NewzIntel.com

Category: European Union

  • MIL-OSI: Cloud Mining Demand Soars as VNBTC’s Cardano Contract Sells Out, Drawing Attention from Global Cardano Investors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    London, United Kingdom, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On June 9, Cardano (ADA) founder announced the launch of Cardinal, a DeFi protocol built to enable Bitcoin holders to access services like staking and lending. Following the announcement, the ADA price, which has dropped by over 10% in the past month, started looking bullish. Now the weekly charts show a 5% increase and about a 2% increase in the past 24 hours. Could the Cardinal news push ADA price higher?

    In the same period, VNBTC, a popular cloud mining platform saw a surge in ADA investors leading to the ADA cloud mining contract selling out. With analysts predicting a 585% ADA price surge, it’s no surprise that investors are looking for alternative ways to accumulate Cardano (ADA).

    Despite VNBTC’s Cardano cloud mining contract selling out, ADA investors can still make substantial profits with the platform as they hold and wait for the anticipated ADA price surge. VNBTC offers a range of mining contracts, with its Bitcoin and Dogecoin cloud mining contracts offering the highest return on investment.

    Why Should Cardano Investors Invest In Cloud Mining?

    Cardano stands out for its continuous development, placing it among the top altcoins. Also, the coin has a strong community, establishing a set up for long-term growth. The launch of its new DeFi protocol will certainly increase Cardano network activity and, with it, Cardano (ADA) price. 

    However, Cardano investors looking for significant profits every day cannot solely rely on trading ADA price movements. 

    This is where VNBTC flips the script with its daily profits on Bitcoin and Dogecoin cloud mining.

    VNBTC: A Smarter Way to Earn Crypto with Your ADA Holdings

    VNBTC introduces a different era of making money through crypto investment.  Imagine earning profits daily without having to constantly analyze charts. Even better, VNBTC cloud mining is completely hands-off, meaning no expertise or mining hardware is required to start earning substantial profits. 

    Widely known as the top Bitcoin and Dogecoin cloud mining site, VNBTC has been operating since 2019. The company has a track record of delivering daily profits and protecting investor funds, with the principal investment withdrawable at the end of a contract.

    VNBTC isn’t asking you to wait for years; the cloud mining durations range from 5 days to 35 days. After which, you can decide to withdraw or reinvest. Now, ADA investors can use their holdings to purchase any of these contracts and start earning mining rewards instantly.

    This opportunity is not limited to ADA holders. VNBTC supports Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB, Polygon, and AVAX. If you hold these coins and you seek the best way to earn crypto, join VNBTC.

    A Daily Income Cloud Mining Platform That Actually Works!

    What makes VNBTC truly revolutionary is its commitment to helping investors make money. The platform offers a $79 welcome bonus that gives access to its Dogecoin cloud mining contract. As such, new users can start earning crypto without spending a dime.

    Behind the scenes, VNBTC introduced other ways to build wealth through the platform without spending a dime. 

    VNBTC Affiliate Program:

    • Invite friends, family, and online followers to the platform.
    • Earn 3% commission for investors you refer directly and an additional 1.8% commission for investors your referrals bring on board. 

    VNBTC Million Dollar Bounty:

    • Perfect for crypto influencers and people with a decent online following
    • Perform small tasks like posting content about VNBTC
    • Earn USDT for each post and more USDT for reactions on your posts

    These two programs can build considerable earnings over time. It’s a win-win situation. With a considerable number of people joining VNBTC, you could build a million-dollar passive income stream.

    In Summary… Riches Are Rarely Promised. But This Comes Close Enough

    VNBTC might not make you an overnight millionaire, but it sure gives you an easy way to boost your income. With contracts earning up to $10,000 in 10 days, financial freedom is only a few months away. As ADA investors onboard VNBTC Bitcoin and Dogecoin cloud mining, this could be your chance before the contracts sell out. 

    It’s impossible not to get excited when your assets increase without you lifting a finger. Visit: https://vnbtc.com/home

    Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release does not constitute an investment solicitation, nor does it constitute investment advice, financial advice, or trading recommendations. Cryptocurrency mining and staking involve risks and the possibility of losing funds. It is strongly recommended that you perform due diligence before investing or trading in cryptocurrencies and securities, including consulting a professional financial advisor.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI China: Beijing International Book Fair to showcase 220,000 books

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

    BEIJING, June 12 — The upcoming 31st Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) will gather over 1,700 exhibitors from 80 countries and regions to display approximately 220,000 Chinese and international books, the fair’s organizers said at a press conference on Thursday.

    The book fair will open on June 18 and run through June 22, with Malaysia as this year’s guest country of honor.

    It will have an exhibition space of 60,000 square meters. Nine countries are participating for the first time, including Chile, Cyprus and Belarus, and they will join leading publishers such as Elsevier, Penguin Random House and Springer Nature.

    The event will introduce specialized sections such as world cultural heritage and books marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

    It will also include activities such as an awards ceremony, forums on international publishing and children’s books, and a copyright trade fair.

    First held in 1986, the BIBF has evolved into a premier global platform for book exhibition and copyright trade.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health and Business – Ora Pharm targets growing Europe market for medicinal cannabis in trade mission

    Source: Ora Pharm

    Launches collective solution to meet needs of European customers
    Leading medicinal cannabis company Ora Pharm heads to Europe this week as part of a unique trade mission to promote New Zealand pharmaceutical products based on cannabis in the fast-growing European market.
    “European Cannabis Week is a huge opportunity to showcase New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis industry and promote what we do well,” said Ora Pharm Chief Executive and founder Zoe Reece.
    The NZTE trade mission to European Cannabis Week takes Ora Pharm and other companies to the world’s largest cannabis expo in Berlin and to the Cannabis Europa Conference in London.
    “We want to show the European market that Ora Pharm is uniquely placed to solve the issues it faces from fragmented supply, inconsistent quality and problems reliably meeting demand. What Ora Pharm does is unite our growers under a single export-focused platform, which allows us to coordinate supply and produce high quality pharmaceutical products consistently.”
    Ora Pharm currently contracts about two thirds of the licensed New Zealand cannabis cultivators.
    “Ora Pharm can be a one-stop shop for European customers – we aim to give them confidence that we can provide the quality products they need, tailored to the preferences of their patients, and at scale given our partnership with growers.
    “Complying with regulations is critically important and New Zealand’s regulatory framework is modelled on EU-GMP – the regulatory framework that ensures medicines are safe, effective, and of high quality so that should also help build confidence in our products.”
    Germany is the leading market for medicinal cannabis with forecast growth of over 26% (compound annual growth). In the first nine months of 2024 Germany imported nearly 40 tonnes of medicinal cannabis, and New Zealand made up just 0.6% of that. Demand is also growing strongly in the UK, Switzerland and Poland.
    “Right now, European producers can’t keep up with demand. New Zealand with its enviable reputation for high quality agricultural and horticultural products is well placed to take advantage of that and build a long-term trading relationship.”
    Zoe Reece will be delivering a keynote address at the BvCW Expert Conference in Berlin.
    “This trade mission will position the industry well for future growth. I can’t wait to tell our great medicinal cannabis story.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: NZ has a vast sea territory but lags behind other nations in protecting the ocean

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Conrad Pilditch, Professor of Marine Sciences, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Getty Images

    For the past fortnight, the city of Nice in France has been the global epicentre of ocean science and politics.

    Last week’s One Ocean Science Congress ended with a unanimous call for action to turn around the degradation of the ocean. And this week, the United Nation’s Ocean Conference agenda focused on better protection of marine biodiversity, sustainable fisheries and emissions cuts.

    The message is clear. With only five years to the UN’s 2030 target for its sustainable development goal – to conserve the oceans, seas and marine resources – and the Global Biodiversity Framework requirement to protect 30% of the ocean, we need to make significant progress.

    We all attended last week’s meeting, together with more than 2,000 marine scientists from 120 countries. Here, we reflect on New Zealand’s role and obligations to contribute to these global goals.

    Legal imperatives

    Globally, the ocean is warming and acidifying at accelerating rates. New Zealand’s waters are not immune to this, with more marine heatwaves which further stress our threatened marine biodiversity.

    We depend directly on these ocean ecosystems to provide the air we breathe, moderate the impacts of climate change and feed millions of people.

    New Zealand has significant influence on ocean policy – from Antarctica to the sub-tropical Pacific, and within its sea territory, which is 15 times the size of its landmass and spans 30 degrees of latitude.

    The government is required by law to take action to secure a healthy ocean.

    A recent advisory opinion from the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea unanimously found that states, including New Zealand, have obligations under international law to reduce the impacts of climate change on marine areas, to apply an ecosystem approach to marine law and policy, reduce pollution and support the restoration of the ocean.

    New Zealand courts have recognised the need to take a precautionary and ecosystem-based approach to marine management, based on science, tikanga and mātauranga Māori. These legal cases are part of a global upswell of strategic environmental and climate litigation.

    If New Zealand does not comply with these marine legal obligations, it may well find itself before the courts, incurring significant legal and reputational costs.

    New Zealand committed to protecting at least 30% of the world’s coastal and marine areas by the end of this decade.
    Getty Images

    International agreements

    In 2022, New Zealand was one of 196 countries that committed to protecting at least 30% of the world’s coastal and marine areas by 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework. New Zealand was an enthusiastic supporter, but only 0.4% of its marine territory is fully protected in no-take marine reserves.

    Former prime minister Helen Clark has criticised the current government for lagging behind on marine protection, especially in failing to ban bottom trawling.

    At this week’s UN ocean summit, a further 18 countries have ratified an agreement known as the High Seas Treaty, bringing the total to 50, still short of the 60 nations needed for it to enter into force.

    New Zealand signed this treaty just before the last general election, but is yet to ratify it. Foreign Minister Winston Peters represented New Zealand at the UN ocean conference, but focused mainly on issues in the Pacific.

    Meanwhile, the government announced sweeping changes to the national direction on environmental policy, including reworking the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement to better enable the use and development of the coastal environment for “priority activities” such as aquaculture, resource extraction, infrastructure and energy.

    Oceanic environmental change is real and accelerating

    Some countries showed that effective leadership can help navigate to a safe future for the oceans. For example, China’s commitment to clean energy has seen carbon dioxide emissions begin to fall for the first time despite higher power consumption.

    At the UN ocean summit, French Polynesia’s president announced his administration would establish one of the world’s largest networks of marine protected areas.

    The cost of inaction far outweighs the economics of the status quo. Ongoing ocean warming is already affecting weather patterns, with more extreme storms.

    It is possible for marine ecosystems to recover quite rapidly if they are protected, at least temporarily. Yet this year, New Zealand’s government found itself in hot water (once again) with both conservationists and Māori for its management of fisheries.

    We argue New Zealand has an opportunity and responsibility to demonstrate it can shift the downward spiral of oceanic degradation.

    The overwhelming message at the half-way point of the UN Ocean Decade is that for marine science to transform the state of our oceans it needs to include Indigenous peoples who have routinely been sidelined from ocean policy discussions despite their longstanding rights and relationships with the ocean.

    New Zealand already has a foundation of transdisciplinary and Indigenous ocean research to develop ocean policies that are fit for local purposes and to answer global calls to action. We have a unique window of opportunity to lead the changes needed.

    Conrad Pilditch currently receives funding from the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.

    Elizabeth Macpherson receives funding from Te Apārangi The Royal Society.

    Karin Bryan receives funding from the Marsden Fund, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, the George Mason Centre for the Natural Environment and Waikato Regional Council.

    Simon Francis Thrush receives funding from ERC, Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and the Auckland Foundation

    Joanne Ellis, Karen Fisher, and Rachael Mortiaux do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. NZ has a vast sea territory but lags behind other nations in protecting the ocean – https://theconversation.com/nz-has-a-vast-sea-territory-but-lags-behind-other-nations-in-protecting-the-ocean-258470

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Two-state solution in the Middle East has been a core US policy for 25 years – is the Trump administration eyeing a change?

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Dan Arbell, Scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israeli Studies, American University

    Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, holds a note given to him from President Donald Trump to be placed in the cracks of the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem on April 18, 2025. Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

    For a generation, the promotion of a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a core pillar of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

    But ahead of a major United Nations conference on how to advance that solution, some are asking if Washington is eyeing a change.

    On June 10, 2025, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, stated in an interview to Bloomberg that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state at this time, noting that “unless there are some significant things that happen that change the [Palestinian] culture, there is no room for it.” He added that those changes “are not likely to occur in our lifetime.”

    Asked if the establishment of a Palestinian state is still the goal of U.S. policy, Huckabee replied, “I don’t think so.” He went on to mull the carving out of land from a Muslim-majority country for Palestinians, rather than a future homeland for them coming from the area currently controlled by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

    The comments by Huckabee, a Donald Trump political appointee and ardent pro-Israel Evangelical Christian, have been interpreted as a signal that the Trump administration is potentially breaking away from long-standing U.S. policy. Adding credence to that view has been the administration’s antipathy toward the U.N. conference on the two-state solution, due to convene in New York from June 17-20.

    As a 25-year veteran of the Israeli Foreign Service who served in the embassy in Washington twice, I know that such a turn in U.S. policy is possible. But it is not without difficulties, as the Trump administration will need to present an alternative plan for resolving the conflict.

    President Trump has recently shown he is prepared to break with long-standing U.S policies, as was the case in his decision to lift sanctions on Syria and meet with the country’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa – to the great surprise of many. But calling it quits on the two-state solution is different – it could lead to the further destabilization of an already unstable region.

    What is the two-state solution?

    For the past quarter-century, U.S. policy – endorsed by Republican and Democratic administrations alike – has advocated for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the advancement of a two-state solution. In practical terms, this means the establishment of a Palestinian state encompassing the Palestinian people currently living in the occupied West Bank and possibly the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, alongside the state of Israel.

    The idea that these two coexisting states could provide a permanent end to the conflict formally came to prominence in June 2002 as part of the Road Map to Peace for the Middle East Conflict announced by U.S. President George W. Bush and adopted by the International Quartet on the Middle East, comprising the U.S., Russia, European Union and the U.N.

    U.S. President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan, in June 2003.
    Hussein Malla/AFP via Getty Images

    U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama took active steps to advance the two-state solution, including direct involvement in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

    And in his first term, Trump presented his own plan, which he called the “Deal of the Century.” With the subheading “a realistic two-state solution,” it laid out a path to Palestinian statehood if the Palestinians’ political leadership met a set of benchmarks.

    President Joe Biden continuously raised the two-state solution as the most viable way to resolve the conflict – even after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas and the war subsequently launched by Israel in Gaza.

    But for years, international observers have worried about the viability of the two-state solution in the face of opposition from right-wing Israeli governments, continued Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, and weak and divided Palestinian leadership and polity. Yet the alternatives – including continued Israeli occupation, a one-state solution or a confederation with Jordan – are viewed as less viable options.

    Galvanizing support behind statehood

    For these reasons, the two-state solution remains the most acceptable formula to much of the international community.

    Member states of the European Union, Arab countries, as well as most countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa, have been advocating for decades for the implementation of the two-state solution and have incorporated it into their foreign policies.

    The upcoming U.N. conference in New York, to be chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, intends to underscore the importance of getting to a two-state outcome.

    While there is no real expectation the conference will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state anytime soon, it aims to galvanize international support for the concept of Palestinian statehood.

    Huckabee’s comments were made in the context of the U.N. conference. And they are of no real surprise: Huckabee’s personal views on the subject are very well known.

    But the former Arkansas governor is now the United States’ representative in Israel, and that gives his words weight.

    Warning or notice of intent?

    While there was wide speculation that the comments reflect a change in U.S. policy, the Trump administration did not rush to endorse them – but nor did it distance itself from Huckabee’s words.

    As the war in Gaza continues, there is a growing realization among leading Republicans as well as mainstream Democrats in the U.S. that talk of advancing the two-state solution is premature if not unrealistic at present, especially taking into account the stern opposition of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious government.

    But that does not suggest the Trump administration has necessarily steered away from this option for the future.

    Rather, it could be that the U.S. administration has calculated that as it devotes efforts to ending the war in Gaza, at least temporarily, and securing the release of the remaining Israeli hostages being held, talk of a two-state solution now is counterproductive to its efforts.

    And Huckabee’s comments may be aimed more at those delegates shortly arriving in New York for the U.N. summit, serving as a warning rather than a notice of intent.

    In a cable sent from the State Department to U.S. embassies around the world, American diplomats were reportedly asked to discourage countries from participating in the conference – not because the U.S. is “disowning” the two-state solution, but rather because the administration believes the conference may undermine its current efforts.

    The cable stated that the U.S. opposes any steps that unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, which it feels “adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict.”

    The wording was not coincidental. U.S. policy has been consistent over the years in stating that any resolution of the conflict should be reached through negotiations between the main parties – the Israeli government and Palestinian representatives – which need to refrain from taking any unilateral steps.

    A man walks in front of a sign with portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in central Jerusalem on May 7, 2025.
    Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

    Getting ahead of policy

    Notwithstanding all this, Huckabee’s comments were not made in a vacuum.

    While the U.S. administration has not formally moved away from the two-state formula, there is a growing number of conservatives in Congress, as well as in the Washington think-tank community, that see an opportunity to bring a change in U.S. policy in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks.

    In his first term, Trump was relatively tepid in his approach. So far in his second term, he has given little sign of where he stands on the issue. Huckabee’s comments, in this regard, may have been a subtle nudge – with the ambassador getting ahead of where he hopes policy is heading.

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

    – ref. Two-state solution in the Middle East has been a core US policy for 25 years – is the Trump administration eyeing a change? – https://theconversation.com/two-state-solution-in-the-middle-east-has-been-a-core-us-policy-for-25-years-is-the-trump-administration-eyeing-a-change-258753

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The UK voted in favour in line with our unwavering determination to end the suffering in Gaza, bring the hostages home and move towards lasting peace: UK Statement at the UN General Assembly

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Speech

    The UK voted in favour in line with our unwavering determination to end the suffering in Gaza, bring the hostages home and move towards lasting peace: UK Statement at the UN General Assembly

    Explanation of vote by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, after the adoption of UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-10/27 on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    The UK voted in favour of this resolution in line with our unwavering determination to end the suffering in Gaza, bring the hostages home and move towards lasting peace in the region.

    Let me start by repeating our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and their despicable actions on and since 7 October. They must be held accountable and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. The UK’s commitment to Israel’s security is resolute.

    President, the text of the resolution is clear that both Israel and Hamas need to agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire; that Hamas must immediately and unconditionally release the hostages; and that Israel, as the occupying power, must end its blocks on aid and ensure unhindered humanitarian access.

    And crucially, there must be an end to any actions that stand in the way of a two-state solution and the best chance for peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

    That is why this week, the UK, along with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway, sanctioned Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. These two men are responsible for inciting settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank with their extremist rhetoric. Attacks by violent settlers have led to the deaths of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of whole communities.

    We will not stand by while Israeli actions attempt to entrench a one-state reality.

    The UK is deeply concerned by ongoing Israeli operations in the West Bank, including incidents where children have been killed. This is appalling and unacceptable.

    President, there can be no military solution to this conflict.

    Over 55,000 Palestinians have been killed and the IPC have been clear that half a million people are facing starvation. 

    Israeli Government policies which have completely blocked or severely restricted humanitarian aid are unacceptable. That civilians have been killed whilst desperately trying to feed their families is inhumane. And the UK rejects any attempts at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza strip.

    While the UK voted in favour of this resolution, we wish to clarify that our long-standing position remains that Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions does not impose a legal obligation on states to ensure respect for international law by third parties.

    President, a two-state solution remains the only viable framework for a just and lasting peace. This is the fundamental principle that we must continue to strive for, to end the cycle of violence and give Palestinians and Israelis alike a better future.

    We welcome the leadership of France and Saudi Arabia in convening next week’s Conference in pursuit of this.

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Prime Minister to visit China and Europe

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to China and Europe next week. He will be joined in Shanghai and Beijing with a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders.

    “China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner and a vital part of our economic story,” Mr Luxon says.

    The visit will focus on growing trade, which was worth over $38 billion last year, as well as also look to strengthen education and tourism links and to maximise opportunities for New Zealand businesses.

    “New Zealand is a trusted supplier of safe, high-quality food and beverage products to Chinese consumers. It is an important market, and I look forward to doing what I can to support Kiwi businesses to thrive,” Mr Luxon says.

    China is New Zealand’s largest source of international students and is our third-largest tourism market. 

    “This visit is about backing the recovery of international education and tourism and putting New Zealand front and centre as a world-class destination for travel, study, and long-term connection,” Mr Luxon says.

    The Prime Minister will meet China’s top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, to discuss the comprehensive bilateral relationship and key regional and global issues.

    “The challenging global outlook makes it vital that we are sharing perspectives and engaging China on issues that matter to New Zealand.”

    The Prime Minister will be accompanied by the 2025 Te Matatini champions, Te Kapa Haka o Ngatī Whakaue.

    The Prime Minister and his delegation will be in China from 17 to 20 June.

    Europe

    Mr Luxon will then travel on to Europe to undertake bilateral visits in Brussels and the Hague. He will meet with leaders, including from the European Union, to discuss trade, security, and the shifting geopolitical landscape.  

    “We have a high-quality trade relationship with the European Union, and the Netherlands and Belgium are gateways for New Zealand’s growing exports to Europe,” Mr Luxon says. 

    “Since the early entry into force of the New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement, Kiwi goods exports have grown by over 25 per cent, which is a more than NZ$1 billion increase.” 

    In the Netherlands, the Prime Minister will participate in the NATO Summit and hold one-on-one talks with a number of NATO leaders. 

    “Prosperity is only possible with security, and our discussions will focus on connections between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security environments,” Mr Luxon says. 

    New Zealand has been invited to the NATO Summit alongside other members of the Indo-Pacific Four – Australia, Japan and Korea. 

    “I look forward to building our positive relationship with our European friends, and to forging stronger links with businesses and investors as part of our wider plan to rebuild New Zealand’s economy.” 

    The Prime Minister is in Europe from 21 to 25 June

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: National Coordinators advance work on Icebreaker Collaboration Effort 

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Representatives from Canada, Finland and the United States met to discuss the next steps in the collaboration to build Arctic and polar icebreakers

    June 12, 2025  – Ottawa, Ontario                     

    The National Coordinators of the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) and other officials from the governments of Canada, Finland and the United States (U.S.) have successfully concluded a 2-day meeting to discuss their shared commitment to strengthening Arctic presence and icebreaking capabilities through the ICE Pact.

    During the discussions, delegates from Canada, Finland and the U.S. successfully advanced deliverables under the ICE Pact workplan by focusing on the 4 areas of work: technical expertise and information exchange, workforce development, relations with allies and industry, and research and development.

    The 3 countries each presented their initial review and analysis of their Request for Information, which collected industry views and recommendations within their respective markets. This will help in engaging with interested shipyards and supply chains, and in laying the groundwork for future involvement with the private sector. 

    The delegates also participated in a panel discussion and roundtable with Canadian industry, academia and think tank representatives, hosted by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The event was an important forum to discuss the purpose and potential of the ICE Pact and identify opportunities for industrial collaboration. Participants shared valuable insights into the national perspectives on the ICE Pact and Arctic collaboration, promoting trilateral cooperation and strengthening stakeholder support for ICE Pact activities.

    The 3 partner countries concluded a successful meeting with a strong commitment to continue the ICE Pact work. They agreed to meet again in-person in fall 2025. The U.S. will host the next meeting.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: Issue of 32.274 MEUR Green Bonds of UAB “Atsinaujinančios energetikos investicijos” and implementation of the cash tender offer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    UAB “Atsinaujinančios energetikos investicijos” (hereinafter, the “Company”) on 11 June 2025 has finished a public offering led by FMĮ “Orion securities” during which the Company has successfully distributed 32.274 MEUR Green Bonds first series and first tranche issue at 8.0% yield, under its EUR 100 million unsecured fixed-interest note programme. The base prospectus of the programme was approved by the Bank of Lithuania on 27 May 2025. This transaction marks a continuation of the implementation of a distinctive Green Bond Programme in the Baltic market. The proceeds from the note issuance will be used to refinance existing bonds (ISIN LT0000405938).

    32.274 MEUR Green Bonds issue (issue date 13 June 2025) is expected to be listed on the Baltic Bond list of Nasdaq Vilnius not later than within 30 days as from the issue date.

    Additional information:

    Issuer’s full name UAB “Atsinaujinančios energetikos investicijos”
    Issuer’s short name AEIB050025A
    Securities ISIN code LT0000134439
    Nominal value of one bond EUR 100,000, which may be increased in increments of EUR 1,000
    Total aggregated nominal value EUR 32,274,000
    Issue commencement date: 2025-06-13
    Maturity date 2027-12-13

    On 12 June 2025 the Company has also closed a cash tender offer, during which holders of EUR 2021/2025 notes (ISIN LT0000405938) were offered to tender their notes for 99 per cent of denomination per each note. As a result of the tender, the Company will redeem 10 102 units of EUR 2021/2025 notes (ISIN LT0000405938) for a total price of EUR 10 000 980. Investors will receive tender cash payment on 16 June 2025.

    Investors who subscribed for bonds via exchange offer will receive newly issued notes to their investment accounts on 16 June 2025.

    After issue of new notes and implementation of the cash tender offer outstanding nominal value of EUR 2021/2025 notes (ISIN LT0000405938) will be EUR 54 134 000.

    FMĮ “Orion securities” acted as Arranger and Dealer on the transaction, law firm TGS Baltic acted as legal advisor of the transaction.

    Contact person for further information:

    Mantas Auruškevičius

    Manager of the Investment Company

    mantas.auruskevicius@lordslb.lt

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Egypt: President El-Sisi Speaks with German Chancellor

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

    Download logo

    Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi spoke by phone with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

    The Spokesman for the Presidency, Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, said President El-Sisi congratulated the German Chancellor on his well-deserved victory in the German elections, which reflected the confidence of the German people. The President wished the new government success in its ambitious plans to consolidate Germany’s pivotal role on the European and international arenas. The President noted that the current situation is of paramount importance in light of the accelerating regional and international changes and the urgent need to respect established international rules and principles and international law, in alignment with Germany’s efforts and expertise over recent decades.

    The German Chancellor expressed his appreciation for the kind gesture and emphasized his country’s commitment to maintaining close relations with Egypt. Both sides affirmed their commitment to strengthening and deepening bilateral relations in all fields, particularly economic, trade, and investment, as well as enhancing development cooperation, thus strengthening ties between the two friendly peoples.

    The call focused on the current regional and international developments. President El-Sisi reviewed ceasefire efforts in Gaza and stressed that it was important for the international community to exert pressure for an immediate cessation of military operations in the Strip and the provision of humanitarian aid, in addition to the complete rejection of plans to displace Palestinians from their land. The President noted the importance of expanding recognition of the Palestinian state in line with the two-state solution.

    The call also touched on the developments in Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia, as well as ways to restore stability in the Middle East. The German Chancellor affirmed his country’s commitment to continuing coordination and consultation with Egypt to restore regional calm and peace.

    – on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Thales invests €55 million euros to anchor next-generation resilient navigation in France

    Source: Thales Group

    Headline: Thales invests €55 million euros to anchor next-generation resilient navigation in France

    • Thales strengthens its European leadership in resilient navigation, for air, land and sea, by enhancing its Châtellerault and Valence industrial sites in France.
    • The Group will invest €55 million in order to meet growing demand for secure navigation solutions for both the civil and military sectors.
    • This industrial ramp-up will quadruple the production capacity of the Châtellerault site, while in Valence, the serial production of TopStar-M GNSS receivers and the TopShield anti-jamming solution will be launched, and a new sovereign production line for inertial micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) will be established.

    Thales, the European leader in resilient navigation, today announces a major €55 million investment to strengthen its industrial sites in Châtellerault and Valence, France. This investment, which will be made between 2025 and 2028, will meet the growing demand for high-performance navigation solutions, both civilian and military, and will strengthen its sovereign and cutting-edge industrial base.

    A comprehensive range of solutions for resilient navigation

    In a context of increasing jamming and spoofing of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals, Thales is deploying a complete range of resilient navigation solutions that combine precision, autonomy, and security. These technologies are essential to ensure operational continuity, whether for critical military missions or civil aviation safety.

    By integrating two technological pillars combining inertial systems and GNSS signal reception, Thales enables reliable navigation even in contested environments. Autonomous navigation capability is maintained at all times due to the high performance of the TopAxyz inertial navigation systems. Signal reception integrity is ensured by combining the encrypted, multi-constellation TopStar-M receiver with the TopShield anti-jamming solution. These innovations are supported by France’s Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) under the OMEGA (Operation for the Modernization of GNSS Equipment of the Armed Forces) programme. The performance and unique combination of these solutions make Thales the European leader in resilient navigation.

    A strengthened, sustainable, and sovereign industrial base

    At Châtellerault, the production capacity of inertial navigation systems will be increased fourfold, with a gradual ramp-up through 2028. This site, with sixty years of expertise in laser gyroscopes, and as the only European supplier equipping civil aircraft, will thus be able to meet growing demand and to provide solutions for aircraft, land vehicles, ships, and munitions.

    In Valence, mass production of TopStar-M receivers and TopShield systems will begin in 2026. A new production line dedicated to inertial MEMS sensors—a breakthrough technology combining compactness and high performance—will be created, establishing the site as the spearhead of France’s sovereign MEMS technology sector for defense. The launch of this new production line will be accelerated with the support of Tronics Microsystems for certain industrial expertise.

    A strong human and regional commitment

    More than 800 employees are currently working at the two sites, and 150 new hires are planned by 2028. These investments strengthen Thales’ regional footprint and actively contribute to positioning France at the forefront of the navigation industry.

    “Thales, a leader in resilient navigation, is reinforcing its industrial base in France, and thanks to this investment, it will have a sovereign and sustainable industrial capability, delivering the most advanced and competitive solutions to meet growing needs across both civil and military customers” said Yannick Assouad, Executive Vice-President, Avionics, Thales.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Celebrating the Q1 2025 recipients of Bloomberg’s FOSS Fund

    Source: Bloomberg Press Statements

    Headline: Celebrating the Q1 2025 recipients of Bloomberg’s FOSS Fund

    Open source software is foundational to Bloomberg’s engineering culture. As an open source-first company with a deep commitment to philanthropy, Bloomberg believes it is imperative to strengthen the broader technology ecosystem by sustaining the projects that power its products and services.

    These principles led the firm to launch the Bloomberg Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Contributor Fund in January 2023. The initiative is designed to empower the company’s technologists to vote on directed grants to open source projects that they use, admire, and believe in, in order to support the communities and people behind them that keep the web running.

    The FOSS Contributor Fund, led jointly by Bloomberg’s Open Source Program Office (OSPO) and Corporate Philanthropy teams, actively engages technologists across the firm in the allocation of funding to open source projects. It also provides financial support to maintain or expand projects, gives recognition to well-deserving technologies, and fosters a greater sense of ownership, responsibility, and pride within Bloomberg’s internal open source community.

    Let’s meet the Q1 2025 recipients who have been awarded Bloomberg FOSS Contributor Fund grants of $10,000 each: OpenMetadata and Wikimedia Foundation.

    OpenMetadata: OpenMetadata is an open and unified metadata platform for data discovery, observability, and governance. Since managing data across modern systems can be messy, OpenMetadata helps clean that up by providing a standard for metadata management, getting the right data to the right people, informing data lineage, and collectively managing risk and compliance. It’s helping organizations understand and trust their data, enabling teams to make better decisions, faster.

    “We are deeply honored to receive the Bloomberg FOSS Fund grant as recognition of the OpenMetadata community and validation of the amazing work our contributors are doing,” said OpenMetadata committer Sriharsha Chintalapani. “At OpenMetadata, our mission is to democratize data discovery, observability, and governance for every data team. It’s the reason why thousands of companies — from startups to Fortune 500s — rely on OpenMetadata everyday to unlock the value of their data. This grant will be put back into our community to ensure our ecosystem evolves at the pace of modern data and AI.”

    Wikimedia Foundation: Wikimedia is the nonprofit behind Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and a constellation of other free knowledge projects. Wikipedia is one of the world’s most visited websites and a cornerstone of open knowledge on the internet. It’s maintained by volunteers who can edit text, data, references, and images. It’s also a reminder that not all open source impact is technical – some of it is cultural and educational.

    “The Wikimedia Foundation is grateful to receive this grant from Bloomberg’s FOSS Fund. As the host of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia free knowledge projects, this funding will support the technology that makes Wikipedia possible and improvements to how people read and share knowledge on the site,” said Lisa Seitz Gruwell, Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Advancement Officer. “This recognition from Bloomberg’s staff is testament to Wikipedia’s value as the world’s largest open source free knowledge project, made possible by a global community of nearly 260,000 volunteers committed to making trustworthy knowledge accessible to all.”

    Alyssa Wright of Bloomberg’s OSPO shares, “OpenMetadata and Wikimedia Foundation join 24 other impactful open source projects that have been recognized by the Bloomberg FOSS Contributor Fund over the past two years. This program plays a pivotal role in how Bloomberg supports open source, and my team is proud to give back to the communities that make modern software possible.”

    The FOSS Contributor Fund represents one key facet of Bloomberg’s broader, sustained commitment to supporting the open source ecosystem. Wright explains, “We do a great deal to support the open source ecosystem, empowering our engineers to be active and leading contributors, and providing support to the foundations and communities vital to open source. Corporate Philanthropy is an incredible partner in this work.”

    Francesca Romano of Bloomberg’s Corporate Philanthropy team comments, “What sets Bloomberg’s open source strategy apart is how deeply it’s shaped by our long-standing commitment to philanthropy. Charitable giving and service are central to our culture, and we apply that same spirit to open source and the critical digital infrastructure that drives innovation. Through initiatives like our FOSS Contributor Fund, we’re proud to invest in a stronger, more sustainable and impactful open source ecosystem.”

    Additional FOSS Contributor Fund recipients will be announced throughout the year, each one a reflection of the vital role open source plays in powering innovation both within Bloomberg and in the shared digital world around us.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Northern Ireland: Racist violence fuelled by disinformation and irresponsible political rhetoric

    Source: Amnesty International –

    In response to the continued racist and violent disorder spreading across Northern Ireland, Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Director, said:

    “We are in the midst of a racist pogrom. Families have already lost their homes, and lives may soon be lost unless this violence ends now. We are only a petrol bomb away from someone being killed.

    “This violence is being fuelled by racist hatred – stoked by disinformation on social media and amplified by politicians who irresponsibly conflate immigration with crime and social issues which affect all communities.

    “We need politicians to speak truthfully about immigration, not echo vague concerns from the streets or false claims on social media that profit off lies.

    “According to the 2021 census, only 3.4% people in Northern Ireland are from minority ethnic backgrounds. That means 96.6% are not. We remain the whitest and least diverse part of the UK and Ireland.

    “While immigration has gradually increased over the last decade, crime rates have fallen – except for racially motivated hate crime, which is now higher than sectarian hate crime. People from immigrant and minoritised communities are far more likely to be victims of hate crime than anyone else.

    “Recent research from the Northern Ireland Assembly highlights migrant workers are vital in sustaining essential public services, including hospitals and community care. We must do more to protect their rights to live free from harassment and violence – we should recognise, thank, and celebrate them for their contributions to and enrichment of our communities.”

    View latest press releases

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Immediate need to protect primary residences and address the housing crisis in the European Union – E-002171/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-002171/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Elena Kountoura (The Left)

    In recent years, the housing crisis has taken on alarming proportions in many EU Member States, affecting an ever-increasing number of citizens who are unable to meet housing costs and their loan obligations.[1] In Greece in particular, the economic crisis dating back many years has led thousands of households to lose their primary residence through auctions.[2]

    Despite repeated calls for the protection of borrowers,[3] especially the vulnerable, in many cases their loans are sold to funds and debt management companies (servicers) at prices significantly lower than the original debt, without them having the opportunity to repurchase them on correspondingly favourable terms. Furthermore, the aggressive and inhumane collection practices applied by such actors intensify the pressures on borrowers and guarantors.[4]

    :

    • 1.What measures does the Commission intend to put in place to ensure full protection of primary residences at EU level, in particular for vulnerable citizens?
    • 2.Does the Commission intend to propose guidelines or legislative measures to prohibit the transfer of mortgage loans to servicers and funds, given the aggressive recovery practices they often follow?
    • 3.Does the Commission intend to propose the establishment of an EU framework for the early detection of repayment difficulties and the automatic activation of support measures, through the adoption of legislation allowing borrowers who have proven difficulty in meeting their loan obligations to have a priority right to redeem their loans at a discount or to secure more favourable repayment terms?

    Submitted: 30.5.2025

    • [1] In recent years, the social and economic impacts of this state of affairs have worsened, especially for vulnerable groups of the population, such as low-wage earners, single-parent families, people with disabilities, pensioners and young people. Forced evictions and auctions violate fundamental rights and lead to wider consequences, such as homelessness, social exclusion and the disruption of social cohesion and family life.
    • [2] The removal of primary residence protection resulted in a 5.8 % reduction in the homeownership rate between 2019 and 2023, from 75.4 % of the population to 69.6 %.
    • [3] With the establishment of minimum standards in the EU, such as a general moratorium on evictions, debt restructuring mechanisms, mandatory acceptance of the arrangement by servicers and funds, more favourable repayment terms, state guarantees, etc.
    • [4] Loan guarantors, who are often family members or close acquaintances, are also severely affected, facing the possible loss of their own home or property.
    Last updated: 12 June 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the Clean Industrial Deal – B10-0278/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Paolo Borchia, Isabella Tovaglieri, Julie Rechagneux, Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Ondřej Knotek, Filip Turek, Auke Zijlstra, Barbara Bonte, Jana Nagyová, Aleksandar Nikolic, Silvia Sardone, Raffaele Stancanelli
    on behalf of the PfE Group

    B10‑0278/2025

    European Parliament resolution on the Clean Industrial Deal

    (2025/2656(RSP))

    The European Parliament,

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 26 February 2025 entitled ‘The Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation’ (COM(2025)0085),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 26 February 2025 entitled ‘Action Plan for Affordable Energy’ (COM(2025)0079),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 29 January 2025 entitled ‘A Competitiveness Compass for the EU’ (COM(2025)0030),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 5 March 2025 entitled ‘Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector’ (COM(2025)0095),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal (COM(2019)0640),

    – having regard to the questions to the Commission [XXXXX],

    – having regard to Rules 142(5) and 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

    – having regard to the motion for a resolution of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy,

    A. whereas the Clean Industrial Deal was presented at a time of a serious competitiveness crisis; whereas it was supposed to represent the first step towards a decisive shift in pace and approach in EU policies, in order to safeguard businesses and industrial capacity across the EU;

    B. whereas European industry is facing fierce competition from global players, with competitors benefiting from public investment, lower energy prices and a favourable regulatory environment, which are factors that provide significant advantages and encourage the relocation of EU enterprises to non-EU countries; whereas in recent decades, the policies pursued by the Commission, causing overregulation in industrial matters and setting unreasonable and unattainable environmental targets, have contributed to the massive relocation of EU production to non-EU countries, resulting in significant job losses, desertification and deterioration of living conditions in certain regions, as well as a transfer of knowledge and increased dependencies in strategic sectors;

    C. whereas the implementation of the Fit for 55 package and other legislation under the Green Deal imposes stringent targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions, which undermine European industrial competitiveness; whereas the policies related to the Green Deal have shown serious drawbacks, especially in the current competitiveness crisis, such that a change of approach, including by revising the targets set and comprehensively reviewing the current legislation, appears to be crucial;

    1. Notes the publication of the Clean Industrial Deal and the announcement of upcoming initiatives by the Commission; expresses concern about their potential ineffectiveness and the risk of further harming the competitiveness of EU businesses; believes that forcing market change through legislative measures, rather than allowing it to be driven by business-led innovation, is a fundamentally flawed approach; calls for a decisive change of pace from the previous legislative term, including a thorough revision and repeal of pieces of legislation adopted under the framework of the Green Deal;

    2. Calls, in any case, for the implementation of the economically harmful policies of the Green Deal to be suspended, to enable a re-evaluation of their objectives and application; urges the Commission, moreover, to refrain from proposing a legislative initiative for an intermediate target of 90 % reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2040;

    3. Expresses concern about the way in which the Commission drafts its legislative proposals and conducts impact assessments, which reveals a lack of full stakeholder involvement and in-depth analysis of the effects, including long-term, on competitiveness; stresses the importance of ensuring effective consultation with all stakeholders, including local and regional entities, in order to improve the accuracy of impact assessments, thus avoiding the need to revise regulations shortly after their adoption and reducing uncertainty in an environment already marked by the crisis;

    4. Urges the Commission to engage in structured sectoral dialogue with industry representatives, academia, social partners and relevant stakeholders from energy-intensive sectors, as well as cross-border regional industrial clusters, to ensure that policies are aligned with real industrial needs and challenges; affirms that well-targeted industrial policy, starting from a review of the EU decarbonisation objectives, is crucial to ensure a strong industrial base and to create and maintain high-quality jobs in the EU; affirms its commitment to fostering stable and predictable industrial policies that take into account the impact on the competitiveness of EU companies, and commits to upholding the principle of technology neutrality when adopting such policies, as a cornerstone for building competitive European industry;

    5. Notes the affordable energy action plan; strongly stresses the need for action aimed at reducing volatility and lowering the high energy prices that impact heavily on businesses and consumers; urges the Commission and the Member States, following adequate impact assessments and consultation with the stakeholders, to put forward ways to decouple electricity prices from fossil fuel prices; warns against Commission initiatives that could circumvent Treaty provisions assigning competence over the energy mix to the Member States;

    6. Expresses concern about the overly excessive focus of EU policies on electrification and renewables, which has been reaffirmed with the Clean Industrial Deal; states the need to promote a diversified energy mix that includes clean and low-carbon energy, in order to ensure security of energy supply and competitiveness; emphasises that relying solely on electrification will be extremely challenging for energy-intensive industries; stresses the indispensable role that natural gas will continue to play in the energy mix; reiterates the need to develop measures to ensure gas supply at a mitigated cost and calls on the Commission to ensure an improved, stable and certain regulatory framework; deplores the proposal to eliminate all subsidies for fossil fuels;

    7. Acknowledges that the electricity grid infrastructure plays an essential role in achieving the EU’s strategic autonomy; calls on the Member States to fully explore, optimise, modernise and expand their electricity grid capacities, including transmission and distribution, with technological neutrality as a core principle; considers electricity grids to be a central element in the transition to a competitive economy;

    8. Recalls the large-scale blackout that affected the Iberian Peninsula on 28 April 2025, leaving over 50 million people without electricity for several hours and causing severe disruption to transport, telecommunications and essential services; underlines that, at the time of the incident, renewable energy accounted for approximately 70 % of Spain’s electricity mix, and that only a few days earlier, on 16 April, the Spanish grid had operated entirely on renewable energy; highlights the fact that the blackout was caused by multiple factors, including the excessively high share of variable renewables, which contribute less to grid inertia compared to conventional power plants, making it more difficult to manage sudden frequency changes; strongly affirms, as a consequence, the need to adopt a technologically neutral approach in the planning, development and strengthening of electricity networks, in order to enable the safe integration of all technologies that support grid stability, especially in the context of growing energy demand; calls on the Member States to strengthen risk assessments related to systemic electricity shocks and to promote resilient, secure and technologically diversified grid models;

    9. Stresses the fundamental role that low-carbon hydrogen can play; calls for the swift adoption and implementation of a simple, technology-neutral and investment-friendly definition of low-carbon hydrogen in the upcoming delegated act[1], while ensuring that such a definition is robust and science-based, and incentivises hydrogen production; recognises that carbon management, including capture, storage, transport and utilisation, can play a role for hard-to-abate sectors;

    10. Supports the proposal to strengthen a European preference in public procurement processes, in the context of the revision of the public procurement framework in 2026, to the benefit of European businesses; considers this to be essential for enhancing supply chain security and fostering a resilient EU industrial base; remains strongly sceptical about the announced industrial decarbonisation accelerator act and about the extension of new sustainability criteria to the EU budget and national support programmes, as well as to public and private procurement benefiting energy-intensive industries; remains critical of the proposal to introduce new environmental criteria in addition to the many that are already in place, as well as the introduction of environmental labelling for industrial products, which risks creating additional administrative burdens for companies;

    11. Affirms the need to create a favourable environment for investment that is capable of discouraging the relocation of industrial activities outside the EU; recognises the importance of increasing and encouraging both public and private investment in the energy, industry and transport sectors; takes note of the announced creation of a competitiveness fund and calls for this to be an instrument of genuine support for businesses; calls for an EU State aid framework in support of industrial transformation and modernisation, in line with the principle of technology neutrality, also enabling existing plants to access funding for technology upgrades, thereby safeguarding employment and economic stability; expects the new framework to address these needs; expresses its firm opposition to any new own resources and EU-level taxes;

    12. Notes the plan for the automotive sector and the measure for additional flexibility for the calculation of manufacturers’ compliance with CO2 emissions performance standards; considers this insufficient and largely inadequate to address the challenges faced by the sector; urges the Commission to promptly review Regulation (EU) 2019/631[2], particularly by lifting the ban on combustion engine vehicles and removing the sanctions regime; strongly emphasises that technological neutrality is crucial for ensuring sustainable and competitive industry, and calls, therefore, on the Commission to revise the regulation accordingly by fully considering all relevant technological developments, including biofuels;

    13. Notes that raw materials supply remains a strategic vulnerability, with the EU heavily dependent on non-EU suppliers for critical raw materials, requiring an urgent scaling-up of domestic mining, refining and battery recycling capabilities in a technology neutral, publicly accepted way; recalls the need to implement the Critical Raw Materials Act[3] and the Net Zero Industry Act[4] properly and to significantly strengthen industrial and raw materials diplomacy to access new markets via trade and partnership agreements, as well as special critical raw materials access agreements; stresses the crucial importance of catalysing investment to develop a domestic supply chain, ensuring its competitiveness and strategic autonomy;

    14. Stresses that the European Court of Auditors has highlighted[5] the Commission’s inability to achieve the target of capturing 20 % of the global semiconductor market by 2030 through the Chips Act[6]; calls, therefore, on the Commission to confront reality and revise its strategy accordingly, by setting clearer and more measurable objectives, ensuring proportionate and secured funding and promoting the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout the entire semiconductor value chain;

    15. Stresses that EU industry is struggling not only a result of European environmental policies but also because of the overregulation that characterised the previous legislative term; urges the Commission to launch a broad process of genuine simplification and, where appropriate, deregulation; endorses simplification and digitalisation for speeding up administrative procedures; notes the omnibus simplification packages recently presented by the Commission; observes that these highlight flawed or missing impact assessments in the adoption of a number of major legislative measures during the previous term, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive[7] and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive[8]; affirms the need, in the current context of overregulation and excessive administrative burdens, as well as heavy obligations on businesses, to repeal this legislation; underlines, in any event, the importance of safeguarding smaller enterprises;

    16. Affirms the need to create a truly enabling environment for SMEs, which have been particularly affected by the crisis and represent 99 % of all European businesses; recalls the importance of avoiding any form of discrimination against small businesses that choose to remain small, while continuing to contribute to the economic and social prosperity of the territories in which they operate; calls for accessible funding for SMEs and small mid-caps and further improvements and harmonisation to simplify funding applications, reduce reporting obligations and fast-track small projects; stresses that the new EU-level statute for small mid-caps must not compromise or alter the current classification of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; underlines that the establishment of the small mid-caps category should not divert attention or resources away from micro and small enterprises, which have distinct needs and priorities; calls, therefore, on the Commission to adopt the necessary measures and safeguards, and to establish thresholds that reflect the actual conditions regarding turnover and number of employees in the Member States;

    17. Notes the proposed simplification of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in the first omnibus package; recalls that the CBAM was introduced to compensate for the effect of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) in order to tackle carbon leakage; underlines that the CBAM, as currently designed, in parallel with the phasing out of the ETS free allowances, will not ensure a level playing field and will undermine competitiveness by increasing production costs and the administrative burden for EU companies; calls for the ETS and the CBAM to be entirely reassessed in the upcoming revision;

    18. Expresses concern about the ongoing negotiations on the reform of Regulation (EU) 2019/452[9], which establishes a framework for the screening of foreign direct investment into the Union; is particularly concerned about the excessive centralisation of control in the hands of the Commission at the expense of the authority of Member States, including those that already have effective national measures in place to protect strategic sectors that are crucial to national interest; underlines that national security and maintenance of public order are, in fact. exclusive Member State competences;

    19. Stresses the critical importance of preserving industrial activity and employment in the EU; warns that misguided industrial policies can have severe repercussions on jobs; underlines the urgent need to equip the European workforce with the necessary skills to adapt to the ongoing digital and industrial transformations, especially in remote and rural areas; calls for increased investment and a comprehensive industrial skills strategy; calls for the adoption of effective measures to address the alarming phenomenon of brain drain;

    20. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Scottish Association of Geography Teachers (SAGT) National Geography Challenge Quiz 2025

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    Issued by the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers (SAGT)

    On the 10 June three pupils from Millburn Academy participated in the national final of the 2025 SAGT Geography Challenge Quiz hosted by Dollar Academy. The Millburn team were up against eleven other teams, each of whom had won their own regional heats to qualify for the National final.

    The final stage consisted of two rounds of geographical topics and skills; all twelve teams participated in the first round with only the top four teams progressing to the final round.  The Millburn team successfully secured a spot in the final round by answering questions about countries with tiny coastlines, limestone landscapes and contemporary geographical news stories as well as demonstrating their mapping skills.  

    The final round saw Hutchesons Grammar School, James Gillespie’s High School, Stewart’s Melville College and Millburn Academy all competing to become the national championship team.  The final four rounds included questions about the geography of Norway and various Commonwealth countries as well as some tough questions about countries which have changed their name in the past 50 years.  Once all the answers were in and the scores calculated the top three teams were separated by only two points, the tightest margin that anyone can remember in the long history of the quiz.  The Millburn team secured a very strong third place position just being pipped by James Gillespie’s High School and Stewart’s Melville College, respectively. 

    A very big well done to our Millburn pupils, Oihane Heffer S2, Lexie Kirby S3 and Jamie Main S4, who came away as the third best team in Scotland.

    12 Jun 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: 31st Beijing International Book Fair to Display 220,000 Books

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) — The upcoming 31st Beijing International Book Fair will feature more than 1,700 exhibitors from 80 countries and regions, displaying about 220,000 titles of books in Chinese and foreign languages, organizers of the event said at a press conference on Thursday.

    This year, Malaysia will be the guest of honor at the fair, which will be held from June 18 to 22.

    The exhibition area will be 60 thousand square meters. Nine countries, including Chile, Cyprus and Belarus, will take part in the event for the first time. The fair will also feature such renowned international publishers as Elsevier, Penguin Random House and Springer Nature.

    The event will feature two new thematic sections: “Books in Honor of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and World War II” and “Books on World Cultural Heritage”.

    The Beijing International Book Fair will also host the Special Contribution to Chinese Literature Award Ceremony, the 2025 Beijing International Publishing Forum, the World Children’s Literature Forum, and copyright negotiations between Chinese and overseas representatives.

    First held in 1986, the Beijing International Book Fair has become one of the world’s premier platforms for book exhibitions and copyright trade. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Logent Group acquires HUB logistics Finland Oy and announces the intention to issue subsequent notes

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Logent Finland Bidco Oy, an indirect subsidiary of SSCP Lager BidCo AB (publ) (“Logent” or the “Company”) has entered into an agreement with the shareholders of the Finnish entity HUB logistics Finland Oy (“HUB logistics” or the “Target”) to acquire all the shares in the Target (the “Acquisition”). The closing of the Acquisition is expected to take effect on 23 June 2025 and is subject to customary conditions precedents.

    Logent has mandated Nordea Bank Abp and Pareto Securities AS as joint bookrunners to arrange credit investor meetings commencing on 13 June 2025 for the placement of subsequent senior secured notes under the terms and conditions of the Company’s outstanding notes loan 2023/2026 with ISIN SE0021021193 (the “Subsequent Notes Issue”). A capital markets transaction with an expected volume of SEK 200 million will follow. The Company has received binding subscription applications corresponding to the full amount of the Subsequent Notes Issue.

    The net proceeds from the Subsequent Notes Issue will be applied towards consummation of the Acquisition, financing transaction costs and general corporate purposes. Following the Subsequent Notes Issue, the aggregate outstanding nominal amount under the notes loan is expected be SEK 1,050 million.

    The Acquisition in brief and financial effects

    Joining forces in Finland will complement Logent’s and HUB logistics’ strengths, service offerings and enhance the value Logent can deliver to its customers in the Finnish market and in Northern Europe more broadly.

    After closing of the Acquisition, Logent is expected to generate rolling 12-month pro forma Net Sales of approximately SEK 2.7 billion and Adj. EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) of approximately SEK 270 million, as of the first quarter of 2025. The incurrence testing date for the Subsequent Notes Issue will be 3 June, 2025, at which the Company reports a pro forma net debt position (incl. consummation of the Acquisition) of approximately SEK 1,010 million (pre-IFRS 16).

    Nordea Bank Abp and Pareto Securities AS are acting as Joint Bookrunners in connection with the Subsequent Notes Issue. Snellman Advokatbyrå AB acts as legal advisor to the Company and Gernandt & Danielsson Advokatbyrå KB acts as legal advisor to the Joint Bookrunners.

    For further information, please contact:

    Joel Engström, CEO, telephone number: +46 734 36 36 29, joel.engstrom@logent.se

    This information is of the type that SSCP Lager BidCo AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact persons set out above, on 12-06-2025 at 20:12 CET/CEST.

    About Logent Group
    Logent is an independent logistics partner, with a Nordic base present in Northern Europe and global networks. We have a wide range of services and create value for our customers through guaranteed cost and quality improvements. Our service offer include Logistics Services such as Warehouse design and operations, Transport Management and Customs, Port and Terminal operations, Staffing Services and Consulting Services. This means that Logent has grown to a turnover of about SEK 2.4 billion from the start in 2006 and employs approximately 2,800 people in Northern Europe.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Sanders, King Introduce Bill to Ban Prescription Drug Ads

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders

    WASHINGTON, June 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) today introduced the End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act, legislation that would ban prescription drug advertising on television, radio, print, digital platforms and social media. The bill would also answer Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s repeated calls to end prescription drug advertising, a position he promoted while campaigning for President Trump in 2024. 

    “The American people are sick and tired of greedy pharmaceutical companies spending billions of dollars on absurd TV commercials pushing their outrageously expensive prescription drugs,” Sanders said. “With the exception of New Zealand, the United States is the only country in the world where it is legal for pharmaceutical companies to advertise their drugs on television. It is time for us to end that international embarrassment. The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television. They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads.” 

    “The widespread use of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies drives up costs and doesn’t necessarily make patients healthier,” King said. “The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act would prohibit direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs to protect people. This bill is a great step to ensure that patients are getting the best information possible and from the right source: their providers and not biased advertisements.” 

    Last year, the 10 largest drug companies made more than $100 billion in profits while the pharmaceutical industry spent over $5 billion on television ads. Prescription drug commercials now account for more than 30% of commercial time on major networks’ evening news programs. In the first three months of this year, Big Pharma spent more than $725 million advertising just 10 drugs. Meanwhile, the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and one in four Americans cannot afford the costs of the medicine their doctors prescribe. 

    Banning direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising is not a radical idea. In addition to Secretary Kennedy, the American Medical Association endorsed a ban a decade ago. Studies have shown that more than half of prescription drug ads are misleading or false, causing many Americans to underestimate the associated risks. Harvard researchers found that the majority of the most advertised drugs had little to no therapeutic benefit compared to existing prescription drugs. America’s seniors are particularly at risk of being misled as pharmaceutical companies strategically target them by pushing high-priced medications that may cause them harm. 

    For example, in 2010, Eli Lilly spent $205 million on direct-to-consumer ads and made $3.2 billion in sales for the antidepressant drug Cymbalta, despite Food and Drug Administration (FDA) findings that the company’s ads made unsupported and misleading claims of effectiveness and minimized its safety risks. Merck spent $300 million marketing the painkiller Vioxx and made $2.5 billion in sales, despite finding in 2000 that their product raised the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Dr. David Graham, a senior FDA official, testified in 2004 that Merck’s failure to stop selling Vioxx had resulted in as many as 55,000 unnecessary deaths from heart attacks and stroke. 

    Drug companies are also spending huge amounts of money on prescription drugs that cost, in some cases, more than ten times as much in the United States than other countries. In 2023, Novo Nordisk spent $263 million on direct-to-consumer ads for Wegovy and $208 million on ads for Ozempic. Today, Novo Nordisk charges nearly $1,000 a month for Ozempic in the United States, while this same exact drug can be purchased for just $59 in Germany, $71 in France, $122 in Denmark, and $155 in Canada. Novo Nordisk also charges Americans with obesity $1,349 a month for Wegovy while this same exact product can be purchased for just $92 in the United Kingdom, $137 in Germany, $186 in Denmark and $265 in Canada. 

    Joining Sanders and King as cosponsors of the legislation are Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill). 

    Read the bill text here. 

    Read a summary of the bill here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Additional £96m for the Crown Prosecution Service

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Additional £96m for the Crown Prosecution Service

    The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Spending Review settlement increases the organisation’s funding by more than 10% from 2026 to 2029.

    The Attorney General Lord Hermer KC said:

    The criminal justice system was on the brink of collapse and courts in crisis after fourteen years of neglect. We need to make our streets safe again, while also rebuilding confidence in the system.

    That is why I welcome the Chancellor’s record investment into the future of CPS as part of the government’s Plan for Change to deliver safer streets and swifter justice.

    This additional £96m for the Crown Prosecution Service will help protect victims by tackling the backlog, speeding up justice and unlocking digital developments through AI so we can keep dangerous offenders off our streets – and importantly, deliver a justice system that serves victims.

    Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said:

    The funding announced will help the Crown Prosecution Service meet the significant challenges of the future while focusing on our number one priority: to reduce delays so victims get justice sooner.

    This settlement will mean more prosecutors who can charge cases and get them ready for court, bringing more criminals to justice and giving closure to more victims – which in turn makes our streets safer.

    It will also help unlock the potential of artificial intelligence and other technologies which will mean our prosecutors can work more efficiently, helping us do even more with this much needed funding.

    For background

    The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Spending Review settlement increases the organisation’s funding by more than 10% from 2026 to 2029.

    This settlement recognises the significant pressure CPS continues to be under due to increasing demand on the criminal justice system.

    The additional £96m over the Spending Review period will allow CPS to:

    • increase the number of prosecutors
    • build capacity and capability through focused recruitment and development schemes
    • continuously improve the quality and efficiency of CPS’s service
    • enable CPS to continue to play part in the cross-government effort to reduce delays in the justice system
    • invest in improving the experience of the prosecution process for victims and witnesses
    • Further funding will also be made available to develop key digital programmes –Digital Jury Bundles, in-house technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) capability – increasing productivity and efficiency and enhancing the quality of CPS services. 
    • Funding for digital innovation will enable the CPS to drive value for money to create a leaner, more efficient service for victims and witnesses.

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two men convicted following fatal stabbing in Tower Hamlets

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Two men have been convicted of the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Abdul Jalloh in Tower Hamlets last year.

    Shamiah McKenzie, 18 (01.08.06), of Colvin Close, Lewisham was found guilty of murder and Codee Godfrey, 19 (25.12.05), of Grosvenor Wharf Road, Tower Hamlets, was found guilty of manslaughter at the Old Bailey on Thursday, 12 June.

    In a trial which started on Monday, 28 April, the court heard that police were called at around 16:15hrs on Monday, 5 August 2024 to reports of a stabbing on New Union Close, E14.

    The jury were told Abdul was attacked while unarmed and vulnerable behind the wheel of his car.

    Despite the best efforts of emergency services, Abdul died a short time later as a result of a stab wound to his neck.

    Detective Chief Inspector Paul Waller, from Specialist Crime North – who led the investigation – said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Abdul Jalloh, who lost a loved one in shocking circumstances.

    “By carrying and using a knife, McKenzie’s callous act demonstrates once again the devastating and far-reaching effects of knife crime.

    “I therefore commend the officers who worked incredibly hard to build evidence against McKenzie and Godfrey in order to prove that there could be no doubt as to their guilt. London will be a safer place with them taken off the streets.

    “I also want to thank the local community who came forward to assist officers with footage they had on the day. They displayed immense courage in giving evidence to the court.”

    A manhunt began immediately, with officers painstakingly combing through hours of CCTV footage and digital evidence to understand what took place, identify the attackers and track their movements after they fled the scene.

    As a result of this meticulous work, officers were also able to show the jury how the pair had been circling the Isle of Dogs on bicycles for more than an hour looking for Abdul.

    After the attack they threw the knife and its sheath and McKenzie’s bicycle into the Thames at Caledonian Wharf. As paramedics tried to save Abdul’s life, the pair packed their bloody clothing and footwear into bags.

    Officers uncovered that they changed into summer clothes and then disposed of the bags and two mobile phones in nearby bushes. In the bag officers found £3k worth of cannabis, £2k in cash, a vacuum sealing machine used to package drugs, and business cards containing their phone numbers.

    McKenzie and Godfrey were so confident in their changed appearance that they returned to the Thames Path which was full of officers who were searching for Abdul’s killers.

    However, they themselves into police on Thursday, 8 August 2024 and were charged the following day.

    McKenzie and Godfrey will be sentenced on Friday, 20 June at the Old Bailey.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: 8th Wall Studio Wins Best Developer Tool Award at AWE USA 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONG BEACH, Calif., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 8th Wall, the 3D Engine for the AI era, has been awarded Best Developer Tool for 8th Wall Studio at the prestigious Auggie Awards, held during Augmented World Expo (AWE) USA 2025, the world’s largest event dedicated to augmented and virtual reality. The award recognizes excellence in empowering creators and developers to build groundbreaking immersive content, highlighting 8th Wall’s role as a leader in the XR development landscape.

    8th Wall Studio disrupts the legacy game engine model with a streamlined, browser-based platform designed to accelerate 3D and XR development. Developers can now build immersive experiences with AI-powered tools, real-time editing, and one-click deployment across web and native apps for mobile, desktop, and XR headsets.

    This recognition comes just as 8th Wall officially launched the general availability of Studio, a next-generation 3D development platform that marks a significant leap forward for developers. Newly released features include the AI-native Asset Lab, which allows creators to instantly generate images, 3D models, and animated characters using integrated generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s GPT Image 1 and Meshy. Studio’s native app export capability now supports Android, with iOS and other platforms coming soon, giving developers true cross-platform freedom.

    “Studio represents a new era in 3D and XR development, one where AI accelerates creativity, and cross-platform deployment is seamless,” said Erik Murphy-Chutorian, Founder of 8th Wall. “Winning this award at AWE reinforces our belief that the future of immersive content will be built in the browser, powered by AI, and accessible to everyone.”

    8th Wall is also pleased to recognize ARKx, Saatchi & Saatchi Germany, and Form&Fun Studio for winning Best Campaign for the OREO x PAC-MAN: The SuperMarcade AR experience powered by 8th Wall. Also a Webby and Cannes Lions winner, this immersive activation transformed supermarkets into real-life AR PAC-MAN mazes.

    Held annually, AWE USA draws over 5,000 attendees, 250 exhibitors, and 450 speakers across the XR ecosystem. Now in its 16th year, the event is focused on the AI+XR imperative, spotlighting how artificial intelligence is accelerating the adoption and potential of extended reality.

    Developers can start building with 8th Wall for free at www.8thwall.com. For the month of June, new signups get 50 additional bonus credits to do even more with 8th Wall’s new advanced features such as Asset Lab and native app export.

    About 8th Wall
    8th Wall is an award-winning 3D & XR development platform that makes it possible to build interactive, immersive content that can be experienced on any device. 8th Wall supports billions of devices globally and has been used by developers, agencies and creative studios to create 3D/AR activations for brands across industry verticals including retail, food and beverage, travel and tourism, automotive, fashion, sports and entertainment. 8th Wall has powered WebAR experiences for top brands such as Nike, Porsche, Sony Pictures, Burger King, General Mills, British Gas, Heineken, McDonald’s, Swiss Airlines, Toyota, Red Bull, Adidas, COACH and more. 8th Wall, LLC is a subsidiary of Niantic Spatial, Inc. Learn more about 8th Wall at www.8thwall.com.

    Media Contact
    Joel Udwin
    press@8thwall.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: XRP News: Strong Momentum Spotted in Nimanode Presale as It Explodes Past 15% of Softcap – Don’t Miss Out

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LEEDS, United Kingdom, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As BTC reclaims $110,000 and Etherum poised to break it’s early high, early talks of recovery in the crypto markets are here, however while it might seem a bit late to take a position in the rally markets, valuable Altcoins such as Nimanode is poised to give those explosive returns in the markets.

    As the XRP Ledger is experiencing a surge of renewed momentum as Nimanode the first AI agent platform with a no-code builder on XRPL advances through its high-demand $NMA Token Presale raising over 15% of its soft cap target and the excitement just intensified.

    Join $NMA Presale

    All Eyes on Nimanode – Dont Miss Out

    FOMO is already building up as the Nimanode Presale momentum indicates strong confidence from early investors citing a belief in the project.

    Demand for the NMA token has also surged as tokens are set to be listed at an upward 25% price from presale prices at top XRPL exchanges like Magnetic, instant returns for early investors.

    How to Join in the Nimanode Presale

    Joining in the NimaNode Presale is quite straightforward

    Purchase XRP: Acquire XRP from reputable exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, or Bybit.

    Setup an XRP-Compatible Wallet: Send your XRP to an XRP compatible Wallet (e.g. Xaman).

    Participate in the Presale: Visit the NimaNode presale page (https://nimanode.com/presale), send your XRP to the provided presale address, and secure your $NMA tokens.

    There is a Limited Time Period of 30 Days for the Presale and it’s pricing is going at 1 XRP = 450 $NMA

    As Nimanode Presale gains momentum, now is a perfect opportunity to position at the next wave of Blockchain innovation poised for massive gains through the integration of Web3 and AI.

    Why Investors are Scooping Up $NMA

    From the desk of the development team at Nimanode, they are set to deliver an Agentic workforce handling various tasks autonomously. Features of these Ecosystem include but not limited to

    Zero-Code Agent Builder: Create and launch AI agents through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface
    Autonomous On-Chain Agents: Agents can interact with dApps, execute logic, and respond to events
    Decentralized Agent Marketplace: Allows the community to deploy and monetize AI Agents
    Cross-Chain & Off-Chain Integration: Enable automation across multiple networks and external APIs

    $NMA – Fueling the Nimanode Ecosystem

    With 90 million $NMA tokens representing 45% of the total supply allocated for the presale, early birds have a rare opportunity to seize the advantage and invest in $NMA before its DEX Listing at 25% higher value mainly because of it various utilities in their ecosystem which include:

    Agent Deployment – Launching agents when holding a minimum $NMA balance

    Agent Upgrades – Skilled developers can hold $NMA to build custom agents and upgrades to them

    Agent Marketplace – Use $NMA to access premium agents or receive exclusive discounts

    Staking Benefits – Stake $NMA to earn passive income through the platform’s reward pool

    Governance Access – Participate in protocol decisions and vote on proposals that shape Nimanode’s future

    Join $NMA Presale

    Nimanode is a decentralized AI agent platform built on the XRP Ledger, offering no-code and developer tools to deploy on-chain AI agents that automate blockchain activity, optimize protocol interaction, and monetize intelligent services. By bridging AI with decentralized infrastructure, Nimanode is building the next evolution of digital work and Web3 automation.

    Connect with Nimanode

    Website: https://nimanode.com

    Twitter/X: https://x.com/nimanodeai

    Telegram: https://t.me/nimanodeAI

    Documentation: https://docs.nimanode.com

    Contact:
    Nick Lambert
    contact@nimanode.com

    Disclaimer: This is a paid post and is provided by Nimanode. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

    Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/625cd0fe-6362-4233-a6d5-86f2e209233d

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New artillery factory opens in Sheffield creating 200 skilled jobs

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    Press release

    New artillery factory opens in Sheffield creating 200 skilled jobs

    British exports and sovereign manufacturing have been boosted today with the opening of a new state-of-the-art artillery factory in Sheffield, creating 200 skilled British jobs. 

    • State-of-the-art artillery manufacturing facility opens in Sheffield. 
    • Defence Secretary visits new factory, which will create 200 skilled jobs and support more than 60 businesses in the supply chain. 
    • Export deals enable new facility to open, highlighting how defence is an engine for growth and supporting the Government’s Plan for Change. 

    The new factory, run by BAE Systems, was opened by the Defence Secretary John Healey, who visited the site today. The facility positions Sheffield as the home of UK artillery howitzer production, showing how defence is an engine for growth and a foundation of the Government’s Plan for Change.

    Successful export deals of more than £25 million made this factory possible, showcasing the British defence industry’s design and engineering prowess globally. It will create apprenticeship opportunities and support 60 businesses across the UK supply chain.

    This comes the week after the Government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) which confirmed a major £6bn commitment to munitions production this parliament, including £1.5bn for an ‘always on’ pipeline for munitions and at least six new energetics and munitions factories, meaning that the UK can innovate and rapidly restock key ammunition.  

    Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said: 

    This new factory is a big boost for South Yorkshire and a significant step forward in strengthening our British defence industrial base. This is a vote of confidence in our world-leading defence sector and good, skilled British jobs, underpinned by this government’s Plan for Change.

    I welcome BAE Systems’ long-term commitment to this new site, which demonstrates how defence can be an engine for growth, bringing investment and opportunities to communities across the UK, including right here in South Yorkshire.

    The facility covers 94,000 sq ft, making it significantly larger than the pitch at Wembley stadium, and will manufacture the only combat-proven 155mm lightweight howitzer in the world, the British M777.

    The investment comes as the UK continues its support for Ukraine, while developing sovereign British manufacturing. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence awarded BAE Systems a contract to deliver 150 British-designed artillery barrels to Ukraine, working with nearby Sheffield Forgemasters to fulfil the government’s commitment.

    Fully operational later this year, the factory will initially focus on M777 lightweight howitzer manufacturing, with capacity to expand production lines. The site will evolve to develop and produce a range of world-class combat systems.

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: France’s final nuclear tests in the South Pacific, 30 years on

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Roxanne Panchasi, Associate Professor, Department of History, Simon Fraser University

    Former French President Jacques Chirac encounters a protest from members during an official visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in July 1995.
     (European Parliament)

    In recent months, the viability of France’s nuclear arsenal has been making headlines with talk of a French “nuclear umbrella” that might shield its allies on the European continent. In the face of the Russia-Ukraine war, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements regarding the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in that conflict, the question of how to best defend Europe has taken on an urgency not seen since the height of the Cold War.

    Despite its more robust nuclear weapons capabilities, the United States in the Donald Trump era appears less committed to the defence of its NATO allies. Debates about a French nuclear umbrella aside, these discussions — combined with increased military spending worldwide and resurgent fears of nuclear war — make the history of France’s nuclear readiness and weapons testing feel uneasily current.

    In June 1995, French President Jacques Chirac announced that France would resume testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific. Just weeks after being elected to office, Chirac ended a three-year moratorium on testing that his predecessor, François Mitterrand, had put into effect in April 1992.

    Chirac insisted this additional series of weapons tests was essential to France’s national security and the continued independence of its nuclear deterrent. The eight planned detonations scheduled to take place over the next several months would, he claimed, provide the data needed to move from real-world detonations to computer simulations in the future. He also said it would enable France to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT) banning all nuclear explosions, for military or other purposes, by the fall of 1996.

    France’s history of nuclear tests

    A report on France’s nuclear tests in the South Pacific. (Disclose)

    Chirac’s June 1995 announcement, followed by the first new detonation in September that year, provoked intense opposition from environmental and peace groups, and protests from Paris to Papeete, throughout the Pacific region and across the globe.

    Representatives from the world’s other nuclear-armed states expressed concern that France was choosing to conduct further tests so close to a comprehensive ban. The governments of Australia, New Zealand and Japan also registered their staunch opposition, issuing diplomatic statements, calling for the boycott of French goods and pursuing other measures of rebuke.

    A defensive posture had been a pillar of France’s nuclear weapons policy since the nation first entered the atomic club in 1960 with the detonation of Gerboise Bleue, a 70-kiloton bomb, at Reggane in Algeria. The following three atmospheric and 13 underground Saharan tests resulted in serious long-term health and environmental consequences for the region’s inhabitants.

    In 1966, France’s nuclear testing program relocated to Maō’hui Nui, colonially known as “French Polynesia.”

    The next 26 years saw a further 187 French nuclear and thermonuclear detonations above and beneath the Pacific atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa. They exposed the local population to dangerous levels of radiation, contaminating food and water supplies, and harming corals and other forms of ocean life.

    These experiments — along with the final six underground detonations the French carried out in 1995 and 1996 — left a toxic legacy for generations to come.

    Inadequate compensation for lingering harm

    When Chirac shared his rationale for France’s latest nuclear test series with a room full of journalists gathered at the Elysée Palace in June 1995, he was adamant that these planned tests, and all of France’s nuclear detonations, had absolutely no ecological consequences.

    Today, we know this claim was more than incorrect. It was a falsehood reliant on data and conclusions that grossly underestimated the harmful impact that France’s nuclear testing program had on the health of French soldiers and non-military personnel onsite, inhabitants in the surrounding areas and the environments where these explosions took place.

    Most recently, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, there was an evident deep contradiction between “French Polynesia” as a tourist paradise and idyllic location for the Games’ surf competitions and a space of continuing injustice for test victims that highlights the history of France’s nuclear imperialism in the region.

    In 2010, the French government passed the Morin law ostensibly aimed at addressing the suffering of those significantly harmed by radiation during France’s nuclear weapons detonations from 1960 through 1996.

    The number of people who have been successful in their applications for recognition and compensation remains inadequate, particularly in Algeria. Out of the 2,846 applications submitted by only a fraction of the thousands of estimated victims, just over 400 people in Maō’hui Nui and only one Algerian have received compensation since 2010.

    In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that France “owes a debt” to the people of Maō’hui Nui. He has since called for the opening up of key archives pertaining to this history, but there is much more work to be done on all fronts.

    The findings of a recent French parliamentary commission on the effects of testing in the Pacific, scheduled to be released soon, may contribute to greater transparency and justice for victims in the future.

    In Maō’hui Nui, demands for acknowledgement and restitution have been intertwined with the independence movement, while confronting the impact and legacies of the nuclear detonations in Algeria has been fraught with tensions between Algeria and France over the colonial past.

    Future of the test ban treaty

    In January 1996, France conducted its last nuclear test by detonating a 120-kiloton bomb underground in the South Pacific. In September, France added its signature to the CTBT, joining the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, China and 66 other states without nuclear weapons in their commitment not to engage in further nuclear explosions in any context.

    Almost 30 years later, the CTBT has still not come into force. While most signatories have ratified the treaty, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the U.S. are among the nine that have not. Meanwhile, Russia withdrew its own ratification in 2023. Key non-signatories include India, North Korea and Pakistan — all nuclear-armed states that have conducted their own tests since 1996.

    Given these crucial exceptions to a test ban, the prospects for something as ambitious as the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which not a single nuclear weapons state has signed to date, remain uncertain, to say the least.

    Roxanne Panchasi has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. France’s final nuclear tests in the South Pacific, 30 years on – https://theconversation.com/frances-final-nuclear-tests-in-the-south-pacific-30-years-on-256439

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Mitigating AI security threats: Why the G7 should embrace ‘federated learning’

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Abbas Yazdinejad, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Artificial Intelligence, University of Toronto

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world, from diagnosing diseases in hospitals to catching fraud in banking systems. But it’s also raising urgent questions.

    As G7 leaders prepare to meet in Alberta, one issue looms large: how can we build powerful AI systems without sacrificing privacy?

    The G7 summit is a chance to set the tone for how democratic nations manage emerging technologies. While regulations are advancing, they won’t succeed without strong technical solutions.

    In our view, what’s known as federated learning — or FL — is one of the most promising yet overlooked tools, and deserves to be at the centre of the conversation.



    Read more:
    6 ways AI can partner with us in creative inquiry, inspired by media theorist Marshall McLuhan

    As researchers in AI, cybersecurity and public health, we’ve seen the data dilemma firsthand. AI thrives on data, much of it deeply personal — medical histories, financial transactions, critical infrastructure logs. The more centralized the data, the greater the risk of leaks, misuse or cyberattacks.

    The United Kingdom’s National Health Service paused a promising AI initiative over fears about data handling. In Canada, concerns have surfaced about storing personal information — including immigration and health records — in foreign cloud services. Trust in AI systems is fragile. Once it’s broken, innovation grinds to a halt.

    Why is centralized AI a growing liability?

    The dominant approach to training AI is to bring all data into one centralized place. On paper, that’s efficient. In practice, it creates security nightmares.

    Centralized systems are attractive targets for hackers. They’re difficult to regulate, especially when data flows across national or sectoral boundaries. And they concentrate too much power in the hands of a few data-holders or tech giants.

    But instead of bringing data to the algorithm, FL brings the algorithm to the data. Each local institution — whether it’s a hospital, government agency or bank — trains an AI model on its own data. Only model updates — not raw data — are shared with a central system. It’s like students doing homework at home and submitting only their final answers, not their notebooks.

    This approach dramatically lowers the risk of data breaches while preserving the ability to learn from large-scale trends.

    Where is it already working?

    FL could be a game-changer. When paired with techniques like differential privacy, secure multiparty computation or homomorphic encryption, it could dramatically reduce the risk of data leaks.

    In Canada, researchers have already used FL to train cancer detection models across provinces — without ever moving sensitive health records.

    Artificial intelligence has been used to train cancer detectiom models.
    (Shutterstock)

    Projects like those involving the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network have demonstrated how FL can be used to predict chronic diseases such as diabetes, while keeping all patient data securely within provincial boundaries.

    Banks are using it to detect fraud without sharing customer identities.Cybersecurity agencies are exploring how to co-ordinate across jurisdictions without exposing their logs.



    Read more:
    Health-care AI: The potential and pitfalls of diagnosis by app

    Why the G7 needs to act now

    Governments around the world are racing to regulate AI. Canada’s proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, the European Union’s AI Act, and the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI in the United States are all major steps forward. But without a secure way to collaborate on data-intensive problems — like pandemics, climate change or cyber threats — these efforts may fall short.

    FL allows different jurisdictions to work together on shared challenges without compromising local control or sovereignty. It turns policy into practice by enabling technical collaboration without the usual legal and privacy complications.

    And just as importantly, adopting FL sends a political signal: that democracies can lead not just in innovation, but in ethics and governance.

    Hosting the G7 summit in Alberta isn’t just symbolic. The province is home to a thriving AI ecosystem, institutions like the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and industries — from agriculture to energy — that generate vast amounts of valuable data.

    Picture a cross-sector task force: farmers using local data to monitor soil health, energy companies analyzing emissions patterns, public agencies modelling wildfire risks — all working together, all protecting their data. That’s not a futuristic fantasy — it’s a pilot program waiting to happen.

    A foundation for trust?

    AI is only as trustworthy as the systems behind it. And too many of today’s systems are based on outdated ideas about centralization and control.

    FL offers a new foundation — one where privacy, transparency and innovation can move together. We don’t need to wait for a crisis to act. The tools already exist. What’s missing is the political will to elevate them from promising prototypes to standard practice.

    If the G7 is serious about building a safer, fairer AI future, it should make FL a central piece of its plan — not a footnote.

    Abbas Yazdinejad 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.

    Jude Kong 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. Mitigating AI security threats: Why the G7 should embrace ‘federated learning’ – https://theconversation.com/mitigating-ai-security-threats-why-the-g7-should-embrace-federated-learning-258670

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Danny K. Davis rejects the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill that makes poor people poorer, sick people sicker, and hungry people hungrier

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Danny K Davis (7th District of Illinois)

    June 12, 2025

    Statement of Rep. Danny K. Davis 

    Ways and Means Committee

    Hearing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – June 11, 2025

     

    Today, Secretary Bessent appears here to praise the Republican One Big Beautiful bill, which is the most cruel, draconian, inhumane legislation that I’ve voted on since I’ve been here.  Government, I seriously believe, should help people and not hurt them. 

    I reject this bill that makes poor people poorer, sick people sicker, and hungry people hungrier. 

    I reject this bill that rips health care from 16 million Americans, with over 498,000 Illinoisans expected to lose their health insurance, including 102,000 children and 27,000 seniors in my District alone.

    I reject this bill that threatens my constituent Debra and her two children, whom she adopted from foster care.  This picture behind me shows Debra’s children, who are medically fragile and rely solely on Medicaid for their health care. 

    I reject this bill that will close hospitals in my district and kick people out of their nursing homes, not only in my district but across the country, especially in urban inner-city communities and rural communities for sure. 

    I reject this bill that explodes poverty and suffering while giving the wealthy trillions in tax cuts. 

    I reject this bill’s irresponsible explosion of the deficit that triggers statutory cuts to critical programs supporting children and families. 

    These Paygo reductions would eliminate funding for the Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program – known as MIECHV – that is proven to improve mother and child health, family safety, and child development.  It would eliminate the guaranteed funding for the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families program that we know helps prevent child maltreatment and strengthen families.  It would eradicate the Social Services Block Grant that provides substantial investment in child care, child welfare, and adult protective services.  These egregious cuts alone will cost Illinois over $72 million dollars and hurt Illinois children, seniors, and families. 

    I reject this bill that gifts tax cuts to the wealthy paid for by denying and depriving low-income, poor people, senior citizens, sick people, unhealthy people the health care, food assistance, housing assistance, and economic development opportunities that they need. 

     

    This bill reminds me that there is something rotten in Denmark.  There is something wrong with the thinking that puts such a bill in front of us.  This bill is actually what we call the Robinhood in Reverse.  Take from the poor.  Take from the disabled. Take from the sick.  Take from the hungry.  And give to the wealthy.  It is not good.  It is immoral.  I reject it. 

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: BNP Paribas SA : 2025 MREL requirements notification

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    2025 MREL REQUIREMENTS NOTIFICATION

    PRESS RELEASE

    Paris, 12 June 2025

    The BNP Paribas Group has received the notification by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), implementing the decision of the Single Resolution Board, of the updated Minimum Requirement for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL) requirements applicable from this date.

    The total MREL requirement applicable now amounts to 22.19% to which the CBR1 must be added, of the Group’s RWA and 5.91% of the Group’s leverage exposures.

    As regards the subordination constraint, the requirement applicable for the BNP Paribas Group is respectively 14.78% to which the CBR1 must be added, of Group’s RWA and 5.75% of the Group’s leverage exposures.

    As at 31 March 2025, the BNP Paribas Group is well above the updated MREL requirements with a total MREL ratio of 29.8% based on Group’s RWA and a Group subordinated MREL ratio of 27.1% on the same basis. These ratios were respectively 9.0% and 8.2% of Group’s leverage exposures as at 31 March 2025.

    About BNP Paribas

    Leader in banking and financial services in Europe, BNP Paribas operates in 64 countries and has nearly 178,000 employees, including more than 144,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services for the Group’s commercial & personal banking and several specialised businesses including BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Arval; Investment & Protection Services for savings, investment and protection solutions; and Corporate & Institutional Banking, focused on corporate and institutional clients. Based on its strong diversified and integrated model, the Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, BNP Paribas has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. The Group is rolling out its integrated commercial & personal banking model across several Mediterranean countries, Türkiye, and Eastern Europe. As a key player in international banking, the Group has leading platforms and business lines in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific. BNP Paribas has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility approach in all its activities, enabling it to contribute to the construction of a sustainable future, while ensuring the Group’s performance and stability.

    Press contact

    Sandrine Romano – sandrine.romano@bnpparibas.com – +33 6 71 18 23 05
    Hacina Habchi – hacina.habchi@bnpparibas.com – +33 7 61 97 65 20

    1 Combined Buffer Requirement of 4.78% as at 31 March 2025

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Third Strategic Dialogue between the State of Qatar and the French Republic

    Source: Government of Qatar

    Paris,  June 12, 2025

    The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, and the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, Mr Jean-Noël Barrot, co-chaired the third annual Qatar-France Strategic Dialogue in Paris on June 12 2025. 

    Qatar and France welcomed the holding of their third Annual Strategic Dialogue and reviewed the important progress made since the State Visit of His Highness the Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to France in February 2024 which resulted in new cooperation initiatives within the fields of security, defence, economy, trade, investment and education. Both countries affirmed the strength of their bilateral relationship and pledged to further develop it by expanding strategic partnership on key files.

    POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC COOPERATION

    Both Ministers reaffirmed the commitment of Qatar and France to upholding a rules-based international order and international law, the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East, and to close cooperation in relation to regional and global crises.

    Palestine-Israel: Both Ministers called for a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and a long-term political solution that will offer the best hope for the victims of this conflict on all sides and achieving a pathway to a two-state solution. The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs expressed France’s deep appreciation for all Qatar’s mediation efforts, including those to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

    Both Ministers called for full, unhindered humanitarian access allowing aid for the Palestinian population to enter Gaza. The Ministers further stated that politicising of humanitarian assistance, threats of forced displacement, or Israel’s plans to remain in Gaza after the war are unacceptable. The two Ministers stated that the Israeli government’s restrictions of essential humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population of Gaza are totally deplorable and breach International Humanitarian Law.  They further highlighted that Israel is duty-bound to meet all its obligations to ensure immediately a massive and unhindered flow of aid to Gaza – this includes engaging with the UN to ensure aid delivery is in line with humanitarian principles. 

    Both ministers reiterated their opposition to any forced displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population, which would be a serious violation of international law and a major destabilizing factor for the entire region.

    Qatar welcomes the endorsement by France of the Gaza Reconstruction plan formulated by the League of Arab States in March as a serious, credible basis for immediately meeting reconstruction, governance and security needs in the aftermath of the war in Gaza. It guarantees the respect of international law and maintains Gaza’s future within the framework of a future Palestinian State.

    HE Prime Minister Al Thani welcomed the French-Saudi jointly chaired international meeting on June 18 for the implementation of a two-state solution. Both Ministers declared such efforts as the only way to bring durable peace and security to Israelis and Palestinians while ensuring the stability of the wider region.   

    They stressed that the High-Level International Conference on the peaceful resolution of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution, decided by UNGA resolution A/RES/79/81, would contribute to this goal by designing a credible roadmap for the implementation of this solution in which the two countries would be able to live side-by-side in peace within their internationally recognized borders. Both ministers stressed that the future Palestinian state would have sole responsibility for rule of law, including policing primacy. 

    Syria: Both Ministers acknowledged the historic transition process underway in Syria. They emphasised the importance of an inclusive political dispensation that protects the rights of all irrespective of ethnicity, sect, religion or gender. They reiterated their support for the reconstruction of a new Syria – free, stable, sovereign, that respects all components of society. They agreed that stability and security in Syria is paramount for all its citizens as well as the surrounding region. To that end both Ministers committed to work together wherever possible to provide humanitarian assistance, as well as support economic development, and long-term reconstruction. They welcomed the lifting of international sanctions on Syria’s economy and encouraged foreign investments in the country. Qatar welcomed French support for the recent EU decision to lift economic sanctions on Syria and the recent meeting between President Macron and Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Such support and initiatives enable Syria and the Syrian people to undertake a transition to stability, peace and prosperity. The Ministers condemned violations of Syria’s territorial integrity and warned of escalation tactics designed to de-stabilize the region.  

    Lebanon: Qatar welcomed the hosting by France of the International Conference in Support of Lebanon’s People and Sovereignty in October 2024. Progress to political and economic reform in Lebanon is welcomed by both countries. 

    Qatar and France support the territorial integrity and sovereign rights of the Lebanese people, both Ministers called on all parties to honour the commitments made under the ceasefire reached in November 2024. To this end they called for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the complete deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces and their ongoing support to ensure security and achieve State monopoly on arms, assisted by UNIFIL and the supervision mechanism of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, of which France alongside the U.S. participates in. 

    They emphasized their support to the process of change that has begun under the new Lebanese government, aimed at putting Lebanon back on the path of reconstruction, recovery and stability. They expressed their continuing support to the Lebanese Armed Forces and to the UN interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) whose action is essential to guarantee the stability of South Lebanon.

    Iran: Both Ministers reaffirmed Qatar and France’s support for a diplomatic solution leading to an agreement that addresses and resolves all international concerns related to Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, in order to preserve the non-proliferation global architecture as well as stability and de-escalation in the Gulf region. They reiterated their support to the ongoing talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America.  They also called on Iran to fully and effectively cooperate with the legitimate requests and work of the International Atomic Energy Agency.   

    Rwanda and eastern DRC: Both ministers emphasised their shared commitment to peace, stability and security in the Great Lakes region. France commended Qatar’s mediation efforts between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and between Congolese authorities and AFC/M23. They stressed the need for parties to continue working towards the conclusion of a ceasefire, as called upon by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2773 (2025). Following its participation, along with the U.S., DRC, Rwanda and Togo, to the Doha meeting on April 30, France recalled its continued support to Qatar’s peace efforts.

    Sudan: Both Ministers resolved to further work together to address the devastating conflict in Sudan. Qatar and France recalled the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2736 (2024) demanding that the Rapid Support Forces halt the siege of El Fasher and calling for an immediate de-escalation. They reaffirmed their support to the unity of the country and called on the warring parties to immediately cease hostilities, abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and guarantee full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. 

    UNOC: Both ministers welcomed the organization of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June 2025, inter alia to support a blue carbon economy and the fight against illicit fishing. They praised the treaty on marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction on the high seas (BBNJ) as a milestone in the collective protection of the high seas.

    ECONOMY, TRADE AND INVESTMENTS

    Qatar and France emphasized the importance of their growing economic, trade and investment partnership, with a total trade of more than €1.3 billion in 2024. The Ministers highlighted that bilateral trade makes a significant contribution to supporting jobs, innovation, and economic development in both countries.

    The two Ministers reviewed progress on Qatar’s 2024 landmark engagement to invest 10 billion euros into key sectors of the French economy. Qatar’s investment will cover mutually beneficial sectors ranging from food security, digital economy, AI and IT, semiconductors, energy transition, space, Intellectual Property, health, tourism and hospitality and culture. They also welcomed the forthcoming Qatar-France Business Forum as an opportunity for mutual trade growth and investment. They discussed ways to further strengthen their investment partnership and underlined their willingness to facilitate cooperation between the Qatari and French private sectors. They also explored areas of common interest, such as fiscal policy, sustainable finance and public-private partnerships (PPPs).

    Qatar’s innovative investment in France’s semiconductor industry highlights its role in key technology subsectors, including supply chain developments that are also propelling digital and green transformations across vital industries such as AI, mobility, and consumer technology. 

    Both sides discussed ways to further develop their trade and investment partnership, through a Roadmap focused on strategic areas in alignment with the framework of the economic diversification goals stated by Qatar’s National Vision 2030 and in accordance with the economic plan “France 2030.” 

    The French Minister praised Qatar’s ongoing commitment to ensure continued and reliable supplies of energy to Europe, including France and thus contributing to the country’s energy security. 

    DEFENSE, SECURITY AND COUNTERTERRORISM 

    Qatar and France reaffirmed the importance of the defence and security as a foundation stone of their partnership.  This was illustrated by the increase in official-level visits in the last 12 months, and the deepening coordination on an operational level.  

    The Ministers welcomed the implementation of joint defence operational partnership including joint planning, training and military exercises, most recently the Pegase, Al Salam, Al Koot exercises, as well as joint projects in defence industries and innovation and ongoing defence acquisitions including cooperation through both nations’ air forces, facilitated by the common possession of Rafale combat aircrafts. 

    They praised the strategic convergences between Qatar and France, which contribute to enhancing bilateral interactions between the two military institutions. Qatar and France are keen to explore ways to develop new synergies between their armed forces for future defence capabilities. 

    They also explored ways to build on existing links and expand activities on common strategic interests particularly as they contribute to de-escalation and security in the Gulf and the Red Sea.  

    Both Ministers welcomed the robust and long-lasting partnership between their respective security forces, including cooperation and important knowledge-sharing on Mega Sports Events, Crisis Management and Major Event Management, Air and Aviation Security, Cybersecurity and Digital Investigations, and mutual professionalization and capacity-building. 

    They commended the friendship and trust between the French Gendarmerie and the Qatari Lekhwiya celebrating in 2025 the 20th anniversary of their cooperation. They also welcomed the development of a strategic partnership between the French and Qatari national police forces and the establishment of a High Police Committee. They also emphasised building on this cooperation. 

    Both Ministers emphasised that the fight against terrorism remains a key bilateral realm for cooperation. They said that such cooperation is crucial in prevention and countering terrorism and ensuring the safety of their citizens. These efforts reflect the need for a coordinated approach to deal with an ever-evolving set of terrorist threats that transcend national borders. They also agreed to continue their strong partnership in cybersecurity and in combating terrorism, countering violent extremism and illicit financial flows. 

    HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

    On humanitarian and international development cooperation, both Ministers affirmed the continuing success of programmatic bilateral cooperation and coordination between their respective implementing agencies including QFFD, EAA, Silatech and AFD.

    Regarding development, both Ministers welcomed the renewal of their bilateral cooperation in this field, building on the signing of two major agreements between the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Qatar Fund for Development, the Education Above All (EAA) foundation and Silatech in February 2024. They expressed their appreciation concerning the first cooperation between AFD and QFFD for an ambitious project to renovate and expand Saint Joseph’s Hospital in East Jerusalem. They welcomed that QFFD and the AFD Group (AFD, Proparco and Expertise France) renewed their commitment to cofinance development projects and agreed to raise the cofinancing target from $50 million to $100 million for the duration of the MoU. In the short term, QFFD and the AFD Group commit to operationalizing the partnership in the following countries where there are pressing needs and discussions have already started on joint priorities: Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. They welcomed that QFFD and AFD Group will also, in the medium term, work on joint global advocacy activities and expand the partnership to innovative finance.

    Both Ministers praised the ongoing discussions between the Crisis and Support Centre of the French ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Qatar Fund for Development to explore possible new areas of dialogue and joint funding, including in the Middle East, Africa and Asia as well as in the field of humanitarian logistics. 

    Following the joint commitment by the Emir of Qatar and the President of the French Republic to dedicate 200 million dollars in 2024 to humanitarian relief in Gaza both Ministers expressed the necessity of answering without delay the urgent needs for aid there. The Ministers also commended the humanitarian impact of joint health relief efforts in Gaza, including medical evacuations, delivery and flow of humanitarian aid, medicines and ambulances. Additionally, they highlighted joint relief efforts in Lebanon to support conflict-affected populations. Recalling these recent successful joint humanitarian operations, both Ministers support a new joint emergency operation to supply medical equipment and medicine to Afghanistan.

    Such cooperation is the embodiment of the longstanding strategic partnership as well as the commitment of Qatar and France to stand by conflict-affected populations.  

    EDUCATION, HEALTH AND SPORTS 

    Both Ministers lauded the strong cooperation in the fields of education, health and sports. On education the Ministers addressed the growing partnership in the field of education, in particular knowledge sharing and research agreements between Qatari and French Institutions of Higher Education (HEI), including Sciences Po and Doha Institute. 

    Cooperation on research and innovation has been boosted by the strong collaboration between Qatar Research Development and Innovation Council (QRDI) and French HEI’s including Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux energies alternatives (CEA), Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) and HEC Paris. Under the Qatar Open Innovation Scheme French companies have also received QRDI awards and are working in collaboration with Qatar-based SME’s and institutions to make strides in Agricultural Sciences and Medical Healthcare.  

    Qatar and France are looking forward to the signing of the 8th executive program enhancing bilateral cooperation particularly in French language learning, technical, professional and higher education, and mobility of students and teachers. This agreement aims at establishing a steering committee dedicated to learning French from the 9th (third French) class in Qatari public institutions, as well as a steering committee related to the development of university cooperation. Both sides expressed their mutual intention to strengthen their cooperation in higher education and research, promoting exchanges of students and researchers, as well as further exploring joint training and programmes that enable students to achieve their personal and professional goals.

    Qatar and France also expressed their wish to strengthen the sharing of expertise between the medical communities of the two countries, through the rapprochement or exchange of researchers. The minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs expressed his appreciation for the help of Qatar for the recent opening of the World Health Organization Academy in Lyon.The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Al Thani congratulated the Republic of France on its hugely successful hosting of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Both sides expressed their willingness to share expertise and knowledge and to continue their cooperation on the positive impact and the legacy of hosting mega sporting events.  In particular, they addressed the ways in which strong commitments in terms of social and environmental issues, including on emissions reduction and carbon absorption, opportunities to promote inclusion and diversity, and combat hate speech, racism and other forms of prejudice and discrimination, is offered by sport. 

    CULTURE, ART, HERITAGE COOPERATION

    Both Ministers welcomed the deep institutional and people-to-people connections forged through shared ties on culture, art and heritage. They recalled the visit in April, at the invitation of the Qatari authorities and HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, of HE Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture of the French Republic. 

    The visit came as part of framework commitments made in the MoU signed in June 2024 between HE Rachida Dati, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, and HE Sheikha Al Mayassa, Chairperson of Qatar Museums. Both Ministers welcomed the signing of 6 partnership agreements in April 2025 between the French Ministry of Culture, Qatar Museums and the cultural institutions of both countries, and pertaining to a broad range of areas of cooperation, in particular training, exhibitions, loans, research, artist residencies, development of image education workshops for young audiences, development of co-productions, support in the creation of a cinematheque. Qatari and French cultural institutions are currently working on the implementation of these agreements.

    The accords include a framework agreement between the French Ministry of Culture and Qatar Museums for professional training in the cultural sector; an agreement between Qatar Museums and the Etablissement public du musée d’Orsay et du musée de l’Orangerie – Valérie Giscard d’Estaing, including research projects, joint exhibition projects, and academic and educational projects. Qatar Museums and the Musée Guimet will proceed on collaboration that includes research, conservation and educational projects dedicated to Asian arts. Qatar Museums also proceeded with a partnership agreement with Manufactures nationales – Sèvres and Mobilier national dedicated to the design and crafts sectors, aiming to strengthen links between French and Qatari designers and craftspeople. Under the framework further Qatar-France agreements include a Memorandum of Understanding between the Doha Film Institute and the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée as well as a Memorandum of understanding between the National Library of Qatar and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. 

    They also welcomed the increased cooperation between the Qatari and French Ministries of Culture, in particular through the forthcoming renewal of the cooperation agreement between the two ministries of Culture.

    Both Ministers reiterated the commitment of their nations to heritage protection, especially in conflict areas, and respect for all relevant international agreements of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

    A SHARED AND RESPONSIBLE FUTURE 

    The State of Qatar and France emphasize the importance of their continued partnership which benefits the interests of both countries and consolidates coordination towards a shared and responsible future.

    Qatar and France look forward to reviewing progress in these areas at the fourth Strategic Dialogue to be held in Doha in 2026.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Government commits to crackdown on fraud, bribery and corruption with further investment

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Government commits to crackdown on fraud, bribery and corruption with further investment

    Victims of fraud and economic crime will be better protected through a funding boost outlined in the Spending Review for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as part of the government’s Plan for Change to cut crime and plan to invest in Britain’s renewal.

    • Serious Fraud Office receives further investment to tackle serious economic 
    • Funding will be used to build the SFO’s intelligence function to intercept criminality earlier in complex cases 
    • Funding will be used to improve digital capabilities and streamline resources

    More than £8 million of investment over the next three years will be spent on strengthening the SFO’s intelligence and information-gathering work and continuously expanding the agency’s use of technology to assist with disclosure. 

    The extra funding, which is in addition to the £9.3 million of funding announced in the Budget, will be used to bolster SFO’s intelligence capabilities so it can proactively  identify and progress the biggest and complex economic crimes.  

    The Attorney General Lord Hermer KC said: 

    “Fraud and serious economic crime destroy people’s finances and hurts the reputation of doing business in the UK.  

    “This government is committed to kick-starting economic growth and this additional funding to SFO will modernise their services to tackle serious economic crime, while continuously improving their capabilities to seize assets and make returns to the taxpayer.” 

    Nicholas Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, said: 

    “This settlement, which provides long-term funding for the Serious Fraud Office recognises the essential work we do in tackling the most serious economic crimes and safeguarding the UK economy so it can continue to thrive. 

    “This settlement will allow us to invest in our intelligence capability, expand our investigative reach and strengthen our ability to recover criminal assets, including crypto assets, wherever they may be.” 

    For background

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –