Category: Economy

MIL-OSI: Bank of the James Announces First Quarter of 2025 Financial Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LYNCHBURG, Va., April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ:BOTJ), the parent company of Bank of the James (the “Bank”), a full-service commercial and retail bank, and Pettyjohn, Wood & White, Inc. (“PWW”), an SEC-registered investment advisor, today announced unaudited results of operations for the three month period ended March 31, 2025. The Bank serves Region 2000 (the greater Lynchburg MSA) and the Blacksburg, Buchanan, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Nellysford, Roanoke, and Wytheville, Virginia markets.

Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was $842,000 or $0.19 per basic and diluted share compared with $2.19 million or $0.48 per basic and diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

Robert R. Chapman III, CEO of the Bank, commented: “Our focus during the past several years on managing interest expense in a significantly higher rate environment was reflected in the first quarter’s lower year-over-year interest expense. Appropriate adjustments to loan rates and optimizing the performance of the Bank’s investments continued to generate steady interest income growth. As a result, net interest margin and interest spread continued to trend positively. Strong, quality earnings over the years have supported our ability to build and maintain a strong cash position and exceptional liquidity.

“The Company’s core operations for first quarter of 2025 produced solid earnings. However, our earnings were negatively impacted by a non-recurring expense paid to a consultant that we used to successfully negotiate a contract with our core service provider. We anticipate that this contract will result in significant long-term cost savings.

“We anticipate that the holding company’s cash position will allow it to pay off approximately $10 million of capital notes as they mature in June, without the need to raise new capital. Eliminating this debt-related interest expense will reduce our interest expense by approximately $327,000 annually and will help reduce our overall interest-bearing liabilities rate. The Company and Bank will continue to maintain sound capital positions.

“Operationally, the first quarter of 2025 was highlighted by steady growth of commercial real estate loans, with stable income contributions from a balanced portfolio of commercial, residential mortgage, construction, and consumer loans. Fee income contributions from commercial treasury services, credit and debit card processing, and PWW’s wealth management activities have continued to generate complementary noninterest income.

“We continue to emphasize relationship banking with commercial and retail clients, providing the broad range of capabilities and expertise that position Bank of the James as the go-to source for financial services. We offer stability and security in a period of significant economic uncertainty.

“The Company is building value for shareholders, as evidenced by growth in stockholders’ equity, retained earnings, and a higher book value per share in the first quarter. We remain focused on efficient operations, maintaining superior asset quality, and sustainable growth.”

President Mike Syrek commented on expansion and growth opportunities, noting, “We are very excited to announce the addition of two accomplished commercial relationship managers, Brandon Caldwell and Kevin Flint. Both bring considerable experience in the commercial lending space and will further strengthen and grow our regional markets. Caldwell comes to Bank of the James from the USDA, having served there after an extended stint as the senior lending officer at Highlands Community Bank. Caldwell has experience at both small and large-sized institutions, and along with his experience with the USDA, we believe his experience will help us expand our reach in multiple markets. Flint comes to Bank of the James with a dual background in credit and investments. Flint spent most of his career with Truist and its predecessors, managing high-profile commercial clients within the markets we serve. Kevin also is a Certified Financial Planner and has spent the last few years working as a CFP. Flint’s dual roles will help further the growth in our Harrisonburg market as well as beyond.

“These additions help strengthen an already high-performing commercial team and illustrate our focus on growth and obtaining additional market share in the regions that we serve. We are delighted to have both men as part of the Bank of the James family.”

First Quarter of 2025 Highlights

Net income and earnings per share (EPS) in the first quarter of 2025 were impacted by higher noninterest expense, primarily reflecting a one-time approximately $1 million expense related to the negotiation of a contract with our banking core provider. Over the 65-month term of this contract, the Company anticipates realizing up to $5 million in savings as compared to our previous contract.
Total interest income rose 6.90% to $11.23 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared with $10.51 million a year earlier. The growth primarily reflected higher yields on loans, commercial real estate (CRE) growth, and the addition of higher-rate residential mortgages. The average yield earned on loans, including fees, increased to 5.56% compared with 5.28% a year earlier.
Net interest income after provision for credit losses increased to $7.58 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared with net interest income after recovery of credit losses of $7.50 million a year earlier for the full year of 2024. Interest expense in the first quarter declined from the previous year’s first quarter due to a decrease in the average rate paid on interest bearing liabilities.
Net interest margin in the first quarter of 2025 improved to 3.25%, reflecting a steady upward quarterly trend from 3.02% in the first quarter of 2024. Interest spread in the first quarter rose to 2.95% from 2.73% in the prior year’s first quarter.
Total noninterest income of $3.28 million in the first quarter of 2025 was stable compared with a year earlier, primarily reflecting continuing strong contributions from commercial treasury services, residential mortgage origination fee income, and wealth management fee income from PWW, which generated $0.09 earnings per share in the first quarter.
Loans, net of the allowance for credit losses, increased to $642.39 million at March 31, 2025 from $636.55 million at December 31, 2024 and $601.12 million a year earlier.
Commercial real estate loans (owner occupied and non-owner occupied) led lending activity, increasing to $359.76 million from $335.53 million at December 31, 2024 and from $305.52 million a year earlier.
Measures of asset quality remained strong, highlighted by a ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans of 0.28% at March 31, 2025, low levels of nonperforming loans, and zero other real estate owned (OREO).
Total assets grew 3% to $1.01 billion at March 31, 2025 from $979.24 million at December 31, 2024. Total assets increased by $26.84 million from March 31, 2024.
Total deposits were $911.68 million at March 31, 2025, up from $882.40 million at December 31, 2024, reflecting growth in core deposits (noninterest bearing demand deposits, NOW, money market and savings).
Shareholder value measures included growth in stockholders’ equity to $68.35 million at March 31, 2025 from $64.87 million at December 31, 2024, higher retained earnings, and a book value per share of $15.04, up from $14.28 at December 31, 2024.
On April 15, 2025, the Company’s board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per common share to stockholders of record as of June 6, 2025, to be paid on June 20, 2025.

First Quarter of 2025 Operational Review

The Company retained a consultant to assist it in negotiating an amendment to and extension of the contract with its provider of its core banking platform— the platform we use for processing transactions, maintaining customer accounts, and supporting other critical banking functions. As previously noted, first quarter 2025 net income and earnings per share reflected the expense associated with this engagement. The Company anticipates that the new contract with our core provider, which was effective April 1, 2025, will generate significant savings over the 65-month term of the contract.

Net interest income after provision for credit losses for the first quarter of 2025 was $7.58 million compared to net interest income after recovery of credit losses of $7.50 million a year earlier. The provision for credit losses in the first quarter of 2025 was $137,000.

Total interest income was $11.23 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared with $10.51 million a year earlier. The year-over-year increases primarily reflected upward rate adjustments to variable rate commercial loans and new loans reflecting the prevailing rate environment.

Investment portfolio management and appropriate rate increases on loans continued to contribute to year-over-year growth in yields on total earning assets, which were 4.73% in the first quarter of 2025 compared with 4.60% a year earlier.

Total interest expense in the first quarter of 2025 was $3.52 million compared with $3.56 million a year earlier, primarily reflecting a stabilizing interest rate environment and the Bank’s management of rates paid on interest-bearing deposits, including time deposits.

A stabilizing interest rate environment and the Company’s upward adjustments to floating rate commercial loans and rates on originated and retained residential mortgages contributed to gradual margin pressure relief during the past several quarters. In the first quarter of 2025, the net interest margin was 3.25% compared with 3.02% a year earlier, while interest spread was 2.95% for the quarter compared with 2.73% a year earlier.

Noninterest income in the first quarter of 2025 was $3.28 million compared with $3.31 million in the first quarter of 2024. The predominant amount of noninterest income in the first quarter of 2025 was generated by fees from debit card activity, commercial treasury services, gains on sale of loans held for sale, and wealth management fees generated by PWW. This slight decrease was due to a decrease in revenue from our mortgage division.

Noninterest expense in the first quarter of 2025 was $9.83 million compared with $8.09 million a year earlier. The year-over-year increase primarily reflected the previously mentioned contract negotiation fee and higher salaries and employee benefits.

Balance Sheet: Strong Cash Position, High Asset Quality

Total assets were $1.01 billion at March 31, 2025 compared with $979.24 million at December 31, 2024. The increase was due primarily to increases in cash and cash equivalents, securities available for sale, and loans.

Loans, net of allowance for credit losses, were $642.39 million at March 31, 2025 compared with $636.55 at December 31, 2024, reflecting growth of commercial real estate loans.

Commercial real estate loans (owner-occupied and non-owner occupied, excluding construction loans) totaled $359.76 million at March 31, 2025 compared with $335.53 million at December 31, 2024, reflecting new loans and moderate loan payoffs. Of this amount in the first quarter of 2025, commercial real estate (non-owner occupied) was $205.13 million and commercial real estate (owner occupied) was $154.63 million. The Bank closely monitors concentrations in these segments and has no commercial real estate loans secured by large office buildings in large metropolitan city centers.

Commercial construction/land loans were $11.54 million, declining from prior levels as projects concluded. Residential construction/land loans at March 31, 2025 were $26.36 million compared with $26.15 million at December 31, 2024. Commercial and industrial loans were $59.98 million at March 31, 2025 compared to $66.42 million at December 31, 2024.

Residential mortgage loans that the Company intends to keep on the balance sheet totaled $111.65 million at March 31, 2025, essentially unchanged from December 31, 2024, and from a year earlier. Growth of these retained mortgages has been minimal, as the Bank has continued to focus on selling the majority of originated mortgage loans to the secondary market. Consumer loans (open-end and closed-end) totaled $80.12 million, compared with $78.31 million at December 31, 2024.

Ongoing high asset quality continues to have a positive impact on the Company’s financial performance. The ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans at March 31, 2025 was 0.28% compared with 0.25% at December 31, 2024. The allowance for credit losses on loans to total loans was 1.08% at March 31, 2025 compared with 1.09% at December 31, 2024. Total nonperforming loans were $1.80 million at March 31, 2025 compared with $1.64 million at December 31, 2024. As a result of having no OREO, total nonperforming assets were the same as total nonperforming loans.

Total deposits were $911.68 million at March 31, 2025 compared with $882.40 million at December 31, 2024. Core deposits (noninterest bearing demand deposits, NOW, money market and savings) were $698.92 million compared with $651.90 million at December 31, 2024. Time deposits declined during the period. At March 31, 2025, the Bank had no brokered deposits.

Key measures of shareholder value were positive. Stockholders’ equity was $68.35 million at March 31, 2025, up from $64.87 million at December 31, 2024. Retained earnings increased to $43.19 million at March 31, 2025 from $42.80 million at December 31, 2024. Book value per share rose to $15.04 at March 31, 2025 from $14.28 at December 31, 2024, and continued to reflect quarterly fluctuations in required fair market valuations of the Company’s available-for-sale investment portfolio.

Interest rate fluctuations result in adjustments to the fair value in the Company’s available-for-sale securities portfolio (known as “mark-to-market”), which are reflected in accumulated other comprehensive loss. These mark-to-market losses are excluded when calculating the Bank’s regulatory capital ratios. The available-for-sale securities portfolio is composed primarily of securities with explicit or implicit government guarantees, including U.S. Treasuries and U.S. agency obligations, and other highly rated debt instruments. The Company does not expect to realize the unrealized losses, as it has the intent and ability to hold the securities until their recovery, which may be at maturity. Management continues to diligently monitor the creditworthiness of the issuers of the debt instruments within its securities portfolio.

About the Company

Bank of the James, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. opened for business in July 1999 and is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Bank currently services customers in Virginia from offices located in Altavista, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Blacksburg, Buchanan, Charlottesville, Forest, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Madison Heights, Nellysford, Roanoke, Rustburg, and Wytheville. The Bank offers full investment and insurance services through its BOTJ Investment Services division and BOTJ Insurance, Inc. subsidiary. The Bank provides mortgage loan origination through Bank of the James Mortgage, a division of Bank of the James. The Company provides investment advisory services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pettyjohn, Wood & White, Inc., an SEC-registered investment advisor. Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. common stock is listed under the symbol “BOTJ” on the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC. Additional information on the Company is available at www.bankofthejames.bank.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “plan” and similar expressions and variations thereof identify certain of such forward-looking statements which speak only as of the dates on which they were made. Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. (the “Company”) undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such factors include, but are not limited to, competition, general economic conditions, potential changes in interest rates, changes in the value of real estate securing loans made by the Bank, as well as geopolitical conditions. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT: J. Todd Scruggs, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (434) 846-2000.

FINANCIAL RESULTS FOLLOW

Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)

	(unaudited)
Assets	3/31/2025		12/31/2024

Cash and due from banks	$	25,760	$	23,287
Federal funds sold		69,206		50,022
Total cash and cash equivalents		94,966		73,309

Securities held-to-maturity (fair value of $3,237 in 2025 and $3,170 in 2024)		3,602		3,606
Securities available-for-sale, at fair value		192,780		187,916
Restricted stock, at cost		1,821		1,821
Loans, net of allowance for credit losses of $7,022 in 2025 and $7,044 in 2024		642,388		636,552
Loans held for sale		4,739		3,616
Premises and equipment, net		19,257		18,959
Interest receivable		2,970		3,065
Cash value – bank owned life insurance		23,094		22,907
Customer relationship Intangible		6,585		6,725
Goodwill		2,054		2,054
Deferred tax asset		8,113		8,936
Other assets		9,357		9,778
Total assets	$	1,011,726	$	979,244


Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

Deposits
Noninterest bearing demand	$	138,619	$	129,692
NOW, money market and savings		560,300		522,208
Time deposits		212,764		230,504
Total deposits		911,683		882,404

Capital notes, net		10,049		10,048
Other borrowings		9,146		9,300
Deferred tax liability		294		–
Income taxes payable		–		86
Interest payable		688		722
Other liabilities		11,518		11,819
Total liabilities	$	943,378	$	914,379

Stockholders’ equity
Common stock $2.14 par value; authorized 10,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding 4,543,338 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024		9,723			9,723
Additional paid-in-capital		35,253			35,253
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss)		(19,819	)		(22,915	)
Retained earnings		43,191			42,804
Total stockholders’ equity	$	68,348		$	64,865

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	1,011,726		$	979,244

Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited)

	For the Three Months Ended
	March 31,
Interest Income	2025		2024
Loans	$	8,906	$	8,024
Securities
US Government and agency obligations		454		338
Mortgage backed securities		387		809
Municipals – taxable		311		286
Municipals – tax exempt		18		18
Dividends		13		12
Corporates		135		135
Interest bearing deposits		123		133
Federal Funds sold		887		754
Total interest income		11,234		10,509

Interest Expense
Deposits
NOW, money market savings		1,248		1,275
Time deposits		2,079		2,090
Finance leases		17		20
Other borrowings		89		92
Capital notes		82		82
Total interest expense		3,515		3,559

Net interest income		7,719		6,950

Provision for (recovery of) credit losses		137		(553	)

Net interest income after provision for (recovery of) credit losses		7,582		7,503

Noninterest income
Gain on sales of loans held for sale		837		927
Service charges, fees and commissions		981		953
Wealth management fees		1,255		1,163
Life insurance income		188		159
Other		22		105

Total noninterest income		3,283		3,307

Noninterest expenses
Salaries and employee benefits		4,777		4,445
Occupancy		570		493
Equipment		670		607
Supplies		142		145
Professional and other outside expense		1,715		801
Data processing		820		751
Marketing		198		30
Credit expense		186		188
FDIC insurance expense		142		109
Amortization of intangibles		140		140
Other		466		379
Total noninterest expenses		9,826		8,088

Income before income taxes		1,039		2,722

Income tax expense		197		535

Net Income	$	842	$	2,187

Weighted average shares outstanding – basic and diluted		4,543,338		4,543,338

Earnings per common share – basic and diluted	$	0.19	$	0.48

Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Dollar amounts in thousands, except per share data
Unaudited

Selected Data:	Three months ending Mar 31, 2025		Three months ending Mar 31, 2024			Change
Interest income	$	11,234	$	10,509			6.90	%
Interest expense		3,515		3,559			-1.24	%
Net interest income		7,719		6,950			11.06	%
Provision for (recovery of) credit losses		137		(553	)		-124.77	%
Noninterest income		3,283		3,307			-0.73	%
Noninterest expense		9,826		8,088			21.49	%
Income taxes		197		535			-63.18	%
Net income		842		2,187			-61.50	%
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic		4,543,338		4,543,338			–
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted		4,543,338		4,543,338			–
Basic net income per share	$	0.19	$	0.48		$	(0.29	)
Fully diluted net income per share	$	0.19	$	0.48		$	(0.29	)

Balance Sheet at period end:	Mar 31, 2025		Dec 31, 2024			Change			Mar 31, 2024		Dec 31, 2023		Change
Loans, net	$	642,388	$	636,552			0.92	%	$	601,115	$	601,921		-0.13	%
Loans held for sale		4,739		3,616			31.06	%		4,640		1,258		268.84	%
Total securities		196,382		191,522			2.54	%		218,440		220,132		-0.77	%
Total deposits		911,683		882,404			3.32	%		893,494		878,459		1.71	%
Stockholders’ equity		68,348		64,865			5.37	%		60,437		60,039		0.66	%
Total assets		1,011,726		979,244			3.32	%		984,891		969,371		1.60	%
Shares outstanding		4,543,338		4,543,338			–			4,543,338		4,543,338		–
Book value per share	$	15.04	$	14.28		$	0.76		$	13.30	$	13.21	$	0.09

Daily averages:	Three months ending Mar 31, 2025			Three months ending Mar 31, 2024			Change
Loans	$	646,788		$	608,172		6.35	%
Loans held for sale		2,391			2,481		-3.63	%
Total securities (book value)		219,550			248,748		-11.74	%
Total deposits		922,207			884,555		4.26	%
Stockholders’ equity		64,778			59,891		8.16	%
Interest earning assets		963,688			926,354		4.03	%
Interest bearing liabilities		800,249			765,728		4.51	%
Total assets		1,021,766			978,867		4.38	%

Financial Ratios:	Three months ending Mar 31, 2025			Three months ending Mar 31, 2024			Change
Return on average assets		0.33	%		0.90	%	(0.57	)
Return on average equity		5.27	%		14.69	%	(9.42	)
Net interest margin		3.25	%		3.02	%	0.23
Efficiency ratio		89.31	%		78.85	%	10.46
Average equity to average assets		6.34	%		6.12	%	0.22

Allowance for credit losses:	Three months ending Mar 31, 2025			Three months ending Mar 31, 2024			Change
Beginning balance	$	7,044		$	7,412		-4.96	%
Retained earnings adjustment related to impact of adoption of ASU 2016-13		–			–		N/A
Provision for (recovery of) credit losses*		29			(501	)	-105.79	%
Charge-offs		(63	)		(65	)	-3.08	%
Recoveries		12			74		-83.78	%
Ending balance		7,022			6,920		1.47	%

* does not include provision for or recovery of unfunded loan commitment liability


Nonperforming assets:	Mar 31, 2025			Dec 31, 2024			Change		Mar 31, 2024			Dec 31, 2023			Change
Total nonperforming loans	$	1,799		$	1,640		9.70	%	$	558		$	391		42.71	%
Other real estate owned		–			–		N/A			–			–		N/A
Total nonperforming assets		1,799			1,640		9.70	%		558			391		42.71	%

Asset quality ratios:	Mar 31, 2025			Dec 31, 2024			Change		Mar 31, 2024			Dec 31, 2023			Change
Nonperforming loans to total loans		0.28	%		0.25	%	0.02			0.09	%		0.06	%	0.03
Allowance for credit losses for loans to total loans		1.08	%		1.09	%	(0.01	)		1.14	%		1.22	%	(0.08	)
Allowance for credit losses for loans to nonperforming loans		390.33	%		429.51	%	(39.18	)		1240.14	%		1895.65	%	(655.51	)

The MIL Network –

May 1, 2025

MIL-OSI: From Sydney to the World – Valueex (VUEE) Exchange Announces Entry into the U.S. Market
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Fresno, CA, April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Recently, the renowned exchange Valueex (VUEE) announced its official entry into the U.S. market, garnering significant attention. Amid the accelerating transformation of global financial markets, technology is reshaping the investment landscape at an unprecedented pace. From artificial intelligence to blockchain, innovative technologies are unlocking limitless possibilities for investors, while security and trust have become key bridges to the future. It is against this backdrop that the Valueex Exchange (VUEE) has emerged. Since its establishment in 2023, VUEE has rapidly risen as a trusted fintech pioneer among global investors, leading the industry into a new era of intelligence and globalization with its secure, efficient, and innovative trading platform.

Technology-Driven Financial Transformation

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Since its establishment, Valueex Exchange has achieved remarkable success. In just two years, the platform has surpassed 500,000 registered users across multiple countries and regions, with an average daily trading volume exceeding $1 billion. In 2025, VUEE officially entered the U.S. market and, leveraging its excellent reputation in Australia, quickly attracted over 30,000 U.S. users, demonstrating strong brand influence and market competitiveness.

Looking ahead, VUEE plans to further expand into Europe, Asia, and South America, enriching its asset classes and launching more innovative features. Its upcoming U.S. stock trading service has received stringent certification from the SEC and MSB, providing global users with convenient access to the U.S. market and helping investors seize more wealth growth opportunities.

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Valueex Exchange is regarded as a leading global one-stop trading platform, characterized by the following key features:
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Co-Creating the Future of Finance

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https://web.valueexchanges.com

Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.

The MIL Network –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI: Planisware – Availability of the 2024 Universal Registration Document
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Availability of the 2024
Universal Registration Document

Paris, France, April 30, 2025 – Planisware, a leading B2B provider of SaaS in the rapidly growing Project Economy market, announces the approval of its 2024 Universal Registration Document by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on April 30, 2025 under the approval number n° R.25-002.

The Universal Registration Document notably includes:
- The annual financial report for the year ended December 31, 2024;
- The management report ;
- The corporate governance report;
- The sustainability report
- The description of the share buyback program;
- The Statutory Auditors’ reports;
- The information on fees paid to the Statutory Auditors.
This Universal Registration Document can be consulted or downloaded from the Planisware website, planisware.com, in the investors section.

Contact

About Planisware

Planisware is a leading business-to-business (“B2B”) provider of Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) in the rapidly growing Project Economy. Planisware’s mission is to provide solutions that help organizations transform how they strategize, plan and deliver their projects, project portfolios, programs and products.

With circa 750 employees across 16 offices, Planisware operates at significant scale serving around 600 organizational clients in a wide range of verticals and functions across more than 30 countries worldwide. Planisware’s clients include large international companies, medium-sized businesses and public sector entities.

Planisware is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Compartment A, ISIN code FR001400PFU4, ticker symbol “PLNW”).

For more information, visit: https://planisware.com/ and connect with Planisware on LinkedIn.

Attachment
- Planisware – Availability of the 2024 URD
The MIL Network –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: China has identified how to fight back against Trump’s tariffs, and is not ready to back down

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Chee Meng Tan, Assistant Professor of Business Economics, University of Nottingham

US ports are now starting to see scheduled shipments from China decline as the result of Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. The port of Los Angeles, the biggest port for Chinese goods in the US, is predicting scheduled shipments in early May to be about a third lower than the same time last year.

Declining numbers of ships arriving stocked with Chinese imports are likely to affect US supermarket shelves soon, and after warnings from US supermarket bosses, Trump responded by saying trade talks between the US and China were under way in the past few days. But Chinese president Xi Jinping quickly denied talks were happening, suggesting he has no intention of backing away from a fight with the US.

As one of the most powerful leaders in the history of the People’s Republic of China, Xi has fashioned himself as a nationalistic icon. So if China perceives Trump’s tariffs as a bully tactic designed to undermine it, backing down from a confrontation with the US would seriously undermine Xi’s strongman image and rhetoric.

This is something that Trump probably hadn’t considered. At a rally marking his 100 days in office, the US president was still suggesting that China would just back down and “eat the tariffs”.

While tariffs appear to be the primary weapon in the trade war, China might have more tactics to hit back at Trump and the US economy. The question is what might they be?

A few weeks ago it seemed like Washington might punish China’s lack of willingness to negotiate with more tariffs, but now it’s clear that Trump is willing to make a deal and is trying to get China to come to the table. Trump is now implying that US tariffs on China could come down substantially. And US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has called the trade war with China “unsustainable”.

Leveraging agriculture and energy

China has reduced its reliance on US farm imports since the trade war began in Trump’s first presidency. This is bad news for Washington as agriculture is one few sectors in the US that actually has a large trade surplus with China. The 125% retaliatory tariffs will harm the sector’s profitability.

But China’s retaliatory tariffs aren’t the only issue American farmers have to contend with. As the trade war escalates, China has been using bureaucratic hurdles to restrict US agricultural products from entering China and as a potential negotiation tool. For instance, China has delayed the renewals of export license renewals of US pig farmers, and refused to renew licenses of poultry farmers for “health and safety” reasons.

What’s the impact of tariffs?

Beijing’s actions might be designed to particularly hit the economy in core Trump supporting states. A major part of Trump and the Republican party’s base lies in “red states”, such as Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, all have significant farming communities. Focusing on agricultural issues is a tactic that Beijing realises will hit home with Trump voters.

Out of the 444 US counties designated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as farming-dependent, 77.7% voted for Trump during the 2024 US presidential election. So, any hardship faced by the agriculture sector due to Trump’s own actions is likely to lose him support from a major political base. And with mid-term elections in 2026, Trump has to tread carefully when antagonising Beijing.

Another support base that Beijing might seek to undermine is those involved in the fossil fuel sector. In the past, the US has been a top supplier of natural gas to China.

China has not imported natural gas from the US since early February 2025, and has sought its natural gas from Australia, Indonesia, and Brunei. As the trade war continues, it is unlikely that the US would be able to sell its natural gas to China anytime soon, and this will have an impact on the energy industry – one of Trump’s major political support bases.

Restricting minerals

Another huge problem that the US faces stems from China’s restriction of the export of critical minerals. They include seven rare earth minerals namely samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. While these are used in the clean energy and automobile sectors, the biggest concern would come from the US defence complex.

These critical minerals are used in manufacturing fighter jets, submarines, missiles, and radar systems. China has an effective monopoly on the extraction and processing of rare earths, while the US lacks such capabilities. This means that China’s export restrictions are likely to affect America’s defence industry, while Beijing rapidly expands its ammunition and military technology.

The White House probably anticipated export restrictions of critical minerals from China. After all, Beijing had banned the export of critical minerals to Japan in 2010 over a fishing trawler dispute, and stopped exporting “dual-use” metals that can be used to produce civilian and military technology, such as gallium, germanium and tungsten.

What’s next?

For the last few years, China has been trying to overcome an ailing economy that was primarily fuelled by a real-estate crisis. Trump probably expected China to buckle under pressure and come crawling to the negotiation table. After all, the Chinese Communist Party needs to fix its economy fast. The establishment has long relied on delivering economic prosperity to legitimise its rule over China.

Right now the tit-for-tat battle continues. By April 11, US tariffs on China peaked at 145%, while China’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods reached an unprecedented 125%.

Although it is clearly fighting back, China could go even further by selling off US treasuries and increasing US interest rates and thus borrowing cost. But unlike Trump, Xi often plays the long game. After all, Trump’s term as president will be over in less than four years, while Chinese president Xi has no term limits. All the latter has to do is exercise patience, and a friendlier US president might come around.

Chee Meng Tan 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. China has identified how to fight back against Trump’s tariffs, and is not ready to back down – https://theconversation.com/china-has-identified-how-to-fight-back-against-trumps-tariffs-and-is-not-ready-to-back-down-255325

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Tony Blair opposes phasing out fossil fuels. These academics disagree

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition

Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and limiting energy consumption to tackle climate change is “a strategy doomed to fail” according to former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

In the foreword of a new report, Blair urges governments to rethink their approach to reaching net zero emissions.

Instead of policies that are seen by people as involving “financial sacrifices”, he says world leaders should deploy carbon capture and storage, including technological and nature-based approaches, to meet the rising demand for fossil fuels.

But speak to many academic experts on climate change and they will tell a very different story: that there is no strategy for addressing climate change that does not involve ending, or at least massively reducing, fossil fuel combustion.

This roundup of The Conversation’s climate coverage comes from our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed.

A fossil fuel phase-out is ‘essential’

“There is a wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating that a fossil fuel phase-out will be essential for reining in the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change,” says Steve Pye, an associate professor of energy at UCL.

Read more:
COP28 president is wrong – science clearly shows fossil fuels must go (and fast)

“I know because I have published some of it.”

Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading, agrees.

“Rapidly reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and not issuing new licenses to extract oil and gas, is the most effective way of minimising future climate-related disruptions,” he says.

Read more:
Science shows the severe climate consequences of new fossil fuel extraction

“The sooner those with the power to shape our future recognise this, the better.”

Fossil fuels are responsible for 90% of the carbon dioxide heating the climate. The amount burned annually is still rising, and so is the rate at which the world is getting hotter. Scientists now fear we are approaching irreversible tipping points in the climate system, hence their support for an urgent replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.

Read more:
Climate tipping points are nearer than you think – our new report warns of catastrophic risk

Blair is confident that an emergency response on this scale can be avoided by absorbing CO₂ immediately after burning fossil fuels, from the smokestacks where the greenhouse gas is concentrated.

Not all of the emissions responsible for climate change would be prevented. UCL earth system scientist Mark Maslin says that natural gas, which would linger as an energy source thanks to carbon capture, still leaks from pipelines and storage vessels upstream of power plants.

Read more:
The UK’s £22 billion bet on carbon capture will lock in fossil fuels for decades

Commercial applications of the technology also have a poor track record. Just two large-scale coal-fired power plants are operating with CCS worldwide – one in the US and one in Canada.

“Both have experienced consistent underperformance, recurring technical issues and ballooning costs,” Maslin says.

CCS is no alternative to turning off the fossil fuel taps.
Pan Demin/Shutterstock

Blair might baulk at what he perceives to be the expense of ditching fossil fuels. But economic modelling led by Oxford University’s Andrea Bacilieri suggests his concern is misplaced. A rapid phase-out of fossil fuels could save US$30 trillion (US$1 trillion a year) by 2050 she concludes, compared with allowing power plants and factories to keep burning them with CCS.

Developing CCS will be necessary to help manage an orderly transition from fossil fuels according to Myles Allen, a professor of geosystem science at Oxford University. But it is not a substitute for undergoing that transition, he says.

Read more:
Getting carbon capture right will be hard – but that doesn’t make it optional

“Above all, we need to make sure the availability of CCS does not encourage yet more CO₂ production.”

Keeping the public on board

Is Blair right to fret about a public backlash to lower energy use? Academics suggest multiple reasons to think otherwise if the alternative is prolonging the use of fossil fuels.

Read more:
Should you get a heat pump? Here’s how they compare to a gas boiler

Replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump that runs on electricity, for example, can lower a household’s energy consumption without a deliberate effort. That’s because renewable appliances convert power to heat more efficiently (how much depends on how well insulated the home is).

Read more:
Heat pumps without home insulation could raise bills and energy demand – here’s what the government can do

In fact, it’s dependence on fossil fuel that is preventing many households from making this switch. The high wholesale price of gas determines the cost of electricity for UK consumers.

Read more:
How gas keeps the UK’s electricity bills so high – despite lots of cheap wind power

And surveys repeatedly show that support for net zero policies is broad and deep in the UK – including those that would involve lifestyle changes say Lorraine Whitmarsh (University of Bath), Caroline Verfuerth and Steve Westlake (both Cardiff University), who research public behaviour and climate change.

Read more:
Net zero: direct costs of climate policies aren’t a major barrier to public support, research reveals

“Crucially, the public wants and needs the government to show clear and consistent leadership on climate change,” they say.

Meanwhile, what can corrode public acceptance of sacrifices is the high-consuming behaviour of a minority (think pop stars in rockets, as Westlake recently argued). And, arguably, the statements of powerful people like Blair.

Read more:
Why Katy Perry’s celebrity spaceflight blazed a trail for climate breakdown

New research even suggests the politics that Blair and many others like him favour might also play a role here. Felix Schulz (Lund University) and Christian Bretter (The University of Queensland) are social scientists who study how ideology affects personal views on climate policy.

They identified respondents in six countries (the UK, US, Germany, Brazil, South Africa and China) who shared Blair’s neoliberal worldview, which the pair define as a belief that individuals are primarily responsible for their own fortune, and need to take care of themselves – as well as an abiding faith in the free market.

Read more:
People with neoliberal views are less likely to support climate-friendly policies – new research

“We observed a strong link between a neoliberal worldview and lack of support for the climate policies in our study,” they say.

Schulz and Bretter urge us to consider how someone’s ideology ultimately shapes their understanding of the problem and its solutions as well.

– ref. Tony Blair opposes phasing out fossil fuels. These academics disagree – https://theconversation.com/tony-blair-opposes-phasing-out-fossil-fuels-these-academics-disagree-254530

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Statement on Commerce Department Report Showing Shrinking Economy Under Trump

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell

04.30.25

Cantwell Statement on Commerce Department Report Showing Shrinking Economy Under Trump

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a report on the state of the economy over the first three months of 2025. The report showed that the country’s gross domestic product shrank by 0.3% during the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement:

“Today’s GDP numbers are another warning sign our economy is moving in the wrong direction. The economy shrunk in the first quarter when it should be growing. The Trump tariffs are a drag on the economy and American families will continue to feel the pain.”

The Commerce Department report follows months of tariff whiplash from the Trump administration, during which the president erratically and unilaterally announced, imposed, raised, dropped, and reimposed a series of blanket and industry-specific tariffs on imports coming to the United States. In January 2025, it was widely expected that GDP growth would be at least 2% in the first quarter of 2025 – but that changed after President Trump announced his tariffs. Shortly after the Commerce Department report was released, he posted on Truth Social that the declining economy “has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS” and is instead a holdover from former President Joe Biden’s economy. Under the last quarter of President Biden’s administration, the GDP grew 2.4%.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI: Societe Generale: Availability of the first amendment to 2025 Universal Registration Document
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

AVAILABILITY OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO 2025 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT

Regulated Information

Paris, 30 April 2025

Societe Generale hereby informs the public that the first amendment to the 2025 Universal Registration Document filed on 12^th March 2025 under number D.25-0088, has been filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on 30^th April 2025 under number D-25-0088-A01.
This document is made available to the public, free of charge, in accordance with the conditions provided for by the regulations in force and may be consulted in the “Regulated information” section of
the Company’s website (https://investors.societegenerale.com/en/financial-and-non-financial-information/regulated-information) and on the AMF’s website.

Press contacts:
Jean-Baptiste Froville_+33 1 58 98 68 00_ jean-baptiste.froville@socgen.com
Fanny Rouby_+33 1 57 29 11 12_ fanny.rouby@socgen.com

Societe Generale

Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with around 119,000 employees serving more than 26 million clients in 62 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective – to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.

The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:
- French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
- Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
- Mobility, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.
Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).

In case of doubt regarding the authenticity of this press release, please go to the end of the Group News page on societegenerale.com website where official Press Releases sent by Societe Generale can be certified using blockchain technology. A link will allow you to check the document’s legitimacy directly on the web page.

For more information, you can follow us on Twitter/X @societegenerale or visit our website societegenerale.com.

Attachment
- Societe-Generale-Availability-1st-amendment-2025-universal-registration-document
The MIL Network –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Lamont Announces Registration Open for Innovation Made Leadership Event

Source: US State of Connecticut

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that registration is now open for the second event in the MADE leadership series — Innovation MADE — taking place on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. during the prestigious Yale Innovation Summit in New Haven.

Hosted by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) in partnership with Yale Ventures, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), WTNH, and WICC, Innovation MADE will bring together thought leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and business executives to explore how innovation drives opportunity and growth across for Connecticut’s economy.

“Connecticut has always been a state of bold ideas, and today that spirit of innovation is more alive than ever,” Governor Lamont said. “Events like Innovation MADE showcase the talent, creativity, and collaboration that define our identity and ensure we continue to lead for the betterment of humankind.”

The Innovation MADE keynote address will be delivered by Daniel O’Keefe, Connecticut’s chief innovation officer and commissioner of DECD, followed by an expert panel discussion on the opportunities presented by quantum computing and artificial intelligence, particularly in New Haven’s thriving biotech industry. Featured speakers will include some of Connecticut’s industry leaders, including Vlad Coric, CEO of Biohaven, among others to be announced.

Attendees of Innovation MADE will not only gain access to the morning’s main stage programming, networking sessions, and “office hours” with state and private sector leaders, but also a full-day pass to the entire Yale Innovation Summit, featuring cutting-edge tracks in arts, biotech, civic, climate, health, and tech.

The state is also partnering with Yale Ventures to debut the first-ever Connecticut Innovation Pavilion at the summit, an area where attendees can meet state leaders, learn about public resources to grow their business, and enjoy unique experiences that make Connecticut a great place to live, work, and play.

“Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens when we connect ideas, people, and resources,” Commissioner O’Keefe said. “Bringing together top minds at the Yale Innovation Summit and creating spaces like the Connecticut Innovation Pavilion is how we power an ecosystem that makes bold opportunities possible for businesses and communities alike.”

“Connecticut’s innovation economy is stronger when we bring the full weight of the state’s leadership, business community, and entrepreneurial energy to the table,” Josh Geballe, managing director of Yale Ventures, said. “We are excited to kick off this year’s summit with the Innovation MADE event and celebrate the collaboration fueling Connecticut’s next chapter of growth.”

Space is limited and registration is required. Attendees can register online by visiting connecticut-made.com or through the Innovation MADE Eventbrite page.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: New Englanders Report Over $446 Million in Losses According to Annual Internet Crime Report
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Victims reported a 42 percent increase in losses from 2023
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its latest annual report. The 2024 Internet Crime Report combines information from 859,532 complaints of suspected internet crime and details reported losses exceeding $16 billion—a 33 percent increase in losses from 2023.

In the Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s area of responsibility—which includes all of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island—20,373 people reported $446,736,666 in losses.
- 14,254 victims in Massachusetts reported $338,872,378 in losses
- 2,137 victims in Maine reported $31,455,797 in losses
- 2,340 victims in New Hampshire reported $52,811,455 in losses
- 1,642 victims in Rhode Island reported $23,597,036 in losses
The top three cybercrimes in all four states by number of complaints in 2024 (9,324), were phishing/spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches.

The top three cybercrimes in all four states that cost victims the most money ($339.8 million) were investment fraud, business email compromise, and tech support scams.

“What we are seeing here in New England tracks with the trends we’re seeing nationwide. More and more folks are suffering staggering financial losses, including senior citizens, small businesses, and people whose entire livelihoods have been wiped out by scammers,” said James Crowley, acting special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division. “While we recognize that it may be embarrassing for victims to report these crimes, it’s important to do so so that the FBI and our law enforcement partners can do everything in our power to ensure these fraudsters are brought to justice.”

To promote public awareness, the IC3 produces an annual report to aggregate and highlight the data provided by the public. The quality of the data is a direct reflection of the information the public provides through the IC3 website. The IC3 standardizes the data by categorizing each complaint and analyzes the data to identify and forecast trends in internet crime. The annual report helps the FBI develop effective relationships with industry partners and share information for investigative and intelligence purposes for law enforcement and public awareness.

The IC3, which was established in May 2000, houses nine million complaints from the public in its database and continues to encourage anyone who thinks they’ve been the victim of a cyber-enabled crime, regardless of dollar loss, to file a complaint through the IC3 website. The more comprehensive complaints the FBI receives, the more effective it will be in helping law enforcement gain a more accurate picture of the extent and nature of internet-facilitated crimes.

The FBI recommends that everyone frequently review consumer and industry alerts published by the IC3. If you or your business are a victim of an internet crime, immediately notify all financial institutions involved in the relevant transactions, submit a complaint to www.ic3.gov, contact your nearest FBI field office, and contact local law enforcement.

The full 2024 Internet Crime Report can be found here: https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf

Additional resources are located here: https://www.ic3.gov/Outreach/Resources

MIL Security OSI –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI: PayBright Partners with Next Gen POS Provider Union for Bars and Nightclubs

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

RALEIGH, N.C., April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PayBright, a leading merchant services provider, announced today it has partnered with Union, a data-driven hospitality point of sale and engagement platform powering high-volume venues across the country. Union joins PayBright’s more than two dozen industry partnerships as the company’s preferred point-of-sale (POS) solution for bars, nightclubs, and hospitality venues. Union drives operational efficiencies, delivers personalized guest experiences and rewards, and provides real-time data analytics.

“We are excited to offer Union’s next-gen POS solution to our hospitality clients,” said Dustin Magaziner, Founder and CEO of PayBright. “Innovative technology solutions are improving how bars and nightclubs deliver exceptional customer experiences – all backed by real-time data analytics and personalized customer engagement tools. Union is the best in the business at putting these tools together in one platform that’s simple to use and impactful to implement – and we couldn’t be happier to offer it on behalf of PayBright’s team.”

Featured on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in the Mid-Atlantic region, PayBright is committed to enhancing the sales process for independent agents in the merchant services space, with a focus on transparency, affordability and simplicity – while delivering best-in-class technology solutions. The company’s nationwide network of 900 independent sales agents have worked with more than 15,000 businesses across the country, while delivering hyper-local merchant services and support.

High-volume venues depend on Union to deliver food and drink orders up to 80% faster and allow customers the option to pay their bill with a mobile device. With unique customer insights and data management tools, Union gives venues the information they need to deliver personalized guest services and exceptional experiences. The platform is built on the collective expertise of 50 successful hospitality veterans – designed by operators for operators. Union POS now powers over 1,500 of the nation’s highest-volume bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. While processing thousands of transactions an hour, the company delivers unprecedented insights into consumer behavior and market trends.

“This partnership with PayBright reflects Union’s commitment to hospitality success,” said Jeffrey Sanders, Chief Revenue Officer at Union. “By collaborating with specialized merchant partners, we’re able to give bar and restaurant operators the flexibility to choose the right experts, support, and financial structures that best serve their unique business needs. Together, we deliver an integrated ecosystem where complementary expertise creates superior solutions that drive operational efficiency and long-term growth for hospitality businesses.”

About PayBright
PayBright is a merchant services provider that works with independent agents, ISOs, banks and other strategic partners to provide payment solutions to businesses. By focusing on a ‘merchant services done right’ model, PayBright has become an industry leader by ensuring transparency, affordability and simplicity for agents and their local merchants. To learn more about PayBright, visit: https://www.gopaybright.com/.

About Union
Union powers a first-of-its-kind venue operating system purpose-built for the nation’s busiest bars and restaurants. More than a point-of-sale, Union connects 1,500+ establishments with 5M+ consumers and leading brands through real-time consumption data. The platform drives operational efficiency, enables frictionless mobile ordering, and facilitates brand-patron interactions that enhance venue loyalty. With $2B+ in annual transactions, Union creates a virtuous cycle where venues improve customer experiences, brands gain direct consumer engagement, and patrons enjoy personalized rewarding hospitality—transforming high-volume operations into next-gen guest experiences. To learn more about Union, visit http://www.getunion.com.

The MIL Network –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI: Waterfall Network and Aquapark Launch AquaStake: Unlocking Liquid Staking for Greater Flexibility and Yield
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Zug, Switzerland, April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Waterfall Network, a rapidly growing BlockDAG ecosystem focused on scalability and seamless user experience, today announced the launch of AquaStake in collaboration with Aquapark, introducing a liquid staking solution designed to enhance rewards when users stake and interact with DeFi.

AquaPark is a decentralized finance ecosystem that provides users with a range of services for interacting with their crypto assets. By integrating multiple DeFi protocols into a single platform, AquaPark offers a seamless and secure experience, enabling users to engage with advanced financial strategies. These protocols include:
- AquaStake: A liquid staking pool that allows users to stake WATER tokens and receive JWATER—liquid staking tokens that not only represent your stake but also unlock additional opportunities across the ecosystem.
- AquaSwap: A decentralized exchange (DEX) that leverages advanced automated market maker (AMM) strategies to facilitate low-slippage trades, ensuring efficient and cost-effective trading while enabling liquidity providers to earn rewards from trading fees.
- AquaLend: A lending protocol offering a transparent, algorithm-driven environment where users can borrow and lend assets. With collateralized smart contracts managing interest rates and liquidation parameters, AquaLend provides a reliable solution for managing liquidity and assets
“AquaStake, the first protocol offering, is a major step toward a more dynamic and accessible DeFi experience on Waterfall,” said Sergii Grybniak, Head of Research at Waterfall Network. “By combining liquidity and staking, we’re making it easier for users to maximize their rewards without compromising utility.”

Key Features of AquaStake:
- Stake $WATER, Receive $JWATER: Instantly receive $JWATER upon staking, a liquid token representing your staked $WATER tokens..
- Earn Passive Rewards: Continue earning staking rewards while keeping tokens liquid.
- DeFi Integration: Use JWATER in a growing suite of DeFi protocols for compounding yield and increased capital efficiency.
By offering users the ability to stay liquid while earning, AquaStake enhances participation in the broader Waterfall ecosystem and empowers a more active, efficient, and rewarding staking experience.

For more information, visit https://aquapark.one/ or follow @@waterfall_dag and @aquapark_one on X and other channels:

Discord: https://discord.gg/Nwb8aR2XvR
Telegram: https://t.me/waterfall_network

About Waterfall
Waterfall is a leading layer one (L1) architecture aiming to provide a solution for scalability and decentralization to help dAPP developers change the world. Waterfall’s Directed Acyclic Graph (“DAG”) achieves and allows it to run a validator node from any device, including low-cost laptops and mobile phones in future. Waterfall is Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible, allowing for portability of decentralized applications (dAPPs), and has very low hardware requirements for the participants to become validators.

Media contact: bluewave@transformgroup.com

The MIL Network –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Microsoft announces new European digital commitments

Source: Microsoft

Headline: Microsoft announces new European digital commitments

Includes datacenter operations in 16 countries and Digital Resilience Commitment.

Forty-two years ago, Microsoft released the very first version of Microsoft Word. It was a major milestone in the company’s journey to enhance people’s productivity through innovation. It also marked the young and growing company’s first big step in Europe with the first Microsoft product localized in multiple European languages, starting with German and French.

Since then, our economic reliance on Europe has always run deep. We recognize that our business is critically dependent on sustaining the trust of customers, countries, and governments across Europe. We respect European values, comply with European laws, and actively defend Europe’s cybersecurity. Our support for Europe has always been–and always will be–steadfast.

In a time of geopolitical volatility, we are committed to providing digital stability. That is why today Microsoft is announcing five digital commitments to Europe. These start with an expansion of our cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, aimed at enabling every country to fully use these technologies to strengthen their economic competitiveness. And they include a promise to uphold Europe’s digital resilience regardless of geopolitical and trade volatility.

As a multinational company, we believe in trans-Atlantic ties that promote mutual economic growth and prosperity. We were pleased the Trump administration and the European Union recently agreed to suspend further tariff escalation while they seek to negotiate a reciprocal trade agreement. We hope that successful talks can resolve tariff issues and reduce non-tariff barriers, consistent with the recommendations in the recent Draghi report.

We will always be dedicated to creating jobs, promoting economic opportunities, and strengthening cybersecurity on both sides of the Atlantic. The five commitments below, like the very first European version of Microsoft Word, take our support for Europe another step forward.

1. We will help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe

We recognize that European nations want and need a world class and broad AI and cloud ecosystem. Today, we are announcing plans to increase our European datacenter capacity by 40% over the next two years. We are expanding datacenter operations in 16 European countries. When combined with our recent construction, the plans we’re announcing today will more than double our European datacenter capacity between 2023 and 2027. It will result in cloud operations in more than 200 datacenters across the continent.

This expansion will play an important role in boosting Europe’s economic growth and competitiveness. We believe that broad AI diffusion will be one of the most important drivers of innovation and productivity growth over the next decade. Like electricity and other general-purpose technologies in the past, AI and cloud datacenters represent the next stage of industrialization. They are creating real-world capabilities to fuel business and manufacturing innovation, run national health systems, enable secure government services, and support digital tools in education—all while keeping data and operations close to home, subject to European laws and regulations.

Public cloud datacenters

Our public cloud datacenters are a foundation for the diversified cloud ecosystem we are committed to supporting across Europe. This includes the Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, a package of technologies and configurations to help governments and other customers run on Azure in our public cloud datacenters with greater control over data location, encryption, and administrative access.

Sovereign cloud datacenters

A second aspect of our diversified approach involves sovereign cloud datacenters. In France, Microsoft has partnered with Capgemini and Orange, who formed a joint venture named Bleu. Designed as a “cloud de confiance” (trusted cloud) platform, Bleu offers a broad range of Microsoft Azure cloud services and Microsoft 365 productivity tools operated under French control. In Germany, a similar sovereign cloud initiative is underway through a partnership between Microsoft, SAP, and Arvato Systems (a Bertelsmann IT subsidiary). This effort, through SAP’s subsidiary, Delos Cloud GmbH, is creating a sovereign cloud platform for the German public sector, hosted in German datacenters and operated by German personnel.

Support for European cloud providers

A third aspect of our work involves our collaboration with European cloud providers to offer Microsoft applications and services on their local cloud infrastructure. This partnership provides these European providers with the opportunity to run Microsoft applications on more favorable terms than we make available to Amazon and Google. Additionally, we are developing new technology and licensing solutions tailored for these European providers and the markets they serve.

Emerging options

Given recent geopolitical volatility, we recognize that European governments likely will consider additional options. Some of these may involve public financing to support European home-grown offerings. We recognize the importance of a diversified technology ecosystem, and we are committed to collaborating with European participants across the tech ecosystem.

Respect for European laws

Microsoft is investing tens of billions of dollars annually in expanding its datacenters across Europe. These investments aren’t on wheels. They are permanent structures and subject to local laws, regulations, and governments. Like every citizen and company, we don’t always agree with every policy of every government. But even when we’ve lost cases in European courts, Microsoft has long respected and complied with European laws.

We understand that European laws apply to our business practices in Europe, just as local laws apply to local practices in the United States and similar laws apply elsewhere in the world. This includes European competition law and the Digital Markets Act, among others. We’re committed not only to building digital infrastructure for Europe, but to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating our products and services.

2. We will uphold Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility

By building a European cloud for Europe, Microsoft is committed to helping Europe navigate the uncertain geopolitical and trade environment and better manage risk by strengthening the continent’s digital resilience. We will always strive to be a voice of reason that promotes mutual opportunities and stable ties across the Atlantic. We in fact believe that even amidst current trade and tariff disputes, there is a strong consensus in Washington supporting the sustained flow of digital services from the United States to Europe.

We also are listening closely to the views of European governments and leaders. We recognize that European countries, like nations everywhere, need to have rock-solid confidence in the digital infrastructure on which they rely. To ensure this confidence, we will take the following three steps:

A European cloud for Europe

Microsoft is headquartered in the United States, but we provide cloud services to Europe through corporate entities headquartered in Europe. To further cement the nexus between Microsoft and Europe, going forward our European datacenter operations and their boards will be overseen by a European board of directors that consists exclusively of European nationals and operates under European law.

A Digital Resilience Commitment

In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court. By including a new European Digital Resilience Commitment in all of our contracts with European national governments and the European Commission, we will make this commitment legally binding on Microsoft Corporation and all its subsidiaries.

Microsoft has a demonstrated history of pursuing litigation when that has been needed to protect the rights of our customers and other stakeholders. This includes four lawsuits we filed against the U.S. Executive Branch during President Obama’s tenure, including to protect the privacy of our customers’ data in the United States and Europe. It also included, during President Trump’s first term, a successful decision before the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the rights of employees who are immigrants. When necessary, we’re prepared to go to court.

We are confident of our legal rights to ensure continuous operation of our datacenters in Europe. And we are prepared to back this confidence with our contractual commitments to European governments.

Business continuity partnerships

Finally, we will designate and rely upon European partners with contingency arrangements for operational continuity in the unlikely event Microsoft were ever required by a court to suspend services. We are already enabling our partners in France and Germany to do this for the Bleu and Delos datacenters, and we will pursue arrangements for our public cloud datacenters in Europe. We will store back-up copies of our code in a secure repository in Switzerland, and we will provide our European partners with the legal rights needed to access and use this code if needed for this purpose.

3. We will continue to protect the privacy of European data

Microsoft has long been at the forefront in designing and implementing technology solutions to protect customer data. We enable customers to control where their data is stored and processed, how it is encrypted and secured, and when Microsoft can access it. We offer customers robust capabilities across the entire cloud stack from infrastructure to platform to software as a service, from Azure to Microsoft 365 to Dynamics 365. We back our technical solutions with strong contractual commitments and, as noted above, a demonstrated history of going to court on behalf of our customers.

The EU data boundary project

Reflecting our continuing commitment to innovation, we recently finished implementing our EU Data Boundary project. This offers European customers the ability to have their data stored and processed in Europe. Since January 2024, our European commercial and public sector customers have been able to store and process their data and personal identifiers for Microsoft core cloud services—including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure services—within the EU and EFTA regions. Three months ago, Microsoft completed the project by extending the EU Data Boundary to include professional services data from technical support interactions. And, critically, we make these solutions available in all our European cloud regions and throughout our tech stack, from IaaS, to PaaS, to SaaS, including M365 Copilot.

Additional security and encryption options

In addition to the EU Data Boundary, we provide European customers with multiple options for securing and encrypting their data. Our Confidential Compute offerings in Azure eliminate the ability of third parties—including Microsoft—to access customer data by ensuring data is processed within a trusted environment the customer alone controls. We enable customers to create a “lockbox” around their data across Azure, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365 by giving them the ability to review and approve before Microsoft accesses their data for customer and service support operations. We also enable customers to secure their data with encryption keys that they, not Microsoft, control with Azure Key Vault and Microsoft Purview Customer Key. Our Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty offers customers a range of other tools to secure data, protect against unauthorized access, and satisfy legal requirements.

A strong legal track record

In addition to technical measures, we will continue our fight to protect the rights of European customers. Microsoft has a strong track record of going to court in the rare instances that we need to protect European data from unauthorized access. We have consistently fought legal demands that conflict with European law and have taken our challenges all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2018, as a direct result of litigation Microsoft brought on behalf of our European customers, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation that guarantees our right to object to U.S. law enforcement demands to access European data that conflict with EU law.

We codified our promise to protect our European customers’ data with our Defending Your Data commitment, in which we agreed to challenge any government demand for EU public sector or enterprise customer data where we have a legal basis for doing so. We have included that commitment in our customer contracts and backed it up with a promise to compensate customers if we disclose their data in violation of EU law.

New opportunities for innovation

Today we commit to further strengthen and expand solutions that allow European customers to control and protect their data. We are embarking on new steps to listen to and consult with European customers to build on what already is the most complete, widest range of privacy, security, and sovereignty solutions that any cloud services provider now offers to customers in Europe. We look forward to sharing in the coming months the conclusions that emerge and the new steps we decide to take.

For more details about Microsoft’s data protection and compliance programs, see the Microsoft Trust Center.

4. We will always help protect and defend Europe’s cybersecurity

As war erupted in 2022, Microsoft immediately helped evacuate Ukraine’s critical data and technology services to our datacenters across Europe. This move ensured Ukraine’s continued digital operation outside the range of cruise missile and air attacks. In many ways, this illustrates the role that a broad network of datacenters plays in supporting not only digital but broader resilience, both for a country and a continent.

Uninterrupted, world-class cybersecurity protection

In addition to safeguarding the country’s data, we immediately helped Ukraine’s officials and citizens defend their nation from Russian cyberattacks. Since the start of the war, Microsoft has provided more than $500 million of free technology and financial assistance to Ukraine and has sustained our substantial support to this day. Without interruption, we have provided cybersecurity support to NATO, Ukraine, and other European governments, including by sharing cybersecurity threat intelligence, protecting elections, and disrupting attacks against European governments, companies, and citizens.

New measures to protect against new threats

More than three years since the start of the war in Ukraine, European governments and countries confront ongoing cyberattacks from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. As these threats grow in number and sophistication, strong cybersecurity protection and coordination are more important than ever, as is the ability to respond rapidly to regional demands. That is why today we are announcing the following cybersecurity steps, which will be followed by additional announcements in the coming weeks.

A new Deputy CISO for Europe

Today, our Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Igor Tsyganskiy announced that we are appointing a new Deputy CISO for Europe as part of the Microsoft Cybersecurity Governance Council. This senior executive will be dedicated to Microsoft’s security responsibilities in Europe. Last year we created this council, consisting of our Global CISO and Deputy Chief Information Security Officers (Deputy CISOs) representing each of our technology services. This Council oversees the company’s cyber risks, defenses, and compliance across regions and domains.

The appointment of a Deputy CISO for Europe reflects the importance and global influence of EU cybersecurity regulations and the company’s commitment to meeting and exceeding those expectations to prioritize cybersecurity across the region. This new position will report directly to Microsoft’s CISO. The Deputy CISO for Europe will be accountable for compliance with current and emerging cybersecurity regulations in Europe, including the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the NIS 2 Directive, and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). These laws will prove transformative not only in EU markets, but worldwide, and Microsoft is actively engaged in preparing for what lies ahead.

New security steps under the Cyber Resilience Act

We believe the CRA will reshape the regulatory landscape as a new gold standard for cybersecurity, much as the GDPR did for privacy. We will build on the work of our Secure Future Initiative and dedicate additional resources to comply with the CRA. As its deadlines approach, we look forward to continuing our years of engagement with the European Commission, industry partners, and customers on CRA implementation efforts. We are committed to our role as a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Cybersecurity of Products with Digital Elements.

To that end, Microsoft will continue to engage with stakeholders across a range of CRA topics. These will include incident and vulnerability reporting, security by design and default, cybersecurity best practices and improving open-source security and attestation. We will share our innovations that support implementing the CRA essential security requirements to help European economic operators also prepare for CRA compliance.

Security is the foundation of trust. To sustain that trust, we will engage an independent auditor to verify and validate our commitments to Europe. We know that people will only use technology that they trust, which is why we are dedicating resources to accelerate our compliance with the CRA and committing to independent validation.

5. We will help strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness, including for open source

Our AI Access Principles

We recognize the importance of ensuring open access to our AI and cloud platform and infrastructure across Europe, including for open-source development. That is why we announced last year a set of AI Access Principles and we will introduce new enhancements to these commitments in the coming months.

Open access across Europe

These principles have ensured that our Azure AI platform and infrastructure is open to a variety of business models—both open-source and proprietary. We now host more than 1,800 AI models. Most of these models are open-source models, such as those from European-based AI developers Mistral and Hugging Face. And they are all available via public APIs to facilitate interoperability. This means that customers can choose which models to use and where to build their AI-powered solutions: on Azure, in another public cloud, or in their own datacenter. Finally, we enable customers to export and transfer their data. Last year we eliminated fees for the transfer of data when customers choose to switch to another cloud provider.

A foundation for European competitiveness

Over the past year, we have seen European startups, established businesses, and other organizations take advantage of the open access to models and tools that we provide to innovate, grow, and compete in the new AI economy. This includes technology startups such as Factorial in Spain to build AI-driven automation for HR professionals, iGenius in Italy to develop AI solutions for regulated industries, and Visma in Norway to provide AI solutions for companies in accounting, payroll, invoicing, and beyond. And it includes the Institute Curie in France to research new therapies for cancer, UBS in Switzerland to create the future of banking, and Heineken in The Netherlands to boost employee productivity.

Building European infrastructure for Europe’s future

We recognize that Microsoft must constantly remain focused on earning and sustaining our “license to operate” in each country across Europe. With datacenters and digital technology, this starts with each local community and country and includes officials with continental-wide responsibilities.

Since we first brought the first version of Microsoft Word to Europe 42 years ago, digital technology has changed the ways people work many times over. Yet as we look forward, we believe the second quarter of the 21^st century may bring even bigger changes ahead. Artificial intelligence offers what may become the most powerful tool for people in the history of humanity. And like all tools, there will be some who will seek to turn it into a weapon.

More than ever, it will be critical for us to help Europe harness the power of this new technology to strengthen its competitiveness. We will need to partner with smaller and larger companies alike. We will need to support governments, non-profit organizations, and open-source developers across the continent. And we will need to listen closely to European leaders, respect European values, and adhere to European laws. We are committed to doing all these things well.

As we celebrated Microsoft’s 50^th birthday earlier this month, we recognized that our longstanding presence in Europe has been a lynchpin of our success. Europe has treated us well. Our support for Europe has always been—and always will be—steadfast.

Tags: Digital commitments, Europe

MIL OSI Economics –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Meet Washington state’s 20 new winners of AI for Good Lab awards
Source: Microsoft

Headline: Meet Washington state’s 20 new winners of AI for Good Lab awards

This month, Microsoft is celebrating our 50th anniversary. To help commemorate fifty years of creating technology that empowers people to achieve more, our AI for Good Lab launched an open call to support innovative AI-based projects here in Washington State.

Our AI for Good Lab has been using AI to tackle global challenges and improve lives since 2018. We open-source our models, data, and tools so everyone can jump in, working together to make real impact. At a time when nonprofits, NGOs, and academic institutions are tasked with doing more with less, technology like AI offers a way forward.

Through these awards, we’re investing $5 million over the next two years. This open call allows us to expand our commitments to a number of amazing projects while engaging a wide range of new organizations across the state of Washington. The 20 awardees will receive Microsoft Azure credits and the ability to collaborate with AI for Good Lab scientists.

We’re thrilled to continue to cultivate relationships with innovative partners in this great state and the world at large. These game-changing organizations and projects are not only helping solve today’s challenges, they’re also paving the way for a brighter tomorrow. We are honored to share the following as our 2025 open call awardees.

Sustainability
1. Awardee: Stock-Smart.com – Washington State University Extension
  Project description: Washington State’s federal, state, tribal, and private land managers and livestock grazers are all beginning to use virtual fence systems to fine-tune ecological grazing management. Stock-Smart.com combines predicted livestock terrain use with satellite-based forage production data to inform grazing plans for livestock herds. By using AI-guided interpretation of virtual fence system geolocation data, Stock-Smart.com helps reduce wildfire risk, enhance wildlife habitats, and improve invasive species control.
2. Awardee: Long Live the Kings
  Project description: In the Puget Sound, the impacts of rapid urbanization are compounded by climate change. Long Live the Kings employs AI and machine learning to automatically calibrate a 3D ecosystem modeling program for Puget Sound. This project will use the emulator to explore how cumulative watershed impacts affect ecosystem services and biodiversity to advance natural resource management in Puget Sound.
3. Awardee: TealWaters
  Project description: TealWaters works to transform Washington State’s water management capacity by providing tools that inform and guide wetlands planning, protection, and restoration. TealWaters plans to support AI model testing beyond the scope of its existing tools to increase communities’ resilience to climate change and environmental stressors.
4. Awardee: Washington State University
  Project description: Climate change puts residents of Washington State at higher risk of dangerous wildfires. This project will develop cutting-edge AI models, fusing satellite imagery, weather data, building information, and wildfire simulation results to assess wildfire vulnerability of residential buildings in Washington State. By producing vulnerability assessments that include confidence scores, this multi-modal approach can help guide effective wildfire mitigation efforts.
5. Awardee: Cornell University, Circular Construction Lab
  Project description: Reusing materials is the most effective circular economy strategy: it reduces waste and emissions, creates local green jobs, and supports local reuse ecosystems. AR3-Lumber aims to develop and implement AI-powered technology to reuse salvaged lumber through a local partnership with the Seattle Salvaged Lumber Warehouse. This project will enable AR3-Lumber to offer essential technical and methodological support to the circular lumber economy.
6. Awardee: Woodland Park Zoo
  Project description: The Seattle Urban Carnivore Project aims to increase our understanding of and empathy for urban carnivores such as black bears by studying how these species live and interact with people across the greater Seattle region. This project will include a wildlife camera and bioacoustics monitoring program that collects data from green spaces across central King County and Bainbridge Island, utilizing AI to identify the diversity and density of species in urban corridors in a way that’s efficient and consumes fewer resources.
7. Awardee: Conservation X Labs
  Project description: Conservation X Labs aims to prevent the sixth mass extinction by creating and democratizing innovative technologies to change what’s possible in conservation. The project will develop and deploy a multi-species management detection algorithm on a smart camera system to create a first –of –its –kind, real-time monitoring system for disease in wildlife that can be utilized by veterinarians, ecologists, and conservationists across Washington State.
8. Awardee: NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service – Habitat Conservation
  Project description: Current methods of water management and salmon habitat restoration in the Columbia River Basin tend to be either hyper-localized or computationally intensive. This project aims to use remote sensing and machine learning to classify wetlands to better predict how water management decisions and climate change impact salmon populations and support more effective conservation strategies.
9. Awardee: Information Communication and Technology for Development (ICTD) at the University of Washington
  Project description: More plant and animal species are threatened with extinction now than at any other time in human history. The Information Communication and Technology for Development department at the University of Washington plans to monitor wildlife using audiovisual channels on tiny compute devices, fostering a better understanding of animal populations intricately linked to food safety, disease spread, and biodiversity.
  
  Health
10. Awardee: Information Communication and Technology for Development (ICTD) at the University of Washington
  Project description: More plant and animal species are threatened with extinction now than at any other time in human history. The Information Communication and Technology for Development department at the University of Washington plans to monitor wildlife using audiovisual channels on tiny compute devices, fostering a better understanding of animal populations intricately linked to food safety, disease spread, and biodiversity.
11. Awardee: Providence
  Project description: Current methods for identifying patients for clinical trials rely on manual screening processes that miss many patients—especially those from underserved communities—or rely on sick patients and their doctors to do the work of seeking available trials. Providence and Microsoft Health Futures are collaboratively developing Trial Connect, an AI tool that scans population-level medical data across Washington State to identify patients who qualify for clinical trials that could save their lives.
12. Awardee: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
  Project description: Data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) are used by more than 13,000 researchers around the world. IHME plans to build a global cloud laboratory to examine health locally, using satellite imagery, AI, and spatial demography to predict risks like drought and food insecurity to specific populations. This project aims to put actionable, population-level health data into the hands of decision-makers to improve individuals’ health and wellbeing.
13. Awardee: University of Washington Radiology
  Project description: To improve public health and support patients in their most challenging moments, the University of Washington created self-improving large language models to translate radiology report findings into patient-friendly language. Patients will receive clear, lay-language explanations of their imaging results while healthcare providers provide feedback that will be used to refine the model, ensuring continuous improvement, reducing misunderstandings, and fostering better communication between patients and medical professionals.
14. Awardee: Institute for Protein Design – University of Washington
  Project description: Generative AI has already had a large impact ion protein structure prediction and protein design. This project aims to develop at least three specialized, open-source models, including a next-generation biomolecule design model, a model specialized for antibody/antigen structure and antibody design, and a model specialized for protein/ligand interactions to enable the next generation of therapeutics and biomaterials.
15. Awardee: Washington State University Department of Chemistry
  Project description: Heavy and radioactive metal contamination in Spokane and Hanford threatens community health. This project will leverage geochemistry and large language models to build a publicly accessible dataset that will aid in designing effective soil decontamination methods for Spokane and Hanford, contributing to a cleaner, healthier environment for Washington residents.
  
  Education/Public Good
16. Awardee: Washington State University
  Project description: Rural elementary teachers in Washington often struggle to design high-quality science assessments due to limitations around resources, professional development opportunities, and access to technology. This project will develop and deploy an AI-powered multi-agent assessment system to empower rural Washington elementary teachers and enhance accessibility, engagement, and instructional effectiveness.
17. Awardee: Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington
  Project description: Rising labor and business costs have reduced the ability for Evergreen Goodwill to advance their mission of providing quality, free job training and basic education to people experiencing significant barriers to economic opportunity. The project will use an AI-powered automated donation ingestion and cataloging system to tackle the backlogged volumes of donated goods received by Evergreen Goodwill. By doing so, the project will reduce waste, increase efficiency, and unlock new opportunities for scale and profitability.
18. Awardee: Washington State University – Group Argumentation Coordinator
  Project description: This project provides science teachers in Washington State with an AI-powered tool called a Group Argumentation Coordinator that will reduce the burden on overwhelmed teachers and improve students’ learning experience in science classrooms across the state. The project promotes real-time support for argumentation-based science learning in diverse classrooms. The two-year plan supported by this award focuses on system development, small-scale classroom pilots, and teacher feedback integration to ensure usability, fairness, and transparency.
19. Awardee: Washington State University – WARNS
  Project description: The Washington Assessment of Risk and Needs of Students (WARNS) has effectively assessed the needs critical to healthy social, emotional, and educational development of middle school and high school students across the state. This project will develop an elementary-level version of this assessment, leveraging large language models to reduce absenteeism and prevent dropouts among elementary school students by initiating a dialogue with students about what they need to thrive in the classroom.
20. Awardee: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound
  Project description: The Puget Sound branch of Big Brothers Big Sisters is faced with the challenge of a 100 –day-long waitlist for families looking to participate in their mentorship program. Through a partnership with KPMG and Microsoft, Big Brothers Big Sisters developed an AI tool, AIMRE, to process large datasets on their waitlist and increase both the quality and timeliness of youth/mentor matches. This award will allow Big Brothers Big Sisters to conduct further testing and deploy AIMRE locally, eventually scaling nationally to speed up the matching process for kids across the country.
We’re thrilled to support these 20 projects in their efforts to harness the transformative power of AI to solve challenges across Washington State and beyond.

Tags: AI for Good Lab, Innovation, Innovation Featured, quantum, Technology
MIL OSI Economics –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Morgan McGarvey Introduces American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act of 2025
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan McGarvey (Kentucky-03)
April 30, 2025

Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) introduced the American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act of 2025 today, which would create a 25-member commission to study and report on the “feasibility, considerations, limitations, and implications of creating and operating a sovereign wealth fund of the United States.” To provide independence, the commission would be hosted by the Federal Reserve and be composed of members from the Federal Reserve System, Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commerce Department, U.S. Trade Representative, and academics and experts.

Last year, Congressman McGarvey introduced a similar bill, which was the first legislation ever introduced in Congress explicitly researching the feasibility of an American sovereign wealth fund.

“To solve today’s problems, we must be bold. An American sovereign wealth fund, with proper congressional authorization and oversight and political independence, could dramatically improve the lives of working families across our country, including helping fund universal child care, an expanded Child Tax Credit, or even universal health care,” said Congressman McGarvey. “If we are going to do this, we have to do it right – and we have to do it through Congress. We must ensure a sovereign wealth fund is used to help working families and is not just a slush fund for billionaires.”

BACKGROUND:

General
- The American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act of 2025 is built on the premise that a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is neither good nor bad, it’s a tool.
- The bill prioritizes objective analysis, political independence, and strong ethics requirements, including requiring the 25-member commission to consult the Santiago Principles – best practices for open, ethical, and transparent SWFs – when drafting their report.
- The commission would have two years to develop a report to Congress on their findings and recommendations for legislative action.
- To provide independence, the bill explicitly requires that the commission is housed within the independent Federal Reserve System.
The McGarvey Commission

The bill creates a 25-person commission comprising of:
- 6 representatives from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or a Federal reserve bank.
- 3 representatives from the Department of the Treasury.
- 3 representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- 2 representatives from the Department of Commerce.
- 1 representative from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
- 10 representatives from academia or experts in the fields of economics, monetary policy, fiscal policy, investment policy, industrial policy, or other aspects involving sovereign wealth funds, appointed by the Chair of the Federal Reserve.
Sovereign Wealth Funds in Other Developed Nations

According to the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, over $9 trillion in assets are managed by over 100 SWFs globally, such as:

State-Level Funds in the U.S.

According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, 14 U.S. states have SWFs:

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MIL OSI USA News –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Morgan McGarvey Cosponsors Legislation to Promote Public Trust

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan McGarvey (Kentucky-03)

April 30, 2025

Today, Congressman Morgan McGarvery (KY-03) cosponsored legislation to promote public trust in Congress by banning Members from trading or owning individual stocks.

“Public trust is essential to our work as elected officials. I am proud to cosponsor the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act and TRUST in Congress Act to ban Members of Congress from trading or owning individual stocks,” said Congressman McGarvey. “Since my time in the Kentucky state Senate, my wife and I have had an explicit agreement with our financial advisor that we will not direct, approve, or even have knowledge of any stock purchase or sale – effectively creating a blind trust for our retirement accounts and kids’ college funds. But after coming to Washington at a time of historically low trust in Congress, we decided to divest from all individual stocks before the end of my first term in Congress. We no longer own any individual stocks.”

H.R.253 – Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependents from owning or trading individual stocks. H.R.396 – TRUST in Congress Act would require a Member of Congress, as well as any spouse or dependent child of a Member, to place specified investments into a qualified blind trust (i.e., an arrangement in which certain financial holdings are placed in someone else’s control to avoid a possible conflict of interest) until 180 days after the end of their tenure as a Member of Congress.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Calls Out Republicans’ “Silence Of The Lambs” During Trump’s First 100 Days In Office

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

April 30, 2025

Durbin announces his plan to come to the Senate Floor to highlight the President’s latest outrage—and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it—until Republicans start using the voices they were elected to raise

WASHINGTON – On President Donald Trump’s 100^th day in office, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called out his Republican colleagues for their silence as the President tests—and violates—the bounds of our Constitution, amasses power for himself as he tanks our economy, violates the rights of Americans, and destroys our image abroad.

“The jury’s in. At the end of 100 days, the major polling firms across the United States went out and asked the American people so what do you think? What’s your impression of this new President? What’s your impression of the MAGA agenda? The results that came back don’t surprise me, but they might surprise some,” Durbin said. “Overwhelmingly, on every major issue that this administration has taken a position, the American people have said we don’t like it. We’re not happy with what’s happening in this country today.”

Durbin continued, “For a hundred days, President Trump and his administration, mainly billionaire buddies like Elon Musk, have brought us chaos, wreaked havoc, sowed division. President Trump has undermined the Constitution, our system of checks and balances, and the rule of law. And through it all, I’m sad to report, my Republican colleagues have remained silent.”

Durbin went on to outline some of the atrocities the Trump Administration has committed in the first 100 days of his second term, including the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Trump’s ill-conceived, mindless tariff tax war; threatening to withhold federal funds from higher education institutions to coerce them to give up their constitutional rights; and the Secretary of Defense violating national security protocol and sharing classified war plans in a Signal chat that mistakenly included a journalist.

“Unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE brothers gut the federal government, leading to cuts to life-saving medical research, Americans unable to get their Social Security benefits, and threats to Medicaid. What was the response from the Republican side to these outrageous developments under the Trump Administration? Silence,” Durbin said.

Durbin continued, “Never in our nation’s history has a co-equal branch of government so willfully rolled over and ceded their power. It is in fact the ‘silence of the lambs.’ The President is testing and violating the bounds of our Constitution, amassing power for himself as the economy tanks, violating the rights of Americans, and destroying our image abroad.”

Durbin concluded, “My congressional Republican [colleagues] have the power to join us in an historic stand on so many areas that this President has violated. They have majorities in both chambers of Congress and, at private moments, many of them express outrage and horror at Trump’s dangerous abandonment of law, norms, and the will of the American people. But as our constituents suffer, out of fear of retaliation, Republicans remain silent. When we are elected Members of Congress, we swear an oath to the Constitution, not to any politician or any president. It’s time both parties remember that and lived accordingly. So, I’m coming to the floor regularly to highlight the President’s latest outrage and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it. Until they start using the voices they were elected to raise, we are going to continue to have a pending constitutional crisis in this country.”

Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

-30-

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Investing to help Albertans get hired
[. Employment services are critical to helping Albertans find and explore career paths, employment and training options so they can get reconnected to the job market. Through Budget 2025, Alberta’s government is investing $185 million – an increase of almost $89 million – to expand employment supports for Albertans and help employers find, hire and train workers.

“Our government is committed to creating opportunities for Albertans to find and maintain meaningful employment. That’s why we are making record investments to make it easier for Albertans to find a job, earn a paycheque and build a better future for themselves and their families.”

Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

Alberta Career and Employment Information Services (CEIS) connects Albertans across the province with career, employment and training opportunities. Job seekers have access to a wide range of in-person and virtual services, including career counselling, job placements, career and job fairs and work-specific courses to eliminate barriers to employment. Alberta’s government provides more than 250 grants and contracts to employment service providers across the province to connect Albertans with the specialized supports they need to find and maintain employment. Budget 2025’s investments are anticipated to help more than 820,000 Albertans find and maintain jobs this year.

“Budget 2025 was about meeting the challenge, and that includes in areas where we have labour shortages and helping Albertans find work. These supports will create jobs for Albertans who need it.”

Nate Horner, Minister of Treasury Board and Finance

Budget 2025 also doubles the province’s investments to support on-the-job training in collaboration with employers, including more than $20 million in simulated worksites. These sites provide Albertans with paid, hands-on experience and training from local employers from various industries to prepare for stable employment. There are currently five simulated worksites across the province in Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Millet and Fort Saskatchewan. Budget 2025’s additional investments will expand these simulated worksites to even more locations, ensuring the province is building the workforce needed to support Alberta’s success.

“Our goal is to connect our clients with employers offering fair, sustainable wages, and help graduates move into careers that provide real economic security and stability. We’ve helped 175 Albertans overcome barriers to meaningful employment, and our graduates have achieved impressive results with 78 per cent of our clients becoming successfully employed. SkillBit’s success reflects the resilience and ambition of Albertans, and we are proud to continue this important work with renewed funding.”

Jill Dean, president, Careers in Transition, Lives in Transition, SkillBit

“Further investments in employment and income support programs show a recognition of the need to address Alberta’s population growth and the potential impacts of proposed U.S. Tariffs. These investments will provide Albertans with opportunities to achieve labour market success and financial independence despite economic uncertainties.”

Joe MacKay, president and CEO, BGS Career Ventures

“Thanks to the Alberta Government’s investment in career and employment services, Prospect Human Services supported over 14,000 Albertans and 900 employers last year. More than 80 per cent of our clients successfully moved toward employment, education, or training — strengthening Alberta’s workforce, families, and economy.”

Kevin McNichol, CEO, Prospect Human Services

Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.

Related information
- Alberta employment supports
- Training and Employment Services
- Employment services directory
Multimedia
- Watch the news conference
MIL OSI Canada News –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s Statement on President Trump’s First 100 Days

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif)

Washington, DC – United States Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) released the following statement on the Administration’s first 100 days in office:

“The first 100 days of the Trump Administration have been chaotic, costly, created economic uncertainty, challenged our constitution, and weakened our institutions, alliances, and credibility. During the campaign, the President promised that on day one that he would reduce inflation, end the war in Ukraine, bring home the hostages from Gaza, and support America’s working families. Instead, he has failed to fulfill any of those promises, overwhelmed us with a deluge of executive orders, and tried to distract us from his failures by talking about stealing Greenland, annexing Canada, running for a third term, and more. Although the most successful part of the Administration’s agenda, increasing immigration enforcement, has significantly reduced the flow of crossings at the southern border, his deportation policy has become mired in legal challenges by disregarding due process, administrative carelessness, and defying courts of law. The President’s self-imposed, short-sighted, and sweeping tariff policies have hurt our economy and are set to raise prices even higher with retaliation from our trading partners. By giving Elon Musk unbridled power to cut federal programs and jobs, the Administration has jeopardized vital services like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance, and scientific research. Without a clear strategy in the Administration’s trade and foreign policies, our nation has pushed away our allies and created strategic opportunities for our adversaries.

“President Trump made his intentions abundantly clear during the campaign. However, his chaotic actions, including instituting massive tariffs, challenging our constitution and courts, continued cozying up to dictators, and pardoning January 6 rioters appear to have no long-term strategy, degraded our credibility, and led to a steady decline in his national polling numbers on all major issues over the past 100 days.

“As I said from day one of this Administration, America’s system of checks and balances must flex its muscles. The courts don’t act as fast as the executive branch, but they continue to be the bulwark against the Administration’s overreach and violations of our Constitution. Although the President has shown little interest in working with Congress to pass any long-term legislation, we will continue to work on bills that constrain the Administration’s destructive actions, investigate any abuses of power, and serve our constituents. Over the past few decades, Congress has relinquished its authority to the executive branch on trade, commerce, agency oversight, and even warfare. However, the actions of this Administration must be a wake-up call for Democrats and Republicans to come together and take back our constitutionally mandated power. But ultimately, as we have seen throughout the history of our nation, our democracy isn’t about one person, one court, or one legislative body. It’s about the collective power of Americans. The President’s first 100 days will not be anywhere near as important as the remaining 1360 days of his term, and why our system of checks and balances must stay strong, and we the people must stay together in our fight for our shared democratic values.”

###

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Charlotte Man Sentenced To Prison For His Role In Multi-Million Dollar Bank Fraud Scheme

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte man was sentenced to prison today for his role in a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Bruce Howard Marko, 66, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1.5 million. Marko pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

Marko’s three co-defendants, Kotto Yaphet Paul, 50, of Waxhaw, N.C., Latoya Tamieka Ford, 50, of Covington, Georgia, and Love Norman, 50, of West Palm Beach, Florida, have each pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bank fraud conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing. Paul also pleaded guilty to money laundering.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, beginning in 2018, Marko conspired with Peebles, Paul and Ford to orchestrate a fraudulent loan scheme that defrauded at least 17 federally insured financial institutions of more than $17 million. Marko participated directly in at least five of these fraudulent loans totaling over $2.8 million. To execute the scheme, Marko and his co-defendants submitted loan applications to financial institutions that contained fraudulent information, including false employment and income information, false tax returns, and misrepresentations regarding the applicants’ assets, liabilities, and the intended use the loan proceeds. Based on the fraudulent loan applications, Marko and his co-defendants secured at least 42 loans from the victim financial institutions. Contrary to information provided on the loan applications about the purposes of the loans, the defendants used the loan proceeds to purchase real estate, cover unrelated business expenses, make investments, make payments toward earlier loans, and pay for personal expenditures. Court documents show that the defendants defaulted on most of the loans, causing substantial losses to the victim financial institutions that issued the loans.

Four additional defendants were previously convicted of bank fraud conspiracy for their involvement in the scheme. Amrish D. Patel was sentenced to 15 months in prison, Dwight A. Peebles, Jr. was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Denise Woodard was ordered to serve 36 months in prison, and Derrick L. Harrison, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. The defendants were also ordered to pay restitution ranging from $620,000 to more than $3.1 million.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson credited the Office of the Inspector General of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Charlotte, and the Charlotte Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, for the investigation of this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville is prosecuting the case.

MIL Security OSI –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI: Convening of the Annual General Meeting to approve the 2024 financial statements to be held on June 13, 2025 and evolution of the Atos Board of Directors
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press Release

Convening of the Annual General Meeting to approve the 2024 financial statements to be held on June 13, 2025 and evolution of the Atos Board of Directors

Paris, France – April 30, 2025

Convening of the 2025 Annual General Meeting

The meeting notice (avis de réunion) for the General Meeting scheduled for June 13, 2025, containing the agenda, the draft resolutions, and the participation and voting procedures for this Meeting, will be published in the Official Legal Gazette (Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires – BALO) on May 5, 2025, and will be available on the Company’s website (https://atos.net/en/investors/annual-general-meeting).

Evolution of the composition of Atos Board of Directors

On the recommendation of the Nomination and Governance Committee, chaired by Lead Independent Director Elizabeth Tinkham, Atos’ Board of Directors has endorsed a series of proposed changes to its composition to be submitted for approval at the General Meeting convened for June 13, 2025. The proposed changes reflect the evolving needs identified by the Board and align with the Group’s ongoing transformation.

It will be proposed to the vote of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting:
- to renew the terms of office of Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles and Jean-Jacques Morin as directors, for a duration that will expire at the end of the General Meeting called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2027;
- to appoint Surojit Chatterjee as new independent director, for a duration that will expire at the end of the General Meeting called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2027; and
- to ratify the appointment of Mandy Metten as a censor, for a duration of one year expiring at the end of the General Meeting called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.
The Board of Directors has also been informed that Elizabeth Tinkham has decided not to seek renewal of her term of office as director, which will expire at the end of the General Meeting of June 13, 2025.

Subject to approval of the proposed resolutions by the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors will comprise eight members (in addition to the director representing employees) and one censor, including 87.5%¹independent members (seven out of eight), 50%²women and six nationalities³represented on the Board.

Philippe Salle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Atos SE, declared:

“I am pleased with the upcoming appointment of a highly qualified new director as well as the renewal of terms on our Board of Directors. These developments will support the continued effectiveness of the Board and help to strengthen its overall capabilities. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Elizabeth Tinkham for her commitment, which has contributed meaningfully to advancing our mission and shared vision”.

* * *

About Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles

Cofounder and President at Auxo, Co‑chair of the National Digital Council (Conseil National du Numérique) and non‑executive Board Director, Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles was first appointed to the Board of Directors of Atos SE on January 2, 2024, and currently chairs the CSR Committee and sits on the Remuneration Committee. Her experience at the intersection of senior public service and the private sector, along with her recognized expertise in digital transformation and sustainability issues, are valuable assets to the work of the Board.

Biography of Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles

Françoise Mercadal‑Delasalles began her career in senior public service at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance from 1988 to 1992, then at the Caisse des Dépôts from 2002 to 2008. Appointed Director of Resources and Innovation at Société Générale in 2008, she sat on the Group’s Executive Committee and steered its digital transition project. In 2018, Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles became CEO of Crédit du Nord, where she introduced digital tools to position the Group in new banking services and integrated ecological concerns into the company’s business model. In 2023, she co-founded Auxo, an integrated platform to manage extra-financial data and support companies in their transition to sustainability.

Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles holds various non-executive positions on boards of directors and supervisory boards, notably that of Eurazeo. She has co-chaired the Conseil National du Numérique since 2021. She is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor), Officier du Mérite (Officer of the Order of Merit) and Chevalier du Mérite Agricole (Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit).

Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles holds a degree in literature and law, and is a graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques (IEP) de Paris, Sciences Po Paris and the École Nationale d’Administration (ENA).

* * *

About Jean-Jacques Morin

Deputy CEO of the Accor Group and CEO of the Premium, Midscale & Economy Division, Jean-Jacques Morin was first appointed to the Atos SE Board of Directors on January 2, 2024, and currently chairs the Audit Committee. His strong financial background and strategic insight are major assets in helping Atos meet its current challenges, and he would continue to bring his valuable expertise and leadership to the Board’s work.

Biography of Jean-Jacques Morin

Jean-Jacques Morin began his professional career with Deloitte, where he spent five years in auditing and consulting roles in Paris and Montreal. From 1992 to 2005, he held various international positions, notably in the semiconductor sector with Motorola Semiconductors (USA, Switzerland, and France), ON Semiconductor (USA) and Communicant AG, a start-up in Berlin. In 2005, Jean-Jacques Morin joined Alstom as CFO of the Power sectors in Zurich, then in Transport, before being appointed Group CFO from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, Jean-Jacques Morin joined Accor’s Executive Committee as CFO. He is then appointed Group Deputy CEO in charge of Finance, Strategy, IT, Legal, Purchasing and Communications. In June 2023, in addition to his position as Group Deputy CEO, Jean-Jacques Morin took over the Premium, Midscale & Economy Division under his leadership, as CEO of the Division.

Jean-Jacques Morin has held various non-executive positions, including with Orbis from 2016 to 2020 as a member of the Supervisory Board and the Audit Committee, and with Vallourec from 2018 to 2021 as a member of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Adagio since 2022 and a member of the Board of Directors of AccorInvest since 2018. He was appointed Chairman of the Audit Committee of GROUPE REEL in 2024.

Jean-Jacques Morin is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace, holds an MBA from Thunderbird (Arizona State University) and a DSCG from the Ordre des Experts Comptables.

* * *

About Surojit Chatterjee

Founder and CEO of Ema Unlimited, a generative AI company, Surojit Chatterjee is a seasoned technology executive with over two decades of experience driving innovation across global companies. His deep expertise in artificial intelligence, combined with extensive product leadership at firms like Google, Coinbase and Flipkart, would bring strategic insight and forward-thinking vision to the Board.

Biography of Surojit Chatterjee

Surojit Chatterjee began his career in 1999 as a Software Developer at IBM before joining Oracle Corporation in a technical role. In 2005, he moved into product management at Symantec Corporation. He joined Google in 2007, where he held several leadership roles across payments, mobile products, and advertising. In 2015, he became Senior Vice President and Head of Product at Flipkart, before returning to Google in 2017 as Vice President of Product Management for Google Shopping. He joined Coinbase as Chief Product Officer in 2020 and founded Ema Unlimited, a generative AI startup, in 2023.

Since 2024, Surojit Chatterjee has served on the Board of Directors of Meesho, a privately-owned Indian e-commerce company.

Surojit Chatterjee holds a Bachelor in Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, an MS in Computer Science from the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

* * *

About Mandy Metten

Head of Group Executives and Strategic Functions in Atos and a long-standing leader within the Group, Mandy Metten was a member of the Board of Directors representing employees until January 31, 2025, when she was appointed censor subject to the General Meeting’s ratification. Her experience across organizational change, diversity initiatives and people development would continue to bring valuable insight to the Board’s work.

Biography of Mandy Metten

Mandy Metten began her professional journey within the ATOS Group as an Executive Management Consultant specializing in Digital Transformation, Innovation, and Change from October 2007 to June 2014, during which she demonstrated expertise in critical strategic areas. In June 2014, she assumed the role of Manager of Atos Young Professionals, designing and overseeing a comprehensive 2-year development program for young professionals, providing development with training, mentoring and client exposure. As from November 2018, Mandy Metten served as Global Head of Group Campus Management, defining and implementing the Group campus strategy globally, including diversity and inclusion initiatives. Mandy Metten took additional responsibilities at Eviden in April 2023 and currently serves as Head of Group Executives & Strategic Functions.

Mandy Metten was Chairman of the works council of Atos from 2010 to 2015. She also served as the Dutch delegate on Atos Societas Europaea Council (SEC) from 2012 to January 2024 and was a member of the Board Participating Committee (2017- January 2024). From August 2023, she became a Commissaris (Member of the Board of Directors) for Atos Nederland, contributing to the company’s governance.

Mandy Metten holds a master’s degree in social and organizational Psychology. She completed a multi-level curriculum in Strategy, Economy, and Finance at the LeFebvre Institute.

* * *

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with circa 74,000 employees and annual revenue of circa €10 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 68 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea) and listed on Euronext Paris.

The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Contacts

Investor relations:

David Pierre-Kahn | investors@atos.net | +33 6 28 51 45 96

Sofiane El Amri | investors@atos.net | +33 6 29 34 85 67

Individual shareholders: +33 8 05 65 00 75

Press contact: globalprteam@atos.net

1         In accordance with article 10.3 of the AFEP-MEDEF Code, the director representing employees is not taken into account in determining the percentage of independent members.
2           In accordance with the law, the director representing employees is not taken into account in determining the parity ratio on the Board of Directors.
3         Seven nationalities if the censor is taken into account.

Attachment
- AtosSE_AGM_13-06-2025_PressRelease_ENG
The MIL Network –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: China is reshaping central Asia’s energy sector as Russian influence fades

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lorena Lombardozzi, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy of Global Development, SOAS, University of London

China has been developing closer ties with countries in central Asia over recent years. Trade between China and the central Asia region grew to US$89 billion (£69 billion) in 2023, an increase of 27% on the previous year. Chinese trade rose with every country there except Turkmenistan.

In my paper from June 2024, which is part of a collection of studies looking at the impact of China’s sprawling belt and road initiative in low- and middle-income countries, I explored how Chinese investment is affecting Uzbekistan’s energy sector.

Chinese investment in Uzbekistan has grown significantly since 2020. By the end of 2022, it had reached US$4.5 billion, up from US$2.8 billion one year before. There are now over 3,450 Chinese companies in Uzbekistan, accounting for roughly 20% of all foreign companies in the country.

One of the main reasons for China’s expanding footprint in central Asia is to intensify energy cooperation. By becoming a major buyer, lender and investor in the region’s energy sector, China is hoping to reduce its dependence on countries such as Russia.

Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Peter Hermes Furian / Shutterstock

Central Asia has been politically and economically dependent on Russia since the Soviet Union invaded the region in the 19th century. Much of its infrastructure was built to provide commodities like cotton and energy to Russia, with the latter selling it at high prices to Europe. This infrastructure has, until relatively recently, remained largely unchanged.

However, some central Asian countries have been able to reduce their dependence on Russia over the past decade or so. China has become the main importer of Uzbek gas, with a peak share of more than 80%. And Uzbekistan exported almost US$2 billion worth of goods to China in 2022, matching its volume of trade with Russia.

Investment in energy infrastructure is taking place in a reflection of these trade patterns. Central Asia boasts significant reserves of oil and gas. But most of the region’s pipelines were traditionally directed towards Russia and, to a lesser extent, south-west to Turkey.

Pipelines have been built and maintained with China’s support that are directed towards the east. These pipelines have facilitated trade with China and have helped reduce operational waste in the energy sectors of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

In 2025, China plans to resume the construction of a pipeline stretching from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, pending the finalisation of a gas supply contract with Turkmenistan. This will further strengthen China’s energy ties with the region.

A few years ago, while I was carrying out fieldwork in Uzbekistan, I interviewed policy experts and those involved in the Uzbek energy industry. My interviewees saw deals with China as more reliable than Russia, which has in the past renegotiated the terms of long-term energy contracts with central Asian countries or has added unfair clauses in its favour.

In 2018, for example, the Uzbek government needed additional gas to meet domestic demand. Russia’s Lukoil energy company agreed to sell the gas from a joint Lukoil-Uzbek production facility to Uzbekistan, but at a hefty price. The Uzbek government incurred debt to Lukoil worth US$600 million.

A train transporting gas parked in Samarkand train station, Uzbekistan.
Lewis Tse / Shutterstock

Chinese involvement in the Uzbek energy sector is also having an indirect effect on Uzbekistan’s green economy. During the pandemic, Uzbekistan’s gas exports to China dropped significantly, exposing operators to the vulnerability of relying on a single energy source.

Gas exports to China have recovered since 2021. But this shock prompted policymakers to explore ways of diversifying Uzbekistan’s energy production away from fossil fuels. Over the past few years, Uzbekistan has invested over US$4 billion in renewable energy production, with the technology and expertise often coming from China.

With the support of Chinese companies, vast solar power plants have been planned and developed near the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, as well as other cities like Navoi. Wind turbines have been supplied by Chinese firms for projects in Ferghana, near the border with Kyrgyzstan.

Chinese-led investment in the renewable energy sector has created further demand for skilled and semi-skilled labour, such as translators, logistics operators and engineers. My interviewees noted positive – albeit limited – effects on employment and wages in the sector.

New challenges ahead

There are, however, also drawbacks to Chinese involvement in central Asia’s energy sector. Uzbekistan’s gas trade with China is a possible source of political and economic vulnerability.

The export price of Uzbek gas is more profitable for energy companies than the local subsidised price, so exports have taken priority over the domestic market. Uzbek consumers often have to contend with rationed gas supplies or no access to gas at all, especially during the winter when demand is at its highest.

This has led to dissatisfaction among the Uzbek population, especially in rural areas where people have had to resort to burning alternative sources of fuel like coal, firewood and animal dung. These energy sources are harmful to health and the environment.

Western sanctions on Russian oil and gas since 2022, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, have also created further competition for Uzbek gas. Russian gas suppliers have sought alternative markets in Asia to circumvent the sanctions. Trade flow data shows that India, Turkey and even China have increased the amount of Russian fossil fuels they buy.

But, by and large, the state of play in the global energy market seems to be changing. Central Asia is in a strong position to benefit.

Lorena Lombardozzi 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. China is reshaping central Asia’s energy sector as Russian influence fades – https://theconversation.com/china-is-reshaping-central-asias-energy-sector-as-russian-influence-fades-245232

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: DOGE’s AI surveillance risks silencing whistleblowers and weakening democracy

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Thomas Stuart, Lecturer in Communications, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria

The United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly using artificial intelligence to surveil federal agency communications for anti-Donald Trump and anti-Elon Musk sentiment.

AI tools now automate firings and assess U.S. federal employees’ sentiment and alignment with the administration’s “mission.” Musk, who has been appointed a “special government employee” by the U.S. president and leads DOGE, has framed these moves as an attempt to cut waste and increase efficiency.

At least one agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has reportedly warned staff to watch what they say, type or do online.

The move has been largely overshadowed by tariff debates and constitutional concerns. But research on AI and governance suggests surveillance may erode the transparency that defines public institutions.

Now, with Musk signalling he may scale back his involvement with DOGE, questions remain about how the system will operate in his absence — and whether anyone will be tasked with dismantling it.

Disruption replaces due process

Musk has presented DOGE as a lean, tech-driven solution to government bloat — a message he has repeated in interviews and on social media. Artificial intelligence, he argues, can cut red tape, trim costs and optimize operations.

However, within federal agencies, AI has been used less to support public servants than to evaluate them — and in some cases, to eliminate them.

Since DOGE assumed control over key functions within the Office of Personnel Management in January, hundreds of federal employees have been dismissed without formal explanation. DOGE also restricted access to cloud systems and sidelined career officials.

DOGE was established by Trump through an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025 and tasked with cutting federal spending.
(Shutterstock)

Concerns over data security soon followed. In March, a federal judge barred DOGE from accessing Treasury systems, citing a “chaotic and haphazard” approach that posed a “realistic danger” of exposing sensitive financial information.

Internally, DOGE operates through tools more familiar to startups than government agencies. Staff use disappearing messages via the Signal messenger app and draft documents in Google Docs rather than approved federal platforms.

Grok, a generative AI chatbot launched by Musk in 2023, has been integrated across departments, though its tasks remain unclear.

How Doge’s AI targets workers

Earlier this year, thousands of federal employees received an email from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to provide five bullet points listing what they accomplished that week. “Failure to respond,” Musk warned on X, “will be taken as a resignation.”

The message triggered uncertainty across departments. Without clear legal guidance, many workers were left guessing whether silence would mean termination. The Department of Justice and several intelligence agencies warned staff not to respond.

Read more:
Musk’s ruthless approach to efficiency is not translating well to the U.S. government

Others, like the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Transportation, instructed staff to comply with DOGE’s requests. HHS later warned responses could “be read by malign foreign actors.” The EPA distributed template responses to help staff navigate the demand.

The following week, the Office of Personnel Management clarified participation was voluntary. By then, responses had already been processed.

DOGE reportedly planned to feed the responses into a large language model to determine whether an employee was mission-critical. Musk later denied this, describing the exercise as a test “to see if the employee had a pulse.”

DOGE’S algorithms judge allegiance

According to reports, DOGE’s AI tools have now been deployed across agencies to monitor political sentiment of workers. There is no indication that these systems otherwise assess employee competence or efficacy.

Trump administration officials reportedly said some government employees have been informed that DOGE is examining staff for signs of perceived disloyalty to both the Trump administration and Musk himself.

When AI is used in this way — without transparency or clear performance frameworks — it optimizes for compliance rather than capability.

AI designed to detect dissent offers little support for the work of public service. Rather than recognizing expertise or ethical judgment, these tools reduce complex decision-making to surface-level signs of loyalty.

Effective collaboration between humans and AI depends on clear boundaries. AI might complement the public service by identifying patterns in data, for example. Humans though must retain authority over context and judgment. When AI polices allegiance, those boundaries collapse, sidelining human skill and integrity.

AI surveillance rewrites workplace behaviour

The inherent limitations of large language models amplify these risks. These models cannot reliably read nuance, navigate ethical grey areas or understand intent. Assigning surveillance or employee evaluations to these systems invites errors.

Worse, such blunt tools force civil servants into self-censorship to avoid misinterpretation. Public service shifts from informed expertise to performative alignment.

For employees, the consequences extend beyond flawed assessments. AI surveillance deployed through tools like Grok and Signal creates uncertainty about how performance is measured and by whom.

As surveillance systems degrade psychological safety, employees disengage and become discouraged. Far from enhancing productivity, covert monitoring erodes trust in both management and mission.

This atmosphere weakens accountability. Whistle-blowing often reflects loyalty to institutional values rather than defiance. By reframing personal beliefs and integrity as disloyalty, DOGE will silence mechanisms that safeguard transparency.

AI surveillance becomes institutional

Musk recently announced his involvement at DOGE “will drop significantly”, likely beginning in May. The move is attributed in part to pressure from Republicans urging Trump to distance himself from Musk, as well as pressure from Tesla investors.

Despite his expected departure, around 100 DOGE employees — and the AI frameworks they manage — will remain embedded across federal departments. Musk’s departure may shift headlines, but it will leave structural risks embedded within federal operations.

Once governments adopt new surveillance tools, they rarely dismantle them, regardless of whether their architect stays to oversee them. With no clear formal oversight beyond presidential discretion, the surveillance system is likely to outlast Musk’s tenure.

Employees monitored for political conformity are less likely to raise concerns, report misconduct or challenge flawed directives.

As human resource protocols are bypassed and oversight is diminished, the balance could shift from policy grounded in principle to regulations grounded in algorithms. Governance risks giving way to control, which could weaken the political neutrality of the civil service.

Thomas Stuart 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. DOGE’s AI surveillance risks silencing whistleblowers and weakening democracy – https://theconversation.com/doges-ai-surveillance-risks-silencing-whistleblowers-and-weakening-democracy-254358

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Beyer On GDP Report: ??“The Economic Warning Lights Are All Flashing Red”??

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), who serves as the Senior House Democrat on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, today reacted to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) release of its advance estimate for the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025. BEA found that: “Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025… In the fourth quarter of 2024, real GDP increased 2.4 percent.”

Beyer said:

“Trump’s chaos is clearly and significantly raising the risk of a recession, and the economic warning lights are all flashing red.

“The economy just shrank in the first three months of Trump’s presidency, after years of growth and a strong previous quarter. This GDP report also showed inflation rising, and all of this is before we even begin to see the worst impacts of Trump’s tariffs. Private sector hiring in April declined sharply, consumer confidence fell to its lowest point in three decades, and consumer expectations for the near-term economic performance are worse than they were at any point of the pandemic. Trump just had the worst stock market performance to start a presidency in over 50 years. Recession odds from economists and forecasters paint an increasingly grim picture.

“The economic news is so bad that Trump is trying to distance himself from his own economic performance and blame others for an economy he declared, upon being sworn in 100 days ago, would ‘flourish’ ‘from this day forward.’ Even his own supporters will not believe these flimsy excuses. Trump inherited a strong economy and is running it into the ground with stupid and disastrous tariffs, as Republicans in Congress refuse to stop him.”

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Speaker Johnson Sits Down with Axios

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — This morning, Speaker Johnson joined Axios’ Hans Nichols for a wide-ranging interview at an “Axios News Shapers” event. Speaker Johnson addressed the necessity of quickly codifying President Trump’s agenda into law, House Republicans’ efforts to strengthen and preserve Medicaid, and Democrats attempting to run their impeachment playbook again.

Watch the full interview here

On quickly codifying the Trump agenda into law:

The treasury secretary said July 4 this week in public statements, and we applauded that. But I really hope we do it sooner. And here’s the reason why: this has nothing to do with pride of authorship in the House or any of that, we just want to deliver for the American people, and so do all of our Senate Republican colleagues on the America first agenda. The vehicle to deliver that is reconciliation. And the sooner we do it, the better Hans, because I think this will be a very important thing for stability.

I think it’ll send a very important signal to the bond markets, the stock market, to investors and job creators here and around the world, and it’ll send a message to our allies and our enemies that America is serious. We have stabilized tax policy. Everyone will know what their tax rates are. That will be helpful for making decisions for companies and also, of course, we’re going to be deficit neutral or deficit reducing. We’re trying to reduce the debt. And I think that’s a really important message to send out there, that America is serious about our financial stability, and this bill is going to be that’s one of the many things that will be accomplished in it.

On strengthening and preserving Medicaid:

The number of waste, fraud and abuse over a 10-year period, it’s $51 billion a year as an estimate. We think that’s a low estimate of just fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid alone. Who could be for that? I mean, we have a responsibility to tighten this up. When you’re talking about work requirements, that’s over an 80% public approval rating. But you eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, you bring in work requirements, and you tighten up the program, and you can find a lot of savings. And the whole point here, the whole idea – make sure illegal aliens are not receiving it all the rest. The whole idea is that we’re trying to preserve the program.

Democrats were frankly lying about the intention of Republicans. It’s so much so that we were able to get their ads and billboards taken down in swing districts by a cease and desist letter because it was based on nothing, they just made it up. I’ve been saying just everybody, please reserve judgment till we get the product out, but you’re going to see what the President said yesterday, accurately, that Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security are programs that are sacrosanct the people. They depend upon these things, and our job is to shore them up and make sure that they’re there, that we preserve the programs for the people who genuinely need and deserve it.

On Congressional Democrats impeachment theatrics:

You know, we’ve already seen the movie. They tried it twice already, based on absolutely nothing, and they would do it again. I mean, Al Green filed impeachment articles like, I don’t know, the fifth day of Congress. I mean, I think he did it before the President took his oath. So, it shows you where they are. It’s all raw politics, and it’s terribly destructive for the country. I mean, it’s a waste of time. We need the American people expect their Congress to work. They expect Congress to work with the President. They want big things done. And we had a first, a really impressive first 100 days of the Trump administration. We’re just getting started. We have a lot of work to do, and we don’t have time for nonsense.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025

MIL-OSI: Crédit Agricole Assurances: Availability of the 2024 Universal Registration Document of Crédit Agricole Assurances

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press release Paris, April 30, 2025

Availability of the 2024 Universal Registration Document of Crédit Agricole Assurances

Crédit Agricole Assurances announced today the filing of its Universal Registration Document for the financial year 2024 with the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF” – French Financial Markets Authority), under number D.25-0348.

The 2024 Universal Registration Document includes:

the Annual financial report,
the Sustainability report,
the Report on corporate governance,
the information concerning the fees paid to the Statutory Auditors.

It is available for public consultation free of charge in accordance with current regulation and may be consulted on Crédit Agricole Assurances’ website (www.ca-assurances.com/en/Investors) and on AMF’s website.

About Crédit Agricole Assurances
Crédit Agricole Assurances, France’s leading insurer, is Crédit Agricole group’s subsidiary, which brings together all the insurance businesses of Crédit Agricole S.A. Crédit Agricole Assurances offers a range of products and services in savings, retirement, health, personal protection and property insurance. They are distributed by Crédit Agricole’s banks in France and in 9 countries worldwide, and are aimed at individual, professional, agricultural and business customers. At the end of 2024, Crédit Agricole Assurances had more than 6,700 employees. Its 2024 premium income (non-GAAP) amounted to 43.6 billion euros.
www.ca-assurances.com

Press contacts
Géraldine Bailacq +33 (0)6 81 75 87 59
Nicolas Leviaux +33 (0)6 19 60 48 53
Julien Badé +33 (0)7 85 18 68 05
service.presse@ca-assurances.fr

Investor relations contacts
Yael Beer-Gabel +33 (0)1 57 72 66 84
Gaël Hoyer +33 (0)1 57 72 62 22
Sophie Santourian +33 (0)1 57 72 43 42
Cécile Roy +33 (0)1 57 72 61 86
relations.investisseurs@ca-assurances.fr

Attachment

PR for availability of the 2024 CAA URD

The MIL Network –

May 1, 2025

MIL-OSI: XRP News: Amid Proshares XRP Spot ETF Approval News, XenDex Fills Soft Cap as $XDX Price Surges Ahead of Major Exchange Listings
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SYDNEY, April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The XDX presale phase is reaching its climax. XenDex has officially filled its soft cap, and investors are now scrambling to secure the final remaining tokens before they’re gone for good.

As the XRP ecosystem celebrates major milestones; from Brazil’s approval of the first XRP Spot ETF, to the SEC lawsuit withdrawal, and ProShares’ XRP Futures and Spot ETF greenlight — XenDex is perfectly positioned as the go-to decentralized exchange (DEX) solution built on Ripple’s native blockchain.

Buy $XDX Now & Earn Rewards

With $XDX token prices now increasing and exchange listings imminent, this is the final chance to buy before wider exposure, higher prices, and a full sellout.

Top Exchange Listings Confirmed: Global Adoption Incoming

Once the presale concludes, $XDX will be listed on top-tier centralized exchanges, setting the stage for mass adoption and significant liquidity.

Confirmed exchange listings include:
- Binance
- Gate.io
- BitMart
- MEXC
- FirstLedger
- MagneticX
Buy XDX Before Listing On Exchange

These listings are expected to catapult $XDX into the spotlight, and early buyers are racing to front-run the rush.

Buy $XDX Now Before It’s Gone: https://xendex.net/presale

What Makes XenDex Unique, And Why You Should Join The Race

More than just another DEX, XenDex is XRPL’s first all-in-one DeFi hub, solving long-standing gaps with powerful features, including:
- AI-Powered Copy Trading – Mirror professional traders to minimize loss and maximize profit on our DEX
- Non-Custodial Lending & Borrowing – Borrow and lend XRP and $XDX to earn rewards on XenDex Exchange
- Cross-Chain Trading – Seamlessly swap XRP across networks like Solana and BNB on XenDex
- Staking & Yield Farming – Earn rewards by providing liquidity to our XenDex liquidity pool
- DAO Governance – Vote on XenDex’s future upgrades, listings, protocol improvements, etc.
Purchase XDX At Lowest Presale Price

Thousands have already joined the growing XenDex community across Telegram and Twitter, buying and locking in their tokens before the presale ends and the next price increase takes effect.

“We’ve hit our soft cap, secured major listings, and entered the final presale phase,” said a XenDex spokesperson. “From here on, the price increases and soon, availability will vanish altogether.”

With the clock ticking, and tokens disappearing by the minute, this is your final opportunity to be part of one of XRPL’s most explosive DeFi launches.

Join Official XenDex Communities

Website: https://xendex.net
Presale: https://xendex.net/presale
Telegram: https://t.me/xendexcommunity
Twitter/X: https://x.com/xendex_xrp
Docs: https://xdxdocs.gitbook.io

Contact:
Frank Richards
Frank@xendex.net

Disclaimer: This is a paid post provided by XenDex. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b519307c-222b-4da1-a8cc-e176438a056b

The MIL Network –
May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Kansas Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by August Drought

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Kansas of the May 30 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought occurring Aug. 6, 2024.

The declaration covers the Kansas counties of Decatur, Gove, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman and Thomas.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the small business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 30.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Hawaii Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by August Drought

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Hawaii of the May 30 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought occurring Aug. 6, 2024.

The declaration covers the Hawaii counties of Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalawao, Kauai and Maui.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 30.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to North Dakota Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by August Drought

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in North Dakota of the May 30 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought beginning Aug. 6, 2024.

The declaration covers the North Dakota counties of Adams, Bowman and Slope as well as Fallon County in Montana and Harding County in South Dakota.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 30.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Colorado Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by August Drought

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Colorado of the May 30 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought occurring Aug. 6, 2024.

The declaration covers the Colorado counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Denver and Jefferson.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 30.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 1, 2025

Category: Economy

Leveraging agriculture and energy

Restricting minerals

What’s next?

A fossil fuel phase-out is ‘essential’

Keeping the public on board

Cantwell Statement on Commerce Department Report Showing Shrinking Economy Under Trump

Includes datacenter operations in 16 countries and Digital Resilience Commitment.

1. We will help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe

Public cloud datacenters

Sovereign cloud datacenters

Support for European cloud providers

Emerging options

Respect for European laws

2. We will uphold Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility

A European cloud for Europe

A Digital Resilience Commitment

Business continuity partnerships

3. We will continue to protect the privacy of European data

The EU data boundary project

Additional security and encryption options

A strong legal track record

New opportunities for innovation

4. We will always help protect and defend Europe’s cybersecurity

Uninterrupted, world-class cybersecurity protection

New measures to protect against new threats

A new Deputy CISO for Europe

New security steps under the Cyber Resilience Act

5. We will help strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness, including for open source

Our AI Access Principles

Open access across Europe

A foundation for European competitiveness

Building European infrastructure for Europe’s future

Sustainability

Health

Education/Public Good

Durbin announces his plan to come to the Senate Floor to highlight the President’s latest outrage—and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it—until Republicans start using the voices they were elected to raise

Related information

Multimedia

New challenges ahead

Disruption replaces due process

How Doge’s AI targets workers

DOGE’S algorithms judge allegiance

AI surveillance rewrites workplace behaviour

AI surveillance becomes institutional