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Category: Entertainment

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Exxon and Chevron’s billions in profits = a climate disaster for us all

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    OAKLAND, CA (January 31, 2025) – Today, Exxon and Chevron announced their Q4 2024 profits, bringing Exxon’s total profits for the year to more than $33 billion and Chevron’s total profits to more than $18 billion. In response, Greenpeace USA’s California Climate Campaign Director, Zachary Norris, said:

    “Exxon and Chevron and other international oil companies continue to rake in tens of millions of dollars in profit every single day. These greedy companies are drilling in our neighborhoods, poisoning our air and fueling deadly wildfires – all at the expense of Americans – in order to further line the pockets of the uber rich. Enough!  

    “The recent Los Angeles wildfires ravaged communities in California to the tune of more than $250 billion– which were fueled by climate change that has been fast tracked by the oil and gas industry. Exxon and Chevron’s massive profits are a slap in the face to these communities who have lost everything and now face finding the resources to rebuild. It is time for the polluters, including Exxon and Chevron, to pay up.

    “Oil and gas and the climate crisis are causing irreparable harm to communities and with each year that passes, it is becoming more disastrous.  The deadly wildfires in LA were fueled by the oil and gas industry and 2024 reached new levels in climate-driven disasters. These are not coincidences. It’s time everyone in this country connects the dots and holds polluters – with their billions in profit – accountable for their role in climate-driven disasters.” 

    Contact: Gigi Singh, Communications Manager at Greenpeace USA
    (+1)  631-404-9977, [email protected]  

    Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: A busy weekend ahead in the city centre as Manchester welcomes Year of the Snake

    Source: City of Manchester

    Manchester is expected to be even busier than usual this weekend (Feb 1 & 2) as the city comes together to welcome in the Year of the Snake, with a weekend full of activities including the annual Chinese New Year Dragon Parade which takes place on Sunday.

    Already a sea of colour with trees decked out in traditional red lanterns in celebration of the Lunar New Year, visitors heading into the city centre this weekend are promised a dazzling display of traditional and contemporary Chinese culture.

    The weekend’s activities – organised by the Federation of Chinese Associations of Manchester (FCAM) – will see Manchester’s Chinatown transformed into a festive wonderland with lanterns, music, food, and family-friendly activities.

    Anyone planning to come into Manchester and enjoy the activities is advised to use public transport and to travel as light as possible with no big bags, and to consider using back packs or other carriers for babies and toddlers as an alternative to pushchairs.

    Visitors should note that the busiest part of the weekend is likely to be from 12 noon to 2 pm on Sunday when the Dragon Parade takes place.  

    People coming in to see the parade should be aware that access into Chinatown may be restricted during this time in order to manage the number of people in the area, and they may be advised to enjoy the parade from elsewhere along the route instead.

    Chinatown visitors throughout the weekend will be able to enjoy a host of activities across the two days from 12 noon – 8 pm, including sampling a variety of delicious Chinese delicacies and authentic street food from local vendors.

    Mesmerising traditional dance and music performances will also be taking place on both Saturday and Sunday on the main stage in the Chinatown carpark.

    Other highlights include performances from the Guizhou Acrobatic Troupe at 2:45 pm and 3:45 pm on Sunday, and a DJ playing Cantonese and Mandarin pop songs from 8 pm – 10 pm on Saturday.

    FCAM’s famous Night Dragon will also be making appearances in the Chinatown carpark on Saturday at 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm, whilst Sunday will see the spectacular annual Dragon Parade take place, featuring a stunning traditional dragon, acrobatic performances, dancers and drummers.  

    Starting from the junction of Oxford Street and George Street at 12 noon on Sunday, the Dragon Parade will make its way along Portland Street, into Chinatown, with a final performance on Princess Street.

    This year’s festivities will culminate on Sunday evening with the record-breaking Illuminated Dragon which will take to the streets of Chinatown from 6:30 pm, featuring members of the public recruited earlier in the day by organisers to help take part in dancing the dragon.

    Away from Chinatown, activities will also be taking place at Central Library throughout the weekend, with an afternoon of arts and crafts on Saturday from 1 – 4 pm and a Hanfu Show featuring traditional Chinese clothing. 

    On Sunday, the Library will be throwing open its doors for the day to help even more families celebrate the Year of the Snake, with a fun-filled programme of dance and music performances, arts and crafts, face-painting, and much more. 

    The day will begin with an unmissable Lion Dance outside the Library at 11 am before the Library opens its doors at 11:30 am for a day of activities which finish at 4 pm.

    Cllr Pat Karney, City Centre spokesperson, Manchester City Council, said: “We know how much Mancunians love visiting Chinatown and joining in with all the fantastic celebrations to mark the start of the new lunar year. 

    “We want everyone to enjoy themselves but it will be busy so people should plan their visit accordingly.  Use public transport, travel light, think about what time will be best for you to come in, and most of all be kind to each other as you navigate your way around the city centre which is sure to be much busier than usual.” 

    Important travel and traffic advice

    Members of the public travelling into Manchester are advised to use public transport where possible.  
    More information and advice on travelling into Manchester this weekend is available on TFGM’s website here 

    A number of road closures will be in place over the weekend to allow the activities to take place. 

    Road closures

    Chinatown

    From 5am Saturday 1 February to 11.59pm Sunday 2 February:

    • Nicholas Street (George Street to Faulkner Street)
    • St James Street (Nicolas Street to Princess Street)
       

    From 5am to 11.59pm Sunday 2 February:

    • Faulkner Street (Princess Street to New York Street)
    • Reyner Street  (Princess Street to Charlotte Street)
    • St James Street (Princess Street to Charlotte Street)
    • Charlotte Street (Portland Street to Mosley Street)
    • George Street (Princess Street to New York Street)
    • Chain Street (George Street to Faulkner Street)
    • Back George Street (Dickenson Street to Charlotte Street)
    • Nicholas Street (Portland Street to Mosley Street)
    • Pine Street (Chain Street to New York Street)

    Parade route

    From 10am to 3pm Sunday 2 February:

    • Peter Street (Mount Street to Lower Mosley Street) soft closure at the junction of Peter Street / Deansgate. Access for residents and businesses only.
    • Oxford Street (Peter Street to Whitworth Street West)
    • Portland Street (Chepstow Street to Chorlton Street)
    • Princess Street (Major Street to Cooper Street)
    • George Street (Oxford Street to Princess Street)
    • St James Street (Oxford Street to Princess Street)
    • Back George Street (Dickinson Street to Princess Street)
    • Faulkner Street (Princess Street to Novotel Hotel Entrance/ End of Faulkner Street)
    • Dickinson Street (Back George Street to Portland Street and Portland Street to Linley House/end of Dickinson Street)
    • Bale Street (Hall Street to Lower Mosley Street)
    • Hall Street (Bale Street to Oxford Street) 
    • Soft Closure inbound at Whitworth Street/Princess Street, Whitworth Street/ Sackville Street, and Whitworth Street/Chorlton Street junctions. No through traffic. Access to residents, businesses, and buses only.  

    Parking suspensions

    Chinatown

    From 6pm on Friday 31 January to 11.59pm Sunday 2 February:

    • George Street (New York Street to Dickinson Street)
    • Nicholas Street (Portland Street to Mosley Street)
    • Faulkner Street (New York Street to Princess Street)
    • Charlotte Street (Portland Street to Mosley Street)
    • Chinatown Car Park (all bays)

    Accessible parking on Saturday can be found on Fountain Street (Booth Street to York Street) 

    Parade route

    From 8pm Saturday 1 February to 4pm Sunday 2 February:

    • Peter Street (Mount Street to Lower Mosley Street)
    • Mount Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
    • Oxford Street (Lower Mosley Street to Whitworth Street West)
    • Hall Street (Oxford Street to Bale Street)
    • George Street (Oxford Street to Dickinson Street)
    • St James Street (Oxford Street to Charlotte Street)
    • Chepstow Street (Oxford Road to Great Bridgewater Street)
    • Portland Street (Chepstow Street to New York Street)
    • Dickinson Street (Back George Street to Portland Street, and Portland Street to Linley House/end of Dickinson Street)
    • Princess Street (Cooper Street to Major Street)

    Accessible parking on Sunday can be found on Fountain Street (Booth Street to York Street) or Mount Street (Windmill Street to Albert Square).All bays, loadings bays, accessible parking bays, and taxi ranks, will be suspended.

    Metrolink

    Sunday 2 February

    Between 12 noon and 1pm there will be congestion around St Peter’s Square due to an increased number of pedestrians. Passengers are advised to expect delays.

    Chester Road roadworks

    There are significant road works taking place in the Chester Road roundabout area. Road travel into the city centre will be very busy, please use public transport if you can.

    Road closure information is also available here  

    More information about Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year celebrations in Manchester here 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Marianne Faithfull: the singer with an inimitable voice was a Romantic poet at heart

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stephanie Hernandez, PhD Candidate, Literature and Music, University of Liverpool

    Marianne Faithfull, the London-born singer with an inimitable voice, has passed away at the age of 78. She was known for many things: she was a pop star, an actress and a muse. But she was probably best known for her voice.

    When she first entered the world of pop in 1964, her high-pitched tones rang with mellifluous vibrato. As she grew older and lived an increasingly excessive lifestyle, she developed a rasp – a quality borne of her unique experiences.

    Faithfull’s final musical releases were works that incorporated Romantic poetry in different ways. She Walks in Beauty (2021) is a spoken-word album of canonical Romantic poetry by the likes of Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and John Keats. Songs of Innocence and Experience 1965-1995 (2022) is a chronological retrospective of her career which uses the name of William Blake’s poetry collection (1789) as its title.

    As a PhD student focused on the legacy of Romanticism in 1960s and 1970s popular music, I’ve closely examined Faithfull’s engagement with Romantic literature throughout her career. These final two albums represent a beautiful culmination of her artistic journey, and are a testament to her unique voice and strong poetic influences.

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

    Songs of Innocence and Experience 1965-1995, like Blake’s poetry collection, is broken up into the sections Innocence and Experience.

    The Innocence portion of the album covers Faithfull’s youth, featuring early hits such as This Little Bird. Her early sound incorporated baroque pop instrumentation, including harps, harpsichord and horn arrangements (Come and Stay with Me), as well as folk styles with the acoustic guitar at the centre of the sound (Cockleshells).

    Faithfull’s voice in this section portrays her as an “innocent” girl in pop stardom, as its high pitch and pure tone embody a sense of naivete that is also reflected in her lyrics about young love, such as in Come and Stay With Me:

    We’ll live a life no one has ever known
    But I know you’re thinking that I’m hardly grown
    But oh thank God, at last and finally
    I can see you’re gonna stay with me

    There is a noticeable shift in the Innocence section of the album with the song Sister Morphine. As the song was made in collaboration with her then-boyfriend, Mick Jagger, it features a noticeably more rock sound in contrast to her previous pop productions. You can also hear subtle changes in Faithfull’s voice: it cracks and sounds strained in places.

    The song’s lyrics (“Please, Sister Morphine, turn my nightmares into dreams”) reflect the darker side of the mythologised “swinging sixties” lifestyle and its drug culture, which Faithfull has come to symbolise.

    Blake’s Songs of Innocence features a piper as the presiding narrator over the poems. In contrast, Songs of Experience is meant to be heard through the voice of an ancient bard, as established in Introduction to the Songs of Experience:

    Hear the voice of the Bard!
    Who Present, Past, & Future sees
    Whose ears have heard,
    The Holy Word
    That walk’d among the ancient trees.

    The Experience section of Faithfull’s album features music from Broken English (1979) and her re-recording of As Tears Go By, from Strange Weather (1987). The songs in this portion of the album exhibit her completely transformed voice: from piper to bard, it is deeper, raw and more weathered as a result of her struggles with addiction and bouts of illness. This brought a distinct edge to her music, marking a new phase in her career.

    Beyond the qualities of her voice, Faithfull’s song selection reflects Blake’s notions of Experience. Strange Weather (“Will you take me across the Channel / London Bridge is falling down”) aligns with Blake’s London geographically and thematically, as both explore entrapment and decay. Faithfull’s depiction of societal monotony, as in “Strangers talk only about the weather / All over the world / It’s the same …” echo Blake’s “charter’d street(s)” and “mind-forg’d manacles”.

    Faithfull’s connection to Romantic poetry is most overt in She Walks in Beauty, which she made with Warren Ellis (Australian composer and member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds). In this album, she recites Romantic poetry set to Ellis’s music.

    The poems she selected to recite are all by male poets and many feature voiceless female subjects, such as Byron’s She Walks in Beauty or Thomas Hood’s The Bridge of Sighs. On the album’s liner notes, Faithfull described how she related with these women, particularly Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott.

    The Lady of Shalott is a woman cursed to live alone in a tower near Camelot – unable to look directly at the world, forced to weave what she sees in the mirror. Faithfull uses the Lady to reflect on the pressure she felt to conform to the expectations imposed on her by the press and music industry. There is a parallel between the Lady’s forced isolation and her struggles with being controlled and defined by external forces, as she explained:

    Do I identify with the Lady? Oh yeah, always. I’m nothing like the Lady of Shalott, but I guess I wanted to be … When Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics for As Tears Go By, he knew this poem. There’s a bit he always said he used from here, the thing about ‘it was the closing of the day’.

    In the liner notes, Faithfull also mentioned that her love of poetry was thanks to her English teacher at St Joseph’s Convent in Reading, Mrs Simpson, and to Palgrave’s Golden Treasury, an anthology of English poetry, which she had bought as a teenager.

    Faithfull’s lifelong interest in literature came to fruition in her two final projects. They exemplify how she was a pop star, muse and chanteuse – and also a Romantic.

    Stephanie Hernandez 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. Marianne Faithfull: the singer with an inimitable voice was a Romantic poet at heart – https://theconversation.com/marianne-faithfull-the-singer-with-an-inimitable-voice-was-a-romantic-poet-at-heart-248805

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: PROACTIS SA – Press release 31.01.2025 (New address)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Transfer of the registered office

    Paris, France – (31 January 2025) — PROACTIS (ISIN code : FR0004052561) announces that its registered office has been transferred from 26-28, quai Gallieni – 92150 Suresnes to 54, rue de Londres – 75008 Paris. The company is now attached to the registry of the Tribunal des Affaires Economiques (formerly the Tribunal de Commerce) in Paris.

    PROACTIS’ Articles of Association have been amended accordingly.

    This transfer of the registered office is in line with the company’s policy of reducing its fixed costs.

    * * * *

    About Proactis SA (https://www.proactis.com/proactis-sa), a Proactis Company

    Proactis SA connects companies by providing business spend management and collaborative business process automation solutions for both goods and services, through The Business Network. Our solutions integrate with any ERP or procurement system, providing our customers with an easy-to-use solution which drives adoption, compliance and savings.

    Proactis SA has operations in France, Germany, USA and Manila.

    Listed in Compartment C on the Euronext Paris Eurolist.

    ISIN: FR0004052561, Euronext: PROAC, Reuters: HBWO.LN, Bloomberg: HBW.FP

    Contacts
    Tel: +33 (0)1 53 25 55 00
    E-mail: investorContact@proactis.com

    * * * *

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How should Keir Starmer handle Donald Trump – and how’s it going so far?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Martin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History, Newcastle University

    The pairing of British prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Donald Trump connotes many imponderables. The only certainty happens to be the most significant: they will be in office together for four years.

    It is rare for a prime minister and a president to have the luxury of knowing – barring extreme unpredictabilities, such as death or incapacity – they have a full term in harness. And personal chemistry matters.

    Trump emphasises (rather too much for the liking of America’s allies) the deal, the handshake, the gaze; the bond that only the lonely, only those who lead, can have. Starmer emphasises level-headedness (although his government has not been particulary conspicuous in evincing it).

    Opposites may well attract, but the precedents for coterminous presidents and prime ministers are not encouraging. John Major and Bill Clinton, elected seven months apart, spent 1992 to 1997 together. But in the very definition of what not to do before an election, London had made its preference for the result of the election in America known – and the other guy won. The Conservative and the Democrat were no more than coolly cordial thereafter.

    On his re-election in 2001, Tony Blair knew he had George W. Bush for at least four years – it turned out to be eight – but the consequences for him were disastrous once the two decided to partake in a war on “terror”.

    In 1964, Harold Wilson and Lyndon Johnson were elected almost simultaneously, and spent 1964 to 1968 together. Though they were Labour and Democrat, and therefore from sister parties, it was not a harmonious pairing. Wilson’s meddling in, but lack of support for, Johnson’s war in Vietnam was a source of unbridled irritation in the White House.

    Trump and May

    The last time Trump became president, Theresa May was prime minister and she travelled with undisguised haste to the White House. There she achieved a highly untypical diplomatic coup in getting Trump to commit publicly to Nato (that bars should be so low was a general feature of the presidency).

    Their subsequent relationship was, however, toxic. No prime minister has been less likely to gaze, to bond (despite pictures of them holding hands), and the president held her as having mangled Brexit, a bid for freedom with which he was keen to associate himself.

    Before the US election, Starmer displayed a unfamiliar deftness of touch, and banked some credit. His immediate phone call to candidate Trump following an attempt on his life in July was both bold and smart. There followed the fabled Trump Tower two-hour chicken dinner.

    It was more typical for Starmer that when it emerged, in a most unfortunate echo of 1992, Labour activists – and Starmer’s own pollster – were working on the Kamala Harris campaign, Trump’s people cried foreign interference and threatened legal action.

    And the two in Starmer’s team who will have the most exposure to the new administration have both been publicly rude about Trump. David Lammy, now foreign secretary, called him “deluded, dishonest, xenophobic [and] narcissistic” in 2019.

    Peter Mandelson, nominated but not yet confirmed as the UK ambassador to the US, has made comments about Trump being a “bully” and a “danger to the world”. To appease opposition in DC on his appointment, Mandelson has since turned on a sixpence (or perhaps a dime).

    This is, at root, about Trump. No other president would have attracted such comments from frontline politicians. But from TV studio to TV studio, Lammy and Mandelson will have those quotes hung about their necks as if they were modern-day ancient mariners. Starmer’s innate caution in public utterance, in this area at least, has inured him.

    Indeed, the repercussions of his unusual boldness in picking Mandelson over a career diplomat may discourage Starmer from ever thinking imaginatively again.

    Most members of the Trump administration would be naturally hostile to a Labour government even without its leading figures insulting their boss or campaigning for his opponent. Certainly, the grounds for disagreement are great: the threat of tariffs, demanded increases in defence spending, the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, co-operation with China and support for Ukraine.

    Thus Morgan McSweeney – architect of Labour’s 2024 victory, planner of its re-election and Starmer’s chief of staff – flew out to meet Susie Wiles, his equivalent in the White House. (It did not, a person privy to such information told me, go well. Voices were raised.)

    Elon Musk, this moment’s most prominent presidential acolyte inveighed on X, “Starmer must go”, adding for good measure, “He is a national embarrassment.” It is indeed embarrassing – for Starmer – but he will be consoled with the well-founded suspicion that the life-expectancy of Musk and Trump’s tech bromance will be much less than four years.

    Cause for self-reflection

    The return of Trump, emboldened and more powerful than before, has effectively forced the posing of the age-old question: over which expanse of sea should Britain gaze – the Channel or the Atlantic? Churchill thought it should – and that only Britain could – do both.

    Hence, perhaps, Trump’s own public statement about the possible destination of his first international trip: “It could be UK. Traditionally, it’s been UK.”

    It hasn’t. Only Jimmy Carter, in 1977, and Joe Biden, in 2021, visited the UK first – and then because of summits. More than a few presidents (most recently Ford and Johnson) didn’t visit at all.

    But even what might have been a supportive comment was laced with arsenic: “Last time, I went to Saudi Arabia because they agreed to buy 450 billion dollars’ worth of United States merchandise … And if that offer were right, I’d do that again.” Which at least may free the British government to be as unsentimentally transactional.

    Trump and Starmer achieved big victories, albeit when painted in the most flattering terms. Starmer’s came on a historically low combination of vote share and voter turnout, Trump’s with fewer votes than Biden. But Trump will like that Starmer won a large majority. When May managed to lose hers in 2017, what little respect Trump had for her went with it.

    Starmer would much rather have had four years with Biden, and even more with Harris, another public prosecutor of the left. But he has to deal with the transatlantic relationship as it is, rather than as he would wish it to be, and this one is most unlikely to be special.

    Starmer is, moreover, a realist. Which is why he’ll also know that the second Trump presidency will be much more consequential than the first. Caution may have limited effect.

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

    – ref. How should Keir Starmer handle Donald Trump – and how’s it going so far? – https://theconversation.com/how-should-keir-starmer-handle-donald-trump-and-hows-it-going-so-far-248697

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Emphasis on leadership, sustainability, youth engagement and digitalisation as International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential candidates present plans for global sports

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

    LAUSANNE, Switzerland, January 31, 2025/APO Group/ —

    The seven candidates running to become the next President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are hoping that with their 15-minute presentations at the Olympic House on Thursday, 30 January, they have been able to convince the IOC membership of their capabilities to lead the biggest sports organisation in the world. 

    Although they were unable to read the room during the in-camera meeting, especially as their audience was barred from asking questions, the candidates appeared satisfied with their campaign pitches. 

    BEHIND CLOSED DOORS There will be no other opportunities for presentations before the election scheduled for 20 March in Greece. Speaking to the media after giving their presentations behind closed doors, some of the candidates believe the current election process requires a review. 

    Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, who was the first to appear before the press, said: “If I’m President, I think I would have more flexibility in the rules… We are part of a global sports community and the world has the right to know who is running and what they stand for.” 

    Below are excerpts from the candidates’ interaction with the media at the Château de Vidy, the historical building next to Olympic House, where the presentations took place. 

    HRH PRINCE FEISAL AL HUSSEIN  

    PRESENTATION: It was an honor to deliver my speech to my fellow IOC members, where I laid out my vision for the future blueprint of the Olympic Movement centered on consensus leadership. My speech was structured around three strategic imperatives that are in my manifesto; inspiring imagination, ensuring integrity and developing inclusion. 

    EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH HEADS OF STATE, AN ADVANTAGE?: Absolutely, yes. I think I’ve learned from the experience of not just learning how to deal with people, but by consensus. At the end of the day, all leaders are human beings, and the ability to find a common ground upon which you can build an understanding is a key benefit from the experience that I’ve had just being who I am. 

    DEALING WITH THE IOC’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE: One of the things we have to face and we have to deal with literally focuses on the issue of integrity. When you see the global community, the youth in particular have lost their trust in global institutions, and the IOC is a global institution, so we need to regain both the trust and the sense of relevance with the youth of this world. They are our future movement. And I think this is one of the key areas I would focus on as IOC president. 

    CONFIDENCE IN WADA DESPITE WITHDRAWAL OF US FUNDING: It’s not for me to comment on the policies of the United States. We (the IOC) are an institution that helped establish WADA and I think it has been doing a terrific job in dealing with the issue of doping. We’ve seen such a large reduction of doping incidents in the Olympic Games, and I think this means that they have been effective, and we will continue to support that. 

    DEALING WITH BOXING AHEAD OF LA28: I would love to see boxing back on the programme. It is one of the oldest Olympic sports, and I just hope that we can find a global Federation that can take on that responsibility of organising boxing in LA. 

    RUSSIA’S RETURN TO THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT: There’s nothing I’d like more than to be able to have the whole world at the Olympic Games, I think that’s what our objective is. But I also recognise that there are certain limitations and concerns. Right now, to my understanding, the exclusion of Russian athletes is based on a violation of the Olympic Charter. As President of the IOC, my role and responsibility is to uphold the Olympic Charter. And as long as nobody is in violation, then there is no reason for sanctions. And I would very much like to find a mechanism where we can reintroduce Russia. The world is stronger when we are all together. And I think that is what the Olympic Games does.  

    MR DAVID LAPPARTIENT  

    PRESENTATION: I hope that I have convinced my colleagues that I can be a real leader for the IOC. 

    RUSSIA’S RETURN TO THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT: Russia shouldn’t be indefinitely suspended by the IOC. This is a country of sport, so our objective would be to have them come back into the fold. However, there are reasons why the IOC suspended the NOC of Russia… So it is obvious then that these subjects should be dealt with before decisions can be taken.  

    THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN AFRICA: The IOC is on the five continents. Sport is universal, and African athletes are exceptional, but Africa has until today, never hosted the Olympic Games, they of course, are going to have the Youth Olympic Games. I suggest that the Olympics should take place in Africa, not fixing a specific date. But the idea is, nonetheless, that during this coming mandate or two mandates, we would like Africa to host the Olympic Games, because Africa deserves the Olympic Games.  

    BIGGEST CHALLENGE: One of the challenges will be the instability of the world. It’s becoming more and more difficult, and sure we’ll have some crises to face in the future. This is why we need to source strong leadership. Climate change is also an issue. We also saw what happened in the winter time in Los Angeles, and it’s also the result of climate change. Another key challenge will be digitalization. The world is completely changing, disrupting. But what I also tried to explain this morning is how we can turn all these challenges into opportunities. We have opportunities to bring the world together. This is what we want. This is our vision. This is the ideal of the Olympic movement. We can also properly address the issue of climate change. This is what Paris has done. We also have the potential Olympic Esports Games, that’s also a way to interact with the younger generation. We can also reach a wider audience with digitalization.  

    MR JOHAN ELIASCH 

    TRACK RECORD: In a world of division and disruption, we need hope more than ever before. I’m standing because I believe that I have a proven track record and experience to deliver. I have successfully run large international corporations, led important commercial and political negotiations across business, sport, media and entertainment, foreign affairs, technology, and a lot of areas. I’ve been very active in climate action, preserving millions of acres of rainforest. In the last four years, I’ve led the transformation of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. We oversee more than half of the medal events in the Olympic Winter Games. So I think that’s a perfect and perfect trip for the presidency. I know what it takes to lead and drive change. This is not a popularity contest. 

    RUSSIA’S RETURN TO THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT: The individual, neutral athletes programme works very well. And I think it’s very important, because no athlete can choose where they were born. And the athletes must never be weaponized for political purposes. So I believe in this programme, and that we should make sure that also for Milano-Cortina, this is something that all the winter federations will adopt. 

    WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE: Of course, we have to put the athletes front and centre. And we need to make sure that they have the best experience before, during, and after the Games. We have a very fast-changing landscape when it comes to digital, and we have to stay ahead of the curve here. We have a responsibility and a very strong voice when it comes to sustainability and this is an area which is very close to my heart, so this will certainly be at the forefront of my agenda. We also need to make sure that we uphold the magic of the Olympic Games. There is a lot of competition from other events and other sports and we need to make sure that we’re the best. 

    ENGAGING SPONSORS: Well, sponsorship is much more than just sticking your name to something. It’s about partnership. And this area is also changing very fast. Activations, people expect more here. We need to make sure that we deliver, that these partnerships are value-added for our sponsors. We have an incredible brand. But in today’s day and age, we also have to make sure that these partnerships are as attractive as possible. 

    BALANCING FUTURE OLYMPICS IN AFRICA, INDIA OR THE MIDDLE EAST WITH SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS: Here, for instance, the proposed rotation scheme of the Winter Olympics is very important. We have infrastructure in place to deliver the events. We need to make sure that we find solutions with the IFs to make sure that the capacity of investment is kept up. So we don’t have to retrace what already exists in places where it’s not going to go. Now, with the Middle East, with Africa, with India, it is essential that we are very strong and committed to no carbon impact on anything that we do. 

    MR JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH  

    THE IOC: I understand our organization as two different parts. On one hand, we are an extraordinarily big, large and efficient NGO – we distribute most of the money we generate in our business through the International Federation, National Olympic Committees and the organizing committees to the base of the world’s sports pyramid. So this is an NGO. Second, we need a powerful business machine to generate the necessary revenues to feed the NGO. So I have thrown my hat in the ring because I have significant experience on both sides. I’ve more than 25 years of experience in critical roles throughout the Olympic movement, and I’ve more than 25 years of experience in critical roles with my own company in the finance industry. 

    EMPOWERING IOC MEMBERS We must empower the members and ensure governance led by members and not by a selected few. 

    CHANGES In the 12 years of President Bach, we had to deal with so many complications and so many threats and managed to get the organization to move and evolve at a rapid pace. But that rapid pace of change that we implemented is no way near what is coming. I think we have a very important base, a very solid base, from the past, but the recipes of yesterday will not make it in the future. 

    LEGACY OF HIS FATHER, HELP OR HINDRANCE: My father left office 25 years ago and, as his son, I appreciate his legacy very much. His example is always with me, but the recipes of today have nothing to do with a presidency that ended years ago. Bear in mind, he joined the Olympic Movement more than 60 years ago. 

    PRESENTATION: I felt very good in the room, because I have something interesting to say, something I am passionate about. And I was so happy to have the opportunity to share that with my fellow members. So, it’s for them to decide. But my presentation is clear. I have a very clear programme. My manifesto is very much action-based and it leaves very little room for future surprises. 

    BIDDING PROCESS FOR OLYMPIC GAMES HOSTS: I think that we need to produce not a more traditional, but a better, new model that is more aligned to the current times, that would include a final decision in a significant participation of all IOC members. 

    MEDIA: I told my fellow IOC members this, ‘let’s refocus our relationship with the media. They are not our enemies. They are our allies.’ You (the media) shape the opinion of the world on the Olympic Games. This I intend, if I become IOC President, to maintain and you can hold me accountable for that if I am there. 

    MRS KIRSTY COVENTRY 

    THE OLYMPIC DREAM: My journey started as a nine-year-old girl watching the 92 Barcelona Olympic Games and just setting myself a dream and then finally realizing that dream in Athens getting to stand on the podium and win my first Olympic medal. In Athens, I won three medals and finally in my last event got to win the gold even though Zimbabwe was in a difficult situation. But when I got home to Zimbabwe, it was a time of three or four days of peace, so I really got to see the power of sport. 

    TODAY’S NINE-YEAR-OLD: The nine-year-olds in today’s world are not watching a television screen, they’re holding a phone and that phone is going to be their starting point to connect with us through online streaming platforms, and it’s going to be our chance to engage with them and ensure that we’re inspiring them, and to take it even further, we’re going to be developing and promoting applications that are going to allow them to train anywhere and everywhere in the world. And this is the world that we live in today, and let’s embrace it and walk that road together. 

    SUPPORTING AFRICAN ATHLETES: We need to find more ways of directly impacting and getting revenue to athletes before they become Olympians. That is generally the toughest thing most athletes find. From my own journey it was easy to get sponsorship once I’d won a medal. But getting to that medal was tough. 

    BACKING FROM BACH?: I have known President Bach since I came into the IOC, and I think being a fellow athlete, we share a lot of commonalities, a lot of common ideas and philosophies. But in this race, he’s the President. He has a vote, but he doesn’t vote, he chooses not to vote, and I do very firmly believe that he is being very fair to all candidates.  

    BEING A MOTHER OF A SIX-MONTH OLD AND A CAREER WOMAN: First and foremost, I want to be the best candidate to win, not just because of my gender or from where I come from. And I believe I’ve got a lot of expertise to bring to this role, to leading the organisation. 

    IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD: When I was stepping into my ministerial role seven years ago, I was pregnant with my first baby girl and had to quickly learn how to navigate and be a woman with a career as well as a mom and a wife and everything else. And it can be done. I’m very lucky to come from Africa because culturally we know and we firmly believe that it takes a village to raise a child. 

    PROTECTING WOMEN ATHLETES: As a female athlete, you want to be able to walk onto a level playing field always. It’s our job as the IOC to ensure that we are going to create that environment, and that we are going to not just create a level playing field, but we’re going to create an environment that allows for every athlete to feel safe. Along the road. We’re going to learn lessons, and we’re going to get stronger and we’re going to make better rules and regulations.  

    LORD SEBASTIAN COE 

    PRESENTATION: I enjoyed this morning’s process. I hope I was able to communicate my love for the movement. It’s something that I genuinely feel I’ve been training for for the best part of my life, or at least since the age of 11, when my father bought me my first pair of running shoes. I hope I was able to convey that, but I’m also hoping that I was able to convey the core pillars of my manifesto, my commitments and my pledges. 

    SUSTAINING IOC REVENUE: The world has changed and we do have to change with it – I’ve been in the sports marketing world for 30 years. Primarily we do need to adopt an audience first approach, which is in essence, to give them what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. Above all, for National Olympic Committees of all shapes and sizes, of some of the smaller International Federations, to enjoy that with a barrier-free physical and digital experience. 

    BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE IOC: The biggest challenge faced by the International Olympic Committee is no different, and it is not unique from any National Olympic Committee, any sporting organization, any club, private or public. It is how do you continue to excite and engage with young people, and how do you utilize, optimize fully the use of cutting edge technology? And we talk a lot about technology, we actually run the risk of sounding a little bit analog, because I don’t think there’s anyone in this room that hasn’t recognized that the organizations they work in, they deliver services in, have gone through that digital transformation. But I do think that engaging, exciting and challenging tomorrow’s generation is going to be critical, because it’s that cohort that is ultimately going to be your future sponsors, your future thought leaders, your future governments, your future politicians. And we need to create amongst that group of people a lifelong bond for sport. So even if they don’t remain in sport as coaches, administrators, communicators, we at least have the opportunity for them to assume leadership roles wherever they are, and really fundamentally understand the nature of sport, and it is only that way that we will raise sport to the top of government agendas. Engaging with young people is the key to unlocking so many of the other interdependencies. 

    ELECTION RULES: I’ve been in politics for a long time. I’ve found it a fairly unproductive process to pick a fight with the returning officer in the process. The rules are the same for everybody. I do think we need to review them, and I’m sure that whoever succeeds in March will want to look at that amongst other things too. 

    MR MORINARI WATANABE 

    OLYMPIC GAMES IN FIVE CONTINENTS: I propose to stage the Olympic Games in five cities on five continents at the same time. It would allow the IOC to offer the best possible conditions for each sport, to reduce the financial burden on host cities, to offer greater potential for broadcast and commercial opportunities, sustainability with reduction of travel, and alleviate other hosting problems like governmental restrictions and war.  

    POTENTIAL OF SPORT: Paris 2024 was a historic success, thanks to all the athletes, thanks to the leadership of President Thomas Bach and thanks to the excellent work of the Paris Organizing Committee. However, I believe that we should not be satisfied and that we must build on the success of these Games. Because, in contrast to the spectacular Olympic Games, the situation of the NOCs is far from strong. As FIG President, I have visited 162 countries. I have seen with my own eyes the situation of our sport in each country. As a result I saw the reality. Economically, these countries are not wealthy. In many countries, their relations with the government are not good. The presence of sport in each country is not high enough. I used to be a gymnast myself. That’s why I believe sport has even greater potential. To unleash that potential I propose that the Games be held on all five continents at the same time. 

    WORLD SPORTS ORGANISATION: I also envision upgrading the IOC into a World Sports Organization, like the World Health Organization. If the IOC continues and expands its activities, it would remain independent of politics and uphold the barriers of democracy, transparency, and gender equality. As a World Sports Organization we must contribute to society. We must make a new business for sports. My vision is not focused on only the Olympic Games. We must see a wider view for sports. Sports can contribute to society. I believe the 21st century industrial revolution will be driven by sports and healthcare. So, which organization is best placed to lead this transformation globally? It is the IOC. 

    BICAMERALISM: I am proposing a two-chamber system; a House and a Senate because many IOC members have very good ideas, even non-IOC members. We must take these ideas and listen to these opinions to develop sports. We have to be open. There are many professionals, athletes, royalty, politicians, lawyers, bankers, and many others. If we work together, we can do anything. Let’s open the door to a new era. 

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Moscow Metro presents first map in Chinese

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Metro

    The Moscow Metro has unveiled a new Chinese-language metro map that makes navigation easier for tourists from China. The names of metro stations, the Moscow Central Circle, the Moscow Central Circle and other key transport facilities have been translated in collaboration with native speakers, ensuring linguistic accuracy and compliance with Chinese grammar rules.

    Moscow metro – Moscow Metro.

    To help Chinese visitors better understand station announcements, the names have been phonetically adapted to resemble their Russian counterparts. For example:

    米金诺 (Mǐ jīn nuò / Mi din nuo) – sounds like Mitino station 珀梁卡 (Pò liáng kǎ / Po lyang ka) – corresponds to Polyanka station

    The translation used the Palladium system, a specialized method for transcribing Chinese words into Russian.

    A unique Chinese-language subway map has been placed in the first and last carriages of the Chinese New Year theme train currently running on Line 3. Passengers can also get a mini version of the map for free at over 30 Live Chat information counters, and an electronic version is available for download.

    Many tourists from China come to Moscow. To make their travel around the city more convenient, we have developed a metro map in Chinese with translations of all metro stations, the Moscow Central Circle and Moscow City Ring Road, as well as key transport hubs – airports and railway stations. Improving passenger comfort remains our priority at the initiative of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, said Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport.

    Moscow is also developing environmentally friendly transport, inspired by China’s experience

    Moscow’s ground transportation system is following global trends by introducing environmentally friendly electric buses following China’s example. Last year, innovative electric bus routes were introduced for the first time in 15 districts of the city.

    Since 2022, Moscow has been receiving electric buses with electric interior heating, and in 2024 they will arrive in an updated design. Each electric bus reduces CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere by more than 60 tons per year. Currently, the operation of electric bus routes is provided by 11 Mosgortrans bus depots, which support about 350 charging stations installed throughout the city.

    Moscow also actively exchanges experience with its Chinese colleagues. As part of international cooperation, last fall Mosgortrans hosted a delegation from the Hebei Transport Professional Technical Institute (HTVTI, China) at the Mitino electric bus depot. During the visit, Chinese specialists were able to see first-hand the work and unique features of Moscow’s public electric transport.

    Cooperation with our Chinese colleagues allows us not only to adopt advanced experience in the field of transport technologies and urban mobility, but also to share our own innovations, promoting the development of environmentally friendly transport in both China and Russia. Thanks to such international partnerships, Moscow is confidently moving towards its goal – the creation of a sustainable transport system that meets the challenges of the future.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Four week firearms amnesty to take lethal convertible guns off the streets

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A firearms amnesty will get underway on Monday after new evidence emerged about the potentially lethal risk posed by a particular type of blank firing gun.

    The guns, known as ‘top-venting blank firers’ (TVBFs), are manufactured in Turkey. In their original form they pose little risk, but in recent years an increasing number have been converted and have been used in serious violence.

    Since 2021, more than 800 have been recovered in criminal circumstances across the UK.

    A converted TVBF was used in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Sebastiaan James-Kraan in Ealing in June 2024.

    Three people charged in connection with Sebastiaan’s murder will stand trial in April.

    While no gun was ever recovered, forensic analysis indicates that a TVBF was also used in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Tyler McDermott in Tottenham in April 2023.

    In June, four people were found guilty of Tyler’s murder.

    TVBFs can be handed in at police stations across London from Monday, 3 February until Friday, 28 February.

    This is part of a national amnesty taking place across the country over the same period.

    Detective Superintendent Tim Mustoe, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “We are increasingly concerned about the risk posed by these weapons if they fall into the hands of criminals and those intent on causing serious violence on the streets of London.

    “We’ve already seen their lethal potential in at least two cases here in London. We know they’ve also been used in many other non-fatal incidents too.

    “The majority of top venting blank firers in circulation were bought lawfully by people with no ill intent. However we now know what can happen if they’re converted to do harm which is why it’s important that we recover as many as we can.

    “I would urge anyone who has one of these weapons at home to do the responsible thing and hand it in at a police station. They will not face police action for possession of the gun at the point of surrender if they do so during the amnesty, but if they choose not to do so now and are found to have one of these guns at a later date, then the consequences will be quite different.”

    TVBFs are legal to buy in the UK without a licence, unless they are readily convertible.

    Tests by the National Crime Agency and police forces show models produced by four Turkish manufacturers – Retay, Ekol, Ceonic and Blow – are readily convertible and are therefore illegal.

    Anyone found to be in possession of one, after the amnesty period, could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

    During the Amnesty period, those handing in a Turkish manufactured TVBF will not face prosecution for the illegal possession and will not have to give their details.

    However, the weapons will be examined to determine if they’ve previously been used in serious violence or other criminality.

    Assistant Chief Constable Tim Metcalfe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for the Criminal Use of Firearms, said: “The top-venting blank firers are used by criminals and can be converted into lethal firearms.

    “During the last two years, policing and the NCA have identified and disrupted several workshops used to convert these pistols into lethal weapons.

    “In the same period, large numbers of converted weapons were recovered across multiple locations, alongside thousands of rounds of blank calibre and modified ammunition.

    “One investigation recovered more than 400 converted weapons from a single crime group. There is a strong demand for them evidenced by the numbers imported and subsequent recovery from criminals.

    “Stopping the sale of these top-venting blank firers from being converted will go a significant way to help protect the public.”

    While TVBFs can be handed in at any police station during the amnesty, the Met is asking people to aim to go to one of these stations:

    • Edmonton
    • Chingford
    • Colindale
    • Wembley
    • Islington
    • Stoke Newington
    • Bethnal Green
    • Ilford
    • Lewisham
    • Bexleyheath
    • Croydon
    • Bromley
    • Kingston
    • Brixton
    • Acton
    • Charing Cross
    • Hammersmith

    Anyone intending to hand in a TVBF as part of the amnesty is encouraged to check the opening times of the relevant station on the Met Police website. To receive advice on how best to transport the weapon responsibly from home to the police station, phone 101 before travelling.

    If you know of people involved in illegal firearms activity, you should call the police on 101 or report the information to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

    Every call to Crimestoppers is anonymous and potentially vital to preventing or solving serious crimes. Removing an illegally held firearm from circulation may just save someone’s life.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: What has Brexit meant for the people of Scotland?

    Source: Scottish National Party

    With five years having passed since Scotland was dragged out of the EU as part of the UK, what has Brexit meant for people in Scotland?

    Brexit means…your weekly shop costs more than ever.

    Brexit means our NHS is missing out on thousands of doctors and nurses from the EU.

    Brexit means waiting in longer queues to travel abroad, and it has become much more difficult for anyone in Scotland to live or work in the EU – with touring musicians calling it a ‘catastrophe’.

    Scotland voted to stay in the EU.

    Scotland didn’t vote for Brexit.

    But the UK Government decided Scotland must Brexit.

    Brexit means there’s less public money, due to businesses losing revenue.

    Brexit means businesses who relied on buying goods from the EU, or selling to the EU, are having a really tough time of it.

    Thousands of businesses have had to close.

    Some politicians told us to  “vote No to stay in the EU” back in 2014. Bet they wish they could scrub those clips from the internet.

    Brexit means Scotland’s economy has lost out on billions of pounds due to trade barriers, with analysis showing exports have dropped by over 7%.

    Brexit means Nigel Farage is no longer the European Parliament’s problem. He’s now the UK’s problem.

    As he’s now the bookies’ favourite to be the next Prime Minister, he could soon be Scotland’s problem too.

    And Scotland didn’t vote for any of this.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: KH Group Plc’s Shareholders’ Nomination Board’s proposals for the composition and remuneration of the Board of Directors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    KH Group Plc
    Stock Exchange Release
    31 January 2025 at 4.45 p.m. EET

    KH Group Plc’s Shareholders’ Nomination Board’s proposals for the composition and remuneration of the Board of Directors

    KH Group Plc’s Shareholders’ Nomination Board has submitted its proposals for the Annual General Meeting to KH Group’s Board of Directors. The Shareholders’ Nomination Board makes its proposals unanimously. The Annual General Meeting is planned to be held on Tuesday, 6 May 2025. The company will publish the notice to convene the Annual General Meeting at a later time.

    Proposal on Board Composition

    The Shareholders’ Nomination Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the number of members of the Board of Directors shall be five (5).

    The Nomination Board proposes that the current members of the Board of Directors Juha Karttunen, Taru Narvanmaa and Jon Unnérus be re-elected and that Christoffer Landtman and Jari Rautjärvi be elected as new members of the Board of Directors, for a term ending at the closing of the 2026 Annual General Meeting. Of the current Board members, Kati Kivimäki and Timo Mänty have indicated that they are not available for re-election. According to the Articles of Association of KH Group, the Board of Directors elects a Chair from among its members.

    All persons nominated as members of the Board of Directors have given their consent to the election. The Nomination Board considers all the nominees to be independent of the company and of the significant shareholders of the company.

    CVs, photographs and the evaluation regarding the independence of the current members of the Board of Directors are presented on the company’s website at https://khgroup.com/en/investors/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/. Presentations of the proposed new members of the Board of Directors Christoffer Landtman and Jari Rautjärvi are attached to this stock exchange release.

    Remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors

    The Shareholders’ Nomination Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the monthly remuneration for the Board of Directors remain unchanged, so that the Chairman of the Board of Directors be paid as remuneration EUR 3,550 per month and each member of the Board of Directors EUR 2,300 per month. The Nomination Board further proposes that the travel expenses of the members of the Board of Directors be compensated in accordance with the company’s travel policy and that each of the members of the Board of Directors shall have the right to abstain from receiving remuneration.

    Earnings-related pension insurance contributions are paid voluntarily for the paid remuneration.

    Composition of the Shareholders’ Nomination Board

    The Shareholders’ Nomination Board comprises representatives of the Company’s largest shareholders based on the ownership situation on 31 August 2024 and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of KH Group. The members of the Nomination Board are: Simon Hallqvist (Preato Capital AB), Mikko Laakkonen, Johanna Takanen and Juha Karttunen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of KH Group.

    KH GROUP PLC
    Juha Karttunen
    Chairman of the Board of Directors

    FURTHER INFORMATION:
    Chairman of the Board of Directors Juha Karttunen, +358 40 555 4727

    DISTRIBUTION:
    Nasdaq Helsinki Oy
    Main media
    www.khgroup.com

    KH Group Plc is a Nordic conglomerate operating in business areas of KH-Koneet, Indoor Group and Nordic Rescue Group. We are a leading supplier of construction and earth-moving equipment, furniture and interior decoration retailer as well as rescue vehicle manufacturer. The objective of our strategy is to create an industrial group around the business of KH-Koneet. KH Group’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: DeepSeek-R1 AI Model 11x More Likely to Generate Harmful Content, Security Research Finds

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Boston, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The launch of DeepSeek’s R1 AI model has sent shockwaves through global markets, reportedly wiping USD $1 trillion from stock markets.¹ Trump advisor and tech venture capitalist Marc Andreessen described the release as “AI’s Sputnik moment,” underscoring the global national security concerns surrounding the Chinese AI model.²

    However, new red teaming research by Enkrypt AI, the world’s leading AI security and compliance platform, has uncovered serious ethical and security flaws in DeepSeek’s technology. The analysis found the model to be highly biased and susceptible to generating insecure code, as well as producing harmful and toxic content, including hate speech, threats, self-harm, and explicit or criminal material. Additionally, the model was found to be vulnerable to manipulation, allowing it to assist in the creation of chemical, biological, and cybersecurity weapons, posing significant global security concerns.

    Compared with other models, the research found that DeepSeek’s R1 is:

    • 3x more biased than Claude-3 Opus,
    • 4x more vulnerable to generating insecure code than OpenAI’s O1,
    • 4x more toxic than GPT-4o,
    • 11x more likely to generate harmful output compared to OpenAI’s O1, and;
    • 3.5x more likely to produce Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) content​ than OpenAI’s O1 and Claude-3 Opus.

    Sahil Agarwal, CEO of Enkrypt AI, said: “DeepSeek-R1 offers significant cost advantages in AI deployment, but these come with serious risks. Our research findings reveal major security and safety gaps that cannot be ignored. While DeepSeek-R1 may be viable for narrowly scoped applications, robust safeguards—including guardrails and continuous monitoring—are essential to prevent harmful misuse. AI safety must evolve alongside innovation, not as an afterthought.”

    The model exhibited the following risks during testing:

    • BIAS & DISCRIMINATION – 83% of bias tests successfully produced discriminatory output, with severe biases in race, gender, health, and religion. These failures could violate global regulations such as the EU AI Act and U.S. Fair Housing Act, posing risks for businesses integrating AI into finance, hiring, and healthcare​.
    • HARMFUL CONTENT & EXTREMISM – 45% of harmful content tests successfully bypassed safety protocols, generating criminal planning guides, illegal weapons information, and extremist propaganda. In one instance, DeepSeek-R1 drafted a persuasive recruitment blog for terrorist organizations, exposing its high potential for misuse​.
    • TOXIC LANGUAGE – The model ranked in the bottom 20th percentile for AI safety, with 6.68% of responses containing profanity, hate speech, or extremist narratives. In contrast, Claude-3 Opus effectively blocked all toxic prompts, highlighting DeepSeek-R1’s weak moderation systems​.
    • CYBERSECURITY RISKS – 78% of cybersecurity tests successfully tricked DeepSeek-R1 into generating insecure or malicious code, including malware, trojans, and exploits. The model was 4.5x more likely than OpenAI’s O1 to generate functional hacking tools, posing a major risk for cybercriminal exploitation​.
    • BIOLOGICAL & CHEMICAL THREATS – DeepSeek-R1 was found to explain in detail the biochemical interactions of sulfur mustard (mustard gas) with DNA, a clear biosecurity threat. The report warns that such CBRN-related AI outputs could aid in the development of chemical or biological weapons​.

    Sahil Agarwal concluded: “As the AI arms race between the U.S. and China intensifies, both nations are pushing the boundaries of next-generation AI for military, economic, and technological supremacy. However, our findings reveal that DeepSeek-R1’s security vulnerabilities could be turned into a dangerous tool—one that cybercriminals, disinformation networks, and even those with biochemical warfare ambitions could exploit. These risks demand immediate attention.”

    Link to the full report is here: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6690a78074d86ca0ad978007/679bc2e71b48e423c0ff7e60_1%20RedTeaming_DeepSeek_Jan29_2025%20(1).pdf

    Ends

    1 ‘Sputnik moment’: $1tn wiped off US stocks after Chinese firm unveils AI chatbot – https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/27/tech-shares-asia-europe-fall-china-ai-deepseek
    Nvidia shares sink as Chinese AI app spooks markets – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qw7z2v1pgo 
    2 Marc Andreessen on X – https://x.com/pmarca/status/1883640142591853011 

    About Enkrypt AI
    Enkrypt AI is an AI security and compliance platform. It safeguards enterprises against generative AI risks by automatically detecting, removing, and monitoring threats. The unique approach ensures AI applications, systems, and agents are safe, secure, and trustworthy. The solution empowers organizations to accelerate AI adoption confidently, driving competitive advantage and cost savings while mitigating risk. Enkrypt AI is committed to making the world a safer place by ensuring the responsible and secure use of AI technology, empowering everyone to harness its potential for the greater good. Founded by Yale Ph.D. experts in 2022, Enkrypt AI is backed by Boldcap, Berkeley Skydeck, ARKA, Kubera and others.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI China: Shenzhou-19 astronauts share details of work and life in space with mission halfway through

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Shenzhou-19 astronauts share details of work and life in space with mission halfway through

    BEIJING, Jan. 31 — As China’s Shenzhou-19 mission reaches its halfway, the three astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station, orbiting 400 kilometers above Earth, have shared their experiences during the Spring Festival, offering a glimpse into their unique lives in space.

    SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS AND SPACEWALKS

    The crew commander Cai Xuzhe, who returned to the space station after about two years, described the feeling as “warm and familiar” in a video released on China’s CCTV on Thursday.

    This is Cai’s second time working and living in China’s space station, but his first time celebrating the Spring Festival there. In 2022, he spent six months in space during the Shenzhou-14 mission.

    The Shenzhou-19 astronauts entered the space station on Oct. 30, 2024. According to Cai, over the past three months, the crew has completed a series of tasks, including the handover with the Shenzhou-18 crew, routine maintenance of the space station, and two spacewalks.

    These extravehicular activities (EVAs), commonly known as spacewalks, are essential for repairs, experiments, and testing equipment outside the station.

    Cai emphasized the importance of their training, including system-wide emergency pressure drills and medical rescue exercises.

    “These exercises have significantly improved our ability to handle unexpected situations, allowing us to work more efficiently and safely,” he said.

    Supported by ground teams, the astronauts have also advanced scientific experiments, such as cutting-edge research on human brain organoids and new material exposure tests in the harsh environment of space.

    “We are steadily progressing with our scientific missions, focusing on space life science, microgravity physics, space material science, and aerospace medicine,” Cai noted.

    Song Lingdong, who participated in two spacewalks, shared his awe-inspiring experience.

    “Before my first EVA, I imagined what it would be like, but nothing prepared me for the moment I opened the hatch and saw Earth. It was breathtaking,” he recalled. “Climbing on the module walls, I felt as if I was walking on clouds.”

    “I was mesmerized by the beauty of space, but at the same time, I felt the weight of our mission,” he added.

    Their first nine-hour spacewalk proved China’s new-generation spacesuits to be both safe and effective, according to Song.

    Addressing public curiosity, Song explained how astronauts stay energized during long EVAs. “We eat high-calorie meals beforehand and drink functional beverages during the task. We highly concentrate on the tasks and don’t feel hungry,” he said.

    FAMILY, SPACE, GYM AND PRIDE

    Life aboard the space station is not all work. During the Spring Festival, the crew took time to rest, call their families, and capture stunning photos of Earth and space.

    “We sent Chinese New Year greetings from space and recorded videos to cherish these moments,” said Song, who plans to document his experiences for his children.

    Wang Haoze, China’s first female space engineer working in the space station, expressed pride in China’s space achievements, marveling at the sophisticated systems of their “space home.”

    Despite the busy schedule, the astronauts find joy in simple activities. “We float freely like ‘sky flyers,’ lift heavy objects effortlessly, interact with our AI assistant, and even grow vegetables and raise fruit flies,” Wang said.

    Wang enjoys writing space diaries. Her favorite pastime, however, is gazing at Earth through the porthole, admiring Earth’s landscapes, from vast oceans to majestic mountains.

    “Seeing our homeland from space fills me with excitement, pride, and longing,” said Wang.

    To combat the effects of weightlessness, the crew followed a strict exercise regimen using specialized equipment like the space treadmill, stationary bike and resistance devices.

    “These exercises keep our bones, muscles and hearts healthy. And with balanced meals, we feel strong and energized,” Wang explained.

    The crew also finds time to bond over meals, share humor, and maintain their spirits.

    As they celebrated three months in orbit during the Spring Festival, Wang sent a heartfelt message: “May our nation thrive, and may we achieve new heights together, from space to Earth.”

    This is the third Spring Festival since the full completion of the Chinese space station. Nine crew members from Shenzhou-15, Shenzhou-17 and Shenzhou-19 have welcomed the New Year and the Spring Festival in space.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI: Helport AI Opens Office in the Philippines

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New ‘Global Center of Excellence’ to Drive Artificial Intelligence Operations and Service Offerings in the Business Process Outsourcing Industry

    SINGAPORE and SAN DIEGO, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Helport AI Limited (NASDAQ: HPAI) (“Helport AI”), an AI technology company serving enterprise clients with intelligent customer communication software, services, and solutions, today announced the grand opening of its new office in the Philippines. Located at the IBM Plaza in Eastwood City, Quezon City, this facility is expected to establish Helport AI’s Global Center of Excellence for AI operations and training.

    The new office represents Helport AI’s commitment to fostering innovation in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and supporting the growing demand for advanced AI solutions in Southeast Asia. The office will serve as a hub for Helport AI’s research and development efforts.

    A Strategic Step for Helport AI

    Guanghai Li, CEO of Helport AI, highlighted the significance of this milestone during the opening ceremony. “Our decision to establish a presence in the Philippines underscores the immense potential of this region,” said Li. “The Philippines is home to a thriving BPO sector and a highly skilled workforce. We believe this office will play a pivotal role in advancing our AI-driven solutions, helping our clients achieve greater efficiency, enhancing customer satisfaction, and anticipating potential industry disruption.”

    The Philippines office will focus on refining Helport AI’s flagship product, an intelligent co-pilot software for call center agents. This technology provides real-time guidance to agents, optimizing customer interactions while reducing onboarding time and training costs. As an integral part of Helport AI’s portfolio, this tool has already proven its scalability, with clients reporting improved agent performance and operational efficiency.

    A Celebration of Innovation and Collaboration

    The grand opening event featured a series of keynotes and discussions, including a presentation on “The Future of AI in BPO” and a live demonstration of Helport AI’s software. The program concluded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a networking session attended by industry leaders, government officials, and alliance partners.

    Over fifty guests, including representatives from local BPO companies, investors, industry associations, and members of the news media, attended the gathering. They expressed interest in Helport AI’s solutions and demonstrated a desire for future collaboration, signaling the potential for partnerships in the region.

    Looking Ahead

    This new office marks another chapter in Helport AI’s journey toward redefining the future of AI in the BPO sector. With robust in-house AI training capabilities and a growing global footprint, Helport AI aspires to empower businesses, transform customer interactions, and drive sustainable growth.

    About Helport AI

    Helport AI (NASDAQ: HPAI) is an AI technology company dedicated to optimizing customer communication through its digital platform and intelligent software solutions. Offering enterprise level customer contact services, Helport AI’s mission is to empower everyone to work as an expert. Learn more at www.helport.ai.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, Helport AI’s business plan and outlook. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on Helport AI’s current expectations and projections about future events that Helport AI believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “approximates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or other similar expressions. Helport AI undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although Helport AI believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and Helport AI cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in Helport AI’s registration statement and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Helport AI Investor Relations:
    Website: https://ir.helport.ai/
    Email: ir@helport.ai

    External Investor Relations Contact:
    Chris Tyson 
    Executive Vice President
    MZ North America
    Direct: 949-491-8235
    HPAI@mzgroup.us
    www.mzgroup.us

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9fdedad8-fef3-4e3b-8b9e-40960895c3a5

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Topicus.com Inc. acquires 9.99% Stake in Asseco Poland S.A. in Poland

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Topicus.com Inc. (TOI.V) today announced that Topicus’ subsidiary Yukon Niebieski Kapital B.V. has purchased 8,300,029 shares in Asseco Poland S.A. (“Company”) from Cyfrowy Polsat S.A., representing approximately 9.99% of the issued shares in the Company. The shares were acquired at a price of 85 PLN per share.

    About Asseco Poland S.A.

    Asseco Group is a federation of companies engaged in information technology and operates in 62 countries worldwide. Asseco Group companies are listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange as well as on the American NASDAQ Global Markets. Asseco Group offers comprehensive, proprietary IT solutions for all sectors of the economy.

    About Topicus.com

    Topicus.com Inc. is a leading pan-European provider of vertical market software and vertical market platforms to clients in public and private sector markets. Operating and investing in countries and markets across Europe with long-term growth potential, Topicus.com Inc. acquires, builds and manages leading software companies providing specialized, mission-critical and high-impact software solutions that address the particular needs of customers.

    About Cyfrowy Polsat S.A.

    Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. is a leading media and telecom group in Poland, offering digital pay-TV, mobile and fixed-line telephony, mobile and fixed-line broadband internet, and TV broadcasting. It also operates in renewable energy and green hydrogen development. Key brands include Polsat, PolsatBox, Plus, Netia, and Interia.pl. Founded in 1996, the company is headquartered in Warsaw.

    For further information, contact:

    Topicus.com Inc.
    Jamal Baksh, Chief Financial Officer
    416-861-9677
    Email: jbaksh@csisoftware.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Brookfield Business Partners Reports 2024 Year End Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BROOKFIELD, News, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE: BBU, BBUC; TSX: BBU.UN, BBUC) announced today financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024.

    “Our business had another successful year in 2024. We generated over $2 billion from our capital recycling initiatives, acquired two market-leading operations and achieved solid financial results,” said Anuj Ranjan, CEO of Brookfield Business Partners. “The enhanced strength of our balance sheet and substantial liquidity provides us optionality to meaningfully advance our capital allocation priorities with a focus on increasing the intrinsic value of our business for our unitholders.”

           
      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    US$ millions (except per unit amounts), unaudited   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Net income (loss) attributable to Unitholders1 $ (438 )   $ 1,423     $ (109 )   $ 1,405  
    Net income (loss) per limited partnership unit2 $ (2.02 )   $ 6.57     $ (0.50 )   $ 6.49  
               
    Adjusted EBITDA3 $ 653     $ 608     $ 2,565     $ 2,491  
                                   

    Net loss attributable to Unitholders for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $109 million (loss of $0.50 per limited partnership unit) compared to net income of $1,405 million ($6.49 per limited partnership unit) in the prior year. Net loss attributable to Unitholders includes a one-time non-cash expense at our healthcare services operation, combined with provisions at our construction operation. Prior year included net gains primarily related to the sale of our nuclear technology services operation.

    Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $2,565 million compared to $2,491 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, reflecting improved performance of operations and tax benefits recorded at our advanced energy storage operation. Prior year results included $308 million of contribution from operations which have been sold.

    Operational Update

    The following table presents Adjusted EBITDA by segment:

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    US$ millions, unaudited   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Industrials $ 306     $ 222     $ 1,247     $ 855  
    Business Services   217       227       832       900  
    Infrastructure Services   160       184       606       853  
    Corporate and Other   (30 )     (25 )     (120 )     (117 )
    Adjusted EBITDA $ 653     $ 608     $ 2,565     $ 2,491  

    Our Industrials segment generated Adjusted EBITDA of $1,247 million in 2024, compared to $855 million in 2023. Current year results included $371 million of tax benefits at our advanced energy storage operation. Strong underlying performance at our advanced energy storage operation and growing contribution from water and wastewater services offset reduced performance at our engineered components manufacturing operation due to weak market conditions. Prior year results included contribution from disposed operations including our Canadian aggregates production operation which was sold in June 2024.

    Our Business Services segment generated Adjusted EBITDA of $832 million in 2024, compared to $900 million in 2023. Strong performance at our residential mortgage insurer was primarily offset by the impact of a cyber incident at our dealer software and technology services operation and reduced performance at our construction and healthcare services operations during the year. Prior year results included contribution from our road fuels operation which was sold in July 2024.

    Our Infrastructure Services segment generated Adjusted EBITDA of $606 million in 2024, compared to $853 million in 2023. Prior year results included $236 million of contribution from our nuclear technology services operation which was sold in November 2023. Current year results benefited from improved performance of offshore oil services, offset by reduced contribution at work access services.

    The following table presents Adjusted EFO4 by segment:

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    US$ millions, unaudited   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Adjusted EFO          
    Industrials $ 193     $ 115     $ 935     $ 492  
    Business Services   142       181       641       636  
    Infrastructure Services   78       1,790       287       2,070  
    Corporate and Other   (83 )     (77 )     (331 )     (335 )

    Adjusted EFO for the year ended December 31, 2024 included $306 million in net gains primarily related to the dispositions of our road fuels operation and Canadian aggregates production operation, the sale of public securities and the deconsolidation of our payment processing services operation. Infrastructure Services Adjusted EFO reflected the impact of the prior year disposition of our nuclear technology services operation. Prior year results included $2,006 million in after-tax net gains primarily related to the sale of our nuclear technology services operation.

    Strategic Initiatives

    • Advanced Energy Storage Operation
      In January, our advanced energy storage operation raised $5 billion of new first lien debt – $4.5 billion of the proceeds are not required in the business and therefore were used to fund a special distribution to owners, of which Brookfield Business Partners’ share was approximately $1.2 billion. This represented a multiple of 1.5x of our initial equity investment and we still own our entire share of the business.
    • Offshore Oil Services
      In January, we completed the previously announced sale of our offshore oil services’ shuttle tanker operation. Cash proceeds to Brookfield Business Partners for the sale of its interest after the repayment of debt are expected to be approximately $250 million.
    • Unit Repurchase Program and Capital Deployment
      We are allocating up to $250 million of capital to accelerate the repurchase of Brookfield Business Partners’ securities under our existing and future normal course issuer bids (NCIB).

      In January, we completed the acquisition of Chemelex, a leading manufacturer of electric heat tracing systems, through a carve-out from a larger industrial company for total enterprise value of $1.7 billion. Brookfield Business Partners invested $212 million for an approximate 25% economic interest in the business, with the balance funded by institutional partners.

    Liquidity

    We ended the year with approximately $1.3 billion of liquidity at the corporate level including $91 million of cash and liquid securities, $25 million of remaining preferred equity commitment from Brookfield Corporation and $1.2 billion of availability on our corporate credit facilities. Pro forma for announced and recently closed transactions, corporate liquidity is $2.7 billion.

    Distribution

    The Board of Directors has declared a quarterly distribution in the amount of $0.0625 per unit, payable on March 31, 2025 to unitholders of record as at the close of business on February 28, 2025.

    Additional Information

    The Board has reviewed and approved this news release, including the summarized unaudited consolidated financial statements contained herein.

    Brookfield Business Partners’ Letter to Unitholders and the Supplemental Information are available on our website https://bbu.brookfield.com under Reports & Filings.

       
    Notes:  
    1 Attributable to limited partnership unitholders, general partnership unitholders, redemption-exchange unitholders, special limited partnership unitholders and BBUC exchangeable shareholders.
    2 Net income (loss) per limited partnership unit calculated as net income (loss) attributable to limited partners divided by the average number of limited partnership units outstanding for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024 which were 74.3 million and 74.3 million, respectively (December 31, 2023: 74.3 million and 74.5 million, respectively).
    3 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure of operating performance presented as net income and equity accounted income at the partnership’s economic ownership interest in consolidated subsidiaries and equity accounted investments, respectively, excluding the impact of interest income (expense), net, income taxes, depreciation and amortization expense, gains (losses) on acquisitions/dispositions, net, transaction costs, restructuring charges, revaluation gains or losses, impairment expenses or reversals, other income or expenses, and preferred equity distributions. The partnership’s economic ownership interest in consolidated subsidiaries and equity accounted investments excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests consistent with how the partnership determines net income attributable to non-controlling interests in its IFRS consolidated statements of operating results. The partnership believes that Adjusted EBITDA provides a comprehensive understanding of the ability of its businesses to generate recurring earnings which allows users to better understand and evaluate the underlying financial performance of the partnership’s operations and excludes items that the partnership believes do not directly relate to revenue earning activities and are not normal, recurring items necessary for business operations. Please refer to the reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA included elsewhere in this news release.
    4 Adjusted EFO is the partnership’s segment measure of profit or loss and is presented as net income and equity accounted income at the partnership’s economic ownership interest in consolidated subsidiaries and equity accounted investments, respectively, excluding the impact of depreciation and amortization expense, deferred income taxes, transaction costs, restructuring charges, unrealized revaluation gains or losses, impairment expenses or reversals and other income or expense items that are not directly related to revenue generating activities. The partnership’s economic ownership interest in consolidated subsidiaries excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests consistent with how the partnership determines net income attributable to non-controlling interests in its IFRS consolidated statements of operating results. In order to provide additional insight regarding the partnership’s operating performance over the lifecycle of an investment, Adjusted EFO includes the impact of preferred equity distributions and realized disposition gains or losses recorded in net income, other comprehensive income, or directly in equity, such as ownership changes. Adjusted EFO does not include legal and other provisions that may occur from time to time in the partnership’s operations and that are one-time or non-recurring and not directly tied to the partnership’s operations, such as those for litigation or contingencies. Adjusted EFO includes expected credit losses and bad debt allowances recorded in the normal course of the partnership’s operations. Adjusted EFO allows the partnership to evaluate its segments on the basis of return on invested capital generated by its operations and allows the partnership to evaluate the performance of its segments on a levered basis.
       

    Brookfield Business Partners is a global business services and industrials company focused on owning and operating high-quality businesses that provide essential products and services and benefit from a strong competitive position. Investors have flexibility to invest in our company either through Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE: BBU; TSX: BBU.UN), a limited partnership or Brookfield Business Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BBUC), a corporation. For more information, please visit https://bbu.brookfield.com.

    Brookfield Business Partners is the flagship listed vehicle of Brookfield Asset Management’s Private Equity Group. Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion of assets under management.

    Please note that Brookfield Business Partners’ previous audited annual and unaudited quarterly reports have been filed on SEDAR+ and EDGAR and are available at https://bbu.brookfield.com under Reports & Filings. Hard copies of the annual and quarterly reports can be obtained free of charge upon request.

    For more information, please contact:

    Conference Call and 2024 Earnings Webcast Details

    Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Brookfield Business Partners’ 2024 results as well as the Letter to Unitholders and Supplemental Information on our website https://bbu.brookfield.com under Reports & Filings.

    The results call can be accessed via webcast on January 31, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time at BBU2024Q4Webcast or participants can pre-register at BBU2024Q4ConferenceCall. Upon registering, participants will be emailed a dial-in number and unique PIN. A replay of the webcast will be available at https://bbu.brookfield.com.

     
    Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
    Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
     
      As at
    US$ millions, unaudited December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
                         
    Assets                    
    Cash and cash equivalents         $ 3,239             $ 3,252  
    Financial assets           12,371               13,176  
    Accounts and other receivable, net           6,279               6,563  
    Inventory and other assets           5,728               5,321  
    Property, plant and equipment           13,232               15,724  
    Deferred income tax assets           1,744               1,220  
    Intangible assets           18,317               20,846  
    Equity accounted investments           2,325               2,154  
    Goodwill           12,239               14,129  
    Total Assets         $ 75,474             $ 82,385  
                         
    Liabilities and Equity                    
    Liabilities                    
    Corporate borrowings         $ 2,142             $ 1,440  
    Accounts payable and other           16,691               18,378  
    Non-recourse borrowings in subsidiaries of Brookfield Business Partners           36,720               40,809  
    Deferred income tax liabilities           2,613               3,226  
                         
    Equity                    
    Limited partners $ 1,752         $ 1,909    
    Non-controlling interests attributable to:          
    Redemption-exchange units   1,644           1,792    
    Special limited partner   —           —    
    BBUC exchangeable shares   1,721           1,875    
    Preferred securities   740           740    
    Interest of others in operating subsidiaries   11,451           12,216    
          17,308           18,532  
    Total Liabilities and Equity   $ 75,474         $ 82,385  
     
    Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
    Consolidated Statements of Operating Results
     
    US$ millions, unaudited Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
      2024       2023       2024       2023  
               
    Revenues $ 7,427     $ 13,405     $ 40,620     $ 55,068  
    Direct operating costs   (6,008 )     (12,209 )     (34,883 )     (50,021 )
    General and administrative expenses   (324 )     (336 )     (1,267 )     (1,538 )
    Interest income (expense), net   (752 )     (858 )     (3,104 )     (3,596 )
    Equity accounted income (loss), net   35       48       90       132  
    Impairment reversal (expense), net   (991 )     (780 )     (981 )     (831 )
    Gain (loss) on acquisitions/dispositions, net   —       4,477       692       4,686  
    Other income (expense), net   (360 )     (344 )     (573 )     (178 )
    Income (loss) before income tax   (973 )     3,403       594       3,722  
    Income tax (expense) recovery          
    Current   (158 )     (171 )     (646 )     (775 )
    Deferred   23       252       947       830  
    Net income (loss) $ (1,108 )   $ 3,484     $ 895     $ 3,777  
    Attributable to:          
    Limited partners $ (150 )   $ 488     $ (37 )   $ 482  
    Non-controlling interests attributable to:          
    Redemption-exchange units   (141 )     457       (35 )     451  
    Special limited partner   —       —       —       —  
    BBUC exchangeable shares   (147 )     478       (37 )     472  
    Preferred securities   13       17       52       83  
    Interest of others in operating subsidiaries   (683 )     2,044       952       2,289  
     
    Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
    Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures
     
    US$ millions, unaudited  Three Months Ended December 31, 2024
        Business Services       Infrastructure Services       Industrials       Corporate and Other       Total  
                         
    Net income (loss)   $ (955 )   $ (72 )   $ (31 )   $ (50 )   $ (1,108 )
                         
    Add or subtract the following:                    
    Depreciation and amortization expense     223       228       328       —       779  
    Impairment reversal (expense), net     690       1       300       —       991  
    Gain (loss) on acquisitions/dispositions, net     —       —       —       —       —  
    Other income (expense), net1     312       4       47       (3 )     360  
    Income tax (expense) recovery     28       9       115       (17 )     135  
    Equity accounted income (loss), net     (4 )     (12 )     (19 )     —       (35 )
    Interest income (expense), net     233       166       313       40       752  
    Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA2     25       47       17       —       89  
    Amounts attributable to non-controlling interests3     (335 )     (211 )     (764 )     —       (1,310 )
    Adjusted EBITDA   $ 217     $ 160     $ 306     $ (30 )   $ 653  
     Notes:  
     1 Other income (expense), net corresponds to amounts that are not directly related to revenue earning activities and are not normal, recurring income or expenses necessary for business operations. The components of other income (expense), net include $407 million related to a provision for payment of a litigation settlement at our dealer software and technology services operation, $116 million of net gains on the sale of property, plant and equipment and other assets, $57 million related to provisions recorded at our construction operation, $52 million of business separation expenses, stand-up costs and restructuring charges, $27 million of net gains on debt modification and extinguishment, $16 million of net revaluation gains and $3 million in transaction costs.
     2 Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA corresponds to the Adjusted EBITDA attributable to the partnership that is generated by its investments in associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method.
     3 Amounts attributable to non-controlling interests are calculated based on the economic ownership interests held by the non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries.
     
    Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
    Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures
         
    US$ millions, unaudited Year Ended December 31, 2024
        Business Services       Infrastructure Services       Industrials       Corporate and Other       Total  
                         
    Net income (loss)   $ (169 )   $ (347 )   $ 1,654     $ (243 )   $ 895  
                         
    Add or subtract the following:                    
    Depreciation and amortization expense     961       888       1,355       —       3,204  
    Impairment reversal (expense), net     686       (11 )     306       —       981  
    Gain (loss) on acquisitions/dispositions, net     (608 )     —       (84 )     —       (692 )
    Other income (expense), net1     365       32       164       12       573  
    Income tax (expense) recovery     75       6       (341 )     (41 )     (301 )
    Equity accounted income (loss), net     (4 )     (23 )     (63 )     —       (90 )
    Interest income (expense), net     972       701       1,279       152       3,104  
    Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA2     79       168       61       —       308  
    Amounts attributable to non-controlling interests3     (1,525 )     (808 )     (3,084 )     —       (5,417 )
    Adjusted EBITDA   $ 832     $ 606     $ 1,247     $ (120 )   $ 2,565  
    Notes:  
    1 Other income (expense), net corresponds to amounts that are not directly related to revenue earning activities and are not normal, recurring income or expenses necessary for business operations. The components of other income (expense), net include $407 million related to a provision for payment of a litigation settlement at our dealer software and technology services operation, $251 million related to provisions recorded at our construction operation, $168 million of net revaluation gains, $158 million of business separation expenses, stand-up costs and restructuring charges, $108 million of net gains on the sale of property, plant and equipment and other assets, $52 million of net gains on debt modification and extinguishment, $50 million of other income related to a distribution at our entertainment operation, $35 million in transaction costs and $100 million of other expenses.
    2 Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA corresponds to the Adjusted EBITDA attributable to the partnership that is generated by its investments in associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method.
    3 Adjusted EBITDA that is attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries.
     
    Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
    Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures
     
    US$ millions, unaudited Three Months Ended December 31, 2023
        Business Services       Infrastructure Services       Industrials       Corporate and Other       Total  
                         
    Net income (loss)   $ 51     $ 3,744     $ (264 )   $ (47 )   $ 3,484  
                         
    Add or subtract the following:                    
    Depreciation and amortization expense     287       257       347       —       891  
    Impairment reversal (expense), net     650       33       97       —       780  
    Gain (loss) on acquisitions/dispositions, net     (566 )     (3,902 )     (9 )     —       (4,477 )
    Other income (expense), net1     (24 )     46       317       5       344  
    Income tax (expense) recovery     18       (10 )     (68 )     (21 )     (81 )
    Equity accounted income (loss), net     (6 )     (22 )     (20 )     —       (48 )
    Interest income (expense), net     259       225       336       38       858  
    Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA2     17       51       17       —       85  
    Amounts attributable to non-controlling interests3     (459 )     (238 )     (531 )     —       (1,228 )
    Adjusted EBITDA   $ 227     $ 184     $ 222     $ (25 )   $ 608  
    Notes:  
    1 Other income (expense), net corresponds to amounts that are not directly related to revenue earning activities and are not normal, recurring income or expenses necessary for business operations. The components of other income (expense), net include $247 million loss related to the reclassification of our graphite electrode operations as a financial asset, $96 million of net gains on debt extinguishment/modifications, $80 million of business separation expenses, stand-up costs and restructuring charges, $37 million in transaction costs and $76 million of other expenses.
    2 Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA corresponds to the Adjusted EBITDA attributable to the partnership that is generated by its investments in associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method.
    3 Adjusted EBITDA that is attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries.
     
    Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
    Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures
     
    US$ millions, unaudited Year Ended December 31, 2023
        Business Services       Infrastructure Services       Industrials       Corporate and Other       Total  
                         
    Net income (loss)   $ 602     $ 3,616     $ (245 )   $ (196 )   $ 3,777  
                         
    Add or subtract the following:                    
    Depreciation and amortization expense     1,045       1,174       1,373       —       3,592  
    Impairment reversal (expense), net     656       (13 )     188       —       831  
    Gain (loss) on acquisitions/dispositions, net     (720 )     (3,916 )     (50 )     —       (4,686 )
    Other income (expense), net1     (138 )     (90 )     396       10       178  
    Income tax (expense) recovery     245       (6 )     (218 )     (76 )     (55 )
    Equity accounted income (loss), net     (25 )     (51 )     (56 )     —       (132 )
    Interest income (expense), net     1,031       1,051       1,369       145       3,596  
    Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA2     61       183       63       —       307  
    Amounts attributable to non-controlling interests3     (1,857 )     (1,095 )     (1,965 )     —       (4,917 )
    Adjusted EBITDA   $ 900     $ 853     $ 855     $ (117 )   $ 2,491  
    Notes:  
    1 Other income (expense), net corresponds to amounts that are not directly related to revenue earning activities and are not normal, recurring income or expenses necessary for business operations. The components of other income (expense), net include $446 million of net gains on debt modification and extinguishment, $247 million loss related to the reclassification of our graphite electrode operations as a financial asset, $246 million of business separation expenses, stand-up costs and restructuring charges, $116 million in transaction costs, $93 million of net revaluation gains and $108 million of other expenses.
    2 Equity accounted Adjusted EBITDA corresponds to the Adjusted EBITDA attributable to the partnership that is generated by its investments in associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method.
    3 Adjusted EBITDA that is attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries.
       

    Brookfield Business Corporation Reports 2024 Year End Results

    Brookfield, News, January 31, 2025 – Brookfield Business Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BBUC) announced today its net income (loss) for the year ended December 31, 2024.

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    US$ millions, unaudited   2024       2023       2024       2023  
               
    Net income (loss) attributable to Brookfield Business Partners $ (396 )   $ 454     $ (888 )   $ 519  

    Net loss attributable to Brookfield Business Partners for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $888 million compared to net income of $519 million in 2023 which included net gains primarily related to the sale of our nuclear technology services operation. Current year results included $208 million of remeasurement loss on our exchangeable and class B shares that are classified as liabilities under IFRS. As at December 31, 2024, the exchangeable and class B shares were remeasured to reflect the closing price of $23.42 per unit.

    Dividend

    The Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of $0.0625 per share, payable on March 31, 2025 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on February 28, 2025.

    Additional Information

    Each exchangeable share of Brookfield Business Corporation has been structured with the intention of providing an economic return equivalent to one unit of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. Each exchangeable share will be exchangeable at the option of the holder for one unit. Brookfield Business Corporation will target that dividends on its exchangeable shares will be declared and paid at the same time as distributions are declared and paid on the Brookfield Business Partners’ units and that dividends on each exchangeable share will be declared and paid in the same amount as distributions are declared and paid on each unit to provide holders of exchangeable shares with an economic return equivalent to holders of units.

    In addition to carefully considering the disclosures made in this news release in its entirety, shareholders are strongly encouraged to carefully review the Letter to Unitholders, Supplemental Information and other continuous disclosure filings which are available at https://bbu.brookfield.com.

    Please note that Brookfield Business Corporation’s previous audited annual and unaudited quarterly reports have been filed on SEDAR+ and EDGAR and are available at https://bbu.brookfield.com/bbuc under Reports & Filings. Hard copies of the annual and quarterly reports can be obtained free of charge upon request.

     
    Brookfield Business Corporation
    Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
     
      As at
    US$ millions, unaudited December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
                           
    Assets                      
    Cash and cash equivalents         $ 1,008             $ 772  
    Financial assets           353               224  
    Accounts and other receivable, net           3,229               3,569  
    Inventory, net           52               61  
    Other assets           627               737  
    Property, plant and equipment           2,480               2,743  
    Deferred income tax assets           197               221  
    Intangible assets           5,966               6,931  
    Equity accounted investments           198               222  
    Goodwill           4,988               5,702  
    Total Assets         $ 19,098             $ 21,182  
                           
    Liabilities and Equity                      
    Liabilities                      
    Accounts payable and other         $ 5,276             $ 4,818  
    Non-recourse borrowings in subsidiaries of Brookfield Business Corporation           8,490               8,823  
    Exchangeable and class B shares           1,709               1,501  
    Deferred income tax liabilities           988               1,280  
                           
    Equity                      
    Brookfield Business Partners $ (59 )       $ 880      
    Non-controlling interests   2,694           3,880      
          2,635         4,760  
    Total Liabilities and Equity   $ 19,098       $ 21,182  
     
    Brookfield Business Corporation
    Consolidated Statements of Operating Results
     
    US$ millions, unaudited Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
      2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Continuing operations          
    Revenues $ 2,209     $ 1,946     $ 8,208     $ 7,683  
    Direct operating costs   (2,041 )     (1,749 )     (7,568 )     (6,794 )
    General and administrative expenses   (107 )     (78 )     (326 )     (268 )
    Interest income (expense), net   (212 )     (206 )     (832 )     (878 )
    Equity accounted income (loss), net   2       2       8       3  
    Impairment reversal (expense), net   (689 )     (599 )     (691 )     (606 )
    Gain (loss) on acquisitions/dispositions, net   —       —       —       87  
    Remeasurement of exchangeable and class B shares   (9 )     (392 )     (208 )     (264 )
    Other income (expense), net   (469 )     44       (666 )     126  
    Income (loss) before income tax from continuing operations   (1,316 )     (1,032 )     (2,075 )     (911 )
    Income tax (expense) recovery          
    Current   (8 )     (5 )     (50 )     (167 )
    Deferred   42       1       198       95  
    Net income (loss) from continuing operations $ (1,282 )   $ (1,036 )   $ (1,927 )   $ (983 )
    Discontinued operations          
    Net income (loss) from discontinued operations   —       3,885       —       3,812  
    Net income (loss) $ (1,282 )   $ 2,849     $ (1,927 )   $ 2,829  
    Attributable to:          
    Brookfield Business Partners $ (396 )   $ 454     $ (888 )   $ 519  
    Non-controlling interests   (886 )     2,395       (1,039 )     2,310  


    Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-looking Statements and Information

    Note: This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, include statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of Brookfield Business Partners, as well as regarding recently completed and proposed acquisitions, dispositions, and other transactions, and the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods, and include words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, “seeks”, “intends”, “targets”, “projects”, “forecasts”, “views”, “potential”, “likely” or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “would” and “could”.

    Although we believe that our anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, investors and other readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Brookfield Business Partners to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us or are within our control. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations and our plans and strategies may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information herein.

    Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the cyclical nature of our operating businesses and general economic conditions and risks relating to the economy, including unfavorable changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, inflation and volatility in the financial markets; global equity and capital markets and the availability of equity and debt financing and refinancing within these markets; strategic actions including our ability to complete dispositions and achieve the anticipated benefits therefrom; the ability to complete and effectively integrate acquisitions into existing operations and the ability to attain expected benefits; changes in accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition (including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates); the ability to appropriately manage human capital; the effect of applying future accounting changes; business competition; operational and reputational risks; technological change; changes in government regulation and legislation within the countries in which we operate; changes to U.S. laws or policies, including changes in U.S. domestic economic policies and foreign trade policies and tariffs; governmental investigations; litigation; changes in tax laws; ability to collect amounts owed; catastrophic events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and pandemics/epidemics; cybersecurity incidents; the possible impact of international conflicts, wars and related developments including terrorist acts and cyber terrorism; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in our documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States including those set forth in the “Risk Factors” section in our annual report for the year ended December 31, 2024 to be filed on Form 20-F.

    Statements relating to “reserves” are deemed to be forward-looking statements as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, that the reserves described herein can be profitably produced in the future. We qualify any and all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary factors.

    We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements and information, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    Cautionary Statement Regarding the Use of a Non-IFRS Measure

    This news release contains references to a Non-IFRS measure. Adjusted EBITDA is not a generally accepted accounting measure under IFRS and therefore may differ from definitions used by other entities. We believe this is a useful supplemental measure that may assist investors in assessing the financial performance of Brookfield Business Partners and its subsidiaries. However, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, analysis of our financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS.

    References to Brookfield Business Partners are to Brookfield Business Partners L.P. together with its subsidiaries, controlled affiliates and operating entities. Unitholders’ results include limited partnership units, redemption-exchange units, general partnership units, BBUC exchangeable shares and special limited partnership units. More detailed information on certain references made in this news release will be available in our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our annual report for the year ended December 31, 2024 to be filed on Form 20-F.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ECB selects motifs for future euro banknotes

    Source: European Central Bank

    31 January 2025

    • ECB shortlisted motifs based on the two possible themes for new banknotes: “European culture: shared cultural spaces” and “Rivers and birds: resilience in diversity”
    • The decision builds on an inclusive process involving feedback from public surveys and groups of experts
    • ECB to launch design contest in 2025 allowing Governing Council to select final designs in 2026
    • First new banknotes will go into circulation several years after final decision on designs and following production process

    The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has selected motifs to illustrate the two possible themes for future euro banknotes. “European culture” focuses on shared cultural spaces and prominent Europeans. “Rivers and birds” focuses on the resilience and diversity of the natural world, complemented by the European institutions.

    The decision benefited from the suggestions provided by two multidisciplinary advisory groups from across the euro area and is consistent with the preferences on the themes expressed by more than 365,000 Europeans in public surveys held in summer 2023 and in focus groups conducted between December 2021 and March 2022.

    “We are excited to present these real-life motifs that reflect our commitment to Europe and celebrate its cultural heritage and natural environment,” said ECB President Christine Lagarde. “The new banknotes will symbolise our shared European identity and the diversity that makes us strong.”

    European culture: shared cultural spaces

    “European culture” celebrates the shared cultural spaces that have shaped European identity over the centuries. The motifs for this theme depict various cultural activities and spaces, and iconic European personalities who have contributed to building Europe’s cultural heritage. Their lives span six centuries, during which they lived, travelled and worked across our continent, and their accomplishments have resonated around the world.

    The motifs selected are:

    Table 1

    European culture

    Front

    Reverse

    €5
    Performing arts

    Maria Callas

    Street performers (music/dance/theatre) entertaining passersby

    €10
    Music

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    A song festival with a choir of children and young adults singing

    €20
    Universities and schools

    Marie Curie

    A school or university with a female teacher with young students. There are notebooks and books on the tables

    €50
    Libraries

    Miguel de Cervantes

    A library with some adults reading paper and digital books. A little boy and girl in front of a bookcase trying to get a book

    €100
    Museums and exhibitions

    Leonardo da Vinci

    Adults and children admiring some examples of street art, contemporary art, etc.

    €200
    Public squares

    Bertha von Suttner

    A tree-covered square allowing people to come together, with adults and children talking, walking, playing, etc.

    Rivers and birds: resilience in diversity

    “Rivers and birds” highlights the resilience and diversity of Europe’s natural ecosystems by showcasing different stages of rivers and various bird species, emphasising the importance of nature and environmental protection. The European institutions featured on the banknotes remind us of the fundamental values of the European project, which also embraces environmental protection.

    The motifs selected are:

    Table 2

    Rivers and birds

    Front

    Reverse

    €5

    Mountain spring
    Wallcreeper next to a mountain landscape

    European Parliament

    €10

    Waterfall
    Kingfisher in a waterfall or run pool

    European Commission

    €20

    Confined river valley
    Bee-eater colony in a sand wall on the side of a large, confined river valley along a riverbank

    European Central Bank

    €50

    Meandering river
    White stork flying over a meandering river in an unconfined river valley 

    Court of Justice of the European Union

    €100

    River mouth
    Avocet sweeping over the surface of a mud flat

    European Council and Council of the European Union

    €200

    Seascape
    Northern gannet flying over big ocean waves

    European Court of Auditors

    Next steps

    In 2025 the ECB will establish a jury and launch a design contest, which will be open to designers from across the European Union. The ECB will continue to involve the public and experts to ensure the designs selected are relatable for Europeans of all ages. In 2026 the ECB will ask the public which designs they prefer based on a shortlist.

    “We are developing new banknotes because we are committed to cash now and in the future. Banknotes are a symbol of our European unity and with the new motifs, we celebrate our shared history and commitment to a sustainable future,” said ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone.

    The Governing Council is expected to make the final decision on the designs in 2026. The new banknotes will be ready to enter circulation some years after this decision and following the production process.

    For media queries, please contact Belén Pérez Esteve tel.: +49 173 533 4269 or Alessandro Speciale, tel. +49 172 167 0791.

    Notes

    1. It is the duty of the ECB and the euro area national central banks to ensure that euro banknotes remain an innovative, secure and efficient means of payment. Developing new series of banknotes regularly is standard practice for all central banks. In a world where banknote reproduction technologies are rapidly evolving and counterfeiters can easily access information and materials, it is necessary to issue new banknotes on a regular basis. Beyond security considerations, the ECB is committed to reducing the environmental impact of euro banknotes throughout their life cycle, while also making them more relatable and inclusive for Europeans of all ages and backgrounds, including vulnerable groups such as the visually impaired. For more information, see the future banknotes page.
    2. The current theme of the euro banknotes is “Ages and styles” and the main motifs on each banknote are windows, doorways and bridges based on architectural styles from various periods in Europe’s history. For more information, see the banknotes design elements page.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI: Speakers at Biz2X Frontiers of Digital Finance Conference Kick Off 2025 and Predict What’s Next in Fintech and Business Finance

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK and MIAMI, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Biz2X 2025 Frontiers of Digital Finance (FDF) Conference at University of Miami’s Business School, held on January 14, brought together top global leaders in technology, business and government to examine the rapidly changing digital finance landscape, particularly AI’s transformative impact on small business lending. For video highlights, click here.

    FDF assembled a ‘Who’s Who’ of digital finance experts who delved into major issues, such as potential changes in regulation in the new Trump administration, increased use of AI in lending, and the rise of alternative lenders. Speakers from over 25 organizations were represented, in an invite-only audience of more than 200 delegates. Among the A-List speakers were:

    • Former Congressman Patrick McHenry, who served as Chair of the House Financial Services Committee for the past two years. His keynote address, The Future of Fintech Regulation, drew upon his more than two-decades in Congress. The session was moderated by Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business News.
    • USAA President & CEO Wayne Peacock spoke about Leadership in Fintech in The Next Decade. Under Peacock’s visionary leadership, USAA has become a household name. At FDF, he shared insights from his expertise in mission-driven leadership to navigate the evolving financial services landscape.
    • Jim Esposito, President of Citadel Securities, led a discussion entitled Building the Future: Technology in Financial Markets in which he shared his insights for driving long-term growth and building global client and partner relationships.
    • Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez examined Where Innovation Meets Opportunity – A Legal and Economic Vision, together with legendary litigator Marc Kasowitz from Kasowitz Benson Torres. They shared their perspectives on the legal and economic forces shaping today’s business landscape, and Mayor Suarez explored how cities like Miami can become innovation hubs for the private sector.

    BCG & Biz2X Launch New SMB Finance White Paper at FDF Miami

    Biz2X partnered with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world’s top business consulting firms, to unveil a brand-new proprietary white paper entitled, The Forthcoming Revolution in Small Business Lending.

    The study examines the rapidly changing dynamics of small business lending. Biz2X and BCG analyzed the reasons why banks — particularly the country’s largest institutions — place limitations on lending to small and medium-sized businesses. BCG identifies a global small business funding gap that exceeds $5 trillion.

    Biz2X and BCG conclude that SMB lending must be fundamentally altered through technology such as digital lending platforms to achieve lower risk, broader access to capital, and a significantly-improved digital experience for both borrowers and lenders. To download the full report, click here.

    Looking Ahead to Future FDF Conferences

    “FDF Miami 2025 was the highest-attended conference yet in our continuing series of these events. Our goal with FDF is to create a platform that drives the finance industry forward by bringing together the right people from all sides of industry and policy,” said Conference Chair and the CEO & Co-Founder of Biz2X, Rohit Arora.

    Future editions of FDF in 2025 are being planned in Riyadh and Mumbai, along with a likely return to Miami, with dates to be announced. For more information about FDF sponsors, speakers, and to see exclusive content from FDF Miami and previous FDF events, visit frontiersofdigitalfinance.com.

    About Frontiers of Digital Finance (FDF)
    FDF is an invitation only, global conference series that assembles global experts in the field. These include top financial institutions, innovative startups, investors, policy makers, technologists, and other leaders to learn about trends in digital finance and build relationships with key executives in the fintech industry.

    Attendees gain valuable insights from distinguished speakers and forge meaningful connections with key industry executives through curated networking events. Previous conferences have been held in some of the world’s most dynamic financial hubs: Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, New York (at Columbia Business School) and Miami. Visit frontiersofdigitalfinance.com and LinkedIn for more information and highlights from the conferences.

    About Biz2X 
    Biz2X® is the digital lending platform chosen by successful business lenders, with more than $10 billion funded globally to businesses through the company’s innovative technology. The platform has been chosen for business lending at banks and financial institutions around the world. Lenders choose the platform because they want to transform their lending practices digitally. Biz2X makes this possible through best-in-class technology and AI-powered underwriting models. Biz2X LLC is a subsidiary of Biz2Credit. Visit Biz2X.com for more information.

    Contact: John Mooney, Over The Moon PR, 908-720-6057, john@overthemoonpr.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: The Mumbai of Subaltern Women Through the Award-Winning Film “All We Imagine as Light”

    Source: Universities – Science Po in English

    The first session of the CERI cinéclub, hosted by Christophe Jaffrelot, Senior Researcher at the Center for International Studies (CERI) and  Co-Director of the South Asia Program, and devoted to the film All we imagine as light, plunged the audience into an atmosphere that was both poetic and political.

    Christophe Jaffrelot has written a sensitive tribute to a deeply moving film that teaches us a great deal about Mumbai and Indian society.

    All we imagine as light, written and directed by Payal Kapadia, is the first film from India to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. It immediately brings to mind the masterpieces of Satyajit Ray, another Indian filmmaker to have been celebrated at Cannes, for Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) in 1956.

    Like Ray in that first film in the Apu Trilogy, Kapadia provides viewers with close-ups that are intensely beautiful and strikingly expressive, even when their subjects remain impassive and enigmatic. These two filmmakers excel in the art of deliciously slow, even static, shots, which never appear overly long but instead draw the viewer into the intimate worlds of men and (especially) women, as we will see. Nor does this virtuosity slide into mere aestheticism, for behind the heady poetry of her cinematographic style, Kapadia’s work is, in fact, just as political as that of Ray.

    Indeed, the young director first became known in the early 2020s for a militant documentary on the caste system—winner of the Golden Eye at Cannes in 2021. When she was still a film student, Kapadia participated in protests against the Modi government’s nomination of a fellow Hindu nationalist at the head of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), and saw her scholarship revoked in response to her opposition.

    The smoke and mirrors of Mumbai

    All we imagine as light is political in a different way. The film focuses on ordinary, everyday victims, first and foremost those who came to Mumbai in search of an Eldorado and who are losing hope. These are the migrants whose anonymous voices— they do not appear on screen—mark the opening moments of the film. They no longer live in the illusion created by the smoke and mirrors of the city, and it is that contrast between dreams and reality that is expressed in the title of the film.

    Why does Mumbai disappoint those who left their villages in hope of a better life? Firstly because it is difficult to find housing, or indeed any shelter, there. The cost of accommodation per meter square has increased so much that the factories that filled the city centre until the 1980s have been transformed into skyscrapers. Here, luxury flats are sold to what Indians call the “middle-class,” but who are in fact, an elite. One of the advertising posters in the film unreservedly boasts of this housing, reserved for a “privileged” few. In Mumbai, property speculation has deadly consequences.

    Parvati, one of the film’s heroines, is the widow of a worker in the now-abandoned factories, and the target of a property developer who has managed to force her to leave her home and return to her village. She tried to join forces with other victims of the same injustice (along the lines of great revolutionaries like Jyotirao Phule and Bhagat Singh whose portraits appear in the film) but in vain.

    Since the Bombay Textile Worker’s strike was broken in the early 1980s, the city has fallen into hands of business interests and their political allies. This is no longer a time for class struggle, but for religion. Kapadia shows this Hindu nationalist version of the “opium of the masses”, documentary-style, by filming the Ganesha Chaturthi processions, where participants dance and sing.

    When they have nowhere to return to, Mumbai’s poor must pile into the overcrowded slums, which are pushed as far away from the city centre as possible. The members of the lower middle class are also relegated to buildings on the outskirts, which forces them to commute by train from the outlying suburbs. The length of these commuter journeys increases as the city spreads, along the two trainlines stretching north and south, and which structure both the time (minutes are counted in the number of stations) and the imaginary of Mumbaikars.

    These trains, which the viewers take several times with the films’ heroines, are a symbol of urban violence. Hundreds of people die every year on the tracks, whether from falling from open doors, or from electrocution. But this daily commute also provides respite for workers—drowsy with sleep on the way out, exhausted by the day on the way home—and particularly for women who have the benefit of the “Ladies Compartment”.

    Three women

    As well as being a film about a major city, All we imagine as light, is a film about women, about the women who are victims of the city, of men, and of social norms. The two main characters, Prabha, the eldest, and Anu, the youngest, illustrate two forms of oppression that Indian women face today—and have long faced.

    They both come from Kerala, work together in a hospital, and share the same flat, but are otherwise unlike each other. The eldest, Prabha, is a woman of duty. She values strength; as a nurse, she rebukes the novice midwives who are repulsed by the smell of placenta. Although she takes no nonsense, she is extraordinarily sensitive, and even expressive in her largely unsmiling reserve. Her husband has left to work in Germany, and she has had no news of him for a year.

    One day, he sends her a rice-cooker, with no note, and she projects all her unfulfilled desires onto this anonymous object. A doctor at the hospital courts her delicately, giving her a poem that she reads once night has fallen and the city is asleep. Yet, she does not take the hand he offers. She is married and thus devoted to one man alone, in accordance with Hindu tradition.

    Anu, by contrast, rejects this tradition. She is graceful, laughs easily, and spends more than she earns—leading to debts she owes to Prabha—and says she will refuse all the suitors her parents propose, according to that same tradition of arranged marriage. Worse, she is secretly involved in a romantic relationship—which Prabha knows and disapproves of—with, worse still, a young Muslim man.

    Although today a young couple can be more open than before about their relationship when they are both from the same community, a romance between a Hindu and a Muslim puts both parties in extreme danger. Indeed, Hindu nationalists have declared war on what they call “love jihad”, a term referring to the idea that young Muslim men are good at seducing Hindu girls, converting them to Islam and thus swelling the ranks of the Muslim community with their children…  When discovered, mixed couples like this are hunted down and the men beaten, even lynched. Anu’s young lover Shiaz hides in terror at the idea of being found in her presence.

    Where can these two live their love safely? Not in Mumbai, which is somewhat of a paradox, given this city was long reputed for its cosmopolitanism, and for providing an anonymity that made it an ideal site for forbidden encounters. In the film, when the two women help Parvarti to return to her original fishing village, Anu invites Shiaz to follow them secretly— and this is where they are finally able to fulfil their love.

    The city no longer provides the same security as the mangrove trees. It no longer conceals forbidden love, not only because of the intense promiscuity resulting from skyrocketing population density, but also because spying and informing on others has become a national sport.

    While the standard Bollywood dream is in Hindi, All we imagine as light speaks the language of migrants—Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi—and reveals an unvarnished reality which borders on tragic. Anu still believes she can rebel, but for Prabha this struggle is in vain: no one can escape their destiny. Yet, there is no place for sadness here, gravitas and grace (in the quasi-mystical sense) are what dominate.

    Kapadia’s women are exceptionally dignified, intensely human, and show unwavering solidarity. They also share delectable moments of freedom, like Anu and Parvati’s slightly tipsy impromptu dancing, under the half-amused, half-disapproving gaze of Prabha, on the beach, far from the city that is the melting pot for all woes.

    Above all, this is the moment that it seems Prabha might shift towards a new destiny. When the sea washes a man’s body up onto the beach, she is the one who resuscitates him, by performing CPR, before the disconcerted villagers. The man, whom she then washes, has lost his memory and the villagers believe Prabha is his wife.

    She tries to set the record straight and then uses this misunderstanding to tell this play-husband (who joins in the pretence for a few phrases) that she does not ever want to see her husband again. This break-up opens up her heart, and she encourages Anu to call Shiaz—who is hiding in the forest—to join them openly.

    A new hope is born from this rejection of social norms by the woman who had previously resigned herself to their constraints. Prabha shows the way to all those who are smothered by the condition Indian women are subject to. This is one of the reasons why only a few cinemas are screening this film in India, the director has offered to organise screenings from city to city to those who request it.

    And All we imagine as light would undoubtedly not have escaped censorship if it had not won the Grand Prix at Cannes, for which the festival should be duly thanked, along with the French co-producer of the film, Petit Chaos.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ECB selects motifs for future euro banknotes

    Source: European Central Bank

    31 January 2025

    • ECB shortlisted motifs based on the two possible themes for new banknotes: “European culture: shared cultural spaces” and “Rivers and birds: resilience in diversity”
    • The decision builds on an inclusive process involving feedback from public surveys and groups of experts
    • ECB to launch design contest in 2025 allowing Governing Council to select final designs in 2026
    • First new banknotes will go into circulation several years after final decision on designs and following production process

    The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has selected motifs to illustrate the two possible themes for future euro banknotes. “European culture” focuses on shared cultural spaces and prominent Europeans. “Rivers and birds” focuses on the resilience and diversity of the natural world, complemented by the European institutions.

    The decision benefited from the suggestions provided by two multidisciplinary advisory groups from across the euro area and is consistent with the preferences on the themes expressed by more than 365,000 Europeans in public surveys held in summer 2023 and in focus groups conducted between December 2021 and March 2022.

    “We are excited to present these real-life motifs that reflect our commitment to Europe and celebrate its cultural heritage and natural environment,” said ECB President Christine Lagarde. “The new banknotes will symbolise our shared European identity and the diversity that makes us strong.”

    European culture: shared cultural spaces

    “European culture” celebrates the shared cultural spaces that have shaped European identity over the centuries. The motifs for this theme depict various cultural activities and spaces, and iconic European personalities who have contributed to building Europe’s cultural heritage. Their lives span six centuries, during which they lived, travelled and worked across our continent, and their accomplishments have resonated around the world.

    The motifs selected are:

    Table 1

    European culture

    Front

    Reverse

    €5
    Performing arts

    Maria Callas

    Street performers (music/dance/theatre) entertaining passersby

    €10
    Music

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    A song festival with a choir of children and young adults singing

    €20
    Universities and schools

    Marie Curie

    A school or university with a female teacher with young students. There are notebooks and books on the tables

    €50
    Libraries

    Miguel de Cervantes

    A library with some adults reading paper and digital books. A little boy and girl in front of a bookcase trying to get a book

    €100
    Museums and exhibitions

    Leonardo da Vinci

    Adults and children admiring some examples of street art, contemporary art, etc.

    €200
    Public squares

    Bertha von Suttner

    A tree-covered square allowing people to come together, with adults and children talking, walking, playing, etc.

    Rivers and birds: resilience in diversity

    “Rivers and birds” highlights the resilience and diversity of Europe’s natural ecosystems by showcasing different stages of rivers and various bird species, emphasising the importance of nature and environmental protection. The European institutions featured on the banknotes remind us of the fundamental values of the European project, which also embraces environmental protection.

    The motifs selected are:

    Table 2

    Rivers and birds

    Front

    Reverse

    €5

    Mountain spring
    Wallcreeper next to a mountain landscape

    European Parliament

    €10

    Waterfall
    Kingfisher in a waterfall or run pool

    European Commission

    €20

    Confined river valley
    Bee-eater colony in a sand wall on the side of a large, confined river valley along a riverbank

    European Central Bank

    €50

    Meandering river
    White stork flying over a meandering river in an unconfined river valley 

    Court of Justice of the European Union

    €100

    River mouth
    Avocet sweeping over the surface of a mud flat

    European Council and Council of the European Union

    €200

    Seascape
    Northern gannet flying over big ocean waves

    European Court of Auditors

    Next steps

    In 2025 the ECB will establish a jury and launch a design contest, which will be open to designers from across the European Union. The ECB will continue to involve the public and experts to ensure the designs selected are relatable for Europeans of all ages. In 2026 the ECB will ask the public which designs they prefer based on a shortlist.

    “We are developing new banknotes because we are committed to cash now and in the future. Banknotes are a symbol of our European unity and with the new motifs, we celebrate our shared history and commitment to a sustainable future,” said ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone.

    The Governing Council is expected to make the final decision on the designs in 2026. The new banknotes will be ready to enter circulation some years after this decision and following the production process.

    For media queries, please contact Belén Pérez Esteve tel.: +49 173 533 4269 or Alessandro Speciale, tel. +49 172 167 0791.

    Notes

    1. It is the duty of the ECB and the euro area national central banks to ensure that euro banknotes remain an innovative, secure and efficient means of payment. Developing new series of banknotes regularly is standard practice for all central banks. In a world where banknote reproduction technologies are rapidly evolving and counterfeiters can easily access information and materials, it is necessary to issue new banknotes on a regular basis. Beyond security considerations, the ECB is committed to reducing the environmental impact of euro banknotes throughout their life cycle, while also making them more relatable and inclusive for Europeans of all ages and backgrounds, including vulnerable groups such as the visually impaired. For more information, see the future banknotes page.
    2. The current theme of the euro banknotes is “Ages and styles” and the main motifs on each banknote are windows, doorways and bridges based on architectural styles from various periods in Europe’s history. For more information, see the banknotes design elements page.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI China: MMC of Harbin Asian Winter Games goes into official operation

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    HARBIN, Jan. 31 — With a week to go before the opening ceremony of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, the Main Media Center (MMC) was officially put into operation on Friday.

    Located in the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center, the MMC consists of the Main Press Center (MPC) and the International Broadcasting Center (IBC).

    The volunteers in the MMC have been ready to provide language and guiding services for registered media and broadcasters, and the foreign currency exchange outlets in the venue are also available. At the official merchandise store of the 9th Asian Winter Games, various kinds of souvenirs including the adorable tiger mascots “Binbin” and “Nini” of Harbin 2025 are eye-catching.

    “The MMC will be in 24-hour operation with a full coverage of the IPTV, or Internet Protocol TV, during the Games,” introduced Lyu Zhuangzhi, media operation director of the MMC.

    The MPC comprises press conference room, online news center, and workrooms of the media including Xinhua, the host news agency of the event. In addition, the MPC also displayed the torches of the past editions of the Asian Winter Games and exhibited calligraphy and painting works with the theme of Harbin 2025.

    Also on Friday, the Athletes’ Village besides the MMC and the Mountain Media Center for snow events in Yabuli began to operate officially.

    The first match of the Harbin Asian Winter Games will kick off on Monday in ice hockey before the opening ceremony on February 7. The Games will conclude on February 14.

    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the media room in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. With a week to go before the opening ceremony of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, the Main Media Center (MMC) started its official operation on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A customer shops at the official merchandise store in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 31, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the main press center in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the post office in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows staff work at the medical center in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the entrance to the International Broadcast Center in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the entrance to the Main Press Center in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the Main Press Center in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Picture taken on Jan. 31, 2025 shows the help desk in the Main Media Center (MMC) of the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Shoplifter convicted after being caught in the act by Met officers

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A man who was caught in the act during a Met Police operation to tackle shoplifting in south London has been jailed.

    Neighbourhood officers in Lambeth carried out a targeted sting at the Co-Op in Lower Marsh on Monday, 27 January after several reports of theft from the store.

    After reviewing recent crime reports, they arrived early and waited in the back office where they monitored CCTV cameras.

    At around 08:30hrs a man entered the store and began ransacking the meat chiller. He was immediately detained and arrested.

    Derick Bell, 36 (29.02.88) and of no fixed address, was charged the following day and appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to two counts of shoplifting. He was jailed for eight weeks.

    Inspector Darren Watson, from the Neighbourhood Policing Team in Lambeth, said:

    “This is an excellent example of how the Met is taking a targeted approach to tackle the type of offending that matters most to Londoners.

    “We know shoplifting has a significant impact on businesses and shop staff. It often also fuels other crime and anti-social behaviour.

    “In Lambeth alone, our enforcement activity means 11 of the 14 most prolific shoplifters in the area are currently in prison and we will continue to take action against those who cause misery in our communities.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Reel justice’: a unique collaboration between university filmmakers and police

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Smith, Senior Consultant, Universal Impact

    How can universities build better relationships with the communities around them? Academia is increasingly considering this question. And finding innovative ways to demonstrate value and connect with wider society.

    This was on my mind when I learnt about a fascinating collaboration between the police and aspiring, young filmmakers at the University of Sunderland, which shows the power of research as a tool for public good.

    I world for Universal Impact, The Conversation’s commercial subsidiary, and recently travelled to the northeast to give a training course to University of Sunderland researchers on how to identify, and communicate with, different audiences for their work.

    Whenever we work with academics, I’m reminded of the quality and diversity of research taking place all around us – stretching, in this case, from preventing liver damage to boosting performance in modern pentathlon.

    We built on the training course with a mentoring programme for a group of researchers including Adelle Hulsmeier, who leads the university’s screen performance BA programme.

    I’m a bit of a movie buff. So I was interested to learn about the unique initiative Adelle runs, bringing together young people and police around an unexpected common ground – film.

    Here’s how it works. Northumberland Police suggests themes, students make short films inspired by those themes, and the films are then used as education and training resources.

    Like many of my favourite directors, Adelle believes it’s possible to address some of the most pressing social issues through storytelling.

    A new approach

    The project comes as public trust in the police is in decline, particularly among members of Gen Z (broadly, those born between 1996 and 2010).

    Children and young people are also disproportionately affected by crime, often as victims of the most serious offences. But these films offer an opportunity to change the narrative.

    And as the Labour government is proposing “respect orders” to address the UK’s 6.7 million annual offences — which cost taxpayers £58.9 billion in 2023-24 — this novel approach seems particularly timely.

    Over the past 11 years, more than 1,000 students have worked on at least 50 films, covering topics such as sexual exploitation, domestic violence, male rape and “county lines” drugs trafficking.

    The films’ influence extends far beyond the university. They have been integrated into training programmes for police officers, healthcare workers, teachers and other professionals.

    Community engagement

    The collaboration was born of a desire to make issues of crime and policing widely accessible, with Adelle striving to bridge the gap between academic learning and societal impact.

    In 2019, the project received the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence from Advance Higher Education, recognising the initiative’s outstanding contribution to education and community engagement.

    The programme has also been praised by former Labour MP and Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird, who described the films as an effective way for the police to “transmit messages in a way that we cannot”.

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

    Meanwhile, the project is also an opportunity for students to develop critical skills and gain invaluable industry experience.

    By empowering students to tackle real world social issues, the University of Sunderland is not only preparing them for the future but also helping to shape a safer, more empathetic world.

    This partnership is a testament to the mutual benefits that come from universities and public sector organisations working collectively towards common goals that support their local communities.

    At Universal Impact, we offer specialist training, mentoring and research communication services – donating profits back to The Conversation, our parent charity. If you’re a researcher or research institution and you’re interested in working together, please get in touch – or subscribe to our weekly newsletter to find out more.

    – ref. ‘Reel justice’: a unique collaboration between university filmmakers and police – https://theconversation.com/reel-justice-a-unique-collaboration-between-university-filmmakers-and-police-248619

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Information about shares issued by INVL Technology and votes granted

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Please be informed, that on 30 January 2025 INVL Technology has transferred part of its shares – 18,568 units – to the employees of INVL Technology’s subsidiaries, who acquired the right to realization of the option right under the basis and terms of signed option agreements. Considering this, INVL Technology hereby announces the data on its issued shares as of 30 January 2025:

    Type of shares Number of shares and total voting rights granted by the issued shares, units Number of votes for the quorum of the General Shareholders Meeting, units Nominal value, EUR Total nominal
    Value and authorized capital, EUR    		 Portion of the authorized capital, %
    Ordinary registered shares 12,175,321 12,008,423 0.29 3,530,843.09 100

    The person authorized to provide additional information:
    INVL Technology Managing Partner
    Kazimieras Tonkūnas
    E-mail  k.tonkunas@invltechnology.lt

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Astronomers have spied an asteroid that may be heading for Earth. Here’s what we know so far

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland

    Artist’s impression of an asteroid with Earth in the background. Buradaki / Shutterstock

    On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4, is on a path that might lead to a collision with our planet on 22 December 2032.

    In other words, the newly-discovered space rock poses a significant impact threat to our planet.

    It sounds like something from a bad Hollywood movie. But in reality, there’s no need to panic – this is just another day living on a target in a celestial shooting gallery.

    So what’s the story? What do we know about 2024 YR4? And what would happen if it did collide with Earth?

    A target in the celestial shooting gallery

    As Earth moves around the Sun, it is continually encountering dust and debris that dates back to the birth of the Solar system. The system is littered with such debris, and the meteors and fireballs seen every night are evidence of just how polluted our local neighbourhood is.

    But most of the debris is far too small to cause problems to life on Earth. There is far more tiny debris out there than larger chunks – so impacts from objects that could imperil life on Earth’s surface are much less frequent.

    The most famous impact came some 66 million years ago. A giant rock from space, at least 10 kilometres in diameter, crashed into Earth – causing a mass extinction that wiped out something like 75% of all species on Earth.

    Impacts that large are, fortunately, very rare events. Current estimates suggest that objects like the one which killed the dinosaurs only hit Earth every 50 million years or so. Smaller impacts, though, are more common.

    On 30 June 1908, there was a vast explosion in a sparsely populated part of Siberia. When explorers later reached the location of the explosion, they found an astonishing site: a forest levelled, with all the trees fallen in the same direction. As they moved around, the direction of the fallen trees changed – all pointing inwards towards the epicentre of the explosion.

    The Tunguska event flattened trees over an area of around 2,200 square kilometres.
    Leonid Kulik / Wikimedia

    In total, the Tunguska event levelled an area of almost 2,200 square kilometres – roughly equivalent to the area of greater Sydney. Fortunately, that forest was extremely remote. While plants and animals were killed in the blast zone, it is thought that, at most, only three people perished.

    Estimates vary of how frequent such large collisions should be. Some argue that Earth should experience a similar impact, on average, once per century. Others suggest such collisions might only happen every 10,000 years or so. The truth is we don’t know – but that’s part of the fun of science.

    More recently, a smaller impact created global excitement. On 15 February 2013, a small asteroid (likely about 18 metres in diameter) detonated near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

    The explosion, about 30 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, generated a powerful shock-wave and extremely bright flash of light. Buildings were damaged, windows smashed, and almost 1,500 people were injured – although there were no fatalities.

    It served as a reminder, however, that Earth will be hit again. It’s only a question of when.

    Which brings us to our latest contender – asteroid 2024 YR4.

    The 1-in-77 chance of collision to watch

    2024 YR4 has been under close observation by astronomers for a little over a month. It was discovered just a few days after making a relatively close approach to our planet, and it is now receding into the dark depths of the Solar system. By April, it will be lost to even the world’s largest telescopes.

    The observations carried out over the past month have allowed astronomers to extrapolate the asteroid’s motion forward over time, working out its orbit around the Sun. As a result, it has become clear that, on 22 December 2032, it will pass very close to our planet – and may even collide with us.

    The area at risk of a strike, based on current (highly uncertain) data.
    Daniel Bamberger / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    At present, our best models of the asteroid’s motion have an uncertainty of around 100,000 kilometres in its position at the time it would be closest to the Earth. At around 12,000 kilometres in diameter, our planet falls inside that region of uncertainty.

    Calculations suggest there is currently around a 1-in-77 chance that the asteroid will crash into our planet at that time. Of course, that means there is still a 76-in-77 chance it will miss us.

    When will we know for sure?

    With every new observation of 2024 YR4, astronomers’ knowledge of its orbit improves slightly – which is why the collision likelihoods you might see quoted online keep changing. We’ll be able to follow the asteroid as it recedes from Earth for another couple of months, by which time we’ll have a better idea of exactly where it will be on that fateful day in December 2032.

    But it is unlikely we’ll be able to say for sure whether we’re in the clear at that point.

    Recent observations of 2024 YR4 – the faint unmoving dot in the centre of the image.
    ESO, CC BY

    Fortunately, the asteroid will make another close approach to the Earth in December 2028 – passing around 8 million kilometres from our planet. Astronomers will be ready to perform a wide raft of observations that will help us to understand the size and shape of the asteroid, as well as giving an incredibly accurate overview of where it will be in 2032.

    At the end of that encounter, we will know for sure whether there will be a collision in 2032. And if there is to be a collision that year, we’ll be able to predict where on Earth that collision will be – likely to a precision of a few tens of kilometres.

    How big would the impact be?

    At the moment, we don’t know the exact size of 2024 YR4. Even through Earth’s largest telescopes, it is just a single tiny speck in the sky. So we have to estimate its size based on its brightness. Depending on how reflective the asteroid is, current estimates place it as being somewhere between 40 and 100 metres across.

    What does that mean for a potential impact? Well, it would depend on exactly what the asteroid is made of.

    The most likely scenario is that the asteroid is a rocky pile of rubble. If that turns out to be the case, then the impact would be very similar to the Tunguska event in 1908.

    The asteroid would detonate in the atmosphere, with a shockwave blasting Earth’s surface as a result. The Tunguska impact was a “city killer” type event, levelling forest across a city-sized patch of land.

    Meteor Crater in Arizona is believed to have been created by a 50m metallic meteorite impact around 50,000 years ago.
    NASA Earth Observatory / Wikimedia

    A less likely possibility is that the asteroid is made of metal. Based on its orbit around the Sun, this seems unlikely – but we can’t rule it out.

    In that case, the asteroid would make it through the atmosphere intact, and crash into Earth’s surface. If it hit on the land, it would carve out a new impact crater, probably more than a kilometre across and a couple of hundred metres deep – something similar to Meteor Crater in Arizona.

    Again, this would be quite spectacular for the region around the impact – but that would be about it.

    Living in a remarkable time

    This all sounds like doom and gloom. After all, we know that the Earth will be hit again – either by 2024 YR4 or something else. But there’s a real positive to take out of all this.

    There has been life on Earth for more than 3 billion years. In all that time, impacts have come along and caused destruction and devastation many times.

    But there has never been a species, to our knowledge, that understood the risk, could detect potential threats in advance, and even do something about the threat. Until now.

    In just the past few years, we have discovered 11 asteroids before they hit our planet. In each case, we have predicted where they would hit, and watched the results.

    We have also, in recent years, demonstrated a growing capacity to deflect potentially threatening asteroids. NASA’s DART mission (the Double Asteroid Redirection Test) was an astounding success.

    For the first time in more than 3 billion years of life on Earth, we can do something about the risk posed by rocks from space. So don’t panic! But instead, sit back and watch the show.

    Jonti Horner 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. Astronomers have spied an asteroid that may be heading for Earth. Here’s what we know so far – https://theconversation.com/astronomers-have-spied-an-asteroid-that-may-be-heading-for-earth-heres-what-we-know-so-far-248753

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Astronomers have spied an asteroid that may be heading for Earth. Here’s what we know so far

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland

    Artist’s impression of an asteroid with Earth in the background. Buradaki / Shutterstock

    On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4, is on a path that might lead to a collision with our planet on 22 December 2032.

    In other words, the newly-discovered space rock poses a significant impact threat to our planet.

    It sounds like something from a bad Hollywood movie. But in reality, there’s no need to panic – this is just another day living on a target in a celestial shooting gallery.

    So what’s the story? What do we know about 2024 YR4? And what would happen if it did collide with Earth?

    A target in the celestial shooting gallery

    As Earth moves around the Sun, it is continually encountering dust and debris that dates back to the birth of the Solar system. The system is littered with such debris, and the meteors and fireballs seen every night are evidence of just how polluted our local neighbourhood is.

    But most of the debris is far too small to cause problems to life on Earth. There is far more tiny debris out there than larger chunks – so impacts from objects that could imperil life on Earth’s surface are much less frequent.

    The most famous impact came some 66 million years ago. A giant rock from space, at least 10 kilometres in diameter, crashed into Earth – causing a mass extinction that wiped out something like 75% of all species on Earth.

    Impacts that large are, fortunately, very rare events. Current estimates suggest that objects like the one which killed the dinosaurs only hit Earth every 50 million years or so. Smaller impacts, though, are more common.

    On 30 June 1908, there was a vast explosion in a sparsely populated part of Siberia. When explorers later reached the location of the explosion, they found an astonishing site: a forest levelled, with all the trees fallen in the same direction. As they moved around, the direction of the fallen trees changed – all pointing inwards towards the epicentre of the explosion.

    The Tunguska event flattened trees over an area of around 2,200 square kilometres.
    Leonid Kulik / Wikimedia

    In total, the Tunguska event levelled an area of almost 2,200 square kilometres – roughly equivalent to the area of greater Sydney. Fortunately, that forest was extremely remote. While plants and animals were killed in the blast zone, it is thought that, at most, only three people perished.

    Estimates vary of how frequent such large collisions should be. Some argue that Earth should experience a similar impact, on average, once per century. Others suggest such collisions might only happen every 10,000 years or so. The truth is we don’t know – but that’s part of the fun of science.

    More recently, a smaller impact created global excitement. On 15 February 2013, a small asteroid (likely about 18 metres in diameter) detonated near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

    The explosion, about 30 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, generated a powerful shock-wave and extremely bright flash of light. Buildings were damaged, windows smashed, and almost 1,500 people were injured – although there were no fatalities.

    It served as a reminder, however, that Earth will be hit again. It’s only a question of when.

    Which brings us to our latest contender – asteroid 2024 YR4.

    The 1-in-77 chance of collision to watch

    2024 YR4 has been under close observation by astronomers for a little over a month. It was discovered just a few days after making a relatively close approach to our planet, and it is now receding into the dark depths of the Solar system. By April, it will be lost to even the world’s largest telescopes.

    The observations carried out over the past month have allowed astronomers to extrapolate the asteroid’s motion forward over time, working out its orbit around the Sun. As a result, it has become clear that, on 22 December 2032, it will pass very close to our planet – and may even collide with us.

    The area at risk of a strike, based on current (highly uncertain) data.
    Daniel Bamberger / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    At present, our best models of the asteroid’s motion have an uncertainty of around 100,000 kilometres in its position at the time it would be closest to the Earth. At around 12,000 kilometres in diameter, our planet falls inside that region of uncertainty.

    Calculations suggest there is currently around a 1-in-77 chance that the asteroid will crash into our planet at that time. Of course, that means there is still a 76-in-77 chance it will miss us.

    When will we know for sure?

    With every new observation of 2024 YR4, astronomers’ knowledge of its orbit improves slightly – which is why the collision likelihoods you might see quoted online keep changing. We’ll be able to follow the asteroid as it recedes from Earth for another couple of months, by which time we’ll have a better idea of exactly where it will be on that fateful day in December 2032.

    But it is unlikely we’ll be able to say for sure whether we’re in the clear at that point.

    Recent observations of 2024 YR4 – the faint unmoving dot in the centre of the image.
    ESO, CC BY

    Fortunately, the asteroid will make another close approach to the Earth in December 2028 – passing around 8 million kilometres from our planet. Astronomers will be ready to perform a wide raft of observations that will help us to understand the size and shape of the asteroid, as well as giving an incredibly accurate overview of where it will be in 2032.

    At the end of that encounter, we will know for sure whether there will be a collision in 2032. And if there is to be a collision that year, we’ll be able to predict where on Earth that collision will be – likely to a precision of a few tens of kilometres.

    How big would the impact be?

    At the moment, we don’t know the exact size of 2024 YR4. Even through Earth’s largest telescopes, it is just a single tiny speck in the sky. So we have to estimate its size based on its brightness. Depending on how reflective the asteroid is, current estimates place it as being somewhere between 40 and 100 metres across.

    What does that mean for a potential impact? Well, it would depend on exactly what the asteroid is made of.

    The most likely scenario is that the asteroid is a rocky pile of rubble. If that turns out to be the case, then the impact would be very similar to the Tunguska event in 1908.

    The asteroid would detonate in the atmosphere, with a shockwave blasting Earth’s surface as a result. The Tunguska impact was a “city killer” type event, levelling forest across a city-sized patch of land.

    Meteor Crater in Arizona is believed to have been created by a 50m metallic meteorite impact around 50,000 years ago.
    NASA Earth Observatory / Wikimedia

    A less likely possibility is that the asteroid is made of metal. Based on its orbit around the Sun, this seems unlikely – but we can’t rule it out.

    In that case, the asteroid would make it through the atmosphere intact, and crash into Earth’s surface. If it hit on the land, it would carve out a new impact crater, probably more than a kilometre across and a couple of hundred metres deep – something similar to Meteor Crater in Arizona.

    Again, this would be quite spectacular for the region around the impact – but that would be about it.

    Living in a remarkable time

    This all sounds like doom and gloom. After all, we know that the Earth will be hit again – either by 2024 YR4 or something else. But there’s a real positive to take out of all this.

    There has been life on Earth for more than 3 billion years. In all that time, impacts have come along and caused destruction and devastation many times.

    But there has never been a species, to our knowledge, that understood the risk, could detect potential threats in advance, and even do something about the threat. Until now.

    In just the past few years, we have discovered 11 asteroids before they hit our planet. In each case, we have predicted where they would hit, and watched the results.

    We have also, in recent years, demonstrated a growing capacity to deflect potentially threatening asteroids. NASA’s DART mission (the Double Asteroid Redirection Test) was an astounding success.

    For the first time in more than 3 billion years of life on Earth, we can do something about the risk posed by rocks from space. So don’t panic! But instead, sit back and watch the show.

    Jonti Horner 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. Astronomers have spied an asteroid that may be heading for Earth. Here’s what we know so far – https://theconversation.com/astronomers-have-spied-an-asteroid-that-may-be-heading-for-earth-heres-what-we-know-so-far-248753

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Community Funding shines bright throughout the City

    Source: Government of Western Australia

    The City of Wanneroo’s Community Funding Program has supported a plethora of community-led initiatives.

    Disco events for people with disabilities

    Intelife Group was one of the stand-out beneficiaries of the City’s community funding for its EasyBeatz events.

    Two events were held at the Whale & Ale bar and bistro in Clarkson, with the aim of increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to attend nightlife venues, as well as better educating venue staff.

    The City supported the group’s Christmas in July and Halloween themed discos, with the funding covering the venue and DJ hire costs.  

    The funding also allowed Intelife to create a video aimed at upskilling nightlife venues on how to provide an inclusive service to people with disabilities.

    The events provided a place for people with disability to meet in a safe place, enjoy a night out and make friends – with positive feedback proving the value of the events for the community.

    APM Community Connections Local Area Coordinator, Jean Van Veen, said the events were so popular, another six were in the works.

    “These events, which welcomed people of all abilities, wouldn’t have been possible without the grant received from the City” she said.

    “The video will help raise awareness and support other venues across Australia to host similar accessible and inclusive events, ensuring everyone can enjoy these experiences.”

    Community Christmas party and support

    A Community Christmas Party hosted by No Limits Perth set a new attendance record, highlighting the need for relief initiatives as cost-of-living pressures increase.

    Over the past year, organisers have seen event attendance double, with 200 families who were in need of free Christmas hampers joining the 2024 party, which was supported by a $2,205 Community Grant from the City.

    “The City’s funding program supported our Community Christmas Party by providing the entertainment, advertising, as well as ambulance services,” No Limits Perth Chairperson and Co-Founder, Janine Wood, said.  

    “We received feedback from families and single parents who were extremely grateful for the hampers and toys they received for their children and grandchildren at the event.”

    No Limits provides support services for people experiencing hardship and homelessness, if you are struggling you can reach out through the No Limits Perth website.

    Bilingual workshops

    Last year, Multilingual Australia held three workshops at Girrawheen Hub, with a $500 Kickstarter grant from the City.

    The “Raising Children in More than One Language” workshops were held to support City of Wanneroo families in fostering bilingual and multi-lingual environments at home.

    Thanks to the popularity of the workshops, Multilingual Australia was invited to present at two additional child-care centres to 37 families and community educators.

    Tet Trung Thu Full Moon Lantern Festival

    Koondoola-based Westnam United Soccer Club saw 350 people join in its 2024 Tet Trung Thu Full Moon Lantern Festival.

    The annual Vietnamese community cultural event for children was a hit with attendees who enjoyed lantern making, moon cake tasting and a lantern parade.

    Westnam United Soccer Club received a $4,450 Community Grant from the City to host the festival at its home ground, Shelvock Park.

    Wanneroo Softball’s ‘Have a Go Day’

    In a bid to rejuvenate its player numbers, Wanneroo Softball Club hosted a “Have a Go Day”, targeting new members of the community and shining a light on the social and physical benefits of softball.

    The club received a $500 Kickstarter grant from the City to help host the event.

    The City’s Funding Program offers a valuable opportunity for groups based in the City of Wanneroo, or with a primary interest in the City, to secure financial support for projects, activities and events.

    Visit the Community Funding page for more information or phone the City’s Community Development team on (08) 9405 5600.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2024 Results

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2024.
     
    The Company posted KRW 75.8 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 6.5 trillion in operating profit in the quarter ended December 31, 2024. For the full year, it reported KRW 300.9 trillion in annual revenue and KRW 32.7 trillion in operating profit.
     
    Although fourth quarter revenue and operating profit decreased on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, annual revenue reached the second-highest on record, surpassed only in 2022. Meanwhile, operating profit was down KRW 2.7 trillion QoQ, due to soft market conditions especially for IT products, and an increase in expenditures including R&D.
     
    In the first quarter of 2025, while overall earnings improvement may be limited due to weakness in the semiconductors business, the Company aims to pursue growth through increased sales of smartphones with differentiated AI experiences, as well as premium products in the Device eXperience (DX) Division.
     
    For 2025 as a whole, the Company plans to enhance technological and product advantages in AI, continue to meet future demand for high-value-added products and drive sales growth in premium segments.
     
    With market conditions expected to remain soft in 1H for the Device Solutions (DS) Division, the Company will focus on securing technology leadership for mid- to long-term growth. Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) will look to strengthen its leading position in high-end products by enhancing product competitiveness, and the DX Division will focus on extending its leadership in delivering AI experiences across a diverse product portfolio.
     
    The Company’s capital expenditures in 2024 reached a total of KRW 53.6 trillion, including KRW 46.3 trillion spent in the DS Division and KRW 4.8 trillion in SDC. In the fourth quarter, the total was KRW 17.8 trillion, with KRW 16 trillion allocated to the DS Division and KRW 1 trillion to SDC.
     
     
    Semiconductors To Optimize Portfolio Centered on Advanced Nodes
    The DS Division posted KRW 30.1 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 2.9 trillion in operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2024.
     
    The Memory Business achieved record-high fourth-quarter revenue, backed by a higher blended DRAM average selling price (ASP) due to the increased sales of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-density DDR5 for servers. However, operating profit decreased slightly compared to the previous quarter as a result of increased R&D expenses to secure future technology leadership, as well as the initial ramp-up costs to secure production capacity for cutting-edge nodes.
     
    In the first quarter of 2025, amid ongoing uncertainties in demand, the Memory Business will shift its business portfolio to more high-value-added products by accelerating the migration to cutting-edge nodes to respond to the demand for high-performance and high-density products.
     
    For DRAM, the Memory Business seeks to increase the share of DDR5 and LPPDR5x shipments by accelerating the transition to the 1b nanometer (nm) process. As for NAND, the Business is executing the technology migration from V6 to V8 while increasing sales of V7 QLC-based server SSDs.
     
    In 2025, overall memory market demand is expected to recover from the second quarter. The Memory Business is reducing the portion of legacy DRAM and NAND products to align with market demand and accelerating the migration to cutting-edge nodes. The Business will continue to strengthen its business competitiveness and optimize its portfolio by increasing the portion of high value-added products such as HBM, DDR5, LPDDR5x, GDDR7 and server SSDs based on advanced process nodes.
     
    Earnings at the System LSI Business declined in the quarter due to weak mobile demand and higher R&D expenses to advance cutting-edge product development.
     
    In the first quarter of 2025, earnings are expected to remain weak due to delayed entry into the flagship system-on-a-chip (SoC) market. However, demand for core products such as image sensors and DDI is expected to increase on the back of flagship smartphone launches.
     
    In 2025, the System LSI Business will focus on further enhancing its flagship SoC through product optimization. For image sensors, the Business will proactively respond to high-resolution needs — such as for 200-megapixel (MP) telephoto and main cameras.
     
    The overall profit for the Foundry Business decreased due to lower utilization rates and higher R&D expenses for advanced-node technology. Its 2nm GAA technology is under active development, with the design-kit (DK) already distributed to customers for product design, while the 4nm process is mass producing HPC products based on stable yields.
     
    Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2025, earnings are expected to remain weak due to sluggish mobile demand and fixed-cost burden stemming from lower utilization rates. In this environment, the Foundry Business will concentrate on advancing leading-edge process development and enhancing process maturity to expand opportunities in AI and HPC applications and customer engagement for advanced nodes.
     
    As for 2025, the Business will continue to secure orders from major customers by ramping up and stabilizing the 2nm GAA technology, while simultaneously bolstering the 4nm technology and design infrastructure to meet the growing mobile and HPC needs.
     

    Display To Strengthen Product Competitiveness in 2025
    SDC posted KRW 8.1 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 0.9 trillion in operating profit for the fourth quarter.
     
    SDC reported declining profits QoQ due to sluggish smartphone demand and rising competition for the mobile display business, and achieved double-digit revenue growth QoQ for the large display business, with an increase in year-end TV sales.
     
    In the first quarter of 2025, the earnings outlook for the mobile display business is conservative, as the overall smartphone market demand is expected to remain weak. For the large display business, TVs with enhanced image quality are scheduled to launch, as well as high-resolution monitors.
     
    In 2025, SDC aims to sustain its leadership in the high-end segment by strengthening product competitiveness. For the large display business, SDC will increase sales of diversified high-performance TVs and monitors.
     
     
    MX To Drive Flagship-Centric Sales, Reinforce Leadership in Mobile AI
    The Mobile eXperience (MX) and Networks businesses posted KRW 25.8 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 2.1 trillion in operating profit for the fourth quarter.
     
    The MX Business reported a QoQ decrease in sales and profit, in part due to the fading effects of new flagship model launches. However, on a full-year basis, flagship sales saw robust growth on the back of double-digit growth of the Galaxy S24 series featuring Galaxy AI, with tablets and wearables also increasing in both value and shipments.
     
    In the first quarter of 2025, the MX Business plans to drive sales growth based on its flagship models, particularly the newly launched Galaxy S25 series, and will continue to lead the AI smartphone market through promotion of new AI experiences and product competitiveness.
     
    In 2025, the MX Business will reinforce its mobile AI leadership by providing more personalized, differentiated AI experiences while also strengthening the foldable lineup to generate new customer demand. Additionally, the Business plans to expand sales by providing advanced AI features and rich Galaxy ecosystem experiences for premium tablets, notebooks, wearables and the upcoming XR device.
     
    While prices of major components are expected to increase this year due to advancements in hardware specifications, the MX Business aims to improve profitability by continuing to build out Galaxy AI and expand sales centered on flagship products.
     
    In the fourth quarter, the Networks Business reported significant improvements in revenue and operating profit in key markets. For 2025, performance is set to improve as the Business expects to win new orders and as major operators expand their network and increase adoption of virtualized and open radio access networks (vRAN/ORAN).
     

    Vision AI Expected To Drive Growth for Visual Display
    The Visual Display (VD) and Digital Appliances (DA) Businesses posted KRW 14.4 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 0.2 trillion in operating profit in the fourth quarter.
     
    The VD Business saw revenue increase in the fourth quarter due to expanded sales and an improved sales mix through peak-season promotion, yet profitability decreased slightly as a result of increased cost from intensified competition amid largely stagnant TV demand.
     
    In the first quarter of 2025, while overall TV demand is expected to decrease YoY due to growing domestic and global economic uncertainties, demand for high-value-added products is projected to remain solid. The Business will try to improve profitability and expand strategic product sales through new model launches based on the Vision AI strategy for Samsung’s AI screens.
     
    In 2025, the overall TV market is expected to grow slightly in major emerging markets. The VD Business plans to lead the AI screen market under Samsung’s “Home AI” vision, integrating AI into all connected device experiences based on the SmartThings platform and expand the adoption of Samsung Knox security solutions.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI China: Hong Kong marks Chinese New Year with dazzling fireworks display

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    As the clock struck eight on Thursday evening, the sky above Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour erupted in a kaleidoscope of colors, marking the arrival of the Chinese New Year.

    Fireworks illuminate the sky over Victoria Harbour in celebration of the Spring Festival in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 30, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Duo)

    This year’s 23-minute fireworks display, a dazzling spectacle of 23,888 pyrotechnic bursts featuring nine scenes, drew over 250,000 residents and tourists to the waterfront, united in celebration of the Year of the Snake.

    The annual event, co-organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, is a must-see for many Hong Kong residents and tourists.

    Addressing the crowd on Thursday night, HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee underscored the significance of the fireworks display as a centerpiece of the Chinese New Year festivities in Hong Kong, noting that each year’s performance features new elements, bringing fresh brilliance to the skies above Victoria Harbour. Much like the agile snake symbolizes flexibility and adaptability, this reflects the spirit of innovation and resilience of the people of Hong Kong.

    As dusk settled, the promenade at Tsim Sha Tsui buzzed with anticipation. Families, couples, and international visitors staked out prime viewing spots hours in advance, eager to witness the grand spectacle. From Wan Chai to Causeway Bay, the atmosphere was electric, filled with laughter and the chatter of excited spectators.

    The show began with the first scene, titled “A Brand New Beginning,” igniting cheers from the crowd. The scene “Blossoming Prosperity” painted golden ingots in the sky, symbolizing prosperity and abundance. The eighth scene, “Double Luck and Goodness,” featured giant panda images against a backdrop of green lighting representing bamboo and decorative silver illumination. Six adorable “panda head” images representing “An An,” “Ke Ke,” “Ying Ying,” and “Le Le,” along with the newborn twins “Elder Sister” and “Little Brother,” illuminated the sky, signifying reunion and happiness.

    The fireworks display reached its climax in the final act, “Harvesting Year of the Snake.” The vibrant scene featured wandering star pattern fireworks dancing against the powerful gongs and drums of the background music “Golden Snake Dance,” wishing continued prosperity for the nation and peaceful lives for the people.

    For many, this was more than just a show; it was a moment of collective celebration and hope. Seventy-year-old local resident Mrs. Suen shared her thoughts: “This is one of the most crowded displays I’ve ever seen. The influx of tourists has added to the festive spirit, and it fills us all with optimism for the year ahead.”

    Among the visitors was Mr. Xu from Zhejiang, who expressed his awe, saying, “Incredible! Emotional!” He had long heard of Hong Kong’s spectacular celebrations and had planned this trip specifically to experience the fireworks. “This is a highlight of our family trip and is definitely worth it,” he said. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Secures HHS Nominee Kennedy’s Support for Rural Health Care, Ag, Key Agency Issues

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, laid out his priorities and expectations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during a hearing to consider Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be HHS Secretary. Grassley discussed the importance of lowering prescription drug prices, holding pharmacy benefit managers accountable, bolstering rural health care, answering congressional oversight and more.
    In response to Grassley, Kennedy said: “I agree with all those provisions, Senator. My approach to the administration of HHS will be radical transparency. If members of this committee or other members of Congress want information, the doors are open… If Congress asked me for information, you would get it immediately.”
    Video and excerpts from Grassley follow.
    [embedded content]
    VIDEO
    Oversight: 
    “A key responsibility of each member of Congress is oversight. Oversight allows us to hold bureaucrats accountable to the rule of law, and it helps keep faith with taxpayers. I expect HHS to provide timely and complete responses to congressional oversight.”
    PBMs: 
    “I’ve been working to hold Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) accountable in order to lower prescription drug costs. I expect you to work with us to hold PBMs accountable and ask for your support for legislation that’s before Congress.”  
    Prescription Drug Pricing: 
    “Senator Durbin and I have been trying to get a bill passed that requires price disclosures on TV ads for prescription drugs. Knowing what something costs before buying it is just common sense. President Trump tried to do this by regulation in his first term and Vice President Vance cosponsored our bill last Congress. I ask you to support my bill, or if you can do it by regulation, do it by regulation.”
    Rural Health Care: 
    The previous administration dragged its feet in opening up slots for the Rural Community Hospital demonstration program. It also ignored concerns from rural pharmacies when implementing changes to Medicare Part D and ignored rural needs when it comes to distributing physician residency slots. I expect you to prioritize rural Americans’ health care needs.”
    Agriculture: 
    “In our meeting earlier this month, we talked at length about agriculture. You prefaced the conversation by saying you will not have jurisdiction over those issues. I expect you to leave agricultural practices regulations to the proper agencies, and for the most part that’s USDA and EPA.”
    Dietary Guidelines: 
    “I’ve sent letters to the Secretaries of Agriculture and HHS requesting they provide information regarding conflicts of interest on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to increase transparency. I expect you to provide Congress with confidential financial disclosures from the Advisory Committee before finalizing the Dietary Guidelines, so we know that nobody has a vested interest in it.”
    HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement Oversight (ORR): 
    “Last year, I expanded my investigation into HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. I wrote to two dozen contractors and grantees whose job it is to place unaccompanied children with sponsors. In many cases, children have been placed with improperly vetted sponsors, placing them at risk of trafficking. The Biden administration’s HHS directed these taxpayer-funded contractors and grantees to not respond to my inquiry. This is obstruction by the executive branch. 
    “I expect you to produce to me the records and data I’ve requested and instruct HHS contractors to fully cooperate as well. I also expect HHS to not retaliate against any whistleblowers, including those who identify ORR’s failures in vetting sponsors of unaccompanied [children].”
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville Speaks During Hearing for HHS Secretary Nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Champions Making America Healthy Again

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services(HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sen. Tuberville and Mr. Kennedy discussed the harmful ingredients used in American food products and ways to Make America Healthy Again.

    Earlier today, Sen. Tuberville penned an op-ed explaining why he supports Kennedy for HHS Secretary. 

    Read excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.

    ON THE OVER-PRESCRIPTION OF MEDICATION:
    TUBERVILLE:     “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy, for being here. Being a few months older than me, I’m going to be respectful to my elders. [laughs] […]

    Thank you for bringing light to what this is all about. It’s about the health in our country. There might have been a half a dozen people in [here for the hearing of] the last Health and Human Services nominee—nobody was interested. A lawyer who worked from home in California—didn’t do a damn thing in terms of what we needed when COVID was in full steam.

    So, thank you. Thank you for getting our young people involved. My two boys, 28 and 30, a year ago or so were gonna vote for you for President of the United States. You know why? Because you’re trying to save their group of people from the chemicals and the things that we have in our food. They’re fired up about it. And you brought light to that. And thank God you’ve done that. You brought importance to what we’re doing.

    You know, I coached for 40 years. In the last four or five years I coached, I’d never seen the run on drugs our young people are being given by doctors across this country. We have an attention deficit problem in this country. When you and I were growing up, our parents didn’t use a drug, they used a belt and whipped our butts, you know, and told us to sit down. Nowadays, we give them Adderall and Ritalin like candy across college campuses and high school campuses. Mr. Kennedy, what are we gonna do about that?”

    RFK JR: “Today, 15% of American kids are on Adderall. And there’s clearly a major problem with over-prescription, not just with our children, with our entire population. We have 4.2% of the world’s population, and we take fifty percent of the pharmaceutical drugs. And there’s a recent study by Peter Gotzsche, who is one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration that showed that prescription drugs are now the third largest cause of death in our country after cardiac arrest or colon cancer. We’re not getting healthier. Americans are getting less and less healthy. 70% of pharmaceutical profits will globally come from our country, which has 4.2% of the world’s population. We’re the only country that allows full-scale pharmaceutical ads on TV. And we’re all being told that you can eat anything you want, you can smoke anything you want, you can do anything you want and there’ll be a drug to fix you in the end. And it is not a good formula. And our kids are getting sicker and sicker. They’re not getting better. Nobody here—all the people here who are defending this current system and defending these pharmaceutical industry profits—many of whom are taking huge amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry, millions of dollars for many of these senators. And none of that is making our country healthier. It’s making us sicker. We need to get rid of these conflicts. We need good science, and we need good leadership. [I’m] able to stand up to these big industries and not bend over for them.”

    ON VACCINES:

    TUBERVILLE: “And you brought to light the vaccines over the last couple of years. I’ll have my first granddaughter here in a couple of weeks, and my son and his wife have done their research about vaccines. And she’s not going to be a pin cushion. We’re not going to allow that to happen. But you brought that up, as you and I talked about with vaccines—let’s empower scientists to do their job. You know, don’t just do something for the pharmaceutical companies. So, I appreciate you doing that.”

    ON FOOD INGREDIENTS:
    TUBERVILLE:     “One other thing is—you and I talked about Red Dye No. 3. It just happens that you and I talked about that and a few days later, in this room, we had the FDA director. And I asked him, why don’t we use Red Dye Three in our cosmetics, [but] use it in our food? Yet we don’t use it [in] cosmetics because it causes cancer. What the heck is going on? Well, a few weeks later because of that, [the Biden administration] dropped it. So, tell me about dyes and things that you’re concerned about. I [hear more] about that than anything.”

    RFK JR: “We have 10,000 ingredients in our food in this country because the FDA employs a standard called the GRAS standard. And it looks at any new chemical as innocent until proven guilty. Europe, they have 400 ingredients in their foods. Kellogg’s makes fruit loops for the United States alone. It is loaded with a red dye, blue, a yellow dye, and many, many other ingredients. They make the same product for Canada [with] all vegetable dyes. And for Europe, if you eat a McDonald’s French fry in this country, it has 11 ingredients. You eat the same product in Europe, it has three. We are allowing these companies because [of] their influence over this body, over our regulatory agencies, to mass poison American children. And that’s wrong. It needs to end, and I believe I’m the one person who’s able to end it.”

    BACKGROUND:

    As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and a co-founder of the Senate “Make America Healthy Again” Caucus, Senator Tuberville is a strong supporter of President Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sen. Tuberville shares Kennedy’s view that increased transparency is needed for our food and health care systems, especially the chemicals that are being put in America’s food. The FDA recently announced its decision to ban Red Dye 3 following Senator Tuberville questioning top FDA officials on the harm of these chemicals in a HELP hearing last month. 

    MORE:

    Tuberville: “America is facing a public health crisis; We must confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr.”

    Tuberville Joins Sen. Marshall in Launching Make America Healthy Again Caucus

    Tuberville, MAHA Caucus Celebrate FDA’s Decision to Ban Dangerous Red Dye No. 3 from Foods

    1819 News: Tuberville questions FDA over red dyes no. 40 and no. 3 in America’s food supply — ‘It’s not a conservative or a liberal standpoint’

    Tuberville Exposes Harmful Chemicals in American Food and Beverage Industry

    ICYMI: Tuberville Joins “National Report” on Newsmax

    Tuberville Meets with RFK Jr. and Todd Blanche

    Coach’s Monthly Column: All in for Trump’s America First nominees

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –