Category: Germany

MIL-OSI: Zoi launches Zoi North America Inc.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoi, a leading cloud-native IT consultancy, announced today that it has launched Zoi North America Inc. Founded in Stuttgart, Germany, Zoi opens the doors to its United States headquarters in Jersey City, New Jersey, providing local talent to assist with the digital transformation of enterprises. Zoi has the experience to streamline operations and IT infrastructure for U.S. companies operating in Europe, as well as international enterprises that have business operations in the U.S.

An enabler of digital infrastructure evolution, Zoi specializes in the development and consulting of digital, internet, cloud, data, and AI-based technologies and applications, specializing in retail, manufacturing, and automotive enterprises. With German engineering at its core, Zoi’s international team of tech-savvy talent provides more than technical expertise. By understanding each customer’s business, the team applies a methodology and mindset focused on identifying core challenges and needs from a business perspective—before determining the best-fit technology. This approach is supported by strong partnerships with all major hyperscalers.

“Enterprise transformation needs more than top-notch technology—it needs clarity, strategy, and structure to execute successfully. That’s what we bring to the U.S. market,” says Danilo Kirschner, Managing Director of Zoi North America. “At the interface of business and technology, we help customers prepare for the future by turning strategy into outcomes with a clear methodology, proven cloud architecture, and cross-functional teams that execute at scale.”

Since 2017, Zoi has partnered with future-focused organizations to provide:
- Agile and reliable modernization journeys
- Translation of business complexity and legacy monoliths into scalable cloud services
- Cross-functional, industry-focused teams that deliver measurable outcomes
- A trusted, certified partner ecosystem that can scale internationally
As one of the fastest-growing cloud-native consulting companies globally, Zoi maintains strong partnerships with public cloud providers. Zoi is an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Premier Consulting Partner, Google Cloud Premier Partner, Microsoft Solutions Partner, and SAP Gold Partner. Previously earning an AWS Develop the Best Award in the DACH region and the AWS Transformation Award, Zoi was recently named a 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year, recognized for its strategic advice, technical expertise, and successful implementation of Google Workspace and Gemini models at companies operating worldwide.

ABOUT ZOI
Zoi is a global cloud-native and technology consulting company with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and Barcelona, Spain. In 2025, the company expanded into the U.S. with the launch of Zoi North America, Inc., establishing its U.S. headquarters in Jersey City, New Jersey. A 2025 Google Cloud Workspace Partner of the Year, Zoi maintains strong relationships with its partners such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and SAP, to accelerate the digital transformation of enterprises, specializing in manufacturing, retail and automotive infrastructure. With over a decade of cloud experience and more than 450 employees in six countries, Zoi develops innovative full-stack solutions in the public cloud that are AI-supported and business-focused. Visit zoi.tech.

PRESS CONTACT

Sheri Wachenheim
M: +1 973 6705413
sheri@bnoinc.com

Dr. Nadine Brunner
M: +49 172 1888203
nadine.brunner@zoi.tech

The MIL Network –
June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Trump–Xi call boosts Chinese president’s tough man image — and may have handed him the upper hand in future talks

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Linggong Kong, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, Auburn University

Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump at the G20 Summit on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

On June 5, U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It marked the first direct conversation between the two leaders since Trump began his second term — and the first since tensions sharply escalated in 2025’s U.S.-China trade war.

After the call, Trump was quick to frame it as a success for his administration, posting on social media that it led to “a very positive conclusion for both Countries.” He later told reporters that Xi had agreed to resume exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S. — allaying the fears of the auto industry, which had previously warned that parts suppliers were facing severe and immediate risks to production.

The presidential phone call also yielded an invitation for Trump and first lady Melania to visit China, an invitation that Trump reciprocated.

But aside from the easing of some trade tension and surface-level niceties, the call conveyed subtle messages about an imbalance in the bilateral dispute. As an expert on U.S.-China relations, I believe these subtleties point to Xi having the upper hand in U.S.-China talks and also using Trump as a foil to burnish his own image as a strong leader at home and abroad.

A rare earths ace

The Trump-Xi call should not distract from the fragile state of China-U.S. relations — and the willingness of Beijing to play its “rare earth materials card.”

Beijing suspended rare earth shipments to prominent American companies following the U.S. imposition of tariffs on China.

Although China and U.S. delegations reached a 90-day tariff truce in Geneva on May 12, negotiations between the two countries remain ongoing. As many observers have noted, deep-rooted and structural differences — such as disputes over currency manipulation, export subsidies and other nontariff barriers — continue to cast a long shadow over the prospects of U.S-China trade talks.

U.S. auto assembly lines are reliant on rare earth materials from China.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

Under the terms of the Geneva deal, China agreed to suspend or lift its export ban on rare earths — something the U.S. accuses China of dragging its feet on.

Beijing, in turn, accuses the U.S. of breaking the Geneva agreement first and blames Washington for rolling out a wave of discriminatory measures against China after the talks, including new export controls on artificial intelligence chips, a ban on selling electronic design automation software to Chinese companies, and plans to revoke visas for Chinese students.

Trump’s order banning American companies from using AI chips by China-based Huawei — issued just one day after the Geneva agreement on May 12 — was seen by many in Beijing as directly countering the spirit of the agreement. Indeed, it may well have prompted Beijing to delay the resumption of rare earth exports to the U.S. in the first place.

Aside from the actual effect of the resumption of rare earth exports, Trump’s apparent priority given to the issue signals to Beijing just how reliant the U.S. is on China in this regard — something that would not have gone unnoticed by Xi.

Xi never came calling

Just one day before the June 5 call, Trump wrote on social media: “I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!”

His conversation with the Chinese leader would have further reinforced Xi’s tough image — not just for a Chinese audience, but for international observers as well.

This was certainly encouraged by how China described the call. According to China’s official statement, Xi “took a phone call from U.S. President Donald J. Trump” – the subtle implication being that it was Trump who initiated the call.

This framing promotes the idea that Xi holds the upper hand. The Chinese statement also highlighted that the Geneva talks were “at the suggestion of the U.S. side,” implying that China did not back down in the face of Trump’s trade pressure — and that it was Trump who ultimately blinked first.

China’s message is particularly significant given that, as the U.S.-China trade war intensified in April, Washington believed it could gain “escalation dominance” by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods — perhaps underestimating China’s ability to retaliate effectively and assuming Beijing would be eager to negotiate.

Prior to the June 5 communication, Trump repeatedly expressed hope that Xi would call him, yet Xi never took the initiative. On April 22, Trump told Time magazine that Xi had phoned him — an assertion that Beijing quickly denied.

Throughout the trade standoff, Xi refrained from initiating contact with Trump, and in the end, it was Trump who reached out.

This undoubtedly enhanced Xi’s image back home — and potentially undermined Trump’s negotiating posture.

The official Chinese statement following the talks noted: “The Chinese side is sincere about this, and at the same time has its principles. The Chinese always honor and deliver what has been promised. Both sides should make good on the agreement reached in Geneva.”

Those words appear aimed at signaling to the international community that it is the U.S. — not China — that failed to uphold its end of the Geneva agreement.

The second-to-last paragraph of the Chinese statement on the phone call noted: “President Trump said that he has great respect for President Xi, and the U.S.-China relationship is very important. The U.S. wants the Chinese economy to do very well. The U.S. and China working together can get a lot of great things done. The U.S. will honor the one-China policy. The meeting in Geneva was very successful, and produced a good deal. The U.S. will work with China to execute the deal. The U.S. loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America.”

While much of this language may be standard diplomatic rhetoric, it clearly aims to box in Trump as the supplicant in the current dispute and implies that he is moving closer to China’s positions, including key nontrade issues like U.S. visas for Chinese students.

A game of telephone?

Aside from the optics or broader question of who is “winning” the dispute, the Trump-Xi call has certainly eased some tensions on both sides — at least temporarily.

For the U.S., concerns over rare earth supplies were alleviated. Since the call, it has been reported that China has issued temporary export licenses to companies that supply rare earth materials to America’s three largest automakers.

For China, Trump’s remarks seemingly helped reduce anxiety over issues such as Taiwan and student visa restrictions.

But given the deep and fundamental differences between the two countries on trade and economic matters — and recalling how trade negotiations repeatedly stalled and restarted during Trump’s first term — there is good reason to believe that future talks could face similar setbacks.

But what is clear now, especially compared with the trade war during Trump’s first administration, is that Beijing appears better prepared and more skilled at leveraging its rare earth exports as a bargaining chip.

In many ways, Trump faces the greater pressure in his handling of Xi. Should talks collapse, any resulting supply chain disruptions could lead to rising inflation, market volatility and economic woe for the U.S. — with the associated risks of political fallout ahead of the midterm elections. Xi will know this and, in rare earth materials, has an ace up his sleeve to pull out when needed.

Indeed, Trump may find himself needing to reach out to Xi again in the future in an effort to revive troubled trade negotiations. But doing so would only reinforce Xi’s image as the tougher and more dominant figure.

Linggong Kong 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. Trump–Xi call boosts Chinese president’s tough man image — and may have handed him the upper hand in future talks – https://theconversation.com/trump-xi-call-boosts-chinese-presidents-tough-man-image-and-may-have-handed-him-the-upper-hand-in-future-talks-258437

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: 100 years ago, the Social Gospel movement pushed to improve workers’ lives – but also to promote its vision of Christian America

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christina Littlefield, Associate Professor of Communication and Religion, Pepperdine University

Immigrant children from Central Europe at a settlement house in St. Louis. Thomasa.nagel/Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump has praised the Gilded Age, which he believes was a time of immense national prosperity thanks to tariffs, no income tax, and few regulations on business.

Similar to today, the late 19th century was a time where a small group of men enjoyed immense wealth, privilege and power to shape the nation. It was a time of immense inequality, as factory and housing conditions crushed the lives of the poor.

And it was a time of white Christian nationalism.

In Northern cities, reformers saw the wealth gap, the plight of workers and the squalid conditions in tenements as undermining their vision of a Christian America. Fueled by faith, the Social Gospel movement worked to expand labor rights and improve living conditions at the turn of the 20th century.

At the same time, many of these white Protestant activists believed their own culture and race to be superior, and this prejudice hindered their efforts. They often spouted anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant rhetoric, and mostly ignored Black workers’ plight.

One of Jacob Riis’ many photographs of living conditions on New York’s Lower East Side.
Bettmann via Getty Images

Ever since the Puritans landed, white Christian nationalism has informed how many Protestants try to shape their country – a history I trace with church historian Richard T. Hughes in the book “Christian America and the Kingdom of God.” But Christian nationalism has taken dramatically different forms over time. The progressive Social Gospellers of a century ago are a particularly striking contrast to the conservative Christian right that has shaped U.S. politics for half a century, up to today.

Guardians of a Christian nation

There are many differences between Christian nationalism then and now. Like many conservative Christians today, however, the Social Gospellers believed that the United States was uniquely chosen and blessed by God, and called to be a Christian nation. They saw themselves as the rightful guardians of that mission. And though the country was still overwhelmingly Protestant, they feared they were losing influence.

New research explored the history of the Bible – research that many Christians feared would undermine people’s trust in Scripture as the word of God, by emphasizing its human composition. New scientific ideas about the Earth’s creation and human evolution challenged their visions of an all-powerful, all-knowing God. Meanwhile, rapid industrialization and urbanization had created new social challenges, such as workers’ safety and living conditions, leading some to reject faith as irrelevant to their needs.

Social Gospellers wanted to vindicate Christianity and show it was still relevant to modern life. But white leaders’ vision of what a Christian America should look like conflated their Protestant faith with their race and culture.

Josiah Strong, for example, was a Congregationalist minister known for promoting factory safety. But he stoked fear of Catholic immigrants and endorsed the expansion of the U.S. as a benevolent empire. The Anglo-Saxon race “is destined to dispossess many weaker races, assimilate others, and mold the remainder,” Strong argued in his 1885 book, “Our Country.”

Baptist reformer Walter Rauschenbusch.
Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Another Social Gospel reformer, Northern Baptist theologian Walter Rauschenbusch, railed against unrestrained greed, political corruption, militarism and contempt between elites and the working class. But he shared the white supremacy of his age. God was favoring Germanic and Anglo-Saxon people, he claimed, to enact God’s purposes.

“Other races are as dear to God as we and he may be holding them in reserve to carry His banner when we drop it,” he wrote in an undated article. But it was part of God’s plan, he believed, for Northern Europeans to “hold the larger part of the world’s wealth and power in the hollow of their hands and the larger share of the world’s intellectual and spiritual possessions in the hollow of their heads.”

The ‘right’ kind of Christian

Though many white Protestants felt threatened by the challenges of immigration, they were still a clear majority, and they presumed that most Americans would endorse applying Christian ethics to public policy and social reform.

Jane Addams speaks to visitors in 1935 at Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago that she co-founded in 1889.
National Archives via Wikimedia Commons

What’s more, women gaining the right to vote in 1920 meant Social Gospel leaders expanded Protestants’ power at the ballot box. Many Social Gospel leaders embraced women’s suffrage because women were already leading supporters for their causes: For example, Frances Willard, who promoted temperance and workers’ rights; and Jane Addams, who ran a Christian “settlement house,” or community center, for the poor.

But in another sense, demographics were not on their side. The U.S. might have been a very white and Christian country, but in some Social Gospellers’ minds, the era’s waves of immigrants were not the “right” kind of Christian: Northern European and Protestant. Immigration was shifting from Great Britain, Ireland and Germany to Russia, Poland, Hungary and Italy. While Protestants far outnumbered Catholics nationally, Strong wrote that they were double the Protestant population in major cities like New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

A Polish mother and her nine children waiting at Ellis Island.
U.S. National Park Service

Strong argued that Catholic immigrants were lazy, prone to alcoholism and criminal activity, and willing to sell their vote to corrupt city politicians. He claimed they would corrupt the morals of Anglo-Saxon Americans, and that if the Catholic population grew, it would undermine Protestants’ religious liberty.

Nativist views like these led to the National Origins Act of 1924, which restricted the number of immigrants. Quotas for each country were based on the profile of the American population in 1890 – an attempt to maintain Protestant dominance against Catholic and Jewish immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. That distrust also kept Social Gospellers from partnering with Roman Catholic leaders on shared concern for workers.

Flourishing for all, or some?

Still, when it came to workers’ basic needs, reformers cared deeply about improving circumstances for the “least of these.” The movement was strongly influenced by the biblical parable of the sheep and the goats: verses in the Book of Matthew where Jesus promotes feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, clothing the naked and visiting those in prison.

Social Gospellers aimed to prove that Christianity could answer the social challenges caused by industrialization, urbanization and immigration. For the most part, they sought to use their privilege in ways that promoted the flourishing of all Americans, such as expanding labor rights and providing services to the poor through settlement houses.

A photograph by Jacob Riis in a small New York City sweatshop in the 1880s.
Bettmann via Getty Images

In 1908, for example, the Federal Council of Churches adopted a 14-point statement called the “Social Creed,” affirming that churches should support reforms “to lift the crushing burdens of the poor, and to reduce the hardships and uphold the dignity of labor.” While some of the reforms they called for are taken for granted today — like one day off per week — other calls, like a living wage for all, are yet to be realized.

Over the past half-century, the modern Christian right, too, has feared that its vision for the nation is eroding. Conservative churches have seen their influence drop as more Americans move away from organized religion and reject their rejection of LGBTQ+ people.

I — along with other scholars — argue that these fears have helped fuel resurgent Christian nationalism today. Since merging with the tea party movement during the Obama administration, the Christian right has increasingly embraced an anti-immigration and anti-minority stance, fearing the loss of its own standing.

Like the Social Gospellers of a century ago, the Christian nationalists of recent decades are wary of religious and racial change in their country. Yet the movement’s priorities – often focused around its vision of families, sex and gender – are starkly more limited than the broader quality-of-life issues that Social Gospellers addressed.

Both groups desired an America rooted in biblical values. But each interpreted Scripture through its own lens, seeking to remake America in its own, white Protestant image.

Christina Littlefield 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. 100 years ago, the Social Gospel movement pushed to improve workers’ lives – but also to promote its vision of Christian America – https://theconversation.com/100-years-ago-the-social-gospel-movement-pushed-to-improve-workers-lives-but-also-to-promote-its-vision-of-christian-america-255216

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI: EWIA launches funding offering on Conda to drive solar business in Africa
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
- Raising capital for growth, expansion, and diversification
- Tokenized participation certificate issuance
- Geschäftsmodell mit dreifachem Impact
Munich/Accra, 10 June, 2025 – EWIA Green Investments launched a new financing round today on the digital financing platform Conda (conda-capital.com). In order to raise additional equity capital for its growth strategy, the company is issuing tokenized participation certificates worth up to €2 million through a specially established special purpose vehicle (SPV). Since its founding in 2020, EWIA has become a major player in the commercial renewable energy segment in West Africa. Following the successful launch of solar financing and operation for commercial and industrial customers in Ghana, EWIA is now pushing ahead with expansion in Nigeria and Cameroon, as well as diversification into new business areas.

“Power generation is too expensive and dirty in large parts of Africa, and blackouts are a daily occurrence,” says co-founder and managing director Ralph Schneider. ”EWIA is helping to meet Africa’s growing energy needs with clean, affordable, and reliable solar power.” In 2020, EWIA Green Investments launched in Ghana as a dedicated solar financier, helping medium-sized businesses transition from diesel generators to clean, cost-effective solar energy. By analyzing electricity demand and refinancing potential across various industries, EWIA designs tailored solar solutions that meet the specific needs of each client.Today, EWIA also installs PV systems in-house, acting as an EPC project developer responsible for engineering, procurement, and construction. A subsidiary builds solar-powered telecom towers for mobile network operators

Triple Impact Investment

“By transferring capital and know-how to sub-Saharan Africa, we help local businesses operate more successfully, become more competitive, and create jobs — all crucial factors for both the economic and social development of a continent with the youngest and fastest-growing population in the world,” says co-founder and managing director Timo Schäfer. “At the same time, we offer investors in Europe the opportunity to participate in the growth potential of this dynamic market.”

With subsidiaries currently operating in three African countries, EWIA itself already employs 76 staff — including 31 women — in highly skilled roles with long-term career prospects.

Financing growth

With the acquisition of SunErgy GmbH in April, EWIA expanded into Cameroon, where it is electrifying entire villages. SunErgy has been licensed by the Republic of Cameroon to establish solar power supplies for 92 villages with approximately 600,000 people, as well as schools, health centers, and private and public companies in the southwestern region of the country. As part of the transaction, investment and asset manager KGAL acquired a stake in EWIA. At the same time, EWIA is pressing ahead with its expansion into the Nigerian market – the continent’s largest economy. Over the next five years, EWIA aims to expand its project portfolio to over €63 million and significantly increase its footprint in West Africa.

Under the current offering, investors can subscribe to participation certificates in a special purpose vehicle that holds an interest in EWIA Green Investments GmbH for a minimum amount of €250 per share. The investment has no fixed term and is based on a company valuation of approximately €12.3 million.

As with equity, investors participate in profits and in the development of the company’s value in proportion to their share equivalent. Detailed information is available at
https://conda-capital.com/campaign/ewia-3-0-indirekte-beteiligung/.

With the funds from the newly launched offering, EWIA aims to solidify its market position through scalable operations, a stronger team of skilled professionals, and the continued development of the EWIAFinance.de platform

About EWIA Green Investments

EWIA provides small and medium-sized businesses in Africa with access to clean solar energy and serves as a bridge builder to investors in Europe as well as for the transfer of technology know-how. Based in Munich, Germany, with operating entities in Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria, EWIA offers private and institutional investors access to attractive impact investments in the fight against climate change and for sustainable economic growth in Africa. Private investors can also invest specifically in solar projects via ewiafinance.de.

With EWIA’s flexible full-service financing solution, companies in Africa have the opportunity to obtain solar power, financing, security and service from a single source. In the infrastructure sector, EWIA funds and constructs mobile phone communication masts and traffic monitoring systems and equips them with PV systems. www.ewiainvestments.com

Contact for queries:

EWIA Green Investments GmbH
Ralph Schneider, CEO
ralph.schneider@EWIAinvestments.com
+49 162 1366 984

Schwarz Financial Communication
Frank Schwarz
schwarz@schwarzfinancial.com
+49 611 58029290

Disclaimer: Not for publication in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, or any other jurisdiction outside the EU, and in particular in jurisdictions that prohibit the offering or sale of these instruments.

Risk warning: The purchase of this investment involves significant risks, including the possibility of total loss. Please inform yourself thoroughly before investing and seek professional advice. Detailed explanations can be found at Conda Capital Market.

The MIL Network –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI: LightSolver and HLRS Present Joint Research on Optical Computing at ISC High Performance 2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LightSolver, inventors of a new laser-based computing paradigm, and HLRS (High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart) today announced the joint presentation of their co-authored, peer-reviewed research paper, “Exploring QUBO on LPUs for Engineering,” at this week’s ISC High Performance 2025 conference in Hamburg, Germany. The presentation will take place this Friday, June 13th during the 4th HPC on Heterogeneous Hardware (H3) workshop, on the first floor of Hall X6 from 2:00-6:00pm.

With HPC simulations demanding immense computational power, emerging specialized processors like LightSolver’s Laser Processing Unit™ (LPU) offer a promising path toward reducing total time to solution and improving energy efficiency. This is reflected in the research paper, which explores the use of the LPU to address mesh decomposition, a common task in Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE). It will be presented by Dr. Dan Gluck, senior algorithm researcher for LightSolver, and Dr. Johannes Gebert, deputy director at HLRS and group lead for future computing.

Mesh decomposition is the process of breaking down a complex 3D mesh (a collection of vertices, edges, and faces that define the shape of a 3D object) into simpler subcomponents. This technique is widely used in computer graphics, geometry processing, 3D modeling, finite element analysis, and robotics. For their research, LightSolver and HLRS used Direct Tensor Computation, a biomechanical application in which mathematical operations are performed directly on multi-dimensional arrays called tensors, rather than being broken down into simpler components. The team converted the mesh decomposition into a QUBO (Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization) formulation and ran it on the LPU emulator, developing a methodology and proving that mesh decomposition could be addressed by an optical computing platform.

“We are proud to present our joint research with HLRS, which highlights how optical computing can address common bottlenecks in engineering software,” said Ruti Ben Shlomi, CEO of LightSolver. “To crack current performance limits and achieve greater energy efficiency, it is crucial for industry and research to partner and examine novel computing paradigms. This initial paper has demonstrated the feasibility of running a mesh decomposition on our optical processor, the LPU. We’re looking forward to deepening our collaboration with HLRS and presenting practical pathways for integrating specialized processors into heterogeneous computing frameworks.”

The H3 Workshop provides a platform for pioneering work in algorithmic research, software libraries, programming models, and workflows designed for increasingly heterogeneous hardware environments. The presentation by LightSolver and HLRS aligns with the workshop’s mission to explore new paradigms and strengthen the bridge between software and specialized hardware in HPC.

About LightSolver
LightSolver is a photonics computing company that is developing an all-optical supercomputer capable of solving complex and large computational problems at the speed of light.” Utilizing the interference patterns of lasers, the Laser Processing Unit™ (LPU) can tackle challenges that were previously constrained by the limits of electronics, while fitting into a rack unit and operating at room temperature. Dr. Ruti Ben-Shlomi and Dr. Chene Tradonsky, physicists from the world-renowned Weizmann Institute, founded the company in 2020. More than 2/3 of the team are physics, math and computer science PhDs. LightSolver has secured investment from TAL Ventures, Entree Capital, IBI Tech Fund, Angular Ventures, Maverick, and Artofin. The company has also received a €12.5M grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) to advance its all-optical supercomputer. Connect with LightSolver @LightSolverCo on X and on LinkedIn. For more information, visit lightsolver.com or email info@lightsolver.com.

Media Contact:
Seth Menacker
Fusion PR
lightsolver@fusionpr.com

The MIL Network –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM call with Chancellor Merz of Germany: 9 June 2025
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

Press release

PM call with Chancellor Merz of Germany: 9 June 2025

The Prime Minister spoke to the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz ahead of the G7 and NATO summits later this month.
The Prime Minister spoke to the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz ahead of the G7 and NATO summits later this month.

The leaders began reflecting on the Chancellor’s visit to Washington D.C. last week and welcomed President Trump’s efforts to secure a sustainable peace for Ukraine.

Both leaders also welcomed efforts by NATO Allies to step up defence spending and agreed on the importance of a NATO that was fair, resilient and had the capabilities it needed to face the threats of today.

Discussing proposals to increase focus and funding for national resilience and protecting critical national infrastructure, the leaders welcomed NATO’s suggestions in this space.

Turning to the challenge of tackling illegal migration, the leaders agreed on the importance of working together to intercept migrant routes upstream, and the need to go further together to break the business model of smuggling gangs.

Both looked forward to seeing one another again soon.

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Published 10 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Philip Harrison, Professor School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa met senior leaders of Johannesburg and Gauteng, the province it’s located in, in March 2025 to discuss ways to arrest the steep decline in South Africa’s largest city.

Ramaphosa announced a two-year-long presidential intervention to tackle some of the city’s most pressing issues. It is to be led by the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group with eight cross-governmental and multi-stakeholder workstreams.

Johannesburg was established 130 years ago, where the world’s largest-ever gold deposits were discovered. It grew rapidly in the early 20th century and became the country’s economic heartland and largest population centre. Like all South African cities, it was deeply scarred by apartheid policies. People were divided by racially defined groups. Good services and a strong economy benefited a minority, and a black majority were pushed into impoverished ghettos.

But, for about the first two decades of post-apartheid rule from 1994, Johannesburg led the country with innovation and progressive change. It pioneered the new local government system, institutional reforms, new practice on city strategy and planning, pro-poor service delivery, and modern transport infrastructure.

Today, however, the city is in a dire state. Over the past decade, roughly coinciding with the arrival of messy coalition governance in 2016, sound political leadership, administrative stability and financial management have crumbled. Underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance has led to collapsing services. Public trust is deteriorating among increasingly frustrated communities. This was evident in local election results. It also shows up in recent data released by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory on public trust in local government.

The local economy has stagnated. The city’s official unemployment rate of 34.3% is higher than the national average of 32.9%. Mounting joblessness and dwindling incomes have intertwined with depleted trust to knock levels of payment for property rates and service charges. In turn this has deepened the financial and service maintenance crisis.

Corruption in many parts of the city is an endemic complicating factor.

The presidential intervention is designed to address this complex interplay between embedded legacies and failings post-apartheid. The workstreams involving city officials and concerned stakeholders are generating ideas for priority actions. There is also a new energy in the city government, with the executive mayor and members of his mayoral committee making turnaround promises.

This long overdue attention is heartening. But some caution is called for. While some “quick wins” are needed, there will be no easy turnaround. The best prospect is likely to be a process of recovery that will require patience and methodical attention over the long term. A city cannot be repaired in the way an automobile can. A city has a trillion moving parts and is in a constant state of makeover, as dynamics of economy, technology, demography, environment, society, politics, and more, interact and produce change.

The question is not whether a city is fixed – it can never finally be – but rather what trajectory it is on. For Johannesburg, the question is how to exit the downward spiral and begin the process of reconstruction.

We are a group who previously worked in the City of Johannesburg as officials, who are now academics with decades of experience observing local governance trends and dynamics, or scholars engaged in civil society coalitions or communities mobilising around the crisis. Some of us have been involved in the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group over the last few months.

Our view is that there are four areas needing urgent but sustained attention.

Focus areas

The first is the need for a joint effort across national, provincial and municipal government to resolve the crisis. We are pleased that this has begun. The political leadership in the city (and of the province) failed to grasp the opportunity provided by the post-2024 election national compromises to put together a broad-based government of local unity to lead reconstruction. There is no option now but to pursue an inter-governmental initiative led by national government with the committed involvement of the other spheres.

Only genuine collaboration will succeed.

In this respect, the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group holds promise. But what will be needed is careful, concerted work focused first on short-term priorities. Then, over years, on key structural challenges facing the city.

Second, the city needs civil society in all its forms to hold a careful balance between keeping up the pressure on municipal government, constantly holding it accountable to its residents, and working with government to help it solve problems. The Joburg Crisis Alliance, Jozi-my-Jozi, WaterCAN and similar initiatives are claiming well-recognised and respected voice in the affairs of the municipality.

Johannesburg needs a city government that is open to this scrutiny, accepting the need for transparency, and open to the help that civil society can offer.

To raise the level of accountability and collaboration, a clear programme of restoration has to be communicated openly to the public. Milestones and expenditure requirements need to be set that allow for constant monitoring. There must be open council meetings, and regular online and in-person briefings.

Also required are new mechanisms for citizen-based monitoring. These may include trained citizen monitors reporting on service delivery. Alternatively, the establishment of a sort of “Citizen’s Council” which meets regularly to receive reports from these monitors and the city administration.

International examples include the Bürgerrat model. This is now fully institutionalised in parts of Germany and Austria to strengthen local democracy and accountability. In this model, citizens are randomly selected to sit on a council which monitors performance of local government and provides new ideas.

Another approach could be for civil society organisations to be invited to a Citizen’s Council that would act in support of the oversight processes of the elected Municipal Council.

Third, there has to be a solution to unstable coalition governments. These seem to be structured to facilitate separate political fiefdoms where spoils can be divided in the allocation of portfolios. At minimum, the presidential intervention must provide for a check and balance on processes where bureaucratic appointments and budgetary allocations may serve the interests of cronyism. For example, there should be transparency and rigour in appointments to the boards of Johannesburg’s municipally owned companies.

Regulatory reforms are required in the political arena. This should include rules for the distribution of seats on the municipal executive and the election of mayors. Between January 2023 and August 2024 a tiny minority party held the mayoralty because the larger parties could not agree on a mayoral selection or, more cynically, to ensure that the executive mayor could not call large parties to account.

More importantly, though, there has to be a change in political culture. This is a longer-term process.

Fourth, the problems run far deeper than what bureaucratic reorganisation can achieve.

The longer-term project is to build a capable administration with clear political direction and oversight but insulated from personal agendas and factional battles. The administration became confused and demoralised because of the political instability over an extended period. There are, however, still many capable and committed public servants in the city bureaucracy. The focus should be on working with them to rebuild the administration, making it a place where talent and initiative are recognised and rewarded.

Restored political leadership and a rejuvenated administration is needed for a long term process, extending far beyond the quick wins. This process will involve refurbishing the decaying network infrastructure, restoring financial stability, reestablishing social trust and returning confidence to the city’s economy.

2025 marks 30 years since the first democratic local elections. National government is looking seriously at sweeping municipal reforms. And the next municipal election – likely to be held at the end of 2026 – is an opportunity to make a deep transformation effort. Citizens can ensure that parties contesting the election place Johannesburg’s recovery at the heart of their agenda.

– Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse
– https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-problems-can-be-solved-but-its-a-long-journey-to-fix-south-africas-economic-powerhouse-256013

MIL OSI Africa –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI China: China’s foreign trade maintains resilience despite headwinds

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

China’s foreign trade demonstrated resilience in the first five months of 2025, with total trade value rising 2.5 percent year on year, driven by the country’s efforts to optimize its trade structure and stabilize growth.

The growth rate marked an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to that registered in the first four months of 2025. The total value of goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms stood at 17.94 trillion yuan (about 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-May period, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC) data released Monday.

During the first five months of 2025, China’s exports rose 7.2 percent year on year to 10.67 trillion yuan while imports fell 3.8 percent to 7.27 trillion yuan, the data showed.

An aerial drone photo shows vehicles to be exported at Yantai Port in east China’s Shandong Province, Jan. 2, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Strong resilience

Lyu Daliang, director of the GAC’s Department of Statistics and Analysis, said China’s goods trade has maintained “relatively strong resilience” despite external pressures, as the country’s economy has continued its recovery trend since the beginning of the year.

“In May, China’s foreign trade continued its growth trend, with the pace of expansion accelerating notably following the high-level China-U.S. economic and trade talks (held in Geneva last month),” the official said.

In May alone, China’s total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms rose 2.7 percent year on year. Goods exports rose 6.3 percent year on year, while imports went down 2.1 percent, according to the data.

“In the face of a more complex and challenging international situation, China’s foreign trade has overcome difficulties and withstood pressure, maintaining stable growth and demonstrating strong resilience,” said Wang Xuekun, head of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.

This resilience has been underpinned by dedicated efforts to boost trade at the local level. In east China’s Jiangsu Province, the provincial government has pledged increased funding to support exporters’ participation in overseas exhibitions. Since the beginning of the year, it has helped more than 1,400 companies take part in over 120 exhibitions overseas.

In southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, cross-border freight vehicles carrying Chinese products, such as motorbike components and agricultural machinery, can reach Vietnam in as little as two days after clearing customs in Chongqing.

Thanks to the timeliness and flexibility of the road transport corridor, Chongqing’s cross-border freight trucks transported goods worth 5.7 billion yuan in the first five months of 2025, marking a 4.3-fold increase year on year.

An aerial drone photo taken on May 22, 2025 shows China-Europe freight train X8489 loaded with autos, machine parts and home appliances before its departure for Duisburg, Germany, in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Structural improvements

Monday’s GAC data also showed continued structural improvements in China’s foreign trade. High-tech product exports performed strongly in the first five months of 2025, rising 6.1 percent year on year in U.S.-dollar term, while exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 8.1 percent over the same period.

In terms of trading partners, ASEAN remained China’s largest trading partner in the January-May period. During this period, trade between China and ASEAN totaled 3.02 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1 percent.

During the same period, China’s trade with the European Union went up 2.9 percent year on year to nearly 2.3 trillion yuan, while its trade with the United States decreased by 8.1 percent year on year to 1.72 trillion yuan, according to the data.

Trade with Belt and Road partner countries rose 4.2 percent to 9.24 trillion yuan, and trade with African countries hit a record high, with the China-Africa trade volume increasing 12.4 percent to 963.21 billion yuan during the period.

Wang said that against the headwinds of rising unilateralism and protectionism, China would rise to the challenges and take multiple measures to properly handle trade frictions and stabilize foreign trade.

According to him, these measures include seizing trade opportunities by diversifying trading partners and supporting Chinese exporters in exploring the domestic market through promotional campaigns and channels such as supermarkets and e-commerce platforms to sell high-quality foreign trade products.

Wang also emphasized the need for greater support for foreign trade enterprises, calling for enhanced government efforts to help companies secure deals through matchmaking services at major trade exhibitions, as well as increased financing support.

MIL OSI China News –

June 10, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: New handhelds combine the power of Xbox with the freedom of Windows 11

Source: Microsoft

Headline: New handhelds combine the power of Xbox with the freedom of Windows 11

Summary

Announcing the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, two new handhelds crafted in collaboration with ASUS that combine the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows.
Both launch holiday 2025 in select markets, with additional markets to follow.
Information on pre-orders, pricing, accessories, and more coming soon.

Everything at Xbox starts with the player. That’s why we’ve dedicated years to reimagining how to make it easier to enjoy the games you love—wherever you are—through Xbox Play Anywhere, Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), Remote Play, and more. Whether you’re at home or on the go, your favorite games should follow you.

ASUS shares that same commitment. Known for pushing the boundaries of handheld gaming, ASUS is similarly driven by innovation that delivers high-performance experiences that put players first.

[embedded content]

Together, we’ve combined our strengths and technical expertise to introduce something entirely new: the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. These handhelds are built to make it easier than ever to access your favorite games—from Xbox, Battle.net, and other leading PC storefronts—all from a single device.

This holiday, with ASUS, players can discover another way to play as we combine the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows. And this is only the beginning.

Meet the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X

ROG Xbox Ally: The essential handheld at a great value for everyone from the casual player to the avid enthusiast.
ROG Xbox Ally X: The ultimate high-performance handheld, built for the most demanding players.

Both handhelds allow players to play natively, via the cloud, or remotely with their Xbox console in another room.

Next-Level Features Designed for Play Anywhere

With the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, players can look forward to an approachable gaming experience that travels with you wherever you go, featuring several new and first-of-their kind features on both devices—from an immersive Xbox full screen experience, an aggregated gaming library with access to installed games from leading PC storefronts, and more.

We’ve optimized Windows 11 to be easy to use on the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X from the moment you power on. Game Bar makes it easy to return home, browse your library, launch or quit games, chat with friends, open apps, adjust settings, and more. Now, with the integration of ASUS’s innovative Armoury Crate, Game Bar also gives you streamlined access to advanced device and input controls. Details like the lock screen and task switcher have also been adjusted for easy navigation with a controller.

Because these handhelds run Windows, you have access to games you can’t get elsewhere, so you can enjoy the full freedom and versatility of PC gaming—download games from your favorite storefront, run apps like Discord, watch your favorite streamers on Twitch, and play with your favorite mods—all straight from the Xbox experience. The choice is yours.

Introducing the Xbox Experience for Handheld

When you power on your Xbox Ally, you’ll boot directly into the Xbox full screen experience, a new feature optimized specifically for handheld gaming. With new modifications that minimize background activity and defer non-essential tasks, more system resources are dedicated specifically to gameplay. That means more memory, higher framerates, and a fully immersive experience for players—all made possible by the versatility and freedom of Windows.

The Xbox Ally has more familiar Xbox touches, including:

Xbox button: With a dedicated Xbox button, players have access to chat, apps, and settings through an enhanced Game Bar overlay, allowing you to quickly switch between running apps and games.
Contoured grips: Created with player comfort in mind, and using the same design principles as Xbox Wireless Controllers, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X feature contoured handgrips to accommodate a wider range of hand sizes.
Accessibility features: Game Bar and the Xbox app have also been optimized for handheld use, bringing along familiar accessibility features from Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, with much more to come in future.

Easy Access to Games from Xbox, Leading PC Storefronts, and More

Locating and accessing games across multiple channels can be a challenge —navigating through various browsers, storefronts, and login credentials can sometimes make gaming feel anything but fun. But with the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, getting into the fun is easier and faster than ever.

Within the Xbox full screen experience, players will see their aggregated gaming library, giving them quick access to games from Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net, and other leading PC storefronts. With this new feature, your Xbox library, hundreds of Game Pass titles (membership required), and all your installed games from other PC game stores are always at your fingertips.

We’re also making handheld gaming more seamless through our investment in Xbox Play Anywhere. With support for over 1,000 games, a single purchase means you can play with Xbox, including your progress and achievements, across Xbox console, PC and Xbox Ally—at no additional cost. And when you power on your Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X, your favorite games are already there, ready to play. Whether you’ve been gaming on Xbox console, Xbox on PC, or in the cloud, everything syncs effortlessly. With Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) or Remote Play, you can access your full Xbox console library and keep playing—wherever you are.

And yes…there’s still even more to come:

We’re excited to partner with Roblox for the launch of Xbox Ally. For the first time ever, Roblox will be playable natively and optimized for gaming handhelds, enabling players to play with millions of people and discover a variety of immersive games on day one.
We are working closely with our game developer partners on a brand-new program designed to help players easily identify which games have been optimized for handhelds, including the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. We will share more details soon.
Players who purchase an Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X and are new to Game Pass will also be able to get started at no additional cost, accessing hundreds of games like Balatro, Gears Tactics, Vampire Survivors and more, straight from your device.
Players on either device will be able to tap into Gaming Copilot via Game Bar, a personalized gaming companion that helps you get to your favorite games faster, improve your skills, and connect you with your friends and communities.

Two Great Choices & A First Look at Specs

The Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are perfect for players looking to take an approachable gaming experience with you during travels— whether it’s between airports, or between the comfiest chairs in the living room.

Both handhelds run on AMD processors that deliver premium gaming performance, immersive visuals, and more.

The Xbox Ally offers great value for anyone looking to take their favorite games wherever they want to play, whether it’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Gears of War: Reloaded, Lies of P, South of Midnight, or many more. It’s powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor—balancing performance and power consumption to maximize battery life without sacrificing gameplay quality—16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.

The Xbox Ally X offers more for players looking to get the best level of performance and visual settings from their favorite games on a handheld. It features the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor—allowing us to power the latest AI features as they are introduced— double the storage to have more native games at your fingertips, and 24GB of high-speed RAM that more demanding games crave. The Xbox Ally X also features impulse triggers for more immersive play.

Here’s how the specs compare between the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X:

	ROG Xbox Ally	ROG Xbox Ally X
Operating System	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home
Comfort & input	Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort. ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R Hall Effect analog triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-Axis IMU	Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort, complete with impulse triggers for enhanced control. ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R impulse triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-Axis IMU
Processor	AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor	AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor
Memory	16GB LPDDR5X-6400	24GB LPDDR5X-8000
Storage	512GB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade	1TB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade
Display	7” FHD (1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9  120Hz refresh rate  FreeSync Premium  Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection	7” FHD (1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9  120Hz refresh rate  FreeSync Premium  Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection
I/O Ports	2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 / Power Delivery 3.0	1x USB4 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0, Thunderbolt 4 compatible
	1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC)	1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0
	1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC; UHS-I with DDR200 mode)
		1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Network and Communication	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.4	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions	290.8121.550.7mm	290.8121.550.7mm
Dimensions	670g	715g
Battery	60Wh	80Wh
Included	ROG Xbox Ally  65W charger  Stand	ROG Xbox Ally X  65W charger  Stand

Pre-orders, Pricing, Accessories and More – Coming Soon

At launch this holiday, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X will be available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with availability to follow for other markets where ROG Ally series products are sold today.

But that’s not the only thing to look forward to. In the coming months, we’ll share even more details about the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, including pricing, compatible accessories, and pre-orders. Interested in pre-ordering? Please sign up here to be notified when pre-orders go live.

We can’t wait to share more about the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. Thank you for joining us on this journey as we continue to fulfil our vision of delivering a consistent, approachable gaming experience anywhere—and meeting more players where you want to be.

MIL OSI Economics –

June 10, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features that push iPad even further
Source: Apple

Headline: iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features that push iPad even further

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features that push the capabilities and versatility of iPad even further

iPadOS 26 brings a new design; an entirely new powerful and intuitive windowing system; new features powered by Apple Intelligence; major enhancements to working with files, audio, and video; and more

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iPadOS 26, the biggest iPadOS release ever, taking a huge leap forward and pushing the unique capabilities and versatility of iPad even further. A beautiful design brings a new look to iPad, making the experience even more expressive and delightful. While maintaining the simplicity of iPad, iPadOS 26 introduces an entirely new powerful and intuitive windowing system with new features that help users control, organize, and switch between apps. Apple Intelligence becomes even more capable and integrated across iPadOS 26, with new features that help users communicate, express themselves, and get things done, including Live Translation, new ways to create with Genmoji and Image Playground,¹ and intelligent actions with Shortcuts. The supercharged Files app offers new ways to organize files and customize folders. And with Folders in the dock, users can conveniently access downloads, documents, and more from anywhere. The Preview app comes to iPad, giving users a dedicated app to view and edit PDFs, with powerful features like Apple Pencil Markup and AutoFill built in. And with Background Tasks, audio input selection, and Local capture, iPadOS 26 unlocks new capabilities for creative pros working with audio and video.

“iPadOS 26 is our biggest iPadOS release ever, with powerful features that take the experience to the next level and transform what users can do on iPad,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “With a beautiful new design, an entirely new powerful and intuitive windowing system, even more features powered by Apple Intelligence, huge improvements to working with files, and new capabilities for creatives to power their workflows, iPadOS 26 makes our most versatile device even more capable.”

A Beautiful New Design

The beautiful new design brings more expressive and delightful experiences to iPad users, while maintaining the familiarity of iPadOS. It’s crafted with Liquid Glass — a translucent new material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, while reacting to user input and dynamically transforming to bring greater focus to the content they care about most. It enables a new level of vitality across experiences like the Lock Screen and Control Center, and gives users new ways to personalize their Home Screen with updated app icons that come to life in light or dark appearances, colorful new light and dark tints, as well as an elegant new clear look. And updated controls and navigation extend to apps including Mail, Safari, Apple TV, Apple Music, and more.

An Entirely New Powerful and Intuitive Windowing System

iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features that help users work with, control, organize, and switch between app windows — all while maintaining the immediacy and simplicity that iPad users expect. The new windowing system lets users fluidly resize app windows, place them exactly where they want, and open even more windows at once.

Familiar window controls allow users to seamlessly close, minimize, resize, or tile their windows. Window tiling is designed for the unique capabilities of iPad, and enables users to arrange their windows with a simple flick. If a user previously resized an app, it opens back in the exact same size and position when they open it again. With Exposé, users can quickly see all their open windows spread out, helping them easily switch to the one they need. The new windowing system works great with Stage Manager for those who want to group their windows into distinct stages, and with an external display for those who want even more space to work across their apps.²

With a new menu bar, users can access the commands available in an app with a simple swipe down from the top of the display, or by moving their cursor to the top. Users can quickly find a specific feature or related tips in an app by using search in the menu bar. Additionally, developers can now customize the menu bar in their own apps.

New Features Powered by Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in AI, becomes even more capable and even more integrated across iPadOS 26. Live Translation in Phone, FaceTime, and Messages enables iPad users to communicate seamlessly across languages. In Messages, incoming texts — including group messages — are automatically translated into the user’s preferred language.³ On FaceTime, a user can follow along with translated live captions while still hearing the speaker’s voice. And when on a phone call, the translation is spoken aloud throughout the conversation.⁴

iPadOS 26 brings users new ways to create Genmoji, giving them the ability to start with existing emoji and descriptions, modify personal attributes like hair length or accessories, and select expressions. Users will also have more control of personal attributes and expressions in Image Playground, and can tap into brand-new styles with ChatGPT, like an oil painting style for a friend’s Contact Poster. For moments when users have a specific idea in mind, they can tap Any Style and describe exactly what they want. And Image Playground can now send a user’s description or photo to ChatGPT and create a unique image.

Shortcuts features new intelligent actions that allow users to create shortcuts that are more powerful than ever, including summarizing text with Writing Tools and creating images with Image Playground. Users can also tap directly into Apple Intelligence models to provide responses that feed into the rest of their shortcuts. For example, a student can build a shortcut that uses Apple Intelligence models to compare an audio transcription of a class lecture to the notes they took, and add any key points they may have missed.

Powerful New Ways to Work with Files

iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new ways to manage, access, and edit files. An enhanced Files app with an updated List view allows users to see more of their document details in resizable columns and collapsible folders. To make folders easier to identify at a glance, Files also offers folder customization options that include custom colors, icons, and emoji that sync across devices. For quicker access, users can now drag any folder from the Files app right into the Dock. Additionally, users can set a default app for opening specific files or file types.

The Preview App Comes to iPad

Preview comes to iPad, giving users a dedicated app for creating a quick sketch, as well as viewing, editing, and marking up PDFs and images with Apple Pencil or by touch. Users can access all of their PDFs and images in the Files app right from Preview, create an empty page, use Apple Pencil to draw and write on it, and use AutoFill to quickly fill out PDF forms.

New Ways to Work with Apps

Taking advantage of the incredible power of Apple silicon, iPadOS 26 unlocks the ability to perform computationally intensive Background Tasks. When users start a long-running process in an app, Background Tasks will show up with Live Activities, giving users complete control and a clear sense of what is running. And developers can use an updated Background Tasks API that allows users to perform long-running tasks from their apps, too.

iPadOS 26 also brings new audio features that offer more flexible input and streamlined recording. Users now have better control over their audio input, with the ability to choose different microphones for each app, as well as individual websites. Recorded audio will be made even better with the availability of Voice Isolation, which blocks ambient noise, and allows clear and crisp recordings. And with AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and AirPods Pro 2, studio-quality audio recording allows users to record their content with great sound quality and enjoy clear calls.

With Local capture, users can produce high-quality recordings right from iPad with any video conferencing app, and easily share audio and video files once the call is over. Echo cancellation of other participants’ audio keeps the user’s voice front and center, allowing for a clear recording of their side of the call.

New Apps, Plus More Ways to Communicate

With iPadOS 26, Journal comes to iPad, making it easy for users to capture and write about the details of everyday moments or special events. Using Apple Pencil or touch, users can incorporate drawings and handwriting, along with photos, videos, audio recordings, places, their state of mind, and more. Users can keep multiple journals for various aspects of life, and now have access to a beautiful map view that organizes entries by location.

The all-new Apple Games app brings users a new home for gaming, and iPadOS 26 introduces Game Overlay, which allows users to quickly see new events and updates, adjust settings, call or invite a friend mid-game, and more.

The Messages app brings conversation Backgrounds, which lets a user personalize their chats with stunning designs and create unique backgrounds that fit their conversation with Image Playground. Messages also brings Polls and a redesigned details view that helps users easily navigate what has been shared in a conversation, and supercharges group chats with typing indicators, as well as the ability to request and receive Apple Cash.⁵ Additionally, the Phone app comes to iPad, and includes updates like Hold Assist⁶ and Call Screening.⁷

Additional iPadOS 26 updates:
- Available in the tool palette, the new reed pen uses stroke-angle presets to enable a traditional calligraphy experience with Apple Pencil or touch in apps like Notes, Preview, Freeform, and Journal; when using Markup; and in third-party apps using the PencilKit API.
- Calculator introduces new 3D graphing capabilities in Math Notes, allowing users to write an equation with three variables and create a graph in three dimensions.
- Notes adds the ability to import and export a note into a markdown file, along with support for capturing conversations in the Phone app as audio recordings with transcriptions.
- Accessibility features include Accessibility Reader, a new systemwide reading mode designed to make text easier to read for users who are blind, have low vision, or have other disabilities affecting reading; an all-new Braille Access experience that offers a user-friendly interface for users with a connected braille display; Share Accessibility Settings to temporarily use accessibility settings on another person’s device; and more.
Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (A16), iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad mini (5th generation and later). The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese (simplified). More languages will be coming by the end of this year: Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (traditional), and Vietnamese. For more information, visit apple.com/os/ipados and apple.com/apple-intelligence. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Genmoji and Image Playground are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Japanese.
2. Full external display support is available with iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation and later), and iPad Pro (M4).
3. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).
4. Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime is available for one-on-one calls in English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
5. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC. Apple Payments Services LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc., is a service provider of Green Dot Bank for Apple Cash accounts. Neither Apple Inc. nor Apple Payments Services LLC is a bank. Learn more about the terms and conditions. Only available in the U.S. on eligible devices.
6. Hold Assist supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese (Japan), and Mandarin Chinese (mainland China).
7. Call Screening supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan, Macao), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
Press Contacts

Tara Courtney

Apple

tcourtney@apple.com

Skylar Eisenhart

Apple

s_eisenhart@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Economics –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: macOS Tahoe 26 makes the Mac more capable, productive, and intelligent than ever
Source: Apple

Headline: macOS Tahoe 26 makes the Mac more capable, productive, and intelligent than ever

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

macOS Tahoe 26 makes the Mac more capable, productive, and intelligent than ever

Introducing a stunning new design, more Continuity experiences with the Phone app and Live Activities, the biggest update to Spotlight ever, and expanded Apple Intelligence capabilities

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed the next major macOS release — macOS Tahoe 26 — which introduces a stunning new design and powerful capabilities that enable users to get even more done. With the new design, iconic elements of macOS will feel more expressive, delightful, and personal while remaining instantly familiar, including the desktop, Dock, in-app navigation, and toolbars. Users can further personalize the experience with an updated Control Center and new color options for folders, app icons, and widgets. Continuity gets even better with the Phone app arriving on Mac, so users can access familiar features from iPhone — including Recents, Contacts, and Voicemails — and new ones like Call Screening¹ and Hold Assist.² And with Live Activities from iPhone, users can stay on top of things happening in real time, like an upcoming flight, right on their Mac. Spotlight gets its biggest update ever, allowing users to now directly execute hundreds of actions — like sending an email or creating a note — and take advantage of all-new browsing experiences to get to content faster.

Apple Intelligence expands with powerful new features that elevate the Mac experience further, while protecting privacy at every step. Live Translation helps users easily communicate across languages, translating text and audio. Genmoji and Image Playground offer new options for creativity.³ Shortcuts get even more powerful with intelligent actions and the ability to now tap directly into Apple Intelligence models to automate complex tasks.

“macOS is the heart and soul of the Mac, and with Tahoe, we’re building on what users love most. Whether you’re a power user or just getting started on Mac, there’s something for everyone, with even more features to turbocharge productivity and make working across Mac and iPhone more seamless than ever before,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “With its gorgeous new design, amazing Continuity experiences, powerful enhancements to Spotlight, more intelligent shortcuts, and updates to Apple Intelligence, the Mac experience is better than ever.”

A Gorgeous New Design

The gorgeous new design enhances the Mac experience in new ways, while maintaining the familiarity of macOS. It is crafted with Liquid Glass, a translucent new material that reflects and refracts its surroundings. The Dock, sidebars, and toolbars have been refined, bringing greater focus to a user’s content. The menu bar is now completely transparent, making the display feel even larger. There are more ways to customize what controls appear in the menu bar and Control Center, along with how they’re laid out. The new design also unlocks more personalization on the Mac. App icons come to life in light or dark appearances, colorful new light and dark tints, as well as an elegant new clear look. Users can also change the colors of folders and add a symbol or emoji to give them a unique identity. And when combined with personalized wallpapers and theme colors, it’s easier than ever to make Mac a seamless extension of a user’s style.

New Continuity Experiences with the Phone App and Live Activities

The Phone app arrives on Mac thanks to Continuity, which lets users relay cellular calls from their nearby iPhone. The Phone app on Mac has the familiar features of the Phone app on iPhone — including Recents, Favorites, and Voicemails — and the latest updates like Call Screening and Hold Assist. Call Screening automatically answers calls from unknown numbers and asks the caller for information so a user can decide whether or not to answer. And when a user is stuck on hold, Hold Assist allows them to keep their spot in line while they wait for a live agent, so users can continue working on their Mac.

Live Activities from a user’s nearby iPhone will now appear in the menu bar on their Mac so they can stay on top of things happening in real time, like an upcoming Uber ride, flight, or live sports score. When clicking on a Live Activity, the app opens in iPhone Mirroring to show more information so users can take action right from their Mac.

The Biggest Update Ever to Spotlight

Spotlight, the central place to search for things on Mac, makes finding what users are looking for easier than ever, and provides users with all-new ways to take action. During a search, all results — including files, folders, events, apps, messages, and more — are now listed together and ranked intelligently based on relevance to the user. New filtering options rapidly narrow searches to exactly what a user is looking for, like PDFs or Mail messages. Spotlight can also surface results for documents stored on third-party cloud drives. And when a user doesn’t know exactly what they’re searching for, Spotlight’s new browse views make it easy to scan through their apps, files, clipboard history, and more.

Users can now take hundreds of actions directly from Spotlight — like sending an email, creating a note, or playing a podcast — without jumping between apps. Users can take actions from both Apple apps and apps built by developers, because any app can provide actions to Spotlight using the App Intents API. Users can also run shortcuts and perform actions from the menu bar in the app they’re currently working in, all without lifting their hands off the keyboard. Spotlight learns from users’ routines across the system and surfaces personalized actions, such as sending a message to a colleague a user regularly talks to. Additionally, Spotlight introduces quick keys, which are short strings of characters that get users right to the action they’re looking for.

Brand-New Capabilities Powered by Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence, gets even more capable while protecting users’ privacy at every step.
- Seamless communication across language barriers with Live Translation: In Messages, Live Translation can automatically translate messages, so if a user is making plans with new friends while traveling abroad, their message can be translated as they type and delivered in the recipient’s preferred language. And when the user receives a response, each text can be instantly translated.⁴ On FaceTime, a user can follow along with translated live captions while still hearing the speaker’s voice. And when a user is on a call in the Phone app, their words are translated for the recipient as they speak.⁵ This is enabled by Apple-built models that run entirely on device, so conversations stay private.
- Shortcuts get more intelligent: A whole new class of intelligent actions lets users create shortcuts that are more powerful than ever, including summarizing text with Writing Tools and creating images with Image Playground. And now users will be able to tap directly into Apple Intelligence models, either on-device or with Private Cloud Compute, to generate responses that feed into the rest of their shortcut, maintaining the privacy of information used. For example, a student can build a shortcut that uses Apple Intelligence models to compare an audio transcription of a class lecture to the notes they took, and add any key points they may have missed. Users can also choose to tap into ChatGPT for its broad world knowledge and expertise. Additionally, users can now run shortcuts automatically on macOS, such as at a specific time of day, or when taking a specific action like saving a file to a folder or connecting a display.
- Updates to Genmoji and Image Playground: macOS Tahoe brings new ways to create Genmoji, giving users the ability to start with existing emoji and descriptions, modify personal attributes like hair length or accessories, and select expressions based on the moment. Users will also have more control of personal attributes and expressions in Image Playground, and can tap into brand-new styles with ChatGPT, like an oil painting style or vector art. For moments when users have a specific idea in mind, they can tap Any Style and describe exactly what they want.
- Increased productivity with Reminders: Apple Intelligence can review an email, website, note, or other content on Mac to find the most relevant action items. And users can also choose to use Apple Intelligence to automatically categorize Reminders into sections to make them more manageable.
New Apple Games App, Game Overlay, and More Titles

macOS Tahoe introduces Apple Games, a dedicated app that gives players a home for all their games, making it easier to jump back into favorites, discover new games tailored just for them, and play with friends in whole new ways. With the new Game Overlay, players can conveniently adjust their system settings, chat with friends, or invite them to play, all without having to leave their game. Players can also turn on Low Power Mode, which extends gaming sessions and maximizes playtime on battery. For developers, macOS Tahoe introduces Metal 4, which brings even more advanced graphics and next-generation rendering technologies to games, like MetalFX Frame Interpolation and MetalFX Denoising, for smoother visuals and faster frame rates.

Alongside these improvements, developers continue to deliver exciting new games on Mac, including upcoming titles like Crimson Desert and InZOI. Both games leverage powerful software technologies like MetalFX Upscaling to accelerate performance and deliver high-quality visuals, as well as take advantage of the M3 and M4 family of chips with ray tracing for a breathtaking experience. Additional titles on the way include Cyberpunk 2077, Cronos: The New Dawn, Architect: Land of Exiles, Lies of P: Overture, HITMAN World of Assassination, EVE Frontier, Where Winds Meet, and more.

Additional features in macOS Tahoe include:
- Safari, the world’s fastest browser,⁶ offers a fresh but familiar experience, featuring a rounded tab design that floats in the toolbar, along with a refreshed sidebar with new sections to help users more easily find saved content like iCloud Tabs and Saved. When compared to Chrome, Safari is 50 percent faster at loading frequently visited websites⁷ and offers up to four more hours of battery life when streaming video.⁸ And for even greater protection from trackers when browsing, Safari now offers advanced fingerprinting protection in all browsing by default.
- The Messages app brings Backgrounds, Polls, and a redesigned details view that helps users easily navigate what has been shared in a conversation. Plus, it features typing indicators in groups to let participants know exactly who is going to chime in, as well as the ability to add new contacts easily right from the group chat and search with more natural language.
- Journal comes to Mac, making it easy to capture and write about everyday moments and special events when inspiration strikes. On Mac, it’s easy to type long, thoughtful entries and view them on a map. Users can keep multiple journals for various aspects of life, which are all synced across Apple devices.
- Photos has an updated design that includes beautiful Liquid Glass elements, enhancements for customization, easier workflows, and sidebar consistency with iPadOS. Pinned Collections now come to Mac, so users can access the collections they use most with a click on the sidebar. Users will also find new buttons to quickly access filtering and sorting options in all views, and the ability to customize the size of Collections tiles, so they can view their library just how they like.
- On FaceTime, the reimagined landing page features beautiful Contact Posters of recent callers, Liquid Glass controls now float in the bottom right and recede to create more space, and a new More button lets users quickly access features like SharePlay and Live Translation.
- Notes adds the ability to import and export a note into a markdown file, and support for capturing conversations in the Phone app as audio recordings with transcriptions.
- Accessibility features include Magnifier on Mac, which enables users with low vision to zoom in on their surroundings using Continuity Camera on iPhone or attached USB cameras, apply image filters so items are easier to see or read, and even change perspective when viewing presentations or books from an angle. Additional features include Accessibility Reader, a new systemwide reading mode designed with accessibility in mind; an all-new Braille Access experience that offers a user-friendly interface for those with a connected braille display; and Vehicle Motion Cues, which helps reduce motion sickness in a moving vehicle.
- With Passwords, users can easily reference changes they make to their accounts, including checking previous versions of passwords they save, along with details on when they were changed.
Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. The release will be available as a free software update this fall. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese (simplified). More languages will be coming by the end of this year: Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (traditional), and Vietnamese. For more information, visit apple.com/os/macos and apple.com/apple-intelligence. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Call Screening supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan, Macao), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
2. Hold Assist will be available in English (U.S.), English (Canada), English (UK), English (Singapore), English (Australia), English (India), French (France), Spanish (U.S.), Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese (Japan), and Mandarin Chinese (mainland China).
3. Genmoji and Image Playground are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Japanese.
4. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).
5. Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime is available for one-on-one calls in English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
6. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2025 using JetStream 2.2, MotionMark 1.3.1, and Speedometer 3.1 performance benchmarks. Tested with prerelease Safari 26.0 and latest stable versions of Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox at the time of testing on: 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4 and prerelease macOS Tahoe, and Intel Core Ultra 9-based PC systems with Intel Arc Graphics and Windows 11 Home; iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) units with prerelease iPadOS 26.0, and Intel Core Ultra 7-based PC systems with Intel Arc Graphics and Windows 11 Pro; and iPhone 16 Pro Max with prerelease iOS 26.0, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite-based smartphones with Android 15. Devices tested with a WPA2 Wi-Fi network connection. Performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, network connection, and other factors.
7. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2025 by measuring page load performance of snapshot versions of 10 popular websites under simulated network conditions. Tested on production 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and prerelease macOS Tahoe. Tested with prerelease Safari 26.0 and Chrome v136.0.7103.93. Performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, network connection, and other factors.
8. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2025 on production 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and prerelease macOS Tahoe. Systems tested with WPA2 Wi-Fi network connection while running on battery power, with display brightness set to 8 clicks from bottom and keyboard backlight off. Video streaming tested with 1080p content on prerelease Safari 26.0 and Chrome v136.0.7103.93. Not all features are available on all devices. Battery life varies by use and configuration. See apple.com/batteries for more information.
Press Contacts

Michelle Del Rio

Apple

mr_delrio@apple.com

Starlayne Meza

Apple

starlayne_meza@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Economics –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Apple elevates the iPhone experience with iOS 26
Source: Apple

Headline: Apple elevates the iPhone experience with iOS 26

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

Apple elevates the iPhone experience with iOS 26

The release delivers a stunning new design, powerful Apple Intelligence capabilities, new ways to stay connected in the Phone and Messages apps, and exciting updates to CarPlay, Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps users rely on every day. The new design provides a more expressive and delightful experience across the system while maintaining the instant familiarity of iOS. Integrated throughout the system and built with privacy from the ground up, Apple Intelligence gets even more capable. Updates to the Phone and Messages apps help users stay connected while eliminating distractions like unwanted calls. iOS 26 also introduces new features in CarPlay, Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet, as well as Apple Games, a brand-new app that gives players a single destination for all their games.

“iOS 26 shines with the gorgeous new design and meaningful improvements to the features users rely on every day, making iPhone even more helpful,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “Experiences are more expressive and personal, from the Lock Screen and Home Screen, to new capabilities across Phone and Messages that help users focus on the connections that matter most. And with powerful new Apple Intelligence capabilities integrated across the system, users can get things done easier than ever.”

A Beautiful New Look

The new design makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful, while keeping iOS instantly familiar. It’s crafted with Liquid Glass — a new translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, bringing greater focus to content, and delivering a new level of vitality across controls, navigation, app icons, widgets, and more. The new design extends to the Home Screen and Lock Screen, making them more personal and expressive than ever. Liquid Glass also brings new customization options to app icons and widgets, including a stunning clear look.

On the Lock Screen, the time fluidly adapts to the available space in an image, and spatial scenes bring wallpapers to life with a 3D effect when users move iPhone. Updated design elements also deliver fresh experiences in apps. A simplified, streamlined Camera layout helps users keep their attention on the moment they’re capturing, and the Photos app is updated to feature separate tabs for Library and Collections views. In Safari, web pages flow from the top edge to the bottom of the screen, enabling users to see more of the page while maintaining access to frequently used actions like refresh and search. In Apple Music, News, and Podcasts, the tab bar is redesigned to float above users’ content, dynamically shrink when users are browsing to put content front and center, and then expand when they scroll back up.

An updated set of APIs provides developers with access to Liquid Glass materials and components so they can make their apps appear just as dynamic and delightful.

New Capabilities Powered by Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence elevates the iPhone experience and helps users get things done easier than ever, while unlocking new ways to communicate and do more with what’s on their screen. Live Translation is integrated into Messages, FaceTime, and Phone to help users communicate across languages, translating text and audio on the fly.¹ Live Translation is enabled by Apple-built models that run entirely on device, so users’ personal conversations stay personal.

Building on Apple Intelligence, visual intelligence extends to a user’s iPhone screen so they can search and take action on anything they’re viewing across apps. Users can ask ChatGPT questions about what they’re looking at onscreen to learn more, as well as search Google, Etsy, or other supported apps to find similar images and products. Visual intelligence also recognizes when a user is looking at an event and suggests adding it to their calendar, repopulating key details like date, time, and location.²

Genmoji and Image Playground provide users with even more ways to express themselves, including mixing their favorite emoji, Genmoji, and descriptions together to create something new.³

Shortcuts are now more powerful and intelligent than ever. Users can tap into intelligent actions, a whole new set of shortcuts enabled by Apple Intelligence, and will see dedicated actions for features like Writing Tools and Image Playground.

Apple Intelligence can now automatically identify and summarize order tracking details from emails sent from merchants and delivery carriers, giving users the ability to see their full order details and progress notifications all in one place — even for purchases not made with Apple Pay.

Additionally, a new Foundation Models framework opens up access for any app to tap directly into the on-device foundation model at the core of Apple Intelligence, giving developers direct access to powerful intelligence that’s fast, built with privacy at its core, and available offline, using AI inference that is free of cost.

Features for Staying Connected and Eliminating Interruptions

Fundamental to the iPhone experience, the Phone app now offers a unified layout that combines Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails all in one place. Call Screening builds on Live Voicemail and helps eliminate interruptions by gathering information from the caller and giving users the details they need to decide if they want to pick up or ignore the call.⁴ And for the times when a user is stuck on hold, Hold Assist notifies the user when a live agent is available.⁵

In Messages, users can now screen messages from unknown senders, giving them more control over who appears in their conversation list. Messages from unknown senders will appear in a dedicated folder where users can then mark the number as known, ask for more information, or delete. These messages will remain silenced until a user accepts them.

iOS 26 also offers enhancements to conversations, including custom backgrounds and the ability to create polls. With Apple Intelligence, Messages can detect when a poll might come in handy and suggest one, and users can generate unique backgrounds that fit their conversation with Image Playground. Additionally, in group chats, users can now see typing indicators, and request, send, and receive Apple Cash.⁶

Enhancements to CarPlay

CarPlay — the smarter, safer way to use iPhone while driving — is used over 600 million times per day, and now with iOS 26, it receives updates that make it even more beautiful and easy to use. The stunning design includes a new compact view for incoming calls, allowing users to see who’s calling without missing key information like upcoming directions. iOS 26 also brings Tapbacks and pinned conversations to Messages in CarPlay, and with widgets and Live Activities, users can stay in the loop without losing focus on the road. These updates also come to CarPlay Ultra, which brings the best of iPhone and the best of the car together for a deeply integrated, unified experience across every screen.

Updates to Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet

In Apple Music, Lyrics Translation helps users understand the words to their favorite songs, while Lyrics Pronunciation allows everyone to sing along, regardless of language. AutoMix uses intelligence to transition from one song to the next like a DJ, using time stretching and beat matching to seamlessly move from one song to the next.

In Apple Maps, Visited Places help users remember the places they’ve been. Users can choose to have iPhone detect when they’re at a place like a restaurant or shop, and view all of their Visited Places in Maps. Visited Places are protected with end-to-end encryption and cannot be accessed by Apple. Additionally, iPhone can now use on-device intelligence to better understand a user’s daily route, presenting them with their preferred route when they’re headed home or to the office, along with notifying them of delays and offering alternate routes.

Updates in Apple Wallet help make everyday interactions with the physical world easier than ever. Users can choose to pay with installments or rewards when they make in-store purchases with Apple Pay using iPhone. Refreshed boarding passes in Wallet offer the ability to see and share Live Activities for real-time updates on a flight. They also provide convenient access to a traveler’s most relevant information, such as Maps to navigate airports, Find My to track important items and report missing bags, and more.

Additional features in iOS 26:
- Apple Games is a new app that gives players an all-in-one destination for their games. It helps players jump back into titles they love, find their next favorite, and have even more fun with friends. They’ll find out what’s happening across all their games, including major events and updates, so they never miss a moment. The Games app is also the best way to experience Apple Arcade, Apple’s game subscription service with more than 200 award-winning and highly rated games for the whole family.
- AirPods are more versatile than ever with new features for AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and AirPods Pro 2. Building on the benefits of Voice Isolation, studio-quality audio recording allows iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to record their content with great sound quality and enjoy even clearer calls. With camera remote, users can press and hold the AirPods stem to take a photo or start and stop a video recording on iPhone or iPad.
- Parents can now create or move kids into Child Accounts even more easily, taking advantage of a wide set of parental controls designed to keep children safe. Enhancements across Communication Limits, Communication Safety, and the App Store include parental approvals for contact requests from kids, blurring out sensitive content in FaceTime calls and photos in Shared Albums, and enabling parents to grant an exception for their child to download an app with an age rating that exceeds the app content restriction they set.
- Browsing in Safari gets even more private with advanced fingerprinting protection extending to all browsing by default.
- Powerful accessibility features include Accessibility Reader, which provides a customized systemwide reading experience, and Braille Access, an all-new interface for iPhone devices with connected braille displays. Updates to Live Listen, Background Sounds, Personal Voice, and more bring a new level of accessibility across the Apple ecosystem.
Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 11 and later. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese (simplified). More languages will be coming by the end of this year: Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (traditional), and Vietnamese. For more information, visit apple.com/apple-intelligence. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified). Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime is available for one-on-one calls in English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
2. The ability to add an event to a calendar with visual intelligence is available in English on all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
3. Genmoji and Image Playground are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Japanese.
4. Call Screening supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan, Macao), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
5. Hold Assist supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese (Japan), and Mandarin Chinese (mainland China).
6. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC. Apple Payments Services LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc., is a service provider of Green Dot Bank for Apple Cash accounts. Neither Apple Inc. nor Apple Payments Services LLC is a bank. Learn more about the terms and conditions. Only available in the U.S. on eligible devices.
Press Contacts

Shane Bauer

Apple

shanebauer@apple.com

Tania Olkhovaya

Apple

tolkhovaya@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Economics –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active and connected
Source: Apple

Headline: watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active and connected

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active, healthy, and connected

A new software design makes using Apple Watch even more delightful, Workout Buddy brings a first-of-its-kind workout experience with Apple Intelligence, and the Smart Stack and Messages are more intelligent

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed watchOS 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user’s tastes and the workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications.

“Apple Watch is an indispensable companion for millions of people around the world, and watchOS 26 uses intelligence to offer an even more personalized experience,” said David Clark, Apple’s senior director of watchOS Engineering. “From a gorgeous new design, to Workout Buddy with Apple Intelligence, personalized music suggestions in the Workout app, and more intelligence in the Smart Stack and Messages, we’re excited about the many ways watchOS 26 will support each user in staying active, healthy, connected, and safe throughout their day.”

A Beautiful New Design

A gorgeous new software design with Liquid Glass brings a fresh look to watchOS 26. Across apps, this new design enables a vibrant and expressive experience that reflects and refracts content using real-time rendering, which brings even more focus to content and makes using Apple Watch even more delightful. Smart Stack widgets, Smart Stack hints, notifications, Control Center, and in-app controls and navigation will adopt the new design. The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo.

Apple Intelligence Comes to Fitness with Workout Buddy

Workout Buddy is a first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user’s workout data and their fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more.

For example, as a user starts a run, Workout Buddy will give a personalized pep talk that may remind them of their running mileage for the week so far, or share how they are doing against their Activity ring goals: “Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning. You’re 18 minutes away from closing your Exercise ring. So far this week, you’ve run 6 miles. You’re going to add to that today.”

During the workout, Workout Buddy can mark key moments like their mile splits, or tell them if they hit a new milestone based on their fitness history: “Mile four. You picked up the pace and ran that last one in 8 minutes and 28 seconds.” “Hey, check this out. Your total running distance for the year just crossed the 200-mile mark! That’s a lot of running!”

When a user ends a workout, Workout Buddy will recap their workout stats and congratulate them on their achievements: “Way to get your workout in! You went 4.3 miles in just over 38 minutes. Your average pace was 8 minutes and 58 seconds, and your average heart rate was 128. That was your longest run of the last 28 days. What will you do next?”

To offer meaningful inspiration in real time, Workout Buddy analyzes data privately and securely, with Apple Intelligence. A new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout.

Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones, and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone nearby. It will be available starting in English, across some of the most popular workout types: Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training.

Additional Updates to the Workout Experience

The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and in watchOS 26, it debuts the biggest update to its layout and navigation since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the app make it easier for users to access their favorite features to customize workouts, like Workout Views, Custom Workout, Pacer, Race Route, and more.

To add inspiration, users can set up music and podcasts right in the Workout app to automatically play when they start a workout. For users’ convenience, Apple Music can now select the best playlist for a user’s workout based on the workout type and their personal tastes.¹ Alternatively, users can see suggestions for playlists or podcasts based on what they’ve recently listened to during that particular workout type.

The Smart Stack Becomes Even More Proactive

The Smart Stack is designed to help users quickly access important information from any watch face. In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack improves its prediction algorithms by incorporating more contextual data, sensor data, and data from a user’s routine to provide Smart Stack hints, a proactive prompt for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful. Made of Liquid Glass, Smart Stack hints will appear on the display as a gentle visual prompt. For example, a hint for Backtrack may appear when a user is in a remote location with no connectivity, or a hint for a Pilates workout may show up when a user arrives at a studio location at their usual time.

Added Convenience in Messages

Apple Watch now supports Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence, allowing incoming texts to be automatically translated into a user’s preferred language, right on their wrist.² And when the user responds, their texts can be instantly translated for the person they’re having a conversation with. Live Translation will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2, with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone.

Additionally, for users whose device language is set to English, Apple Watch will intelligently suggest relevant actions in Messages using the context of a conversation, like starting a Check In when a friend asks a user to share when they arrive home, or using Apple Cash when a user is asked to contribute to a group gift. Customizable Backgrounds set on iPhone will also appear on Apple Watch to make conversations feel more personal and distinct, and users can respond to polls right on their wrist. Smart Replies get even more precise for users whose device language is set to English, with an improved on-device language model that can generate relevant responses based on the content of a conversation.³

Notifications Are Easier to Manage

Notifications are even easier to manage with a simple wrist flick gesture on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a user raises their wrist to check a notification but isn’t ready to respond, they can quickly turn their wrist over and back to dismiss the notification. The wrist flick gesture can be used to dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face. It uses the accelerometer and the gyroscope — along with a machine learning model — to analyze a user’s wrist movement. Wrist flick joins the double tap gesture to allow users to do even more on Apple Watch with only one hand, for times when the user’s other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee.

Apple Watch can also now automatically adjust the speaker volume based on the ambient noise in a user’s surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them.

Additional updates in watchOS 26:
- The Notes app comes to Apple Watch, allowing users to access their notes right on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard.
- Hold Assist and Call Screening come to the Phone app, when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognizes once a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call.⁴ Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, so they can make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or ask for more information.⁵
- For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio.⁶ Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed.
- The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see images of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display.
- Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections.
New Tools for Developers

Developers are able to take advantage of new APIs in watchOS 26 across design, the Smart Stack, and more. Developers can use new SwiftUI APIs to adopt the beautiful new design materials of watchOS 26. With the Control Widget API, developers can create custom controls to be added to the Control Center, Action Button, or Smart Stack widget, and the Smart Stack Relevance API allows third-party widgets to be added to the Smart Stack with new signals like Points of Interest, with user permission to incorporate location data. For example, the Smart Stack can intelligently show a widget for Slopes when users arrive at a ski resort with improved location APIs, and now Dark Noise can add a custom control to Control Center so users can easily turn on a sleep soundscape without picking up their iPhone.

Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. watchOS 26 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models, paired with iPhone 11 or later, running iOS 26. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Apple Music subscription is required for automatic music selection.
2. Live Translation in Messages will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).
3. Updates to Smart Replies will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
4. Hold Assist requires iPhone nearby, and supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain).
5. Call Screening requires iPhone nearby, and supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Macao, Taiwan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
6. Live Captions support English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), German (Germany), French (Canada, France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), and Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong).
Press Contacts

Nikki Rothberg

Apple

nrothberg@apple.com

Clare Varellas

Apple

cvarellas@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Economics –
June 10, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: 9 myths about electric vehicles have taken hold. A new study shows how many people fall for them

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Bretter, Senior Research Fellow in Environmental Psychology, The University of Queensland

More people believe misinformation about electric vehicles than disagree with it and even EV owners tend to believe the myths, our new research shows.

We investigated the prevalence of misinformation about EVs in four countries – Australia, the United States, Germany and Austria. Unfortunately, we found substantial agreement with misinformation across all countries.

People who endorsed false claims about EVs were, not surprisingly, significantly less likely to consider buying one.

Electric vehicles are vital in the fight against climate change. But pervasive misinformation is a significant challenge to the technology’s uptake and has serious implications for the shift away from fossil fuels.

Widespread agreement with false EV claims

We conducted a survey of 4,200 people across the four countries who did not own an electric vehicle. We measured the extent to which they agreed with these nine misleading claims about electric vehicles:

What we found

The most widely believed myth was that electric vehicles are more likely to catch fire than petrol cars. Some 43–56% of people agreed with the statement, depending on the country.

To tally the results, we looked at participants’ responses for all nine misinformation statements – more than 36,000 responses in all. We then calculated how many of these responses indicated agreement or disagreement.

Of the 36,000 responses, 36% were in agreement with a statement and 23% were in disagreement. A further 24% were undecided and 17% did not know.

Misinformation agreement was highest in Germany and lowest in the US, but the differences between nations were small.

Agreement with misinformation was strongly correlated with a lack of support for electric vehicle policies and a lack of intention to buy an EV in future.

A separate part of the research involved 2,100 people in the US, about half of whom owned an electric vehicle. Surprisingly, EV owners did not significantly differ in their agreement with misinformation compared to non-owners. This underscores how embedded the problem has become.

Agreement with misinformation was strongly correlated with a lack of buying intention.
Photo by Sebastian Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

It’s not about education

We also examined the factors that make individuals more susceptible to EV misinformation.

The strongest predictor was people who scored highly on a “conspiracy mentality” – in other words, they believed conspiracies were common in society, they saw the world through a lens of corruption and secret agendas, and distrusted institutions.

People with progressive political and environmental views were less likely to endorse misinformation about EVs.

A person’s scientific knowledge or level of education was not a predictor. This finding aligns with previous research, and suggests the pervasive endorsement of misinformation stems from distrust in institutions and expertise rather than from a lack of education.

People with progressive political views were less likely to endorse EV misinformation.
Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Grounds for optimism

We tested whether misinformation could be reduced with two interventions among a different sample of US participants. One group was asked to converse with ChatGPT about their views on EV misinformation. The second was asked to read a traditional EV fact sheet from the US Department of Energy. On a third “control” group, no intervention was tested.

Participants who engaged with either ChatGPT or the fact sheet before we surveyed them showed significantly lower endorsement of EV misinformation compared to the control group. This persisted at a follow-up session ten days after the survey.

Notably, ChatGPT did not produce any misinformation about EVs. These results build upon existing research demonstrating ChatGPT’s potential to reduce endorsement of conspiracy theories.

Misinformation about EVs poses significant challenges to uptake of the technology.
Florian Wiegand/Getty Images

How to tackle EV misinformation

Our findings show misinformation about electric vehicles has a substantial foothold in Western nations. Susceptibility is not a matter of education or knowledge, but rather stems from distrust of established institutions and expertise.

We also found people who engage with facts about electric vehicles are less likely to endorse misinformation.

This suggests a dual strategy is needed to reduce misinformation about EVs. First, those who deliberately spread misinformation should be held accountable. And second, evidence-based information, including accessible AI tools, can be used to build public resilience against false claims.

Matthew Hornsey receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Christian Bretter and Samuel Pearson 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. 9 myths about electric vehicles have taken hold. A new study shows how many people fall for them – https://theconversation.com/9-myths-about-electric-vehicles-have-taken-hold-a-new-study-shows-how-many-people-fall-for-them-257557

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 10, 2025

MIL-OSI Banking: New handhelds combine the power of Xbox with the freedom of Windows 11

Source: Microsoft

Headline: New handhelds combine the power of Xbox with the freedom of Windows 11

Summary

Announcing the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, two new handhelds crafted in collaboration with ASUS that combine the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows.
Both launch holiday 2025 in select markets, with additional markets to follow.
Information on pre-orders, pricing, accessories, and more coming soon.

ASUS shares that same commitment. Known for pushing the boundaries of handheld gaming, ASUS is similarly driven by innovation that delivers high-performance experiences that put players first.

[embedded content]

This holiday, with ASUS, players can discover another way to play as we combine the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows. And this is only the beginning.

Meet the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X

ROG Xbox Ally: The essential handheld at a great value for everyone from the casual player to the avid enthusiast.
ROG Xbox Ally X: The ultimate high-performance handheld, built for the most demanding players.

Both handhelds allow players to play natively, via the cloud, or remotely with their Xbox console in another room.

Next-Level Features Designed for Play Anywhere

Introducing the Xbox Experience for Handheld

The Xbox Ally has more familiar Xbox touches, including:

Xbox button: With a dedicated Xbox button, players have access to chat, apps, and settings through an enhanced Game Bar overlay, allowing you to quickly switch between running apps and games.
Contoured grips: Created with player comfort in mind, and using the same design principles as Xbox Wireless Controllers, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X feature contoured handgrips to accommodate a wider range of hand sizes.
Accessibility features: Game Bar and the Xbox app have also been optimized for handheld use, bringing along familiar accessibility features from Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, with much more to come in future.

Easy Access to Games from Xbox, Leading PC Storefronts, and More

And yes…there’s still even more to come:

We’re excited to partner with Roblox for the launch of Xbox Ally. For the first time ever, Roblox will be playable natively and optimized for gaming handhelds, enabling players to play with millions of people and discover a variety of immersive games on day one.
We are working closely with our game developer partners on a brand-new program designed to help players easily identify which games have been optimized for handhelds, including the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. We will share more details soon.
Players who purchase an Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X and are new to Game Pass will also be able to get started at no additional cost, accessing hundreds of games like Balatro, Gears Tactics, Vampire Survivors and more, straight from your device.
Players on either device will be able to tap into Gaming Copilot via Game Bar, a personalized gaming companion that helps you get to your favorite games faster, improve your skills, and connect you with your friends and communities.

Two Great Choices & A First Look at Specs

Both handhelds run on AMD processors that deliver premium gaming performance, immersive visuals, and more.

Here’s how the specs compare between the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X:

	ROG Xbox Ally	ROG Xbox Ally X
Operating System	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home
Comfort & input	Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort. ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R Hall Effect analog triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-Axis IMU	Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort, complete with impulse triggers for enhanced control. ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R impulse triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-Axis IMU
Processor	AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor	AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor
Memory	16GB LPDDR5X-6400	24GB LPDDR5X-8000
Storage	512GB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade	1TB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade
Display	7” FHD (1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9  120Hz refresh rate  FreeSync Premium  Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection	7” FHD (1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9  120Hz refresh rate  FreeSync Premium  Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection
I/O Ports	2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 / Power Delivery 3.0	1x USB4 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0, Thunderbolt 4 compatible
	1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC)	1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0
	1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC; UHS-I with DDR200 mode)
		1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Network and Communication	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.4	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions	290.8121.550.7mm	290.8121.550.7mm
Dimensions	670g	715g
Battery	60Wh	80Wh
Included	ROG Xbox Ally  65W charger  Stand	ROG Xbox Ally X  65W charger  Stand

Pre-orders, Pricing, Accessories and More – Coming Soon

MIL OSI Global Banks –

June 10, 2025

MIL-OSI Banking: macOS Tahoe 26 makes the Mac more capable, productive, and intelligent than ever
Source: Apple

Headline: macOS Tahoe 26 makes the Mac more capable, productive, and intelligent than ever

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

macOS Tahoe 26 makes the Mac more capable, productive, and intelligent than ever

Introducing a stunning new design, more Continuity experiences with the Phone app and Live Activities, the biggest update to Spotlight ever, and expanded Apple Intelligence capabilities

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed the next major macOS release — macOS Tahoe 26 — which introduces a stunning new design and powerful capabilities that enable users to get even more done. With the new design, iconic elements of macOS will feel more expressive, delightful, and personal while remaining instantly familiar, including the desktop, Dock, in-app navigation, and toolbars. Users can further personalize the experience with an updated Control Center and new color options for folders, app icons, and widgets. Continuity gets even better with the Phone app arriving on Mac, so users can access familiar features from iPhone — including Recents, Contacts, and Voicemails — and new ones like Call Screening¹ and Hold Assist.² And with Live Activities from iPhone, users can stay on top of things happening in real time, like an upcoming flight, right on their Mac. Spotlight gets its biggest update ever, allowing users to now directly execute hundreds of actions — like sending an email or creating a note — and take advantage of all-new browsing experiences to get to content faster.

Apple Intelligence expands with powerful new features that elevate the Mac experience further, while protecting privacy at every step. Live Translation helps users easily communicate across languages, translating text and audio. Genmoji and Image Playground offer new options for creativity.³ Shortcuts get even more powerful with intelligent actions and the ability to now tap directly into Apple Intelligence models to automate complex tasks.

“macOS is the heart and soul of the Mac, and with Tahoe, we’re building on what users love most. Whether you’re a power user or just getting started on Mac, there’s something for everyone, with even more features to turbocharge productivity and make working across Mac and iPhone more seamless than ever before,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “With its gorgeous new design, amazing Continuity experiences, powerful enhancements to Spotlight, more intelligent shortcuts, and updates to Apple Intelligence, the Mac experience is better than ever.”

A Gorgeous New Design

The gorgeous new design enhances the Mac experience in new ways, while maintaining the familiarity of macOS. It is crafted with Liquid Glass, a translucent new material that reflects and refracts its surroundings. The Dock, sidebars, and toolbars have been refined, bringing greater focus to a user’s content. The menu bar is now completely transparent, making the display feel even larger. There are more ways to customize what controls appear in the menu bar and Control Center, along with how they’re laid out. The new design also unlocks more personalization on the Mac. App icons come to life in light or dark appearances, colorful new light and dark tints, as well as an elegant new clear look. Users can also change the colors of folders and add a symbol or emoji to give them a unique identity. And when combined with personalized wallpapers and theme colors, it’s easier than ever to make Mac a seamless extension of a user’s style.

New Continuity Experiences with the Phone App and Live Activities

The Phone app arrives on Mac thanks to Continuity, which lets users relay cellular calls from their nearby iPhone. The Phone app on Mac has the familiar features of the Phone app on iPhone — including Recents, Favorites, and Voicemails — and the latest updates like Call Screening and Hold Assist. Call Screening automatically answers calls from unknown numbers and asks the caller for information so a user can decide whether or not to answer. And when a user is stuck on hold, Hold Assist allows them to keep their spot in line while they wait for a live agent, so users can continue working on their Mac.

Live Activities from a user’s nearby iPhone will now appear in the menu bar on their Mac so they can stay on top of things happening in real time, like an upcoming Uber ride, flight, or live sports score. When clicking on a Live Activity, the app opens in iPhone Mirroring to show more information so users can take action right from their Mac.

The Biggest Update Ever to Spotlight

Spotlight, the central place to search for things on Mac, makes finding what users are looking for easier than ever, and provides users with all-new ways to take action. During a search, all results — including files, folders, events, apps, messages, and more — are now listed together and ranked intelligently based on relevance to the user. New filtering options rapidly narrow searches to exactly what a user is looking for, like PDFs or Mail messages. Spotlight can also surface results for documents stored on third-party cloud drives. And when a user doesn’t know exactly what they’re searching for, Spotlight’s new browse views make it easy to scan through their apps, files, clipboard history, and more.

Users can now take hundreds of actions directly from Spotlight — like sending an email, creating a note, or playing a podcast — without jumping between apps. Users can take actions from both Apple apps and apps built by developers, because any app can provide actions to Spotlight using the App Intents API. Users can also run shortcuts and perform actions from the menu bar in the app they’re currently working in, all without lifting their hands off the keyboard. Spotlight learns from users’ routines across the system and surfaces personalized actions, such as sending a message to a colleague a user regularly talks to. Additionally, Spotlight introduces quick keys, which are short strings of characters that get users right to the action they’re looking for.

Brand-New Capabilities Powered by Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence, gets even more capable while protecting users’ privacy at every step.
- Seamless communication across language barriers with Live Translation: In Messages, Live Translation can automatically translate messages, so if a user is making plans with new friends while traveling abroad, their message can be translated as they type and delivered in the recipient’s preferred language. And when the user receives a response, each text can be instantly translated.⁴ On FaceTime, a user can follow along with translated live captions while still hearing the speaker’s voice. And when a user is on a call in the Phone app, their words are translated for the recipient as they speak.⁵ This is enabled by Apple-built models that run entirely on device, so conversations stay private.
- Shortcuts get more intelligent: A whole new class of intelligent actions lets users create shortcuts that are more powerful than ever, including summarizing text with Writing Tools and creating images with Image Playground. And now users will be able to tap directly into Apple Intelligence models, either on-device or with Private Cloud Compute, to generate responses that feed into the rest of their shortcut, maintaining the privacy of information used. For example, a student can build a shortcut that uses Apple Intelligence models to compare an audio transcription of a class lecture to the notes they took, and add any key points they may have missed. Users can also choose to tap into ChatGPT for its broad world knowledge and expertise. Additionally, users can now run shortcuts automatically on macOS, such as at a specific time of day, or when taking a specific action like saving a file to a folder or connecting a display.
- Updates to Genmoji and Image Playground: macOS Tahoe brings new ways to create Genmoji, giving users the ability to start with existing emoji and descriptions, modify personal attributes like hair length or accessories, and select expressions based on the moment. Users will also have more control of personal attributes and expressions in Image Playground, and can tap into brand-new styles with ChatGPT, like an oil painting style or vector art. For moments when users have a specific idea in mind, they can tap Any Style and describe exactly what they want.
- Increased productivity with Reminders: Apple Intelligence can review an email, website, note, or other content on Mac to find the most relevant action items. And users can also choose to use Apple Intelligence to automatically categorize Reminders into sections to make them more manageable.
New Apple Games App, Game Overlay, and More Titles

macOS Tahoe introduces Apple Games, a dedicated app that gives players a home for all their games, making it easier to jump back into favorites, discover new games tailored just for them, and play with friends in whole new ways. With the new Game Overlay, players can conveniently adjust their system settings, chat with friends, or invite them to play, all without having to leave their game. Players can also turn on Low Power Mode, which extends gaming sessions and maximizes playtime on battery. For developers, macOS Tahoe introduces Metal 4, which brings even more advanced graphics and next-generation rendering technologies to games, like MetalFX Frame Interpolation and MetalFX Denoising, for smoother visuals and faster frame rates.

Alongside these improvements, developers continue to deliver exciting new games on Mac, including upcoming titles like Crimson Desert and InZOI. Both games leverage powerful software technologies like MetalFX Upscaling to accelerate performance and deliver high-quality visuals, as well as take advantage of the M3 and M4 family of chips with ray tracing for a breathtaking experience. Additional titles on the way include Cyberpunk 2077, Cronos: The New Dawn, Architect: Land of Exiles, Lies of P: Overture, HITMAN World of Assassination, EVE Frontier, Where Winds Meet, and more.

Additional features in macOS Tahoe include:
- Safari, the world’s fastest browser,⁶ offers a fresh but familiar experience, featuring a rounded tab design that floats in the toolbar, along with a refreshed sidebar with new sections to help users more easily find saved content like iCloud Tabs and Saved. When compared to Chrome, Safari is 50 percent faster at loading frequently visited websites⁷ and offers up to four more hours of battery life when streaming video.⁸ And for even greater protection from trackers when browsing, Safari now offers advanced fingerprinting protection in all browsing by default.
- The Messages app brings Backgrounds, Polls, and a redesigned details view that helps users easily navigate what has been shared in a conversation. Plus, it features typing indicators in groups to let participants know exactly who is going to chime in, as well as the ability to add new contacts easily right from the group chat and search with more natural language.
- Journal comes to Mac, making it easy to capture and write about everyday moments and special events when inspiration strikes. On Mac, it’s easy to type long, thoughtful entries and view them on a map. Users can keep multiple journals for various aspects of life, which are all synced across Apple devices.
- Photos has an updated design that includes beautiful Liquid Glass elements, enhancements for customization, easier workflows, and sidebar consistency with iPadOS. Pinned Collections now come to Mac, so users can access the collections they use most with a click on the sidebar. Users will also find new buttons to quickly access filtering and sorting options in all views, and the ability to customize the size of Collections tiles, so they can view their library just how they like.
- On FaceTime, the reimagined landing page features beautiful Contact Posters of recent callers, Liquid Glass controls now float in the bottom right and recede to create more space, and a new More button lets users quickly access features like SharePlay and Live Translation.
- Notes adds the ability to import and export a note into a markdown file, and support for capturing conversations in the Phone app as audio recordings with transcriptions.
- Accessibility features include Magnifier on Mac, which enables users with low vision to zoom in on their surroundings using Continuity Camera on iPhone or attached USB cameras, apply image filters so items are easier to see or read, and even change perspective when viewing presentations or books from an angle. Additional features include Accessibility Reader, a new systemwide reading mode designed with accessibility in mind; an all-new Braille Access experience that offers a user-friendly interface for those with a connected braille display; and Vehicle Motion Cues, which helps reduce motion sickness in a moving vehicle.
- With Passwords, users can easily reference changes they make to their accounts, including checking previous versions of passwords they save, along with details on when they were changed.
Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. The release will be available as a free software update this fall. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese (simplified). More languages will be coming by the end of this year: Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (traditional), and Vietnamese. For more information, visit apple.com/os/macos and apple.com/apple-intelligence. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Call Screening supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan, Macao), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
2. Hold Assist will be available in English (U.S.), English (Canada), English (UK), English (Singapore), English (Australia), English (India), French (France), Spanish (U.S.), Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese (Japan), and Mandarin Chinese (mainland China).
3. Genmoji and Image Playground are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Japanese.
4. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).
5. Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime is available for one-on-one calls in English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
6. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2025 using JetStream 2.2, MotionMark 1.3.1, and Speedometer 3.1 performance benchmarks. Tested with prerelease Safari 26.0 and latest stable versions of Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox at the time of testing on: 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4 and prerelease macOS Tahoe, and Intel Core Ultra 9-based PC systems with Intel Arc Graphics and Windows 11 Home; iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) units with prerelease iPadOS 26.0, and Intel Core Ultra 7-based PC systems with Intel Arc Graphics and Windows 11 Pro; and iPhone 16 Pro Max with prerelease iOS 26.0, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite-based smartphones with Android 15. Devices tested with a WPA2 Wi-Fi network connection. Performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, network connection, and other factors.
7. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2025 by measuring page load performance of snapshot versions of 10 popular websites under simulated network conditions. Tested on production 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and prerelease macOS Tahoe. Tested with prerelease Safari 26.0 and Chrome v136.0.7103.93. Performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, network connection, and other factors.
8. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2025 on production 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and prerelease macOS Tahoe. Systems tested with WPA2 Wi-Fi network connection while running on battery power, with display brightness set to 8 clicks from bottom and keyboard backlight off. Video streaming tested with 1080p content on prerelease Safari 26.0 and Chrome v136.0.7103.93. Not all features are available on all devices. Battery life varies by use and configuration. See apple.com/batteries for more information.
Press Contacts

Michelle Del Rio

Apple

mr_delrio@apple.com

Starlayne Meza

Apple

starlayne_meza@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Global Banks –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active and connected
Source: Apple

Headline: watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active and connected

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

watchOS 26 delivers more personalized ways to stay active, healthy, and connected

A new software design makes using Apple Watch even more delightful, Workout Buddy brings a first-of-its-kind workout experience with Apple Intelligence, and the Smart Stack and Messages are more intelligent

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed watchOS 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. A new design with Liquid Glass makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user’s tastes and the workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications.

“Apple Watch is an indispensable companion for millions of people around the world, and watchOS 26 uses intelligence to offer an even more personalized experience,” said David Clark, Apple’s senior director of watchOS Engineering. “From a gorgeous new design, to Workout Buddy with Apple Intelligence, personalized music suggestions in the Workout app, and more intelligence in the Smart Stack and Messages, we’re excited about the many ways watchOS 26 will support each user in staying active, healthy, connected, and safe throughout their day.”

A Beautiful New Design

A gorgeous new software design with Liquid Glass brings a fresh look to watchOS 26. Across apps, this new design enables a vibrant and expressive experience that reflects and refracts content using real-time rendering, which brings even more focus to content and makes using Apple Watch even more delightful. Smart Stack widgets, Smart Stack hints, notifications, Control Center, and in-app controls and navigation will adopt the new design. The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo.

Apple Intelligence Comes to Fitness with Workout Buddy

Workout Buddy is a first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user’s workout data and their fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more.

For example, as a user starts a run, Workout Buddy will give a personalized pep talk that may remind them of their running mileage for the week so far, or share how they are doing against their Activity ring goals: “Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning. You’re 18 minutes away from closing your Exercise ring. So far this week, you’ve run 6 miles. You’re going to add to that today.”

During the workout, Workout Buddy can mark key moments like their mile splits, or tell them if they hit a new milestone based on their fitness history: “Mile four. You picked up the pace and ran that last one in 8 minutes and 28 seconds.” “Hey, check this out. Your total running distance for the year just crossed the 200-mile mark! That’s a lot of running!”

When a user ends a workout, Workout Buddy will recap their workout stats and congratulate them on their achievements: “Way to get your workout in! You went 4.3 miles in just over 38 minutes. Your average pace was 8 minutes and 58 seconds, and your average heart rate was 128. That was your longest run of the last 28 days. What will you do next?”

To offer meaningful inspiration in real time, Workout Buddy analyzes data privately and securely, with Apple Intelligence. A new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout.

Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones, and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone nearby. It will be available starting in English, across some of the most popular workout types: Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training.

Additional Updates to the Workout Experience

The Workout app is one of the most popular apps on Apple Watch, and in watchOS 26, it debuts the biggest update to its layout and navigation since its introduction. Four new buttons in the corners of the app make it easier for users to access their favorite features to customize workouts, like Workout Views, Custom Workout, Pacer, Race Route, and more.

To add inspiration, users can set up music and podcasts right in the Workout app to automatically play when they start a workout. For users’ convenience, Apple Music can now select the best playlist for a user’s workout based on the workout type and their personal tastes.¹ Alternatively, users can see suggestions for playlists or podcasts based on what they’ve recently listened to during that particular workout type.

The Smart Stack Becomes Even More Proactive

The Smart Stack is designed to help users quickly access important information from any watch face. In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack improves its prediction algorithms by incorporating more contextual data, sensor data, and data from a user’s routine to provide Smart Stack hints, a proactive prompt for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful. Made of Liquid Glass, Smart Stack hints will appear on the display as a gentle visual prompt. For example, a hint for Backtrack may appear when a user is in a remote location with no connectivity, or a hint for a Pilates workout may show up when a user arrives at a studio location at their usual time.

Added Convenience in Messages

Apple Watch now supports Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence, allowing incoming texts to be automatically translated into a user’s preferred language, right on their wrist.² And when the user responds, their texts can be instantly translated for the person they’re having a conversation with. Live Translation will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2, with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone.

Additionally, for users whose device language is set to English, Apple Watch will intelligently suggest relevant actions in Messages using the context of a conversation, like starting a Check In when a friend asks a user to share when they arrive home, or using Apple Cash when a user is asked to contribute to a group gift. Customizable Backgrounds set on iPhone will also appear on Apple Watch to make conversations feel more personal and distinct, and users can respond to polls right on their wrist. Smart Replies get even more precise for users whose device language is set to English, with an improved on-device language model that can generate relevant responses based on the content of a conversation.³

Notifications Are Easier to Manage

Notifications are even easier to manage with a simple wrist flick gesture on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a user raises their wrist to check a notification but isn’t ready to respond, they can quickly turn their wrist over and back to dismiss the notification. The wrist flick gesture can be used to dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face. It uses the accelerometer and the gyroscope — along with a machine learning model — to analyze a user’s wrist movement. Wrist flick joins the double tap gesture to allow users to do even more on Apple Watch with only one hand, for times when the user’s other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee.

Apple Watch can also now automatically adjust the speaker volume based on the ambient noise in a user’s surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them.

Additional updates in watchOS 26:
- The Notes app comes to Apple Watch, allowing users to access their notes right on their wrist. Users can also pin and unlock notes, complete checklist items, and create new notes with Siri, dictation, and the keyboard.
- Hold Assist and Call Screening come to the Phone app, when an iPhone is nearby. When a user is waiting for a live agent, Hold Assist recognizes once a live agent is available and notifies the user to return to the call.⁴ Call Screening helps users manage incoming phone calls from unknown numbers more efficiently by collecting a name and reason for the call before their phone rings, so they can make an informed decision on whether to pick up, decline the call, or ask for more information.⁵
- For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, Live Listen controls come to Apple Watch with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions of what their iPhone hears on a paired Apple Watch while listening to the audio.⁶ Apple Watch serves as a remote control to start or stop Live Listen sessions on a paired iPhone, or jump back into a session to capture something that may have been missed.
- The Photos face will now shuffle images based on Featured content from Photos, so users can see images of their most meaningful moments every time they raise their wrist or tap the display.
- Users can now explore and discover watch faces more easily with the redesigned watch face gallery on Apple Watch and in the Watch app on iPhone, with faces grouped into collections.
New Tools for Developers

Developers are able to take advantage of new APIs in watchOS 26 across design, the Smart Stack, and more. Developers can use new SwiftUI APIs to adopt the beautiful new design materials of watchOS 26. With the Control Widget API, developers can create custom controls to be added to the Control Center, Action Button, or Smart Stack widget, and the Smart Stack Relevance API allows third-party widgets to be added to the Smart Stack with new signals like Points of Interest, with user permission to incorporate location data. For example, the Smart Stack can intelligently show a widget for Slopes when users arrive at a ski resort with improved location APIs, and now Dark Noise can add a custom control to Control Center so users can easily turn on a sleep soundscape without picking up their iPhone.

Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. watchOS 26 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models, paired with iPhone 11 or later, running iOS 26. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Apple Music subscription is required for automatic music selection.
2. Live Translation in Messages will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified).
3. Updates to Smart Replies will be available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
4. Hold Assist requires iPhone nearby, and supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain).
5. Call Screening requires iPhone nearby, and supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Macao, Taiwan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
6. Live Captions support English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), German (Germany), French (Canada, France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), and Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong).
Press Contacts

Nikki Rothberg

Apple

nrothberg@apple.com

Clare Varellas

Apple

cvarellas@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Global Banks –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: Apple elevates the iPhone experience with iOS 26
Source: Apple

Headline: Apple elevates the iPhone experience with iOS 26

June 9, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

Apple elevates the iPhone experience with iOS 26

The release delivers a stunning new design, powerful Apple Intelligence capabilities, new ways to stay connected in the Phone and Messages apps, and exciting updates to CarPlay, Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps users rely on every day. The new design provides a more expressive and delightful experience across the system while maintaining the instant familiarity of iOS. Integrated throughout the system and built with privacy from the ground up, Apple Intelligence gets even more capable. Updates to the Phone and Messages apps help users stay connected while eliminating distractions like unwanted calls. iOS 26 also introduces new features in CarPlay, Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet, as well as Apple Games, a brand-new app that gives players a single destination for all their games.

“iOS 26 shines with the gorgeous new design and meaningful improvements to the features users rely on every day, making iPhone even more helpful,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “Experiences are more expressive and personal, from the Lock Screen and Home Screen, to new capabilities across Phone and Messages that help users focus on the connections that matter most. And with powerful new Apple Intelligence capabilities integrated across the system, users can get things done easier than ever.”

A Beautiful New Look

The new design makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful, while keeping iOS instantly familiar. It’s crafted with Liquid Glass — a new translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, bringing greater focus to content, and delivering a new level of vitality across controls, navigation, app icons, widgets, and more. The new design extends to the Home Screen and Lock Screen, making them more personal and expressive than ever. Liquid Glass also brings new customization options to app icons and widgets, including a stunning clear look.

On the Lock Screen, the time fluidly adapts to the available space in an image, and spatial scenes bring wallpapers to life with a 3D effect when users move iPhone. Updated design elements also deliver fresh experiences in apps. A simplified, streamlined Camera layout helps users keep their attention on the moment they’re capturing, and the Photos app is updated to feature separate tabs for Library and Collections views. In Safari, web pages flow from the top edge to the bottom of the screen, enabling users to see more of the page while maintaining access to frequently used actions like refresh and search. In Apple Music, News, and Podcasts, the tab bar is redesigned to float above users’ content, dynamically shrink when users are browsing to put content front and center, and then expand when they scroll back up.

An updated set of APIs provides developers with access to Liquid Glass materials and components so they can make their apps appear just as dynamic and delightful.

New Capabilities Powered by Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence elevates the iPhone experience and helps users get things done easier than ever, while unlocking new ways to communicate and do more with what’s on their screen. Live Translation is integrated into Messages, FaceTime, and Phone to help users communicate across languages, translating text and audio on the fly.¹ Live Translation is enabled by Apple-built models that run entirely on device, so users’ personal conversations stay personal.

Building on Apple Intelligence, visual intelligence extends to a user’s iPhone screen so they can search and take action on anything they’re viewing across apps. Users can ask ChatGPT questions about what they’re looking at onscreen to learn more, as well as search Google, Etsy, or other supported apps to find similar images and products. Visual intelligence also recognizes when a user is looking at an event and suggests adding it to their calendar, repopulating key details like date, time, and location.²

Genmoji and Image Playground provide users with even more ways to express themselves, including mixing their favorite emoji, Genmoji, and descriptions together to create something new.³

Shortcuts are now more powerful and intelligent than ever. Users can tap into intelligent actions, a whole new set of shortcuts enabled by Apple Intelligence, and will see dedicated actions for features like Writing Tools and Image Playground.

Apple Intelligence can now automatically identify and summarize order tracking details from emails sent from merchants and delivery carriers, giving users the ability to see their full order details and progress notifications all in one place — even for purchases not made with Apple Pay.

Additionally, a new Foundation Models framework opens up access for any app to tap directly into the on-device foundation model at the core of Apple Intelligence, giving developers direct access to powerful intelligence that’s fast, built with privacy at its core, and available offline, using AI inference that is free of cost.

Features for Staying Connected and Eliminating Interruptions

Fundamental to the iPhone experience, the Phone app now offers a unified layout that combines Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails all in one place. Call Screening builds on Live Voicemail and helps eliminate interruptions by gathering information from the caller and giving users the details they need to decide if they want to pick up or ignore the call.⁴ And for the times when a user is stuck on hold, Hold Assist notifies the user when a live agent is available.⁵

In Messages, users can now screen messages from unknown senders, giving them more control over who appears in their conversation list. Messages from unknown senders will appear in a dedicated folder where users can then mark the number as known, ask for more information, or delete. These messages will remain silenced until a user accepts them.

iOS 26 also offers enhancements to conversations, including custom backgrounds and the ability to create polls. With Apple Intelligence, Messages can detect when a poll might come in handy and suggest one, and users can generate unique backgrounds that fit their conversation with Image Playground. Additionally, in group chats, users can now see typing indicators, and request, send, and receive Apple Cash.⁶

Enhancements to CarPlay

CarPlay — the smarter, safer way to use iPhone while driving — is used over 600 million times per day, and now with iOS 26, it receives updates that make it even more beautiful and easy to use. The stunning design includes a new compact view for incoming calls, allowing users to see who’s calling without missing key information like upcoming directions. iOS 26 also brings Tapbacks and pinned conversations to Messages in CarPlay, and with widgets and Live Activities, users can stay in the loop without losing focus on the road. These updates also come to CarPlay Ultra, which brings the best of iPhone and the best of the car together for a deeply integrated, unified experience across every screen.

Updates to Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet

In Apple Music, Lyrics Translation helps users understand the words to their favorite songs, while Lyrics Pronunciation allows everyone to sing along, regardless of language. AutoMix uses intelligence to transition from one song to the next like a DJ, using time stretching and beat matching to seamlessly move from one song to the next.

In Apple Maps, Visited Places help users remember the places they’ve been. Users can choose to have iPhone detect when they’re at a place like a restaurant or shop, and view all of their Visited Places in Maps. Visited Places are protected with end-to-end encryption and cannot be accessed by Apple. Additionally, iPhone can now use on-device intelligence to better understand a user’s daily route, presenting them with their preferred route when they’re headed home or to the office, along with notifying them of delays and offering alternate routes.

Updates in Apple Wallet help make everyday interactions with the physical world easier than ever. Users can choose to pay with installments or rewards when they make in-store purchases with Apple Pay using iPhone. Refreshed boarding passes in Wallet offer the ability to see and share Live Activities for real-time updates on a flight. They also provide convenient access to a traveler’s most relevant information, such as Maps to navigate airports, Find My to track important items and report missing bags, and more.

Additional features in iOS 26:
- Apple Games is a new app that gives players an all-in-one destination for their games. It helps players jump back into titles they love, find their next favorite, and have even more fun with friends. They’ll find out what’s happening across all their games, including major events and updates, so they never miss a moment. The Games app is also the best way to experience Apple Arcade, Apple’s game subscription service with more than 200 award-winning and highly rated games for the whole family.
- AirPods are more versatile than ever with new features for AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and AirPods Pro 2. Building on the benefits of Voice Isolation, studio-quality audio recording allows iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to record their content with great sound quality and enjoy even clearer calls. With camera remote, users can press and hold the AirPods stem to take a photo or start and stop a video recording on iPhone or iPad.
- Parents can now create or move kids into Child Accounts even more easily, taking advantage of a wide set of parental controls designed to keep children safe. Enhancements across Communication Limits, Communication Safety, and the App Store include parental approvals for contact requests from kids, blurring out sensitive content in FaceTime calls and photos in Shared Albums, and enabling parents to grant an exception for their child to download an app with an age rating that exceeds the app content restriction they set.
- Browsing in Safari gets even more private with advanced fingerprinting protection extending to all browsing by default.
- Powerful accessibility features include Accessibility Reader, which provides a customized systemwide reading experience, and Braille Access, an all-new interface for iPhone devices with connected braille displays. Updates to Live Listen, Background Sounds, Personal Voice, and more bring a new level of accessibility across the Apple ecosystem.
Availability

All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 11 and later. The Apple Intelligence features detailed require supported devices, which include all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later that have Apple Intelligence enabled and Siri and device language set to the same supported language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese (simplified). More languages will be coming by the end of this year: Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (traditional), and Vietnamese. For more information, visit apple.com/apple-intelligence. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.
1. Live Translation in Messages supports English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), and Chinese (simplified). Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime is available for one-on-one calls in English (U.S., UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
2. The ability to add an event to a calendar with visual intelligence is available in English on all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
3. Genmoji and Image Playground are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Japanese.
4. Call Screening supports Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao), English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, UK), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan, Macao), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain).
5. Hold Assist supports English (U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK), French (France), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese (Japan), and Mandarin Chinese (mainland China).
6. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC. Apple Payments Services LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc., is a service provider of Green Dot Bank for Apple Cash accounts. Neither Apple Inc. nor Apple Payments Services LLC is a bank. Learn more about the terms and conditions. Only available in the U.S. on eligible devices.
Press Contacts

Shane Bauer

Apple

shanebauer@apple.com

Tania Olkhovaya

Apple

tolkhovaya@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com
MIL OSI Global Banks –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: UN honours peacekeepers’ service and sacrifice

Source: United Nations – Peacekeeping

The United Nations honoured staff serving at its field missions through several events to mark the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Thursday.

The first UN peacekeeping operation was established in 1948 and today more than 68,000 civilian, military, and police personnel are posted at 11 missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East as well as at Headquarters in New York.

The Day pays tribute to their unwavering service and sacrifice while honouring the more than 4,400 blue helmets who have died in the line of duty over the decades – 57 in 2024 alone.

This year’s theme focuses on the future of peacekeeping and Secretary-General António Guterres noted that “peacekeepers face increasingly complex situations in an increasingly complex world.”

Deadly misinformation

He highlighted growing polarization and division across the globe, threats such as terrorism and deadly misinformation targeting peacekeepers, as well as challenges that transcend borders ranging from climate change to transnational crime.

“Now more than ever, the world needs the United Nations – and the United Nations needs peacekeeping that is fully equipped for today’s realities and tomorrow’s challenges,” he said.

The Secretary-General stressed that “it is essential that peacekeepers have what they need to do their jobs” and “this is the shared responsibility of the United Nations and Member States.”

The commemoration at Headquarters included a wreath-laying ceremony as well as the presentation of awards to two outstanding women peacekeepers whose work helps to advance gender equality in the field.

Listen to our interview with Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme of Ghana, the 2024 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year.

‘A very rewarding job’

Meanwhile, peacekeepers have been sharing what it means to serve under the UN flag.

“It’s a very rewarding job because you really do have a lot of contact with the civilian population and their concerns, their culture, their needs,” said Lieutenant Colonel Agustín García from Spain, deployed at the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The mission was established in 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon and the mandate was most recently defined in a 2006 Security Council resolution which called for a full cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel following their 34-day war on Lebanese territory that year.

Despite conflict between the sides last year, UNIFIL remains on the ground, supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in its efforts to restore government authority in the south and providing vital assistance to local communities including security, humanitarian aid and reconstruction of schools and hospitals.

Making a difference

Peacekeepers have served in challenging conditions ever since military observers were first dispatched nearly 80 years ago to monitor the armistice agreement between Israel and neighbouring countries.

“Most of our missions have deteriorated political and security environments,” the head of UN Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix told journalists in New York.

He listed UNIFIL, the stabilization mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, and the observer force in the Golan (UNDOF) as examples.

Peacekeepers everywhere “are making a critical difference on the ground in spite of all these challenges,” he said.

“I want to insist that by preserving ceasefires, by preventing the resumption of violence in those environments, by protecting every single day hundreds of thousands of civilians, our peacekeepers are really making a huge difference in the field.”

A vital partnership

For Mr. Lacroix, the annual commemoration on 29 May is also a reminder of how peacekeeping is “a very vital international partnership” and this was on full display during a recent high-level summit held in Berlin, Germany.

More than 130 delegations attended the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial which ended with many pledges of support including in areas such as personnel, specialized training and investments in emerging technologies.

“The main takeaway from the Berlin meeting was that peacekeeping remains very strongly supported by Member States,” he said.

“We take it as an encouragement for all the efforts that we’re making, and that we continue to make, to make sure that we remain fit for the future and nimble and adaptable, and also cost-effective.”

Remembering the fallen

At the wreath-ceremony, peacekeepers gathered in the lobby of UN Headquarters alongside Secretary-General Guterres to remember their fallen colleagues.

Dressed in national uniforms, topped by blue UN berets, they stood in silence and saluted as “Taps” rang out.

The 57 peacekeepers who paid the ultimate price last year, as well as another who lost his life in 1973, were posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal during another ceremony in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber.

The award is named after the UN’s first Secretary-General who died in 1961 in a plane crash in what is now Zambia.

“We hold them all in our hearts and we grieve with their families and loved ones. Their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” said Mr. Guterres.

The mood shifted from solemn to celebratory as two women peacekeepers serving in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan were presented top UN military and police awards.

Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme of Ghana received the 2024 UN Military Gender Advocate Award while Chief Superintendent Zainab Mbalu Gbla of Sierra Leone was named the Woman Police Officer of the Year.

Learn more about the laureates here.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI: $HAREHOLDER ALERT: The M&A Class Action Firm Encourages Shareholders of OPOF, PRA, SWTX and HURA to Take Action
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

NEW YORK, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Monteverde & Associates PC (the “M&A Class Action Firm”), has recovered millions of dollars for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm in the 2024 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are investigating:
- Old Point Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OPOF), relating to the proposed merger with TowneBank. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Old Point will elect to receive $41.00 in cash or 1.1400 shares of TowneBank common stock for each share of Old Point outstanding common stock.
ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for July 2, 2025.

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The MIL Network –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Philip Harrison, Professor School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa met senior leaders of Johannesburg and Gauteng, the province it’s located in, in March 2025 to discuss ways to arrest the steep decline in South Africa’s largest city.

Ramaphosa announced a two-year-long presidential intervention to tackle some of the city’s most pressing issues. It is to be led by the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group with eight cross-governmental and multi-stakeholder workstreams.

Johannesburg was established 130 years ago, where the world’s largest-ever gold deposits were discovered. It grew rapidly in the early 20th century and became the country’s economic heartland and largest population centre. Like all South African cities, it was deeply scarred by apartheid policies. People were divided by racially defined groups. Good services and a strong economy benefited a minority, and a black majority were pushed into impoverished ghettos.

But, for about the first two decades of post-apartheid rule from 1994, Johannesburg led the country with innovation and progressive change. It pioneered the new local government system, institutional reforms, new practice on city strategy and planning, pro-poor service delivery, and modern transport infrastructure.

Today, however, the city is in a dire state. Over the past decade, roughly coinciding with the arrival of messy coalition governance in 2016, sound political leadership, administrative stability and financial management have crumbled. Underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance has led to collapsing services. Public trust is deteriorating among increasingly frustrated communities. This was evident in local election results. It also shows up in recent data released by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory on public trust in local government.

The local economy has stagnated. The city’s official unemployment rate of 34.3% is higher than the national average of 32.9%. Mounting joblessness and dwindling incomes have intertwined with depleted trust to knock levels of payment for property rates and service charges. In turn this has deepened the financial and service maintenance crisis.

Corruption in many parts of the city is an endemic complicating factor.

The presidential intervention is designed to address this complex interplay between embedded legacies and failings post-apartheid. The workstreams involving city officials and concerned stakeholders are generating ideas for priority actions. There is also a new energy in the city government, with the executive mayor and members of his mayoral committee making turnaround promises.

This long overdue attention is heartening. But some caution is called for. While some “quick wins” are needed, there will be no easy turnaround. The best prospect is likely to be a process of recovery that will require patience and methodical attention over the long term. A city cannot be repaired in the way an automobile can. A city has a trillion moving parts and is in a constant state of makeover, as dynamics of economy, technology, demography, environment, society, politics, and more, interact and produce change.

The question is not whether a city is fixed – it can never finally be – but rather what trajectory it is on. For Johannesburg, the question is how to exit the downward spiral and begin the process of reconstruction.

We are a group who previously worked in the City of Johannesburg as officials, who are now academics with decades of experience observing local governance trends and dynamics, or scholars engaged in civil society coalitions or communities mobilising around the crisis. Some of us have been involved in the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group over the last few months.

Our view is that there are four areas needing urgent but sustained attention.

Focus areas

The first is the need for a joint effort across national, provincial and municipal government to resolve the crisis. We are pleased that this has begun. The political leadership in the city (and of the province) failed to grasp the opportunity provided by the post-2024 election national compromises to put together a broad-based government of local unity to lead reconstruction. There is no option now but to pursue an inter-governmental initiative led by national government with the committed involvement of the other spheres.

Only genuine collaboration will succeed.

In this respect, the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group holds promise. But what will be needed is careful, concerted work focused first on short-term priorities. Then, over years, on key structural challenges facing the city.

Second, the city needs civil society in all its forms to hold a careful balance between keeping up the pressure on municipal government, constantly holding it accountable to its residents, and working with government to help it solve problems. The Joburg Crisis Alliance, Jozi-my-Jozi, WaterCAN and similar initiatives are claiming well-recognised and respected voice in the affairs of the municipality.

Johannesburg needs a city government that is open to this scrutiny, accepting the need for transparency, and open to the help that civil society can offer.

To raise the level of accountability and collaboration, a clear programme of restoration has to be communicated openly to the public. Milestones and expenditure requirements need to be set that allow for constant monitoring. There must be open council meetings, and regular online and in-person briefings.

Also required are new mechanisms for citizen-based monitoring. These may include trained citizen monitors reporting on service delivery. Alternatively, the establishment of a sort of “Citizen’s Council” which meets regularly to receive reports from these monitors and the city administration.

International examples include the Bürgerrat model. This is now fully institutionalised in parts of Germany and Austria to strengthen local democracy and accountability. In this model, citizens are randomly selected to sit on a council which monitors performance of local government and provides new ideas.

Another approach could be for civil society organisations to be invited to a Citizen’s Council that would act in support of the oversight processes of the elected Municipal Council.

Third, there has to be a solution to unstable coalition governments. These seem to be structured to facilitate separate political fiefdoms where spoils can be divided in the allocation of portfolios. At minimum, the presidential intervention must provide for a check and balance on processes where bureaucratic appointments and budgetary allocations may serve the interests of cronyism. For example, there should be transparency and rigour in appointments to the boards of Johannesburg’s municipally owned companies.

Regulatory reforms are required in the political arena. This should include rules for the distribution of seats on the municipal executive and the election of mayors. Between January 2023 and August 2024 a tiny minority party held the mayoralty because the larger parties could not agree on a mayoral selection or, more cynically, to ensure that the executive mayor could not call large parties to account.

More importantly, though, there has to be a change in political culture. This is a longer-term process.

Fourth, the problems run far deeper than what bureaucratic reorganisation can achieve.

The longer-term project is to build a capable administration with clear political direction and oversight but insulated from personal agendas and factional battles. The administration became confused and demoralised because of the political instability over an extended period. There are, however, still many capable and committed public servants in the city bureaucracy. The focus should be on working with them to rebuild the administration, making it a place where talent and initiative are recognised and rewarded.

Restored political leadership and a rejuvenated administration is needed for a long term process, extending far beyond the quick wins. This process will involve refurbishing the decaying network infrastructure, restoring financial stability, reestablishing social trust and returning confidence to the city’s economy.

2025 marks 30 years since the first democratic local elections. National government is looking seriously at sweeping municipal reforms. And the next municipal election – likely to be held at the end of 2026 – is an opportunity to make a deep transformation effort. Citizens can ensure that parties contesting the election place Johannesburg’s recovery at the heart of their agenda.

Philip Harrison has received funding from South Africa’s National Research Foundation in support of the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning.

The Gauteng City-Region Observatory receives core grant funding from the Gauteng Provincial Government.

Lorena Nunez Carrasco received funding from the National Research Foundation in support of research on the South African response on COVID-19

Rashid Seedat receives funding from Gauteng Provincial Government for the Gauteng City-Region Observatory. He is affiliated with the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation as a member of the Board of Trustees.

– ref. Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse – https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-problems-can-be-solved-but-its-a-long-journey-to-fix-south-africas-economic-powerhouse-256013

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 10, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Harrison, Professor School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa met senior leaders of Johannesburg and Gauteng, the province it’s located in, in March 2025 to discuss ways to arrest the steep decline in South Africa’s largest city.

Ramaphosa announced a two-year-long presidential intervention to tackle some of the city’s most pressing issues. It is to be led by the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group with eight cross-governmental and multi-stakeholder workstreams.

Johannesburg was established 130 years ago, where the world’s largest-ever gold deposits were discovered. It grew rapidly in the early 20th century and became the country’s economic heartland and largest population centre. Like all South African cities, it was deeply scarred by apartheid policies. People were divided by racially defined groups. Good services and a strong economy benefited a minority, and a black majority were pushed into impoverished ghettos.

But, for about the first two decades of post-apartheid rule from 1994, Johannesburg led the country with innovation and progressive change. It pioneered the new local government system, institutional reforms, new practice on city strategy and planning, pro-poor service delivery, and modern transport infrastructure.

Today, however, the city is in a dire state. Over the past decade, roughly coinciding with the arrival of messy coalition governance in 2016, sound political leadership, administrative stability and financial management have crumbled. Underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance has led to collapsing services. Public trust is deteriorating among increasingly frustrated communities. This was evident in local election results. It also shows up in recent data released by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory on public trust in local government.

The local economy has stagnated. The city’s official unemployment rate of 34.3% is higher than the national average of 32.9%. Mounting joblessness and dwindling incomes have intertwined with depleted trust to knock levels of payment for property rates and service charges. In turn this has deepened the financial and service maintenance crisis.

Corruption in many parts of the city is an endemic complicating factor.

The presidential intervention is designed to address this complex interplay between embedded legacies and failings post-apartheid. The workstreams involving city officials and concerned stakeholders are generating ideas for priority actions. There is also a new energy in the city government, with the executive mayor and members of his mayoral committee making turnaround promises.

This long overdue attention is heartening. But some caution is called for. While some “quick wins” are needed, there will be no easy turnaround. The best prospect is likely to be a process of recovery that will require patience and methodical attention over the long term. A city cannot be repaired in the way an automobile can. A city has a trillion moving parts and is in a constant state of makeover, as dynamics of economy, technology, demography, environment, society, politics, and more, interact and produce change.

The question is not whether a city is fixed – it can never finally be – but rather what trajectory it is on. For Johannesburg, the question is how to exit the downward spiral and begin the process of reconstruction.

We are a group who previously worked in the City of Johannesburg as officials, who are now academics with decades of experience observing local governance trends and dynamics, or scholars engaged in civil society coalitions or communities mobilising around the crisis. Some of us have been involved in the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group over the last few months.

Our view is that there are four areas needing urgent but sustained attention.

Focus areas

The first is the need for a joint effort across national, provincial and municipal government to resolve the crisis. We are pleased that this has begun. The political leadership in the city (and of the province) failed to grasp the opportunity provided by the post-2024 election national compromises to put together a broad-based government of local unity to lead reconstruction. There is no option now but to pursue an inter-governmental initiative led by national government with the committed involvement of the other spheres.

Only genuine collaboration will succeed.

In this respect, the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group holds promise. But what will be needed is careful, concerted work focused first on short-term priorities. Then, over years, on key structural challenges facing the city.

Second, the city needs civil society in all its forms to hold a careful balance between keeping up the pressure on municipal government, constantly holding it accountable to its residents, and working with government to help it solve problems. The Joburg Crisis Alliance, Jozi-my-Jozi, WaterCAN and similar initiatives are claiming well-recognised and respected voice in the affairs of the municipality.

Johannesburg needs a city government that is open to this scrutiny, accepting the need for transparency, and open to the help that civil society can offer.

To raise the level of accountability and collaboration, a clear programme of restoration has to be communicated openly to the public. Milestones and expenditure requirements need to be set that allow for constant monitoring. There must be open council meetings, and regular online and in-person briefings.

Also required are new mechanisms for citizen-based monitoring. These may include trained citizen monitors reporting on service delivery. Alternatively, the establishment of a sort of “Citizen’s Council” which meets regularly to receive reports from these monitors and the city administration.

International examples include the Bürgerrat model. This is now fully institutionalised in parts of Germany and Austria to strengthen local democracy and accountability. In this model, citizens are randomly selected to sit on a council which monitors performance of local government and provides new ideas.

Another approach could be for civil society organisations to be invited to a Citizen’s Council that would act in support of the oversight processes of the elected Municipal Council.

Third, there has to be a solution to unstable coalition governments. These seem to be structured to facilitate separate political fiefdoms where spoils can be divided in the allocation of portfolios. At minimum, the presidential intervention must provide for a check and balance on processes where bureaucratic appointments and budgetary allocations may serve the interests of cronyism. For example, there should be transparency and rigour in appointments to the boards of Johannesburg’s municipally owned companies.

Regulatory reforms are required in the political arena. This should include rules for the distribution of seats on the municipal executive and the election of mayors. Between January 2023 and August 2024 a tiny minority party held the mayoralty because the larger parties could not agree on a mayoral selection or, more cynically, to ensure that the executive mayor could not call large parties to account.

More importantly, though, there has to be a change in political culture. This is a longer-term process.

Fourth, the problems run far deeper than what bureaucratic reorganisation can achieve.

The longer-term project is to build a capable administration with clear political direction and oversight but insulated from personal agendas and factional battles. The administration became confused and demoralised because of the political instability over an extended period. There are, however, still many capable and committed public servants in the city bureaucracy. The focus should be on working with them to rebuild the administration, making it a place where talent and initiative are recognised and rewarded.

Restored political leadership and a rejuvenated administration is needed for a long term process, extending far beyond the quick wins. This process will involve refurbishing the decaying network infrastructure, restoring financial stability, reestablishing social trust and returning confidence to the city’s economy.

2025 marks 30 years since the first democratic local elections. National government is looking seriously at sweeping municipal reforms. And the next municipal election – likely to be held at the end of 2026 – is an opportunity to make a deep transformation effort. Citizens can ensure that parties contesting the election place Johannesburg’s recovery at the heart of their agenda.

Philip Harrison has received funding from South Africa’s National Research Foundation in support of the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning.

The Gauteng City-Region Observatory receives core grant funding from the Gauteng Provincial Government.

Lorena Nunez Carrasco received funding from the National Research Foundation in support of research on the South African response on COVID-19

Rashid Seedat receives funding from Gauteng Provincial Government for the Gauteng City-Region Observatory. He is affiliated with the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation as a member of the Board of Trustees.

– ref. Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse – https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-problems-can-be-solved-but-its-a-long-journey-to-fix-south-africas-economic-powerhouse-256013

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s continued attacks on lawyers risks undermining the US legal system. Is that the point?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stephen Clear, Lecturer in Constitutional and Administrative Law, and Public Procurement, Bangor University

Since returning to office, Donald Trump has often called the US legal system into question. He has criticised judges as activists, challenged the role of the courts and insisted some firms do free legal work in support of his administration’s causes to make up for working for some of his political opponents.

Meanwhile, Vice-President J.D. Vance has advised US Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts that he ought to be “checking the excesses” of the lower courts.

And Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, said: “We are living under a judicial tyranny,” after the US Court of International Trade ruled the president didn’t have the power to impose international trade tariffs. Meanwhile, judges are asking for more security to protect them from threats.

Trump’s federal investigations and volley of executive orders (presidential directives that don’t require legislative approval by Congress) have also put enormous pressure on law firms. And a recent report shows that both trust in law firms’ independence, and even the rule of law itself, is perceived as under threat in the US. But what does this mean, and why is it important?

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

The president has taken action against law firms in two prominent ways:

First, by federal investigation. Specifically, letters to a group of 20 law firms from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These demanded information about their diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) policies, based on the proposition that any sort of treatment of underrepresented groups that appeared preferential to them in policy, or practice, was unequal treatment for other groups, and, consequently, discriminatory.

Second, the president has passed numerous executive orders introducing punitive measures on specific law firms that previously represented clients opposing his administration, or employed attorneys involved in past investigations against him. His administration has also revoked government contracts and suspended security clearance from buildings. In practice, the orders would prevent attorneys from accessing from where they work, such as courthouses and federal agencies.

In response, some prominent law firms have sought to mitigate the fallout with the Trump administration by entering into agreements with it. These have included pledging US$1 billion (£730,000,000) in pro bono (free) legal services supporting causes aligned with Trump’s agenda.

For example, support for veterans, representing police officers, and antisemitism prevention. Noteworthy is that law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison have now agreed to discontinue certain DEI policies, in addition to committing US$40 million (£29.4 million) in pro bono work for the president’s causes. In response the Trump administration has now lifted restrictions against them.

Judges say they are under threat.

More broadly, it has been reported that 70% of the US Justice Department civil rights division’s attorneys are leaving their posts. The mass exodus is believed to be part of attempts to reshape the division into one focused on enforcing executive orders.

The consequences of these developments are that the president’s actions have led to a significant realignment in the legal professions. Some US attorneys have reported that law firms are now more hesitant to engage in pro bono work that could be viewed as opposing the administration’s policies.

By contrast, some lawyers are now trying to establish independent firms aimed at defending civil servants and challenging federal overreach, ensuring at least some, albeit less resourced, support for underrepresented groups.

Trump criticizes judges and legal activists.

Other lawyers have sought legal action against the orders as unconstitutional interference. Some of these have led to success. For example, Perkins Coie challenged theirs and got it struck down. The concern here centred around their representation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In arriving at the decision, the district judge ruled the president’s actions to be an “overt attempt to suppress and punish certain viewpoints”.

Why this matters

These developments call into question the balance between governmental influence and the independence of lawyers in upholding the rule of law. Lawyers must be impartial in representing their clients in order to effectively represent their interests, and allow the judiciary to fulfil their duty of checks and balances on the government’s decisions.

When unfettered power is wielded by the government, and the law is undermined, scope for monitoring the constitutionality of decision making is compromised.

The rule of law is a foundational principle of western democracies. It means that everyone is subject to the law, including governments. Laws must be applied equally, fairly and consistently, and no one is above them.

In essence, laws govern the nation, not arbitrary decisions by individuals in power. In that sense, following the rule of law helps prevent tyranny, protect people’s rights and liberties, and ensures a stable and predictable society.

In order to deliver these objectives, an independent legal sector is needed. Trump’s actions are a threat to achieving this cornerstone US constitutional principle. Some have gone as far as to suggest that by entering into agreements with Trump, law firms have become subsidiaries of his administration.

A recent study on trust in the rule of law found that Americans’ trust in lawyers was already undermined, even before the second Trump administration.

The results, based on public attitudes in 2024, compared public perceptions in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Norway, the UK and the US. Norway and the UK ranked highest in respect of trust in the rule of law (81% and 74% respectively), and Spain and Italy were least trusted (49% and 43%).

The results for the US are interesting. Around 71% of American respondents stated that they had a high level of trust in the rule of law. Yet the country came third from the bottom under the metric “you feel like you are in good hands in US courts”.

The reasons for this are implied in the responses to the other questions in the survey. The US performed second worst (just behind Spain) in respect of belief that judges could be biased. The US also performed worst of all in the category where the public were asked if lawyers were impartial (just 41% agreed).

In interpreting these results it is important to note that the survey was conducted in 2024, prior to Trump’s second term. But anti-elite and anti-judge rhetoric pointing to arguments for more presidential power and less judicial oversight had already been prominent in the first Trump term, and the 2024 campaign.

The results expose the already fragile nature of trust in the legal sector in the US, and underline how this could be ramped up further after the announcements in recent weeks.

Stephen Clear 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. Trump’s continued attacks on lawyers risks undermining the US legal system. Is that the point? – https://theconversation.com/trumps-continued-attacks-on-lawyers-risks-undermining-the-us-legal-system-is-that-the-point-256960

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Chris Sun attracts talent in Germany

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun concluded a six-day visit to Europe by arriving in Munich to start the final day of his visit to Germany, where he attended pitch event.

On June 8, Mr Sun officiated at the prize presentation ceremony of the pitch event co-organised by Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) and a local youth entrepreneurship organisation.

In delivering his remarks, Mr Sun praised the candidates for their business proposals ingeniously integrating with Hong Kong’s strengths and targeting the Asian markets. He highlighted that technology as well as talent are key engines driving the economy and society towards high-quality development.

As Asia’s world city, Hong Kong is proactively attracting international high-calibre talent to tie in with the development under the strategic positioning of the “eight centres”, so as to inject new impetus into its high-quality development, he added.

Last November, HKTE visited Germany and established a partnership network with a student association from the Technische Universität München and a local youth entrepreneurship organisation.

Thereafter, the HKTE collaborated with the organisation to launch the pitch event targeting students from eligible universities under the Top Talent Pass Scheme and young entrepreneurs, inviting talent in Germany with entrepreneurial ambitions and intentions to develop in Asia.

Nearly 580 proposals for the pitch event were received across various fields, including artificial intelligence, deep tech, climate and sustainability. Twelve winners were selected and will be arranged to tour Hong Kong and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in September to explore the region’s innovation and technology ecosystem, industry support and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The HKTE delegation’s visit to Europe also encompasses Switzerland and France. In Switzerland, the delegation exchanged with representatives from three of the world’s top 100 universities, namely the Université de Genève, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and EHL Hospitality Business School, and invited two representatives from the hospitality sector in Hong Kong to share insights on the city’s tourism development and opportunities.

In France, the HKTE co-hosts an event with the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires to proactively recruit talent in the finance and commerce sectors to pursue development in Hong Kong.

During his stay in Germany, Mr Sun also had lunch with the Junior Chamber International Germany and a group of foreign students. He learnt about their lives, introduced Hong Kong’s latest developments and invited them to consider pursuing their development in the city.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: SLW visits Germany to attract I&T talent to Hong Kong (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, arrived in Munich to start the final day of his visit to Germany on June 8 (Munich time), concluding the six-day visit to Europe.

In the afternoon, Mr Sun attended a pitch event co-organised by the Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) and a local youth entrepreneurship organisation, where he officiated at the prize presentation ceremony.

In delivering his remarks, Mr Sun praised the candidates for their business proposals ingeniously integrating with Hong Kong’s strengths and targeting the Asian markets. He highlighted that technology as well as talent are key engines driving the economy and society towards high-quality development. As Asia’s world city, Hong Kong is proactively attracting international high-calibre talent to tie in with the development under the strategic positioning of the “eight centres”, so as to inject new impetus into its high-quality development.

Last November, the HKTE visited Germany and established a partnership network with a student association from the Technische Universität München and a local youth entrepreneurship organisation. Thereafter, the HKTE collaborated with the organisation to launch the pitch event targeting students from eligible universities under the Top Talent Pass Scheme and young entrepreneurs, inviting talent in Germany with entrepreneurial ambitions and intentions to develop in Asia.

Nearly 580 proposals for the pitch event were received across various fields, including artificial intelligence, deep tech, climate and sustainability, as well as health and biotechnology. After two rounds of shortlisting, 25 candidates competed in the finals. The judging panel of the finals included representatives from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and start-up organisations, as well as an innovation and technology (I&T) expert and an angel investor from Hong Kong. Twelve winners were selected and will be arranged to tour Hong Kong and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in September to explore the region’s I&T ecosystem, industry support and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The HKTE delegation’s visit to Europe also encompasses Switzerland and France. In Switzerland, the delegation exchanged with representatives from three of the world’s top 100 universities, namely the Université de Genève, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and EHL Hospitality Business School, and invited two representatives from the hospitality sector in Hong Kong to share insights on the city’s tourism development and opportunities. In France, the HKTE co-hosts an event with the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) to proactively recruit talent in the finance and commerce sectors to pursue development in Hong Kong.

During his stay in Germany, Mr Sun also had lunch with the Junior Chamber International Germany and a group of foreign students in Germany. He learned about their lives, introduced the latest development in Hong Kong, and invited them to consider pursuing their development in the city.

Mr Sun will return to Hong Kong in the evening.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

June 9, 2025
NATO needs 400% increase in air and missile defence, Rutte will say in London

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will use a speech in London on Monday to say the military alliance needs a 400% increase in air and missile defence, one of the priorities for a summit of members in the Hague later this month.

Rutte is pushing for members to boost defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending to meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for a 5% target. Last month, he said he assumed that target would be agreed at the summit on June 24-25.

Rutte will argue in a speech at London’s Chatham House think tank that for NATO to maintain credible deterrence and defence, it needs “a 400% increase in air and missile defence”.

“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” he will say, according to extracts of his speech provided by his office.

“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.”

With little let up in fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine despite ceasefire calls, European countries are under pressure to raise defence spending after Trump signalled a shift in policy, pushing for the region to better protect itself.

Several countries say they are doing so, with Britain pledging an increase from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% of GDP at a later date. Germany has said it will need roughly 50,000 to 60,000 additional active soldiers under new NATO targets.

(Reuters)

June 9, 2025
Modi govt creating new history in every field: Piyush Goyal

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading one of the most transformative phases of Bharat’s journey for the past 11 years, as the country is creating new history today in every field from economy to technology, from society to inclusive development, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday

“While 11 years ago, the country was lagging behind in every way, during the Modi government, it is touching the heights of development, and the far-reaching changes of his government’s policies have left no section of society untouched, the minister further stated.

This period has proved to be a symbol of good governance through service in the direction of the poor, youth, farmers and women empowerment. Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas, this is not just a mantra but the strength of the new India, he said.

Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is continuously moving ahead on the path of becoming developed by leading the world with rapid development, comprehensive change and public participation. The minister was referring to the fact that India has emerged as the fastest-growing economy in the world.

The IMF stated in its World Economic Outlook report last month that India is poised to become the world’s fourth-largest economy in 2025, with the country’s nominal GDP rising to $4,187.017 billion to surpass Japan’s GDP pegged at $4,186.431 billion.

According to the report, India continues to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy and the only country expected to clock over 6 per cent growth in the next two years.

The high rate of growth will see India’s GDP increasing to $5,584.476 billion in 2028 as it overtakes Germany to become the third-largest economy.

The IMF has projected a zero growth rate for Germany in 2025, followed by 0.9 per cent in 2026 as it is expected to be hit the hardest among the European countries due to the ongoing global trade war. Germany’s GDP is projected at $5,251.928 in 2028.

Japan, on the other hand, is expected to be hard hit by the global trade war, with its growth stagnating at 0.6 per cent for 2025 and 2026.

(IANS)

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Portugal win Nations League title with shootout win over Spain

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

Cristiano Ronaldo scored again as Portugal claimed its second UEFA Nations League title, overcoming Spain 5-3 on penalties after a tense 2-2 draw in Munich on Sunday.

Having scored the winner against Germany in the semifinal, Ronaldo equalized in the 61st minute of the final to bring Portugal back into the game for a second time. This extended his record of international goals to 138 in 221 appearances.

Spain, who had stunned France 5-4 in the semifinal, started brightly and were rewarded in the 21st minute when Martin Zubimendi scored from close range following a clever pass from 17-year-old Lamine Yamal. Portugal responded swiftly through Nuno Mendes, whose angled drive beat goalkeeper Unai Simon just five minutes later.

Spain regained the lead moments before halftime when Pedri played a defense-splitting pass to Mikel Oyarzabal, who finished confidently to make it 2-1. However, Ronaldo leveled the match with a scrappy but vital finish after Mendes’ cross caused chaos in the Spain box.

Despite both sides pressing for a winner, the match was dragged into extra time, where fatigue began to take its toll. Substitute Diogo Jota almost won it for Portugal in the final minute, but his header went just over the bar.

In the penalty shootout, both teams converted their first three attempts. The turning point came when Spain’s late substitute Alvaro Morata saw his tame effort saved by goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

Ruben Neves then stepped up and fired home the winning penalty, sparking scenes of jubilation on the Portuguese bench.

“Our fighting spirit helped us clinch the title. We knew it would be a tough game; Spain is a very strong team and plays some of the best football in the world. But we also know that when we stick together and play as a team, we are very hard to beat,” said Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

MIL OSI China News –

June 9, 2025

MIL-OSI: ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, Raising the Standard for Gaming Handhelds

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

KEY POINTS

All-day comfort: Redesigned chassis is purpose-built to fit the hands like a real gamepad
Seamless software experience: New Xbox^® software offers the best of Xbox and Windows PC gaming in one handheld
Efficiency and performance: Two new processors offer incredible AAA and indie gaming experiences

LOS ANGELES, June 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is proud to announce an all-new series of Ally handhelds built from the ground up with improved ergonomics and a seamless player-first user experience.

Developed in partnership with the incredible team at Xbox, the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X offer best-in-class ergonomics and a full-screen Xbox experience that marries the best of Xbox and PC gaming in one cohesive package.

“We wanted to take our handheld to the next level, but we could not do it alone.” said Shawn Yen, Head of the Consumer product team at ASUS. “This revolutionary partnership with Microsoft allowed us to forge a brand new device with ROG muscle and the soul of Xbox.”

The ROG Xbox Ally sports an AMD Ryzen™ Z2 A Processor with incredible power efficiency, while the ROG Xbox Ally X offers the new AMD Ryzen™ AI Z2 Extreme Processor for next-level gaming performance. Both launch holiday 2025 in select markets, with additional markets to follow.

All-day comfort

The ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X feature a completely redesigned chassis. Gaming on handheld is a very personal experience, and comfort in the hand is a key pillar of a well-designed device. With years of feedback on the original Ally and Ally X, the ROG Xbox Ally series offers a more comfortable grip than ever, inspired by Xbox. With a redesigned palm rest and texturing patterns to keep gamers locked on target, the ROG Xbox Ally series truly raises the bar for comfort with a handheld gaming device.

The ROG Xbox Ally X also features impulse triggers, improving the haptics in supported games. These triggers allow for more nuance and immersion and are a feature that Xbox gamers have come to expect with their controllers. These devices are the most comfortable and immersive handhelds ever built by ROG.

Seamless software experience

While the ROG Armoury Crate Special Edition software made the original Ally easy to use, ROG and Xbox aimed to make handheld gaming even more seamless on Windows 11. “We wanted to create an authentic Xbox experience in a handheld form factor,” explained Roanne Sones, CVP at Xbox. “With ROG, we made it happen on the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.”

As soon as players power on the device, they enter the full screen Xbox experience. Powered by Windows 11 underneath, this software has been optimized for the ROG Xbox Ally, reducing system overhead and offering easy joystick and button navigation. Quick access to settings and customizable widgets are available via Game Bar with a single press of the Xbox button. But with the full freedom of Windows 11 running under the hood, games and mods from other sources are still easily accessible. The ROG Xbox Ally series offers the power of Xbox, the craftsmanship of ROG, and the versatility of Windows, all in one cohesive device.

Efficiency and performance

The ROG Xbox Ally X features the new top-of-stack AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor, giving it plenty of horsepower even in AAA games. Combined with software optimizations from the new Xbox experience, the ROG Xbox Ally X stands ready to provide gamers with next-gen handheld performance.

“Battery life is paramount on handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X,” said Jack Huynh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AMD. “The Ryzen Z2 series improves efficiency over the previous generation while still offering excellent performance in modern games.”

The ROG Xbox Ally offers console-caliber performance with its AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor. At the same time, its ultra-efficient design at low wattages and its 60Wh battery produce improved battery life. Meanwhile, the ROG Xbox Ally X takes performance to greater heights, offering more room for graphical fidelity at higher framerates with the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor.

Both chips are primed to take full advantage of AMD’s latest software suite for graphics and performance improvements, including AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution (FSR), Radeon Super Resolution (RSR), and AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) frame generation, the latter of which can offer better framerates for improved smoothness.

In a nod to the future, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme-equipped ROG Xbox Ally X features an NPU. With these next-generation chips, the ROG Xbox Ally X will be ready to power the latest AI features as they are introduced.

At launch this holiday, the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X will be available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with availability to follow for other markets where ROG Ally series products are sold today.

For more information, please visit https://rog.asus.com/content/rog-xbox-ally/. Users can also sign up on the page to get notified when pre-orders go live.

SPECIFICATIONS

ROG Xbox Ally X (2025)

Operating System	Windows 11 Home
Comfort & input	Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort, complete with impulse triggers for enhanced control ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R impulse triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-Axis IMU
Processor	AMD Ryzen^™ AI Z2 Extreme Processor
Display	7” FHD (1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9 120Hz refresh rate FreeSync Premium Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® + Corning DXC Anti-Reflection
Memory	24GB LPDDR5X-8000
Storage	1TB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade
Network and Communication	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth^® 5.4
I/O Ports	1x USB4^® with DisplayPort^™ 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0, Thunderbolt^™ 4 compatible 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C^® with DisplayPort^™ 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC; UHS-I with DDR200 mode) 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Battery	80Wh
Dimensions	290.8 (W) x 121.5 (D) x 50.7 (H) mm
Weight	715 grams
Included	ROG Xbox Ally X 65W charger Stand

ROG Xbox Ally (2025)

Operating System	Windows 11 Home
Comfort & input	Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R Hall Effect analog triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-Axis IMU
Processor	AMD Ryzen^™ Z2 A Processor
Display	7” FHD (1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9 120Hz refresh rate FreeSync Premium Corning® Gorilla® Glass Vitus® + Corning DXC Anti-Reflection
Memory	16GB LPDDR5X-6400
Storage	512GB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade
Network and Communication	WiFi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth^® 5.4
I/O Ports	2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C^® with DisplayPort^™ 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC) 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Battery	60Wh
Dimensions	290.8 (W) x 121.5 (D) x 50.7 (H) mm
Weight	670 grams
Included	ROG Xbox Ally 65W charger Stand

NOTES TO EDITORS

ROG Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asusrog

ROG X (Twitter): https://www.x.com/asus_rog

ASUS Pressroom: http://press.asus.com

ASUS Canada Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asuscanada/

ASUS Canada Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asus_ca

ASUS Canada YouTube: https://ca.asus.click/youtube

ASUS Global Twitter: https://www.x.com/asus

About ROG

Republic of Gamers (ROG) is an ASUS sub-brand dedicated to creating the world’s best gaming hardware and software. Formed in 2006, ROG offers a complete line of innovative products known for performance and quality, including motherboards, graphics cards, system components, laptops, desktops, monitors, smartphones, audio equipment, routers, peripherals and accessories. ROG participates in and sponsors major international gaming events. ROG gear has been used to set hundreds of overclocking records and it continues to be the preferred choice of gamers and enthusiasts around the world. To become one of those who dare, learn more about ROG at http://rog.asus.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/589e47e6-72cf-472f-b58a-2d4425432efb

The MIL Network –

June 9, 2025

MIL-OSI Global: Canada must take action to prevent climate-related migration

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University

As wildfire season begins, the destructive impacts of climate change are being felt across Canada. Several communities in northern Saskatchewan have been issued evacuation orders due to wildfires. In Manitoba, Pimicikamak Cree Nation worked to evacuate hundreds of people as wildfires closed in, while smoke from those fires caused air-quality issues across the country.

It isn’t just wildfires threatening people’s homes and livelihoods. In May, 1,600 residents from the Kashechewan Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario evacuated again due to flooding of the Albany River, which happens almost every year.

The 2018 United Nations Climate Conference called on all states to adopt “laws, policies and strategies” meant “to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change.”

The figures are disquieting. By 2050, more than 140 million people could become internal climate migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America alone, especially if action towards reaching net-zero carbon emissions continues to be insufficient.

Canada is not spared: 192,000 people were evacuated in 2023 due to disasters made more severe by climate change, including floods and wildfires. As climate change leads to more extreme weather, temporary climate displacement could become permanent migration.

Climate migration

The World Bank defines internal climate migration as having to relocate for at least a decade to a location 14 kilometres or more away from your community because of climate impacts.

Research I presented at the 2025 Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies Conference at Toronto Metropolitan University analyzed how Canada addresses the climate migration challenge in its submissions under the Paris Agreement, which requires parties to adapt to climate change.

The Canadian government understated the reality of internal climate migration in its submissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement, which obscure the gravity of this phenomenon.

One of those submissions is the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the cornerstone report each state party must present every five years. Canada’s NDC from 2021 recognizes that climate change harms certain populations more than others, but does not address temporary displacement, let alone internal climate migration.

The Fort McMurray wildfires displaced more than 80,000 people in 2016, with its population declining 11 per cent between 2015 and 2018. Similarly, the 2019 Québec spring floods displaced more than 10,000 people and, in Sainte-Marie, hundreds of low-income families abandoned the city because they could not afford the reconstructed homes.

A clear definition of internal climate migrants in Canada, robust data and better co-ordination among Indigenous, municipal, provincial and federal governments is needed.

This is something a National Adaptation Act could deliver, as a part of a comprehensive framework to bolster adaptation action across the country.

Transparency lacking

Canada submitted an adaptation communication in 2024. The communication discusses climate impacts but mentions internal displacement only once. It contains no data or discussion of when displacement becomes permanent, nor does it focus on the disproportionate impact on equity-deserving groups.

The government submitted an updated NDC earlier this year. It noted “the devastating impact of wildfires, floods, drought and melting permafrost on communities across the country” but only briefly discusses adaptation, referring instead to the 2023 National Adaptation Strategy. The only mentions of displacement come in appended submissions by Indigenous Peoples, including Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation and Makivvik.

Indigenous Peoples suffer from flawed adaptation policies and institutional barriers that prevent them from effectively responding to emergencies. As a result, First Nations evacuate 328 times more frequently than settler communities during climate disasters.

In 2011, for example, officials in Manitoba diverted flood waters to Lake St. Martin to protect urban, cottage and agricultural properties. In the process, they flooded 17 First Nations and displaced 4,525 people. Return of the 1,400 residents of the Lake St. Martin First Nation to a new location only started in 2017, and as recently as 2020 displaced families were protesting on highways for their right to housing.

A national adaptation act

Canada should adopt a clear definition of internal climate migrants that captures displacement from climate disasters and slow-onset phenomena like sea-level rise, permafrost thaw and biodiversity loss.

UN experts released a Technical Guide on Human Mobility in 2024, calling for “a sound evidence base on the patterns and trends, as well as on the drivers and outcomes” of climate-induced mobility. It also highlighted the need for adaptation efforts “that are informed by stakeholder consultations” and “existing (Indigenous) adaptation practices.”

Defining internal climate migrants would allow Canada to gather robust data at last, and to act decisively on it.

One first step is the federal government’s pledge of a National Recovery Strategy by 2028, which would set out “shorter time frames for displaced individuals to be able to return to their homes or resettle after climate change disaster events.” But a comprehensive approach is needed to go beyond the fragmented landscape of federal and provincial strategies.

The Canadian government should work with all stakeholders toward the adoption of a National Adaptation Act, like Brazil, Germany and Japan.

Such a law could remove barriers to Indigenous adaptation action, co-ordinate efforts across orders of governments to prevent displacements, define internal climate migration, ensure data collection and protect the rights of people temporarily displaced or internally migrating because of climate change.

It should also aim for greater transparency and accountability than what Canada has so far achieved with its Paris Agreement submissions.

Christopher Campbell-Duruflé receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for his research. He serves on the Legal Committee of the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement.

– ref. Canada must take action to prevent climate-related migration – https://theconversation.com/canada-must-take-action-to-prevent-climate-related-migration-257607

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 9, 2025

Category: Germany

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PM call with Chancellor Merz of Germany: 9 June 2025

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Updates to this page

Focus areas

Summary

Meet the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X

Next-Level Features Designed for Play Anywhere

Introducing the Xbox Experience for Handheld

Easy Access to Games from Xbox, Leading PC Storefronts, and More

Two Great Choices & A First Look at Specs

Pre-orders, Pricing, Accessories and More – Coming Soon

Widespread agreement with false EV claims

What we found

It’s not about education

Grounds for optimism

How to tackle EV misinformation

Summary

Meet the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X

Next-Level Features Designed for Play Anywhere

Introducing the Xbox Experience for Handheld

Easy Access to Games from Xbox, Leading PC Storefronts, and More

Two Great Choices & A First Look at Specs

Pre-orders, Pricing, Accessories and More – Coming Soon

Deadly misinformation

‘A very rewarding job’

Making a difference

A vital partnership

Remembering the fallen

Focus areas

Focus areas

Why this matters

Climate migration

Transparency lacking

A national adaptation act