Category: Education

MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Government confirms Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson as the next EHRC chair
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

Government confirms Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson as the next EHRC chair

Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson has confirmed that Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson will be appointed as the new Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson confirmed as new Chair for Equality and Human Right Commission

Dr Stephenson will begin on 1 December 2025, after current chair Baroness Falkner’s term ends on 30 November

Dr Stephenson brings over 30 years of experience to the role

Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson has today confirmed that Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson will be appointed as the new Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

This follows a full and open competition to recruit a new chair, in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.

Dr Stephenson appeared in front of the Women and Equalities Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights on 1 July as part of a pre-appointment hearing where she was scrutinised by the committees.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson has over 30 years of experience working on equality and human rights issues within the UK and internationally, over 20 of these at board and CEO level. She also holds a PhD in equality law.

Positions she has held include:

Director of the Women’s Budget Group

Director of the Fawcett Society

tutor and visiting lecturer at University of Warwick Law School, including international human rights, UK employment law, UK equality law

visiting lecturer at University of Nottingham School of Law, London School of Economics and University of Wolverhampton

consultant to equalities and human rights projects including British Council, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Trade Union Congress, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Chair of Early Education and Childcare Coalition

board member of Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (CRASAC), Coventry Police and Crime Board, Just Fair, and Article 19

Campaigns Officer at Liberty

Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson said:

Equality and opportunity are absolutely vital in improving people’s life chances and the EHRC plays an essential role in upholding and protecting our rights.

I have the utmost confidence that the depth and breadth of Dr Stephenson’s experience will allow her to run the EHRC with integrity and professionalism. I am particularly encouraged by the balance of her experience across equalities and human rights.

I look forward to working with her on our shared mission to ensure that background is no barrier to success across the country.

Dr Stephenson said:

It is a great honour to be appointed as the new Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission at such a critical time.

I have spent over 30 years building my career across the equality and human rights sector and I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring my insight and experience to lead the EHRC with compassion, honesty and dedication.

I look forward to working with the Government and all stakeholders alongside my new colleagues at the EHRC to uphold equality and human rights and ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

Dr Zubaida Haque, former Deputy Director and Interim Director of Runnymede Trust said:

As the former Deputy Director and Interim Director of the Runnymede Trust during pivotal moments like the Windrush Scandal and the global Black Lives Matter protests, I know how important it is to centre the voices and experiences of Black and minority ethnic communities in public policymaking.

Having worked closely with Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson for nearly a decade, I can say without hesitation that Dr Stephenson has a very strong understanding of race, intersectionality, and the importance of including marginalised voices in all aspects of policy and decision-making.

We are living in uncertain political and economic times. Dr Stephenson’s extensive experience and leadership in equality and human rights is exactly what the EHRC needs right now.

Ali Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Equally Ours said:

Equally Ours has worked closely with Dr Stephenson for many years as director of the Women’s Budget Group.

At this critical time for people’s equality and human rights, Dr Stephenson will bring to this important role the ability to address complex issues, and the commitment to seeking to find solutions that work for everyone, through integrity and constructive dialogue.

The current chair Baroness Falkner’s term is due to end on 30 November 2025. Dr Stephenson will therefore begin her position on 1 December 2025.

The government is committed to ensuring that people of all backgrounds can thrive. The EHRC plays a vital role in upholding and promoting equality and human rights across England and Wales.

The EHRC is independent of the government and makes its own enforcement decisions, including about any inquiries and investigations it decides to conduct.

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Published 31 July 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
August 5, 2025

MIL-OSI: Middlefield Banc Corp. Announces Additions to Banking Team

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

John Cunningham appointed Northeast Ohio Commercial Market Executive
Thomas Young appointed Northeast Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager
Nick Paradiso appointed Central Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager
Middlefield also announces the retirement of Jack Gregorin Northeast Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager

MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ: MBCN) today announced that John Cunningham has been appointed Northeast Ohio Commercial Market Executive, Thomas Young has been appointed Northeast Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager, and Nick Paradiso has been appointed Central Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager. These additions reflect Middlefield’s continued commitment to expanding its commercial banking capabilities and delivering strong relationship-driven services across its Ohio markets.

The Company also announced the retirement of Jack Gregorin, after a 43-year banking career with the last seven years at Middlefield as the Company’s Northeast Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager.

Ronald L. Zimmerly, Jr., President, and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “As we continue to invest in our commercial banking business, John, Tom, and Nick bring the experience, leadership, and deep community connections that will support our clients and strengthen our presence in our Northeast and Central Ohio markets. These appointments demonstrate our commitment to build high-performing teams across our Ohio communities and serve as a reliable financial partner to the region’s business community.”

Zimmerly continued, “On behalf of the entire Middlefield family, I want to thank Jack for his years of service to the Bank. For 43 years, Jack has provided commercial customers throughout Ohio with integrity and proven financial advice. I wish Jack well on his next chapter.”

John Cunningham Appointed SVP, Northeast Ohio Commercial Market Executive
In this role, Cunningham will oversee Middlefield’s commercial growth strategy and relationship management across the Company’s Northeast Ohio footprint. With nearly 30 years of banking experience and a reputation for building high-performing teams, Cunningham brings significant expertise in commercial real estate and middle market banking. From 2021 to 2025, Cunningham was the SVP – Senior Managing Director, Commercial Real Estate at Premier Bank. Prior to this, he held positions at TCF Bank / Chemical Bank, The Home Saving and Loan Bank, Huntington National Bank, National City Bank, and Associates First Capital Corporation.

As a Northeast Ohio native, Cunningham holds degrees from Miami University and Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Business. Beyond banking, he’s a passionate supporter of the arts, having recently completed eight years of service as Trustee and Treasurer for the Valley Arts Center in Chagrin Falls.

Thomas Young Appointed VP, Northeast Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager
As VP, Northeast Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager, Young will focus on delivering strategic advice to business clients in the Northeast Ohio Region, helping them improve cash flow, finance key assets, and mitigate risk. With a strong analytical skillset and a passion for supporting business growth, Young has built a career helping clients navigate change and seize opportunity. Most recently, he was VP, Senior Business Banking Relationship Manager at U.S. Bank from 2023 to 2025. His prior experience includes roles at First Federal of Lakewood, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, PNC Bank, FirstMerit Bank, Huntington National Bank, and KeyBank.

Young holds degrees from Louisiana State University – Shreveport, and Myers University. He has also played a leadership role in local economic development, having served as Director and Past Board President of the Mentor Economic Assistance Corporation (MEACO).

Nick Paradiso Appointed VP, Central Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager
As VP, Central Ohio Commercial Relationship Manager, Paradiso will focus on delivering strategic advice to business clients within Central Ohio, helping them improve cash flow, finance key assets, and mitigate risk. With over 15 years of experience in banking, Paradiso is a seasoned commercial lender providing customized financing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Most recently, he was VP, Commercial Lending at Civista Bank from 2023 to 2025. His prior experience includes roles at LCNB National Bank, CFBank, Huntington National Bank, and Fifth Third Bank.

Paradiso holds degrees from John Carroll University and the University of Dayton. He is active across the Columbus community and is currently a member of the Short North Rotary Club, Association for Corporate Growth, Columbus Italian Club, Franklinton Board of Trade, Ohio Business Brokers Association, and Columbus Chamber.

About Middlefield Banc Corp.
Middlefield Banc Corp., headquartered in Middlefield, Ohio, is the Bank holding Company of The Middlefield Banking Company, with total assets of $1.92 billion at June 30, 2025. The Bank operates 21 full-service banking centers and an LPL Financial® brokerage office serving Ada, Beachwood, Bellefontaine, Chardon, Cortland, Dublin, Garrettsville, Kenton, Mantua, Marysville, Middlefield, Newbury, Orwell, Plain City, Powell, Solon, Sunbury, Twinsburg, and Westerville. The Bank also operates a Loan Production Office in Mentor, Ohio.

Additional information is available at www.middlefieldbank.bank

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release of Middlefield Banc Corp. and the reports Middlefield Banc Corp. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission often contain “forward-looking statements” relating to present or future trends or factors affecting the banking industry and, specifically, the financial operations, markets and products of Middlefield Banc Corp. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. There are a number of important factors that could cause Middlefield Banc Corp.’s future results to differ materially from historical performance or projected performance. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) a significant increase in competitive pressures among financial institutions; (2) changes in the interest rate environment that may reduce interest margins; (3) changes in prepayment speeds, charge-offs and loan loss provisions; (4) less favorable than expected general economic conditions; (5) legislative or regulatory changes that may adversely affect businesses in which Middlefield Banc Corp. is engaged; (6) technological issues which may adversely affect Middlefield Banc Corp.’s financial operations or customers; (7) changes in the securities markets; or (8) risk factors mentioned in the reports and registration statements Middlefield Banc Corp. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Middlefield Banc Corp. undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward-looking statements or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

Company Contact:	Investor and Media Contact:
Ron Zimmerly President and Chief Executive Officer Middlefield Banc Corp. (419) 673-1217 RZimmerly@middlefieldbank.com	Andrew M. Berger Managing Director SM Berger & Company, Inc. (216) 464-6400 andrew@smberger.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/56766f6d-9249-44ca-8226-d735f1753dd7
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9adb82cd-789f-4649-9e89-d04cfa08261b
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e069967c-0af2-46c4-8ef6-d562ac773761

The MIL Network –

August 5, 2025

MIL-OSI Submissions: Medieval skeletons reveal the lasting damage of childhood malnutrition – new study

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Julia Beaumont, Researcher in Biological Anthropology, University of Bradford

Beneath churchyards in London and Lincolnshire lie the chemical echoes of famine, infection and survival preserved in the teeth of those who lived through some of the most catastrophic periods in English history.

In a new study, my colleagues and I examined over 270 medieval skeletons to investigate how early-life malnutrition affected long-term health and life expectancy.

We focused on people who lived through the devastating period surrounding the Black Death (1348-1350), which included years of famine during the little ice age and the great bovine pestilence (an epidemic that killed two-thirds of cattle in England and Wales). We found that the biological scars of childhood deprivation during this time left lasting marks on the body.

These findings suggest that early nutritional stress, whether in the 14th century or today, can have consequences that endure well beyond childhood.

Children’s teeth act like tiny time capsules. The hard layer inside each tooth, called dentine, sits beneath the enamel and forms while we’re growing up. Once formed, it stays unchanged for life, creating a permanent record of what we ate and experienced.

As our teeth develop, they absorb different chemical versions (isotopes) of carbon and nitrogen from our food, and these get locked into the tooth structure. This means scientists can read the story of someone’s childhood diet by analysing their teeth.

A method of measuring the chemical changes in sequential slices of the teeth is a recent advance used to identify dietary changes in past populations with greater accuracy.

When children are starving, their bodies break down their fat stores and muscle to continue growing. This gives a different signature in the newly formed dentine than the isotopes from food. These signatures make centuries-old famines visible today, showing exactly how childhood trauma affected health in medieval times.

We identified a distinctive pattern that had been seen before in victims of the great Irish famine. Normally, when people eat a typical diet, the levels of carbon and nitrogen in their teeth move in the same direction. For example, both might rise or fall together if someone eats more plants or animals. This is called “covariance” because the two markers vary together.

But during starvation, nitrogen levels in the teeth rise while carbon levels stay the same or drop. This opposite movement – called “opposing covariance” – is like a red flag in the teeth that shows when a child was starving. These patterns helped us pinpoint the ages at which people experienced malnutrition.

Lifelong legacy

Children who survived this period reached adulthood during the plague years, and the effect on their growth was recorded in the chemical signals in their teeth. People with famine markers in their dentine had different mortality rates than those who lacked these markers.

Children who are nutritionally deprived have poorer outcomes in later life: studies of modern children have suggested that children of low birth weight or who suffer stresses during the first 1,000 days of life have long-term effects on their health.

For example, babies born small, a possible sign of nutritional stress, seem to be more prone to illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes in adulthood than the population at large. These characteristics can also be passed to future offspring through changes in how genes are switched on or off, known as “epigenetic effects” – which can endure for three generations.

Epigenetics explained.

In medieval England, early nutritional deprivation may have been beneficial during catastrophic times by producing adults of short stature and the capacity to store fat, but these people were much more likely to die after the age of 30 than their peers with healthy childhood dentine patterns.

The patterns for childhood starvation increased in the decades leading up to the Black Death and declined after 1350. This suggests the pandemic may have indirectly improved living conditions by reducing population pressure and increasing access to food.

The medieval teeth tell us something urgent about today. Right now, millions of children worldwide are experiencing the same nutritional crises that scarred those long-dead English villagers – whether from wars in Gaza and Ukraine or poverty in countless countries.

Their bodies are writing the same chemical stories of survival into their growing bones and teeth, creating biological problems that will emerge decades later as heart disease, diabetes and early death.

Our latest findings aren’t just historical curiosities; they’re an urgent warning that the children we fail to nourish today will carry those failures in their bodies for life and pass them on to their own children. The message from the medieval graves couldn’t be clearer: feed the children now or pay the price for generations.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

Julia Beaumont receives funding from Arts and Humanities research council, British Academy/Leverhulme.

– ref. Medieval skeletons reveal the lasting damage of childhood malnutrition – new study – https://theconversation.com/medieval-skeletons-reveal-the-lasting-damage-of-childhood-malnutrition-new-study-262081

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Weight loss drug demand continues to grow in the UK – here’s what’s being done to keep supplies readily available

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Liz Breen, Professor of Health Service Operations, School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences, University of Bradford

Demand for weight loss jabs has surged in the UK. Mohammed_Al_Ali/ Shutterstock

Over a fifth of people in the UK have tried to access a weight loss drug in the last year, according to a recent poll.

Weight loss jabs such as Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide) are very effective in managing obesity. Clinical trials have shown that some people lose up to 26% of their body weight while using these drugs.

With this impact, it’s no wonder a growing number of people are seeking out these products – often buying them in private clinics or online. But with plans to expand access to these drugs through NHS prescriptions, there are concerns that supply may not meet demand – especially for those people in most need.

In the UK, NHS prescriptions for weight loss jabs are only approved for people who meet strict eligibility requirements. For example, to qualify early for Mounjaro from your GP, you must have health problems due to your weight and a body mass index greater than 40 (adjusted for ethnicity). People assessed by the NHS and given prescriptions will also have access to additional support – such as advice about diet and physical activity.

Weight loss drugs can be prescribed by specialist clinics and, increasingly, local GPs. But a lack of time and resources means even those who are eligible are left waiting. Consequently, people who can afford to do so are approaching private providers for access to these medicines – despite the potential risks to their health.

There’s also evidence that people who aren’t clinically eligible for weight loss jabs prescribed by the NHS are purchasing them from online pharmacies.

Supply issues

Demand for weight loss jabs is about to grow, as the provision of Mounjaro via GPs is imminent, pending the creation of an infrastructure to support safe local prescribing.

The number of monthly GP prescriptions in England for Mounjaro has already risen from under 3,000 in March 2024 (on introduction) to over 200,000 in May 2025. Mounjaro (also marketed in the US as Zepbound) is widely considered to be the best weight loss jab currently available and a great commercial success.

GP prescriptions of all forms of semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy) are more stable, at around 130,000 items per month (including generics and products to treat diabetes).

While a number of GLP-1 drugs faced shortages last year (including Wegovy and Mounjaro), these shortages have now been resolved. Shortages were spurred by a spike in global demand for these drugs alongside stockpiling by private clinics to feed requests.

Still, there were reports early this year that certain strengths of Mounjaro were difficult to access. The reasons for this are not clear, but may be due to the novelty of access to this new medication or a lack of access to alternatives.

Around 220,000 people in England are due to be offered Mounjaro via the NHS over the next three years. However, it’s estimated that 3.4 million people in England could actually be eligible for Mounjaro.

Mounjaro will initially be offered to 220,000 people on the NHS over the next three years.
Cynthia A Jackson/ Shutterstock

Wider NHS access to this drug is being phased to manage staff workload and ensure good support for patients. Phased rollout may also help to ensure there is enough supply for those who need to be prescribed one of these medications.

Future access

It’s likely that demand for these weight loss drugs will only continue to grow in the UK, so it’s important that supply is readily available.

Regulatory agencies have taken some steps to tighten controls of online prescribing of weight loss drugs and prevent misuse. Registered online pharmacies must seek independent verification of key clinical information (such as from a GP or through a person’s medical records) instead of relying on questionnaires or phone calls.

However, weight loss products remain easy to access for people with money and savvy search skills, but who may be clinically ineligible. The scale of demand from this group is difficult to quantify, but it’s clear more needs to be done to keep patients safe and manage demand.

Several new weight loss drugs are undergoing trials in the UK. These drugs will work similarly to those already available but may be administered differently (such as an oral tablet). The trials for these and subsequent approvals will not only increase market competition, but also improve patient access and choice.

Key patents for the manufacture of semaglutide are also due to expire in 2026 and 2031. Once a pharmaceutical product is outside of its patented time frame, other companies can be approved to manufacture it as a generic product.

A generic product is approved on the basis that it works in the same manner and has equal benefits to the original product. The generics market allows new entrants and new versions of these very popular products onto the market.

Generic products are usually less expensive and so are bought (where still clinically safe and effective) by the NHS. This change could provide greater access to weight loss medications and save the NHS and patients money in the long term.

Generic semaglutide products will probably be available in the UK from 2032 but will be initially authorised to treat diabetes rather than weight loss. Still, this should have a positive impact on the availability of prescription drugs used for both diabetes and weight management.

Generic liraglutide is already available on the NHS for the treatment of diabetes. The liraglutide brand Saxenda is also marketed for weight management. However, liraglutide is less effective than Wegovy or Mounjaro and requires daily injections.

The number of monthly NHS prescriptions for liraglutide has fallen from over 40,000 in July 2020 to 1,000 in May 2025. This fall was most likely influenced by the discontinuation of the Victoza brand for type 2 diabetes in late 2024. Shortages of all types of GLP-1 drugs, which lasted until the end of 2024, may also have impacted demand for liraglutide.

For now, NHS staff can report on known demand for these products to inform manufacturing quantities and procurement. What isn’t known is the future demand for online or private purchases of weight management drugs. It’s this “unknown” demand that may mean supply security is challenged and unsustainable.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

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. Weight loss drug demand continues to grow in the UK – here’s what’s being done to keep supplies readily available – https://theconversation.com/weight-loss-drug-demand-continues-to-grow-in-the-uk-heres-whats-being-done-to-keep-supplies-readily-available-262065

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Flames to floods: how Europe’s devastating wildfires are fuelling its next climate crisis

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ioanna Stamataki, Senior Lecturer in Hydraulics and Water Engineering, University of Greenwich

In recent years, I have all too often found myself passing over an active wildfire when flying from London to my family home in Greece during the summer months. The sky glows an eerie, apocalyptic red, and the scent of smoke fills the cabin. Silence falls as we become unwilling witnesses to a tragic spectacle.

Now wildfires are again raging across the Mediterranean. But the flames themselves are only part of the story. As wildfires become more intense and frequent, they’re setting off a dangerous chain reaction – one that also includes a rising risk of devastating floods.

Author’s photo from a plane landing in Athens last summer.
Ioanna Stamataki

In January 2024, Nasa reported that climate change is intensifying wildfire conditions, noting that the frequency of the most extreme wildfires had more than doubled over the past two decades. While some of this is driven by natural weather variability, human-induced warming is clearly playing a major role. Decades of rising temperatures combined with longer and more severe droughts have created ideal conditions for wildfires to ignite and spread.

This year, another brutal Mediterranean wildfire season is unfolding right before our eyes, with numerous active wildfire fronts across the region. As of July 22 2025, 237,153 hectares have burned in the EU – an increase of nearly 78% from the same period last year. The number of fires rose by about 45%, and CO₂ emissions increased by 23% compared to 2024. These are terrifying statistics.

Climate phenomena are closely interconnected

The fires themselves are bad enough. But they’re also closely connected to other climate-related extremes, including floods.

Natural hazards often trigger chain reactions, turning one disaster into many. In the case of floods, wildfires play a big role both through weather patterns and how the land responds to rain.

On the weather side, higher temperatures lead to more extreme rainfall, as warmer air can hold more moisture and fuels stronger storms. Intense wildfires can sometimes get so hot they generate their own weather systems, like pyrocumulus clouds – towering storm clouds formed by heat, smoke and water vapour. These clouds can spark sudden, localised storms during or shortly after the fire.

The damage doesn’t end when the flames die down. Satellite data shows that burned land can remain up to 10°C hotter for nearly a year, due to lost vegetation and damaged soil.

As the world warms, the atmosphere is able to hold about 7% more moisture for every extra degree. Recent temperatures of 40°C or more in Greece suggest a capacity for more downpours and more flooding.

Greece is getting hotter and hotter (Each stripe represents one year, with blue indicating cooler and red indicating warmer than the 1961-2010 average).
Ed Hawkins / Show Your Stripes (Data: Berkeley Earth & ERA5-Land), CC BY-SA

Wildfires also make the land itself more vulnerable to flooding. Burnt areas respond much faster to rain, as there is less vegetation to slow down the water. Wildfires also change the soil structure, often making it water-repellent. This means more water runs off the surface, erosion increases, and it takes less rain to trigger a flood.

Under these conditions, a storm expected once every ten years can cause the sort of catastrophic flooding expected only every 100 to 200 years. Water moves much faster across scorched landscapes without plants to slow it down. Wildfires also leave behind a lot of debris, which can be swept up by fast-moving floodwaters.

While EU-wide data on post-wildfire flood risk is still limited, various case studies from southern Europe offer strong evidence of the connection. In Spain’s Ebro River Basin, for example, research found that if emissions remain high and climate policy is limited, wildfires will increase the probability of high flood risk by 10%.

Nature’s ability to regenerate is nothing short of magical, but recovering from a wildfire takes time. Burnt soil takes years to return to normal and, during that time, the risks of extreme rainfall are higher. Beyond the impact of wildfires on soil and water, it is important not to overlook the devastating loss of plant and animal species or even entire ecosystems, making the natural world less biodiverse and resilient.

To reduce the frequency and severity of extreme events, we must focus on repairing climate damage. This means moving beyond isolated perspectives and adopting a multi-hazard approach that recognises how disasters are connected.

Flooding after wildfires is just one example of how one crisis can trigger another. We need to recognise these cascading risks and focus on long-term resilience over short-term fixes.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

Ioanna Stamataki currently receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust and the Royal Society for ongoing flood research. Previous research has been supported by the EPSRC and the Newton Fund (via the British Council) for career development and international collaboration.

– ref. Flames to floods: how Europe’s devastating wildfires are fuelling its next climate crisis – https://theconversation.com/flames-to-floods-how-europes-devastating-wildfires-are-fuelling-its-next-climate-crisis-262204

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Kemp Announces 114 Appointments to Boards, Authorities, and Commissions

Source: US State of Georgia

Atlanta, GA – Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced 114 appointments and reappointments to various state boards, authorities, and commissions.

Georgia Composite Medical Board

Srenni Gangasani and David Retterbush were reappointed.

Kamesha Harbison is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist serving the South Columbus community. She has provided women’s health care in the Chattahoochee Valley for over a decade, delivering comprehensive OB/GYN services and assisting with more than 1,000 births. She has also led community health initiatives, including organizing prenatal education and resource events for expectant mothers. Harbison began her career as a high school biology and chemistry teacher after earning a B.S. and M.Ed. from Xavier University of Louisiana. She later earned her medical degree from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and completed her OB/GYN residency at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. As an educator, she developed a mentoring program to address adolescent health, hygiene, and goal setting—laying the foundation for her transition into women’s healthcare. She is recognized for her commitment to patient education, community outreach, and improving health outcomes for women across the region.

State Workforce Development Board

Bárbara Rivera Holmes was sworn in as the 11th Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor and the state’s first Latina constitutional officer on April 4, 2025, by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Holmes’ extensive experience includes appointments by former Gov. Nathan Deal to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, which oversees Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities, and by former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan as co-chair of the Georgia Innovates Task Force, which helped design the state’s technology blueprint. A former journalist, Holmes has earned awards for excellence in journalism from the Georgia Associated Press. She holds degrees in journalism and Spanish from Florida Southern College and studied at Estudio Sampere Internacional in Spain. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Holmes resides in Albany with her husband, David, and their daughter.

Steve Bradshaw served eight years on the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners. First elected in 2016, he was re-elected in 2020 without opposition. During his tenure, he was twice unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as Presiding Officer of the Board. He also chaired several key committees, including Finance, Audit and Budget; Public Works and Infrastructure; and County Operations. Prior to public service, Bradshaw spent more than 15 years in the private sector in operations management and business development roles, most recently as business development manager for Delta Global Staffing, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. Bradshaw began his professional career as a U.S. Army officer as a tank commander. He served in both domestic and international assignments, including deployment to the Middle East during the First Persian Gulf War. His final military post was as a leadership instructor at the Army Officer Candidate School. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia State University and later served as an adjunct professor in the university’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, teaching both undergraduate and graduate students.

Hearing Panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission

Richard Hyde was reappointed.

Georgia Board of Examiners of Licensed Dietitians

Cicely Thomas was reappointed.

Alison Sturgill is a licensed and registered dietitian with over a decade of clinical experience specializing in oncology nutrition. She currently serves as a clinical dietitian IV at the Emory Proton Therapy Center, where she provides medical nutrition therapy to patients undergoing radiation treatment for various cancers. Previously, she held a similar role at Emory University Hospital, where she led inpatient oncology nutrition care and served as a preceptor and educator for dietetic interns. Sturgill holds both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Murray State University and is a Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition (CSO). Her work has been published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality, and she remains active in multiple professional organizations, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Warm Springs Memorial Advisory Committee

Eric Bentley is retired from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources with over three decades of service to Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, including a deep and enduring connection to the Little White House State Historic Site. A graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in forest resources, Bentley began his career at Unicoi State Park before serving in various leadership roles, including park manager at Kolomoki Mounds and Fort Yargo. He was named Manager of the Year in 2009 and later served as Region 3 Manager, where he oversaw operations at the Little White House and F.D. Roosevelt State Park, secured funding, and strengthened partnerships with the Advisory Committee. From 2019 until his retirement in 2022, Bentley served as Assistant Director of State Parks, continuing to advocate for the Little White House and playing a key role in advancing major preservation projects.

Board of Juvenile Justice

Lisa Colbert was reappointed.

State Board of Veterinary Medicine

Jessica Sewell was reappointed.

Employee Benefit Plan Council

Courtney Ware and Christopher Wells were reappointed.

Angelique McClendon was appointed Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) on May 1, 2025. She joined DDS as General Counsel in 2015 and was later promoted to Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Legal and Regulatory Affairs. Her legal career began in 2005 as an assistant solicitor in DeKalb County, followed by her service as an assistant attorney general for the State of Georgia from 2008 to 2015, where she represented public safety agencies, including DDS. McClendon has provided legal guidance on major state initiatives, including Georgia’s Digital Driver’s License, and is a recognized expert on identity management, digital credentials, and data privacy. She has held leadership roles with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), helping shape national policy and best practices in driver’s license administration. She holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University College of Law.

Board of Community Affairs

Kwanza Hall, Donna Armstrong Lackey, and Charlie Maddox were reappointed.

State Board of Technical College System of Georgia

Mike Long, Fran Millar, and Lisa Winton were reappointed.

North Georgia Mountains Authority

Jeff Andrews, Randy Dellinger, Patrick Denney, Dan Garcia, and Paul Shailendra were reappointed.

State Board of Podiatry Examiners

Rupal Gupta is a board-certified podiatrist with over 20 years of clinical, academic, and administrative experience. She currently practices at Ankle and Foot Centers of America and has held leadership roles in both hospital and professional association settings, including serving as president of the Georgia Podiatric Medical Association and department chief at Emory Johns Creek Hospital. Gupta completed her residency at Jackson North Medical Center, where she received advanced training in surgical and non-surgical foot and ankle care, trauma, and wound management. She holds a Doctorate in podiatric medicine from Kent State University and a bachelor’s degree from Emory University. Dedicated to advancing podiatric medicine and public health, she has been an active advocate for clinical standards and evidence-based policy and continues to serve on various hospital committees and community initiatives.

Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority

Daniel Dooley and Lauren Talley were reappointed.

Georgia Rural Development Council

Robert “Bob” Ray, Jr. is managing member of Ray Family Farms, LLC, where he and his siblings continue six generations and over 200 years of family farming, now focused on pecan production and pine timber. Before returning full-time to agriculture, Ray served for 15 years as President and CEO of Flint Energies. Ray’s public service includes his tenure as Assistant Secretary of State and Chief Operating Officer under Secretary of State Cathy Cox, where he directed agency operations and intergovernmental affairs. Earlier in his career, he was legislative director for the Georgia Farm Bureau Federation and also worked as a corporate lending officer with NCNB National Bank. He holds a bachelor’s in finance from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Ray has served in leadership roles with Georgia EMC, Green Power EMC, GRESCO, and Leadership Georgia, and remains active in agricultural and community organizations statewide.

Georgia Commission on the Holocaust

Jon Barry is President and Founder of Spectrum Maintenance Services and leads the company’s marketing and growth strategies. His career in commercial real estate spans four decades, including extensive experience in all aspects of brokerage and property management. Initially formed to support Barry’s shopping center management platform, SMS has grown to become Atlanta’s leading full-service property maintenance company. Barry previously served on the Board of Advisors of the Kennesaw State University Entrepreneurship Center, is a member of CEO NetWeavers, and has served as mentor to numerous rising professionals.

Georgia Ports Authority

James Allgood, Jr., Leda Chong, and Doug Hertz were reappointed.

Georgia Student Finance Commission Board of Commissioners

John Loud, Sarah Hawthorne, Ed Pease, and David Perez were reappointed.

State Board of Accountancy

Emily Farrell and Todd Tolbert were reappointed.

Carlton Hodges is a certified public accountant with more than four decades of experience in public accounting, specializing in tax compliance and audit services. He began his career in 1980 with SRLS, where he advanced to Tax Manager following a merger with Price Waterhouse. His practice focuses on business, individual, fiduciary, and nonprofit tax returns, as well as audit and accounting engagements in sectors such as construction, services, and government-assisted entities. Carlton holds Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in finance and accounting from Armstrong State College. He is a member of both the Georgia Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs, and serves on the board and leadership council of the Georgia Society, where he also chairs the GSCPA Insurance Trust. His civic involvement includes prior service as a Pooler City Councilman, treasurer of the Savannah-Chatham MPC, and leadership roles with the Armstrong Foundation and Rotary Club of Savannah West.

State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors

Trent Turk was reappointed.

Board of Commissioners of the Sheriffs’ Retirement Fund of Georgia

Billy Hancock and Dan Kilgore were reappointed.

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Authority

Bill Shanks and Earl Wright were reappointed.

Phil Schaefer is an award-winning sportscaster whose career spans more than five decades across basketball, football, baseball, and golf. He was the voice of UGA basketball for 17 years, called Atlanta Hawks games for five seasons, and served as a CBS Radio broadcaster for the NCAA Tournament for 20 years. In football, he spent 16 years as UGA’s color commentator, 10 years as the voice of the Peach Bowl, and 20 years as public address announcer for the Atlanta Falcons. Schaefer also covered the Braves for 39 years and the Masters Tournament for 55 consecutive years, earning the Masters Major Achievement Award in 2010. A three-time Georgia Sportscaster of the Year, Schaefer held leadership roles at WSB Radio and later served as Athletic Coordinator for the DeKalb County School System. He is a member of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and has received over 40 national and regional journalism awards, including a Peabody. He holds degrees from Ohio State University and Georgia State University and is the author of Sins of a Southern Sportscaster.

Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

Deb Bailey, Amanda Owens, Bill Slaughter, Jean Sumner, and Jimmy Thomas were reappointed.

Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board

Margaret Molony and Robin Osborne were reappointed.

Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission

Greg Garrett and Mary Ellen Imlay were reappointed.

Stephen Lawson is a principal in Dentons’ Regulatory, Public Policy, and Government Affairs practice in Atlanta, with nearly 15 years of experience in public affairs, communications, and political strategy. He has advised Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, trade associations, and elected officials on complex issues including policy strategy, crisis management, media relations, and advocacy. Prior to joining Dentons, Lawson was president of Full Focus Communications, a public affairs firm based in Atlanta. He has served in senior advisory roles for high-profile public officials, including Florida Governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, and in Georgia for Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, Congressman Mike Collins, and Speaker of the House Jon Burns.

George Levert is a retired venture capitalist with more than two decades of experience in technology investment. He was a Founding Partner of Kinetic Ventures, where he led investments in telecommunications, network automation, and internet technologies. He served on the boards of more than a dozen venture-backed companies, including Metricom, Pathfire, and Proficient Networks. Prior to his career in venture capital, he held roles with Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Accenture, Boeing, and the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps during the Vietnam War. Levert holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Louisiana Tech University and an M.S. in management from Georgia Tech. He has served on numerous civic and nonprofit boards, including the Georgia Tech Foundation, Catholic Charities of Atlanta, the Atlanta Opera, and the American Red Cross. He is also a former board member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and the Museum of the American Indian. Levert has endowed multiple scholarships and leadership awards and remains active in philanthropic, educational, and faith-based organizations. He and his wife, Dale, live in Atlanta and have two sons and two granddaughters.

Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority

Bert Brantley, Martin Miller, and Pritpal Singh were reappointed.

Board of Human Services

Lisa Hamilton, Scott Johnson, and Jack Williams were reappointed.

Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Nancy Bills, Denise Downer-McKinney, Ron Freeman, Scotty Hancock, and Joe Hood were reappointed.

Board of Public Health

James Curran, Lucky Jain, Mitch Rodriguez, Ryan Shin, and T.E. Valliere-White were reappointed.

Professional Standards Commission

Angela Byrne has over 11 years of teaching experience in public and private schools. She currently teaches ESOL to K–6 students at Anna K. Davie Elementary in Rome City Schools, where she has served for the past six years. Her previous roles include teaching kindergarten, fourth, and fifth grade. She holds certifications in Elementary Education and Middle Grades Math and Science, with endorsements in ESOL and Online Teaching. She has received the Rome City Schools Central Office Support Employee of the Year and the Anna K. Davie Star Teacher Award. Byrne lives in Rome, Georgia, with her husband, Lewis, and their three children.

Christy Edwards is an elementary educator with 14 years of experience in the Hall County School System. She currently serves as the Language Lab Teacher at Tadmore Elementary, focusing on data-driven instruction and student performance. She previously taught second, fourth, and fifth grades, as well as Early Intervention Program (EIP) support. She holds a B.S. in early childhood education from the University of North Georgia and an ESOL endorsement from Pioneer RESA. Edwards has served as a Leadership Team member, RTI representative, and professional learning facilitator.

Zach Miller is a certified elementary educator currently teaching reading, science, and social studies at Roan School in Dalton. He holds a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education from Dalton State College and is certified in Early Childhood Education (P-5), with endorsements in ESOL and K–5 Mathematics. Named Teacher of the Year at Roan School in 2025, Miller focuses on a student-centered approach that integrates project-based learning and relationship-building to drive academic success. He founded the District Elementary Soccer Tournament and mentors students through Soccer for Success. He also leads Roan’s Soccer and Disc Golf Clubs, coordinates the Social Studies Bee, and partners with local nonprofits to support families in need. Miller is active in his church, serving as vice chairman of the deacons at Fellowship Bible Church and leading the soccer portion of Grace Presbyterian Church’s summer sports camp.

State Rehabilitation Council

Jo Ellen Hancock is a long-serving advocate and leader in the fields of special education, behavioral health, and community engagement. Since 2005, she has served as the parent mentor for special education with the Cherokee County School District, supporting families and fostering collaboration between schools and parents of students with disabilities. She holds multiple leadership roles across state and local behavioral health organizations, including chair of the Statewide Leadership Council and immediate past chair of the Region 1 Advisory Council for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). She also serves on the Georgia Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council and the Behavioral Health Services Coalition. Hancock is a certified peer specialist – parent and currently chairs the Cherokee County Local Interagency Planning Team (LIPT), where she has led efforts to coordinate services for children with complex needs since 2018. She serves on the advisory board for NAMI Georgia and is communications chair for the Holly Springs Optimist Club.

Charity Roberts assumed the position of State Director (IDEA) for the Office of Federal Programs Division for Exceptional Children on January 1, 2025. She is a quadruple Eagle from Georgia Southern University, obtaining her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education. She completed a specialist and doctorate degree in educational leadership. She is certified in multiple fields within general and special education, such as elementary education, reading (P-8), special education preschool, physical and health disabilities, and P-12 special education adaptive and general curriculum. Roberts has over 30 years of experience in special education instruction and leadership in a variety of roles. After serving as a special education teacher, she became a district director of special education. From there, Roberts provided leadership support as a GLRS Director for twelve years before joining the Georgia Department of Education Office of Rural Education and Innovation.

Board of Community Supervision

Jimmy Kitchens and Steve Queen were reappointed.

Judicial Legal Defense Fund Commission

Christine Hayes serves as Deputy Executive Counsel in the Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp. Prior to joining the Governor’s staff, she was director of governmental affairs for the State Bar of Georgia, where she worked on a variety of legislative issues that affect the judiciary and the legal profession. She also held roles at the Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts, Georgia General Assembly, and as an associate at Fields Howell where she focused on insurance coverage issues and related litigation. Hayes holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and a law degree from Emory University. She and her husband, Jonathan, live in Atlanta with their two daughters.

State Board of Long-term Care Facility Administrators

Timothy Bush and Laura Cayce were reappointed.

Suzanne Gerhardt serves as Senior Vice President of Health Services at PruittHealth, Inc., where she oversees skilled nursing center operations across four states. With a career in long-term care that began in 1983, she brings decades of hands-on experience in healthcare management, including roles in business operations, social services, admissions, and auditing. Gerhardt became a licensed Nursing Home Administrator in 1997 and has since managed multiple facilities and regional operations. She is known for her focus on regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and improving patient outcomes. In addition to her leadership at PruittHealth, she has served in various roles with the Georgia Health Care Association, including Chair of the Board and, currently, as immediate past chair.

Donna Sant is a public policy professional with extensive experience in political organizing, campaign operations, and grassroots leadership. She served as Chairman of the Houston County Republican Party from 2018 to 2024 and has held multiple roles within the Georgia Republican Party, including State Committee Member and County Vice Chair. She has led volunteer efforts, managed election headquarters, coordinated large-scale events, and served as a liaison between voters and candidates. Sant holds a master’s in public policy from Liberty University and a B.F.A. in TV/Film production from Valdosta State College. A graduate of Republican Leadership for Georgia, she is also a recipient of the Ted & Barbara Waddle Award of Excellence. She lives in Elko, Georgia, with her husband. They have three adult children. Sant will serve as the consumer member on the State Board of Long-term Care Facility Administrators.

Board of Trustees of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia

Mary Elizabeth Davis is the Superintendent of Cherokee County Schools, serving 42,000 students. She has spent nearly 20 years in Georgia public education, holding leadership roles in four school districts. Prior to her current role, she served as Superintendent of Henry County Schools for nearly seven years, where she led improvements in operational systems, financial management, and student outcomes. Her previous roles include Chief Academic Officer in Cobb County and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in Gwinnett County. She began her career as a chemistry teacher and coach in Fairfax County, Virginia. Davis was named one of District Administration’s 100 most influential education leaders in 2024 and is a former finalist for Georgia Superintendent of the Year. She holds a chemistry degree from Messiah College and a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Georgia State University. She lives in Canton, Georgia with her husband and two children.

Board of Juvenile Justice

Lisa Colbert was reappointed.

State Board of Veterinary Medicine

Jessica Sewell was reappointed.

Georgia Opioid Settlement Advisory Commission

Trey Bennett is the general counsel and grants division director for the Georgia Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget. A seasoned attorney and public policy advisor, Bennett has over a decade of legal and governmental experience, including past service as deputy executive counsel to Governor Brian Kemp. He oversees the ethical execution of billions of dollars in federal grant funding, advises on statewide emergency responses, and helps shape key legislation across multiple sectors. Bennett also has substantial courtroom experience, having served as both a criminal prosecutor and a defense attorney in Northeast Georgia. He holds a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and lives in Hoschton, Georgia, with his wife, Katherine, and their four children.

Council for the Arts- Chair

Colt Chambers was reappointed.

Board of Commissioners of the Superior Court Clerks’ Retirement Fund of Georgia

Timothy Harper, Linda Hays, Daniel Jordan, Michael King, and Rhett Walker were reappointed.

Georgia Public Service Commission Advisory Committee

Jeff Jacques is a civil engineering professional with over 35 years of experience in transportation and utility coordination. He began his career with the Georgia Department of Transportation in 1983 as a civil engineer co-op and held various roles over a 20 year tenure, including district utilities engineer and area maintenance engineer. Since 2007, he has served as worksite utility coordination supervisor and utility coordination manager with CWM. Jacques is actively involved in the Georgia Utility Coordination Council, Georgia 811 Excavator Advisory Council, GHCA Utilities Task Force, and the GUCC Legislative Committee. He also served Franklin County as a Republican member of the Board of Commissioners from 2002 to 2018 and as Chairman from 2023 to 2024. A graduate of Emmanuel College and Southern Tech, Jacques resides in Franklin County with his wife, Christy. They have three adult children, and he is a member of Liberty Baptist Church in Carnesville.

Disability Services Ombudsman Medical Review Group

George Leach is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and an attending physician at Grady Memorial Hospital. He has over 15 years of clinical and academic experience, with a focus on quality improvement, systems-based practice, and medical education. Leach completed his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina and earned his medical degree from Emory University, where he also completed his emergency medicine residency and served as chief resident. His academic contributions include developing a national curriculum for advanced emergency medicine learners and leading peer review process improvements at Grady. He is a member of multiple professional organizations, including the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Dr. Leach has received numerous teaching awards and is actively involved in resident education, mentorship, and committee leadership at Emory and Grady.

Georgia Environmental Finance Authority

Jimmy Andrews and Travis Turner were reappointed.

Georgia Child Support Commission

Ben Land was reappointed.

Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission

Kevin Tanner was reappointed as Chairman.

Karen Bailey, Melanie Dallas, Jason Downey, Nora Haynes, Miriam Shook, Sarah Vinson, DeJuan White, and Michael Yochelson were reappointed.

DeAnna Julian serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Frazer Center, a nonprofit providing inclusive early childhood, adult, and behavioral health services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). She also serves as President of the Service Providers Association for Developmental Disabilities (SPADD), where she works to strengthen Georgia’s IDD service network through policy engagement and provider collaboration. A former special education teacher, Julian holds certifications in special education, early childhood, and physical education, along with a master’s degree in education and transition services from the University of Kansas. She previously served as Executive Director of The Arc of Southwest Georgia, leading efforts to expand access and advance systemic reform. With more than 20 years of leadership in education and disability services, Julian has been recognized with honors including the Annette Bowling Advocacy Award and Albany’s Top 40 Under 40. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Steve, and their two adult children.

Carey Parrott, Sr. is the founder and CEO of Parrott Counseling Services, LLC, with over two decades of experience in addiction and mental health counseling. A licensed clinical social worker, master addictions counselor, certified clinical supervisor, and certified peer specialist for addictive diseases, he provides direct care and specialized services to individuals, families, and justice-involved populations, including re-entry and mandated clients. Parrott is a two-time graduate of the University of Georgia, earning a B.S. in psychology and an M.S.W. He later earned a doctorate in clinical social work leadership from Tulane University. His professional background includes service as caregiver support coordinator at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where he supported veterans and families navigating the challenges of mental illness and substance use. He has also served as a consultant to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, providing clinical supervision and workforce development for addiction counselors statewide. Parrott began his career working in residential treatment settings and community behavioral health programs. He is recognized for his collaborative, personalized approach and his ongoing commitment to supporting recovery and resilience in the Athens community and beyond.

Child Advocate Advisory Committee

Andre Blanchard and Jay Watkins were reappointed.

Georgia Hotel Motel Tax Performance Review Board

David Dukes was reappointed.

MIL OSI USA News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: MEDIA ADVISORY: Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools to Hold First Meeting
Source: US State of Georgia

ATLANTA (July 31, 2025) — On Thursday, August 7, 2025, at 1:00 p.m., the Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools, chaired by Sen. John F. Kennedy (R–Macon), will hold its first hearing.

EVENT DETAILS:
- Date: Thursday, August 7, 2025
- Time: 1:00 p.m.
- Location: Mercer University, President’s Dining Room – 1501 Mercer University Drive, Macon, GA, 31207
- This event is open to the public and will be live-streamed on the Georgia General Assembly website here.
ABOUT THE MEETING:

The Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools, created through Senate Resolution 217, will examine the root causes and long-term impacts of chronic absenteeism among Georgia students. This bipartisan committee will work with educators, parents, policymakers, and community leaders to explore effective, research-backed strategies, such as early intervention and targeted support programs, that can help reduce absenteeism and improve student success.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES:

We kindly request that members of the media confirm their attendance in advance by contacting Zach Pishock at SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

# # # #

Sen. John F. Kennedy represents the 18^th Senate District, which includes Upson, Monroe, Peach, Crawford, as well as portions of Bibb and Houston County. He may be reached at 404.656.6578 or by email at john.kennedy@senate.ga.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –
August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Stein Announces Nearly $11 Million for Great Trails State Program Projects in the Piedmont
Source: US State of North Carolina

Headline: Governor Stein Announces Nearly $11 Million for Great Trails State Program Projects in the Piedmont

Governor Stein Announces Nearly $11 Million for Great Trails State Program Projects in the Piedmont
lsaito
Thu, 07/31/2025 – 10:50

Raleigh, NC
Today, Governor Josh Stein announced that the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has awarded nearly $11 million to trail development and restoration projects in the Piedmont. The General Assembly authorized these funds as part of the Great Trails State Program.

“The Piedmont is known for its cities and world-class universities, but from Pilot Mountain to the Haw River, it’s also home to some of our state’s most amazing wildlife and natural wonders,” said Governor Stein. “This funding will spur local tourism and encourage more people to explore North Carolina’s incredible beauty.”

“Trails bring outstanding benefits to both urban and rural communities, boosting tourism and economic development,” said Pamela B. Cashwell, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “This generous funding, made possible by the N.C. General Assembly, will help transform the state trails system in the Great Trails State.”

The General Assembly established the Great Trails State Program in 2023, representing a historic investment of $25 million in North Carolina trails. The program offers matching grants to North Carolina local governments, public authorities, NC Regional Councils of Government, and nonprofit organizations.

These awards include projects at more than 70 local trails throughout the state, helping to solidify North Carolina as the Great Trails State. In the Piedmont, 37 local trail projects will benefit from $10,923,111 in Great Trails State Program funding, including improvements to the Haw River State Trail and maintenance on the American Tobacco Trail. Governor Stein previously announced more than $13 million in funding to create and restore trails in western and eastern North Carolina.

“The 125 member organizations of the Great Trails State Coalition thank the North Carolina General Assembly for creating and funding the Great Trails State Program,” said Palmer McIntyre, director of the N.C. Great Trails State Coalition. “This visionary investment in all types of trails across the state will deliver transformative economic, health, and quality-of-life benefits for communities of all sizes. The Coalition will continue to work alongside N.C. State Parks to support this program.”

Local communities applied for grants to fund new trail development or to extend existing trails. This includes paved trails or greenways, natural surface trails, biking trails, equestrian trails, and any other type of trail the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources recognizes. Projects could include planning and feasibility studies, design and engineering, acquisition of land for trail development, trail construction, and maintenance of existing trails. Applicants were required to provide matching funds, based on their county tier designation. The N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation received 89 applications requesting $28 million, and 79 projects were selected. More than $44.5 million was provided in matching funds for a total trails investment exceeding $69.3 million.

Piedmont North Carolina grant recipients and amounts:
- Alamance County: Alamance County, $150,000 for HRST – Riverwide Enhancements
- Alamance County: Alamance County, $190,000 for Shallow Ford Expansion and Enhancements
- Cabarrus County: City of Concord, $500,000 for Concord McEachern Greenway Extension
- Cabarrus County: City of Kannapolis, $145,000 for Irish Buffalo Creek Greenway Phase 2
- Chatham County: Chatham County, $251,294 for Haw River State Trail Pegg Tract Improvements
- Chatham County: Chatham County, $75,000 for Deep River State Trail Feasibility Study for Chatham County
- Davidson County: City of Thomasville, $100,000 for Memorial Park Drive Greenway Expansion Design & Engineering
- Durham County: City of Durham, $500,000 for American Tobacco Trail Maintenance
- Durham County: Durham County, $500,000 for Durham-to-Roxboro Rail Trail Corridor Acquisition
- Durham and Wake County: Triangle Land Conservancy, $137,092 for Old Creedmoor Trail System
- Forsyth County: Piedmont Triad Regional Council, $500,000 for Piedmont Greenway: Triad Park/Reedy Fork Segment – Phases 1 and 2
- Franklin County: Town of Franklinton, $500,000 for Franklinton Nature Preserve
- Franklin County: Town of Louisburg, $100,000 for Joyner Park Trail Project
- Granville County: Town of Butner, $500,000 for East Lyon Station Greenway Extension
- Guilford County: Town of Summerfield, $500,000 for Bandera Farms Park Trails: Piedmont Greenway + Equestrian Trails
- Harnett County: Harnett County, $230,538 for South River Road Greenway – Phase 1
- Hoke County: City of Raeford, $175,480 for City Pond Trails and Park Design and Engineering
- Johnston County: Town of Selma, $500,000 for Selma MST Nature Preserve Trail Phase I
- Johnston County: Johnston County, $225,000 for Neuse River Trail – Talton Property
- Orange County: Town of Chapel Hill, $399,000 for Construction of Tanyard Branch Trail Neighborhood Connector
- Orange County: Orange County, $101,178 for Seven Mile Creek Natural Area Mountains-to-Sea Trail Expansion
- Randolph County: City of Asheboro, $134,000 for North Asheboro Greenway Design and Engineering
- Randolph County: Randolph County, $175,000 for DRST Harlan Creek Bridge Design/Engineering
- Randolph County: Randolph County, $172,000 for Randleman Dam to Randleman Blueway/Paddleway
- Randolph County: City of Archdale, $143,250 for Hope Valley Road Trail Extension
- Rockingham County: Town of Mayodan, $251,185 for Farris Memorial Park Trail
- Rockingham County: Rockingham County Tourism Development Authority, $298,872 for Hogan’s Creek Trail
- Rowan County: Town of Spencer, $460,000 for Stanback Educational Forest – Rocky Branch Loop Trail
- Union County: Village of Marvin, $491,925 for Marvin Loop Greenway Completion Project
- Union County: Town of Waxhaw, $250,000 for Twelve Mile Creek Greenway – Prescot Connector
- Wake County: Town of Holly Springs, $300,000 for Middle Creek to Camp Branch Greenway
- Wake County: City of Raleigh, $350,000 for Forest Ridge Park Mountain Bike Trail Extension Project
- Wake County: City of Raleigh, $400,000 for Marsh Creek Trail Corridor Planning & Feasibility Study
- Wake County: Town of Apex, $200,000 for Design and Engineering for Reedy Branch Greenway
- Wake County: Town of Wendell, $500,000 for Buffalo Creek Greenway Phase I
- Wake County: Town of Morrisville, $417,297 for Sawmill Creek Greenway
- Warren County: Warren County, $100,000 for Buck Spring Trail Accessibility Improvements
Jul 31, 2025

MIL OSI USA News –
August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Cricket’s great global divide: elite schools still shape the sport

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Habib Noorbhai, Professor (Health & Sports Science), University of Johannesburg

If you were to walk through the corridors of some of the world’s leading cricket schools, you might hear the crack of leather on willow long before the bell for the end of the day rings.

Across the cricketing world, elite schools have served as key feeder systems to national teams for decades. They provide young players with superior training facilities, high-level coaching and competitive playing opportunities.

This tradition has served as cricket’s most dependable talent pipeline. But is it a strength or a symptom of exclusion?

My recent study examined the school backgrounds of 1,080 elite men’s cricketers across eight countries over a 30-year period. It uncovered telling patterns.

Read more: Cricket: children are the key to the future of the game, not broadcast rights

Top elite cricket countries such as South Africa, England and Australia continue to draw heavily from private education systems. In these nations, cricket success seems almost tied to one’s school uniform.

I argue that if cricket boards want to promote equity and competitiveness, they will need to broaden the talent search by investing in grassroots cricket infrastructure in under-resourced areas.

For cricket to be a sport that anyone with talent can succeed in, there will need to be more school leagues and entry-level tournaments as well as targeted investment in community-based hubs and non-elite school zones.

Findings

South Africa is a case in point. My previous study in 2020 outlined that more than half of its national players at One-Day International (ODI) World Cups came from boys-only schools (mostly private).

These schools are often well-resourced, with turf wickets, expert coaches and an embedded culture of competition. Unsurprisingly, the same schools tend to produce a high number of national team batters, as they offer longer game formats and better playing surfaces. Cricket’s colonial origins have influenced the structure and culture of school cricket being tied to a form of privilege.

Read more: Elite boys’ schools still shape South Africa’s national cricket team

In Australia and England, the story is not very different. Despite their efforts to diversify player sourcing, private schools still dominate. Even in cricketing nations that celebrate working-class grit, such as Australia, private school players continue to shape elite squads.

The statistics say as much; for example: about 44% of Australian Ashes test series players since 2010 attended private schools, and for England, the figure is 45%. That’s not grassroots, it could be regarded as gated turf…

Proportion of elite male cricketers by school type. Habib Noorbhai

Yet not all countries follow this route. The West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka reflect very different models. Club cricket, informal play and community academies provide their players with opportunities to rise. These countries have lower reliance on private schools. Some of their finest players emerged from modest public schooling or neighbourhood cricketing networks.

India provides an interesting hybrid. Although elite schools such as St. Xavier’s and Modern School contribute players, most national stars emerge from public institutions or small-town academies. The explosion of the Indian Premier League since 2008 has also democratised access, pulling in talent from previously overlooked and underdeveloped cities.

In these regions, scouting is based on potential, not privilege.

So why does this matter?

At first glance, elite schools producing elite cricketers might appear logical. These institutions have the resources to nurture talent. But scratch beneath the surface and troubling questions appear.

Are national teams truly reflecting their countries? Or are they simply echo chambers of social advantage?

Read more: Cricket inequalities in England and Wales are untenable – our report shows how to rejuvenate the game

In South Africa, almost every Black African cricketer to represent the country has come through a private school (often on scholarship). That suggests that talent without access remains potentially invisible. It also places unfair pressure on the few who make it through, as if they carry the hopes of entire communities.

I found that in England, some county systems have started integrating players from state schools, but progress is slow. In New Zealand, where cricket is less centralised around private institutions, regional hubs and public schools have had more success in spreading opportunities. However, even there, Māori and Pasifika players remain underrepresented in elite squads.

Four steps that can be taken

1. One solution lies in recognising that schools don’t have a monopoly on talent. Cricket boards must increase investment in grassroots infrastructure, particularly in under-resourced areas. Setting up community hubs, supporting school-club partnerships and more regional competitions could discover hidden talent.

2. Another step is to improve the visibility and reach of scouting networks. Too often, selection favours players from known institutions. By diversifying trial formats and leveraging technology (such as video submissions or performance-tracking apps), selectors can widen their net. It’s already happening in India, where IPL scouts visit the most unlikely of places.

3. Coaching is another stumbling block. In many countries, high-level coaches are clustered in elite schools. National boards should consider optimising salaries as well as rotating certified coaches into public schools and regional academies. They should also ensure coaches are developed to be equipped to work with diverse learners and conditions.

4. Technology offers other exciting possibilities too. Virtual simulations, motion tracking and AI-assisted video reviews are now common in high-performance centres. Making simplified versions available to lower-income schools could level the playing field. Imagine a township bowler in South Africa learning to analyse their technique using only a smartphone and a free app?

Fairness in sport

The conversation about schools and cricket is not just about numbers or stats. It is about fairness. Sport should be the great leveller, not another mechanism of exclusion. If cricket is to thrive, it needs to look beyond scoreboards and trophies. It must ask who gets to play and who never gets seen?

Read more: Why is cricket so popular on the Indian sub-continent?

A batter from a village school in India, a wicket-keeper from a government school in Sri Lanka or a fast bowler in a South African township; each deserves the chance to be part of the national story. Cricket boards, policymakers and educators must work together to make that possible.

The game will only grow when it welcomes players from all walks of life. That requires more than scholarships. It requires a reset of how we think about talent. Because the next cricket superstar may not wear a crest on their blazer. They may wear resilience on their sleeve.

– Cricket’s great global divide: elite schools still shape the sport
– https://theconversation.com/crickets-great-global-divide-elite-schools-still-shape-the-sport-261709

MIL OSI Africa –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: The African activists who challenged colonial-era slavery in Lagos and the Gold Coast

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Michael E Odijie, Associate Professor, University of Oxford

When historians and the public think about the end of domestic slavery in west Africa, they often imagine colonial governors issuing decrees and missionaries working to end local traffic in enslaved people.

Two of my recent publications tell another part of the story. I am a historian of west Africa, and over the past five years, I have been researching anti-slavery ideas and networks in the region as part of a wider research project.

My research reveals that colonial administrations continued to allow domestic slavery in practice and that African activists fought this.

In one study I focused on Francis P. Fearon, a trader based in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. He exposed pro-slavery within the colonial government through numerous letters written in the 1890s (when the colony was known as the Gold Coast).

In another study I examined the Lagos Auxiliary, a coalition of lawyers, journalists and clergy in Nigeria. Their campaigning secured the repeal of Nigeria’s notorious Native House Rule Ordinance in 1914. That ordinance had been enacted by the colonial government to maintain local slavery in the Niger Delta region.

Considered together, the two studies demonstrate how local campaigners used letters, print culture, imperial pressure points and personal networks to oppose practices that had kept thousands of Africans in bondage.

The methods Fearon and the Lagos Auxiliary pioneered still matter because they show how marginalised communities can compel power‑holders to close the gap between laws and lived reality. They remind us that well‑documented local testimony, amplified trans-nationally, can still overturn official narratives, compel policy change, and keep institutions honest.

Colonial ‘abolition’ that wasn’t

West Africa was a major source of enslaved people during the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic trade was suppressed in the early 19th century, but this did not bring an end to domestic slavery.

One of the principal rationales for colonisation in west Africa was the eradication of domestic slavery.

Accordingly, when the Gold Coast was formally annexed as a British colony in 1874, the imperial government declared slave dealing illegal. And slave-dealing was criminalised across southern Nigeria in 1901. On paper these measures promised freedom, but in practice loopholes empowered slave-holders, chiefs and colonial officials who continued to demand coerced labour.

On the Gold Coast, the 1874 abolition law was never enforced. The British governor informed slave-owners that they might retain enslaved persons provided those individuals did not complain. By 1890, child slavery had become widespread in towns such as Accra. According to the local campaigners, it was even sanctioned by the colonial governor. This led to some Africans uniting to establish a network to oppose it.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria had a similar experience. The colonial administration enacted the Native House Rule Ordinance to counteract the effects of the Slave-Dealing Proclamation of 1901 which criminalised slave dealing with a penalty of seven years’ imprisonment for offenders. The Native House Rule Ordinance required every African to belong to a “House” under a designated head. It went on to criminalise any person who attempted to leave their “House”. In the Niger Delta kingdoms such as Bonny, Kalabari and Okrika, the word “House” never referred to a single dwelling. Rather, it denoted a self-perpetuating, named corporation of relatives, dependants and slaves under a chief, which owned property and spoke with one voice. By the 1900s, “Houses” had become the primary units through which slave ownership was organised.

Therefore, the Native House Rule Ordinance compelled enslaved people in Houses to remain with their masters. The masters were empowered to use colonial authority to discipline them. District commissioners executed arrest warrants against runaways. In exchange, the House heads and local chiefs supplied the colonial administration with unpaid labour for public works.

African campaigners in Accra and Lagos organised to challenge what they perceived as the British colonial state’s support for slavery.

Fearon: an undercover abolitionist in Accra

Francis Fearon was an educated African, active in the Accra scene during the second half of the 19th century. He was highly literate and part of elite circles. He was closely associated with the journalist Edmund Bannerman. He regularly wrote to local newspapers, often expressing concerns about racism against Black people and moral decay.

On 24 June 1890, Fearon sent a 63-page letter, with ten appendices, to the Aborigines’ Protection Society in London. That dossier would form the basis of several further communications. He alleged that child trafficking continued.

As evidence, he transcribed the confidential court register of Accra and claimed that Governor W. B. Griffith had instructed convicted slave-owners to recover their “property”.

Fearon’s tactics were audacious. He remained anonymous, relied on court clerks for documents, and supplied the Aborigines’ Protection Society with evidence. He pleaded with the society to investigate the colonial administration in the Gold Coast.

Although the society publicised the scandal, subsequent narratives quietly effaced the African source.

Lagos elites organise – and name the problem

Like Fearon, Nigerian campaigners also wrote to the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines’ Protection Society. They denounced the colonial government in Nigeria for promoting slavery, but they did not remain anonymous.

By this time, the Native House Rule Ordinance had prompted some enslaved people to flee the districts in which it was enforced. They sought refuge in Lagos. Through these arrivals, Lagosian elites learned of the ordinance. They unleashed a vigorous campaign against the colonial state.

The principal figures in this movement included Christopher Sapara Williams, a barrister, and James Bright Davies, editor of The Nigerian Times. Others included politician Herbert Macaulay, Herbert Pearse, a prominent merchant, Bishop James Johnson and the Reverend Mojola Agbebi. Unlike Fearon’s lone-wolf strategy, they mounted a coordinated assault on the colonial administration. They drafted petitions, briefed sympathetic European organisations, and inundated local newspapers with commentary.

Their arguments blended humanitarian indignation with constitutional acumen. They insisted that the ordinance contravened both British liberal ideals and African custom.

After years of pressure the law was amended and then quietly repealed in 1914.

Why these stories matter now

Contemporary scholarship on abolition is gradually shifting from asking “what Britain did for Africa” to examining the role Africans played in ending slavery.

Many African abolitionists who fought and lost their lives in the struggle against slavery have long gone unacknowledged. This is beginning to change.

The two articles discussed here highlight the creativity of Africans who, decades before radio or civil-rights NGOs, used transatlantic information circuits. They exposed colonial governments that continued to rely on forced-labour economies long after slavery was supposed to have ended.

They remind us that grassroots documentation can overturn official narratives. Evidence-based advocacy, coalition-building, and the strategic use of global media remain potent instruments.

– The African activists who challenged colonial-era slavery in Lagos and the Gold Coast
– https://theconversation.com/the-african-activists-who-challenged-colonial-era-slavery-in-lagos-and-the-gold-coast-261089

MIL OSI Africa –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: The African activists who challenged colonial-era slavery in Lagos and the Gold Coast

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Michael E Odijie, Associate Professor, University of Oxford

When historians and the public think about the end of domestic slavery in west Africa, they often imagine colonial governors issuing decrees and missionaries working to end local traffic in enslaved people.

Two of my recent publications tell another part of the story. I am a historian of west Africa, and over the past five years, I have been researching anti-slavery ideas and networks in the region as part of a wider research project.

My research reveals that colonial administrations continued to allow domestic slavery in practice and that African activists fought this.

In one study I focused on Francis P. Fearon, a trader based in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. He exposed pro-slavery within the colonial government through numerous letters written in the 1890s (when the colony was known as the Gold Coast).

In another study I examined the Lagos Auxiliary, a coalition of lawyers, journalists and clergy in Nigeria. Their campaigning secured the repeal of Nigeria’s notorious Native House Rule Ordinance in 1914. That ordinance had been enacted by the colonial government to maintain local slavery in the Niger Delta region.

Considered together, the two studies demonstrate how local campaigners used letters, print culture, imperial pressure points and personal networks to oppose practices that had kept thousands of Africans in bondage.

The methods Fearon and the Lagos Auxiliary pioneered still matter because they show how marginalised communities can compel power‑holders to close the gap between laws and lived reality. They remind us that well‑documented local testimony, amplified trans-nationally, can still overturn official narratives, compel policy change, and keep institutions honest.

Colonial ‘abolition’ that wasn’t

West Africa was a major source of enslaved people during the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic trade was suppressed in the early 19th century, but this did not bring an end to domestic slavery.

One of the principal rationales for colonisation in west Africa was the eradication of domestic slavery.

Accordingly, when the Gold Coast was formally annexed as a British colony in 1874, the imperial government declared slave dealing illegal. And slave-dealing was criminalised across southern Nigeria in 1901. On paper these measures promised freedom, but in practice loopholes empowered slave-holders, chiefs and colonial officials who continued to demand coerced labour.

On the Gold Coast, the 1874 abolition law was never enforced. The British governor informed slave-owners that they might retain enslaved persons provided those individuals did not complain. By 1890, child slavery had become widespread in towns such as Accra. According to the local campaigners, it was even sanctioned by the colonial governor. This led to some Africans uniting to establish a network to oppose it.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria had a similar experience. The colonial administration enacted the Native House Rule Ordinance to counteract the effects of the Slave-Dealing Proclamation of 1901 which criminalised slave dealing with a penalty of seven years’ imprisonment for offenders. The Native House Rule Ordinance required every African to belong to a “House” under a designated head. It went on to criminalise any person who attempted to leave their “House”. In the Niger Delta kingdoms such as Bonny, Kalabari and Okrika, the word “House” never referred to a single dwelling. Rather, it denoted a self-perpetuating, named corporation of relatives, dependants and slaves under a chief, which owned property and spoke with one voice. By the 1900s, “Houses” had become the primary units through which slave ownership was organised.

Therefore, the Native House Rule Ordinance compelled enslaved people in Houses to remain with their masters. The masters were empowered to use colonial authority to discipline them. District commissioners executed arrest warrants against runaways. In exchange, the House heads and local chiefs supplied the colonial administration with unpaid labour for public works.

African campaigners in Accra and Lagos organised to challenge what they perceived as the British colonial state’s support for slavery.

Fearon: an undercover abolitionist in Accra

Francis Fearon was an educated African, active in the Accra scene during the second half of the 19th century. He was highly literate and part of elite circles. He was closely associated with the journalist Edmund Bannerman. He regularly wrote to local newspapers, often expressing concerns about racism against Black people and moral decay.

On 24 June 1890, Fearon sent a 63-page letter, with ten appendices, to the Aborigines’ Protection Society in London. That dossier would form the basis of several further communications. He alleged that child trafficking continued.

As evidence, he transcribed the confidential court register of Accra and claimed that Governor W. B. Griffith had instructed convicted slave-owners to recover their “property”.

Fearon’s tactics were audacious. He remained anonymous, relied on court clerks for documents, and supplied the Aborigines’ Protection Society with evidence. He pleaded with the society to investigate the colonial administration in the Gold Coast.

Although the society publicised the scandal, subsequent narratives quietly effaced the African source.

Lagos elites organise – and name the problem

Like Fearon, Nigerian campaigners also wrote to the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines’ Protection Society. They denounced the colonial government in Nigeria for promoting slavery, but they did not remain anonymous.

By this time, the Native House Rule Ordinance had prompted some enslaved people to flee the districts in which it was enforced. They sought refuge in Lagos. Through these arrivals, Lagosian elites learned of the ordinance. They unleashed a vigorous campaign against the colonial state.

The principal figures in this movement included Christopher Sapara Williams, a barrister, and James Bright Davies, editor of The Nigerian Times. Others included politician Herbert Macaulay, Herbert Pearse, a prominent merchant, Bishop James Johnson and the Reverend Mojola Agbebi. Unlike Fearon’s lone-wolf strategy, they mounted a coordinated assault on the colonial administration. They drafted petitions, briefed sympathetic European organisations, and inundated local newspapers with commentary.

Their arguments blended humanitarian indignation with constitutional acumen. They insisted that the ordinance contravened both British liberal ideals and African custom.

After years of pressure the law was amended and then quietly repealed in 1914.

Why these stories matter now

Contemporary scholarship on abolition is gradually shifting from asking “what Britain did for Africa” to examining the role Africans played in ending slavery.

Many African abolitionists who fought and lost their lives in the struggle against slavery have long gone unacknowledged. This is beginning to change.

The two articles discussed here highlight the creativity of Africans who, decades before radio or civil-rights NGOs, used transatlantic information circuits. They exposed colonial governments that continued to rely on forced-labour economies long after slavery was supposed to have ended.

They remind us that grassroots documentation can overturn official narratives. Evidence-based advocacy, coalition-building, and the strategic use of global media remain potent instruments.

Research for these articles was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 885418).

– ref. The African activists who challenged colonial-era slavery in Lagos and the Gold Coast – https://theconversation.com/the-african-activists-who-challenged-colonial-era-slavery-in-lagos-and-the-gold-coast-261089

MIL OSI Analysis –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Cricket’s great global divide: elite schools still shape the sport

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Habib Noorbhai, Professor (Health & Sports Science), University of Johannesburg

If you were to walk through the corridors of some of the world’s leading cricket schools, you might hear the crack of leather on willow long before the bell for the end of the day rings.

Across the cricketing world, elite schools have served as key feeder systems to national teams for decades. They provide young players with superior training facilities, high-level coaching and competitive playing opportunities.

This tradition has served as cricket’s most dependable talent pipeline. But is it a strength or a symptom of exclusion?

My recent study examined the school backgrounds of 1,080 elite men’s cricketers across eight countries over a 30-year period. It uncovered telling patterns.

Read more:
Cricket: children are the key to the future of the game, not broadcast rights

Top elite cricket countries such as South Africa, England and Australia continue to draw heavily from private education systems. In these nations, cricket success seems almost tied to one’s school uniform.

I argue that if cricket boards want to promote equity and competitiveness, they will need to broaden the talent search by investing in grassroots cricket infrastructure in under-resourced areas.

For cricket to be a sport that anyone with talent can succeed in, there will need to be more school leagues and entry-level tournaments as well as targeted investment in community-based hubs and non-elite school zones.

Findings

South Africa is a case in point. My previous study in 2020 outlined that more than half of its national players at One-Day International (ODI) World Cups came from boys-only schools (mostly private).

These schools are often well-resourced, with turf wickets, expert coaches and an embedded culture of competition. Unsurprisingly, the same schools tend to produce a high number of national team batters, as they offer longer game formats and better playing surfaces. Cricket’s colonial origins have influenced the structure and culture of school cricket being tied to a form of privilege.

Read more:
Elite boys’ schools still shape South Africa’s national cricket team

In Australia and England, the story is not very different. Despite their efforts to diversify player sourcing, private schools still dominate. Even in cricketing nations that celebrate working-class grit, such as Australia, private school players continue to shape elite squads.

The statistics say as much; for example: about 44% of Australian Ashes test series players since 2010 attended private schools, and for England, the figure is 45%. That’s not grassroots, it could be regarded as gated turf…

Yet not all countries follow this route. The West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka reflect very different models. Club cricket, informal play and community academies provide their players with opportunities to rise. These countries have lower reliance on private schools. Some of their finest players emerged from modest public schooling or neighbourhood cricketing networks.

India provides an interesting hybrid. Although elite schools such as St. Xavier’s and Modern School contribute players, most national stars emerge from public institutions or small-town academies. The explosion of the Indian Premier League since 2008 has also democratised access, pulling in talent from previously overlooked and underdeveloped cities.

In these regions, scouting is based on potential, not privilege.

So why does this matter?

At first glance, elite schools producing elite cricketers might appear logical. These institutions have the resources to nurture talent. But scratch beneath the surface and troubling questions appear.

Are national teams truly reflecting their countries? Or are they simply echo chambers of social advantage?

Read more:
Cricket inequalities in England and Wales are untenable – our report shows how to rejuvenate the game

In South Africa, almost every Black African cricketer to represent the country has come through a private school (often on scholarship). That suggests that talent without access remains potentially invisible. It also places unfair pressure on the few who make it through, as if they carry the hopes of entire communities.

I found that in England, some county systems have started integrating players from state schools, but progress is slow. In New Zealand, where cricket is less centralised around private institutions, regional hubs and public schools have had more success in spreading opportunities. However, even there, Māori and Pasifika players remain underrepresented in elite squads.

Four steps that can be taken

1. One solution lies in recognising that schools don’t have a monopoly on talent. Cricket boards must increase investment in grassroots infrastructure, particularly in under-resourced areas. Setting up community hubs, supporting school-club partnerships and more regional competitions could discover hidden talent.

2. Another step is to improve the visibility and reach of scouting networks. Too often, selection favours players from known institutions. By diversifying trial formats and leveraging technology (such as video submissions or performance-tracking apps), selectors can widen their net. It’s already happening in India, where IPL scouts visit the most unlikely of places.

3. Coaching is another stumbling block. In many countries, high-level coaches are clustered in elite schools. National boards should consider optimising salaries as well as rotating certified coaches into public schools and regional academies. They should also ensure coaches are developed to be equipped to work with diverse learners and conditions.

4. Technology offers other exciting possibilities too. Virtual simulations, motion tracking and AI-assisted video reviews are now common in high-performance centres. Making simplified versions available to lower-income schools could level the playing field. Imagine a township bowler in South Africa learning to analyse their technique using only a smartphone and a free app?

Fairness in sport

The conversation about schools and cricket is not just about numbers or stats. It is about fairness. Sport should be the great leveller, not another mechanism of exclusion. If cricket is to thrive, it needs to look beyond scoreboards and trophies. It must ask who gets to play and who never gets seen?

Read more:
Why is cricket so popular on the Indian sub-continent?

A batter from a village school in India, a wicket-keeper from a government school in Sri Lanka or a fast bowler in a South African township; each deserves the chance to be part of the national story. Cricket boards, policymakers and educators must work together to make that possible.

The game will only grow when it welcomes players from all walks of life. That requires more than scholarships. It requires a reset of how we think about talent. Because the next cricket superstar may not wear a crest on their blazer. They may wear resilience on their sleeve.

Habib Noorbhai 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. Cricket’s great global divide: elite schools still shape the sport – https://theconversation.com/crickets-great-global-divide-elite-schools-still-shape-the-sport-261709

MIL OSI Analysis –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The need for specialist foster carers
Source: City of Derby

Understanding the need for specialist foster care

In England, as of 31 March 2024, there were over 83,000 children in care, a number that has steadily increased over the past decade (Department for Education, 2024). While many children thrive in general foster placements, a significant proportion require specialist care due to complex emotional, behavioural, or psychological needs. These young people may have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, or multiple placement breakdowns.

Specialist foster care provides a structured, therapeutic environment for these children and young people, helping them begin to recover and build a positive future. It is a tailored approach that demands more intensive training and support for carers, but also offers greater impact.

Case study: Jordan’s Story

Jordan is 15 years old. He loves science fiction and is fascinated by technology and space exploration. But behind his bright curiosity is a young person who has faced trauma and disrupted attachments. Jordan has difficulty trusting adults and managing his emotions, which has led to several failed placements.

Yet, in the right environment, one that is safe, consistent, and understanding Jordan begins to open up. He becomes more confident at school, engages in hobbies, and starts building meaningful relationships.

Jordan’s story illustrates what many children in care need not just a home, but a specialist foster placement that supports healing and personal growth.

(The above is a representation of a young person in foster care)

What is specialist fostering?

Specialist fostering is designed for children and young people with more complex needs who may not be suited to standard foster care. These placements require carers with advanced training and the emotional resilience to manage challenging behaviours, trauma responses, or mental health issues.

Key features of specialist fostering include:
- Therapeutic care models and trauma-informed approaches
- Enhanced financial allowances reflecting the intensity of care required
- Access to professional supervision and ongoing training
- Close collaboration with social workers, therapists, and education professionals
Specialist carers often come from backgrounds in health, education, social care, or emergency services, but individuals from all walks of life who are emotionally mature, patient, and motivated can be successful.

The impact of specialist foster care

Specialist foster care can have a profound and measurable impact on the lives of children and young people with complex needs.

Young people in specialist foster care often experience:
- Fewer school exclusions, indicating improved behaviour and engagement in education
- Better emotional regulation, supported by consistent routines and therapeutic approaches
- Greater placement stability, with fewer breakdowns compared to standard foster placements
- Improved long-term mental health, including reduced anxiety and trauma-related symptoms over time
In addition to the positive outcomes for young people, specialist carers frequently report a stronger sense of purpose and job satisfaction. Many describe the role as demanding but deeply rewarding, especially as they witness meaningful changes in a child’s wellbeing, confidence, and ability to form healthy relationships.

Specialist fostering isn’t easy, but it is critically important. It offers a second chance for young people like Jordan to thrive, academically, emotionally, and socially. With the right support, foster carers can provide life-changing stability and make a lasting difference.

If you believe you have the capacity to offer consistent care and emotional support to a vulnerable young person, specialist fostering could be a meaningful path for you.

How to learn more or get involved

Foster for East Midlands Councils is actively recruiting specialist foster carers, and our recruitment team are here to talk through the process and support anyone interested in finding our more. Call 03033 132 950, email hello@fosterforeastmidlands.org.uk or visit Foster for East Midlands Councils specialist carers web page.

Throughout August, September, and October, the team are hosting a number of foster information events. These sessions are open to anyone interested in fostering and provide opportunities to speak with fostering professionals and ask questions. The sessions are available online using Zoom or come along and meet us in person.

To register or find out more, visit the Foster for East Midlands Councils web page.

Online Events (via Zoom):
- Thursday 7 August, 6:30pm–7:30pm
- Wednesday 20 August, 12:00pm–1:00pm
- Tuesday 9 September, 6:30pm–7:30pm
- Thursday 25 September, 12:00pm–1:00pm
- Wednesday 8 October, 6:30pm–7:30pm
- Tuesday 21 October, 12:00pm–1:00pm
In-Person Events:
- Wednesday 17 September, 6pm–8pm, The Pride Shop, Nottingham, LGBTQ+ event
- Sunday 28 September, 12pm–4pm, Chesterfield FC Community Trust – this is a drop in session, so just call in at any point during this time.
- Tuesday 30 September, 6pm–8pm, Curzon Street, Derby, LGBTQ+ event
- Wednesday 29 October, 6:30pm–7:30pm, Tesco Bulwell, Nottingham
Visit the website for future events, more dates added each month.
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: 3 CoE Students Pursue In-Depth Research Projects as University Scholars

Source: US State of Connecticut

As 2025 University Scholars, three College of Engineering students are spending their last three semesters pursuing personalized research projects.

Open to all undergraduate students, the University Scholar Program allows students to design an in-depth research or creative project and to craft a learning plan that supports their academic goals during their final three semesters. Each student is mentored by an advisory committee of three faculty.

Admission to the University Scholars program is based on an application submitted during the first semester of a student’s junior year. Applications are reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee of faculty members who may select up to 30 University Scholars in any given year.

The University Scholars and their projects are below:

Laxmi Chinmaya Vobbineni ’26
Project Title: The Synergic Role of Electrical and Chemical Stimulation in Wound Healing of Diabetic Patients

University Scholar Laxmi Vobbineni ’26 is exploring techniques that can help diabetes patients heal faster from wounds.

People with diabetes often have trouble healing from wounds. Since high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and weaken the immune system, white blood cells struggle to reach the wound. This can slow tissue repair and lead to ongoing inflammation.

Wounds may heal very slowly, become chronic, or leave scars—and this can be painful and expensive for patients.

University Scholar Laxmi Vobbineni ’26, a biomedical engineering and molecular and cell biology double major, is working to help diabetic patients heal from wounds faster by using chemical and electrical stimulation.

“Chemical stimulation, such as ion channel blockers, in conjunction with electrical stimulation may improve the wound healing process for diabetic patients,” she says.

By combining these treatments with an ionically-conductive biomaterial called scaffolding, ions can help restore electrical signals in the body that guide white blood cells to repair tissue.

“Our hope is to develop a system that has high potential for clinical use,” Vobbineni says.

Vobbineni’s advisors are Syam Nukavarapu, professor and department head in Biomedical Engineering; David Daggett, associate professor-in-residence of molecular and cell biology; and Sangamesh Kumbar, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the UConn Health Center. She also interns at the UConn Health Center under Kumbar, working on projects related to the fields of tissue engineering and drug delivery.

Vobbineni, a member of the Society of Women Engineers and STEM Scholar Executive Board, volunteers as a nursing aide at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Connecticut. She also holds an executive board position for the UConn FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League Explore Program, which uses Legos and technology to excite youth about robotics and STEM.

Her involvement in FIRST began in middle school and high school and sparked her interest in innovation. “This is one of the reasons I decided to pursue biomedical engineering,” she says.

After graduation, Vobbineni plans to pursue medical school and work in the field of emergency medicine.

Wyeth Haddock ’26
Project Title: Developing a Copper-Based Medium Entropy Alloy with Enhanced Mechanical Properties for Space Applications

University Scholar Wyeth Haddock ’26, at left, is working at the National Center for Electron Microscopy in Berkeley, California this summer.

As a University Scholar, Wyeth Haddock ’26, a materials science and engineering major, is developing a structural material for use in extreme environments with potential applications in space exploration and nuclear energy.

His project focuses on synthesizing and analyzing an alloy made from copper, dysprosium, and yttrium (Cu-Dy-Y) that exhibits enhanced mechanical properties. By studying the alloy’s microstructure, phase stability, and mechanical behavior across temperature regimes, Haddock hopes to demonstrate improved material performance in extreme conditions and understand unique deformation behavior.

“If successful, the alloy could support the development of more durable materials for space exploration,” he says.

Haddock’s advisors include Seok-Woo Lee, associate professor of materials science and engineering and Director of Undergraduate Studies; and Yuanyuan Zhu, associate professor of materials science and engineering and director of the MSE Honors Program.

Haddock, an honors student from Fairfax, Vermont, is president of the UConn Running Club, and is a member of the UConn Materials Advantage Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Alpha Sigma Mu MSE Honor Society, and the ASM Board of Trustees. His jobs on campus include work as a campus tour guide and undergraduate teaching assistant. He recently served as a facilitator for the Honors First Year Experience program and as a Floor Mentor for the Honors 2 Opportunities Learning Community.

This summer, Haddock is a STROBE Summer Undergraduate Research Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley where he works in the National Center for Electron Microscopy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

“Throughout my UConn experience, I’ve immersed myself in collaborative communities, working in a lab, facilitating a first-year course, and traveling nationally to compete in running races,” he says. “These sorts of experiences have allowed me to further my learning, as I seek to positively impact the world around me.”

Haddock intends to pursue a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering, with an emphasis on understanding how atomic structure influences the properties of materials. He hopes to continue research in structural materials, developing the materials necessary for the complex demands of an evolving world.

Passionate about education and outreach, Wyeth also hopes to continually inspire younger audiences to get involved in materials science and engineering.

Zhengyang Wei ’26
Project Title: Stability Analysis on 9D Shear Flow Model by Small-Signal Finite-Gain Lp Stable Theorem

University Scholar Zhengyang Wei ’26 is exploring ways to improve the stability and performance of aerodynamic designs.

Turbulence—when fluid flow becomes chaotic—is difficult to control, but preventing it is important in many engineering systems. As a University Scholar, mechanical engineering major Zhengyang Wei ’26 is using mathematical tools to prevent turbulence by studying shear flows. In shear flows, layers of liquid or gas move parallel to each other but at different speeds.

By finding the conditions that keep the flow stable, Wei’s research can help improve the stability and performance of aerodynamic designs, industrial systems, and other applications. This work contributes to developing effective strategies for controlling shear flows and advancing fluid dynamics research.

“For example, we can mitigate the transition to turbulence in the wind over an airplane wing, which will make the flight more stable and efficient,” he explains.

His advisors are Chang Liu, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering; Reza Sheikhi, professor-in-residence in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering; and Jason Lee, professor-in-residence in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering.

As a member of the FLUids, rEduction, Nonlinearity, and Turbulence (FLUENT) Lab, Wei and Liu published a paper on shear flows in the June 2025 issue of arXiv.

Wei, a math minor, also is a 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) awardee. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in fluid stability or optimization.

As University Scholars, Vobbineni, Haddock, and Wei receive a range of benefits designed to support and enrich their academic journey. These include a financial award that covers the General University Fee and Student Health Services Fee for up to three regular semesters, or until graduation from the program. Scholars are also eligible for course credit fee waivers for up to nine credits of summer or intersession courses, and the opportunity to enroll in graduate-level courses with instructor permission.

Students accepted into a UConn graduate program while in the University Scholar Program may begin working toward their graduate degree as undergraduates, with the ability to apply eligible graduate-level coursework toward that degree.

MIL OSI USA News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Warner Applauds Committee Approval of Bipartisan Bill to Extend Life-Saving Veteran Suicide Prevention Program

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today applauded the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee for advancing legislation to renew and expand the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant program – a community-based mental health initiative Warner co-authored with Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) that is set to expire this year without congressional action.

“This program was born out of a simple but urgent idea: that we need to meet veterans where they are, in their communities, with the support and services that could save their lives,” said Sen. Warner. “I’m proud to see this grant program making a difference across the country, including here in Virginia, and glad that we’re one step closer to making sure it doesn’t lapse at the end of the year.”

Suicide is the 12^th-leading cause of death for veterans, and the 2^nd-leading cause for veterans under 45. Over 131,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2001, with veterans being 72% more likely than the civilian population to die by suicide. Since its original passage in 2021, the Fox Grant Program has worked to end this crisis by distributing hundreds of millions in funding to organizations that provide critical, frontline mental health services to veterans. In 2024 alone, Virginia organizations received $4.5 million from these grants. The program honors Veteran Parker Gordon Fox, a veteran and former sniper instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, GA. SSG Fox died by suicide on July 21, 2020 at the age of 25.

The legislation advanced in committee on Wednesday would reauthorize the program before it expires on September 30 and expand its reach to ensure more veterans can access support where they live.

“Veteran suicide is a national emergency,” Sen. Warner added. “We have a responsibility to keep pushing for solutions that work. This program is one of them, and I look forward to seeing it expanded under the law.”

The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

MIL OSI USA News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall: Let’s Get Government Employees Closer to the People They Serve

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

Senator Marshall Joins RFD-TV to Discuss USDA Relocation & Trump Trade Deal
Washington – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Suzanne Alexander on RFD-TV’s Market Day Report to discuss the USDA coming to Kansas City as part of their relocation efforts, President Trump’s trade deals and their significance to American agriculture, and his legislation to bring farmers more clarity, the Clear Waters Act.

Click HERE or on the image above to listen to Senator Marshall’s full interview.
On USDA reorganization:
“You know, the farmers and ranchers were the original conservationists, and we need to keep bragging on the USDA reorganization. Look, I’m excited to get government employees closer to the people that they serve. So, 4000 USDA employees here in DC, by the way, only 6% of them were working in the offices until January of this year, February of this year. So, we’re going to move about half of those out to the country, and one of those places is Kansas City. And what I’m excited about moving more workers to the Kansas City offices, number one, we get more Kansas City Chiefs fans. But beyond that, they’re going to be closer to my alma mater, Kansas State University, Iowa State University, Nebraska, really some of the strongest ag schools in America, and that’s going to help populate that USDA program there in Kansas City. It’s agriculture economics they focus on, as well as handing out the grants for agriculture research. So, I just think getting USDA workers closer to their customers has to be a good thing. So, I’m excited.”
On USDA relocation pushback in Congress:
“Look, I have a great deal of respect for Senator Klobuchar. She’s a good friend, but I we respectfully disagree. This has been well thought out. The first time I met Secretary Rollins in person, back in, goodness, it may have been November, December of last year, she talked about this reorganization. So, I think every member on that committee has had a chance to have her come in and talk about this. This isn’t half-baked. The Assistant Secretary, Steven Vaden, former Judge Vaden, international trade court judge is in charge of this plan. I think it’s well thought out. And again, I just don’t know what American is going to come up to me and say, “It’s not a good idea to move people out of Washington, DC.” I would take two-thirds of the Federal officers that are working here in DC and move them out to those flyover states. It’s just such a different culture here in Washington, DC – it is the swamp. I just think when you have USDA workers going to church, going to soccer games, going to a Kansas State football game together, that they’re going to just have a better product when it’s all said and done.”
On the Clear Waters Act:
“Yeah, think about Waters of the US. This has been going on since 1972. You get a Democrat president in office, and they expand what water the US has. And we get President Trump in office, and he tries to cut it back. But what our bill does is clarify this and give our farmers certainty. Look, your listeners understand that a pothole, that a pond, that is not a navigable stream. So, we clearly define what navigable streams are, that it needs to be a body of water that can continuously flow and touches one of those main navigable streams. Kansas only has three navigable streams, for instance, throughout the years. So, it just gives us some clarity. But I want to emphasize to anyone on the other side of this that farmers and ranchers are the best environmentalists. Those that are that are practicing modern precision agriculture are decreasing the drift from their fields by 90% using modern-day agriculture techniques. We’re decreasing 90% of the drip from those fields. But I just want to get the farmers, the ranchers, some certainty, our dairy farmers, people that have feed lots, we need certainty in this area. And look, we’re going to do our best to take care of the environment as well.”
On the Dairy Pride Act:
“Well, I think there’s a lot of fake products out there, right? And with all due respect to almond juice and some of the other juices out there, they’re not milk products. As far as I’m concerned. I don’t know why they’re in the milk portion of the grocery store, just like I don’t want plant-based protein sitting beside a hamburger born and raised and processed in Kansas. So, I think again, we just want customers to know what they’re drinking or eating. And almond juice is not milk. And by the way, we’re getting closer and closer to getting whole milk, there it is, whole milk back into schools as well.”
On how Trump trade deals are benefiting American agriculture:
“I’m just so ecstatic to see these chickens come home to roost, right? President Trump has used these tariffs to negotiate better trade deals, trade deals that I hope are going to let our grandchildren continue to work on our farms. Look, we’ve not sold a cheeseburger to Europe, a gallon of ethanol to England in my lifetime. So, beyond just the tariffs, what the President is doing is removing non-tariff barriers. And again, your listeners are educated. They understand what China [and] the EU does to keep American agriculture products out of those countries. So, by removing those, we’re going to sell more and more products. And I just, you know, there are lots of things we could talk about, but look at President Trump’s strategy here, how he’s boxing in China. Last night, he announced a deal with South Korea, but beyond that, the EU, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, basically, he’s boxed China in here. China was doing a lot of trans shipments. So, they would make, say, t-shirts or tennis shoes. They would send it to Vietnam and bring it into this country on Vietnam tariff levels. Well, President Trump wasn’t born yesterday, so he’s tightening up that portion, and we’ll get that China trade deal soon, hopefully before the fall. Fall crops need to be harvested.”

MIL OSI USA News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Deputy Chairman of Delovaya Rossiya Nonna Kagramanyan noted the high scientific and technical capabilities of the State University of Management

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Official website of the State –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

On July 31, 2025, the State University of Management was visited on a working visit by the Deputy Chairman and Head of the Executive Committee of the All-Russian public organization “Business Russia”, a graduate of the State University of Management, Nonna Kagramanyan.

At the beginning of the visit, the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev and the vice-rector Maria Karelina introduced the guest to the technical capabilities of the Media Center and the developments of the Engineering Project Management Center.

As a former employee of VGTRK, Nonna Kagramanyan especially highly appreciated the Jalinga studio and noted its wide opportunities for promoting educational programs and any other media projects. The guest also liked the more familiar interior design studio, where materials for the school entrepreneurship Olympiad for the united company Wildberries and Russ are currently being recorded. As Vladimir Stroyev noted, three online master’s courses have already been recorded in the interior design studio during the short time of its operation.

Vladimir Filatov, Director of the Center for Management of Engineering Projects at the State University of Management, spoke about the main areas of work of the Center, the activities of the inter-university student design bureau, and showed prototypes of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Vladimir Stroyev paid special attention to the inter-university design bureau, which won the first specialized competition from the Ministry of Education and Science. The rector noted that the current project of the State University of Management surprised the expert committee, which did not expect something like this from a management university, because at the moment this is the only such experience in Russia.

Vladimir Filatov shared the design bureau’s work scheme, in which young scientists and students perform design work, and GUU also plays the role of integrator of the entire inter-university network. In less than a year, students digitized more than 3,000 drawings ordered by TMH Engineering. The director of the engineering center reported high customer satisfaction from cooperation with GUU, as this allowed them to unload their staff engineers, while the students receive the necessary practical work experience from completing the order.

Summing up what she saw in a conversation with the rector, GUU graduate Nonna Kagramanyan sincerely rejoiced at the successes of her native university: “You listen – and you are filled with pride. You have a whole world here, a whole world.”

Moving to a more practical plane, Nonna Sayadovna put forward her proposals. First. Taking into account the high demand of businesses for the services of engineers, Delovaya Rossiya is ready to promote the scheme of work of student design bureaus tested at SUM, as well as manually send information about the finished developments of SUM to its partners. Second. For more systematic work, Delovaya Rossiya expects SUM to provide a list of the capabilities of the student design bureau in the form of a presentation for distribution to the partners of the organization, with the purpose of concluding agreements between them and SUM. Third. Through its production partner, Delovaya Rossiya will facilitate the start of serial production of the prototypes available at SUM. Fourth. Delovaya Rossiya asks to provide presentation materials and production conditions of the SUM Media Center for the possible resumption of the project of programs “Business Russia” together with the TV channel “Russia 24”.

In addition, Nonna Kagramanyan discussed with the management of the State University of Management plans to create an Advanced Engineering School, new youth laboratories, additional classes in the Pre-University, as well as methodological opportunities for accelerated training of engineering personnel.

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

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MIL OSI Russia News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: North Dakota Development Fund Approves $2.16M in Loans for Child Care, Tech and Ag Projects in Q2
Source: US State of North Dakota

The North Dakota Department of Commerce announced today that six companies were approved for a total of $2.16 million in loan funds through the North Dakota Development Fund, Inc. (NDDF) during the second quarter of 2025.

“These investments reflect our commitment to economic growth and meeting community needs across North Dakota,” said Commerce Economic Development & Finance Deputy Director and Head of Investments and Innovation Shayden Akason. “We’re proud to support businesses that are expanding access to child care – an essential service that enables parents to remain in the workforce and strengthens the state’s economic resilience.”

Loan highlights:
- Discovery Properties LLC, Mandan – $805,000 to purchase and renovate a building for a new child care facility.
- Reser LLC dba The Learning Tree, Minot – $100,000 to expand and remodel its existing facility.
- Transcend Childcare Center, Fargo – $100,000 to acquire an existing child care facility.
- OmniByte Technology Inc., Fargo – in working capital support.
- Peace Academy Inc., Fargo – $450,000 to remodel a building and expand child care operations.
- Dakota Valley Growers, Bathgate – $455,000 to construct a compost facility for its feedlot.
From East to the West, the NDDF is powering progress – backing projects in Bathgate, Fargo, Minot, and Mandan. Whether it is value-added agriculture, child care, or technology, the NDDF helps bridge regions and industries to build a stronger, more resilient North Dakota

Established in 1991, the NDDF provides flexible financing for new or expanding businesses. The fund also manages the Child Care Loan Program, which supports providers addressing critical workforce needs.

For more information about the Development Fund, visit belegendary.link/North-Dakota-Development-Fund.

MIL OSI USA News –
August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: EUROPE/ENGLAND – Saint John Henry Newman, from Propaganda Fide seminarian to Doctor of the Church

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Thursday, 31 July 2025

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Saint John Henry Newman will be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church. This was established by Pope Leo XIV, who confirmed the decision of the Plenary Session of Cardinals and Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The English Cardinal, founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England, will be the 38th saint to hold the title of Doctor.Already in 2010, during his apostolic journey to England, Benedict XVI, speaking to journalists during the papal flight, defined Newman as “a figure of a Doctor of the Church for us and for all,” as well as “a bridge between Anglicans and Catholics” (see Fides, 17/9/2010).Born in London on February 21, 1801, to an Anglican family, Newman studied at Great Ealing School, where he fervently embraced Calvinist doctrines. In June 1824, he was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church and, the following year, a priest. In 1832, he accompanied his friend, Father Froude, on a trip to southern Europe.At the English College in Rome, he met Father Nicholas Wiseman, the future Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. Between 1833 and 1841, Newman and other exponents of the so-called “Oxford Movement” wrote the “Tracts for the Times,” a collection of 90 essays written to support and attest to the Catholic identity of the Anglican Church. The texts were not well received, and the protests they provoked led the Bishop of Oxford to suspend publication of the Tracts. Condemned by the Hebdomadal Board of Oxford University and disavowed by 42 bishops, in April 1842 he retired with some friends to Littlemore to write the famous “Essay development of christian Doctrine.” After these experiences, his decision to join the Catholic Church fully matured.In 1846, he returned to Rome with some Anglicans who had converted to Catholicism. After careful consideration, he decided to join the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. He attended the Roman church of Chiesa Nuova and frequented the priests of that community. In 1845, he began his studies to become a priest at the College of Propaganda Fide, then located in the Palazzo Ferratini, overlooking Piazza di Spagna.Cardinal Ivan Dias (1936-2017), Prefect of the then Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, when inaugurating the Missionary Museum of Propaganda Fide in 2010, described the stay of the future Doctor of the Church in the palace designed by Bernini and Borromini as follows: “Newman describes in his letters the great care shown by Cardinal Fransoni, Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, by Monsignor Brunelli, his Secretary General, and by Father Bresciani, Rector of the Urban College, to make them feel at home, adapting everything to ‘English customs’. They were quite moved by the fact that their windows in Propaganda overlooked the church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, where Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal had appeared three years earlier to Alphonse Ratisbonne, on January 20, 1842: ‘It is so wonderful to be here in Propaganda is like a dream, and yet so calm, so secure, so happy, as if I had always belonged there, as if there had been no violent rupture or vicissitude in my life, indeed, calmer and happier than before.’The eminent theologian, Cardinal Dias further explained, “he found himself among young priests and seminarians, most of whom came from mission countries. Among the 120 or 150 resident students, 32 different languages were spoken. Newman remembers Indians, Africans, Babylonians, Scots, and Americans, and also Chinese (…) Egyptians, Albanians, Germans, and Irish.” He and Ambrose St. John were the only English students. John Henry Newman was ordained a Catholic priest in the Magi Chapel (in the Palace of Propaganda Fide) on May 30, 1847, and celebrated his first Mass in the upper chapel that now bears his name.”The chapel mentioned by Cardinal Dias, which today also houses a relic of the saint, future Doctor of the Church, is the work of Borromini. Conceived as an oratory for the first floor of the palace, Borromini created it with a vault decorated with angels’ heads, represented as six-winged seraphim. Today, on the right wall, you can admire a painting depicting Newman behind a reliquary containing some hairs of the English saint between two candlesticks. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 31/7/2025)

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MIL OSI Europe News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: A World of Water exhibition asks: ‘Can the seas survive us?’

Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Kenneth Paranada, Curator of Art and Climate Change, University of East Anglia

Water is at the heart of the disruption wrought by climate change. The seas, once seen as vast and stable, are now unpredictable and restless.

That tidy, looping diagram of the water cycle once pinned up in primary school classrooms – clouds, rivers, evaporation and rain – now reads more like a fragmented recollection than a dependable process. Human impact has cracked that once-stable loop wide open.

Sea levels inch upward year on year. Droughts grow more prolonged and severe. Rainfall becomes erratic and violent. What was once spoken of in future tense is now present and pressing.

In Norfolk, land and sea have long coexisted in an uneasy truce. Here, the threat of sea level rise is not a speculative concern, it is data-backed, visible and accelerating.

According to research from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, vast swathes of Norfolk risk being submerged by rising seas if global temperatures rise by even two degrees celsius. It is one of the most at-risk areas in the UK.

Against this backdrop comes the Sainsbury Centre’s exhibition, A World of Water (part of the Can the Seas Survive Us? season). In the show, water is explored as subject, medium and metaphor. It is both agent and witness, shaping civilisations, sustaining life, and now challenging our ability to coexist with it.

Curated through an interdisciplinary lens, the exhibition was shaped by deep collaboration with scientists, artists, ecologists, activists and coastal communities. Rooted in lived experience, from a two-day walk along the Wherry Man’s Way to a 36-hour sail aboard a 1921 fishing smack, the curatorial process traced fragile coastlines and the North Sea’s rapid transformation into an industrial nexus of energy infrastructures.

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.

The curatorial approach to the show embraces the multifaceted nature of water by weaving together maritime history, Indigenous knowledge and contemporary works rooted in the artists’ experiences.

Many of the participating artists hail from communities already wrestling with rising tides and the realities of climate disruption. Their contributions form three thematic currents: Mudplume, Water Water Everywhere and In a State of Flux.

These overlapping threads investigate how water connects, nourishes and imperils. Rather than positioning the sea as a line of division, the exhibition reframes it as a living, connective tissue linking culture, history and ecology.

A curatorial geomorphology of the sea

Guidance for the exhibition’s conceptual framework came, fittingly, from water itself. Its mutable nature – solid, liquid, vapour – shaped the rhythm of the curatorial process. Rather than impose a rigid thesis, the exhibition offers an ever-shifting constellation of perspectives.

The exhibition journey begins with sound. Visitors are welcomed by a low murmur, tides lapping, water dripping, echoing through the museum entrance. This leads to Spiral Fosset (2024), a sculptural work by the Dutch collective De Onkruidenier.

Mirroring the central staircase of the museum, the piece suggests the brackish confluence where fresh and saltwater mingle. From here, the viewer descends into the lower galleries, reimagined as an estuary.

Within the lower galleries, artworks unfold like coastal mudflats at low tide. Seventeenth-century Dutch seascapes hang alongside photographs, video works and sculptures made from plastic waste. Sands from the beaches of Cromer, Happisburgh and Cley are featured, anchoring the exhibition in local terrain.

East Anglia’s centuries-old ties with the Low Countries form a steady through line. Hendrick van Anthonissen’s View of Scheveningen Sands (1641) shares space with works by Norwich School masters such as John Sell Cotman, John Crome and Robert Ladbrooke.

This approach privileges resonance over chronology. The exhibition avoids a linear march through time in favour of prioritising association, connection and drift. For instance, Shore Compass by Olafur Eliasson (2019) sits in subtle dialogue with Jodocus Hondius’s 1589 Drake Map an early cartographic rendering of Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world.

Created during the height of European maritime expansion and colonialism, the map illustrates the interplay between empire, navigation and power. Time, like tide, is allowed to meander.

The exhibition adopts what might be called a “curatorial geomorphology”: a way of curating that draws on the sculpting force of water. In the natural sciences, geomorphology examines how landscapes are formed and reshaped by flowing water, storms and tides, while hydrology traces water’s movement through the environment.

This curatorial approach translates those scientific ideas into a cultural and creative practice. Like a river, it flows through histories, stories and meanings. What unfolds is a tidal narrative, an estuary of thought where time loosens, the present deepens and new futures begin to surface.

Visitors to A World of Water can expect something different from a traditional gallery experience. It invites you to think with the seas, to tune into their rhythms, tensions and secret lives.

As you wander through the galleries, you enter a realm shaped by flux, expect to feel and reimagine a world where land, water and life move as one. And perhaps, by moving as water does, we may begin to sense an answer to the question: Can the Seas Survive Us? Not in certainty, but through our collective and individual actions toward a more regenerative and sustainable future.

A World of Water is at the Sainsbury Centre Norwich until August 3. It’s part of a six-month season of interlinked exhibitions and events that explore the question: “Can the seas survive us?”

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

John Kenneth Paranada received funding from the John Ellerman Foundation; the Art Fund’s Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grant; the Association of Art Museum Curators’ EPIC Curatorial Fellowship Award; the Mondriaan Fund’s International Art Presentation Grant; the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ Cultural Diplomacy Grant; and Arts Council England’s National Lottery Fund for the project A World of Water: Can the Seas Survive Us? at the Sainsbury Centre.

– ref. A World of Water exhibition asks: ‘Can the seas survive us?’ – https://theconversation.com/a-world-of-water-exhibition-asks-can-the-seas-survive-us-262057

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Why some underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis – and others, just little ripples

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matthew Blackett, Reader in Physical Geography and Natural Hazards, Coventry University

After a massive earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka, a peninsula in the far east of Russia, on July 30 2025, the world watched as the resultant tsunami spread from the epicentre and across the Pacific Ocean at the speed of a jet plane.

In some local areas, such as in Russia’s northern Kuril Islands, tsunami waves reached heights of over three metres. However, across the Pacific there was widespread relief in the hours that followed as the feared scenario of large waves striking coastal communities did not materialise. Why was this?

Not all underwater earthquakes result in tsunamis. For a tsunami to be generated, the Earth’s crust at the earthquake site must be pushed upwards in a movement known as vertical displacement. This typically occurs during reverse faulting, or its shallow-angled form known as thrust faulting, where one block of the Earth’s crust is forced up and over another, along what is called a fault plane.

It is no coincidence that this type of faulting movement occurred at a subduction zone on “the Pacific ring of fire”, where the dense oceanic Pacific plate is being forced beneath the less dense Eurasian continental plate.

These zones are known for generating powerful earthquakes and tsunamis because they are sites of intense compression, which leads to thrust faulting and the sudden vertical movement of the seafloor. Indeed, it was the ring of fire that was also responsible for the two most significant tsunami-generating earthquakes of recent times: the 2004 Indonesian Boxing Day and March 2011 Tohoku earthquakes.

Why did the Indonesian and Japanese earthquakes generate waves over 30 metres high, but the recent magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Kamchatka (one of the strongest ever recorded) didn’t? The answer lies in the geology involved in these events.

In the case of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, the sea floor was measured to have risen by up to five metres within a rupture zone of 750,000 sq km.

For the tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, estimates indicate the seafloor was thrust upwards by nearly three metres within a rupture zone of 90,000 sq km.

Preliminary data from the recent Kamchatka event has been processed into what geologists call a finite fault model. Rather than representing the earthquake as a single point, these models show where and how the crust ruptured, including the length of that rupture in Earth’s crust, its depth and what direction it followed.

The model results show that the two sides of the fault slipped by up to ten metres along a fault plane of 18°, resulting in about three metres of vertical uplift. Think of it like walking ten metres up an 18° slope: you don’t rise ten metres into the air, you only rise about three metres, because most of your movement is forward rather than upward.

However, since much of this occurred at depths greater than 20km (over an area of 70,000 sq km) the seabed displacement would probably have been reduced as the overlying rock layers absorbed and diffused the motion before it reached the surface.

For comparison, the associated slippage for the Tohoku and Indonesian events was as shallow as 5km in places.

An added complication

So, while the size of sea floor uplift is key to determining how much energy a tsunami begins with, it is the processes that follow – as the wave travels and interacts with the coastline – that can transform an insignificant tsunami into a devastating wall of water at the shore.

As a tsunami travels across the open ocean it is often barely noticeable – a long, low ripple spread over tens of kilometres. But as it nears land, the front of the wave slows down due to friction with the seabed, while the back continues at speed, causing the wave to rise in height. This effect is strongest in places where the sea floor gets shallow quickly near the coast.

The shape of the coastline is also important. Bays, inlets and estuaries can act like funnels that further amplify the wave as it reaches shore. Crescent City in California is a prime example. Fortunately however, when the wave arrived in Crescent City on July 30 2025, it reached a height of just 1.22 metres – still the highest recorded in the continental US.

So, not every powerful undersea earthquake leads to a devastating tsunami — it depends not just on the magnitude, but on how much the sea floor is lifted and whether that vertical movement reaches the ocean surface.

In the case of the recent Russian quake, although the slip was substantial, much of it occurred at depth, meaning the energy wasn’t transferred effectively to the water above. All of this shows that while earthquake size is important, it’s the precise characteristics of the rupture that truly decide whether a tsunami becomes destructive or remains largely insignificant.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

Matthew Blackett 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. Why some underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis – and others, just little ripples – https://theconversation.com/why-some-underwater-earthquakes-cause-tsunamis-and-others-just-little-ripples-262352

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Your dog can read your mind – sort of

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Laura Elin Pigott, Senior Lecturer in Neurosciences and Neurorehabilitation, Course Leader in the College of Health and Life Sciences, London South Bank University

Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock.com

Your dog tilts its head when you cry, paces when you’re stressed, and somehow appears at your side during your worst moments. Coincidence? Not even close.

Thousands of years of co-evolution have given dogs special ways to tune in to our voices, faces and even brain chemistry. From brain regions devoted to processing our speech to the “love hormone” or oxytocin that surges when we lock eyes, your dog’s mind is hardwired to pick up on what you’re feeling.

The evidence for this extraordinary emotional intelligence begins in the brain itself. Dogs’ brains have dedicated areas that are sensitive to voice, similar to those in humans. In a brain imaging study, researchers found that dogs possess voice-processing regions in their temporal cortex that light up in response to vocal sounds.

Dogs respond not just to any sound, but to the emotional tone of your voice. Brain scans reveal that emotionally charged sounds – a laugh, a cry, an angry shout – activate dogs’ auditory cortex and the amygdala – a part of the brain involved in processing emotions.

Dogs are also skilled face readers. When shown images of human faces, dogs exhibit increased brain activity. One study found that seeing a familiar human face activates a dog’s reward centres and emotional centres – meaning your dog’s brain is processing your expressions, perhaps not in words but in feelings.

Dogs don’t just observe your emotions; they can “catch” them too. Researchers call this emotional contagion, a basic form of empathy where one individual mirrors another’s emotional state. A 2019 study found that some dog-human pairs had synchronised cardiac patterns during stressful times, with their heartbeats mirroring each other.

This emotional contagion doesn’t require complex reasoning – it’s more of an automatic empathy arising from close bonding. Your dog’s empathetic yawns or whines are probably due to learned association and emotional attunement rather than literal mind-mirroring.

The oxytocin effect

The most remarkable discovery in canine-human bonding may be the chemical connection we share. When dogs and humans make gentle eye contact, both partners experience a surge of oxytocin, often dubbed the “love hormone”.

In one study, owners who held long mutual gazes with their dogs had significantly higher oxytocin levels afterwards, and so did their dogs.

This oxytocin feedback loop reinforces bonding, much like the gaze between a parent and infant. Astonishingly, this effect is unique to domesticated dogs: hand-raised wolves did not respond the same way to human eye contact. As dogs became domesticated, they evolved this interspecies oxytocin loop as a way to glue them emotionally to their humans. Those soulful eyes your pup gives you are chemically binding you two together.

Beyond eye contact, dogs are surprisingly skilled at reading human body language and facial expressions. Experiments demonstrate that pet dogs can distinguish a smiling face from an angry face, even in photos.

Dogs show a subtle right-hemisphere bias when processing emotional cues, tending to gaze toward the left side of a human’s face when assessing expressions – a pattern also seen in humans and primates.

When dogs and humans make eye contact, both experience a surge of oxytocin.
Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock.com

Dogs rely on multiple senses to discern how you’re feeling. A cheerful, high-pitched “Good boy!” with a relaxed posture sends a very different message than a stern shout with rigid body language. Remarkably, they can even sniff out emotions. In a 2018 study, dogs exposed to sweat from scared people exhibited more stress than dogs that smelled “happy” sweat. In essence, your anxiety smells unpleasant to your dog, whereas your relaxed happiness can put them at ease.

Bred for friendship

How did dogs become so remarkably attuned to human emotions? The answer lies in their evolutionary journey alongside us. Dogs have smaller brains than their wild wolf ancestors, but in the process of domestication, their brains may have rewired to enhance social and emotional intelligence.

Clues come from a Russian fox domestication experiment. Foxes bred for tameness showed increased grey matter in regions related to emotion and reward. These results challenge the assumption that domestication makes animals less intelligent. Instead, breeding animals to be friendly and social can enhance the brain pathways that help them form bonds.

In dogs, thousands of years living as our companions have fine-tuned brain pathways for reading human social signals. While your dog’s brain may be smaller than a wolf’s, it may be uniquely optimised to love and understand humans.

Dogs probably aren’t pondering why you’re upset or realising that you have distinct thoughts and intentions. Instead, they excel at picking up on what you’re projecting and respond accordingly.

So dogs may not be able to read our minds, but by reading our behaviour and feelings, they meet us emotionally in a way few other animals can. In our hectic modern world, that cross-species empathy is not just endearing; it’s evolutionary and socially meaningful, reminding us that the language of friendship sometimes transcends words entirely.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

Laura Elin Pigott 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. Your dog can read your mind – sort of – https://theconversation.com/your-dog-can-read-your-mind-sort-of-261720

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: By building the world’s biggest dam, China hopes to control more than just its water supply

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tom Harper, Lecturer in International Relations, University of East London

China’s already vast infrastructure programme has entered a new phase as building work starts on the Motuo hydropower project.

The dam will consist of five cascade hydropower stations arranged from upstream to downstream and, once completed, will be the world’s largest source of hydroelectric power. It will be four times larger than China’s previous signature hydropower project, the Three Gorges Dam, which spans the Yangtse river in central China.

The Chinese premier, Li Qiang, has described the proposed mega dam as the “project of the century”. In several ways, Li’s description is apt. The vast scale of the project is a reflection of China’s geopolitical status and ambitions.

Possibly the most controversial aspect of the dam is its location. The site is on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo river on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau. This is connected to the Brahmaputra river which flows into the Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh as well as Bangladesh. It is an important source of water for Bangladesh and India.

Both nations have voiced concerns over the dam, particularly since it can potentially affect their water supplies. The tension with India over the dam is compounded by the fact that Arunachal Pradesh has been a focal point of Sino-Indian tensions. China claims the region, which it refers to as Zangnan, saying it is part of what it calls South Tibet.

At the same time, the dam presents Beijing with a potentially formidable geopolitical tool in its dealings with the Indian government. The location of the dam means that it is possible for Beijing to restrict India’s water supply.

This potential to control downstream water supply to another country has been demonstrated by the effects that earlier dam projects in the region have had on the nations of the Mekong river delta in 2019. As a result, this gives Beijing a significant degree of leverage over its neighbours.

One country restricting water supply to put pressure on another is by no means unprecedented. In fact in April 2025, following a terror attack by Pakistan-based The Resistance Front in Kashmir, which killed 26 people (mainly tourists), India suspended the Indus waters treaty, restricting water supplies to Pakistani farmers in the region. So the potential for China’s dam to disrupt water flows will further compound the already tense geopolitics of southern Asia.

Concrete titans

The Motuo mega dam is an advertisement of China’s prowess when it comes to large-scale infrastructure projects. China’s expertise with massive infrastructure projects is a big part of modern Chinese diplomacy through its massive belt and road initiative.

This involves joint ventures with many developing nations to build large-scale infrastructure, such as ports, rail systems and the like. It has caused much consternation in Washington and Brussels, which view these initiatives as a wider effort to build Chinese influence at their expense.

The completion of the dam will will bring Beijing significant symbolic capital as a demonstration of China’s power and prosperity – an integral feature of the image of China that Beijing is very keen to promote. It can also be seen as a manifestation of both China’s aspiration and its longstanding fears.

Harnessing the rivers

The Motuo hydropower project also represents the latest chapter of China’s long battle for control of its rivers, a key story in the development of Chinese civilisation.

Rivers such as the Yangtze have been at the heart of the prosperity of several Chinese dynasties (the Yangtse is still a major economic driver in modern China) and has devastated others. The massive Yangtse flood of 1441 threatened the stability of the Ming dynasty, while an estimated 2 million people died when the river flooded in 1931.

France 24 report on the construction of the mega dam project.

Such struggles have been embodied in Chinese mythology in the form of the Gun-Yu myth. This tells the story of the way floods displaced the population of ancient China, probably based on an actual flooding at Jishi Gorge on the Yellow River in what is now Qinghai province in 1920BC.

This has led to the common motif of rivers needing human control to abate natural disaster, a theme present in much classical Chinese culture and poetry.

The pursuit of controlling China’s rivers has also been one of the primary influences on the formation of the Chinese state, as characterised by the concept of zhishui 治水 (controlling the rivers). Efforts to control the Yangtze have shaped the centralised system of governance that has characterised China throughout its history. In this sense, the Motuo hydropower project represents the latest chapter in China’s quest to harness the power of its rivers.

Such a quest remains imperative for China and its importance has been further underlined by the challenges of climate change, which has seen natural resources such as water becoming increasingly limited. The Ganges river has already been identified as one of the world’s water scarcity hotspots.

As well as sustaining China’s population, the hydropower provided by the dam is another part of China’s wider push towards self-sufficiency. It’s estimated that the dam could generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year – about the same about produced by the whole UK. While this will meet the needs of the local population, it also further entrenches China’s ability to produce cheap electricity – something that has enabled China to become and remain a manufacturing superpower.

Construction has only just begun, but Motuo hydropower project has already become a microcosm of China’s wider push towards development. It’s also a gamechanger in the geopolitics of Asia, giving China the potential to exert greater control in shaping the region’s water supplies. This in turn will give it greater power to shape the geopolitics of the region.

At the same time, it is also the latest chapter of China’s longstanding quest to harness its waterways, which now has regional implications beyond anything China’s previous dynasties could imagine.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

Tom Harper 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. By building the world’s biggest dam, China hopes to control more than just its water supply – https://theconversation.com/by-building-the-worlds-biggest-dam-china-hopes-to-control-more-than-just-its-water-supply-261984

MIL OSI –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Reps. Gomez, Costa, Panetta, Harder, Adams Announce Eats Act To Expand Snap Benefit Eligibility To More College Students

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), along with Reps. Josh Harder (CA-10), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Alma Adams (NC-12), Jim Costa (CA-21), and 130 other Members of Congress reintroduced the Enhance Access to SNAP (EATS) Act, which would expand Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility to all college students attending 2- and 4-year universities who meet traditional SNAP income and eligibility requirements. Current SNAP eligibility rules only include college students working 20 hours per week or participating in a federal or state work study, or those who meet very specific exemptions. The EATS Act would permanently ensure that low-income college students have equitable access to SNAP benefits by amending the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to include “attending an institution of higher education” as another form of qualification in addition to work.

“Too many students are working toward a degree while quietly struggling with hunger,” said Rep. Gomez. “No student should have to choose between focusing on their finals or finding their next meal. It is essential that college students, especially first-generation students and students of color, don’t fall through the cracks. The EATS Act will expand access to SNAP benefits for students and ensure that hunger doesn’t stand in the way of a degree or a better life.”

According to The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs at Temple University, food insecurity is a serious problem on college campuses across the nation, especially for students of color, first generation students, low-income students, and students at community colleges. In 2023-2024, 41% of college students experienced food insecurity. Students of color were more likely to experience basic needs insecurity: 74% of Indigenous, 72% of Black, and 67% of Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian students experienced food insecurity, housing insecurity, and/or homelessness.

Senator Kristen Gillibrand is introducing companion legislation in the Senate.

“No college student should have to scrounge for food or wonder where they’ll get their next meal,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Food insecurity is a crisis that plagues low-income college students in New York and beyond, and we must do more to combat it. The EATS Act would eliminate work-for-food barriers for low-income students and ensure that as many as 4 million college students nationwide can access the SNAP benefits they need to learn and thrive. This legislation is critical, and I’m committed to fighting for its passage.”

“There are many college students across the country that face food insecurity due to outdated and arbitrary restrictions that block access to SNAP benefits,” said Rep. Panetta. “The EATS Act would eliminate those barriers and expand eligibility so students, including those in California’s CalFresh program, can get the nutrition they need. By removing these unnecessary hurdles, we can ensure that rather than worrying about where their next meal will come from, our students can focus on their education and future success.”

“College students across the nation are going hungry, skipping meals, and can’t afford to make ends meet – it’s unacceptable. No student should have to choose between food and their textbooks,” said Rep. Costa. “Our legislation eliminates barriers and expands SNAP eligibility for college students, so they get the nutrition needed to be successful.”

“This is a commonsense bill – we know our students can’t learn if they’re hungry. One in three college students face food insecurity meaning millions of young people aren’t able to live up to their potential,” said Rep. Harder. “If we want to set future generations up for success, we have to make sure they are getting the nutrition they need. This bill does just that by extending access to SNAP to college students. It’s a no-brainer if we care about our future.”

“As a former college professor of 40 years, I’ve seen students struggle with hunger firsthand and know how it impacts their health and academic achievement. They should be focusing on their education, not where their next meal is coming from, but harsh SNAP restrictions make that impossible for millions of college students, especially after the passage of Republicans’ One Big, Ugly Bill,” said Rep. Adams. “I’m proud to support the EATS Act so we can remove these outdated barriers to SNAP, make college more accessible to low-income families, and ensure no student goes to bed hungry.”

“No student should have to choose between eating and learning. The EATS Act removes outdated and harmful barriers that have long prevented college students—including many student parents and students of color—from accessing SNAP. This bill is a step toward justice—toward a future where an empty stomach isn’t a prerequisite for learning, and where every student is healthy, housed, and fed,” said Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE/End Child Poverty California.

“All students should have the resources they need to meet their basic needs. But with one in five experiencing food insecurity and many lacking access to SNAP benefits, this is not their reality. It’s clear the system needs reformed,” said Jessica Thompson, Senior Vice President at The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). “Removing the requirement to meet an additional exemption will improve students’ ability to access benefits and better support their academic success. That’s why TICAS is proud to endorse the EATS Act of 2025 – a critical step in addressing food insecurity for this overlooked population.”

“Far too many low-income college students are going hungry, all while juggling family, work, and a full course load in pursuit of economic mobility. Many are parents, caregivers, or older adults returning to school for a better future, but the current system, with its 20-hour per week work requirement, makes this nearly impossible. Balancing work, school, and other responsibilities leaves little time for these students to focus on their education, much less maintain their health or care for their loved ones. Hunger only compounds these challenges, preventing them from fully thriving,” said Crystal FitzSimons, President of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). “No student should have to choose between buying food and pursuing an education. Congress must pass the EATS Act to remove outdated barriers to SNAP eligibility and ensure every student has the food they need to learn and thrive.”

The full text of the bill can be found here.

MIL OSI USA News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Strickland Introduces Legislation To Boost Funding For Gun Violence Prevention Research
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) re-introduced the bicameral Gun Violence Prevention Research Act, legislation to annually authorize $50 million over the next five years for gun violence prevent research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Make no mistake: gun violence is preventable. Republicans actively choose to watch children, mothers, fathers, and Americans gunned down in deference to the gun lobby,” said Strickland. “We must root out the gun violence crisis in our nation. This legislation will simply treat gun violence as the public health crisis it is, and allow us to research it so we can take steps toward saving lives.”

“Stopping the spread of our nation’s gun violence epidemic requires action on the reforms we know are essential and effective,” said Senator Markey. “We must invest more to study the root causes of violence and develop evidence-based solutions. This legislation would allow our nation’s top medical, scientific, and public health researchers to conduct studies that would save lives. It is critical that we chart a path out of this public health crisis.”

“Gun violence is a uniquely American crisis that continues to impact communities across Michigan and our country,” said Senator Slotkin. “As the first Member of Congress to have two mass shootings in my former House district—Oxford High School and Michigan State University—I’ve seen first-hand the devastating toll gun violence has on our communities. As elected officials, our most basic responsibility is to protect our children from the things that are truly harming them. We must treat this epidemic like the national security threat that it is. And that means using every tool in the toolbox. Let’s get this bill across the finish line.”

This legislation arrives at a critical time. The Trump Administration has effectively dismantled gun violence prevention efforts, decimating the staff at the CDC and terminating $158 million—more than half—of federal funding for gun violence prevention programs at the Department of Justice.

House co-sponsors include: Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Rep. Jim Costa (CA-21), Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-51), Rep. Shontel Brown (OH-11), Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08), Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04), Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15), and Rep. Deborah Ross (NC-02).

This bill is endorsed by the following organizations:
- Brady United
- Everytown for gun Safety
- March For Our Lives
- GIFFORDS
You can read the full bill text here.

Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She is Whip of the New Democrat Coalition, Secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus, and is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress.

###

MIL OSI USA News –
August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: 07.31.2025 Sen. Cruz Introduces Bill Safeguarding Schools From Influence by Foreign Adversaries

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) introduced the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act to enhance transparency for parents regarding foreign funding in K-12 schools.
Sen. Cruz said, “The Chinese Communist Party spends vast resources to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think. Our foreign adversaries are actively targeting American educational institutions, and the TRACE Act will help protect our classrooms from foreign influence by providing parents with the transparency they deserve. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation without delay.”
Sen. Lummis said, “The Chinese Communist Party has spread its influence across American life, targeting our farmland, technology, and even school systems. Parents deserve peace of mind knowing their children are learning American values, not propaganda from our foreign adversaries. This legislation prioritizes transparency while protecting our children from harmful foreign agendas.”
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL-04).
Rep. Bean said, “American schools are for education, not espionage. We cannot allow our students—the future of our great nation—to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who are systematically and aggressively attempting to influence our nation’s K-12 schools. That’s why it’s crucial we parents understand the potential impact of foreign influence on our children’s classrooms and take concrete steps to prevent foreign nations from reaching America’s youth. I want to thank Senator Cruz for joining me in this critical effort and spearheading this legislation in the Senate.”
This bill is supported by the Parents Defending Education Action and Heritage Action.
Alfonso Aguilar, Director of Federal Affairs for Parents Defending Education Action said, “Senator Cruz’s TRACE Act is extremely necessary. Parents should know if a foreign government or entity is providing funding to their children’s schools, trying to influence what is taught to them or seeking to access important data and intellectual property. A 2023 investigation from our partner organization Defending Education uncovered Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in numerous public schools and school districts across the nation. Their research showed that entities with ties to the CCP such as the Confucius Institutes have provided curriculum content, funding and Chinese teachers to U.S. public schools. Disturbingly, they also found that the Chinese government efforts appeared to target school districts near over twenty American bases. Our investigation, however, only discovered some or the CCP’s growing involvement in our public schools. The TRACE Act would ensure that parents have a full and continuous accounting of China’s meddling in their children’s education.”
Read the full text of the bill here.
BACKGROUND
The Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act will:

Require schools to allow parents the opportunity to review curriculum that has been provided by or purchased with foreign funds.
Require that schools notify parents of any foreign contracts or financial transactions they partake in.
Stipulate parents be notified of how many school employees are being compensated by another country or foreign adversary, and whether foreign nations have donated to the institution.

Sen. Cruz first introduced this legislation in 2024.

MIL OSI USA News –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Issues Consumer Alert Amid Increase in Reported Scams Targeting the Military Community
Source: US State of California

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov
Does an offer seem too good to be true? Take a tactical pause to evaluate

OAKLAND — In recognition of Military Consumer Month, Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a consumer alert to help protect California service members, veterans, and their family members from targeted common scams and fraud. The military community and their families are often targets for predatory scammers: According to the Federal Trade Commission, military consumers nationwide reported over 99,400 fraud complaints last year — an increase from 2023’s approximately 93,000 complaints — including 44,587 imposter scams that reportedly cost them and their families over $199 million.

“More and more often, service members, veterans, and their families are targets for predatory scammers promising everything from home loans to jobs, and continuing education. This is absolutely unacceptable. As part of our commitment to protect those who protect us, my office will continue to bring the full force of the law against those who seek to exploit California’s military community,” said Attorney General Bonta. “If you have fallen victim to a scam or suspect fraudulent activity, get help and share your story so that we can help your fellow service members. You can report fraud to your local military or civilian law enforcement agency, or to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.”

Why is the Military Community Targeted?

Military service members, veterans, and their families are frequently targeted by scammers who want access to their pay and benefits, and who know that military members will often pay even fraudulent or over-stated debts to avoid security clearance issues or other disruptions to their military careers. In addition, the camaraderie that unites the military community is often exploited by impostors who claim to be veterans in attempts to perpetrate scams or access personal information for fraudulent purposes.

Common Scams Targeting the Military Community:

Scammers use a variety of tactics to gain trust. Protect yourself by staying up to date on common military- and veteran-targeted scams. Beware of the following:
- Charity Scams: Just because a charity includes the word “veteran” in its name doesn’t mean that veterans are members of the group, or that veterans or their families will benefit from a donation. Scammers will use names that sound legitimate or those that mimic the names of well-known charities to create confusion. Take the time to make an informed decision and be wary of aggressive solicitations. Go to oag.ca.gov/charities, under the Resources & Tools section, and click on Registry Verification Search. If a charity is not listed, it should not be soliciting funds in California. If it is listed, you can view its financial reports, including the IRS Form 990 that the charity is required to file with DOJ’s Registry of Charitable Trusts.
- Predatory Schools: The GI Bill and other military education programs offer you the chance to attend school and plan for your future, but for-profit schools sometimes target service members and veterans with false promises. Slow down and take the time you need to make the right decision. Predatory schools often use high-pressure sales tactics to try to get you to sign up. It’s important to ask for information about the programs, such as graduation rates, job placement, and graduate salary information. Offers that seem too good to be true generally are. Further, don’t forget that educational opportunities at the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California may be available to you.
- Home Loan Scams: Be aware of scammers that — through phone calls or fraudulent mailers — claim to be affiliated with the government, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or your home loan servicer. These fraudsters may attempt to convince you to agree to loan modifications, refinance your home, or make payments on your loans. Be cautious of any individual or lender that contacts you and asks you to pay fees upfront before receiving any services; tells you to cancel your mortgage payment and resend the funds elsewhere; tells you to make payments to someone other than your current loan servicer; or pressures you to sign papers you haven’t had a chance to read thoroughly or that you don’t understand — including asking you to sign over the title to your property.
- Identity Theft and Fraud: Some scammers will pretend to be from the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, or other official organizations in order to get your personal information so that they can commit identity theft or fraud. Before you provide any information, always make sure a request is coming from an official organization by doing a quick search on the internet or consulting a trusted source to get the organization’s real contact information. Never trust the contact information given by the person that is asking for your personal information, as scammers often give out fake contact information. Be wary of letters and emails that have misspellings, look unprofessional, or send you to a non-government website for information or action, as these are almost always fake. Lastly, never give out your Social Security number to receive military or veteran discounts. Scammers often promise military or veteran discounts in order to obtain personal information.
- Job Scams: Service members looking for new career opportunities after leaving service are a target for scammers posting fictitious job listings with the goal of stealing their personal information and finances. Avoid becoming a victim of job scams by conducting thorough research on the company. Additionally, stick to well-known job search platforms and government career websites when looking for job opportunities. Remember, legitimate employers will never require you to pay fees for applications, interviews, or background checks. You should also look out for fake check scams, which occur when a scammer posing as an employer sends you a counterfeit check to deposit into your account. The scammer will then ask you to send a portion of the funds back to them or a third party, while letting you keep some as payment. Eventually, the bank reverses the fake check, leaving you stuck paying the money back to the bank. If something feels off or suspicious during the job search, trust your instincts and end communication immediately.
- Pension Scams: Veterans ages 65 and over are targeted by scam financial advisers who try to persuade senior veterans to buy costly annuities or transfer their assets into trusts, or pay unnecessary and illegal fees for help with a veterans pension application. These “advisers” claim to help veterans qualify for Aid and Attendance or other veterans benefits, but may cause you to lose eligibility or access to pension, disability, or healthcare benefits. If you are interested in Aid and Attendance or other veterans benefits, you can get free help from your County Veterans Service Office here.
- Affinity Fraud: Affinity scams target members of identifiable groups, including the military. The perpetrators are — or pretend to be — members of the targeted group, and use sales pitches that rely on group trust and loyalty. In the military community, this includes exploiting the trust that service members have for their fellow service members, and for veterans who previously served. Don’t make a significant purchase, or an investment decision, based on the salesperson’s supposed military service, or the claim that a business is military-friendly or endorsed by the Armed Forces. Take a tactical pause, and shop around for the best deal.
- Debt Collection and Illegal Threats: Debt collectors may try to trick or scare service members into making payments on debts. It is illegal for debt collectors to do any of the following: revoke your security clearance; contact your command in order to collect a debt (unless they have your consent, given after the debt came due, to do so); discipline or demote you; or garnish your pay. If a debt collector is trying to collect a debt that you do not owe or have already paid, dispute the debt in writing. Tell the debt collector why you do not owe the debt, include copies of any evidence you have, and mail this dispute to the debt collector using registered mail so that you have proof that the collector received it — and make sure to keep copies of everything for yourself. If you dispute the debt within 30 days after the collector first contacted you, the collector must stop collection until it shows you written proof of the debt.
- Rental Housing Scams: These scams target military personnel looking for housing near a base, especially prevalent during the Permanent Change of Station season. Scammers pretend to be real estate agents and post fake ads for rental properties on websites, sometimes promising military discounts and other incentives in order to get service members to send them money for fees and deposits upfront. If someone insists on receiving money or other payments before a property has been seen, it is likely a rental scam. Avoid wiring money to reserve apartments, and use your installation housing office or established property management companies to locate potential housing.
- Predatory Auto Sales and Financing: Car dealers located near military bases may try to lure service members with promises of special deals for military personnel. Often, these so-called deals conceal the terms of purchase for the vehicle and result in the service member drastically overpaying for both the vehicle and the cost of financing. For example, dealers may insist that military personnel will not qualify for financing unless they purchase overpriced and unnecessary add-ons. Other times, the dealer may tell a service member who just purchased a car that the initial financing fell through and insist on renegotiating for worse terms. You should not rely on oral promises, nor feel pressured to enter into any purchase, without first reading and understanding the contract. If you are looking to purchase a car, you should explore all of your options for financing — including by contacting your bank or credit union — before making a purchase.
Protect Yourself from Scams:
- Bring a battle buddy when making big decisions, and take a tactical pause: Take your time with big decisions and get advice. A business that pressures you to make a quick decision or to not talk with your family, friends, a military financial counselor, or an officer or NCO that you trust may be out to scam you.
- Take advantage of free annual credit reports: You are entitled to one free credit report every year from each of the three national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Your credit history contains information from financial institutions, utilities, landlords, insurers, and others. By checking your credit reports at least once a year, you can identify signs of identity theft, as well errors in your report that could be raising the cost of your credit. Order your free annual credit reports by phone, toll-free, at 1-877-322-8228, or online at www.annualcreditreport.com.
- Place a Fraud Alert: If your identity is stolen, put a fraud alert on your credit report by contacting the three main credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Also, consider requesting a credit freeze, which will restrict access to your credit file, making it difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. Report identity theft right away and get a recovery plan at identitytheft.gov. Additionally, file a police report with your local sheriff or police department and keep a copy for your records.
- Report Suspicious Activity: Never give out personal information to a lender or servicer that contacts you out of the blue. If you are feeling unsure, hang up and call your loan servicer directly at the number that is listed on your mortgage statement. Report suspicious activity to the Office of the Attorney General at oag.ca.gov/report and file a complaint with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Protect your online information and accounts with strong passwords: Protect yourself by using different, unique passwords for each of your online accounts. Make sure that the passwords you use are at least eight characters, including a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Check your credit card bills and bank statements often: Look for unauthorized charges, withdrawals, or unexpected bills, and report irregular activity to your bank as soon as you see it. If you notice that a bill didn’t arrive on time, it may mean that someone has changed the contact information on your account in order to hide fraudulent charges. Don’t share personal information: Be careful about what personal information you share, such as your address or financial information.
- Sign up for the Enhanced Homeowner Notification Program: If you reside in Los Angeles County, you may sign up to receive mailed copies of documents recorded against your home, allowing you to review recorded real estate documents so you are aware of actions taken against your property.
If you believe you have been the victim or target of a scam, immediately contact your local police department or reach out to your base legal office. For the legal office’s contact information, ask your command or visit to legalassistance.law.af.mil/. California National Guard personnel can also obtain legal help at calguard.ca.gov. You may also file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General at oag.ca.gov/report. For additional information on military-targeted scams, visit our website at oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/military.
# # #

MIL OSI USA News –
August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: European gloom over the Trump deal is misplaced. It’s probably the best the EU could have achieved

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Maha Rafi Atal, Adam Smith Senior Lecturer in Political Economy, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow

The trade deal between the US and the European Union, squeezed in days before the re-introduction of Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, is reflective of the new politics of global trade. Faced with the threat of 30% baseline tariffs from Washington, as well as additional levies on specific sectors, the EU has secured a partial reprieve of a flat 15% tariff on all goods.

Was this the best the bloc could have achieved? In the time available, it may well have been. The 15% rate is higher than the UK secured earlier this year, but it’s significantly below the level applied to China and Mexico, and on par with Japan.

The EU has also managed a “zero-for-zero” tariffs deal on some hi-tech goods, notably semiconductors vital for products like phones and laptops. This is something the UK did not push for or secure in its own framework agreed with the US president.

Read more:
Donald Trump has reduced tariffs on British metals and cars, but how important is this trade deal? Experts react

What’s more, EU leaders have argued that agreeing to the deal has security benefits in protecting dwindling US support for European defence. The urgency of Europe’s security concerns in Ukraine made these talks different from trade negotiations in the first Trump administration, when Europe could afford to be more aggressive.

The biggest winners in this deal are Europe’s carmakers. The US has collapsed various sector-specific duties on goods like aircraft, cars and automotive parts into the 15% ceiling. This effectively reduces tariffs on EU-made cars (from 27.5%).

American automakers, meanwhile, rely heavily on parts from Mexico and China – still subject to higher tariffs at the time of writing. This makes EU vehicles more competitive for US consumers than “American” cars that rely on overseas parts.

Most importantly however, like the UK deal before it, the new EU agreement is a statement of understanding between the White House and the European Commission, rather than a formal treaty. A treaty would be subject to parliamentary ratification on both sides.

But the semi-formal nature of this agreement allows both Trump and European leaders to portray the deal as a “win” by playing fast and loose with what’s actually in it.

For example, the Trump administration will celebrate an EU commitment to buy US$250 billion (£189 billion) in US energy imports annually. Yet the concession holds no legal weight in the EU. The European Commission, which negotiated with Trump, does not buy any energy nor does it manage the power grid inside its 27 member states.

The commission can encourage, but cannot compel, those states to buy American. (Indeed, it might want to do so anyway, since it helps it to pivot away from Russian gas). But ultimately, member states and businesses decide where their energy supply comes from, and they are not direct parties to the deal. Only a formal treaty ratified by the European parliament would compel them.

No guarantees from Trump

The informal nature of this agreement also allows EU member states to protest against what they see as capitulation to Trump’s demands without real consequence. After all, there is not yet a treaty text they would be required to vote on or implement.

The Trump administration similarly imposed its sweeping tariff threats in early spring without a vote from Congress, and has been making ad hoc changes to the rates in the same way.

On the one hand, this means European countries may not ultimately be required to implement some of the deal’s less savoury elements such as the energy purchases or lowering the bloc’s own tariffs on US goods.

On the other hand, this means the Trump administration – notorious for abrupt changes of turn – can also renege at any time. In reality, there is little the EU can do about this. The question of leverage looms large. Trump’s longstanding antipathy towards the EU – seeing it less as an ally and more as a rival – meant that Brussels was never negotiating from a position of strength.

The fact that the EU avoided the worst-case scenario, protected key sectors and secured other sector-specific advantages suggests a deal shaped not by triumph, but by containment of Trump. Since the deal was announced, the picture emerging from many European leaders has been one of gloom. True, the EU didn’t win – but it survived. And that, for now, is probably enough.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

Maha Rafi Atal 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. European gloom over the Trump deal is misplaced. It’s probably the best the EU could have achieved – https://theconversation.com/european-gloom-over-the-trump-deal-is-misplaced-its-probably-the-best-the-eu-could-have-achieved-262369

MIL OSI Analysis –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Will the latest diplomatic moves to end the war in Gaza work?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation

This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email newsletter. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

It feels as if things are moving at completely different speeds in Gaza and in the outside world. From the embattled Gaza Strip the narrative is depressingly familiar. Dozens more Palestinian civilians have been killed in the past 24 hours as they try to get hold of scarce supplies of food.

Aid agencies report that despite air drops of supplies and “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, the amount of food getting through to the starving people of Gaza remains pitifully insufficient.

Two more children are reported to have died of starvation, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths to 159, according to Palestinian sources quoted by al-Jazeera.

US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Jerusalem for more talks as the US president Donald Trump posted his latest bout of social media diplomacy on his TruthSocial site, a message which appears pretty faithful to the Netanyahu government’s position: “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!”

Both sides continue to reject the other side’s demands, bringing ceasefire negotiations to an effective standstill.

In the outside world, meanwhile, events seem to be gathering pace. A “high-level conference” at the United Nations in New York brought together representatives of 17 states, the European Union and the Arab League, resulting in “a comprehensive and actionable framework for the implementation of the two-state solution and the achievement of peace and security for all”.

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What first catches the eye about this proposal, which was signed by Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Egypt and Jordan, is that it links a peace deal with the disarming and disbanding of Hamas. It also condemns the militant group’s savage attack on southern Israel on October 23 2023, which was the catalyst for the latest and arguably most grievous chapter of this eight-decade conflict. It’s the first time the Arab League has taken either of these positions.

The New York declaration, as it has been dubbed, envisages the complete withdrawal of Israeli security forces from Gaza and an end to the displacement of Palestinians. Government will be the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and a conference to be scheduled in Egypt will design a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, much of which has been destroyed in the 20-month assault by the Israel Defense Forces.

It is, writes Scott Lucas, a “bold initiative” which, “in theory could end the Israeli mass killing in Gaza, remove Hamas from power and begin the implementation of a process for a state of Palestine. The question is whether it has any chance of success.”

Lucas, an expert in US and Middle East politics at the Clinton Institute of University College Dublin, is not particularly sanguine about the short-term prospects for a ceasefire and the alleviation of the desperate conditions for the people of Gaza. But what it represents more than anything else, is “yet another marker of Israel’s increasing isolation”.

He points to recent announcements that France, the UK (subject to conditions) and Canada will recognise the state of Palestine at the UN general assembly in September. The prospect of normalisation between Israel and Arab states, at the top of the agenda a few short years ago, is now very unlikely. And in the US, which remains Israel’s staunchest ally, a Gallup poll recently found that public opinion is turning against Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Read more:
New peace plan increases pressure on Israel and US as momentum grows for Palestinian statehood

But how important are the declarations by France, the UK and Canada of intent to potentially recognise Palestinian statehood, asks Malak Benslama-Dabdoub. As expert in international law at Royal Holloway University of London, who has focused on the question of Palestinian statelessness, Benslama-Dabdoub thinks that the French and British pledges bear closer examination.

The French declaration was made on July 24 on Twitter by the president, Emmanuel Macron. Macron envisages a “demilitarised” state, something Benslama-Dabdoub sees as a serious problem, as it effectively denies the fundamental right of states to self-determination and would rob a future Palestinian state of the necessary right to self-defence.

The declaration by the UK prime minister that Britain may also recognise Palestinian statehood in September is framed as a threat rather than a pledge. Unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire, allows the UN to recommence humanitarian efforts and engages in a long-term sustainable peace process, the UK will go ahead with recognising Palestine at the UN.

You have to consider that the UK government’s statement said that the position has always been that “Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people”. So to frame this as a threat rather than a demand is arguably to deny that “inalienable right”.

Read more:
UK to recognise Palestinian statehood unless Israel agrees to ceasefire – here’s what that would mean

Paul Rogers also sees serious problems with the pledges to recognise Palestinian statehood. Demands for Hamas to disarm and play no further role in Palestinian government he sees as a non-starter as is the thought of a demilitarised Palestine. “Neither plan has the slightest chance of getting off the ground.”

Rogers, who has researched and written on the Middle East for more than 30 years, also thinks that without the full backing of the US there is very little chance that a peace plan could succeed.

Rogers finds it hard to believe that Washington will change tack on the Palestinian question, “unless the US president somehow gets the idea that his own reputation is being damaged”. There’s always a chance of this. News from the Gaza Strip is relentlessly horrifying and the aforementioned polls suggest many voters are reassessing their views of the conflict. But Trump is heavily indebted for his re-election to the far-right Christian Zionist movement, who wield a great deal of power with the White House.

The other thing that might influence the conflict is if enough of the IDF’s top brass recognise the futility of waging what has always been an unwinnable conflict. This, writes Rogers, is whispered about in Israel’s military circles and one eminent retired general, Itzhak Brik, has come out and said: “Hamas has defeated us.”

These, writes Rogers, are currently the only routes to an end to the conflict.

Read more:
UK and France pledges won’t stop Netanyahu bombing Gaza – but Donald Trump or Israel’s military could

Inside Trumpian diplomacy

We mentioned earlier that the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has also pledged to recognise the state of Palestine in September. This was immediately greeted by Trump with the threat that he does so it will derail a trade deal with the US. Whether this will cut any ice with Carney, who had to make concessions to get the trade deal done in the first place, remains to be seen.

But there’s a broader point here, writes Stefan Wolff. As Wolff reports, this week the foreign ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda got together in Washington to sign a ceasefire deal, brokered by the US. Trump also claims to have successfully ended a conflict between India and Pakistan at the end of May and hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia earlier this month.

Meanwhile his efforts to secure peace deals, or even a lasting ceasefire, in Gaza or Ukraine have been unsuccessful.

Wolff considers why some countries respond to Trump’s diplomatic efforts while others don’t. There are a number of reasons, principally the US president’s ability to apply leverage through trade deals or sanctions and the differing complexity of the conflicts.

He also points to the depleted resources of the US state department, Trump’s use of personal envoys with little foreign affairs experience and the US president’s insistence on making all the important decisions himself. He concludes: “The White House simply may not have the bandwidth for the level of engagement that would be necessary to get to a deal in Ukraine and the Middle East.”

Read more:
Why Donald Trump has stopped some conflicts but is failing with Ukraine and Gaza

One US government department whose resources haven’t been depleted under Donald Trump is the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as Ice. Part of the Department of Homeland Security, Ice has been responsible for identifying and detaining non-citizens and undocumented migrants.

Their agents carry guns, wear masks and typically operate in plain clothes, although they often wear military kit. The agency received massive funding via Trump’s One Bzig Beautiful Bill Act earlier this month, which will allow the agency to recruit hundreds, if not thousands, of new agents. The number of arrests is increasing steadily, as is the disquiet their operations are prompting in many American cities, where opposition protests are also growing.

Dafydd Townley, an expert in US politics at the University of Portsmouth, explains how Ice operates and where it sits in Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of illegal migrants from the US.

Read more:
Masked and armed agents are arresting people on US streets as aggressive immigration enforcement ramps up

World Affairs Briefing from The Conversation UK is available as a weekly email newsletter. Click here to get updates directly in your inbox.

– ref. Will the latest diplomatic moves to end the war in Gaza work? – https://theconversation.com/will-the-latest-diplomatic-moves-to-end-the-war-in-gaza-work-262380

MIL OSI Analysis –

August 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Classrooms under construction will add nearly 1,500 student spaces
Source: Government of Canada regional news

Construction is underway for new classrooms at seven schools across B.C., creating nearly 1,500 additional student spaces to support rapidly growing communities.

“Communities across the province are growing, and with that comes the urgent need for more schools and more classroom space,” said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Infrastructure. “We’re building schools faster than we ever have before, and we’re doing it with smart solutions that get students into safe, modern classrooms right in their neighbourhood.”

New K-12 classrooms are breaking ground this summer in:
- Chilliwack;
- Delta;
- Fort St. John;
- West Kelowna;
- Richmond;
- North Vancouver; and
- Maple Ridge.
“Every dollar we invest in education is an investment in our future,” said Lisa Beare, Minister of Education and Child Care. “With modern learning environments, students are better equipped to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.”

The Province has invested approximately $119 million in these classrooms to support growing school districts.

“The new addition to Westview Elementary supports a healthy and vibrant learning community,” said Linda Munro, chair, North Vancouver school board. “We are excited by the innovative approach to building that will add more space and modern classrooms to better meet students’ needs.”

Since 2017, the Province has invested more than $6 billion in school construction and renovation, creating nearly 43,000 new student spaces and more than 39,000 seismically safe seats in B.C. schools. As the province grows, government is committed to working with both school districts and municipalities to provide all students with safe, modern and inspiring places to learn.

Quotes:

Kelly Greene, MLA for Richmond-Steveston –

“This project represents an important investment in the future of our communities. I am so excited to see Tomsett Elementary start construction, as well as the other projects underway across Richmond, like the Diefenbaker Elementary school replacement. When we strengthen our schools, we strengthen our neighbourhoods, support working families and create lasting opportunities for the next generation.”

Susie Chant, MLA for North Vancouver-Seymour –

“This is a critical step in meeting the needs of our rapidly growing community. By expanding student spaces, we’re ensuring that every child has access to a quality learning environment close to home.”

Learn More:

For more information about K-12 school capital projects in B.C., visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/capital

A backgrounder follows.

MIL OSI Canada News –
August 5, 2025

Category: Education

Government confirms Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson as the next EHRC chair

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