower share value. 

    Balance Sheet and Financial Position
    Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents on hand were $1,278.8 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $1,524.1 million as of September 30, 2024. The net decrease in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents during the quarter is mainly due to working capital fluctuations, repayment of short-term borrowings, $50 million in share repurchases, partially offset by cash generated from operations. Total indebtedness was $1,949.8 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $2,278.8 million as of September 30, 2024. The decrease in debt was largely due to repayment of short-term borrowings. Availability under the Company’s revolving credit facility was approximately $1,335 million as of December 31, 2024. The increase in availability of the revolving credit facility was primarily the result of an increase and extension of our credit facility in December 2024 from $1.25 billion to $1.90 billion.

    Non-GAAP Measures
    In addition to the results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company presents non-GAAP financial measures, such as constant currency financial measures, adjusted operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted earnings per share. These measures should be used in addition to, and not a substitute for, revenues, net income and earnings per share computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information to investors regarding the Company’s performance and overall results of operations. These non-GAAP measures are also an integral part of the Company’s internal reporting and performance assessment for executives and senior management. The non-GAAP measures used by the Company may not be comparable to similarly titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. The attached schedules provide a full reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure.

    The Company does not provide a reconciliation of its forward-looking non-GAAP measures to GAAP due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for GAAP and the related GAAP and non-GAAP reconciliation, including adjustments that would be necessary for foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and other charges reflected in the Company’s reconciliation of historic numbers, the amount of which, based on historical experience, could be significant.

    (1) Constant currency financial measures are computed as if foreign currency exchange rates did not change from the prior period. This information is provided to illustrate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on the Company’s results when compared to the prior period.

    (2) Adjusted operating income is defined as operating income excluding, to the extent incurred in the period, non-cash gains and non-cash purchase accounting adjustments. Adjusted operating income represents a performance measure and is not intended to represent a liquidity measure.

    (3) Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income excluding, to the extent incurred in the period, interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation, non-cash gains, non-cash purchase accounting adjustments and other non-operating or non-recurring items that are considered expenses or income under U.S. GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA represents a performance measure and is not intended to represent a liquidity measure.

    (4) Adjusted earnings per share is defined as diluted U.S. GAAP earnings per share excluding, to the extent incurred in the period, the tax-effected impacts of: a) foreign currency exchange gains or losses, b) share-based compensation, c) acquired intangible asset amortization, d) non-cash income tax expense, e) non-cash gains and non-cash purchase accounting adjustments, f) other non-operating or non-recurring items and g) dilutive shares relate to the Company’s convertible bonds. Adjusted earnings per share represents a performance measure and is not intended to represent a liquidity measure.

    Conference Call and Slide Presentation
    Euronet Worldwide will host an analyst conference call on February 13, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss these results. The call may also include discussion of Company developments on the Company’s operations, forward-looking information, and other material information about business and financial matters. To listen to the call via telephone please register at Euronet Worldwide Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. The conference call will also be available via webcast at http://ir.euronetworldwide.com. Participants should register at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the event. A slideshow will be included in the webcast.

    A webcast replay will be available beginning approximately one hour after the event at http://ir.euronetworldwide.com and will remain available for one year.

    About Euronet Worldwide, Inc.
    A global leader in payments processing and cross-border transactions, Euronet moves money in all the ways consumers and businesses depend upon. This includes money transfers, credit/debit processing, ATMs, point-of-sale services, branded payments, currency exchange and more. With products and services in more than 200 countries and territories provided through its own brand and branded business segments, Euronet and its financial technologies and networks make participation in the global economy easier, faster and more secure for everyone.

    Starting in Central Europe in 1994, Euronet now supports an extensive global real-time digital and cash payments network that includes 55,248 installed ATMs, approximately 1,160,000 EFT point-of-sale terminals and a growing portfolio of outsourced debit and credit card services which are under management in 67 countries; card software solutions; a prepaid processing network of approximately 777,000 point-of-sale terminals at approximately 362,000 retailer locations in 64 countries; and a global money transfer network of approximately 607,000 locations serving 197 countries and territories with digital connections to 4.1 billion bank accounts and 3.1 billion digital wallet accounts. Euronet serves clients from its corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, USA, and 67 worldwide offices. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.euronetworldwide.com.

    Statements contained in this news release that concern Euronet’s or its management’s intentions, expectations, or predictions of future performance, are forward-looking statements. Euronet’s actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including: conditions in world financial markets and general economic conditions, including impacts from the COVID-19 or other pandemics; inflation; military conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East, and the related economic sanctions; our ability to successfully integrate any acquired operations; economic conditions in specific countries and regions; technological developments affecting the market for our products and services; our ability to successfully introduce new products and services; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; the effects of any breach of our computer systems or those of our customers or vendors, including our financial processing networks or those of other third parties; interruptions in any of our systems or those of our vendors or other third parties; our ability to renew existing contracts at profitable rates; changes in fees payable for transactions performed for cards bearing international logos or over switching networks such as card transactions on ATMs; our ability to comply with increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, including anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, anti-bribery, consumer and data protection and privacy; changes in laws and regulations affecting our business, including tax and immigration laws and any laws regulating payments, including dynamic currency conversion transactions; changes in our relationships with, or in fees charged by, our business partners; competition; the outcome of claims and other loss contingencies affecting Euronet; the cost of borrowing (including fluctuations in interest rates), availability of credit and terms of and compliance with debt covenants; and renewal of sources of funding as they expire and the availability of replacement funding. These risks and other risks are described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Copies of these filings may be obtained via the SEC’s Edgar website or by contacting the Company. Any forward-looking statements made in this release speak only as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by law, Euronet does not intend to update these forward-looking statements and undertakes no duty to any person to provide any such update under any circumstances. The Company regularly posts important information to the investor relations section of its website. 

     EURONET WORLDWIDE, INC.
     Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
     (in millions)
           
      As of    
      December 31,   As of
      2024   December 31,
      (unaudited)   2023
    ASSETS      
    Current assets:      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,278.8   $ 1,254.2
    ATM cash 643.8   525.2
    Restricted cash 9.2   15.2
    Settlement assets 1,522.7   1,681.5
    Trade accounts receivable, net 284.9   370.6
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets 297.1   316.0
    Total current assets 4,036.5   4,162.7
           
    Property and equipment, net 329.7   332.1
    Right of use lease asset, net 132.1   142.6
    Goodwill and acquired intangible assets, net 1,048.1   1,015.1
    Other assets, net 288.1   241.9
           
    Total assets $ 5,834.5   $ 5,894.4
           
    LIABILITIES AND EQUITY      
    Current liabilities:      
    Settlement obligations $ 1,522.7   $ 1,681.5
    Accounts payable and other current liabilities 841.0   816.9
    Current portion of operating lease liabilities 48.3   50.3
    Short-term debt obligations 814.0   151.9
    Total current liabilities 3,226.0   2,700.6
           
    Debt obligations, net of current portion 1,134.4   1,715.4
    Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion 87.4   95.8
    Capital lease obligations, net of current portion 1.4   2.3
    Deferred income taxes 71.8   47.0
    Other long-term liabilities 84.3   83.6
    Total liabilities 4,605.3   4,644.7
    Equity 1,229.2   1,249.7
           
    Total liabilities and equity $ 5,834.5   $ 5,894.4
                                   
    EURONET WORLDWIDE, INC.
     Consolidated Statements of Operations
     (unaudited – in millions, except share and per share data)
                           
        Year Ended     Three Months Ended
        December 31,     December 31,
        2024         2023     2024   2023
                           
    Revenues $ 3,989.8       $ 3,688.0     $ 1,047.3       $ 957.7  
                           
    Operating expenses:                      
    Direct operating costs   2,389.3         2,222.8     640.8       596.4  
    Salaries and benefits   650.2         602.9     167.9       158.0  
    Selling, general and administrative   315.3         296.8     83.4       72.4  
    Depreciation and amortization   131.8         132.9     32.5       33.5  
    Total operating expenses   3,486.6         3,255.4     924.6       860.3  
    Operating income   503.2         432.6     122.7       97.4  
                           
    Other income (expense):                      
    Interest income   23.8         15.2     5.7       5.1  
    Interest expense   (80.5 )       (55.6 )   (21.3 )     (16.5 )
    Foreign currency exchange (loss) gain   (19.1 )       8.0     (35.5 )     11.6  
    Other income   21.5         0.2     4.3       0.3  
    Total other (expense) income, net   (54.3 )       (32.2 )   (46.8 )     0.5  
    Income before income taxes   448.9         400.4     75.9       97.9  
                           
    Income tax expense   (142.6 )       (120.9 )   (30.6 )     (28.4 )
                           
    Net income   306.3         279.5     45.3       69.5  
    Net (income) loss attributable to non-controlling interests   (0.3 )       0.2     (0.1 )     (0.2 )
    Net income attributable to Euronet Worldwide, Inc. $ 306.0       $ 279.7     $ 45.2       $ 69.3  
    Add: Interest expense from assumed conversion of convertible notes, net of tax   4.2         4.2       0.9         1.0  
    Net income for diluted earnings per share calculation $ 310.2       $ 283.9     $ 46.1       $ 70.3  
    Earnings per share attributable to Euronet                      
    Worldwide, Inc. stockholders – diluted $ 6.45       $ 5.50     $ 0.98       $ 1.43  
                           
    Diluted weighted average shares outstanding   48,082,766         51,599,633     47,050,602       49,066,284  

     

     EURONET WORLDWIDE, INC.
    Reconciliation of Net Income to Operating Income (Expense), Adjusted Operating Income (Expense) and Adjusted EBITDA
     (unaudited – in millions)
                       
      Three months ended December 31, 2024
                       
      EFT Processing   epay   Money Transfer   Corporate Services   Consolidated
                       
    Net income                 $ 45.3  
                       
    Add: Income tax expense                 30.6  
    Add: Total other expense, net                 46.8  
                       
    Operating income (expense) $ 37.3     $ 48.0     $ 58.4     $ (21.0 )     $ 122.7  
                       
    Add: Depreciation and amortization 24.4     1.9     6.0     0.2       32.5  
    Add: Share-based compensation —     —     —     10.6       10.6  
                       
    Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation (Adjusted EBITDA) (1) $ 61.7     $ 49.9     $ 64.4     $ (10.2 )     $ 165.8  
                       
      Three months ended December 31, 2023
                       
      EFT Processing   epay   Money Transfer   Corporate Services   Consolidated
                       
    Net income                 $ 69.5  
                       
    Add: Income tax expense                 28.4  
    Less: Total other income, net                 (0.5 )
                       
    Operating income (expense) $ 25.5     $ 43.6     $ 51.9     $ (23.6   )   $ 97.4  
    Add: non-cash purchase accounting expense adjustment   2.5       —       —       —         2.5  
    Adjusted operating income (expense) (1)   28.0       43.6       51.9       (23.6   )     99.9  
                       
    Add: Depreciation and amortization 24.2     1.8     7.4     0.1       33.5  
    Add: Share-based compensation —     —     —     14.2       14.2  
                       
    Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash purchase accounting expense adjustment and share-based compensation (Adjusted EBITDA) (1) $ 52.2     $ 45.4     $ 59.3     $ (9.3   )   $ 147.6  

    (1) Adjusted operating income (expense) and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP measures that should be considered in addition to, and not a substitute for, net income computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP. 

     EURONET WORLDWIDE, INC.
    Reconciliation of Net Income to Operating Income (Expense), Adjusted Operating Income (Expense) and Adjusted EBITDA
     (unaudited – in millions)
                       
      Twelve months ended December 31, 2024
                       
      EFT Processing   epay   Money Transfer   Corporate Services   Consolidated
                       
    Net income                 $ 306.3  
                       
    Add: Income tax expense                 142.6  
    Add: Total other expense, net                 54.3  
                       
    Operating income (expense) $ 256.0     $ 129.9     $ 201.0     $ (83.7 )   $ 503.2  
                       
    Less: Non-cash purchase accounting income adjustment (0.4 )   —     —     —     (0.4 )
    Adjusted operating income (expense) (1) 255.6     129.9     201.0     (83.7 )   502.8  
                           
    Add: Depreciation and amortization 97.9     7.3     26.0     0.6     131.8  
    Add: Share-based compensation —     —     —     43.9     43.9  
                       
    Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash purchase accounting income adjustment and share-based compensation (Adjusted EBITDA) (1) $ 353.5     $ 137.2     $ 227.0     $ (39.2 )   $ 678.5  
                       
      Twelve months ended December 31, 2023
                       
      EFT Processing   epay   Money Transfer   Corporate Services   Consolidated
                       
    Net income                 $ 279.5  
                       
    Add: Income tax expense                 120.9  
    Add: Total other expense, net                 32.2  
                       
    Operating income (expense) $ 206.3     $ 126.2     $ 185.4     $ (85.3 )   $ 432.6  
                       
    Add: Non-cash purchase accounting expense adjustment 2.5     —     —     —     2.5  
    Less: Non-cash gain (3.0 )   —     —     —     (3.0 )
    Adjusted operating income (expense) (1) 205.8     126.2     185.4     (85.3 )   432.1  
                           
    Add: Depreciation and amortization 94.6     6.9     31.0     0.4     132.9  
    Add: Share-based compensation —     —     —     53.7     53.7  
                       
    Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash purchase accounting expense adjustment, non-cash gain and share-based compensation (Adjusted EBITDA) (1) $ 300.4     $ 133.1     $ 216.4     $ (31.2 )   $ 618.7  

    (1) Adjusted operating income (expense) and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP measures that should be considered in addition to, and not a substitute for, net income computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP. 

    EURONET WORLDWIDE, INC.
    Reconciliation of Adjusted Earnings per Share
     (unaudited – in millions, except share and per share data)
                                   
      Year Ended    Three Months Ended
      December 31,   December 31,
        2024         2023       2024         2023  
                                   
    Net income attributable to Euronet Worldwide, Inc. $ 306.0       $ 279.7     $ 45.2       $ 69.3  
                                   
    Foreign currency exchange loss (gain)   19.1         (8.0 )     35.5         (11.6 )
    Intangible asset amortization(1)   21.7         24.4       4.7         5.4  
    Share-based compensation(2)   43.9         53.7       10.6         14.2  
    Non-cash gain(3)   —         (3.0 )     —         —  
    Non-cash purchase accounting (income) expense adjustment(4)   (0.4 )       2.5       —         2.5  
    Income tax effect of above adjustments(5)   13.2         (3.0 )     3.2         1.2  
    Non-cash investment gain(6)   (20.3 )       —       (3.5 )       —  
    Non-cash GAAP tax expense (benefit)(7)   9.9         19.7       (3.1 )       6.4  
                                   
    Adjusted earnings(8) $ 393.1       $ 366.0     $ 92.6       $ 87.4  
                                   
    Adjusted earnings per share – diluted(8) $ 8.61       $ 7.46     $ 2.08       $ 1.88  
                                   
    Diluted weighted average shares outstanding (GAAP)   48,082,766         51,599,633       47,050,602         49,066,284  
    Effect of adjusted EPS dilution of convertible notes   (2,781,818 )       (2,781,818 )     (2,781,818 )       (2,781,818 )
    Effect of unrecognized share-based compensation on diluted shares outstanding   369,573         230,000       295,559         158,030  
    Adjusted diluted weighted average shares outstanding   45,670,521         49,047,815       44,564,343         46,442,496  

    (1) Intangible asset amortization of $4.7 million and $5.4 million are included in depreciation and amortization expense of $32.5 million and $ 33.5 million for both the three months ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, in the consolidated statements of operations. Intangible asset amortization of $21.7 million and $24.4 million are included in depreciation and amortization expense of $131.8 million and $132.9 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations. 

    (2) Share-based compensation of $10.6 million and $14.2 million are included in salaries and benefits expense of $167.9 million and $158.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations. Share-based compensation of $43.9 million and $53.7 million are included in salaries and benefits expense of $650.2 million and $602.9 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations.

    (3) A non-cash gain of $3.0 million is included in operating income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, in the consolidated statements of operations. 

    (4) Non-cash purchase accounting (income)/expense adjustment of respectively ($0.4) million and $2.5 million is included in operating income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 in the consolidated statement of operations. 

    (5) Adjustment is the aggregate U.S. GAAP income tax effect on the preceding adjustments determined by applying the applicable statutory U.S. federal, state and/or foreign income tax rates. 

    (6) Non-cash investment gain of respectively $3.5 million and $20.3 million for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024 is included in other income in the consolidated statement of operations.

    (7) Adjustment is the non-cash GAAP tax impact recognized on certain items such as the utilization of certain material net deferred tax assets and amortization of indefinite-lived intangible assets.

    (8) Adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per share are non-GAAP measures that should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, net income and earnings per share computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP. 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Peters Blasts Trump Administration for Shuttering the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters
    Published: 02.12.2025
    CFPB Protects Americans, Particularly Servicemembers and Military Families, Against Predatory and Illegal Financial Scams; Has Returned $20 Billion from Banks to Americans Since it was Created

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) joined his colleagues in calling for the Trump Administration to immediately reverse its decision to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB provides relief to Americans who have been wronged by unethical practices from banks, payday lenders, and other financial companies by investigating and addressing consumer complaints about financial products and services. For example, the CFPB put in place rules that prevent mortgage lenders from issuing loans with hidden terms and costs that have caused people to lose their homes. The CFPB has also taken action against unreasonable bank overdraft fees which has encouraged other banks to remove or reduce their overdraft policies to avoid being penalized. Since the agency’s creation, the CFPB has returned over $21 billion owed to American consumers who have fallen victim to abusive and illegal activity from financial institutions.
    In a letter led by Peters and his colleagues, the senators underscored how the Administration’s decision to close the CFPB and idle its nearly 2,000 employees will make Americans more susceptible to predatory lending and other deceitful financial practices, particularly servicemembers and military families who are at heightened risk of being targeted by these tactics. This is because the Administration’s decision also halted key CFPB oversight of protections from the Military Lending Act (MLA) and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) that prevent servicemembers from being taken advantage of. These protections support our military readiness, recruitment, and retention efforts by allowing servicemembers to focus on their service obligations while on active duty, rather than worrying about making ends meet at home. Peters and his colleagues urged the CFPB to resume its essential work of investigating violations of consumer financial protection laws and taking actions against scammers and payday lenders to protect the financial well-being of our military families and all Americans.
    “This funding, supervision, enforcement, and communications freeze will hit military families especially hard. Without a functional CFPB, military families will be stripped of their financial protections under the bipartisan Military Lending Act (MLA) that they have earned and deserve by serving our Nation,” Peters and the senators wrote. “The CFPB is the primary agency responsible for supervising and enforcing the MLA against nonbank financial companies, including payday lenders, pawnshops, and debt collectors who have charged servicemembers interest rates as high as 600% and who have threatened to derail their careers if they do not pay up.”
    “Accordingly, we request that the CFPB continue to supervise and investigate violations of the consumer financial protection laws and take forceful enforcement actions against lenders that violate the law, especially when it comes to predatory lending that harms our military readiness. We also request that the CFPB continue to make public communications to consumers, especially to servicemembers regarding the rights that they are owed under the SCRA,” the letter concluded.
    To read the full text of the letter, click here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Delaying RFK Jr. Confirmation Vote on Senate Floor, Warren Highlights Kennedy’s Egregious Conflicts of Interest, “Long History of Promoting Anti-Science Conspiracy Theories”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    February 12, 2025

    Warren, Democrats hold Senate floor for 30 hours to oppose “dangerous” RFK Jr. confirmation 

    “Kennedy’s actions speak louder than his latest words, and time and time again, Kennedy has shown us who he is: An anti-science conspiracy peddler who is willing to gamble with American lives. We know who he is, we need to pay attention.”

    “(W)hile you and your family are forced to deal with the grave consequences of Kennedy’s conspiracy-driven health care decisions, Kennedy could set himself up to make millions of dollars off his anti-vaccine crusade – just like he’s been doing for decades. ” 

    Video of Remarks (YouTube)

    Washington, D.C. – On the floor of the United States Senate, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Democrats in delaying a final vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Senator Warren warned that American families and children would pay the price for Mr. Kennedy’s “conspiracy-driven health care decisions,” while his serious ethics conflicts remain unresolved. 

    Senator Warren called on her colleagues to oppose his nomination. The Senate is scheduled to vote on Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation on the morning of February 13, 2025. 

    Transcript: Floor Speech Opposing the Confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services
    U.S. Senate Floor
    February 12, 2025 
    As Delivered

    Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to say thanks to the Senator from Minnesota for her leadership on this point. I know that the great research institutions in Minnesota that count on her support are out there fighting thanks to Donald Trump, as they are in Massachusetts. And the people all around this country that rely on those research institutions, who are looking for those cures, for those better treatments, for those opportunities in their lives that right now Donald Trump and his co-president, Elon Musk, seem to want to cut off. So we will stay in this fight. We will indeed. 

    I am here today because Americans didn’t vote to bring back measles.

    Americans didn’t vote to bring back polio.

    Americans didn’t vote to bring back dangerous diseases that we thought we had wiped out decades ago. 

    Americans didn’t vote to get rid of critical vaccines that we know — based on science — we know save lives.

    But that is what Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vision would mean for Americans. That is the vision Donald Trump will empower him to carry out.

    Kennedy not only worked to undercut vaccines at home and abroad, he’s made a lot of money doing it. In fact, Kennedy has made millions off of peddling harmful conspiracy theories that hurt real people. He opposed the life-saving Covid vaccine just six months into the pandemic. And he’s set himself up so that he and his family could make millions more from putting Americans’ health at risk.

    One thing is very clear: We cannot trust Robert Kennedy to make health care decisions that will affect every person in this country.

    Right now, millions of Americans are sitting down for dinner with their kids. And I hope we just think for a minute about what RFK Jr.’s plans would mean for them.

    Will their teeth decay because Kennedy took fluoride out of our water based on some conspiracy theory? 

    Will they have to worry about getting measles at school because Kennedy is spreading anti-vax conspiracies on government letterhead? 

    Will parents have to risk their kids getting polio—and maybe dying—by sending them to daycare because Kennedy used HHS rules to open the door to a flood of bogus lawsuits that forced manufacturers to pull the vaccines?

    Look, here’s the thing: Robert Kennedy has spent years on an anti-vaccine crusade, spreading baseless conspiracy theories under the guise of protecting children, so we don’t need to guess the level of harm he will cause; his past already tells us everything we need to know.   

    In July 2018, two children died immediately after receiving a measles vaccine that nurses had incorrectly mixed with a muscle relaxant. Within weeks, the Samoan Health Ministry publicly confirmed the nursing error and charged the nurses with manslaughter. Nevertheless, leading anti-vaccine groups, including Kennedy’s own organization, Children’s Health Defense, exploited public fears to question the reports and spread baseless claims.

    On August 5th, 2018, Kennedy’s organization, Children’s Health Defense, posted on Facebook, and I will quote the post. “Were these once-healthy children the only two to receive MMR that day? If not, why were they the only ones to die? Research needs to determine susceptibility so that no child is ever injured.” Del Bigtree, Kennedy’s partner and former campaign manager, also released a video linking the tragedy to false claims about measles, and telling his followers to “share it with everyone you know. This is how we are changing the world.” 

    Now, amidst public distrust and a paused vaccine program in Samoa, the vaccination rates plummeted. About 10 months later, once the Samoan government had finally stood up against the disinformation and resumed the vaccine program, Kennedy visited the island to meet with the Prime Minister.

    Later, recognizing the blowback that comes with how much went wrong when a conspiracy theory cost people their lives, Kennedy has since denied that his visit had anything to do with vaccines and said that anything suggesting otherwise was an “industry propaganda trope.” In other words, totally false. “Industry propaganda trope.” 

    Kennedy lied. A blog post that Kennedy himself wrote in 2021 admits he went to Samoa to meet with the Prime Minister, who wanted to discuss the possibility of “measur(ing) health outcomes following the ‘natural experiment’ created by the nation’s respite from vaccines.” 

    Think about what that means. Another way to say it is that Kennedy was interested in taking advantage of how the vaccination rate had plummeted, caused by misinformation, so that they could conduct uncontrolled trials on whether unvaccinated kids were healthier than vaccinated kids, a conspiracy theory he has spread widely. You see, at the time, one of his traveling partners was working on a similar study with two anti-vaccine activists, which was ultimately retracted following an investigation that “raised several methodological issues and confirmed that the conclusions were not supported by strong scientific data.” 

    Now, there’s no surprise here. The Prime Minister declined Kennedy’s outrageous proposal – he didn’t want his country to be Kennedy’s guinea pig. He didn’t want unvaccinated children to be studied to see what happened to them when measles or other diseases broke out. But that didn’t stop him from spreading his message. On this trip to Samoa, he met with various anti-vaccine influencers, one of whom said the meeting was “profoundly monumental for (the) movement.” A few months after Kennedy left, in October 2019, the vaccination rate in Samoa hit an historic low of 31%, down from 74% the prior year – and no surprise, a massive measles outbreak erupted. So here is Kennedy telling us now he had nothing, nothing to do with this, his trip to Samoa had nothing to do with the measles vaccine and calling any claim “industry propaganda trope.” And yet, he himself posted a blog about meeting with the Prime Minister and talking about a study to measure health outcomes following a natural experiment of studying children–some with no vaccination and some that were vaccinated. And the anti-vax groups that he met with talked about how profoundly important it is, then Mr. Kennedy leaves, vaccination rates drop down to 31%.

    The measles outbreak was truly tragic. In total, more than 70 children died, right up until a door-to-door vaccination campaign brought the disaster to an end.

    As HHS Secretary, Kennedy would be responsible for whether we keep our children vaccinated or subject them to, in his words, the same “natural experiment” he was interested in testing in Samoa.

    Is that what we want for our kids? Is that what we want for our elderly parents? That is a living nightmare — and it could truly be our reality with Kennedy heading up the Department of Health and Human Services. And all the while that this is going on, while Kennedy is promoting this anti-vax theory, he and his family are profiting off of the plan.

    Now, I’ve been sounding the alarm about Kennedy since the minute Donald Trump announced that he would nominate him for HHS Secretary. It’s not just that he’s unqualified — his long history of promoting anti-science conspiracy theories make him disqualified.

    This is a man who claimed “there is no vaccine that is safe and effective.” “No vaccine.” 

    He said that the polio vaccine “killed many, many more people” than polio ever did. Now, Kennedy came to our committee and said don’t worry, he swears anti-vaccine. But he’s spent his entire career on an anti-vaccine crusade, spreading baseless conspiracy theories under the guise of protecting children and making millions in the process.

    And when, in Senate hearings, he was confronted with his own words, he simply denied saying them.  Denied saying them— despite the videotapes, the transcripts, the blog posts, and the people who heard them. Kennedy thinks he knows what he needs to say to try to get the job that will put him in charge of our vaccine program, so he says he didn’t say exactly what he said.

    Kennedy’s actions speak louder than his latest words, and time and time again, Kennedy has shown us who he is: An anti-science conspiracy peddler who is willing to gamble with American lives. We know who he is, we need to pay attention.

    Let’s do a quick count of some of the ways that, as HHS Secretary, Kennedy could make the anti-vaccine lawsuits — and his own payouts — even bigger. What could Kennedy do? Well, as Secretary of HHS: 

    • He could publish his anti-vaccine conspiracies, but this time on U.S. government letterhead — something that might impress a jury in a subsequent trial. 
    • He could appoint people to the CDC vaccine panel who share his anti-vax views and let them do his dirty work.
    • He could tell the CDC vaccine panel to remove a particular vaccine from the vaccination schedule. 
    • He could remove vaccines from a special compensation program, which would “open up manufacturers to mass torts (lawsuits).” 
    • He could “make more injuries eligible for compensation even if there’s no causal evidence.” 
    • He could change vaccine court processes to make it easier to bring junk lawsuits that could get vaccines pulled from the market.
    • He could turn over FDA (data) to his friends at the law firm, and they could use it however benefits their lawsuits. 

    In short, as HHS Secretary, Kennedy would have the power to make health care decisions that would affect millions of Americans — for working Americans, kids, seniors — on everything from vaccines to abortion to life-saving drugs. Kennedy would have the capacity, as head of HHS, to make it easier to sue vaccine manufacturers. And in an area where the profit margins on vaccines are quite modest, if those lawsuits mount up, vaccines could simply disappear from the market altogether. Manufacturers could decide, “you know, it’s just not worth the lawsuits. We’ll go produce other drugs.” 

    Those kinds of decisions are critically important, and the consequences are grave. For many Americans, they may be the difference between life and death. And they can change lives forever.

    So, while you and your family are forced to deal with the grave consequences of Kennedy’s conspiracy-driven health care decisions, Kennedy could set himself up to make millions of dollars off his anti-vaccine crusade – just like he’s been doing for decades. 

    Remember, the very first ethics agreement that Kennedy submitted to us on the Senate Finance Committee, he said that even while serving as HHS Secretary, he planned to keep his financial stake in ongoing litigation — including vaccine-related litigation. That means that from the jump, Kennedy’s plan was to keep making money off the backs of lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers, some of which directly related to the very products he would have the power to regulate as Secretary of HHS. So, there he is. He has the power to regulate these drugs. He has the power to make life a little better or a little worse for the vaccine manufacturers. He has the power to make it more likely that lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers would succeed. And his initial plan was even while he sat there as Secretary of HHS, he was going to keep on making money from that. 

    This was a damning conflict of interest, so we called it out. Kennedy told us okay, okay, he would submit an updated ethics agreement. Sounds good? What was his update?

    Well, he said instead of personally keeping the millions he’d make off these ongoing lawsuits… he would hand that money directly to his son. Later, he confirmed that the son he’s handing his interests off to is the one who works at Wisner Baum—the same law firm that Kennedy has maintained his very lucrative arrangement with over years, so far netting him a reported $2.5 million just in the last few years. And Kennedy has made clear that he can use his tools as HHS Secretary to open up the door for more anti-vax litigation, and once he’s through as Secretary of HHS, go right back to Wisner Baum and cash in on the new flood of cases that Kennedy himself has unleashed.

    So that is Kennedy’s idea of “fixing” an ethics issue.

    And beyond that, Kennedy has flip-flopped countless times in his answers to the Finance Committee. He is untrustworthy. He has made so many contradictory statements that it’s come to the point it is hard to believe anything he says is true.

    For example, Kennedy originally said he was not an attorney of record in any of these vaccine-related lawsuits. But we did a little homework and we found at least five cases related to the vaccine litigation that hadn’t been disclosed where Kennedy seems to be an attorney of record. That is important because what it means is that Kennedy is a lot closer to these cases than he’s revealing — cases that he and his family will be able to make bank off even as he serves as HHS Secretary. 

    The importance of this litigation can’t be overstated. Just 20 years ago, we watched vaccine makers pull their products off the market because they didn’t have protection from these kinds of lawsuits. The consequence of Kennedy’s ability to make those lawsuits easier is also the ability to shut down access and manufacturing for vaccines for every one of us. And I think that is a terrible mistake.

    Kennedy claims that he is taking on Big Pharma, but that is the lie he is peddling to hide his conflicts. I pressed him on real ways to take on the industry, including using marching-in on Big Pharma’s patents when they use taxpayer funds to bring drugs to market and then turn around and jack up prices on hardworking Americans, and by having the government negotiate prices directly with Big Pharma on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. But Kennedy, after talking a big game about taking on Big Pharma, said no, he doesn’t support march-in rights and no, he didn’t want to commit to defending Medicare price negotiations, two proven methods to take on the drug industry and put money back into Americans’ pockets. So whose side is he on? 

    Well, one thing is for sure: RKF Jr. is on the side of his own bottom line. He has also refused to share a list of cases that he stands to benefit from. Now, I told you. He said nope, he was not attorney of record on any cases. We dug around and we found five. How many more are there? Well, here’s what Kennedy said when we said, just give us a list of the cases that you’re participating in so we can take a look at the possible conflicts. His answer? The list is so long and the conflicts so clear that, evidently, it would be more damning than what we already know. 

    Kennedy’s list of ethics issues and financial issues are a mile long—and there’s still too much that he refuses to reveal. Think about this. He’s already told us enough about his conflicts, about how he plans to keep making money, even while he was Secretary of HHS. He revealed all that right upfront. He said “Yep, I’m going to make money while I’m Secretary of HHS.” 

    And yet on basic questions like can you just give us a list of the cases that you participated in? He says, “No, I can’t do that,” which really makes you ask what on Earth is he hiding? He is dodging questions from the Senate, he is contradicting himself, and he keeps changing his answers in order to muddy the waters and really make it hard to understand what’s going on.

    Look, no one is fooled about what is happening here. Kennedy has said he’ll, “slam shut the revolving door,” between government agencies and the companies they regulate. But what he won’t agree to is cut off his own family’s steady stream of money flowing in from lawsuits that he personally can directly affect while he is Secretary of HHS. 

    Kennedy knows that these conflicts are serious. And that’s why he scrambled to update his ethics agreement and hand off his interests to his son in a desperate attempt to “fix” things.

    Video of Senator Warren’s full remarks can be found here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Nation’s rail network continued to break records in 2024

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

    Remarkable progress was made in China’s railway sector in 2024, with the improvement of the nation’s transportation infrastructure contributing to economic growth and improving lives.

    As of the end of last year, China’s railway network had stretched to 162,000 kilometers, with 48,000 km dedicated to high-speed rail, further pressing its advantage as the global leader in high-speed rail. The network also expanded into more remote and mountainous areas, where constructing railways was once considered impossible.

    Freight train services linking China and Europe saw steady growth in 2024. Launched in 2011, the total number of China-Europe freight train services surpassed 100,000 last year.

    One of the highlights of the year was the debut of the CR450 prototypes, the next generation of high-speed trains that are faster, greener and more comfortable than those in current operation. Once they enter commercial operation, speeds will be increased to 400 km/h from the current 350 km/h. This development underscores China’s commitment to advancing transportation technology and improving efficiency.

    China’s railway freight and passenger volumes both reached record highs last year, playing a key role in supporting socioeconomic development. According to China State Railway Group, the national railway operator, in 2024, China’s national railway handled a record 4.08 billion passenger trips, with daily traffic reaching a high of nearly 21.45 million. The network also moved 3.99 billion metric tons of cargo, marking the eighth consecutive year of growth.

    Expansion milestones

    On a crisp September morning during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, Luo Wei and her family stood at Chengdu East Railway Station, excited but unsure. They were embarking on a last-minute trip to Jiuzhaigou, a picturesque UNESCO World Heritage Site nestled in the mountains of western Sichuan province. In the past, such a journey would have been an exhausting multi-day ordeal. The eight-hour road trip from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou is notorious for its winding roads through the mountains and steep drop-offs below. But this time, they were about to board a new train service that would transform the experience.

    In 1 hour and 39 minutes, they reached their destination, smoothly gliding through the mountains aboard a cutting-edge bullet train. Although a two-hour bus ride linking the railway station and the scenic area still awaits, it was much better than the previous eight-hour journey from Chengdu. No more hours spent cramped in a car on winding roads. It was a glimpse into the future of transportation in China, where high-speed rail has turned what once felt like an impossible journey into a comfortable, efficient reality.

    “We thought it might be different to see Jiuzhaigou by train, especially with our 10-year-old son,” Luo said, reminiscing about the challenging, fun-filled backpacking and self-driving trips she and her husband had taken several times during their school years.

    “It (the train journey) was certainly easier, and the trip was far more comfortable — much more suitable for a family outing, especially with a child,” she said.

    “Before, a round trip to Jiuzhaigou would take at least three days. Now we can do it in just a day.”

    The 69-km newly opened railway from Zhengjiangguan to Huangshengguan links this remote yet breathtaking region to China’s extensive railway network for the first time.

    Over a century ago, Sun Yat-sen, a pioneering Chinese revolutionary leader, envisioned a modernized China in his book The International Development of China. His plan included the construction of 1.6 million km of roads and approximately 160,000 km of railways. Last year, while Sun’s vision for railways became a reality, the development of China’s high-speed rail has in all likelihood exceeded his expectations.

    Last year, more than 3,100 km of new rail was built, including 2,457 km of high-speed rail, linking key cities and regions.

    Since 2012, the total length of China’s rail network has grown by more than 65 percent, while high-speed rail has expanded over fourfold.

    Compared to 2012, when China’s total railway length was 98,000 km with 9,356 km of high-speed rail, the country’s rail infrastructure has undergone an impressive transformation.

    Li Jingwei, deputy head of the development and reform department of China State Railway Group, highlighted the accelerated pace of construction.

    “Since 2012, the expansion of China’s high-speed rail has intensified, with an average of over 3,000 km of new high-speed rail lines put into operation annually,” Li said.

    Notably, China is the only country to achieve commercial operation of high-speed rail at 350 km/h, showcasing technological prowess, he said.

    “From snowy forests in the northern part of China to the water towns in the eastern region, and from the desert to the sea, China’s high-speed rail traverses major rivers and rugged mountains, and connects all regions,” Li said.

    He added that the high-speed railway network covers more than 96 percent of cities with populations over 500,000, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

    By 2030, China aims to have built a world-class modern railway network covering about 180,000 km, including around 60,000 km of high-speed rail. This expansion will create a more efficient and interconnected transportation system, allowing passengers to travel between major cities in just one to three hours and ensuring the swift movement of cargo across the country.

    The expansion of the network has not only reduced travel times but also increased connectivity between major cities and more isolated areas, including regions with challenging terrain, where building roads is already difficult, let alone railways. This is particularly true in the rugged mountains of Sichuan and the Xizang autonomous region, where new rail lines have brought services to remote locations, boosting regional development and tourism.

    Greater access

    The improvement of China’s railway network has had a transformative effect on the tourism industry.

    Yin Wei, head of a travel agency in Jiuzhaigou, with 12 years of experience in the industry, has witnessed dramatic changes in travel patterns over the years. He said the new rail line has had an enormous impact on tourism.

    “The travel time from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou has been greatly shortened,” he said.

    “Tourists have eagerly awaited this rail line, and we received a lot of inquiries,” he said. “In the past, our tours typically lasted five days, but now, visitors can experience it in just one or two days.”

    The agency has already started developing tailored weekend getaway packages for tourists.

    “Visitors can arrive on Friday and spend two days exploring Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, or even come for a one-day trip to enjoy the snowy scenery in the morning and return by evening. It’s incredibly appealing to tourists,” he said.

    Yin believes the easy access will benefit not only Jiuzhaigou but also the surrounding attractions, leading to an overall increase in tourism revenue for the region.

    Ferrying freight

    While passenger services have seen dramatic improvements, China’s railway network is also revolutionizing global trade. A notable milestone was achieved on Dec 3 when freight train X8083 — carrying goods such as electronics, home appliances, auto parts and daily necessities — arrived in Duisburg, Germany, marking the 100,000th journey between China and Europe. The train, which departed from Chongqing on Nov 15, took 18 days to reach the German city.

    As a cornerstone of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Europe freight train has evolved into a critical link for trade and connectivity, fostering open cooperation, mutual benefit and economic integration among the countries along the route.

    In 2024, the service hit a significant benchmark with 19,000 China-Europe freight trains operated, transporting 2.07 million containers — an increase of 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year.

    Since launching in 2011, the service has transformed global trade by enhancing connectivity between China and Europe. It has maintained a strong track record for safety, stability and efficiency, making it an indispensable component of the international logistics network.

    Li Chao, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, said: “The China-Europe freight train service is a vital carrier of open cooperation, fostering mutual benefit and supporting the Belt and Road Initiative. It provides a new, all-weather, high-capacity, green and low-carbon transport route that has become a valuable international public good.”

    The service is notably less affected by natural environmental factors, offering higher reliability compared to other forms of transportation. With costs just one-fifth of air freight and transit times a quarter of sea transport, the freight train has become a preferred choice for many businesses. In 2023, it accounted for over 7 percent of the total trade between China and Europe.

    Over the past 13 years, the network has expanded rapidly, growing from a handful of routes into a comprehensive service covering most of the Eurasian region. Today, it connects 227 cities in 25 European countries, 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, and is continually expanding. This broadening network has significantly transformed the logistics landscape between China and Europe, offering businesses more efficient options across diverse regions.

    The range of goods transported via the China-Europe freight train is also diversifying. It now handles over 50,000 types of goods across 53 categories, including automobiles, machinery, electronics and epidemic prevention materials, according to China State Railway Group, the service’s operator.

    The rail service has benefited both Chinese and international consumers and businesses. For example, Zhejiang Mundiver Import & Export, a company engaged in trade with Spain, has seen significant improvements in its logistics operations. Since 2014, when the China-Europe freight train began operating from Yiwu, Zhejiang province, the company has been using the service to import goods from Europe.

    Kong Zhijian, the company’s marketing manager, said: “Before the rail service, we relied on sea transport, which took about 45 days and required a secondary transfer at Ningbo Port. Now, goods can be delivered directly to Yiwu from Europe in less than 20 days.”

    The faster transit time has helped streamline their business operations, particularly with products like wine. “This shorter shipping cycle helps us manage cash flow more effectively, which is crucial for our business,” Kong added.

    The impact of the rail service extends beyond China. It has also brought significant economic benefits to cities along the route. For instance, Duisburg Port has become a major logistics hub, attracting over 100 logistics companies and creating more than 20,000 jobs.

    The progress of railways has always been driven by technology and innovation. In this regard, China also made remarkable strides in 2024, with faster trains now on track.

    Next generation

    On Dec 29, China unveiled two CR450 high-speed train prototypes, which are capable of reaching a test speed of 450 km/h and an operational speed of 400 km/h. They will be the fastest high-speed trains in the world once they enter commercial service, surpassing China’s current CR400, which operates at 350 km/h.

    It was one of the most exciting developments in the railway sector in 2024. This leap in speed and comfort reflects China’s ongoing leadership in high-speed rail technology.

    The two prototypes, with their futuristic design, have reduced weight by 10 percent to improve fuel efficiency. To decrease rolling resistance, the development team wrapped the trains’ running gear — such as the wheels, axles and suspension system — partly, marking a breakthrough in railway engineering.

    The interiors of the prototypes are also cutting-edge. In business class, the seats can be adjusted to a meeting mode, allowing them to be arranged face-to-face, transforming the compartment into a conference room at any time.

    In economy class, the seats are ergonomically designed for greater comfort, with curves that better suit the body. In response to passenger smartphone use, small tables in economy class now feature a rack that enables passengers to prop up their phones to watch videos.

    Inside the train, lighting adjusts automatically in response to the brightness outside, enhancing passenger comfort. The luggage storage areas have also been made more spacious, reducing congestion. The interior has been redesigned for greater comfort and convenience, increasing cabin space by 4 percent. Adjustable luggage racks and versatile storage areas can accommodate passengers’ needs, including bicycles, wheelchairs and other large items. These upgrades anticipate potential regulatory changes in passenger transport.

    Sui Fusheng, a researcher at the Institute of Acoustics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, highlighted the challenge of balancing weight reduction with noise control. He led a team dedicated to optimizing the noise management for the prototypes.

    “To reduce weight is detrimental to noise control, and increasing speed also exacerbates noise, so we have to overcome these two critical factors to ensure a comfortable passenger experience,” he said.

    “The results have been good; the ride experience is similar to that of the current CR400 running at 350 km/h,” he added.

    To balance noise control and weight reduction, the team developed integrated composite materials that offer both thermal insulation and soundproofing. These innovations not only reduce material costs and complexity but also enhance passenger comfort by effectively managing temperature and noise levels.

    The team’s solutions have laid the groundwork for quieter, more efficient high-speed rail travel, Sui added.

    “China’s high-speed rail system has made a historic leap, evolving from a follower to a global leader. Its high-speed rail technology has now set an international benchmark,” said Li Yongheng, an official from China State Railway Group, referring to the development of the CR450.

    “To further strengthen and expand China’s leadership in high-speed rail technology, and to better support Chinese modernization, our company, together with relevant ministries, organizations, research institutes, universities and enterprises, has formed an innovative team to tackle critical technological challenges,” he added.

    The CR450 represents the culmination of years of innovation in high-speed rail, making it a fitting symbol of China’s railway sector in 2024 — a year marked by groundbreaking achievements, record-breaking passenger and freight volumes, and a continually expanding network that links China to the rest of the world.

    Looking ahead

    These breakthroughs in railway technology are not just abstract concepts — they’re transforming the way people experience travel. On that September morning, Luo Wei and her family were not just passengers on a train — they were part of a story of transformation that is reshaping the future of travel, trade and global connectivity. The ease and efficiency of their journey to Jiuzhaigou were a microcosm of the larger changes sweeping across China.

    As China looks ahead, its railway sector remains a symbol of the country’s ambition to lead the world in technological innovation and sustainable development. With the CR450 on the horizon and a growing railway network connecting regions far and wide, China is poised to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in transportation. And with it, the world will continue to move faster, more efficiently and more sustainably.

    For Luo Wei and countless others, the high-speed rail of 2024 is a journey into tomorrow — one that is already well underway.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Speech – Address at Parliament House

    Source: Australian Executive Government Ministers

    The Albanese government is committed to putting Australian consumers at the heart of the telecommunications industry.

    We want to ensure that all Australians have access to reliable, high-quality and affordable telecommunications services, supported by a strong regulatory and consumer safeguards framework.

    That is why this government has been actively reviewing the telecommunications consumer protection framework and making appropriate changes. 

    This includes implementing new rules to better support consumers who are experiencing financial hardship and, more recently, directing the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, to make new rules to support people who are experiencing domestic, sexual and family violence.

    The Albanese government understands how critical telco services are for everyone, including those facing vulnerable circumstances, people living in our regions, First Nations Australians and those who rely upon connectivity to support their families and provide services to their communities.

    Accordingly, we want to ensure that the telco industry is working for Australians, that they have the best consumer safeguards in place to protect their interests, and that there is a strong, clear recourse if telcos do the wrong thing.

    Nobody wants an industry that sees penalties as the ‘cost of doing business’.

    We’ve listened to wideranging feedback from industry, regulators, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and consumer advocates to develop these reforms.

    The Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill will improve compliance and enforcement of telecommunications consumer safeguards and constitute a comprehensive package of reforms to those arrangements. 

    They will help to ensure that the ACMA is an empowered and effective regulator and that appropriate incentive structures are in place to drive better behaviour by telcos.

    The bill improves compliance and enforcement of consumer safeguards in several important ways. 

    Schedule 1 will establish a carriage service provider registration scheme. 

    The scheme will increase visibility of carriage service providers and enable the ACMA to stop providers who pose unacceptable risk to consumers or cause significant consumer harm from operating in the market. 

    Increased visibility of the market will provide improved pathways for the ACMA (and other government agencies) to educate carriage service providers on their regulatory obligations, streamline complaints and compliance processes and create better overall market accountability. 

    Empowering the ACMA to stop providers operating in the market will provide a deterrent for significant noncompliance and increase trust by consumers in registered providers—including new or smaller ones. 

    Schedule 2 of the bill will make industry codes directly enforceable. 

    This allows the ACMA to take immediate and appropriate action to address consumer harm and will incentivise industry compliance.

    Currently, the ACMA cannot take direct enforcement action against breaches of industry codes, no matter how significant, without first issuing a direction to comply, and the ACMA can only take further action if noncompliance continues.

    The proposed changes remove this two-step enforcement process so that the ACMA can act quickly and appropriately to address consumer harm arising from code breaches and hold telcos to account.

    Schedule 3 will increase the maximum general civil penalty for breaches of industry codes and industry standards from $250,000 to 30,300 penalty units, which is currently $9.9 million. 

    This aligns with penalties currently available for breaches of service provider determinations, meaning the penalty amount for these three types of regulatory instruments will be aligned. 

    The schedule will also modernise the penalty framework for these instruments to allow penalties based on the value of the benefit obtained from the conduct or the turnover of the relevant telco—allowing for greater penalties in certain circumstances. 

    Overall, this penalty framework better aligns with those in other relevant sectors like energy and banking, and under the Australian consumer law.

    Schedule 4 of the bill expands and clarifies the authority of the Minister for Communications to increase any infringement notice penalty the ACMA can issue for breaches of telecommunications rules. 

    Taken together, the reforms in the bill strengthen consumer protections and enhance compliance and enforcement of telecommunications consumer safeguards, for the benefit of the whole community.

    They reflect the Albanese government’s commitment to making sure Australians are appropriately protected and supported in their interactions with telecommunications service providers.

    Importantly, these reforms have received strong support from stakeholders, including the:

    • Australian Communication Consumer Action Network;

    • Consumer Action Law Centre;

    • Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman;

    • Australian Communications and Media Authority; and

    • Communications Alliance.

    This comprehensive support, from consumer groups, regulators and industry alike, demonstrates the importance of these commonsense reforms and is representative of close engagement with these key stakeholders over the past year in particular.

    I thank them for their ongoing engagement and support and acknowledge the important work they do.

    Noting this level of strong support for these reforms, and the important outcomes they enable for Australian telco consumers, I encourage all representatives in this place to give it their support as well.

    I commend the bill to the House. 

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath Concludes Tenure as Chief Law Enforcement Officer in Southern District of California

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced that U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath’s tenure as the chief federal law enforcement official for San Diego and Imperial counties ended today, February 12, 2025.

    As a Presidential appointee, Ms. McGrath was informed of her termination in a communication from the White House, at the direction of the President of the United States. The White House also thanked Ms. McGrath for her service to the nation.

    “It has been an honor to serve as U.S. Attorney, working alongside an exceptional team in this office and forging strong partnerships with our law enforcement agencies and communities in pursuit of justice,” Ms. McGrath said. “As I step down from a decades-long career in public service, I remain inspired by dedicated public servants across this district and am proud of all we achieved together.”

    Ms. McGrath was confirmed by the U.S. Senate after nomination by President Biden. She was sworn in as the district’s top federal law enforcement official on October 5, 2023. She oversaw one of the nation’s busiest United States Attorney’s Offices, which has a staff of about 300 and serves approximately 3.5 million residents in San Diego and Imperial counties.

    During her tenure, Ms. McGrath prioritized protecting the community from the deadly scourge of fentanyl; investigating and prosecuting scammers targeting vulnerable populations; getting firearms out of the hands of felons and violent offenders; bringing cases to root out corruption and enforce civil rights; and using the legal tools available to safeguard the environment. The office also successfully prosecuted cases involving Mexican drug cartels and drug trafficking — leading the nation in the number of drug trafficking cases prosecuted — as well as firearms trafficking and violent crime; complex financial frauds; national security and cybersecurity; and human smuggling and trafficking.

    Some key accomplishments of the U.S. Attorney’s Office under Ms. McGrath’s leadership:

    • Became first in the nation to charge defendants for smuggling potent greenhouse gases across the U.S.-Mexico border, in violation of U.S. environmental laws.
    • Secured sentences of six consecutive life terms and 45 years, respectively, for brothers convicted of murdering their American half-sister, her three children, and her partner in Tijuana.
    • Reinforced the region’s Elder Justice Task Force in partnership with the FBI and San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, recovering approximately $4.5 million stolen from elderly victims through sophisticated scams.
    • Charged 40 individuals with stealing public-assistance benefits from low-income families, as part of an ongoing effort targeting thieves who exploit the government’s electronic payment system.
    • Negotiated a $130,131,645 forfeiture settlement with Wynn Las Vegas for criminal conspiracy involving unlicensed money transmitting businesses worldwide. Achieved what is believed to be the largest forfeiture by a casino based on admissions of criminal wrongdoing.
    • Secured conviction at trial against a defendant on 25 counts of securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering in connection with a $35 million investment and COVID-relief fraud scheme. Highlighted victim impact during the trial, including the defendant’s immigrant uncle who’d been swindled out of $4.5 million and many other victims who collectively lost millions of dollars.
    • Facilitated the extradition of Michael Pratt, the alleged mastermind behind the GirlsDoPorn commercial sex trafficking ring, following his arrest in Spain after more than three years as an international fugitive.

    Ms. McGrath also oversaw key civil cases, including successful defensive litigation on behalf of the United States, and led efforts to recover millions of dollars from individuals and companies involved in fraud and civil rights violations.

    Since Ms. McGrath took the helm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has obtained settlements and recoveries in excess of $41 million. This includes cases brought under the False Claims Act across a broad spectrum of program areas including health care, defense procurement, and the Paycheck Protection Program enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These substantial recoveries also involved matters investigated under the Controlled Substances Act in response to the opioid epidemic, including those against a large-scale pharmacy and other DEA registrants for failing to meet their obligations to properly handle and dispense opioids and other dangerous controlled substances.   

    Pursuant to the Vacancies Reform Act, career prosecutor and current First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Andrew R. Haden, has taken over as the Acting United States Attorney, effective today.

    For more information about Ms. McGrath, please see Tara McGrath Sworn In

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Money Market Operations as on February 12, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India
    (Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
      Volume
    (One Leg)    		 Weighted
    Average Rate    		 Range
    A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 5,77,339.01 6.27 5.15-6.60
         I. Call Money 13,411.47 6.29 5.15-6.40
         II. Triparty Repo 4,03,454.35 6.26 6.20-6.51
         III. Market Repo 1,58,648.59 6.30 5.75-6.60
         IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 1,824.60 6.44 6.40-6.49
    B. Term Segment      
         I. Notice Money** 249.11 6.26 5.75-6.40
         II. Term Money@@ 272.00 – 6.40-7.00
         III. Triparty Repo 465.70 6.27 6.25-6.35
         IV. Market Repo 1,331.46 6.35 6.35-6.35
         V. Repo in Corporate Bond 0.00 – –
      Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
    Cut off Rate
    C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
    I. Today’s Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo Wed, 12/02/2025 1 Thu, 13/02/2025 1,93,865.00 6.26
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (III) Long Term Operations^          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF# Wed, 12/02/2025 1 Thu, 13/02/2025 2,561.00 6.50
    4. SDFΔ# Wed, 12/02/2025 1 Thu, 13/02/2025 48,110.00 6.00
    5. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*       1,48,316.00  
    II. Outstanding Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (III) Long Term Operations^          
         (a) Repo Fri, 07/02/2025 56 Fri, 04/04/2025 50,010.00 6.31
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF#          
    4. SDFΔ#          
    D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       8,756.81  
    E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     58,766.81  
    F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     2,07,082.81  
    G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
         (i) Cash balances with RBI as on February 12, 2025 9,14,470.49  
         (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending February 21, 2025 9,12,240.00  
    H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ February 12, 2025 1,23,688.00  
    I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on January 24, 2025 -34,103.00  
    @ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
    – Not Applicable / No Transaction.
    ** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
    @@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
    $ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
    & As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
    Δ As per the Press Release No. 2022-2023/41 dated April 08, 2022.
    * Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo-SDF.
    ¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
    # As per the Press Release No. 2023-2024/1548 dated December 27, 2023.
    ^ As per the Press Release No. 2024-2025/2013 dated January 27, 2025.
    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    
    Press Release: 2024-2025/2140

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Green light for Lake Victoria Wind Farm

    Source: New South Wales Premiere

    Published: 13 February 2025

    Released by: Minister for Lands and Property

    The Minns Labor Government and wind farm developer WestWind Energy Pty Ltd have signed a lease agreement to help facilitate a wind farm with up to 201 turbines on Crown land in south-west NSW. 

    WestWind Energy is aiming to construct the wind farm over a 2-3 year period from 2029 to 2032, subject to planning approvals and community consultation.  

    The project has an estimated capital expenditure of $3.8 billion and will have an installed capacity of up to about 1,000 megawatts with an annual energy production of approximately 3,400 gigawatt-hours, capable of powering up to 700,000 homes.

    The project will also include up to three battery energy storage systems with a total of 1500 megawatt hours storage to provide a more secure and consistent supply of electricity.

    The proposed Lake Victoria Wind Farm, could support up to 375 jobs during construction and up to 70 ongoing jobs once completed to maintain the infrastructure and manage ongoing operations of the facility. 

    Crown Lands has negotiated the agreement for a special purpose lease which would provide WestWind Energy with an initial 25-year lease with two 7-year options to extend the lease a further 14 years.

    The lease agreement allows WestWind Energy to progress planning for its proposed Lake Victoria Wind Farm, would be located about 30 kilometres north-west of Wentworth near the Victorian border. 

    The project is listed on the NSW Planning website to be assessed as a State Significant Development once a development application is lodged.  

    Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said:

    “The Lake Victoria Wind Farm proposal has the potential to deliver major economic investment, well paid regional jobs and more green energy for NSW.

    “The Lake Victoria Wind Farm is a significant clean energy initiative that can play a vital role in powering our economy for generations to come.

    “The rental income will be reinvested into the Crown Reserves Improvement Fund to provide grants to maintain and improve Crown reserves across the state, such as regional showgrounds, war memorials and community sporting grounds.” 

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Growing the economy means shrinking the Government

    Source: ACT Party

    “The Government’s Going for Growth agenda shows New Zealand has turned the corner. Governments ignored economic growth, taking wealth for granted and wasting billions until we started feeling poor,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

    “This Government’s focus on growth is team effort. ACT’s impact can be seen in a number of priority areas.

    “To develop talent, we’ve implemented the attendance action plan, opened the first charter schools, and changed the Accredited Employer Work Visa. We’re removing red tape in Early Childhood Education and continuing reforms to get job seekers into work.

    “For competitive business settings, we’ve repealed so-called ‘Fair Pay Agreements’, extended 90-Day Trials to all businesses, and revoked difficult requirements for accessing credit. We’re leading an inquiry into rural banking practices, reforming health and safety laws, reforming the Holidays Act and Employment Relations Act, conducting sector reviews for regulation of Agricultural and Horticultural Products, and Hairdressing and Barbering, improving Government Procurement Rules, and progressing the Regulatory Standards Bill.

    “To promote global trade and investment, we’re reforming the Overseas Investment Act and have launched a new Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List.

    “For innovation, technology and science, we’re liberalising genetic engineering laws.

    “To deliver infrastructure for growth, we’re reforming and replacing the Resource Management Act and have established National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Limited. We’re developing the 30-year National Infrastructure Plan, and finalising the first Regional Deal between central and local government.

    The big challenge

    “The big challenge for growth is shrinking the Government part of the economy. There are only two halves to any economy, the public and the private sector, and it’s the private sector that provides the growth.

    “Every dollar taxed to fund the public sector is a dollar a consumer can’t spend, or a business can’t reinvest in new jobs. Business is about taking risk, every percentage point taken in tax makes it less rewarding when the risks work out. Rational people invest less when taxes are higher.

    “In that sense, the Government still has a big hill to climb, and it’s the mountain of waste left by the last Government. Pre-COVID, government spending amounted to 28 per cent of the economy, now it is 34. The Government must be relentless in reducing its spending.

    “It is not only taxing and spending that holds people back, but regulating. Every compliance fee, every delay waiting for Government permission is a cost put on business. Like taxes, regulations drain the energy from business.

    “That’s why it’s essential that the Government cuts red tape at every opportunity. We must run the ruler over rules that don’t make sense, then delete them. The commitment to passing the Regulatory Standards Bill is a landmark shift in the battle against red tape in favour of wealth and innovation.

    “I’m proud of ACT’s contributions to this Government, especially the many contributions in this plan. For the first time in decades, we have a Government where it’s understood that Government activity and private activity compete for time and money. To grow the economy, we must shrink the Government.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Speech for the opening of Wakefield Hospital

    Source: New Zealand Government

    AcknowledgementsGood afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here.It’s a pleasure to join you here today to officially open this beautiful facility at Wakefield Hospital.I’d like to acknowledge the Evolution Healthcare leadership team, and their esteemed guests here today including investors, and mana whenua.I’d also like to acknowledge: 

    Evolution Board Chair, Scott Pickering
    Group CEO, Simon Keating
    Chief Executive of Hospitals & Day Surgeries, Michael Quirke
    General Manager, Carole Kaffes
    Health New Zealand Deputy Chief Executive, Robyn Shearer
    Deputy Commissioner of Health New Zealand, Ken Whelan
    And the Kapa Haka group from South Wellington Intermediate School

    And finally, I would like to thank and acknowledge the staff and clinicians providing exceptional care to patients here at Wakefield and other providers across the Wellington region. 
    Health TargetsAs you’re all aware, improving our health system is one of this Government’s top priorities.Last year we announced an ambitious new direction for health, reinvigorating five health targets to ensure that all New Zealanders can access timely, quality healthcare.We all know that you cannot manage what you do not measure.It is only with clear, measurable targets that we can understand and improve the performance of the health system. Targets focus resources, attention, and accountability.Targets save lives.The five health targets are tightly focused on things that really matter: faster cancer treatment, increased childhood immunisation, shorter stays in EDs and shorter wait times for assessments and treatment.Achieving these targets will require a back-to-basics approach in our public system to make sure our hospitals and community health services work smoothly and efficiently as a system, enabling our greatest asset – our frontline health workers – to provide the best possible care.The health system continues to be under significant pressure, and there is always a demand for more money. I am proud of the record investment this Government has made in health, but we need to also ensure we get value for money.  Role of Private Hospital SectorMeeting those targets will require working in a more collaborative way, especially when it comes to reducing waitlists for elective treatment.When we left office in 2017, 97.3 percent of New Zealanders were getting elective surgeries within four months. When Labour left office, it had dropped to 62.1 percent. It will take time to turn this around, but it is a top priority of mine.Partnering with the private health sector is a key part of our plans to deliver for Kiwis. Aside from ensuring our public systems are working as efficiently as possible, we also need to consider how we can make best use of the capacity and expertise the private health sector can offer.Wakefield Hospital is a strong provider for the people in the Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley districts, as well as supporting referrals from out of the region with people travelling from as far afield as Waikato and the South Island.In the 23/24 financial year, Wakefield Hospital treated 450 patients on behalf of Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley, and along with Bowen and Royston hospitals, meant Evolution Healthcare was the largest private provider for outsourcing in the Central Region.It is great to be here to celebrated the redevelopment of this hospital today and to congratulate everyone who has worked to deliver this project. The new Wakefield development includes seven new operating theatres, specialist cardiology and surgical treatment capacity, a 37-bed inpatient ward with capacity to expand an additional 32 inpatient beds. All this will increase the opportunities to deliver more for the Wellington Region and to grow opportunities to work closely with Wellington Hospital to provide more services and improve patient outcomes.Looking forward, the goal must be to create a mutually beneficial partnership that supports the health system and provides greater certainty for the private health sector.A key part of the strategy is a nationally supported approach to planning and outsourcing, and longer-term contracts and agreements which will help ensure patients get the treatment they need in a timely manner. By standardising referral arrangements and focusing on jointly managing waitlists by using all available capacity more effectively, Health New Zealand can prevent unnecessary delays and ensure that patients are referred to the right provider at the right time.As Minister of Health, my focus is and always will be on improving patient outcomes. Patients will be my number one priority, ensuring they get the timely and quality care they need and deserve. ConclusionI want to again thank you for the opportunity to join you here this afternoon, and for your ongoing dedication and investment into caring for New Zealanders. Congratulations to everyone who has been part of delivering this project, and to those who will be ensuring it delivers timely and quality care for patients in the Wellington Region. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: InvestHK backs supply chain drive

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    With the Government committed to establishing Hong Kong as a multinational supply chain management centre, Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) believes that the city’s unique advantages can attract more businesses to establish multinational supply chain management centres here.

    Supply chain management encompasses the administration of all processes from the procurement of raw materials and the production of goods to their delivery to customers.

    “Currently and globally, all the enterprises are undergoing major transformation of diversifying their sourcing bases, diversifying their end market, so there is cause for elevating their supply chain management to a multinational level,” stated Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Arnold Lau.

    “For companies who want to set up these supply chain management centres in Hong Kong, their physical goods do not necessarily need to go through Hong Kong.”

    As an international financial, shipping and trade hub, Hong Kong has a strong trade foundation supported by comprehensive infrastructure. Mr Lau stressed that the city’s robust financial system and deep market offer various financing options for enterprises. Additionally, its large talent pool and advantageous geographical location are also attractive to businesses seeking to establish multinational supply chain management centres.

    Sany Group, a Mainland engineering machinery company ranked among the top 500 firms on the Forbes Global 2000 list, has established a settlement platform in Hong Kong for its global import and export orders, taking full advantage of the city’s world-class financial and professional services.

    Sany Hong Kong Group Board Member and General Manager Jacky Chen reflected on the city’s advantages, saying: “Hong Kong’s advanced banking system and capital market offer enterprises diverse services, including international settlement, cross-boundary financing, and risk management. In light of exchange rate fluctuations, these advantages offered by Hong Kong are particularly dominant.”

    He added: “We chose to set up a settlement platform here for three reasons: a well-structured taxation system, relatively low financing costs, and the absence of foreign exchange controls on funds.”

    For its part, China Brilliant Group, a Mainland supply chain service provider, acquired and rented warehouses in Hong Kong a decade ago to leverage the city’s cross-boundary logistics network and geographical advantages, with a view to enhancing the group’s international trade efficiency.

    Vice President Wayne Yu stated that Hong Kong’s first-rate ports and airport, its overall transportation efficiency and its excellent logistics infrastructure combine to significantly reduce cargo shipping times and logistics costs.

    He added: “Hong Kong boasts a long-standing foundation in foreign trade, high-quality professional services, airport and other infrastructure, as well as reliable trade financing channels, making it an ideal location for establishing a multinational supply chain management centre.”

    InvestHK has 34 global offices, including five in the Mainland, offering free support services to local companies interested in establishing, or expanding, operations in Hong Kong.

    InvestHK and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council are stepping up collaborative efforts to help businesses make the most of Hong Kong as a platform. InvestHK is striving to attract more Mainland enterprises to establish international or regional headquarters in Hong Kong and provides one-stop, diversified professional advisory services to assist them in doing so.

    Complementing these efforts, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council assists such firms to go global, partly through organising exhibitions and trade fairs.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sen. Markey, Rep. Beyer Highlight Concerns Over DOGE Access to Nuclear Security Information

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

    Letter Text (PDF)  

    Washington (February 12, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Don Beyer (VA-08), Senate and House members of the congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, wrote to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright regarding their concerns that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been granted access to DOE, which oversees the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the nation’s most sensitive nuclear weapons secrets.

    In the letter the lawmakers wrote, “According to media reports, a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern, who does not have the appropriate security clearances needed to access DOE’s IT system, received access over the objections of members of its general counsel and chief information officers. This incursion into some of the nation’s most sensitive files is the latest in a series of Trump administration moves to plant unqualified Musk and DOGE staffers throughout the federal government, some of whom have records of leaking sensitive information and potentially wreaking havoc with vital information systems.”

    The lawmakers continued, “We are deeply concerned by this disregard of DOE security protocols and the potential impacts on our nuclear security.”

    The lawmakers request that the DOE answer the following questions by February 14, 2025:

    • What is the process for granting, reviewing, and revoking security clearances for DOGE staffers at DOE?
    • Have any DOGE staffers been given access to NNSA classified nuclear weapons information, specifically Restricted Data, Formerly Restricted Data, or Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information? If so, please provide the names of DOGE staffers, their security clearance levels, the dates their clearances were granted, and the programs or types of data these staffers accessed.
    • Under what authority and justification was each instance of classified access granted to DOGE staffers? 
    • Are DOGE staffers required to undergo training on the handling of classified information?
    • What security measures are in place to ensure DOGE staffers do not improperly access or inappropriately share sensitive nuclear secrets?
    • Have any DOGE staffers with access to classified information had significant outside financial interests, foreign contacts, or other affiliations that could pose security concerns?
    • Are NNSA employees included in the Administration’s buy-out offer for federal employees? If so, and if senior NNSA employees leave the organization, how do you plan to maintain security and secrecy of nuclear weapons and related information?

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Markey, Warren Slam Trump Administration for Causing “Chaos and Upheaval” at Massachusetts Research Institutions, Demand Answers from NIH and NSF

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

    “Trump Administration actions are endangering life-saving research and economic growth in Massachusetts and across the country.”

    “The chaos caused by the Trump administration is unacceptable—and you owe researchers and patients in Massachusetts and beyond an explanation about what is going on at your agencies.” 

    Text of Letter (PDF) 

    Washington (February 12, 2025) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today wrote to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) with concerns about the ongoing Trump Administration funding cuts at Massachusetts research institutions. 

    The NIH and NSF are the largest public funders of research in the United States — fueling the development of lifesaving treatments for diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, tools for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, and more. This funding is particularly indispensable in Massachusetts, where dozens of world-renowned universities, hospitals, and research institutions rely on NIH and NSF grants to support cutting-edge research that benefits the U.S. economy and patients around the world.

    Within days of taking office, the Trump Administration called for an immediate pause on all public communications from HHS, NIH’s parent organization, and one week later, paused all activities related to the disbursement of funds. This pause was blocked by a federal judge, but the Trump administration has refused to fully comply with the order to unfreeze funds. 

    On February 7, the NIH announced that all new and existing research awards would face major cuts, due to reduction in the “indirect cost rate.” Following a legal challenge by 22 state attorneys general, led by Massachusetts Attorney General Campbell, a federal judge issued a temporary order blocking the cut within those states. Still, researchers, students, and institutions are facing huge budget cuts and continued uncertainty.

    These “Trump Administration actions are endangering life-saving research and economic growth in Massachusetts and across the country,” wrote the lawmakers. 

    “The chaos caused by the Trump administration is unacceptable—and you owe researchers and patients in Massachusetts and beyond an explanation about what is going on at your agencies,” continued the lawmakers.

    The Senators’ offices conducted interviews with institutions who are among the top recipients of NIH and NSF funding in Massachusetts about the impact these cuts would have on researchers’ projects, careers, and on the local economy. These interviews revealed that: 

    1. The funding freezes and cuts at NIH and NSF have caused chaos and confusion at Massachusetts research institutions. Representatives at Massachusetts research institutions described a “hunger for clear guidance on what is impacted and what isn’t” as investigators scramble to save their work and plan for the years and months ahead. They are concerned about existing grants being clawed back, afraid to ask for clarification for fear they’ll have a “target on their back,” and in some instances even unable to “buy a book or a pencil.” 
    2. The funding cut offs are impeding research carried out by Massachusetts institutions that enable critical, lifesaving care. NIH and NSF funding saves Americans’ lives by sponsoring life-saving clinical trials, many of which are conducted at Massachusetts institutions. Thus, for some, the consequences of the funding pauses could be life or death: “if you’re a cancer patient in a clinical trial, it is not a theoretical undertaking, it is treatment.” 
    3. Federal funding disruptions at Massachusetts institutions puts the future of a highly skilled STEM workforce at risk.Nearly half of all science and engineering doctoral recipients graduating from U.S. research institutions have received federal research funding during their graduate studies. According to conversations with Massachusetts research institution representatives, “higher education is a big industry in Massachusetts, we’re training the workforce at every level;” pulling back this funding risks “a situation where you can only earn a PhD if you’re already wealthy.” 
    4. Freezes and cuts in federal research funding at Massachusetts institutions will be a critical hit to the innovation that has cemented the United States as a vanguard in healthcare.Massachusetts scientists are using NIH grants to create new cancer drugs; develop new technologies—like the bionic pancreas—to treat disease; study ways to combat the opioid epidemic; and identify risk factors for heart disease, among other critical endeavors. As representatives from Massachusetts-based research institutions said, “if anyone in the world has a serious disease and they want to come to the US – they want to come to Boston.” 
    5. Federal funding disruptions will harm the Massachusetts and United States economies.The NIH is the largest single public funder of biomedical and behavioral research in the world, and in fiscal year 2023 NIH funding generated over $90 billion in economic activity in the United States. In Massachusetts along that same year, the NIH awarded $3.5 billion in grants in contracts that directly supported 28,842 jobs and nearly $7.5 billion in economic activity. 

    “The unprecedented actions taken by the Trump Administration will undermine the United States’ research edge—whether through abandoned research projects, staffing shortages, or a “brain drain” in our biotech workforce as young, budding scientists opt for other careers and countries with greater certainty,” concluded the lawmakers. 

    The Senators urged the agencies to end the funding freeze and threats to cut grant expenditures and provide clarity on their directive-issuing processes and the rationale behind the indirect cost cap reduction by February 26, 2025. In 2017, following President Trump’s budget proposal seeking massive cuts to the NIH, Senator Warren released a report detailing the importance of NIH funding to Massachusetts. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: ACCC welcomes passage of world-first scams prevention laws

    Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

    The ACCC welcomes the passage of the Scams Prevention Framework Bill in Parliament today.

    This world-first legislation enhances protections across the economy by setting out consistent and enforceable obligations for businesses in key sectors where scammers operate.

    “The financial crime type, scams, present an unacceptable threat to the Australian community and have had a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of Australians,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

    “This Bill is a critical step in the fight against scams – creating overarching principles that all members of designated sectors must comply with.  We know scammers will exploit weak links in the system – so these principles are key to a consistent approach.”

    Under the new legislation, the ACCC will closely monitor regulated entities’ compliance with principles to prevent, detect, disrupt, respond to and report scams.

    The Scams Prevention Framework empowers the ACCC to investigate potential breaches and take enforcement action where entities do not take reasonable steps to fulfill their obligations under these principles.

    Businesses that do not meet their obligations under the Framework can face fines up to $50 million.

    “Individuals have been bearing the brunt of the responsibility to combat scammers for too long,” Ms Lowe said.

    “While the steps taken by some organisations over the last few years are welcomed, the Framework provides the opportunity for joint effort across government and industry to develop solutions to scam challenges and for consumers to access meaningful redress.”

    “Importantly, the Framework enables consumers to seek redress from regulated businesses when those businesses have not met their obligations,” Ms Lowe said.

    Banks, certain digital platforms, including social media, and telecommunications providers will be the first sectors required to comply with the legislation.

    The ACCC is a strong supporter of mandatory industry scams codes and, through the National Anti-Scam Centre, has already begun preparing incrementally for the Framework.

    “In reaching this important milestone, we acknowledge that there is considerable work ahead to implement the Framework, including the formal designation of sectors, development of sector codes, consumer and industry guidance,” Ms Lowe said.

    “We will continue to work closely with government, fellow regulators, industry and community agencies to make sure these elements of the Framework work for all stakeholders, most especially consumers.”

    Background

    The ACCC runs the National Anti-Scam Centre, which commenced on 1 July 2023, and Scamwatch service. The National Anti-Scam Centre is a virtual centre that sits within the ACCC and brings together experts from government, law enforcement and the private sector, to disrupt scams before they reach consumers.

    The National Anti-Scam Centre analyses and acts on trends from shared data and raises consumer awareness about how to spot and avoid scams.

    The ACCC, through the National Anti-Scam Centre, has already been partnering with stakeholders across the scams ecosystem to share intelligence and information to detect and disrupt scams on a voluntary basis. The Framework will significantly boost the contributions from industry and require designated businesses to share scam intelligence with the ACCC. 

    The new Scams Prevention Framework will be critical to cutting off scammers before they can reach Australians.

    Under the Framework, the ACCC will also enforce the digital platforms sector scams code and will take enforcement action where digital platforms breach their obligations under this code.

    The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will be the regulator for the banking sector code and the Australian Communications and Media Authority will be the regulator for the telecommunications sector code. Regulators have in place processes to work together to help ensure the right action by the right regulator at the right time.

    The ACCC supports the establishment of a single external dispute resolution body under the new Framework and looks forward to working with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

    The ACCC’s submissions to the Treasury Exposure Draft, which includes further analysis of the reform can be found online.

    How to spot and avoid scams

    STOP – Don’t give money or personal information to anyone if you’re unsure. Scammers will create a sense of urgency. Don’t rush to act. Say no, hang up, delete.

    CHECK – Ask yourself could the call or text be fake? Scammers pretend to be from organisations you know and trust. Contact the organisation using information you source independently, so that you can verify if the call is real or not.

    PROTECT – Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank immediately if you lose money. If you have provided personal information call IDCARE on 1800 595 160. The more we talk the less power they have. Report scams to the National Anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch service at scamwatch.gov.au when you see them.

    MIL OSI News –