Category: Europe

  • MIL-OSI Europe: European Court of Human Rights – Election of a new president, Mattias Guyomar (29.04.25)

    Source: Republic of France in English
    The Republic of France has issued the following statement:

    France welcomes the election of French judge Mattias Guyomar as president of the European Court of Human Rights. He will take up his duties on May 30. The last French judge elected to this position was Jean-Paul Costa, who presided over the ECHR from 2007 to 2011.

    France commends the dedication and efforts of the outgoing president, Marko Bošnjak, during his term of office.

    France reaffirms its commitment to and support for the European Court of Human Rights, which guarantees the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI USA: 100 DAYS OF INVESTMENT: $5+ Trillion in New Investment Fuels America’s Future

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    President Donald J. Trump has secured over $5 trillion in new U.S.-based investments in his first 100 days, which will create more than 451,000 new jobs as he sets the stage for a new era of American prosperity. From advanced manufacturing to cutting-edge artificial intelligence infrastructure, these historic investments — spurred by President Trump’s unwavering commitment to revitalizing American industry — will reinforce the U.S. as the global leader in innovation and economic growth.
    The announcements keep coming. In recent days:
    IBM announced a $150 billion investment over the next five years in its U.S.-based growth and manufacturing operations.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it will invest an additional $2 billion over the next four years to enhance and expand its U.S. manufacturing operations and strengthen its innovation efforts.
    Corning announced it is expanding its Michigan manufacturing facility investment to $1.5 billion, adding 400 new, high-paying, advanced manufacturing jobs.
    Merck & Co. announced a $1 billion investment to build a new state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing plant in Delaware, which will create at least 500 new jobs — part of the company’s commitment to invest more than $9 billion over the next four years.
    “Since the advent of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Merck has allocated more than $12 billion to enhance our domestic manufacturing and research capabilities, with additional planned investments of more than $9 billion over the next four years.”

    Amgen announced a $900 million investment in its Ohio-based manufacturing operation.
    The company credited President Trump’s landmark 2017 tax cuts for enabling its rapid expansion: “Pro-growth policies like the @POTUS @WhiteHouse 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act helped make investments like this possible. Since enactment, Amgen has invested ~$5B in capital expenditures. This amounts to an additional downstream output to the U.S. economy of approximately $12B.”

    The Bel Group announced a $350 million investment to expand its U.S.-based production, including at its South Dakota, Idaho and Wisconsin facilities — which will create 250 new jobs.
    Here is the non-exhaustive list of investments secured in President Trump’s second term:
    Project Stargate, led by Japan-based Softbank and U.S.-based OpenAI and Oracle, announced a $500 billion private investment in U.S.-based artificial intelligence infrastructure.
    Apple announced a $500 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing and training.
    NVIDIA, a global chipmaking giant, announced it will invest $500 billion in U.S.-based AI infrastructure over the next four years amid its pledge to manufacture AI supercomputers entirely in the U.S. for the first time.
    IBM announced a $150 billion investment over the next five years in its U.S.-based growth and manufacturing operations.
    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced a $100 billion investment in U.S.-based chips manufacturing.
    Johnson & Johnson announced a $55 billion investment over the next four years in manufacturing, research and development, and technology.
    Roche, a Swiss drug and diagnostics company, announced a $50 billion investment in U.S.-based manufacturing and research and development, which is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs.
    Eli Lilly and Company announced a $27 billion investment to more than double its domestic manufacturing capacity.
    United Arab Emirates-based ADQ and U.S.-based Energy Capital Partners announced a $25 billion investment in U.S. data centers and energy infrastructure.
    Novartis, a Swiss drugmaker, announced a $23 billion investment to build or expand ten manufacturing facilities across the U.S., which will create 4,000 new jobs.
    Hyundaiannounced a $21 billion U.S.-based investment — including $5.8 billion for a new steel plant in Louisiana, which will create nearly 1,500 jobs.
    Hyundai also secured an equity investment and agreement from Posco Holdings, South Korea’s top steel maker.

    United Arab Emirates-based DAMAC Properties announced a $20 billion investment in new U.S.-based data centers.
    France-based CMA CGM, a global shipping giant, announced a $20 billion investment in U.S. shipping and logistics, creating 10,000 new jobs.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it will invest an additional $2 billion over the next four years to enhance and expand its U.S. manufacturing operations and strengthen its innovation efforts.
    Merck & Co. announced it will invest a total of $9 billion in the U.S. over the next several years after opening a new $1 billion North Carolina manufacturing facility — including in a new state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing plant in Delaware, which will create at least 500 new jobs.
    Clarios announced a $6 billion plan to expand its domestic manufacturing operations.
    Stellantis announced a $5 billion investment in its U.S. manufacturing network, including re-opening its Belvidere, Illinois, manufacturing plant.
    Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in biotechnology, announced a $3 billion agreement with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to produce drugs at its North Carolina manufacturing facility.
    NorthMark Strategies, a multi-strategy investment firm, announced a $2.8 billion investment to build a supercomputing facility in South Carolina.
    Corning announced it is expanding its Michigan manufacturing facility investment to $1.5 billion, adding 400 new high-paying advanced manufacturing jobs for a total of 1,500 new jobs.
    Chobani, a Greek yogurt giant, announced a $1.2 billion investment to build its third U.S. dairy processing plant in New York, which is expected to create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs — adding to the company’s earlier announcement that it will invest $500 million to expand its Idaho manufacturing plant.
    GE Aerospace announced a $1 billion investment in manufacturing across 16 states — creating 5,000 new jobs.
    Amgen announced a $900 million investment in its Ohio-based manufacturing operation.
    Schneider Electric announced it will invest $700 million over the next four years in U.S. energy infrastructure.
    GE Vernova announced it will invest nearly $600 million in U.S. manufacturing over the next two years, which will create more than 1,500 new jobs.
    Abbott Laboratories announced a $500 million investment in its Illinois and Texas facilities.
    AIP Management, a European infrastructure investor, announced a $500 million investment to solar developer Silicon Ranch.
    London-based Diageo announced a $415 million investment in a new Alabama manufacturing facility.
    Dublin-based Eaton Corporation announced a $340 million investment in a new South Carolina-based manufacturing facility for its three-phase transformers.
    Germany-based Siemens announced a $285 million investment in U.S. manufacturing and AI data centers, which will create more than 900 new skilled manufacturing jobs.
    The Bel Group announced a $350 million investment to expand its U.S.-based production, including at its South Dakota, Idaho and Wisconsin facilities — which will create 250 new jobs.
    Clasen Quality Chocolate announced a $230 million investment to build a new production facility in Virginia, which will create 250 new jobs.
    Fiserv, Inc., a financial technology provider, announced a $175 million investment to open a new strategic fintech hub in Kansas, which is expected to create 2,000 new, high-paying jobs.
    Paris Baguette announced a $160 million investment to construct a manufacturing plant in Texas.
    TS Conductor announced a $134 million investment to build an advanced conductor manufacturing facility in South Carolina, which will create nearly 500 new jobs.
    Switzerland-based ABB announced a $120 million investment to expand production of its low-voltage electrification products in Tennessee and Mississippi.
    Saica Group, a Spain-based corrugated packaging maker, announced plans to build a $110 million new manufacturing facility in Anderson, Indiana.
    Charms, LLC, a subsidiary of candymaker Tootsie Roll Industries, announced a $97.7 million investment to expand its production plant and distribution center in Tennessee.
    Toyota Motor Corporation announced an $88 million investment to boost hybrid vehicle production at its West Virginia factory, securing employment for the 2,000 workers at the factory.
    AeroVironment, a defense contractor, announced a $42.3 million investment to build a new manufacturing facility in Utah.
    Paris-based Saint-Gobain announced a new $40 million NorPro manufacturing facility in Wheatfield, New York.
    India-based Sygene International announced a $36.5 million acquisition of a Baltimore biologics manufacturing facility.
    Asahi Group Holdings, one of the largest Japanese beverage makers, announced a $35 million investment to boost production at its Wisconsin plant.
    Cyclic Materials, a Canadian advanced recycling company for rare earth elements, announced a $20 million investment in its first U.S.-based commercial facility, located in Mesa, Arizona.
    Guardian Bikes announced a $19 million investment to build the first U.S.-based large-scale bicycle frame manufacturing operation in Indiana.
    Amsterdam-based AMG Critical Minerals announced a $15 million investment to build a chrome manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania.
    NOVONIX Limited, an Australia-based battery technology company, announced a $4.6 million investment to build a synthetic graphite manufacturing facility in Tennessee.
    LGM Pharma announced a $6 million investment to expand its manufacturing facility in Rosenberg, Texas.
    ViDARR Inc., a defense optical equipment manufacturer, announced a $2.69 million investment to open a new facility in Virginia.
    That doesn’t even include the U.S. investments pledged by foreign countries:
    United Arab Emirates announced a $1.4 trillion investment in the U.S. over the next decade.
    Saudi Arabia announced it intends to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
    Japan announced a $1 trillion investment in the U.S.
    Taiwan announced a pledge to boost its U.S.-based investment.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Exceptional hardship scheme opens: how to apply

    Source: City of Portsmouth

    A new exceptional hardship scheme has opened offering one-off payments for Portsmouth residents who need help to pay for food, bills and other essentials.

    The Portsmouth City Council-run scheme offers individual payments to families and individuals in extreme hardship. The amount awarded is based on individual circumstances.

    It’s open to Portsmouth households based on income levels who meet other criteria, and who have not received an exceptional hardship payment within the last six months. Full details and how to apply: www.portsmouth.gov.uk/household-support-fund

    People can apply for payments towards groceries and energy costs, as well as essential household purchases like a fridge, freezer and white goods, beds, furniture, vehicle repairs and children’s clothing.

    The first application window is open until 12 noon on Thursday 12 June 2025. The scheme will then reopen for a second window in July.

    Residents are encouraged to check online if they’re eligible, and if they need help to apply to call the council’s cost of living helpline: 023 9284 1047.

    It’s the first of a number of local support schemes to open, funded by the latest Household Support Fund (HSF) from the UK Government. Portsmouth has been given a total of £3,327,922 to use until 31 March 2026.

    At an extraordinary cabinet meeting, councillors were updated on the other HSF schemes coming in stages which will further support those in hardship, including:

    • Living cost payments for targeted groups including pensioners, carers, care leavers, people with disabilities
    • Supermarket food vouchers for children who get free school meals (FSM), and a voucher scheme for low-income families who don’t quality for FSM
    • Extending the successful HAF Fun Pompey holiday activities to low-income families who don’t qualify for FSM
    • Grants for local foodbanks, community meals, larders/pantries so they can continue supporting people
    • Funding to continue the cost of living hub website and helpline, offering free advice and help to apply for benefits and payments for those who need it

    Details of all these application-based schemes will be added to the HSF webpage and promoted before they open.

    Portsmouth City Council Leader Cllr Steve Pitt said:

    “People have just seen a huge hike in many of their bills at a time when prices aren’t getting cheaper. There’s evidence that many local people are in more financial hardship than ever, so it’s essential that we allocate this funding to those who most need it.

    “I strongly encourage people to check if they qualify for payment schemes when they open, as well as other benefits, and to contact our cost of living hub for any help.”

    Nearly three-quarters of Portsmouth residents (72%) are finding it quite or very difficult to manage financially, from those who completed a cost of living survey in September 2024. Just over half of respondents have a household income of less than £10,000, and a further 38% earn between £10,000 and £20,000.

    With thousands of Portsmouth residents still not receiving benefit payments like Pension Credit despite being eligible, the council continues to support people to apply through the helpline.

    • Visit the cost of living hub website or call the free helpline 023 9284 1047, open weekdays 9am-5pm (closes 4.30pm Fridays)
    • Find out how to lower your energy bills at Switched on Portsmouth and check if you qualify for a free home energy visit

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The role of family in modern society was discussed at the State University of Management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 29, the 2nd International Scientific Conference “Family in Modern Russian Society” was held at the State University of Management, organized by the Research Institute of Public Policy and Management of Industrial Economics of the State University of Management together with the university institutes.

    Today, family issues are given special attention at all levels. Thus, 2024 in Russia was held under the auspices of the Year of the Family and became fruitful in terms of long-term legislative, economic and social initiatives aimed at supporting Russian families.

    More than 50 students, postgraduates, applicants, scientists and teachers presented papers on the role of the family in Russian society, issues of family policy and traditional family values. Students and teachers of Russian universities, experts, representatives of government bodies and the clergy took part in the work of the sections. The Chairman of the Program Committee was Oleg Sudorgin, Director of the Research Institute of Public Policy and Management of Industrial Economy of the State University of Management.

    The conference included five sections.

    The section “Family and Marriage Values in the Minds of Modern Youth” was led by Deputy Director of the Institute of Personnel Management, Social and Business Communications for Research Galina Mokhova. Participants presented research on the specifics of family relationships and youth education, discussed the problems of trust in family relationships, and the perception of family and marriage by young people. Considerable attention was paid to the preservation and strengthening of intergenerational relationships and traditional family values.

    The Family Economy section, chaired by Galina Sorokina, Director of the Institute of Economics and Finance, discussed the specifics and issues of family economics and family budget in modern society. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church also took part in the work: the rector of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Pronsky Monastery in the Ryazan Diocese, Abbot Luka (Stepanov), the rector of the Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky on Volzhsky, Priest Kirill (Kraev), and the priest of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity near Saltykov Bridge, Priest Grigory (Falin). GUU expresses its deep appreciation and gratitude to the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church for their participation in the conference.

    Within the framework of the section “Formation and development of modern state family policy in Russia”, headed by the head of the department of state and municipal administration, adviser to the rector’s office Sergey Chuev, current national and federal projects, strategies in the field of family and demographic policy, issues and prospects for state support for young families were discussed.

    Under the guidance of Irina Goncharova, leading researcher at the Research Institute of Public Policy and Management of Industrial Economics, in the section “The Institute of Family in the Era of Change: from Historical Mission to Modern Challenges,” the speakers examined aspects of the institution of family in the context of modern demographic challenges and the impact of digitalization, the role of the family in fostering patriotism and the formation of a positive image of the family in the media.

    The conference included a special thematic section dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War — “The Contribution of Families to Achieving Victory in World War II.” The section was chaired by Fanis Sharipov, Director of the Center for Socio-Economic and Political Research of China at the Research Institute of Public Policy and Management of Industrial Economy. The speakers presented stories related to their ancestors who fought during the Great Patriotic War, and shared memories of the courage and dedication of their relatives. The key issues of the section were the importance of preserving historical memory and the contribution of young people to preserving the memory of the war. Nikita Stepanov, Senior Researcher at the Center for Socio-Economic Development Institutes at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Ivan Arkhipov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society and President of the I.V. Arkhipov Foundation, took part in the section.

    For the second time, the conference became a platform for professional and extensive consideration of the vectors of development of the Russian family, key foundations for preserving the continuity of traditions and family values. Participants unanimously noted the importance of discussing and forming new ideas for developing the institution of the family, and also emphasized that the regular nature of such events promotes dialogue between generations, preservation and popularization of traditions and family values in modern Russian society.

    Let us recall that in 2024, the first International Scientific Conference “Family in Modern Russian Society” was held at the State University of Management, dedicated to the Year of the Family, declared by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/29/2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Grande Conférence with Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize 2018

    Source: Universities – Science Po in English

    On 25 April 2025, for the last Grande Conférence of this academic year, Sciences Po welcomed the co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize – Nadia Murad. This event was introduced by Luis Vassy, President of Sciences Po, and moderated by Jeremy Perelman, Vice-President for International Affairs at Sciences Po.

    For 150 years, this school, that has been created after the defeat of France against Prussia, has been working on one issue: can democracies be more efficient than authocracies? Can good be more efficient than evil? And you, Nadia, have seen evil in the eyes.

    Luis Vassy, President of Sciences Po

    « Speaking here in front of you, working as an activist, and especially raising awareness of conflict-related sexual violence, is not a life I could have ever imagined for myself. […] I realised that my survival carried with it a responsibility, to share with the world what the women and girls were going through in captivity. »

    Nadia Murad

    Nobel Peace Prize 2018

    Nadia Murad was born and raised a Yazidi in the small village of Kocho in Northern Iraq. On 3 August 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) began a genocidal campaign against the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in Iraq. Nadia Murad was 21 years old.

    Nadia Murad’s book in French, “Pour que je sois la dernière” (Fayard / Livre de poche). (credits: Livre de poche / Sandrine Gaudin pour Sciences Po)

    World leaders are well aware of the conditions that are associated with the onset of such atrocities, from the studies of previous genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda, Cambodia, the Holocaust, and the list goes on.

    Despite the warnings, the world watched in August 2014 as thousands of ISIS members, including many of our neighbours, brutally attacked Yazidis, village by village, murdering thousands of innocent men and elderly women, including six of my brothers and my mother.

    Young women, including myself, my sisters, my nieces, and my cousins, along with over 6,000 women and children, were forced into sexual slavery. ISIS imposed brutal policies on Yazadi women, viewing them as spoils of war.

    Nadia Murad

    After her captivity, she became a powerful voice for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. In 2016, she was appointed as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

    In 2018, Nadia Murad was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, as she is a leading advocate for ending the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. The same year, she published her memoir The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State (Virago) and launched a survivor-led NGO, Nadia’s Initiative.

    > Watch the full event:

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Feenstra Introduces Legislation to Continue Safe Exports of Iowa Agricultural Products in Event of Foreign Animal Disease Outbreak

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-04)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Katie Britt (R-AL), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Safe American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which would codify USDA’s role in negotiating regionalization agreements that allow livestock, poultry, and other animal products from unaffected areas of the country to continue to be safely exported in the event of an animal disease outbreak. Although USDA already works with the United States Trade Representative to develop these agreements, this legislation explicitly expresses congressional support for establishing regionalization agreements and promoting robust agricultural trade policies before any animal disease impacts our nation.

    This bill also establishes a notification system within the Import and Export Library to prevent our producers from being impacted by changes in trade status of agricultural commodities and alert the proper agencies, organizations, and State Departments of Agriculture that there have been changes in import or export status.

    “Iowa farmers are the backbone of our economy and the breadbasket of our country and the world. However, an animal disease outbreak can be devastating for our producers, majorly disrupt trade with foreign countries, and close important export markets that our farmers depend on,” said Rep. Feenstra. “Understanding the dire financial and animal health consequences of a disease outbreak, I introduced the Safe American Food Exports Act so that we can negotiate comprehensive agreements with our trading partners and ensure that a disease outbreak in one part of the country does not impact Iowa’s ability to produce and export our agricultural goods. By working proactively on regionalization agreements and prioritizing farm biosecurity, we can safely ship our agricultural commodities around the globe, prevent massive trade disruptions, and mitigate the negative impacts of animal disease on our farmers, producers, and rural communities.”

    “Mississippi’s poultry exporters and producers have suffered during the bird flu. Animal diseases often cause trade disruptions, and the government should help protect American agriculture exports in these situations,” said Sen. Wicker. “The Safe American Food Exports Act would help do that. The bill would give the USDA authority to negotiate regionalization agreements to ensure America’s agricultural producers are not shut off from the global market.” 

    “Outbreaks of animal disease, even when limited to a specific region, can upend access to global markets for producers across the country,” said Rep. Panetta.  “That’s why I’m proud to help lead this bipartisan, bicameral effort that would codify USDA’s role in proactively negotiating regionalization agreements.  By reducing unnecessary trade disruptions, we can ensure that disease-free producers remain competitive abroad, meet global food demands, and uphold the high food safety standards that American consumers expect.”

    “Animal disease outbreaks pose a significant threat to not just American food security, but the livelihoods of our hardworking farmers and producers. This legislation would help secure global trade exports in the event of such an outbreak,” said Sen. Britt. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in this effort to support American agricultural producers and ensure sustainable markets.”

    “Congressman Feenstra’s district is full of egg producers who welcome this proactive bill to have USDA work with our trading partners to prevent trade impacts from HPAI,” said Chad Gregory, CEO of the United Egg Producers.

    “The North Central Poultry Association appreciates Congressman Feenstra’s keen awareness of challenges facing the poultry industry and his leadership on the House Agriculture Committee to support Iowa’s poultry and egg producers,” said Kevin Stiles, CEO and Executive Director of the North Central Poultry Association. “His efforts to help farmers protect their flocks and herds in Iowa, Minnesota, and across the country should prove expedient as we work together to proactively mitigate the impact of animal diseases. We strongly support the SAFE Act and encourage Congress to swiftly pass this vital legislation to protect animal health, bolster egg and poultry exports, and maintain America’s status as the breadbasket to our country and the world.”

    “Ensuring turkey is available to consumers is essential to the success of Iowa’s turkey farmers.  When a devastating disease, like highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infect a turkey flock, trade is disrupted, leading to financial losses to the turkey industry,” said Gretta Irwin, Executive Director of the Iowa Turkey Federation. “Preemptively negotiating regionalization agreements for known animal diseases, like HPAI, makes sense. This bill takes a critical step to ensure turkey products can effortlessly be exported during a disease disruption and reduce financial strain to the turkey industry.”

    “State departments of agriculture play a critical role on the frontlines of foreign animal disease prevention, mitigation and recovery, and we appreciate this bipartisan effort to enable farmers and ranchers to more easily export safe food products to our trading partners,” said Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. “More collaboration and communication among federal partners enables state agriculture departments and U.S. farmers to better prepare and respond in the case of an outbreak and ultimately leads to stronger animal health and welfare across the U.S. NASDA thanks Congressmen Feenstra and Panetta for their leadership on this important issue.”

    “Ensuring America’s turkey producers are not unnecessarily restricted in the global market is a common-sense step that would help the turkey industry persevere through the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak,” said Leslee Oden, President and CEO at the National Turkey Federation. “NTF commends Rep. Feenstra (IA-04) for reintroducing the SAFE Act to aid in updating valuable regionalization agreements with key trading partners as members of the turkey industry simultaneously battle export market disruption and animal health challenges.”

    “NARA supports the SAFE Act for its proactive approach to animal disease preparedness. We commend Reps. Feenstra and Panetta for advancing regionalization agreements that help prevent unnecessary export disruptions and keep markets open,” said Kent Swisher, President and CEO of the North American Renderers Association.

    “We thank Representatives Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19) for championing legislative efforts to secure U.S. export markets for animal-based feed and pet food products in the face of foreign animal disease threats. These products are a critical, yet often overlooked, component of the food supply chain. The AFIA strongly backs the SAFE Act and our members are committed to working alongside the U.S. government to implement proactive measures to help shield our economy from future risks,” said Constance Cullman, President and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association.

    Full legislative text can be found HERE.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New posters promoting button battery safety

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    News story

    New posters promoting button battery safety

    New posters promoting button battery safety provide 5 top tips to keep children safe.

    The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is sharing new posters which can be downloaded and shared by stakeholders to promote button battery safety and awareness.

    These posters feature top tips that have been developed through collaboration with accident prevention charities, clinicians, manufacturers, online marketplaces and trade associations. 1.

    They warn parents about the risks of button batteries and provide 5 top tips to keep children safe:   

    • Look around your home for button batteries. Think toys, lights, remote controls and more.
    • Check for products with loose backs and button batteries that have dropped out.
    • Store button batteries in a safe place, up high and out of your child’s reach.
    • Dispose of used button batteries as soon as you can. They are still unsafe.
    • Act if you think your child may have swallowed a button battery, go straight to A&E or call an ambulance.

    Used button batteries should not be disposed of in the household rubbish. They should be dropped off for recycling at a collection point at a supermarket, or any other big shop that sells over 32 kg of batteries a year.

    Find out more about button battery safety – Child Accident Prevention Trust website

    1. The button battery top tips were produced by a working group chaired by the Child Accident Prevention Trust with representatives from Amazon, Amdea, Alibaba, British Retail Consortium, British and Irish Portable Battery Association, British Standards Institution, Chartered Trading Standards Institute, eBay, Electrical Safety First, Energizer, Etsy, OPSS and RoSPA and representatives from local authority trading standards services.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Defendants Arrested in Serbia for Allegedly Directing Interstate Stalking and Harassment of Los Angeles-Based Critic of China’s President

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    LOS ANGELES – Serbian law enforcement authorities have arrested two foreign nationals, Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom, at the request of the United States, the Justice Department announced today.

    The United States today unsealed its criminal complaint alleging that Cui and Miller coordinated and directed a conspiracy to harass, intimidate, and threaten a Los Angeles resident (the victim) who had been publicly critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    According to court documents, beginning in October 2023, Cui and Miller enlisted two individuals (Individual 1 and Individual 2) inside the United States to carry out a plot to prevent the victim from protesting President Xi’s appearance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2023. The victim had previously made public statements in opposition to the policies and actions of the PRC government and President Xi.

    Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 1 and Individual 2 were affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.

    In the weeks leading up to the APEC summit, Cui and Miller directed and coordinated an interstate scheme to surveil the victim, to install a tracking device on the victim’s car, to slash the tires on the victim’s car, and to purchase and destroy a pair of artistic statutes created by the victim depicting President Xi and President Xi’s wife.

    A similar scheme took place in the spring of 2025, after the victim announced that he planned to make public an online video feed depicting two new artistic statutes of President Xi and his wife. In connection with these plots, Cui and Miller paid two other individuals (Individual 3 and Individual 4), approximately $36,500 to convince the victim to desist from the online display of the statues. Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 3 and Individual 4 were also affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.

    A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    If convicted, Cui and Miller face the following maximum penalties: five years in federal prison for conspiracy and five years in federal prison for interstate stalking.

    The FBI is investigating the case. The United States thanks the Ministry of Justice of Serbia, the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, and the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia for the assistance in this matter. The United States will seek extradition of Cui and Miller and looks forward to working in partnership with the Republic of Serbia’s Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice.          

    Assistant United States Attorneys David Ryan, Chief of the National Security Division, and Amanda B. Elbogen of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section, along with Trial Attorneys Leslie Esbrook and Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin P. Taibleson for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Trial Attorney Goran Krnaich of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI: BTCC Exchange Pioneers Bitcoin Donations at Successful Legends Golf Day Charity Event Hosted by Red Eagle Foundation

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

    VILNIUS, Lithuania, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BTCC, the world’s longest-serving crypto exchange, has redefined charitable giving at the Red Eagle Foundation’s Legends Golf Day by enabling, for the first time in the foundation’s history, Bitcoin donations that bypassed traditional financial constraints while raising substantial funds for disadvantaged children.

    The event, held on April 24, 2025 at The Shire London, marked a historic milestone as BTCC enabled the first-ever Bitcoin donation option for the Red Eagle Foundation, revolutionizing how attendees could contribute to charitable causes. Participants could easily donate Bitcoin through QR codes available throughout the venue, transcending traditional banking limitations.

    The event featured an impressive lineup of ten Tottenham Hotspur legends, including Glenn Hoddle, Teddy Sheringham, Ossie Ardiles, Pat Jennings, Paul Miller, Michael Hazard, John Pratt, David Howells, John Lacey, and Mark Falco. Professional golfer Lucy Robson challenged participants as the “Beat the Pro”, and Team Barrington James took home the championship.

    A highlight included Glenn Hoddle sharing stories from his illustrious career and offering insights on the current Tottenham Hotspur team in a Q&A session hosted by former Chelsea player and sports television pundit Scott Minto.

    “BTCC brings a whole new donation method to traditional charity events, allowing more people in need to benefit from the power of cryptocurrency,” said Aaryn, Head of Branding at BTCC Exchange.

    “As pioneers in the cryptocurrency space, we believe it’s our responsibility to use innovative technology to create positive social impact. We’re happy to provide continuous support to our partner Red Eagle Foundation and look forward to launching more CSR initiatives as our exchange grows,” Aaryn added.

    The successful introduction of cryptocurrency donations represents just the beginning of BTCC’s expanded commitment to social responsibility. The exchange plans to leverage blockchain technology to address various social challenges while continuing to support organizations like the Red Eagle Foundation that make a meaningful difference in society.

    As a token of appreciation for its loyal community, BTCC will also be launching a giveaway featuring a signed shirt by Glenn Hoddle. Supporters are encouraged to stay tuned for more details on the exchange’s X (Twitter).

    About BTCC Exchange

    Founded in 2011, BTCC is one of the most established cryptocurrency exchanges, providing secure and reliable crypto trading services. The exchange continues to innovate its services for its 7.04 million traders worldwide while maintaining a strong commitment to community service and corporate social responsibility.

    Official website: https://www.btcc.com/en-US

    X: https://x.com/BTCCexchange

    Media Contact: press@btcc.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: VSORA Raises $46 Million to Bring World’s Most Powerful AI Inference Chip to Market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Europe’s only provider of more powerful, energy-efficient and cost-effective AI Chips than other solutions from global market leaders
    • Funding will enable VSORA to produce its cutting-edge AI chip in 2025

    PARIS, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VSORA, a French innovator and the only European provider of ultra-high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) inference chips, today announced that it has successfully raised $46 million in a new fundraising round.

    The investment was led by Otium and a French family office with additional participation from Omnes Capital, Adélie Capital and co-financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.

    In citing their reasons for investing in VSORA, all recognize that VSORA is poised to establish itself as a global leader in AI chips by redefining cost-effective, high-performance AI inference deployment at scale with a purpose-built architecture that overcomes inherent GPU limitations.

    “This funding marks a pivotal moment for VSORA as we accelerate our mission to revolutionize AI chips and ensure Europe’s technological sovereignty in AI computing,” says Khaled Maalej, VSORA Founder and CEO. “It will drive the finalization of our technology and the launch of our production, enabling VSORA to play a crucial role as the sole alternative to non-European chip designers. We are grateful for our investors’ trust and look forward to continuing our collaboration with industry leaders to bring our chip to market.”

    The new funding will support the production stage of VSORA’s Jotunn8 (J8) chip targeted for silicon in 2025. VSORA has forged partnerships with global semiconductor industry leaders, ensuring access to cutting-edge technologies and production capabilities that meet the highest standards of quality and performance.

    In parallel, VSORA continues to move forward with strategic stakeholders to prepare for the industrialization phase, paving the way for the emergence of a key global European player in AI chip innovation.

    “In a market dominated by global giants like Nvidia, VSORA is a unique opportunity for France and Europe, home to world-class engineering talent,” comments Gaspard de Veyrac, Principal at Otium. “Otium is proud to provide them with the means to realize their ambitions. With this funding, VSORA has the necessary tools to reshape the future of AI computation and secure a significant position in the global AI chip market.”

    VSORA and Jotunn8
    Founded in France, VSORA is working to reshape the future of AI inference by revolutionizing AI processing with its unique chip engineered for superior performance and efficiency and set to redefine AI inference processing. It is designed for key applications such as generative AI—ChatGPT, for instance—in data centers, autonomous driving, robotics and edge AI.

    The explosive growth of AI and generative AI applications has ignited an urgent demand for high-performance, cost-effective inference solutions. AI inference—the process of deploying trained AI models to generate real-time insights and predictions—is projected to grow at a 16% CAGR from $124 billion in 2025 to $255 billion in 2030.

    The Jotunn8 (J8) chip shatters performance barriers of conventional GPUs, delivering concrete performance that surpasses today’s AI chips from global-leading industry players. Specifically, J8 delivers more than three times the performance of existing solutions while consuming less than half the power. This significant leap in efficiency addresses the critical challenges of deployment cost, cost per query and energy consumption in large-scale AI deployment.

    Offering 3,200 teraflops of compute power, the J8 chip shatters the performance barriers of conventional GPUs, delivering real-world performance that surpasses today’s AI accelerators.

    Unlike traditional accelerators optimized for training, VSORA’s technology focuses on inference making it ideal for latency-sensitive applications. It increases throughput and reduces the processing cost and cost per query.

    About VSORA
    VSORA provides high-performance silicon solutions for AI data center inference, autonomous driving, robotics and edge AI applications. Founded in 2015 by a team of DSP experts, AI scientists and engineers with a long history of successes, VSORA has offices in France and Taiwan.

    Connect with VSORA:
    Website: www.vsora.com
    Email: info@vsora.com
    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vsora/

    About Otium
    Otium is a long-term investment holding company founded in 2009 by Pierre Edouard Sterin. With €1.6 billion ($1,892 billion) in assets as of December 31, 2024, spread across more than 1,310 investments—including the Smartbox group and stakes in French unicorns PayFit and Owkin—Otium invests amounts ranging from a few hundred thousand euros to several tens of millions of euros. Companies are funded at every stage of their development, from seed funding to growth capital, and Otium takes either majority or minority stakes with no holding period constraints. Otium pursues a diversification strategy by financing projects in tech, industrials, leisure, healthcare, hospitality and real estate. Otium invested €255 million in 2024. www.otiumcapital.com

    About Omnes Capital
    Omnes is a leading private equity firm dedicated to energy transition. With over €6.7 billion ($7,580 billion) in assets under management, our teams support long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs through our four core businesses: renewable energy, sustainable cities, deep tech and co-investment. For over 20 years, Omnes has been applying its expertise to help businesses grow in more than 15 countries, with a particular focus on sustainable development. As part of its approach as a responsible investor, the company has created the Omnes Foundation to support non-profit organizations working for children and young people in the fields of education, health, social and economic integration. www.omnescapital.com

    About EIC Fund
    The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is an agnostic Fund: it invests across all technologies and verticals, and all EU countries and countries associated to Horizon Europe. It provides the investment component of the EIC Accelerator blended finance. The European Investment Bank acts as investment adviser to the EIC Fund.

    The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap and its main purpose is to support companies in the development and commercialisation of disruptive technologies, bridging with and crowding in market players, and further sharing risk by building a large network of capital providers and strategic partners suitable for co-investments and follow-on funding.

    The Fund pays particular attention to the empowerment and support of female founders as well as the ambition to reduce the innovation divide among EU countries.
    https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-fund_en

    For more information, contact:
    Nanette Collins
    Public Relations for VSORA
    nanette@nvc.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI Africa: South Africa’s frogs and reptiles get their own list of names in local languages

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fortunate Mafeta Phaka, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher of herptile-human interactions, North-West University

    Naming all the creatures and plants in nature is no small task. Fortunate Phaka is a zoologist who has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of naming and classification of frogs and reptiles in nine South African cultures. The list includes 136 frog and 407 reptile species that have been scientifically described. He explains why it’s important to record all the species names that people use in their own languages.


    Why did you study the indigenous names of frogs and reptiles?

    I am interested in the interactions between wildlife and people. These interactions include, for example, how people use wildlife in figures of speech, harvesting of wildlife for consumption, and of course how animals are assigned names.

    If everyone’s names for things are known and shared, the ideas behind the names can also be shared, appreciated and valued.

    Conservation planning is improved by consideration of different wildlife perspectives, which is revealed partly by the names that different people give wildlife.

    Knowing local names can provide assurance that people from different cultural backgrounds are talking about the same species.

    In South Africa, for example, there are 11 official spoken languages and scientists use Latin names for species. Most people aren’t familiar with the scientific names.

    That’s why we extended the list of scientific, Afrikaans and English names of South African frogs and reptiles to include names in the country’s other nine official languages.

    How did you go about it, and what did you find?

    The project started as a pilot study in 2016, carried out in the Zululand area of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, where frog biodiversity is high and Indigenous cultural practices are still part of everyday life. Results of the pilot were published as a book in 2017 and as a scientific publication in 2019.

    Following the success of the pilot study, I collected responses from 287 South African Indigenous language speakers (aged between 25 and 57) using an online questionnaire and in-person interviews while on field trips, and reviewed 18 scientific articles, dissertations and books to study naming practices even further.

    The study shed light on the way people group animals (folk taxonomy) and how that compares with the way scientists group them (scientific taxonomy).

    It became clear that Indigenous language names were often assigned based on unique features of frogs or reptiles, such as the sound they make, how they move or where they are found. Most of these names group several species together based on their similarities. This meant most frog and reptile species did not have Indigenous language names that were unique to them. For example, zoologists have named eight different Reed Frog species from South Africa but these eight species were assigned one Indigenous name that groups them together.

    Male Painted Reed Frog (Umgqagqa opendiwe in IsiZulu) calling. Fortunate Phaka, Author provided (no reuse)918 KB (download)

    The organised way of assigning Indigenous names to animals has some similarities to how scientists assign names that are unique to each species. For example, the Grass Frog species are grouped together under the scientific genus Ptychadena, and in IsiZulu the same species are grouped under the name Uvete. These similarities meant we could combine scientific naming practices with Indigenous naming practices to give each species a unique name in multiple languages.

    To ensure the unique Indigenous names remained familiar to speakers of respective languages, we added descriptive terms to the existing general Indigenous names to make them specific, instead of coining an entirely new name. For example in IsiZulu the general name Umgqagqa (used for all Reed Frogs) became Umgqagqa opendiwe (specific name for the Painted Reed Frog). And several other descriptive terms were added to Umgqagqa to distinguish between the eight Reed Frog species of South Africa.

    The author learning isiZulu names from safari guides in Zululand. Dr Edward Netherlands, Author provided (no reuse)

    Why does it matter to record the Indigenous names of species?

    Conservation hasn’t been doing a good job of being inclusive. Knowing Indigenous names and the local perspectives behind those names is a good way to start being aware of the multiple other perspectives. Conservation should ultimately be to everyone’s benefit.

    For a long time wildlife guidebooks have had very few Indigenous language names in them. With increased recording of Indigenous names, any South African would be able to open a wildlife guide and read a name in any of our 11 official spoken languages. Hopefully one day we can have more books like the Bilingual Guide to the Frogs of Zululand (IsiZulu version: Isiqondiso Sasefilidini Esindimimbili Ngamaxoxo AkwelaKwaZulu) that make it possible for you to read about your favourite wildlife in your preferred language.

    Has this been done for other groups of animals or plants?

    Birds and plants are two groups that have received this kind of attention.

    A recent scientific publication has worked on IsiZulu names for all South African birds and another publication studied the morphology of IsiZulu bird names. There has also been work on IsiXhosa insect names, and there has been a SeSotho animal word list published online. Indigenous names for African wildlife have received sporadic attention in the past, but with the recent increases in calls for consideration of Indigenous knowledge there has been increasing focus on understanding these names and using them.

    Do you have some favourite names?

    I have a lot of favourites but there are some names that stand out, like Senana (Sepedi general name for Rain Frogs) and Lebololo (Sepedi name for Puff adder). These names have the same root word or sound throughout most of the Indigenous South African languages and I am curious about how this happened. Rain Frogs are also called Senanatswidi in Sepedi and tswidi is an onomatopoeic reference to the whistling sound that Rain Frogs make.

    – South Africa’s frogs and reptiles get their own list of names in local languages
    – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-frogs-and-reptiles-get-their-own-list-of-names-in-local-languages-254643

    MIL OSI Africa

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/INDIA – Kashmir: Catholics pray for peace between India and Pakistan

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Tuesday, 29 April 2025

    WikiCommons – Nichalp

    Jammu (Fides Agency) – “The Catholic faithful of Kashmir are praying incessantly for peace in Kashmir. They pray in churches and homes. And they are marching the streets alongside other people of good will, carrying lit torches to shine the light of God and the flame of reconciliation and peace,” said Bishop Ivan Pereira of the Indian diocese of Jammu-Srinagar in an interview with Fides Agency. The small Catholic community (about 9,000 faithful out of a population of 13 million) carries its message of peace in the only Indian state with a Muslim majority, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where, on April 22, a serious attack was carried out by Pakistani extremist groups, killing 26 Indian tourists. The attack caused a political crisis between India and Pakistan, the neighboring nations that have been fighting over the Kashmir region since 1947, when they went to war three times.“We are experiencing a moment of tension and fear that is affecting the entire population,” the bishop told Fides. ‘We know that there are violations of the ceasefire in the border area. And according to widespread reports, the Indian police have destroyed several houses belonging to militants and terrorists. This is not an easy time for us here, and many are reliving the nightmare of conflict,’ he said, expressing his concern.“The massacre,” the bishop continued, ”has truly shocked us. It was a serious and cowardly attack on the sanctity of life, perpetrated against innocent people who were enjoying their vacation. It was terrible. We are convinced that justice must be done, and we believe that the government will work even harder to dismantle terrorist organizations.”Monsignor Pereira condemns “the attempt by those who want to destabilise the situation and relations between India and Pakistan,” and recalls the mission of the Catholic community in the northwestern Indian state: “To bring peace, harmony, brotherhood, and promote the dignity of every human being, regardless of culture or religion.”The various Christian denominations are also actively involved, particularly through the schools that have existed in India for over a century and which welcome 99% Muslim students. Founded in 1893, the Catholic Institute of the Church of the Holy Family in Srinagar is one of around 40 Catholic schools in the state that continue to provide an education inspired by Christian values and promote brotherhood and social harmony.“Our community,” Bishop Pereira concluded, ”is celebrating this jubilee of hope and placing its hope in God’s work. Today, therefore, at this truly special time, we feel in full communion with the universal Church, which is praying for and electing the new successor of Peter through the work of the cardinals. In this troubled region, we are and feel ourselves to be part of the one Church. This spiritual communion gives us the strength to move forward.”(PA) (Fides Agency 29/4/2025)
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    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Appeal to find relatives of local Second World War hero John Baskeyfield

    Source: City of Stoke-on-Trent

    Published: Tuesday, 29th April 2025

    An appeal has been launched to find relatives of Burslem’s Second World War hero, Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield.

    The Burslem hero was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his remarkable courage during the largest airborne landing in military history – into Nazi-occupied Netherlands.  

    During the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, Lance Sergeant Baskeyfield, known as Jack, single-handedly manned two anti-tank guns and refused to leave his post. 

    Jack was a very dear friend of George and Anne Price. Their grandson, Andrew Felton, is trying to find relatives of the war hero who was killed at the age of 21, ahead of events Stoke-on-Trent City Council is planning around Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day to commemorate Mr Baskeyfield. 

    Mr Felton said: “My Grandad George and Nana Anne spoke often about Jack, and always with deep affection and reverence. 

    “I never forgot their stories, which sparked my interest in his incredible bravery at Arnhem during World War II. 

    “A few years ago, I started researching Jack’s remarkable service in the South Staffordshire Regiment after he signed up aged 19. 

    “Last September, I travelled to the Netherlands to join the 80th anniversary commemorations of Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem. 

    “It was very sobering and humbling visiting the places I had read about where so many brave men fell. Walking from the John Frost Bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem to where Jack had last stood in Oosterbeek, commemorated by the Jack Baskeyfield Tree, was hugely poignant. 

    “It would be wonderful to trace any of Jack’s relatives so they can join the special events being planned to honour this very special man during the City Centenary year.” 

    Councillor Lyn Sharpe, Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, said: “Our city is proud of Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield. His bravery will never be forgotten in Stoke-on-Trent and beyond. 

    “We hope any relatives can be found so they can be part of the special events we’re holding later this year in his memory.” 

    The events in November are expected to include an expanded exhibition in the Spitfire Gallery at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery with items Jack’s family gifted to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum, and an Act of Remembrance at the Jack Baskeyfield memorial at Festival Retail Park. 

    Any relatives can email sot100@stoke.gov.uk to find out more about the event. 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Global: Cyberattacks: how companies can communicate effectively after being hit

    Source: The Conversation – France – By Paolo Antonetti, Professeur, EDHEC Business School

    In its latest annual publication, insurance group Hiscox surveyed more than 2,000 cybersecurity managers in eight countries including France. Two thirds of the companies in the survey reported having been the victim of a cyberattack between mid-August 2023 and September 2024, a 15% increase over the previous period. In terms of potential financial losses, Statista estimated that cyberattacks cost France up to €122 billion in 2024, compared to €89 in 2023 – a 37% rise.


    A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. Get the newsletter!

    The main forms of cyberattacks on French businesses, the recommendations for how companies can protect themselves, and the technical and legal responses they can adopt are well documented.

    However, much less is known about appropriate communications and public relations responses to cyberattacks. The issues at stake are critical. When a company is the target of a cyberattack, should it systematically accept responsibility, or can it instead claim to be a victim to protect its reputation? A wrong answer can aggravate the situation and undermine the confidence of customers and investors.

    Positioning as a victim

    Our recent research questions the assumption that accepting causal responsibility should be the norm after a cyberattack: we show that positioning oneself as a victim can be more effective in limiting damage to one’s image – provided claims of victimhood are deployed intelligently.

    There is evidence that firms need a strategy to present themselves effectively as victims of cybercriminals. Some firms, such as T-Mobile and Equifax, have in the past paid compensation to consumers while refusing to accept any responsibility, essentially presenting themselves as victims.

    Similarly, the large French telecommunications operator Free presented itself as a victim when communicating about the large-scale cyberattack that affected its operations last October, which may have had an impact on its image. The UK’s TalkTalk initially framed itself as a victim of a cybercrime but was later criticized for its inadequate security measures.

    Victimhood and sympathy

    Clumsily declaring itself as the sole entity to blame or the sole victim of a cyberattack – which is what interests us here – can be risky and backfire on a company, damaging its credibility rather than protecting its reputation.

    When companies present themselves as victims of cybercrime, they can elicit sympathy from stakeholders. People tend to be more compassionate toward businesses that depict themselves as wronged rather than those that deny responsibility or shift blame. In essence, this strategy frames the organization as a target of external forces beyond its control, rather than as negligent or incompetent. It leverages a fundamental social norm – people’s instinctive tendency to support those they see as victims.

    But claims of victimhood must align with public expectations and the specific context of the breach. They should not be about shirking responsibility, but about acknowledging harm in a way that fosters understanding and trust. The following approaches and choices can help.

    • align with public perception

    The reactions of stakeholders often depend on their understanding of the situation. If the attack is perceived as an external and malicious act, it is crucial for a company to adopt a consistent stance by emphasizing that it itself has been a victim. But if internal negligence is proven, claiming victim status could be counterproductive. The swiftness of a company’s response, the level of transparency and the relative stance taken are all part of a good strategy.

    • express support for stakeholders

    Adopting a position of victimhood does not mean denying all responsibility or minimizing the consequences of an attack. The company must show that it takes the situation seriously by expressing empathy and commitment to affected stakeholders. It must pay particular attention to those affected inside the organization: a claim of victimhood should be part of an apology or a message expressing concern. An effective message must be sincere and oriented toward concrete solutions.

    • consider reputation

    We find that it is easier for companies to claim victimhood persuasively if they are perceived as virtuous. This reputation can be due to a positive track record in terms of corporate social responsibility or because they are a not-for-profit institution (e.g. a library, a university or a hospital). Virtuous victims generate sympathy and empathy, and this is also reflected after a cyberattack.

    • highlight the harmfulness and sophistication of the attack

    The results of our study also show that public acceptance of victim status is more effective when the cyberattack is perceived to be the work of highly competent malicious actors. It is also important for a company to persuade the public that the attack harmed the company, while keeping the main focus of the response on the public.

    • don’t complain

    It is essential to distinguish between legitimate claims of victim status and communication that could be perceived as an attempt to exonerate oneself. An overly plaintive tone could undermine a company’s credibility. The approach should be factual and constructive, focusing on the measures taken to overcome the crisis.

    • test reactions before communicating widely

    Companies’ responses to a cyberattack can vary depending on the context and the public. It is best to assess different approaches before embarking on large-scale communication. This can be done through internal tests, focus groups or targeted surveys. Subtle differences in the situation can cause important shifts in how the public perceives the breach and what the best response might be.

    Our study sheds light on a shift in public expectations about crisis management: in the age of ubiquitous cybercrime, responsibilities are often shared. Poorly managed communication after a cyberattack can lead to a lasting loss of trust and expose a company to increased legal risks. Claiming victim status effectively, with an empathetic and transparent approach, can help mitigate the impact of the crisis and preserve the organization’s reputation.


    This article was written with Ilaria Baghi (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia).

    Paolo Antonetti ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

    ref. Cyberattacks: how companies can communicate effectively after being hit – https://theconversation.com/cyberattacks-how-companies-can-communicate-effectively-after-being-hit-255061

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Students of SPbGASU won the international Olympiad in applied mechanics

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Team of the Faculty of Civil Engineering: Artem Grigoriev, Alexandra Leonova, Anastasia Zimovets, Nadezhda Ostrovskaya and Professor of the Physical-Mechanical Institute of SPbPU Artem Semenov

    Two teams from SPbGASU took part in the All-Russian Student Olympiad in Applied Mechanics with International Participation. One of them won, the other became a bronze medalist.

    The Olympiad was held with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the Association of Technical Universities and the Federal Educational and Methodological Association in the field of “Mechanical Engineering” at the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (PISh SPbPU). 29 teams from 14 regions of Russia, as well as from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan registered.

    The first place was taken by the team of the construction faculty of SPbGASU. It included Artem Grigoriev, Vladislav Laptev, Anastasia Zimovets and Alexandra Leonova. The leader was Associate Professor of the Department of Structural Mechanics Nadezhda Ostrovskaya.

    The team of the Automobile and Road Faculty took third place. It consisted of Ilya Zhdanov, Maxim Golubovich, Daniil Agapov and Nikita Gladkov. The leader was Alena Kolomeets, senior lecturer of the Department of Land Transport and Technological Machines.

    In the individual competition, third place went to Artem Grigoriev.

    As Nadezhda Ostrovskaya explained, the Olympiad was held from 1999 to 2020, and in 2025 it was resumed at the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU (AES). The goals of the Olympiad are to revive the platform for interaction between gifted and talented students and their mentors in the field of applied mechanics, to introduce students to real enterprises of high-tech industries and Russian engineering software.

    In addition to the main program, where students were asked to solve six problems – three on theoretical mechanics and three on the strength of materials, all days were filled with interesting events. On the first day, an engineering competition for students took place, on the second day – excursions to the museum and laboratories of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, as well as to the enterprises of industrial partners. On the third day, master classes were held on the use of domestic software for various engineering purposes.

    Artem Grigoryev shared his impressions: “The tasks covered all sections of strength of materials and theoretical mechanics. To solve them, I had to recall many tasks completed during preparation – typical and advanced. I really liked that each task had a “key”, after finding which the task became much easier. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the organizers for the interesting program, as well as appreciation to my teachers Anna Olegovna Yulina and Nadezhda Vladimirovna Ostrovskaya, who helped me prepare, conducted interesting classes and thus inspired me to win.”

    “The high results of our students can be called a triumph of the SPbGASU engineering school, proof of the excellent training of our specialists in such fundamental disciplines as theoretical mechanics and strength of materials,” noted Nadezhda Ostrovskaya.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council – on the Middle East [as delivered; scroll down for all-English and all-French]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Monsieur le Président, Excellences,

    Je remercie la présidence française d’organiser cette réunion au niveau ministériel sur le Moyen-Orient, y compris la question palestinienne.

    La région traverse des bouleversements fondamentaux, marqués par la violence et la volatilité, mais également porteurs d’opportunités et de potentiel.

    Au Liban, le cessez-le-feu et l’intégrité territoriale doivent être respectés et tous les engagements doivent être mis en œuvre.

    En Syrie, nous devons poursuivre nos efforts pour accompagner le pays sur la voie d’une transition politique inclusive de toutes les composantes de la population syrienne – une transition qui garantisse la reddition de comptes, favorise la réconciliation nationale, et jette les bases du redressement à long terme de la Syrie ainsi que de son intégration future au sein de la communauté internationale. 

    Cela inclut la situation dans le Golan syrien occupé, qui demeure précaire en raison de violations majeures de l’Accord de désengagement des forces de 1974 – notamment la présence continue des Forces de défense israéliennes dans la zone de séparation, ainsi que leurs multiples frappes contre des sites au-delà de la ligne de cessez-le-feu.

    À travers le Moyen-Orient, les populations réclament et méritent un avenir meilleur – et non des conflits et des souffrances sans fin.

    Nous devons agir ensemble pour faire en sorte que cette période de turbulences et de transition réponde à ces aspirations – et qu’elle apporte justice, dignité, droits, sécurité, et une paix durable.

    Cela commence par la reconnaissance de deux faits fondamentaux : 

    Premièrement, la région se trouve à un moment charnière de son histoire. 

    Et, deuxièmement, que toute paix vraiment durable au Moyen-Orient dépend d’une question centrale.

    Un élément essentiel que ce Conseil de sécurité a affirmé et réaffirmé, année après année, décennie après décennie : une solution à deux États, Israël et la Palestine, vivant côte-à-côte dans la paix et la sécurité, avec Jérusalem comme capitale des deux États.

    Mr. President,

    Today, the promise of a two-State solution is at risk of dwindling to the point of disappearance. 

    The political commitment to this long-standing goal is farther than it has ever been.

    As a result, the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to live and peace and security have been undermined – and the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinians have been denied – while they endure Israel’s continued presence that the International Court of Justice has found unlawful. 

    And since the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas, it has gotten worse on every front.

    First, the unrelenting conflict and devastation in Gaza – including the utterly inhumane conditions of life imposed on its people who are repeatedly coming under attack, confined to smaller and smaller spaces, and deprived of lifesaving relief. 

    In line with international law, the Security Council has rejected any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce its territory. 

    Gaza is — and must remain — an integral part of a future Palestinian state.

    Second, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli military operations and the use of heavy weaponry in residential areas, forcible displacement, demolitions, movement restrictions, and settlement expansion are dramatically altering demographic and geographic realities. 

    Palestinians are being contained and coerced.  Contained in areas that are subject to increasing military operations and where the Palestinian Authority is under growing pressure – and coerced out of areas where settlements are expanding. 

    Third, settler violence continues at alarmingly high levels in a climate of impunity, with entire Palestinian communities facing repeated assaults and destruction, sometimes abetted by Israeli soldiers.

    Palestinian attacks against Israelis in both Israel and the occupied West Bank also continue.

    Mr. President,

    The world cannot afford to watch the two-State solution disappear. 

    Political leaders face clear choices — the choice to be silent, the choice to acquiesce, or the choice to act.

    Mr. President,

    In Gaza, there is no end in sight to the killing and misery.

    The ceasefire had brought a glimmer of hope – the long-sought release of hostages and delivery of lifesaving humanitarian relief.

    But those embers of opportunity were cruelly extinguished with the shattering of the ceasefire on 18 March. 

    Since then, almost 2,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes and military operations – including women, children, journalists, and humanitarians.

    Hamas also continues to fire rockets towards Israel indiscriminately – while the hostages continue to be held in appalling conditions. 

    The humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip has gone from bad … to worse … to beyond imagination.   

    For nearly two full months, Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and commercial supplies, depriving more than two million people of lifesaving relief. 

    All while the world watches.

    I am alarmed by statements by Israeli government officials about the use of humanitarian aid as a tool for military pressure.

    Aid is non-negotiable. 

    Israel must protect civilians and must agree to relief schemes and facilitate them.

    I salute the women and men of the United Nations and all other humanitarian workers – especially our Palestinian colleagues — who continue to work under fire and in incomprehensibly difficult conditions.

    And I mourn all of the women and men of the United Nations who were killed – including some with their families.

    The entry of assistance must be restored immediately — the safety of UN personnel and humanitarian partners must be guaranteed – and UN agencies must be allowed to work in full respect of humanitarian principles:  humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

    There must be no hindrance in humanitarian aid – including through the vital work of UNRWA.

    We need the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

    And we need a permanent ceasefire.

    It’s time to stop the repeated displacement of the Gaza population – along with any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza.

    And the trampling of international law must end.

    I call on Member States to use their leverage to ensure that international law is respected and impunity does not prevail.

    This includes for the 19 March incident for which Israel has now acknowledged responsibility in firing on a UN guesthouse, killing one colleague and injuring six others … the 23 March killing of paramedics and other rescue workers in Rafah … as well as many other cases.

    There must be accountability across the board.

    Mr. President,

    Advisory proceedings are ongoing at the International Court of Justice on the obligations of Israel, as an occupying Power and a Member of the United Nations, in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    In February, the United Nations Legal Counsel submitted a written statement to the Court – and yesterday, she made an oral statement before the Court – both of which on my behalf.

    The statement to the Court includes points that I have made on a number of occasions.

    Specifically, that all parties to conflict must comply with all their obligations under international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

    That Israel, as an occupying Power, is under an obligation to ensure food and medical supplies of the population.

    That Israel has an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    That humanitarian, medical and United Nations personnel must be respected and protected.

    And I emphasize the obligation under international law to respect the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its personnel, including the absolute inviolability of United Nations premises, property and assets – and the immunity from legal process of the United Nations. 

    Such immunity applies to all UN entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including UNRWA – a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.
    I call on Member States to fully support all of these efforts. 

    Mr. President,

    In this period of turmoil and transition for the region, Member States must spell out how they will realize the commitment and promise of a two-State solution.

    This is not a time for ritualistically expressing support, ticking a box, and moving on.

    We are past the stage of ticking boxes – the clock is ticking.

    The two-State solution is near a point of no return. 

    The international community has a responsibility to prevent perpetual occupation and violence.

    My call to Member States is clear and urgent:

    Take irreversible action towards implementing a two-State solution.

    Do not let extremists on any side undermine what remains of the peace process.

    The High-Level Conference in June, co-chaired by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an important opportunity to revitalize international support.

    I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-State solution before it is too late.

    At the same time, the Palestinian Authority needs stepped-up and sustained support – politically and financially.  This is crucial to ensure the continued viability of Palestinian institutions, consolidate ongoing reforms, and enable the PA to resume its full responsibilities in Gaza.

    Mr. President,

    At this hinge point of history for the people of the Middle East – and on this issue on which so much hinges – leaders must stand and deliver. 

    Show the political courage and exercise the political will to make good on this central question for peace for Palestinians, Israelis, the region and humanity.

    Thank you.

    ***
    [all-English]

    Mr. President, Excellencies,

    I thank the French presidency for convening this ministerial-level meeting on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

    The region is undergoing fundamental shifts, marked by violence and volatility but also opportunity and potential.

    In Lebanon, the ceasefire and territorial integrity must be respected and all commitments implemented.

    In Syria, we must keep working to support the country’s path towards a political transition that is inclusive of all segments of the Syrian population – one that ensures accountability, fosters national healing, and lays the foundation for Syria’s long-term recovery and further integration into the international community. 

    This includes the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan — which remains precarious with significant violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, with the continued presence of the Israel Defense Forces into the area of separation and their several strikes targeting locations across the ceasefire line.

    Across the Middle East, people demand and deserve a better future, not endless conflict and suffering.

    We must collectively work to ensure that this turbulent and transitional period meets those aspirations — and delivers justice, dignity, rights, security and lasting peace.

    It starts by recognizing two fundamental facts: 

    First, that the region is at a hinge-point in history. 

    And, second, that truly sustainable Middle East peace hinges on one central question.

    On a core issue that this Security Council has affirmed and re-affirmed decade after decade, year after year:  a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

    Mr. President,

    Today, the promise of a two-State solution is at risk of dwindling to the point of disappearance. 

    The political commitment to this long-standing goal is farther than it has ever been.

    As a result, the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to live and peace and security have been undermined – and the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinians have been denied – while they endure Israel’s continued presence that the International Court of Justice has found unlawful. 

    And since the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas, it has gotten worse on every front.

    First, the unrelenting conflict and devastation in Gaza – including the utterly inhumane conditions of life imposed on its people who are repeatedly coming under attack, confined to smaller and smaller spaces, and deprived of lifesaving relief. 

    In line with international law, the Security Council has rejected any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce its territory. 

    Gaza is — and must remain — an integral part of a future Palestinian state.

    Second, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli military operations and the use of heavy weaponry in residential areas, forcible displacement, demolitions, movement restrictions, and settlement expansion are dramatically altering demographic and geographic realities. 

    Palestinians are being contained and coerced.  Contained in areas that are subject to increasing military operations and where the Palestinian Authority is under growing pressure – and coerced out of areas where settlements are expanding. 

    Third, settler violence continues at alarmingly high levels in a climate of impunity, with entire Palestinian communities facing repeated assaults and destruction, sometimes abetted by Israeli soldiers.

    Palestinian attacks against Israelis in both Israel and the occupied West Bank also continue.

    Mr. President,

    The world cannot afford to watch the two-State solution disappear. 

    Political leaders face clear choices — the choice to be silent, the choice to acquiesce, or the choice to act.

    Mr. President,

    In Gaza, there is no end in sight to the killing and misery.

    The ceasefire had brought a glimmer of hope – the long-sought release of hostages and delivery of lifesaving humanitarian relief.

    But those embers of opportunity were cruelly extinguished with the shattering of the ceasefire on 18 March. 

    Since then, almost 2,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes and military operations – including women, children, journalists, and humanitarians.

    Hamas also continues to fire rockets towards Israel indiscriminately – while the hostages continue to be held in appalling conditions. 

    The humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip has gone from bad … to worse … to beyond imagination.   

    For nearly two full months, Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and commercial supplies, depriving more than two million people of lifesaving relief. 

    All while the world watches.

    I am alarmed by statements by Israeli government officials about the use of humanitarian aid as a tool for military pressure.

    Aid is non-negotiable. 

    Israel must protect civilians and must agree to relief schemes and facilitate them.

    I salute the women and men of the United Nations and all other humanitarian workers – especially our Palestinian colleagues — who continue to work under fire and in incomprehensibly difficult conditions.

    And I mourn all of the women and men of the United Nations who were killed – including some with their families.

    The entry of assistance must be restored immediately — the safety of UN personnel and humanitarian partners must be guaranteed – and UN agencies must be allowed to work in full respect of humanitarian principles:  humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

    There must be no hindrance in humanitarian aid – including through the vital work of UNRWA.

    We need the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

    And we need a permanent ceasefire.

    It’s time to stop the repeated displacement of the Gaza population – along with any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza.

    And the trampling of international law must end.

    I call on Member States to use their leverage to ensure that international law is respected and impunity does not prevail.

    This includes for the 19 March incident for which Israel has now acknowledged responsibility in firing on a UN guesthouse, killing one colleague and injuring six others … the 23 March killing of paramedics and other rescue workers in Rafah … as well as many other cases.

    There must be accountability across the board.

    Mr. President,

    Advisory proceedings are ongoing at the International Court of Justice on the obligations of Israel, as an occupying Power and a Member of the United Nations, in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    In February, the United Nations Legal Counsel submitted a written statement to the Court – and yesterday, she made an oral statement before the Court – both of which on my behalf.

    The statement to the Court includes points that I have made on a number of occasions.

    Specifically, that all parties to conflict must comply with all their obligations under international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

    That Israel, as an occupying Power, is under an obligation to ensure food and medical supplies of the population.

    That Israel has an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    That humanitarian, medical and United Nations personnel must be respected and protected.

    And I emphasize the obligation under international law to respect the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its personnel, including the absolute inviolability of United Nations premises, property and assets – and the immunity from legal process of the United Nations. 

    Such immunity applies to all UN entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including UNRWA – a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.

    I call on Member States to fully support all of these efforts. 

    Mr. President,

    In this period of turmoil and transition for the region, Member States must spell out how they will realize the commitment and promise of a two-State solution.

    This is not a time for ritualistically expressing support, ticking a box, and moving on.

    We are past the stage of ticking boxes – the clock is ticking.

    The two-State solution is near a point of no return. 

    The international community has a responsibility to prevent perpetual occupation and violence.

    My call to Member States is clear and urgent:

    Take irreversible action towards implementing a two-State solution.

    Do not let extremists on any side undermine what remains of the peace process.

    The High-Level Conference in June, co-chaired by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an important opportunity to revitalize international support.

    I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-State solution before it is too late.

    At the same time, the Palestinian Authority needs stepped-up and sustained support – politically and financially.  This is crucial to ensure the continued viability of Palestinian institutions, consolidate ongoing reforms, and enable the PA to resume its full responsibilities in Gaza.

    Mr. President,

    At this hinge point of history for the people of the Middle East – and on this issue on which so much hinges – leaders must stand and deliver. 

    Show the political courage and exercise the political will to make good on this central question for peace for Palestinians, Israelis, the region and humanity.

    Thank you.

    ***
    [all-French]

    Monsieur le Président, Excellences,

    Je remercie la présidence française d’organiser cette réunion au niveau ministériel sur le Moyen-Orient, y compris la question palestinienne.

    La région traverse des bouleversements fondamentaux, marqués par la violence et la volatilité, mais également porteurs d’opportunités et de potentiel.

    Au Liban, le cessez-le-feu et l’intégrité territoriale doivent être respectés et tous les engagements doivent être mis en œuvre.

    En Syrie, nous devons poursuivre nos efforts pour accompagner le pays sur la voie d’une transition politique inclusive de toutes les composantes de la population syrienne – une transition qui garantisse la reddition de comptes, favorise la réconciliation nationale, et jette les bases du redressement à long terme de la Syrie ainsi que de son intégration future au sein de la communauté internationale. 

    Cela inclut la situation dans le Golan syrien occupé, qui demeure précaire en raison de violations majeures de l’Accord de désengagement des forces de 1974 – notamment la présence continue des Forces de défense israéliennes dans la zone de séparation, ainsi que leurs multiples frappes contre des sites au-delà de la ligne de cessez-le-feu.

    À travers le Moyen-Orient, les populations réclament et méritent un avenir meilleur – et non des conflits et des souffrances sans fin.

    Nous devons agir ensemble pour faire en sorte que cette période de turbulences et de transition réponde à ces aspirations – et qu’elle apporte justice, dignité, droits, sécurité, et une paix durable.

    Cela commence par la reconnaissance de deux faits fondamentaux : 

    Premièrement, la région se trouve à un moment charnière de son histoire. 
    Et, deuxièmement, que toute paix vraiment durable au Moyen-Orient dépend d’une question centrale.

    Un élément essentiel que ce Conseil de sécurité a affirmé et réaffirmé, année après année, décennie après décennie : une solution à deux États, Israël et la Palestine, vivant côte-à-côte dans la paix et la sécurité, avec Jérusalem comme capitale des deux États.

    Monsieur le Président,

    Aujourd’hui, la promesse de la solution des deux États court le risque de s’effilocher au point de disparaître.

    L’engagement politique en faveur de cet objectif de longue date n’a jamais été aussi ténu.

    De ce fait, les droits des Israéliens et des Palestiniens de vivre en paix et sécurité ont été mis à mal – et les aspirations nationales légitimes des Palestiniens ont été niées – alors qu’ils continuent de subir une présence israélienne que la Cour internationale de justice a jugée illicite.

    Depuis les effroyables attaques terroristes perpétrées par le Hamas le 7 octobre, la situation s’est aggravée sur tous les fronts.

    Premièrement, avec le conflit incessant et la dévastation que subit la bande de Gaza : les conditions de vie sont absolument inhumaines, les habitants sont la cible d’attaques à répétition et sont confinés dans des espaces de plus en plus réduits et privés d’une aide vitale.

    S’appuyant sur le droit international, le Conseil de sécurité a rejeté toute tentative de changement démographique ou territorial dans la bande de Gaza, y compris tout acte visant à réduire le territoire.

    Gaza fait partie intégrante d’un futur État palestinien et doit le rester.

    Deuxièmement, en Cisjordanie occupée, y compris Jérusalem-Est, les opérations militaires israéliennes et l’emploi d’armes lourdes dans des zones résidentielles, les déplacements forcés, les démolitions, les restrictions de circulation et l’expansion des colonies transforment radicalement les réalités démographiques et géographiques.

    Les Palestiniens sont cantonnés dans certains endroits et contraints d’en quitter d’autres. Ils sont cantonnés dans des zones où les opérations militaires se multiplient et où l’Autorité palestinienne est soumise à des pressions croissantes, et contraints de quitter les zones où les colons étendent leur emprise.

    Troisièmement, la violence exercée par les colons se poursuit dans un climat d’impunité, parfois avec la complicité de soldats israéliens, et atteint des niveaux alarmants : des communautés palestiniennes tout entières sont agressées et victimes de destructions à répétition.

    Les attaques menées par des Palestiniens contre des Israéliens en Israël et en Cisjordanie occupée se poursuivent également.

    Monsieur le Président,

    Le monde ne peut pas se permettre de voir la solution des deux États s’évanouir.

    Les dirigeants politiques ont le choix : se taire, acquiescer ou agir.

    Monsieur le Président,

    À Gaza, rien ne laisse entrevoir la fin de la tuerie et des souffrances.

    Le cessez-le-feu avait apporté une lueur d’espoir : la libération des otages, tant attendue, et l’acheminement d’une aide humanitaire vitale.
    Hélas, cette lueur d’espoir s’est éteinte avec la rupture du cessez-le-feu le 18 mars.

    Depuis, les frappes et les opérations militaires israéliennes ont fait près de 2000 morts parmi les Palestiniens dans la bande de Gaza, y compris des femmes, des enfants, des journalistes et du personnel humanitaire.

    Le Hamas continue également de tirer des roquettes sur Israël sans discernement – tandis que les otages sont toujours détenus dans des conditions épouvantables.

    Déjà mauvaise, la situation humanitaire dans la bande de Gaza n’a fait qu’empirer et dépasse aujourd’hui l’entendement.

    Depuis près de deux mois, Israël bloque les livraisons de nourriture, de carburant, de médicaments et de marchandises, privant ainsi plus de deux millions de personnes d’une aide vitale.

    Et ce, au vu et au su du monde entier.

    Je suis alarmé par les déclarations de représentants d’Israël concernant l’utilisation de l’aide humanitaire comme moyen de pression militaire.

    L’aide humanitaire n’est pas négociable.

    Israël est tenu de protéger les civils ; il doit accepter les programmes d’aide et en faciliter l’exécution.

    Je rends hommage au personnel des Nations Unies, femmes et hommes, ainsi qu’à tous les autres agents humanitaires, en particulier à nos collègues palestiniens, qui continuent à travailler malgré les frappes et dans des conditions inouïes.

    Et je pleure toutes les femmes et tous les hommes des Nations Unies qui ont été tués – y compris certains avec leurs familles.

    L’acheminement de l’aide doit être rétabli immédiatement, la sécurité du personnel des Nations Unies et des partenaires humanitaires doit être garantie et les entités des Nations Unies doivent pouvoir travailler dans le plein respect des principes humanitaires : humanité, impartialité, neutralité et indépendance.

    Il ne doit y avoir aucune entrave à l’aide humanitaire, notamment au travail vital que fait l’UNRWA.

    Il faut que tous les otages soient libérés immédiatement et sans conditions.

    Et il faut un cessez-le-feu permanent.

    Il est temps de mettre un terme aux déplacements répétés de la population de Gaza, ainsi qu’à la question des déplacements forcés en dehors de Gaza.

    Et il faut cesser de bafouer le droit international.

    J’engage tous les États Membres à user de leur influence pour que le droit international soit respecté et que l’impunité ne l’emporte pas.

    Je veux parler notamment de la frappe du 19 mars contre une résidence des Nations Unies, qui a fait un mort et six blessés parmi nos collègues et pour laquelle Israël a désormais reconnu sa responsabilité … de l’attaque du 23 mars, dans laquelle du personnel paramédical et d’autres secouristes ont trouvé la mort à Rafah … et de bien d’autres encore.

    Aucun acte ne saurait rester impuni.

    Monsieur le Président,

    Une procédure consultative a été engagée à la Cour internationale de Justice sur les obligations d’Israël, Puissance occupante et membre de l’ONU, en ce qui concerne la présence et les activités des entités des Nations Unies dans le Territoire palestinien occupé et en lien avec celui-ci.

    En février, la Conseillère juridique de l’ONU a soumis en mon nom une déclaration écrite à la Cour, et hier, elle a fait une déclaration orale devant la Cour, également en mon nom.

    Cette déclaration reprend des points que j’ai soulevés à plusieurs reprises.

    En particulier, le fait que toutes les parties au conflit sont tenues de s’acquitter des obligations que leur impose le droit international, y compris le droit international humanitaire et le droit international des droits humains.

    Qu’Israël, Puissance occupante, est tenu d’assurer l’approvisionnement de la population en produits alimentaires et fournitures médicales.

    Qu’il est tenu d’accepter les programmes d’aide et d’en faciliter l’exécution dans le Territoire palestinien occupé.

    Que le personnel humanitaire et médical, ainsi que le personnel des Nations Unies, doit être respecté et protégé.

    Je tiens à insister sur l’obligation faite en droit international de respecter les privilèges et immunités des Nations Unies et de leur personnel, y compris l’inviolabilité absolue des locaux, des biens et des avoirs des Nations Unies, ainsi que l’immunité de juridiction des Nations Unies.

    Cette immunité s’applique à toutes les entités des Nations Unies dans le Territoire palestinien occupé, y compris l’UNRWA, organe subsidiaire de l’Assemblée générale.

    J’engage les États Membres à soutenir tous ces efforts.

    Monsieur le Président,

    En cette période de tourmente et de transition pour la région, les États Membres doivent énoncer clairement comment ils concrétiseront l’engagement qu’ils ont pris et la promesse qu’ils ont faite quant à la solution des deux États.

    Ce n’est pas le moment d’exprimer rituellement son soutien, de cocher une case et de passer à autre chose.

    Nous avons dépassé le stade des cases à cocher : le temps presse.

    Pour la solution des deux États, le glas a presque sonné.

    La communauté internationale a la responsabilité d’empêcher l’occupation et la violence perpétuelles.

    L’appel que je leur lance est urgent et sans équivoque :

    Prenez des mesures irréversibles pour concrétiser la solution des deux États.

    Ne laissez pas les extrémistes de tout bord saper ce qu’il reste du processus de paix.

    La Conférence de haut niveau qui se tiendra en juin, co-présidée par la France et le Royaume d’Arabie saoudite, est une véritable occasion de revitaliser le soutien international.

    J’encourage les États membres à aller au-delà des affirmations et à réfléchir de manière créative aux mesures concrètes qu’ils prendront pour soutenir une solution viable à deux États avant qu’il ne soit trop tard.

    J’encourage les États Membres à traduire les paroles en actes et à réfléchir de manière créative pour déterminer les mesures concrètes qu’ils prendront pour soutenir une solution viable de deux États – avant qu’il ne soit trop tard.

    Parallèlement, l’Autorité palestinienne a besoin d’un soutien accru et durable, tant sur le plan politique que financièrement parlant. C’est une condition essentielle pour garantir la viabilité des institutions palestiniennes, asseoir les réformes engagées et permettre à l’Autorité palestinienne d’exercer de nouveau toutes ses responsabilités dans la bande de Gaza.

    Monsieur le Président,

    À ce moment charnière de l’histoire pour les peuples du Moyen-Orient – et vis-à-vis de cette question dont dépendent tant de choses – les dirigeants doivent concrétiser leur promesse.

    Faites preuve de courage et de volonté politiques, tenez vos engagements vis-à-vis de cette question centrale pour la paix : pour les Palestiniens, les Israéliens, la région et l’humanité tout entière.

    Je vous remercie.

    MIL OSI United Nations News

  • MIL-OSI: DePoly to launch 500-tonne-per-year showcase plant to give yesterday’s plastics a new purpose, as it secures $23M

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Zurich, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Every year, millions of tons of PET and polyester waste end up in landfills or are incinerated, yet sustainable recycling solutions remain limited. Today, DePoly – the leading sustainable PET-to-raw-material recycling company – announces the upcoming launch of a 500-tonne-per-year showcase plant in Monthey, Switzerland this summer, representing a critical step in the company’s journey from laboratory breakthrough to industrial-scale implementation.

    The facility will demonstrate DePoly’s proprietary process that converts PET and polyester waste into virgin-quality raw materials without fossil fuels. Imagine a world where discarded items – from polyester shirts to water bottles – are not wasted anymore but resources transformed back into the building blocks for new products. After all, revolutionizing an industry isn’t just about creating new technology – it’s about proving it works at scale.

    DePoly co-founders (L to R) Christopher Ireland, Samantha Anderson and Bardiya Valizadeh.

    DePoly’s technology has already demonstrated its commercial impact through collaborations with some of the world’s leading companies—not only in fashion, like Odlo, but also in cosmetics and the broader consumer goods industry, including innovators such as PTI. Through these partnerships, DePoly has validated the quality of its recycled monomers by transforming PET waste into new bottles, high-performance textile fibers, and cosmetic packaging. This proves that DePoly’s recycled materials can meet, and even exceed, the highest standards of purity and performance across a wide range of industries.

    By delivering oil-equivalent monomers, DePoly’s technology sets a new benchmark for circularity, offering a genuine alternative to virgin materials. “The upcoming showcase plant validates our roadmap to creating a truly circular plastics market. Following our pilot and showcase plant, our next goal is to scale our operations to industrial size with a first of a kind commercial plant based on our technology,” said Samantha Anderson, Co-founder & CEO of DePoly.

    DePoly is ramping up with world-class innovators, bold thinkers and cutting-edge know-how—taking their pilot victory to industrial scale demands nothing less than unstoppable ambition.The company is planning to build a commercial plant in 2027 that will process significantly larger volumes of PET and polyester waste – a major leap in redefining recycling and advancing the circular economy, as DePoly strives to become the global leader in sustainable, circular plastics.

    Shredded PET samples.

    To further accelerate this expansion, DePoly has secured a total of $23 million in seed funding with MassMutual Ventures joining a second closing of its round. The expanded investor base positions DePoly as one of the biggest recycling technology companies in Europe, with more than $30 million raised across two rounds and grants. MassMutual Ventures joins existing investors, including Founderful, ACE & Company, Angel Invest, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BASF Venture Capital, Beiersdorf Venture Capital, and Syensqo.

    “DePoly’s proven technology is a game changer addressing a crucial industrial and societal challenge. This raise and the showcase plant opening are advancing DePoly’s position as a leader in plastics recycling,” said Alix Brunet, Europe Lead at MassMutual Ventures.

    David Hanf, who joined DePoly in 2024 as CFO, brings extensive experience from European scale-ups including Smava and Thermondo—Germany’s largest B2C heat service company. Both an entrepreneur and an executive, he adds: “We are convinced our technology is one of the fastest to scale and will allow us to compete with virgin pricing at scale, a key factor for success. We are happy to have expanded our investor base to the US with MassMutual Ventures as we want to build a global champion.”

    By transforming discarded plastics into high-quality raw materials, DePoly reduces reliance on fossil resources, minimizes waste, and paves the way for a circular materials industry. Recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and a winner of the 2024 Top 100 Swiss Startup Award, DePoly proves that sustainable innovation is not only possible – it’s happening now.

    Ends

    Media images can be found here

    About DePoly
    DePoly is a cleantech company transforming polyester and PET waste into valuable raw materials. Using patented technology, DePoly breaks down plastic and textile waste into the building blocks for new, high-quality PET and polyester—reducing waste, cutting reliance on fossil fuels, and advancing circularity across multiple industries. DePoly was named a 2024 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and won the Top 100 Swiss Startup Award in 2024. Learn more at www.depoly.co.

    About MassMutual Ventures 
    MassMutual Ventures (MMV) is a multistage global venture capital firm investing in climate technology, financial technology, enterprise SaaS, healthtech and cybersecurity companies. With teams based in London, Singapore, and Boston, MMV manages over $1 billion in investment capital across the globe. We help accelerate the growth of the companies we partner with by providing capital, connections, and advice. With our deep expertise and extensive network, MMV helps entrepreneurs build compelling and scalable companies of value. For more information, visit www.massmutualventures.com/

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-Evening Report: 50 years after the ‘fall’ of Saigon – from triumph to Trump

    30 April 1975. Saigon Fell, Vietnam Rose. The story of Vietnam after the US fled the country is not a fairy tale, it is not a one-dimensional parable of resurrection, of liberation from oppression, of joy for all — but there is a great deal to celebrate.

    After over a century of brutal colonial oppression by the French, the Japanese, and the Americans and their various minions, the people of Vietnam won victory in one of the great liberation struggles of history.

    It became a source of inspiration and of hope for millions of people oppressed by imperial powers in Central & South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

    Civil war – a war among several
    The civil war in Vietnam, coterminous with the war against the Western powers, pitted communists and anti-communists in a long and pitiless struggle.

    Within that were various strands — North versus South, southern communists and nationalists against pro-Western forces, and so on. As various political economists have pointed out, all wars are in some way class wars too — pitting the elites against ordinary people.

    As has happened repeatedly throughout history, once one or more great power becomes involved in a civil war it is subsumed within that colonial war. The South’s President Ngô Đình Diệm, for example, was assassinated on orders of the Americans.

    By 1969, US aid accounted for 80 percent of South Vietnam’s government budget; they effectively owned the South and literally called the shots.

    Donald Trump declared April 2 “Liberation Day” and imposed some of the heaviest tariffs on Vietnam because they didn’t buy enough U.S. goods! Image: www.solidarity.co.nz

    US punishes its victims
    This month, 50 years after the Vietnamese achieved independence from their colonial overlords, US President Donald Trump declared April 2 “Liberation Day” and imposed some of the heaviest tariffs on Vietnam because they didn’t buy enough US goods!

    As economist Joseph Stiglitz pointed out, they don’t yet have enough aggregate demand for the kind of goods the US produces. That might have something to do with the decades it has taken to rebuild their lives and economy from the Armageddon inflicted on them by the US, Australia, New Zealand and other unindicted war criminals.

    Straight after they fled, the US declared themselves the victims of the Vietnamese and imposed punitive sanctions on liberated Vietnam for decades — punishing their victims.

    Under Gerald Ford (1974–1977), Jimmy Carter (1977–1981), Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), George H.W. Bush (1989–1993) right up to Bill Clinton (1993–2001), the US enforced the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917.

    The US froze the assets of Vietnam at the very time it was trying to recover from the wholesale devastation of the country.

    Tens of millions of much-needed dollars were captured in US banks, enforced by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The US also took advantage of its muscle to veto IMF and World Bank loans to Vietnam.

    Countries like Australia and New Zealand, to their eternal shame, took part in both the war, the war crimes, and imposing sanctions and other punitive measures subsequently.

    The ‘Boat People’ refugee crisis
    While millions celebrated the victory in 1975, millions of others were fearful. The period of national unification and economic recovery was painful, typically repressive — when one militarised regime replaces another.

    This triggered flight: firstly among urban elites — military officers, government workers, and professionals who were most closely-linked to the US-run regime.

    You can blame the Commies for the ensuing refugee crisis but by strangling the Vietnamese economy, refusing to return Vietnamese assets held in the US, imposing an effective blockade on the economy via sanctions, the US deepened the crisis, which saw over two million flee the country between 1975 and the 1980s.

    More than 250,000 desperate people died at sea.

    Đổi Mới: the move to a socialist-market economy
    In 1986, to energise the economy, the government moved away from a command economy and launched the đổi mới reforms which created a hybrid socialist-market economy.

    They had taken a leaf out of the Chinese playbook, which under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping (1978 –1989), had moved towards a market economy through its “Reform and Opening Up” policies.  Vietnam saw the “economic miracle” of its near neighbour and its leaders sought something similar.

    Vietnam’s economy boomed and GDP grew from $18.1 billion in 1984 to $469 billion by 2024, with a per capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) of $15,470 (up from about $300 per capita in the 1970s).

    After a sluggish start, literacy rates soared to 96.1 percent by 2023, and life expectancy reached 73.7 years, only a few short of the USA.  GDP growth is around 7 percent, according to the OECD.

    An unequal society
    Persistent inequality suggests the socialist vision has partially faded. A rural-urban divide and a rich-poor divide underlines ongoing injustices around quality of life and access to services but Vietnam’s Gini coefficient — a measure of income inequality — puts it only slightly more “unequal” as a society than New Zealand or Germany.

    Corruption is also an issue in the country.

    Press controls and political repression
    As in China, political power resides with the Party. Freedom of expression — highlighted by press repression — is severely limited in Vietnam and nothing to celebrate.

    Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rates Vietnam as 174th out of 180 countries for press freedom and regularly excoriates its strongmen as press “predators”.  In its country profile, RSF says of Vietnam: “Independent reporters and bloggers are often jailed, making Vietnam the world’s third largest jailer of journalists”.

    Vietnam is forging its own destiny
    What is well worth celebrating, however, is that Vietnam successfully got the imperial powers off its back and out of its country. It is well-placed to play an increasingly prosperous and positive role in the emerging multipolar world.

    It is part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the ASEAN network, and borders China, giving Vietnam the opportunity to weather any storms coming from the continent of America.

    Vietnam today is united and free and millions of ordinary people have achieved security, health, education and prosperity vastly better than their parents and grandparents’ generations were able to.

    In the end the honour and glory go to the Vietnamese people.

    Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese people who reached out to the United States, and sought alliance not conflict. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz

    I’ll give the last word to Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese people who reached out to the United States, and sought alliance not conflict. He was rebuffed by the super-power which had a different agenda.

    On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh square:

    “‘All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’

    “This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

    “… A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eight years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent.

    “For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country — and in fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilise all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.”

    And, my god, they did.

    To conclude, a short poem attributed to Ho Chi Minh:

    “After the rain, good weather.

    “In the wink of an eye,

    the universe throws off its muddy clothes.”

    Eugene Doyle is a community organiser and activist in Wellington, New Zealand. He received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in 2023 for community service. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam War. This article was first published at his public policy website Solidarity and is republished here with permission.

    Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

    MIL OSI AnalysisEveningReport.nz

  • MIL-OSI USA: Magaziner to Speak on House Floor Every Day Until Funding for Malnourished Children Is Restored

    Source: US Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02)

    WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) announced that he will speak on the House floor every day the chamber is in session until federal funding for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), used to save the lives of malnourished children around the world, is restored. Edesia Nutrition, based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, is one of two organizations in the United States that manufactures RUTF, along with MANA Nutrition in Fitzgerald, Georgia. The Trump Administration has halted all new orders of RUTF as part of its dismantling of USAID. 

    Edesia-produced RUTF saves 5 million lives in more than 30 countries each year. Despite assurances from Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that funding would be restored, it still has not been. 

    Unlike Senators, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives cannot filibuster, but they are allowed to speak on the House floor for between one to five minutes each day – a right Magaziner plans to use until funding for RUTF is restored. 

    Magaziner will use every opportunity to call attention to what he calls a “moral failure” by the Trump administration, that is costing the lives of innocent children every day that the funding for RUTF, including that manufactured at Edesia, is halted. 

    He released the following statement: 

    “Starting today, I will be taking to the floor of the House of Representatives on each day we are in session to speak out against the Trump administration’s failure to restore funding to save the lives of malnourished children around the world. I was elected to be a voice for Rhode Island’s Second District – and I intend to use my voice each and every day until this life saving aid is restored.”

    BACKGROUND:

    Plumpy’Nut, a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is a nutrient-dense, life-saving paste, is one of the most effective methods of treating children with malnutrition. In the United States, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace, primarily through Title II emergency food assistance, has funded the manufacture and distribution of Plumpy’Nut to the developing world for decades.

    Edesia is a nonprofit manufacturer in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, that produces more than 88 million pounds of Plumpy’Nut each year. Their products have treated malnutrition in infants and children across more than 65 countries, saving approximately 26 million lives since 2010.

    Since the Trump Administration took office, Edesia has received no new orders from the federal government, causing production to nearly halt, despite assurances from Elon Musk and Secretary of State Rubio that funding for emergency food aid produced by Edesia will continue.

    Magaziner vowed to keep pressing the issue on the House floor until federal funding for RUTF is reinstated.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Chancellor speech at Global Innovate Summit 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Chancellor speech at Global Innovate Summit 2025

    The Chancellor delivered the keynote speech at the Global Innovate Summit 2025 on 29 April.

    Thank you Janine, and good afternoon everyone.

    It’s a pleasure to be here today to mark the 11th year of UK FinTech Week …

    … brought together once again by Innovate Finance…

    …who continue to champion tirelessly our FinTech sector.

    As Chancellor, I’ve always said it’s my job to back the builders…

    … back the wealth creators…

    …and the job creators.

    So my job is to back all of you in this room.

    After all, it’s thanks to your work that the UK is a world leader in FinTech.

    When I was working at the Bank of England 20 years ago…

    …FinTech was in its infancy…

    …an offshoot of financial services…

    …and there was certainly no such thing as FinTech week.

    But times have changed, the industry has changed.

    Last year, the UK’s FinTech sector attracted $3.6 billion of investment – more than any other country bar the US.

    Almost half of Europe’s FinTech unicorns are based here in Britain…

    …and roughly a third of all UK unicorns are FinTechs – a higher share than anywhere else.

    Companies like Allica Bank and Zilch, who were both recently named among the fastest growing companies in Europe by the Financial Times …

    …Or Zopa, for whom 2024 marked another year of extraordinary economic growth.

    Last week when I was in Washington for the IMF Spring Meetings…

    … I spoke to industry, legislators, and policymakers…

    …as well as US firms already operating here in the UK.

    I set out our strengths as an open trading nation with trade links around the world…

    …and as a nation that can provide political and financial stability and certainty to businesses…

    …in an uncertain world.

    The UK has a long history of breaking new ground in Financial Services.

    We were the first country to develop uniform Open Banking standards…

    …and we were one of the first countries to establish a system for near-instant digital payments with the Faster payments system in 2008.

    In my Mansion House speech last year, I published the National Payments Vision…

    … setting out the government’s ambition for seamless account-to-account payments…

    …and demonstrating our commitment to a regulatory environment that cares about managing the burden we put on businesses.

    Something that we will build in with the consolidation of the Payment Systems Regulator into the FCA.

    The UK is Europe’s leading hub for investment…

    …raising more equity capital than the next three European exchanges combined last year.

    I am committed to building on these strong foundations…

    …with an ambitious programme of reforms.

    Last September I chose to extend the UK’s generous venture capital schemes…

    … the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme…

    …which – alongside the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme – offer generous tax reliefs…

    …in return for investing in British business.

    And we will soon publish the final Pension Investment Review, ahead of the introduction of the Pension Schemes Bill…

    …where we will legislate to unlock up to £80 billion of investment into companies like yours…

    start-up, scale-up, and fast growing businesses.

    …delivering a major consolidation of the Defined Contribution market and the Local Government Pension Scheme…

    …so that pension funds have sufficient scale to invest in growing industries like FinTech.

    I am determined to make sure that the UK remains one of the best places in the world for FinTechs to start-up, scale-up and to list…

    …benefitting from our stable and liquid markets.

    Last July, the FCA implemented a fundamental rewrite of the UK’s Listing Rules, the biggest reforms in a generation.

    These new rules now put the UK in line – or in many cases ahead – of other global markets in giving companies the flexibility to pursue their growth ambitions…

    …backing their aspiration…

    …and allowing them to raise large amounts of capital more easily.

    And for those companies who want to remain private for longer, we are developing the new Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System – or PISCES…

    …which we will legislate for next month.

    This is a brand new type of stock exchange for trading private company shares…

    …supporting private companies to scale and grow…

    …and providing a steppingstone to IPO.

    Finally, we’ve reformed the rules to allow greater investment research to be produced on UK listed companies…

    …and reducing the burdens imposed on public companies through the UK’s Corporate Governance Code.

    I want the UK to be a place where you can take risks…

    …innovate and experiment…

    …and find new ways to deliver for your customers.

    When I met with senior leaders from across the FinTech sector last month…

    …you told me about the importance of getting the balance of regulation right…

    …especially on digital assets.

    I agree.

    While the UK will always be committed to high international standards…

    …I am determined that our regulatory framework supports economic growth.

    That’s why I’m delighted that we are today publishing draft legislation for the UK’s comprehensive regulatory regime for cryptoassets…

    …engaging with all of you to ensure that the final legislation – planned for later this year – delivers for government and most importantly for the industry…

    …and makes the UK a great place for digital asset companies to invest and innovate.

    For the UK to be a world-leader in digital assets…

    …international cooperation is vital.

    Which is why I discussed continued U.S. and UK engagement with Secretary Bessent last week…

    …including further dialogue at the upcoming UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group in June…

    …to support the use and responsible growth of digital assets…

    …maintaining the deep historic relationship between the world’s two largest financial centres through this period of significant technological change.

    Regulation must support business, not hold it back.

    Our regulators were among the first to embrace and develop sandboxes…

    …including the Digital Securities Sandbox, where I’m delighted that we already have a broad range of firms all looking at different proposals for tokenising our financial markets.

    Last November, I announced that this government will issue a Digital Gilt Instrument…

    …an entirely new debt instrument…

    …using distributed ledger technology…

    this will enable us to experience first-hand the benefits of digital technologies in debt issuance.

    And I know that there is appetite to go further.

    Last week, Secretary Bessent and I also discussed how our officials could explore opportunities to support industry to innovate cross-border…

    …in line with proposals put forward by US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce about a transatlantic sandbox for digital securities…

    …potentially allowing greater digital collaboration between capital markets in New York and London.

    I’ve talked about what we’ve already done, and some ideas for the future.

    Financial services is one of the key growth-driving sectors in the UK’s modern industrial strategy…

    ….with FinTech as a priority growth opportunity…

    …and I look forward to publishing the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy at my upcoming Mansion House address…

    …which I can today confirm will take place on the 15th July.

    At Mansion House last year I set out my vision on economic growth…

    …and the new approach required to build sustainable growth…

    …on a platform of stability.

    At Mansion House this year I’ll talk about how we can go further and faster in realising that growth.

    By publishing the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy…

    …I will set out our strategy for the rest of this parliament and beyond…

    …building on our strengths in areas including capital markets, insurance and asset management…

    … supporting firms to innovate by ensuring they can access and develop the talent they need…

     …and promoting the UK as a great place to do business globally.

    Backing the builders in FinTech means improving outcomes for businesses and consumers…

    …revolutionising how we invest and trade…

    And driving growth and prosperity, here in the UK.

    It’s incredible how far Fintech has come in the past decade…

    And I’m enormously optimistic about the future.

    From the huge growth of the sector that has already taken place…

    …to the passion, drive and commitment I see from all of you to make FinTech a huge UK success story…

    …it is clear that our job in government is to back you, back the builders, back the change makers all the way.

    And I am ready to do just that.

    Thank you very much.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives re-open to public

    Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

    Local history enthusiasts are being encouraged to book a visit to ‘Explore Your Archive’ as Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives re-opens today (29 April) for in-person research visits at the Town House on Broad Street.
     
    The Archives have been closed to the public for almost a year to allow the team to carry out a major collection move from Old Aberdeen House to the Town House. Preparations began in November 2023 with a huge stocktake of the collection, when staff and a group of 20 volunteers recorded details of every item in every storeroom. One of the most formidable tasks was labelling over 7,000 individual boxes. The preparations also included checking that delicate items would be suitable for transportation, and wrapping and protecting a wide variety of materials, including glass slides from Second World War Red Cross hospitals, maps, oversized volumes and ledgers, and thousands of architectural plans.

    Over 9,000 individual items, including archive boxes, bankers boxes, crates, wrapped volumes and plans, were moved over 20 days of heavy lifting, multiple trolley loads and several flights of stairs – all fuelled by 136 packs of biscuits! Volunteers logged 1,549 hours helping with the move.

    The largest tasks for volunteers was an appraisal of 120 files of Aberdeen School Board correspondence sent from teachers and Aberdeen residents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Volunteers reviewed and listed the bundles of letters, reducing the collection from seven storage shelves to two, using professional criteria to weed out items of little historic value. Detailed information on the collection of letters has been recorded in the Archives catalogue and the material is available to researchers.

    A new storeroom at the Town House is now home to several core collections, such as the school admission registers and logbooks, building warrants, council minutes for Aberdeenshire and the Port of Aberdeen records (Aberdeen Harbour Board). A selection of photographic images from this collection showing the technological changes that have taken place on the quayside over the past 100 years will be going on display at the Art Gallery from Saturday 7 June.  

    Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council culture spokesman, said, “The Archives are a valuable resource for all kinds of research. It’s a tremendous source of pride for us in Aberdeen that we care for the oldest and most complete collection of burgh records in Scotland, dating back to 1398. They are recognised by UNESCO as being of outstanding historical importance to the United Kingdom. It’s very exciting that the Archives team has set up a new storeroom at the Town House where the public can access these remarkable collections, which really are a the gateway to the written history of the north-east of Scotland.”
      
    A new Access Guide to the Archives at the Town House is now available, along with a new Visual Guide containing details of what to expect on a visit to the Archives at the Town House. Both can be found on the Plan Your Visit pages of the Archives, Gallery & Museums website https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/plan-your-visit/town-house-archives 

    Phil Astley, Team Leader – Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives, will be giving a free lunchtime talk on the Port of Aberdeen archives – ‘A Haven for History’ on Wednesday 7 May at 12.30pm. 
    https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/lunchtime-talk-haven-history-port-aberdeen-archives 

    From the Archive: Aberdeen Harbour opens at Aberdeen Art Gallery on 7 June. The exhibition continues until 11 January, open daily, admission free https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/archive-aberdeen-harbour

    The collections of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives contain a wealth of documents and records dating from the 12th century to the present day, relating to the rich history and heritage of the City of Aberdeen and the three ancient counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine. They include burgh records, burial records, church records, business records and school records. 
     
    Visits to the Archives should be booked in advance by emailing archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk. More information can be found at: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/aberdeen-city-and-aberdeenshire-archives/visitor-information  
      
    Read about the Archives move at https://aberdeenarchives.blogspot.com/

    Follow Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news about reopening. 

    Image: Phil Astley, Team Leader – Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives, and  Councillor Martin Greig, pictured in the Charter Room at the Town House
     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Security: Prolific board game shoplifter sentenced following Met Police investigation

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A prolific shoplifter who stole more than £3,000 worth of board games, books and toys from a shop in Haringey has been convicted following a Met Police investigation.

    Paul Mangal, 58 (30.03.67), of Hornsey Rise Gardens in Haringey, repeatedly targeted a Waterstones store on The Broadway in Crouch End between April 2023 and February this year.

    He appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 29 April, where he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

    He was also issued with conditions not to enter Crouch End or Hornsey for two years, and is banned from being in possession of a suitcase in these areas.

    In September last year, officers from the local policing team in north London increased patrols in The Broadway, regularly visiting staff and security teams at large retailers and independent shops.

    It was through these relationships they were made aware of Mangal, with staff at Waterstones informing officers of the many thefts he was committing.

    Working with the store, officers carried out a month-long operation throughout January to gather CCTV footage and other evidence to identify Mangal.

    The officers were alerted by staff on Sunday, 23 February, when he’d again entered the store and made off with several items in a suitcase.

    He was arrested a short distance from his home in Hornsey and charged the following day.

    He appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 24 February, where he pleaded guilty to a total of 23 charges of theft and was bailed.

    Sergeant James Elliott, of the local policing team in north London, who led the investigation, said:

    “We’ve recognised that shoplifting is something local people and businesses in Haringey are concerned about, and we are stepping up our efforts to tackle it.

    “Through building strong relationships with staff at this branch of Waterstones, we were able to identify Mangal by assessing his patterns of offending, which appeared to ramp up before, during and immediately after Christmas, then almost daily up until his arrest.

    “Sadly, we know some businesses on The Broadway are being targeted so often, many have stopped reporting thefts to police, so I hope the success of this case will encourage more to work closely with us so we can remove the most prolific shoplifters from our streets.”

    As well as relationship building and doubling the number of officers on the ward since February, Sergeant Elliott and his team are visiting retailers daily to offer reassurance and ensure they feel more confident when it comes to reporting incidents.

    Through these proactive measures, the number of thefts in the area has reduced by 35 per cent since December last year.

    There are now plans to introduce Live Facial Recognition (LFR) patrols to identify offenders, and during the summer months, officers will be out on bicycles so they’re able to react quicker to shoplifting incidents when they occur.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Army Soldier Convicted of Sexually Abusing a Child and Requesting a Sexually Explicit Photograph of a Different Child

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAVANNAH, GA: A jury convicted a local man previously stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, at trial for victimizing two children.

    Cedrick Demon Robinson, 42, Oxford, MS, was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child and Attempted Production of a Visual Depiction of a Minor Engaging in Sexually Explicit Conduct following jury trial in the Southern District of Georgia, said Tara M. Lyons, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.  U.S. District Court Chief Judge R. Stan Baker presided over the two-day trial.

    “Protecting children from those who would abuse them and seeking justice for sexual predators remains one of our District’s highest priorities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lyons. “We will continue to seek justice for those who would victimize our most vulnerable citizens.”

    As described in courtroom testimony, in December of 2013, Robinson sexually abused a minor by fondling the child’s genitals when the child was merely nine years old. Later, in 2017, Robinson requested that another child text him a sexually explicit photograph when the child was fifteen years old.

    Robinson awaits sentencing upon the U.S. Probation Services completing a presentence investigation.

    “Mr. Robinson’s conviction is a testament to the diligent work of our special agents and prosecutorial partners at the United States Attorney’s Office,” said Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Southeast Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Steven Ausfeldt. “Army CID will aggressively pursue anyone who would abuse or exploit our children.”

    The case was investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Fort Stewart Office and prosecuted for the United States by the Southern District of Georgia Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Z. Spitulnik and Darron J. Hubbard. 
     

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Europe: New taskforce to investigate the hiring of youngsters to commit violence for a fee

    Source: European Union 2

    Europol has launched a taskforce to tackle the rising trend of organised crime networks hiring youngsters to carry out threats, assaults, or killings for a fee. The taskforce brings together police from 8 European countries with Europol providing operational support and coordination.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Universal Periodic Review 49: UK Statement on Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Universal Periodic Review 49: UK Statement on Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Statement by the UK’s Ambassador for Human Rights to the UN, Eleanor Sanders, at Lao PDR’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    Thank you Mr Vice President.

    The United Kingdom welcomes the Lao PDR’s engagement with UN human rights mechanisms and its efforts to address human rights challenges. We are pleased with the inclusion of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in Laos’ action plans.

    However, the UK remains concerned over restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and religion. We are also concerned by limited land rights for vulnerable communities and the worsening issue of human trafficking linked to serious organised crime.

    We urge the Government to act on these issues and uphold its international obligations. In particular, we recommend that Laos;

    1. Takes immediate steps to protect and promote civic space, ensuring that all individuals can freely exercise their rights without fear of reprisal.

    2. Ensures that development projects respect the rights of affected communities, including noting the principle of free, prior and informed consent.

    3. Implements its international obligations under the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children and to collaborate with regional and international partners to address this issue.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Russia: BIMAC 2025 Conference Has Become an Effective Platform for Discussing the Digital Transformation of the Industry

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – At the conference sections

    The VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference “Information Modeling in Construction and Architecture” (BIMAC-2025), held at the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Urban Planning on April 22–25, has ended. Over the course of four days, representatives of the scientific and industry communities discussed the development of digital solutions and their implementation in segments of the construction industry in various sections.

    Focus on digital solutions

    Information modeling of architectural and design solutions, engineering systems, the use of information modeling technologies in estimates, artificial intelligence and training of engineering personnel for the digitalization of construction, parametrics, visual programming, software development, 4D modeling in construction – these were the topics that were the focus of discussions and were considered from the point of view of various representatives of the construction industry. The Consortium of the Construction Industry of the Northwestern Federal District organized a working meeting and a round table “Digitalization of Construction Project Management Processes”. Let us recall that the priority areas of the consortium’s activities are the creation of a system of interaction with administrative, educational, scientific, industrial and public-professional organizations to ensure the region’s leading positions in the construction industry, the effective implementation of national projects and regional development programs.

    In addition, the conference paid attention to advanced training: Deputy General Director of Interregional Institute of Expertise LLC Sergey Dragomirov held a two-day intensive course “Information modeling in construction. Regulatory legal acts and legislative requirements, national standards”, in which he covered the current state of the regulatory framework in the field of application of information modeling technologies (BIM) in the design, construction and operation of capital construction projects.

    Industry exhibition

    An industry exhibition was held on the upper balustrade of SPbGASU. Here one could get acquainted in detail with the offers of partners and exhibitors, among which were the companies “WIZARDSOFT”, “Credo-Dialog”, “ELITA”, GC “NEOLANT”, “Stroygazservis”, BIMIT, “Nanosoft”, CSoft, “ASCON”. Our university also presented its stand.

    “We are manufacturers of engineering systems. Here we present our technologies for BIM. The “Smart Water” software allows you to calculate internal water supply and sewerage, as well as select pumping equipment and pumping units,” said Tatyana Kolegova, a representative of the ELITA company.

    “WIZARDSOFT is a developer of domestic software such as SmetaWIZARD, BIM WIZARD and PlanWIZARD. We are happy to tell you more about them. Visitors actively come to us, especially students. Students of SPbGASU use our programs,” shared a representative of the company “WIZARDSOFT” Alexandra Makarova.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI Russia: For the benefit of the capital: GUU will help the Management Center of the Moscow City Economy Complex

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 28, at the invitation of the Director of the Management Center of the Moscow City Economy Complex (MCCMC) Evgeny Balashov, a working meeting was held between the Vice-Rector of the State University of Management Maria Karelina and the MCCMC team.

    The Center combines many years of experience in the field of municipal services with new developing areas of activity. The employees of the Central Control Center of the City Housing and Utilities Department work to promptly respond to the tasks related to monitoring the operation of housing and utilities facilities in Moscow. Analysts monitor the dynamics of processes, analyze the causes of incidents and make forecast estimates. The Center, as a single technological platform, unites all key sources of information, which facilitates the process of making strategic management decisions online.

    Colleagues from the Central Control Center of the KGH demonstrated the center’s business processes and introduced current and future tasks.

    The meeting resulted in the definition of the main vectors of interaction between the State University of Management and the Control Center. On the educational track, this is the organization of a basic department, the preparation and implementation of additional professional education and professional retraining programs. In the field of scientific research, the parties expressed mutual interest in joint research in the field of software modeling of various critical situations in the field of urban economy and their consequences.

    Taking into account the experience of the SMU scientists in the field of work on making management decisions under conditions of uncertainty (the head of the scientific school is Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Alexey Terentyev), the cooperation promises to be productive and will allow obtaining practical results in the interests of the Moscow City Economy Complex.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/29/2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “The Art of Management: Science, Practice, Project Technologies”: The Results of the V All-Russian Interuniversity Forum

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    The 5th All-Russian Interuniversity Forum “The Art of Management: Science, Practice, Project Technologies” has concluded at the State University of Management.

    This forum has become an important platform for exchanging experiences in organizing project-based learning in higher education institutions, discussing current issues in project management and introducing innovative approaches in the educational and scientific fields.

    The event took place thanks to a fruitful partnership with two authoritative organizations: the project-methodical association “Association of project-oriented organizations of science and higher education” and the professional community “Association of project management “SOVNET”, which unites leading specialists in the field of project management.

    The Forum program included three large-scale events that brought together participants of different categories: from first-year students to teaching staff, representatives of administrative and managerial personnel of universities and experts from organizations of the real sector of the economy.

    More details about the first day of the Forum are provided in a separate article.

    On the second day, the Final of the Student Project Competition took place, which this year for the first time went beyond the SUM and attracted more than 50 external projects from various Russian universities, including: Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev, Siberian Federal University, Southern Federal University, St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tyumen State University, Russian University of Transport, MSTU “STANKIN”, Moscow Automobile and Road State Technical University, etc.

    Student project teams presented their developments to the expert jury in four nominations: “Business projects (startups)”, “Social projects”, “Consulting projects” and “Research projects”. Thanks to the support of our partners – IPI Lab LLC, Roskachestvo, Bank FINAM JSC, Exity Group, Algorithmika LLC, BPM Soft, Alfa-Bank, Smartika LLC and independent consultants – the participants received valuable recommendations and opportunities for further development of their projects.

    A particularly active and interesting event within the framework of the V All-Russian Interuniversity Forum “The Art of Management: Science, Practice, Project Technologies” was the Interuniversity Hackathon “Urban Development Technologies”, which took place at the State University of Management throughout all three days of the Forum.

    This year, the Hackathon was held for the fourth time and united 80 participants from GUU, RUT (MIIT), RGUTIS, RTU MIREA, RUDN, SFedU, SPbGASU in various fields of study in 9 teams as participants and team facilitators.

    More details about its discovery were given here, and the results were summed up in this article.

    The V All-Russian Interuniversity Forum “The Art of Management: Science, Practice, Project Technologies” ended with a ceremonial summing up of the results and awarding of the winners of the GUU Student Project Competition and the interuniversity hackathon “Urban Development Technologies”. Student projects and case solutions were awarded both the highest awards (1-3 places) and individual nominations from our colleagues and partners, as well as audience sympathy prizes.

    The State University of Management expresses its sincere gratitude to everyone for their active participation, professionalism and desire for development. We hope that the results of our joint work will find their application in practice, and new acquaintances and ideas will become the basis for further achievements and further development of project-based learning in Russian universities.

    Winners of the Student Projects Competition of the State University of Management

    Nomination “Business projects (startups)”

    1st place – project “Flight controller”, authors of the project – Korolev Semyon Yuryevich and Feoktistov Sergey Vyacheslavovich, MSTU “STANKIN”, curator – Kovalev Ilya Aleksandrovich;

    2nd place — project “Development of a wearable device for visualizing data from CNC systems in augmented reality mode”, Author of the project — Sergey Igorevich Karasev, MSTU “STANKIN”, curator — Ilya Aleksandrovich Kovalev;

    3rd place – project “RUmaTe”, team of the Russian University of Transport (MIIT) consisting of Mikhailova Elizaveta Alekseevna, Kharin Alexander Nikolaevich, Ushkalo Eduard Stanislavovich, Smaglyuk Kira Sergeevna, Baulina Karina Aleksandrovna, Anikeev Mikhail Andreevich. Curator – Chigarev Valentin Nikolaevich.

    Nomination “Social Projects”

    1st place — the project “Modern Pensioner”, the project team consisting of Fyodor Romanovich Nazarov, Anastasia Ivanovna Rudchenko, Vlada Vladimirovna Sudakova, Ksenia Dmitrievna Sysoeva, Shonia Sofiko Paataevna. State University of Management, curator — Elena Vadimovna Dianina;

    2nd place – project “Promotion of a public digital platform”

    3rd place — project “SMM promotion of the social project “Sobriety”, project team consisting of: Akinshina Anna Andreevna, Skripko Artem Vyacheslavovich, Eminova Anna Dmitrievna. Southern Federal University. Curator — Lankina Maria Yuryevna.

    Nomination “Consulting projects”

    1st place — project “Visualization of agricultural statistics data in the context of municipalities of the Moscow region”, project team consisting of Fedotov Sergey Andreevich, Khomutovskaya Kristina Dmitrievna, Chorbadzhyan Venera Agvanovna. State University of Management, curator — Dolgikh Ekaterina Alekseevna;

    2nd place – project “HR in the heart”, project team – Druzhinina Polina Yurievna, Makarkin Matvey Maksimovich, Nguyen Ngoc Ha Phuong, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Nikitina Ksenia Dmitrievna, Fastovskaya Milana Sukhrobovna. State University of Management, Curator – Lobacheva Anastasia Sergeevna;

    3rd place — project “Development of an application for maintaining results of online meetings”, project team: Belova Diana Dmitrievna, Mizgireva Kristina Yaroslavovna, Redikultsev Gleb Sergeevich. State University of Management. Curator — Terekhova Anna Evgenievna.

    Nomination “Research Projects”

    1st place – project “Software product for assessing the condition of power transmission line insulators”, author of the project – Radmir Rafilevich Mugletdinov, Kazan State Power Engineering University, curator – Aidar Khaidarovich Sabitov;

    2nd place — project “Development of a methodology for valuation zoning taking into account regional characteristics of the territory for the purposes of state cadastral valuation”, author of the project — Alina Pavlovna Illarionova. St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Curator — Yana Aleksandrovna Volkova;

    3rd place — project “Russian and foreign experience of legal protection of traditional spiritual and moral values”, author of the project – Karina Igorevna Meshcheryakova. State University of Management. Curator – Svetlana Evgenievna Titor.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/29/2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Opportunities for everyone: GUU took part in the discussion on the development of inclusive higher education

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Representatives of the RUC of the State University of Management took part in the V All-Russian Forum of Inclusive Higher Education with International Participation “Formation of the Space of Inclusive Education: Requirements of the Time, Achievements, Growth Areas”

    Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Olga Petrova addressed the Forum participants with a welcoming speech, noting the importance of developing inclusive higher education.

    The State University of Management was represented at the Forum by the Director of the RUMTS Elena Mitrofanova, the project managers of the RUMTS Tatyana Beregovskaya and Associate Professor Svetlana Grishaeva.

    Forum participants discussed six key problem areas:

    Theoretical and methodological aspects of the formation of the inclusive education space. Priorities of scientific research in the field of inclusive higher education. Issues of comprehensive support for students with disabilities in the social, educational and labor spheres. Practices of career guidance, education and employment of persons with disabilities. Social and educational inclusion, personal and professional development in the context of inclusion. Interdepartmental, interlevel and network interaction in education.

    The event featured a professional discussion of current issues in a wide range of continuous and successive, seamless inclusive education, social, educational and labor inclusion.

    Let us recall that a resource educational and methodological center for training disabled people and people with disabilities has been created and has been successfully operating since 2017 on the basis of the State University of Management. It is the curator of partner universities in 4 regions: Moscow, Moscow Region, Oryol Region and Smolensk Region.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/29/2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI: Changes in the Management Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The Supervisory Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS, a subsidiary of Coop Pank AS, decided today, 29 April 2025, to appoint Marko Privoi as a new member of the Management Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS. Privoi’s term of office will commence on 12 May 2025 and will last for three years.

    Marko Privoi has been working in the insurance sector since 1997. For the past 19 years, he has held various positions at the Estonian branch of ADB Gjensidige, and prior to that, he worked for 8 years at ERGO Insurance SE. Marko Privoi graduated from TTK University of Applied Sciences in 1988.

    Marko Privoi does not hold any shares or bonds of Coop Pank.

    Raivo Piibor will continue as a member of the Management Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS.

    Coop Pank, based on Estonian capital, is one of the five universal banks operating in Estonia. The bank serves 213,000 daily banking customers. Coop Pank leverages the synergy between retail and banking sectors, bringing everyday banking services closer to home. The bank’s strategic owner is the domestic retail chain Coop Eesti, which operates a network of 320 stores.

    Additional information:
    Katre Tatrik
    Head of Communications
    Phone: +372 5151 859
    E-mail: katre.tatrik@cooppank.ee

    The MIL Network