NewzIntel.com

Category: Economy

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Final phase of brand-new Council homes handed over in Methven

    Source: Scotland – City of Perth

    The houses are the final phase of a development that has seen the inclusion of 41 brand new Council homes in total.

    The latest properties to be handed over are a mix of two and three-bedroom semi-detached mid-terrace homes. Previously, a mix of semi-detached, terraced homes and flats were handed over to the Council at the development, providing high-quality accommodation for a wide range of tenants.

    The homes at Hayfield Brae have been built to the highest standard by the Council’s construction partner GS Brown and include energy efficiency measures such as air source heat pumps, solar panels, quality insulation and high levels of air tightness to make sure tenants’ bills are kept as low as possible and the development’s carbon footprint is minimised.   

    Safety features such as sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, and electrical surge protection devices have also been included as standard. 

    The five homes cost almost £1.1m to build. The Council invested £440,000, with the Scottish Government contributing the rest. 

    The houses were visited by the Council’s Housing and Social Wellbeing Convener, Councillor Tom McEwan, who said: “This development has been underway for a few years now and it is fantastic to see it completed. This significant number of new Council homes will help to address the housing needs of different types of tenants in a rural location where there is high demand for accommodation.

    “I’m particularly pleased to see the high level of energy efficiency that has been built into the homes, with air source heat pumps fitted instead of traditional boilers. As a Council and as a Housing Service, we are committed to minimising the environmental impact of everything we do. The efficient heating systems, top-grade insulation and solar panels included in the homes will help tenants reduce their energy use.

    “As well as providing high-quality, energy-efficient homes, this new development will add vibrancy to life in the village of Methven, supporting the local community and economy.”

    The Methven project is part of Perth & Kinross Council’s ongoing multi-million-pound new build housing programme, which has seen over 500 new Council homes built for tenants since 2012.

    The Council’s house building programme has delivered new homes for affordable social rent in towns and settlements right across the region, including Methven, Scone, Abernethy, Alyth, Inchture, Stanley, Blairgowrie, Meigle, Auchterarder, Balbeggie, Rattray and in many sites in Perth. 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: 180 Degree Capital Corp. Notes Filing of Preliminary Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus for Proposed Business Combination With Mount Logan Capital Inc. and Provides Interim Update on Developments in Q1 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MONTCLAIR, N.J., March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 180 Degree Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TURN) (“180 Degree Capital”) today noted that it had filed a preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus on Schedule 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding its proposed merger with Mount Logan Capital Inc. (“Mount Logan”) in an all-stock transaction (the “Business Combination”). As noted in its original press release issued on January 17, 2025, the surviving entity is expected to be a Delaware corporation operating as Mount Logan Capital Inc. (“New Mount Logan”) listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “MLCI”. In connection with the Business Combination, 180 Degree Capital shareholders will receive proportionate ownership of New Mount Logan determined by reference to 180 Degree Capital’s NAV at closing relative to a valuation of Mount Logan of approximately $67.4 million at signing, subject to certain pre-closing adjustments.

    “We are pleased to have the preliminary proxy materials for our proposed Business Combination on file with the SEC and look forward to having more fulsome discussions with our shareholders regarding what we believe to be are the unique opportunities for creation of value for our shareholders through this transaction,” said Kevin M. Rendino, Chief Executive Officer of 180 Degree Capital. “I encourage our shareholders to review our preliminary proxy materials, and when available, our definitive proxy materials, as they contain a detailed background of the robust process of the Special Committee of our Board of Directors that concluded with its recommendation to pursue the Business Combination with Mount Logan. We believe that this Business Combination has the potential to create meaningful value for 180 Degree Capital shareholders and that Mount Logan continues to build value through its growing platform including the recent close of its strategic minority investment in Runway Growth Capital and Mount Logan’s strong operating metrics. We could not be more excited about the potential for further value creation through the combination of our businesses.”

    “We are also pleased that Q1 2025 has been positive for a number of our portfolio holdings, including the culmination of a number of identified potential catalysts that have led to increases in value for these holdings this quarter,” added Daniel B. Wolfe, President of 180 Degree Capital. “We are proud of the significant outperformance of our investment portfolio versus the Russell Microcap Index this year through March 14, 2025. This outperformance was driven primarily by long-awaited catalysts including the announcement of the sale of IVAC to Seagate, the positive Q4 2024 results and outlook from SNCR and the announced sale of certain assets along with the improving operating performance of ACNT, offset by ongoing struggles at LTRX and CVGI. We are optimistic regarding the potential additional value-creating catalysts in our portfolio that we expect to occur during the period between now and the potential closing of the proposed Business Combination with Mount Logan. We remain focused on building the maximum net asset value of 180 Degree Capital heading into this proposed Business Combination to set the floor for potential future value creation for our collective shareholders.”

    Mr. Rendino concluded, “While we remain in a blackout period for management trading of 180 Degree Capital common shares, 180 Degree Capital currently anticipates a trading window will open once an updated Preliminary Proxy Statement/Prospectus that includes U.S. GAAP financial statements for Mount Logan is filed with the SEC.   When a trading window opens, you can expect Daniel and I will be active purchasers of 180 Degree Capital common shares in the open market.”

    About 180 Degree Capital Corp.

    180 Degree Capital Corp. is a publicly traded registered closed-end fund focused on investing in and providing value-added assistance through constructive activism to what we believe are substantially undervalued small, publicly traded companies that have potential for significant turnarounds. Our goal is that the result of our constructive activism leads to a reversal in direction for the share price of these investee companies, i.e., a 180-degree turn. Detailed information about 180 Degree Capital and its holdings can be found on its website at www.180degreecapital.com.

    Press Contact:
    Daniel B. Wolfe
    Robert E. Bigelow
    180 Degree Capital Corp.
    973-746-4500
    ir@180degreecapital.com

    Additional Information and Where to Find It

    In connection with the agreement and plan of merger among 180 Degree Capital Corp. (“180 Degree Capital”), Mount Logan Capital Inc. (“Mount Logan”), Yukon New Parent, Inc. (“New Mount Logan”), Polar Merger Sub, Inc., and Moose Merger Sub, LLC, dated January 16, 2025, as it may from time to time be amended, modified or supplemented (the “Merger Agreement”) that details the proposed combination of the businesses of 180 Degree Capital and Mount Logan and any other transactions contemplated by and pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement (the “Business Combination”), 180 Degree Capital intends to file with the SEC and mail to its shareholders a proxy statement on Schedule 14A (the “Proxy Statement”), containing a form of WHITE proxy card. In addition, the surviving Delaware corporation, New Mount Logan plans to file with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) that will register the exchange of New Mount Logan shares in the Business Combination and include the Proxy Statement and a prospectus of New Mount Logan (the “Prospectus”). The Proxy Statement and the Registration Statement (including the Prospectus) will each contain important information about 180 Degree Capital, Mount Logan, New Mount Logan, the Business Combination and related matters. SHAREHOLDERS OF 180 DEGREE CAPITAL AND MOUNT LOGAN ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND PROSPECTUS CONTAINED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT ARE FILED OR WILL BE FILED WITH THE APPLICABLE SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT 180 DEGREE CAPITAL, MOUNT LOGAN, NEW MOUNT LOGAN, THE BUSINESS COMBINATION AND RELATED MATTERS. Investors and security holders may obtain copies of these documents and other documents filed with the applicable securities regulatory authorities free of charge through the website maintained by the SEC at https://www.sec.gov and the website maintained by the Canadian securities regulators at www.sedarplus.ca. Copies of the documents filed by 180 Degree Capital are also available free of charge by accessing 180 Degree Capital’s investor relations website at https://ir.180degreecapital.com.

    Certain Information Concerning the Participants

    180 Degree Capital, its directors and executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the Business Combination. Information about 180 Degree Capital’s executive officers and directors is available in 180 Degree Capital’s Annual Report filed on Form N-CSR for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was filed with the SEC on February 13, 2025, and in its proxy statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“2024 Annual Meeting”), which was filed with the SEC on March 1, 2024. To the extent holdings by the directors and executive officers of 180 Degree Capital securities reported in the proxy statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting have changed, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Forms 3, 4 or 5 filed with the SEC. These documents are or will be available free of charge at the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov. Additional information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants in the solicitation of the 180 Degree Capital shareholders in connection with the Business Combination will be contained in the Proxy Statement when such document becomes available.

    Mount Logan, its directors and executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Mount Logan in favor of the approval of the Business Combination. Information about Mount Logan’s executive officers and directors is available in Mount Logan’s annual information form dated March 14, 2024, available on its website at https://mountlogancapital.ca/investor-relations and on SEDAR+ at https://sedarplus.ca. To the extent holdings by the directors and executive officers of Mount Logan securities reported in Mount Logan’s annual information form have changed, such changes have been or will be reflected on insider reports filed on SEDI at https://www.sedi.ca/sedi/. Additional information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants in the solicitation of the Mount Logan shareholders in connection with the Business Combination will be contained in the Prospectus included in the Registration Statement when such document becomes available.

    Non-Solicitation

    This letter and the materials accompanying it are not intended to be, and shall not constitute, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made, except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release, and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of 180 Degree Capital and Mount Logan, may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expects,” “intends,” “will,” “should,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “would,” “forecasts,” “seeks,” “future,” “proposes,” “target,” “goal,” “objective,” “outlook” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions). Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and reflect Mount Logan’s and 180 Degree Capital’s current views about future events. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about the benefits of the Business Combination involving Mount Logan and 180 Degree Capital, including future financial and operating results, Mount Logan’s and 180 Degree Capital’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the Business Combination, and other statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to future results of operations, projected cash flow and liquidity, business strategy, payment of dividends to shareholders of New Mount Logan, and other plans and objectives for future operations. No assurances can be given that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release will occur as projected, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the ability to obtain the requisite Mount Logan and 180 Degree Capital shareholder approvals; the risk that Mount Logan or 180 Degree Capital may be unable to obtain governmental and regulatory approvals required for the Business Combination (and the risk that such approvals may result in the imposition of conditions that could adversely affect New Mount Logan or the expected benefits of the Business Combination); the risk that an event, change or other circumstance could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination; the risk that a condition to closing of the Business Combination may not be satisfied; the risk of delays in completing the Business Combination; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; the risk that synergies from the Business Combination may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the risk that any announcement relating to the Business Combination could have adverse effects on the market price of Mount Logan’s common shares or 180 Degree Capital’s common shares; unexpected costs resulting from the Business Combination; the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals will be made; the risk of litigation related to the Business Combination; the risk that the credit ratings of New Mount Logan or its subsidiaries may be different from what the companies expect; the diversion of management time from ongoing business operations and opportunities as a result of the Business Combination; the risk of adverse reactions or changes to business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the announcement or completion of the Business Combination; competition, government regulation or other actions; the ability of management to execute its plans to meet its goals; risks associated with the evolving legal, regulatory and tax regimes; changes in economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions; natural and man-made disasters; civil unrest, pandemics, and conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory, trade and policy changes; and other risks inherent in Mount Logan’s and 180 Degree Capital’s businesses. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports, which 180 Degree Capital has filed or will file from time to time with the SEC and Mount Logan has filed or will file from time to time on SEDAR+.

    Neither Mount Logan nor 180 Degree Capital undertakes any obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Any discussion of past performance is not an indication of future results. Investing in financial markets involves a substantial degree of risk. Investors must be able to withstand a total loss of their investment. The information herein is believed to be reliable and has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made, expressed or implied, with respect to the fairness, correctness, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of the information and opinions. The references and link to the website www.180degreecapital.com and mountlogancapital.ca have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites are not incorporated by reference into this press release. Neither 180 Degree Capital nor Mount Logan is responsible for the contents of third-party websites.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI Releases Revised Priority Sector Lending Guidelines

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    Reserve Bank of India has issued the revised guidelines on Priority Sector Lending (PSL) today after a comprehensive review of existing provisions taking into account feedback from stakeholders. The new guidelines which come into effect from April 01, 2025, include the following major changes:

    1. enhancement of several loan limits, including housing loans for enhanced PSL coverage,

    2. broadening of the purposes based on which loans may be classified under ‘Renewable Energy’,

    3. revision of overall PSL target for UCBs to 60 per cent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent of Off-Balance Sheet Exposures (CEOBSE), whichever is higher.

    4. expansion of the list of eligible borrowers under the category of ‘Weaker Sections’, along with removal of the existing cap on loans by UCBs to individual women beneficiaries.

    The enhanced coverage of the revised guidelines is expected to facilitate better targeting of bank credit to the priority sectors of the economy.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2450

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: As part of Career Day, university representatives and employers discussed how to improve the training of specialists

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Round table at SPbGASU

    As part of the SPbGASU Career Day, a round table “Employers and Universities. Trends and Prospects” was held on March 20. Its participants discussed what is needed to train specialists who best meet modern industry requirements.

    Opening the meeting, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy Marina Malyutina said that holding a round table has become a tradition: it is important for the university to receive feedback from partners.

    A Proven Partnership

    Marina Viktorovna presented a letter of thanks to Nanosoft LLC and personally to the director of programs for the development of interaction with educational organizations “Nanosoft Development” Oleg Egorychev. “We express our deep gratitude for your active participation in organizing the “Career Day of SPbGASU” and training personnel for the construction industry. We greatly appreciate your contribution to the development of professional competencies of students,” the letter says.

    In his response, Oleg Egorychev emphasized that SPbGASU is a long-standing, kind and informative partner of Nanosoft. Together with the university, the company recently held two free educational courses on “Digital Modeling in Construction”. The company plans to hold the next course, as well as organize retraining of teachers from other universities on the basis of SPbGASU.

    Oleg Olegovich said that Nanosoft contributes to solving the tasks set by the head of state – to achieve technological sovereignty, to transition all sectors of the economy to domestic software, including engineering. The company provides its software free of charge to universities, colleges and comprehensive schools; systematically and massively conducts training of the faculty of universities, teachers and mentors of colleges, teachers of comprehensive schools in the use of software. “Because the entry point to any educational process is not licenses at all. These are the teachers, teachers, mentors who lead this educational process,” he noted.

    Mutual benefit

    Marina Malyutina spoke in detail about the cooperation of SPbGASU with partners. The university practices traditional, well-proven forms of interaction: open lectures, seminars, master classes of specialists, excursions to enterprises, career days and job fairs. This also includes the work of company specialists as external part-time workers and members of the State Examination Commission, industrial practice, providing topics for course projects and final qualification works, access to knowledge bases.

    At the same time, innovative methods are being introduced: case championships, competitions with expert consultations. The most famous of them is the student TIM championship.

    Later, the university began to extend this format to secondary vocational education institutions, colleges, and schools, motivating students to enroll in SPbGASU by selecting a target applicant.

    Another new form introduced last year is mini-courses from partners. The university sees a certain gap between the competencies of graduates and those competencies that are in demand on the labor market. In order to reduce this gap, the university offers partners to conduct small special courses from specialists of companies that “grow” students. The courses are voluntary, the topic is a product approach, project activities.

    Marina Malyutina expressed confidence that technological sovereignty is achieved in various ways, including by cultivating innovative entrepreneurial thinking in young people. Since last year, the university has joined the Startup as a Diploma program and has become a participant in the TechnoPiter accelerator. Third place in this program was taken by a student of SPbGASU, who received 200 thousand rubles as a reward.

    SPbGASU expects mentors and experts from companies in the context of developing technological entrepreneurship. In addition, the university invites companies to place their symbols, information stands, and videos on how a future specialist can realize themselves in the university buildings.

    Targeted training

    The Vice-Rector for Youth Policy also focused on targeted training. The audience learned that targeted training comes in two forms: by quota – only for companies with state participation, and not by quota – for any companies, including individual entrepreneurs.

    Under the quota, the contract is concluded at the admission stage. There is a separate competition for such applicants. The training is conducted at the expense of the state budget. After admission, the company pays the students a stipend. But there are risks and difficulties here: the company cannot choose a specific student. In the event of the student being expelled or the employer refusing to employ him, the party that has not fulfilled its obligations pays a fine in the amount of the cost of training.

    A contract for non-quota training can be concluded at any stage of training. There are various options for paying for training – at the expense of the student, the company, at the expense of the state budget, if the contract is concluded with a student studying on a budget place. The positive effect for the company is that it is possible to choose a specific student: look at his academic performance, the topic of term papers and understand how suitable he is. The university is ready to help in this choice. There are fewer risks in this case: the student is already profiled, motivated, he is a target by definition, the probability of his expulsion is small. The company can provide him with support measures. Fines are paid in the same cases as with targeted training under a quota.

    At SPbGASU, quota-based targeted training is coordinated by the admissions committee, while non-quota-based training is coordinated by the student entrepreneurship and career center.

    Project-based learning

    First Vice-Rector Svetlana Golovina emphasized: SPbGASU is for practical orientation, but this entails some difficulties. Students start working from the third year and miss classes. The university makes every effort to ensure that they receive knowledge, including through the Moodle e-learning and testing system, where lectures and assignment texts are available at any time.

    Svetlana Gennadyevna reported on the development of curricula for project-based learning. Project-based learning is an approach in which students learn through independent planning and development of solutions to a problem or task. An expert council of employers has been created for this purpose under the educational and methodological council of SPbGASU. The transition to project-based learning is planned for 2027.

    The First Vice-Rector reported that the university is interested in systemic cooperation and invited employers to join in the development of project activities and student technological entrepreneurship. Partner support can be advisory: in the form of feedback on the quality of graduate training, participation in the development of programs. Expert: participation in the assessment of student projects, support for teams in competitions, olympiads, training. Informational: you can talk about projects on your resources. Organizational: you can take on some of the tasks of preparing and holding certain events. Material: you can provide software, equipment, premises. Financial: student bonuses, investments in the implementation of projects, startups.

    For partners, the value of cooperation lies in finding ideas for solving current problems, developing their scientific and technical base, and innovations. In addition, this supports the image of a socially responsible company and increases brand awareness, and forms a personnel reserve. The company gets the opportunity to form a demand for competencies and influence the content and results of education, which develops the potential of current employees through mentoring and tutoring, and reduces the time and resources for the adaptation of young specialists.

    The roundtable participants completed a survey on new formats of interaction, discussed the importance of mentoring and acquiring fundamental knowledge, and expressed their willingness to join forces to ensure that graduates meet the requirements of the labor market.

    The event was organized by the Center for Student Entrepreneurship and Career of SPbGASU.

    SPbGASU and Nanosoft company thank the representatives of Severnaya Kompaniya, Region LLC, TITAN-2 holding, Glavstroy-Saint Petersburg Specialized Developer LLC, Samolet Group PJSC, StroyKraft LLC, Setl Group, Design Institute No. 2 LLC, ZVSK Invest LLC, Gipronickel Institute LLC, Alfa-Bank, Atomenergoproekt JSC, VDC, ENITA LLC, and LSR Group for their participation in the round table.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: MOHELA Awarded Top Workplace by USA Today for Its Commitment to Employees, Culture, and Community

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ST. LOUIS, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MOHELA, a non-profit governmental corporation dedicated to helping the student loan borrowers it serves, has been named a 2025 USA Today Top Workplace, recognizing employee’s agility and unwavering dedication to both advocating for borrowers and taking care of its team members.

    This prestigious award highlights MOHELA’s dedication to employees, borrowers, and the communities it serves, emphasizing a workplace culture centered on teamwork, agility, and respect.

    “We are honored to be recognized as a USA Today Top Workplace,” said Scott Giles, CEO and Executive Director of MOHELA. “This award is a testament to the culture we have built—one where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to make a real impact on the borrowers we serve.”

    A Culture of Growth and Support

    MOHELA has seen significant growth in recent years, welcoming nearly 900 new employees, expanding its workforce to about 2,000 team members. This growth brought new perspectives and opportunities, strengthening MOHELA’s ability to serve borrowers while maintaining a strong, people-first culture.

    MOHELA’s employee benefits reflect its investment in staff well-being, including hybrid and remote work options, tuition reimbursement for employees and their dependents, and an 8% 401(k) match. Additionally, the MOHELA Cares Program has provided nearly $200,000 in financial assistance to employees facing hardship since 2018.

    “Our employees are the heart of MOHELA,” said Chrissy Ellinger, MOHELA’s Human Resources Director. “This recognition as a Top Workplace reflects our unwavering commitment to creating an environment where employees thrive both professionally and personally.”

    Beyond the Workplace: A Commitment to Community

    MOHELA’s mission extends beyond its employees, with a long-standing commitment to supporting students and families through its foundation programs. In the 2024-25 academic year alone, MOHELA awarded $4.7 million in scholarships to help 2,466 students pursue higher education.

    By fostering a collaborative, mission-driven workplace, MOHELA continues to build a brighter future for both its employees and the borrowers it serves.

    For more information about MOHELA and career opportunities, visit MOHELA.com.

    About MOHELA
    MOHELA is a non-profit, governmental corporation with 40 years of experience and a track record of providing exceptional customer service to the borrowers it serves. MOHELA plays an essential role in the student loan ecosystem, providing support and assistance for around 9 million borrowers.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Time to stop blaming bats and newts for blocking development? A new fund could support nature and ease building delays

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Graham Haughton, Professor, Urban and Environmental Planning, University of Manchester

    Great news for the greater horseshoe bat? ATTILA Barsan/Shutterstock

    For years, nature has been blamed as a blocker of economic growth. After some ministerial bluster about not letting newts and bats get in the way of growth ambitions, the UK government released more details of its plans to get Britain building again.

    The centrepiece of its aspirations to balance both nature and economic growth is a nature restoration fund, to be set up in England through changes to habitat regulations. This should allow developers to stay within their legal obligations towards nature through a payment scheme without delaying their projects.

    The broad concept is that, as an alternative to relocating important species or improving habitats on the site of a proposed development, a developer could pay into the nature restoration fund. This would pay for larger, more strategically located schemes to protect the species in question.

    The fund simplifies and streamlines the regulations while collecting funds to promote more, bigger, better and increasingly joined-up sites for nature.

    Protecting nature is not just about bats and newts. According to trade association the Home Builders Federation (HBF), there are 160,000 homes being delayed by what are known as “nutrient neutrality” measures. These rules were a response to growing public concerns about land and water pollution caused by nutrient loads – pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus – associated with livestock farming and spillages from sewage works.

    Government agency Natural England advised 74 local authorities that they should not allow any more house building in their areas unless this pollution could be mitigated. But this has led to lengthy and expensive project-by-project reviews to identify potential damage.

    How will a fund help?

    The fund will build on some schemes that are already known to work. One such scheme works for the protection of great-crested newts. Another successful scheme is Thames Basin Heaths project, working to protect and enhance heathland sites where rare birds such as nightingales breed. Crucially, this scheme allows new development to go ahead in adjacent areas.

    The fund will be run by Natural England, which aims to draw on these experiences to unblock development at a large scale rather than at single-site level, pooling contributions from developers to pay for mitigation measures when there is a risk to nature.

    If a particular “blocking” issue is identified, experts from Natural England will produce a plan, which must be approved by the environment secretary. A levy on developers will then pay for mitigation measures “in perpetuity” (often 30 years), allowing the development to get under way.



    Read more:
    The government has revealed its plans to get Britain building again. Some of them might just work

    Environmental experts have cautiously welcomed the general principles and approach of the nature restoration fund. But there has also been concern about whether the plan is well enough thought through. There are also questions on how well it will integrate with other schemes.

    A widespread worry is for the future of biodiversity net gain – which includes measures for creating and improving habitat banks using biodiversity units, effectively a form of “nature market”. This approach sets a target of 10% for biodiversity improvement based upon the combined distinctness, condition and significance of affected habitats over the lifetime of the development. But these measures are only just getting started.

    The concern is that providers of sites for these habitat banks – which might be councils, landowners, charities or private businesses, for example – might get cold feet and pull out if they can’t be certain that their plans will be compatible with the nature restoration fund.

    The Thames Basin Heaths scheme has been protecting the breeding grounds of nightingales.
    Erni/Shutterstock

    There is concern, too, about how payments from the nature restoration fund would be calculated. These will need to be locally appropriate and not pit nature restoration and biodiversity net gain against each other if, for example, landowners are forced to choose a particular scheme for their land that they are then committed to for decades. With two parallel systems in play, the relationship between them must be crystal clear, otherwise shared goals could be missed.

    Another question is whether Natural England can be both regulator and financial beneficiary of the new scheme. There have been calls from some of those already involved in nature markets for some form of independent oversight.

    And it will also be vital that the new scheme respects what’s known as the “mitigation hierarchy”. This hierarchy aims to avoid, reduce and then mitigate any impacts on nature on-site in that order. Then developers should consider off-site measures in areas where there could be greater gains for biodiversity.

    But a danger here is that this could disconnect people from nature even further by mitigating ecological loss miles away from the site of the damage. This disconnection is considered to be a critical underlying cause of biodiversity loss.

    There is much to like about the nature restoration fund, but there is a risk that little will be achieved without the government showing genuine ambition and allocating enough money and staff to properly monitor and enforce it over the long term. Only time will tell whether it achieves the government’s goal of speeding up development.

    At the moment, it is not clear how the fund will complement similar schemes and there is a danger of creating a complex patchwork in nature restoration funding. But if it works well, it could provide a richer funding ecosystem for nature recovery – a much-needed boost for England’s nature-depleted landscape.

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

    – ref. Time to stop blaming bats and newts for blocking development? A new fund could support nature and ease building delays – https://theconversation.com/time-to-stop-blaming-bats-and-newts-for-blocking-development-a-new-fund-could-support-nature-and-ease-building-delays-252765

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Three graphic novels that address the history of slavery – and commemorate resistance

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dominic Davies, Senior Lecturer in English, City St George’s, University of London

    Millions of people were abducted from west Africa and forcibly trafficked to the Americas over the 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade, from the 15th to the 19th century.

    Slavery treated these people as forms of property. It forced them, with brutal violence, to work on plantations producing commodities such as cotton and coffee, sugar and tobacco. Their labour powered the world economy for several centuries.

    While common understanding of this history has improved, less frequently remembered are those who spearheaded resistance against slavery. Revolutionary uprisings led by enslaved people themselves, as well as actions by radical groups such as Quakers and mutinous pirates, challenged slavery long before William Wilberforce and Britain’s abolition movement.

    Now, an increasingly popular genre of the graphic novel is building public awareness and memory of these movements. Composing its stories of the past from framed documents, fragmented images and scraps of text, the form of the graphic novel resembles an archive. It is therefore well-placed to bring forgotten histories to life and to reflect on how those histories were recovered.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    Here are three recent graphic novels that can help us to remember resistance against slavery. They follow in the footsteps of historian Rebecca Hall’s collaboration with artist Hugo Martínez, Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts (2021), which I would also strongly recommend.

    1. Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History

    By C.L.R. James, Nic Watts, and Sakina Karimjee (2023)

    In the early 1930s, the anti-colonial historian, C.L.R. James, wrote a play about the 1791 Haitian Revolution and its leader, Toussaint Louverture.

    It dramatised the story of the only successful slave revolt in history, when 100,000 slaves rose up against their white masters and eventually secured independence after almost 15 years of struggle.

    James’s play was performed only twice in 1936, with the great African American actor Paul Robeson in the title role. The script was then lost for several decades, until 2005, when the historian Christian Høgsberg discovered a copy in the archives at the University of Hull and published a new edition of the play.

    In 2012, graphic artist, Nic Watts and theatre practitioner, Sakina Karimjee, decided to bring James’s play back to life – not on the stage, but in the pages of a graphic novel.

    James, who died in 1989, might not have guessed that he would one day be a co-creator of a graphic novel. But he would surely have been impressed with Toussaint Louverture, which takes readers through the Haitian Revolution in almost 300 thrilling pages.

    The graphic novel uses its uniquely spatial medium to map the connections between the French Revolution, which proclaimed universal rights for all men, and the slave uprising in Haiti, which sought to realise those rights in France’s colonies. It is packed with powerful symbols and imagery that build a rich picture of the strategies and tactics that led to the uprising’s eventual victory.

    2. Prophet Against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, A Graphic Novel

    By David Lester, edited by Paul Buhle and Marcus Rediker (2023)

    Historian Marcus Rediker has devoted his career to uncovering early histories of resistance against slavery and sharing them in compelling and accessible formats.

    In 2021 he teamed up with the illustrator, David Lester, and longtime graphic historian, Paul Buhle, to translate this work into graphic novels.

    The first, Prophet Against Slavery, takes readers back to a Quaker meeting house in the early 1700s. In its dramatic opening scene, Benjamin Lay disrupts the meeting with a piece of performance theatre. He appears to stab his own arm in protest against slavery, though we later learn that the spouting blood was in fact “red pokeberry juice”.

    Lay was an innovator of performance protest, and he developed the strategy of boycotting commodities produced by slave labour. As Prophet Against Slavery details, he was one of the earliest and most outspoken abolitionists, campaigning for the end of the transatlantic slave trade almost a century before Wilberforce.

    He was also a pioneer of veganism and an advocate for animal rights. Lay saw the parallels between early capitalism’s enclosure of common land in England and slavery’s enclosure of people’s bodies in the US. The claustrophobic borders of Lester’s graphic novel dramatise these acts of property making, even as they document Lay’s stubborn attempts to liberate the oppressed from bondage.

    The enslaved themselves do not have a voice in Prophet Against Slavery. But Lester uses powerful charcoal sketches and image-only panels to make sure their presence is never forgotten.

    These haunting images remind readers of the human cost of slavery without presuming to speak for those whose voices have been excluded from the written archive.

    3. Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, A Graphic Novel

    By David Lester and Marcus Rediker (2023)

    Rediker and Lester teamed up again for Under the Banner of King Death. The title refers to the skull and cross bones flag that flies on the masts of pirate ships.

    But this is not your conventional story of evil pirates drinking rum and hunting for gold (although there is some of that). It is rather a portrait of the pirate ship as a space of self-determination and political freedom at a time when, as Rediker puts it, “poor people had no democratic rights anywhere in the world”.

    The graphic novel tells the story of John Gwin, an African-American man who escaped from slavery in South Carolina. After being kidnapped by the Royal African Company to labour on a slaving ship, he decides to resist. He rallies his shipmates, liberates the Africans below deck, and leads a mutiny to overthrow Skinner, the tyrannical captain.

    With Skinner deposed, the pirates establish a commune at sea: “A world turned upside down,” as Gwin calls it. “All captains and officers elected. All tars [sailors] treated as brothers. No tyranny of the lash.” There is no hierarchy on this ship. Instead, they return to west Africa and begin breaking people out of slave castles along the coast.

    Lester’s pen-and-ink sketches and frantic page layouts capture the scattergun nature of pirate life in the 17th century. It was a dangerous existence. Such was the threat posed by pirates to the ruling order that the British Navy worked quickly to capture them and make an example. Under the Banner of King Death starts and ends with hanging scenes, where pirates were put to death in public.

    But while the British state could hang the pirates, it couldn’t kill their idea of freedom from slavery. Lester and Rediker recover this history and remind us of the revolutionary spirit that the skull and cross bones flag once represented.

    These graphic novels commemorate new histories of resistance to the slave trade, while also reminding us of the historiographic work that must be put into recovering and retelling them, now and in the future.

    Dominic Davies 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. Three graphic novels that address the history of slavery – and commemorate resistance – https://theconversation.com/three-graphic-novels-that-address-the-history-of-slavery-and-commemorate-resistance-251740

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: There’s a global tug-of-war for Greenland’s resources – but the new government has its own plans

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nicolas Jouan, Senior Defence and Security Analyst, RAND Europe

    Greenland’s parliamentary election was held on March 11 against a backdrop of repeated calls from the Trump administration for America to annex the island. The poll delivered a momentous shift in Greenland’s political landscape as the pro-business Demokraatit (Democrats) emerged as the biggest winners overturning the two left-leaning parties which had formed the previous government.

    Securing nearly 30% of the vote and gaining seven seats for a total of ten in the Inatsisartut (parliament), the party now holds the strongest mandate it has ever had. Close behind was the nationalist Naleraq party, which secured 24.5% of the vote and gained four seats, bringing their total to eight.

    While both parties are united in their rejection of Trump’s ambitions and share a vision of Greenlandic independence, their approaches couldn’t be more different. Demokraatit advocates for a gradual, measured process, prioritising economic development. The party considers that economic self-sufficiency and strengthening domestic infrastructure are key preconditions to achieve independence. Naleraq, on the other hand, is pushing for a rapid break from Denmark. Its line is that Greenland will only be able to unleash its potential, economic and otherwise, once independent.

    Independence has long been the dominant theme of Greenlandic politics. Ever since the territory gained home rule in 1979, most political parties across the spectrum have championed the idea of full independence from the kingdom of Denmark. Even the two major challengers – the Inuit Ataqatigiit, which lost five seats at the election to drop to seven, and the once-dominant Siumut, which lost six and now holds just four seats – are pro-independence.

    But while independence remains a defining issue, the real story of this election is Greenland’s economy. The island is sitting on a treasure trove of rare earth elements, uranium, iron and other minerals critical to global industries. Yet despite decades of interest from foreign investors, strict regulations and environmental concerns have often slowed development.

    With Demokraatit’s rise, that could change. The party is pushing for pro-business policies, including tax incentives, streamlined regulations and reduced state intervention in key industries like mining, fisheries and tourism. If successful, these reforms could transform Greenland into a major player in the global supply chain.

    Despite its electoral gains, Demokraatit faces a challenge in implementing its economic vision. The party’s potential coalition partner, Naleraq, is deeply sceptical of foreign investment, at least when it comes from Denmark and Europe. While open to partnerships with the US, Naleraq is adamant that Greenland must retain full control over its resources, resisting any foreign influence that could compromise national sovereignty.

    This ideological divide could create friction within a potential coalition government. Will Demokraatit’s pro-business agenda be tempered by Naleraq’s nationalistic stance? Or will the promise of economic growth push both parties toward compromise?

    Global powers are watching

    Greenland’s election came at a time when it was already the focus of world attention. Its strategic location and vast resources have attracted growing interest from global superpowers – none more so than the US. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, a move widely considered unrealistic, but indicative of Washington’s strategic priorities.

    American interest in Greenland isn’t new. The island is home to the Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, since the 1950s as a critical part of North American missile defence and whose Arctic position makes it a key player in both American territorial defence and Nato’s security architecture. Pituffik is the only non-Danish military presence in the territory and is the northernmost American military base.

    But the White House’s rhetoric has taken a more insistent tone, raising questions about whether the US might attempt to exert greater influence over Greenland’s economic and political future. The interest in Greenland seems guided by at least two factors: its strategic position at the centre of the North Atlantic security complex and its economic potential with hard-to-access but abundant resources.

    In both cases, the growing involvement of both Russia and China in the Arctic seem to make the US wary of a potentially independent Greenland getting closer to unfriendly great powers.

    Denmark’s central government is walking a diplomatic tightrope when it comes to responding to the US government’s repeated intentions to annex Greenland. Copenhagen has sought to Europeanise the debate, floating the idea of Greenland joining the European Union. Taking this step would provide welcome economic support to the island but could also clash with Greenland’s scepticism toward European interference.

    Greenland now stands at a crossroads. Domestically, negotiations between Demokraatit and Naleraq will likely shape the trajectory of the island’s economic and independence ambitions. Internationally, major powers – including the US, the EU and possibly even China and Russia – are positioning themselves to engage with Greenland’s untapped potential.

    As the world’s focus on Greenland intensifies, one thing is clear: this Arctic nation is no longer a remote outpost. It is fast becoming a key battleground for economic, political and strategic influence in the North Atlantic.

    Nicolas Jouan 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. There’s a global tug-of-war for Greenland’s resources – but the new government has its own plans – https://theconversation.com/theres-a-global-tug-of-war-for-greenlands-resources-but-the-new-government-has-its-own-plans-252396

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Facing annexation threats, should Canadians lament for a nation — like George Grant did in 1963?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By David Edward Tabachnick, Professor of Political Science, Nipissing University

    A decades-old lament for Canada is back on some Canadians’ minds as United States President Donald Trump makes repeated annexation threats.

    Canadian political philosopher George Grant’s Lament for a Nation was published in 1965 — the same year Canada’s iconic Maple Leaf flag was first unfurled on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill — and unexpectedly inspired many Canadians to feel a sudden sense of pride and confidence that their country could and must stand up to its giant imperialistic neighbour to the south.

    Sixty years later, there are calls to “Bring Back Grumpy George” and renew his decades-old warning. There are also attempts to understand Grant’s continued relevance in the 21st century, as well as new volumes on his work.

    Canadian nationalist movement of 70s

    On the face of it, Grant’s slim volume may seem the perfect tonic for what ails Canada today. Consider that William Christian, Grant’s biographer, called its publication “one of the most significant factors in creating the Canadian nationalist movement of the 1970s” while esteemed journalist Charles P.B. Taylor dubbed it “a Bible for younger nationalists.”

    It “is the sun under which a generation of Canadian nationalists warm themselves,” Andrew Potter writes in his introduction to the 40th anniversary edition of Grant’s most famous work, “but it also casts the long dark shadows in which they must operate.”

    One need only wade a little into the volume to see those “the long dark shadows.” The subtitle to Grant’s book says it all: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism. So, far from being a call to arms, Lament for a Nation was, as Grant put it, a “cry out at the death or at the dying of something loved…[to mourn] the end of Canada as a sovereign state.”

    In other words, Lament was never intended to whip Canadians into a nationalist fervour, but to spell out Canada’s unfortunate and inevitable disappearance as a nation.

    ‘Blending into the (U.S.) empire’

    By this logic, the next six decades of failed strategies to diversify the Canadian economy and stillborn plans to grow its military are symptoms of a disease that had already killed the patient; Canada is the zombie nation, an apparently democratic electoral system without real substance. Grant wrote:

    “Canada has ceased to be a nation, but its formal political existence will not end quickly. Our social and economic blending into the empire will continue apace, but political union will probably be delayed. Some international catastrophe or great shift of power might speed up this process.”

    For Grant, Canada’s original death knell was acquiescence to American demands that it accept their nuclear weapons on its soil. While Canada had both the technical ability and practical capacity to build its own bombs after the Second World War, leaders decided against it.

    Jack Mackenzie, first president of Atomic Energy Control Board, explained in a 1953 address: “Canada is the only country in the world with sizeable atomic energy establishments where no bombs are being made, and where all the thinking and planning is focused on peacetime aspects.”

    But in the context of the Cold War, this principled choice was viewed as a sign of weakness by Americans, who worried about Soviet bombers travelling unrestricted over the Arctic.

    Defence crisis

    This worry led to the so-called defence crisis that dominated the federal 1963 election campaign, fought between Conservative Prime Minister Diefenbaker and Liberal Lester B. Pearson.

    A beleaguered Diefenbaker had cancelled the vaunted Avro Arrow program a few years earlier, hesitated to commit the Navy to participate in the blockade of Cuba and then balked at accepting American warheads for the BOMARC interceptor missiles designed to stop those bombers.

    The pugnacious Pearson was once a champion of non-proliferation and had shocked his supporters during his infamous Scarborough speech when he announced his surprising agreement that U.S. nukes had to be deployed on Canadian soil in the name of our “commitments for Canada in continental and collective defence,” including NORAD and NATO.

    For Grant, Diefenbaker’s defeat to Pearson was a stake through the heart of the Canada from which it would never recover. In 1963, the Royal Canadian Air Force delivered a shipment of nuclear warheads to the BOMARC missile site near RCAF Station North Bay, Ont., just up the road from where I write today.

    End of Canadian nationalism?

    A few years before his passing in 1988, Grant made it clear in a 1985 interview with Lawrence (Larry) Schmidt, a theologian and a scholar of Grant’s work, that “people have read a little book I wrote called Lament for a Nation wrongly. I was talking about the end of Canadian nationalism. I was saying that this is over and people read it as if I was making an appeal for Canadian nationalism. I think that is just nonsense. I think they just read it wrongly.”

    Today, Canadian economic well-being and security are no more in Canada’s control then they were in 1965. Trump is merely saying the quiet part out loud in his craven desire to make Canada the 51st state.

    Was Grant wrong?

    But, as it turns out, Grant was wrong. Canada is not the zombie nation. It may have been in a bit of daze for the last while, but Canadians have their elbows up again.



    Read more:
    Why Gordie Howe’s elbows are Canada’s answer to Donald Trump

    Now out of a stupor, Canadians are reviewing the wisdom of purchasing F-35s, buying new radar systems to assert our sovereignty over the Arctic and attempting to drop interprovincial trade barriers.

    Mind you, this is nothing new. In the face of American disapproval, Canada trades with Cuba, claims the Northwest Passage as its internal waters and negotiated a successful Acid Rain Treaty. Canada led the charge to ban the use of land mines and refused to participate in the American missile shield plan.

    Canada didn’t send its young men to die in the jungles of Vietnam and refused to participate in the ill-conceived Iraq War. And it still protects its fresh water and health care.

    New policy for common cause

    Still, rather than merely reacting to American insults and pressures, Canada is long overdue to develop contemporary and responsive policy, the very thing Grant thought would allow Canada to become and stay a sovereign country, at least for a while.

    As writer and historical researcher Mark Wegierski notes, this could unite conservatives and progressives in common cause.

    While Canadians may be divided at times, they need to use this moment of unity to make sure Canada stays alive and kicking.

    David Edward Tabachnick 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. Facing annexation threats, should Canadians lament for a nation — like George Grant did in 1963? – https://theconversation.com/facing-annexation-threats-should-canadians-lament-for-a-nation-like-george-grant-did-in-1963-252337

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) Signs US$ 20 Million Line of Financing Agreement with Trustbank in Uzbekistan

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

    TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 24, 2025/APO Group/ —

    The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-idb.org/), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, signed a US$20 million Line of Trade Financing Agreement with Trustbank in Uzbekistan under the Murabaha structure. This agreement aims to bolster trade finance accessibility for SMEs, women entrepreneurs, green financing initiatives, and food security aimed at reinforcing Uzbekistan’s economic resilience.

    Under this facility, import and pre-export financing will be available to private-sector businesses in Uzbekistan, driving trade and supporting sectors critical to the country’s economic development.

    The signing ceremony took place at ITFC’s headquarters, with Mr. Sardor Normukhamedov, Chairman of the Management Board of Trustbank, and Mr. Nazeem Noordali, Officer-in-Charge, CEO ITFC, formalizing the agreement.

    Commenting on the signing, Nazeem Noordali stated: “The private sector remains a key driver of Uzbekistan’s economic development, and Trustbank’s commitment to supporting its growth is commendable. At ITFC, we are dedicated to empowering businesses through strategic trade finance solutions, and this partnership with Trustbank provides a robust platform to achieve tangible and lasting economic impact.”

    “Our bank always strives for innovation, reliability and dynamic development. Cooperation with ITFC will allow us to combine our experience and advanced financial instruments to create effective solutions that meet modern challenges.” stated Mr. Sardor Normukhamedov.

    This financing falls within the US$600 million Framework Agreement signed between ITFC and the Republic of Uzbekistan in March 2024, which underscores ITFC’s long-term commitment to fostering private sector development and strengthening the trade ecosystem of Uzbekistan.

    This agreement, the third consecutive facility between ITFC and Trustbank, brings the total financing provided to the bank to over US$44 million, further unlocking trade opportunities and enhancing financial inclusion. Since 2019, ITFC has approved over US$168 million in support of Uzbekistan’s private sector, reinforcing its role in driving economic opportunities and advancing UN SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council – Advancing Adaptability in UN Peace Operations: responding to new realities [bilingual, as delivered; scroll down for all-English and all-French versions]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Mr. President, Excellencies,
     
    I thank the government of Denmark for convening this high-level discussion.

    United Nations peace operations safeguard people and communities in some of the most desperate places on earth. 

    These operations comprise both peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

    Their work ranges from early warning to preventive diplomacy…

    From peacemaking to verifying peace agreements to protecting civilians…

    From negotiating ceasefires to helping parties implement them on the ground…

    To electoral support and observer missions.

    Collectively, these operations represent a critical tool at this Council’s disposal to maintain international peace and security in a variety of contexts.

    Since the first special political mission and peacekeeping operation were deployed in 1948, our peace operations have grown, adapted and evolved.

    Time and again, they allow us to mount tailored responses that have saved lives, reduced violence, prevented the expansion and spillover of deadly conflicts, and stopped atrocities.

    Peace operations are designed not only to be an effective example of multilateralism in action — but a cost-effective one.

    At their best, they show how when the UN comes together to address challenges, the burden is diminished on individual countries alone.  

    But as we all know, peace operations face serious barriers that demand new approaches.

    Wars are becoming more complex and more deadly. 

    They last longer, and are more enmeshed in global and regional dynamics. 

    Negotiated settlements have been harder to achieve.

    Meanwhile, our peace operations are confronted with a complex interplay of threats — many of which do not respect national borders.

    Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies, and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond.

    And, I regret to say, geopolitical divisions are undermining peace.

    The bilateral and multilateral arrangements that — for decades — have managed tensions and maintained stability are eroding.  

    Violations of international law, human rights and the UN Charter are rampant — seemingly without consequence.

    Trust is in short supply among — and within — countries and regions.

    All of these challenges and more throw fuel on the fires of conflict.

    Meanwhile, our peace responses are struggling.  

    We see a persistent mismatch between mandates and available resources.

    And we see increasing differences of views — including in this Council itself — around how peace operations should work, under what circumstances, with what mandates they should be deployed, and for how long.

    Excellencies,

    This is a grim diagnosis, but we must face facts.

    The good news is that, through the Pact for the Future, Member States committed to working to adapt peace operations for the future.

    This is an important opportunity to gain a shared understanding of what makes peace operations successful …

    What is hindering their effectiveness …

    And what new models we can use to make them more adaptable, flexible and resilient — while recognizing the limitations in situations where there is little or no peace to keep. 

    My recent proposals to you in the context of Haiti are a good example.

    We must keep working for a political process — owned and led by the Haitian people — that restores democratic institutions through elections.

    And the UN has a clear role to play in supporting stability and security, while addressing the root causes of the appalling crisis.

    The UN stands ready to assume the responsibility of the logistical and operational expenditures — including transportation, medical capabilities and support for the national police — that can support an enhanced international force by Member States that is able to confront the gangs in Haiti and create conditions for peace.   

    And the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.

    This is a good example of how we can design a tailored and collective approach to peace operations in an extremely complex and dangerous environment. 

    Other examples of adapting our peace operations include UNIFIL, which recently developed an adaptation plan to support the parties to uphold their obligations under resolution 1701…

    And our operations in Abyei, Sudan, where we reconfigured our peace operations into a multinational force.

    We also increasingly see the enormous benefits of strengthening cooperation with regional and subregional organizations.

    Security Council resolution 2719 is an important example.

    This breakthrough has lifted our partnership with the African Union to a new level as we work to establish peace enforcement missions under the responsibility of the African Union, supported by the United Nations.

    We are now working actively across our two Secretariats to meet the vision of the resolution, and I urge Council Members to fully support this work.

    Excellencies,

    It’s time to build on these examples and continue adapting our peace operations for current and future challenges. 

    Work is now underway to review all forms of peace operations, as requested by Member States in the Pact for the Future.

    The review will aim to critically examine these tools and propose concrete recommendations to make them fit for today.

    This will include extensive consultations with Member States and others to inform — and inspire — recommendations.

    The review will build on the analysis presented in the New Agenda for Peace.

    It will be informed by the first comprehensive study of the history of special political missions in the 80 years of the United Nations, which will be released soon.

    And it will reflect the Pact’s call to ensure that peace operations engage at the earliest possible stage in planning transitions with host countries, UN Country Teams and local and regional groups.

    The review also aligns with the Pact’s call to this Council to ensure that peace operations are guided by clear and sequenced mandates that are realistic and achievable — with viable exit strategies and transition plans.

    And it will draw on the discussions taking place in preparation for the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin in May focusing on the future of peacekeeping.

    Excellences,

    Tout au long de l’étude, nous mènerons des consultations approfondies afin de recueillir un éventail de vues aussi large que possible et de bénéficier d’une expertise mondiale.

    Celle des États Membres, des pays hôtes, des pays fournisseurs de contingents ou de personnel de police et des contributeurs financiers…

    Celle des organisations régionales, de la société civile et des milieux universitaires, ainsi que de nos propres hauts responsables et experts des opérations de paix des Nations Unies et du Secrétariat.

    Bien entendu, l’étude contribuera à éclairer les efforts que nous déployons dans le cadre de l’initiative ONU80, afin de dégager des gains d’efficacité et des améliorations dans tous nos axes de travail – compte tenu des défis persistants de financement auxquels notre Organisation est confrontée.

    Excellences,

    Le débat public d’aujourd’hui est une occasion précieuse pour le Conseil de partager toute idée et point de vue qui pourrait contribuer à l’étude.

    J’invite tous les États Membres à apporter leur pierre à l’édifice.

    Et j’appelle ce Conseil à continuer à œuvrer pour surmonter les divisions et les désaccords entourant les opérations de paix, et bâtir le soutien politique unifié et cohérent dont nos opérations de paix – et les femmes et les hommes qui les mènent – ont tant besoin.

    Je vous remercie.

    ***
    All-English

    Mr. President, Excellencies,
     
    I thank the government of Denmark for convening this high-level discussion.

    United Nations peace operations safeguard people and communities in some of the most desperate places on earth. 

    These operations comprise both peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

    Their work ranges from early warning to preventive diplomacy…

    From peacemaking to verifying peace agreements to protecting civilians…

    From negotiating ceasefires to helping parties implement them on the ground…

    To electoral support and observer missions.

    Collectively, these operations represent a critical tool at this Council’s disposal to maintain international peace and security in a variety of contexts.

    Since the first special political mission and peacekeeping operation were deployed in 1948, our peace operations have grown, adapted and evolved.

    Time and again, they allow us to mount tailored responses that have saved lives, reduced violence, prevented the expansion and spillover of deadly conflicts, and stopped atrocities.

    Peace operations are designed not only to be an effective example of multilateralism in action — but a cost-effective one.

    At their best, they show how when the UN comes together to address challenges, the burden is diminished on individual countries alone.  

    But as we all know, peace operations face serious barriers that demand new approaches.

    Wars are becoming more complex and more deadly. 

    They last longer, and are more enmeshed in global and regional dynamics. 

    Negotiated settlements have been harder to achieve.

    Meanwhile, our peace operations are confronted with a complex interplay of threats — many of which do not respect national borders.

    Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies, and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond.

    And, I regret to say, geopolitical divisions are undermining peace.

    The bilateral and multilateral arrangements that — for decades — have managed tensions and maintained stability are eroding.  

    Violations of international law, human rights and the UN Charter are rampant — seemingly without consequence.

    Trust is in short supply among — and within — countries and regions.

    All of these challenges and more throw fuel on the fires of conflict.

    Meanwhile, our peace responses are struggling.  

    We see a persistent mismatch between mandates and available resources.

    And we see increasing differences of views — including in this Council itself — around how peace operations should work, under what circumstances, with what mandates they should be deployed, and for how long.

    Excellencies,

    This is a grim diagnosis, but we must face facts.

    The good news is that, through the Pact for the Future, Member States committed to working to adapt peace operations for the future.

    This is an important opportunity to gain a shared understanding of what makes peace operations successful …

    What is hindering their effectiveness …

    And what new models we can use to make them more adaptable, flexible and resilient — while recognizing the limitations in situations where there is little or no peace to keep. 

    My recent proposals to you in the context of Haiti are a good example.

    We must keep working for a political process — owned and led by the Haitian people — that restores democratic institutions through elections.

    And the UN has a clear role to play in supporting stability and security, while addressing the root causes of the appalling crisis.

    The UN stands ready to assume the responsibility of the logistical and operational expenditures — including transportation, medical capabilities and support for the national police — that can support an international force established by Member States that is able to confront the gangs in Haiti and create conditions for peace.   

    And the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.

    This is a good example of how we can design a tailored and collective approach to peace operations in an extremely complex and dangerous environment. 

    Other examples of adapting our peace operations include UNIFIL, which recently developed an adaptation plan to support the parties to uphold their obligations under resolution 1701…

    And our operations in Abyei, Sudan, where we reconfigured our peace operations into a multinational force.

    We also increasingly see the enormous benefits of strengthening cooperation with regional and subregional organizations.

    Security Council resolution 2719 is an important example.

    This breakthrough has lifted our partnership with the African Union to a new level as we work to establish peace enforcement missions under the responsibility of the African Union, supported by the United Nations.

    We are now working actively across our two Secretariats to meet the vision of the resolution, and I urge Council Members to fully support this work.

    Excellencies,

    It’s time to build on these examples and continue adapting our peace operations for current and future challenges. 

    Work is now underway to review all forms of peace operations, as requested by Member States in the Pact for the Future.

    The review will aim to critically examine these tools and propose concrete recommendations to make them fit for today.

    This will include extensive consultations with Member States and others to inform — and inspire — recommendations.

    The review will build on the analysis presented in the New Agenda for Peace.

    It will be informed by the first comprehensive study of the history of special political missions in the 80 years of the United Nations, which will be released soon.

    And it will reflect the Pact’s call to ensure that peace operations engage at the earliest possible stage in planning transitions with host countries, UN Country Teams and local and regional groups.

    The review also aligns with the Pact’s call to this Council to ensure that peace operations are guided by clear and sequenced mandates that are realistic and achievable — with viable exit strategies and transition plans.

    And it will draw on the discussions taking place in preparation for the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin in May focusing on the future of peacekeeping.

    Excellencies,

    Throughout, we will hold extensive consultations to capture as wide a spectrum of views as possible and to benefit from worldwide expertise.

    From Member States, host States, troop- and police-contributing countries and financial contributors…

    To regional organizations, civil society and academia, and our own leaders and experts within UN peace operations and the Secretariat.

    And the review will, of course, help inform our efforts through our UN@80 initiative, to find efficiencies and improvements across our work in light of the continued funding challenges we face as an organization.  

    Excellencies,

    Today’s open debate provides a vital opportunity for the Council to share perspectives and ideas to inform the review process.

    I urge all Members to support it.

    And I call on this Council to continue working to overcome divisions and disagreements around peace operations, and build the unified and consistent political support our peace operations — and the women and men who conduct them — need and deserve.

    Thank you.

    ***
    All-French

    Monsieur le Président, Excellences,

    Je remercie le Gouvernement danois d’avoir organisé ce débat de haut niveau.

    Les opérations de paix des Nations unies protègent les personnes et les communautés dans certains des endroits les plus éprouvés de la planète. 

    Ces opérations comprennent à la fois les opérations de maintien de la paix et les missions politiques spéciales.

    Leur travail va de l’alerte rapide à diplomatie préventive…

    Du rétablissement de la paix à la vérification de l’application des accords de paix et de la protection des civils…

    De la négociation de cessez-le-feu au soutien de leur mise en œuvre par les parties sur le terrain…

    Ou encore aux missions d’observation et d’appui électoral.

    Prises ensemble, ces opérations dotent le Conseil d’un outil essentiel pour maintenir la paix et la sécurité internationales dans divers contextes.

    Depuis le déploiement de la première mission politique spéciale et de la première opération de maintien de la paix en 1948, nos opérations de paix se sont développées, adaptées et transformées.

    Elles nous permettent régulièrement d’intervenir de façon ciblée pour sauver des vies, réduire la violence, enrayer l’élargissement et le débordement de conflits meurtriers, et mettre fin à des atrocités.

    Les opérations de paix sont conçues pour démontrer non seulement l’efficacité du multilatéralisme en action mais aussi son intérêt en termes de coûts.

    Dans le meilleur des cas, elles montrent qu’il est possible d’alléger le fardeau qui pèse sur chaque pays individuellement lorsque les Nations Unies se rallient pour agir.

    Toutefois, comme nous le savons tous, les opérations de paix se heurtent à des obstacles de taille, et de nouvelles approches s’imposent.

    Les guerres deviennent plus complexes et plus meurtrières.

    Elles durent plus longtemps et sont davantage imbriquées dans des dynamiques mondiales et régionales.

    Il est plus difficile de parvenir à des règlements négociés.

    Parallèlement, un entrelacs complexe de menaces, dont beaucoup transcendent les frontières nationales, se dresse face aux opérations de paix.

    Les groupes terroristes et extrémistes, la criminalité organisée, la militarisation des nouvelles technologies et les effets des changements climatiques sont autant de phénomènes qui mettent à l’épreuve nos capacités d’intervention.

    Et – je suis navré de le constater – les divisions géopolitiques sapent la paix.

    Les accords bilatéraux et multilatéraux qui, pendant des décennies, avaient permis de maîtriser les tensions et de préserver la stabilité s’érodent.

    Les violations du droit international, des droits humains et de la Charte des Nations Unies sont légion – sans que cela ne porte à conséquence, semble-t-il.

    La confiance se fait rare entre les pays, entre les régions, et à l’intérieur de ceux-ci.

    Tous ces dangers, et bien d’autres encore, attisent la flamme des conflits.

    De notre côté, nos interventions en faveur de la paix sont à la peine.

    Nous constatons une asymétrie persistante entre les mandats confiés et les ressources disponibles.

    Et nous constatons des divergences de vues de plus en plus marquées – y compris au sein même de ce Conseil – sur les modalités de fonctionnement des opérations de paix, les circonstances justifiant leur déploiement, la teneur de leur mandat et leur durée.

    Excellences,

    Le diagnostic peut paraître sombre, mais il correspond à la réalité.

    La bonne nouvelle est que les États Membres se sont engagés dans le Pacte pour l’avenir à adapter les opérations de paix pour l’avenir.

    Voilà une occasion privilégiée de dégager une réponse commune aux questions suivantes : quelles sont les conditions de réussite des opérations de paix ?

    Quels obstacles se dressent sur le chemin ?

    Et quels nouveaux modèles nous pouvons appliquer afin de les rendre plus adaptables, plus souples et plus résilientes – tout en reconnaissant les cas limites où l’on sait qu’il y a peu ou pas de paix à maintenir.

    Les propositions que je vous ai faites récemment dans le contexte d’Haïti en sont une bonne illustration.

    Nous devons continuer d’œuvrer en faveur d’un processus politique – maîtrisé et conduit par le peuple haïtien – qui rétablisse les institutions démocratiques par la voie électorale.

    L’ONU a un rôle clair à jouer pour appuyer la stabilité et la sécurité, tout en s’attaquant aux causes profondes de cette crise effroyable.

    L’ONU est prête à assumer la responsabilité des dépenses logistiques et opérationnelles – y compris le transport, les capacités médicales et le soutien envers la police nationale – qui peuvent appuyer une force internationale renforcée par les États membres, qui soit capable de faire face aux gangs en Haïti et de créer les conditions de la paix.

    Les salaires de la force quant à eux sont couverts par le fonds d’affectation spéciale qui existe déjà.

    Nous avons là un bon exemple de la manière dont nous pouvons concevoir une approche adaptée et collective des opérations de paix dans un environnement extrêmement complexe et dangereux.

    Parmi les autres exemples d’adaptation de nos opérations de paix, citons la FINUL, qui a récemment élaboré un plan d’adaptation pour aider les parties à respecter les obligations que leur fait la résolution 1701.

    On peut également évoquer nos opérations à Abyei, au Soudan, où nous avons reconfiguré nos opérations de paix en une force multinationale.

    Nous prenons également de plus en plus la mesure des avantages considérables que présente le renforcement de la collaboration avec les organisations régionales et sous-régionales.

    La résolution 2719 du Conseil de sécurité revêt une importance certaine à cet égard.

    Cette avancée a porté notre partenariat avec l’Union africaine à un niveau supérieur, alors que nous œuvrons à la mise en place de missions d’imposition de la paix sous la responsabilité de l’Union africaine, avec le soutien des Nations unies.

    Nos deux Secrétariats travaillent désormais activement à concrétiser la vision énoncée dans la résolution, et j’invite les membres du Conseil à y apporter leur plein concours.

    Excellences,

    Il est temps de s’inspirer de ces exemples et de continuer à adapter nos opérations de paix aux défis actuels et futurs. 

    Des travaux sont en cours pour réexaminer toutes les formes d’opérations de paix, comme l’ont demandé les États Membres dans le Pacte pour l’avenir.

    L’objectif est de procéder à un examen critique de ces outils et de proposer des recommandations concrètes afin de les adapter au monde d’aujourd’hui.

    Il s’agira notamment de mener des consultations approfondies avec les États Membres et d’autres parties prenantes afin de nourrir – et d’inspirer – ces recommandations.

    L’étude fera fond sur l’analyse présentée dans le Nouvel Agenda pour la paix.

    Elle prendra pour appui l’étude d’ensemble de l’histoire des missions politiques spéciales, la première effectuée en 80 ans d’existence de l’ONU, qui sera publiée prochainement.

    Elle se fera aussi l’écho de l’appel lancé dans le Pacte pour veiller à ce que les opérations de paix s’engagent le plus tôt possible dans la planification des transitions avec les pays hôtes, l’équipe de pays des Nations Unies et les groupes locaux et régionaux.

    L’étude s’inscrit également dans le sillage de la demande qui est adressée au Conseil dans le Pacte pour que les opérations de paix soient guidées par des mandats clairs et séquencés, réalistes et réalisables, ainsi que des stratégies de sortie et des plans de transition viables.

    Elle s’appuiera enfin sur les discussions qui se tiennent en préparation de la Conférence ministérielle sur le maintien de la paix qui aura lieu à Berlin en mai et qui sera consacrée à l’avenir du maintien de la paix.

    Excellences,

    Tout au long de l’étude, nous mènerons des consultations approfondies afin de recueillir un éventail de vues aussi large que possible et de bénéficier d’une expertise mondiale.

    Celle des États Membres, des pays hôtes, des pays fournisseurs de contingents ou de personnel de police et des contributeurs financiers…

    Celle des organisations régionales, de la société civile et des milieux universitaires, ainsi que de nos propres hauts responsables et experts des opérations de paix des Nations Unies et du Secrétariat.

    Bien entendu, l’étude contribuera à éclairer les efforts que nous déployons dans le cadre de l’initiative ONU80, afin de dégager des gains d’efficacité et des améliorations dans tous nos axes de travail – compte tenu des défis persistants de financement auxquels notre Organisation est confrontée.

    Excellences,

    Le débat public d’aujourd’hui est une occasion précieuse pour le Conseil de partager toute idée et point de vue qui pourrait contribuer à l’étude.

    J’invite tous les États Membres à apporter leur pierre à l’édifice.

    Et j’appelle ce Conseil à continuer à œuvrer pour surmonter les divisions et les désaccords entourant les opérations de paix, et bâtir le soutien politique unifié et cohérent dont nos opérations de paix – et les femmes et les hommes qui les mènent – ont tant besoin.

    Je vous remercie.
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI: Flexera Earns 5-Star Rating in the 2025 CRN® Partner Program Guide

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ITASCA, Ill., March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Flexera, the global leader in technology spend and risk management, has been honored by CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, with a 5-Star Award in the 2025 CRN Partner Program Guide. This annual guide is an essential resource for solution providers seeking vendor partner programs that match their business goals and deliver high partner value.

    “Our partner community plays an essential role in helping customers achieve their business objectives despite the ever increasing amount of complexity and risk in the hybrid IT landscape,” said Brian Hibner, Senior Vice President of Alliances and Services at Flexera. “Flexera is committed to continuously investing and improving our channel so partners and Managed Service Providers can deliver high-quality services to customers powered by Flexera technology. This award is a testament to our focus to build a thriving partner ecosystem where our partners supply high value, high-margin services the market is desperate for.”

    In 2024 alone, Flexera made a significant investment in its channel program, bolstering its extensive benefits, capabilities and certifications to make it easier than ever for partners to develop, launch and attain higher margins with new services. The investment also provided Flexera with the ability to accelerate development for its Managed Service Provider (MSP) capabilities and expand its in-house partner team, with plans for continued hiring in 2025.

    Now with the acquisition of Spot (bringing its key product lines CloudCheckr, Eco, Ocean and Elastigroup into the Flexera One portfolio), Flexera has added even more MSP relationships to its burgeoning ecosystem, particularly in the FinOps space.

    “Being featured on the 2025 CRN Partner Program Guide highlights the dedication these technology vendors have to evolving with solution providers, driving innovation, and supporting mutual success,” said Jennifer Follett, VP, U.S. Content and Executive Editor, CRN, at The Channel Company. “This critical annual project empowers solution providers to identify vendors that are committed to enhancing their partner programs and meeting the always-changing business needs of the channel and end customers. The guide provides deep insight into the distinctive value of each partner program so solution providers can make strategic partnership decisions with confidence.”

    The extensive support and resources technology vendors offer through their partner programs are a critical consideration for solution providers assessing which IT vendors, service providers, and distributors to team with in building world-class technology solutions. Program elements such as financial incentives, sales and marketing assistance, training and certification, technical support and more can set vendors apart and play a key role in boosting their partners’ long-term growth and profitability.

    The 5-Star Award is an elite recognition given to companies that have built their partner programs on the key elements needed to nurture lasting, profitable, and successful channel partnerships.

    For the 2025 Partner Program Guide, the CRN research team evaluated vendors based on program requirements and offerings such as partner training and education, pre- and post-sales support, marketing programs and resources, technical support, and communication.

    The 2025 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2025 issue of CRN and published online at www.CRN.com/PPG beginning March 24, 2025.

    Follow Flexera

    About Flexera
    Flexera helps organizations understand and maximize the value of their technology, saving billions of dollars in wasted spend. Powered by the Flexera Technology Intelligence Platform, our award-winning IT asset management, FinOps and SaaS management solutions provide comprehensive visibility and actionable insights on an organization’s entire IT ecosystem. This intelligence enables IT, finance, procurement, FinOps and cloud teams to address skyrocketing costs, optimize spend, mitigate risk and identify opportunities to create positive business outcomes. More than 50,000 global organizations rely on Flexera and its Technopedia reference library, the largest repository of technology asset data. Learn more at flexera.com.

    About The Channel Company:
    The Channel Company (TCC) is the global leader in channel growth for the world’s top technology brands. We accelerate success across strategic channels for tech vendors, solution providers, and end users with premier media brands, integrated marketing and event services, strategic consulting, and exclusive market and audience insights. TCC is a portfolio company of investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. For more information, visit thechannelco.com.

    Follow The Channel Company: X, LinkedIn and Facebook.

    © 2025 The Channel Company, Inc. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

    For more information, contact:
    Flexera Media Contact:
    Ciri Haugh
    Flexera
    publicrelations@flexera.com

    The Channel Company Contact:
    Kristin DaSilva
    The Channel Company
    kdasilva@thechannelcompany.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Swing into summer with the City of Derry Jazz Festival

    Source: Northern Ireland – City of Derry

    Swing into summer with the City of Derry Jazz Festival

    24 March 2025

    Bennigans Bar was the perfect location to get the jazz vibe going with the launch the City of Derry Jazz Festival 2025, taking place May 01 – 05.

    The Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Lilian Seenoi Barr, was joined by Martin Venning from event sponsors Diageo, for the launch at one of the festival’s most popular jazz hubs, renowned for its top-class artists.

    This year’s event marks 24 years of Ireland’s biggest Jazz extravaganza, and final preparations are now well underway to deliver an unsurpassable programme featuring over 320 performances, and brimming with musical talent from around the world. Music legend Billy Ocean tops this year’s bill, performing in the Millennium Forum on Saturday and Sunday May 3rd and 4th.

    Looking ahead to the event, which is organised by Derry City and Strabane District Council, Mayor Barr said she couldn’t wait to get her dancing shoes on. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love the City of Derry Jazz Festival,” she declared. “It’s a wonderful time to visit Derry as the city comes alive with music in every bar and on every street corner. The energy is infectious and the atmosphere is just incredible.

    “The festival is the perfect warm up for the summer, and it’s an event that people of all ages can enjoy. You don’t have to be a jazz fanatic – we have performers here from all over the world and a real medley of musical genres to enjoy. And don’t forget the majority of the entertainment is free!”

    This year’s programme includes old jazz favourites, local legends and plenty of new talent, ready to deliver five days packed with entertainment, from jazz workshops to live concerts and drama performances.

    There will be beats on the streets with a variety of al fresco acts, bringing the vibrant sound of jazz to the entire city. Festival goers can also look forward to an exciting mix of jump, jive, blues, and swing, ensuring there’s something for every music enthusiast.

    A highlight of the festival is the Live Music Now Schools Programme, which aims to inspire and educate the next generation of musicians through interactive performances and workshops in local post-primary schools. Young performers will have the chance to show off their talents performing live on the Gay McIntyre Stage, showcasing some of the finest jazz talent in the historic Guildhall Square.

    Jazz Festival coordinator with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Aisling McCallion, said: “May is fast approaching and we have had so much interest this year from acts from all over who have heard about the City of Derry Jazz Festival and the brilliant welcome the performers enjoy. We have some really exciting new performers this year, and of course we can’t wait to welcome our headline act Billy Ocean.”

    Martin Venning from Diageo said it would be an unforgettable weekend. “Diageo is delighted to continue supporting this fantastic festival, which celebrates the vibrant cultural scene here in the North West.

    “It’s the perfect platform for both established local performers and new up and coming talent, who join world class artists from across the world for a show-stopping weekend that brings so much value to the local economy. It’s the only place to celebrate the May Bank Holiday.”

    So join us for an unforgettable celebration of jazz, community, and culture at the 2025 City of Derry Jazz Festival!

    For more information go to cityofderryjazzfestival.com and for regular updates follow the City of Derry Jazz festival on Facebook Instagram and X @derryjazzfest.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Pool and gym solar switch-on

    Source: City of Sunderland

    Heating for swimmers and gym users is now being boosted with solar panels.

    Visitors to Hetton Pool and Wellness Centre are now benefiting from more than 430 roof mounted solar panels that are helping keep energy bills down and lowering the city’s carbon footprint.

    Opened in 2010, the pool, gym and studio facilities at Bernard Park receives between 5,000 and 6,000 visits per week.

    This installation is expected to save around £35,000 in operating costs and 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

    Work on installing the panels was completed over the winter following planning approvals in autumn last year. After tests, the panels are now generating power during daylight hours to heat the 25 metre pool and help meet the centre’s power needs from lighting to gym equipment.

    Funding for the project came from a national Sport England grant of £226,00 via the Sport England Swimming Pool Support Fund. The funding was targeted at easing the financial pressures that councils and leisure operators have been facing because of recent rises in energy and general operating costs.

    The City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Net Zero, Councillor Lindsey Leonard said: “This is great news for centre users and residents across our city. Thanks to Sport England for the initial grant and thanks to staff at the City Council and Everyone Active who have seen this project through we are already seeing the benefits.

    “As a council we’ve already installed solar panels in car parks and depots, we have LED lights in buildings, more energy efficient street lighting and we have an ongoing programme of identifying and installing more energy efficiency measures as we invest to save, wherever possible, to help lower our carbon footprint and save on our energy bills.”

    The latest technology for solar panels allows them to operate on overcast days as they capture diffused light. In direct sunlight, panels operate at 100 per cent.

    Cllr Leonard added: “By taking these steps we can make a real difference as we continue to work hard together towards our goal of becoming carbon neutral as a Council by 2030 and as a city by 2040.”

    The City Council was one of 264 local authorities that received funding for investing in panels, LED lights or other energy saving improvements aimed at improving the efficiency of public facilities with swimming pools.

    The council’s leisure service partner is Everyone Active and alongside Hetton, it oversees the Sunderland Aquatic Centre, Silksworth Community Pool Tennis and Wellness Centre and the Raich Carter Centre in Hendon.

    Everyone Active’s Contract Manager Ian Bradgate said: “Reducing the centre’s carbon footprint is the key aim of this project and we are delighted to play our part in that. Everyone Active will continue to work with the council to achieve their Net Zero ambitions, as part of our own Net Zero Strategy.”

    Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director – Place at Sport England added: “Swimming pools and leisure centres are vital community resources and are enormously important in helping people to be physically active.

    “Sport England is proud of the role we play in supporting these facilities. The investment from the Government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund at Hetton Pool and Wellness Centre will help improve energy efficiency and enable the centre to be more environmentally and financially sustainable so it remains available for future generations to enjoy.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Orange Bank & Trust Promotes Two Officers to Support the Growth of Orange Wealth Management

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIDDLETOWN, N.Y., March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orange Bank & Trust Company (the “Bank”), the banking subsidiary of Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” – Nasdaq: OBT), is pleased to announce the promotion of two officers to support the ongoing expansion of Orange Wealth Management. Carla Alfieri has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Director of Private Banking and Jacqueline Weimmer will serve as Director of Trust Services.

    As Senior Private Banking Officer, Alfieri will lead the Bank’s private banking division, focusing on managing relationships with high-net-worth clients. She will oversee the development of personalized financial solutions, identify new opportunities to grow the sector and implement strategic plans to enhance the private banking client experience. The Bank’s northern private banking and southern private banking departments will report directly to Alfieri.

    Alfieri joined the Bank in 1988 as part of the Branch staff, advancing through numerous supervisory, management, and AVP positions including Senior Customer Service Representative, Assistant Branch Manager, AVP and Branch Manager, AVP and Business Development Officer, Corporate Training and Development Specialist, and most recently, VP and Senior Private Banker. She began working in Private Banking in 2018 and has played a significant role in the creation and success of the service, which now has more than 700 clients.

    In her new role as Director, Weimmer will oversee the Trust Services division with a focus on business development efforts. She will manage client relationships and provide strategic direction to the Bank’s comprehensive trust and estate planning solutions, ensuring clients’ intentions are implemented effectively and efficiently. The Bank’s Special Needs Trust (SNT), Trust & Estates and Trust Operations departments will report directly to Weimmer.

    She joined the Bank’s Trust Services Department in 2023 as First Vice President, Trust Officer, and Manager of the SNT and Guardianship Department in Mount Vernon. Weimmer previously worked for Comerica Bank in New York City, where she was Vice President and National Manager of the Special Needs Solutions Team. She has extensive experience with the intricacies of SNT administration and has focused her career on trust and estate planning for individuals with disabilities. She also has broad experience in managing personal trust accounts. She is a court-appointed Special Advocate for children in the foster care system and sits on the board of Care Point Health at Bayonne Hospital.

    “We are delighted to welcome Carla and Jacqueline to their new roles as part of Orange Wealth Management,” said David Dineen, EVP, Senior Managing Director of Orange Wealth Management. “They have each demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication to our clients. We know their expertise and commitment will continue to drive our mission of providing personalized, high-quality services.”

    About Orange County Bancorp Inc.
    Orange County Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Orange Bank & Trust Company and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. Orange Bank & Trust Company is an independent bank that began with the vision of 14 founders over 130 years ago. It has grown through ongoing innovation and an unwavering commitment to its community and business clientele to 2.5 billion in total assets. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. is a Registered Investment Advisor in Goshen, NY. It was founded in 1996 and was acquired by the Company in 2012. In recent years, Orange Bank & Trust has added branches in Rockland, Westchester and the Bronx.

    Contact:
    Candice Varetoni
    AVP Marketing Officer
    cvaretoni@orangebanktrust.com
    Orange Bank & Trust Company

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: House GOP Leadership and Committee Chairs Issue Joint Statement on Budget Reconciliation

    Source: US House of Representatives Republicans

    The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –

    WASHINGTON— Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise, Whip Emmer, and Chairwoman McClain released the following joint statement alongside the Chairmen of the House Committees with jurisdiction in the budget reconciliation process: Thompson, Rogers, Arrington, Guthrie, Walberg, Hill, Green, Jordan, Westerman, Comer, Graves, and Smith. 

    “House Republicans took the lead and passed a bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Now, our focus returns to delivering President Trump’s full America First agenda. 

    “The House is determined to send the president one big, beautiful bill that secures our border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, grows our economy, restores American energy dominance, brings back peace through strength, and makes government more efficient and more accountable to the American people.

    “We took the first step to accomplish that by passing a budget resolution weeks ago, and we look forward to the Senate joining us in this commitment to ensure we enact President Trump’s full agenda as quickly as possible. The American people gave us a mandate and we must act on it. We encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington.

    “This is our opportunity to deliver what will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in the history of our nation. Working together, we will get it done.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: BexBack Brings 100x Leverage, Double Deposit Bonus, and No KYC to Crypto Futures Trading

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The cryptocurrency landscape is shifting, and BexBack is leading the charge with a groundbreaking approach to crypto futures trading. As the market evolves, many traders face challenges with complex KYC procedures, limited leverage, and high fees. But BexBack is here to change all of that, offering 100x leverage, no KYC, and an incredible double deposit bonus to help traders maximize their potential with ease.

    Whether you’re a seasoned trader or just beginning your journey, BexBack makes it simple for anyone, anywhere to access 100x leverage on crypto futures, without the need for identity verification, and double your funds instantly with the 100% deposit bonus. This offers you the power to trade with confidence and flexibility.

    What Is 100x Leverage?

    100x leverage allows you to control a much larger trading position with a smaller initial deposit. For example, with 1 BTC and 100x leverage, you can trade as if you had 100 BTC, giving you the potential for much higher returns in a volatile market. It’s a powerful tool that allows traders to maximize their profits—though it’s important to manage risk effectively to avoid liquidation.

    What Is the 100% Deposit Bonus and How Does It Work?

    The 100% deposit bonus means that when you deposit 0.001 BTC or equivalent in other cryptocurrencies, you will receive an instant 100% bonus on each deposit. This is not just limited to your first deposit but applies to every deposit you make. For example, deposit $10,000, and you’ll trade with $20,000. This bonus is an excellent way to increase your trading power, giving you more margin and more opportunities to profit. However, the bonus cannot be withdrawn directly, but it can be used to open larger positions and increase your overall potential profits.

    Who Can Trade on BexBack Without KYC?

    BexBack offers a no KYC (Know Your Customer) policy, meaning you can start trading immediately without the need for identity verification. Whether you’re new to crypto or a seasoned trader, this quick registration process ensures you can dive straight into trading without delays. It’s perfect for those who value privacy and don’t want to go through the tedious paperwork that other platforms require.

    What Is BexBack?

    BexBack is a cutting-edge cryptocurrency exchange specializing in futures trading with up to 100x leverage. The platform is designed to provide users with a seamless, secure, and powerful trading experience. BexBack operates globally, offering traders access to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (Ripple), and Cardano (ADA). Based in Singapore, with a rapidly growing user base across over 200 countries, BexBack is committed to providing exceptional service and

    Why Choose BexBack? What Are the Key Advantages?

    • 100x Leverage for All Traders – Amplify your trading potential with up to 100x leverage on your positions.
    • No KYC Required – Start trading immediately without needing to provide identity documents.
    • 100% Deposit Bonus – Double your funds instantly with a 100% deposit bonus on every deposit.
    • Demo Account – Practice risk-free with a demo account offering 10 BTC in virtual funds to simulate real trading scenarios without any risk.
    • High-Speed Trading – No slippage, no spreads, and fast execution.
    • Comprehensive Support – 24/7 customer support to help you with any issues or queries.
    • Global Access – Trade from anywhere, anytime, with access to a global user base.

    Start Trading on BexBack Today

    Whether you’re looking to maximize profits in volatile markets, gain access to high-leverage trading, or simply enjoy a no-KYC trading experience, BexBack has everything you need to succeed.

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: BYDFi Officially Launches Nillion Token, Opening NIL/USDT Spot Trading

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Global crypto exchange BYDFi officially announces the launch of the Nillion token (NIL). Users will be able to trade the NIL/USDT spot pair, marking the first appearance of Nillion’s native token on the platform and accelerating the adoption of privacy-preserving computation across various industries.

    Nillion: Humanity’s first blind computer

    In today’s fast-evolving digital world, the risks of data breaches and personal information misuse are escalating. High-profile data scandals, such as the Cambridge Analytica incident, have exposed significant privacy vulnerabilities in modern society. As artificial intelligence (AI) technology becomes increasingly prevalent, safeguarding personal data privacy is now more critical than ever.

    Nillion addresses this challenge with innovative solutions. As humanity’s first “blind computer,” Nillion leverages privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Homomorphic Encryption, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to ensure that data remains private and secure throughout its transmission and processing. These groundbreaking technologies resolve the inherent conflict between privacy protection and efficiency in blockchain technology, enabling privacy-preserving applications across AI, DeFi, and data storage industries without exposing raw data.

    Strategic Partnerships and Innovative Applications of Nillion

    Nillion’s technology has already gained recognition from several leading industry projects, forming strategic partnerships with companies like Meta, Virtuals Protocol, and Ritual. These partnerships span key areas such as AI privacy computation, decentralized inference, and medical data governance. Nillion’s network has surpassed 500,000 validation nodes, showcasing its robust ecosystem growth.

    Nillion’s innovative technology has substantial potential in the following areas:

    • Privacy AI: Enabling compliant medical imaging analysis and financial fraud detection model training.
    • Web3 Finance: Providing an off-chain data privacy computation layer for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, ensuring privacy for transactions and data processing.
    • Enterprise Applications: Assisting enterprises in building secure, GDPR-compliant data collaboration networks, enhancing data governance.

    NIL Token: The Core Utility Token of Nillion’s Ecosystem

    As the core utility token of the Nillion network, $NIL is used to pay for computation services, data storage fees, transaction costs, and serves key roles in ecosystem governance, node incentives, and network resource consumption. $NIL has secured strategic investments from top-tier institutions such as Binance Labs and Hashkey Capital, providing a strong financial foundation for its growth.

    BYDFi Brings Rewarding Benefits and Easy Deposit Options

    As one of the first exchanges to list the NIL token, BYDFi is offering substantial rewards to new users, with the opportunity to claim up to 8100 USDT in bonuses. Additionally, BYDFi features a convenient “Buy Crypto” option, enabling users to quickly purchase Nillion (NIL) via credit cards, debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or by using their wallet balance for trading. BYDFi supports fiat deposits from over 150 countries and regions worldwide, making it easier for global users to participate in the NIL token trading.

    About BYDFi

    Founded in 2020, BYDFi is recognized as one of the top 10 best crypto exchanges globally by Forbes, trusted by over 1,000,000 users worldwide. Its upcoming product, “MoonX,” is a specialized memecoin trading tool designed for Degen traders. MoonX offers over 500,000 trading pairs, combined with smart trading tools, comprehensive market analysis, and advanced tech architecture to help users track smart money and target the next 1000x memecoin. BYDFi is committed to providing every user with a world-class crypto trading experience. BUIDL Your Dream Finance.

    • Official Website: https://www.bydfi.com
    • Customer Support: CS@bydfi.com
    • Business Inquiries: BD@bydfi.com
    • Media Inquiries: media@bydfi.com

    Twitter( X )| LinkedIn| Facebook | Telegram| YouTube

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Community Financial System Announces First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SYRACUSE, N.Y., March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) invites you to participate in a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial and operating performance for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.         

    Event: Earnings Conference Call – First Quarter 2025
       
    When: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time
       
    How: By conference call or from a simultaneous web cast
       
    Access: Conference Call Dial-In: 1-833-630-0464
        1-412-317-1809 – Outside the U.S. & Canada
         
      Webcast: https://app.webinar.net/OyoNkJ8Q5nX

    Dimitar Karaivanov, Chief Executive Officer and President, along with Marya Wlos, incoming Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Joseph E. Sutaris, who will subsequently transition to Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations effective March 31, 2025, will provide an overview of the Company’s first quarter 2025 results. The management presentation will last approximately 15 minutes, followed by investor questions and discussion.

    The Company’s results for the quarter will be released before the market opens on April 29, 2025, and will also be available in the ‘News’ section of the Company’s website at https://communityfinancialsystem.com.

    The call will also be archived on the Company’s website for one year and can be accessed at any time and at no cost during this period.

    About Community Financial System, Inc.

    Community Financial System, Inc. is a diversified financial services company that is focused on four main business lines – banking, employee benefit services, insurance services and wealth management services. Its banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A., is among the country’s 100 largest banking institutions with over $16 billion in assets and operates approximately 200 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. The Company’s Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc. subsidiary is a leading provider of employee benefits administration, trust services, collective investment fund administration, and actuarial consulting services to customers on a national scale. The Company’s OneGroup NY, Inc. subsidiary is a top 66 U.S. insurance agency. The Company also offers comprehensive financial planning, trust administration and wealth management services through its Wealth Management operating unit. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Company’s stock trades under the symbol CBU. For more information about the Company visit www.cbna.com or www.communityfinancialsystem.com.

    For further information contact:
    Joseph Sutaris,
    E.V.P. and Chief Financial Officer
    (315) 445-7396

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: India: Financial Sector Assessment Program, 2024

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), a joint program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), undertakes a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of a country’s financial sector. Since September 2010 the exercise has become mandatory for jurisdictions with systemically important financial sectors. Currently, it is mandatory for 32 jurisdictions including India, every five years, and for another 15 jurisdictions every ten years. Last FSAP for India was conducted in 2017 and the Financial System Stability Assessment (FSSA) report was published by IMF on 21st December, 2017.

    2. IMF released the latest India-FSSA report on their websites on February 28, 2025, based on the assessment carried out during 2024, while WB’s Financial Sector Assessment (FSA) report is due for publication.

    3. India welcomes assessment of the Indian financial system undertaken by the joint IMF-World Bank team conforming to the highest international standards.

    4. IMF’s FSSA report highlights that India’s financial system has become more resilient and diverse since the last FSAP in 2017, driven by rapid economic growth. Financial Sector in India has shown recovery from various distress episodes of 2010s and withstood the pandemic well. In terms of evolution of financial sector landscape, Non-Banking Financial Intermediaries (NBFI) sector has become diverse but more interconnected. Banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) have sufficient aggregate capital to support moderate lending even in severe macrofinancial scenarios.

    5. On regulation and supervision of NBFCs, IMF acknowledged India’s systematic approach for prudential requirements of NBFCs with scale based regulatory framework. IMF appreciated India’s approach on introduction of bank-like Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) for large NBFCs. For supervision of banks, IMF suggested strengthening credit risk management through IFSR 9 adoption and upgrading supervision over individual loans, collateral valuation, connected borrower groups, large exposure limits, and related-party transactions.

    6. IMF acknowledges that the regulatory framework in securities markets has been enhanced in line with international practice to manage and prevent emerging risks. Notable improvements include establishing the Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF), introducing swing pricing and liquidity requirements for bond mutual funds. The regulatory scope has also been expanded over emerging areas such as sustainability and investor protection measures for fast-growing equity derivatives products.

    7. IMF has stated that public digital infrastructures have significantly improved retail financial inclusion and recommended that financially underserved sectors’ access to credit can be enhanced by strengthening legal, tax, and informational infrastructures for asset-based and digital lending.

    8. The FSSA report acknowledges that India’s insurance sector is strong and growing, with a significant presence in both life and general insurance. The sector has remained stable, supported by better regulations and digital innovations. The report notes India’s progress in improving oversight, risk management and governance and suggests further steps toward riskbased solvency / supervision frameworks and stronger group supervision. It acknowledged transition plans towards risk-based approach in the insurance sector. This reflects India’s commitment to global best practices and a resilient insurance sector.

    9. IMF recommends that financial stability should be the primary objective of the macroprudential authorities.

    10. In terms of emerging risks, cybersecurity, climate change and system-wide contagion need attention. Financial stability risks from climate change appear manageable but warrant careful monitoring. The assessment suggested enhanced data coverage with better granularity for mapping climate-related financial risks.

    11. IMF also analysed cyber security framework in banking sector, Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI), Critical Information Systems, and other relevant players in securities market. IMF found that Indian authorities have advanced cybersecurity risk oversight, especially for banks. However, IMF stated that extensive cybersecurity crisis simulations and stress tests for banks could be expanded for cross-sectoral and market-wide events to further strengthen cybersecurity resilience.

    12. The recommendations in case of India FSAP are mainly focussed on bringing about further improvements in the structure and functioning of the financial system and many of the detailed recommendations are in conformity with the concerned authorities’/regulators’ own developmental plans. India remains committed to adoption of internationally accepted standards and best practices in a phased manner, attuned to domestic needs and economic conditions, wherever necessary.

    The FSSA released by IMF can be accessed at:

    (https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2025/02/28/India-Financial-Sector-Assessment-Program-Financial-System-Stability-Assessment-562815)

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2449

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How political leaders communicate climate policy should be a defining factor this election

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Andrew Heffernan, Climate Associate at the Information Integrity Lab and Adjunct Professor in Political Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

    Prime Minister Mark Carney has called an April 28 federal election, setting the stage for a campaign where climate policy could be a central issue.

    The current iteration of Canada’s consumer carbon rebate is dead — which many view as a casualty of effective communication — yet climate policy remains a pressing topic for voters and a major battleground for political leaders.



    Read more:
    The Canada Carbon Rebate is still widely misunderstood — here’s why

    As Canada grapples with intensifying climate-related challenges, the next government will not only need to implement evidence-based policies to meet international climate commitments, but also effectively communicate its vision to voters.

    The public remains concerned about environmental issues, yet many are worried that bold climate policies have damaged the economy. This tension between environmental responsibility and economic growth will shape how each party formulates and communicates their climate policies in the upcoming campaign.

    The Liberals: Navigating the middle ground

    For Carney and the Liberal Party, the challenge is twofold. First, the Liberals must present a new climate plan after the collapse of the consumer carbon rebate, which has faced widespread public opposition in recent years.

    While the new Liberal leader has already terminated the the carbon rebate, it still remains unclear what exactly his comprehensive climate plan will look like. Carney’s website states that his strategy will: “Provide incentives for consumers. Put more of the burden on big polluters. And help us build the strongest economy in the G7.”



    Read more:
    Big government, big trouble? Defending the future of Canada’s climate policy

    This suggests his climate policy will hinge more on positive incentives for consumers to invest in sustainable approaches rather than putting a cost on polluting.

    While the carbon rebate initially enjoyed broad support as a key tool for reducing emissions, it has become a lightning rod for political controversy.

    Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue; it’s increasingly seen as a matter of economic survival, with green energy jobs and clean technologies representing an opportunity for Canada to position itself as a global leader in the sector.

    Carney will have to make a convincing case that his policy will create jobs, stimulate innovation and provide a clear path toward a greener, more sustainable economy.

    Failing to do so could lead to the loss of centrist and moderate voters, some of whom are wary of the perceived economic risks of aggressive climate action.

    The Conservatives: Axing the rebate isn’t enough

    On the opposite end of the political spectrum, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has made axing the carbon rebate a central part of his platform.

    Framing the carbon rebate as an economic penalty, Poilievre has played into populist sentiments by promising to “axe the tax” and relieve financial pressures on Canadian families and businesses.

    However, even if the Conservatives are successful in eliminating the carbon rebate, they still face the challenge of needing a comprehensive climate policy that lowers emissions and meets Canada’s Paris Agreement targets. Poilievre has said he would not withdraw Canada from the accord, but he hasn’t addressed how he would meet Canada’s commitments.

    Poilievre’s populist rhetoric may resonate with voters who feel economically squeezed, but it’s unlikely to be enough to win over voters concerned about the climate crisis — especially as he has voted against environmental and climate action in Parliament over 400 times in his career, a point his opponents will be sure to raise repeatedly.

    For the Conservatives, the real challenge will be how to present a climate policy that appeals to both economic conservatives, who prioritize fiscal responsibility, and environmental conservatives, who are concerned about the future of the planet.

    Poilievre will need to clearly articulate how his policies will preserve Canada’s environmental future without stifling economic growth or inflating costs for the average Canadian.

    NDP and Green Party

    A key piece of the future of climate policy in Canada will be the NDP and Green Party, who are generally considered left-of-centre parties alongside the governing Liberals.

    The NDP, which can siphon progressive votes away from the Liberals — which sometimes benefits Conservatives — have been clear as mud when it comes to their climate policy for the next election.

    NDP leader Jagmeet Singh rescinded his party’s long-standing support for the Liberal carbon rebate in April 2024, but has not yet said what his party would put in its place.

    Meanwhile, the Green Party, which has historically played a less significant role in electoral outcomes in terms of vote splitting, has generally maintained its support for the carbon rebate. Its website suggests the party supports the polluter-pays principle. However, the Greens have yet to take a clear stance on the shifting climate grounds on which this election could partially be fought.

    Political communication the key to success

    In the coming years, the future of climate policy in Canada will be less about crafting the perfect policy and more about crafting a message that addresses how people are feeling.

    The Liberal Party has been open about the demise of the carbon rebate being a combination of a lack of their own effective communication strategy, mixed with harmful disinformation campaigns that led to the demise of their signature climate policy.

    For the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Greens alike, the road to effective climate policy will lie in this communication. Political leaders will need to balance ambition and pragmatism, ensuring their policies align with Canadians’ economic interests.

    With 71 per cent of Canadians suggesting they want the next government to do more to address climate change, leaders who can articulate a vision for a sustainable, prosperous future while addressing the immediate concerns of Canadians will be the ones who have the best chance of winning the public’s trust — and the next election.

    Andrew Heffernan is affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada.

    – ref. How political leaders communicate climate policy should be a defining factor this election – https://theconversation.com/how-political-leaders-communicate-climate-policy-should-be-a-defining-factor-this-election-251990

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Egg prices soar as outdated supply chains crack under pressure

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jack Buffington, Associate Professor of Practice in Supply Chain Management, University of Denver

    Experts predict that egg prices will keep climbing in 2025. Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    There may be no kitchen table issue in America more critical than the price of food.

    So when the price of eggs rose over 40% from 2024 to 2025, it became a headline news story in Colorado and across the nation.

    Public officials and the media blamed high egg prices on bird flu outbreaks and said containing the outbreak in supply chains would lower prices. In early March 2025, egg prices fell in the U.S., but these trends are likely to reverse due to higher seasonal demand during Easter and Passover.

    Rising prices and market volatility have led to food costs climbing to 11.4% of American’s disposable income, the largest percentage since 1991.

    Arresting these rising costs, as I argue in my 2023 book, means reinventing supply chains to address the growing supply, demand and price volatility that has created uncertainty for consumers since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

    I have described global supply chains, and supply chains in the U.S. in particular, as “efficiently broken.” By this I mean that they aspire to offer low prices from economies of scale but lack sufficient resiliency to create stability.

    Without addressing the systemic weaknesses in supply chains, I believe major health and economic disruptions will continue to happen in Colorado, nationally and around the world.

    Cage-free eggs

    Colorado faces a double whammy where egg prices are concerned.

    It’s one of nine states with a cage-free egg mandate, which requires all eggs sold in the state to come from cage-free facilities. The regulation has been shown to increase the price of eggs by as much as 50%.

    Over the past two decades, cage-free egg laws have been passed in states as consumers have grown more concerned with the welfare of farm animals. What that means varies from state to state because the term cage-free isn’t regulated by a federal agency. In Colorado, egg-laying hens must be housed in a cage-free system and must have a minimum of 1 square foot of usable floor space per hen.

    Colorado is the 28th largest egg producer in the U.S., far behind Midwestern states such as Iowa, Indiana and Ohio, but it has a few large producers such as Morning Fresh Farms, as well as smaller ones such as the Colorado Egg Producers Association, a collection of seven family-owned farms.

    Colorado’s cage-free egg law went into effect in January 2025 – around the same time that consumers noticed bare egg shelves at their supermarkets. Many consumers and some elected Republicans in Colorado blamed the cage-free law.

    Nevada is pulling back on its cage-free egg mandate to deal with the challenge of unaffordable egg prices.

    But cage-free laws are not the main driver of increasing egg prices, as I’ve noted in my research. Like many others, the egg supply chain needs to be reinvented to balance price, scale, resiliency and stability.

    Supply chain issues

    What is driving up the prices of eggs and other consumer goods is the concentration of producers. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed just how vulnerable prices and supply chains are.

    Five years ago this month, when the pandemic started, many products became unavailable and more expensive.

    In 2022, a major product recall of Similac led to a baby formula shortage in the U.S. The baby formula market is highly concentrated, with four companies responsible for approximately 90% of the domestic market. A large-scale facility that produced the baby formula was found to have unsanitary conditions and contaminated products. Pulling this one facility offline at the same time the nation was coping with pandemic-related supply chain issues led to the shortage.

    Supply chain issues led to a U.S. shortage of baby formula in 2022.
    Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Then at the beginning of 2024, supplies of insulin ran short due to production issues at Eli Lilly, one of the three companies responsible for over 90% of the U.S. insulin market.

    And in the second half of 2024, hospitals couldn’t get enough IV fluid due to damage caused by Hurricane Helene to a Baxter factory in North Carolina that manufactures approximately 60% of IV fluids in the U.S. This factory had been relocated to North Carolina from Puerto Rico due to the supply impact from Hurricane Maria that damaged the island in 2017.

    In all of these cases, the supply chain was easily interrupted due to a reliance on a few large producers. In 2025, bird flu and eggs are just another example of America’s “efficiently broken” supply chain.

    Bird flu and cost of eggs

    In the U.S., the top five egg producers are responsible for 40% of hens, with Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods alone responsible for 13% of total U.S. production.

    An average-sized production facility in the U.S. can house 75,000 to 500,000 hens. Large facilities can house over 4 million. The mass production of eggs from these facilities means eggs are, in stable times, cost effective for the American consumer. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, eggs in the U.S. never surpassed $3 a dozen, and it was an affordable food solution compared with processed foods.

    But this scale and efficiency comes at the price of resiliency during something like a bird flu outbreak. Larger farms create a higher risk of viral outbreak, which leads to the need for culling millions of birds and a heightened risk of viral replication and mutation.

    The solution may increase prices

    Policymakers want to reduce the spread of disease at American egg factories to mitigate the spread of bird flu. But these measures are expensive.

    Factory farms increase the potential for viruses to spread rapidly and even mutate. Therefore, bird flu is a more serious precursor of supply chain disruption than a hurricane or product recall because it has the potential to create a public health crisis.

    One solution to limit the spread of bird flu is to regulate the number of hens allowed in a single facility. This would lead to smaller and more farms across the U.S., but also higher consumer prices.

    This solution would mirror other countries such as Canada, where the average facility size is much smaller than in the U.S. and eggs and poultry cost significantly more. That’s why – under the terms of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – Canada has quota and tariff protection from American companies flooding its market with eggs and poultry that would cost consumers two to three times less.

    Yet in March 2025, the price of eggs in Canada is 50% cheaper than eggs in the U.S. because the country has not suffered the same damages from bird flu.

    Following Canada’s lead wouldn’t result in egg prices as low as giant factory farms, but it would protect American consumers from the periodic price shocks caused by disease or localized weather events that disrupt supplies.

    Despite the threat of a public health crisis, American consumers don’t want to pay more for eggs – and their leaders have promised they won’t have to.

    Read more of our stories about Colorado.

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

    – ref. Egg prices soar as outdated supply chains crack under pressure – https://theconversation.com/egg-prices-soar-as-outdated-supply-chains-crack-under-pressure-251425

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Who gets to brand Puerto Rico: Its tourism agency or its biggest star?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carlos A. Suárez Carrasquillo, Associate Instructional Professor in Political Science, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida

    The Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny is one of the biggest stars of the music world. After becoming Spotify’s most-streamed artist for three years in a row – the first and only artist ever to do so – he sold out all 49 dates of his 2024 U.S. tour, netting US$211 million.

    Earlier this year, after Bad Bunny co-hosted “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and announced a 21-show residency in Puerto Rico, the recently reelected mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero, quipped that the artist had done a better job of promoting Puerto Rico than the island’s official destination marketing organization.

    That agency, Discover Puerto Rico, was founded in 2017 to market the island to both tourists and investors. Established during the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, it was part of a broader effort to professionalize Puerto Rico’s place branding and underscored the importance of tourism to the island’s economy.

    As a scholar of Puerto Rican politics and place branding – and a native Puerto Rican – I think this case study raises interesting public policy questions: Who gets to brand Puerto Rico? Why does it matter if a place has a brand anyway? And if political leaders are dissatisfied with an agency whose sole purpose is to market the island, what comes next?

    It’s not just a place – it’s a brand

    Historically, place-branding campaigns have been led by governments seeking to attract tourism and investment. One of the most iconic examples was the “I Love New York” campaign, launched in 1977 as a collaboration between New York City and private partners. Similar public-private models became more common in the decades that followed.

    Puerto Rico has seen various branding efforts over the years. Early boosterism efforts emerged during the first half of the 20th century, and in 1970, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company was created to promote the island as a
    tourist destination. By the 1990s, many Puerto Rican municipalities had begun adopting different place branding strategies.

    During Puerto Rico’s deepening fiscal crisis in the 2010s, branding efforts remained a bipartisan priority. But the two dominant political parties – the pro-territory Partido Popular Democrático, and the pro-statehood Partido Nuevo Progresista – each rebranded the island every time a new administration took office, raising concerns about consistency. The last major government-led initiative before Discover Puerto Rico was the “Isla Estrella” campaign, which included a sponsorship deal with Spain’s Sevilla FC soccer team.

    The ‘Discover Puerto Rico’ era

    In 2017, Discover Puerto Rico took control over the island’s place-branding efforts. However, its performance has been polarizing, with critics pointing to significant blunders. For example, an early ad in its “Live Boricua” campaign sparked backlash for featuring a family that didn’t look like most Puerto Ricans.

    Beyond its marketing blunders, Discover Puerto Rico has struggled to navigate Puerto Rico’s politically charged place-branding landscape. In fact, it has been contested from the start, and remains so, as recently elected Gov. Jennifer González evaluates its future. It remains unclear to what extent efficiency and economic development will serve as the main criteria for evaluating its success, and to what extent party politics will influence the decision-making process.

    Just a day before Mayor Romero made his remark about Bad Bunny, Discover Puerto Rico’s CEO, Brad Dean, resigned, taking a similar role in St. Louis. Dean has argued that during his tenure, Discover Puerto Rico has driven significant increases in tourism and tourism spending. While these self-reported figures suggest success, they don’t address a critical issue – the long-standing political controversy surrounding Puerto Rico’s branding.

    Pop culture carries the weight

    At the same time the future of Discover Puerto Rico remains uncertain, the island has gained unparalleled international attention thanks to popular music.

    Reggaetón, an urban genre that originated in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, has amassed a massive global fan base, extending beyond Puerto Rico and Latin America to the rest of the world. In 2017, Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi’s video for the worldwide hit “Despacito” turned La Perla, a working-class barrio in Old San Juan, into a magnet for tourists from all over the world.

    “Despacito” prompted a surge of visits to La Perla, as the French news agency AFP noted.

    More recently, in January 2025, Bad Bunny released his latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which taps into traditional Puerto Rican music genres such as bomba, plena and música jíbara that aren’t usually associated with reggaetón. It charted at No. 1. Bad Bunny also announced a Puerto Rico-exclusive concert series, with some dates reserved for locals and others open to fans worldwide.

    The success of Puerto Rican reggaetón artists raises an important question: Why have these organic cultural movements been so effective – perhaps even more so than the official expert-driven place-marketing agency – in promoting Puerto Rico as a brand?

    I think the answer probably lies in authenticity. Unlike government-led initiatives, reggaetón’s global appeal stems from its cultural resonance and emotional connection with audiences worldwide, regardless of politics.

    At this critical juncture for the island’s tourism agency, perhaps Discover Puerto Rico should rebrand itself as “Discover the Birthplace of Reggaetón.”

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

    – ref. Who gets to brand Puerto Rico: Its tourism agency or its biggest star? – https://theconversation.com/who-gets-to-brand-puerto-rico-its-tourism-agency-or-its-biggest-star-248825

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: National monuments have grown and shrunk under US presidents for over a century thanks to one law: The Antiquities Act

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Monica Hubbard, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Boise State University

    Over 730,000 people visit Colorado National Monument each year. It was established in 1911 under the Antiquities Act. Gordon Leggett, CC BY-SA

    America’s public lands, from its majestic national parks to its vast national forests, are at the heart of the country’s identity.

    They cover more than a quarter of the nation and large parts of the West. Some are crisscrossed by hiking trails and used by hunters and fishermen. Ranchers graze cattle on others. In many areas, the government earns money through oil, gas, timber and mining leases.

    These federally managed public lands have long enjoyed broad bipartisan support, as have moves to turn them into protected national parks and monuments. Research consistently shows that a majority of Americans want their congressional representatives to protect public access to these lands for recreation. One avenue for protection is the creation of national monuments.

    But the status of national monuments can change.

    Presidents have expanded and contracted national monuments, as the U.S. saw with Bears Ears National Monument in Utah over the course of the past three presidencies. The rules for the use and maintenance of various public lands can also change, and that can affect surrounding communities and their economies.

    The U.S. is likely to see changes to public lands again under the second Trump administration. One of the new administration’s early orders was for the Department of Interior to review all national monuments for potential oil and gas drilling and mining. At least two national monuments that President Joe Biden created in California are among the new administration’s targets.

    The avenue for many of these changes is rooted in one century-old law.

    The power and vagary of the Antiquities Act

    The Antiquities Act of 1906, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, gave Congress or the president the authority to establish national monuments on federal land as a means of protecting areas for ecological, cultural, historical or scientific purposes.

    From Theodore Roosevelt on, 18 of the 21 presidents have used the Antiquities Act to create, expand or contract national monuments through a presidential proclamation.

    By using the Antiquities Act to create, expand or reduce national monuments, presidents can avoid an environmental impact statement, normally required under the National Environmental Policy Act, which also allows for public input. Supporters argue that forgoing the environmental impact statement helps expedite monument creation and expansion. Critics say bypassing the review means potential impacts of the monument designations can be overlooked.

    The Antiquities Act also offers no clarity on whether a president can reduce the amount of area protected by prior presidents. The act simply states that a president designates “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.” This has led to the shifting of national monument boundaries based on the priorities of each administration.

    The Citadel Ruins are the remains of Anasazi cliff dwellings at Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
    Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management via Wikimedia Commons

    An example is Bears Ears, an area of Utah that is considered significant to several tribes but also has uranium, gas and oil resources. In 2016, President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears a national monument. In 2017, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation reducing Bears Ears by 80% of its total designated size. The monument’s size and scope shifted a third time when President Joe Biden reestablished Bears Ears to the boundaries designated by Obama.

    In the span of just over five years, the monument was created, reduced, then restored to the original monument designation.

    The uncertainty about the long-term reliability of a designation makes it challenging for federal agencies to manage the land or assure Indigenous communities that the government will protect cultural, historical and ecological heritage.

    Public lands can be economic engines

    National parks and monuments can help fuel local economies.

    A 2017 study by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group, found that Western rural counties with more public land have had greater economic growth, including in jobs and personal income, than those with little public land. National monuments can also benefit neighboring counties by increasing population, income and employment opportunities.

    Even small national monuments provide economic benefits for their surrounding communities. Visitors to Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, N.Y., spent $5.3 million in nearby communities in 2023, according to a National Park Service report.
    National Park Service via Wikimedia Commons

    While many counties adjacent to public lands may be dependent on natural resource extraction, the establishment of a national monument can open up new opportunities by expanding tourism and recreation. For example, four national parks and monuments in southeastern Utah, including Natural Bridges, drew about 2.4 million visitors who spent nearly US$400 million in surrounding communities.

    However, when there is uncertainty over whether public lands will remain protected, communities may be hesitant to invest in that future, not knowing whether it will soon change.

    What Congress and the courts could do

    There are a few ways to increase the certainty around the future of national monuments.

    First, lawsuits could push the courts to determine whether the president has the authority to reduce national monuments. Since the Antiquities Act doesn’t directly address presidential authority to reduce monument size, that’s an open question.

    Advocacy groups sued the government over Trump’s authority to shrink Bears Ears National Monument, but their cases were put on hold after Biden expanded the monument again. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear other cases in 2024 that argued that a president’s authority to declare and expand national monuments should be far more limited under the law.

    Second, Congress could permanently protect designated national monuments through legislation. That would require presidential approval, and the process would likely be slow and cumbersome. Creating White Clouds Wilderness in Idaho, for example, took decades and a public campaign to have it designated a national monument before Congress approved its wilderness designation.

    Third, Congress could take new steps to protect public lands. For example, a bipartisan bill titled Public Lands in Public Hands Act could block privatization of public lands and increase and maintain access for recreation. One of the bill’s lead sponsors is U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican from Montana who served as Interior secretary during the first Trump administration. Whether the bill will pass and gain the president’s approval remains to be seen.

    Public lands have widespread support

    The Antiquities Act has led to the creation of 163 terrestrial and marine monuments and subsequently the protection of land and waters that hold cultural, scientific or historic significance.

    These monuments tend to have broad support. During the first Trump administration, there were over 650,000 public comments on Trump’s review of national monument creation. An analysis found that 98% of the comments expressed broad support for both the creation and expansion of national monuments.

    Gold Butte National Monument covers nearly 300,000 acres of remote and rugged desert landscape in southeastern Nevada and is popular with hikers.
    Bureau of Land Management

    Public lands are more than just physical places. They are spaces where our ideals and values around public land unify us as Americans. They are quintessentially American – and in many ways define and shape the American identity.

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

    – ref. National monuments have grown and shrunk under US presidents for over a century thanks to one law: The Antiquities Act – https://theconversation.com/national-monuments-have-grown-and-shrunk-under-us-presidents-for-over-a-century-thanks-to-one-law-the-antiquities-act-252707

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ukraine will need major rebuilding when war ends − here’s why the US isn’t likely to invest in its recovery with a new Marshall Plan

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Frank A. Blazich Jr., Curator of Military History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

    Europe after World War II? No, it’s the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in 2023, after a year of Russian bombardment. AP Photo, File

    President Donald Trump wants Ukraine to repay the United States for helping to defend the country against Russia’s invasion.

    Since 2022, Congress has provided about US$174 billion to Ukraine and neighboring countries to assist its war effort. Trump inflated this figure to $350 billion in a March 2025 White House meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Separately, he has suggested Ukraine could reimburse the U.S. by giving America access to its minerals.

    Ukraine is rich in titanium, graphite, manganese and other rare earth metals used to produce electric vehicle batteries and other tech devices.

    Mining and refining these critical mineral resources would require major investment in infrastructure and economic development, including in parts of Ukraine severely damaged by fighting. Some analysts are calling for a return to the European Recovery Program, commonly known as the Marshall Plan.

    The Marshall Plan used $13.3 billion in U.S. funds – roughly $171 billion in today’s dollars – to rebuild war-torn Western Europe from 1948 to late 1951. It is often evoked as a solution for reconstruction following global crises. Yet as a military historian and curator, I find that the Marshall Plan is not well understood.

    For the U.S., the economic gains of the Marshall Plan did not come from European countries’ repaying loans or allowing the U.S. to extract their raw materials. Rather, the U.S. has benefited enormously from a half-century of goodwill, democratic stability and economic success in Europe.

    European nations turn inward

    After World War II ended in 1945, Western Europe faced a staggering burden of destruction and upheaval.

    Allied bombardment of major industrial areas and German cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne had created massive housing shortages. Meanwhile, fighting through agricultural areas and a critical manpower shortage had curtailed food production. What harvest there was could not get to hungry civilians because so many of Europe’s roads, bridges and ports had been destroyed.

    The United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany and other European governments were buried in debt after so many years of war. They could not afford to rebuild on their own. Yet rather than cooperating on their mutual economic reconstruction, European nations looked inward, focusing primarily on their own political challenges.

    The continent was politically and militarily divided, too. Europe’s western half was influenced by the democratic, capitalistic forces led by the U.S. Eastern Europe was beholden to the communist, command-economy forces of the Soviet Union.

    In a 1946 speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill articulated Europe’s growing postwar divide. Over the ruins of proud nations, he said, “an iron curtain” had “descended across the continent.”

    US looks abroad

    Unlike Europe, the U.S. emerged from World War II as the wealthiest nation in the world, with its territory intact and unharmed. Its steel and oil industries were booming. By 1947, the U.S. was the clear successor to Great Britain as the world’s superpower.

    But President Harry Truman feared the ambitions of the war’s other great victor – the Soviet Union. In March 1947, he announced a new doctrine to contain communist expansion southward across Europe by giving $400 million in military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey.

    Around the same time, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall met with Soviet officials to plan Germany’s future. Following the Nazis’ surrender in May 1945, Germany had been divided into four occupied zones administered by U.S., British, French and Soviet forces.

    Each nation had its own goals for its section of Germany. The U.S. wanted to revitalize Germany politically and economically, believing that a moribund Germany would thwart the economic reconstruction of all of Europe.

    Marshall hoped that the Soviets would cooperate, but Soviet ruler Josef Stalin preferred extracting reparations from a prostrate Germany to investing in its recovery. A vibrant German economic engine, the Soviets felt, could just as easily rearm to attack the Russian countryside for the third time that century.

    The Truman administration chose to unilaterally rebuild the three western Allied sectors of Germany – and Western Europe.

    Marshall outlined his plan at a commencement address at Harvard University in June 1947. American action to restore global economic health, he said, would provide the foundation for political stability and peace in Europe. And an economically healthy Western Europe, in turn, would inhibit the spread of communism by plainly demonstrating the benefits of capitalism.

    “Our policy is not directed against any country,” Marshall said, “but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.”

    Marshall’s plan

    Marshall invited all European nations to participate in drafting a plan to first address the immediate humanitarian aid of Europe’s people, then rebuild its infrastructure. The U.S. would pay for it all.

    For nearly bankrupt European nations, it was a lifeline.

    In September 1947, the new Committee for European Economic Co-operation, composed of 16 Western – but not Eastern – European nations, delivered its proposal to Washington.

    It would take a masterful legislative strategy for the Democratic Truman administration to persuade the Republican-led Congress to pass this $13 billion bill. It succeeded thanks to the dedicated effort of Republican Sen. Arthur Vandenberg, who convinced his isolationist colleagues that the Marshall Plan would halt the expansion of communism and benefit American economic growth.

    In April 1948, Truman signed the Economic Cooperation Act. By year’s end, over $2 billion had reached Europe, and its industrial production had finally surpassed prewar levels seen in 1939.

    NATO is born

    Along with economic stability, the Truman administration recognized that Europe needed military security to defend against communist encroachment by the Soviet Union.

    In July 1949, 12 European countries, the U.S. and Canada established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO committed each member country to the mutual defense of fellow NATO members.

    Since 1947, NATO has steadily expanded eastward to include Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and other former Soviet satellite states directly bordering Russia.

    Ukraine, which declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, is not yet a NATO member. But it desperately wants to be.

    Ukraine applied for NATO membership in 2022 after Russia’s invasion. Its application is pending. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any peace deal with Ukraine must bar NATO membership.

    Would a Marshall Plan work for Ukraine?

    Modern-day Ukraine mirrors the Western European countries of the Marshall Plan era in meaningful ways.

    It suffers from the physical devastation of war, with its major cities heavily damaged. The threat of military attack from hostile neighbors remains urgent. And it has a functional, democratic government that would – in peacetime – be capable of receiving and distributing aid to develop the nation’s economic growth and stability.

    U.S. global leadership, however, has changed dramatically since 1948.

    Outright American taxpayer financing of Ukraine’s reconstruction seems impossible. Any plan to reconstruct the country after war will likely require public funding from multiple nations and substantial private investment. That private investment could well include mineral extraction and refinement ventures.

    Ultimately, Ukraine’s recovery will most likely involve Ukraine and neighboring nations reaching agreement to restore its economic and military security. The European Union, which Ukraine also seeks to join, has the bureaucratic and economic resources necessary to reconstruct Ukraine, restore peace and ease tensions on the continent.

    Any future Marshall Plan for Ukraine will probably be European.

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

    – ref. Ukraine will need major rebuilding when war ends − here’s why the US isn’t likely to invest in its recovery with a new Marshall Plan – https://theconversation.com/ukraine-will-need-major-rebuilding-when-war-ends-heres-why-the-us-isnt-likely-to-invest-in-its-recovery-with-a-new-marshall-plan-251872

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: ZOOZ Power’s Kinetic Power Booster Powers Ultra-Fast EV Charging at New York Power Authority Work Site in Upstate New York

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Tel-Aviv, Israel, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ZOOZ Power (Nasdaq and TASE: ZOOZ), a leading provider of flywheel-based power boosters and energy management systems enabling ultra-fast EV charging solutions, is successfully operating its ZOOZTER™-100 kinetic power booster at a New York Power Authority (NYPA) work site in Marcy, N.Y. This, the first deployment of ZOOZ Power’s technology in a power utility in the United States is a significant step toward accelerating the adoption of ultra-fast EV charging in locations with grid constraints.

    The ZOOZTER™-100 system, installed in partnership with NYPA, is now actively boosting the grid power and efficiency at the site’s high-power EV charging station. This enables faster and more accessible charging for NYPA fleet and other electric vehicles, delivers extra power to the grid, and intelligently manages the energy distribution with its energy management solution. By leveraging advanced flywheel technology, the system delivers high-power bursts to chargers without placing excessive strain on the local grid, demonstrating a sustainable and cost-effective solution for expanding charging infrastructure.

    ZOOZ Power and NYPA are closely monitoring the site’s performance to optimize operations and assess the potential for broader implementation at additional locations.

    Launching this first U.S. deployment in the utility market marks an important step in ZOOZ Power’s expansion in North America and its mission to provide high-power, sustainable EV charging solutions worldwide.

    “We are thrilled to see our ZOOZTER™-100 in action at this New York Power Authority site and to be able to contribute to the expansion of ultra-fast charging capabilities in New York,” said Erez Zimerman, CEO at ZOOZ Power. “This successful site showcases our commitment to supporting the transition to cleaner transportation with innovative, energy-efficient solutions. The ZOOZTER100’s operation demonstrates how it can assist companies to deploy ultra-fast charges without gird limitations.”

    Alan Ettlinger, NYPA Senior Director of Research, Technology Development and Innovation said, “The integration of ZOOZ Power’s kinetic power boosting technology at our Marcy site is an example of offsetting grid limitations. As we look to further expand EV fast charging in New York State, it is increasingly important to employ innovative solutions that demonstrate flexibility and reliability.”

    About ZOOZ Power

    ZOOZ is a leading provider of flywheel-based power boosting and energy management solutions, enabling the widespread deployment of ultra-fast charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) while overcoming existing grid limitations.

    ZOOZ pioneers its unique flywheel-based power-boosting technology, enabling efficient utilization and power management of a power-limited grid at an EV charging site. Its Flywheel technology allows high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective ultra-fast charging infrastructure.

    ZOOZ Power’s sustainable, power-boosting solutions are built with longevity and the environment in mind, helping its customers and partners accelerate the deployment of fast-charging infrastructure, thus facilitating improved utilization rates, better efficiency, greater flexibility, and faster revenues and profitability growth. ZOOZ is publicly traded on NASDAQ and TASE under the ticker ZOOZ

    For more information, please visit: www.zoozpower.com/

    Investor Contact:
    Miri Segal – CEO
    MS-IR LLC
    msegal@ms-ir.com

    Media enquiries:
    Media@zoozpower.com

    Forward-Looking Statement

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions of ZOOZ Power. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding ZOOZ Power, and any of ZOOZ Power’s strategy, future operations and statements related to the collaboration between ZOOZ Power and NYPA (including the performance, benefits and potential outcome of the installation and launch of the ZOOZTER™-100 system at the NYPA work site in Marcy, N.Y. and of the collaboration between the parties) are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause ZOOZ Power’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks and other risks and uncertainties are more fully discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of ZOOZ’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as well as other documents that may be subsequently filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the limited operating history and evolving business model that make it difficult for investors to evaluate ZOOZ Power’s business and future prospects, material weaknesses identified in ZOOZ Power’s internal control over financial reporting and the potential results of ZOOZ Power being unable to remediate these material weaknesses, or identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, ZOOZ Power’s management’s determination that substantial doubt exists about the continued existence of ZOOZ Power as a “going concern”, changes to fuel economy standards or changes to governments’ regulations and policies in relation to environment or the success of alternative fuels which may negatively impact the EVs market and thus the demand for ZOOZ Power’s products, delays in deployment of public ultra-fast charging infrastructure which may limit the need and urgency for ZOOZ Power’s products, the potential outcome of ZOOZ Power’s collaborations with third parties for installation of its flywheel-based power boosting solution, and conditions in Israel and in the Middle East, including the effect of the evolving nature of the ongoing “Swords of Iron” war, may adversely affect ZOOZ Power’s operations. These forward-looking statements are only estimations, and ZOOZ Power may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in any forward-looking statements, so you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements made in this Press Release. Management of ZOOZ Power has based these forward-looking statements largely on current expectations and projections about future events and trends that such persons believe may affect ZOOZ Power’s business, financial condition and operating results. Forward-looking statements contained in this Press Release are made as of the date hereof, and none of ZOOZ Power or any of its representatives or any other person undertakes any duty to update such information except as may be expressly required under applicable law.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: NextNRG Delivers Record Growth Amid Surging Energy Demand and AI-Driven Infrastructure Investments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRISM MarketView has released an exclusive interview with Michael Farkas, CEO of NextNRG Inc. (NASDAQ: NXXT), highlighting the company’s record-breaking growth and its role at the forefront of the AI-powered energy revolution. As global demand for decentralized, sustainable, and intelligent energy solutions increases, NextNRG is pioneering transformative technologies—positioning itself as a key player in the evolving $4 trillion global electricity market. 

    In the interview, Farkas discusses the company’s AI-driven Utility Operating System, scalable smart microgrid technologies, and the explosive growth of EzFill, its mobile fueling division. These innovations address the dual challenge of powering AI infrastructure and achieving U.S. energy independence. 

    “At NextNRG, we’ve created a first-of-its-kind Utility Operating System impacting a nearly $4 trillion market. It integrates AI and ML to create the largest smart grid in the world, reducing generation and distribution costs by more than 10%,” said Farkas. “This grid already serves more than 6 million customer accounts—approximately 12 million people.” 

    The company is also targeting a major industry shift: the recent $25 billion investment by ADQ and ECP into AI-driven power generation, which underscores the urgency for reliable, high-density energy infrastructure. 

    “AI is driving massive growth in energy demand, and securing reliable power for data centers has become a strategic priority,” said Farkas. “Our AI-optimized smart grids and microgrid solutions are designed to meet that demand head-on.” 

    From Blink to NextNRG: Scaling Energy Innovation 

    Farkas, also the founder of Blink Charging, explained the evolution of his vision from vertically integrated EV charging to an all-encompassing energy infrastructure platform: 

    “The future of energy isn’t just about EV charging—it’s about upgrading the grid with smart microgrids and AI-driven solutions that enable a resilient and adaptive power infrastructure. That’s why I founded NextNRG—to build this future and power everything from healthcare campuses to tribal lands and commercial facilities.” 

    EzFill Reports Record Revenue Growth 

    In January 2025, EzFill, NextNRG’s mobile fueling division, reported $5 million in revenue, up 136% year-over-year from January 2024, and 120% growth month-over-month. This surge follows the acquisition of Shell Oil’s mobile fueling assets and the initiation of a long-term fueling contract with the world’s largest e-commerce company. 

    “As we continue to onboard new fleet accounts and optimize our operations, we believe we are well-positioned for sustained profitability and further expansion,” Farkas noted. 

    A Full-Service Energy Transition Strategy 

    NextNRG provides end-to-end solutions that help fleet operators transition from gas-powered vehicles to EVs through a strategic combination of mobile fueling, EV infrastructure, and wireless charging: 

    “NextNRG is the only company positioned to guide large fleet owners through every phase of the EV transition. Our Utility Operating System and smart microgrids enable scalable, cost-effective EV charging infrastructure while minimizing operational disruption,” said Farkas. 

    National Energy Independence and Security 

    Farkas also addressed rising trade tensions and tariffs, particularly Ontario’s 25% surcharge on electricity exports to U.S. states. 

    “This highlights the urgency of reducing reliance on foreign energy. By deploying decentralized energy via smart microgrids, we can ensure stable, cost-effective electricity production within the U.S. The transition to self-sufficient energy production isn’t just a sustainability initiative—it’s a national security priority.” 

    What’s Next for NextNRG

    “Our Utility Operating System is one of a kind, and we are integrating AI/ML, microgrid technology, and wireless EV charging to ensure a more reliable and decentralized energy ecosystem. Our goal is to create an energy system that is more efficient, independent, and accessible for all,” Farkas concluded. 

    Users can read the Full Interview with Michael Farkas https://prismmarketview.com/nextnrg-delivers-record-growth-amid-surging-energy-demand-and-ai-driven-infrastructure-investments/ 

    About NextNRG, Inc. 

    NextNRG Inc. (NextNRG) is Powering What’s Next by implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into renewable energy, next-generation energy infrastructure, battery storage, wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging and on-demand mobile fuel delivery to create an integrated ecosystem. 

    At the core of NextNRG’s strategy is its utility operating system, which leverages AI and ML to help make existing utilities’ energy management as efficient as possible, and the deployment of NextNRG smart microgrids, which utilize AI-driven energy management alongside solar power and battery storage to enhance energy efficiency, reduce costs and improve grid resiliency. These microgrids are designed to serve commercial properties, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, parking garages, rural and tribal lands, recreational facilities and government properties, expanding energy accessibility while supporting decarbonization initiatives. 

    NextNRG continues to expand its growing fleet of fuel delivery trucks and national footprint, including the acquisition of Yoshi Mobility’s fuel division and Shell Oil’s trucks, further solidifying its position as a leader in the on-demand fueling industry. NextNRG is also integrating sustainable energy solutions into its mobile fueling operations. The company hopes to be an integral part of assisting its fleet customers in their transition to EV, supporting more efficient fuel delivery while advancing clean energy adoption. The transition process is expected to include the deployment of NextNRG’s innovative wireless EV charging solutions. 

    To find out more users can visit: www.nextnrg.com 

    Forward-Looking Statements 

    This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statement describing NextNRG’s goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions, or beliefs is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Words such as “expect,” “intends,” “will,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to NextNRG’s business and macroeconomic and geopolitical events. These and other risks are described in NextNRG’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. NextNRG’s forward-looking statements involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although NextNRG’s forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by NextNRG. Except as required by law, NextNRG undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. 

    Disclaimer 

    This communication was produced by PRISM MarketView, an affiliate of PCG Advisory Inc., (together “PCG”). PCG is not a registered or licensed broker-dealer nor investment adviser. No information contained in this communication constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security. PCG may be compensated by respective clients for publicizing information relating to its clients’ securities. See www.pcgadvisory.com/disclosures. 

    Contact

    PRISM MarketView

    info@prismmarketview.com

    646-863-6341

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e990e78a-b12e-4d32-b811-7d26c7ffc5b8

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: AMERICAN REBEL ANNOUNCES 1-FOR-25 REVERSE STOCK SPLIT WITH ROUND LOT SHAREHOLDER PROTECTION TO BE EFFECTIVE ON MARCH 31, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Nashville, TN, March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) — America’s Patriotic Brand (the “Company”), today announced that it will effect a reverse stock split of its outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), at a ratio of 1-for-25, to be effective as of 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on March 31, 2025.

    The Company’s Common Stock will begin trading on a reverse stock split-adjusted basis at the opening of The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) on Monday, March 31, 2025. Following the reverse stock split, the Common Stock will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “AREB” with the new CUSIP number, 02919L604. The reverse stock split is intended for the Company to:

    • Enhance Deposit (Ability) and Marketability: By increasing the share price, a reverse split can make the stock more eligible for trading on certain platforms
    • Continue to ensure compliance with the minimum bid price requirement of $1.00 per share of common stock for continued listing on Nasdaq.

    Important information:

    • Exchange/Split Rate: 1:25
    • New CUSIP: 02919L604
    • Date of Record: March 31, 2025
    • Transfer Agent: Securities Transfer Corporation

    Contact Us – Securities Transfer Corporation

    The reverse stock split will not change the authorized number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock. No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse stock split and all such fractional interests will be rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares of Common Stock. Further, no current owner of 100 or more shares will be reduced to less than 100 shares. In addition, the reverse stock split will apply to the Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the Company’s outstanding derivative securities, with proportionate adjustments to be made to the exercise prices and number of derivates thereof and under the Company’s equity incentive plans.

    • Round Lot Shareholder Protection to ensure that shareholders holding a “round lot” (typically 100 shares) are not adversely affected by the split.
    • All Fractional Shares Rounded to nearest whole number. As a result of the reverse stock split all fractional interests will be rounded up to the nearest whole number

    The Company is committed to pro-actively protecting the interests of its stockholders, particularly those owning round lots of 100 or more shares. Stockholders holding at least 100 shares prior to the reverse stock split will retain a minimum of 100 shares post-split. This protection ensures that no stockholder who currently qualifies as a round lot holder will lose their status. Additionally, fractional shares resulting from the reverse stock split will be rounded up to the nearest whole share to maintain liquidity and shareholder equity.

    The reverse stock split will reduce the number of issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock from approximately 10.6 million to approximately 423 thousand, which does not include shares to be issued pursuant to the round lot rounding set forth above.

    On February 24, 2025, the stockholders of the Company approved a Certificate of Amendment to the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the Common Stock, at a ratio of up to 1-for-25, with such ratio to be determined in the sole discretion of the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) and with the reverse stock split to be effected at such time and date, if at all, as determined by the Board in its sole discretion at any time within twelve (12) months of such stockholder approval. The Board approved the reverse stock split at a ratio of 1-for-25 on March 12, 2025.

    Securities Transfer Corporation is acting as the exchange agent and paying agent for the reverse stock split. Stockholders holding their shares in book-entry form or in brokerage accounts need not take any action in connection with the reverse stock split.

    The standard procedure is that DTC gathers all round up share requests from each participant within their system. After about 4 business DTC will send a request for the total amount of round up shares needed to cover all participants/beneficial holders. At that time, our transfer agent will make one issuance/deposit to CEDE (DTC).

    • Round up shares should populate in participant/beneficial holder accounts approximately on or before ten (10) trading days post the Reverse Stock Split.

    Securities Transfer Corporation will provide instructions to any stockholders with certificates regarding the process in connection with the exchange of pre-reverse stock split stock certificates for ownership in book-entry form or stock certificates on a post-reverse stock split basis. Stockholders are encouraged to contact their bank, broker or custodian with any procedural questions.

    About American Rebel Holdings, Inc.

    American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) has operated primarily as a designer, manufacturer and marketer of branded safes and personal security and self-defense products and has recently transitioned into the beverage industry through the introduction of American Rebel Light Beer. The Company also designs and produces branded apparel and accessories. To learn more, visit www.americanrebel.com and www.americanrebelbeer.com. For investor information, visit www.americanrebel.com/investor-relations.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “forecasts” “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include our ability to raise adequate working and expansion capital, our ability to efficiently incorporate acquisitions into our operations, the use of non-GAAP based pro forma financial estimates, our ability to introduce new products, our ability to meet production demands, our ability to expand our sales organization to address existing and new markets that we intend to target, our ability to meet or exceed financial and reporting estimates, any effects of the reverse stock split, our ability to continue to meet Nasdaq listing requirements, and the Risk Factors contained within our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

    SOURCE: American Rebel Holdings, Inc.

    Company Contact:

    info@americanrebel.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Home Affairs upgrades digital verification system

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The Department of Home Affairs has announced a comprehensive upgrade to its digital verification system, a crucial component of national security, as well as both public and private sector services in South Africa.

    The verification system enables government departments, including National Treasury and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), as well as financial sector businesses, to confirm client identities using biometric features, such as fingerprints and facial recognition, against the National Population Register.

    In recent years, the system has, however, been plagued by inefficiencies, with users reporting a failure rate of up to 50% on these verification “hits” against the National Population Register. It also routinely took up to 24 hours for the system to respond, and when responses did arrive, they often contained errors that required manual verification.

    The Department of Home Affairs has, over the past few months, worked to resolve these errors.

    Testing has confirmed that the upgraded system is not only capable of dramatically faster performance, but that it now delivers an error rate of well below 1%. 

    The department is ready to roll out access to the upgraded verification service to all its valued clients across the public and private sectors.

    As part of ensuring the ongoing maintenance of this vastly improved system and after obtaining concurrence from the Minister of Finance, Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber has gazetted a new set of fees associated with the use of this verification service. 

    In order to better fund the maintenance of the National Population Register, fees for the use of the Home Affairs digital verification service by private sector companies will increase for the first time in over a decade, with effect from 1 April 2025.

    However, public sector users of the service, including numerous government departments and agencies, will be unaffected by the increase, as government users remain exempted from fees. 

    This approach, according to the Department of Home Affairs, enables the department to balance the need to invest in the National Population Register, while not negatively affecting public finances.

    “The rollout of a reliable, efficient and secure verification service supports both the public and private sectors to improve service delivery. 

    “This marks the most significant upgrade to the Home Affairs verification service since it was launched and will dramatically reduce waiting times whenever a client needs to verify their identity with the Department to obtain a social grant or open a bank account. The upgrade is also of immense importance to supporting private sector economic growth,” Minister Schreiber said. 

    “When this vital Home Affairs system is down, slow, or littered with errors, it negatively impacts upon the ability of banks, insurance companies and other financial service providers to verify clients and conduct business.

    “This investment in our population register is not only overdue, but also important for delivering on the vision for digital ID, as outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address, as a secure and efficient population register forms the cornerstone of digital ID.

    “The launch of the reformed verification system is further proof of the progress that Home Affairs is making on our journey of digital transformation to deliver dignity for all,” Schreiber said. – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Afreximbank Acts as Joint Global Coordinator on Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)’s second EUR 750mn Senior Eurobond due 2028

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

    CAIRO, Egypt, March 24, 2025/APO Group/ —

    African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) has successfully acted as Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Lead Manager on second EUR 750 million RegS-only senior Eurobond issuance by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (“BADEA”) due March 2028 under its existing Euro Medium-Term Note (EMTN) programme listed on London Stock Exchange.

    The bond proceeds will fund general corporate purposes including loan book growth in Sub-Saharan Africa under BADEA’s 9th Strategic Plan 2025-2029.

    BADEA is a multilateral development lending institution established in 1974 and headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  It is owned by 18 League of Arab States (LAS) to channel development finance to 44 non-Arab Sub-Saharan African countries.

    The bond issuance was 3.0x oversubscribed by more than 60 high-quality institutional investors comprising central banks, asset managers, development finance institutions, pension funds and commercial banks from Europe, UK, Middle East, Africa and Asia. Proactive investor engagement by BADEA since debut issuance as well as market momentum enabled the issuer to upsize transaction by 50% versus original target as well as tighten credit spread by 15bps over 4-day marketing roadshow. The transaction eventually priced at 75bps over EUR mid-swaps rate with annual coupon 3.000%, thus achieving material enhancements versus debut 2024 bond issuance in terms of issuance size, credit spread and final coupon respectively.

    Afreximbank, through its Advisory and Capital Markets (ACMA) department, acted as Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Lead Manager to BADEA on this bond transaction for the second consecutive time alongside international banking partners.

    MIL OSI Africa –