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  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study looking at food additives and type 2 diabetes incidence

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A study published in PLOS Medicine looks at food additives type 2 diabetes incidence. 

    Dr Nerys Astbury, Associate Professor of Diet & Obesity, Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, said:

    “This prospective study conducted in France explores the association between the amount of common mixtures of food additives and the risk of future development of type 2 diabetes.

    “The study reports that there was no association between the consumption of three of the mixtures studies and type 2 diabetes.  There were positive associations between the consumption of two of the mixtures investigated including a mixture including emulsifiers/gelling agents including modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan and xantham gum which the authors show were linked with the consumption of dairy desserts and fats and sauces; as well as a mixture including artificial sweeteners and acidity regulators which were linked with consumption of low-energy/diet soft drink consumption.

    “Previous studies have reported associations between some of these individual food additives and risk of type 2 diabetes, but additives are commonly included in foods in mixtures where they may have interactive effects.  Indeed the authors showed in their exploratory analysis that there were both synergistic and antagonist interactions between several food additives.

    “One limitation of this study is that the mixtures of additives investigated include a range of different additives with different functional properties, with some additives included in more than one mixture group, meaning it is not possible to ascertain whether the effects observed can be attributed to groups of additives with similar functional properties.

    “The authors controlled for typical type 2 diabetes risk factors including age, sex, body mass index, physical activity level, smoking status, educational level and profession.  But it is possible that other factors that were not controlled for may have influenced the relationship.

    “Some of the findings may subject to reverse causality, where the outcome (in this case type 2 diabetes diagnosis) precedes, and therefore influences the presumed cause (in this case the consumption of the food additive mixtures).  For example, if a person knew they were at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, because they either had a family history of the condition, or that a doctor conducted tests to show they had pre-diabetes, they may decide to make lifestyle choices to reduce their risk of developing the condition.  One thing they might decide to do is replace sugar sweetened beverages for low-energy or diet versions.

    “It is important to note that by design this study can only demonstrate association, it cannot say whether the consumption of these additives (or the foods that contain then) caused or contributed to the development of type 2 diabetes.  To determine causality large scale complex clinical trials are required.

    “The growing interest in the effects of consuming ultra-processed foods, which contain additives to enhance taste, flavour, texture and improve shelf life of food products, means this study is important and timely and adds to the growing body of evidence of association between increased consumption of common food additives and adverse health outcomes.  Further research is needed to ascertain a causal link and establish the mechanisms.”

    Prof Nita Forouhi, Professor of Population Health and Nutrition, and Programme Leader of the Nutritional Epidemiology programme, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, said:

    “The researchers in France once again tapped into the only existing research study that has the relevant data to investigate links between different types of food additives and risk of chronic diseases.  They have extended their previous findings on the links of individual additive emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners with risk of type 2 diabetes to now identifying food additive mixtures that are frequently consumed together, reporting that the associations were not strongly driven by a unique additive alone and suggesting that interactions between types of food additives may play a role.

    “The authors identified 269 food additives consumed by over 100,000 study participants, quantifying additive intakes from repeated 24h recalls over a long time using multiple sources and they hence provide probably the most comprehensive additives database to-date.  Using 75 of these additives that were consumed by at least 5%of the study participants, they statistically derived five food additive mixture groups, of which two were associated modestly with the development of type 2 diabetes.  It is important to note that these associations are present at population level intake doses of additives in their usual diets.  However, it is unknown if additives consumed by a smaller proportion of the study population but in higher doses would have been related with the risk of type 2 diabetes.  A sensitivity analysis testing this would have been informative.

    “This research helps to an extent with understanding mechanisms through which ultra-processed foods (UPFs), that typically contain mixtures of additives, may be related with disease risk.  This is an important research gap to fill because a lack of evidence on mechanisms by which UPFs may be related with health harms, over and above the links already established for foods high in (saturated) fat, sugar and salt, is part of the reason for withholding a specific government policy on UPF reduction in the UK.

    “It is important to distinguish between additive mixtures by their food sources as we know from other research that not all UPFs are the same, with some being potentially harmful and others not.  Moreover, their analysis has not accounted for the proportion of UPF in the diet.  Also, the five food additive mixture groups the researchers identified were related with a limited set of food groups, largely cakes, biscuits, savoury snacks, broth, dairy desserts, fats and sauces and sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened drinks.  Thus, it is unclear if additives from other food groups not identified in this study population may be relevant in other populations.

    “Several of the current analyses were appropriate, such as adjusting for a comprehensive range of factors (including accounting for saturated fat, salt and added sugar), doing sensitivity analyses, checking the stability of food additive mixture intakes over time, and testing whether the additive mixtures found associated with type 2 diabetes contributed to mediating the associations between the food groups most associated with these mixtures and incidence of type 2 diabetes.  But, there were also important limitations the authors did not or could not address.

    “Exposure to food additives could not be validated against blood or urine biomarkers due to a lack of specific biomarkers.  Many tests for interaction were performed but it is unclear if there was adequate statistical power.  The data variables used in analysis, such as dietary intakes or health behaviours like physical activity or smoking and alcohol intake, are likely to vary over time but only baseline data, not time-varying data were used.  The authors showed several participant characteristics in the cohort at the study baseline but did not show these characteristics by total food additive or food additive mixture types, which is relevant to understanding the appropriateness of their analytical strategy.  This research included mostly women (80% of participants), so the findings in men remain under-studied.  The authors acknowledge that they could not collect data on ethnicity so the generalisability of findings to different population sub-groups is unclear but there seems no strong reason to expect that findings would vary in different ethnic groups.  Nonetheless, future studies in diverse populations should apply the current study methods to test the reported findings.  The authors appropriately acknowledged the limitations of observational research, but such research remains an important part of the evidence base.

    “More investment in research is needed to replicate the findings of this currently sole resource of the NutriNet-Sante’ study that has generated relevant data for the study of food additives.  In the meantime, we should take these current findings seriously and build further upon them to help understand the mechanistic links between UPF-related additive mixtures and human health.”

    Prof Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London, said:

    “This new report from a French prospective study (NutriNet-Santé) is an analysis of food additive intake based on estimates of dietary intake based on recall, and subsequent risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  79% of the participants were female and the average age was 42.  After 7.7 years of follow up, they found 2 out of 5 mixtures of additives were associated with very small increases in risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  The first mixture was associated with an 8% increase in risk – this consisted mainly of food additives used to thicken foods and drinks (guar gum, carrageenan xanthan gum), polyphosphates (that help retain water), curcumin (a naturally occurring yellow food colour used mainly in margarine) and potassium sorbate (a preservative).  The second mixture was associated with a 13% increase in risk, this consisted of a diverse mixture of additives but included several that are used in soft drinks – citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, sulphite ammonia caramel (used in cola drinks), acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose, arabic gum, malic acid, carnauba wax (a glazing agent), paprika extract, anthocyanins (purple natural colours), guar gum, and pectin.

    Limitations

    “This was an observational study and not a controlled trial and can only suggest associations.  A major limitation of this study is that the incidence of type 2 diabetes was low over the follow up period.  Over the follow-period only 1% of the 108,643 participants developed type 2 diabetes.  This may well be because the average body mass index (23 kg/m2) was close to the ideal level (22.5).  A potential strength claimed is that multiple estimates of dietary intake were made over the follow-up period (on average 5 occasions).  However, these estimates were based on what the participants remembered eating the previous day.  A daily recall only provides data for one day and is not a good measure of usual dietary intake which needs a longer period of recording (preferable taking into seasonal variations in account).  Dietary recalls also lack the granularity in terms of detail regarding portion size and brand which are important for estimating the intake of food additives.

    “Dietary recalls are subject to reporting bias (over-reporting fruit and vegetable intake and under-reporting food and drink that regarded being less healthy, e.g. alcohol and confectionery).  The reported dietary intake of sugar is extremely high (198g, equivalent about 50 cubes of sugar per day).  This raises questions regarding the reliability of intake data.

    “The statistical analyses involved creating mixtures of food additives by a form of statistical analysis by computer not by a prior hypothesis.  Associations of mixtures of food additives are likely to be reflective of overall dietary patterns or components (e.g. fizzy drinks).  While this type of exploratory statistical analyses can be used to create new hypotheses, the results should never be used as evidence of causality.

    “There seems to be no scientific basis for relating the components of these mixtures of food additives to risk of type 2 diabetes.  For example, citric acid probably accounts for the bulk of food additives consumed.  The body makes enormous amounts in the citric acid cycle (the Krebs cycle) to generate metabolic energy.  It is also present in quite high amounts in fruit and vegetables.  Gums are used as thickeners in some foods like yogurt.  There is no reason to suspect that gums would have an adverse effect on risk of diabetes especially as studies have shown that gums slow glucose absorption and can improve blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes.  The association of artificial sweetener intake with risk of diabetes is well known but not thought to be causal, as recently discussed by SACN (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-statement-on-the-who-guideline-on-non-sugar-sweeteners/sacn-statement-on-the-who-guideline-on-non-sugar-sweeteners-summary).

    Conclusion

    “My concern is that a “toxic cocktail of food additives” narrative may detract from sensible dietary advice to maintain a healthy weight.”

    Dr George Savva, Senior Research Scientist, Quadram Institute, said:

    “This study adds to the evidence that people who consume more food additives associated with sugary and sweetened drinks have a higher risk of diabetes, after controlling for overall calories, sugar intake, saturated fats and other aspects of diet.  A smaller association was seen for a second group associated with dairy desserts, broths, fats and sauces.  Other major groups of additives, including those associated with cakes and biscuits, showed no association with incident diabetes.

    “The study was large with a very detailed dietary assessment, but is limited by being non-randomised and being conducted in a volunteer cohort.  The authors did try to control for demographic and lifestyle factors like exercise and smoking but this is difficult to do well.  So, although the control for other aspects of diet was good, it is possible that other factors led to higher risk of diabetes in this group.  Showing no association between diabetes and additives linked to cakes, biscuits and snacks may suggest that residual confounding isn’t a huge problem in this study (because if other aspects of diet and lifestyle were really causing this association we might also expect to see a positive association between diabetes and the group of additives associated with cakes and biscuits).

    “Considering mixtures of additives is interesting because they are rarely consumed in isolation; as the study shows many difficult additives are often used together.  The evidence was strong that consuming additives associated with sugary and sweetened drinks was particularly associated with getting diabetes later in life, but there was little evidence for any particular additive or combination of additives being the main driver of that risk.

    “It is difficult to study the impact of food additives using randomised controlled trials, because they are highly prevalent in our diets and the effects are likely to take many years to manifest.  So it is important to attempt to study their effects in studies like this, and to combine with evidence from other kinds of studies to understand whether and how additives might harm metabolic health.”

    Prof Alan Boobis, Emeritus Professor of Toxicology, Imperial College London, said:

    “My takeaway from this is that it is an observational study and as acknowledged by the authors, association does not necessarily mean causation.  The findings are important in generating hypotheses, but further investigation would be necessary to inform advice to consumers.  It is unclear whether the mixtures themselves or key components are involved, or whether, despite adjustments for other components of the diet, the mixtures are indicative of some other characteristics of the subjects.”

    Prof Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University, said:

    “I can see this paper leading to more scary headlines about food additives, but although the work is based on a large dataset, we need to be careful about what conclusions are drawn from it.

    “As the authors themselves clearly state, the study does not prove that food additives cause diabetes.  All that is reported are slight associations between certain mixtures of some additives and the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, and there are some large caveats to this.

    “Firstly, an association between two factors does not mean one caused the other; it just means there appears to be an association between them.

    “Secondly, the authors didn’t measure food additive intake directly.  They relied on self-reporting of food intake from study participants and then estimated the additive intake from this.  This is a reasonable approach, but self-reported data is often inaccurate.  This means great care must be taken in interpreting the results.

    “It is also not clear from the main paper how the authors classified someone as having diabetes.  Diagnosis does not seem to have been done by a medical professional but rather estimated by self-reported health data and medication use from a linked database.  This is far from conclusive.

    “So, whilst this is an interesting theoretical study, people should not worry.  In the end, all that can really be said is that, based on self-reported data and estimations of possible food additive consumption and health conditions, there is a possible, small association between two specific mixtures of additives and the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, and the error bars are pretty big on even this conclusion.”

    Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, Open University, said:

    “This is a complicated study in terms of the statistical and computational methods it uses.  I think its results are pretty hard to interpret.  The meaning of the word ‘mixtures’ in the findings is, I’d say, so different from the everyday meaning of the word as to be potentially pretty confusing.  The researchers, rightly, warn that their study cannot establish whether consuming particular mixtures of food additives causes the associations with type 2 diabetes that they observed.  The associations that they observed are, as the press release indicates, not very strong anyway.  Also, there are questions, that might well be important, that just can’t be answered from this research.

    “I take away two things from this study.  First, there are some more indications that it may be important to consider potential associations between food additives and health by looking at several additives at once, rather than investigating them separately.  Second, looking for such associations isn’t easy, and to do it convincingly would require other types of research than those used in this study.

    “I’ll try to clarify what the researchers meant by a ‘food additive mixture’.  You might expect that to mean that a participant in the study consumes a certain amount of a given set of additives, maybe two or three of them, and researchers would look at how their health is associated with consumption of this specific mixture.

    “But what’s meant in this research is something wider and more complicated.  The researchers collected data on how much each of the nearly 110,000 participants consumed of well over 200 different food additives.  They then used a statistical method (called nonnegative matrix factorization) to summarize all this data into a score, for each participant, on five different scales that they called ‘mixtures’.  And they then measured the statistical association between each of these five scores and the participants’ chance of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over time.  They found associations between two of the scores and the risk of type 2 diabetes – the other three scores were not found to be associated with diabetes.

    “The associations with diabetes risk were not particularly strong for either of these scores, though it’s difficult to explain in simple terms exactly how large they were, because of the difficulty of explaining what the actual scores are measuring.

    “What makes this hard to link to an everyday idea of a ‘mixture’ is that each of the scores depends on the amounts of consumption of, potentially, a large number of different additives.  Of the two ‘mixture’ scores that were found to be associated with diabetes risk, one mainly depends on the consumption of eight different additives, and the other on 14 additives, and in fact other additives than these 8 and 14 do come into the calculation as well.

    “Also, two participants could get similar scores for one of these ‘mixtures’ by actually consuming different patterns of additives.  So one participant could get a moderately high score on the first of these ‘mixtures’ by consuming food and drink containing a lot of modified starches but little or none of the other additives, while another participant could get the same score by consuming quite a lot of food containing other additives that contribute to this mixture, but very little or no modified starch.  Others could also get the same score by a different pattern of consumption of additives that contribute to this ‘mixture’, possibly not overlapping much with the consumptions of the other two participants I’ve mentioned.  In technical terms, this is an acceptable use of the term ‘mixture’, but it’s probably not what a non-scientist would think of.

    “The researchers do emphasise that this study cannot establish causality.  That is, although they found associations, that is, correlations, between the scores for two of their additive ‘mixtures’ and the risk of type 2 diabetes, they can’t say that it is the additive consumption that caused the differences in diabetes risk.

    “That’s for several reasons. Mainly, it’s because the study is observational.  The participants weren’t made to consume different patterns of additives by the researchers – they just ate what they would have eaten anyway, and the researchers recorded that as best they could (and there are always potential limitations on the accuracy of such recordings).  So the observed associations could really be caused by some other factors that happen to be associated with food additive consumption, and also independently associated with diabetes risk.  There’s just no way of telling what causes what, with any level of certainty, in this kind of study.

    “In some circumstances, if a lot of different observational studies are all pointing in the same direction, one might be a little more confident about what’s causing what.  But this is effectively the first study looking at data in this way on a major scale.  As the researchers themselves say, in order to get good evidence on whether particular groups of food additives, when consumed alongside one another, do actually cause ill health, one would need to carry out studies of different kinds – so-called mechanistic studies, to learn more about what might actually be happening inside the body.  This study might help a little in pointing to what further studies might be most useful, but it’s an observational study that did not itself measure anything going on inside the participants’ bodies or cells.  I’m not a nutritional scientist so am not in a position to comment on how these mechanistic studies would best be done.

    “The researchers did make statistical adjustments for several possibly factors that might have accounted for what they observed, and might be getting in the way of interpretations of cause and effect.  But you can never adjust for everything potentially relevant, and data on some factors will simply not be available.

    “In this study there’s an obvious question of whether the differences in diabetes risk could be due to the additives in people’s food and drink, or due to the non-additive parts of the food and drink that they consumed, or indeed due to other things entirely.  After all, consuming a food additive generally involves consuming the food or drink that it’s been added to, and so will go along with consuming fats, sugars, proteins, fibre, and whatever else is in that food or drink.

    “The researchers did investigate some aspects of this question, and did find limited evidence that the associations with diabetes risk depend on additives as well as other aspects of what’s in the food and drink, though I don’t feel that they really sorted this out very far.  Anyway it would be very difficult to take account of all the possible food and drink components that are not classed as additives, as well as those that are, in a single statistical set of statistical analyses.

    “Interestingly, among all the detailed results, the study found a limited amount of evidence that points to why it may be important to look at additives together rather than separately. In some cases, it appeared that consuming two additives, linked to diabetes risk, had a stronger association with the diabetes risk than you’d expect from looking at the additives separately; in other cases, it went the other way, with a lower risk from the combination of additives than you might expect from looking at them separately.”

    Comments from our colleagues at the Australian SMC:

    Professor Ian Rae is an expert on chemicals in the environment at the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. He was also an advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme on chemicals in the environment and is former President of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute

    “Type 2 diabetes arises when various parts of the body becoming resistant to the normal action of insulin, which is to pack sugar away in cells.

    The result is elevated blood sugar levels that can cause damage to the eyes and to organs like the liver. The chance of developing type 2 diabetes increases with age, and it is associated with increased body weight, obesity and lack of physical activity, all of which track with age, too.

    Exposure to chemical substances is not believed to be a cause of type 2 diabetes. The French researchers whose work is reported in this paper were testing not a single substance but instead they surveyed the effects of mixtures of additives that are commonly included in processed food, such as starch, pectin, vegetable gums, and citric acid which is also naturally present in some foods).

    They identified two mixtures – of 8 and 15 constituents, respectively – that did correlate with slight effects. Only one of the mixtures included the kind of ‘chemical suspects’ that one expects to find in such studies, the two synthetic sweeteners, aspartame and sucralose. The associations between the mixtures and the condition were very weak, and similar mixtures that included many of the same constituents showed no association. Of course, association does not equal causation.

    Testing a single substance for toxicity or the ability to damage our bodies in other ways is difficult enough. Only in a very few cases have pairs of substances or small groups of substances that are chemically closely related ever been tested. The results have been ambiguous, to say the least. Testing mixtures of 8 or 15 substances is just not good science. The authors themselves suggest that ‘the potential synergies and antagonisms may be of interest in future mechanistic investigations’ but that’s really just an admission that their own approach was overly optimistic in its search for a definite cause of type 2 diabetes.

    Although it has involved a lot of work – not just by the 23 authors of this paper, but by the 100,000 people who were surveyed – the results are weak. I wondered why this was ever published.”

    Ian has not declared any conflicts of interest.

    Dr Alan Barclay is an Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney

    “This French prospective cohort study identified small associations between certain mixtures of food additives and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

    The mixtures of additives were identified using computer algorithms. Study participants were predominantly female (79.2%), relatively young (average age 41 years), well-educated, and within the healthy weight range (average BMI 23.6 kg/m2). Ethnic background was not reported (ethical reasons cited).

    Australia’s food supply is different from France’s, and it is not known how common the additive mixtures identified would be consumed in this country, and by whom.

    In Australia, type 2 diabetes occurs most commonly after the age of 45 years, in overweight or obese (BMI > 25 kg/m2) people (more frequently men than women), from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and incidence (new cases) has been decreasing over the past decade.

    The observed associations are both less than 20%, so residual confounding is likely a significant problem within this study.

    While novel, the generalisability of this French observational study to people at risk of type 2 diabetes living in Australia is unknown.

    Our food supply is regulated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the types and amounts of additives permitted to be added to foods and drinks is carefully assessed and reviewed on a regular basis.”

    Potential conflict of interest: I consult to the National Retail Association.

    Emeritus Professor Jennie Brand-Miller AM is from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, and Director of both the Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service and Glycemic Index Foundation

    “I find these results surprising because both mixtures contain substances that occur naturally in food and are recognised forms of dietary fibre (xanthan gums, guar gums and carrageenan). This means they provide fuel for our large bowel microbiome. Guar gum is a highly viscous fibre known to slow down the rate of digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, more so than any other fibre. Citric acid is found in citrus fruits, and also slows down digestion and reduces glycaemia.

    Both mechanisms would therefore be expected to REDUCE the risk of type 2 diabetes, not increase it. I suspect these findings are simply chance findings because the researchers looked at so many food additives.

    At present, there is a bias towards finding fault with food additives and processed foods. In Australia, all food additives other than flavours are highly regulated with substantial data to back up their safety in the amounts used in food.”

    Jennie’s conflict of interest declaration: I have no direct conflicts of interest. I receive royalties from popular books about nutrition, diabetes and health. I oversee a glycemic index testing company at the USYD. I consult to the China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries, the Novo Foundation and Zoe Global.

    Dr Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz is an epidemiologist and Senior Research Fellow from the University of Wollongong

    “The authors here looked at whether diabetes risks were impacted by different mixtures of food additives. They found a very small increased risk of diabetes associated with two mixtures of additives, and no increase for the other three mixtures that they tested – these mixtures included a wide range of additives such as aspartame, guar gum, curcumin, and more.

    The study is reasonably strong, but suffers from weaknesses in the underlying cohort. These results are entirely based on self-report, which is to say that the only information that the authors had on how many food additives people ate was how much they said they were eating. This form of self-report is notoriously unreliable and impossible to correct for in large epidemiological studies of this nature.

    It’s also unclear what meaning these results have. The biggest risk increase in the study was seen for Mixture 5, which contained 14 different food additives including citric acid and paprika extract. But due to the complex methodology the authors used to create these mixtures, it’s not clear how you could implement these findings in your daily life. The closest the authors come is saying that it might be a good idea to reduce your soft drink intake, but we didn’t really need this study to know that. It’s an interesting piece of research, but it’s hard to see how the results could be used outside of a strictly research setting.”

    Gideon has not declared any conflicts of interest.

    Dr Evangeline Mantzioris is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and the Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of South Australia

    “This study has looked at the impact of commonly used additives in ultra-processed foods in our food system and their association with Type 2 diabetes. This study was conducted on a large group of over 108,000 adults in France over a 7 ½ year time period. Dietary data was collected from dietary records every 6 months, and from this the intake of additives was calculated.

    The researchers found that there were two groups of food additives that were linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In the statistical analyses the researchers took into account the participants’ weight, sociodemographic factors, lifestyle practice and their diet.

    The first group of food additives included modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan, polyphosphates, potassium sorbates, curcumin, and xanthan gum. The other group included citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, sulphite ammonia caramel, acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose, arabic gum, malic acid, carnauba wax, paprika extract, anthocyanins, guar gum, and pectin.

    However, it must be remembered that this is an observational study and not an experimental study, and hence a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be drawn from it. Additionally, the intake of food additives in the diet of the participants could not be verified by any blood or urine tests.

    There is a growing evidence base of the impact of UPF [ultra-processed foods] on both physical, cognitive and mental health. As well as containing low levels of nutrients, high levels of saturated and trans fats, sugar and salt, UPF also contain food additives to improve taste and shelf life of foods. This study adds to this evidence base of the health risks associated with a high intake of UPFs.”

    Evangeline has not declared any conflicts of interest.

    ‘Food additive mixtures and type 2 diabetes incidence: Results from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort’ by Marie Payen de la Garanderie et al. was published in PLOS Medicine at 19:00 UK time on Tuesday 8 April 2025. 

    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004570

    Declared interests

    Dr Nerys Astbury: “No conflicts.”

    Prof Nita Forouhi: “None.”

    Prof Tom Sanders: “I have been retired for 10 years but during my career at King’s College London, I formerly acted as consultant for companies that made artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes.

    I am a member of the Programme Advisory Committee of the Malaysia Palm Oil Board which involves the review of research projects proposed by the Malaysia government.

    I also used to be a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global Dairy Platform up until 2015.

    I did do some consultancy work on GRAS affirmation of high oleic palm oil for Archer Daniel Midland more than ten years ago.

    My research group received oils and fats free of charge from Unilever and Archer Daniel Midland for our Food Standards Agency Research.

    Tom was a member of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee that recommended that trans fatty acids be removed from the human food chain.

    Member of the Science Committee British Nutrition Foundation.  Honorary Nutritional Director HEART UK.

    Before my retirement from King’s College London in 2014, I acted as a consultant to many companies and organisations involved in the manufacture of what are now designated ultraprocessed foods.

    I used to be a consultant to the Breakfast Cereals Advisory Board of the Food and Drink Federation.

    I used to be a consultant for aspartame more than a decade ago.

    When I was doing research at King’ College London, the following applied: Tom does not hold any grants or have any consultancies with companies involved in the production or marketing of sugar-sweetened drinks.  In reference to previous funding to Tom’s institution: £4.5 million was donated to King’s College London by Tate & Lyle in 2006; this funding finished in 2011. This money was given to the College and was in recognition of the discovery of the artificial sweetener sucralose by Prof Hough at the Queen Elizabeth College (QEC), which merged with King’s College London. The Tate & Lyle grant paid for the Clinical Research Centre at St Thomas’ that is run by the Guy’s & St Thomas’ Trust, it was not used to fund research on sugar. Tate & Lyle sold their sugar interests to American Sugar so the brand Tate & Lyle still exists but it is no longer linked to the company Tate & Lyle PLC, which gave the money to King’s College London in 2006.”

    Dr George Savva: “I have no conflict of interest.”

    Prof Alan Boobis: “My interests are: until recently, chair of the UK Committee on Toxicity (COT); member of the joint Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN)/COT working group on plant-based drinks; member of the External Advisory Committee, Michigan State University MSU Center for Research on Ingredient Safety (CRIS); member of the Board of Directors of ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute) Europe.”

    Prof Oliver Jones: “I am a Professor of Chemistry at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.  I don’t have any conflicts of interest to declare.  However, many years ago, I worked on a project funded by the UK Food Standards Agency on the toxicity of pesticide mixtures.”

    Prof Kevin McConway: “Previously a Trustee of the SMC and a member of its Advisory Committee.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray, Commerce Director Nguyễn, WA Businesses and Agriculture Respond to Trump Tariffs Raising Costs on Americans, Tanking Economy

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    Murray: “I’m calling on my Republican colleagues to help us, stop letting Trump tank the economy and raise prices, vote with us to reverse these pointless and destructive tariffs… Already, the chaos and uncertainty these tariffs have created are pushing us toward a Republican recession.”

    Washington state is one of the most trade-dependent states in the U.S., with 40 percent of WA jobs tied to international commerce; A recent analysis from Yale Budget lab found Trump’s tariffs could raise costs on the average American household by $4,000 a year

    ***WATCH HERE, DOWNLOAD VIDEO HERE; AUDIO HERE***

    Washington, D.C. — Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a virtual press conference with Washington Department of Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn, Washington Council on International Trade President Lorri Otto Punke, Washington State Department of Agriculture International Marketing Program Manager Rianne Ham, and Blas Alfaro, co-owner of Fulcrum Coffee Roasters in Seattle. Senator Murray and the other speakers highlighted how the reckless, sweeping new tariffs President Trump announced last week—a significant escalation in Trump’s ongoing trade war—will raise costs for families everywhere and be devastating for Washington state’s economy, businesses, and our agriculture sector. A recent analysis found that Trump’s tariffs could raise costs on the average American household by $4,000 a year—and these price hikes on working families are coming at the very same time that Republicans are forcing massive new tax cuts for billionaires through Congress.

    Last Wednesday, President Trump declared new tariffs on a wide range of imports, targeting key sectors including agriculture, electronics, and automobiles. This included a new, 10 percent baseline tariff on all imported goods—which went into effect on Saturday—as well as country-specific reciprocal tariffs, which will take effect tomorrow, April 9th. These tariffs come on top of the 25 percent tariffs President Trump imposed in February on most imports from Canada, Mexico, and 10 percent tariffs on China. Canada is Washington’s largest trading partner, accounting for nearly $20 billion in imports and $10 billion in exports—and Trump’s pointless trade war with Canada is already hurting businesses of all sizes in Washington state. On the heels of Trump’s tariff announcement, JP Morgan raised its prediction of the probability of a US recession to 60 percent.

    Washington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs tied to international commerce. Washington state is the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries—all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners including Canada. Additionally, more than 12,000 small and medium-sized companies in Washington state export goods and will be unlikely to be able to absorb the impact of retaliatory tariffs. Trump’s tariffs during his first term were extremely costly for Washington state—for example, India imposed a 20 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. apples, causing Washington apple shipments to India to fall by 99 percent and growers to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in exports.

    “Families are going to feel the pain of Trump’s new tariffs everywhere they shop. And, as one of the most trade-dependent states in the country, Washington state stands to lose among the most from Trump’s destructive trade war. Two in five jobs in our state exist because of international trade—that’s a full 40 percent of jobs in our state. Farmers, fishers, producers in our state—rely heavily on trade with Canada and Mexico, and Trump’s trade war has already been an especially deep cut for them. Now, they’re about to get hammered even more,” said Senator Murray on the press call today. “Already, the chaos and uncertainty these tariffs have created are pushing us toward a Republican recession… But here’s the thing you all need to know: Congress can actually reverse these tariffs. Last week in fact, the Senate voted on a resolution to reverse Trump’s tariffs on Canada by ending the bogus emergency declaration President Trump issued to justify them. That resolution passed the Senate—with four Republican votes—but right now, it’s dead in the water unless Speaker Johnson brings it up for the vote in the House.”

    “Working families are already having a hard enough time navigating the rising costs because of these Trump tariffs. Their stock portfolios, their 401Ks are tanking because of these Trump tariffs as well, and they’re trying to figure out what’s happening next,” said Joe Nguyễn, Director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. “These are disruptive. They disrupt people’s lives, they disrupt their jobs, they disrupt industries like Boeing, our shipping terminals, our farmers, our tech companies—all of this is on the line. And I also want to be very clear about what’s at stake: affordability, stability, and opportunity in every corner of our state is being jeopardized by this manufactured crisis.”

    “Trade equals jobs in Washington state. And as we know, 40 percent to jobs in this state are tied to international trade. We are proud of our diversity of exports—everything from aerospace to agriculture to clean tech to forest products to life sciences marine, and the military. And Washington state also facilitates trade and exports around the country. More than 50 percent of all U.S. wheat travels through our Columbia River system,” said Lori Otto Punke, President of the Washington Council on International Trade. “We have the 10th-largest economy in the U.S… we’re very deeply concerned about the impacts that these aggressive unilateral tariff actions will have, here locally. And we also know from the last almost-decade that tariff policy has already negatively impacted Washington state… [Tariffs] have failed to achieve the goals that they were meant to do, while imposing a lot of costs and many lost opportunities… What we’re talking about from a tariff perspective now is nowhere close—you know, it’s huge, compared to what we’ve seen in the past. And from a broad historical context, in 2015, Washington state exports [were] approximately, nearly 90 billion dollars in goods. And this made us one of the top exporting states in the country. But after… nearly a decade of tariff policy, in 2023, a lot of our goods and services were down about a third of that, down to about $60 billion dollars. So as we know, there are negative impacts of tariffs already, we’ve already seen that, and this huge magnification of tariffs is really detrimental.”

    “Exports are critically important to Washington’s agriculture economy. The uncertainty around retaliatory tariffs, the uncompetitive prices and lost market share that may result where implemented, and the damage to relationships with trading partners are some of the areas of concern for Washington agriculture exporters at this time,” said Rianne Ham, International Marketing Program Manager at the Washington State Department of Agriculture. “We’ve been through this before. A few years ago, we did face a number of retaliatory tariffs from the past Trump administration, some of those are still in effect. We do know that those retaliatory tariffs did raise prices on our agriculture products, they did make our products more expensive for consumers, and they did result in lost market share.”

    “Green coffee prices have risen by up to 40 percent over the past year. This isn’t just inflation—it’s a result of global challenges: climate change disrupting crops, labor shortages in producing countries, increased demand from growing economies, and declining output from some of the world’s largest producers, including Vietnam and Indonesia. And now, with the April 2 tariff implementation, that pressure is increasing,” said Blas Alfaro, Partner & Senior Vice President at Fulcrum Coffee Roasters in Seattle. “Here’s what that looks like: a 10 percent base tariff on all imported green coffee, a 46 percent tariff on coffee from Vietnam, which represents 20 percent of U.S. imports, and a 30 percent tariff on Indonesian coffee, a country known for unique flavor profiles that simply cannot be substituted. This affects not just roasters, but the thousands of local, independent cafés we serve—many of them drive-thru espresso stands and family-run shops in small towns. These businesses employ baristas and support staff, serve as cultural and social gathering spaces, and actively reinvest in their communities. But their margins are thin. Tariffs like these force them to make tough decisions: raise prices, reduce hours, or close altogether. The impact goes beyond the beans. Espresso machines, mostly manufactured in Italy, now face a 30 percent import tariff. Packaging materials—cups, bags, lids—are also affected. The full cost of doing business is rising rapidly, and small operators are being hit the hardest.”

    Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered on today’s press call are below and video is HERE:

    “First of all, thank you to all of my great guests for being on this today, for bringing your expertise to this conversation—and thank you, to all of you who have joined us for this really important call today.

    “As we all know, last week President Trump held a press conference in the Rose Garden to celebrate—yea, he did say celebrate—his new taxes on everyone. And I have to say, the alternative reality Trump and his advisors have been spinning could not be more different from whatI’m hearing from folks at home who are already being crushed by Trump’s tariffs—and are about to see their prices go up even more.

    “So, today I wanted to paint a better picture for all of us of what Trump’s ham-fisted, utterly pointless tariffs are actually going to mean for people in Washington state.

    “For businesses, like Fulcrum Coffee Roasters in Seattle. For our farmers, for our fishers, for our growers, for housing developers, who are going to face rising costs for the raw materials it takes to build—and that will ultimately raise the cost of housing for everyone.

    “And for families in every part of our state who are deeply worried about how Trump’s tariffs are going to raise prices everywhere they shop.

    “No matter how much Trump tries to deny this simple fact—tariffs are a tax that the American people will pay on everything they buy.

    “There’s a brand-new analysis from the Yale Budget Lab that found that Trump’s tariffs are going to cost the average family nearly $4,000 per year. That is the largest middle-class tax increase in a generation!

    “Now that extra tax might not matter much to billionaires like Trump and Elon Musk, who do not even shop for themselves or even think about basic necessities—but you can bet it is going to matter to regular people in Washington state. Families are going to feel the pain of Trump’s new tariffs everywhere they shop.

    “And—as one of the most trade-dependent states in the country—Washington state stands to lose among the most from Trump’s destructive trade war.

    “Two in five jobs in our state exist because of international trade—that’s a full 40 percent of jobs in our state. Farmers, fishers, producers in our state—rely heavily on trade with Canada and Mexico, and Trump’s trade war has already been an especially deep cut for them. Now, they’re about to get hammered even more.

    “Last year, Washington state imported 17.8 billion of goods from Canada alone—everything from natural gas for folks to heat their homes, cars, seafood that you buy at the grocery store, fertilizer that our farmers rely on. All of that is now getting more expensive because of Trump’s tariffs.

    “Canada is also our second-largest export market—behind only China, which just got slapped with a 54 percent tariff they’re promising to retaliate heavily against. Well at least that was the plan last week, this week its 104 percent—and who knows what is next!?

    “I’ve talked to so many farmers in our state who are furious that Donald Trump cannot seem to grasp the basic fact that they actually rely on international markets.

    “Last month, Trump posted on Truth Social, and I’m going to quote it, ‘Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold inside of the United States… Have fun!’

    “Have fun?! Many of our state’s top commodities export up to 90 percent of their crops. Producers are panicking right now! And Trump doesn’t seem to have a clue.

    “He just slapped 24 percent tariffs on Japan, which is the largest export market for Washington potatoes. Now, potato growers have been worried that they’re going to lose access to Japan’s market over retaliatory tariffs—and theyalreadylost access to China’s market in Trump’s first-term trade war. Our Ports are concerned that countries will start bypassing U.S. ports altogether, offloading their goods in Vancouver where it is cheaper. Business in Northern Washington, especially Whatcom County, is already cratering from Trump’s pointless trade war with Canada. The City of Blaine saw about a 40 percent drop in retail and services revenue after Trump’s tariffs on Canada went into effect!

    “As we know, the stock market is cratering right now and taking so many Americans’ hard-earned retirement savings with it. Stocks fell 10 percent over the week—and they keep dropping! And what was Trump doing while the Dow Jones was plummeting and Americans were panicking? He was golfing!

    “So, it’s already clear on Wall Street and Main Street alike that Trump’s tariffs will be devastating—and it’s also pretty clear he doesn’t care. Trump and his advisors might try to pretend that someone else, some other country, is going to pay these taxes—but even they know that’s not true!

    “Does anyone remember how Trump said Mexico would pay for the border wall?! He is selling snake oil.

    “Trump actually admitted to NBC that he ‘couldn’t care less if automakers raised prices because of his tariffs.’

    “And the irony is rich. Because, at the very same time that Trump is slapping new taxes on the goods that middle class families buy every day. At the very same time that Trump and Musk are insisting that we cannot afford to fund cancer research—or keep Social Security staff to answer Americans’ phone calls.

    “Trump’s top priority for Congress is making sure Republicans move full steam ahead to pass massive new tax cuts for billionaires.

    “And let’s be clear, Republicans’ tax breaks for billionaires are going to blow up the deficit—they will not be paid for. But guess how Republicans are choosing to try and offset some of the cost of those tax cuts? By slashing Medicaid and nutrition programs that feed hungry kids and families.

    “So, to recap: Trump is gutting services and raising costs on you by thousands of dollars a year with his tariffs—while, at the same time cutting taxes for himself and other billionaires like Elon Musk.

    “That’s Republican plan, if you’re a billionaire, you get showered with new tax breaks. If you’re a working family, you just get screwed—with new tax hikes and cuts to your health care. Already the chaos and uncertainty these tariffs have created are pushing us toward a Republican recession.

    “But here’s the thing you all need to know: Congress can actually reverse these tariffs. Last week in fact, the Senate voted on a resolution to reverse Trump’s tariffs on Canada by ending the bogus emergency declaration President Trump issued to justify them. That resolution passed the Senate—with four Republican votes—but right now, it’s dead in the water unless Speaker Johnson brings it up for the vote in the House.

    “So, right now I’m calling on my Republican colleagues to help us, stop letting Trump tank the economy and raise prices, vote with us to reverse these pointless and destructive tariffs. We could end this chaos today if Republicans would put their checkbook ahead of Donald Trump’s ego.

    “So, let’s be clear: any Republican who refuses to join us is joining Trump in raising prices on you, and wrecking our economy.

    “So I am delighted today to have four really great people who can lay out the basic facts, and the cold, hard reality of tariffs and what they mean for people here in Washington state and to our economy.

    “So let me turn it over first to Director Nguyen.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “It’s critical how we teach this technology, how it impacts young people.”

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    Photo: MIA “Russia Today”

    On April 8, the MIA “Russia Today” held a round table on the topic “Threats of Artificial Intelligence for Education and the Social Sphere”, in which the rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) Nikita Anisimov took part. He spoke about the HSE’s experience in regulating the use of AI technologies in the educational process.

    Opening the round table, Advisor to the President of Russia, Chairman of the Human Rights Council Valery Fadeev stated that modern youth actively uses neural networks. He cited data from a recent survey by the Association of Organizers of Student Olympiads, according to which 85% of students use neural networks, including 43% for writing abstracts, essays, term papers and theses. Students also consider AI to be the most important technology for Russia.

    However, Valery Fadeyev himself has a different view of what is happening. “I believe that we are on the threshold of an ideological disaster, and Russian society is still underestimating this danger,” he said. The reason is that, when answering questions related to politics, for example, neural networks produce a Western narrative – ideological texts, turning into an ideological weapon.

    The Russian presidential adviser used the analogy of a student library in the 1980s, which contained only Marxist literature, rather than the best works in the humanities from around the world. “Our texts and the texts of our friends make up a minimal part of the total array of materials and texts used by the neural network,” he concluded.

    In turn, Nikita Anisimov noted that behind each AI there is a developer – a person who can afford to invest billions in the development of a specific technology. Such people have great business opportunities and pursue certain interests.

    He recalled that the HSE University had adopted a Declaration of Ethical Principles for the Creation and Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems on its own initiative. One of these principles is transparency: if a student uses AI in their work, they are required to indicate what kind of technology it is and what conclusions were made. If deception is detected (there is a tool called “Catch a Bot” for this), the student may be expelled.

    Nikita Anisimov emphasized that the university trains specialists in the field of AI and those who will definitely use it. In his opinion, methodological understanding of the use of AI in education is critically important and this is understood not only in Russia: for example, in China, at the state level, they consider it necessary to modernize educational methods and textbooks taking into account the emergence of AI as a technology.

    The rector developed Valery Fadeev’s thesis that the content of a neural network is determined by the one who trained it.

    “If the technology was developed in the USA, taught on a line of school textbooks published in the USA, then, naturally, it promotes certain views. But what if we load it with textbooks published in the 90s in the Russian Federation, will it be better? Therefore, it is critically important how we teach this technology, how it affects young people, adults. It is important who taught and what they taught. Artificial intelligence is only a technology, and any problem has a last name, first name and patronymic. They must be named, invited, discussed with them, introduced regulations, as we did at our university. And you know, it works. The guys are happy to tell where they used artificial intelligence, and where they wrote the work themselves,” concluded Nikita Anisimov.

    The discussion was also attended by HRC member and IT entrepreneur Igor Ashmanov and IT entrepreneur Natalya Kasperskaya.

    Igor Ashmanov emphasized the danger that AI poses to schoolchildren. At school, many questions require a clear answer, but a neural network cannot do this and answers differently each time, moreover, its answers are incorrect. At the same time, Russia is still lagging behind its competitors and cannot create the “right AI”. “Our digital giants take enemy engines and repackage them,” the expert explains.

    Natalya Kaspersky mentioned the risks that children’s use of gadgets in general entails. These include a negative impact on health, as well as inability to communicate, underdeveloped imagination, clip thinking, short memory, etc. In her opinion, AI cannot be trusted to choose an educational trajectory; only a person can do this.

    At the end of the round table, its participants answered questions from journalists. In particular, Nikita Anisimov was asked how much interest in HSE programs dedicated to AI has grown in recent years.

    According to the rector, everyone should master AI technologies in their professional activities, so students of all fields and specialties at HSE take the Data Culture course. And students of educational programs dedicated to AI receive significant salaries, combining work with studies already in the second or third year. There is a huge competition for these programs, their graduates have an excellent reputation.

    Nikita Anisimov concluded that AI technologies can help, for example, to win on the battlefield and increase labor productivity many times over, and this is extremely important for the country. At the same time, in the social sphere, AI should not be allowed to make decisions about people and influence their destinies.

    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: Ukraine crisis: ‘Even wars have rules,’ UN relief chief tells Security Council

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Peace and Security

    Nearly 13 million people in Ukraine urgently need humanitarian aid as displacement, psychological trauma and the destruction of essential services continues to take a devastating toll, the UN relief chief warned on Tuesday.

    Briefing the Security Council, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher called on the international community to step up support and do more to protect civilians under fire.

    In recent weeks, continued Russian strikes on cities have seen civilian casualties rise – including children – and damaged critical infrastructure including healthcare facilities, apartments, schools and playgrounds.

    Mr. Fletcher noted the strike on Friday in the densely populated city of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipro region, in which at least nine children were killed, according to Ukrainian authorities.

    “This brutal pattern of civilian death and destruction in populated areas must stop,” he said.

    He said parties to the conflict must protect civilians and civilian infrastructure as required under international humanitarian law.

    “Indiscriminate attacks on them are strictly prohibited: there must be limits to how war is waged.”

    UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

    Tom Fletcher, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefs the Security Council.

    Displacement and desperation

    The war continues to drive mass displacement, with nearly 3.7 million Ukrainians uprooted from their homes inside the country, and a further seven million now living as refugees.

    Civilian casualties and infrastructure damage has also been reported in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions of Russia. In addition, humanitarians are unable to reach an estimated 1.5 million civilians in Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

    “International humanitarian law demands that the parties facilitate the rapid, unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, wherever they are,” Mr. Fletcher emphasised.

    The impact on women has been particularly severe.

    Critical aid programmes at risk

    There has been a staggering 36 per cent increase in gender-based violence, alongside rising maternal health risks. Alarmingly, nearly half of all births in Ukraine since 2022 have been pre-term, a sign of the immense stress and hardship endured by expecting mothers.

    Despite the soaring needs, the $2.6 billion UN-led humanitarian response plan in Ukraine has received only about 17 per cent of funds needed.

    Mr. Fletcher warned that without additional financial support, critical aid programmes will be scaled back, leaving millions without food, healthcare or shelter.

    In response to funding shortfalls, humanitarians are prioritising four key areas: supporting frontline communities, emergency response, facilitating evacuations, and assisting the displaced.

    Mr. Fletcher stressed the need for increased financial support to ensure humanitarian operations can continue reaching those most in need.

    “If you cannot stop the attacks on civilians – in Ukraine and elsewhere – at least give us the security we need and resources to save as many survivors as we can,” he urged.

    UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    A wide view of the UN Security Council chamber as members meet to discuss the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.

    More to follow…

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Sunderland shines a light on its young achievers

    Source: City of Sunderland

    Sunderland’s most inspiring, driven and creative young people have been celebrated at an awards ceremony in the city.

    Organised by Together for Children, the Sunderland Young Achievers’ Awards have been celebrating the incredible talents and achievements of young people and the positive difference they make to their city for more than thirty years.

    This has seen thousands of remarkable young people recognised for their exceptional dedication, resilience, empathy, and strong commitment to their communities.

    15-year-old Leon O’Connor Ahmadi who has overcome multiple challenges to become a school leader and community champion was named overall winner of this year’s Sunderland Young Achievers Awards. He also won the Achievement in Learning award.

    The judges described Leon, who has learning difficulties, as ‘a remarkable Year 11 student whose perseverance and resilience have defined his educational and personal journey’ and someone who gives ‘110 per cent in everything.’

    Leon has been cared for since he left primary school but has never let any of his challenges define him. Attending extra classes and working diligently at home have put him on track to achieve good grades in his GCSEs. He is also a leader in his school community, serving as a sports leader and house captain, and actively working towards his Duke of Edinburgh Award. 

    In the community, Leon volunteers at various projects and has earned the Champion of the Community Award. His determination has also seen him achieve a brown belt in karate.

    Other winners include:

    • Quinn Lux Lownie – winner of the Young Health and Wellbeing Champion – 12-year-old Quinn has been actively campaigning to educate women about cervical cancer and encourage them to prioritise their health since the age of six. She has raised nearly £110,000 for various charities, including as an ambassador for Amber’s Legacy which works to promote awareness about cervical cancer and the importance of smear tests.
    • Box Youth Project – winner of the Bringing Communities Together Award – a group of 24 young volunteers who support afterschool activities like music, arts and crafts, sports, games, and E-Sports for 38 weeks a year. Their achievements included securing funding from Sunderland City Council to deliver Christmas Treat Boxes to elderly residents, showcasing intergenerational work in Doxford.
    • Ellie Storey – winner of the Young Carer Award – 17-year-old Ellie has been a caregiver since the age of two, having supported her mother who has Crohn’s disease, through numerous hospital admissions and treatments, When Ellie was just nine, her brother Shaine was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and she became his nurse, attending every appointment and MRI scan.

    Tammy Banks, Chair of the Together for Children Board, said: “These awards shine a light on the incredible accomplishments, talents, and positive contributions of young people in our community, reminding us all of the huge difference they are making every day.

    “Their stories are emotional, compassionate, full of success and truly uplifting. They remind us of the kindness, resilience, and dedication that define our young people. Each nominee is making a real difference, and it’s a huge honour to be able to recognise and celebrate their outstanding contributions.”

    Councillor Michael Butler, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Child Poverty and Skills at Sunderland City Council said: “The Sunderland Young Achievers Awards provide a platform to recognise exceptional individuals those who have triumphed over adversity, shown extraordinary bravery, demonstrated relentless hard work, or devoted themselves to helping others. They embody the very best of Sunderland.

    “More than that, these awards highlight the limitless potential of young achievers the opportunity to achieve big things in life, smash glass ceilings, and become the next generation of leaders. Their determination and ambition will shape the future, inspiring others to dream bigger and reach higher.”

    City landmarks Penshaw Monument, Northern Spire bridge, Hylton Castle, Fulwell Mill and Seaburn lighthouse were also lit gold and black on the night of the awards to celebrate this year’s young achievers.

    The awards are sponsored by partners and organisations from across Sunderland who make the event possible –  Hopespring, Gentoo, Sunderland BID, Everyone Active, Sunderland City Council’s Public Health team and Low Carbon team, Sunderland College and the Northern Academy of Music Education.

    For more details on the awards, visit: Sunderland Young Achievers’ Awards – Together for Children 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Labrador Secures up to $335 Million from Pharmaceutical Company Mylan for Role in Opioid Crisis

    Source: US State of Idaho

    [BOISE] – Attorney General Raúl Labrador today announced a multistate settlement in principle with pharmaceutical company Mylan Inc. that will deliver up to $335 million nationwide to help combat the opioid crisis. Mylan, which is now a part of Viatris, has manufactured and sold a variety of opioids since 2005, including generic fentanyl patches, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and buprenorphine products. The attorneys general allege Mylan deceptively promoted its products as less prone to abuse despite knowing for years that many of its opioid products – particularly its fentanyl patches – were actually more vulnerable to abuse. The company fueled the opioid crisis by marketing directly to doctors, leading to dangerous overprescribing and diversion of its opioids into the illegal drug market.
    “Those responsible for fueling the opioid crisis are finally being held to account for their greed-driven actions,” said Attorney General Labrador.  “These settlements will never put those lost lives and broken families back together, but hopefully we can avoid the wreckage of future addiction with wisely targeted investments in prevention and treatment throughout Idaho.”
    Under the multistate settlement, Mylan will pay up to $335 million to participating states over nine years.
    This settlement was negotiated by the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia in coordination with the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, and Vermont.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The Great Gatsby at 100: this great American novel is a universal meditation on time and change

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By William Blazek, Professor Emeritus of American Literature and Modern Culture, Liverpool Hope University

    One hundred years after its publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third novel, The Great Gatsby – the story of nouveau riche Jay Gatsby’s obsessive quest to win back his lost love, Daisy Buchanan – is best remembered for its depiction of America’s Jazz Age excess, especially through Gatsby’s wildly extravagant parties.

    Readers might also focus on moral questions raised about America’s class and racial divisions, the fundamental inequalities that hinder social progress, and the faulty-but-compelling promise of what a decade later was labelled “the American dream”. These are compelling themes within Fitzgerald’s tightly constructed and brilliantly expressed novel.

    Yet for all of its emphasis on national concerns, the book also contains subject matter of more universal value.

    A passage in the fifth chapter describes an incident during the reunion of Gatsby with the now-married Daisy at the cottage of Nick Carraway, the novel’s first-person narrator.

    Amid awkward uncertainty about achieving his goal of repeating the past by winning Daisy back after five years apart, Gatsby leans his head backward and topples over “a defunct mantelpiece clock”, which he then just manages to catch before it would have smashed on the floor. This incident emphasises an important theme of the novel – a meditation on time and change.

    _This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.

    On one level, the novel presents contrasts between an older, elite moneyed class and emerging groups that have embraced opportunities for success in the entertainment industries of film and theatre. A further social layer is those who have taken underground routes to riches through bootlegging alcohol or manipulating the bond market.

    The socioeconomic and cultural transformations in the US after the first world war are amplified through references to modern technology. In particular, the telephone most often serves to disrupt conversations rather than promote improved communication. There are also Gatsby’s new automobiles, hydroplane, dazzling electric lighting displays and “a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of 200 oranges in half an hour”.

    In contrast, Daisy’s husband, Tom, has turned a car garage on his Long Island estate into a stable for his riding horses. In turning the value of horses from work to leisure, he seems to reverse the flow of history.

    Nick, though, is attracted to the dynamic potential for cultural change. He crosses into New York City over the Queensboro Bridge, a recently completed steel cantilever construction – the longest in the US at the time:

    Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge, I thought; anything at all.

    The “defunct mantelpiece clock” and its near demise could also represent Fitzgerald’s rejection of a literary inheritance. The author avoids the relative certainty of 19th-century realism’s character development and linear narrative chronology. Instead, he emphasises modernism’s fragmentation and ambiguity.

    The trailer for the 2012 adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

    Time shifts and nature’s power

    In the novel, Gatsby’s backstory is slowly and uncertainly revealed. Vital information about his youth is delayed until the final chapter. Born James Gatz on a poor North Dakota farm, the mysterious Jay Gatsby emerges through Nick’s memory.

    Nick recounts conversations with Gatsby, hears rumours, speaks with others and reads newspaper reports about him. He also imagines a great deal, delivering scattered details and making conjectures in jumbled time. “He told me all this much later, but I’ve put it down here” is one example.

    F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1921.
    Wiki Commons

    Some simple dialogue between Gatsby and Nick hints at the seemingly random, but actually carefully designed, narrative sequencing. Gatsby invites Nick to come along for a morning flight in his newly purchased hydroplane. “What time?” Nick asks, and the reply is: “Anytime that suits you best.”

    The Great Gatsby’s fractured sense of time challenges literary convention. It also reflects a world in flux after the first world war, and the moral as well as economic adjustments of the roaring twenties. But another crucial and often undervalued aspect of the novel deserves further attention: the power of nature.

    Natural imagery infuses the text, as the Sun and Moon, rain and wind, the stars and seasons counterbalance disorderly human time. A sense of cosmic, eternal time contends with the vanities of daily life and inevitable mortality.

    Nick connects Gatsby’s inevitable death with nature’s cyclical movements:

    He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass. A new world, material without being real.

    Besides being an example of Fitzgerald’s radiant prose, this passage is both a comment on the delusions of American ambition, and an assertion of nature’s timeless presence and enduring authority.

    Beyond the canon

    As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is William Blazek’s suggestion:

    Abraham Cahan (circa 1913).
    Wiki Commons

    The Rise of David Levinsky by Abraham Cahan (1917) chronicles the Jewish title character, starting with his early life in imperial Russia, where he devotes himself to religious study.

    After emigrating to the US he abandons his spiritual calling and becomes a success in the garment industry. Yet despite his wealth, he is essentially unhappy and lonely.

    Cahan, a Lithuanian-born Jewish American socialist, modelled his story on another rags-to-riches tale, The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells (1885), which also contrasts American materialism with moral goodness.

    William Blazek is professor emeritus at Liverpool Hope University and vice president of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society. In 2025 the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society will hold its 17th biannual international conference from 22-28 June in New York City: A Fitzgerald Centennial: The Great Gatsby, New York, and New Perspectives. Visit https://fscottfitzgeraldsociety.org/

    – ref. The Great Gatsby at 100: this great American novel is a universal meditation on time and change – https://theconversation.com/the-great-gatsby-at-100-this-great-american-novel-is-a-universal-meditation-on-time-and-change-242967

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Inaction from Brussels over the arrest of an opposition leader in Turkey may be a strategic mistake

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Seda Gurkan, Assistant Professor in European Studies and International Relations, Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University

    The European Union faces a pressing problem as it decides how to handle another major slide towards autocracy in Turkey. So far, the signs are not good.

    Over the past decade, core democratic institutions have been systematically eroded in Turkey, under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been in power since 2003. Media freedom, independent judiciary and civil society have all been targeted. A major turning point came in 2016, when Turkey abandoned its parliamentary democracy in favour of a hyper-centralised presidential system. Since then, the national parliament has been marginalised and nearly all checks on executive power have been eroded.

    While elections in Turkey have not been fair for many years, they were at least free. According to the international observers, elections were not fair as President Erdoğan and the ruling parties enjoyed “unjustified advantage”. However, elections still could offer voters a “choice between genuine political alternatives” – providing citizens with a sliver of hope for democratic change.

    That era may have ended on March 19, with the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor. İmamoğlu was on the cusp of being made the opposition’s presidential candidate and was widely seen as Erdoğan’s main electoral rival. He now looks unlikely to be able to stand for president. This is not just a blow to the opposition but potentially indicates the end of free elections in Turkey according to some observers.

    All this has been happening in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood. Indeed, it has been happening in a country that remains, at least nominally, a candidate for EU membership. Yet Brussels has largely remained silent. This silence may prove a strategic mistake.

    Why is the EU silent?

    The EU’s reaction to İmamoğlu’s arrest has been, at best, cautious. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, issued a carefully worded expression of “deep concern”. The spokesperson for the EU echoed a familiar refrain, saying that as a candidate country, Turkey must “uphold democratic values”.

    In their joint statement Kaja Kallas, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, and Oliver Várhelyi, commissioner for enlargement, struck a similarly cautious tone. They said Turkey is “expected to apply the highest democratic standards and practices”.

    Only the European parliament, long considered the flagbearer of the EU’s values, adopted a more direct stance. Several political groups openly criticised Turkey during the plenary session on April 1. A delegation led by the European parliament first vice-president Katarina Barley visited İmamoğlu in a symbolic gesture of support.

    But these expressions of concern and acts of solidarity with İmamoğlu have not been matched by any credible action or condemnation potent enough to have a deterrent effect on the Turkish government. As many observers have noted, the EU’s strategic interests have increasingly overshadowed its commitment to democratic principles.

    It is no secret that the EU has never had a coherent strategic vision on Turkey. In a prime example of the transactional nature of the relationship, the EU outsourced refugee challenge to Turkey in 2016 in exchange for financial aid to Ankara. It was a deal driven not by long-term goals but short-term pragmatism.

    Today, in an era of growing geopolitical instability, Turkey has only become a more critical partner for the EU. Ankara commands the second-largest army in Nato, boasts a rapidly advancing defence industry, and has ample experience in peacekeeping and out-of-area operations. These are all increasingly valuable as the US, under Donald Trump, retreats from European security.

    Turkey has also become a key player in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. With strong political and economic ties to the new leadership in Damascus, Turkey started to play a central role in Syria’s reconstruction, as well as in its energy and defence sectors. Working toward the stabilisation and reconstruction of Syria is a shared interest for both Brussels and Ankara. For both sides, potential collapse of Syria involves major security concerns, including further refugee inflows to Turkey, and via Turkey to Europe, the proliferation of armed groups, jihadist terror and the spillover of regional instability.

    And while the containment of Kurdish groups in Syria is a priority for Ankara, the control of ISIS militants in detention in Northern Syria is a priority for the EU. Brussels has recognised Turkey’s “essential role to play in stabilising the region”, adding to the growing list of areas of common interest.

    Add in the fear of destabilisation in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood, and it becomes clearer why Brussels might prefer “stability” under Erdoğan over the uncertainty of post-Erdoğan period.

    The wrong strategy

    But failing to stand up to Turkey now is a mistake – and one with long-term consequences. The EU should care about what is happening in Turkey, not just for the sake of Turkish democracy, but for its own security. How it responds has implications for the credibility of the European project itself.

    Seeking closer security and defence cooperation with Turkey, in the absence of a shared understanding of fundamental values between Ankara and Brussels, is not realistic. As Hungary’s stance toward Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has shown, if there is no agreement on core values, aligning strategic interests becomes increasingly difficult. Turkey is a self-confident and assertive regional power, and it will not hesitate to follow a foreign policy that could ideologically diverge from that of the EU.

    Turkey’s recent foreign policy decisions illustrate this perfectly. Its actions in the eastern Mediterranean, northern Syria before Assad’s fall, Libya and the Caucasus demonstrate its readiness to pursue a more assertive path without consulting western partners. A prime example of this was Turkey’s decision to purchase S-400 missile defence systems from Russia, which created interoperability problems with Nato allies.

    Moreover, autocratic ideas tend to be contagious. When a country follows a more illiberal trajectory, it affects its wider neighbourhood. Turning a blind eye to Turkey’s authoritarian turn while cooperating on security and defence matters risks legitimising Erdoğan’s governance model. This could further strengthen the illiberal axis in the region.

    Finally, the EU risks alienating democrats and younger generations in Turkey. Despite the ups and downs in EU-Turkey relations, Turkish citizens have consistently shown strong support for the EU. Maintaining this momentum is not just an ethical responsibility or a matter of credibility for the EU – it is also a long-term investment in building a more democratic, trustworthy and stable neighbour.

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

    – ref. Inaction from Brussels over the arrest of an opposition leader in Turkey may be a strategic mistake – https://theconversation.com/inaction-from-brussels-over-the-arrest-of-an-opposition-leader-in-turkey-may-be-a-strategic-mistake-253982

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: As Canada is threatened, it’s urgent to revisit Indigenous sovereignty and nationhood

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Frank Deer, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba

    Early in his second term as president of the United States, Donald Trump began making explicit threats about Canada becoming the 51st American state.

    In the midst of his absurd and at times disrespectful rhetoric that’s also included a proposal to acquire Greenland and the Gaza Strip, some have argued Trump’s interest in annexing Canada is an imperialistic impulse.

    As a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka educator concerned with Indigenous language education, civic education and reconciliation, I believe it’s important to explore how Canadians should think about Indigenous nationhood with Canada’s sovereignty under threat. I also believe a U.S. annexation of Canada would be devastating for Indigenous Peoples.

    Re-asserting Canadian nationhood amid threats

    Trump has stated that Canada can be annexed through economic force while others have speculated a military invasion may be part of this conquest attempt.

    Although Trump’s threats against Canada seem ludicrous, many Canadians are taking them seriously and regard the ongoing imperialist rhetoric as a threat to Canadian sovereignty.



    Read more:
    Canada, Greenland, Panama, Gaza and now Ukraine: Wake up, world, Donald Trump is coming for you

    Canadian politicians, public intellectuals and members of the public have reacted strongly to this threat in ways that assert Canadian nationhood, sovereignty and identity. Some suggest a sense of national unity has been stoked in Canada for the first time in generations.

    However, that sense of unity that many may be feeling in Canada — and could affect how Canadians cast their votes in the forthcoming federal election — conceals the realities of nationhood in Canada. There are several aspects of nationhood in Canada that may merit conversation in terms of unity and the current American threats. But I’m particularly concerned that the nationhood that exists among First Nations, Inuit and Métis may be particularly threatened by an American annexation.

    Indigenous Peoples

    Canada is a nation state that occupies the traditional territories of many Indigenous nations, representing a broad diversity of cultural and language backgrounds. The Indigenous Peoples of these nations had served as stewards of the territories of North America far longer than the European colonizers who eventually seized control of the territories.

    Many of the Canadian government’s colonial and post-colonial activities, abetted by their partners (for example, churches of various denominations), were genocidal in nature.

    These colonial actions resulted in Indigenous communities becoming constituent parts one unified nation — Canada. Very little public discourse acknowledges that Indigenous Peoples had already established their own concepts of nation and nationhood. These were displaced by those who established control of the territories.



    Read more:
    Indigenous people invented the so-called ‘American Dream’

    Indigenous nationhood

    Indigenous nations have and continue to regard their communal connections and responsibilities through Indigenous nationhood.

    There are various key aspects of Indigenous nationhood: sociologist Stephen Cornell, who has worked with Indigenous nations and organizations in North America, Australia and New Zealand, observes five of them, including connections to the land, kinship and community, narratives and history associated with the land and culture, self-governance and collective well-being.

    For example, many Anishinaabe consider nationhood as being built on stories and traditions and shaped by relationships and communities. Views like these are enriched by the diversity among Indigenous Peoples.

    The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people share many stories, traditions and language that inform their concept of nationhood and their treaty arrangements (such as the Kaswentha). But the Haudenosaunee also consist of different Indigenous nations — including my own, the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka — with each having their own unique manifestations of Indigenous knowledge, heritage and consciousness.

    These different nations functioned in tandem with one another by forming allyships and sharing land.

    Canada not a single, homogenous nation

    Colonialist incursions by French, British and, later, Canadian authorities have disrupted how Indigenous notions of nationhood may be understood by Canadians.

    In ignoring aspects of Indigenous nationhood by exploiting land, dividing families and communities, reconstructing historical narratives, stymying self-governance and emphasizing individual well-being over the collective, the notion of Indigenous nationhood has been marginalized in mainstream public consciousness in Canada.

    Instead, the prevailing notion is that Canada is a single and somewhat homogenous nation. This might sound desirable to some and even idyllic, but it’s a myth.

    Legal implications, reconciliation journey

    Why does Indigenous nationhood have to do with an American president’s threats to Canadian sovereignty?

    Indigenous nationhood has not just been a part of Indigenous consciousness and ways of life for centuries, but is now closely tied to established and developing legal and constitutional principles in Canada.

    These principles are now, after generations of oversight and subjugation, finally allowing Indigenous nations to explore and enact approaches to self-determination and self-governance.

    Trump’s threats imply that existing Canadian legal and constitutional frames would be abolished. They also suggest that the cultural and linguistic mores of Indigenous nations would be endangered even more than they have already been. The reconciliation journey — one that has been informed by the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — would almost certainly be abandoned.

    Treaty relations and 51st state?

    More specific concerns about nationhood emerging from Trump’s threats are connected to particular Indigenous nations. For instance, many First Nations have treaty relations with the Crown.

    These treaties codify the relationship that these First Nations have with the government of Canada. There is a lot of work being done to better understand treaties in modern times. Treaty arrangements and ongoing efforts to better understand them would be terminated should Canada become the 51st American state.



    Read more:
    Revisiting the Williams Treaties of 1923: Anishinaabeg perspectives after a century

    Much has been achieved by Indigenous Peoples — sometimes in partnership with non-Indigenous people — to enhance their well-being and their place in the world to determine their way forward.

    There is, of course, a lot of work still to be done. Poverty, for example, is still widespread among Indigenous Peoples, the languages and cultures of many are endangered and Indigenous women and girls continue to be treated horrifically. But the journey of Indigenous nations toward well-being and self-determination has led to achievements that can make Indigenous Peoples can be proud.

    Would this journey continue as a 51st state? I have my doubts.

    Frank Deer has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. As Canada is threatened, it’s urgent to revisit Indigenous sovereignty and nationhood – https://theconversation.com/as-canada-is-threatened-its-urgent-to-revisit-indigenous-sovereignty-and-nationhood-253199

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Change of British High Commissioner to Malaysia: Ajay Sharma

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Change of British High Commissioner to Malaysia: Ajay Sharma

    Mr Ajay Sharma CMG has been appointed British High Commissioner to Malaysia in succession to Ms Ailsa Terry CMG.

    Mr Ajay Sharma CMG has been appointed British High Commissioner to Malaysia in succession to Ms Ailsa Terry CMG. Mr Sharma will take up his appointment during April 2025.

    Curriculum Vitae

    Full name: Ajay Sharma

    Year Role
    2024 to present FCDO, Director and pre-posting training
    2023 to 2024 Cabinet Office, National Security Secretariat, Director International
    2022 to 2023 Ankara, Head of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires
    2021 to 2022 FCDO, Cyprus Settlement Co-ordinator
    2020 to 2021 FCDO, Deputy Political Director
    2015 to 2020 Doha, Her Majesty’s Ambassador
    2013 to 2015 FCO, Iran Co-ordinator and non-resident then resident Chargé d’affaires to Iran
    2012 to 2013 FCO, Head of Iran Department
    2008 to 2012 Paris, Deputy Head of Mission
    2007 to 2008 Tehran, Deputy Head of Mission
    2005 to 2007 FCO, Deputy Head of Security Policy Department
    2003 to 2005 Ankara, First Secretary and Head of Political Section
    2002 to 2003 Moscow, First Secretary and Head of Economic/ Energy Section
    2001 to 2002 FCO, Pre-posting training (Russian)
    1997 to 2000 Ankara, Second Secretary (Political/ Press)
    1996 to 1997 FCO, Pre-posting training (Turkish)
    1995 to 1996 FCO, Central European Department
    1995 Joined FCO

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman David Scott Introduces Resolution Honoring the Life and Legacy of Baseball Legend Hank Aaron

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David Scott (GA-13)

    WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13), was joined by members of the Georgia delegation in introducing his bipartisan resolution honoring the life and legacy of the late great Henry “Hank” Louis Aaron, highlighting, among many achievements, his home run record which was set on April 8th, 1974.

    “On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 714.  Today we honor not only his baseball accomplishments, but the many contributions he made to this nation.  He was more than a baseball icon and a trailblazer – he was also a member of my family, my wife Alfredia’s brother. His strength, grace, and quiet courage changed the game both on and off the field,” said Congressman David Scott. “With every swing of his bat, he set records and with every stride, he walked boldly toward justice and equality. Hank Aaron used his platform to uplift a nation, becoming a symbol of resilience for millions during the civil rights movement and beyond. We miss him dearly—his laughter, his wisdom, his unwavering humility—but we carry him with us. His legacy doesn’t rest in numbers or titles, but in the hearts he stirred, the doors he opened, and the generations he continues to inspire. Hank’s story isn’t just about baseball—it’s about courage, family, and a legacy that helped moved this country forward.”

    Hank Aaron is perhaps best known for his pursuit of the Major League Baseball (MLB) all-time home run record set at 714 by Babe Ruth, thought by many to be unbreakable. On April 8, 1974, Mr. Aaron hit the record breaking 715th home run in front of a sold-out crowd at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mr. Aaron retired as baseball’s all-time home run leader, a record he held for another 33 years. He remains the MLB all-time leader in career runs batted in (RBIs), career total bases, and career extra base hits.

    Throughout his career, Mr. Aaron faced racism and discrimination, including outright death threats during his home run chase. As an African American player in the South, he was in a unique position to advance the cause of equality through his actions both on and off the field. Mr. Aaron poured significant resources and energy into the civil rights movement, including his longtime support of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), his relationship with civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his creation of the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation, an organization committed to ensuring that children of all backgrounds can fulfill their full potential.

    The text of the resolution can be found HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Convocation of the General Ordinary Shareholders Meeting of Closed-end Investment Company Intended for Informed Investors UAB “Atsinaujinančios energetikos investicijos”

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    On the initiative of the Management Company LORDS LB ASSET MANAGEMENT, UAB (the “Management Company”) and in accordance with the Management Company’s decision of 7 April 2025, Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (the Meeting) of UAB „Atsinaujinančios energetikos investicijos“, the closed-end investment company intended for informed investors, company‘s code 304213372, registered office at Jogailos st. 4, 01116 Vilnius, Lithuania (the Company) is hereby convened to be held on 30 April 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the registered office of the Company.

    Registration of the attendees shall start at 10:00 a.m.

    Persons who are shareholders of the Company on the date of the Meeting, either in person or by proxy, or persons with whom an agreement of transfer of the voting right has been concluded, shall be entitled to attend, and vote at the Meeting.

    Participants coming to the Meeting shall be required to bring a document of proof of identity. Persons authorised by shareholders must have a power of attorney or another document certified in accordance with the law.

    All material on the Agenda of the Meeting being convened, draft resolutions on each item on the Agenda, other documents and information related to the exercise of shareholder’s rights may be obtained at the registered office of the Company.

    Contact person for further information:

    Rūta Abromavičienė, Legal Officer of LORDS LB ASSET MANAGEMENT, UAB

    Jogailos st. 4, 01116 Vilnius, Lithuania

    +370 5 261 94 70

    ruta.abromaviciene@lordslb.lt 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Societe Generale announces results of the offer to purchase certain of its debt securities

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SOCIETE GENERALE ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF THE OFFER TO PURCHASE CERTAIN OF ITS DEBT SECURITIES 

    Press release

    Paris, April 8, 2025

    NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE OR TO WHOM IT IS UNLAWFUL TO RELEASE, PUBLISH OR DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

    Further to the announcement on April 1, 2025 of the launch of an offer to purchase for cash (the “Offer”) any and all of its outstanding Undated Deeply Subordinated Resettable Interest Rate Notes referred to below (the “Notes”), Societe Generale today announces the results of the Offer.

    The expiration time for the Offer was 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on April 7, 2025.

    According to information provided by the Tender and Information Agent for the Offer, $710,342,000 aggregate principal amount of the Notes were validly tendered at or prior to the expiration time and not withdrawn.

    The following table sets forth the aggregate principal amount of Notes validly tendered and not withdrawn in the Offer at or prior to the expiration time:

    CUSIP No. ISIN Title of Security Tender Offer Consideration Aggregate Principal Amount Tendered Aggregate principal amount accepted Aggregate principal amount reflected in Notices of Guaranteed Delivery
    83368J FA3
    F43628 B41    		 US83368JFA34
    USF43628B413    		 Undated Deeply Subordinated Resettable Interest Rate Notes $1,007.00(1) $710,342,000 $710,342,000 $0

    (1)        The amount to be paid for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn and accepted for purchase, excluding accrued and unpaid interest.

    In total, $710,342,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes have been accepted for purchase (no Notes were delivered using the guaranteed delivery procedures).

    Societe Generale expects to pay on the settlement date the Tender Offer Consideration plus accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date up to, but not including, the settlement date, for Notes validly tendered prior to the expiration time and accepted purchase pursuant to the Offer. The settlement date is expected to be on or about April 10, 2025.

    Societe Generale intends to cancel the repurchased Notes. Notes that have not been validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer will remain outstanding. Following the settlement date, Notes in a principal amount of $539,658,000 will remain outstanding.

    Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the offer to purchase dated April 1, 2025 (the “Offer to Purchase”) and the related notice of guaranteed delivery (the “Notice of Guaranteed Delivery” and, together with the Offer to Purchase, the “Offer Documents”).

    Questions regarding the Offer may be directed to the Dealer Managers and the Tender and Information Agent at the contact details set forth below.

    D.F. King Ltd.
    Email: SGCIB@dfkingltd.com
    Offer Website: https://clients.dfkingltd.com/sgcib

    In New York

    48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor
    New York, New York 10005
    United States of America

    Banks and Brokers, Call Collect: (212) 269 5550

    All others, Call Toll-Free: (800) 848-2998

    		 In London

    51 Lime Street
    London EC3M 7DQ
    United Kingdom

    Tel: +44 20 7920 9700

    		  
    Societe Generale

    17, cours Valmy

    BP 18236

    92987 Paris la Défense Cedex

    France

    Tel: +33 (0)1 42 13 32 40

    Email: liability.management@sgcib.com

    		 SG Americas Securities, LLC

    245 Park Avenue

    New York, New York 10167

    United States

    Tel: + 1 (212) 278-7631

    Toll-Free: 1 (855) 881 2108

    Press contacts:
    Jean-Baptiste Froville_+33 1 58 98 68 00_ jean-baptiste.froville@socgen.com
    Fanny Rouby_+33 1 57 29 11 12_ fanny.rouby@socgen.com

    Societe Generale

    Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with around 119,000 employees serving more than 26 million clients in 62 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective – to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.

    The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:

    • French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
    • Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
    • Mobility, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.

    Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).

    In case of doubt regarding the authenticity of this press release, please go to the end of the Group News page on societegenerale.com website where official Press Releases sent by Societe Generale can be certified using blockchain technology. A link will allow you to check the document’s legitimacy directly on the web page.

    For more information, you can follow us on Twitter/X @societegenerale or visit our website societegenerale.com.

    DISCLAIMER

    This announcement must be read in conjunction with the Offer to Purchase. This announcement and the Offer to Purchase contain important information which should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Offer. If any qualifying holder is in any doubt as to the contents of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own financial, legal, regulatory and tax advice, including in respect of any tax consequences, immediately from its broker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial, tax or legal adviser.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Ireland’s Offshore Wind Strategy Powers Ahead: Major Actions Achieved in Progress Report

    Source: Government of Ireland – Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation

    8th April 2025

    Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, has announced the publication of the Powering Prosperity Implementation Progress Report for April 2025, which highlights significant milestones in Ireland’s journey towards becoming a global leader in offshore renewable energy.

    Ireland has set ambitious targets to deliver at least 37GW of offshore renewable energy by 2050. The availability of abundant, reliable green energy will drive clean, sustainable growth in energy-intensive sectors, together with numerous opportunities for economic growth and job creation.  

    The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment launched Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy in March 2024, setting out to capture the value of the country’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) supply chain and maximise the economic impact of Ireland’s renewable energy goals. Over the past 12 months, substantial progress has been made, with 38 of the 40 actions outlined in the strategy either completed or underway.

    The Implementation Progress Report, which was launched at WindEurope in Copenhagen, a major event in the wind energy industry attracting around 16,000 delegates each year, provided status updates on Powering Prosperity actions such delivering long-term funding options to support the scaling of Irish offshore wind supply chain companies. Notably, two significant projects received funding packages of over €1 million and €2 million, respectively.

    It also highlighted how the development of an Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (OWCE) is well underway, with initial funding allocated and a steering group formed to drive the project. An annual joint offshore renewable energy event has been established with Scotland, with the inaugural event “Advancing the Offshore Wind Opportunity: Bridging Irish and Scottish Perspectives” held in Dublin and Cork in June 2024. 

    Another key action was the Offshore RD&I Showcase and Access to Finance Event, which highlighted supports available to organisations along the offshore wind supply chain, promoting participation in research, development, and innovation programmes.

    Highlighting the significant progress made and work underway to deliver Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions, Minister Burke said 

    “Powering Prosperity’s first Implementation Progress Report is a strong signal of the momentum that is gathering behind Ireland’s offshore wind sector. Considerable progress has been made over the last year in Irish offshore wind, and our strong enterprise base in this sector is continuing to grow. It is vital that this work continues at pace across Government to ensure that we are well positioned to capture the full economic, environmental and regional development benefits offered by this significant opportunity, and that we overcome any remaining challenges that might impede our continued progress. This Government will continue to work alongside industry and the research community towards our shared goal of a successful, resilient Irish offshore wind sector.”

    Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy Darragh O’Brien said:

    ‘‘Developing an offshore wind sector requires an all-of-Government approach and a whole-of-economy mobilisation. By implementing an offshore wind industrial strategy, our colleagues in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are ensuring that Ireland will be in strong position to build a successful and resilient supply chain for offshore wind. Ahead of expected growth in the offshore sector in the coming years, it’s vital that expertise in areas such as research and development extend to the offshore wind sector, so we can take advantage of Ireland’s offshore wind potential.

    ‘‘It’s clear that the implementation of actions in this progress report, along with the implementation of actions from the ‘Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy Policy’, published by my own department last year, will help Ireland deliver its ambitious long-term targets for offshore wind.’’

    Timmy Dooley, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, who will be attending the WindEurope Annual Event later this week, said:

    ‘‘Ireland is already a global leader for installed onshore wind power capacity and for the integration of variable renewable electricity onto the grid. The publication of this progress report comes on the back of a number of significant milestones achieved in Ireland’s offshore wind sector, including; the publication of Ireland’s first spatial plan for offshore wind – the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan; and the agreed terms and conditions of Ireland’s second offshore wind auction, which will take place later this year. In the coming weeks, we will also publish a ‘Roadmap for Future Designated Maritime Area Plans’, which will provide additional certainty for the offshore renewable sector.”

    Work will continue on implementing the remaining actions by the end of this year, as set out in Powering Prosperity.

    For more information and to access the report visit Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy Implementation Progress Report

    ENDS

    Notes for Editors

    Background

    Ireland has one of the best offshore renewable energy resources in the world, providing a strong and consistent wind supply. To fully harness the vast potential for clean, renewable energy from our seas, a suite of policies across Government have been, or are in the process of being developed, to ensure offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects are delivered in line with the target to deliver at least 37GW of ORE capacity by 2050. A key enabler of these targets is the work of the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce (OWDT) chaired by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. DETE, in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, leads on the work of Workstream 7 under the OWDT, which is focused on the supply chain, and also participates in a number of the other Workstreams, feeding into their work and the overall work of the OWDT. 

    Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy

    Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy was published in March 2024 to ensure that Ireland maximises the economic benefits associated with Government ambitions to deliver its 2030, 2040 and 2050 offshore wind targets.

    Powering Prosperity aims to build a successful, vibrant and impactful offshore wind energy industry in Ireland, ensuring that the sector creates as much value as possible throughout Ireland. Powering Prosperity includes 40 actions to be implemented by the end of this year.

    The strategy is anchored on 4 core pillars:

    1. Offshore wind supply chains: to build capacity and capability to develop the offshore wind farms that deliver on the 37GW target and give Ireland an edge in exporting products and services related to offshore wind energy; 
    2. Research, development and innovation: to give Ireland a competitive cutting edge in new technology and know-how for the sector;
    3. Balanced regional economic development opportunities: to drive growth from offshore wind energy in line with the Programme for Government priority of enabling all parts of Ireland to thrive so that Ireland as a whole can prosper; and
    4. Future demand and end uses for offshore renewable energy: for example, to develop new Green Energy Industrial Parks, which can attract major foreign direct investment, establish new indigenous green businesses and serve as test beds for green technological innovation to power the Irish economy of the future.

    Powering Prosperity sets out an intention to publish progress reports, beginning in 2025. A first implementation progress update report was published in April 2025. This report outlines the status of each of the Industrial Strategy’s 40 actions, providing detail on progress made by April 2025.

    Of the 40 actions, 38, or 95%, are complete or in progress. Of these, 11 have been delivered as set out in the Strategy, with a further 3 completed by alternative means, or insofar as possible. A further 24 are currently in progress, though 5 of these are delayed. Of the final 2 actions, 1 is not yet initiated, and 1 will not be completed due to external circumstances. 

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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Correspondence: Letter from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to the Prime Minister: 21 February 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

    Correspondence

    Letter from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to the Prime Minister: 21 February 2025

    Letter from Secretary of State for Business and Trade the Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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    Letter from the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to the Prime Minister – 21 February 2025

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    Letter from Secretary of State for Business and Trade the Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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    Published 8 April 2025

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  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New City Learning Quarter training facility shortlisted for regional award

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    The £8.1 million Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre (ATAC) at City of Wolverhampton College’s Wellington Road campus in Bilston is in the running for the Building Project of the Year honour.

    Winners will be announced at an awards dinner on Thursday 1 May, at Edgbaston Cricket Ground.

    ATAC opened to students in September following an 11 month build by contractor Speller Metcalfe.

    It will secure hundreds of jobs in the local economy and create learning opportunities for thousands of students – specialising in engineering and automotive, including electric vehicles (EV).

    Only last month, luxury car manufacturer, Bentley, enrolled 18 of its manufacturing technicians on electrical apprenticeships at the centre.

    Construction of ATAC was funded by £7.7 million from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with the remainder from the Black Country LEP.

    It has been designed for engineering and automotive studies – with facilities for new electric, hybrid and traditional vehicles, as well fabrication, manufacturing, welding, CAD and robotics.

    The centre is delivering a multi skilled flexible workforce addressing skills shortages in the city. Almost 5,500 learners and 954 apprenticeships are forecast over the first 10 years of the centre.

    Phase 2 of the City Learning Quarter masterplan is in progress with McLaughlin & Harvey constructing a city centre campus that will pave the way for the college to move from its Paget Road site, while Speller Metcalfe is delivering transformational works on the neighbouring Adult Education Wolverhampton and Central Library facilities.

    The courses the purpose built Bilston centre host are not suitable for the city centre location.

    City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills, Councillor Chris Burden, said: “The Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre is a fantastic new facility and to be shortlisted for this award is testament to that.

    “It was built on time and on budget and is already delivering positive outcomes in terms of our education and skills offer in Wolverhampton.

    “Advanced technology and automotive is a rapidly growing economic sector, creating learning and jobs opportunities for people of all ages in our city and beyond.

    “It aligns with Wolverhampton’s strong credentials as a front runner in green industries, which will be further supported by the development of our Green Innovation Corridor as one of the 3 pillars in the West Midlands Investment Zone.”

    Peter Merry, Deputy Principal and Chief Executive of the College, said: “The Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre was designed with the requirement of students, apprentices, employers and the wider engineering and automotive sectors at its heart and enabled courses to be transferred from our Paget Road campus for the start of the academic year in September 2024.

    “Students are benefitting from learning in purpose built premises with industry standard equipment and facilities and, with so much construction taking place across the region, we are delighted that it has been shortlisted for the Building Project of the Year Award.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Save the date as Vaisakhi celebration returns to West Park

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    The popular cultural festival will return to West Park on Sunday 4 May between 12pm and 5pm.

    The Council of Sikh Gurdwaras in Wolverhampton has promised entertainment for all the family, including a fun fair, stalls and prominent Asian musicians and singers performing live on stage.

    There will be speeches by religious leaders, a variety of local organisations will showcase their services, and free food will also be served throughout the day. Entry is also free.

    Councillor Chris Burden, City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills said: “Vaisakhi is always hugely popular and we look forward to this year’s celebrations. With weeks to go, preparations are underway by the Council of Sikh Gurdwaras in Wolverhampton and people who live in the city, to ensure another fun filled family event.  

    “We are pleased that the event is returning to West Park and are looking forward to being able to celebrate the festival again as it is an extremely important event in the city’s calendar. 

    “There is limited parking around West Park, so attendees are kindly requested to park responsibly or to make use of nearby car parks on Fold Street and Clifton Street.

    “The City of Wolverhampton Council urge everyone to put the date in their diary and see West Park come alive to the sights and sounds of the Vaisakhi Festival.”

    Beforehand, there will be a parade from the Guru Nanak Satsang Gurdwara on Cannock Road to West Park, starting at 8:30am.

    To support the safe arrival of the parade as it makes its way into the park, maintain emergency access and reduce disruption to residents, motorists are advised a full road closure will be in place from 8am to 6pm on the roads detailed below:

    • Lansdowne Road – closed 8am to 6pm
    • Park Avenue – closed 8am to 6pm
    • Park Road East – closed between junctions with Park Road West/Southgate and Devon Road 8am to 6pm
    • Park Road West – closed between junctions with Park Road East/Southgate and Summerfield Road 8am to 6pm
    • Southgate – closed 8am to 6pm

    More details have been sent to those residents who will be affected.

    Vaisakhi is one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar. It is the Sikh New Year festival, and this year marks the 326th Anniversary of the Creation of the Khalsa Order and making of Saint-Solider by Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1699.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: After decades, Boilermakers return to Scherer and Yates with union contract

    Source: US International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

    M.O.R.E. has given us the opportunity to secure this work. Our Boilermaker leadership and Day & Zimmerman have been instrumental in this. They’ve been phenomenal.

    Johnathon Bates, BM-ST L-26

    Thanks to the M.O.R.E. Work Investment Fund, Boilermakers out of Local 26 (Savannah, Georgia) have regained work they lost over 30 years ago. Boilermakers signed a three-year contract with two Southern Company facilities, Plant Scherer and Plant Yates, for maintenance work.

    In a significant shift, non-union contractor Zachry lost its contract, and Day & Zimmermann secured a maintenance contract for both Yates and Scherer. And Southern Company usually bids out new builds or outage work to union contractors, which means even more work. 

    “We utilized the M.O.R.E. funding to get these contracts in order to be competitive enough to get that work,” said Mike Autry, International Rep and Recruiting and Training Coordinator for the Southeast. “If it’s been more than five years, we have additional M.O.R.E. Fund agreements to utilize to get into a plant,” Autry said. “We can use the M.O.R.E. Work Fund to lower the hourly bidding rate to be more competitive with non-union bids.”

    This funding model was also successfully applied at AM/NS Calvert Steel Mill in Mobile County, Alabama, where the mill struggled to staff jobs. The Boilermakers from L-108 (Birmingham, Alabama) stepped in, and using the M.O.R.E. Work Fund they reimbursed members for per diem. Seeing its effectiveness, the mill later began offering per diem to all its workers.

    Local 26 BM-ST Johnathon Bates said the last major maintenance work Boilermakers performed at Scherer was in 1994. While some work was done at Yates in 2013-2014 during its conversion from coal to gas, there had been no significant presence at Scherer for decades.

    “The M.O.R.E. Fund was the biggest factor in getting this work,” Bates said. “It allowed us to lower wages to be competitive with non-union rates.”

    For maintenance, Scherer will maintain a crew of 20-25 Boilermakers year-round. However, during outages, workforce numbers could swell to as many as 300. At Yates, currently, five Boilermakers are performing maintenance.

    “This is the first project we’ve received through the M.O.R.E. Fund,” Bates said. “Since Plant Vogtle finished in 2022, we lost three-fourths of our man-hours. Scherer will double our man-hours. It’s a lifesaver for us.”

    Bates said the process for accessing M.O.R.E. Work Fund resources was straightforward. “The request goes through Boilermaker leadership,” he explained. “Once we outlined how helpful it would be for our local and district, it passed without issue.”

    At Yates, there’s currently an outage on the existing units, followed by another in May and a third in the fall. Looking ahead, Bates noted three new gas-fired units are going to be built at Yates, all outside of the M.O.R.E. Fund agreements, and Boilermakers will gain man-hours from that new construction. Outages will occur twice a year on the new gas-fired units, with larger outages every nine or 10 years requiring approximately 60 Boilermakers for at least a month.

    Plant Scherer is currently undergoing an outage, with 65 members on site. Another outage in the fall will employ over 200 workers.

    Beyond securing a contract, the Boilermakers have also recruited new members from these plants. Since Zachry withdrew from Sherer, 14 workers joined the Boilermakers. The union has gained four new members from Yates. Additional recruiting, also funded through the M.O.R.E. Fund, is currently underway to bring more Boilermakers to both jobs.

    “M.O.R.E. has given us the opportunity to secure this work,” Bates said. “Our Boilermaker leadership and Day & Zimmerman have been instrumental in this. They’ve been phenomenal.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The AAIB has sent a team of inspectors to Ashbourne, Derbyshire

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    The AAIB has sent a team of inspectors to Ashbourne, Derbyshire

    A team of inspectors has been sent to begin investigating an accident which occurred on 8 April 2025

    An accident in the Ashbourne area of Derbyshire involving a light aircaft has been notified to the AAIB. An investigation has been launched and a multidisciplinary team of inspectors are on their way to the accident site.

    Media enquiries:
    During office hours 01932 440015
    Out of office hours 0300 777 7878

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Letter from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to the Prime Minister: 21 February 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Correspondence

    Letter from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to the Prime Minister: 21 February 2025

    Letter from Secretary of State for Business and Trade the Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

    Documents

    Letter from the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to the Prime Minister – 21 February 2025

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    Letter from Secretary of State for Business and Trade the Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Technology and Energy Secretaries chair first meeting of AI Energy Council

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    News story

    Technology and Energy Secretaries chair first meeting of AI Energy Council

    The UK’s new AI Energy Council held its first meeting in Westminster today (8 April).

    Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, and Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband co-chair the first meeting of the AI Energy Council.

    Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband today convened the first meeting of the AI Energy Council in Westminster.

    Joined by industry representatives from across the energy and technology sectors, this inaugural round of discussions centred on how the UK can drive forward its AI and power goals – supporting the growth, jobs and opportunities which are central to the government’s Plan for Change.

    The Technology Secretary reflected on the desire across the country to benefit from the AI revolution – with over 200 applications from local areas putting themselves forward to become AI Growth Zones. Meanwhile the Energy Secretary highlighted how it is not only about making the UK’s energy grid fit for the age of AI, but how AI can serve the energy system too. 

    After delivering opening remarks, the Secretaries of State led discussions which included an agreement on the council’s 5 areas of focus for the coming year. These will be centred on ensuring the UK’s energy system is ready to support the country’s AI and compute infrastructure, promoting sustainability and the use of renewable energy solutions, and placing a strong focus on promoting the safe and secure adoption of AI across the energy system whilst also advising on how AI can be adopted to support the transition to net zero, unlocking opportunities to make the grid more flexible.

    Attendees reflected on the importance of making sure sustainability is at the heart of efforts to take advantage of AI and the need to make sure the UK has what is needed to drive further investment – including quick access to the grid, accelerated planning permission and skills.

    The 5 main areas of focus for the council were agreed, with attendees committing to meet quarterly – with an ambition to bring proposals to the table to make quick progress and deliver for people across the country.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Update on Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Update on Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee

    A new chair has been appointed to the Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee

    Maura Sullivan has been appointed as Chair of the Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee for a term of three years. 

    The Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee offers an independent perspective on the department’s financial, risk, and control arrangements. It also reviews and recommends the approval of accounts for the Cabinet Office, Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Civil Superannuation, and the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme.

    The Committee supports the Cabinet Office Board, which provides strategic and operational leadership for the department. It comprises of Cabinet Office ministers, senior executives, and non-executives from outside government.

    Maura is a finance professional with an executive career spanning Board level CFO roles in Banking, Asset Management and Pensions. 

    She has worked in complex international organisations, managed large teams and led and supported large transformation programmes. 

    Her non executive portfolio currently includes Chair of Audit and Compliance Committee for Marsden Building Society and Chair of Audit & Risk for Gov Facilities Management Services Limited (GovFSL), an arms length body of the MoJ.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Fisheries Subsidies: Moldova’s acceptance

    Source: World Trade Organization – WTO (video statements)

    Moldova deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 8 April. Ambassador Vladimir CUC presented Moldova’s instrument of acceptance to Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIPlT3hz3Bs

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK and OSCE partners present the Democracy Defenders Award to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    UK and OSCE partners present the Democracy Defenders Award to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association

    Minister of State Stephen Doughty congratulates the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association for its efforts to protect democracy and human rights for Georgians.

    Minister for Europe, North America and UK Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty, said:

    “I congratulate the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) on winning the prestigious Democracy Defender Award gifted by the UK and seven OSCE partners. The GYLA is providing essential support to human rights activists and civil society organisations in Georgia who are coming under increasing pressure from repressive legislation.

    “After months of democratic backsliding, arbitrary arrests, and the use of excessive force against protestors, politicians and journalists, Georgian Dream has shown no indication they will return to their European path and uphold the democratic wishes of its own electorate.

    “I urge the Georgian authorities to reverse this isolationist behaviour, and I thank the GYLA for their important work protecting the fundamental rights of Georgian people.”

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Salford celebrates community champions at the Spirit of Salford Community Awards 2025

    Source: City of Salford

    Salford has honoured some of its most inspiring residents and community groups at this year’s Spirit of Salford Community Awards, which took place on Thursday 3 April at Salford Community Stadium.

    The awards shine a light on local people who go above and beyond to make a difference in their communities – from supporting others through difficult times to creating positive change in their neighbourhoods.

    This year’s winners include volunteers, health champions, grassroots organisations and frontline workers, all of whom have been recognised for their dedication, compassion and commitment to Salford.

    City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “The Spirit of Salford Community Awards are one of the most meaningful events in our city’s calendar. They give us the chance to reflect and celebrate the incredible people who make Salford such a strong and caring place. These individuals and groups don’t do what they do for recognition. They get on with it quietly – supporting others, improving lives, and making their communities better for everyone.

    “I was genuinely humbled to hear their stories – from volunteers transforming green spaces to neighbours tackling loneliness, and young people leading with empathy and courage. Each one of them shows what the Spirit of Salford is all about. Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate, to our judging panel, and most of all to our finalists and winners. You make us proud to be part of this great city.”

    This year’s awards received more than 500 nominations across ten categories, with an independent panel shortlisting finalists. Three of the categories were then opened up to a public vote, with over 4,000 votes cast online.

    2025 winners:

    • Citizen of the Year: Ian Carberry
    • Community Group of the Year: Talk About It Mate
    • Public Servant of the Year: Steve Warburton
    • Volunteer of the Year: Daniel Maylor
    • Young Volunteer of the Year: Jackson Haworth
    • Best Health Achievement: Tony Chorley
    • Best Community Safety Project: Salford Loaves and Fishes
    • Best Environmental Improvement: Buile Hill Mansion Association
    • Good Neighbour of the Year: Jen Thomas 
    • Best Child-Friendly Organisation: Quick Brick

    For more information about the awards, visit the Spirit of Salford Community Awards website.

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    Date published
    Tuesday 8 April 2025

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    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Portsmouth joins a royal celebration of community music

    Source: City of Portsmouth

    Portsmouth musicians joined a special reception hosted by his Majesty King Charles at Windsor Castle to celebrate the work of community musicians across the country.

    Matt Dixon, David Mallett and Heather Uden had the honour of representing Portsmouth Music Hub, joining around 350 guests for an evening that placed music – and the people who make it – at its heart.

    The celebration began with a concert featuring performances from the London Gay Men’s Chorus, students from the Royal College of Music, the Sing for Freedom Choir, and saxophonist YolanDa Brown.

    During the reception, guests were treated to further performances from The Songs for Ukraine Chorus and the wonderfully inventive London Vegetable Orchestra. One of the most memorable moments came when His Majesty joined in with the orchestra, playing along with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a carrot.

    Portsmouth City Council Leader Cllr Steve Pitt said: “Portsmouth Music Hub offers an innovative, award-winning musical education to Portsmouth children and young people from different backgrounds, so it’s great the Music Hub and staff were part of this national celebration. It was an evening that proved once again how music brings communities together in really meaningful ways.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The Kremlin’s actions reflect no desire for peace that I can detect: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Speech

    The Kremlin’s actions reflect no desire for peace that I can detect: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

    As we’ve heard on Friday, Russia’s ballistic missile attack on Kryvyi Rih struck a residential area in the city, resulting in the deaths of 20 people, including nine children, the youngest of whom was just three years old. 

    At least 70 people were injured. 

    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described this as the deadliest single strike harming children since the start of the full-scale invasion. 

    As High Commissioner Türk said, this attack was an unimaginable horror, nine children killed, most while playing in a park, as a military weapon exploded into shrapnel above them.

    We also saw Russia’s attacks this weekend on Kharkiv and Kyiv, resulting in at least 5 more civilian deaths and many more injured.

    So we find ourselves here once again to condemn yet more Russian attacks that have killed and injured many Ukrainian civilians in violation of the UN Charter and in violation of Russia’s responsibilities as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

    President Putin continues to stall the ceasefire proposal, dragging his feet and insisting on maximalist conditions.

    While intensifying drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

    Which have now resulted in the deaths of nine more innocent children. 

    The Kremlin’s actions reflect no desire for peace that I can detect. 

    They are the actions of a government that remains hell-bent on destroying Ukraine; a government that disdains mediation efforts, and holds cheap the lives of civilians.

    Under US leadership, a ceasefire proposal is on the table. 

    The ball has been in Russia’s court for weeks now. 

    It’s time for the Kremlin to stop stalling. 

    It’s time they show that they are committed to peace as they claim to be.

    Because President Zelenskyy has made Ukraine’s will clear. 

    He wants to see the war end and has agreed to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, subject to Russia’s agreement.

    It is time for the killing to stop. 

    It is time for the Kremlin to end its aggression against Ukraine and to uphold its obligations under the UN Charter. 

    It is time for President Putin to agree to a full and immediate ceasefire, as a vital step towards negotiations to end the war for good.

    So our message to the Kremlin is that we will not be deterred by your reckless and barbaric actions. 

    The UK will continue to stand resolutely by Ukraine to secure a just and lasting peace, in line with the principles of the UN Charter.

    Updates to this page

    Published 8 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: ATF Announces 2025 Raven’s Challenge Interoperability Explosives Exercises

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Center for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR) in partnership with the U.S. Army, announce the locations for the 2025 Raven’s Challenge Interoperability Exercises.

    The event trains explosives-expert participants on preparing for and countering the threat of improvised explosive devices. The training occurs at multiple locations throughout the U.S.

    • April 13 – 18, Volunteer Training Site, Tunnel Hill, Georgia
    • May 18 – 23, Camp Gruber, Braggs, Oklahoma
    • June 8 – 13, Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colorado
    • July 13 – 18, Camp Dawson, Kingswood, West Virginia

    Raven’s Challenge started in 2004 as an ATF-led training exercise for military explosives ordinance disposal teams and civilian public safety bomb squads in the Pacific Northwest. The exercise grew into the largest explosives disposal public safety training exercise in the world. Last year’s challenge had more than 900 participants and included training staff from the U.S. and 18 countries.

    “This training is vital in strengthening partnerships between multiple organizations allowing us to protect the public from these evolving threats,” said Greg Smith, Law Enforcement Training Specialist and ATF Raven’s Challenge Program Manager. “Our training team continues to lean forward and remains focused on providing realistic scenarios in operational environments.”

    Raven’s Challenge includes participants from all U.S. military branches, local and state bomb squads, and teams from the Department of Justice. International participation has increased to include countries from Europe and north Africa.

    The training emphasizes the U.S. military’s explosives ordnance disposal role in Defense Support of Civil Authorities and their interoperability with public safety bomb squads in support of homeland defense.

    Raven’s Challenge is funded by the U.S. Army and executed by ATF and partner agencies including the U.S. Army, the FBI, and local and state law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

    ATF provides training facilities and the expertise of its training staff in delivering life-saving advanced explosives and arson training for our nation’s explosives handlers, bomb technicians and certified fire investigators.

    NCETR manages ATF’s key explosives, fire, and response operations at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. NCETR consists of the Explosives Enforcement and Training Division, Explosives Research and Development Division, and the Fire Investigation and Arson Enforcement Division. Other components include the National Canine Division located in Front Royal, Virginia. The main NCETR facility and explosives ranges in Huntsville make this center a unique resource in the fight against violent crime.

    For more information and videos, visit Raven’s Challenge Interoperability Exercise.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Announces Latest SmartThings Update

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics today announced an update to its global connected living platform, SmartThings — further enhancing the AI Home experience. SmartThings introduces new features and improvements each quarter to deliver a more convenient and seamlessly connected lifestyle for users.
     
    The highlight of this update is the integration of SmartThings with Samsung Health, designed to improve users’ sleep environments while enabling more personalized automation experiences. The update also expands Calm Onboarding to support a wider range of devices and adds compatibility with the Matter 1.4 standard.
     
    “SmartThings’ latest update represents our ongoing efforts to make the smart home more intuitive, connected and personalized,” said Jaeyeon Jung, Executive Vice President and Head of SmartThings at Samsung Electronics. “We’re excited to continue pushing the boundaries of smart home innovation by empowering users though enhanced personalization and automation, including sleep wellness.”
     
    Samsung Newsroom outlines some of the key changes below.
     
    ▲ (Left) A sleep environment summary card displayed in Galaxy Now Briefing, (Right) a detailed sleep environment report
     
    ▲ (Left) The automation routine setup screen with Samsung TV Plus actions, (Right) a broadcasting feature using SmartThings linked speakers
    * The UI in the above image may differ from the actual app screen or may be subject to change.
     
     
    Smarter Sleep Environments With Samsung Health Integration
    Sleep environment reports1 from Samsung Health on Galaxy devices help users create optimal conditions for rest by providing detailed insights into key factors — such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels and light intensity — through connected devices and sensors. These reports summarize the previous night’s sleep conditions and offer personalized suggestions for improvement.
     
    When paired with a Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring, the latest update enables SmartThings to automatically adjust the environment based on the user’s actual sleep and wake times.2 For example, routines can be set to turn off lights and the TV at bedtime or to open curtains and play music in the morning.
     

    Greater Flexibility With SmartThings Routines
    With the latest update, SmartThings now supports automation routines based on recurring schedules — weekly, monthly or annual — offering added flexibility for a variety of scenarios. For instance, users can automatically change the color of smart lights to celebrate special occasions like family birthdays.
     
    In addition, SmartThings routines now integrate with Samsung TV Plus on 2025 Samsung TV models. This allows users to include entertainment preferences in their smart home routines — whether it’s setting the TV to turn on the news in the morning or switching to a favorite channel at a preset time to ensure they don’t miss a show.
     
     
    Broadcasting via SmartThings-Connected Speakers
    A new broadcasting feature allows users to send voice messages across SmartThings-connected speakers, making in-home communication more convenient. For example, if a parent is away and sends a voice message through the SmartThings app — “I’ll be home soon, but have a snack from the fridge if you’re hungry” — it will automatically play on the designated home speaker. With real-time message delivery, families can stay connected no matter where they are.
     

    Expanding Calm Onboarding to More Devices
    Samsung has offered the Calm Onboarding3 feature since late 2023, streamlining setup for Samsung home appliances purchased through Samsung.com or official Samsung stores by linking the entire product journey — from order and delivery to connection with the SmartThings app.
     
    In the latest SmartThings update, Samsung is expanding Calm Onboarding beyond its own products to include compatible third-party smart home devices for a more seamless and intuitive connectivity experience. Users who purchase SmartThings-compatible smart home devices directly from Samsung.com will now receive purchase and delivery updates within the SmartThings app. Additionally, users will receive step-by-step onboarding instructions to simplify product setup. The rollout will begin in Korea, with plans to expand to other countries.4
     

    Matter 1.4 Support
    SmartThings continues to advance the IoT landscape by expanding its support for Matter 1.4. The latest version of the standard includes a wide range of energy management devices — such as water heater, heat pump, solar power device, battery storage device, mounted on/off control switch and mounted dimmable load control device. These newly supported device categories build on existing popular device types like lights, thermostats, switches, air conditioners, air purifiers, fans, door locks and more.
     
    By integrating AI-powered routines, broadening device compatibility and adopting the latest Matter standard, SmartThings reinforces its ongoing commitment to innovation — making the connected home more intelligent, energy-efficient and seamless for users and their families.
     
     
    1 The Sleep environment report feature is available on Samsung Galaxy smartphones running One UI 7.0 or later and Samsung Health version 6.29 or later. Availability may expand in the future. For more information on compatible devices that can measure sleep environments, refer to the Sleep condition report under the “How to Use” section in the SmartThings app.2 Setting routines based on sleep conditions may not be supported in certain countries. This feature is available on Samsung Galaxy smartphones with One UI 7.0 or Samsung Health version 6.29 or later, with plans for future expansion. A connected device capable of detecting sleep and wakefulness — such as Galaxy Watch4/5/6/7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Fit3 and Galaxy Ring — is required. For more information, refer to the “Accessories” section in the sleep tab of the Samsung Health app.3 As of April 2025, the Calm Onboarding feature for Samsung products is available in 14 countries including Korea, the United States, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Further expansion is planned throughout the year.4 This support is planned for countries where the IoT Marketplace, which sells SmartThings compatible smart home devices on Samsung.com, is available. It will be first applied in Korea and gradually expanded to other countries.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Atlanta announces results of multiagency operations across Georgia

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    ATLANTA — U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced April 4 the results of interagency enforcement operations targeting illegal aliens present in Georgia.

    Since Jan. 22, federal agents have arrested about 1,500 illegal aliens statewide, through a targeted enforcement effort aimed at protecting public safety and upholding the rule of law. These arrests were made possible through strong collaboration among federal agencies including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the United States Marshalls Service.

    Since March 24, agents and officers have made over 150 arrests for criminal and civil immigration violations across Georgia with a focus on gangs, drug trafficking, violent crimes, organized crime, and other public safety threats. During these actions, agents seized narcotics, firearms, and bulk currency drug proceeds from illegal aliens. ICE Homeland Security Investigations simultaneously led a large-scale labor trafficking operation which resulted in the rescue of trafficking victims and criminal arrests. These arrests are a crucial part of ICE’s ongoing commitment to identifying and removing aliens who pose a risk to public safety and communities across the state of Georgia and the United States.

    Key Highlights of the Operation: 

    • ICE assisted the Cobb County Police Department with the arrest of a Honduran national, who is illegally in the United States, for the alleged murder and rape of an unidentified female. The subject was previously ordered removed by an immigration judge in July of 2023.
    • During an ICE, ATF, and DEA operation, law enforcement arrested four individuals and seized 13 firearms. One of the subjects arrested is in the United States illegally and was in possession of a firearm.
    • During an ICE, DEA, ATF, and FBI operation, law enforcement arrested 13 illegal aliens and seized two firearms and approximately $170,000 in cash. One subject will be charged with possession of a firearm.
    • ICE, with assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigations, and the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, arrested the owner of a flooring manufacturing company and the owner’s nephew during a labor trafficking operation in Cartersville, Georgia. In total, eight search warrants were executed, and more than 60 victims were rescued. The victims were allegedly brought to the United States and forced to live in deplorable housing conditions and work long hours under poor conditions for unfair wages.

    “HSI remains unwavering in its mission to protect the safety and security of our communities,” said ICE HSI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Steven N. Schrank, which covers Georgia and Alabama. “The individuals arrested in these operations are not only in the U.S. illegally but have also been involved in activities that harm American citizens and residents. Through these operations, we are sending a clear message that criminal activity will not be tolerated, regardless of immigration status.”

    Many of those arrested were previously convicted of serious crimes such as assault, drug distribution, weapons offenses, child exploitation, and other felonies. These individuals were apprehended through coordinated efforts with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

    In addition to its criminal enforcement operations, ICE, alongside its federal, state, and local partners, continues to focus on dismantling human trafficking networks, disrupting smuggling operations, and working to combat transnational criminal organizations. The agency’s focus on criminal illegal aliens aligns with its commitment to enhancing national security and public safety.

    ICE encourages the public to report suspicious activity to the ICE Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423.

    For more information about HSI’s work, please follow us on X: @HSIAtlanta.

    MIL OSI USA News –