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Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI Russia: HSE Design School Opens Exhibition in Kazan

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    Participants: Aigul Aktaeva, Sofya Alekseeva, Yuri Albert, Ksenia Annenko, Art Group “Frozen Konina” (Nastya Moroz, Katerina Konyukhova), Mariam Aslamazyan, Ksenia Badanova, Marina Batylina, Pavel Benkov, Daria Bochevererova, Fedor Botkin, Annushka Broec, Midate Valiev, Margarita Varakina, Andrey Vashurov, Vasily Vereshchagin, Elena Vlasova, Alexander Vinogradov, Volodimer, Eyes of Bolshak, Kirill Garshin, Geodesist, Ivan Gorshkov, George Guryanov, Gaziz Gubaidullin, Elizaveta Glushkova, Boris Davydov, Dilyar Davletshina, Victoria, Vladimir Dubosarsky, Anna Acorn, Housing and Public Utilities, Konstantin Latyshev, Evgenia Kanak, Marta Kamina, Elizaveta Kolosova, Julia Korbut, Konstantin Korovin, Boris Korolev, Heliy Korzhev, Irina Korzheva-Senseleva, Valery Koshlyakov, Kirill Kiselva, Arkhip Kuinji, Alexander Kutsan, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, Natalya Krandievskaya, Nikolai Krymov, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, Daria Lisunova, Vladislav Mamyshev, Maria Macedonova, Dasha Maltseva, Ilya Mashkov, Nastya Moroz, Natalya Nesterova, Timur Novikov, Alexander Novgorodova, Georgy Nyssa, Natasha Osipova, Maria Panina, Pavel, Pavel Peppershtein, Vasily Polenov, Igor Ponosov, Anastasia Pinaeva, Pavel Radimov, Ramil Zrovanov, Angelina Rubtsova, Fedor Rokotov, Masha Rogova, Aidan Salakhova, Zuhra Suhra, Anna Stavinozhenko, Evgenia Starikova, Valentin Serov, Polina Trenogina, Alfiya Ilyasova, Mahmut Usmanov, Makhmut Usmanov, Makhmut Usmanov, Makhmut Usmanov, Makhmut Usmanov, Mahmut Usmanov, Ismagil Khalillov, Nika Flower, Tanya Chaika, Konstantin Chebotarev, NOT Shuainin, Inna Shevchenko, Rustam Sheriffzyanov, Anna Shcherbina, Graffiti Writer, Aes+F.

    Exhibition curator: Pierre-Christian BrochetProject manager from the State Budgetary Institution Museum-Reserve “Kazan Kremlin”: Ksenia YarovinskayaProducer: Maryana DaynorovichGraphic design: HSE DESIGN LAB

    The exhibition “Heirs: from the classics of the 19th to the classics of the 21st” will run from February 22 to May 25.

    Address: Kazan, Vakhitovsky district, Kremlin territory, 5.

    Entrance to the exhibitionby tickets.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Samuel and Co Trading Leads the Way in Affordable Financial Education Amidst Rising University Costs

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As the financial burden of higher education is continuing to escalate, Samuel and Co Trading stands out as an accessible and high-quality hub of financial education. Founded in 2012, Samuel and Co have been empowering students with the skills and confidence to navigate the financial markets.

    Recent analyses have highlighted the growing financial strain on university students in the UK. Tuition fees have risen to £9,535 per annum as of September 2025, marking the first increase in eight years. This surge, coupled with maintenance loans that often fall short of covering living expenses, has amplified the financial challenges of being a student. The average annual cost of studying in the UK now exceeds £22,000, encompassing tuition and living expenses.

    In contrast, Samuel and Co Trading offers Ofqual-regulated Diplomas in Financial Trading that provide a cost-effective alternative to a traditional degree. Students can achieve a Level 5 Diploma, equivalent level to a Foundation Degree, in as little as 12 weeks or pursue a Level 7 Diploma, equivalent level to a Master’s Degree, but at a fraction of the cost. Considering that some graduate salaries have sunk as low as the minimum wage, these accelerated programmes not only save time but also significantly reduce financial outlay, making industry-recognised credentials more attainable.

    The company’s commitment to excellence has been recognised in the 2025 Global Banking and Finance Awards®, when Samuel and Co Trading was awarded with two impressive accolades: “Best Online Financial Education & Training UK 2025” and “Best Forex Education UK 2025”. Alongside this, the company has also been awarded the “Best Online Trading Course Provider UK 2025” by Finance Derivative Magazine and won the “Best Trading Guidance and Support Provider Europe 2025”,“Leading Trading Education Management Company Europe 2025” and the “Most Trusted Personal Trading Strategies Provider Europe 2025” by World Business Outlook. And lastly Brands Review Magazine also presented them with the “Innovation in Trading Strategies UK 2025” and the “Trading Education and Mentorship Award UK 2025”. These awards show the dedication to delivering high-quality financial education and training.

    Founder and CEO, Samuel Leach, reflects on the company’s journey:

    “When I started Samuel and Co Trading in 2012, I wanted to democratise financial education. The aim was to provide practical, affordable, and high-quality training to people who are passionate about trading. Our recent accolades and the success of our students show that we’re on the right path.”

    Due to the unpredictable nature of the finance industry and the rising costs of higher education, Samuel and Co Trading, mission remains to offer competitive, comprehensive, and accessible education. By bridging the gap between affordability and quality, the company is shaping the future of financial training.

    About Samuel and Co Trading

    Samuel and Co Trading was founded in 2012 by Samuel Leach with the mission of assisting individuals to succeed in financial trading. The company provides accredited and industry-recognised financial education, including Ofqual-regulated diplomas designed to fast-track students into trading careers. With courses led by seasoned professionals, Samuel and Co Trading ensures that students gain practical, real-world experience. Recognised as a leader in the sector, the company has trained thousands of individuals.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Lamont Proposes Eliminating Fees for Obtaining and Renewing Occupational Licenses

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    (HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is urging the Connecticut General Assembly to approve legislation he is proposing that eliminates the fees workers in certain professions are required to pay when initially applying for occupational licenses, as well as the fees associated with renewing them.

    By eliminating these costs, the governor is hoping to remove a barrier and encourage jobseekers to pursue careers within in-demand fields in which employers have indicated a need to hire skilled workers. The fee elimination plan was included as part of the governor’s fiscal year 2026/2027 biennial budget proposal that he presented to the legislature last month.

    “Workers in certain skilled professions are required to obtain licenses for understandable reasons, but we should be doing more to encourage jobseekers to enter these fields, and that is why I want to eliminate all of the costs associated with applying for and renewing these licenses,” Governor Lamont said. “Over the last several years, we’ve enacted more than $840 million in permanent tax cuts, most of which are specifically targeted at providing relief to middle-class taxpayers, and I am asking the legislature to continue on this path by eliminating these occupational license fees.”

    Impacted professions under the governor’s proposal include nurses, dental hygienists, mental health professionals, occupational therapists, paramedics, physical therapists, physician assistants, electricians, HVAC workers, plumbers, sheet metal workers, and teachers.

    Fees for these licenses range in cost from $50 to $375 per year, depending on the license. The proposal will benefit nearly 180,000 workers, saving them approximately $18.8 million in fiscal year 2026 and $25 million in fiscal year 2027.

    These licenses are administered by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and the Connecticut State Department of Education. Under Governor Lamont’s proposal, workers in these professions will still be required to obtain and renew licenses, however there will be no costs associated with applying for them.


    List of Occupational License Fees Governor Lamont Wants To Eliminate

    Professional Category

    Fee Range

    Number of Payers

    Nursing

    $70-$200

    99,452

    Dental hygienist

    $105-$150

    3,715

    Mental health clinician

    $50-$320

    19,655

    Occupational therapist

    $50-$200

    2,814

    Paramedic

    $150

    2,783

    Physical therapist

    $65-$285

    6,771

    Electrician

    $90-$150

    14,259

    HVAC

    $90-$150

    11,311

    Plumber

    $90-$150

    7,424

    Sheet metal

    $90-$150

    1,549

    Teaching

    $100-$375

    8,385

    TOTAL

    178,117

     
     **Download: Detailed list of all impacted licenses within these categories


    “For several years it has been my top priority to pass legislation to cut burdensome fees on Connecticut’s workers, including our great teachers, nurses, mental health professionals, electricians, plumbers, and hundreds of thousands of other licensed professionals,” State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) said. “I appreciate the governor’s leadership in making it a priority this year. Workers shouldn’t have to pay this tax just for the right to work in our state. Let’s come together to cut licensing fees on workers and send a signal that we want to make it easier to work, live, and succeed in Connecticut.”

    Eliminating these fees builds on Governor Lamont’s track record of reducing taxes to make Connecticut more affordable for middle-class workers. Since taking office in 2019, Governor Lamont has enacted more than $840 million in permanent tax cuts. This includes $500 million in income tax cuts for middle-class filers that was enacted in 2023 and became the largest income tax cut made in Connecticut history; increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit that have essentially eliminated income taxes for low-income filers; the elimination of taxes on pensions and Social Security for most seniors; and the creation of a cap on motor vehicle property taxes.

    The proposal is included in Senate Bill 1246, An Act Concerning Revenue Items To Implement the Governor’s Budget. It is currently under consideration in the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: March Proclaimed as Agriculture Literacy Month in Saskatchewan

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on March 3, 2025

    Agriculture Literacy Month has been proclaimed in Saskatchewan, providing an opportunity for students in schools around the province to connect with agriculture through various presentations led by industry volunteers. 

    Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM) will be celebrated for the entire month of March.

    “Connecting our youth to Saskatchewan agriculture, and increasing their understanding and appreciation of it, is an important component of strengthening the entire sector in many ways,” Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison said. “Presentations from industry experts help educate children about what goes into producing the high-quality food that our province is renowned for and what that means to all of us.”

    This year’s theme is “Saskatchewan Agriculture: How Food Connects the World” and will see industry volunteers from all levels of food production join classrooms to engage with nearly 7,000 students to share presentations and personal experiences to help them learn more about agriculture.

    “Providing students with learning experiences that connect them to Saskatchewan’s agricultural industry is important in building their knowledge and appreciation for where our food comes from,” Education Minister Everett Hindley said. “Agriculture Literacy Month provides an opportunity for students to learn directly from industry experts, helping to deepen their understanding of the impact of agriculture on our communities.”

    Agriculture in the Classroom, an important and well-established advocate for the industry in Saskatchewan, is providing 140 volunteers to assist with presentations throughout the month.

    “Volunteers are vital to the success of Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month,” Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan Executive Director Sara Shymko said. “Sessions with students will feature passionate farmers and industry professionals who generously share their stories, which cultivates a stronger appreciation for the agricultural landscape.”

    For more information about CALM activities in Saskatchewan, please visit: https://aitc.sk.ca/programs/canadian-agriculture-literacy-month-calm.

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    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: When did our ancestors start to eat meat regularly? Fossilised teeth get us closer to the answer

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tina Lüdecke, Leader of the Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption (HoMeCo), Max Planck Institute For Chemistry

    Goodboy Picture Company/Getty Images

    For decades, scientists have been learning more about the diets of early hominins, particularly their reliance on plants. Yet we still don’t know when these ancestors of humans started eating meat.

    This is a frustrating gap in our understanding of human evolution. We think regular meat consumption was one of the main drivers of brain growth and evolution in hominins, because animal products are calorie-dense and easier to digest than unprocessed plant foods. They also contain all the essential amino acids and are rich in biologically important nutrients, minerals and vitamins.

    What we do know is that by the time our genus, Homo, emerged over two million years ago, hominins were regularly eating meat. This is clear from their increased reliance at this point on stone tools to butcher and process meat products. We’ve also found fossil bones with cut marks that indicate butchering.

    But that doesn’t explain when and where regular meat eating started and which species of our ancestors made that crucial shift.

    Now, thanks to fossilised tooth enamel, we’re a step closer to an answer. In a study with several other co-authors, we measured nitrogen isotopes in the enamel from fossilised teeth belonging to the hominin genus Australopithecus, discovered in South Africa’s Sterkfontein Caves. This is one of the oldest known human ancestor species.

    Atoms of the same element can have different versions, called isotopes, which have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. This makes them slightly heavier or lighter but chemically similar. For example, nitrogen has two stable isotopes: nitrogen-14 (¹⁴N) and nitrogen-15 (¹⁵N). These occur naturally, but their ratio varies in nature. In food webs, nitrogen isotopes become enriched as you move up the chain, meaning predators have higher ¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratios than herbivores.

    Identifying these isotopes is a way to reconstruct ancient diets and ecosystems, helping scientists understand how past environments shaped the survival of species – including early humans.

    We also tested the isotopic signature of animals that lived in the ecosystem at the same time. We saw that the isotopic signature of Australopithecus was low – similar to that of herbivores.

    Our findings suggest that these ape-like, small-brained early hominins were eating mostly plants. There was little to no evidence of meat consumption. They may have snacked on the occasional egg or insect but they were not regularly hunting large mammals like Neanderthals did millions of years later.

    A toothy approach

    One of us (Dr Lüdecke) began working with fossilised tooth enamel during her PhD. The focus was on measuring stable carbon isotopes in the enamel as a way to uncover the plant-based part of an extant or extinct animal’s diet.

    This approach reveals whether a species relied on lush, leafy plants or hardy, grass-like vegetation in African savanna ecosystems. But there was always that small, unsatisfying sentence in the discussion section of her academic papers: “This dataset cannot inform about the meat portion of the diet.”

    Then inspiration struck. The co-authors of the latest study, Alfredo Martínez-García and Daniel Sigman, had developed a method with their teams to measure nitrogen isotopes in marine microfossils – tiny creatures that, like fossilised tooth enamel, contain almost no organic material.



    Read more:
    The study of tiny fossils reminds us that museums are key to advancing science

    We wondered whether the same technique could work for ancient teeth and finally provide a date marker for early hominins’ meat eating behaviour.

    We started small by testing the method on rodent tooth enamel from animals with controlled diets in a specialised feeding experiment. It worked. From there, we moved on to the enamel of wild mammals from museum collections and other animals that had lived naturally in African ecosystems.

    When these results aligned with what we expected in terms of their known diets, we knew we had a reliable tool. After more laboratory testing, method tweaking and checking, we felt ready to analyse the fossilised tooth enamel of non-primate fauna found in one of the oldest fossil-bearing deposits of South Africa’s Sterkfontein Caves. This deposit, Member 4, formed about 3.4 million years ago, during the Late Pliocene period.

    Again, these analyses gave us the expected results: it was clear at the isotopic level whether we were dealing with the teeth of a herbivore or a carnivore.

    Then we finally sampled seven Australopithecus molars from Member 4 to uncover whether these ancient hominins, which lived and died around the Sterkfontein Caves about 3.4 million years ago, were sinking their teeth into meat or sticking to a largely vegetarian menu.

    By comparing the nitrogen isotope ratios of these early hominins with those of other animals from the same ecosystem – like antelopes, monkeys and carnivores – we found that the isotopic signature of Australopithecus was low, similar to that of herbivores.

    Future plans

    This discovery is just the beginning. We’re now expanding our research to other fossil sites across Africa and Asia, hoping to answer bigger questions. When did meat truly enter the hominin diet? Which species of hominins through our evolution consumed meat? Did the behaviour emerge several times and did it coincide with the rise of larger brains, or marked changes in behaviour, like new stone tool technology? And what does this mean for how we understand the evolutionary path that led to our species?

    Tina Lüdecke receives funding from the German Research Foundation Emmy Noether Fellowship (LU 2199/2-1). She is affiliated with the Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) and the Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa).

    Sterkfontein fieldwork is supported by South African governmental platforms DSI-NRF and NRF African Origins Platform, and long-term project and student support from GENUS and PAST.

    – ref. When did our ancestors start to eat meat regularly? Fossilised teeth get us closer to the answer – https://theconversation.com/when-did-our-ancestors-start-to-eat-meat-regularly-fossilised-teeth-get-us-closer-to-the-answer-249737

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Who’s my dad? In South Africa that’s a complex question – report tracks the rise of ‘social fathers’

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Wessel Van Den Berg, Research fellow, Stellenbosch University

    The State of South Africa’s Fathers 2024 report is published by the new Tataokhona project at Stellenbosch University. The project focuses on research and interventions related to fathers and fatherhood. This is the third edition of this report, and offers valuable insights into the evolving realities of fatherhood in South Africa. Co-authors Wessel van den Berg, Mandisa Malinga, Kopano Ratele and Tawanda Makusha explain why it’s critical to examine the changing role of men in families.

    What were some of the key findings of the report?

    The report presents data from the General Household Survey 2023 and a survey of adult caregivers in South Africa, also done in 2023.

    One of the key findings is that 76% of children in South Africa live with an adult male in the household. This is often overlooked when the media and researchers focus on children’s co-residence with fathers.

    However, fewer children live with their biological fathers than with other men. The percentage of children who live with their biological fathers has dropped from 45.3% in 1996 to 35% in 2023.

    This decline is linked to broader societal factors, including economic instability, migration patterns, and shifts in traditional family structures.

    Never have so few children been recorded as living with their biological fathers, nor have so many lived with other men like uncles, grandfathers, older brothers or mothers’ new partners.

    As researchers, policymakers and other development practitioners, we need to explore the contribution men make in their families, biological or otherwise.

    The case studies and contributions from authors across the country underscore that while physical presence is important, the quality of engagement between the father figure and child is even more crucial.

    Encouraging positive father-child relationships through legal, workplace and social policy changes could help mitigate the known effects of not living together.

    Figure.

    What did the survey reveal about who provides for children?

    Traditionally, fatherhood has been closely linked to financial provision. However, economic hardships and shifting gender roles are reshaping this expectation.

    Co-residence goes down as income goes down. Many fathers, particularly those facing unemployment or economic hardship, struggle to maintain active participation in their children’s lives.

    Many fathers are also forced to migrate to find work.

    Those men who cannot provide do not see any other role for themselves in children’s lives, and so they disengage.

    Data from the State of the World’s Fathers 2023 survey showed that in South Africa 85% of women financially supported their biological children, compared to 80% of men. Most children are supported by both parents, but mothers bear a higher financial burden than fathers.

    Women are also more likely than men to provide for non-biological children (50% vs 44%).

    These figures highlight the growing financial responsibilities shouldered by women and the need to redefine fatherhood beyond economic provision.

    The increasing financial burden on women also reveals deep-seated inequalities in wage distribution and employment opportunities.

    Many fathers who wish to support their children financially face obstacles such as unemployment and precarious work conditions.

    While some men have adapted by taking on caregiving roles, society still puts pressure on them to prioritise financial contribution over direct caregiving.

    This paradox creates stress and identity struggles for many fathers. It reinforces the need for supportive policies like paid parental leave and father-focused caregiving initiatives.

    Read more: Men say they are spending more time on household chores, and would like to do more – survey of 17 countries

    What does the survey tell us about ‘social fathers’?

    With only a minority of children living with their biological fathers, social fathers – men who provide care despite not being biologically related to the child – have become increasingly significant. The State of the World’s Fathers 2023 survey found for example that of the men who care for children whom they had not biologically fathered, 51.1% of the men played with the children, 50.2% provided financial support, and 40.2% read books with them.

    The report emphasises that 40% of children reside with men who are not their biological fathers, a trend that has grown since 1996. We believe these men can and should be encouraged to step into the role of social fathers. They include grandfathers, uncles, stepfathers, teachers and community leaders who contribute to children’s emotional and material well-being.

    However, social fathers lack legal recognition and support in South Africa. This makes it harder for them to access resources that could help them provide better care.

    Policymakers and community organisations must recognise and formalise the contributions of social fathers to ensure children receive consistent and supportive care.

    Social fathers need to be recognised.

    What happens now?

    Many men struggle to find their place in a rapidly evolving society where gender expectations are no longer fixed.

    The rise of feminism and women’s empowerment has rightly expanded opportunities for women, but has left a gap in guiding men towards constructive ways of engaging with these changes.

    Read more: Unpaid care work still falls on women: seven steps that could shift the balance

    Additionally, it remains true that more women than men are unemployed. This is primarily due to societal expectations that women should be homemakers or primary caregivers.

    Policies that recognise diverse forms of fatherhood will be essential in fostering positive father-child relationships for future generations.

    – Who’s my dad? In South Africa that’s a complex question – report tracks the rise of ‘social fathers’
    – https://theconversation.com/whos-my-dad-in-south-africa-thats-a-complex-question-report-tracks-the-rise-of-social-fathers-249763

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A Palestinian-Israeli film just won an Oscar − so why is it so hard to see?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Drew Paul, Associate Professor of Arabic, University of Tennessee

    Left to right: Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham pose with their Oscars for ‘No Other Land’ at the 2025 Academy Awards. Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty Images

    For many low-budget, independent films, an Oscar win is a golden ticket.

    The publicity can translate into theatrical releases or rereleases, along with more on-demand rentals and sales.

    However, for “No Other Land,” a Palestinian-Israeli film that just won best documentary feature at the 2025 Academy Awards, this exposure may not translate into commercial success in the U.S. That’s because the film has been unable to find a company to distribute it in America.

    “No Other Land” chronicles the efforts of Palestinian townspeople to combat an Israeli plan to demolish their villages in the West Bank and use the area as a military training ground. It was directed by four Palestinian and Israeli activists and journalists: Basel Adra, who is a resident of the area facing demolition, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor. While the filmmakers have organized screenings in a number of U.S. cities, the lack of a national distributor makes a broader release unlikely.

    Film distributors are a crucial but often unseen link in the chain that allows a film to reach cinemas and people’s living rooms. In recent years it has become more common for controversial award-winning films to run into issues finding a distributor. Palestinian films have encountered additional barriers.

    As a scholar of Arabic who has written about Palestinian cinema, I’m disheartened by the difficulties “No Other Land” has faced. But I’m not surprised.

    The role of film distributors

    Distributors are often invisible to moviegoers. But without one, it can be difficult for a film to find an audience.

    Distributors typically acquire rights to a film for a specific country or set of countries. They then market films to movie theaters, cinema chains and streaming platforms. As compensation, distributors receive a percentage of the revenue generated by theatrical and home releases.

    The film “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat,” another finalist for best documentary, shows how this process typically works. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024 and was acquired for distribution just a few months later by Kino Lorber, a major U.S.-based distributor of independent films.

    The inability to find a distributor is not itself noteworthy. No film is entitled to distribution, and most films by newer or unknown directors face long odds.

    However, it is unusual for a film like “No Other Land,” which has garnered critical acclaim and has been recognized at various film festivals and award shows. Some have pegged it as a favorite to win best documentary at the Academy Awards. And “No Other Land” has been able to find distributors in Europe, where it’s easily accessible on multiple streaming platforms.

    So why can’t “No Other Land” find a distributor in the U.S.?

    There are a couple of factors at play.

    Shying away from controversy

    In recent years, film critics have noticed a trend: Documentaries on controversial topics have faced distribution difficulties. These include a film about a campaign by Amazon workers to unionize and a documentary about Adam Kinzinger, one of the few Republican congresspeople to vote to impeach Donald Trump in 2021.

    The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of course, has long stirred controversy. But the release of “No Other Land” comes at a time when the issue is particularly salient. The Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip have become a polarizing issue in U.S. domestic politics, reflected in the campus protests and crackdowns in 2024. The filmmakers’ critical comments about the Israeli occupation of Palestine have also garnered backlash in Germany.

    Locals attend a screening of ‘No Other Land’ in the village of A-Tuwani in the West Bank on March 14, 2024.
    Yahel Gazit/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    Yet the fact that this conflict has been in the news since October 2023 should also heighten audience interest in a film such as “No Other Land” – and, therefore, lead to increased sales, the metric that distributors care about the most.

    Indeed, an earlier film that also documents Palestinian protests against Israeli land expropriation, “5 Broken Cameras,” was a finalist for best documentary at the 2013 Academy Awards. It was able to find a U.S. distributor. However, it had the support of a major European Union documentary development program called Greenhouse. The support of an organization like Greenhouse, which had ties to numerous production and distribution companies in Europe and the U.S., can facilitate the process of finding a distributor.

    By contrast, “No Other Land,” although it has a Norwegian co-producer and received some funding from organizations in Europe and the U.S., was made primarily by a grassroots filmmaking collective.

    Stages for protest

    While distribution challenges may be recent, controversies surrounding Palestinian films are nothing new.

    Many of them stem from the fact that the system of film festivals, awards and distribution is primarily based on a movie’s nation of origin. Since there is no sovereign Palestinian state – and many countries and organizations have not recognized the state of Palestine – the question of how to categorize Palestinian films has been hard to resolve.

    In 2002, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected the first ever Palestinian film submitted to the best foreign language film category – Elia Suleiman’s “Divine Intervention” – because Palestine was not recognized as a country by the United Nations. The rules were changed for the following year’s awards ceremony.

    In 2021, the cast of the film “Let It Be Morning,” which had an Israeli director but primarily Palestinian actors, boycotted the Cannes Film Festival in protest of the film’s categorization as an Israeli film rather than a Palestinian one.

    Film festivals and other cultural venues have also become places to make statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and engage in protest. For example, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, the right-wing Israeli culture minister wore a controversial – and meme-worthy – dress that featured the Jerusalem skyline in support of Israeli claims of sovereignty over the holy city, despite the unresolved status of Jerusalem under international law.

    Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev wears a dress featuring the old city of Jerusalem during the Cannes Film Festival in 2017.
    Antonin Thuillier/AFP via Getty Images

    At the 2024 Academy Awards, a number of attendees, including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Mahershala Ali, wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, and pro-Palestine protesters delayed the start of the ceremonies.

    As he accepted his award, “No Other Land” director Yuval Abraham called out “the foreign policy” of the U.S. for “helping to block” a path to peace.

    Even though a film like “No Other Land” addresses a topic of clear interest to many Americans, I wonder if the quest to find a U.S. distributor just got even harder.

    This article has been updated to clarify that the film was a collaborative effort between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers. It has also been updated to reflect the film’s win at the 2025 Academy Awards.

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

    – ref. A Palestinian-Israeli film just won an Oscar − so why is it so hard to see? – https://theconversation.com/a-palestinian-israeli-film-just-won-an-oscar-so-why-is-it-so-hard-to-see-249233

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Holocaust films are changing as we lose the survivor generation

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Barry Langford, Professor of Film Studies, Royal Holloway University of London

    The Holocaust is fast receding from living memory. Some 300 Auschwitz survivors were present at the 70th anniversary commemorations of the camp’s liberation in 2015. This year, just 50 attended, all of whom were children in 1945.

    Even before this generation began to pass on, researchers of the Holocaust had begun to study the ways that memory of these events have been shaped, manipulated, or indeed fabricated. Film scholar Alison Landsberg’s influential concept of “prosthetic memory” focused attention on the ways in which film, literature and other art forms can supplement or even substitute for the experiences of those who lived through historical events.

    Approaching the moment when such supplements must become the sole means for future generations to understand the Holocaust, it seems no accident that half a dozen films released in 2023 and 2024 made Holocaust memory – and its complexities – an explicit element of their narratives.

    Three of these films incorporate scenes filmed on location in Poland at former Nazi death camps. Perhaps the most unexpected example is The Zone of Interest (2023). A brief documentary sequence filmed at the modern-day Auschwitz museum concludes director Jonathan Glazer’s meticulous (though highly stylised) recreation of the idyllic domestic life of camp commandant Rudolf Höss and his family.



    Read more:
    The Zone of Interest: new Holocaust film powerfully lays bare the mechanisms of genocide

    It’s the only sequence that crosses the otherwise impermeable boundary separating the Höss family compound from the camp itself. It might be interpreted as a kind of reality check for the audience – a reminder that yes, this all did really happen. But that seems an improbably ingenuous stance for so intelligent a filmmaker.

    More plausibly, the sequence is a reflexive extension of the film’s interrogation of the strategies by which atrocity can be held at arm’s length, or “managed”.

    Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) manage this by fabricating a “perfect” bourgeois home, while ignoring the constant soundtrack of barked orders, shots and screams from the other side of their garden wall.

    As we watch them, we are naturally appalled and repelled by their callous dissociation. Yet in the contemporary Auschwitz sequence, Glazer asks whether modern habits of Holocaust “consumption” don’t risk an all-too-similar disavowal.

    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.

    In the museum sequence we see Polish cleaners at work, wiping down the glass of the vitrines in which the infamous heaps of shoes and human hair are displayed, and mopping the floor of the Auschwitz I gas chamber (itself a postwar reconstruction).

    This site of unimaginable violence is now a museum where the material evidence of mass murder is carefully preserved and curated for tourists. Perhaps not altogether unlike a historical recreation such as The Zone of Interest.

    ‘Managing’ Holocaust memory

    Tourists are the protagonists of Treasure (2024), directed by Julia von Heinz, and A Real Pain (2024), written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg.

    These films centre on survivors and their descendants travelling to modern Poland, ostensibly to commemorate their destroyed families. But it seems that, perhaps inevitably, more pressing and immediate personal issues override these acts of remembrance.



    Read more:
    A Real Pain is a subtle but powerful exploration of remembrance culture and personal trauma

    A Real Pain, for example, centres on two cousins, dutiful family man David (Eisenberg) and mercurial, possibly bipolar Benji (Kieran Culkin). The pair join a “Holocaust tour” in honour of their late grandmother, a Polish-Jewish survivor, including a visit to Maidanek.

    Clip from A Real Pain.

    Dutifully and sombrely, the cousins view the barracks, the gas chamber and the vast pile of human ashes. Afterwards, however, only Benji lapses into inconsolable sobs. Is his grief an authentic reaction to the horror, a mark of his greater emotional connection? Is it histrionically excessive, performative attention-seeking? Or is it that the unfathomable tragedy of European Jewry allows Benji to access his own private agony.

    If it’s the latter, is such an appropriation of the Holocaust somehow an “illegitimate” response? According to whom? Eisenberg’s deft traumedy leaves it up to us to decide.

    Yet more ambiguous is the epilogue to Brady Corbett’s acclaimed The Brutalist (2024). The film retrospectively interprets the professional career of its protagonist, fictitious Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth (Adrian Brody) as a response to the tragedy.



    Read more:
    The Brutalist: an architect’s take on a film about one man’s journey to realise his visionary building

    Addressing the 1980 Venice Biennale, Tóth’s daughter declares that through his creations her father worked through the trauma of his experiences in the camps. A Holocaust memorial is among the designs briefly glimpsed in the display of Tóth’s work.

    The trailer for The Brutalist.

    The scene aptly captures the ways in which public discourses around the Holocaust crystallised from the 1980s onward.

    In the immediate postwar period, as The Brutalist shows, the Holocaust was a rarely discussed, even shameful, topic outside of survivor communities. But with the onset of postmodernism, the Holocaust came increasingly to be understood as the defining episode in 20th-century European history, more even than the second world war itself.

    The meanings of trauma

    As all these films show, the ways that the Holocaust is commemorated today are far uncontested. For example, One Life (2023), the biopic of British rescuer Nicholas Winton, straightforwardly endorses mainstream assumptions about the value of remembrance.



    Read more:
    What One Life gets wrong about Nicholas Winton and the Kindertransport story

    By contrast, in the documentary The Commandant’s Shadow (2024), Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch is almost dismissive of what she clearly sees as her daughter’s superfluous preoccupation with a past trauma best forgotten.

    The Brutalist is more ambiguous still. At one level, traumatic memory may help explain Tóth’s difficult character and relationships in the preceding three hours of the film. Yet at the same time, almost nothing in his words or actions hitherto has suggested the Holocaust is his predominant focus. Nor does Tóth make this claim himself. Stricken mute following a stroke, he can only listen as his daughter offers this account of his work.

    Is it true? Or is it imposing a neat, culturally approved meaning onto the complexities of a messy, damaged life?

    Together, these films make a strong case that in the “post-testimony” era, we must not only keep remembering the Holocaust, but reflect constantly on how and why we do so.

    Barry Langford 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. How Holocaust films are changing as we lose the survivor generation – https://theconversation.com/how-holocaust-films-are-changing-as-we-lose-the-survivor-generation-250687

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Jeff Bezos brought the Washington Post’s global reputation into question

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Colleen Murrell, Full Professor in Journalism, Dublin City University

    The Washington Post still conjures up, for some, the promise of fiercely independent investigative journalism that can unseat a corrupt president. In what became one of the biggest stories of the 20th century, Richard Nixon (1969-74) was forced to resign the presidency in 1974, halfway through his second term, following an investigation by Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

    After months of work the reporting team linked Nixon and his campaign staff to illegal donations, and to the bugging and sabotage of political opponents including a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate building, Washington DC. Their work won a Pulitzer prize.

    This kicked off decades of investigative journalism and breaking stories that has cemented the Post’s global reputation.

    So the recent memo by billionaire owner of the Post, Jeff Bezos, declaring that the newspaper’s opinion section will now be restricted to pieces supporting “personal liberties and free markets” (and not opposing viewpoints) came as a shock not only to loyal liberal readers and to some journalists, but also to those who see the Post as a bastion of media freedom. Bezos said on X that differing opinions can be “left to be published by others”.

    The decision by Bezos prompted the opinion editor David Shipley to resign and Elon Musk to tweet “Bravo, @JeffBezos!” The paper’s newly appointed economics reporter Jeff Stein also took to X to respond to Bezos’s tweeted memo by calling it a “massive encroachment” by his new boss.

    He added: “I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately and letting you know.” Some sources suggest that the Post has lost 75,000 digital subscribers since the decision was announced.

    The trailer for the film All the President’s Men, based on reporting from the Washington Post.

    To many the Post’s reputation was already becoming tarnished. Bezos rocked his readership back in October 2024 when he refused to endorse a candidate in the presidential election for the first time in 36 years.

    According to the paper the decision led to 250,000 readers cancelling their subscriptions. Woodward and Bernstein said the decision “ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy”.

    And so it came as no surprise at Trump’s inauguration that Bezos could be seen seated prominently beside his fellow tech billionaires Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, X’s Elon Musk and Google’s Sundar Pichai.

    But is all lost? The Washington Post has always had its share of bold and outspoken reporters and commentators and, on Friday, Post columist Dana Milbank wrote a strongly worded opinion piece in which he said that readers were worried that Bezos’s words, “are cover for a plan to turn this into a MAGA-Friendly outlet”.

    He added: “If we as a newspaper, and as a country, are to defend [Bezos’s] twin pillars, then we must redouble our fight against the single greatest threat to ‘personal liberties and free markets’ today: Donald Trump.”

    Jeff Bezos brings in new rules on what can and cannot be published in the Washington Post’s opinion pages.

    Has this latest move by Bezos simply made clear an editorial position which is ordinarily inferred but not made explicit? Will reporters be free to conduct investigations into Amazon’s work practices while at the same time extolling free market objectives? As yet no one knows for sure.

    Coverage changes?

    In January the newspaper’s Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist, Ann Telnaes, resigned after the Post refused to publish a satirical cartoon of a group of tech and media billionaires (that included Bezos and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg) laying bags of cash before a statue of Trump.

    Telnaes described the refusal to publish as “dangerous for a free press”. Ironically it was David Shipley who claimed at the time that he had decided against publication due to “repetition”, rather than because the cartoon mocked Bezos.

    Nevertheless, Post reporters have continued to focus national coverage on the wide-ranging effects of Trump’s executive orders, the sacking of senior military leaders and Doge’s culling of resources and jobs in the public sector. Neither has it escaped the new administration’s changes to media access.

    On February 7 the Department of Defense announced the Post would be removed from its office in the Pentagon’s “Correspondents Corridor” along with CNN, plus the New York Times, NPR and NBC which were evicted earlier to make room for pro-Trump media organisations.

    The Post today

    In 2024, the Post took home three Pulitzer prizes for journalism, including one for David E. Hoffman “for a compelling and well-researched series on new technologies and the tactics authoritarian regimes use to repress dissent in the digital age, and how they can be fought”.

    The past few years have been financially bruising for the paper and in 2023 the paper announced it had lost US$77 million (£69 million). In its latest round of cuts in January this year it laid off 100 employees.

    Back when Bezos took over the paper in August 2013 the New York Times quoted a fellow tech entrepreneur, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, as saying in a now prophetic line: “It used to be that in Silicon Valley we just built the platforms and someone else wrote the content. But that is changing. The lines have been blurred for a long time, and this is just another step in that process.”

    Twelve years on the “broligarchy” may not be writing the content, but is it restricting it? In these uneasy times in Washington there appears to be a growing erosion of press freedom as the new administration moves to limit access to the White House for mainstream media such as the Associated Press in favour of pro-Trump media.

    Whether the Post will come down on the side of press freedom or is banking on an eventual post-Trump bump to stem its declining sales is unclear.

    Colleen Murrell received funding from Irish regulator Coimisiún na Meán (2021-4) for research for the annual Reuters Digital News Report Ireland.

    – ref. How Jeff Bezos brought the Washington Post’s global reputation into question – https://theconversation.com/how-jeff-bezos-brought-the-washington-posts-global-reputation-into-question-251172

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Strata Decision Technology and Snowflake Transform Healthcare Financial Analytics with Comprehensive Data Integration

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Strata Decision Technology, a leader in the development of cloud-based financial planning, decision support, and performance analytics solutions for healthcare, today announced its collaboration with Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud Company, to create one of the largest comparable healthcare financial databases in the United States. This strategic initiative aims to deliver efficient access to near real-time and historical financial insights, with early adopters already beginning to access data directly through Snowflake.

    The collaboration enables Strata to scale its data capabilities by unifying its diverse data assets — which include financial, operational, clinical, cost and margin, and claims data — within Snowflake’s robust, cloud-based data platform. This unified approach helps eliminate data siloes and provides healthcare organizations with a single source of truth for financial decision-making.

    “Strata is rapidly innovating its data capabilities, and Snowflake is a key part of our innovation strategy,” said Jonathan Adams, Chief Technology Officer at Strata. “This collaboration strengthens Strata’s ability to deliver unique value and greater analytics horsepower for customers by offering among the largest and most diverse sets of healthcare data in the country.”

    “At Snowflake, we’re committed to providing healthcare organizations with a platform that transforms how they leverage their most valuable asset — their data,” said Joe Warbington, Industry Principal, Healthcare at Snowflake. “Our work with Strata Decision Technology demonstrates how Snowflake can empower healthcare financial analytics at scale, helping providers make more informed strategic decisions that ultimately improve patient care and reduce costs.”

    Ongoing integration of Strata’s data within Snowflake allows Strata to make its data more accessible to healthcare customers within StrataJazz and Axiom, its cloud-based enterprise performance management software platforms. As a result, both StrataJazz and Axiom customers get the benefits of more efficient scaling in response to organizations’ mounting data needs, and flexible data sharing to merge data from across multiple source systems and vendors. Snowflake also enables faster processing to accommodate increasingly complex data models, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, Large Language Model (LLM) processes, and Machine Learning (ML).

    Strata is creating a comprehensive healthcare intelligence ecosystem within Snowflake by strategically integrating multiple high-value datasets. This includes healthcare performance and patient volume data from StrataSphere, and hospital and physician benchmarking data from Comparative Analytics. In the coming months, Strata also will bring its proprietary 835 Remit and 837 All-Payor Claims Data (APCD) into Snowflake. To ensure data quality and consistency across these diverse datasets, Strata is leveraging AI and ML on Snowflake to ensure that common definitions and standards are applied to make the data consistent and comparable.

    Strata also is leveraging Snowflake’s capabilities to advance its patient data integration strategy through secure tokenization of thoroughly cleansed and de-identified patient encounter and claims information. This innovative approach allows healthcare organizations to trace comprehensive patient journeys across multiple providers and facilities while maintaining strict privacy standards. By connecting all-payor claims data — which cover approximately 70% of patients — with granular encounter data in Snowflake’s easy, connected, and trusted data platform, Strata delivers unprecedented visibility into the complete patient care continuum. This unified view enables more personalized care planning and strategic resource allocation.

    The integration also facilitates more accurate insights. For example, by combining claims data with demographic data, healthcare leaders can generate more rigorous volume projections to help guide them in making more informed strategic decisions. Similarly, merging claims and patient encounter data will help organizations identify patterns in patient behaviors, including where they may be losing patients to market competitors.

    Strata’s collaboration with Snowflake emerged from Strata’s strategic initiative to future-proof its solutions amid explosive growth in customer data requirements. It is allowing Strata to move away from the limitations of its legacy StrataJazz on-premise SQL Server databases toward a highly scalable cloud architecture that meets the increasingly complex analytics needs of modern healthcare organizations.

    Using Snowflake’s elasticity and performance, Strata can now scale its operations to deliver more accurate and efficient data and analytics capabilities for the customers it serves.

    About Strata Decision Technology 
    Strata Decision Technology, LLC provides an innovative, cloud-based platform for software, and data and service solutions to help healthcare organizations acquire insights, accelerate decisions, and enhance performance in support of their missions. More than 2,300 organizations rely on Strata’s StrataJazz and Axiom solutions for market-leading service and enterprise performance management software, data, and intelligence solutions. To learn more about Strata and why the company has been named the market leader for Business Decision Support for more than 15 consecutive years, please go to www.stratadecision.com.

    Strata Social Networks 
    LinkedIn: Strata Decision Technology

    Media contact: 
    Sally Brown, Inkhouse 
    strata@inkhouse.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Young people invited to apply for Mayor’s Bursary

    Source: Northern Ireland – City of Derry

    Young people invited to apply for Mayor’s Bursary

    3 March 2025

    The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Lilian Seenoi Barr, has announced the launch of a Young Person’s Bursary – a £500 contribution aimed at supporting the growth and development of one young person with a talent or skill they wish to nurture but who may lack the financial means to do so.

    The bursary is open to young people across the entire Derry City and Strabane District Council area and is designed to offer a helping hand to someone from a low-income, socially disadvantaged, or vulnerable background.
    It could support the development of artistic abilities such as music or drama or help a young person build employability skills that will benefit their future.

    Speaking at the launch, Mayor Barr expressed her enthusiasm for providing meaningful support to a young person with ambitions to grow and thrive.
    “The Young Person’s Bursary is a small but important contribution, a hand up to help a young person in our community develop their potential. Whether it’s a creative talent like music or drama or an employability skill they wish to strengthen, this bursary is about allowing them to build their confidence, enhance their abilities, and pursue their dreams.
    “Engaging with young people and giving them a voice has been a key focus of my Mayoral year, and I’m delighted to offer this support. While applications must come from organisations that support children and young people aged 0-18 years from disadvantaged backgrounds within the Derry City and Strabane District Council area, they must specifically nominate the individual young person who will benefit from the bursary.
    “Individual young people cannot apply directly but are encouraged to reach out to the organisations they are involved with to express their interest in being considered. Schools can also apply. I hope this bursary will empower the successful candidate to overcome challenges, build their skills, and become more actively involved in their local community.”

    The Mayor has recorded a video message to invite young people to apply that can be viewed on her social media pages.
    For more information on the criteria and details on how to apply visit here
    The deadline for applications is Friday March 28th 2025.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Coventry supports Covid-19 Day of Reflection

    Source: City of Coventry

    Coventry is marking the Covid-19 National Day of Reflection on Sunday 9 March with a large pavement artwork, placed inside the Cathedral Ruins.

    It will offer members of the public the opportunity to spend a moment of reflection on the impact of the pandemic on their families, the city, nationally and its devastating effect across the world.

    The artwork will provide a beautiful, quiet space for private thoughts and shared experiences.

    The installation will be unveiled by the Deputy Leader of Coventry City Council and other invited guests, including representatives from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral.

    Deputy Leader of Coventry City Council, Cllr Abdul Salam Khan said, “The pandemic affected all communities and residents, and as we always do in this city, we all stood together to support those who suffered at this challenging time.

    “As a city we came together to reach out in any way we could to support vulnerable members of our community and anyone who needed help. I’m proud that the city played a leading role in the roll-out of the vaccines and the hope and support it provided to people during such a momentous time.”

    “I hope this piece of art gives a place of peace and quiet reflection to anyone who feels they would like to come and have a few moments to reflect on what was a challenging and worrying time for us all.”

    UHCW NHS Trust was awarded the Freedom of the City by the council in July 2022 as a thank you for the efforts of its staff in supporting Coventry through the pandemic, including delivering the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine in December 2020.

    The pavement artwork will be in place for one day with the Cathedral Ruins being open during normal daytime opening hours of 10am to 4pm.

    Local street artist, Katie O, has been commissioned to produce the artwork which will be secular and reflect the human experience of loss and the city’s role in tackling the pandemic. 

    Katie O, said: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to mark this important day. I think lockdown showed us how the arts can play a powerful part in connecting with people, our emotions and community. Showing compassion and empathy is an important gift to share. I hope the artwork speaks to people who lost loved ones, who struggled mentally, and physically, and reminds us we are united through our care and love for others.” 

    Later in the day, Coventry Cathedral will be conducting a themed Evensong at 4pm.

    Sunday 9 March 2025 is a national Covid Day of Reflection.

    People are invited to:

    • remember and commemorate those who lost their lives since the pandemic began
    • reflect on the sacrifices made by many, and on the impact of the pandemic on us all
    • pay tribute to the work of health and social care staff, frontline workers and researchers
    • appreciate those who volunteered and showed acts of kindness during this unprecedented time

    Find more information on the Covid-19 Day of Reflection.

    Monday, 3rd March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Omalizumab treats multi-food allergy better than oral immunotherapy

    Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 2

    News Release
    Monday, March 3, 2025

    High rate of oral immunotherapy side effects in NIH trial explains superiority of omalizumab.

    A clinical trial has found that the medication omalizumab, marketed as Xolair, treated multi-food allergy more effectively than oral immunotherapy (OIT) in people with allergic reactions to very small amounts of common food allergens. OIT, the most common approach to treating food allergy in the United States, involves eating gradually increasing doses of a food allergen to reduce the allergic response to it. Thirty-six percent of study participants who received an extended course of omalizumab could tolerate 2 grams or more of peanut protein, or about eight peanuts, and two other food allergens by the end of the treatment period, but only 19% of participants who received multi-food OIT could do so. Researchers attributed this difference primarily to the high rate of allergic reactions and other intolerable side effects among the participants who received OIT, leading a quarter of them to discontinue treatment. When the participants who discontinued therapy were excluded from the analysis, however, the same proportion of each group could tolerate at least 2 grams of all three food allergens.
    The findings were published in an online supplement to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and presented at the 2025 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology/World Allergy Organization Joint Congress in San Diego on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
    “People with highly sensitive multi-food allergy previously had only one treatment option—oral immunotherapy—for reducing their allergic response to moderate amounts of those foods,” said Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., M.P.H., director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the study’s funder and regulatory sponsor. “This study shows that omalizumab is a good alternative because most people tolerate it very well. Oral immunotherapy remains an effective option if treatment-related adverse effects are not an issue.”
    Omalizumab works by binding to the allergy-causing antibody called immunoglobulin E in the blood and preventing it from arming key immune cells responsible for allergic reactions. This renders these cells much less sensitive to stimulation by any allergen.
    The current study is the second stage of a landmark clinical trial that found a 16-week course of omalizumab increased the amount of peanut, tree nuts, egg, milk and wheat that multi-food allergic children as young as 1 year could consume without an allergic reaction. This next stage of the trial was designed to directly compare omalizumab with OIT for the first time.
    At 10 locations across the United States, the study team enrolled 177 children and adolescents ages 1 to 17 years and three adults ages 18 to 55 years, all with confirmed allergy to less than half a peanut and similarly small amounts of at least two other common foods among milk, egg, cashew, wheat, hazelnut or walnut. After completing the first stage of the trial, 117 individuals entered the second stage of the trial.
    Upon beginning Stage 2, all participants received injections of omalizumab for eight weeks. Then the participants were randomly divided in half and placed into one of two groups. Group A received omalizumab injections and multi-allergen OIT for eight weeks, while group B received omalizumab injections and placebo OIT for eight weeks. Subsequently, group A received placebo injections and multi-allergen OIT for 44 weeks, while group B continued to receive omalizumab injections and placebo OIT for 44 weeks. Neither the participants nor the investigators knew who was in which treatment group.
    Group A received omalizumab before and during their early months of OIT because data from prior studies suggested that pretreatment with the medication would significantly augment the safety of OIT, and continuing omalizumab during the early months of OIT would provide additional benefit.
    During the study treatment period, 29 of 59 participants in group A discontinued therapy: 15 due to allergic reactions—some severe—or other intolerable symptoms of OIT, and 14 for other reasons, including aversion to the study foods or the burden of participating in the trial. No participants in group B had allergic reactions or other side effects from omalizumab that led them to discontinue therapy, but seven participants in group B left the study mainly due to the burden of participating in it. In all, 30 of the original 59 members of group A (51%) and 51 of the original 58 members of group B (88%) completed treatment.
    After the study treatment period, the clinical trial team tested whether the participants who completed therapy could eat at least 2 grams of peanut protein and their two other study foods without an allergic reaction. Twenty-one of the original 58 participants in group B, or 36%, could tolerate at least 2 grams of all three foods, while only 11 of the original 59 participants in group A (the OIT-treated group), or 19%, could do so. When evaluating only the participants who completed therapy, however, the same proportion of each group could tolerate at least 2 grams of all three foods.
    These results showed that omalizumab was more effective than OIT at treating multi-food allergy in people who originally had a very low tolerance to common food allergens. Investigators attributed this outcome mainly to the high rate of allergic reactions and other side effects leading to treatment discontinuation among the OIT-treated participants, despite receiving omalizumab before and during the early months of therapy.   
    The trial is called Omalizumab as Monotherapy and as Adjunct Therapy to Multi-Allergen OIT in Food Allergic Children and Adults, or OUtMATCH. The NIAID-funded Consortium for Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) is conducting the trial under the leadership of Robert Wood, M.D., and R. Sharon Chinthrajah, M.D. Dr. Wood is the Julie and Neil Reinhard Professor of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and director of the Pediatric Clinical Research Unit at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore. Dr. Chinthrajah is an associate professor of medicine and of pediatric allergy and clinical immunology and the co-director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
    NIAID funds the ongoing trial with additional financial support from and collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. The two companies collaborate to develop and promote omalizumab and are supplying it for the trial.
    Further information about the OUtMATCH trial is available at ClinicalTrials.gov under study identifier NCT03881696. 
    NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.
    About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
    NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

    Reference
    RA Wood et al. Treatment of multi-food allergy with omalizumab compared to omalizumab-facilitated multi-allergen OIT. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2024.12.1022 (2025).

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The GUU team beat the Moscow Hockey Academy

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    The State University of Management hockey team won an important victory over the Moscow Hockey Academy team!

    The exciting meeting ended with a score of 9:3. This result allowed our team to rise to 3rd place in the National Student Hockey League standings!

    The following contributed to the victory: defenders Maxim Lykhin and Vladimir Nikitin – the first goal for the team, forward Stanislav Akhayan, who scored twice and made an assist, defender Alexander Arsentyev – the author of an assist hat-trick, as well as Ilya Babkin, Mikhail Gubin and Timofey Katkov.

    Defender Pavel Afanasyev, who previously played in the Youth Hockey League, made a bright debut. He scored the seventh goal against MAKH and was also named the best player of the match.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 03.03.2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Sage Geosystems Achieves “Awardable” Status by the U.S. Department of Defense for the U.S. Air Force Geothermal Program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON, March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sage Geosystems Inc. (Sage), the pioneer of Pressure Geothermal technology, announced today it was selected by the U.S. Air Force Office of Energy Assurance and the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to explore how to tap into America’s abundant geothermal energy supply to increase the U.S.’s national security and energy dominance.

    Having achieved “Awardable” status for three separate applications, Sage can now explore developing a utility-scale geothermal power plant domestically and abroad to supply U.S. military bases with reliable and cost-effective electricity, even during a grid outage.

    Sage was selected through the CDAO’s innovative solicitation process known as the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, which is designed to accelerate the procurement and adoption of mission-critical technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and resilient energy technologies. All “awardable” solutions in Tradewinds have been assessed through complex scoring rubrics and competitive procedures and allow government and military customers to readily choose a pre-approved vendor to expedite a contract.

    Tradewinds selected three of Sage’s submissions:

    • Sage Geosystems individual submission
    • A partnership with an independent energy and carbon management company
    • A partnership with a major energy equipment manufacturing company and an energy service company.

    These selections represent three of eleven final applications that achieved “awardable” status.

    “The U.S. Air Force leveraged the Tradewinds solicitation process to quickly collaborate with innovative American companies to build resilient, next-generation geothermal technologies at our bases, using private capital instead of taxpayer dollars,” said Mr. Kirk Philips, Director, Air Force Office of Energy Assurance.

    “Sage is incredibly excited to have been granted awardable status by the DoD as this allows us priority selection for future contracts,” said Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage. “We are excited to play a role in helping unleash America’s energy dominance with secure, plentiful, geothermal energy.”

    Sage’s videos, including two videos produced in collaboration with three separate partner entities, accessible only by government customers on the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, present actual use cases in which the company would implement geothermal power generation solutions and/or energy storage solutions. Sage Geosystems was recognized among a competitive field of applicants to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace whose solutions demonstrated innovation, scalability, and potential impact on DoD missions. Government customers interested in viewing the video solutions can create a Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace account at tradewindAI.com.

    About Sage Geosystems:
    Sage Geosystems is a leader in the next-generation geothermal industry, pioneering the use of Pressure Geothermal. Pressure Geothermal leverages both the heat and the pressure of the earth to enable three applications: energy storage, power generation and district heating. It also broadly expands where it can be applied allowing geothermal to be deployed globally. For more information, visit www.sagegeosystems.com.

    About the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace:
    The Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace is a digital repository of post-competition, readily awardable pitch videos that address the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) most significant challenges in the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML), data, and analytics space. All awardable solutions have been assessed through complex scoring rubrics and competitive procedures and are available to Government customers with a Marketplace account. Government customers can create an account at www.tradewindai.com. Tradewinds is housed in the DoD’s Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office. For more information or media requests, contact: Success@tradewindai.com.

    About the U.S. Air Force Office of Energy Assurance:
    The U.S. Air Force Office of Energy Assurance (AF OEA), a directorate of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC), develops energy solutions that close energy resilience gaps and strengthen our nation’s Air Force and Space Force installations at home and abroad. By leveraging the expertise of the energy community, AF OEA builds tailored energy solutions for each installation that are resilient, innovative, and cost-effective. For more information, visit https://www.afcec.af.mil/energy.

    Media Contact:
    Claire Underwood
    claire@teamsilverline.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d29340a8-b223-4747-94af-84cc4d3c8782

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Who’s my dad? In South Africa that’s a complex question – report tracks the rise of ‘social fathers’

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Wessel Van Den Berg, Research fellow, Stellenbosch University

    The State of South Africa’s Fathers 2024 report is published by the new Tataokhona project at Stellenbosch University. The project focuses on research and interventions related to fathers and fatherhood. This is the third edition of this report, and offers valuable insights into the evolving realities of fatherhood in South Africa. Co-authors Wessel van den Berg, Mandisa Malinga, Kopano Ratele and
    Tawanda Makusha explain why it’s critical to examine the changing role of men in families.

    What were some of the key findings of the report?

    The report presents data from the General Household Survey 2023 and a survey of adult caregivers in South Africa, also done in 2023.

    One of the key findings is that 76% of children in South Africa live with an adult male in the household. This is often overlooked when the media and researchers focus on children’s co-residence with fathers.

    However, fewer children live with their biological fathers than with other men. The percentage of children who live with their biological fathers has dropped from 45.3% in 1996 to 35% in 2023.

    This decline is linked to broader societal factors, including economic instability, migration patterns, and shifts in traditional family structures.

    Never have so few children been recorded as living with their biological fathers, nor have so many lived with other men like uncles, grandfathers, older brothers or mothers’ new partners.

    As researchers, policymakers and other development practitioners, we need to explore the contribution men make in their families, biological or otherwise.

    The case studies and contributions from authors across the country underscore that while physical presence is important, the quality of engagement between the father figure and child is even more crucial.

    Encouraging positive father-child relationships through legal, workplace and social policy changes could help mitigate the known effects of not living together.

    What did the survey reveal about who provides for children?

    Traditionally, fatherhood has been closely linked to financial provision. However, economic hardships and shifting gender roles are reshaping this expectation.

    Co-residence goes down as income goes down. Many fathers, particularly those facing unemployment or economic hardship, struggle to maintain active participation in their children’s lives.

    Many fathers are also forced to migrate to find work.

    Those men who cannot provide do not see any other role for themselves in children’s lives, and so they disengage.

    Data from the State of the World’s Fathers 2023 survey showed that in South Africa 85% of women financially supported their biological children, compared to 80% of men. Most children are supported by both parents, but mothers bear a higher financial burden than fathers.

    Women are also more likely than men to provide for non-biological children (50% vs 44%).

    These figures highlight the growing financial responsibilities shouldered by women and the need to redefine fatherhood beyond economic provision.

    The increasing financial burden on women also reveals deep-seated inequalities in wage distribution and employment opportunities.

    Many fathers who wish to support their children financially face obstacles such as unemployment and precarious work conditions.

    While some men have adapted by taking on caregiving roles, society still puts pressure on them to prioritise financial contribution over direct caregiving.

    This paradox creates stress and identity struggles for many fathers. It reinforces the need for supportive policies like paid parental leave and father-focused caregiving initiatives.



    Read more:
    Men say they are spending more time on household chores, and would like to do more – survey of 17 countries

    What does the survey tell us about ‘social fathers’?

    With only a minority of children living with their biological fathers, social fathers – men who provide care despite not being biologically related to the child – have become increasingly significant. The State of the World’s Fathers 2023 survey found for example that of the men who care for children whom they had not biologically fathered, 51.1% of the men played with the children, 50.2% provided financial support, and 40.2% read books with them.

    The report emphasises that 40% of children reside with men who are not their biological fathers, a trend that has grown since 1996. We believe these men can and should be encouraged to step into the role of social fathers. They include grandfathers, uncles, stepfathers, teachers and community leaders who contribute to children’s emotional and material well-being.

    However, social fathers lack legal recognition and support in South Africa. This makes it harder for them to access resources that could help them provide better care.

    Policymakers and community organisations must recognise and formalise the contributions of social fathers to ensure children receive consistent and supportive care.

    What happens now?

    Many men struggle to find their place in a rapidly evolving society where gender expectations are no longer fixed.

    The rise of feminism and women’s empowerment has rightly expanded opportunities for women, but has left a gap in guiding men towards constructive ways of engaging with these changes.



    Read more:
    Unpaid care work still falls on women: seven steps that could shift the balance

    Additionally, it remains true that more women than men are unemployed. This is primarily due to societal expectations that women should be homemakers or primary caregivers.

    Policies that recognise diverse forms of fatherhood will be essential in fostering positive father-child relationships for future generations.

    Wessel Van Den Berg works for Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice.

    Kopano Ratele is a member of the Psychological Society of South Africa.

    Mandisa Malinga has previously received research funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

    Tawanda Makusha is affiliated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal

    – ref. Who’s my dad? In South Africa that’s a complex question – report tracks the rise of ‘social fathers’ – https://theconversation.com/whos-my-dad-in-south-africa-thats-a-complex-question-report-tracks-the-rise-of-social-fathers-249763

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: European Day for Victims of Terrorism event – speakers announced

    Source: Traditional Unionist Voice – Northern Ireland

    Every year since the Madrid bombings in 2004 across Europe one day in March has been set aside as a Memorial Day to the victims of terrorist attacks. Following his election to the Assembly Jim Allister hosted events at Stormont to mark the occasion. His successor as TUV MLA for North Antrim, Timothy Gaston, is continuing the tradition.

    Over the years, there have been highly successful events attended by victims of Republican and Loyalist terrorism from across Northern Ireland, Great Britain, the Republic and continental Europe.

    This year’s event to mark European Day for Victims of Terrorism will be held in the Senate Chamber in Parliament Buildings at 11am on Monday 10th March with refreshments available from 10:30am.

    The press are very welcome to attend.

    Timothy Gaston explained:

    “The event will take the form of a minute of silence in memory of murdered victims, followed by three victims telling their stories so that we might hear some of the untold accounts of the consequences of terrorism, both republican and loyalist.

    “I believe this will be a worthwhile effort and in previous years I received very positive feedback from those who attended. It is but right that one of the regions of Europe most savagely ravaged by terrorism should mark this important day. I am pleased that we will hear from a cousin of Dougald McCaughey, one of the three Scottish soldiers murdered in particularly brutal circumstances in on 10th March 1971 meaning the event will take place on the anniversary of these brutal murders.

    “I am thankful for the South East Fermanagh Foundation and Ulster Human Rights Watch for making this event possible and for Assembly colleagues Mike Nesbitt and Patsy McGlone without whose co-sponsorship this event would not be taking place”.

    This year’s event will include contributions from four speakers. Their details are provided by SEFF and UHRW.

    1. Caroline D’Eath
    Daughter of Gerald D’Eath
    22nd May 1975

    Gerald was a 31-year-old Roman Catholic civilian murdered by a UVF bomb. He was married with four children and a machine operator who was from, Braeside in Dungannon.

    Gerald had been working on the building site of a new Christian Brothers school for several months and died on the site when a UVF bomb exploded. He was working as a bricklayer at the time.

    Pics provided by the family:

    Gerald D’Eath with his daughters before his death.

    Second picture is with his loving late wife Margaret.

    2. David McCaughey

    Cousin of Dougald McCaughey who was murdered by Provisional IRA terrorists alongside John and Joseph McCaig

    Three Scottish soldiers – 10th March 1971

    The soldiers were unarmed members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers.
    Dougald McCaughey, 23, was murdered along with brothers John, 17 and Joseph McCaig, 18 respectively. All three men were from Scotland.

    They were murdered when off-duty and in civilian clothes, having been lured from a city-centre bar in Belfast, driven to a remote location, and shot.

    Family, former colleagues, and friends of the three Scottish soldiers continue to fight for justice for three young men, who were much loved by many, David is a key driver in The Three Scottish Soldiers campaign group.

    3. Pamela Wilson
    Daughter of Const. David Dorsett RUC GC
    14th January 1973

    David Dorsett and Mervyn Wilson who were murdered by Provisional IRA terrorists.

    David was 37-years-old and originally from Wolverhampton and had served in the Royal Navy and the Bristol Constabulary.

    In 1967, he joined the RUC. His wife was from Londonderry. It was his son’s 8th birthday on the day he was murdered. He also had a 10-year-old daughter and an 8-month old baby girl.

    A bomb exploded beneath their car on Harbour Square.

    Both officers were serving with the force’s Traffic Branch and had been stationed at the nearby Victoria RUC station.

    Two other police officers who were in the car were also injured.

    4. Colette Murray

    Colette Murray was aged 47 years when her brother Cyril was shot dead by Loyalist terrorists on the 8th of July 1992 in the family home where they both had lived for 29 years. Their late parents and two other siblings had lived there with the latter both moving out on getting married. Cyril and Colette had put the house up for sale and were in the process of moving to a new bungalow in Randalstown which they were having built and which was ready for occupation ten days after the incident.

    Cyril Murray was a law-abiding citizen who had taught in a primary school in Belfast. He was well regarded in educational circles as an inspirational teacher and many past pupils had fond memories of him.

    The terrorists later stated it was a case of mistaken identity.

    Two individuals were later convicted and sentenced. As a result of the 1998 Belfast Agreement these individuals would only have served a minimum of 4 years and a maximum of 8 years for their heinous crimes.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: ServiceTrade Sponsors the Heavy Metal Summer Experience Program in Support of its Mission to Inspire Students to Pursue Rewarding Trade Careers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    DURHAM, N.C. and AUSTIN, Texas, March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MCAA—ServiceTrade, an innovative software platform designed to optimize commercial service business operations for growth and profit, announced its silver-level sponsorship of the career workshop series called The Heavy Metal Summer Experience. The program is supported by a dedicated group of trade industry associations, vendors, educators, and individuals. In its fifth year, the non-profit program aims to introduce students across the U.S. and Canada to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing careers.   

    “The growth of the mechanical construction and service industry relies on the next generation of workers,” said Angie Simon, president and co-founder of The Heavy Metal Summer Experience. “In 2024, the program held camps at 36 locations across the United States and Canada, a 71% increase in participation over previous years, with approximately 500 students enrolled. The 2025 program will hold sessions in 54 camp locations and reach almost 900 students in the season.”

    The Heavy Metal Summer Experience attracts students from all backgrounds and ethnicities, including 18.7% female students. It introduces students to all aspects of working in the trades, including hands-on learning and working with industrial materials. Students are provided with information on apprenticeship programs, trade specialties, local opportunities for further education, and information about careers in the industrial trades. 

    Careers in the trades are gaining popularity among young people. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, enrollment in focused commercial manufacturing and repair trade programs grew by 11% between 2021 and 2023. Undergraduate college enrollment dropped by 8% in the same period, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Trade school programs are also faster and less expensive than alternatives, with students finishing programs within two years and quickly finding employment after graduation. 

    “A career in the trades is a terrific path to high job satisfaction, rapid career advancement, and great pay,” said Billy Marshall, Founder and Special Advisor at ServiceTrade.  “The demand for these young skilled workers is extraordinarily high with an estimated current labor shortfall of 14 – 20% in the commercial fire and mechanical service markets.  The Heavy Metal Summer Experience is the right solution at the right time, and we look forward to working alongside its founders to ensure its success.”

    To learn more about ServiceTrade and The Heavy Metal Summer Experience:

    About ServiceTrade  

    ServiceTrade, Inc. is a software platform for commercial mechanical, fire, and life safety contractors. During a chronic skilled labor shortage, ServiceTrade helps commercial contractors increase profit by improving service and project operations, increasing technician productivity, selling more service agreements, and growing customer loyalty. Located in Durham, North Carolina, ServiceTrade was founded in 2012 to automate and streamline the commercial mechanical and fire protection industry and has grown to have more than 1,300 customers. More than 10% of the commercial or industrial buildings in the United States are serviced by contractors using ServiceTrade. Learn more at www.servicetrade.com.

    Media contact:

    Media@KTCMarketingandPR.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: We need to switch to heat pumps fast – but can they overcome this problem?

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

    StockMediaSeller/Shutterstock

    People in the UK need to adopt heat pumps and electric vehicles as fast as they once embraced refrigerators, mobile phones and internet connection according to a new report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

    This government watchdog says the next 15 years will be critical for decarbonising the UK, one of the world’s largest (and earliest) carbon polluters. Eighty-seven percent of its climate-heating emissions must be eliminated by 2040 to keep the country on track for net zero emissions by mid-century, per the report. The majority (60%) of these cuts are expected to come via a single source: electricity.

    This roundup of The Conversation’s climate coverage comes from our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed.

    Out of possible alternatives to a fossil fuelled economy, electrification has emerged as the favoured solution of experts at the CCC.

    Ran Boydell, an associate professor in sustainable development at Heriot-Watt University, agrees. “Home boilers will very soon move into the realm of nostalgia,” he says.



    Read more:
    UK ban on boilers in new homes rules out hydrogen as a heating source

    The reason why heat pumps are increasingly touted as the future of home heating – and not retooled boilers that burn hydrogen instead of methane – is efficiency.

    Boydell points out that green hydrogen fuel is made using electricity from solar and wind farms. We could eliminate emissions a lot quicker, he argues, if that electricity went directly to heat pumps instead.

    Electricity can be turned into a fuel – or power appliances directly.
    Piyaset/Shutterstock

    “This is because you end up with only two-thirds of the energy in the hydrogen that you started with from the electricity,” he says.

    Likewise, battery-powered vehicles have an advantage that has allowed them to race ahead of hydrogen fuel cells to comprise almost a fifth of all new vehicles sold in the UK in 2024.

    “An electric vehicle can be recharged wherever there is access to a plug socket,” say Tom Stacey and Chris Ivory, supply chain experts at Anglia Ruskin University. “The infrastructure that exists to support hydrogen vehicles is limited in comparison and will require extensive investment to introduce.”



    Read more:
    The days of the hydrogen car are already over

    If the route to zero emissions is largely settled, we need to travel it quickly.

    Electric dreams

    One of the fastest energy transitions in history occurred over a decade in South Korea, according to energy system researchers James Price and Steve Pye (UCL). Between 1977 and 1987, the generation of electricity from oil in the east Asian country collapsed – from roughly 7 million gigawatt-hours to nearly 7,000 – and was replaced with, among other sources, nuclear power.

    There are historic analogues for the rapid shift necessary to arrest climate change. But a zero-carbon power sector, which the UK government aims to achieve by 2030, is just the start.



    Read more:
    For developing world to quit coal, rich countries must eliminate oil and gas faster – new study

    “Wind and solar, which provide more than 28% of the UK’s electricity, will soon overtake gas as the main generation source as more wind farms come online,” say energy system modeller Andrew Crossland and engineer Jon Gluyas, both of Durham University.

    “But successive governments have failed to achieve the same result in homes and communities where so much high-carbon gas is burned, despite their decarbonisation being critical to net zero.”



    Read more:
    Is Britain on track for a zero-carbon power sector in six years?

    Crossland and Gluyas note that solar panels, batteries and heat pumps can be installed “in days” to rapidly cut emissions, and that doing so would create “skilled jobs across the country”. As things stand, however, it would also present a severe challenge to the grid.

    Mechanical engineer Florimond Gueniat of Birmingham City University predicts that converting UK transport to battery power wholesale would require expanding grid capacity by 46% – the equivalent of erecting 5,800 skyscraper-sized wind turbines. And that’s even accounting for the greater efficiency of electric vehicles, which waste less of the energy we put into them compared with oil-powered cars.



    Read more:
    Switching to electric vehicles will push the power grid to the brink

    A massive upgrade to the electricity network is needed, and ordinary people have a part to play. Charging cars could serve as batteries that grid operators draw from during a supply pinch. The same goes for the power generated by solar panels on top of houses.

    “Such policies in Germany have … already offset 10% of the national demand,” says Gueniat.

    Getting to net zero requires the public’s involvement. But some of the CCC’s advice may be difficult to swallow. Not least the implication that people will have to eat 35% less meat and dairy in 2050 compared with 2019.



    Read more:
    The UK must make big changes to its diets, farming and land use to hit net zero – official climate advisers

    So are people ready for a world that runs on electrons alone? Aimee Ambrose, a professor of energy policy at Sheffield Hallam University, thinks heat pumps will struggle to compete with the inviting warmth of wood stoves and coal fires. Over three years she spoke with hundreds of people in the UK, Finland, Sweden and Romania and found strong attachments to high-carbon fuels even among people committed to solving climate change.

    The allure of the wood stove is hard to ignore.
    Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock



    Read more:
    Heat pumps have a cosiness problem

    Human behaviour is the most difficult variable for experts who study climate change to model. There will certainly be drawbacks to abandoning fossil fuelled conveniences at breakneck speed. Yet, there are bound to be benefits too – some of which might only materialise once we get going.

    In mid-April 2020, while much of humanity was under some form of lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19, atmospheric chemist Paul Monks of the University of Leicester was marvelling at the sudden drop in air pollution, which kills millions of people each year and is predominantly caused by burning coal, oil and gas.

    “If there is something positive to take from this terrible crisis, it could be that it’s offered a taste of the air we might breathe in a low-carbon future,” he said.



    Read more:
    Coronavirus: lockdown’s effect on air pollution provides rare glimpse of low-carbon future

    – ref. We need to switch to heat pumps fast – but can they overcome this problem? – https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-switch-to-heat-pumps-fast-but-can-they-overcome-this-problem-249658

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: English schools provide free period products – but they’re still not easy for pupils to get hold of

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Maria Kathryn Tomlinson, Lecturer in Public Communication and Gender, University of Sheffield, University of Sheffield

    noowans/Shutterstock

    Pupils in the UK are struggling to afford menstrual products. In a 2022 UK survey, charity WaterAid found that one in five girls were missing school as a result. Limited access to period products can also have a negative impact on learning and attainment.

    In 2020, the government attempted to address this problem in England with a scheme to make period products available for free in schools and colleges. This is a valuable endeavour. However, just because pads and tampons are stocked in schools, this does not mean that they are easily accessible to the pupils who need them.

    In research for my recently published book, I talked to 77 teenagers in England about their knowledge and views of menstruation and related social issues.

    Many of the girls and non-binary pupils used this opportunity to share the frustrations, anxiety and embarrassment that they had experienced when searching for, requesting, or using the free period products in their current and previous schools.

    Some pupils explained that they had to ask for period products and wished that they could “just grab them” when needed. They told me that products were kept at reception, locked away, or stored in areas – such as staff rooms – that pupils are not allowed to access.

    This requires teenagers to discuss their period with teachers or other members of school staff and many pupils I spoke to explained that they felt too embarrassed to do this. This echoes the findings of other research on the continued role played by menstrual stigma in schools.

    The teenagers in my research also said that the stigma around poverty deterred them from asking for menstrual products. “There’s so much shame thrown on to it. There are so many labels around the whole concept of not being able to afford these things,” one explained. Another said:

    If you’re from a low-income household, you feel really awkward to go and
    pick them out, especially because the box is in the middle of the common
    room. So, to walk all the way there just to pick out some products… I
    wouldn’t say anyone is going to look at you weirdly, but obviously people
    have got that mindset of ‘oh they’re going to stare at me because I can’t
    afford it’.

    Other pupils reported that products were kept in libraries or only in one bathroom in the entire school which, in a large school, could be very far from their classrooms. One girl explained that this distance was especially problematic if her period had begun unexpectedly:

    Reception was in a completely different building across the courtyard, so it’s not like I’m going to go to the loo, discover I have my period, go to the front desk, get some stuff and then go back. It’s too time-consuming. If I have classes, I can’t use it. I feel like the period product scheme is a really good idea, but it is dependent on the schools properly utilising it.

    Exam time

    The pupils also said that they could not always access period products during examinations. They reported that this lack of access had affected their concentration during their GCSEs. They said that examinations often took place far from where they usually accessed menstrual products and, due to concerns about cheating, they could not bring their own into examination rooms.

    One girl explained: “Exams are stressful enough and then you put bleeding on to that and getting your pads and painkillers sorted. It’s another thing us girls have to worry about”. Another said: “In exams you can’t really bring anything in. They’re just going to think you’re cheating but you’re not, you just need to change yourself.”

    Teenagers said that the products they needed weren’t always available.
    New Africa/Shutterstock

    Some of the teenagers also mentioned that the products themselves were not serving their needs. Some schools only stocked internal products, such as tampons. For a range of reasons – due to culture, disability, and personal preference, among others – these are not suitable for everyone.

    Other schools only provided thin pads. This is a problem for pupils with heavy bleeding. “The school pads are not thick enough,” one girl said. “I have to change my pad five to six times a day because I come on really heavy.”

    Besides discussing the barriers they had faced to access these products, they also stated that they had never raised these issues with teachers or pastoral staff.

    Menstrual justice charity Irise International is launching a toolkit for schools on how they can improve access to both period products and toilets themselves. This is based on evidence from my book as well as Irise’s own consultations with young people.

    It is important that pupils are given the opportunity to share – in a comfortable and inclusive setting – their views with staff on which products should be available and where they are stored. This can include ordering reusable products such as cups and period underwear.

    Schools should also ensure that period products are easily accessible during exams – such as on a table outside the exam room or in nearby toilets – and that pupils know in advance where they will be kept.

    Maria Kathryn Tomlinson received funding for this research from the Leverhulme Trust under Grant ECF-2019-232.

    – ref. English schools provide free period products – but they’re still not easy for pupils to get hold of – https://theconversation.com/english-schools-provide-free-period-products-but-theyre-still-not-easy-for-pupils-to-get-hold-of-249776

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘All in your head’: when doctors misdiagnose autoimmune disease as psychosomatic

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Melanie Sloan, Researcher, Public Health, University of Cambridge

    Money Business Images

    Feeling disbelieved when knowing that there is something very wrong with your body can have devastating and long-term consequences. One of the most obvious consequences is that you won’t get the correct treatment and support.

    A study my colleagues and I conducted of over 3,000 people with autoimmune disease uncovered many extra long-lasting disadvantages when the misdiagnosis involved a mental health or psychosomatic label (often termed an “in your head” misdiagnosis by patients).

    These often included feelings of shame, self-doubt and depression. For some, it extended to suicidal thoughts and even suicide attempts.

    A further consequence was that people had much lower trust in doctors. This distrust led to some people avoiding seeking further medical help, often for fear of being disbelieved again.

    A concerning finding from our study was that these negative emotions and distrust often remained just as strong many years after feeling that a doctor had not believed their symptoms.

    Psychological scars were deep and usually unhealed. Over 70% of people reporting a psychosomatic or mental misdiagnosis said that it still upset them. And over 80% said that it had damaged their self-worth.

    One of our study participants, who had several autoimmune diseases, told her story that spoke for many: “One doctor told me I was making myself feel pain – I still can’t forget those words. Telling me I’m doing it to myself has made me very anxious and depressed.”

    It’s not all in the mind.
    Africa Studio/Shutterstock

    ‘I still can’t forget these words’

    These findings were not just anecdotal. Overall, we found depression levels were significantly higher and wellbeing levels lower in people who reported receiving mental health or psychosomatic misdiagnoses.

    We chose to use this woman’s testimony in the title of our study: “I still can’t forget those words.” Not only did it accurately reflect our findings, but it symbolises our research team’s ethos to give these often unheard patients a voice.

    The hurt of misdiagnosis was compounded by having “nowhere to voice my anger” or distress. Some of the most moving stories were from people whose early symptoms of autoimmune disease, when they were still children, had been disbelieved by doctors.

    Even in middle or older age, those words and feelings had remained with them for decades, often felt as strongly as the day that they were heard. As one of the patient partners in our research team described it, they lived the rest of their lives with “seared souls”.

    A woman with lupus told the interviewer that her doctor had told her at age 16 that she had “too many symptoms for it not to be hypochondria”. She spoke very emotively and articulately about the damage caused to a developing sense of self.

    It has affected my mental health very negatively and I do think it’s affected me in my like sense of self. It’s not good for anyone at any age but as a teenage girl being told you don’t know your own feelings is absolutely no way to shape a human being.

    It is natural when hearing all these very difficult stories, and seeing the damage caused, to blame doctors, but is that fair? Doctors very rarely set out to cause harm. Rather, in some cases, it is impossible to diagnose autoimmune diseases quickly.

    However, our study highlights that some doctors do reach too quickly for a psychosomatic or mental health explanation for autoimmune disease symptoms.

    Some research that may have influenced doctors in giving psychosomatic misdiagnoses says that a long list of symptoms is a red flag that the symptoms are not caused by a disease. This generalisation rather dangerously fails to account for the fact that a long list of symptoms is also a red flag for many autoimmune diseases.

    Many autoimmune symptoms are also invisible, and there are no clear tests that will show how bad they are to the doctor. Some of the terms that patients find upsetting and dismissive when doctors talk or write about their symptoms include “vague” and “non-specific”.

    Doctors often write letters quickly due to health service constraints, sometimes unthinkingly using terms passed down from their seniors; letters that use terms like “patient claims” or “no objective evidence found of” can increase feelings of being disbelieved.

    Empathetic listening

    Our research suggests that more doctors need to think about autoimmunity as a diagnosis early on when faced with multiple varied symptoms that often don’t seem to fit together. Above all, many diagnostic clues can be found by listening to and believing the people experiencing the symptoms.

    Empathetic listening and support are also required to help misdiagnosed patients heal emotionally – they very rarely can just “move on” as one doctor advised. We should not underestimate the power of doctors saying “I believe you” to patients with multiple invisible symptoms, and “I am sorry for what has happened in the past” if they had a difficult road to diagnosis.

    Most of the 50 doctors interviewed for the study reported that misdiagnoses were common in autoimmunity, but few had realised that the repercussions of these misdiagnoses were so severe and long lasting.

    Reassuringly, almost all of them were saddened and motivated to improve their patients’ experiences. Several explained that they thought they were being reassuring by telling patients that their symptoms were most likely to be psychological or stress-related and thought this would be preferable to patients worrying about having a disease.

    Although many people experience mental health and psychosomatic symptoms, and doctors must consider them as a possible explanation, a clear lesson from our study is that psychosomatic (mis)diagnoses are rarely seen as reassuring to patients with autoimmune disease symptoms. Rather, they are usually deeply damaging with lifelong and life-changing repercussions.

    Melanie Sloan receives funding from LUPUS UK, The Lupus Trust, Vasculitis UK, and NIHR. She is an Associate Editor for Rheumatology (Oxford) journal and receives consultancy fees to her Long-Term Conditions Research Group at Cambridge Department of Public Health from Otoimmune, a company dedicated to creating innovative tools and resources to empower people with autoimmune conditions to better understand, manage, and improve their health.

    – ref. ‘All in your head’: when doctors misdiagnose autoimmune disease as psychosomatic – https://theconversation.com/all-in-your-head-when-doctors-misdiagnose-autoimmune-disease-as-psychosomatic-250953

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Governments can keep raiding takeaways and nail bars, but businesses will still employ undocumented migrants

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Aida Hajro, Chair in International Business, University of Leeds, and Founding Co-Director of Migration, Business & Society, University of Leeds

    hxdbzxy/Shutterstock

    The UK is far from the only country to be caught in a heated debate over its migration system and border security. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to get its response right, because the UK debate ignores a fundamental truth: migration trends largely follow economic cycles and labour demand.

    It is well-documented that immigration increases during periods of economic growth and declines during downturns. Furthermore, Brexit has aggravated the UK’s labour shortages – a pinch being felt across nearly every work sector.

    Nearly 40% of UK businesses have not been able to grow or take advantage of new opportunities because of these labour shortages.

    Public discussions, including recent news coverage, tend to focus on border control and enforcement while overlooking the economic realities that shape migration. Past and present UK governments have largely failed to address the fact that migration is driven by the needs of UK businesses – and is often facilitated by informal recruitment systems, due to the lack of efficient legal migration channels.

    Our recent research backs up the idea that demand for labour is a major driver of both documented and undocumented (also known as “irregular”) immigration. Despite not being legally allowed to work, undocumented migrants are still sought after because of the shortages.



    Read more:
    Irregular, not illegal: what the UK government’s language reveals about its new approach to immigration

    Efforts to “crack down” on irregular migration often fail because businesses – especially in sectors like agriculture, healthcare, construction and the service industry – continue to rely on these workers. So without addressing labour shortages and recruitment practices, policies to restrict migration won’t work.

    But who bears the cost of migration? It’s not the UK government.

    Like most countries, the UK requires prospective workers to obtain a work visa while they are still in their country of origin. Getting this paperwork done is costly and complicated. A worker needs to apply, certify translations of the required documents, in some cases undergo a medical examination, cover travel expenses, pay the visa application fee, and show proof that they have enough personal savings to support themselves in the UK.

    For example, Nepalese workers pay around £6,000 to emigrate to Europe. This can amount to four years of wages for low-income workers there.

    To get to the UK, many rely on licensed recruitment agencies, known as “sponsors”. However, neither these sponsors nor the employers who desperately need workers are legally required to cover the costs of migration. For instance, the UK’s seasonal worker scheme, designed to provide much-needed labour for agriculture, does not require employers to pay for visa fees or recruitment expenses.

    This is a major weakness in the system, as it leaves the burden of migration costs on prospective workers – people who are ready to take on low-paid and seasonal jobs that UK citizens often avoid. To pay their way, many of these workers borrow from private money-lenders in their home countries, whose monthly interest rates can be excessive. Unsurprisingly, some turn to people smugglers.

    These smugglers often operate a business model that offers shortcuts for entering the UK, frequently making false promises about the length of employment and wages on offer. Studies show that most migrants are aware of the severe risks involved in using these illicit services, yet they still do due to the lack of better alternatives.

    The Employer Pays Principle

    Crossing the Channel is not the primary source of undocumented migration into the UK. The main issue is people overstaying legally granted visas, as the renewal process is complex and costly.

    It is no secret in the business world that migrant workers are exposed to significant costs just to access employment. To address this, the Institute for Human Rights and Business – a UK-based thinktank – introduced the Employer Pays Principle (EPP). This asserts that the costs of migration should be paid not by the workers but by employers. Leading corporations in the UK including Unilever, Morrisons, Waitrose and IHG Hotels & Resorts have adopted EPP.

    However, embracing this principle can be much more challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The more-than-800 premises, including nail salons and takeaways, raided across the UK in January 2025 are unlikely to have the human resources and financial means to cover migration costs for the workers they need. Issuing civil penalty notices and demanding that SMEs pay £60,000 per worker if found liable will not solve the problem of undocumented workers.

    In general, punitive policies do not stop migration. They simply make it more precarious for already vulnerable people.

    And the government’s social media campaigns in countries like Vietnam and Albania, aimed at discouraging people from illegal travel to the UK, are also unlikely to work. The EU tried similar policies between 2015 and 2019 at a cost of nearly €45 million (£37 million) – and they largely failed.

    The UK government has run campaigns aimed at discouraging would-be migrants from Vietnam.

    To prevent undocumented migration, firms in need of workers should take responsibility for covering the actual costs of migration. Large firms should be legally required to do so, while for SMEs, the UK government could consider ways to improve access to financing and advisory services. It should also consider incentives and rewards for companies that have voluntarily adopted the EPP or introduced other good practices.

    Important next steps

    It is possible to estimate the cost of responsibly recruiting a migrant worker from a specific country to the UK. Providing clear and open access to this information would be another important step towards facilitating legal migration routes. After all, universities, consultancies and non-governmental organisations are collecting this data. Cross-sector partnerships could save time and money.

    Social media campaigns should prioritise educating potential migrants about UK immigration laws and their rights. This would be more valuable than focusing on the risks of undocumented journeys.

    It is also crucial to evaluate whether educational campaigns are more effective than those aimed at deterring migration. The government should remain open to abandoning any overseas social media campaigns that don’t demonstrate cost-effectiveness.

    The solution starts with accepting the realities of migration and acknowledging labour market forces. Then, creating the right regulatory environment will reduce the human cost of irregular migration, while supporting UK businesses to find the workers they need.

    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. Governments can keep raiding takeaways and nail bars, but businesses will still employ undocumented migrants – https://theconversation.com/governments-can-keep-raiding-takeaways-and-nail-bars-but-businesses-will-still-employ-undocumented-migrants-250947

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Paul Shafer, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University

    Speaker of the House Mike Johnson addresses the media on Feb. 25, 2025, after the House narrowly passed his budget resolution calling for big spending cuts.
     Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

    Efforts by Republicans in Congress to make steep spending cuts have stirred widespread concerns that the federal government may trim expenditures on Medicaid even though President Donald Trump has previously indicated that he’s unwilling to do that. This public health insurance program covers around 72 million people – about 1 in 5 Americans.

    The Conversation U.S. asked Paul Shafer and Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University health policy and law professors, to explain why cutting Medicaid spending would be difficult and what the consequences might be.

    What is Medicaid’s role in the health care system?

    Created in 1965 along with Medicare, the public health insurance program for older Americans, Medicaid pays for the health care needs of low-income adults and children, including more than 1 in 3 people with disabilities. It also covers more than 12 million who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid because they are both poor and over 65.

    In addition, this safety net program pays the health care costs of more than 2 in 5 U.S. births. Medicaid is a joint federal/state program, driven by federal funding and rules, with the states administering it.

    The Affordable Care Act was supposed to make nearly all U.S. adults under age 65 without children who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level eligible for Medicaid. Prior to the 2010 landmark health care reform law, adults without children in most states could not get Medicaid coverage. The Supreme Court, however, made this change optional for states.

    So far, 40 states – as well as Washington, D.C. – have participated in Medicaid expansion. The program’s growth has reduced the number of Americans without health insurance and narrowed coverage gaps for people of color and those with low-wage jobs who typically do not get employer-sponsored coverage.

    Hundreds of studies have found that Medicaid expansion has improved access to care and the health of the people who gained coverage, while reducing mortality and bolstering state economies, among other positive outcomes.

    Ten states haven’t expanded Medicaid yet. Two of them, Georgia and Mississippi, have seriously considered doing so.

    Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr., center, seen in May 2024, has called for the Mississippi Legislature to expand Medicaid in the state.
    AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

    Why are you concerned about Medicaid’s funding?

    A memo circulated among House Republicans in January 2025 included a menu of up to US$2.3 trillion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years. A House budget blueprint, approved in a 217-215 vote on Feb. 25, which fell largely along party lines, indicated that the Republican majority was instead aiming to reduce Medicaid spending by $880 billion over a decade.

    To be clear, GOP lawmakers didn’t say they planned to do that.

    Instead, they told the committee that oversees Medicaid and Medicare to identify cuts of that magnitude. Experts agree that slashing Medicare spending would be harder to pull off because Trump has made it clear he considers it off-limits, but at times he has suggested he might be open to trimming Medicaid. Trump says he supports the budget plan the House approved.

    In an interesting coincidence, Medicaid itself costs around $880 billion a year between federal and state government spending. That suggests Republicans are aiming for an approximately 10% cut.

    How does the program work?

    If you’re eligible for Medicaid, by law you can enroll in the program at any time and get health insurance coverage.

    If you require treatment for a condition Medicaid covers, whether it’s breast cancer or the flu, that happens with no – or low – out-of-pocket costs. Being enrolled in Medicaid means your medical treatment is covered and cannot be denied for budgetary reasons. The federal government contributes a share of what states pay for the health care of residents who enroll, but it can’t decide how much to spend on Medicaid – states do.

    The federal match rate is linked to the per capita income of each state. That means a state with lower per capita income gets a higher federal match, with all states getting at least 50%. For states that participate in the Medicaid expansion, the federal match is 90% across the board for that population.

    A dozen states have so-called trigger laws on their books that could automatically revoke Medicaid expansion if this enhanced match rate is lowered.

    How can the federal government reduce its Medicaid spending?

    The federal government could simply adjust the match rate, shifting more of the cost of Medicaid to states. But prior proposals have suggested a larger change, either through per capita caps or block grants.

    Per capita caps would place a per-person cap on federal funding, while block grants would place a total limit on how much the federal government would contribute to a state’s costs for Medicaid each year. In turn, the states would likely cover fewer people, reduce their benefits, pay less for care, or some combination of such cost-cutting measures.

    Either per capita caps or block grants would require a massive transformation in how Medicaid operates.

    The program has always provided open-ended funding to states, and both states and beneficiaries rely on the stability of federal funds to make the program work. Imposing caps or block grants would force states to contribute significantly more money to the program or cut enrollment drastically. Assuming a substantial cut in federal funding for Medicaid, millions could lose health insurance coverage they cannot afford to get elsewhere.

    Speaker Mike Johnson said that per capita caps and changing the federal match rates are not on the table, but they were included in the earlier House Republican memo detailing potential cuts.

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, flanked by his fellow House Democrats, criticizes the House Republicans’ budget bill at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 25, 2025.
    Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

    What else could happen?

    Another idea many Republicans say they support is to add what are known as “work requirements.” The first Trump administration approved state proposals for Medicaid beneficiaries to complete a minimum number of hours of “community engagement” in activities like work, job training, education or community service to enroll and maintain Medicaid eligibility. This is despite the fact that the majority of Medicaid enrollees already work, are disabled, are caregivers for a loved one, or are in school.

    Some politicians argue that making people work to receive Medicaid benefits would help them transition to employer-based coverage, so adding that restriction may sound like common sense. However, the paperwork this requires can lead to lots of working people getting kicked out of the program and is very costly to implement. Also, job training programs, volunteering and education, unless in a degree program, generally don’t come with health insurance coverage, making this reasoning faulty.

    When Arkansas implemented Medicaid work requirements in 2018, despite the majority of enrollees already working, about 18,000 people lost coverage. The policy was poorly understood, and enrollees had trouble reporting their work activity. What’s more, the employment of low-income adults didn’t grow.

    Is Medicaid vulnerable to waste or fraud?

    Medicaid already spends less than Medicare or private health insurance per beneficiary. That includes spending on doctors, hospitals, medications and tests.

    The Government Accountability Office – an independent, nonpartisan government agency – has estimated that preventing payments which shouldn’t be made, or overpayments, could lead to $50 billion in federal savings per year. The GAO cautions that “not all improper payments are the result of fraud.” This significant sum is still nowhere near the scale of the cuts Republicans apparently want to make.

    Would Medicaid spending cuts be popular?

    That’s very unlikely.

    Polling and focus groups show that Medicaid is quite popular.

    More than half of Americans say that the government spends too little on Medicaid, and only 15% say spending is too high.

    We believe if Medicaid cuts were to be openly debated that members of Congress would be inundated with calls from constituents urging their lawmakers to oppose them. That is what happened in 2017, when the first Trump administration tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

    Should Medicaid be cut by anything close to $880 billion over the next decade, we’d expect to see millions of America’s poorest and most vulnerable people kicked out of the program and wind up uninsured. But that would only be the beginning of their problems. Uninsured people are more likely to wait too long before seeing a doctor when they get sick or injured, leading to worse health outcomes and widening the gaps in health between haves and have-nots.

    Paul Shafer receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Department of Veterans Affairs. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of these agencies or the United States government.

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

    – ref. GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard – https://theconversation.com/gop-lawmakers-commit-to-big-spending-cuts-putting-medicaid-under-a-spotlight-but-trimming-the-low-income-health-insurance-program-would-be-hard-250998

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: 93.7% York pupils get first choice of Secondary School

    Source: City of York

    Published Monday, 3 March 2025

    Secondary school admission figures for entry in September 2025 published today [3 March] reveal that 93.7% per cent of York children have been allocated their first preference of school

    Parents and carers who applied online can find out where their child has been allocated a place by logging into their parent portal account today via www.york.gov.uk/SecondarySchoolAdmissions.

    Parents who made written applications will receive a letter confirming their admission arrangements. Anyone who didn’t receive their first choice of school will also receive written confirmation.

    This year’s admissions figures, compared with last year’s are outlined below:

    2024

    2025

    Quantity

    %

    Quantity

    %

    1st Preference

    1809

    93.6%

    1794

    93.7%

    2nd Preference

    80

    4.1%

    78

    4.1%

    3rd Preference

    18

    0.9%

    12

    0.6%

    4th Preference

    2

    0.1%

    3

    0.2%

    5th Preference

    0

    0.0%

    1

    0.1%

    Non Preference

    23

    1.2%

    26

    1.4%

    Total

    1932

    100%

    1914

    100.0%

    Councillor Bob Webb, Executive Member for Education, Children and Young People, at City of York Council, said:

    Moving on to secondary school is an exciting time and I’m pleased that the vast majority of students in York have got into their first choice of school. I wish all the students moving on in September the best of luck. I know that York schools are committed to supporting your transition into big school.”

    Parents or carers whose children may be eligible for free school meals – one of a number of benefits that come with applying for the pupil premium – should apply through their online account at www.york.gov.uk/parentportal

    Assistance with school uniform costs for September may also available to pupils starting years 7 to 10 who are entitled to receive benefit based free school meals at non-academy schools. Further information about this, and who could be able to get free school meals, is available at www.york.gov.uk/FreeSchoolMeals

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Just One Day success

    Source: City of Leeds

    The Lord Mayor of Leeds Charity Appeal ‘Just One Day’ has been hailed a ‘great success’, after returning last Thursday (27 February) with the theme of ‘one day to play’.

    The event runs all year, but features a day where schools, universities, businesses and the public can spend the day, or any time they can spare, participating in fun activities to raise money for the Lord Mayor’s charity. 

    This year, the Lord Mayor, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung, chose the Leeds Community Foundation as her charity. 

    Leeds Community Foundation is an independent grant maker, collaborator, and leader that brings together organisations and individuals to invest in communities, building a fairer Leeds for everyone. The foundation’s funding helps community organisations to continue and expand their work, so they can reach more people and have a greater impact in our communities. 

    Together with her deep support for the Leeds Community Foundation, the Lord Mayor is passionate about improving mental health for children and young people in Leeds and believes that play is one way to do this.

    The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung, said: “Just One Day is a fantastic event raising much-needed funds for a local charity that does incredible work with community organisations throughout the city. 

    “We are thrilled to be working with Child Friendly Leeds this year to deliver the theme of ‘just one day to play’. Play is something that we have decided to prioritise because of its importance to the development of children and young people. Having the support of Child Friendly Leeds in Just One Day and to have specially developed lesson plans and resources has enhanced the event and brought the whole Leeds community together.

    “It’s been fabulous to watch the children playing and learning and the event has been a real success for all those who participated. 

    “Anyone can participate in Just One Day at any time of year. I encourage everyone, adults, and children alike, to take some playtime, get involved and raise money for a fantastic charity.”

    As a part of the day, the Lord Mayor visited two schools, Lane End Primary and Blenheim Primary, that recognise the importance of play, making their normal lessons more playful by adding extra playtime and dressing up just for fun! 

    The children at Lane End Primary donated to come to school wearing comfy clothes and be ready to add play into their curriculum. They had the opportunity to give feedback on their playful learning and how their school could be improved for play, which the headteacher plans to take to school governors.

    Lane End Primary headteacher, Jane Hopwood, said: “Lane End Primary School believes in the power of learning through play. 

    “Our children loved meeting the Lord Mayor and have been inspired to be playful throughout the day.  We’ve been problem solving, creating, and building outside in the sunshine at dinner time.  Staff and children also explored how to improve play in school and across the city and hope to invite the Lord Mayor back so she can hear our ideas.”

    Blenheim Primary also took part in the day. They turned their normal lessons into playful ones, creating nonsense poetry and poems about play which they read out to the Lord Mayor in a play-themed assembly.

    At lunchtime at the Civic Hall, the Lord Mayor attended a free food event provided by the charity, Rapid Relief Team, with the Leeds Community Foundation, where those taking food were asked to donate to Just One Day in place of payment.

    To find out more about how to take part in ‘Just One Day’ or to donate, please visit www.leeds.gov.uk/justoneday.

    To find out more about how Child Friendly Leeds is prioritising play in the city please visit Play | Child Friendly Leeds. To learn how to take part in ‘Just One Day’ or to donate, please visit www.leeds.gov.uk/justoneday.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Focusing on Technology”: Academic Council Discusses How to Develop Science at HSE

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    Meeting Academic Council of the National Research University Higher School of Economics February 26 was dedicated to science. The participants of the meeting discussed the results of the university’s scientific activities, the work of the postgraduate school and dissertation councils through the prism of the priorities of the country’s scientific and technological policy. In addition, a competition was held to fill the positions of professors and teachers.

    HSE Rector Nikita Anisimov gave a report on the scientific activities of HSE. He emphasized that HSE has established itself as a research university and that the further development of science should be inextricably linked with the tasks facing the country. They have been defined in key documents of the last two years, including decrees of the President of Russia on national goals, priority areas of scientific and technological development and the most important science-intensive technologies and other strategic development documents.

    In his report, Nikita Anisimov noted that changes that facilitate the integration of HSE into solving technological leadership problems are already underway at the university – in particular, new institutes and laboratories have been opened, partnerships with industry have been expanded, etc.

    It is important that HSE has managed to maintain the high quality of fundamental research. This is confirmed by the university’s position among Russian universities in terms of the number of scientific articles of the 1st level of the national “White List” indexed in databases: HSE ranks 2nd. The rector emphasized that this is the result of the motivation system created at the university – academic bonuses. Thus, in 2020, 1,050 employees received academic bonuses, in 2024 – 1,139.

    The rector noted that the volume of R&D at the university in 2024 amounted to more than 8.5 billion rubles, since 2020 it has grown by more than 3 billion rubles. HSE is among the top 3 universities in terms of R&D in Russia. The main topics of research and development at HSE are economic and social-humanitarian areas. To increase the contribution of the university team to solving the problems of technological leadership, the share of STEM topics in the HSE fundamental research program has been increased to 45% in 2026.

    While maintaining HSE’s integration into global science, the next step in the development of scientific activity is to concentrate efforts on technologies that are in demand by the state, society and business. It is necessary to move from individual research to large projects, from isolated fundamental research to full-cycle interdisciplinary projects, from integration into the global agenda to participation in its formation. “It is important for us that the scientific schools and teams of the university intensify their interaction with their industrial partners as much as possible,” the rector added.

    Head of the Academic Council Commission for the Organization of Scientific Research, Dean Faculty of Economic Sciences Sergey Pekarsky supported the theses proposed by the rector. In his opinion, everything that the university has achieved in recent years is important not only to preserve, but also to critically rethink and reconfigure in order to respond to modern challenges.

    About the activity postgraduate studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics said Vice-Rector Sergey Roshchin. Currently, the university has 1,317 postgraduate students, including 142 foreigners, 59 programs in 72 scientific specialties, 23 postgraduate schools. The unified track “Master’s degree – postgraduate study” is being successfully implemented. The effectiveness of postgraduate study (the share of those who defended their theses on time from the number of those accepted in the corresponding year) varies across faculties and subject schools, and it needs to be increased to 30% in 2026, including by increasing the responsibility of departments for the result.

    First Vice-Rector Vadim Radaev spoke about the dissertation councils of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. There are 21 dissertation councils at the HSE, including 369 permanent members, while dissertations are reviewed by committees consisting of 900 scientists, including 620 external ones. The number of defenses has increased from 71 in 2020 to 180 in 2024. The speaker described the new criteria for assessing the publications of applicants and members of dissertation councils introduced by the Higher Attestation Commission, and the corresponding adjustments that are coming at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

    The Academic Council meeting also held a competition for filling the positions of the teaching staff in the form of a secret ballot. Based on the results of the vote, a decision is made on whether to elect or not to the position; its results will be announced in the near future. Before the vote, Vice-Rector Alexey Koshel spoke about the main trends of the competition, and the head of the Academic Council Commission on Personnel and Awards Marina Oleshek reported on the results of its work and presented final recommendations. During the discussion, Vadim Radaev recommended paying more attention to the fight against grade inflation, and his position was supported by the Rector.

    Nikita Anisimov, HSE Academic Director Yaroslav Kuzminov and HSE President Alexander Shokhin presented honorary certificates from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science:

    Olga Afanasyeva, Deputy Dean Faculty of Creative Industries;

    To Daniel Karabekyan, Director of academic development;

    Igor Osipov, Deputy Director for operation and maintenance of buildings and structures;

    Natalia Malykhina, Acting Senior Director of HR;

    Rimma Pogodina, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Creative Industries;

    To Lyudmila Kuzmina, Associate Professor MIEM.

    Maxim Shkurnikov, Deputy Dean, received a letter of gratitude from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology. The honorary title “Honorary Lawyer of the City of Moscow” was awarded to Irina Bogdanovskaya, professor Faculty of Law.

    Director MIEF Sergey Yakovlev and his deputy Oleg Zamkov received HSE medals “Recognition – 25 years of successful work”, and employees Faculty of Computer Science Associate Professor Maxim Rakhuba and Senior Lecturer Sergei Samsonov received the “Young Scientist” badge.

    Nikita Anisimov congratulated his colleagues, awarded the medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” of the 2nd degree and awarded the title “Honored Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation” in January, as well as Vice-Rector Victoria Panova, in February received Badge of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    “Attention to people, assessment of their personal merits and the merits of those groups in which they have succeeded and received these awards is the most important part of the university’s life,” the rector concluded.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear Energy to Support Advanced Engineering Solutions and City University of New York on DOE SBIR Phase I Project Application for Microreactor Cooling and Smart Monitoring Technologies

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Project Would Investigate Advanced Decay Heat Removal Methods and a Smart Alarming System for Microreactor Transportation

    New York, N.Y., March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing clean energy solutions, today announced its support of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I application for a project in collaboration with the City University of New York – City College (CCNY) and Advanced Engineering Solutions LLC of Jersey City, New Jersey (AES). AES is headed by Dinesh Kalaga, Ph.D., a chemical engineer with experience on DOE funded projects, who would serve as the principal investigator of the project.

    The project, titled “Investigation of Microreactor Cooling and Development of a Smart Alarming System for Reactor Pressure Vessel Surface Temperature Monitoring,” is part of DOE’s Funding Opportunity Announcement and aims to develop advanced cooling techniques and monitoring systems for microreactor transport safety.

    Assuming SBIR Phase I approval and funding, the project will evaluate advanced Heat Pipes (HPs), Thermoelectric Cooling Modules, and Smart Alarming Systems as innovative solutions for managing decay heat during nuclear microreactor transportation. These technologies have the potential to evolve into a Type B-certified transport container with an integrated cooling system, ensuring the safe and efficient transportation of nuclear microreactors (including NANO Nuclear’s ZEUS microreactor in development) in compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations.

    Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. supports City University of New York and Advanced Engineering Solutions on for Microreactor Cooling and Smart Monitoring Technologies Supports For DOE SBIR Phase I Project

    “Our support of AES and CCNY represents an important step forward in addressing one of the most significant challenges facing microreactor deployment—the safe and efficient removal of decay heat during transport,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Reactor Development of NANO Nuclear Energy. “By leveraging advanced heat pipe technologies and smart monitoring systems, we aim to develop a first-of-its-kind transport system that will significantly enhance microreactor safety and regulatory compliance. As the microreactor industry continues to grow, solving transportation challenges is crucial to ensuring ultimate widespread deployment. NANO Nuclear’s involvement in this potential DOE-funded initiative reflects our dedication to advancing safe, efficient, and scalable microreactor technologies.”

    If funding from DOE is approved, the SBIR Phase I project will focus on:

    • Developing a Thermal Management System for microreactor transport containers using advanced Heat Pipes (HPs) and Thermoelectric Cooling Modules to remove decay heat passively and actively.
    • Creating a Smart Alarming System utilizing real-time monitoring sensors and computer vision technology to detect anomalies in temperature and pressure, enabling operators to take immediate corrective action.
    • Designing and testing a scaled-down prototype system at CCNY’s Thermal-Hydraulics Laboratory to validate performance and regulatory compliance.

    “This project aligns perfectly with our mission to pioneer the next generation of nuclear energy solutions, including those related to reactor transportation,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy. “A robust and regulatory-compliant transport system is essential for unlocking the full potential of microreactors. By working with AES and CCNY, we are taking proactive steps to ensure microreactors can be safely delivered to locations where they are needed most.”

    Microreactors are represent the cutting edge of innovation in nuclear energy, designed to provide clean, resilient power in remote locations, military bases, disaster relief operations, data centers and other industrial applications. However, once shut down, microreactors continue to generate decay heat, necessitating an advanced cooling system to prevent overheating during transport. By advancing the thermal management and monitoring technologies needed for microreactor transportation, the project will contribute to overcoming key deployment barriers, helping to accelerate the commercialization of microreactors. The successful completion of Phase I will pave the way for a Phase II expansion, where NANO Nuclear may actively collaborate with AES and CCNY in further development, including a full-scale prototype and real-world testing.

    “This collaboration with NANO Nuclear, CCNY and AES brings together leading research and industry expertise to tackle one of the most pressing issues in microreactor deployment,” said Dr. Carlos O. Maidana, Ph.D., NANO Nuclear’s Head of Thermal Hydraulics and Space Program. “Our approach integrates passive and active cooling technologies, ensuring that microreactors meet strict transportation safety requirements while maintaining operational reliability.”

    NANO Nuclear Energy’s suite of energy systems includes several next-generation microreactors in development. To support these technologies, NANO Nuclear is also leading efforts in domestic HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium) fuel development through its subsidiary, HALEU Energy Fuel Inc., ensuring a secure and sustainable fuel supply for microreactors. NANO Nuclear will continue to engage with government agencies, national laboratories, and industry leaders to drive innovation in nuclear energy solutions and is committed to developing innovative reactor technologies and infrastructure that support the necessary transition to clean nuclear energy solutions.

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across five business lines: (i) cutting edge portable and other microreactor technologies, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation, (iv) nuclear applications for space and (v) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s reactor products in development include “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors. NANO Nuclear is also developing patented stationary KRONOS MMR™ Energy System and space focused, portable LOKI MMR™.

    Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

    HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

    NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as the LOKI MMR™ system and other power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.

    For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

    For further NANO Nuclear information, please contact:

    Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
    Business Tel: (212) 634-9206

    PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:

    NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN
    NANO Nuclear Energy YOUTUBE
    NANO Nuclear Energy X PLATFORM

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. In this press release, forward-looking statements include those related to the SBIR application addressed herein and the anticipated benefits to NANO Nuclear of the research project described herein. These and other forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state or non-U.S. nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology and the acquisition of complimentary technology or businesses, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, regulatory delays, integration issues and the development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations or fund research (including SBIR applications and other government funding, which might not receive DOE approval), (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of U.S. and non-U.S. government regulation, policies and licensing requirements, including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the operating an early stage business a highly regulated and rapidly evolving industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Airship AI Reports Full Year 2024 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    2024 Net Revenue of $23.1 Million, an 87% Increase over FY 2023 Net Revenue of $12.3 Million

    No Debt on Balance Sheet Following Conversion of $2.8 million in Senior Secured Convertible Notes

    New Pro-U.S. Border Security Administration Provides Additional Macro Tailwinds for 2025 & Beyond

    REDMOND, Wash., March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Airship AI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AISP) (“Airship AI” or the “Company”), a leader in AI-driven video, sensor, and data management surveillance solutions, today reported its financial and operational results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024.

    FY 2024 Financial Highlights

    • Net revenues were $23.1 million.
    • Gross profit was $10.5 million.
    • Gross margin was 45.7%.
    • Operating loss was $3.5 million, which reflected increased stock-based compensation and transactions costs related to the merger and overall sales levels.

    FY 2024 Financial Highlights

    • Dramatic Revenue Growth: In 2024, Airship AI delivered 87% year-over-year (“YoY”) revenue growth, growing from $12.3 million to $23.1 million. Revenue growth was driven mainly by increased sales to federal government customers, with multiple large awards for cloud-based Acropolis offerings and edge-based Outpost AI appliances.
    • Steady Gross Profit Margin: Full year gross profit as of December 31, 2024 was $10.5 million, flat YoY, primarily due to the continued high percentages of third-party hardware sales as part of turn-key solutions bundled by Airship AI with Outpost AI included. The Company is already seeing the value of these seeding opportunities in awarded business as well as pipeline opportunity growth.
    • Significant Operational Improvements: Full year operating loss as of December 31, 2024 was $3.5 million as compared to a $6.6 million loss in 2024. Numerous one-time charges were incurred in 2024, resulting from transaction costs associated with the transition to a public company, conversion of a senior secured promissory note, and partial payments to the founders for previous advances.
    • Strengthened Balance Sheet: Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2024, was $11.4 million, along with $1.2 million in accounts receivable. With the conversion of issued senior secured convertible promissory notes of $2.8 million, Airship AI enters 2025 with no debt on the balance sheet.

    Q4 2024 & Subsequent Operational Highlights

    • Backlog as of December 31, 2024 was $5.5 million, including orders received late in the second half of 2024 that are expected to be delivered and invoiced across Q1 and Q2 of 2025. Backlog is not indicative of future quarterly revenue as approximately 75% of quarterly revenue is transactional and recognized in the same quarter.
    • Total validated pipeline at the year-end of 2024 was approximately $135 million, consisting of single and multi-year opportunities for AI-driven edge, video, and sensor and data management platform across all our customer verticals. The pipeline includes opportunities at varying stages of progression with expected award timeframes throughout the next 18-24 months.
    • Due to the sensitive nature of many customers and deployment use cases, the Company is often restricted from publicly disclosing awards and or limited as to the specifics of the customer and use case. Consequently, most awards are executed on closed or restricted contract vehicles, which further limits the sharing of information that might otherwise be available.
    • Multiple large contracts awarded throughout and/or subsequent to the quarter include but are not limited to:
      • $4.0 million firm-fixed price contract for an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), for advanced integrated solutions supporting real-time intelligence collection operations along the United States’ borders, leveraging the Company’s edge IoT appliance, Outpost AI.
      • $1.2 million firm-fixed price support and maintenance contract for our existing deployment of Acropolis Enterprise Video and Data Management Platform supporting a Fortune 100 Transportation and E-Commerce company’ global operations.
      • Follow-on seven-figure one (1) year system maintenance and sustainment contract for an existing Fortune 100 customer leveraging the Company’s Acropolis Enterprise Video and Data Management platform supporting operational and physical security requirements.
    • We began deploying new infrastructure supporting mission critical requirements along the U.S. southern border; follow-on work to our successful completion of a congressionally driven pilot opportunity earlier in the year. This follow-on work is in support of our single-largest opportunity, valued at more than $50 million over the next four (4) years. Estimated total contract value is conservatively based on data points from published market research, including size and scope, and pricing approved via awarded procurement efforts.
    • Completed $8.0 million at-the-market public offering with net proceeds to the Company of $7.0 million after deducting placement agent fees and offering expenses.
    • Hired new members of the team, at the C-Suite level and below, and promoted key members of the team to increasingly higher levels of strategic responsibility within the Company. Airship AI expects additional hires in 2025 in the sales and product development teams.
    • Launched a new routes-to-market strategy targeting business partners and resellers that are looking for differentiated alternatives in new verticals (for Airship AI) as well as partners that can help us scale more rapidly within existing verticals.
    • Put in place a marketing and branding campaign for 2025. This bifurcated plan is hyper focused on creating brand awareness in several new targeted verticals through a combination of partner and industry events, enabling partners to monetize that awareness through expanded routes to market.
    • We participated in JIFX, or Joint Interagency Field Exercise, an invite only event led by the Naval Post-Graduate School. The JIFX team leads experimentation in alternative methods to enable rapid technological development by cultivating a community of interest and hosting broadly scoped quarterly collaborative field events which enable the Department of Defense (“DoD”), the U.S. government, and allied stakeholders to identify, influence, and accelerate early-stage technology development that address national and collective security challenges.
    • We participated in TIDE, or Technology Innovation Discovery Event, an invite only DoD sponsored event that aims to help innovative small businesses and non-traditional DoD performers showcase new hardware and software technologies that can significantly improve existing software or meet new challenges in support of the National Defense Strategy.
    • We were a primary sponsor of and participant in UTAC, the premier unmanned aerial and robotic systems tactical event for Police, Public Safety, Government, and Defense agencies. UTAC is a fully immersive training event where public safety, government, enterprise, and defense operators gather to learn best practices, establish procedures, and gain experience with the latest innovations in unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime systems along augmenting technical solutions.

    Capital Markets Update:

    • Participated at the 13th Annual ROTH Technology Conference and the Benchmark 13th Annual Discovery One-on-One Conference.
    • Benchmark Company initiated coverage of Airship AI on November 13, 2024, with a Buy rating and price target of $6.

    2025 Outlook

    • 2025 net revenues of approximately $30 million, reflecting 30% revenue growth YoY, supported by a strong and validated pipeline of ~$135 million, improving gross profit margins, and a strong recurring revenue model.
    • Positive cash flow from business operations for the full year.
    • Expand AI offerings at the edge running on our Outpost AI platform and announce new offerings running at the datacenter level or in the cloud that increase customer operational efficiency using existing sources of data.
    • Continued innovation across our core Acropolis software platform supporting new workflows for on-premises and cloud-based deployments in highly secure operational environments.
    • Announce new offerings around our Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) called Evidence Discovery Server (EDS) supporting stand-alone operations as well as integrations with other leading DEMS platforms.
    • Continue the digital transformation of our back-office operations to improve supply chain management and production-based process efficiencies to help drive continued margin expansion.
    • Launch new AI based offerings supporting partner engagement, training, and support as part of our larger strategy to provide differentiated offerings to those existing and to be recruited business partners and resellers.
    • Targeted focus on brand awareness and engagement in new verticals through targeted marketing outreach opportunities, social media platforms, Airship AI hosted technology events, and industry tradeshow events.

    Management Commentary

    “The past year has been an exciting journey as we completed our first full year as a public company amid significant shifts in domestic and global economic, social, and political landscapes,” said Paul Allen, President of Airship AI. “With this dynamic backdrop, we set ambitious goals for 2024, focusing on substantial revenue growth and strengthening our balance sheet to position the business for positive cash flow operations. The great news is that we made meaningful progress on both the top and bottom lines. We delivered 87% year-over-year revenue growth of $23.1 million at a gross margin of 46%. We ended the year with $11.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.2 million in accounts receivable.

    “Our recently completed capital raise has significantly enhanced our ability to execute many of the anticipated large transactions in our pipeline, particularly those involving substantial up-front costs of goods sold. The capital raise has also enabled us to expand our sales, business development, and partner marketing capabilities by bringing in specialized industry expertise and experience in managing these large-scale defense programs. We have already made progress toward this objective with the addition of several high-caliber team members, and we are in the process of bringing on even more talent to further strengthen our capabilities.

    “As we entered 2025, we have a new administration in place that has stressed from day one that the focus is going to be on securing the border and strengthening public safety and security across the homeland. While the safety of the homeland has and should always be a bi-partisan issue, the approach to how it is done varies. The new administration has made clear many of its policies and approaches to this problem already, with technology itself and technology-based solutions playing a key role in most if not all of them. Specifically, the January 20th Secure Our Borders Executive Order states that the United States will establish a physical wall and other barriers monitored and supported by adequate personnel and technology.

    “To that point, we remain under the cloud of Continuing Resolution, which affects the whole of government to fund its ability to execute daily, at least beyond that which it was approved to do so the prior year. While the budget to fund this and other related activities is being addressed, we remain engaged with our customers already focused on these challenges, engagement which includes already funded efforts or those which are already budgeted.

    “While we are heavily focused on the agencies directly tasked to solve these challenges, we also have a larger existing business with other agencies and commercial customers that we remain focused on as well. These customers are involved daily in similarly protecting the homeland, ranging from countering the illegal trafficking of narcotics with a focus on fentanyl, protecting critical infrastructure such as courthouses, office buildings, and sensitive sites, and enforcing the laws of the land on the streets of mainstream America.

    “With the work we have already done, and the relationships we have established, we believe we are well positioned in 2025 and for the next several years to be an integral part of providing a solution for a well-defined and challenging problem that impacts every one of our shareholders.

    “Lastly, we look forward to seeing some of you at our upcoming Analyst Technology Showcase on Friday, March 14, 2025, in Dripping Springs, Texas,” concluded Mr. Allen.

    About Airship AI Holdings, Inc.

    Founded in 2006, Airship AI (NASDAQ: AISP) is a U.S. owned and operated technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Airship AI is an AI-driven video, sensor and data management surveillance platform that improves public safety and operational efficiency for public sector and commercial customers by providing predictive analysis of events before they occur and meaningful intelligence to decision makers. Airship AI’s product suite includes Outpost AI edge hardware and software offerings, Acropolis enterprise management software stack, and Command family of visualization tools.

    For more information, visit https://airship.ai.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    The disclosure herein includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, (1) statements regarding estimates and forecasts of financial, performance and operational metrics and projections of market opportunity; (2) changes in the market for Airship AI’s services and technology, expansion plans and opportunities; (3) the projected technological developments of Airship AI; and (4) current and future potential commercial and customer relationships. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Airship AI’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are also subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, as set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 28, 2025, and the other documents that the Company has filed, or will file, with the SEC. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. In addition, forward looking statements reflect the Company’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its assessments to change. However, while it may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.

    Investor Contact:

    Chris Tyson/Larry Holub
    MZ North America
    949-491-8235
    AISP@mzgroup.us

    AIRSHIP AI HOLDINGS, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    As of December 31, 2024 and 2023
        December
    31, 2024    		     December
    31, 2023    		  
    ASSETS            
                 
    CURRENT ASSETS:            
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 11,414,830     $ 3,124,413  
    Accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses of $0     1,226,757       1,648,904  
    Prepaid expenses and other     17,883       18,368  
    Income tax receivable     –       7,230  
    Total current assets     12,659,470       4,798,915  
                     
    PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET     –       1,861  
                     
    OTHER ASSETS                
    Other assets     165,960       182,333  
    Operating lease right of use asset     882,024       1,104,804  
                     
    TOTAL ASSETS   $ 13,707,454     $ 6,087,913  
                     
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT                
                     
    CURRENT LIABILITIES:                
    Accounts payable – trade   $ 759,480     $ 2,908,472  
    Advances from founders     1,300,000       1,750,000  
    Accrued expenses     51,649       200,531  
    Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Notes     –       2,825,366  
    Current portion of operating lease liability     305,178       174,876  
    Deferred revenue- current portion     3,238,483       4,008,654  
    Total current liabilities     5,654,790       11,867,899  
                     
    NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES:                
    Operating lease liability, net of current portion     638,525       943,702  
    Warrant liability     34,180,618       667,985  
    Earnout liability     23,304,808       5,133,428  
    Deferred revenue- non-current     2,951,850       4,962,126  
    Total liabilities     66,730,591       23,575,140  
                     
    COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 9)                
                     
    STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT:                
    Preferred stock – no par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, 0 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023     –       –  
    Common stock – $0.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized, 30,588,413 and 22,812,048 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and 2023     3,056       2,281  
    Additional paid in capital     21,918,867       –  
    Accumulated deficit     (74,941,590 )     (17,476,700 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss     (3,470 )     (12,808 )
    Total stockholders’ deficit     (53,023,137 )     (17,487,227 )
                     
    TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT   $ 13,707,454     $ 6,087,913  
    AIRSHIP AI HOLDINGS, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME
    For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
        Year Ended     Yar Ended  
        December
    31, 2024    		     December
    31, 2023    		  
    NET REVENUES:            
    Product   $ 18,716,196     $ 7,439,045  
    Post contract support     4,334,017       4,692,487  
    Other services     –       168,052  
     Revenues     23,050,213       12,299,584  
    COST OF NET REVENUES:                
    Cost of Sales     10,843,766       4,767,159  
    Post contract support     1,679,692       1,681,267  
    Other services     –       86,841  
     Cost of revenue     12,523,458       6,535,267  
    GROSS PROFIT     10,526,755       5,764,317  
    RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EXPENSES     2,804,894       2,729,492  
    SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES     11,226,974       9,675,190  
    TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES     14,031,868       12,404,682  
    OPERATING LOSS     (3,505,113 )     (6,640,365 )
    OTHER (EXPENSE) INCOME:                
    (Loss) gain from change in fair value of earnout liability     (18,171,380 )     21,976,349  
    (Loss) gain from change in fair value of warrant liability     (33,512,633 )     1,341,120  
    Loss from change in fair value of convertible debt     (141,636 )     (240,784 )
    Loss on note conversion     (1,144,676 )     –  
    Interest expense, net     (1,003,096 )     (55,685 )
    Other income (expense)     13,644       (9,501 )
    Total other (expense) income, net     (53,959,777 )     23,011,499  
                     
    (LOSS) INCOME BEFORE PROVISON FOR INCOME TAXES     (57,464,890 )     16,371,134  
                     
    Provision for income taxes     –       –  
                     
    NET (LOSS) INCOME     (57,464,890 )     16,371,134  
                     
    OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)                
    Foreign currency translation income (loss), net     9,338       (2,702 )
                     
    TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME   $ (57,455,552 )   $ 16,368,432  
                     
    NET (LOSS) INCOME PER SHARE:                
    Basic   $ (2.34 )   $ 1.20  
    Diluted   $ (2.34 )   $ 0.80  
                     
    Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding                
    Basic     24,585,955       13,671,376  
    Diluted     24,585,955       20,390,663  
    AIRSHIP AI HOLDINGS, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
        Year Ended     Year Ended  
        December
    31, 2024    		     December
    31, 2023    		  
                 
    CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:            
    Net loss   $ (57,464,890 )   $ 16,371,134  
    Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities                
    Depreciation and amortization     1,861       14,879  
    Stock-based compensation     1,078,344       715,727  
    Stock-based compensation- warrants     284,478       2,136,115  
    Amortization of operating lease right of  use asset     222,780       596,556  
    Accelerated amortization of ROU asset – lease termination     –       265,130  
    Gain from lease termination     –       (344,093 )
    Issuance of common stock for services     198,500       –  
    Noncash interest expense     1,008,419       –  
    Loss (gain) from change in fair value of warrant liability     33,512,633       (1,341,120 )
    Loss (gain) from change in fair value of earnout liability     18,171,380       (21,976,349 )
    Loss from change in fair value of convertible note     141,636       240,784  
    Loss on note conversion     1,144,676       –  
    Non cash interest, net     –       65,487  
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:                
    Accounts receivable     422,147       (943,152 )
    Prepaid expenses and other     485       (2,329 )
    Other assets     16,373       (182,333 )
    Operating lease liability     (174,875 )     (531,621 )
    Payroll and income tax receivable     7,230       960,383  
    Accounts payable – trade and accrued expenses     (2,294,698 )     666,136  
    Deferred revenue     (2,780,447 )     (2,667 )
    NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES     (6,503,968 )     (3,291,333 )
                     
    CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:                
    Issuance of common stock and warrants for offering, net     7,290,000       –  
    Proceeds from convertible promissory note     –       2,584,582  
    Proceeds from warrant exercise, net     7,704,540       –  
    Advances from founders, net     (450,000 )     1,150,000  
    Proceeds from reverse recapitalization     –       2,809,792  
    Proceeds from stock option exercises     240,507       –  
    Repayment of small business loan and line of credit     –       (424,540 )
                     
    NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES     14,785,047       6,119,834  
                     
    NET INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS     8,281,079       2,828,501  
                     
    Effect from exchange rate on cash     9,338       (2,702 )
                     
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period     3,124,413       298,614  
                     
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period   $ 11,414,830     $ 3,124,413  
                     
    Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:                
    Interest paid   $ 11,913     $ 21,438  
    Taxes paid   $ 2,410     $ 17,247  
                     
    Noncash investing and financing                
    Elimination of advances to founders in connection with contribution of Zeppelin by shareholders   $ –     $ 1,100,000  
    Elimination of payables to founders in connection with contribution of Zeppelin by shareholders   $ –     $ 1,100,000  
    Issuance of common stock for debt interest payment   $ 1,008,442     $ –  
    Issuance of common stock for debt conversion   $ 4,114,831     $ –  
    Recognition of warrant liability   $ –     $ 15,418  
    Recognition of right-of-use asset   $ –     $ 1,162,152  
    Recognition of operating lease liability   $ –     $ 1,162,152  
    Noncash activity related to Merger-                
    Recognition of warrant liability   $ –     $ 2,009,105  
    Recognition of earnout liability   $ –     $ 27,109,777  
    Recognition of accounts payable   $ –     $ 1,500,000  

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How are clouds’ shapes made? A scientist explains the different cloud types and how they help forecast weather

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ross Lazear, Instructor in Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York

    Lenticular clouds, like this one over a mountain in Chile, can look like flying saucers. Bilderbuch/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

    “How are clouds’ shapes made?” – Amanda, age 5, Chile

    I’m a meteorologist, and I’ve been fascinated by weather since I was 8 years old. I grew up in Minnesota, where the weather changes from wind-whipping blizzards in winter to severe thunderstorms – sometimes with tornadoes – in the summer. So, it’s not all that surprising that I’ve spent most of my life looking at clouds.

    All clouds form as a result of saturation – that’s when the air contains so much water vapor that it begins producing liquid or ice.

    Once you understand how certain clouds develop their shapes, you can learn to forecast the weather.

    Cloud types show their general heights.
    Australian Bureau of Meteorology

    Cotton ball cumulus clouds

    Clouds that look like cartoon cotton balls or cauliflower are made up of tiny liquid water droplets and are called cumulus clouds.

    Often, these are fair-weather clouds that form when the Sun warms the ground and the warm air rises. You’ll often see them on humid summer days.

    Cumulus clouds over Lander, Wyo.
    Ross Lazear, CC BY-ND

    However, if the air is particularly warm and humid, and the atmosphere above is much colder, cumulus clouds can rapidly grow vertically into cumulonimbus. When the edges of these clouds look especially crisp, it’s a sign that heavy rain or snow may be imminent.

    Wispy cirrus are ice clouds

    When cumulonimbus clouds grow high enough into the atmosphere, the temperature becomes cold enough for ice clouds, or cirrus, to form.

    Clouds made up entirely of ice are usually more transparent. In some cases, you can see the Sun or Moon through them.

    Cirrus clouds over the roof of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
    Ross Lazear, CC BY-ND

    Cirrus clouds that forms atop a thunderstorm spread outward and can form anvil clouds. These clouds flatten on top as they reach the stratosphere, where the atmosphere begins to warm with height.

    However, most cirrus clouds aren’t associated with storms at all. There are many ice clouds associated with tranquil weather that are simply regions of the atmosphere with more moisture but not precipitation.

    Fog and stratus clouds

    Clouds are a result of saturation, but saturated air can also exist at ground level. When this occurs, we call it fog.

    In temperatures below freezing, fog can actually deposit ice onto objects at or near the ground, called rime ice.

    Reading clouds, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    When clouds form thick layers, we add the word “stratus,” or “layer,” to the name. Stratus can occur just above the ground, or a bit higher up – we call it altostratus then. It can occur even higher and become cirrostratus, or a layer or ice clouds.

    If there’s enough moisture and lift, stratus clouds can create rain or snow. These are nimbostratus.

    How mountains can create their own clouds

    There are a number of other unique and beautiful cloud types that can form as air rises over mountain slopes and other topography.

    Lenticular clouds, for example, can look like flying saucers hovering just above, or near, mountaintops. Lenticular clouds can actually form far from mountains, as wind over a mountain range creates an effect like ripples in a pond.

    A banner cloud appears to stream out from the Matterhorn, in the Alps on the border between Italy and Switzerland.
    Zacharie Grossen via Wikimedia, CC BY

    Rarer are banner clouds, which form from horizontally spinning air on one side of a mountain.

    Wind plays a big role

    You might have looked up at the sky and noticed one layer of clouds moving in a different direction from another. Clouds move along with the wind, so what you’re seeing is the wind changing direction with height.

    Cirrus clouds at the level of the jet stream – often about 6 miles (10 kilometers), above the ground – can sometimes move at over 200 miles per hour (320 kilometers per hour). But because they are so high up, it’s often hard to tell how fast they are moving.

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

    – ref. How are clouds’ shapes made? A scientist explains the different cloud types and how they help forecast weather – https://theconversation.com/how-are-clouds-shapes-made-a-scientist-explains-the-different-cloud-types-and-how-they-help-forecast-weather-247682

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By G. Patrick O’Brien, Assistant Teaching Professor of History, University of Tampa

    Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the specter of annexing Canada since his inauguration to a second term as president.

    The president’s rhetoric about making Canada “the 51st state” may seem to project confidence, a 21st-century vision of manifest destiny, a belief in the United States’ right and obligation to expand.

    Trump is not the first American leader to dream of northern expansion. To me, a historian of early U.S.-Canadian relations, these designs suggest not power, but weakness and simmering divisions inside the United States.

    Early Americans’ lust for Canada

    Even before independence, social conflict helped turn American eyes northward. Throughout the 18th century, England’s Colonial population in North America doubled every 25 years. Successive generations of Colonists along the Eastern Seaboard had to compete with each other, and with Indigenous people, for resources, arable land and trade.

    These unhappy, land-hungry Colonists clamored for expansion, instigating a series of wars against both the French and Spanish empires for control of the northeastern half of the continent, culminating in the French and Indian War, from 1754 to 1763.

    While these Colonists were animated by their thirst for expansion, they had little else unifying them. Many Americans today are familiar with the “Join, or Die” cartoon Ben Franklin printed, featuring a segmented snake with each section representing one of the Colonies. However, few realize that it was not crafted during the Revolution to unite Colonists against Britain, but in 1754, to rally divided British Colonists in their war against France.

    This famous image urging the American Colonies to unite was in support of a war against France, not Britain.
    Benjamin Franklin via Wikimedia Commons

    Britain finished conquering Canada in 1763, but the empire never fully supported Colonial expansion northward. In the 1750s and 1760s, British troops forcibly removed French colonists from Acadia in Nova Scotia and recruited thousands of Colonists from neighboring New England to move north. These settlers had long imagined the region rich in fishing and timber to be a land of opportunity. But disillusioned by the financial cost of sustaining their settlements, many of these Colonists returned to New England by the early 1770s.

    Attempts to settle other lands ceded by France were no more successful. Fearful that Colonists might provoke a costly war with Indigenous people, Parliament issued the Proclamation of 1763, which attempted to protect native land by discouraging Colonial expansion westward. Many Colonists turned against Britain in response, especially those like George Washington, who had speculated in the land west of the Appalachian Mountains.

    The failed invasion of Canada

    In the earliest months of the Revolution, the Continental Congress authorized an American invasion of British-occupied Quebec. In a letter addressed to “Friends and Brethren” of Canada, Washington himself implored Canadians to join invading troops. “The Cause of America, and of Liberty, is the Cause of every virtuous American Citizen,” he wrote. “Come then, ye generous Citizens, range yourselves under the Standard of general Liberty.”

    But at home, Colonists were far from united in their rebellion. Historians estimate that around 20% of the white Colonial population, more than 500,000 people, remained loyal to Britain, and an even larger number hoped to remain neutral.

    The difficult realities of conquest also turned many soldiers against the invasion of Canada. In late October 1775, nearly a quarter of the underfed and overworked troops under the command of soon-to-be turncoat Benedict Arnold abandoned their arduous journey through interior Maine toward Canada. The soldiers who carried on prayed these deserters “might die by the way, or meet with some disaster, Equal to the Cowardly dastardly and unfriendly Spirit they discover’d in returning Back without orders.”

    The more resilient troops who reached Quebec were emphatically defeated by British forces in December, making Washington skeptical of any future efforts to attack Canada.

    American troops clash with British soldiers and the French defenders of Quebec in December 1775.
    Charles William Jefferys, cover art for ‘The Father of British Canada: A Chronicle of Carleton,’ Volume 12 by William Wood, 1916

    19th-century divisions

    Following American independence, tens of thousands of loyal Colonists sailed north to Canada, determined to build British colonies that would become what one of these refugees called “the envy of the American States.” Their presence on the contested northern border was an unsettling reminder to the new American nation about the power Britain still exerted on the continent.

    Conflict with Britain over land and trade in the early 1800s reopened old divisions among Americans. Virginia Congressman John Randolph expressed his frustrations with renewed calls for a northern invasion. “We have but one word, like the whip-poor-will, but one eternal monstrous tone,” an exasperated Randolph noted, “Canada! Canada! Canada!”

    The debate over Canada was one of many issues dividing the nation, and as President James Madison would later explain, he hoped that war would help unify a polarized nation. His gamble paid off, but only after opponents from New England flirted with the idea of secession to negotiate their own end to conflict.

    When the popular editor and columnist John O’Sullivan called for the annexation of Texas and war with Mexico in 1845, he also suggested the annexation of Canada would naturally follow. The anti-expansionist response united pacifists, abolitionists and a variety of religious and literary figures, helping deepen the divides that would lead to the Civil War.

    Annexation talk in the 20th century

    Trump’s posturing has served to unite Canadians and revive Canadian nationalism. In the U.S., most people seem to understand the practical hurdles of adding a new state or dismiss the idea altogether.

    A Canadian demonstrates in Washington, D.C., against President Donald Trump’s policies on Feb. 17, 2025.
    Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    One example of annexation talk from the 20th century, however, might serve as a warning to Trump, showing how aggressive rhetoric toward Canada has led to political defeat. In 1911, a bill creating free trade with Canada passed Congress with the support of President William Taft, despite objections from protectionists in both parties.

    In an attempt to have the agreement defeated in the Canadian Parliament, U.S. opponents from both sides of the aisle attempted to stir popular sentiment against the U.S. in Canada. Champ Clark, the Democratic speaker of the House and a front-runner for the presidential nomination in 1912, seized on the moment.

    “I hope to see the day when the American flag will float over every square foot of the British North American possessions, clear to the North Pole,” Champ proclaimed on the House floor. William Stiles Bennet, a Republican, proposed a resolution that would authorize the president to begin negotiations for annexation.

    Their approach to defeating the trade agreement worked, at least in Canada. In the general election of September 1911, worried Canadian voters ousted the Liberal Party, which had supported free trade, and the new Conservative majority rejected the agreement.

    Back home, however, the plan backfired. Woodrow Wilson, not Clark, secured the Democratic nomination in 1912 and would go on to defeat both the incumbent Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt. The bluster led not to success and victory, but loss and defeat.

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

    – ref. America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures – https://theconversation.com/americas-designs-on-annexing-canada-have-a-long-history-and-record-of-political-failures-250229

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –