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Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI Global: Loneliness may not make you ill after all, says new study – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t tackle it

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Arseneault, Professor in Developmental Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London

    Magdalena kluczny/Shutterstock

    When was the last time that you felt lonely? It’s an uncomfortable question, but for 3.83 million people in the UK, 7.1% of the population, the answer is probably “right now”.

    Loneliness has become a worrying public health matter because it is common and is often associated with people experiencing physical and mental health problems. There is now taxpayers’ money being spent at the local, national and international levels on initiatives to minimise loneliness and the harmful effect it can have on people’s health. But are those investments misjudged?

    New research from Guangzhou Medical University in China has challenged the notion that loneliness can cause ill health. Instead, the findings suggest that loneliness might be considered an associated feature for many diseases (a so-called “surrogate marker”) as it was shown to not be a root cause for poor physical and mental health.

    The researchers used data from the UK Biobank in which over half a million people aged 37 to 73 were asked to report how often they felt lonely. They conducted analyses based on the distribution of genetic variants in the population (known as “Mendelian randomisation”) to test the causal effect of loneliness on a wide range of diseases, including physical and mental health problems.

    This is certainly an interesting study; however, there are several points we must consider when reflecting on the findings. It is important to note that UK Biobank data isn’t the best for testing the causal effects of loneliness on health.

    Although many participants have taken part in UK Biobank, they are volunteers who tend to be white, older and have higher levels of education than the general population in the UK. Many of the participants also follow a healthier lifestyle than the population as a whole.

    Although loneliness doesn’t discriminate and can affect anyone, at all ages, and from all walks of life, this participation bias can influence the findings as it may conceal important associations.

    The study also captured a snapshot of loneliness from a single time in adulthood. We all experience loneliness from time to time, but its effect on health depends at what age a person feels lonely, why they feel lonely and for how long. This detail isn’t captured in this data.

    Some of our own research in this area shows that mental health difficulties and poor general functioning are often experienced alongside feelings of loneliness. However, our findings also show that loneliness in early adolescence can have long-lasting effects, especially related to education and employment prospects –– so-called “socioeconomic outcomes”.

    This study also measured loneliness in participants in their late 30s and older. Again, previous research has shown that loneliness can start early in life and is associated with later depression and poor socioeconomic outcomes, both of which are shown in this paper to be important factors associated with health.

    The ideal is to conduct analyses with data from studies that observe people from childhood to old age, and which have measured loneliness earlier in life and health in later life to best understand the links between loneliness and health.

    Also, this study used hospitalisation data to determine health outcomes. While this type of data is valuable, it captures information only from participants who seek treatment and represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to diseases. Loneliness may affect health in more subtle ways that won’t be caught here.

    This is not to be over-critical of the study, however. The importance of depression and socioeconomic status as mechanisms through which loneliness translates into poor health is an essential message from this study. For example, loneliness may result in difficulties at work or worsening mental health, which could in turn increase a person’s risk of physical disease.



    Read more:
    The loneliness myth: what our shared stories of feeling alone reveal about why you can’t ‘fix’ this very human experience

    Identifying surrogate markers of poor health is also valuable as it opens the door to better and earlier ways to support vulnerable people. For example, someone may not feel comfortable revealing that they experience symptoms of depression, but they are fine with talking about their feelings of loneliness. Loneliness may act as a red flag in some circumstances. This is especially important when diseases are accompanied by stigma, such as many mental health conditions.

    Loneliness is intertwined with a range of health conditions throughout life and is considered both a contributing factor to and an outcome of poor health. This study acknowledges that.

    Loneliness has a complex relationship with health

    To measure the importance of loneliness for public health relevance solely as a causal factor oversimplifies its complex and intricate relationships with health. This is where further research using data that is representative of the general population is needed. It would allow researchers to unpick the pervasive role of loneliness in shaping health and wealth for all people.

    What this study cannot answer is an important question: should we continue to invest in initiatives designed to tackle loneliness as a means of improving population health? As ever, the answer is not a binary one.

    While this study may not report a causal relationship between loneliness and diseases, ample evidence indicates that it precedes, accompanies and results from poor health. Current strategies have proven to be limited in their effectiveness, particularly for people with lower incomes and less education.

    If we consider the occurrence of loneliness alongside mental health difficulties and low socioeconomic status, and a better understanding of the mechanisms that underpin loneliness, we might find these initiatives become more effective.

    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. Loneliness may not make you ill after all, says new study – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t tackle it – https://theconversation.com/loneliness-may-not-make-you-ill-after-all-says-new-study-but-that-doesnt-mean-we-shouldnt-tackle-it-239436

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ancient DNA helped us uncover the Iberian lynx’s potential secret weapon against extinction

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Johanna L.A. Paijmans, Postdoctoral research fellow in Zoology, University of Cambridge

    Many large mammals have lost genetic diversity, often thanks to the actions of people shrinking their populations. The implications can be severe because without genetic diversity, a population does not have a “genetic database” to fall back on to adapt to environmental change.

    The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is no stranger to this reduction in diversity. Human activity has driven populations to dangerously low numbers, leaving them with a shrinking genetic pool. This loss threatens the lynx’s ability to adapt to changing environments, putting their survival at risk.

    Our team’s research reveals how the Iberian lynx interbred with its cousin, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) over the past few thousand years. This mingling may have boosted the Iberian lynx’s genetic diversity. This is a crucial factor for its survival, especially as the species faces such an uncertain future.

    Low genetic diversity can lead to “inbreeding depression”, where closely related animals breed and produce offspring that are less fit for survival. In extreme cases, this can push entire populations, or even species, to the brink of extinction.

    To boost the genetic diversity of populations on the brink, conservationists sometimes turn to “genetic rescue”. This involves introducing individuals from different populations in the hope that they will breed with the local animals, reducing inbreeding and enhancing genetic diversity.

    While this strategy can be effective, it’s not without risks. Introducing animals that are too genetically different can disrupt or dilute beneficial traits, potentially harming the population’s ability to survive and reproduce. It’s a phenomenon known as “outbreeding depression”. Despite these risks, genetic rescue remains a valuable tool in conservation, though it’s often approached with caution.

    One of the most severe cases of reduced genetic diversity is the Iberian lynx, once the world’s most threatened cat species. It’s mostly found in parts of Spain and Portugal.

    Rescue and recovery

    Today, the Iberian lynx is recovering from near extinction. More than 400 reproductive females were reported in the 2023 census. This is a massive increase from just 25 in 2002. This turnaround is largely thanks to an ambitious conservation programme over the past two decades, involving coordinated breeding programmes and reintroductions.

    Part of this success is due to the “genetic rescue” effect, where mixing the two remaining genetically distinct populations helped boost the species’ genetic diversity. Despite this progress, the Iberian lynx still faces significant challenges. The population is far from reaching the minimum of 1,100 reproductive females needed to be considered genetically viable. So, its genetic diversity remains one of the lowest ever recorded.

    Further genetic rescue could be a solution to enhance diversity. But there’s a catch – no other Iberian lynx populations exist in the world that could serve as a source of new genetic material.

    The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx).
    Jaroslav Macenauer/Shutterstock

    Ancient DNA can be extracted from historical remains or subfossil (animals that are not ancient enough to be considered true fossils but are not considered modern either) samples. By studying these, scientists can gain valuable insights into the genetic past of species, offering a stark comparison with their present day counterparts.

    In 2015, our colleague Maria Lucena-Perez first visited the lab of another of our colleagues, Michael Hofreiter, in Germany to generate the very first whole genome data from ancient Iberian lynx bones. Extracting ancient DNA from bones is a highly specialised process that requires dedicated cleanroom facilities to prevent contamination from modern DNA.

    Working together, our team successfully extracted nuclear DNA from three ancient Iberian lynx specimens. Two of these were approximately 2,500 years old. The third dated back more than 4,000 years. This marked the first time nuclear DNA had ever been retrieved from ancient Iberian lynx. Maria’s achievement has significantly advanced our understanding of how the genetic makeup of the Iberian lynx has evolved over thousands of years.

    Our team analysed and compared the DNA with that of modern Iberian lynx. To our surprise, the ancient lynx showed even lower genetic diversity than their modern descendants. Given the sharp decline in their populations over the past few centuries, this finding was both unexpected and puzzling.

    Species interbreeding

    The missing piece of the puzzle came with the discovery that modern Iberian lynx populations share more genetic variants with the closely related Eurasian lynx than their ancient counterparts did. This suggests that the two species successfully interbred within the past 2,500 years, boosting the genetic diversity of today’s Iberian lynx.

    These findings align with extensive genomic evidence of ancient gene flow from Eurasian lynx into the Iberian lynx genome. While the two species don’t share the same habitats today, they once coexisted in the Iberian Peninsula, and possibly in southern France and northern Italy. This situation would have provided plenty of opportunities for interbreeding.

    The potential for these two species to naturally meet and breed is growing once more as their ranges continue to expand. This could open up new possibilities for genetic diversity in the future.

    The advent of whole nuclear genome analysis over the past 30 years has revealed numerous cases of cross-species interbreeding, such as between polar bears and brown bears. This suggests that the case of the lynx is not so unusual. But the Iberian lynx stands out as the first documented example where interspecies breeding significantly increased species-wide genetic diversity.

    We still don’t fully understand the exact effect of this genetic boost, particularly whether it improved the population’s fitness and survival. One intriguing possibility is that the Iberian lynx has managed to persist despite its extremely low genetic diversity, thanks to recurrent genetic rescues by the Eurasian lynx.

    While there’s more to learn, our research offers an unexpected but important case study for the broader discussion on genetic rescue. If we can better predict the chances of inbreeding and outbreeding depression when interbreeding happens, we could use genetic rescue more effectively as a conservation tool in the ongoing biodiversity crisis.

    Johanna L.A. Paijmans receives funding from Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship “RESOURCEFUL”.

    Axel Barlow receives funding from NERC, ERC.

    José A. Godoy receives funding from the Spanish Dirección General de
    Investigación Científica y Técnica through competitive research grants (projects CGL2013-47755-P, CGL2017-84641-P, PID2021-123358OB-I00) and from EU funded LIFE+ program (LIFE19 NAT/ES/001055 – LIFE LYNXCONNECT)

    – ref. Ancient DNA helped us uncover the Iberian lynx’s potential secret weapon against extinction – https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-helped-us-uncover-the-iberian-lynxs-potential-secret-weapon-against-extinction-237076

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI: Standard Lithium Reports 2024 Full Year and Fourth Quarter Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a leading near-commercial lithium company, today announced its financial and operating results for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended June 30, 2024.

    “We delivered on our promises in fiscal 2024 with the advancement of our world-class lithium brine assets and by securing a strategic partnership with global energy major, Equinor,” said David Park, CEO and Director of Standard Lithium. “Standard Lithium holds globally-significant lithium brine assets in the Smackover with the potential to help meet the growing demand for sustainable lithium production in the U.S. We are the most advanced DLE play in North America, having proven direct lithium extraction at a commercial scale. The Standard Lithium team has done an outstanding job of differentiating itself from the pack by systematically de-risking its business, including the consummation of it’s partnerships with Equinor and Koch. Now, with the recent announcement of the conditional DOE grant of US$225 million, is the time for us to prioritize, focus and execute. We look forward to working closely with our partners to advance our South West Arkansas and East Texas projects.”

    Highlights Subsequent to the Fourth Quarter Ended June 30, 2024

    All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise indicated.

    • Received conditional $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) for the South West Arkansas Project. The grant is expected to support the construction of the Central Processing Facility for Phase 1 of the SWA project and is dependent on successful negotiations with the DOE. The grant is one of the largest ever awarded to a U.S. critical minerals project.
    • Appointed David Park as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company. On September 1, 2024, Mr. Park, a highly experienced executive with a strong energy and industrial sector background, assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Park joined the company as a strategic advisor in July 2023 following his retirement from Koch Industries after 28 years.

    Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Highlights

    • Secured strategic partnership with global energy major Equinor to advance the South West Arkansas (“SWA”) and East Texas projects. Equinor ASA (“Equinor”) acquired a 45% interest in two Standard Lithium entities holding the SWA and East Texas projects for a gross investment of up to $160 million. The transaction immediately strengthened the Company’s financial position and resulted in no dilution to existing shareholders.
    • De-risked commercialization of the direct lithium extraction (“DLE”) process. The Company successfully installed, commissioned, and continues to operate the Li-ProTM Lithium Selective Sorption commercial scale unit at its Demonstration Plant in El Dorado, Arkansas. The Company’s partner, Koch Technology Solutions, supplied the commercial scale unit, which is believed to be the largest commercial-scale column operating in a DLE facility globally. The results to date have exceeded design parameters, including average lithium recovery of 97.3%, key contaminant rejection of greater than 99%, and boron rejection greater than 95%.
    • Executed drilling programs yielding the highest-ever reported lithium brine values in North America. The South West Arkansas Project’s current resource averages among the highest lithium concentrations in North America. As part of its PFS for SWA, the Company reported an Upper Smackover Indicated and Middle Smackover Inferred resource of 1.4 Mt and 0.4 Mt lithium carbonate equivalent, respectively, at an average lithium concentration of 437 mg/L. In East Texas, the Company delivered globally-significant results with confirmed lithium concentrations up to 806 mg/L and an average concentration of 644 mg/L in the drilled area. The drill results represent the highest-ever reported and confirmed lithium brine concentrations in North America.
    • Advanced and de-risked the South West Arkansas Project. The Company delivered a Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for the project in the first half of the fiscal year, demonstrating robust economics assuming average annual production of 30,000 tonnes per annum (“tpa”) of lithium hydroxide beginning in 2027. Post publishing the PFS, the Company secured brine production rights and purchased a 118-acre parcel of land to further advance the project. Most recently, SWA received a conditional $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in support of its construction and development. The grant was awarded based on an updated scope from the original PFS; the Project’s design is being updated and now targets a larger total output of 45,000 tpa of lithium carbonate to be developed in two phases of 22,500 tpa each. SWA is being developed in partnership with Equinor, with ownership shared 55% by Standard Lithium and 45% by Equinor. Ausenco Engineering Canada ULC is leading the Definitive Feasibility Study and Front-end Engineering and Design currently underway to support the larger project scope.
    • Strengthened the senior management team with the appointment of key executives. Michael Barman was appointed Chief Development Officer and Salah Gamoudi joined as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Barman most recently served as Managing Director in Investment Banking at Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (formerly GMP Securities L.P.) and brings over two decades of banking experience advising senior executives and their boards. Mr. Gamoudi brings extensive experience from the oil and gas sector. Prior to joining the Company, he served as Chief Financial Officer of SandRidge Energy, Inc. where he successfully generated significant value for its shareholders.
    • Delivered the Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) for the Phase 1A project at LANXESS South Plant. The DFS assumed an average annual production of 5,400 tpa of lithium carbonate over a 25-year operating life beginning in 2026. Phase 1A represents a modest scale-up from the Company’s existing Demonstration Plant that has been operating since May 2020. Advancement of the Phase 1A project is dependent on ongoing commercial discussions with LANXESS and the finalization of the Arkansas lithium royalty.
    • Established an at-the-market equity program. Net proceeds to the Company for the fiscal year totaled C$2.8 million and US$13.3 million from the issuance of 1.5 million shares on the TSX Venture Exchange and 9.1 million shares on the NYSE American LLC, respectively. No issuances have been completed under the ATM Program since April 10, 2024.
    • Cash and working capital of C$52.9 million and C$39.6 million, respectively, as of June 30, 2024.
    • The Company has no term or revolving debt obligations as of June 30, 2024.

    Consolidated Financial Statements

    This news release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A for the year ended June 30, 2024, which are available on the Company’s issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

    Q4 AND FISCAL YEAR 2024 RESULTS CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

    The Company will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 on Tuesday, October 1st at 3:30 p.m. ET. Access to the call is available via webcast or direct dial.

    Conference Call and Webcast Details
    Standard Lithium Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Results Call and Webcast
    October 1, 2024 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)

    Participant Information:
    USA / International Toll +1 (646) 307-1963
    USA – Toll-Free (800) 715-9871
    Canada – Toronto (647) 932-3411
    Canada – Toll-Free (800) 715-9871

    Attendee Webcast Link:
    https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/719576289

    About Standard Lithium Ltd.

    Standard Lithium is a leading near-commercial lithium development company focused on the sustainable development of a portfolio of large, high-grade lithium-brine properties in the United States. The Company prioritizes projects characterized by the highest quality resources, robust infrastructure, skilled labor, and streamlined permitting. Standard Lithium aims to achieve sustainable, commercial-scale lithium production via the application of a scalable and fully integrated Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) and purification process. The Company’s flagship projects are located in the Smackover Formation, a world-class lithium brine asset, focused in Arkansas and Texas. In partnership with global energy leader Equinor ASA, Standard Lithium is advancing the South West Arkansas project, a greenfield project located in southern Arkansas, and actively exploring promising lithium brine prospects in East Texas. Additionally, the Company is advancing the Phase 1A project in partnership with LANXESS Corporation, a brownfield development project located in southern Arkansas. Standard Lithium also holds an interest in certain mineral leases in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.

    Standard Lithium trades on both the TSX Venture Exchange and the NYSE American under the symbol “SLI”; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “S5L”. Please visit the Company’s website at www.standardlithium.com.

    Qualified Person

    Steve Ross, P.Geol., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and Vice President Resource Development for the Company, has reviewed and approved the relevant scientific and technical information in this news release.

    Twitter: @standardlithium
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target”, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to intended development timelines, future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for lithium and its derivatives, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Canada and the United States, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

    The MIL Network –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Govt recruitment talks attract 1.8k

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    A series of recruitment talks organised by the Civil Service Bureau in Beijing and Shanghai wrapped up today, attracting over 1,800 Hong Kong people who are interested in applying for civil service posts in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

    Five recruitment talks on the administrative officer (AO) and executive officer (EO) grades were held at the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Shanghai (SHETO), East China University of Political Science & Law, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Renmin University of China, and China University of Political Science & Law respectively.

    The participants, mostly university students, joined the talks online or in person.

    At the seminars, participants were introduced to the entry requirements, training programmes, examination and interview arrangements, as well as tips on preparing for AO and EO grade exams.

    In addition, the bureau had specifically arranged for serving AO and EO colleagues who had studied or lived on the Mainland to share their work and personal experiences.

    The bureau’s representatives also attended a SHETO event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, taking the occasion to introduce the AO and EO grades to the young participants, with a view to encouraging them to apply for civil service posts in the Hong Kong SAR Government.

    A joint recruitment exercise is being held for the civil service grades of AO, EO II, assistant trade officer II and transport officer II. The application deadline is October 4.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/CHINA – The memory of the Jesuit Martino Martini still opens up paths of encounter and dialogue

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    by Marta Zhao and Laura Gomez RuizHangzhou (Agenzia Fides) – China, the city of Hangzhou and the Chinese Catholic community have never forgotten Father Martino Martini.The great Jesuit missionary, appreciated by the emperors and welcomed at the court of the Qing Dynasty, was born in Trento, Italy, 410 years ago, on September 20, 1614. Even today, his story and his testimony arouse unexpected sympathy.As part of the celebrations organized by the Italian Embassy in Beijing for the 700th anniversary of the death of the traveler and merchant Marco Polo, the theme “In the footsteps of Marco Polo: Martino Martini” presented for the first time a series of important Italian personalities who, at different times and in different capacities, contributed to the dissemination of knowledge about China in the West.The Chinese President Xi Jinping has publicly expressed his appreciation for Martino Martini. In an article published in the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera on March 20, 2019, on the eve of his official visit to Italy, Xi Jinping described the Jesuit as a pioneer of the group of Italian sinologists who “have played a bridging role in relations between China and Europe, starting with Martino Martini’s first grammar of the Chinese language written for the West.”In Italy, the Martino Martini Study Center, based in Trento, now publishes, among other things, the biannual magazine “Sulla Via del Catai” on cultural relations between Europe and China.In the city of Hangzhou, a park bearing his name has been created around his mausoleum. Protected by the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Authority, the site has become a kind of sanctuary for Chinese Catholics. The mausoleum, which is currently being restored, houses the remains of 15 famous Jesuit missionaries who ended their earthly lives near the beautiful Xizi Lake. Among them are Father Prospero Intorcetta (1626-1696), Father Nicolas Trigault (1577-1629), Father Lazaro Cattaneo (1560-1640) and Father Emmanuel Diaz (1574-1659).In 2018, an exhibition on the cartographic work of Martino Martini was inaugurated at the headquarters of the China-Italy Center in Hangzhou to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the arrival of the great missionary in that city (see Fides, 13/6/2018).The Catholic community of Hangzhou had organized an academic conference in 2010 to mark the 350th anniversary of the construction of the cathedral. Six well-known academics from Chinese universities and researchers working with Catholic institutions such as the Faith Institute for Cultural Studies (FICS) and the Guang Qi Press of the Diocese of Shanghai presented joint studies on the life and mission of the Jesuit in the presence of the Italian Consul in Shanghai. The legacy of Martino Martini was presented as “a strong impulse for today’s mission, so that it fulfills its mission with his sense of missionary responsibility, his courage and his dedication” (see Fides, 22/1/2010).The affection and veneration shown to the figure of Martino Martini are proportional to the intensity with which he lived his time and dedicated his life to proclaiming the Gospel in China.Martino Martini was born in Trento on 20 September 1614. In 1631 he entered the Society of Jesus as a novice. After studying at the Roman College under the influence of his mentor, the German Jesuit Athanasius Kircher, he entered the Eastern mission in 1640, traveling by ship from Lisbon in Portugal via Goa in India (November 1640) to Macao in China, where he arrived in August 1642. The following year he was sent to mainland China, thus beginning his legendary journey of cultural exchange between China and Europe. He wrote the first Western Chinese grammar and related works that contributed to cultural exchange, bridged the gap between China and Europe, and had a lasting influence on the emergence and development of Sinology in Italy.The period of his stay in China, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, was a time of great social unrest. The Jesuits, who had built good relations with influential sections of Chinese society and the political hierarchy, were worried about the development of the situation. The Chinese name they chose, Wei Kuangguo, encompassed all his good wishes: it indicated the will to defend and support the country and the desire for peace and prosperity in the world.But the unrest and conflict in China also divided the Jesuits and the Spanish mendicant orders and even infiltrated the Society of Jesus itself. The controversy over the Chinese translation of the divine name and the possibility that the new Christians should continue to practice the cult of the dead according to Chinese culture did not subside, but reached an intensity that even Martini could not contain, both inside and outside the order. An issue that was to shape the rest of his life.His travels and his writing formed the common thread in the second half of his life. During the first eight years of his stay in China (1643-1650), Martini traveled between the two capitals and to Hangzhou and Jinhua in Zhejiang. In the fourth year of Shunzhi’s reign (1647), Martino Martini, with the help of Zhu Shi, a parishioner of Lanxi in Zhejiang, wrote the “Qiu You Zhuan” (Treatise on Friendship, Hangzhou, 1661), which was based on the humanist thought already developed by the other Jesuit Matteo Ricci in his work of the same name, the first written in Chinese by the Italian Jesuit from Macerata.The southern part of Zhejiang, where Martino Martini was, was a region where Spanish monks also worked. He agreed with the information given by his confrere Matteo Ricci and was well aware of the differences with the Spanish Cistercians on the question of Chinese rites. In addition, the Spanish Dominican Juan Bautista Morales (1597-1664) had already traveled to Rome to express his objections to the Jesuits’ attitude in this dispute. When the Jesuit mission in China decided to send a representative to Europe to explain the situation from their point of view, the choice fell on Martino Martini.In 1651, the Jesuit traveled to Europe to defend the position of the Society of Jesus on the issue of Chinese rites. Thanks also to his good offices, in 1656 the Holy See issued an edict in favor of the Jesuits.During his travels in Europe, Martino Martini published three works in Latin: “De Bello Tartarico Historia”, “Novus Atlas Sinensis” and “Sinice Historia Decas Prima” (of which he also announced the publication of the sequel). These works were the most systematic, thorough and effective representations of China circulating in Europe at the time.In 1657 he returned to China and continued his mission in Hangzhou, where he completed the construction of the Church of the Redeemer in 1661 and died on June 6 of the same year at the age of 47. (Agenzia Fides, 24/9/2024)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Mike Muller, Visiting Adjunct Professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand

    A new round of angry exchanges has broken out between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

    On September 1, Cairo wrote to the UN security council to protest against Ethiopia’s continued filling of Africa’s second largest reservoir and bringing two more power generating turbines into operation. Egypt sees any new infrastructure development on the Nile as a potential threat, since the river is the source of over 98% of the country’s water.

    Egypt calls this a violation of international law and Ethiopia’s obligations to “prevent significant harm”. Ethiopia’s policies, it says,

    could result in an existential threat to Egypt … and would consequently jeopardise regional and international peace and security.

    Ethiopia has told Egypt to “abandon its aggressive approach” towards the dam. Ethiopia says that it must allow the Blue Nile’s water to flow through the dam’s turbines and on to Egypt to generate the hydropower for which it has been built, thus guaranteeing the overall flow to Egypt.

    I have tracked the Nile disputes since the 1970s, first as a development journalist, then as a civil engineer and senior public servant. More recently, my research on water and regional integration for regional development agencies has provided further insights. My 2021 study considered the lessons to be learnt for today’s water challenges from centuries of the use and management of Nile waters.

    Read more: Innovations on the Nile over millennia offer lessons in engineering sustainable futures

    Ongoing tension between Egypt and Ethiopia over control of the Nile River has a long history. Therefore, in one sense, the row between Egypt and Ethiopia is nothing new.

    The countries went to war as far back as 1874, even as they both were also battling European colonialism. Ethiopia won the war of 1874 and, 20 years later, beat back Italy’s attempt to colonise it, at the battle of Adwa.

    However, Egypt gained long term advantage from treaties negotiated by the British, which gave Cairo almost total control over the Nile. Egypt is still asserting the rights and privileges conferred by those colonial era treaties even though they are being challenged by other Nile countries. In my view, this is because Egyptians are still trapped by their past fears. As Norwegian professor Torje Tvedt has explained, these fears were deliberately entrenched by past colonial authorities.

    With these perspectives, my view is that the current controversy over the Ethiopian dam still reflects historical conflicts rather than a careful analysis of present challenges.

    Now 90% complete, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has begun to generate electricity. A series of good rainy seasons have allowed the reservoir to start filling rapidly without affecting Egypt’s water availability.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam offers not just cheap green electricity for Ethiopia and the sub-region as well as reliable irrigation supplies and flood control for Sudan. Once filled, its storage could offer supply security and increase the amount of water available for Egypt as well.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

    What, then, are the issues that have prompted Egypt’s recent protests and what are the possible solutions to the problems raised?

    The immediate technical challenge is to continue filling the dam without disrupting flows to Sudan and Egypt. The filling process might have to be interrupted if there is a regional drought. So recent developments, notably the greater focus on the rate at which the dam will be filled rather than the legality of its construction, suggest that there is a shift in positions which neither side is yet willing to acknowledge publicly.

    This shift will be supported when other future-focused issues are raised. For instance, there must be negotiations about the supply of electricity to support Sudan’s irrigation expansion, although this is on hold due to the war in Sudan. In the longer term, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia could cooperate to use the GERD’s storage to help Egypt to manage its Aswan High Dam more efficiently. Aswan currently suffers very high evaporation losses, which could be reduced if its reservoir levels were better controlled. The GERD could help to do this.

    Unfortunately, the history of colonial Britain repeatedly threatening to cut Egypt’s Nile water supplies has been deeply imprinted in Egyptian public consciousness. It is understandable that Egyptians still fear a similar threat from Ethiopia. The responsibility now falls on Ethiopia to show good faith in its operation of the dam and to work with Egypt to change the combative discourse.

    Potential for cooperation

    Egypt’s repeated complaints have alerted Ethiopia and international organisations of the need to act carefully. If there is another regional drought, Ethiopia will need to slow the rate at which it completes filling its dam. Informal liaison structures are monitoring the situation and such a response would help to build a more constructive engagement with Egypt.

    Water is a patient teacher. Every season provides an opportunity for those who live with its natural cycles to understand it better. The hope is that, if the three countries experience the benefits of some seasons of the dam’s operation, the natural cycle will reveal the potential for cooperation and mitigate the conflict.

    Read more: Sudan’s catastrophe: farmers could offer quick post-war recovery, if peace is found

    When peace returns to Sudan, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will enable a vast expansion of irrigation to develop its role as a regional breadbasket. The dam will also help to manage Nile floods which regularly cause death and destruction, even to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.

    Efforts to promote cooperation between the East African countries that share the White Nile have been relatively successful. However, such cooperation on the Blue Nile will need much greater trust between the parties. To achieve this trust, the countries and their people will have to overcome centuries of cultural and political preconceptions. This will require much patient work and interaction, which is not easy in the current climate.

    – Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region
    – https://theconversation.com/egypts-fears-about-ethiopias-mega-dam-havent-come-to-pass-moving-on-from-historical-concerns-would-benefit-the-whole-region-239418

    MIL OSI Africa –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/BANGLADESH – Bishop Subroto Gomes: “Student protests” must respect the rights of others

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) – “The situation we find ourselves in after the political and social crisis of last August is delicate. There are still tensions in society, there are protests, especially among young people. The massive student protests have led the Prime Minister to leave the country and flee abroad. The new interim government led by Mohamed Yunus now has the difficult task of healing the political, social and economic wounds, restoring trust, but also maintaining the rule of law, because there are also some worrying signs,” said the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka, Subroto Boniface Gomes, in an interview with Fides.The Bishop points to possible “dangers” arising from the student protests. “For example, in some Catholic schools in the diocese of Dhaka, students tried to force the dismissal of some teachers, duly selected and paid by the school administration, just because they did not agree with the new course or because they dared to criticize the student protest. This led to a crisis in our schools, which are attended by 95% Muslim or non-Christian students,” he explains. “Faced with the attempt to impose this or other measures by force, such as admitting girls wearing burqas in school, the Archbishop first decided, in a resounding decision, to close two schools. One was a girls’ school, the other is run by the Brothers of the Holy Cross. The joint intervention of the parents’ committee, religious representatives and school staff enabled dialogue, a peaceful solution to the crisis and the reopening of the schools. We could not give up on our values and principles. But it is an example that the legitimate rights of students must not interfere with and undermine democracy, the rule of law or the rights of others,” said Bishop Gomes.Another aspect to keep under control “is the return or creation of radical Islamic groups and parties that could affect the lives of religious minorities or promote an Islamization agenda.” “We must be vigilant in this regard because the temptation of extremism is just around the corner. It is important not to polarize society. We trust that the new Yunus government will turn the tide in the spirit of upholding democratic principles, respect for the constitution and fundamental freedoms for all citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation,” said the bishop.In July this year, thousands of students took to the streets to protest the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate a controversial quota system for access to coveted government jobs. The government of Prime Minister Shehik Hasina responded to the demonstrations by deploying police and paramilitary forces, who shot at the crowd. The protests thus became a movement against Hasina and his party, the Awami League, which has ruled the country for 15 years, often delegitimizing or arresting political opponents and dissidents. The official number of victims of the repression is around 1,000 dead and hundreds injured. On August 5, the head of government finally fled abroad, seeking refuge in India. The army then dissolved parliament and appointed 84-year-old economist Muhammad Yunus, known as the “banker of the poor”, as head of a transitional government. He is known for the “Grameen Bank”, which specializes in the microcredit system and for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. His executive is now leading a delicate transition period until new elections.(PA) (Agenzia Fides, 24/9/2024)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Europe: AMERICA/PERU – Bilingual education for indigenous peoples: lack of teachers and adequate infrastructure

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Tuesday, 24 September 2024

    Iquitos (Agenzia Fides) – “We need authorities to defend the rights of girls, boys and young people of indigenous peoples, because they cannot continue to be excluded,” says Mariluz Canaquiri, a member of the indigenous people of the “Kukama Kukamiria” in the Peruvian Amazon, who complains about the decline in education among indigenous peoples.”The authorities do not care about the education of indigenous children, there is no adequate infrastructure and not enough bilingual teachers to teach them in our language,” says Canaquiri, who is also president of the women’s rights organization “Federation of Kukama-Kukamiria Women”.Intercultural bilingual education (IBE) is one of the educational policies in the South American country of 33 million inhabitants and 55 recognized indigenous peoples, four from the Andes and 51 from the Amazon.According to the results of the latest National Evaluation of Learning Outcomes (ENLA) published by the Ministry of Education, only 5.6 percent of fourth-grade elementary school students (10 and 11 years old) in IBE institutions in the Amazon region achieved the expected results. “There is no bilingual intercultural education here,” Canaquiri said. “How are they supposed to learn when our identity, our culture, our way of seeing the world are not taken into account in any way in the curriculum, and in logistical conditions where the school building is an area covered by branches and tree trunks in unbearable heat,” she noted in a statement to an international non-governmental organization.Although the first policy in favor of indigenous students was launched in 1972, more than half a century ago, it has always received little interest from the State, even though IBE is one of their individual and collective human rights. “They hire teachers because they speak Quechua, Shipibo, Asháninka or the equivalent, but when they go to school they do not apply the IBE. Sometimes they teach only in Spanish, sometimes they speak the children’s mother tongue, but everything else they read and write in Spanish,” reported one analyst.There are 24,000 schools affiliated to the IBE throughout the country, where most reinforce the students’ native language and teach them Spanish. Education policies try to ensure that the school population of indigenous peoples is bilingual and has oral and written skills, but studies by local researchers show that success is becoming increasingly limited.Despite this precarious situation, a small school in the rural community of Accollya, in the municipality of Soccos, almost 3,400 meters above sea level, in the province of Huamanga, one of the 11 provinces of Ayacucho, stands out positively. In the Andean department, affected by an internal armed conflict that Peru experienced between 1980 and 2000, the school is supported by an NGO and has a single teacher with 33 years of experience, but who has always been actively committed to bilingual intercultural education through training and in-depth courses. “I work in Spanish from Monday to Thursday and in Quechua on Fridays, using the notebooks that the ministry provides us for each subject,” says the teacher, who teaches ten students in first, second and third grade, aged six to eleven. “The response from the children is very good, from the first grade they learn to read and write, now it is September and the youngest can already read. That is the advantage of teaching different classes, because they motivate each other,” stressed the teacher.Also significant is the important contribution of the Catholic Church in the Amazon region in the field of education and health, where it has often taken the place of the State. Hundreds of missionaries have been true promoters of respect for human dignity throughout history. Religious and lay people from dozens of countries have sacrificed their lives in the most remote places to make the Amazon a place of coexistence and respect for the dignity and rights of all, especially the most vulnerable, largely indigenous peoples.Other initiatives to promote learning and the establishment of school libraries in these areas include the commitment of the “yachacs”, the wise men of the community, who hold intergenerational meetings and encourage reading among students and their families.The indigenous school population is estimated at 1.2 million nationwide, with the vast majority coming from the Quechua (700,000) and Aymara (300,000) peoples from the Andean areas of the country and the rest from Amazonian language groups such as Asháninka, Shipibo Konibo, Awajún and others.The Kukama Kukamiria people live mainly in the department of Loreto, the largest in the Peruvian Amazon. According to the Ministry of Culture, the population of the communities of the Kukama Kukamiria people is estimated at 37,053. Of these, 1,185 have declared that they speak the Kukama Kukamiria language, which represents 0.02% of the total number of indigenous languages in the country. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 24/9/2024)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠ Harris Administration Accomplishments at the United  Nations

    Source: The White House

    Since his first day in office, President Biden has been committed to restoring American leadership at the United Nations. Our world today faces many challenges that no one country can or should confront alone. But when the United States shows up and leads at the UN, we can rally global action to tackle problems that affect us all. That is why the Biden-Harris Administration has worked tirelessly at the UN to advance American values, safeguard human rights for all, and address conflict and instability. Alongside our allies and partners from around the world, we have worked with UN agencies to tackle the climate crisis, shape our digital future, and fight poverty and disease.

    At a time of increasing geopolitical challenges and growing global needs, strong and effective American leadership at the UN is more critical than ever. The Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen American leverage at the United Nations, uphold the UN Charter, and keep human rights at the core of the organization. Without robust American engagement, our competitor nations would gain leverage to advance their interests and values at our expense.

    The Biden-Harris Administration has also been committed to reforming and adapting the UN to the needs of the 21st century. For example, President Biden announced a new U.S. openness to expanding the membership of the UN Security Council, including permanent seats for Africa and Latin America. The UN is not a perfect organization, but given the scale of today’s challenges, the world needs global institutions that are more inclusive and effective.

    Over nearly four years, the Biden-Harris Administration’s leadership at the UN has delivered results for the American people. At the UN, we have:

    Responded to Threats to International Peace and Security

    • After Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we worked at the UN to build support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and hold Russia to account. We rallied 141 countries in the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia’s violations of international law. We used UN Security Council debates to shine a spotlight on Russia’s illegal war and atrocities. We pressed the UN General Assembly to kick Russia off the UN Human Rights Council. We isolated Russia by denying it senior UN appointments and preventing its election to UN bodies.
    • Responding to the security situation in Haiti, we partnered with Ecuador to obtain UN Security Council authorization of a new Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission.
    • Working with African partners, we secured a UN Security Council decision to create in December 2023 a new mechanism to largely fund future African Union-led Peace Support Operations from the UN-assessed budget.
    • Following the horrific October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, we defended at the UN Security Council Israel’s right to defend itself and demanded the release of hostages. Also in the Security Council, we called for increased humanitarian assistance to Gaza and established a new UN mechanism to improve aid coordination. In July 2024, we secured Security Council endorsement of President Biden’s plan for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
    • As the Sudan conflict worsened, we mobilized action in the UN Security Council, including the adoption of a resolution in June 2024 demanding an end to the siege of El Fasher.
    • Responding to concerns that Russia intended to deploy nuclear weapons in space, we and Japan proposed a UN Security Council resolution calling on countries not to develop such weapons.
    • In 2022, we partnered with Ireland at the UN Security Council to reform, expand and strengthen humanitarian exemptions for UN sanctions.
    • Working with the United Kingdom, we secured adoption of the first-ever UN Security Council resolution condemning the February 2021 military coup in Burma.

    Protected and Upheld Universal Human Rights

    • We rejoined the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, enabling the United States to once again lead multilateral efforts to hold accountable human rights violators worldwide.
    • We issued a standing invitation to all UN thematic human rights monitors to visit the United States and assess our human rights record at home. In contrast to authoritarian governments, this invitation showed that a confident democracy is willing to have its record scrutinized and receive advice on strengthening rights protections for its citizens.
    • We pressed for the release of a landmark report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on human rights violations against Uighurs in China.
    • We worked in the UN Human Rights Council to establish a new Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Russia to examine Moscow’s crackdown on dissent at home and a Commission of Inquiry on violations and abuses in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
    • We restored American leadership at the UN in defending the human rights of LGBTQI+ individuals around the world. This included participating in high-level meetings of the Core Group of countries advocating for LGBTQI+ rights, including a September 23 meeting where the First Lady represented the United States. We also secured the renewal of the mandate of the UN’s Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and urged the UN to release its first-ever organization-wide strategy on LGBTQI+ rights, co-sponsoring the first-ever Human Rights Council resolution on the rights of intersex persons, and convening the second-ever informal UN Security Council meeting on the rights of LGBTQI+ individuals.
    • We spotlighted egregious human rights violations by North Korea, including by organizing the first briefing of the UN Security Council on North Korea human rights since 2017.
    • We helped establish mechanisms through the UN Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Nicaragua.
    • We worked at the UN to advance the global fight against antisemitism, including to ensure 36 countries and four multilateral organizations joined the U.S.-led Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism. In 2023, we convened a UN meeting on antisemitism with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and, in 2022, a roundtable at UNESCO.  
    • We advanced the UN’s work to promote racial equality, including by championing the inaugural session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. We co-sponsored a UN General Assembly resolution designating July 25 as International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent.
    • We engaged seriously with the human rights treaty body process, including through periodic reports about our domestic human rights record to the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
    • Reaffirming support for the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we pressed for enhanced participation of Indigenous Peoples throughout the UN system. In 2022, Ambassador (ret.) Keith Harper, the first-ever Senate confirmed U.S. ambassador from a federally-recognized tribe, was elected to the UN’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues.  
    • We supported efforts in the UN General Assembly to advance discussion of a proposed convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.  
    • After assuming the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), we hosted the UNCAC conference in Atlanta, Georgia in 2023, with approximately 2,600 delegates, including an unprecedented 1,000 from civil society.

    Advanced Gender Equity and Equality

    • We restored American leadership in pressing at the UN for the rights of women and girls, advancing their inclusion in societies, and supporting strong language in UN resolutions and at the Commission on the Status of Women on sexual and reproductive rights.
    • The January 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad restored life-saving funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
    • We announced that the United States will contribute for the first time to the UNICEF–UNFPA Global Program to End Child Marriage.
    • Following the Iranian regime’s killing of Mahsa Amini and crackdown on protestors, we helped establish a new UN Fact-Finding Mission to investigate human rights abuses. We spearheaded efforts to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women.
    • In 2024, we reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action.
    • We launched the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which included actions at the UN to address online safety for women and girls.

    Shaped Our Digital Future, Promoted Labor Rights, and Tackled Synthetic Drugs

    • We sponsored the first-ever UN General Assembly resolution outlining principles for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). This landmark resolution helped define a global consensus on safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems for advancing sustainable development.
    • We hosted events at the UN on misuses of new technologies, such as countries using commercial spyware to surveil dissidents and journalists.
    • We worked at the International Labor Organization (ILO) to empower workers worldwide and joined the ILO’s Equal Pay International Coalition to share best practices to close the gender wage gap.
    • At the first Summit for Democracy in 2021, we announced the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights (M-POWER), an initiative working with governments, trade unions, labor support, civil society organizations, and philanthropy to uphold and promote workers’ trade union rights around the world.
    • In coordination with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), we launched and hosted at the UN high-level meetings of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats and secured adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution to enhance international action to fight such drugs.

    Strengthened Global Health Cooperation, Advanced Sustainable Development, and Bolstered Climate Action

    • We redoubled efforts to support implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, launching a U.S. Strategy on Global Development to accelerate progress and mobilizing $150 billion of U.S. funding and billions more from the private sector, philanthropic, and other donor resources.
    • In 2021, we reversed the previous administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), enabling the United States to shape the WHO’s work on global health and reform. With the WHO, we led the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic by launching the COVID-19 Global Action Plan and donating nearly 700 million vaccine doses to 117 countries.
    • We hosted the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s 7th Replenishment in 2022, resulting in more than 75 governments, foundations, and corporations delivering pledges totaling a record $15.67 billion.
    • We worked at the UN to advance universal health coverage, continue the fight against tuberculosis and mpox, and combat global antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including to push countries for commitments on AMR that are bold, aspirational, and implementable.
    • We focused attention at the UN on addressing global food insecurity, repeatedly using the U.S. presidency of the UN Security Council to focus on the nexus between food security and conflict. We hosted at the UN ministerial-level meetings to generate new commitments to expand agricultural capacity and respond to famine with over 100 partner countries.
    • U.S. Representative to the UN Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland co-led the U.S. delegation to the 2023 UN Water Conference, where they announced more than $49 billion towards water security both at home and abroad.
    • In 2024, Secretary Haaland co-led the U.S. delegation to the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), where we announced new efforts to enhance our partnerships with SIDS.
    • After rejoining the Paris Agreement, we galvanized efforts at the UN to combat climate change, raising global climate ambition through countries’ enhanced national contributions, accelerated action to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, forward-leaning decisions at annual UN Climate Change Conferences, and major initiatives for ocean-climate action catalyzed by the annual Our Ocean Conference.
    • Former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy John Podesta have helped lead an all-out effort, including critical agreements at the UN Climate Change Conference COPs 26 and 28 to partner with countries to accelerate climate efforts worldwide and reduce global emissions sufficiently to limit warming to 1.5° Celsius. 
    • We advanced efforts within the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, and other multilateral organizations to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from the aviation, shipping, and other sectors.

    Strengthened American Presence at the United Nations

    • After a five-year absence, we rejoined the UN Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This allowed us to partner with UNESCO to combat the scourge of antisemitism, support global Holocaust education, promote journalist safety, safeguard Ukrainian cultural heritage, bolster ethical uses of AI, and advance science education for girls in Africa.
    • We led robust campaigns resulting in the election of U.S. citizens to key UN positions, including Doreen Bogdan-Martin as Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Amy Pope as Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Sarah Cleveland as Judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
    • We supported the appointments of highly qualified Americans to lead UN agencies, such as Ambassador Cathy Russell as Executive Director of UNICEF, Ambassador Cindy McCain as Executive Director of the World Food Program, and Ian Saunders as Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization.
    • Co-chairing the UN Accessibility Steering Committee, we worked to make UN headquarters in New York more accessible for all delegates, including construction of a 24/7 entrance for wheelchair users and the installation of a lift so everyone can address the General Assembly from behind the official rostrum.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to archive your photos in the digital age

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Wasim Ahmad, Assistant Teaching Professor of Journalism, Quinnipiac University

    What’s the right choice for storing your photos? Wasim Ahmad, CC BY

    Taking photographs used to be a careful, conscious act. Photos were selective, frozen moments in time carefully archived in albums and frames. Now, taking a photograph is almost as effortless and common as breathing – it’s something that people do all the time in the age of smartphone cameras with seemingly endless digital film.

    But the downside to capturing every moment is that it creates a mountain of those moments to save for the future. Those photos can be easily lost if they’re not archived properly. All it can take is one accidental dip in the toilet for your phone, and all that data is lost forever.

    So what’s a practical backup strategy for the average person? Here are a few ways to make sure memories are never lost:

    Cloud storage

    The simplest way to archive your photos is cloud storage. For Apple users, there’s iCloud, which starts at US$0.99 per month for 50 gigabytes all the way to $59.99 per month for 12 terabytes with various tiers in between. With an average iPhone photo clocking in at 3 megabytes, that’s a little over 16,000 photos for the cheap plan and 4 million or so for the largest plan. Google’s Google One cloud storage is most cost effective for yearly plans, with 2TB going for $99.99 per year and 5TB going for $249.99 per year.

    The actual amount you can store in that space does vary greatly with how a file is shot. Video has larger file sizes than photos. HEIF files, a newer format on Apple phones, compresses files into smaller packages, but long-term compatibility is unknown since the format hasn’t been in use for as long as the standard JPG file, which has been around since 1992.

    Storing your photos in a cloud service like iCloud is probably the easiest method.
    Chris Messina/Flickr, CC BY-NC

    While cloud services from big providers generally provide the easiest way for most average folks to back up their photos, and operate with little to no intervention via apps that are already on the phone constantly uploading every photo taken, there are risks involved.

    Big companies often change their policies about how photos are saved. For instance, depending on what phone and when it was bought, Google’s cloud storage may have saved photos in a “storage saver” format that lowers the quality of images by sizing them down or compressing them differently. This affects your ability to make high-quality prints or view the photos on high-resolution screens down the road. Unless someone is astute enough to notice small text here and there that mentions it, most users won’t even realize it’s happening.

    And what happens to cloud services when things go badly wrong? Users of photo backup service Digital Railroad found out the hard way. In 2008, the company abruptly shut down and gave its users 24 hours to download everything before the servers were shut down. Photographers rushed for the exits, trying to grab their photos on the way out, only to strain the servers to the point where few were able to recover anything at all. If this was the only way photos were backed up, it’s a lost cause.

    So while the cloud is easy, costs can add up and terms of service can change at a moment’s notice. What are some ways for photographers to control their own fate?

    Hard drives and network-attached storage

    Manually taking photos off a phone may take some extra time, but the approach offers peace of mind that cloud services can’t necessarily match.

    Almost all phones can plug into a computer’s USB port and use the built-in photos app on both Windows or MacOS to download photos to a computer. Apple users can use a method called AirDrop to send photos wirelessly to other Apple devices as well, including laptop and desktop computers.

    Now loading photos onto a local hard drive built into the machine can fill it up quickly, but there is a cost-effective way to get around that – namely, external hard drives. Theses are storage devices that you can plug into your computer as needed. They can be of the older and less expensive type with spinning platters or more modern solid-state drives that can survive a drop and greater temperature changes than the older drives can.

    These are different than flash drives, more commonly known as thumb drives because of their small size, that are designed as temporary storage to shuffle photos from one place to another.

    It’s easy to buy more than one hard drive to have duplicate backups in case of failure or catastrophe, but the downside is that there’s no easy access from the internet to your photos, and backup is generally a process that users must remember to do.

    Network-attached storage is one way to solve the cloud storage problem while retaining the ability to access photos from the internet. These are essentially hard drives – sometimes multiple hard drives linked together for even greater or faster storage – that are connected to a router that allows for access to the internet through specialized software.

    While not as easy as most third-party cloud storage services, once it’s set up, a network-attached storage unit is a flexible way to store your photos safely and accessibly. There are even companies that specialize in fireproof and waterproof units for extra insurance in case of disaster.

    Printing photos

    If cloud storage and hard drives seem too complicated, there’s always the old-fashioned approach of printing. There’s still something magical about seeing a photo on a wall or in an album, and thankfully there are ways to print professional-quality archival prints without having to go to a drugstore.

    Desktop photo printers are a way to bring those digital photos into the physical world, ready for organizing in photo albums.
    Leksey/Wikimedia

    The easiest and most cost-efficient types of printers are dedicated 4×6 printers using a technology similar to professional labs called dye-sublimation. These yield high-quality, waterproof prints that cost about the same as what one would pay for drugstore developing. HP makes its popular Sprocket line of printers, though those require a phone and an app to print from, which makes plugging in a memory card from a professional camera out of the question. However, Canon’s Selphy lineup includes many models with screens and a card slot to make that possible.

    The rabbit hole goes very deep, and there are many professional printers that can print even larger sizes. Canon and Epson dominate this space, marketing a range of pigment- and dye-based printers that can emphasize archival needs or color saturation, respectively.

    Another option is ordering a photo book, which, as the name suggests, is a physical bound book of your photos. However, photo books are probably more appropriate for memorializing an event – trip, wedding, project – than general archiving, given the typical costs and number of photos involved.

    There’s little reason to not make some sort of backups of photos in 2024, whether that’s on printed media, hard drives or in the cloud. The important thing is not which method to use, but to do it at all.

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

    – ref. How to archive your photos in the digital age – https://theconversation.com/how-to-archive-your-photos-in-the-digital-age-239175

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: Parents with disabilities have faced discrimination for years in the US, but new rules will help ensure that child welfare systems treat them more fairly

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Lightfoot, Distinguished Professor of Social Policy, School of Social Work, Arizona State University

    Parents with disabilities have new legal protections. Westend61/Getty Images

    Parents with any kind of disability are much more likely to have some type of interaction with the child welfare system than other parents. This means they are more likely than other parents to be reported for child abuse and neglect and more likely to have abuse or neglect substantiated by child welfare workers. They are also more likely to have their children placed in foster care and more likely to permanently lose their parental rights.

    More than one-third of mothers with intellectual and developmental disabilities have an interaction with the child welfare system within four years of their child’s birth, and about one-fifth of all children in foster care have a parent with some type of disability.

    However, there is little evidence that parents with disabilities abuse or neglect their children at higher rates than anyone else. Instead, there’s evidence that many young adults raised by a parent with a disability have very positive childhood experiences.

    New rules that went into effect in July 2024 provide the first federal protections specifically for parents with disabilities. These new rules ban discrimination against parents and caregivers with disabilities throughout the child welfare system.

    Government is changing these rules

    I’m a social work policy researcher who has studied policies affecting parents with disabilities since 2007.

    In 2010, I found that three-quarters of states had laws which said that a parent’s disability could be used as the grounds for terminating their parental rights. Most of these state laws focused on parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities or mental health disabilities, though some listed physical disabilities and other types as well.

    Many of these laws were vague and used outdated language such as “mental deficiency.”

    Parental disability is the only grounds for termination of parental rights that focuses on a condition of the parent. The rest focus on behaviors. For example, parental poverty is not listed as grounds for termination of parental rights in any state, but neglect – a behavior – is.

    State laws were only one of the issues parents with disabilities encountered related to child protection. For years, there had been confusion as to how the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law banning disability discrimination, applied to parents in the child welfare system. Until 2015, most state courts denied ADA claims by parents with disabilities who believed they were discriminated against.

    In addition, most child welfare workers do not receive formal training on working with parents with disabilities. They are not trained in how to assess parenting skills or how to make accommodations to services that they typically provide, such as providing in-home parent training or conveying information in plain language. They might not know about the overwhelming evidence that parents with intellectual disabilities can learn parenting skills.

    This has historically led many child welfare workers to make decisions based on stereotypes or speculation.

    One of the main biases that parents with disabilities face is the “presumption of unfitness bias.” This is a widespread bias that parents are unable to parent solely because of their disability.

    This bias can lead child welfare workers to not consider that parents with disabilities can rely on “parental supports” to assist them in parenting, ranging from adaptive cribs and baby monitors to in-home helpers. It also can result in parents with disabilities being held to a higher standard than others.

    State laws specifically naming parental disability as a for termination of parental rights, the lack of federal protection, and widespread biases left parents with disabilities vulnerable in encounters with the child welfare system.

    Gaining national attention

    Two federal actions in the early 2010s brought national attention to parents with disabilities.

    First, the National Council on Disability, the independent federal agency that advises the federal government on disability issues, released a report in 2012 called Rocking the Cradle. That report focused on the widespread discrimination faced by parents with disabilities; highlighted and called for changing the state child protection laws; and called for the application of ADA protections in child welfare cases involving parents with disabilities.

    This report received a lot of media attention and led to more awareness of the plight of these parents.

    Then, in 2015, Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services released guidance directing child welfare agencies to protect parents with disabilities from discrimination. This was the first federal action indicating that the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act applied to child protection services.

    This guidance followed the departments’ investigation of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families’ removal of a newborn baby from Sara Gordon, a new mother with a developmental disability, in 2012. The Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services found that the state agency had made assumptions that Gordon was unable to take care of her child and unable to learn parenting skills. The state agency had also failed to take into account that Gordon had support systems in place. She lived with her parents, and her mother had quit her job to assist with parenting.

    Making progress for parents with disabilities

    The momentum for protecting parental rights has led to some positive changes.

    A few states changed their own child protection laws to address some of these problems before the federal government took action by providing new protections for parents with disabilities. In addition, the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services have reached agreements with state agencies in Oregon, Georgia and Massachusetts related to discrimination against parents with disabilities.

    Despite this progress, parents with disabilities are still discriminated against by the child welfare system in many parts of the country.

    At the same time, I have no doubt that the federal government’s revision of the rules of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a major step forward for parents with disabilities.

    In particular, it is promising that Section  84.60 of the rule clarifies that disability discrimination is not allowed in any part of the child welfare process. Child welfare agencies throughout the United States now must ensure that they are not making decisions based on speculation, stereotypes or generalizations.

    Thanks to changes in the federal rule, when a child welfare agency evaluates how a child is being parented, the tools it uses must be backed by research. The evaluations must be conducted by a qualified professional and tailored to the needs of the individual parent. Agencies must ensure that parents with disabilities can participate in any services they provide. These services include parent-child visitation, parenting skills programs, family reunification services and child placements in foster care settings or in the care of another relative.

    Disability advocacy groups applauded this new rule when it went into effect in the summer of 2024.

    I believe these new rules will protect parents with disabilities when interacting with child protection authorities. They will also make it easier for child welfare agencies and state courts to recognize disability discrimination when it appears in their caseloads or on their dockets.

    Elizabeth Lightfoot receives funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

    – ref. Parents with disabilities have faced discrimination for years in the US, but new rules will help ensure that child welfare systems treat them more fairly – https://theconversation.com/parents-with-disabilities-have-faced-discrimination-for-years-in-the-us-but-new-rules-will-help-ensure-that-child-welfare-systems-treat-them-more-fairly-238185

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Mike Muller, Visiting Adjunct Professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand

    A new round of angry exchanges has broken out between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

    On September 1, Cairo wrote to the UN security council to protest against Ethiopia’s continued filling of Africa’s second largest reservoir and bringing two more power generating turbines into operation. Egypt sees any new infrastructure development on the Nile as a potential threat, since the river is the source of over 98% of the country’s water.

    Egypt calls this a violation of international law and Ethiopia’s obligations to “prevent significant harm”. Ethiopia’s policies, it says,

    could result in an existential threat to Egypt … and would consequently jeopardise regional and international peace and security.

    Ethiopia has told Egypt to “abandon its aggressive approach” towards the dam. Ethiopia says that it must allow the Blue Nile’s water to flow through the dam’s turbines and on to Egypt to generate the hydropower for which it has been built, thus guaranteeing the overall flow to Egypt.

    I have tracked the Nile disputes since the 1970s, first as a development journalist, then as a civil engineer and senior public servant. More recently, my research on water and regional integration for regional development agencies has provided further insights. My 2021 study considered the lessons to be learnt for today’s water challenges from centuries of the use and management of Nile waters.



    Read more:
    Innovations on the Nile over millennia offer lessons in engineering sustainable futures

    Ongoing tension between Egypt and Ethiopia over control of the Nile River has a long history. Therefore, in one sense, the row between Egypt and Ethiopia is nothing new.

    The countries went to war as far back as 1874, even as they both were also battling European colonialism. Ethiopia won the war of 1874 and, 20 years later, beat back Italy’s attempt to colonise it, at the battle of Adwa.

    However, Egypt gained long term advantage from treaties negotiated by the British, which gave Cairo almost total control over the Nile. Egypt is still asserting the rights and privileges conferred by those colonial era treaties even though they are being challenged by other Nile countries. In my view, this is because Egyptians are still trapped by their past fears. As Norwegian professor Torje Tvedt has explained, these fears were deliberately entrenched by past colonial authorities.

    With these perspectives, my view is that the current controversy over the Ethiopian dam still reflects historical conflicts rather than a careful analysis of present challenges.

    Now 90% complete, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has begun to generate electricity. A series of good rainy seasons have allowed the reservoir to start filling rapidly without affecting Egypt’s water availability.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam offers not just cheap green electricity for Ethiopia and the sub-region as well as reliable irrigation supplies and flood control for Sudan. Once filled, its storage could offer supply security and increase the amount of water available for Egypt as well.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

    What, then, are the issues that have prompted Egypt’s recent protests and what are the possible solutions to the problems raised?

    The immediate technical challenge is to continue filling the dam without disrupting flows to Sudan and Egypt. The filling process might have to be interrupted if there is a regional drought. So recent developments, notably the greater focus on the rate at which the dam will be filled rather than the legality of its construction, suggest that there is a shift in positions which neither side is yet willing to acknowledge publicly.

    This shift will be supported when other future-focused issues are raised. For instance, there must be negotiations about the supply of electricity to support Sudan’s irrigation expansion, although this is on hold due to the war in Sudan. In the longer term, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia could cooperate to use the GERD’s storage to help Egypt to manage its Aswan High Dam more efficiently. Aswan currently suffers very high evaporation losses, which could be reduced if its reservoir levels were better controlled. The GERD could help to do this.

    Unfortunately, the history of colonial Britain repeatedly threatening to cut Egypt’s Nile water supplies has been deeply imprinted in Egyptian public consciousness. It is understandable that Egyptians still fear a similar threat from Ethiopia. The responsibility now falls on Ethiopia to show good faith in its operation of the dam and to work with Egypt to change the combative discourse.

    Potential for cooperation

    Egypt’s repeated complaints have alerted Ethiopia and international organisations of the need to act carefully. If there is another regional drought, Ethiopia will need to slow the rate at which it completes filling its dam. Informal liaison structures are monitoring the situation and such a response would help to build a more constructive engagement with Egypt.

    Water is a patient teacher. Every season provides an opportunity for those who live with its natural cycles to understand it better. The hope is that, if the three countries experience the benefits of some seasons of the dam’s operation, the natural cycle will reveal the potential for cooperation and mitigate the conflict.



    Read more:
    Sudan’s catastrophe: farmers could offer quick post-war recovery, if peace is found

    When peace returns to Sudan, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will enable a vast expansion of irrigation to develop its role as a regional breadbasket. The dam will also help to manage Nile floods which regularly cause death and destruction, even to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.

    Efforts to promote cooperation between the East African countries that share the White Nile have been relatively successful. However, such cooperation on the Blue Nile will need much greater trust between the parties. To achieve this trust, the countries and their people will have to overcome centuries of cultural and political preconceptions. This will require much patient work and interaction, which is not easy in the current climate.

    Mike Muller has received funding from the African Development Bank and South Africa’s Water Research Comission for work on regional cooperation in water resource management. He has been a member of the Global Water Partnership’s Technical Committee, chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Water and been funded by the World Bank’s Cooperation in International Waters (CIWA) programme for contributions to the Nile Basin Initiative. He was also funded by UNESCO to attend a conference in Khartoum, organised with Sudan’s Ministry of Water Resources Irrigation and Electricity, on integrated and sustainable water management.

    – ref. Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region – https://theconversation.com/egypts-fears-about-ethiopias-mega-dam-havent-come-to-pass-moving-on-from-historical-concerns-would-benefit-the-whole-region-239418

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: SITI commences visit to Wuhan (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    SITI commences visit to Wuhan (with photos)
    SITI commences visit to Wuhan (with photos)
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         The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, began his visit to Wuhan, Hubei Province today (September 24).     Professor Sun called on Vice Governor of Hubei Province Ms Chen Ping, and exchanged views on the development of innovation and technology (I&T) and new industries in Hong Kong and Hubei. At the meeting, Professor Sun introduced the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s plan and latest work on leading the development of the city’s I&T industry. He also learned about Hubei’s strengths in I&T and advanced manufacturing, particularly the development of chips and new energy vehicle industries. They also explored ways to further strengthen co-operation between Hubei and Hong Kong in technological innovation and industry development.     Professor Sun later visited the Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. It is one of the first six national research centres approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and is a research platform focusing on fundamental science and technology in the fields of optoelectronics for information, energy and life. Professor Sun was briefed on the laboratory’s development history, research conditions and innovation achievements, as well as the comprehensive support and services it provides to the “Optics Valley of China, Wuhan” and the development and industrialisation of the optoelectronics industry.     Professor Sun then visited the Jiufengshan Laboratory to learn about its work on promoting the development of the fundamental research of compound semiconductor in order to support Wuhan to become a global compound semiconductor innovation centre and industry cluster. In a tour of the laboratory’s chip process lines and professional testing infrastructure, he was kept abreast of the facility’s efforts in pushing forward the technological frontier by aiming at research and development (R&D), technology development, transformation of R&D outcomes as well as detection and analysis on compound semiconductor.     Professor Sun visited the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone in the evening and received an update on the development of the optoelectronics information industry cluster, as well as the efforts and achievements in building the “World Optics Valley”. Professor Sun also encouraged the East Lake High-tech Development Zone to set up accelerators and incubators in Hong Kong.      The Commissioner for Industry (Innovation and Technology), Dr Ge Ming, also joined the visit.      Professor Sun will continue his visit to Wuhan tomorrow (September 25).

     
    Ends/Tuesday, September 24, 2024Issued at HKT 21:30

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: EDB launches “Love Our Home,Treasure Our Country 3.0” joint school national education activities to celebrate 75th anniversary of founding of People’s Republic of China (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    EDB launches “Love Our Home,Treasure Our Country 3.0” joint school national education activities to celebrate 75th anniversary of founding of People’s Republic of China (with photos)
    EDB launches “Love Our Home,Treasure Our Country 3.0” joint school national education activities to celebrate 75th anniversary of founding of People’s Republic of China (with photos)
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         The Education Bureau (EDB) today (September 24) held the “Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country” – Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China and Joint School National Education Activities Kick-off Ceremony. The Bureau announced that it will collaborate with Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Po Leung Kuk, the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China, the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, Kowloon, Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council, Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council, Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association and Subsidized Primary Schools Council to jointly organise the “Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country 3.0” series of joint school national education activities in the 2024/25 school year, with an aim of deepening students’ understanding of Chinese culture and strengthening their affection for and sense of belonging to the country.      The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing; the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin; the Convenor of the Working Group on Patriotic Education, Ms Starry Lee; the Division Director of the Education, Science and Technology Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dr He Jinhui, together with representatives from school sponsoring bodies, school councils and school head associations involved in the activities, jointly officiated at the kick-off ceremony. About 2 500 representatives from school sponsoring bodies and the EDB, principals, teachers, students and parents attended.      Addressing the event, Mr Cheuk said that the “Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country 3.0” joint school national education activities will further expand the scale of the event. Participating schools cover kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, special schools and sister schools on the Mainland. Joint school collaboration not only strengthens exchanges among schools but also combines strengths to develop resources, enabling a patriotic atmosphere and sentiments to extend continuously across school campuses in all districts of Hong Kong.      Mr Cheuk said, “Love for the country should be the value and sentiment of every Chinese national. Patriotic education and activities play an important role in nurturing the growth of patriotic sentiments.” He thanked practitioners from the education sector for remaining steadfast in their roles. Through learning inside and outside the classroom, students are given the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the country’s history, culture and values from an early age, and experience the distinctiveness of traditional Chinese culture, thereby fostering their pride in being Chinese and enhancing their national pride and sense of responsibility and ownership.       The kick-off ceremony featured a variety of rich programmes, including the performance of the magnificent “Hymn to the Sun” by a joint school Chinese orchestra formed by nearly 90 students. In addition, over 100 students performed lion dances, martial arts and other dances. A choir composed of 75 principals from school sponsoring bodies, school councils and government schools marked the finale of the ceremony with a song to express their warm congratulations on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.      Highlights of the kick-off ceremony will be broadcast on RTHK TV 31 at 1.30pm on September 28 (Saturday).

     
    Ends/Tuesday, September 24, 2024Issued at HKT 21:25

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI USA: Friends With Paws celebrates therapy dog at Calhoun County Middle High School

    Source: US State of West Virginia

    CategoriesEnglish, MIL OSI, US State Governments, US State of West Virginia

    Post navigation

    MOUNT ZION, WV –  First Lady Cathy Justice announced today that one of the state’s newest therapy dogs through the Friends With Paws program is thriving and doing incredible work at Calhoun County Middle High School.

    Coco is a male Chocolate Labrador Retriever and was celebrated during a Pup Rally held at the school. Representatives from the First Lady’s Office, along with students, faculty, staff, and several other local leaders, were in attendance. 

    While Coco is the 29th dog placed through the program, a total of 38 Friends With Paws therapy dogs have been placed throughout the state.

    “We are thrilled to celebrate Coco at Calhoun County Middle High School,” First Lady Cathy Justice said. “Therapy dogs like Coco offer so much more than just a friendly face—they provide comfort, reduce stress, and create a calming environment for our students. These dogs are making a real difference, offering support when it’s needed most, helping children feel safe, and encouraging emotional well-being. Coco will be a cherished companion and an important part of this school’s journey toward a brighter, healthier future.”
    The Friends With Paws program places certified therapy dogs in several schools across the state, providing companionship and comfort for students in need of a boost. 

    Therapy dogs are specially trained to provide comfort and support to people in various tense environments. They can help people feel at ease, improve their mood, relieve anxiety, and remove social barriers. Therapy dogs are highly trained and certified to show their ability to work in stressful environments, ignore distractions, and provide therapy to people with diverse backgrounds and circumstances.

    “Coco fosters meaningful relationships and provides comfort to both students and staff, showing us that compassion and connection can profoundly enhance our school community,” Michael Fitzwater, Superintendent of Calhoun County Schools, said.
    Following today’s assembly, students and staff had the chance to spend extra time with Coco.
    “Calhoun Middle High School believes that every child deserves a safe and nurturing environment to thrive,” Michelle Paxton, Principal at Calhoun Middle High School said. “Therapy dogs, such as Coco, provide unique emotional support, and we are excited to see how this initiative can positively impact our students at Calhoun Middle High School.”

    The Friends With Paws program is a partnership between the Governor’s Office, West Virginia Communities In Schools (CIS) Nonprofit, and the West Virginia Department of Education. Therapy dogs are placed in schools within CIS counties where students are disproportionately affected by poverty, substance misuse, or other at-risk situations, and are in the greatest need of a support animal. The dogs serve as a healthy and friendly outlet for these students to address trauma and other social-emotional issues.

    “Coco has made an incredible impact at Calhoun Middle High School,” Assistant Superintendent of Calhoun County Schools Jeannie Bennett-Yoak said. “His presence brings joy, comfort, and a sense of calm to our students and staff alike. We are immensely grateful to First Lady Justice, her dedicated staff, Ultimate Canine, and Communities in Schools for providing such a valuable resource. The bond Coco has formed with our school community is truly uplifting and has significantly enhanced the emotional well-being of everyone here.”
    More information about Friends With Paws can be found in Communities In Schools: Friends With Paws, a documentary produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Click HERE to view the documentary.
     
    A 2019 study published by the National Institute of Health found that a dog’s presence in the classroom promotes a positive mood and provides significant anti-stress effects on the body.

    In addition, research shows that the simple act of petting animals releases an automatic relaxation response. Therapy animals’ lower anxiety and help people relax, provide comfort, reduce loneliness, and increase mental stimulation. They are also shown to lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health, reduce the number of medications some people need, help control breathing in those with anxiety, and diminish overall physical pain, among other profound benefits.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Hochul Discusses Youth Mental Health at Summit

    Source: US State of New York

    Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul participated in a Concordia Summit Fireside Chat on Youth Mental Health in New York City.

    VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

    AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

    PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

    Penny Abeywardena: Good afternoon. So, we’re going to talk about something that really should be on the top of minds for all of us, and that is the many aspects of phones and schools to explore today. And there is no one better to reflect on this than our mom-Governor, Governor Hochul.

    So there are two massive clusters of changing norms colliding over this past decade. Parents driven a lot by anxiety and concerns have been buying smartphones for their kids. How do I keep my kids safe in school? With mental health challenges and bullying, how can I make sure my kid is okay during the day?

    And then, can I ensure my kid is keeping up with the technology? And then let’s not forget that the smartphone and video game and social media industries have focused on maximizing and monetizing screen time. So now these trends are complex and interdependent, but there is leadership that is going to help address this. And so it is a pleasure to be in conversation with Governor Hochul on this.

    Now, I want to know what your aha moment is, and I do think this is a moment to reflect on personal experience. We were just talking backstage, I have an eight-year-old in the public school system here in New York City. This became a big issue over the last few weeks. And I was properly shocked because he’s eight. And so this is something that quite honestly all of us need to be thinking about. And so, Governor Hochul, through your personal experiences or insights, can you tell us what influenced you to really focus on this issue from a legislative perspective?

    Governor Hochul: Thank you, Penny, and for Concordia for elevating this issue. I was here last year talking about climate change, and I’m always happy to talk about that. I can give you the speech I gave a few hours ago. But this is something a year ago I would not have thought we’d be talking about here. But I am so happy that this has finally taken hold because as a mom, a parent, you are hardwired to protect your children. Full stop. You wake up in the morning, start thinking about them when they’re little, late at night when they’re out with their friends you don’t sleep until they’re back home. That’s how we are. And as the Governor of New York, my number one job also has to be to protect all New Yorkers.

    So, you asked what my aha moment was. About a year and a half ago, I started convening mental health roundtables because we knew we were starting to see the signs that young people in particular had not fully emerged from the pandemic. They are still stressed out. The statistics on suicide, especially for teenage girls contemplating suicide, the depression, the anxiety, it was off the charts. So, I started having meetings and gathering kids and talking all over the state, and there was one not that long ago where the young woman – we started talking about the impact of social media and how it really takes hold of them. They’re held captive to these algorithms that are designed to bombard them with information that they will like because it’s taking personal information about them and turning it around and pulling them in deeper and deeper.

    And I said to this young woman – she was telling me how “I’m getting bullied during the day and all these social media and everybody’s doing this and I’m missing out and I have FOMO,” I said, “What do you want us to do?” She goes, “You have to save us from ourselves.” And that was my aha moment, when I realized it’s hard for parents to say you’re going to be the only teenager in the school without a cell phone, it’s hard for the school district to take it on and say, “We’re going to be the heavies,” teachers have enough on their plates, they don’t have to be the enforcers. And I realized this calls for government intervention, and I’m not afraid to take on the fights, especially when we’re fighting for our kids’ mental health.

    That was when I said, “Let’s find out what we can do to control these social media companies,” and we can talk about our nation-leading legislation, but also I’m right now developing a policy that’s going to say, “Bell to bell, full school day, phones should not be in the hands of children because they’re being denied the chance to learn, the teachers are frustrated that they’re not paying attention anymore, but also it has taken them to negative places, and it’s horrible for their mental health.”

    Penny Abeywardena: It really is. And different levels at different ages and grades, the impact is even more optimized, right?” Now, it would be great if you could talk about the significance of the first-in-the-nation law you signed to combat addictive social media feeds. And I will say, I hope many of you realize this, Instagram changed their policy last week, and I’m assuming it’s because they’re seeing the serious movement that’s coming from around the country, led by –

    Governor Hochul: Well, that’s true. In the era of – waiting for industries to self-regulate in the best interest of consumers is probably never going to happen. So, I’m not holding my breath. We encourage the tech companies, social media companies to work with us. Obviously, you’re always threatened by lawsuits. And I said, first I have a lot of lawyers, I can hire any lawyer in the state I want so bring it on. But I’d rather not. I said, “Why don’t you get out of the courtroom and come into my conference room and help devise solutions, because you know what you’re doing. You know exactly what you’re doing. You design these algorithms that’ll capture all this personal data about any age, a 10-year-old, 12-year-old, 15-year-old,” and they’re using it to structure messaging around your interests.

    We worked with them, they resisted, they built a campaign against us, they spent a lot of money. And I was able to work with our Attorney General, Tish James, here in New York, and legislators, and work with a coalition of parents and Common Sense Media, and formed a coalition where we were able to fight back. And our legislation – which we encourage every other state to adopt, I hear California’s looking at this now – it basically says a couple of things: one, is you cannot collect private data about anyone under the age of 18. You can’t collect it, you can’t sell it. You cannot monetize our children’s mental health any longer, you’re barred from that. Secondly, you are forbidden, barred from being able to target young people with algorithms designed based on their tastes.

    Now, a young person is not prohibited from going to your sites. They can talk, they can go to all kinds of chat rooms, they can talk to their friends, they can do whatever they want. But you cannot target them. And that was a heavy lift for them, and it’s a heavy lift to get through in legislation, but we did it. I just signed it into law a few months ago, and I’m really proud of it.

    We’re working on the regulations, but I always think about the fact that they told us, “Well, we have no capacity to identify who’s under the age of 18. This is an impossibility.” It’s like, “You’re tech companies, you can do anything, figure it out.” And somehow, magically, Instagram announced last week, they figured it out.

    I have immense faith in their ability to solve problems even if it’s against their self-interest.

    Penny Abeywardena: And that’s really bringing everybody to the table. When we think about the efficacy of what you’ve been able to do, it really came down to really strategic collaborations. Can you talk about how you worked not only with parents and teachers, but unions? We talked about authorities and the police; I’d just be curious how everybody’s playing a part in all of this?

    Governor Hochul: That’s a great question because you can’t go into these battles alone, right? You have to have allies as you march into war. And here’s what we needed to have. First of all, many parents on their own have said they know how bad it is. They’ve seen their children, especially if they were able to get a cell phone at age 12, 13, 14, they turn into a different person. First of all, they lose the capacity over time to have real, genuine social interactions. They don’t make eye contact. They don’t talk to other students. In school, the cafeteria is silent. They’re silent when they’re in the schoolyard. They’re silent in the halls. And the school districts that – on their own – were courageous enough to ban them said they now hear children laughing, talking, even arguing, they’re communicating more.

    And it was stopped. It was a dead silence. It was so unnatural. So, I had to get teachers on board, that was the easiest one. 72 percent of teachers across this country say that they are tired of the distractions and their inability to communicate with students or make connections in a way that are positive relationships.

    This is, outside a parent, the most influential person in their lives is a teacher. And the teacher is trying to do the best they can, and they’re being thwarted. They’re not learning, but they’re also not making connections.

    They’re stunted in their growth. They’re not turning into young adults eventually, over time, and ultimately adults. And we needed teachers on board, principals on board, school districts on board, and I said in all my – I did roundtables all over the state with all these parties at the table. I said, “I’ll be the heavy, just blame me, say, ‘that mean Governor made us do this,’ I mean I’ll take that on.” Because as a mom, I know how important this is and it would have helped me enormously to tell my kids, “I would have let you have the cell phones in school, but hey, it’s the law, I can’t let you do that. I still love you and I’d let you do anything else.”

    It’s about relationships, the ability to say no, which I have no trouble saying to my kids, but some do. But I also need law enforcement, and this is interesting, because my kids were in middle school during Columbine, the very high-profile mass shooting, and you still say the word ‘Columbine,’ I get chills because I know what it did to my sense of security. And we have so many other cases since then, I just spoke about Uvalde at another forum.

    So I thought, I have to think about how this affects parents’ sense of security when they say goodbye to their most precious little child, whether it’s kindergarten or 12th grade. I talked to law enforcement, what they said was so striking. If there is a crisis on campus or in the schoolyard, in the school, a mass shooting, worst case scenario, the last thing you want children to be doing, the last thing, is looking at their cell phone, texting mom and dad, sending messages, maybe videoing because they want to be the one who captures this. First of all, you’re telegraphing where you are, okay? You’ll hear this. Also, the police said to me the place their attention has to be is not on their smartphone, it has to be on the front of the classroom where the teacher is going to lead them to safety.

    When I heard that, it was like the clouds parted. I said, that’s the argument for parents. They need to hear that. So we’re not through yet. I’ve proposed this and loosely I said I’m going to be developing a policy. I will be working with these same groups I just mentioned. Everybody to let them understand how important this is and it’s also when I think about employers in my state, I want to be able to let them know that when young people emerge from their educational process, they’ll be fully functioning adults who have social interaction skills, who’ll be able to have the creative collisions and talk to someone else, a colleague, and work in teams and strategize together and really be more productive instead of someone who’s, again, their existence for a number of years has just been with the virtual world.

    And I can’t control what happens after school. Like my nieces are on all night long. I said, who are they talking to all night long? Isn’t anybody sleeping? And so they’re not, because they’re talking to kids on the other side of the world, literally. So we also say no notifications, and parents have the ability to turn it off. Sorry, kids, you can’t have it on from midnight until 6 a.m. I think Instagram actually said 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., which I thought was extraordinary. So parents are being empowered. So now we have to educate the parents. This is what it looks like, this is how you handle it, and when your teenager gets, tries to get around it, this is how you undo what they did. We have to help the parents get through this as well, but ultimately, imagine a world where this never happened. We’re not dealing with these high rates of depression and anxiety in young people and the bullying that goes on in schools.

    One mom said her husband has to leave work every day to be there at the end of the day when the child comes home from school because he gets picked on so badly on his own cell phone, watching it all day long, people are saying that he’s about to commit suicide and they want to keep an eye on him.

    If that doesn’t hit you as a parent – what is happening? But a world where we say, no cell phones, we just go back to the way it was when we were younger.

    Penny Abeywardena: Yeah.

    Governor Hochul: And if you need to – forget your lunch or you need to figure out how you’re getting home at the end of the day, guess what? There’s phones in the office. It’s a radical idea. Go down the hall, talk to your counselor, talk to your principal, can I use the phone?

    Penny Abeywardena: Talk to someone.

    Governor Hochul: And maybe forget your lunch and you go hungry; you won’t do it the next day. That’s called learning about life, right? Consequences. So it’s, that’s how I was raised. I don’t know. Maybe I’m old school, but I want to save our kids. It’s this important. I have to work on this intensely to at least save our state’s kids and hopefully other states will follow. And a number have, there have been other states that have done it.

    Penny Abeywardena: I was curious what kind of advice you would give to other state lawmakers because we talk about these coalitions as groups, but they’re important constituents who vote. So they’re concerned about making parents angry and losing that support. And I’d be curious what strategies and ideas you would offer to other state lawmakers to take this on.

    Governor Hochul: Just looking at it globally, the easiest thing in the world is to do nothing. Just wait for someone else. “It’s too hard.” Believe me, there’s a lot of challenges in New York to be a lot easier to pass on to somebody else. And that has happened. And I’m the cleanup Governor. I have a lot of work to do to try and invest, we never invested in mental health in the state.

    For example, never, no one ever talked about mental health as if it was an issue at all. I invested a billion dollars in my first budgets and said, we have to deal with everything from the lack of training for more professionals to be in the field to school-based clinics, so we can treat the kids right in schools if they have challenges to the homeless on the subways, more beds in hospitals. We looked at it holistically and we’re making real progress. So my advice to them is just show some profiles and courage once in a while. Shock everybody. Do something that’s a little bit difficult on the front end, but we’re in the world to make a difference.

    And these positions are positions of great authority, but they also hold a lot of responsibility for us. If you’re not making a difference every single day when you’re in a position like I am, then just stay in bed. I mean just don’t even bother because your job is to make a difference. Find problems – the easy problems my brilliant staff will solve, the hardest ones are on my desk and that’s what a Governor is supposed to do. It’s just, and if you’re not going to fight for kids, who are you wanting to fight for? That’s a statement about your values.

    Penny Abeywardena: And building on that. So there’s a middle ground, right? There are these bags you can have in school, so the kids get their phones, they get to show up at school with their phones, but then put them in. We had an interesting conversation backstage, and I was wondering if you can share, you know, our kids are smart.

    Governor Hochul: Yeah, kids are very smart. There are a few school districts in New York, Schoharie School District, up near the Capitol. They went full board, they did it a couple years ago, they said it was hard, there was a lot of resistance, parents said no, teachers didn’t want to be enforcers, and now they’re so glad they didn’t. And people now, and they had signs in front lawns, protesting taking cell phones away from kids.

    Give me a break. So I know it’s coming. I know it’s coming. But, these, so they have these bags, and there’s all sorts of ways to do this, but there’s these bags that are magnetic. Teacher watches the children put them in the bag at the beginning of the school. Only the teacher can unlock it so at the end of the school day they’ll get their phone back.

    No one’s going to steal it. It’s safe. Some kids are showing up at school, the teachers told me, with two cell phones. They lock one up in front of the teacher. Okay, kids have burner phones now? Okay, or what parent is buying their kid two cell phones? Okay? And then they use the other one all day.

    The other thing I think is important for parents to know. One of the teachers, she said, “We have to deal with the integrity issues.” I said, “What’s that mean?” It’s a nice way of saying they’re cheating. The whole world, all the answers are sitting there on their lap, and they’re not learning because they don’t have to. Or they run off to the lavatory with their phone, even the schools that ban it but let you have it during lunchtime or during breaks. They’re looking up information that they’re never going to learn properly from. And people say they’re not going to learn how to use technology. What do you think they’re doing the second they get home?

    They have all night long they’re doing that. I can’t control that. That’s up to parents. The last thing I’ll say on this is – parents, watch what you’re doing too. Kids learn from you. If you won’t put down the cell phone at the dinner table, or when you’re talking to them after dinner, by the time they’re mid-teenagers, they don’t even want to see you, so work on them before that. I believe I speak from experience. But show the kids they matter. Go to one of your meetings and leave your cell phone on your desk. The world will not fall apart. Somehow, we got to this age of 2024, surprisingly, throughout most of history, without being able to be connected and scrolling while your boss is talking to you, or while your colleagues are trying to present something. Just show basic respect to each other. Let’s not forget those skills. Respect each other, put down the phone.

    Penny Abeywardena: Put down, and that they’re paying attention to you and what you’re doing. I want to, we’re about to run out of time, but you mentioned, can we just talk about the investment that you made in mental health and other educational initiatives. Can you just share some of the programs and initiatives you have coming up that essentially reinforce this legislative –

    Governor Hochul: Yes. Again, one of the most significant things we’re doing is the mental health services in schools. Yeah. And so we’ve had to ensure that we’re funding workforce training for a whole new generation of more people going into the mental health professions, because I can open up a clinic in every single school. I could never staff it. I have to work with the unions and the training programs and put money behind this and training in hospitals. And so part of ours is creating a whole new generation of more healthcare workers, especially focused in this area. So that’s one big area, but I would say this, we also just need services, wraparound services from the get-go. My job is to make sure that our children emerge with healthy minds and not needing a lifetime of mental health services because we didn’t do our jobs when we had them in school.

    Penny Abeywardena: That is a perfect conclusion. Thank you so much, Governor Hochul.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI: China Medical System: New Drug Application for Vitiligo Indication of Ruxolitinib Phosphate Cream Accepted in China

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SHENZHEN, CHINA, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — China Medical System Holdings Limited (the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group” or “CMS”) is pleased to announce that on September 24, 2024, the New Drug Application (NDA) for vitiligo indication of ruxolitinib phosphate cream (the “ruxolitinib cream” or the “Product”) has been accepted by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA). This is another substantial milestone for ruxolitinib cream in China, following the approval for Urgent Clinical Import by Hainan Medical Products Administration and approval for marketing in Macau for vitiligo, and it is also a key step in benefiting over ten million of patients with vitiligo in China.

    Ruxolitinib cream achieved positive results in Chinese Real-World Study. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients in the treatment group who achieved F-VASI 75 response at week 24, which was 49.5%, significantly higher than the target value of 14.1% (p<0.0001). The study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating that ruxolitinib cream is effective in treating patients with nonsegmental vitiligo, reducing the area of the lesions, and repigmenting the skin. All secondary efficacy endpoints showed a trend of benefit consistent with the primary efficacy endpoint, and the treatment effect for vitiligo continued to improve with longer treatment duration. Adverse events mostly had severity levels of grade 1 or 2. No adverse event (AE) leading to discontinuation or withdrawal, and no serious adverse event (SAE) related to the study drug occurred.

    While advancing the process of NDA for the Product, the Group is conducting the transfer of ruxolitinib cream from overseas production to domestic production (localization technology transfer), which is being orderly promoted by the Contract Development Manufacturing Outsourcing Organization (CDMO), and the lab-scale and pilot trial studies have been completed and under scale-up production. The Group strives to complete the localization study as soon as possible, register in Mainland China and obtain marketing approval, so as to enable the Chinese patients with vitiligo to use the innovative product.

    Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by depigmentation of the skin, which results from the loss of pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. It is estimated that there are approximately 14 million vitiligo patients in China[1]. Non-segmental vitiligo patients account for approximately 85% of them. Topical corticosteroids (TCS) and calcineurin inhibitors (CI) are used off-label for non-segmental vitiligo, however, these therapies have clinical deficiencies with long-term adverse reactions of long-term treatment or limited efficacy[2、3]. If the Product being successfully approved for marketing in China, it will be the first prescription drug approved for repigmentaton in vitiligo in Mainland China, bringing novel treatment hopes for Chinese vitiligo patients.

    CMS has always adhered to its mission of providing competitive products and services to meet unmet medical needs. Guided by innovation strategy, the Group continuously strengthens its independent R&D as well as external collaboration, enriching its product pipelines. Looking ahead, CMS will continue to identify products with differentiated advantages globally and efficiently promote their clinical development and commercialization, bringing more novel and effective drugs to patients.

    About ruxolitinib cream
    Ruxolitinib cream, (Opzelura), a novel cream formulation of Incyte’s selective JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor ruxolitinib, is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the topical treatment of nonsegmental vitiligo in patients 12 years of age and older, and is the first and only treatment for repigmentation approved for use in the United States[4]. Ruxolitinib cream (Opzelura) is also approved in the U.S. for the topical short-term and non-continuous chronic treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) in non-immunocompromised patients 12 years of age and older whose disease is not adequately controlled with topical prescription therapies, or when those therapies are not advisable[5]. In Europe, ruxolitinib cream (Opzelura) is approved for the treatment of non-segmental vitiligo with facial involvement in adults and adolescents from 12 years of age[6].

    The Product is not approved by the NMPA for any indication in Mainland China. However, on 12 August 2023, the Product was approved by Hainan Medical Products Administration for Urgent Clinical Import, and officially became available to applicable patients in the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone (the “Pilot Zone”) on August 18, for the topical treatment of non-segmental vitiligo in adults and adolescents aged 12 and above with facial involvement. Benefiting from the Early and Pilot Implementation Policy granted by the state to Hainan Free Trade Port and the Pilot Zone, patients with vitiligo in China can apply for the Product in Boao Super Hospital first and receive treatment from the expert team. In addition, ruxolitinib cream was approved by the Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau (ISAF) of Macau on 11 April 2024 for the topical treatment of non-segmental vitiligo with facial involvement in adult and adolescents form 12 years of age.

    On 2 December 2022, the Group through a subsidiary of the Company, a dermatology medical aesthetic company (“CMS Skinhealth”) entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) with Incyte for topical formulations of ruxolitinib for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory dermatology diseases. In accordance with the  License Agreement, the Group through CMS Skinhealth received an exclusive license to develop, register and commercialize the Product in Mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Region and eleven Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Timor-Leste and Brunei Darussalam) (the “Territory”) and a non-exclusive license to manufacture the Product in the Territory. The License Agreement commenced on its effective date and has a royalty term of ten years from the date of the commercial sale of the Product in the Territory (the “Royalty Term”). Upon the expiration of the Royalty Term, the License Agreement may be renewed for a period of ten years thereafter (the “Initial Extended Royalty Term”) as per certain conditions defined in the License Agreement. Upon the expiration of the Initial Extended Royalty Term, the License Agreement may be extended for a period otherwise agreed by both sides as per certain conditions defined in the License Agreement.

    Incyte has worldwide rights for the development and commercialization of the Product, marketed in the United States and Europe as Opzelura®. Opzelura and the Opzelura logo are registered trademarks of Incyte.

    About CMS
    CMS is a platform company linking pharmaceutical innovation and commercialization with strong product lifecycle management capability, dedicated to providing competitive products and services to meet unmet medical needs.

    CMS focuses on the global first-in-class (FIC) and best-in-class (BIC) innovative products, and efficiently promotes the clinical research, development and commercialization of innovative products, enabling the continuous transformation of scientific research into clinical practices to benefit patients.

    CMS deeply engages in several specialty therapeutic fields, and has developed proven commercialization capabilities, extensive networks and expert resources, resulting in leading academic and market positions for its major marketed products. CMS continues to promote the in-depth development of its advantageous specialty fields and expand business boundaries. While strengthening the competitiveness of the cardio-cerebrovascular/gastroenterology business, CMS independently operates its dermatology and medical aesthetics business, and ophthalmology business, aiming to gain leading positions in specialty therapeutic fields, whilst enhancing the scale and efficiency. At the same time, CMS has expanded its business territory to the Southeast Asian market, striving to become a “bridgehead” for global pharmaceutical companies to enter the Southeast Asian market, further escorting the sustainable and healthy development of the Group.

    Reference：

    1. Ezzedine K, Eleftheriadou V, Whitton M, van Geel N. Vitiligo. Lancet. 2015;386(9988):74-84. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60763-7
    2. Consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of vitiligo (2021 version)
    3. Kubelis-López DE, Zapata-Salazar NA, Said-Fernández SL, Sánchez-Domínguez CN, Salinas-Santander MA, Martínez-Rodríguez HG, Vázquez-Martínez OT, Wollina U, Lotti T, Ocampo-Candiani J. Updates and new medical treatments for vitiligo (Review). Exp Ther Med. 2021 Aug;22(2):797. doi: 10.3892/etm.2021.10229. Epub 2021 May 25. PMID: 34093753; PMCID: PMC8170669.
    4. Drug approval information can be found on the FDA official website, as follows: $1
    5. Drug approval information can be found on the Incyte official website, as follows: https://investor.incyte.com/news-releases/news-release-details/incyte-announces-us-fda-approval-opzeluratm-ruxolitinib-cream
    6. Drug approval information can be found on the EMA official website, as follows: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/opzelura

    CMS Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release is not intended to promote any products to you and is not for advertising purposes. This press release does not recommend any drugs, medical devices and/or indications. If you want to know more about the diagnosis and treatment of specific diseases, please follow the opinions or guidance of your doctor or other medical and health professionals. Any treatment-related decisions made by healthcare professionals should be based on the patient’s specific circumstances and in accordance with the drug package insert.

    This press release which has been prepared by CMS does not constitute any offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities, and shall not form the basis for or be relied on in connection with any contract or binding commitment whatsoever. This press release has been prepared by CMS based on information and data which it considers reliable, but CMS makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, whatsoever, and no reliance shall be placed on, the truth, accuracy, completeness, fairness and reasonableness of the contents of this press release. Certain matters discussed in this press release may contain statements regarding the Group’s market opportunity and business prospects that are individually and collectively forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Any forward-looking statements and projections made by third parties included in this press release are not adopted by the Group and the Company is not responsible for such third-party statements and projections.

    Media Contact

    Brand: China Medical System Holdings Ltd.

    Contact: CMS Investor Relations

    Email: ir@cms.net.cn

    Website: https://web.cms.net.cn/en/home/

    Source: China Medical System Holdings Ltd.

    The MIL Network –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: Did Romans really fight rhinos? Sports historian explains the truth behind the battle scenes in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Wray Vamplew, Emeritus Professor of Sport, University of Stirling

    In the trailer for Ridley Scott’s hotly anticipated sequel to Gladiator (2000), a new gladiator (played by Paul Mescal) goes to battle in “the greatest temple Rome ever built – the Colosseum”.

    He comes up against naval warfare, a cutthroat promoter (Denzel Washington) and a stampeding rhino. But how much of this really took place in Roman times? As always with films based in the past, pedantic historians will jump in to assess the degree of cinematic licence and historical misinterpretation. So it is with the forthcoming Gladiator II.

    The trailer for Gladiator II.

    Did gladiators fight rhinos?

    One thing that certainly did not happen was a warrior mounted on a rhinoceros (even a non-computer-generated one) charging at a group of gladiators. However, there is a record of a rhino at the inauguration of the Colosseum in 80BC. It didn’t fight men, but a bull, bear, buffalo, bison, lion and two steers. The other rare mentions of rhinos in Rome are of those in menageries, to be admired as exotic creatures.

    This Roman interest in foreign, wild animals was the basis of the initial beast spectacles which began in 275BC with an exhibition of captured war elephants. Such non-violent displays of animals continued into the imperial era, but in 186BC the first staged animal hunt (venatio), featuring both lions and leopards, took place and by 169BC beast hunts had become an official part of republican state festivals.

    Later, under the emperors, collecting and transporting beasts, especially unusual and foreign ones, to be displayed – but more often killed – demonstrated imperial power, territorial control and the vastness of the empire. Thousands of animals were brought from Africa and elsewhere to Roman arenas to be slaughtered for entertainment and the meat from the dead animals was given away to the spectators (it was easier than trying to dispose of the many carcasses).

    A 5th-century mosaic showing two gladiators fighting a tiger.
    Great Palace of Constantinople, CC BY

    Those who fought the beasts were not gladiators but specially trained hunters (venatores) armed with spears. The venatio could also feature fights between animals, as with the Colosseum rhinoceros, but most often the contest consisted of bulls against an elephant or bear. Animal hunts outlasted gladiatorial combats as a source of spectator entertainment, but as both the size of the empire and imperial funds diminished, greater reliance was placed on domestically reared “wild” animals.

    Were there sea battles in the Colosseum?

    More credence in historical terms can be given to the film’s staged sea battle (naumachia) in the flooded Colosseum. Such spectacles were expensive to stage and were reserved for special occasions.

    The first one recorded was for Emperor Augustus in 2BC. Held on an artificial lake, it featured 30 large ships carrying some 3,000 marines plus an unspecified number of rowers. Participants in a naumachia, typically either convicted criminals or prisoners of war, were expected to kill each other or drown, though, the demonstration of fighting ability and courage could gain them a pardon.

    The Naumachia by Ulpiano Checa (1894) imagines naval warfare in the Coliseum.
    Museo Ulpiano Checa

    The grandest sea battle was provided by Emperor Claudius on Lake Fucinus, a spectacle involving 100 ships and some 19,000 marines and oarsmen. It was at this event that the fighting men reportedly said “hail, emperor, we who are about to die salute you”, mistakenly assigned to gladiators in so many films, including the first Gladiator.

    Literary sources (not always to be trusted in antiquity as they were often written well after alleged events) claim that the Colosseum was flooded for a sea battle at its inauguration. After some debate, historians now accept that the engineering mechanisms were in place so that, at least in its early days, the Colosseum could have accommodated a naumachia.

    Did a thumbs down really mean death for a gladiator?

    Gladiator II also showcases the misconstrued sporting legacy of the thumbs up signal to spare a defeated gladiator who requested mercy or the converse of a thumbs down from those who wished him to die.

    The arena was a large, noisy place and hand signals were often used as a means of communication. Indeed, rather than verbally requesting mercy, the defeated warrior himself would raise the index finger of his right hand, or even the hand itself, both of which were recognised pleas for clemency.

    Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, (1872).
    Phoenix Art Museum, CC BY

    When the crowd opted for the death of a fighter they indicated this by means of pollice verso, literally a turned thumb, with no direction specified. When the hand was waved the sign indicated that the gladiator’s throat should be cut by his conqueror. Those who wished to save the vanquished, but courageous, fighter gave the sign pollice compresso, a compressed thumb but one often hidden from sight so as not to cause visual confusion.

    Gladiators were valuable assets. Promoters, who had paid a hiring fee (typically 10-20% of their value) for them to fight, were reluctant to incur the full asset value demanded as compensation should they die. Especially when, at the crowd’s insistence, they could have a choice in the matter.

    In many instances the event had been promoted to curry favour with the spectators so to go against their wishes would be counterproductive. However, whether the ultimate decision-maker gave a thumbs up or thumbs down is debatable. The idea that this occurred seems to have developed around 1872 with the popularity of a painting by French artist, Jean-Léon Gérôme. In it he depicts vestal virgins giving the dreaded sign. Although titled Pollice Verso, it became conventionally referred to as “the thumbs down painting”.


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    Wray Vamplew 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. Did Romans really fight rhinos? Sports historian explains the truth behind the battle scenes in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II – https://theconversation.com/did-romans-really-fight-rhinos-sports-historian-explains-the-truth-behind-the-battle-scenes-in-ridley-scotts-gladiator-ii-235255

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: No, immigrants aren’t eating dogs and cats – but Trump’s claim is part of an ugly history of myths about immigrant foodways

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Adrienne Bitar, Lecturer, Cornell University

    Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump debates Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Sept. 10, 2024. Win McNamee/Getty Images

    When Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said during the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, that Haitian immigrants are eating pets, food historians like me were not surprised at the slur. Trump’s lie followed a long American history of peddling ugly rumors about immigrants stealing and eating pets.

    Dietary rules that unite and define American cuisine can so easily be perverted to use disgust to divide Americans. In the U.S., cow is food and dog is friend. Chicken is food. Cat is companion. The sharp lines between the animals Americans eat, love, protect and exterminate help write the dietary rules that define American norms.

    What we eat, what we don’t and with whom we break bread are just some of the food rules that unite and define Americans. Think of how turkey – or tofurkey – unites Americans behind the Thanksgiving ritual. Bottled water. Ice. Ballpark hot dogs. Airplane pretzels. Movie theater popcorn.

    Food can also establish group identity apart from the mainstream. Think of the many factions of vegan, vegetarian, paleo, grain-free and carnivore dieters who use food to express a political position. Also, of course, religious dietary proscriptions have worried scholars for centuries so that Jews, Muslims and Christians may never share a meal.

    There is no evidence that Haitians are stealing and eating pet cats and dogs. There is evidence, however, that racists have long twisted dietary rules to divide people and dehumanize immigrants. Trump told a lie to draw a line between Americans and others who allegedly eat the animals Americans love.

    A sign at a popular hot dog restaurant in Chicago reads ‘Immigrants eat our dogs,’ on Sept. 12, 2024, two days after the presidential debate.
    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    The legend of delicious pets

    The myth of eating pets traces back to old legends in Europe, Australia and the United States that “immigrants are stealing our cats and dogs for their dinner tables or to serve in ethnic restaurants,” writes the folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand.

    Two of the most common food-based legends center on “Oriental restaurants serving dog (or cat) meat, and legends about Asian immigrants in the United States capturing and cooking people’s pets,” Brunvard writes.

    By 1883, the legend was so well-established that the Chinese-American journalist Wong Chin Foo offered US$500 to anybody in New York for proof that Chinese people were eating cats or rats. No proof was found, but that didn’t stop the racist jokes or urban legends.

    None of the many examples deserve retelling. But scholars, for example, have cited “sick jokes” such as a “new Vietnamese cookbook is titled 100 Ways to Wok Your Dog.”

    Or as comedian Tessie Chua joked about her multiracial Chinese, Filipino and Irish identity in 1993 when she said, “That means I eat dog, but only if I can wash it down with Guinness Stout!”

    In 1971, mainstream news outlets, including Reuters, reported an “outrageously silly urban legend” of a pet poodle named Rosa served at a Hong Kong restaurant, complete with chili sauce and bamboo shoots.

    In 1980, Stockton, California, was seized by racist rumors of Vietnamese families stealing expensive purebred dogs for dinner.

    As recently as 2005, the TV show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” showed wedding
    guests vomiting     after being misinformed that they had eaten a German shepherd named Oscar, prepared by a Korean-American florist. “Oscar is bulgogi!,” Larry David cries.

    Scholars calls these tropes a “nativist backlash” and “vehicle for anti-immigrant and especially anti-Asian sentiments in the U.S.”

    A long history of food-based slurs

    More precise, maybe, than the adage that “we are what we eat” is that we are what we won’t eat. Shunning our neighbor for their vile food – stinky, strange, unpalatable – is also decidedly an American tradition.

    “Garlic eater” was at one time recognizable in the U.S. as an ethnic slur for Italian Americans in the early 20th century. The names “spaghetti bender” and “grape stomper” were also used, but “garlic eater” stuck because, as one scholar argued, “garlic served as an ‘olfactory signifier’” – a distinguishing odor – “for the alien who consumed it.”

    So when far-right radical Laura Loomer tweeted in September 2024 that the White House “will smell like curry” if Kamala Harris becomes president, she was also using food to stoke racist fears.

    Americans aren’t alone in doing this. Some Persians call Punjabis “dal khor,” meaning dal-eater, and some Romanians call Italians “macaronar,” meaning macaroni-eater. Both are slurs. Iranians have been known to call Arabs “malakh-khor,” or locust-eater, and Southern Italians sometimes call Northern Italians “polentoni,” or polenta-eater.

    To an outsider, being called a lentil- or polenta-eater seems more like praise for a healthy diet than a racial epithet, but such are the vagaries of racism: People hate who they hate and justify it however possible.

    Other examples of how food can distinguish communities abound. In the Amazon, the Parakanã people appreciate tapir meat but abhor monkey. The Arara people, their neighbors, feel the opposite. Both groups are disgusted by one another. Curry, garlic, tapir, polenta, lentils – it doesn’t matter what the nail is, but how the hammer hits.

    Philomene Philostin, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Haitian origin, works in her store in Springfield, Ohio, that caters mainly to Haitian residents.
    Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

    Rumors with real-life consequences

    Urban legends about food and racist rumors can have serious consequences. Earlier in 2024, a false rumor that a Laotian and Thai restaurant in Fresno, California, cooked pit bulls led to such vile harassment that the owner, David Rasavong, moved the restaurant to a new location.

    After Trump repeated the myth during the debate that immigrants eat pets, Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, quickly became the target of bomb threats, forcing city buildings and schools to close. Members of the Haitian community have said they fear for their safety.

    But there’s a more hopeful side to the issue of food being used as a way to divide or unite people, too. The Latin origins for the words company and companionship mean the people we share our bread with.

    Garlic is now as central to American cuisine as apple pie. Nowadays, Americans are so much the better for the sushi, garlic and curry – and the diversity behind the deliciousness – that flavor American cuisine.

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

    – ref. No, immigrants aren’t eating dogs and cats – but Trump’s claim is part of an ugly history of myths about immigrant foodways – https://theconversation.com/no-immigrants-arent-eating-dogs-and-cats-but-trumps-claim-is-part-of-an-ugly-history-of-myths-about-immigrant-foodways-239343

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: A brief history of former presidents running for reelection: 3 losses, 1 win and 1 still TBD

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Graeme Mack, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, University of Richmond

    Theodore Roosevelt speaks during the Progressive campaign of 1912. AP Photo

    This year’s presidential election has a former president, Donald Trump, running for a nonconsecutive term. It’s the fifth time in U.S. history that’s happened.

    Historically, a former president running for a nonconsecutive term has prompted voters to change their party allegiances.

    In 1848, Martin Van Buren, a former Democratic president, ran as a candidate for the newly formed Free Soil Party and attracted many Northern Democrats who had grown disillusioned with their party’s pro-slavery stance. The Free Soil Party outperformed Democrats in three Northern states and enabled the other major party, the Whigs, to win the presidency.

    And in 1856, former Whig President Millard Fillmore headed the newly formed American Party, otherwise known as the Know-Nothing party. When faced with a choice between two candidates, Fillmore and Democrat James Buchanan, who both seemed deeply complicit with slavery’s expansion, many Northerners voted for the new antislavery Republican Party.

    Fillmore’s candidacy in 1856 made a Republican sweep of the North virtually impossible, ensuring victory for Buchanan, who only won 45% of the popular vote.

    Theodore Roosevelt’s run in 1912 also saw dramatic changes in voter behavior. With the former president on the ballot, millions of voters cast ballots for the other major party or a brand new party.

    By this time, Roosevelt had become one of the most famous men in the world. Reformers praised his ability to attract attention and build support for progressive causes.

    These characteristics repulsed conservative Republicans and traditional Democrats who feared Roosevelt’s return to power.

    After failing to secure the Republican nomination, Roosevelt headed the newly formed Progressive Party, winning six states and 88 electoral votes, the strongest showing for a third party candidate ever.

    However, the split in the Republican ranks enabled Democrats to win by an electoral landslide.

    One former president ran for a nonconsecutive second term and won: Grover Cleveland, whose two terms ran from 1885-1889 and 1893-1897.

    The rise of progressivism

    When Roosevelt ran in 1912, he saw a society convulsed by rapid change.

    Between 1870 and 1900, the population of the United States rose from roughly 38 million to more than 76 million.

    During this time, business transformed from small-scale manufacturing and local trade to huge corporations and factory-based manufacturing.

    From 1900 to 1915, another 15 million immigrants settled in American cities.

    A political reform movement known as progressivism emerged across political parties. It sought to address problems with immigration, urbanization, political corruption, industrialization and the concentration of corporate power.

    Roosevelt’s political career tapped into progressivism’s growing momentum. First elected vice president as a Republican in 1900, he assumed the presidency in September 1901 after the assassination of President William McKinley.

    Campaigning on his progressive “Square Deal” — focused on consumer protections, control of large corporations and conservation of natural resources — in 1904, the popular incumbent won reelection in the largest electoral landslide the country had seen.

    But in 1908, Roosevelt declined to run for a third term. Instead, he advocated successfully for William Howard Taft, his secretary of war.

    However, as Taft’s presidency took shape, Roosevelt grew dissatisfied with him. What most frustrated Roosevelt was Taft’s refusal to use executive power to advance progressive goals.

    Seeing an urgent need for forceful presidential leadership, Roosevelt challenged Taft for the Republican nomination in 1912.

    A political cartoon from 1912 illustrating Theodore Roosevelt’s dissatisfaction with how President William Howard Taft carried out his policies.
    Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

    At the Republican National Convention, however, party leaders rejected Roosevelt and confirmed Taft’s nomination. Roosevelt’s supporters stormed out, complaining that leaders had manipulated rules and procedures to block the former president.

    Despite his loss of the nomination, Roosevelt assured his supporters that he felt as “strong as a Bull Moose” and expressed interest in “bolting” from the Republican Party.

    Roosevelt’s threat to leave his party was echoed more than 100 years later by another former president running for a nonconsecutive term. In late 2023, Trump refused to participate in the Republican presidential primary debates and refused to rule out the possibility of running as an independent.

    In doing so, Trump’s candidacy hampered efforts to seek an alternative candidate. It also disregarded opportunities to win over skeptical Republicans.

    The rise of the Bull Moose Party

    In a matter of weeks after Roosevelt failed to get the Republican nomination, the Progressive Party, popularly known as the Bull Moose Party, held its national convention and nominated Roosevelt as its first presidential candidate.

    His presidential campaign did not lack for energy or spectacle. In October 1912, the former president delivered a one-hour speech immediately after being shot in an assassination attempt.

    He told his supporters, “It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”

    Theodore Roosevelt arrives at a hospital after New York saloon keeper John F. Schrank attempted to assassinate him in Milwaukee in 1912.
    Harlingue/Roger Viollet via Getty Images

    Like the recent assassination attempts on Trump, this attack drew condemnation and galvanized the former president’s core supporters.

    Roosevelt faced off on Election Day against the Republican incumbent, William Howard Taft; Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist Party candidate; and the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson.

    Many Republicans cast their ballots for Wilson, seeing his candidacy as more viable than Roosevelt’s. Some did so out of disgust for what they saw as Roosevelt’s egotistical and radical campaign.

    The split in the Republican Party created an opportunity for Democrats, who had been shut out of the presidency for decades.

    The legacy of 1912

    On election day, Democrat Wilson won 40 states and earned 435 electoral votes. Democrats also won the House and Senate for the first time since 1892.

    However, Wilson prevailed with less than 42% of the national vote, the smallest share won by a president since Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 election.

    A unified Republican ticket would very likely have prevailed in 1912.

    Taft blamed Roosevelt for 1 million Republicans voting for the Democratic ticket to stave off a Progressive win.

    Historical parallels are never perfect. However, the 1912 election invites some comparison, as one of the world’s most famous men runs for the third time for the presidency.

    The 2024 election will be close. Wary of Trump’s return to power, will disillusioned Republicans vote for Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris, choose a third-party candidate, or sit out the election?

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

    – ref. A brief history of former presidents running for reelection: 3 losses, 1 win and 1 still TBD – https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-former-presidents-running-for-reelection-3-losses-1-win-and-1-still-tbd-234959

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: On the US-Mexico border, the records of Trump and Harris reflect the national mood of less immigration, not more

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By William McCorkle, Assistant Professor of Education, College of Charleston

    Migrants at a shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, watch the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Sept. 10, 2024. Carlos Moreno/NurPhoto/Getty Image

    In late July 2024, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris released a campaign ad about the U.S.-Mexico border that resembled something out of the Republican playbook.

    In the ad, Harris said as president she would increase Border Patrol agents, stop human traffickers and prosecute transnational gangs – some of the very things that Republican contender Donald Trump has also promised to do if elected.

    Considered by her campaign strategists to be a good political move, Harris’ shift to the right reflects the more anti-immigrant direction the U.S. population has taken over the past few years. According to a July 2024 Gallup Poll, 55% of Americans wanted increased limits on immigration, marking the first time in nearly two decades that a majority of Americans supported such curbs.

    These anti-immigrant attitudes are partially due to exaggerated claims from conservative politicians and right-wing pundits that management of the U.S.-Mexico border is a disaster and the government is endangering public safety by allowing violent criminals to cross into the U.S.

    Worse, during the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump falsely accused Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating dogs and cats.

    As someone who has worked extensively with asylum-seekers at the border since 2019, I see clear differences between Harris and Trump on the issue of immigration.

    While in office, Trump instituted restrictive immigration policies at the border, which all but halted asylum. He also was behind the controversial child separation policy in 2018 and sought to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the Obama-era federal program that prevents hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from being deported.

    Though Harris’ record on immigration is not as extensive as Trump’s, she has shown as U.S. senator and vice president a willingness to be more restrictive on the border while continuing to support a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers” and undocumented migrants who are married to U.S. citizens.

    Trump’s extremist rhetoric and policies

    Given that border security has become his signature issue, Trump may take even more draconian measures than he did during his first term in office, including restricting the asylum system further and deporting as many as 20 million undocumented immigrants.

    Perhaps Trump’s most controversial action during his first term was his child separation policy in 2018, which led to over 5,000 children being taken from their parents after being apprehended at the border. This action led to nationwide protests and international condemnation. As of May 2024, about 1,400 children remained separated from their families.

    Undaunted, Trump pursued other restrictive policies.

    Trump signed an executive order in 2019 and launched the Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as the Remain in Mexico policy. This order required asylum-seekers arriving at the U.S. border to be returned to Mexico while their claims were being processed. This program stayed in effect until the end of Trump’s presidency in 2020 and led to 81,000 expulsions.

    Trump also used Title 42 restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly expel migrants without visas to contain the pandemic with no exceptions. In the first seven months, almost 200,000 migrants were expelled.

    Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in Arizona about immigration on Aug. 22, 2024.
    Olivier Touron/AFP/Getty Images

    Notably, the use of violent rhetoric against migrants increased dramatically during Trump’s emergence as the GOP leader. In his first term, Trump and his officials discussed shooting migrants crossing the border in the leg. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, one of his key allies, said the reason officials there do not shoot migrants is because they would be charged by the federal government.

    Trump has also promised he would be willing to use the U.S. military in Mexico to combat drug cartels.

    Harris’ balancing act

    As a U.S. senator in 2019, Harris voted against an anti-sanctuary city amendment that would have allowed local police to cooperate with federal immigration officials and potentially deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

    She was also the initial sponsor of legislation that would limit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions against those caring for unaccompanied minors. But as attorney general of California, Harris did support turning over to immigration authorities minors living in the U.S. illegally who had committed crimes.

    As vice president, Harris has appeared to support a more restrictive approach similar to that of Biden‘s June 4, 2024, executive order that limited the number of asylum-seekers allowed to cross the border.

    She also supports the CBP One app system that was created by the Biden administration in early 2023.

    Under that process, individuals seeking asylum are given an opportunity to meet with an immigration official but often have to wait for months in dangerous conditions in Mexico.

    U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris holds a virtual meeting with immigrant rights leaders on July 22, 2021.
    Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Harris has also consistently spoken out on the need to support DACA. The Biden administration expanded health care coverage in 2024 for DACA recipients, giving them access to insurance through the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

    If elected, Harris likely would extend another of Biden’s 2024 executive orders that created a legal pathway to citizenship for immigrants who don’t have legal authorization to be in the U.S. but are married to U.S. citizens.

    In stark contrast, Trump has already criticized the policy and said he would end it if elected.

    The Biden-Harris administration also had a nuanced record on the border and deportations. They have deported almost the same number of immigrants living in the U.S. without legal authorization as Trump did.

    The Texas National Guard conducts an operation to prevent migrants from building a camp along the U.S.-Mexico border in April 2024.
    David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images

    As of June 2024, the number of deportations since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021 was already at 4.4 million. At the same time, these higher numbers reflect the fact that more people are coming to the border due to increased chances of entering.

    During the first three years of Biden’s presidency, over 1 million migrants at the border were granted temporary humanitarian parole, which allows them to stay in the U.S. while waiting for their asylum hearing.

    The reality of immigration

    Immigration has been largely portrayed as either a clear and present threat by Republicans or as an act of compassion by Democrats.

    In the increasingly anti-immigrant environment, however, you’ll rarely hear that the increased immigration under the Biden-Harris administration has been a significant factor in U.S. economic growth.

    Indeed, many economists also have argued that working-class immigrants coming from across the border have helped reduce inflation. Its my belief that the U.S. is in need of more migrants, not fewer, and hard-line stances and policies damage our society and economy.

    While Trump’s hard-line stance against immigrants both at the border and within the country is well known, Harris’ record shows a more balanced approach that has offered support for at least some immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally – and for those seeking asylum.

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

    – ref. On the US-Mexico border, the records of Trump and Harris reflect the national mood of less immigration, not more – https://theconversation.com/on-the-us-mexico-border-the-records-of-trump-and-harris-reflect-the-national-mood-of-less-immigration-not-more-237269

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why home insurance rates are rising so fast across the US – climate change plays a big role

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Andrew J. Hoffman, Professor of Management & Organizations, Environment & Sustainability, and Sustainable Enterprise, University of Michigan

    The U.S. has seen a large number of billion-dollar disasters in recent years. AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

    Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024 across much of the country.

    To add insult to injury, those rates go even higher if you make a claim – as much as 25% if you claim a total loss of your home.

    Why is this happening?

    There are a few reasons, but a common thread: Climate change is fueling more severe weather, and insurers are responding to rising damage claims. The losses are exacerbated by more frequent extreme weather disasters striking densely populated areas, rising construction costs and homeowners experiencing damage that was once more rare.

    Hurricane Ian, supercharged by warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane in October 2022 and caused an estimated $112.9 billion in damage.
    Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

    Parts of the U.S. have been seeing larger and more damaging hail, higher storm surges, massive and widespread wildfires, and heat waves that kink metal and buckle asphalt. In Houston, what used to be a 100-year disaster, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017, is now a 1-in-23-years event, estimates by risk assessors at First Street Foundation suggest. In addition, more people are moving into coastal and wildland areas at risk from storms and wildfires.

    Just a decade ago, few insurance companies had a comprehensive strategy for addressing climate risk as a core business issue. Today, insurance companies have no choice but to factor climate change into their policy models.

    Rising damage costs, higher premiums

    There’s a saying that to get someone to pay attention to climate change, put a price on it. Rising insurance costs are doing just that.

    Increasing global temperatures lead to more extreme weather, and that means insurance companies have had to make higher payouts. In turn, they have been raising their prices and changing their coverage in order to remain solvent. That raises the costs for homeowners and for everyone else.

    The importance of insurance to the economy cannot be understated. You generally cannot get a mortgage or even drive a car, build an office building or enter into contracts without insurance to protect against the inherent risks. Because insurance is so tightly woven into economies, state agencies review insurance companies’ proposals to increase premiums or reduce coverage.

    The insurance companies are not making political statements with the increases. They are looking at the numbers, calculating risk and pricing it accordingly. And the numbers are concerning.

    The arithmetic of climate risk

    Insurance companies use data from past disasters and complex models to calculate expected future payouts. Then they price their policies to cover those expected costs. In doing so, they have to balance three concerns: keeping rates low enough to remain competitive, setting rates high enough to cover payouts and not running afoul of insurance regulators.

    But climate change is disrupting those risk models. As global temperatures rise, driven by greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use and other human activities, past is no longer prologue: What happened over the past 10 to 20 years is less predictive of what will happen in the next 10 to 20 years.

    The number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. each year offers a clear example. The average rose from 3.3 per year in the 1980s to 18.3 per year in the 10-year period ending in 2024, with all years adjusted for inflation.

    With that more than fivefold increase in billion-dollar disasters came rising insurance costs in the Southeast because of hurricanes and extreme rainfall, in the West because of wildfires, and in the Midwest because of wind, hail and flood damage.

    Hurricanes tend to be the most damaging single events. They caused more than US$692 billion in property damage in the U.S. between 2014 and 2023. But severe hail and windstorms, including tornadoes, are also costly; together, those on the billion-dollar disaster list did more than $246 billion in property damage over the same period.

    As insurance companies adjust to the uncertainty, they may run a loss in one segment, such as homeowners insurance, but recoup their losses in other segments, such as auto or commercial insurance. But that cannot be sustained over the long term, and companies can be caught by unexpected events. California’s unprecedented wildfires in 2017 and 2018 wiped out nearly 25 years’ worth of profits for insurance companies in that state.

    To balance their risk, insurance companies often turn to reinsurance companies; in effect, insurance companies that insure insurance companies. But reinsurers have also been raising their prices to cover their costs. Property reinsurance alone increased by 35% in 2023. Insurers are passing those costs to their policyholders.

    What this means for your homeowners policy

    Not only are homeowners insurance premiums going up, coverage is shrinking. In some cases, insurers are reducing or dropping coverage for items such as metal trim, doors and roof repair, increasing deductibles for risks such as hail and fire damage, or refusing to pay full replacement costs for things such as older roofs.

    Some insurances companies are simply withdrawing from markets altogether, canceling existing policies or refusing to write new ones when risks become too uncertain or regulators do not approve their rate increases to cover costs. In recent years, State Farm and Allstate pulled back from California’s homeowner market, and Farmers, Progressive and AAA pulled back from the Florida market, which is seeing some of the highest insurance rates in the country.

    In some cases, insurers are restricting coverage. Roof repairs, like these in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., after Hurricane Ian, can be expensive and widespread after windstorms.
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    State-run “insurers of last resort,” which can provide coverage for people who can’t get coverage from private companies, are struggling too. Taxpayers in states such as California and Florida have been forced to bail out their state insurers. And the National Flood Insurance Program has raised its premiums, leading 10 states to sue to stop them.

    About 7.4% of U.S. homeowners have given up on insurance altogether, leaving an estimated $1.6 trillion in property value at risk, including in high-risk states such as Florida.

    No, insurance costs aren’t done rising

    According to NOAA data, 2023 was the hottest year on record “by far.” And 2024 could be even hotter. This general warming trend and the rise in extreme weather is expected to continue until greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are abated.

    In the face of such worrying analyses, U.S. homeowners insurance will continue to get more expensive and cover less. And yet, Jacques de Vaucleroy, chairman of the board of reinsurance giant Swiss Re, believes U.S. insurance is still priced too low to fully cover the risk from climate change.

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

    – ref. Why home insurance rates are rising so fast across the US – climate change plays a big role – https://theconversation.com/why-home-insurance-rates-are-rising-so-fast-across-the-us-climate-change-plays-a-big-role-238939

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Biographical notes

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Karen Mollica (BA Hons [Political Science], McMaster University, 2000; MA [International Affairs], Carleton University, 2003) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2003 following internships in Guyana and Costa Rica.

    Karen Mollica (BA Hons [Political Science], McMaster University, 2000; MA [International Affairs], Carleton University, 2003) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2003 following internships in Guyana and Costa Rica. Her early assignments included coordinator in the Anti-personnel Mine Action Team and desk officer for several countries in West and Central Africa. She subsequently moved to the Canadian International Development Agency and served as first secretary at the High Commission in South Africa and as counsellor and head of cooperation at the Embassy to Jordan. Upon her return to Headquarters in 2019, she became director of policy, planning and operations for Latin America and the Caribbean, a position she held until 2022. Most recently, she served as director and senior departmental adviser in the Office of the Minister of International Development and as chargé d’affaires at the Embassy to the Holy See.

    Ajit Singh (BA [Communications], University of Winnipeg, 2003; BA Hons [Political Science], University of Winnipeg, 2004; MA [International Law], United Nations University for Peace, 2006; JD, Osgoode Hall Law School, 2012) has lived, studied and worked in multiple languages in 6 countries on 4 continents. He joined the Government of Canada in 2008 after working in media, academia, the United Nations and civil society organizations. He later worked in private law in Toronto and was called to the Bar of Ontario as a barrister and solicitor. In 2013, he joined the Privy Council Office in the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat. He then worked in its Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat, where he led on relations with Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia regions and Latin America and on legal files. In 2017, he joined Global Affairs Canada as a deputy director in the Foreign Policy Planning Division to lead the team responsible for the foreign ministers’ track during Canada’s 2018 G7 presidency. After this, he worked in the Conflict Prevention, Stabilization and Peacebuilding Division. In 2021, he joined the Department of National Defence as a director of operations. In 2022, he rejoined the Privy Council Office, this time as the first person to hold the position of director of international crisis response.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Leeds low carbon heat network set to expand to thousands more residents

    Source: City of Leeds

    Leeds’s South Bank is to enjoy more affordable and lower carbon heating after £24.5m funding was secured to further expand the Leeds PIPES district heating network.

    The expansion is planned to include up to 28 buildings, with up to 8,000 residents and mixed-use customers benefitting from connections, making it the most significant single investment into the project since its inception.

    Households benefitting from the expansion will enjoy more reliable, more affordable, lower carbon heating.

    By using heat recovered from the city’s non-recyclable domestic waste to provide warmth and hot water to buildings in the city, the Leeds PIPES district heating project is helping businesses and residents to move away from costly fossil-fuel powered heating systems.

    The continued expansion of the district heating network is supporting efforts to end the city’s contribution to climate change by transitioning to lower carbon heating systems. Last year, 5,945 tonnes of carbon were saved through the network.

    The original project connected over 1,900 homes and non-domestic buildings to the energy-from-waste scheme. Earlier this year, over two hundred and fifty council properties in Lovell Park Heights, Lovell Park Grange, and Lovell Park Towers were set up to receive heat from the network.

    This year, connections have been completed at Leeds Conservatoire and the former Technology Campus Student Residential development and both sites are now receiving heat from the network.

    Over the summer, agreements have also been signed with the new Railway Street affordable homes scheme, 24-28 Great George Street, which is to become student apartments with the Victoria Hotel pub reopening on the ground floor, Leeds College of Building’s North Street Campus and the Co-op Academy Brierley SEND School in Cross Green.

    Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space and Councillor Jessica Lennox, executive member for housing, said:

    “We are both pleased that many more residents will soon be paying significantly less to heat their homes thanks to this latest expansion of the Leeds PIPES network.

    “UK’s homes are some of the least efficient and most reliant on costly fossil fuel gas in Europe, and too many families in our city struggle to pay their energy bills. We are committed to helping households by making our homes greener and fit for the future.

    “Leeds is working towards becoming the first net zero city in the UK, and connecting more homes to affordable low carbon heating like Leeds PIPES is a step in the right direction.”

    ENDS

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: NAVFAC Volunteers Help Develop Future Engineers as part of NAS Oceana Outdoor STEM Laboratory

    Source: United States Navy

    The free event, which has been held nearly every year since 2016, allows 5th graders from Virginia Beach City and Chesapeake Public Schools to receive an exclusive sneak peek of the Air Show performances, including the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels and the F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team; vendor booths and activities; and numerous STEM Laboratory exhibits. This year’s theme is “Inspire. Educate. Soar!”

    NAVFAC volunteers staffed engineering-themed tables to encourage the participating students to take part in the command’s annual Penny Boat Challenge.

    “The students get a sheet of aluminum foil, and they design a boat to see how many pennies it can hold before it sinks,” said Taylor Priest, a Civil Engineer for NAVFAC LANT and STEM Coordinator. “We talk to the students about weight distribution, boat shapes and design, and buoyancy, among other things.”

    This challenge not only leads the students to think about the basic shape and design of the boat so it can float on water, but strategy and skill also come into play when they start adding the weight of the pennies.

    “The idea of showing these skills to a younger generation is fascinating to me … I have kids who were into STEM and became engineers, so I want to continue to help push and promote STEM for other children,” said Robert Brown, a Project Manager for NAVFAC MIDLANT, and a first-time STEM Lab volunteer. “NAVFAC is connected to all of this, so it gives us an opportunity – as volunteers – to explain and show off what we do at NAVFAC, and hopefully encourage these students to one day become better NAVFAC engineers.”

    As a hands-on learning activity, the Penny Boat Challenge generates significant crowds as the students show off their talent and patience throughout the day.

    “The students get really competitive as they watch each other build different boats,” Priest explained. “When they work side-by-side in the engagement stations, they start to see who gets more pennies, and then they want to do it again, and again to get better results. We also have an ongoing high score board that displays the highest number [of pennies floated] to keep the competition and creativity flowing.”

    According to the National Center for Science and Engineering website, about a quarter of the current U.S. workforce is employed in STEM occupations. Events such as these not only help to plant a seed for students to seek out future STEM careers, but specifically, it plays a role in promoting STEM opportunities for women, persons of color, and persons with disabilities who have historically been underrepresented in U.S.-based science and engineering fields.

    “We love promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics activities, such as this, to allow children to ask questions about future engineering professions and get them interested in engineering,” said Melissa Dyson, Supervisory Project Manager for NAVFAC MIDLANT and STEM Coordinator. “Many of these students incorporate engineering into their daily routines and they don’t even realize it, so this event allows us to help them identify those skills and show them it can be fun. The STEM fields are growing exponentially, so there’s tons of opportunities – and there will be even more within the next 10 years – and NAVFAC is on the forefront.”

    While most of the attending students are a part of Generation Alpha – who were born at a time when technological devices are getting smarter, and everything is connected digitally – they also demonstrate exceptional skill with non-digital, hands-on learning activities.

    “The students use different parts of their brains … some learn visually, some learn by auditory, and others learn through physical activities, so this activity combines a lot of that together when our volunteers coach them and talk to them about the different elements involved,” said Priest. “It completely syncs for them, and I’ve seen students who take these basic skills home to show their parents and teachers so they can recreate the activities again at home or school.”

    The NAS Oceana Air Show is an annual opportunity for the U.S. Navy to give back to our military families and the local Hampton Roads community. Each year, the base welcomes visitors from across the country and around the world to the Navy’s East Coast Master Jet Base to experience the wonder of flight firsthand and meet the exceptional men and women of naval aviation.

    NAVFAC’s STEM team of volunteers will represent the command again on October 17-18 for Naval Station Norfolk’s STEM Days in Norfolk, Virginia, which will be held in conjunction with the installation’s annual Fleet Fest, scheduled on Oct. 19.

    NAVFAC MIDLANT provides facilities engineering, public works and environmental products and services across an area of responsibility that spans from South Carolina to Maine, as far west as Illinois, and down to Indiana. As an integral member of the Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic team, NAVFAC MIDLANT provides leadership through the Regional Engineer organization to ensure the region’s facilities and infrastructure are managed efficiently and effectively.

    MIL Security OSI –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: More than 550 finalists from 36 countries will take part in the final of the International Financial Security Olympiad

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the International Financial Security Olympiad

    September 24, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the International Financial Security Olympiad

    September 24, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the International Financial Security Olympiad

    September 24, 2024

    Previous news Next news

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the International Financial Security Olympiad

    A meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the International Financial Security Olympiad was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    The Director of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring, Yuri Chikhanchin, also took part in it.

    At the meeting, the program for the final stage of the fourth Olympiad, which will take place from September 30 to October 4 in the federal territory of Sirius, was approved, as well as the composition of the jury and the appeal committee.

    In his opening remarks, Dmitry Chernyshenko noted the expansion of the geography of the participants of the International Financial Security Olympiad. This year, more than 550 finalists from 36 countries will come to the final in the hospitable federal territory of Sirius.

    “Despite the current international situation, we have managed not only to maintain, but also to expand the level of organization and holding of the Olympiad. This year, more than 550 children from 36 countries will come to Sirius; last year, there were 19 countries. I consider it important that the Olympiad participants will not only win, but also receive opportunities to enter the country’s leading universities and employment prospects,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

    He also recalled that on September 17, a founding conference was held at the site of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation and the launch of the International Movement for Financial Security was launched, which united representatives from 36 countries.

    According to Rosfinmonitoring Director Yuri Chikhanchin, schoolchildren, students, representatives of financial intelligence agencies, the business community, and the scientific and educational sphere will meet at the Sirius venues. The final stage program includes more than 40 educational events for schoolchildren and students, including meetings with future employers and career guidance events.

    “The events of the final week of the Olympiad are aimed at achieving educational results, professional development of participants, creating conditions for the formation of a cultural and moral environment based on traditional civilizational values, as well as involving participants in the sports movement. As part of the educational direction, schoolchildren and students will be able not only to demonstrate their knowledge, but also to acquire new competencies in master classes, panel discussions and interactive workshops,” said the director of Rosfinmonitoring.

    Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Dmitry Afanasyev shared details of the final stage of the Olympiad and reported on the results of the qualifying stages of the fourth Olympiad, noting that in 2024 the number of participants in the final has increased.

    The program of the final stage of the fourth Olympiad includes a meeting of the Council of the International Network Institute in the field of AML/CFT, the international forum on financial security “Sirius-2024”, “Conversations on equal terms”, a phygital basketball tournament, master classes, panel discussions and a number of other events of educational, professional, cultural and sports orientation.

    The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Education Olga Koludarova, State Secretary – Deputy Head of Rospotrebnadzor Mikhail Orlov, Head of the educational foundation “Talent and Success” Elena Shmeleva, First Deputy Governor of Krasnodar Krai Igor Galas, General Director of ANO “National Priorities” Sofia Malyavina, representatives of the Executive Office of the Government of the Russian Federation, the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Bank of Russia, the International Training and Methodological Center for Financial Monitoring (ITMCFM), PJSC Promsvyazbank and universities of the International Network Institute in the Sphere of AML/CFT.

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://government.ru/nevs/52784/

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Prime Minister overhauls apprenticeships to support opportunity

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Reforms to apprenticeship system in England announced, alongside publication of first Skills England report highlighting nationwide skills gaps

    The government is boosting opportunities for young people through ambitious apprenticeship reforms in England.

    The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson today announced a new growth and skills levy which will replace the existing apprenticeship levy and include new foundation apprenticeships.

    These new apprenticeships will give young people a route in to careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage whilst developing vital skills.

    The new levy will also allow funding for shorter apprenticeships, giving learners and employers greater flexibility over their training than under the existing system – where apprenticeships must run for at least 12 months.

    The training eligible for funding under the new levy will develop over time, informed by Skills England’s assessment of priority skills needs. 

    The Department for Education will set out further details on the scope of the offer and how it will be accessed in due course.

    To fund this, employers are being asked to rebalance their funding for apprenticeships, asking them to invest in younger workers. This will also involve businesses funding more of their level 7 apprenticeships – equivalent to a master’s degree and often accessed by older or already well qualified employees – outside of the levy.

    The first report from Skills England, the government’s new body for the skills system, has also been published today. It provides an initial assessment of the nation’s working skills, as well as future skills needs and gaps which employers are struggling with across the country.

    The report has found that employer investment in training has been in steady decline over the past decade, with training expenditure at its lowest level since records began in 2011, with investment per employee down by 19% in real terms. This highlights the need for government reforms to the skills and apprenticeships system.

    It also shows that, across the UK, almost 1 in 10, or over 2.5 million roles are in critical demand, with more than 90% being in roles that require training or education. 

    The government launched Skills England in July to help identify skills needs. Skills England will play a crucial role in determining which types of training will be eligible for the expanded growth and skills levy and will set out shortly how they will work with stakeholders to inform their advice to DfE. 

    The need for jobs and skills varies across industries, with the health and social care sector experiencing the highest demand, followed by education, manufacturing, and science and technology.

    DfE media enquiries

    Central newsdesk – for journalists 020 7783 8300

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    Published 24 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Work on Kêts’ádań Kų̀ in Burwash Landing moves forward as construction contract is awarded

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    In the Southern Tutchone language of Kluane First Nation, Kêts’ádań Kų̀ [Kay-et-zah Dun-COO] means “house of learning”. In the coming years, it will be the name of the new school in Burwash Landing, a project that has been long anticipated by the community. The Government of Yukon recently awarded the construction contract to build the school, which will replace the aging Kluane Lake School in Destruction Bay.

    • Read more about Work on Kêts’ádań Kų̀ in Burwash Landing moves forward as construction contract is awarded
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    MIL OSI Canada News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI USA: Testimony of the Securities and Exchange Commission Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    Good morning, Chairman McHenry, Ranking Member Waters, and members of Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today about the work of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    The SEC at 90 Years

    At the SEC, we celebrated our 90th birthday earlier this year.

    In the aftermath of the 1929 market crash and the frauds, scams, and other observed problems in the securities markets, President Franklin Roosevelt came together with Congress to enact a series of securities laws in the 1930s and set up the SEC. Congress and Roosevelt understood how vital capital markets are to investors, issuers, and a dynamic and growing economy.

    Today, the SEC oversees the capital markets and works to deter and prevent fraud and manipulation, as well as helps ensure that investment advisers carry out their duties to their clients, and that companies and entrepreneurs can access the capital they need to succeed. The SEC is also the cop on the beat watching out for the investing public and issuers.

    The SEC is a remarkable agency. We serve investors building for a better future and issuers raising money to fund innovation, while overseeing the capital markets where they meet. The essence of this is captured in our three-part mission to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.

    Growth and Change in the Markets

    Today, the more than $100 trillion U.S. capital markets[1] are the deepest, most liquid in the world. To put these figures in context, the assets of the entire U.S. banking system add up to about $23 trillion.[2]

    Comprising approximately 40 percent of the world’s capital markets,[3]  U.S. capital markets outpace our roughly 24 percent of the world’s economy.[4] The U.S. capital markets also play an integral role in the dollar’s dominance.

    Everyday investors benefit from the U.S. capital markets. Their investment portfolios fund home purchases, college educations, and retirements. About 58 percent of U.S. households own stocks either directly or indirectly.[5] More than half of American households, representing nearly 121 million individual investors, own registered funds.[6]

    Today, registered investment advisers advise 57 million clients.[7] This includes advising on more than $37 trillion in registered funds,[8] $27 trillion in private funds,[9] and $49 trillion in separately managed accounts.[10]

    We oversee approximately 40,000 entities—including approximately 13,000 registered funds, approximately 15,400 investment advisers, about 3,400 broker-dealers, 25 national securities exchanges, 108 alternative trading systems, 10 credit rating agencies, and six active registered clearing agencies, among other external entities. The SEC oversees the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). In addition, the Commission provides oversight over standard-setting and rulemaking by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

    SEC Organization and Staff

    To fulfill its mission, the SEC is organized around six divisions and 24 offices located in 11 regional locations[11] as well as our Washington, D.C., headquarters. We currently have 4,893 staff on board,[12] representing only a 5 percent increase from 2016 when we had 4,650 staff.

    The SEC staff in 2023 rated us among the best places to work in the federal government; we ranked third among midsized agencies for the second year in a row.[13] Our attrition this fiscal year is at historically low levels, so far averaging around 3 percent at an annualized rate.

    The SEC’s funding is deficit neutral. While the congressional appropriations process determines the SEC’s budget, the SEC collects fees on stock and other securities transactions to offset the appropriations.[14]

    For FY 2024 the SEC budget is $2.15 billion, remaining the same as it was in FY 2023. At the start of FY 2024, we paused nearly all job postings and backfilling for departing staff.

    In fiscal years 2021 through 2024, we will have shed 299,000 usable square feet from the SEC’s real estate footprint. As a result of these reductions over the last three years, we expect to save approximately $20 million in FY 2025. We will continue looking for opportunities to achieve cost savings across our leasing footprint and in other ways in the years to come.

    The rest of this testimony will describe the work of the six divisions. For the programmatic divisions, we will review certain rules that were implemented, adopted, or proposed in the last year.[15]

    Corporation Finance

    The Division of Corporation Finance seeks to ensure that investors have access to the information they need to make informed investment and voting decisions when a company offers its securities to the public, and on an ongoing basis as companies continue to provide information to the marketplace. The Division also provides interpretive assistance to companies with respect to compliance with SEC rules and forms and makes recommendations to the Commission regarding new rules and revisions to existing rules.

    The Division reviews the disclosures and financial statements of reporting companies to monitor and enhance compliance with disclosure and accounting requirements under the federal securities laws and Commission rules.

    In FY 2023, there were approximately 7,400 actively reporting issuers subject to oversight by the Division’s Disclosure Review Program, of which more than 4,000 were listed on U.S. exchanges.[16] Further, in FY 2023, the Division reviewed the filings of more than 3,700 reporting companies and new issuers.[17]  

    The Division has worked on a number of proposed and final rules in the last year.[18]

    In December 2023, rules began to be implemented requiring registrants to disclose material cybersecurity incidents they experience as well as to disclose on an annual basis material information regarding their cybersecurity risk management, strategy, and governance.[19]

    In November 2023, as mandated by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the Commission adopted rules regarding conflicts of interest in the securitization market.[20] Compliance with these rules is required starting in June 2025.

    In July 2024, rules were implemented regarding disclosures by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), both when going public as well as when engaging in a business combination transaction with a target company (de-SPAC transactions).[21]

    In March 2024, the Commission adopted rules to standardize climate-related risk disclosures by public companies and in public offerings.[22] The Commission stayed these rules pending the completion of judicial review.[23]

    The Commission also has adopted rules related to corporate governance. As mandated by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act, exchange listing rules on clawbacks of executive compensation were implemented in 2023, with corresponding issuer disclosure requirements beginning in 2024.[24] Updated rules regarding how corporate insiders trade their own company’s stock have been phased in starting in April 2023.[25] In October 2023, the Commission adopted rules shortening the deadlines by which beneficial owners must inform the public of their position, with compliance beginning in February 2024.[26] Lastly, in August 2024, consistent with Congress’s mandate in the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022, the SEC, together with eight other federal financial regulators, proposed joint data standards for data submitted to the nine financial regulators to promote the interoperability of financial regulatory data.[27]

    Investment Management

    The Division of Investment Management has primary responsibility for administering the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In administering the Investment Company Act, the Division develops regulatory policy for investment companies, which include mutual funds, money market funds, closed-end funds, business development companies, unit investment trusts, variable insurance products, and exchange-traded funds.

    The Division also develops regulatory policy as applicable to investment advisers, including advisers to registered investment companies, separately managed accounts, and, in certain cases, to private funds.

    In FY 2023, Division staff reviewed more than 1,900 filings related to more than 4,400 funds and insurance products. Staff also reviewed annual reports—including financial statements—from more than 4,200 funds.[28]

    The Division worked on a number of rulemakings in the last year.[29]

    The Commission adopted amendments to Form PF, the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds.[30] Rules requiring that large hedge fund and private equity fund advisers make current reports on certain events to the Commission were implemented in June 2024. A joint rule with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to enhance the amount of information the agencies receive from all Form PF filers was adopted in February 2024 and will be implemented in March 2025.[31]

    In August 2024, the Commission adopted amendments to reporting requirements on Form N-PORT.[32] Funds generally will be required to comply with the amendments for reports filed on or after November 17, 2025, except fund groups with net assets of less than $1 billion have until May 18, 2026.

    In May 2024, the Commission finalized amendments to Regulation S-P that will require covered firms to notify their customers of data breaches that might put their personal information at risk.[33] Such covered firms include broker-dealers (including funding portals), investment companies, registered investment advisers, and transfer agents. Larger entities will have to comply in December 2025 and smaller entities in June 2026. The Division of Trading and Markets also worked on these rules.

    In July 2023, the Commission adopted amendments to update the regulations for governing money market funds.[34] There is a staggered transition period for funds to come into compliance, with full implementation to be complete in October 2024.

    In September 2023, the Commission adopted amendments to the Investment Company Act “Names Rule” to address fund names that could mislead investors about a fund’s investments and risks.[35] Compliance will be phased in based on fund size, with larger funds required to comply in December 2025 and smaller funds in June 2026.

    In July 2024, the Commission implemented a Congressional mandate to provide a tailored form to register the offerings of registered index-linked annuities.[36] Filers will have until May 1, 2026, to comply with most of the final amendments, and insurance companies will be able to use the tailored form in September 2024.

    Rules regarding the updating of funds’ shareholder reports were implemented in July 2024.[37]

    Rules to govern proxy voting information reported on Form N-PX were implemented in August 2024.[38]

    The Divisions of Investment Management and Trading and Markets are considering recommending that the Commission re-propose rules regarding conflicts of interest in the use of predictive analytics by brokers and advisers.[39] Further, the Division of Investment Management is considering recommending that the Commission repropose rules regarding the custody of funds or investments of clients as well as changes to regulatory requirements relating to open-end funds’ liquidity and dilution management.

    In May 2024, the Commission and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network jointly proposed rules requiring customer identification programs for Commission-registered investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers.[40]

    In addition to these rules, the Division also is implementing an initiative to add to the aggregate public data published by the SEC. First, earlier this year, it began publishing the Registered Fund Statistics report, which aggregates data about the registered fund industry.[41] Second, in May, the Division began publishing a new report based on aggregated data filed by investment advisers on Form ADV, providing statistics on the investment advisory industry and showing trends over time.[42] Third, in July, it updated and enhanced public reporting of data regarding hedge funds, private equity funds, and other private funds from Form PF. The report provides the public with information about the leverage, borrowing, and other activities of this rapidly growing sector.

    Trading and Markets

    The Division of Trading and Markets works to maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets. Market monitoring and supervision are essential parts of the Division’s activity—especially during times of market stress. Transaction volume in listed equities has doubled in the last five years and tripled in the last 17 years.[43]

    The Division oversees 25 national securities exchanges, 108 alternative trading systems, about 3,400 broker-dealers, 53 security-based swap dealers, six active registered clearing agencies, and more than 300 transfer agents, among other entities.

    In FY 2023, the Division responded to more than 16,000 public inquiries. In FY 2023, the Division also reviewed more than 660 filings from broker-dealers as well as more than 1,700 self-regulatory organization proposed rule changes and advance notices.[44]

    In the last year, with respect to rulemaking, the Division was primarily focused on market structure for the equity and Treasury markets as well as implementing rules mandated by Congress through the Dodd-Frank Act. 

    In terms of equity market structure, last week the Commission adopted amendments to certain rules under Regulation NMS to adopt an additional minimum pricing increment, or “tick size,” for the quoting of certain NMS stocks, reduce the access fee caps for protected quotations of trading centers, increase the transparency of exchange fees and rebates, and accelerate the implementation of rules that will make information about the market’s best priced, smaller-sized orders publicly available.[45]

    On May 28, 2024, much of the U.S. markets (equities, corporate bonds, municipals, etc.) successfully aligned its settlement cycle with the Treasury markets at T+1.[46] In March 2024, the Commission adopted amendments to Rule 605 that enhance disclosure requirements for order execution quality.[47] Large broker-dealers—those with more than 100,000 customers—will have to disclose execution quality to the public. Compliance with these amendments to Rule 605 will begin in December 2025. The Commission also is continuing to review comments on other rule proposals related to the equities markets.[48]

    As for Treasury markets, in December 2023 the Commission adopted rules to facilitate additional central clearing for the $27 trillion U.S. Treasury markets.[49] By March 2025, Treasury clearinghouses must separate proprietary margin from customer margin and further facilitate access to central clearing. Starting at the end of 2025, certain cash transactions will have to be cleared. Starting in June 2026, certain repo and reverse repo transactions must be cleared. In February 2024, the Commission adopted final rules further defining a dealer and government securities dealer.[50] Further, rules are being implemented this month that will update and narrow the circumstances in which broker-dealers are exempt from registering with a national securities association.[51]

    The Commission also worked to finalize Congressionally mandated Dodd-Frank rules. Entities subject to rules creating a regime for the registration and regulation of security-based swap execution facilities (SBSEFs) were required to begin complying in August 2024.[52] Further, antifraud rules related to security-based swap transactions were implemented in August of 2023.[53] In October 2023, the Commission adopted rules regarding the reporting of short sale [54] and securities lending related data.[55]

    The Commission also adopted rules in November 2023 relating to the governance and use of outside service providers by clearinghouses, and compliance will be phased in during December 2024 and December 2025.[56]

    Finally, rules related to the electronic recordkeeping of broker-dealers were phased in beginning in May 2023, to be completed in November 2024.[57]

    Economic and Risk Analysis

    The Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) includes economists, statisticians, data scientists and engineers, attorneys, accountants, and other staff. These experts provide support to every aspect of the Commission’s mission from rulemaking to enforcement.

     DERA provides economic analyses that consider the costs and benefits of our rules as well as their effects on efficiency, competition, and capital formation. In conducting the economic analysis, DERA staff work closely with staff from the divisions, from the earliest stages of policy development through the finalization of a particular rule.

    The Commission receives feedback from the public on these economic analyses, which benefits our rulemaking.

    DERA also supports the Commission’s examination and enforcement functions by helping to identify securities law violations, quantify harm to investors, calculate ill-gotten gains, and assist enforcement with returning funds to harmed investors.

    Finally, DERA assists the Commission in its efforts to identify, analyze, and respond to economic and market issues, including those related to new financial products, investment and trading strategies, systemic risk, and fraud.

    Examinations

    The Division of Examinations serves a critical role in helping firms to comply with the law.

    In FY 2023, Division staff conducted more than 3,100 examinations across our tens of thousands of registrants. From investment advisers to broker-dealers to exchanges, the Division helps ensure that registrants are following their legal obligations to customers and clients, including seniors and other vulnerable investors.

    Importantly, the Division is the first line of defense for the investing public relying on investment advisers. It is responsible for examining and overseeing a growing registrant population, including more than 15,400 investment advisers and approximately 800 investment company complexes.

    The Division issues risk alerts that summarize examination observations and preview potential examination scope areas focusing on compliance with new rules. The Division also promotes compliance by regularly engaging with the industry and investors through its national and regional outreach events.

    Further, the Division works in parallel with SROs to examine the more than 3,300 broker-dealers with roughly 150,000 branch offices.

    Enforcement

    The work of the Division of Enforcement is central to the SEC’s investor protection role. The Division conducts investigations into possible violations of the federal securities laws and litigates enforcement actions in the federal courts and in administrative proceedings. In addition to monetary remedies designed to remove wrongdoers’ ill-gotten gains and deter future violations, the Commission’s enforcement actions protect investors by obtaining remedial injunctions in district court and, similarly, remedial suspensions and bars in administrative proceedings.

    In FY 2023, the Division brought 784 enforcement actions that resulted in orders for $4.9 billion in penalties and disgorgement. When feasible, the civil penalties and disgorgement obtained in the Commission’s civil enforcement actions are returned to harmed investors, and the SEC distributed $930 million to harmed investors in FY 2023.[58] Further, in FY 2023, the SEC received more than 40,000 separate tips, complaints, and referrals from whistleblowers and others, up from about 16,700 in 2019.

    Other Offices

    The SEC has an Office of the General Counsel, which provides legal analysis and advice to the Commission and its divisions and offices on all aspects of the Commission’s activities. The other offices include: Office of the Chief Accountant, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Office of International Affairs, Office of the Investor Advocate, Office of Credit Ratings, Office of Municipal Securities, Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, and Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology.

    Conclusion

    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for the Committee’s support of the SEC, its mission, and its people.  

    [11] When the Salt Lake City office closes in FY 2025, there will be 10 regional offices.

    [12] Staff onboard as of Sept. 6, 2024.

    [15] In addition to the rules detailed within the Divisions, rules to revise the Commission’s regulations under the Privacy Act were implemented in October 2023. See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Approves Revised Privacy Act Rule” (Sept. 20, 2023), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-189. Rules strengthening and modernizing the Commission’s ethics compliance program were implemented in March 2024. See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Updates Ethics Rules Governing Securities Trading by Agency Personnel” (Feb. 22, 2024), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-25.

    [16] Approximately 52 percent of those 7,400 issuers self-identified as smaller reporting companies, emerging growth companies, or both. See 17 CFR 240.12b-2 (defining the terms “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company”).

    [18]In May 2023, the SEC adopted a rule related to stock buybacks. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit subsequently vacated the rule in December 2023. In addition, in July 2022, the SEC rescinded certain rules applicable to proxy voting advice that the Commission had previously adopted in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated portions of the SEC’s 2022 rescission in June 2024, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the SEC’s 2022 rescission in September 2024.

    [29] In addition to the rules detailed, the Commission adopted in March 2024 rules relating to internet advisers, which will be implemented in March 2025. See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Adopts Reforms Relating to Investment Advisers Operating Exclusively Through the Internet” (March 27, 2024), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-42. Further, rule amendments requiring the electronic filing of certain documents previously submitted on paper by investment advisers and others were implemented in February and June of 2023. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-113. In August 2023, the SEC adopted rules regarding private fund advisers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit subsequently vacated the rule in June 2024.

    [32] See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Adopts Reporting Enhancements for Registered Investment Companies and Provides Guidance on Open-End Fund Liquidity Risk Management Programs” (Aug, 28, 2024), available at  https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-110.

    [38] See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance Proxy Voting Disclosure by Registered Investment Funds and Require Disclosure of “Say-on-Pay” Votes for Institutional Investment Managers” (Nov. 2, 2022), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-198.

    [48] See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Proposes Rule to Address Volume-Based Exchange Transaction Pricing for NMS Stocks” (Oct. 18, 2023), available at  https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-225. See also Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Proposes Rules to Amend Minimum Pricing Increments and Access Fee Caps and to Enhance the Transparency of Better Priced Orders” (Dec. 14, 2022), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-224. See also Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Proposes Regulation Best Execution” (Dec. 14, 2022), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-226. See also Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Proposes Rule to Enhance Competition for Individual Investor Order Execution” (Dec. 14, 2022), available at  https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-225.  

    [57] See Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC Adopts Rule Amendments to Modernize How Broker-Dealers Preserve Electronic Records and Enhance the Electronic Recordkeeping Requirements for Security-Based Swap Entities” (Oct. 12, 2022), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-187.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    September 29, 2024

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed & Magaziner Deliver $795,000 Boost for URI’s Secure Computing Capabilities & Capacity

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    KINGSTON, RI – U.S. Senator Jack Reed and U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner today joined with University of Rhode Island (URI) leadership, researchers, scientists, professors, and students to celebrate a $795,000 federal earmark to boost secure computing and data infrastructure capabilities, capacity, and storage through high-performance computing (HPC) upgrades that will advance research in undersea vehicle technology as well as research focus areas across URI’s departments.

    The federal funds secured by Senator Reed and Congressman Magaziner will help advance the “RI-SEC: Secure Computing & Data Infrastructure for the University of Rhode Island” project. This initiative will help ensure URI can keep up with the evolving role that HPC plays in a wide range of academic disciplines and will strengthen and expand the partnership between researchers at URI’s National Institute of Undersea Vehicle Technology (NIUVT) and subject matter experts with the U.S. Navy and Electric Boat.

    “As Rhode Island’s flagship public research institution, the University of Rhode Island needs access to cutting-edge technology and computing capabilities to ensure they can stay up to speed on developments and breakthroughs in a wide range of academic fields,” said Senator Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I’m glad to have worked with Congressman Magaziner to deliver this federal funding for URI which will help make strategic upgrades and strengthen partnerships with experts at the U.S. Navy and Electric Boat. This project will help URI make new, exciting advancements, better educate students on modern technology, and attract more researchers, scientists, professors, and others.”

    “This funding will help the University of Rhode Island build on its leadership status as a center for cutting-edge research and education,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner. “This grant will enhance the technology available to students and researchers across a variety of high tech fields, and will help make our state more economically competitive.”

    “As the state’s public flagship research university, URI is engaged in cutting-edge research that is accelerating discovery in key sectors of the state’s Blue Economy, while training the next generation of Rhode Island’s workforce,” said President Marc B. Parlange. “With support from Senator Reed and Congressman Magaziner, this federal earmark will enhance the University’s computational resources to expand large-scale research opportunities in undersea vehicle technology for our faculty, students, and industry partners.”

    Following the earmark announcement, URI President Marc B. Parlange and Dean of Engineering Anthony Marchese accompanied Senator Reed and Representative Magaziner for a tour of the National Institute of Undersea Vehicle Technology (NIUVT) – a federal, public, and private partnership at URI that provides research and technical support to advance current and future technologies in the undersea vehicle domain.

    The federal funding secured by Senator Reed and Congressman Magaziner will primarily assist NIUVT in upgrading HPC capacity and strengthening cyber security in order to carry out and bolster its work linking academic researchers and subject matter experts with the U.S. Navy and Electric Boat, which helps build the U.S. Navy’s most advanced submarines.

    Through the RI-SEC project, increased cybersecurity and data management enhancements and the hiring of new information technology (IT) security staff will offer more control and flexibility in capability, capacity, and data storage. These key upgrades will help NIUVT strengthen their work with the Navy and Electric Boat and will also help other departments at URI expand research by leveraging artificial intelligence, HPC, and other cutting-edge digital advancements.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    September 29, 2024
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Twenty Twenty-Five

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