NewzIntel.com

Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Ukraine/Russia: Three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, justice for victims must be a global priority 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and amid the start of U.S.-Russia peace talks, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:  

    “At a time when the US President is seeking to re-write the history of the last decade, and particularly of the last three years, the 3rd anniversary of the Russian aggression is a stark reminder of how much the people of Ukraine have endured and lost; of the devastation that Russia has waged against Ukraine.” 

    “Any negotiations over the future of the people of Ukraine must prioritize justice for all crimes under international law committed since Russia’s military intervention in 2014, accountability for those responsible, and reparations for victims of Russia’s aggression. Past suffering, including deadly Russian airstrikes on civilians and the forcible transfer of children to Russia, must not be forgotten or left unaddressed. Those most impacted by Russia’s war of aggression must have their voices heard and their needs met, and any negotiated outcome that does not account for this will fail in the long-term. 

    “On the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, we demand justice, accountability, and reparation – as well as meaningful participation in the peace process – for the Ukrainian civilians abducted by Russian security services, prisoners of war tortured and unlawfully convicted, children threatened for studying Ukrainian online, teachers in Russian-occupied Ukraine subjected to forced labour in schools reopened under a Russian curriculum, and Crimean Tatars and other minorities who face brutal suppression as Russia seeks to alter the demographics of occupied territories. Without ending these ongoing violations immediately and strong guarantees for justice, a rushed ‘peace deal’ will only prolong their suffering and ensure impunity for the perpetrators of heinous rights violations. 

    “U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said last week that President Trump wants to end the war in a way that is sustainable and enduring. A genuine commitment by President Trump to securing lasting peace in Ukraine must be delivered not in words but in actions – including supporting all possible avenues for real justice and accountability for those suspected of war crimes and all crimes under international law.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: India’s technological sector is on rise & is expected to reach $300-350 billion in next five years: Raksha Mantri at 16th Foundation Day of IIT Mandi

    Source: Government of India

    India’s technological sector is on rise & is expected to reach $300-350 billion in next five years: Raksha Mantri at 16th Foundation Day of IIT Mandi

    “Biggest challenge today is to not only adapt to the rapidly changing technology, but also to create new technologies. Don’t just be adapters; become the disruptors who lead innovation”

    Posted On: 24 FEB 2025 3:22PM by PIB Delhi

    “India’s technological sector is on the rise and is expected to reach 300-350 US billion dollars in the next five years. With more than 1.25 lakh start-ups and 110 unicorns, our country is emerging as the third-largest start up ecosystem in the world,” highlighted Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh while addressing the 16th Foundation Day of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, Himachal Pradesh on February 24, 2025. He encouraged the students to leverage this period of growth and opportunity, ensuring that they not only contribute to India’s technological advancements but also lead the way globally in key areas of research and development. 

    Shri Rajnath Singh emphasised the necessity of innovation and knowledge creation in shaping the future of technology. He underscored the importance of fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation that would allow India to lead in emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and digital technologies. He lauded the institution’s outstanding contributions to shaping India’s technological and scientific advancements. He also highlighted IIT Mandi’s pivotal role in fostering innovation and research, and laid stress on India’s rising prominence as a global leader in technology. 

    In the context of national security, Shri Rajnath Singh urged IIT Mandi to play a more significant role in defence-related technologies. He commended the existing collaboration with DRDO and called for further contributions in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven warfare, indigenous AI chip development, cybersecurity, and quantum technology. 

    Raksha Mantri also threw light on India’s progress in defence self-reliance, highlighting that “India has achieved 88% self-sufficiency in ammunition production, and defence exports have reached approximately Rs 23,000 crore in 2023-24. Our goal is to reach Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029.” He bolstered the government’s commitment in creating a robust defence industry in India, one that supports both the security of the nation and contributes to the country’s economic growth. He called on IIT Mandi’s students to contribute to this vision by focusing on technological solutions that can enhance India’s defence capabilities and further advance the nation’s self-reliance in this critical sector. 

    In line with India’s emerging digital economy, Shri Rajnath Singh shared key highlights on the country’s remarkable digital progress. “India’s telecom sector is now the second-largest in the world. With the success of initiatives like UPI, India is setting global standards in digital transactions. We are in the midst of an unparalleled digital revolution,” he said. He encouraged the students to actively contribute to the development of India’s digital ecosystem, reiterating that technological innovation is central to India’s growth story in the coming decades. 

    Further urging the students to excel in technological innovation in order to make the country developed by 2047, Raksha Mantri advised them to follow the principles of Initiate, Improve, and Transform (IIT). Shri Rajnath Singh also motivated them to be bold in their pursuit of knowledge and to remain persistent in the face of challenges. He also spoke about the need for courage and resilience as the country faced the challenges of the future, and highlighted the importance of working collectively to address national challenges with technology and innovation. 

     Shri Rajnath Singh also encouraged the students to be disruptors and not just adapters in the fast-paced world of technology. “The biggest challenge today is to adapt to the rapidly changing technology, but also to create new technologies. Don’t just be adapters; become the disruptors who lead innovation,” he added. He spoke about the significant opportunities available to young innovators, stressing the importance of shaping new paradigms rather than simply following existing trends. Raksha Mantri further stated that this is the time of the ‘Indian Dream’—a time where the aspirations and achievements can redefine the global landscape. He motivated the students to set ambitious goals and to aim high in their careers, as their work would have a lasting impact on India’s trajectory in this landscape. 

    Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated IIT Mandi on its achievements stating that “In the last 15 years, the institution has secured a distinguished place on the educational map, not only of India but the world. It is a perfect blend of ancient heritage and modern technological education.” He mentioned the region’s rich historical significance, emphasising that the existence of IIT Mandi at such a culturally and historically enriched location symbolises the union of antiquity and modernity. He further expressed confidence that the institution, with its strong foundation in academics, research, and innovation, would continue to make significant contributions to both India’s growth & global technological advancement. 

    Raksha Mantri inaugurated two new buildings, the Guidance & Counselling Centre and the Centre for Continuing Education during the event. Both buildings are designed to enhance the academic ecosystem and contribute to the personal and professional growth of the students and faculty. These additions will provide much-needed infrastructure to support the holistic development of students and ensure their success in the rapidly changing world of technology and innovation. “These new centres will play a crucial role in supporting students, faculty, and researchers, further strengthening IIT Mandi’s contribution to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Management,” he stated. 

    ***

    SR/KB

    (Release ID: 2105733) Visitor Counter : 87

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Schools participate in Anti-“Space Oil Drug” Week campaign (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Anti-“Space Oil Drug” Week campaign, co-organised by the Narcotics Division (ND) of the Security Bureau and the Education Bureau (EDB), is being held in all schools in Hong Kong this week from February 24 to 28. The campaign aims to enhance the correct understanding among students of the harm of the “space oil drug” and strengthen their resolve to stay away from drugs. Diverse learning activities will be held in schools, including talks, anti-drug videos and drama shows, as well as dissemination of anti-“space oil drug” messages in class.
     
         A spokesperson from the ND said, “The EDB has produced and uploaded anti-‘space oil drug’ life event examples and a music video entitled ‘Building Our Dreams – Let’s Knock Drugs Out’, and has issued a circular informing schools of the relevant resources produced by various government departments for reference and deployment. The ND has also provided anti-‘space oil drug’ publicity materials to schools. Following the campaign, the Government will continue to incorporate knowledge about combating the ‘space oil drug’ in preventive education and publicity in schools. We also welcome schools to arrange visits for students to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre.”
     
         A spokesperson from the EDB emphasised, “The EDB has always attached importance to the cultivating of correct values and positive life attitudes among students, guiding them to practice lawful and appropriate behavior, and establishing healthy lifestyles. We encourage schools to teach students to stay away from the ‘space oil drug’ through learning activities of the campaign, and work together to protect our next generation from the harm of drugs. We also urge teachers, school social workers and parents to work hand in hand. If they notice any signs of drug use among students, they should refer the students to suitable counselling and treatment programmes.”
     
         Action Committee Against Narcotics member Dr Rizwan Ullah, who is also an education worker, agreed that schools must take actions to remind students of the harm of the “space oil drug” and educate students in ways to resist drug temptations in schools. Dr Ullah said, “Drug problems may appear in any school, and the school sector must take the initiative to deal with it. The Anti-‘Space Oil Drug’ Week provides an opportunity for schools to intensively educate their students about the harm of drugs and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. I noticed that some schools are actively holding activities under the campaign, and also joining hands with others in the community to safeguard schools from drugs. Indeed, everyone can make a contribution to the anti-drug cause.”
     
         Students or others who face issues related to the “space oil drug” or have other drug problems can contact professional social workers for information or assistance through WhatsApp or WeChat at 98 186 186, or call the 24-hour hotline at 186 186.      

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Students of the State University of Management are the winners of the international festival of social projects Media game

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    A record number of student teams from the State University of Management became winners and prize winners of the international student festival of social projects Media game.

    Let us recall that the Media Game festival is the successor of the Media Class festival, which has a quarter-century history. This year the festival was held at the RSUH site.

    Students of the State University of Management majoring in Advertising and Public Relations annually take an active part in the festival, preparing and presenting socially oriented projects.

    We present the winners of this year’s festival and share their comments on their participation.

    Nomination “Audio”

    1st place – project “Don’t forget your elderly relatives”. Authors: Denisov Dmitry, Polyakov Pavel, Gubatov Riad, Lozovsky Viktor (students of the group “PNB 3-1”). Leader – Timokhovich Alexandra.

    “Our project is dedicated to an acute social problem, when grandchildren and children forget about their elderly relatives, do not pay them due attention and care. We chose this topic for the development of the project because of its non-standard nature, also this topic is not so well covered in the media, in social advertising. Our team consisted of an ideological leader, actors and a sound engineer. Using a microphone, we recorded the characters’ lines, adding emotions of tragedy and a sad atmosphere in post-processing to convey the main message to the audience: do not forget to visit your elderly, do not deprive them of social contacts!”, – urged Dmitry Denisov.

    2nd place – project “Mental Health in a Metropolis”. Authors: Valeria Krasnozhen, Kristina Ovakyan (students of the “RISSO 3-2” group). Leader – Olga Vasilyeva. 3rd place – project “Become a Guiding Star”. Authors: Vlada Sudakova, Anna Shorokhova (students of the “RISSO 3-1” group). Leader – Olga Vasilyeva.

    Nomination “Comprehensive social project”

    1st place – the project “Cybersafe”. Authors: Larisa Timofeeva, Tatyana Letunova, Anna Shorokhova (students of the “RISSO 3-1” group). Supervisor – Alexandra Timokhovich.

    “Cybersecurity is a very relevant issue today, because every day the Internet penetrates our lives more and more, and some layers of society, for example, the elderly or children, do not know how to properly handle their data on the global network, which resources are worth trusting and which are not. The final of our work were two series of advertising posters: one series is made in an animation style, the other – in the style of realism, in order to spread the influence to all possible target audiences. Our team was happy to work on the project, because the topic is close to us, it was even more joyful to receive 1st place for the work!”, – admitted Anna Shorohova.

    1st place – project “Violation of women’s labor rights”. Author: Vlada Sudakova (student of the “RISSO 3-1” group). Supervisor – Alexandra Timokhovich.

    “Spontaneity is gold: when I submitted my projects to the competition, I couldn’t even imagine that I would become a winner in two nominations at once. The result of my hard work was my first award and two wonderful diplomas, as well as a sea of positive emotions. I liked the festival itself: interesting nominations, master classes by advertising business practitioners, a solemn atmosphere when announcing the results. This is the most sincere and comfortable festival in terms of organization: unforgettable impressions!”, – shared Vlada Sudakova.

    1st place – project “Find your place”. Authors: Veronika Aparina, Anna Vaslyaeva, Ksenia Ignatyeva, Sofia Mazeina (students of the “RISSO 3-1” group). Leader – Elena Dianina.

    “Working on the project, we thought for a long time about how to help schoolchildren choose a university and profession, since we also faced a similar problem when entering. This is how the idea came up to create a career guidance application, which we called “Profor”, with the help of which schoolchildren will be able to understand their interests and find their favorite thing. As part of this project, a career guidance event with schoolchildren “Find Your Place” was held. We introduced schoolchildren to modern professions, helped them understand new and unfamiliar specialties, and also conducted a career guidance test that will help the children choose their future,” said Veronika Aparina.

    2nd place – project “Live here and now!” Authors: Widow Violetta, Stefani Maria (students of the “RISSO 3-1” group). Leader – Timokhovich Alexandra. 3rd place – project “Energetiki”. Authors: Sorokina Ulyana, Alekseeva Sofia (students of the “RISSO 3-3” group). Leader – Timokhovich Alexandra. 3rd place – project “Human trafficking”. Authors: Koryushkina Daria, Kuznetsova Anastasia (students of the “RISSO 3-1” group). Leader – Timokhovich Alexandra.

    We congratulate the winners and leaders of student projects and wish them further success and the implementation of their ideas into reality!

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02/24/2025

    Media game….” data-yashareImage=”https://guu.ru/wp-content/uploads/1-все-победители-ГУУ.jpeg” data-yashareLink=”https://guu.ru/%d1%81%d1%82%d1%83%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%82%d1%8b-%d0%b3%d1%83%d1%83-%d0%bf%d0%be%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%b4%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b5%d0%bb%d0%b8-%d0%bc%d0%b5%d0%b6%d0%b4%d1%83%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b4/”>

    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 Russia: Polytechnic Student Team Fair: Traditions, Work and New People

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The student teams of the Polytechnic University held a traditional fair, where they talked about their work, presented their areas of activity and explained how to get the legendary fighter’s jacket.

    The Polytechnic University teams have existed for over 70 years and are considered the oldest in our country. In 1948, students from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute named after M. I. Kalinin first went to the construction site of the Alakusskaya hydroelectric power station in the Leningrad region. Since then, polytechnicians have been working in different parts of the country. Today, the Polytechnic has 25 teams of different directions: construction, pedagogical, archaeological, agricultural, service and conductors.

    Participants of one of the largest student associations held competitions, raffles, games, performances and concerts in the Main Building. Activists admit that such events provide an opportunity not only to attract new people, but also to meet friends.

    The Student Team Fair at the Polytechnic University is an event that cannot be missed. Our movement is united by a common goal – to make Polytechnic students feel comfortable around each other not only during trips, but also in everyday life. Each team is different from the others in its people, individuality and atmosphere. However, we are all connected by openness and friendliness towards new people, – shared the head of the press service of the SPbPU headquarters Yuri Gaichuk.

    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 Global: South Africa’s ‘working for water’ programme is meant to lead to skills and jobs: why it’s failing

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Sinazo Ntsonge, PhD Graduate, Department of Economics and Economic History, Rhodes University, Rhodes University

    South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme is part of its social safety net. It complements the country’s social grants system, which has over 28 million recipients.

    The public works programme helps fill a gap for people who fall outside the grant system, especially those who need work experience and skills training if they’re to get a job. These include unemployed young people, women and people with disabilities.

    One of the programmes under its umbrella is the Working for Water programme, which was launched in 1995. It was intended to control invasive alien plants so as to conserve water resources, and provide short-term employment and training for people not covered by the grants safety net.

    Since its inception, the programme, alongside other interventions targeted at the environment, has created over 200,000 person years of employment – the total number of days people were afforded work. More than half of these employment opportunities have been held by women, and more than 60% by young people under the age of 35 years.

    In my PhD research, I examined one of its flagship projects to assess its impact on the long-term livelihoods of beneficiaries. My aim was to determine whether the programme was achieving its intended role as a social protection mechanism.

    I found that the way the project was designed limited its potential to foster long-term livelihoods for participants. Long-term livelihoods are defined as the ability to achieve lasting economic stability and growth beyond the scope of the project itself.

    One key issue was the inconsistency in the number of workdays participants were assigned, as well as the quality and availability of the skills training they received. Specifically, the training lacked regularity and did not always align with market demands. It left participants without the practical, job-ready skills needed for sustained employment.

    This problem was compounded by budget cuts.

    Based on my findings, I propose key changes to improve the programme’s effectiveness: the provision of consistent funding and training that’s aligned to labour market needs.

    The project

    The project I looked at tackles the clearing of invasive Prosopis mesquite trees in the Northern Cape. This has involved clearing nearly 314,580 hectares of invaded land in that province.

    Spanning from 2004 to 2018, the project supported over 9,000 beneficiaries across three phases. In phase I (2004–2008), 2,411 people participated; in phase II (2009–2013), 2,861; and in phase III (2014–2018), 3,756.

    The project targeted youth, women and people with disabilities. Beneficiaries were spread across various age groups: 36–64 years in phase I, 22–35 and 36–64 years in phase II, and 18–35 years in phase III.

    Participants were paid monthly stipends which ranged from R2,900 to R5,000, which is equivalent to approximately US$157 to US$271 – higher than most South African social grants. For comparison, the disability social grant is R2,180 (US$118), the older person’s grant is R2,200 (US$119), the foster child grant is R1,180 (US$64), and the child support grant is R530 (US$28).

    I developed an evaluation framework to assess the programme’s impact on the long-term livelihoods of beneficiaries.

    The study was carried out over 14 days in 2020, coinciding with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With health restrictions in place, the research had to pivot from planned in-person interviews and focus groups to virtual interviews with key stakeholders and an online survey of beneficiaries. The survey gathered data from 33 beneficiaries, while interviews provided valuable insights from project managers overseeing the clearing initiative.

    The gaps

    I found that the project faced a number of challenges.

    Firstly, there was inconsistency in the number of workdays participants were assigned. Given that public works projects aim to alleviate poverty – primarily through stipends – budget cuts forced managers to focus on retaining beneficiaries to ensure they could at least feed themselves. This often meant reducing the number of workdays (from the required 230 days to just 100 days) and scaling back skills training.

    Secondly, there were shortcomings in the quality and availability of the skills training they received. Many of the courses offered were short-term or specific to invasive plant clearing, including herbicide application, brush cutter operation and firefighting. This meant it wasn’t relevant to the labour market.

    In the Northern Cape, the economy hinges on industries like mining, agriculture, manufacturing and construction. In mining, for example, knowledge of machinery operation, safety protocols and mine supervision is vital. Agriculture needs workers skilled in sustainable farming, irrigation techniques and equipment operation. Manufacturing needs expertise in production line management, welding and machinery operation. Construction projects require workers proficient in project management, site safety and heavy machinery operation.

    Given the region’s tourism potential, customer service and tour guiding are valuable. Finally, fostering entrepreneurship through business management and financial literacy can empower individuals to create small businesses. In addition, soft skills such as communication, leadership and teamwork are essential across all sectors for long-term employability.

    Many beneficiaries reported cycling through the Prosopis mesquite clearing project repeatedly, without gaining the work experience or skills needed to move into more sustainable jobs in the wider labour market.

    Thirdly, budget cuts restricted the availability of resources for both training and work opportunities.

    As a result, the initiative fell short of providing participants with the tools necessary for long-term economic success. Their prospects were limited after the project’s conclusion.

    Given the findings of my research study, the programme requires a shift in focus and changes need to be made.

    What needs to be done

    Firstly, funding for projects needs to be consistent. Secondly, training needs to be aligned with labour market needs. And thirdly, there needs to be a structured system for tracking long-term outcomes on the beneficiaries’ livelihoods following their participation.

    Without a system to track outcomes, it’s difficult to assess whether the project is equipping participants with skills for employment in the sectors that are driving the local economy.

    With these changes the programme can transition from a short-term employment solution to a sustainable intervention that equips beneficiaries with useful, transferable skills that are applicable to a range of sectors. This would ultimately improve their prospects for stable employment and long-term economic security, provided those jobs are available.

    Sinazo Ntsonge received funding from the NRM WfW programme, which was administered by the Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (CIB) at Stellenbosch University.

    – ref. South Africa’s ‘working for water’ programme is meant to lead to skills and jobs: why it’s failing – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-working-for-water-programme-is-meant-to-lead-to-skills-and-jobs-why-its-failing-248694

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Driving school of the State University of Management announces spring recruitment

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    The GUU-Auto training center announces recruitment for groups under the program “Professional training of drivers of category “B” vehicles”.

    The GUU-Auto training center is a structural division of the State University of Management, providing paid educational services in professional training programs for drivers of vehicles.

    Start of group training: – 10.03.2025 (classes on Mondays and Wednesdays from 18:30); – 25.03.2025 (classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 18:30).

    Hurry, there are still places left!

    For more information, call: 7 (495) 377 6446; 7 (916) 760 1014 (WhatsApp, Telegram).

    And also in the educational department of the UC GUU Auto, (room A-230) and on the page of the UC GUU-Auto.

    Subscribe to the tg channel “Our State University” Announcement date: 02.24.2025

    Учебный центр ГУУ-Авто – структурное подразделение Государственного университета управления,…” data-yashareImage=”https://guu.ru/wp-content/uploads/Автопробег-3.jpg” data-yashareLink=”https://guu.ru/%d0%b0%d0%b2%d1%82%d0%be%d1%88%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%bb%d0%b0-%d0%b3%d1%83%d1%83-%d0%be%d0%b1%d1%8a%d1%8f%d0%b2%d0%bb%d1%8f%d0%b5%d1%82-%d0%b2%d0%b5%d1%81%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b9-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%b1/”>

    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 Russia: We invite you to a concert of Russian choral music at the State University of Management

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    On March 1, 2025, the State University of Management will host a concert of the chamber choir “Gaudeamus” of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University “Spring Voices”.

    The program will feature choral works by Russian composers: A. Dorgomyzhsky, M. Glinka, M. Balakirev, P. Tchaikovsky, C. Cui, S. Taneyev, V. Kalinnikov, G. Sviridov, Yu. Falik and others, as well as Russian folk songs.

    Artistic director and conductor – Honored Artist of Russia, Professor Vladimir Zhivov. Conductor-choirmaster – Honored Cultural Worker of Russia, Associate Professor Ekaterina Alikina.

    The concert is held for the purpose of developing inter-university cultural and educational projects and popularizing the national cultural heritage.

    Starts on March 1 at 16:00 in the Atrium of the Information Technology Center.

    Pre-registration is required and will last until February 27th inclusive.

    Subscribe to the tg channel “Our State University” Announcement date: 03/1/2025

    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 Africa: South Africa’s ‘working for water’ programme is meant to lead to skills and jobs: why it’s failing

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Sinazo Ntsonge, PhD Graduate, Department of Economics and Economic History, Rhodes University, Rhodes University

    South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme is part of its social safety net. It complements the country’s social grants system, which has over 28 million recipients.

    The public works programme helps fill a gap for people who fall outside the grant system, especially those who need work experience and skills training if they’re to get a job. These include unemployed young people, women and people with disabilities.

    One of the programmes under its umbrella is the Working for Water programme, which was launched in 1995. It was intended to control invasive alien plants so as to conserve water resources, and provide short-term employment and training for people not covered by the grants safety net.

    Since its inception, the programme, alongside other interventions targeted at the environment, has created over 200,000 person years of employment – the total number of days people were afforded work. More than half of these employment opportunities have been held by women, and more than 60% by young people under the age of 35 years.

    In my PhD research, I examined one of its flagship projects to assess its impact on the long-term livelihoods of beneficiaries. My aim was to determine whether the programme was achieving its intended role as a social protection mechanism.

    I found that the way the project was designed limited its potential to foster long-term livelihoods for participants. Long-term livelihoods are defined as the ability to achieve lasting economic stability and growth beyond the scope of the project itself.

    One key issue was the inconsistency in the number of workdays participants were assigned, as well as the quality and availability of the skills training they received. Specifically, the training lacked regularity and did not always align with market demands. It left participants without the practical, job-ready skills needed for sustained employment.

    This problem was compounded by budget cuts.

    Based on my findings, I propose key changes to improve the programme’s effectiveness: the provision of consistent funding and training that’s aligned to labour market needs.

    The project

    The project I looked at tackles the clearing of invasive Prosopis mesquite trees in the Northern Cape. This has involved clearing nearly 314,580 hectares of invaded land in that province.

    Spanning from 2004 to 2018, the project supported over 9,000 beneficiaries across three phases. In phase I (2004–2008), 2,411 people participated; in phase II (2009–2013), 2,861; and in phase III (2014–2018), 3,756.

    The project targeted youth, women and people with disabilities. Beneficiaries were spread across various age groups: 36–64 years in phase I, 22–35 and 36–64 years in phase II, and 18–35 years in phase III.

    Participants were paid monthly stipends which ranged from R2,900 to R5,000, which is equivalent to approximately US$157 to US$271 – higher than most South African social grants. For comparison, the disability social grant is R2,180 (US$118), the older person’s grant is R2,200 (US$119), the foster child grant is R1,180 (US$64), and the child support grant is R530 (US$28).

    I developed an evaluation framework to assess the programme’s impact on the long-term livelihoods of beneficiaries.

    The study was carried out over 14 days in 2020, coinciding with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With health restrictions in place, the research had to pivot from planned in-person interviews and focus groups to virtual interviews with key stakeholders and an online survey of beneficiaries. The survey gathered data from 33 beneficiaries, while interviews provided valuable insights from project managers overseeing the clearing initiative.

    The gaps

    I found that the project faced a number of challenges.

    Firstly, there was inconsistency in the number of workdays participants were assigned. Given that public works projects aim to alleviate poverty – primarily through stipends – budget cuts forced managers to focus on retaining beneficiaries to ensure they could at least feed themselves. This often meant reducing the number of workdays (from the required 230 days to just 100 days) and scaling back skills training.

    Secondly, there were shortcomings in the quality and availability of the skills training they received. Many of the courses offered were short-term or specific to invasive plant clearing, including herbicide application, brush cutter operation and firefighting. This meant it wasn’t relevant to the labour market.

    In the Northern Cape, the economy hinges on industries like mining, agriculture, manufacturing and construction. In mining, for example, knowledge of machinery operation, safety protocols and mine supervision is vital. Agriculture needs workers skilled in sustainable farming, irrigation techniques and equipment operation. Manufacturing needs expertise in production line management, welding and machinery operation. Construction projects require workers proficient in project management, site safety and heavy machinery operation.

    Given the region’s tourism potential, customer service and tour guiding are valuable. Finally, fostering entrepreneurship through business management and financial literacy can empower individuals to create small businesses. In addition, soft skills such as communication, leadership and teamwork are essential across all sectors for long-term employability.

    Many beneficiaries reported cycling through the Prosopis mesquite clearing project repeatedly, without gaining the work experience or skills needed to move into more sustainable jobs in the wider labour market.

    Thirdly, budget cuts restricted the availability of resources for both training and work opportunities.

    As a result, the initiative fell short of providing participants with the tools necessary for long-term economic success. Their prospects were limited after the project’s conclusion.

    Given the findings of my research study, the programme requires a shift in focus and changes need to be made.

    What needs to be done

    Firstly, funding for projects needs to be consistent. Secondly, training needs to be aligned with labour market needs. And thirdly, there needs to be a structured system for tracking long-term outcomes on the beneficiaries’ livelihoods following their participation.

    Without a system to track outcomes, it’s difficult to assess whether the project is equipping participants with skills for employment in the sectors that are driving the local economy.

    With these changes the programme can transition from a short-term employment solution to a sustainable intervention that equips beneficiaries with useful, transferable skills that are applicable to a range of sectors. This would ultimately improve their prospects for stable employment and long-term economic security, provided those jobs are available.

    – South Africa’s ‘working for water’ programme is meant to lead to skills and jobs: why it’s failing
    – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-working-for-water-programme-is-meant-to-lead-to-skills-and-jobs-why-its-failing-248694

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Specialists from the Almaz-Antey Concern visited the Polytechnic

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    On February 13, representatives of the Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defense Concern visited the scientific and technical laboratories of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport (IMMT) of SPbPU. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with advanced technologies in the field of additive manufacturing, materials processing and engineering developments.

    Specialists from Almaz-Antey’s production units were shown 3D printing with ceramics and metal — technologies for jet application of binders and selective laser melting of metal powders. The possibilities of 3D printing of polymer composites based on extrusion were also demonstrated.

    The delegation became familiar with plasma spheroidization of powder materials – a process for synthesizing powders of unique alloys suitable for use in additive technologies.

    In the area of low-tonnage production and 3D printing of large-sized parts, guests were shown WAAM (electric arc growing) technology and a section for post-processing printed parts.

    At the Russian-German Center for Laser Technologies, guests saw how parts are repaired using direct laser growth, and how damaged parts and components are restored using laser technologies.

    During the visit, Almaz-Antey representatives discussed with the polytechnicians the prospects for cooperation in the development of new materials and technologies that can be used in the defense industry. Particular attention was paid to the issues of introducing additive technologies into production processes.

    We highly appreciate the level of developments carried out at IMMiT. We are confident that joint projects will help accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions in our industry, the delegation representatives noted.

    At the end of the visit, the parties expressed interest in further cooperation in solving production problems.

    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 Australia: Interview – ABC Afternoon Briefing with Tom Lowrey

    Source: Australian Ministers for Education

    TOM LOWREY, HOST: Now, while the government wants to run on its support for Medicare, some in the Opposition have criticised the way the government is selling its pledge as a rerun of Medi-scare. To discuss this and more, let’s bring in the Youth Minister, Anne Aly. Minister, thanks for joining Afternoon Briefing and thanks for bearing through some technical difficulties too.

    MINISTER ANNE ALY: That’s ok. It’s just another day.

    LOWREY: And we’re already hearing GPs saying this is welcome, this Medicare pledge, but it doesn’t mean they’re about to start bulk billing. Their costs are simply too high. What would you say to them?

    ALY: Look, I think that the overwhelming evidence that we’ve seen, and I know that the Health Minister, Mark Butler, has done extensive consultations on this, is that this is good policy, it’s welcome policy, and first and foremost it’s about ensuring that all Australians have access to the healthcare they need and they don’t put off seeing a doctor because of the cost of seeing a doctor. And secondly, it’s about getting Medicare back on track to what its original purpose is, is that you should have access to the services you need, the health services you need, not based on your credit card. So, all the information that we’ve got is that this is good policy and that we’re confident that it will be taken up by the majority of bulk billing clinics or of practitioners, sorry, practitioner clinics by 2030.

    LOWREY: Yeah, we’ve been told to expect 90 per cent bulk billing by 2030. Is that figure a commitment from Labor or is it a hope?

    ALY: I think it’s based on projections of and – projections of what the uptake would be. These are really good incentives for practitioners and practices to bulk bill beyond what they already bulk bill, which is people on a concession card, for children and for pensioners and low-income families. This is to ensure that every Australian, regardless of what their bank balance is, has access to the medical services that they need. So, those projections are based on a level of confidence that this is the kind of incentive that will make a difference to practitioners and practices.

    LOWREY: Anne Aly, your home state of WA is in the midst of a state election campaign. We saw both campaigns launch their campaigns over the weekend. Are you worried that voters in WA might be happy to back Roger Cook, who seems like a reasonably popular Premier, but willing to back Peter Dutton when the federal election rolls around?

    ALY: Well, there’s always this kind of talk, and there’s two schools of thought. One is that the state election impacts on the federal election, and the other one is that, you know, Australians are discerning enough voters to make a difference between the two. And, you know, both are true to some extent and in their own ways. Look, I think that West Australians know that Labor, both federally and state, is good for them. We’ve got a strong economy here in WA, we’ve got low unemployment, we’ve got a state government that has really managed the budget well. We’ve got really strong infrastructure. And you know, we’ve got a Federal Government in Labor that has worked closely with the WA Government in the interests of Western Australia and a Prime Minister in Anthony Albanese who has made WA a focus. He’s been to Australia more times than I can, to Western Australia more times than I can count. I think it’s about 30 times or getting up to 30 times now, and has demonstrated to West Australians that he’s not just eastern states focused.

    LOWREY: Labor in WA at a state level. Is it something of a high watermark? Of course, the Former Premier Mark McGowan knocked the Liberals down. So, I think, is it six lower house seats in that state? Are you concerned the Liberals might take some momentum federally, even out of a close defeat in WA? They don’t necessarily need to win this election; they just need to come somewhat close.

    ALY: Well, the Liberals have a long way to go to, to take, take government here in Western Australia. I think they have to win something like 20 seats. So, it’s impossible to see them doing that, to be quite frank. You know, I think the extent to which they will claw back some of the seats that they lost at the last election will be seen over as the WA election continues. But I think also the West Australian Liberals have shown that they’re just really not ready to govern to be honest. They’ve had a whole lot of different scandals with one of the, with some of the, the people that they’ve pre-selected. They’ve had a challenge from Basil Zempilas against Libby Mettam, and I don’t think they’ve demonstrated to the West Australian people that they are in a position to govern and that they’re ready to govern.

    LOWREY: I just want to touch on your portfolio area of child care quickly and early childhood education. Is there more to come from Labor on child care ahead of the election or the Activity Test changes we saw past Parliament in the past few weeks it for Labor ahead of that poll?

    ALY: Well, I’ll just say it wasn’t just the Activity Test. The Activity Test, yes, did pass Parliament and for your viewers, the Activity Test was introduced by the Liberal Government in 2018. And the purpose of it, the stated purpose of it, was to incentivise women, in particular, to return to work. We know that that didn’t happen, and rather, what the Activity Test did was lock out children, and particularly children who would benefit the most from early childhood education and care, lock them out of the system. The Liberal and Coalition voted against our changes to the Activity Test, which demonstrates where they sit in terms of those transformational benefits of early childhood education and care, but also in terms of cost-of-living relief, because removing the Activity Test would benefit around 70,000 families with real cost-of-living relief. But that’s not the only thing that we’re doing. We’ve also got a building education fund, Building Early Education Fund. That’s a billion dollars that we’re putting towards building the services that families and children need, particularly in areas where there are no services. So, outer suburban, rural and regional and in vulnerable communities. This is all part of the big package, of course, starting with bringing down the cost of early childhood education, raising the wages of early childhood educators and getting more early childhood educators in to ensure kind of a stable workforce as a foundation and all working towards our vision of an early childhood education and care sector that is universal, and that recognises that this is an essential service that families and parents rely on.

    LOWREY: And before I let you go, I just want to touch on some of what we’ve seen in the Middle East over the past few days. Israel has been heavily critical of a ceremony Hamas put on as it returned the bodies of four Israeli hostages late last week. What did you make of those images, and how concerned are you about the ceasefire holding?

    ALY: I’m really concerned. I think what this demonstrates, what we know, is that it is particularly fragile. The ceasefire is particularly fragile. Peace is over there is particularly fragile. What we want to see is this first phase of the ceasefire to run smoothly and continue and then transition into the second phase of the ceasefire with a goal towards everlasting peace through a two-state solution. That’s Australia’s position. We’ve always supported a ceasefire, so of course, we are keen to see that the conditions of the ceasefire continue to be met and that that ceasefire can transition to the second phase. So, it is concerning. It is concerning that there are, I guess, challenges to the ceasefire continuing, but again, underscoring the fragility of it.

    LOWREY: Anne Aly, thanks so much for joining the Afternoon Briefing.

    ALY: Thank you.
     

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NSU scientists have identified a promising compound for creating a new anti-tumor drug

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    Researchers from Novosibirsk State University, together with colleagues from the Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry SB RAS, as well as Ireland, have proven the presence of high anti-cancer activity in a chemical compound that includes cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMP), they are also called host defense peptides. In the future, this compound may become the basis for creating a new effective antitumor drug.

    — This work took quite a long time, three or four years. But as a result, we managed to demonstrate high activity of the compounds on tumor cell cultures. And, in addition, we were able to study the mechanisms of its action at the molecular level — today this is a mandatory condition for registering any new anti-cancer drug at the global level, — said Andrey Pokrovsky, Head of the Department of Fundamental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, NSU, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized cancer as the second leading cause of death worldwide, with the number of diagnosed cases increasing each year. Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of cancer treatment, but the ability of cancer cells to evade drugs through a number of mechanisms is a major hurdle in therapy.

    This, as well as the rather serious side effects inherent in a number of drugs used in chemotherapy, is one of the main reasons for the active search for new methods of treating the disease. And one of the promising areas here is peptide therapy.

    Previously, the combination of AMP with a bioactive molecule showed good results in the creation of antimicrobial drugs. It was also found that some peptides specifically recognize and bind to membrane proteins of tumor cells, exerting an antitumor effect. It was this property that the Novosibirsk scientists used in their study.

    — As a result, the obtained compound provided targeted delivery to cancer cells of one agent causing DNA damage and a second agent preventing reparation. Thus, it is possible to achieve programmed cell death in tumor tissues. It is clear that at this stage we are not talking about a medicine; for this, the compound needs to go through a long path of preclinical and clinical trials, but this part of the work is beyond the competence and capabilities of the team that conducted this study, — noted Andrey Pokrovsky.

    Interest in such compounds among Russian manufacturers is not very high yet – currently in our country the production of pharmaceuticals whose action is based on peptides is practically not developed. But on a global scale this direction is developing rapidly, and the presence of relevant competencies and experience in carrying out such research projects among NSU employees can be considered work for the future.

    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 Global: Who is Friedrich Merz, the man now most likely to lead Germany? Eight things to know

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ed Turner, Reader in Politics, Co-Director, Aston Centre for Europe, Aston University

    With the social democrat Olaf Scholz conceding defeat to the centre right in Germany’s election, the man most likely to be named the next chancellor will be Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz.

    The CDU has emerged as the largest party with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) second – its best-ever result in a federal election.

    Merz will have to assemble a coalition government, which will involve some tough negotiations, but Europe’s leaders can be expected to treat him as a “chancellor in waiting”. Here are eight things to know about the man about to take one of the most important political positions in Europe.

    1. He’s taking his party further to the right

    The first thing you need to know about Merz is that he and former chancellor Angela Merkel were longstanding rivals and sparring partners. Back in the early 2000s, after Merkel became leader of the CDU, she ousted Merz from his role as the party’s parliamentary leader, taking on the role herself.

    Merkel never made Merz a minister, and indeed he decided not to run for parliament again in 2009, having already begun to focus on his various private sector interests (as a lawyer but also a company board member). Merz was critical of Merkel’s decision to shift the CDU to the centre ground and was concerned it would open up space for the AfD to move into.



    Read more:
    What is the AfD? Germany’s far-right party, explained

    When Merz did become party leader in 2022, he began rewriting of the party’s programme in a much more conservative direction.

    2. He’s an economic liberal

    Merz takes a very different economic view to Merkel, at least in the latter years of her chancellorship. In 2003, he argued for a radical simplification of Germany’s tax rules such that a tax return could be calculated on the back of a beer mat.

    His party’s 2025 manifesto argued for deregulation and tax cuts to boost Germany’s sluggish growth. Part of this, Merz argued, should be funded by more conditionality being applied to welfare recipients, with a complete stop on benefits for recipients who refused to take any form of work on. In 2024, he also said he’d do “everything” to stop the EU taking on common debt.

    3. He’s a social conservative

    In his younger years, Merz was in the Catholic youth movement. He has a record of voting against abortion and has made a few awkward comments about homosexuality (saying of Klaus Wowereit, a gay mayor of Berlin, “I don’t mind as long as he doesn’t come near me”). In a strange comment, he once referred to his wife and daughters as evidence he didn’t have a problem with women. In a TV debate with Scholz, Merz was asked about Donald Trump’s recognition of only two genders, and reacted: “You can understand his position.”

    In 2000, Merz spoke of a German Leitkultur (loosely, “leading culture”, as contrasted with “multiculturalism”) – a term now in common parlance in Merz’s CDU.

    4. He’s a transatlantacist

    From 2009 to 2019, Merz chaired the Atlantic Bridge, a prominent German organisation devoted to strengthening relations between Germany and the US. He is a transatlanticist by instinct and recently sent a hand-written note to Donald Trump congratulating him on his election, noting his “strong mandate for leadership”. However, in a statement on election night, Merz pledged to “achieve independence” from the US and recognised that Trump is “largely indifferent” to Europe’s fate.

    5. He’s pro-European

    With some caveats (for instance around common debt and cooperation over refugees) Merz is a pro-European. He was a member of the European parliament between 1989 and 1994, and has been clear that closer European cooperation is an essential part of Europe’s answer to Trump.

    He has also patched up relations with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (with whom, as a Merkel ally and CDU liberal he had little instinctive attraction), and sees potential in cooperation with her and with Manfred Weber, a CSU politician and leader of the European parliament’s centre-right MEPs.

    Merz has also pledged to visit Warsaw and Paris to rebuild relations after a difficult period under Scholz.

    6. His dealings with the far right have been controversial

    Merz has been consistently inconsistent when it comes to relations with the AfD. He mused in 2023 about the possibility of cooperation at a local level, noting that “we are obliged to recognise democratic elections”, before rowing back.

    In November 2024, Merz said he and his party would not attempt to pass legislation in the national parliament if it meant relying on AfD votes to do it. But he shocked the nation in January 2025 when he did precisely that – pushing forward a hardline immigration plan with the AfD’s support.



    Read more:
    What happened in the German parliament and why is the far right hailing it as a ‘historic’ moment?

    The volte face earned him criticism from his nemesis, Merkel – although that’s not something likely to have concerned him unduly.

    7. He’ll be hemmed in by coalition politics

    Merz will need to strike a deal with multiple other parties in order to govern. That will make his flagship programme of tax cuts hard to achieve, since cuts to welfare or climate spending would be anathema to all potential coalition partners.

    Germany’s other parties instead want Merz to reconsider Germany’s “debt brake” – the constitutional rules that restrict government borrowing. He’ll be under even more pressure to do so given a broad consensus over the need to raise defence spending.

    Perhaps it will take a conservative fiscal hawk to assemble the necessary two-thirds majorities in both chambers of parliament for change.

    8. He’d like to visit… Tibet?

    Finally, among rather thin pickings in popular reporting on Merz’s hobbies, a softball interview last summer told us he likes modern classical music and Beethoven, and one day hopes to visit Tibet.

    But holidays will be some way from his priorities at the moment. There is a strong desire in Europe for Germany to play a more active leadership role once again. At a time when Trump is noisily backing away from underscoring European security and supporting Ukraine, Merz is keenly aware of the void being opened up, and is determined that Germany, with its European allies (including even the UK) will step up.

    Ed Turner 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. Who is Friedrich Merz, the man now most likely to lead Germany? Eight things to know – https://theconversation.com/who-is-friedrich-merz-the-man-now-most-likely-to-lead-germany-eight-things-to-know-247643

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Ramadan is almost here. 5 tips to boost your wellbeing and energy levels if you’re fasting

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Romy Lauche, Deputy Director (Research), National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, Southern Cross University

    Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock

    Ramadan is one of the most significant months of the Islamic lunar calendar. It marks the time when the Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him).

    Almost 2 billion Muslims worldwide observe this month of prayer and reflection, which includes fasting between two prayers, Fajr at dawn and Maghrib at sunset.

    Ramadan is about purifying the mind, body and soul, and practising self-restraint. It’s a time for spiritual growth and dedication to God (or Allah in Arabic). Ramadan also brings people together for meals and celebrations, with a focus on helping those less fortunate.

    Depending on where you live, Ramadan can mean going 12 to 19 hours without eating or drinking anything, including water.

    Our research shows choosing balanced, nutrient-dense foods and drinks can result in better wellbeing and greater energy levels than following your usual diet during Ramadan.

    Here’s what to consider if you’re fasting for Ramadan.

    Do you have any health issues?

    Healthy Muslims are expected to fast during Ramadan once they have reached puberty.

    Frail older adults are exempt from fasting, as are pregnant, breastfeeding and menstruating women. Anyone who cannot participate in fasting can make up for the missed fasting days later.

    People with chronic illness or mental health may be exempt if fasting poses a risk to their health. If you suffer from chronic illness, such as diabetes, heart disease or kidney problems, and want to fast, consult your GP first.

    Fasting can have severe health consequences for people with certain medical conditions and those who rely on prescription medication. Some medications need to be taken at a specific time (and some with food) to be safe and effective.

    If you’re not drinking enough water during Ramadan, your body might also handle some medications differently: they may not work as well or cause side effects.

    For people who can safely fast, here are five tips to maintain your wellbeing during Ramadan.

    1. Plan ahead

    In preparation for Ramadan, stock up on essentials. Plan your meals and hydration in advance, to stay on top of your nutritional intake.

    Start reducing your caffeine gradually in the week leading to Ramadan, so your body can adjust. This can help prevent or reduce the fasting headaches that many experience at the beginning of Ramadan.

    Move your meals gradually towards Suhoor and Iftar times, so your body gets used to the new mealtimes.

    Plan your meals ahead of time.
    Ground Picture/Shutterstock

    2. Stay hydrated

    Staying hydrated is important during Ramadan. Women should aim to drink 2.1 litres of water or fluids (such as coconut water, clear soups, broths or herbal teas) each day. Men should aim for 2.6 litres.

    Limit the intake of sugary or artificially sweetened drinks and enjoy fresh fruit juice only in moderation. Sugary drinks cause a rapid increase in blood sugar levels. The body responds by releasing insulin, causing a drop in blood sugar, which can leave you feeling fatigued, irritable and hungry.

    Increase your hydration by including water-rich foods, such as cucumbers and watermelon, in your diet.

    3. Get your nutrients early

    Before dawn, have a nutrient-rich, slow-digesting meal, along with plenty of water.

    Select healthy nutrient-dense food with proteins and fats from lean meats, fish, chickpeas, tofu, nuts and seeds.

    Choose whole grain products, a variety of vegetables and fruits, and fermented foods, such as kimchi and pickles, which can support your digestion.

    When you prepare your meals, consider grilling, steaming or air frying instead of deep frying.

    Stay away from processed foods such as cakes, ice cream, chips and chocolates, as they often lack essential nutrients and are high in sugar, salt and fat. Processed foods also tend to be low in fibre and protein, which are crucial for maintaining a feeling of fullness.

    4. Avoid the temptation to overeat in the evening

    At sunset, many Muslims come together with family and friends for the fast-breaking evening meal (Iftar). During these occasions, it may be tempting to overindulge in sweets, salty snacks and fatty dishes.

    But overeating can strain the digestive system, cause discomfort and disrupt sleep.

    Start with something small.
    Tekkol/Shutterstock

    Instead, listen to your body’s signals, control your portions, and eat mindfully – this means slowly and without distractions.

    Start with something small, such as a date and a glass of water. You may choose to complete the Maghrib prayer before returning for your main meal and more fluids.

    5. Keep moving

    Finally, try to include some light exercise into your schedule, to maintain your fitness and muscle mass, and promote sleep.

    But avoid heavy workouts, sauna and intensive sports while fasting, as these may increase dehydration, which can increase your risk of feeling faint and falling.

    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. Ramadan is almost here. 5 tips to boost your wellbeing and energy levels if you’re fasting – https://theconversation.com/ramadan-is-almost-here-5-tips-to-boost-your-wellbeing-and-energy-levels-if-youre-fasting-248223

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Friedrich Merz has won Germany’s election. But as the far right soars, forming a government may be difficult

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University

    Friedrich Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has captured the highest proportion of votes in Germany’s election on Sunday. The celebrations could be short-lived, though, as the task of forming a government now looms.

    As it stands, Germany’s public broadcaster has projected Merz’s CDU and its Christian Social Union (CSU) counterpart in Bavaria to win 208 seats in the Bundestag (28.5%). The ousted Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been reduced to 121 seats (16.5%), while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party achieved its biggest-ever result of 151 seats (20.7%).

    Other minor parties have failed to meet the 5% threshold in the proportional German parliamentary system, limiting the possible options for a government to take shape.

    Merz’s party did lift its vote share compared to its record low in 2021. And German voters have given him the opportunity to attempt forming a governing coalition.

    However, his electoral strategy may have made it harder to solve a number of problems, many of them of his own making. Here are four key things his victory has failed to do, which could make governing in Germany more difficult.

    1. Stem the number of voters to the far right

    With the German economy in the doldrums, Merz would have easily won on the question of economic management alone. Strangely, however, his electoral strategy mimicked the anti-migrant rhetoric of the far-right AfD.

    By noisily electioneering on the policy of stemming the flow of migrants and insisting at every opportunity that migrants (particularly those from the Middle East) were a threat to the German way of life, Merz has given legitimacy to what had been fringe policies.

    Yet, the election results show that the Germans who were motivated to vote for an anti-migrant party went for the most virulent version (the AfD) – particularly in the old East Germany – and not Merz’s centre-right imitation.

    Instead of stealing votes from the AfD, Merz has substantially contributed to the record showing of the far-right party by making immigration – and radical approaches to it – a central issue.

    The smiles on the face of the AfD leadership after the election tell the story. The party may not be in government, but its policies will in all likelihood be pursued by a Merz government.

    2. Exclude the left from German politics

    The day before the election, Merz railed against “green and left crazies” and insisted “there is no longer left politics in Germany”.

    The SPD vote did sink dramatically off the back of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ineffectual and lacklustre term in office. But the left-wing Die Linke party (The Left) rode the wave of anti-AfD and anti-Merz sentiment to return from the wilderness with its best election showing in almost a decade.

    In particular, a rousing speech by Die Linke leader Heidi Reichinneck helped lift the mood on the left in response to Merz’s anti-migrant stance. Die Linke is back in the Bundestag, at least for another term.

    3. Create a governing coalition

    Merz has spent the past few weeks breaking taboos by working with the German far right and roundly abusing his opponents using the kind of intemperate language rarely seen in German politics. Now, he is faced with building a governing coalition.

    He has painted himself into a corner. He has called the Greens party and Die Linke “crazies”. And his closest ideological ally, the Free Democrats (FDP), appear to have failed to reach the 5% hurdle to enter parliament after voters punished the party for effectively blowing up the last coalition government.

    So shockingly poor was the FDP’s result, its leader, Christian Lindner, has offered his resignation.

    Previously, a “grand coalition” between the CDU and SPD has been able to form a stable government. This was especially so under former-Chancellor Angela Merkel, the longtime CDU leader.

    The centre-left SPD vote might just be large enough to form a coalition government with Merz’s CDU. Whether the SPD would do so after being shocked in the past few weeks by Merz’s dalliances with the far right remains an open question.

    Scholz, the SPD leader, has categorically ruled out serving in a Merz cabinet. Whether he might resign to make way for a grand coalition remains to be seen, should one prove mathematically possible.

    That leaves only the far-right AfD – the only other party potentially large enough to allow Merz to form a two-party coalition government. Merz has ruled out a CDU-AfD coalition as a threat to German democracy.

    Merz will either have to radically revise his attitudes towards the parties to his left or break his word not to allow the far right into government. If he did the latter, he may very well become Germany’s 21st century Franz von Papen, the Weimar Republic-era leader widely viewed as having helped usher the Nazis to power in the 1930s.

    4. Exorcise the ghost of Angela Merkel

    Merz’s career has been marked by his inability to overcome Merkel and her vision of the CDU as the umbrella party of the democratic centre.

    After dragging his party to the right, Merz has posted an electoral result lower than anything Merkel ever gained.

    Even if his party is able to cobble together a coalition government, Merz will still sit in the shadow of his more democratically popular, centrist predecessor.

    Matt Fitzpatrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is the President of the History Council of South Australia.

    – ref. Friedrich Merz has won Germany’s election. But as the far right soars, forming a government may be difficult – https://theconversation.com/friedrich-merz-has-won-germanys-election-but-as-the-far-right-soars-forming-a-government-may-be-difficult-250621

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: There’s an outbreak of melioidosis in north Queensland. Here’s what to know about this deadly ‘mud bug’

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University

    moomin201/Shutterstock

    Seven people have now died from melioidosis in flood-ravaged north Queensland this year.

    Dozens of cases have been reported in the state in recent weeks, which experts have described as unprecedented.

    So what is melioidosis, and why are we seeing a spike in cases now?

    How do people get infected?

    Melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, a bug which normally lives harmlessly in soil and freshwater. But it can be dangerous when it infects humans or animals.

    B. pseudomallei – sometimes called the “mud bug” – enters the body through cuts or scratches. It can also be breathed in and enter the lungs via small airborne water droplets, or by drinking affected water.

    Symptoms usually develop within one to four weeks after a person has been infected. The disease can cause either local infections, such as chronic skin ulcers, or, more commonly, a lung infection which can lead to pneumonia.

    Melioidosis is caused by the bacteria B. pseudomallei.
    Reddress/Shutterstock

    Symptoms of the infection include fever, headache, trouble breathing, chest and muscle pain, confusion and seizures. In rare cases the disease can enter the bloodstream and cause septicaemia.

    Treatment involves receiving intravenous antibiotics in hospital for several weeks followed by up to six months of oral antibiotics.

    How common is it?

    Diagnosis is usually conducted using a specialist bacterial culture. This is where a sample isolated from the patient is grown in a petri dish to identify the bacteria, which can take several days.

    Globally, around 165,000 cases of melioidosis are reported annually, and 89,000 deaths. The majority of cases occur in southeast Asia, particularly Thailand.

    Because similar symptoms can be caused by so many other diseases, melioidosis is commonly misidentified, meaning reported case numbers are probably far lower than the actual number of infections.

    Also, cases often occur in remote communities and resource-poor settings, which can mean they’re less likely to be diagnosed.

    The disease is thought to be endemic to northern Australia. It usually infects about 0.6 per 100,000 people annually in Queensland, which would be equivalent to around 30 people.

    In the Northern Territory, around 17 people per 100,000 are infected annually, which would be equivalent to about 42 cases. However, this data is several years old.

    In Australia, melioidosis is often treated before fatalities occur. The mortality rate has been estimated at less than 10%.

    More people die from the disease in lower-resource countries with poorer diagnostic capabilities and hospital facilities. In Thailand the mortality rate is estimated to be around 40%.

    Who is at risk?

    Anyone can get melioidosis, but certain people are at higher risk. This includes people with diabetes, liver and kidney disease, cancer, or other conditions which might compromise the patient’s immune system.

    In Australia, the disease is also significantly more common in First Nations people than among non-Indigenous Australians.

    Once infected, people who are Indigenous, older or have chronic health conditions are at higher risk of poorer outcomes.

    In the current outbreak in Queensland, at least three of the victims so far have been elderly.

    What’s causing the current outbreak?

    Recent cases in north Queensland have been identified mainly around Townsville and Cairns.

    Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has recorded at least 41 cases since January 1, while more than 20 cases have been reported in Townsville in February.

    This is most likely related to increased rainfall and flooding in and around these areas.

    B. pseudomallei lives in soil and mud, and comes to the surface during periods of high rainfall. So recent heavy rain and flooding in north Queensland has likely increased the risk of melioidosis.

    In the Northern Territory, 28 cases have been reported since the start of the rainy season last October. However this is lower than recent seasons.

    How can you protect yourself?

    If you’re in an affected region, you can protect yourself by limiting exposure to mud and water, and using appropriate personal protective equipment such as gloves and boots if spending time in muddy areas. Cover any open wounds and wear a respirator if you’re working closely with water.

    Monitor for symptoms and see a doctor if you feel unwell.

    Several vaccines are in development for melioidosis, and experts have recently called for it to be recognised as a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization.

    Particularly seeing as increasing extreme weather events due to climate change may make melioidosis more common, hopefully we’ll see an increase in research into and awareness of this disease in the years ahead.

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

    – ref. There’s an outbreak of melioidosis in north Queensland. Here’s what to know about this deadly ‘mud bug’ – https://theconversation.com/theres-an-outbreak-of-melioidosis-in-north-queensland-heres-what-to-know-about-this-deadly-mud-bug-250392

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Friedrich Merz has won Germany’s election. But as the far right soars, forming a government may be difficult

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University

    Friedrich Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has captured the highest proportion of votes in Germany’s election on Sunday. The celebrations could be short-lived, though, as the task of forming a government now looms.

    As it stands, Germany’s public broadcaster has projected Merz’s CDU and its Christian Social Union (CSU) counterpart in Bavaria to win 208 seats in the Bundestag (28.5%). The ousted Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been reduced to 121 seats (16.5%), while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party achieved its biggest-ever result of 151 seats (20.7%).

    Other minor parties have failed to meet the 5% threshold in the proportional German parliamentary system, limiting the possible options for a government to take shape.

    Merz’s party did lift its vote share compared to its record low in 2021. And German voters have given him the opportunity to attempt forming a governing coalition.

    However, his electoral strategy may have made it harder to solve a number of problems, many of them of his own making. Here are four key things his victory has failed to do, which could make governing in Germany more difficult.

    1. Stem the number of voters to the far right

    With the German economy in the doldrums, Merz would have easily won on the question of economic management alone. Strangely, however, his electoral strategy mimicked the anti-migrant rhetoric of the far-right AfD.

    By noisily electioneering on the policy of stemming the flow of migrants and insisting at every opportunity that migrants (particularly those from the Middle East) were a threat to the German way of life, Merz has given legitimacy to what had been fringe policies.

    Yet, the election results show that the Germans who were motivated to vote for an anti-migrant party went for the most virulent version (the AfD) – particularly in the old East Germany – and not Merz’s centre-right imitation.

    Instead of stealing votes from the AfD, Merz has substantially contributed to the record showing of the far-right party by making immigration – and radical approaches to it – a central issue.

    The smiles on the face of the AfD leadership after the election tell the story. The party may not be in government, but its policies will in all likelihood be pursued by a Merz government.

    2. Exclude the left from German politics

    The day before the election, Merz railed against “green and left crazies” and insisted “there is no longer left politics in Germany”.

    The SPD vote did sink dramatically off the back of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ineffectual and lacklustre term in office. But the left-wing Die Linke party (The Left) rode the wave of anti-AfD and anti-Merz sentiment to return from the wilderness with its best election showing in almost a decade.

    In particular, a rousing speech by Die Linke leader Heidi Reichinneck helped lift the mood on the left in response to Merz’s anti-migrant stance. Die Linke is back in the Bundestag, at least for another term.

    3. Create a governing coalition

    Merz has spent the past few weeks breaking taboos by working with the German far right and roundly abusing his opponents using the kind of intemperate language rarely seen in German politics. Now, he is faced with building a governing coalition.

    He has painted himself into a corner. He has called the Greens party and Die Linke “crazies”. And his closest ideological ally, the Free Democrats (FDP), appear to have failed to reach the 5% hurdle to enter parliament after voters punished the party for effectively blowing up the last coalition government.

    So shockingly poor was the FDP’s result, its leader, Christian Lindner, has offered his resignation.

    Previously, a “grand coalition” between the CDU and SPD has been able to form a stable government. This was especially so under former-Chancellor Angela Merkel, the longtime CDU leader.

    The centre-left SPD vote might just be large enough to form a coalition government with Merz’s CDU. Whether the SPD would do so after being shocked in the past few weeks by Merz’s dalliances with the far right remains an open question.

    Scholz, the SPD leader, has categorically ruled out serving in a Merz cabinet. Whether he might resign to make way for a grand coalition remains to be seen, should one prove mathematically possible.

    That leaves only the far-right AfD – the only other party potentially large enough to allow Merz to form a two-party coalition government. Merz has ruled out a CDU-AfD coalition as a threat to German democracy.

    Merz will either have to radically revise his attitudes towards the parties to his left or break his word not to allow the far right into government. If he did the latter, he may very well become Germany’s 21st century Franz von Papen, the Weimar Republic-era leader widely viewed as having helped usher the Nazis to power in the 1930s.

    4. Exorcise the ghost of Angela Merkel

    Merz’s career has been marked by his inability to overcome Merkel and her vision of the CDU as the umbrella party of the democratic centre.

    After dragging his party to the right, Merz has posted an electoral result lower than anything Merkel ever gained.

    Even if his party is able to cobble together a coalition government, Merz will still sit in the shadow of his more democratically popular, centrist predecessor.

    Matt Fitzpatrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is the President of the History Council of South Australia.

    – ref. Friedrich Merz has won Germany’s election. But as the far right soars, forming a government may be difficult – https://theconversation.com/friedrich-merz-has-won-germanys-election-but-as-the-far-right-soars-forming-a-government-may-be-difficult-250621

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Erotica, gore and racism: how America’s war on ‘ideological bias’ is letting AI off the leash

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judith Bishop, Tracey Banivanua Mar Fellow, La Trobe University

    3d_kot/Shutterstock

    Badly behaved artificial intelligence (AI) systems have a long history in science fiction. Way back in 1961, in the famous Astro Boy comics by Osamu Tezuka, a clone of a popular robot magician was reprogrammed into a super-powered thief. In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the shipboard computer HAL 9000 turns out to be more sinister than the astronauts on board think.

    More recently, real-world chatbots such as Microsoft’s Tay have shown that AI models “going bad” isn’t sci-fi any longer. Tay started spewing racist and sexually explicit texts within hours of its public release in 2016.

    The generative AI models we’ve been using since ChatGPT launched in November 2022 are generally well behaved. There are signs this may be about to change.

    On February 20, the US Federal Trade Commission announced an inquiry to understand “how consumers have been harmed […] by technology platforms that limit users’ ability to share their ideas or affiliations freely and openly”. Introducing the inquiry, the commission said platforms with internal processes to suppress unsafe content “may have violated the law”.

    The latest version of the Elon Musk–owned Grok model already serves up “based” opinions, and features an “unhinged mode” that is “intended to be objectionable, inappropriate, and offensive”. Recent ChatGPT updates allow the bot to produce “erotica and gore”.

    These developments come after moves by US President Donald Trump to deregulate AI systems. Trump’s attempt to remove “ideological bias” from AI may see the return of rogue behaviour that AI developers have been working hard to suppress.

    Executive orders

    In January, Trump issued a sweeping executive order against “illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI)”, and another on “removing barriers to AI innovation” (which includes “engineered social agendas”).

    In February, the US refused to join 62 other nations in signing a “Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable AI” at the Paris AI Action Summit.

    What will this mean for the AI products we see around us? Some generative AI companies, including Microsoft and Google, are US federal government suppliers. These companies could come under significant direct pressure to eliminate measures to make AI systems safe, if the measures are perceived as supporting DEI or slowing innovation.

    AI developers’ interpretation of the executive orders could result in AI safety teams being reduced in size or scope, or replaced by teams whose social agenda better aligns with Trump’s.

    Why would that matter? Before generative AI algorithms are trained, they are neither helpful nor harmful. However, when they are fed a diet of human expression scraped from across the internet, their propensity to reflect biases and behaviours such as racism, sexism, ableism and abusive language becomes clear.

    AI risks and how they’re managed

    Major AI developers spend a lot of effort on suppressing biased outputs and unwanted model behaviours and rewarding more ethically neutral and balanced responses.

    Some of these measures could be seen as implementing DEI principles, even as they help to avoid incidents like the one involving Tay. They include the use of human feedback to tune model outputs, as well as monitoring and measuring bias towards specific populations.

    Another approach, developed by Anthropic for its Claude model, uses a policy document called a “constitution” to explicitly direct the model to respect principles of harmless and respectful behaviour.

    Model outputs are often tested via “red teaming”. In this process, prompt engineers and internal AI safety experts do their best to provoke unsafe and offensive responses from generative AI models.

    A Microsoft blog post from January described red teaming as “the first step in identifying potential harms […] to measure, manage, and govern AI risks for our customers”.

    The risks span a “wide range of vulnerabilities”, “including traditional security, responsible AI, and psychosocial harms”.

    The blog also notes “it is crucial to design red teaming probes that not only account for linguistic differences but also redefine harms in different political and cultural contexts”. Many generative AI products have a global user base. So this sort of effort is important for making the products safe for consumers and businesses well beyond US borders.

    We may be about to relearn some lessons

    Unfortunately, none of these efforts to make generative AI models safe is a one-shot process. Once generative AI models are installed in chatbots or other apps, they continually digest information from the human world through prompts and other inputs.

    This diet can shift their behaviour for the worse over time. Malicious attacks, such as user prompt injection and data poisoning, can produce more dramatic changes.

    Tech journalist Kevin Roose used prompt injection to make Microsoft Bing’s AI chatbot reveal its “shadow self”. The upshot? It encouraged him to leave his wife. Research published last month showed that a mere drop of poisoned data could make medical advice models generate misinformation.

    Constant monitoring and correction of AI outputs are essential. There is no other way to avoid offensive, discriminatory or unsafe behaviours cropping up without warning in generated responses.

    Yet all signs suggest the Trump administration favours a reduction in the ethical regulation of AI. The executive orders may be interpreted as allowing or encouraging the free expression and generation of even discriminatory and harmful views on subjects such as women, race, LGBTQIA+ individuals and immigrants.

    Generative AI moderation efforts may go the way of Meta’s fact-checking and expert content moderation programs. This could have an impact on global users of US-made AI products such as OpenAI ChatGPT, Microsoft Co-Pilot and Google Gemini.

    We might be about to rediscover how essential these efforts have been to keep AI models in check.

    Judith Bishop has received funding from Creative Australia for a book on AI and human data. Until 2022 she led teams producing training data for global AI companies and US government research agencies.

    – ref. Erotica, gore and racism: how America’s war on ‘ideological bias’ is letting AI off the leash – https://theconversation.com/erotica-gore-and-racism-how-americas-war-on-ideological-bias-is-letting-ai-off-the-leash-250060

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: How Whyalla can be upgraded to green steel and why we need to keep steel production in Australia

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Rossetto, Adjunct, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Resources, University of Adelaide

    Financial challenges at the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia have reignited debate about the nation’s steel industry and its future.

    Australians should have access to quality steel at competitive prices. The domestic steel production industry employs tens of thousands of people.

    The state and federal governments have stepped in, however, announcing a A$1.9 billion support package for Whyalla, together with a new $1 billion green iron investment fund. Half of the new fund will be allocated to Whyalla to support its transition to green steel production. That’s a large amount of money for a privately owned business.

    So, are the new packages going to be money well spent? To answer that question, let’s examine the priorities.

    A national priority

    Steel is an industry in which securing sovereign production capability is crucial. Sovereign capability means ensuring an industry can survive external shocks such as interruptions to shipping routes or disputes with other countries in the supply chain.

    Steel is a vital input for defence industries such as ship and submarine building. What could be said of a country’s autonomy – or its sovereign capability – if it relies on others for the steel needed for its defence?

    Whyalla is one of the two largest steelworks in Australia, the other being BlueScope’s Port Kembla plant. At least at first glance, the green iron investment fund seems to deal with the sovereign capability criterion well enough. Whyalla appears an ideal candidate.

    However, the public subsidy is large. The subsidised plant’s ability to operate in an economically competitive manner needs to be examined. Further, while the Whyalla plant began its life as a supplier to an adjacent shipbuilding operation, its share of the current domestic defence industry steel market is unclear.

    Environmentally friendly steel?

    Production of steel using iron ore and coking coal is a greenhouse gas emissions intensive process. It can result in as many as 2.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas per tonne of steel.

    The plan for Whyalla has long been to replace its coal-fired blast furnace with an electric arc furnace. This could, in turn, be supplied with low-emission sources of energy and consume scrap steel. While there is no globally agreed definition, this kind of approach would likely qualify as green steel.

    Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG, the owner of the plant, had originally wanted this furnace to be operating by 2025, potentially using solar among its energy supply. The plan would have cut its emissions dramatically. The timeline later slipped to 2027.

    The longer term plan for Whyalla appears based around production of green hydrogen to replace coking coal. As the world charges toward net zero emissions by 2050, the belief is that Australia can capture a good part of the green metals market.

    The challenge is that green hydrogen is expensive and not widely used around the world. It’s hard to find signs that the global steel market is willing to pay a premium in the absence of sectoral emissions pricing. The strategy could therefore be seen as a bet on the future. If the bet went wrong, who would absorb the losses? It would, most likely, be the taxpayer.

    The United States leads the way in low-emissions steel production. Firms there use electric arc furnaces to recycle scrap steel with energy from low-emission sources. This technology is proven and operates at industrial scale. It has a fraction of the emissions intensity but relies on the availability of scrap steel.

    Can we add value?

    Australia is a major world supplier of two key materials crucial for most steel making. These are iron ore and coking coal.

    The countries to which we sell those raw materials then do the processing and manufacture, capturing profit that is arguably lost to the Australian economy. Whyalla is already an example of domestic value-adding. It uses iron ore from mines in the adjacent area, and domestic coking coal.

    For Australia, however, this is going to be tricky. Australia is effectively signalling to its international customers that, one day, it hopes to compete with them in the global steel markets. In other words, this creates an incentive for the country’s customers to look for alternatives to buy iron ore.

    Whether Australia increases steel production ahead of its customers finding new sources of iron ore elsewhere in the world is a risky race with an uncertain result.

    Focus on government spending

    So, back to the question: is the new funding going to be money well spent? Perhaps the most solid justification among the priorities examined, is sovereign capability.

    The government probably needs to provide more information on how the new fund differs through from Future Made in Australia or the National Reconstruction Fund. Is this old funding with a new name? The nation is entering federal election season. Focus on government spending efficiency is likely to increase.

    Daniel Rossetto is the owner of Climate Mundial Limited, a private company that does consulting work but is currently inactive. He does ad hoc private consulting through various consulting platforms. He is also the owner and host of a new private and independent YouTube channel called Climate Mundial’s Energy and Climate Weekly. He is on the editorial board of the Discover Sustainability journal published by Springer Nature.

    – ref. How Whyalla can be upgraded to green steel and why we need to keep steel production in Australia – https://theconversation.com/how-whyalla-can-be-upgraded-to-green-steel-and-why-we-need-to-keep-steel-production-in-australia-250402

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: China didn’t violate any rules with its live-fire naval exercises. So, why are Australia and NZ so worried?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University

    In recent days, the Chinese Navy conducted two live-fire military exercises in waters near Australia and New Zealand, sparking concern in both countries.

    The Albanese government lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing. China responded by saying it was “deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied” by Australia’s response.

    What exactly happened?

    The presence of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (or PLA Navy) ships was well known. Australia’s Department of Defence put out a media release on February 13 indicating it was “aware” of the three ships operating to the northeast of Australia.

    Over the next week, the ships gradually made their way along Australia’s east coast through its exclusive economic zone in the Tasman Sea, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from a country’s coastline.

    On February 21, the PLA Navy gave short notice of its intent to conduct a possible live-fire exercise in the high seas between Australia and New Zealand. The next day, the ships conducted a second live-fire exercise. A live fire exercise can take many forms, such as using live rounds against stationary sea targets or the testing of new weapons systems.“

    Once Australia and New Zealand received China’s notification of its exercises, a maritime and air exclusion zone was created in the vicinity of the Chinese ships, and trans-Tasman commercial flights were diverted.

    Both exercises took place in “international waters”, which means no country has sovereignty over them. Neither Canberra nor Wellington contested China’s right to conduct these exercises, as the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea places no constraints on high-seas military operations.

    The United States, for example, has conducted such high-seas weapons tests in the past, causing Qantas flights across the Pacific to be occasionally diverted.

    If they were legal, why were Australia and NZ upset?

    Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles was critical of the short notice China gave both countries of its intention to use live rounds of ammunition.

    Typically, Marles said, standard protocol is to provide between 12 to 24 hours notice of such exercises. This allows enough time to warn other ships in the area and for airlines to divert their flights.

    However, because the exercises took place in the high seas, the protocol is more ambiguous. This became the key point of differentiation with China. Beijing could argue its warships are under no legal obligation to tell anyone what they are doing on the high seas. As Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said,

    China’s actions are in full compliance with international law and international practices, and will not affect aviation flight safety.

    This is also the first instance of China conducting Tasman Sea military exercises. As such, it poses a challenge for how Australia and New Zealand should respond to future Chinese conduct.

    The PLA Navy has been sailing more frequently around the Australian coast and has observed Australian military exercises conducted with defence partners, such as Exercise Talisman Sabre in 2023.

    Why did China conduct the exercises here?

    This is an important question since China could have just as easily conducted these exercises closer to its own shores.

    Part of the answer lies in China having the capacity and capability to project its military force far beyond its own shores.

    These types of activities are also important intelligence gathering exercises. Each Chinese Navy visit will give it more experience in waters where it does not frequently sail, while also gauging how Australia and New Zealand respond.

    Given the increasing cooperation between China and some Pacific Island nations, such as the Cook Islands and Solomon Islands, we should expect the Chinese Navy will become a more frequent visitor to the region.

    What can Australia and NZ do about it?

    As Australia and New Zealand are strong supporters of the rules-based international order on which the law of the sea is based, there is very little they can legally do to obstruct China. Nevertheless, three options are available.

    First, enhanced air and naval surveillance of China’s activities in these waters is legally permissible. Constantly shadowing the PLA Navy in the South Pacific, though, would be a drain on stretched defence resources.

    Both countries would also need to ensure their navies are not in the line of fire to avoid an accident that could spiral into a major conflict.

    Second, Australia and New Zealand could work though bodies such as the International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization to settle on agreed practices on how much advance notification is required for high seas live-fire tests.

    Finally, both countries could push for negotiations on a regional “naval code of conduct”. Similar codes have been agreed upon by both China and the US in the past. Incidents like this could prove to be a catalyst for more.

    The South Pacific will increasingly be a strategically contested maritime space. Australia and New Zealand frequently deploy their navies for humanitarian operations in neighbouring Pacific states and engage in exercises with their military partners. The US Navy is also becoming more active in the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea to counter China, as are the navies of other nations, such as the United Kingdom, France and Japan.

    With the potential for these various navies to be operating at the same time in the region, negotiating some basic “rules of the sea” would be a prudent and a helpful confidence-building measure to avoid a potential conflagration.

    Donald Rothwell receives funding from Australian Research Council.

    – ref. China didn’t violate any rules with its live-fire naval exercises. So, why are Australia and NZ so worried? – https://theconversation.com/china-didnt-violate-any-rules-with-its-live-fire-naval-exercises-so-why-are-australia-and-nz-so-worried-250618

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: AI coming to primary and secondary schools to maximize learning by machine

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    “Confucius, does the phrase ‘To learn and constantly review what one has learned, isn’t that a delight?’ mean that we should frequently review our lessons?”

    In a fourth-grade classroom at Xinyilu Primary School, Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, a student posed this question to a virtual figure on the screen. The digital “Confucius”, dressed in traditional attire, nodded gently and replied, “Indeed. By revisiting what one has learned, one can gain new insights.”

    With the integration of artificial intelligence-powered virtual teaching assistants, historical figures can now come to life in classrooms, providing students with an interactive learning experience.

    The deep integration of AI and education will bring about major changes to education and the way schools are organized, says Xue Lan, dean of the Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University. “As a personalized learning hub, AI offers limitless possibilities.”

    The Tianjin Huiwen Middle School has gone through three stages of AI exploration in education.

    In 2017, it organized a sci-tech club to engage a small group of students interested in AI, allowing them to try out for robotics and other competitions. By 2022, the school was determined to broaden the reach of its AI education programs.

    It specially created sci-tech innovation courses covering robots, drones and the annual robot competition, RoboMaster, to expand the variety of AI education.

    AI has now been integrated into daily teaching at the school, and serves as a teaching assistant bringing new experiences to traditional education.

    The development of AI education at Huiwen is similar to other schools in China. Educators widely acknowledge AI’s transformative impact on classroom efficiency.

    “As part of our school’s digital transformation, every classroom is now equipped with smart interactive boards and AI-powered virtual assistants, enabling real-time human-machine interaction,” says Principal Yao Hairong of Xinyilu Primary School. “This not only enhances teaching efficiency but also significantly boosts students’ learning engagement.”

    Many parents believe that AI-driven learning makes lessons more engaging and increases interest.

    A mother of a fifth-grade student, surnamed Li, says that AI has sparked her daughter’s interest in making PowerPoint slides and generating AI templates.

    “I hope she will be inspired by this and get to know computer technologies,” says Li.

    Teachers and parents have also shown concern about the use of AI in the study.

    “AI-generated teaching material still has its limitations,” says Ni Lili, a teacher at Xinyilu Primary School. “Presentations, speeches and supplementary materials produced by AI often lack personalization and do not fully reflect a teacher’s particular style.

    “Additionally, AI-generated images and multimedia content sometimes do not align precisely with the given descriptions, requiring manual adjustment,” she says.

    Parents also expressed concerns that excessive reliance on AI may weaken problem-solving abilities.

    “When my child encounters a difficult question, her first instinct is to ask AI for the answer instead of thinking through the problem herself,” Li says.

    Education experts emphasize that AI should serve as a tool to support student thinking rather than as a substitute for independent reasoning.

    “AI in education should focus on guided learning, helping students develop problem-solving skills, rather than simply providing answers,” one expert says.

    In February 2024, 184 schools were chosen as pilot centers to explore the philosophies, models and programs of AI education. The goal is to develop exemplary cases and experience that can be promoted on a larger scale.

    In order to support the integration of AI into basic education, the Ministry of Education issued a directive in late 2024 outlining key objectives for advancing AI in primary and secondary education.

    The plan aims to establish a structured AI curriculum, promote AI-driven teaching and assessment, and achieve full AI education in primary and secondary schools by 2030, equipping students with AI literacy and practical skills.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: In A Nighttime Travesty, First Nations women embrace Indigenous futurism – and push the boundaries of theatre

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Andrews, Professor and Academic Director (Indigenous Research), La Trobe University

    Gregory Lorenzutti/Malthouse Theatre

    A Nighttime Travesty is a bold new piece of theatre that depicts many illusions and truth interspersed with history.

    What would happen if the world was to end? A plane has left Earth because Earth is dying. The journey is an escape for survival, but they are taking Earth-created social inequalities with them.

    While hurtling into space, two hostesses talk about not feeling at home on Earth anymore. We can no longer advance as a human race and are forced to relocate.

    The future of humankind does not appear optimistic – it is in the hands of the pilot.

    Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard, co-creators of the work and the lead performers, bring brilliance to their artistic flair, playing multiple characters.

    They are the two hostesses: one a young Aboriginal woman who has been impregnated by the pilot, and the other a robot. The pilot is played by Bell-Wykes, and Sheppard is a strange victim with a wit.

    A Nighttime Travesty intertwines Indigenous futurism and vaudeville.
    Gregory Lorenzutti/Malthouse Theatre

    Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo, A Nighttime Travesty is thought-provoking and complex theatre that addresses Aboriginal history and oppression using media representations of Aussie male humour.

    Earth is dying. The journey is an escape for survival, but they are taking Earth-created social inequalities with them. There is no new world waiting for them to start over. They will have to do that themselves.

    They ponder what is ahead of them as they travel to a new life somewhere in space.

    The thread throughout the production is held together by a black and white history while the actors sing, dance, give birth and turn into murderers.

    Indigenous futurism

    A Nighttime Travesty intertwines Indigenous futurism and vaudeville.

    Indigenous futurism is a cultural practice of imagining the future, while acknowledging past and present. Including cultural practices and ways of knowing with social and political commentary within a scientific framework can create an aura of illusion and truth.

    Aboriginal storytelling has long moved in and out of the past into the present in various artistic mediums as a form of expression and teaching. Indigenous futurism can be found in literature, film, visual arts, video games, poetry, music, fashion and theatre.

    The philosophies of Indigenous ways of knowing and oral histories are important tools for storytelling.

    The actors play dual gender neutral roles. The women depict the Australian male: the sexual power and masculinity in the workplace intermixed with artificial intelligence and technology. They are joined on stage by performers Zach Blampied and Peter Wykes, and musicians Matt Pana and Small Sound.

    A Nighttime Travesty is particularly dense with sexualised humour and underlying pokes of fun made at the Aussie male expense.

    The dark side of the humour from an Indigenous woman’s perspective steers the twists and turns which move with such quick motion that the audience is left waiting for conclusions to the messages.

    Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard bring brilliance to their artistic flair.
    Gregory Lorenzutti/Malthouse Theatre

    Aboriginal history

    Much of this play is a reflection upon humanity and the life lessons learned or not learned from history. It is also a social and political commentary from young viewers of Australian humour on television and experiences of Australian society values.

    Throughout the play there is lots of symbolism reflecting Australia. The sexual humour is structured around Australian icons of media, and BBQ aprons with male and female printed torsos. The actors morph into the sexuality of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women.

    It seems the co-creators researched the long-running Saturday night national television show Hey Hey It’s Saturday to finally offer a First Nations commentary.

    On that show, men roasted each other, their guests and the audience – and presented a gem every now and then that would save their credibility.

    Here, a dark hooded man sits on a bench titled “Hey Hey it’s Judgement Day” and a puppet on a stick named Dicky Lee is involved in sexual acts. This is presented as humorous, yet the audience is left feeling slightly embarrassed at Dicky’s involvement.

    The play riffs off the long-running variety show Hey Hey, It’s Saturday.
    Gregory Lorenzutti/Malthouse Theatre

    Religion, sex and babies born out of wedlock are harsh realities of life. Religion and God is pondered for the new world – but God is a man, and is blamed for the problems of the world.

    Can they start over in a modern world, and what will their faith be? The Aboriginal hostess is concerned that, on a new planet, her Elders will be meaningless and, as the only Aboriginal on the plane, her culture and her race will die out. But wait – her baby will be the new beginning.

    A Nighttime Travesty from A Daylight Connection played at Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. Season closed.

    Julie Andrews 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. In A Nighttime Travesty, First Nations women embrace Indigenous futurism – and push the boundaries of theatre – https://theconversation.com/in-a-nighttime-travesty-first-nations-women-embrace-indigenous-futurism-and-push-the-boundaries-of-theatre-248132

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A 380-million-year-old fossil ‘fish’ from Scotland has been discovered in Australia

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gavin Charles Young, Departmental Visitor, Materials Physics, Research School of Physics, Australian National University

    3D printouts of the _Palaeospondylus australis_ holotype, enlarged x20. Carole Burrow

    Queensland is renowned for its fossils of Australia’s largest back-boned animals – dinosaurs, of course, like the Jurassic Rhoetosaurus, the Cretaceous Wintonotitan, and other large sauropods.

    However, our new paper published in the journal National Science Review documents the smallest vertebrate fossil animal described so far from the state.

    It’s a highly enigmatic tiny “fish” from a remote location close to the Northern Territory border. It lived in the shallow margins of a marine environment about 400 million years ago.

    A scattering of its skeletal elements was preserved in a small limestone outcrop at the southern end of the Toomba Range, on the edge of the Simpson Desert.

    Palaeospondylus, a fossil enigma

    Our paper describes a new species of the genus Palaeospondylus, only the second known. Remarkably, for the last 135 years, Palaeospondylus has been represented by a single species that lived in northern Scotland, on the other side of the world from our discovery.

    Unlike nearly all fossil fish of that age, Palaeospondylus was “naked”, lacking external dermal bones and scales. But it did have a mineralised internal skeleton.

    It is the oldest example from the fossil record to show a segmented vertebral column (a sort of backbone), hence its name – Greek for “ancient vertebra”.

    Palaeospondylus gunni specimen from Achanarras Quarry, northern Scotland.
    Carole Burrow

    The type species Palaeospondylus gunni is known from thousands of fairly complete specimens, almost all from a single flagstone quarry.

    When first described in 1890, it attracted a flurry of competing interpretations in Europe and North America. Which group of animals did it belong to?

    Since its discovery, it has been assigned to almost all major jawless and jawed vertebrate groups. All specimens were compressed, making the skeletal elements “melt” together. Imagination has always played a great role in trying to identify its parts.

    Even after the advent of 3D scanning, three recent studies reached different conclusions. According to those, Palaeospondylus was related either to chondrichthyans (sharks), or tetrapods (the land vertebrates). Or maybe it was a stem jawed vertebrate – branching separately from the base of the evolutionary tree for all vertebrates with jaws.

    The Queensland Palaeospondylus

    The story of discovery of our new Queensland species, Palaeospondylus australis, began in 1977.

    In the 1960s, geologist Reg Sprigg had predicted oil and gas beneath the northern Simpson Desert. The Bureau of Mineral Resources was conducting seismic surveys and microfossil sampling across the Georgina Basin, immediately to the north.

    Microfossils are tiny fossils that can only be studied with a microscope, but are crucial to determining the age of the rock. Numerous sedimentary rock samples are collected, preferably limestones, because these can be dissolved in acid. The insoluble microfossils can then be identified and studied in the acid residues.

    In 1977, I collected bits of limestone from an obscure gully in the Cravens Peak Beds, the sandstone forming the main ridge of the Toomba Range. Surprisingly, these produced a rich collection of Devonian fish microfossils. This was the first evidence that an arm of the sea had extended into central Australia during the Early Devonian (about 400 million years ago).

    The 1977 Cravens Peak limestone samples before being processed in acid.
    Carole Burrow

    In the 2000s, palaeontologist Carole Burrow at the Queensland Museum was investigating the internal structure of Devonian fish microfossils to assist in dating the rocks.

    In the Cravens Peak samples, she noticed some distinctively shaped, tiny elements composed of an unusual honeycomb-like tissue. Carole hypothesised this could be a new species of Palaeospondylus, the only record from outside Scotland.

    So, in 2006, we organised another field trip to this remote location.

    The 2006 field trip participants (Tim Senden, Tim Holland, Carole Burrow, John Long, Gavin Young) looking south from the end of the Toomba Range, the last rock outcrop for around 500 km across the Simpson Desert.
    Bruce Burrow

    Returning to the Queensland Museum after our field trip, Carole’s colleague from the Netherlands, palaeontologist Jan den Blaauwen, sent her new images showing similar honeycomb-like structure in the Scottish Palaeospondylus gunni.

    Carole was acid-etching the newly collected samples so she could extract any microfossils. Luckily, she noticed a slightly larger specimen appearing on the rock surface (although still tiny, only about 3.6 millimetres long). It was highly interesting because it seemed bilaterally symmetrical.

    Could this be a braincase (the bony capsule inside the skull that encloses the brain)? She immediately stopped acid etching before it disintegrated into crumbs.

    Palaeospondylus australis holotype, QMF 52826, ventral braincase exposed on the limestone surface by acid etching (left), and trimmed for CT scanning (right).
    Carole Burrow, Gavin Young

    The first uncrushed braincase

    At the Australian National University, our sample was carefully trimmed before CT scanning, revealing the first uncrushed braincase of Palaeospondylus known to science.

    It’s now the holotype – defining type specimen – for our new species. And we have about 400 other elements with the same honeycomb structure which belong to it, too.

    The unique uncrushed preservation of this braincase, revealed by CT scanning and 3D printing techniques, provides the first details of brain structure in this tiny animal from 400 million years ago.

    These include the shape of the cranial cavity and inner ear canals, the position of the pituitary gland and optic nerve openings, and details of the carotid arteries and jugular veins for blood supply to the brain.

    3D scan image, the first view of the upper braincase surface of Palaeospondylus, showing the large opening into the cranial cavity.
    Jing Lu/Insitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing

    More questions remain

    It is noteworthy that our curiosity-driven research into ancient brain morphology can be traced back to economically driven geological surveys of nearly 50 years ago, conducted to support exploration for oil and gas across central Australia.

    As with any research result, there are now new questions to be investigated. The honeycomb tissue seems unique to Palaeospondylus, but could be a precursor to calcified cartilage of some other groups, including modern sharks.

    Alternatively, it could be an early evolutionary stage for the spongy tissue (endochondral bone) filling the inside of most bones in modern land vertebrates, including humans.

    The unique holotype of our new species clearly shows that previous interpretations of the crushed Scottish material included many structures that were not part of the braincase.

    We’ve also now demonstrated that a recent study in the leading science journal Nature, which proposed that Palaeospondylus was closely related to our tetrapod ancestors, relied on many erroneous interpretations of braincase structure.

    Of one thing we can be sure – Palaeospondylus was not a stem tetrapod.

    Acknowledgements: Carole Burrow from Queensland Museum contributed greatly to this article.

    Gavin Charles Young has received funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. A 380-million-year-old fossil ‘fish’ from Scotland has been discovered in Australia – https://theconversation.com/a-380-million-year-old-fossil-fish-from-scotland-has-been-discovered-in-australia-250054

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A Chinese own goal? How war games in the Tasman Sea could push NZ closer to AUKUS

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato

    The appearance of three Chinese naval vessels firing live rounds in the Tasman Sea has caused understandable alarm in New Zealand and Australia. But this has more to do with the geopolitical context than the actual event.

    In fact, the Chinese navy is allowed to conduct exercises in the Tasman and has wide freedoms on the high seas in general. So far, China appears to be acting in accordance with both the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.

    While New Zealand would have preferred more notice of the Chinese navy’s intentions, there was no obligation to provide this.

    Nor is what is occurring in the Tasman similar to the more aggressive sabre-rattling the Chinese military has displayed around the South China Sea, most recently involving both the Australian and Philippine navies.

    And in September last year, just a few days after Australian and New Zealand vessels sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese test-fired a nuclear-capable intercontinental missile into the South Pacific.

    For China, of course, Taiwan and parts of the South China Sea are highly disputed territory. The Tasman Sea is not. But what is disputed is China’s role and influence in the Pacific – and this, rather than a minor naval exercise, is what is causing headaches in Canberra and Wellington.

    The Cook Islands factor

    The surprise agreement signed by the Cook Islands and China under a fortnight ago, aimed at “deepening blue economy cooperation”, is the immediate context for that concern.

    The deal avoids controversial areas such as security and policing. But it moves Chinese influence into infrastructure support for wharves, shipbuilding and repair, and ocean transportation.

    What really challenges New Zealand’s foreign policy is how this opens the South Pacific up to even greater Chinese influence and activity. Foreign Minister Winston Peters has signalled it is time to reset the relationship with the Cooks.

    For its part, China has asserted that its relationship with the Cook Islands “is not directed against any third party and should not be subject to or disrupted by any third party”.

    In other words, China has told New Zealand to butt out of a major development in the historically close diplomatic and political relationship with its Pacific neighbour.

    A Chinese own goal?

    All of this is happening within a rapidly shifting geopolitical sphere. US President Donald Trump is unilaterally attempting to upend the old US-led world order, and other major powers such as Russia and China are adapting.

    New Zealand’s relations with China were already difficult. The Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau have both identified state-sponsored Chinese interference in domestic affairs, breaches of the parliamentary network and other malicious cyber activity.

    The question now is whether China has scored an own goal with its recent actions. Because while it might prefer New Zealand to operate a more independent foreign policy – balancing its relations with east and west – the opposite may now be more likely.

    In times of international stress and uncertainty, New Zealand has always tended to move towards deepening relationships with traditional allies.

    Whether it is the fear of Russian invasion in the 19th century, or Japanese invasion in the 20th century – and whether or not those threats are real or imagined – New Zealand reverts to form.

    It has been this way for nearly 150 years and is likely to occur again. New Zealand is already grappling with how to respond to the Trump administration’s redrawn global system and will be looking for ways to deepen the friendship.

    At the same time, the government now seems committed to joining a new arms race and increasing defence spending as a proportion of GDP. And the supposed benefits of joining the second tier of the AUKUS security pact may now become that much easier to sell politically.

    Alexander Gillespie 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. A Chinese own goal? How war games in the Tasman Sea could push NZ closer to AUKUS – https://theconversation.com/a-chinese-own-goal-how-war-games-in-the-tasman-sea-could-push-nz-closer-to-aukus-250615

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: Big test as SAIC seeks to regain its crown

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    SAIC Motor is undergoing a profound transformation, as the once-unchallenged giant in China’s auto industry struggles to explore a future in the vehicle market.

    It has embraced Huawei in a partnership and is set to launch a new EV brand called Shangjie, with the first model expected to hit the market in late 2025, reported Yicai, a Shanghai-based business news outlet.

    This brand, with the first model priced between 150,000-250,000 yuan ($20,600-34,400), will focus on affordability while integrating Huawei’s smart driving systems, including its HarmonyOS cockpit and Qiankun intelligent driving technology.

    The partnership comes amid mounting pressure on SAIC in the market. The Chinese partner of Volkswagen and General Motors was toppled from its 18-year throne as China’s best-selling carmaker by BYD last year.

    Its once-profitable joint ventures are losing ground to Chinese carmakers including Geely and BYD, while its indigenous brands such as MG and Roewe have been struggling to get a foothold.

    It is the result of a combination of factors, which include the poor positioning of its brands and, more importantly, its early but inefficient shift to smart onboard features and advanced driving-assist functions.

    SAIC unveiled its goal in 2021 to become a technology company focused on smart and electric vehicles. It said it would earmark a budget of 300 billion yuan by 2025.

    Chen Hong, then chairman of SAIC, said that outsourcing intelligent driving systems to a third party like Huawei would render SAIC “a soulless body”.

    At the time, this statement encapsulated the attitude of an automaker that saw itself as impervious to external technological influence. It believed its established position, fortified by lucrative joint ventures and proprietary technology, would safeguard its future.

    However, SAIC has failed to come up with competitive models in a market which has seen an influx of smart models from both startups like Xpeng to established companies like Geely and Great Wall Motor.

    By 2024, its long-held position as China’s top-selling automaker was taken by BYD, which sold 4.27 million vehicles compared to SAIC’s declining numbers.

    Even more troubling, SAIC’s profits plummeted, with its own electric vehicle brands, IM Motors and Rising Auto, struggling to gain traction in the market.

    Under such circumstances, the “soul theory” is no longer a question for President Jia Jianxu, who took the helm of SAIC in July 2024.

    “SAIC ‘condescending’ to partner with Huawei has a lot to do with its falling sales, which affect its stock price,” said Zhang Xiang, a fellow at the Research Center of Automobile Industry Innovation of the North China University of Technology.

    Zhang said SAIC needs Huawei’s tech to regain consumer trust, as its subsidiary Z-One failed to come up with solutions in the smart EV sector.

    Also, the Huawei brand could provide a much-needed boost for Shangjie, positioning it to compete with well-established players like BYD.

    Huawei has proved its competitive edge in the smart driving and smart cabin sector, with partnerships at carmakers including Seres, said Zhang.

    The Shangjie brand marks Huawei’s fifth collaboration in its Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, with the other four being codeveloped with private carmakers Seres and Chery as well as State-owned BAIC and JAC.

    Seres, a nobody in China’s car industry just years ago, shot to stardom following its partnership with Huawei to launch the Aito brand.

    Its Aito M9 SUV has been the bestselling premium vehicle priced above 500,000 yuan in China for 10 months in a row. Seres boasts a market value of around 180 billion yuan on China’s stock market, similar to SAIC.

    Shangjie represents SAIC’s latest bet to regain relevance in a market increasingly dominated by tech-savvy consumers and electric-focused competitors.

    It hopes that the brand’s affordability and smart technology integration place it against the likes of BYD, Geely and newer entrants such as Xiaomi’s SU7 sedan.

    However, key questions remain: Can Huawei’s technology overcome SAIC’s image as a laggard and will it help SAIC to stand out as there are already several partnerships with Huawei in the market?

    SAIC’s transformation mirrors the broader struggles facing traditional automakers in China and around the world.

    As electrification and smart technologies disrupt the automotive industry, even the largest manufacturers are realizing that size alone is no longer an advantage.

    Earlier this month, BYD announced that smart driving will become a standard feature on its vehicles, with the cheapest car priced 69,800 yuan.

    Analysts say SAIC’s move to partner with Huawei is a wake-up call for other traditional automakers, adding that the only way forward is cooperation and openness.

    SAIC’s partnership with Huawei comes in tandem with significant personnel adjustments within the company. A mid- and senior-level management reshuffle involving more than 60 positions was announced last week, aiming to boost its indigenous brands including Roewe, Rising Auto and MG.

    Jia oversees these brands now put under the umbrella of the big passenger car unit. The 47-year-old showed his resolve in a company speech in September 2024, saying: “One may have to kneel first before he gets the chance to stand up firmly on his feet”.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘It’s disgusting that they can get away with this’: here’s how eviction can affect tenants’ lives

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Morris, Professor, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney

    For people relying on rental properties to keep a roof over their heads, there are few things more scary than the possibility of being evicted from their home.

    The paucity of official statistics makes it difficult to know exactly how common evictions are. In 2019–20, 13.8% of private renters moved due to their lease being terminated or not renewed.

    Besides a report or two, we know little about what happens when households face the possibility of being evicted, or are actually evicted.

    Our research examines these consequences. Through in-depth interviews with 53 private tenants in New South Wales and Queensland, we found these experiences negatively shaped people’s lives well into the future. Here are four themes we identified.

    1. Poor mental health

    The ease with which landlords can terminate a tenant’s occupation evoked persistent anxiety for most of the interviewees (the interviews were conducted prior to the scrapping of no-grounds eviction in NSW, though such evictions are still allowed in other states and territories).

    This was especially so for low-income tenants.

    When interviewed, Susan* had recently been evicted from her apartment in Sydney. She was reliant on the Disability Support Pension for her income and lived in constant fear of being evicted and rendered homeless. She felt that having a disability and being from a non-English-speaking background made her precarity worse:

    if you are somebody who comes from a non-English-speaking background, or you have a disability, or have no ability to enforce [the legislation], it’s on the tenant to take up the laws and to do something about it. And if you don’t have any of those abilities, you’re just going to be on your way to homelessness very, very soon […]

    Grace lived by herself in Sydney. She had been given a no-grounds termination and was convinced it was linked to her landlord’s realisation that he could raise her rent considerably once she moved out. Her mental health was seriously affected by the eviction:

    It was just like out of nowhere […] so that was horrific […] I’m still trying to settle into this new place with that trauma of being uprooted all of a sudden […] I think it’s probably going to affect me for a while and particularly in terms of just the power that real estates and landlords have to be able to do that.

    2. Financial hardship

    For many of the low-income tenants, the financial implications of being evicted were severe.

    Sarah, her husband and their three children had been renting in Sydney since 2013. She estimated that since 2014, they had had to move at least six times. Most of the moves were not voluntary. She found the financial implications of evictions extremely distressing:

    It’s the finances of it that’s the hardest […] when you get asked to move, you need to have a bond ready to go at the next place before you receive your bond back, which is a killer […]

    She outlined all the expenses that came up each time she moved from one rental to another: professional cleaners, removalists and maintenance deducted from the bond.

    After her rented accommodation was condemned, Brenda, a single mum of two children, had 48 hours to move from her rental property in regional Queensland. The move consumed her savings:

    I had $200 after paying all my bills to move. So once I moved that was it. So I struggled the following week for everything. For food, […] getting my son to school, my daughter. It was just horrible.

    3. Reluctance to complain

    The knowledge that, at some point, the rent could be increased to an untenable level or they could be asked to vacate evoked silent compliance. This created a reluctance to complain or request basic maintenance.

    Alice was convinced she was evicted after complaining about the poor condition of the rental property she, her son and grandson had been renting for eight years in regional NSW. Her grandson’s bedroom was unusable due to excessive mould.

    However, her low income and the threat of eviction meant she held off complaining for an extended period:

    […] it’s just disgusting that they [landlords] can get away with this shit while charging top dollar, and […] that’s why I didn’t complain because I said to everybody, “as soon as I complain he’ll kick us out.” […] If I hadn’t complained, we’d still be there […]

    Sarah described how, despite feeling harassed and stressed by her landlord’s unannounced and constant intrusions, she felt the family had to accept the situation and not protest:

    I was petrified of being kicked out if we fought back and so […] we let him onto the property 16 times in 10 months and said nothing.

    When they couldn’t take it any longer and complained, they were given notice, the landlord claiming he needed to do maintenance that required the property to be vacant.

    4. Ending up in a worse home

    A common consequence of eviction is having to move to unsuitable, lower-quality accommodation.

    Jan and her partner were older renters and reliant on government benefits for their income. The flow-on effects of being evicted from their accommodation in Queensland, where they had been living for ten years, were devastating. Her partner attempted suicide, her relationship with him ended, and she was forced to live in a tent on a piece of land her mother had bought several years prior:

    our rental accommodation was sold out from under us to developers and we had to be out with nowhere to go. We looked around for somewhere else to rent and there was absolutely nowhere we could afford at all.

    It’s clear that eviction, or the threat thereof, can have devastating affects on people’s lives.

    Although there has been some movement around improving the lot of private renters, such as legislation abolishing no-grounds eviction in some jurisdictions, and rent increases being allowed only once a year, a lot more needs to be done to ensure tenants have acceptable security of tenure.

    *All names in this article have been changed to protect participants’ privacy.

    Alan Morris receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Joelle Moore receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Thi Thanh Mai Giang receives funding from The Australian Research Council.

    Yiran Li receives funding from funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. ‘It’s disgusting that they can get away with this’: here’s how eviction can affect tenants’ lives – https://theconversation.com/its-disgusting-that-they-can-get-away-with-this-heres-how-eviction-can-affect-tenants-lives-248221

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: UPDATE — BioAstra Unveils “Twin Astra”: Pioneering Deep-Space Medical Research Program Set to Transform Space Exploration and Earth-Based Medicine

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BioAstra, a pioneering force in space medicine and biotechnology, is set to revolutionize human health with the launch of Twin Astra—a first-of-its-kind deep-space research initiative poised to transform space exploration and medical advancements on Earth.

    The program was officially unveiled on Thursday, February 20, 2025, at The Explorers Club in New York City, and brought together top minds in space, science, and biotechnology.

    About Twin Astra

    Twin Astra is designed to unlock critical insights into human health through space-based research, driving breakthroughs that will impact both astronauts and Earth-based medicine. The program focuses on:

    • Twin Studies in Space: By studying genetically identical twins—one on Earth, the other in space—scientists will map the molecular, genetic, and physiological shifts caused by space travel.
    • Medical Breakthroughs: This research will accelerate advancements in precision medicine, aging, cancer treatment, and regenerative therapies.
    • Space Exploration & Human Resilience: The findings will pave the way for safer, long-duration space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

    “By harnessing space as a biomedical testing ground, Twin Astra will redefine our understanding of human resilience in extreme environments,” said Professor Chris Mason, BioAstra Board Chair. “This research is crucial for protecting astronauts and unlocking medical discoveries that will benefit life on Earth and beyond.”

    Launch Event: February 20, 2025

    This exclusive gathering brought together astronauts, biotech leaders, philanthropists, investors, and innovators to explore the program’s groundbreaking potential.

    “Twin Astra represents the next frontier of biomedical discovery,” said Savi Glowe, BioAstra CEO. “By pushing the limits of human biology in space, we are opening doors to new treatments, technologies, and insights that will redefine healthcare for generations to come.”

    Event Highlights:

    • Speakers:
      • Richard Garriott, Explorers Club President, Astronaut, and Explorer
      • Dr. Sian Proctor, Inspiration4 Astronaut
      • Dr Kate Rubins, Astronaut and Microbiologist
      • Savi Glowe, BioAstra CEO
      • Professor Chris Mason, BioAstra Board Chair & Renowned Genomics Expert

    Event Details:

    Date: Thursday, February 20
    Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Location: The Explorers Club, 46 East 70th Street, New York

    Investor Inquiries: michal@bioastra.org
    Website: www.bioastra.org; www.twinastra.org

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Northland Regional Council media briefs 24/02/25

    Source: Northland Regional Council

    Mōtatau Students learn to use stream testing kits
    Northland Regional Council’s Land Management team has supported tamariki of Mōtatau School in their freshwater kaitiaki mahi through an event involving NRC, Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, and local landowner Waipapa Ahuwhenua Trust.
    The team taught 35 children to use the council’s Stream Health Monitoring Assessment Kits to test water quality in waterways on the Ahuwhenua Trust’s property in Opahi.
    The kits can be used to check nitrogen and phosphorous levels, water clarity, and the types and quantity of fish and insects present.
    The initiative was the brainchild of Waipapa Ahuwhenua Trust farm manager Riki Ngakoti, who wanted to equip the youngsters to be the freshwater kaitiaki of tomorrow as part of the trust’s commitment to environmental kaitiakitanga.
    Climate Change Commission to come to Northland
    The Climate Change Commission is planning a visit to Northland in March as it gathers evidence to inform the government on shaping a National Adaptation Plan due out this year.
    The commission is keen to understand climate risks, as well as enablers and barriers to effective adaptation in a Northland context.
    The Northland Regional Council’s climate team is looking forward to hosting the commission and to be able to put forward the unique challenges and opportunities we face here in Northland.
    Predator Free Whangārei; new artificial intelligence-equipped traps
    The field team had a busy month reinstating the leghold trap network that was shut down over the Christmas break.
    Fifty traps installed along a Parua Bay barrier zone have regularly caught possums over the 100 nights they have been set and 120 possums have been caught to date.
    The Nook project area (686 ha) moved from an initial knockdown stage to mop-up, where the frequency of checking is extended on the back of reduced possum numbers.
    An additional 500ha of coastal farmland has moved into the knockdown phase utilizing new artificial intelligence (AI) equipped traps. We will have a keen eye on the results of these devices as they automatically transmit their data, with 42 possums removed since early January. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Tiger Woods and Serena Williams were sporting prodigies but children shouldn’t train like them

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Keogh, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University

    photoyh/Shutterstock

    Most children have now returned from their summer holidays and are perhaps considering what sports to play this year.

    For some, this means sampling a wide range of sports, but others might continue to focus on the same one they’ve been addicted to since they were able to walk and run.

    But when it comes to possible sporting success, is it best to concentrate on one or give many a go?

    Early specialisation

    As the name suggests, early specialisation is typically defined as participation in one task or activity, with the aim to improve subsequent performances.

    The rationale for its purported benefit can be traced to the theory of deliberate practice – or what some readers may have colloquially encountered as the “10,000-hour rule”.

    Broadly, this theory proposes the attainment of excellence is proportionate to the number of accumulated hours invested into deliberate skill rehearsal.

    So, the earlier someone specialises via deliberate practice, the more likely they’ll expedite the acquisition of expertise – or so the theory suggests.

    While first explored in the musical domain, there are some examples of athletes who specialised early in a sport who went on to highly successful careers.

    These include Simone Biles (who started gymnastics at the age of six), Tiger Woods (who hit a golf ball on the Mike Douglas TV show at the age of two) and Serena Williams (who was profiled hitting tennis balls on CNN at the age of nine).

    There are also a host of athletes who specialised early and achieved outstanding success as a junior but never reached sporting success as an adult for myriad reasons.

    Doesn’t practice make perfect?

    Everyone would have encountered the saying “practice makes perfect”.

    But does it really?

    Of course, practice is an integral component of acquiring, developing and sharpening any skill. But perhaps we should be a little cautious.

    Let us explain by first asking a few key questions that we encourage readers to ask themselves as the article unfolds: how much practice is needed to be perfect? What type of practice is needed to be perfect? And can “perfect” practice actually help us develop skills that are transferable between sports?

    In other words, if practice makes perfect, should we not be advocating for sporting specialisation as early in life as possible?

    It may seem logical, but is this belief – held by many parents, youth sport coaches, and perhaps children themselves – actually supported by evidence?

    A 2022 systematic review suggested most elite, professional and Olympic level athletes engaged in multisport activities during their youth.

    That is, they did not specialise in their chosen sport but actually diversified their sporting experiences up to the age of about 12, with some level of specialisation occurring from the age of 13 onward.

    That was not all they found.

    Youth sport specialisation was actually linked with increased risks of injury in athletes at the highest levels of competition when compared to those who engaged in multisport activities.

    A similar review noted there was no evidence to support specialisation prior to puberty in the attainment of sporting excellence later in life.

    What sport specialisation did increase, however, were risks of injury, psychological stress and sporting drop out.

    A model to follow

    In support of these findings, Jean Côtè (a leading expert in the field of youth psychology) and colleagues proposed a developmental model of sports participation.

    This model is broken into three general stages of participation: the sampling years (between the ages of 6-12), the specialising years (13-15), and the investment years (16 and beyond).

    As the name of each stage suggests, they are defined by unique types of participation.

    For example, the sampling years are characterised by the acquisition of functional motor skills (such as running, throwing and jumping), developed through a wide variety of experiences.

    The specialising years feature a progressive increase in focus on the deliberate practice of one or two sports, while the investment years are characterised by more deliberately increasing the volume of practice around one sport. In Australia, this may be the stage where seasonal sports become year-long through the establishment of pre-season training.

    Since its inception nearly two decades ago, there has been a growing amount of research supporting these suggestions.

    Food for thought

    So what does this all mean for parents, youth coaches and children?

    We suggest not to rush the process even if your child dreams of an elite sporting career: children under the age of 16 should engage in a wide variety of sporting experiences.

    This is not only fun, but the research shows us diversity is likely to reduce the risk of overuse injuries and increase the likelihood of sporting excellence later in life, should that be their ambition.

    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. Tiger Woods and Serena Williams were sporting prodigies but children shouldn’t train like them – https://theconversation.com/tiger-woods-and-serena-williams-were-sporting-prodigies-but-children-shouldnt-train-like-them-248558

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Trump is reviving a tariff strategy from America’s ‘Gilded Age’. It didn’t end well last time

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Garritt C. Van Dyk, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato

    Getty Images

    A White House fact sheet about Donald Trump’s recently announced “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” on trade described it as “the art of the international deal” – a reference to Trump’s 1987 business book, The Art of the Deal.

    It was a classic piece of self-marketing from the president, but whether his latest tariff proposal will really turn out to be artful is very much open to question.

    In fact, the United States’ long history of “reciprocity” in tariffs and trade suggests ordinary Americans could be in for a bumpy ride.

    In essence, Trump is reviving a strategy used in the US more than a century ago to protect developing domestic industries. This time, according to the president, reciprocal tariffs aim “to correct longstanding imbalances in international trade and ensure fairness across the board”.

    The plan targets trade relationships with other countries where the US does not receive reciprocal treatment. And it echoes the policies of the 25th US president, William McKinley, who presided over an aggressive reciprocal tariff regime in the late 19th century.

    McKinley was president from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901. And while Trump greatly admires his business acumen, McKinley’s economic legacy also reads like a cautionary tale.

    Not a simple equation

    From the current US perspective, “reciprocity” refers to symmetrical tariffs. Trump’s plan targets unequal rates, such as the European Union’s 10% tariff on US cars, compared with the 2.5% US tariff on European automobiles.

    The EU’s 10% rate represents its “most-favoured-nation” tariff, which applies to all its favoured-nation trading partners (with certain exceptions).

    While this looks like a clear lack of reciprocity, it’s not that simple. The US also applies a 25% tariff on EU utility vehicles (pickup trucks).

    This is significant because of the popularity of pickups in the US – a 2024 survey found 47% of Americans owned one. Until last year, the Ford F150 had been the bestselling “car” in the US for 42 years in a row.

    This is just one example of how differences in tariffs can be more complex than they appear at first glance.

    A history of reciprocal tariffs

    This cycle of higher and lower tariffs has gone on for well over a century. From 1861 to 1930, the US Congress maintained control over trade tariffs, with levels as high as 50% to protect developing industries.

    But in 1934, Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, giving President Franklin D. Roosevelt authority to negotiate reciprocal tariff reductions with individual nations to stimulate global trade during the Great Depression.

    These tariff reductions continued after World War II with the development of the World Trade Organization and US tariff levels declining to 5%. Economist Douglas Irwin refers to this period as the “reciprocity period” of nations lowering barriers to international trade.

    The last time “reciprocity” was used to refer to the opposite process of raising tariffs was in 1890, under the Tariff Act, often just called the McKinley Tariff. It is this era Trump harked back to in his inaugural address:

    President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent – he was a natural businessman.

    William McKinley.
    Getty Images

    Before he became president, McKinley was head of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee. He proposed an average increase in tariffs on all imports, rising from 38% to 49.5% to “secure reciprocal trade”.

    The new law was designed to protect the tinplate industry with a tariff of 70%, and “to reduce the revenue and equalize duties on imports”.

    At the time, the US was running large surpluses from tariff revenues, which was threatening economic growth. This sounds counterintuitive these days, but surpluses were a problem because the US dollar was backed by gold at a fixed price (the gold standard).

    Because the amount of money in circulation – and state spending – were limited to the amount of gold held by the government, surplus funds had to be kept in the Treasury reserves. This reduced the money supply and led to lower growth, less investment and tighter credit.

    Republicans thought higher tariffs would reduce imported goods and therefore tariff revenues. Instead, income from the higher tariffs more than compensated for import reductions, and the surpluses increased.

    Consumer prices rose, farm prices dropped, and the resulting voter backlash saw the Republicans lose control of Congress at the 1890 midterm elections. There was a financial panic in 1893, followed by a recession that lasted until 1896.

    A new ‘Gilded Age’

    This period in late 19th-century US history is often referred to as the “Gilded Age”, from the title of an 1873 book by Charles Dudley Wright and Mark Twain.


    The book was a satire of political corruption and unscrupulous businessmen who benefited from political favours. The title reflects the reality of the era – superficially prosperous but not truly golden.

    A thin veneer of technological progress, innovation and wealth concealed widespread corruption, scandals and income inequality.

    But aside from the obvious historical parallels, it is overly optimistic to expect a plan from 1890 to succeed in a complex global trade environment that relies on interdependent supply chains to function.

    McKinley’s flawed strategy sought protection for a few industries, but also aimed to reduce revenue for a government running large surpluses. However, Trump’s new tariffs are meant to raise revenue to pay off the US$36.5 trillion national debt, as well as to enforce reciprocal trade terms.

    Trump began his second term with a declaration that “the golden age of America begins right now”. As in 1890, however, the risk remains that a handful of wealthy industrialists will benefit from increased protection, while ordinary citizens will pay higher prices.

    Less the “art of the deal”, then, than a possible dealbreaker. In which case, Trump may yet be remembered less for a new golden age than for a Gilded Age 2.0.

    Garritt C. Van Dyk received funding from the Getty Research Institute in 2024 .

    – ref. Trump is reviving a tariff strategy from America’s ‘Gilded Age’. It didn’t end well last time – https://theconversation.com/trump-is-reviving-a-tariff-strategy-from-americas-gilded-age-it-didnt-end-well-last-time-250389

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –