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  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Sanders, Klobuchar Call on Defense Department to Fund Lifesaving Programs for Service Members and Families 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders

    WASHINGTON, June 26 – Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth calling on the Department of Defense to fully fund lifesaving programs for U.S. service members and their families. In the most recent government funding bill, Congressional Republicans failed to fund Beyond the Yellow Ribbon (BYR) programs, which have helped thousands of service members, veterans and their families effectively manage the challenges associated with deployments and military service.

    Joining Sanders and Klobuchar on the letter are Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

    “As a nation, when someone makes a promise to defend our country, we make a promise in return that we will be there to support them when they come home. For nearly two decades, [Beyond the Yellow Ribbon] programs have helped thousands of service members, veterans, and their families effectively manage the challenges associated with deployments and military service. Let’s be clear: these programs save lives,” Sanders, Klobuchar and the senators wrote.

    Programs funded by BYR have helped connect thousands of service members and their families with essential services, including suicide prevention, counseling, substance use disorder treatment, and housing and employment assistance, among many others. These outreach programs are especially valuable in rural areas and in states without active component military installations.

    Many of the programs now supported by BYR funding began as congressionally directed spending requests and were the result of members of Congress working with National Guard leadership to address the needs of service members and constituents in their states. Congress has funded these programs directly since fiscal year (FY) 2013, including $25 million in FY 2024. However, while the Senate intended to fund BYR at $22 million for FY 2025, the final continuing resolution crafted by the Republican majority and signed by President Trump failed to include this line-item, leaving the decision to the Department of Defense.

    In Vermont, the lack of BYR funding will force the Vermont Veterans and Family Outreach Program to shut down at the end of this month. The program was established in 2007 with funding Sanders secured to help veterans and their families obtain the benefits they’ve earned through their service. The outreach team works closely with local community officials, business leaders, clergy, health care providers and other community-based social organizations and the program has grown to 12 physical locations across Vermont and operates a 24-hour resource line for crisis situations. Vermont’s success has drawn national attention and been used as a model by other states to create similar outreach programs.

    Ending funding for BYR also leaves programs in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin without the expected funding to keep their programs running — effectively shuttering crucial support for military service members and their families while they are asked to sacrifice so much.

    “The decision by the Department of Defense not to fund BYR leaves 24 states across the country without the resources needed to serve those men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country,” the senators wrote. “Given the success of these programs across the country, the value they bring to participants and taxpayers, and the clear Senate intent, we urge you to use your authority as Secretary to provide the funding necessary to continue operations of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon programs for the remainder of the 2025 Fiscal Year and work with us to fully fund these programs in the FY 2026 budget.”

    Read the letter here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Oklahoma City Locals Join Forces to Lift Up Community Members in Need

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    IAM Local 850’s Women’s Committee, along with IAM Local 2909, recently partnered with Upward Transitions, an Oklahoma City nonprofit, for an outreach event as part of the charity’s 100-year celebration.

    Local 850 offered to host the “Gears and Shears” event at their union hall, where volunteers provided free haircuts, hygiene care kits, and a cookout-style meal to local people in need.

    “We got the word out by handing out our flyer at the local shelters, a day shelter and a night shelter, and it was posted on their notification screens,” said IAM Local 850 Secretary-Treasurer Alana Kirkpatrick. “We hand-billed residents of a low-income, public housing apartment complex just down the road from the union hall and walked through camps of unhoused people around the city to encourage people to come.”

    IAM Local 850 Women’s Committee Chair Tamara Wood formerly worked at Upward Transitions and introduced the idea of a partnership to the local.

    “We will be making this an annual event,” said Wood. “We recruited volunteer barbers, and next time we’ll have twice as many. We merged our locals’ Women’s Committees, we meet together a lot, and we put in a lot of hard work to make this first event happen.”

    “Our Women’s Committee has really stepped up to aid our community,” said IAM Local 850 President Larry Solomon. “This was a huge success. All credit goes to the Women’s Committee, and I can definitely see our Local doing more community service like this in the future.”

    “It’s just really great here in Oklahoma City because we all gather together. We’re not separate local unions, we are all one union fighting for the same cause, and we work really well together in getting things done,” said IAM Local 2909 President Jaime Myers, who led her local to participate in the project.

    “We are also planning a Labor Day event, a bowling tournament, and a Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines fundraiser,” said Myers. “It has been amazing working together; they give me so much inspiration and hope doing this together. That’s what I love about our unions.”

    Oklahoma AFL-CIO Political Director Isabella Rodriguez helped enormously to coordinate the event. The Oklahoma AFL-CIO donated most of the food and drinks, Local 2909 donated condiments, and Oklahoma AFL-CIO President Jimmy Curry manned the grill.

    IAM Local 850 member James Taylor, who owns a barbering business in addition to working at Tinker Air Force Base, was one of the four volunteer barbers/hair stylists.

    Dozens of community members came to be treated to a fresh cut, hot plates, and cold drinks in the shade. The locals thought of everything, including making baby pools and pet supplies available for those who brought their pets, a special consideration on the 92-degree day.

    “I’m incredibly proud of these locals for working together to do something very generous for their shared community in Oklahoma City,” said IAM District 171 Directing Business Representative Ben Moody, who comes from Local 850 and attended to support and help wherever needed. “I imagine next year’s event will be even more successful now that they’ve done their first.”

    “‘Service to the community’ is in our union’s motto for a reason and these locals are really exemplifying it,” said IAM Air Transport Territory General Vice President Ritchie Johnsen. “Communities trust local unions, their fellow working people and neighbors, when they need help and our union members always step up for their communities.”

    “Aviation and aerospace is the largest industry in the Oklahoma City region, employing thousands of IAM members like those of Local 850 at Tinker Air Force Base,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “These members and their family-supporting, union jobs are vital to the local economy and lift up the surrounding area. I could not be more proud than to see these members engage with their community members who have fallen on hard times and do what they can to help.”

    The event saw somewhere between 120 and 150 community members and all food and hygiene kits were distributed before haircuts were finished.

    The post Oklahoma City Locals Join Forces to Lift Up Community Members in Need appeared first on IAM Union.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Swanzey Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Stealing Firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee in Winchester

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

    CONCORD – A Swanzey man was sentenced yesterday in federal court for stealing 18 firearms from Trader John’s Gun Shop in Winchester, New Hampshire, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack announces.

    Khale Guillou, 20, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliot to 18 months in federal prison and 3 years of supervised release.  In March 2025, Guillou pleaded guilty to one count of theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee (FFL). 

    “The defendant stole 18 guns from an FFL and, just days later, shell casings were found in his car. This case highlights the dangerous link between gun thefts and violent crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack. “Yesterday’s sentence sends a message that we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who fuel gun violence are held accountable.” 

    “ATF’s collaboration with our industry partners forms the first line of defense against firearms trafficking and diversion,” said Acting ATF SAC Scott Riordan. “ATF prioritizes investigations which both victimize those industry partners and endanger the community by placing guns in criminal hands. This investigation reflects ATF’s commitment to protect federal firearm licensees and ensure firearms in lawful commerce are not diverted for criminal use.”

    According to the court documents and statements made in court, on the night of July 6, 2024, Guillou broke into Trader John’s Gun Shop and stole 17 handguns and one rifle. Nine days later, Guillou’s car was involved in a shooting in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Law enforcement recovered three of Trader John’s stolen firearms from the trunk of Guillou’s car and spent shell casings from inside the vehicle. Three additional stolen firearms were recovered from Guillou’s home, two of which were also taken from Trader John’s Gun Shop.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives led the investigation. The Keene, Swanzey, Winchester, and Tewksbury Police Departments provided valuable assistance.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Krasinski prosecuted the case.

    This effort is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Leaders and Members of YBMG Gang Sentenced for Murder for Hire Conspiracy, Attempted Murder, Racketeering, Narcotics, and Firearms Offenses

    Source: US FBI

    The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today the sentencing of SHPENDIM HAXHAJ, a/k/a “White Mike,” the last of seven defendants to be sentenced in a case involving members of a street gang known as the Young Bronx Money Getters, or “YBMG,” that operated in the Bronx, Long Island, Upstate New York, and Connecticut. HAXHAJ was sentenced to 35 years in prison for crimes relating to his membership in YBMG, including a conspiracy to commit murder for hire that resulted in the August 16, 2019, murder of Isael Lagares in the Bronx.  HAXHAJ previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and participating in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances on August 7, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who imposed today’s sentence.  HAXHAJ was the last of the seven defendants in the YBMG case before Judge Failla to have been convicted and sentenced.     

    “For more than a decade, the YBMG gang terrorized communities in the Bronx, Long Island, Upstate New York, and Connecticut with drugs, guns, and senseless violence,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “Among YBMG’s many victims was Isael Lagares, who was gunned down after Haxhaj and other gang members paid a hitman to end his life.  The seven members of this incredibly violent gang have now been convicted and sentenced for their crimes.  The women and men of the Southern District will continue to vigorously pursue those who bring illegal drugs and violence into our communities.”

    According to the Superseding Indictment, public court filings, evidence introduced at the trial of Yeltsin Beltran, a/k/a “Yells,” and statements made in court:

    From at least in or about 2006 to in or about 2021, YBMG was a criminal enterprise centered in the Bronx.  In order to make money for the gang, protect the gang’s territory, and promote the gang’s standing, members of YBMG engaged in, among other things, narcotics trafficking and violence, including murder.  To that end, YBMG members sold heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, promoted their gang affiliation on social media, possessed firearms, and engaged in shootings as part of their gang membership and narcotics trafficking.

    On or about August 16, 2019, HAXHAJ and BORIS BELTRAN hired a man to murder a rival gang member.  That same day, the hired hitman then shot and killed Lagares, who was socializing with a group of people on a residential street in the Bronx.

    YBMG members also participated in a conspiracy to distribute narcotics in New York and elsewhere. HAXHAJ, YELTSIN BELTRAN, BORIS BELTRAN, JEREMY CEDENO, FRANCISCO ORTEGA, and IVIS PERDOMO participated in a conspiracy with other individuals to distribute heroin, cocaine, and marijuana from at least in or about 2006 up to and including 2021 and carried, brandished, and discharged firearms that were possessed in furtherance of their narcotics trafficking.

    On or about December 23, 2019, PERDOMO shot two people non-fatally in a nightclub in the Bronx.

    On or about June 7, 2019, CEDENO shot at a member of an opposing gang in New York, New York.

    *                      *                     *

    A chart containing the names of the defendants, the charges they were convicted of, and the sentences they received is set forth below.

    Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the New York City Police Department.

    The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit and White Plains Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Brumwell, Benjamin Gianforti, Brandon D. Harper, Frank Balsamello, and Mathew Andrews are in charge of the prosecution.

     

    Defendant

     

     

    Age

     

    Conviction

     

    Sentence
    SHPENDIM HAXHAJ, a/k/a “White Mike” 33 Murder for Hire Conspiracy; Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Narcotics Conspiracy 35 years
    YELTSIN BELTRAN, a/k/a “Yells” 33 Racketeering Conspiracy; Narcotics Conspiracy; Use, Brandishing, and Discharge of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Narcotics Conspiracy; 380 months
    BORIS BELTRAN, a/k/a “Bebe” 27 Murder for Hire Conspiracy and Narcotics Conspiracy 20 years
    JEREMY CEDENO, a/k/a “Jerm” 39 Narcotics Conspiracy 135 Months
    IVIS PERDOMO, a/k/a “Lite” 43 Narcotics Conspiracy 188 Months
    FRANCISCO ORTEGA, a/k/a “Fresh” 36 Narcotics Conspiracy 140 Months
    DRILON HAXHAJ 29 Narcotics Conspiracy 32 Months 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM remarks to the British Chambers of Commerce: 26 June 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Speech

    PM remarks to the British Chambers of Commerce: 26 June 2025

    The Prime Minister gave remarks to the British Chambers of Commerce.

    Thank you, Shevaun, and not just for that introduction, but for all of your leadership over four years now. It’s really good to have been working with you. And I know how valuable this chamber network is to UK PLC, representing us around the world. Building your own communities, brick by brick, creating the jobs, the wealth, the tax receipts that means that we have the opportunity to change our country for the better. And I want to begin by thanking you for all of that. Because, look, I fully acknowledge, and I do acknowledge here, that this year, as we’ve had to fix the foundations of our country, deal with the unprecedented mess that we inherited, we’ve asked a lot of you. I understand that and I want to acknowledge that. It has made a huge difference. Because of it, the money has gone into the NHS and waiting lists are coming down. We’ve put investment into the skills of our young people. The new homes, new roads, new infrastructure that we’re building, they are all vital for the long-term growth of our country. But none of that would have been possible without your contribution, and I say thank you. It’s what I mean by partnership. It’s what I spoke about, Shevaun, two years ago when I last came here. Because for me, this is not just dialogue, it’s a partnership of us all, the British nation, facing down the challenges of a volatile world together. It’s a more volatile world than I think many of us have seen in many years, and frankly the more I see the way this world is changing, the more I see the future that we must build, and the more convinced I am about the need for this unity, a sense between us of shared national purpose. And that is, I believe, how we can rise again together and mark my words, we will.

    Take the Spending Review. This is a clear shift in the nature of this government, beyond fixing those inherited problems and now investing in the future of our country. We’ve, as it were, wiped the slate clean, we’ve stabilised the economy, and now we can go on to the next phase of government, building on that foundation, building a fairer Britain, change and renewal that you can feel. And that means, of course, that we have to back you to the hilt, because your members are the engines of growth in every community across the United Kingdom. And that’s the responsibility of partnership, and we want to be the best state partner for enterprise anywhere in the world and to give you the best possible conditions to succeed, and I am optimistic about this. And don’t get me wrong, I know that the trading environment is not easy. The challenges that you face are front and centre of my mind. When I’m sitting across the negotiating table with the EU, with the US, with India, whoever it is, trust me, I’m fighting for you, and politics is about who do you have in your mind’s eye. But together I do believe we’ve got to stop doing that British understatement thing. We do it all the time, including me. Because believe you me, this is a great moment to get on the phone to the world and say, take another look at Britain. I was speaking to Jensen Huang the other day, CEO of Nvidia, the largest semiconductor company in the world, and he was saying Britain is in a Goldilocks situation on AI. Ready to take off, a really good place to be investing. You can see it with Amazon this week, a massive 40-billion-pound investment in our country. One of the biggest investments that’s ever gone in. Thousands of jobs created in Hull, in the East Midlands, in Northampton, which means that since July of last year, we’ve attracted over 120 billion pounds into our economy. Now, you will all get this and understand this straight away, but these are companies that can invest anywhere in the world. They don’t have to invest here, but they’re choosing Britain. And that’s a sign of confidence in our plan for change, that we are a stable partner, that we are open for business, that we are putting our money in your customers’ pockets. [Political content redacted]. 380,000 jobs have been created. More demand for your goods and your services. More opportunities to boost your bottom line. Because, this is crucial, as we fix those foundations, we also make choices that will make us a fairer, more prosperous country. For example, as Shevaun mentioned, two years ago at this conference, I set out that bold vision in relation to planning reform, then leader of the opposition – to remove the blockages in the system, to build the labs, the warehouses, the grid connections that all of your businesses need. And two years later, standing here, that vision is written into legislation and we’re pushing it through Parliament. And every day new spades are hitting the ground. Growth revised up because of it. A promise made to you two years ago – a promise delivered.

    It’s the same with our industrial strategy announced earlier this week. For far too long, Britain ignored this. We didn’t back businesses, we didn’t invest in projects and technology that are critical to our future. Didn’t have a plan that gave your businesses the certainty that you need. Well, now we have that plan and it’s been drawn up in partnership and it is, quote, ‘a significant step forward for our economy’. That’s not my words, they’re Shevaun words. And as she says, and this to me was the most important part in Shevaun’s response on your behalf, that what you shared with us, what you fed in, has been quote, ‘heard and reflected in our strategy’. Your fingerprints are on that strategy. It came out of the discussions that I and others have had with many people in this room. It wasn’t plucked out of the sky by a government, it was reflecting back what you had told us needed to change. And that is what I mean by partnership, where both partners do different things, bring different things to the table. It’s a statement shared by other leaders. What Shevaun said wasn’t just what Shevaun thought, what you thought, it was the sentiments of the CBI, of Enterprise Nation, the Federation of Small Businesses, Make UK, Small Business Britain, and the Startup Coalition. Backing British business with significant investment in R&D. New technical colleges across the country. Electricity bills slashed for more than 7,000 businesses – that will make a massive difference, so many people in this room and elsewhere have said to me, it’s the energy cost here, they’re not competitive across Europe, we have to find a way to bring them down. That’s what we’ve been able to do to boost our competitiveness. A promise that we made and a promise that we have delivered.

    And across the country, it’s the same story. Stripping out regulation that blocks investment. Pushing forward with radical devolution agenda. Investing in skills and making sure that that’s devolved. Unlocking pension wealth to back British business. Building new infrastructure the length and breadth of our country. Carbon capture projects in Merseyside, in Scotland and along the east coast. Nuclear in Nottinghamshire and, of course, at Sizewell. Rail investment in Wales. A new runway at Heathrow. New Metro schemes everywhere from the Northeast to the West Midlands, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds.

    And now today, another step, a new trade strategy that I am proud to launch at this conference, because there’s no better place for that than with Britain’s leading exporters, with you. It builds, as you would have expected, and of course, on the deals we’ve already struck with India, the United States and the European Union. The hat-trick, as I call it. I’ve played defensive midfield all my life as a footballer. The last time I got a hat-trick, I think, was when the kids were about seven and I could just about get the ball past them, so I’m going to take this particular hat-trick. But look, seriously, you don’t need me to stand here and tell you how important these trade deals are. The EU SPS agreement on its own is a huge boost for food exporters and importers, driving down the cost base for retailers, reducing friction for our exports. A huge boost for the food industry and, I think, a sign that partnership is not just empty rhetoric, that we’re prepared to fight for your political case for the growth and jobs that you can deliver. Small businesses, of course, as well as larger firms. And that EU-UK reset is so important on so many strands. There were 10 strands to that agreement. The SPS was one of them. There was the Defence and Security Partnership. Yesterday, I was at the NATO summit, we were increasing spending on defence across all of our allies. And because of the relationships that we’ve built, as people increase their spending, they’re coming to us for discussion. They were doing it in the margins of the meetings yesterday because they know that we have the ability to help them with the defence capability that they need to build. And therefore, the EU-UK reset is about the strands that are in the deal, but it’s also about the relationships that we’re building that absolutely help and enable trade, and you will understand that. But that mindset is true of all the other deals.

    The US deal, hugely important for car manufacturing, particularly for companies like Jaguar Land Rover. And before we made the deal, and after we made the deal, I went to Solihull, to JLR, a number of times to speak to the workers there and to look into their eyes, and I know how much it meant to them. Before the deal, they knew that trading at 27.5 per cent tariffs into the North American market was really difficult, and they absolutely appreciated what that meant for them, for their jobs, for their families and their communities. And that’s why when we got the deal done, when we got it over the line eventually last week, that signature, the CEO of JLR, Adrian Mardell, called me and made it crystal clear that thousands of jobs across the West Midlands had been saved. And then think of the supply chains that go with that, in logistics, in engineering, in freight. Think of the demand in the local economy, the cafés, the retailers, the pubs. And that is all true of that deal. It’s why we had to be so focused to achieve that deal. The only country in the world to have got a trade deal with the US, something which we’ve been talking about for a very, very long time, is vital for these sectors that it protects.

    And that approach is true also of the India deal, again talked about for a very long time, but an unprecedented opportunity for UK PLC to access the world’s fastest-growing economy. And I’ve spoken to some of our whisky and gin distillers about the India deal and they’ve told me that their concern now is whether they can produce enough to meet the demand. What a great problem to have, what a great problem. It’s a huge win for them. And under the India deal, tariffs for our car manufacturer slashed from over 100 per cent to just 10 per cent, the best terms of any country in the world – a deal which people said could never be done. That actually is true of all three deals. They said it wouldn’t be possible to get a US deal, it wouldn’t be possible to get an EU deal, if you had a US deal, you had to choose between the two, and it certainly wouldn’t be possible to get an India deal. We’ve been able to get them and that is brilliant for Britain and brilliant for you. And we’ll go forward from here, and it’s not just the terms of the trade deal, it’s the signal that it sends about us, a transformation of our global brand.

    Because for years the message the previous government was sending to the world was one of chaos, instability, the lack of courage to strike deals. Because when push comes to shove, in my view, they put politics before country. And together we’ve now completely turned the page on that. With these three deals, we’ve rewritten our brand, restored our identity that even in this volatile world, Britain is proudly, unashamedly, defiantly even, open for business. And today’s trade strategy builds on that. We’re going to keep pushing, keep making deals, keep opening up new markets for you. We’re expanding the capacity of our export credit agency by 20 billion pounds, and I know how important that is for everyone in this room. We’re launching a new Ricardo Fund. We will reduce trade friction for professionals in engineering, architecture, accountancy and so much more, opening up five billion pounds worth of export opportunities.

    Because trade isn’t just about goods. We’re a services superpower, so we’ll back our exporting services as well, show more flexibility in that approach. And what we want to do is push not just for traditional trade agreements, but also for smaller deals that we can make quicker, at pace. Whether that’s a digital trade agreement with Brazil, Thailand or Kenya, clean energy cooperation with the Philippines and Mexico, professional qualification recognition all around the world. But perhaps, most importantly, in this uncertain and challenging world, we will also give ourselves new powers on trade and defence, make sure that if your businesses are threatened by practices like dumping, that we have the right powers to defend you. And I’m determined that Britain becomes a global champion for free trade. I’m determined that we are the beacon for those values. And frankly, I think our actions already speak louder than any words. But in a world where things can change quickly, as you’ve seen in the recent days, we have seen in sectors like steel that protection measures do need to be put in place, then we have to be ready to back British business. And that is what we’ve done on trade, that is what we will do in the future right across our economy. Businesses creating wealth in every community, and a [political content redacted] government investing in the skills, the infrastructure, the future that we need to build. A partnership in the national interest, driving us forward, delivering change and renewal, putting more money in the pockets of working people. That is the change that we can deliver together, a Britain that is back in business. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Crop Report for the Period June 17 to June 23, 2025

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on June 26, 2025

    Conditions across the province were variable this past week, with some regions receiving limited rainfall and others experiencing heavy storms that brought wind, significant rain and hail resulting in damage to crops, buildings and machinery. Producers continue to assess crops for hail recovery which varies based on the type of crop and its developmental stage. 

    The northwest region received limited rainfall. Areas in the west-central and pockets in other regions received significant rainfall. The Macklin area received the highest rainfall at 108 millimeters (mm) recorded for the past week followed by the Wilkie area at 107 mm. The Semans area reported 99 mm and the Luseland area reported 96 mm for the week. 

    Rainfall significantly increased topsoil moisture in all regions this week. Provincially, cropland topsoil moisture is rated as six per cent surplus, 74 per cent adequate, 16 per cent short and four per cent very short. Hayland topsoil moisture is reported as five per cent surplus, 64 per cent adequate, 22 per cent short and nine per cent very short. Pasture topsoil moisture is three per cent surplus, 57 per cent adequate, 26 per cent short and 14 per cent very short. 

    Cooler temperatures this week have slowed crop development. Oilseed crops are the furthest behind the normal stages of development for this time of year. Crops in the southwest region of the province are the furthest advanced while crops in the east-central and northeast regions are the furthest behind in development. Warmer temperatures and continued precipitation are needed to help crop development progress. 

    Provincially, one per cent of seeded land is flooded and unlikely to produce a crop. Similarly, one per cent of forage crops have excess moisture and are unlikely to produce a crop and one per cent of pasture land is not accessible or not usable. For areas experiencing reduced moisture, 52 per cent of the forage crops may have yields significantly impacted, along with 59 per cent expressing that the carrying capacity of pastures may be reduced.

    The sporadic rainfall in Saskatchewan is also impacting livestock water supplies. Some producers are concerned about water availability for their animals. Provincially, one per cent of livestock water supplies are severely short, 21 per cent are moderately short, 23 per cent are anticipated to be short in the next couple months and 55 per cent are not expected to be short for the foreseeable future. 

    Various causes of crop damage were reported over the past week, including excess moisture due to recent rain, which has been rated as minor in most regions. Additionally, dry conditions continue to be reported with some regions noting severe damage. Some areas experienced minor to severe hail and wind damage with producers still assessing which crops will be able to recover. Minor frost damage was also reported and gophers continue to be a problem with minor to moderate damage in some areas. Flea beetles are persisting with producers taking control measures when needed. 

    Producers continue to finish in-crop herbicide applications and insecticide applications where needed as the weather allows. In the coming weeks, producers are looking towards fungicide applications given the recent rainfall that may be contributing to disease development. Haying equipment is being prepared with some producers just starting their haying operations. Fence checking continues as cattle are out to pasture. 

    Producers are reminded to take all safety precautions in all the work they do. The Farm Stress Line can help by providing support 24/7, toll free at 1-800-667-4442.

    A complete, printable version of the Crop Report is available online: download Crop Report.

    Follow the 2025 Crop Report on X/Twitter at @SKAgriculture.

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    Kim Stonehouse
    Agriculture
    Tisdale
    Phone: 306-878-8807
    Email: kim.stonehouse@gov.sk.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As Congressional Republicans Take An Axe To Clean Energy, Luján Reintroduces Commonsense Legislation To Expand Access To Solar Energy For Families And Businesses

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
    Republican Lawmakers Are Working To Cut Funding For Clean Energy;
    Luján’s Bill Offers A Practical, Commonsense Solution For Our Energy Future
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) reintroduced the Community Solar Consumer Choice Act, legislation that would support community solar projects and expand access to solar energy across the country, regardless of one’s income or ability to host a solar system on their roof. Directing more resources to expand renewable energy through community solar projects would lower energy costs for consumers, support good-paying jobs, and help combat the climate crisis. Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced companion legislation in the House.
    As Congressional Republicans continue to push their reconciliation bill that slashes clean energy investments that have helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs and lowered energy costs for hardworking families, Senator Luján is leading legislation to expand access to clean energy while creating good-paying jobs and lowering energy prices. Currently, nearly half of American households and businesses are unable to use rooftop solar systems due to high costs of installation or because they live in buildings that cannot host solar panels.
    “As the climate crisis intensifies and Republican lawmakers push to cut clean energy funding, fighting for practical solutions like community solar is more critical than ever,” said Senator Luján. “I’m proud to reintroduce the Community Solar Consumer Choice Act to expand access to solar power through community solar projects for all Americans and create more good-paying, clean energy jobs. This bill is a step forward in combating the climate crisis, and I look forward to working with Representative Castor to get this bill passed.”
    “Every family deserves access to affordable, clean energy—no matter their zip code or housing situation,” said Rep. Kathy Castor. “Too many Americans are locked out of rooftop solar because they rent their homes, live in multi-family buildings or can’t afford the upfront costs. The Community Solar Consumer Choice Act helps break down these barriers by expanding access to shared solar projects, allowing more Americans to save money on their electric bills and benefit from the clean energy economy. I’m thankful for Sen. Luján’s partnership in pushing for lower electric bills for Americans across the country. This bill empowers communities—especially working families, small businesses and Tribal governments—to participate in local solar projects that reduce energy costs, cut pollution and create good-paying jobs. It’s a win-win for working families and for our climate future.”
    Specifically, the Community Solar Consumer Choice Act would:
    Require the Department of Energy to expand existing grant, loan, and financing programs to include community solar programs and to establish a program to increase access to community solar programs, including through technical assistance;
    Require each electric utility to offer a community solar program that provides all ratepayers, including low-income ratepayers, with equitable access; 
    Allow the General Services Administration to offer a public utility contract for a period of up to 30 years – currently, the maximum is 10 years. 
    “The New Mexico Climate Investment Center is particularly focused on development of community solar facilities that are community-owned, tribal-owned, and those in rural electric cooperative districts of New Mexico. Such community solar facilities will need the technical assistance in developing such programs particularly to provide greater access to low-cost solar subscriptions for the most vulnerable households in our communities that they are targeting. This bill seeks to address the need for technical assistance and other types of support to provide greatest access to those subscribers. We are in support of Senator Lujan’s bill to provide such support,” said Beth Beloff, CEO of New Mexico Climate Investment Center.
    “The Community Solar Choice Act is exactly the kind of forward-thinking, commonsense energy policy we need to expand access to affordable clean energy for more Americans. Community solar delivers bill savings, energy resilience, and local jobs—especially for low- and moderate-income households. We’re grateful to Senator Luján and Representative Castor for championing this legislation and look forward to working with them to ensure community solar continues to grow as a vital part of the nation’s energy economy,” said Jeff Cramer, President and CEO, Coalition for Community Solar Access.
    “As extreme heat drives up electricity bills across the country, this legislation couldn’t come at a more urgent time. Americans are demanding relief from rising energy costs, and expanding community solar is a commonsense way to deliver it. Solar energy is cheaper and faster to build, but not everyone can install solar panels on their roof. Community solar offers a practical solution to ensure everyone, especially those in low-income neighborhoods facing the highest energy cost burdens, has the option to power their homes with affordable, reliable clean energy. We applaud Rep. Castor and Senator Lujan’s leadership in advancing this critical effort,” said Rachel Patterson, Senior Policy Director, Evergreen Action.
    “Ensuring families, particularly renters, have more choices to access cheaper, cleaner, local solar energy in their communities is a win-win-win. It’s good for families’ budgets, good for communities’ development and job creation, and good for our environment. Solar energy is the fastest electricity to get on the grid, and when it is local, or distributed, and especially when paired with battery storage, it is even better at stabilizing our grids and driving down costs for all communities and businesses,” said Matthew Davis, Vice President of Federal Policy, League of Conservation Voters.
    “Too many families—especially in communities overburdened by pollution—have been left out of the benefits of solar power. The Community Solar Consumer Choice Act is a critical step toward correcting that injustice. By expanding access to community solar, this bill helps ensure that low-income households and renters can finally share in the cost savings and cleaner air that solar energy provides. As parents, we support this legislation because it prioritizes previously overlooked communities, protects our children’s health, and builds a more just and sustainable energy future for all of us,” said Liz Hurtado (she/her), National Field Manager, EcoMadres, Moms Clean Air Force.
    “Community solar is one of the smartest and most reliable tools we have to lower electricity bills, reduce pollution, and build energy independence, especially for renters and low-income families who are too often left behind. The Community Solar Consumer Choice Act expands fairness and opportunity in our energy system by giving more Americans access to the benefits of affordable, domestic, clean power at a time when families need it most. This is common-sense policy that strengthens energy freedom, supports local jobs, and makes our communities more resilient,” said Xavier Boatright, Deputy Legislative Director, Sierra Club.
    The bill is endorsed by New Mexico Climate Investment Center, Coalition for Community Solar Access, Evergreen Action, GreenLatinos, League of Conservation Voters, Moms Clean Air Force, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Solar Energy Industries Association, WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
    Senator Luján has been a champion in advancing clean energy, previously introducing legislation that would require states to consider policies to promote the deployment of community solar projects.
    Full text of the bill can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: UConn School of Nursing Welcomes Class of 2029

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Over the summer, UConn holds orientation sessions for its incoming class. Students spend two days on campus where they get to meet faculty and staff in various roles, learn about resources and services the university has to offer, and meet with their advisors from their school/college.

    This year, the School of Nursing kicked off its first out of eight orientation sessions on May 27 and they run until the end of summer.  In these sessions, students learn about the School of Nursing, academic expectations, and course offerings. Along with picking their classes for their first semester, they are given the necessary tools to succeed as a nursing student.

    “Orientation is where students start finding their place in the School of Nursing. College is a big transition, and our advisors are here to help students feel confident, informed, and excited for their time at UConn,” said Chelsea Cichocki, director of student success of admissions and enrollment. “We want every student to leave feeling supported and ready to begin their academic journey and their future in nursing.”

    With over 200 students entering the School of Nursing as the class of 2029, they are anything but ordinary. From in-state to out-of-state students, they all share one thing in common – a passion for nursing.

    Shaunty Mae Vidad (Contributed Photo)

    Shaunty Mae Vidad

    First-generation student Shaunty Mae Vidad ‘29 (NURS), developed a passion for nursing after finding out the importance nurses had in saving her life.

    As a sepsis baby, Vidad spent a lot of time in the intensive care unit (ICU). Nurses played a huge part in her survival and since then she has gained a deep respect for the profession, so much so, that she wants to do the same.

    “The idea of going back to that part of the job that saved my life is something meaningful to me,” said Vidad.

    Nursing allows her to combine her love of science and interest in how the human body works. With her personal experience in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), she wants to continue down that pathway and become a NICU nurse.

    Vidad shares a passion for nursing with her uncle who is a registered nurse. His experiences and support have helped guide her through her nursing journey.

    “Hearing about his life as a nurse helped me understand that this career is about more than just medical care,” she said. “It’s about trust, empathy, and being there when it matters most.”

    Up until six years ago, Vidad was living in the Philippines where she also grew up. Since coming to Connecticut, she’s been connected to UConn. She took UConn college credits and was a part of the UConn Connecticut Collegiate Awareness and Preparation (ConnCAP) summer program – a program for students from underserved communities in grades 9-12 and post-secondary level.

    When it eventually came down to choosing a university, UConn was her first choice.

    Vidad is entering her first year as a certified nurse assistant with certifications in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the automated external defibrillator (AED). These accomplishments have helped her gain confidence in the field and with that she’s ready to continue learning.

    “I’m looking forward to growing as a student, a person, and a future healthcare professional,” Vidad said. “Being a Husky means finding a place where I belong, and I believe UConn will give me that opportunity.”

    Carlin Sabo (Contributed Photo)

    Carlin Sabo

    Carlin Sabo ‘29 (NURS) is also a first-generation student who has a passion for nursing. Having been homeschooled in Pennsylvania for most of her life, she’s looking forward to meeting new people, especially those within her major who have similar career aspirations.

    “UConn has such a strong community, and I can’t wait to be a part of it. I want to grow not just academically, but personally – becoming more confident and independent,” Sabo said.

    In a blended family of eight siblings, Sabo will be the first nurse and being the oldest out of her younger siblings, she knows how to be a leader and protector. She also knows the importance of hard work – a value she learned from being an Irish dancer her whole life.

    Irish dancing is “one of the best things to happen in my life. It gives me an outlet to not only connect with my heritage but also travel around the world doing what I love, which is expressing myself through dance,” she said. “Irish dance taught me discipline, confidence, and the value of hard work.”

    Sabo plans to join the Irish Dance Team on campus where she can keep that connection to her heritage and her family.

    Within her academics, Sabo said she is most excited to learn about health, anatomy, and patient care. Her goal is to become a licensed medical aesthetician – a skincare specialist who works in the medical field – and a nurse injector – a healthcare professional who administers injections. One day, she wants to open her own med spa where she can help people “feel their best through skincare treatments, injectables, and holistic beauty services.”

    Being a first-generation student and the first nurse in her family she is empowered to represent them and how far they all have come.

    “I’m here today because of my parents’ sacrifices, hard work, and desire to create a better future for myself,” she said. “Nursing became my dream through my love of helping others. I’ve always been drawn to helping people feel and look their best and seeing first-hand how nurses make a big impact in people’s lives inspired me to become a nurse.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reps. Goldman, Espaillat Introduce Legislation Banning ICE From Wearing Face Masks During Immigration Arrests

    Source: US Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10)

    ‘No Secret Police Act’ Would End Trump Administration’s Use of Masked Immigration Enforcement Meant to Terrorize Immigrant Communities 

     

    Goldman Previously Questioned Masked ICE Officers in his 290 Broadway District Office Who Denied His Legal Right to Inspect Immigration Detention Facilities 

     

    Read the Bill Here 

    New York, NY – Congressmen Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) today led 37 of their House Democratic colleagues in introducing the ‘No Secret Police Act,’ which would require law enforcement officers and agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) engaged in border security and civil immigration enforcement to clearly display identification and insignia when detaining or arresting individuals and to ban them from using home-made, non-tactical masks.   

    “As a former federal prosecutor for ten years, I have worked alongside ICE and DHS agents to get violent criminals off our streets – and none of them ever wore masks,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Across the country, plain-clothed federal agents in homemade face coverings are lying in wait outside immigration courts to snatch law-abiding, non-violent immigrants going through our legal system the right way. This isn’t about protecting law enforcement, it’s about terrorizing immigrant communities. The United States is not a dictatorship, and I’m proud to introduce this commonsense legislation ensuring that our federal government’s laws are enforced by identifiable human beings, not anonymous, secret agents of the state.” 

    Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, said, “If you uphold the peace of a democratic society, you should not be anonymous. DHS and ICE agents wearing masks and hiding identification echoes the tactics of secret police authoritarian regimes – and deviates from the practices of local law enforcement, which contributes to confusion in communities. Many immigrants come to America seeking opportunities, hope, and freedom to escape draconian practices, and under no circumstance should they, or anyone, fear being disappeared by masked and armed individuals in unmarked vehicles. If you are upholding the law, you should not be anonymous, and our bill aims to safeguard from tyranny while upholding the values of our nation.” 

    Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition, said, “Armed, unmarked federal agents are stalking immigrants outside courtrooms and targeting people who are following the rules and fighting for their lives. These tactics are ripped straight from an authoritarian playbook. Let’s call it what it is: a war on immigrant communities carried out in the shadows  — it’s an unconstitutional campaign of terror. We will not be silenced nor intimidated by these actions. We are on the right side of the law and we will fight tooth and nail to end this assault on our people and our democracy. We call for the swift passage of the No Secret Police Act.” 

    Natalia Aristizabal, Deputy Director of Make the Road New York, said, “ICE, and the hodgepodge of federal agencies Trump is getting to execute his war on immigrants, are terrorizing immigrant communities. They blatantly disregard people’s rights and take people from their jobs, homes and streets, all while masked and unidentified. This must stop. ICE must answer to the people, and must identify themselves and the agencies they work for. This bill would be a step towards reigning in their out of control and rogue behavior, and Congress should swiftly pass it into law.” 

    The No Secret Police Act would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require law enforcement officers and agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to clearly display identification and insignia when detaining or arresting individuals. Specifically, the bill would require that DHS officers:  

    • Are prohibited from wearing face coverings or any item that conceals their face during detentions or arrests.   

    • Identify the specific component of DHS (e.g., ICE, CBP) they work for.  

    • Wear or display official insignia or uniforms in a manner clearly visible to others.  

    • The bill also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and in coordination with relevant departmental components, to conduct research and development to enhance the visibility of law enforcement officers’ official insignia or uniforms. This includes developing technologies that ensure these identifiers remain clearly visible during detentions or arrests, particularly under varying conditions such as different locations, times of day, and weather circumstances. 

    Congressman Goldman has been leading the charge to combat and confront the Trump administration’s authoritarian immigration enforcement tactics.  

    Earlier this month, Congressman Goldman and House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02) led 84 House Democrats in an oversight letter of inquiry to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem seeking answers regarding the rise in ICE employing its masked, plainclothes officers to detain non-violent, law-abiding immigrants immediately following and in coordination with the dismissal of their existing deportation cases by DHS attorneys.    
    Last week, Goldman conducted an oversight visit to the ICE Field Office at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, where Deputy Field Director Bill Joyce confirmed that immigrants housed on the 10th floor were being forced to sleep on benches, floors, and in bathrooms for multiple days. Despite admitting that the facility was being used to detain migrants for several days at a time, Joyce barred the lawmakers from accessing the area, citing administration guidance. That same week, Goldman led 8 of his New York City House Democratic colleagues in sending an oversight letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons demanding ICE comply with Section 527(a) of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 and stop denying members of Congress access to facilities that ICE is using to house immigrants. 
    Last month, Congressman Goldman held an emergency press conference after witnessing and questioning masked ICE agents detaining immigrants attending routine immigration court appearances in the lobby of his 290 Broadway Manhattan district office. The press conference followed Congressman Goldman attending an immigration court proceeding this morning at the Executive Office for Immigration Review New York – Broadway Immigration Court in Manhattan, where ICE agents had been detaining both immigrants and observers, including a pastor from Queens. 

    ### 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: King, Colleagues Demand Answers on Potential Political, Personal Discrimination at VA

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King

    WASHINGTON, D.C.– U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and several of his colleagues are calling on the administration to explain secret hospital guideline changes. In a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins, the Senators request an explanation of why certain VA Medical Center bylaws were changed in a way that could invite discrimination against veteran patients and health care providers.

    Recent reporting has uncovered how the Trump Administration is secretly changing guidelines in a way that leaves VA providers and patients with ambiguity regarding whether certain protected traits, including their political affiliation or sexual orientation, can serve as reasons for denial of health care for veterans or the hiring of medical professionals.

    “We write today to request information regarding recent changes to patient and staff policies governing medical facilities within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA),” wrote the Senators in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins. “Having reviewed past and current versions of bylaws for multiple medical facilities within the Department, we have confirmed the Department made changes, in secret and without notification to the veterans you serve or to Congress, that could allow for discrimination in treating patients and hiring medical professionals.”

    The Senators explicitly detailed the difference between the previous version of the bylaws and the new version. Language that previously required VA providers to care for veterans regardless of politics, marital status, age, national origin, and disability has been removed from certain VA health care facilities’ medical bylaws. Language that also previously ensured decisions for who was able to be a part of VA’s medical staff were made without regard to political affiliation, marital status, age, national origin, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and union membership have been removed from certain VA facilities’ medical bylaws.

    While the Department has cited President Trump’s discriminatory “Defending Women” Executive Order (EO) as rationale for making these changes, the Senators asserted that as “a grossly overzealous interpretation of this EO and egregious misuse of power.”

    “While many of the previously specified traits that have been removed from VA facilities’ bylaws potentially remain protected under existing statutes, the message VA is sending by stripping explicit references to these criteria is still deeply disturbing. Allowing, let alone encouraging, this ambiguity opens the door for widespread discrimination. These changes invite uncertainty as to whether a patient can be denied access to their earned health care or whether a provider is considered unfit to serve veterans based on anything other than their expertise and credentials. Even the appearance of allowing discrimination directly violates VA’s own mission…” the Senators continued.

    The Senators concluded, “It is your duty to answer to veterans, the public, and Congress as to why VA is sowing confusion and potentially putting veterans at risk and jeopardizing the Department’s medical workforce, clinicians’ licensure, and accreditation of its medical facilities nationwide. We insist you publish proper justification and clarification of these changes so as to leave no uncertainty as to the Department’s protections for patients and employees against unlawful and unethical discrimination.”

    In addition to King, the letter was also signed by Democratic leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Mark Warner (D-VA).

    The full text of the Senators’ letter is available here and below.

    +++

    Dear Secretary Collins: 

    We write today to request information regarding recent changes to patient and staff policies governing medical facilities within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Having reviewed past and current versions of bylaws for multiple medical facilities within the Department, we have confirmed the Department made changes, in secret and without notification to the veterans you serve or to Congress, that could allow for discrimination in treating patients and hiring medical professionals.

    Previous versions of the bylaws outlined specific prohibitions on discrimination against patients “on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, or disability” (Article III, Section 3.03, paragraph 1). The new version prohibits discrimination only “on the basis of any legally protected status, including legally protected status such as race, color, religion, sex, or prior protected activity.” Additionally, whereas prior versions of bylaws prohibited medical staff hiring decisions based on, among other criteria, national origin, gender, lawful partisan political affiliation, marital status, disability, age, and membership or non-membership in a labor organization (Article III, Section 3.01, paragraph 3), all of these specific criteria have been cut from the new version of the text. The Department, under your leadership, cites only Executive Order (EO) 14168 “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” as reasoning for implementing these bylaw changes. This is a grossly overzealous interpretation of this EO and egregious misuse of power.

    While many of the previously specified traits that have been removed from VA facilities’ bylaws potentially remain protected under existing statutes, the message VA is sending by stripping explicit references to these criteria is still deeply disturbing. Allowing, let alone encouraging, this ambiguity opens the door for widespread discrimination. These changes invite uncertainty as to whether a patient can be denied access to their earned health care or whether a provider is considered unfit to serve veterans based on anything other than their expertise and credentials. Even the appearance of allowing discrimination directly violates VA’s own mission: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”

    These new guidelines are deeply dangerous and pernicious in practice and principle. It is your duty to answer to veterans, the public, and Congress as to why VA is sowing confusion and potentially putting veterans at risk and jeopardizing the Department’s medical workforce, clinicians’ licensure, and accreditation of its medical facilities nationwide. We insist you publish proper justification and clarification of these changes so as to leave no uncertainty as to the Department’s protections for patients and employees against unlawful and unethical discrimination.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warner, Kaine Push for Swift Approval of Hampton Roads Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Lease

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) are urging the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to swiftly take up and reapprove the authorization of 18 major Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility leases, including a proposed lease for an outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads.

    The leases were originally authorized under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act which Sens. Warner and Kaine strongly supported. However, updated cost estimates and rent bids triggered the VA and the General Services Administration (GSA) to seek reauthorization from four congressional committees: the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. To date, only the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure committees have put forward resolutions to reapprove the leases.

    In a letter to the leaders of the EPW Committee, the senators stressed the current challenges veterans in Hampton Roads are facing when trying to access care. 

    “One of these impacted leases is for a new outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads, with a proposed size of 182,230 net usable square feet,” the senators wrote. “This proposed facility would serve a critical need in a high-density region that has increasing demand for VA services. Particularly for those veterans who live on the south side of Hampton Roads – home to more than 60 percent of the patient population at the Hampton VA Medical Center – this clinic would broaden care access, and provide increased services at a location more convenient to many of these veterans.”

    The senators continued, “Those associated with the region are all too familiar with challenges accessing care. The VA acknowledges through its own assessment, that the Hampton VAMC faces many physical challenges, such as frequent flooding and severe access difficulties for a large portion of the veterans it serves due to heavy traffic restricting area patients’ access to the VAMC. Hiring and recruitment challenges, in a state and region that are near the top of the list nationally in terms of share of veteran population, have contributed to challenges accessing timely care over the years. Looking forward, the VA estimates that the already sizable enrollee base in the region is expected to grow by upwards of 10 to 15 percent in the coming decades, leading to a patient population that could support multiple new VA medical centers and outpatient clinics.”

    Sens. Warner and Kaine have long fought to expand health care and benefits for Virginia’s nearly 700,000 veterans. Sens. Warner and Kaine began raising the alarm about the significant backlog of unapproved VA leases in 2016. After putting significant pressure on officials across the federal government, Congress unanimously passed the Providing Veterans Overdue Care Act, legislation written by Sen. Warner and supported by Sen. Kaine, to cut the backlog and get over two dozen delayed VA medical facilities’ leases approved.

    A copy of the letter is available here and below:

    Dear Chair Capito and Ranking Member Whitehouse,

    We write today to urge your committee to take up and pass a resolution approving of 18 major medical facility leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which were originally authorized under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, and now await reapproval by relevant Congressional committees. This tranche of facility prospectuses includes a planned facility in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, and so we encourage timely action by your committee.

    The PACT Act (P.L.117-168) included authorization and initial support funding for thirty-one veterans’ medical care and research facilities in nineteen states. In the intervening years from when the VA first calculated cost estimates for these projects, to the time they initiated conversations with local developers, the cost estimates for 18 of the facilities had increased. As such, the VA resubmitted those 18 prospectuses for their reapproval by Congressional committees.

    One of these impacted leases is for a new outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads, with a proposed size of 182,230 net usable square feet. This proposed facility would serve a critical need in a high-density region that has increasing demand for VA services. Particularly for those veterans who live on the south side of Hampton Roads – home to more than 60 percent of the patient population at the Hampton VA Medical Center – this clinic would broaden care access, and provide increased services at a location more convenient to many of these veterans.

    Those associated with the region are all too familiar with challenges accessing care. The VA acknowledges through its own assessment, that the Hampton VAMC faces many physical challenges, such as frequent flooding and severe access difficulties for a large portion of the veterans it serves due to heavy traffic restricting area patients’ access to the VAMC. Hiring and recruitment challenges, in a state and region that are near the top of the list nationally in terms of share of veteran population, have contributed to challenges accessing timely care over the years. Looking forward, the VA estimates that the already sizable enrollee base in the region is expected to grow by upwards of 10 to 15 percent in the coming decades, leading to a patient population that could support multiple new VA medical centers and outpatient clinics.

    In recognition of the need to streamline the process whereby Congress considers VA facility approvals and remove some the hurdles and delays to their being built, the PACT Act simplified the acquisition process. Under the law, re-approval of this slate of leases would require resolutions of approval by four Committees in Congress: the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. As of our writing of this letter, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs and House Transportation and Infrastructure committees have passed resolutions of approval.

    We urge your committee to quickly consider and approve these leases. As always we appreciate your attention to these matters, as well as your efforts to conduct oversight and work with the Executive Branch on important matters impacting federal infrastructure. And we share your commitment to ensuring that veterans who have earned these services and care have the facilities needed to access them in a timely manner.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz Warns Against Rescinding Foreign Assistance Funding, Ceding Appropriations Authority To Trump Administration

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz

    WASHINGTON – Today, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed rescission request to Congress, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) warned colleagues against rescinding foreign assistance funding for programs that have long had bipartisan support. Schatz, who is a senior member of the committee and ranking member of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee which oversees much of the funding being cut in the package, questioned White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought about the lack of clarity from the administration about which specific programs will get cut should the package pass.

    “We do not have to spend foreign assistance dollars in the same way that we always have been spending foreign assistance dollars. There’s plenty of room for reform. But we’re being asked to rescind billions of dollars without even knowing which programs are being canceled,” said Senator Schatz.

    Senator Schatz added, “What’s at stake here is more than the particular provisions of the rescissions package. It is whether we’re going to willingly set up a situation where bipartisan negotiations are ripped up whenever there is a trifecta. If that’s what you want, I think you should vote yes. But if you want to preserve your prerogative, for yourself, for your home state and for this institution—then this is not a particularly close call. Why be an appropriator and just turn around and surrender your authority?”

    The text of Senator Schatz’s testimony, as delivered, is below. Video of the testimony and his exchange with Director Vought is available here.

    Thank you, Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, members of the Committee. This is the first time I’ve been on this side of the dais. I have to say that the altitude difference is affecting me a little bit. It really is an honor to be here to argue against this rescissions package on behalf of all of you. On behalf of all of you as appropriators.

    Now, I want to be abundantly clear—I like Eric Schmitt a lot, but this is a very important point, and it’s actually fatal to the rescissions package—every single program that Senator Schmitt just mentioned has already been canceled. Every single program. And there’s a longer list that was on a Fox News chyron and Senator Graham and I have kind of gone over all of this. There are a bunch of different examples of terrible sounding things. They are all done, and they all belong in the previous federal fiscal year.

    So, now that it’s Marco Rubio’s State Department, and Marco Rubio’s USAID agency, and now that it is Donald Trump’s White House, none of these things are happening. This is a rescission of Trump’s CR in the current federal fiscal year. And so, if you have a problem with any of those programs, let Lindsey and I write a bill that prohibits the use of funds for any of those seemingly improper uses of funds. That’s the way to do this.

    Colleagues are being asked on this Committee to cut programs that I know each one of you have personally prioritized, because we get the letters. Whether you’re the Chair or the Rank[ing Member] of a subcommittee, you get a letter from your colleagues saying, could you please prioritize XYZ program. And many of the programs—I mean I’m talking about right now. In the same time period, we are receiving letters. Please save this. Please save that. Please, plus up that. That’s what we’re cutting right now in this rescissions package.

    We do not have to spend foreign assistance dollars in the same way that we always have been spending foreign assistance dollars. There’s plenty of room for reform. You’re pushing on an open door. And in fact, the administration has until the end of next year. This is two-year money. There is no rush on this. This is two-year money to align this funding with its new priorities. But we’re being asked to rescind billions of dollars without even knowing which programs are being canceled.

    Just so you understand how this legislation works; it’s big baskets of money. So, you have no idea whether the program that you are prioritizing is going to be cut or not. And they are not providing any clarity about that. You would think that if you’re asking the Congress to use this extraordinary authority under statutory law, that you would have a line by line—here’s what we’re cutting, here’s what we’re keeping, here’s what we’re cutting, here’s what we’re keeping. The answer that we are going to receive is, let me take that under advisement and get back to you. Or—I don’t know—that it’s none of your business. Or, I’m not sure what it is. There is no reason not to have specificity other than, the math doesn’t add up. The things that you care about are being cut in here, and they don’t want to specify it.

    And that brings me to what it is definitely in this package:

    • $900 million in cuts from global health programs including PEPFAR and efforts to combat diseases like malaria, TB and polio.
    • $1.3 billion in cuts to humanitarian assistance, which save lives, provide food, and shelter, and water, and support victims of sexual assault.
    • And $4.6 billion in cuts to economic development assistance to key partners. Whether it’s Jordan with increasing regional tension, the Philippines as it counters Chinese aggression, the Burmese opposition, or Ukraine.
    • And gone is a billion dollars in support for organizations like UNICEF.

    Everybody that was opposed to those things that were on that Fox chyron—everybody that found some of the things that Senator Schmitt talked about as objectionable—also hastened to say I don’t want to cut UNICEF, I don’t want to cut PEPFAR, I don’t want to cut the World Food Programme.

    Guess what is in this rescissions package? All of those things are being cut, and none of the things that you object to. They’ve already been eliminated. This is not just a question of policy. This is also a question of what this committee is even for. Being a Senate appropriator is an honor. It means something. It means that the executive branch proposes and the legislative branch disposes. It means that we, as the article one branch, hold the purse strings. That, that is subject to cloture.

    So, what’s at stake here is more than the particular provisions of the rescissions package. It is whether we’re going to willingly set up a situation where bipartisan negotiations are ripped up whenever there is a trifecta. If that’s what you want, I think you should vote yes. But if you want to preserve your prerogative, for yourself, for your home state and for this institution—then this is not a particularly close call. Why be an appropriator and just turn around and surrender your authority? Because it is SFOPS today, but it’s going to be THUD, it’s going to be Ag, it’s going to be Labor-H, it’s going to be MilCon-VA, it’s going to be CJS tomorrow.

    So, I encourage all of my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to think hard about the precedent that we would be setting if we voted yes on this package.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Meets With AARP Illinois As Congressional Republicans Threaten Cuts To Medicare, SNAP

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    June 26, 2025

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Alan Hollenbeck, State President of AARP Illinois, to discuss the impact of Republican’s budget reconciliation bill which will slash Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP for millions of Americans.  Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will raise prices and slash Medicaid and Medicare coverage for working Americans in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, Republicans’ reconciliation bill will force 16 million Americans to lose their health insurance.

    Durbin and Mr. Hollenbeck also touched on Durbin’s Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, which would help prevent scammers from stealing Americans’ savings through cryptocurrency schemes.  Each year, Americans, especially seniors, lose tens of millions of dollars to scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, and this legislation would crack down on crypto scams by adding layers of protections to crypto ATM transactions and requiring greater transparency from cryptocurrency ATM operators.  

    “Many seniors in Illinois rely on Medicare and SNAP to lead a healthy life, but Republicans are willing to slash these programs in order to offer a substantial tax break for billionaires,” said Durbin.  “In my meeting with AARP Illinois leadership today, I made clear that I will push back against this atrocious, dangerous proposal to eliminate health care coverage for 16 million Americans and nutrition benefits for millions more.”

    A photo of the meeting is available here.

    Under Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, people earning $40,000 a year will see an average tax decrease of $442 per year while people making more than $1 million will see their taxes go down by $79,000 per year.  The Congressional Budget Office’s latest analysis found that the lowest-income households in the U.S. would lose $1,600 a year in federal resources while the highest-income households would see a $12,000 annual boost from tax cuts paid for by slashing Medicaid and SNAP benefits.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Carter’s Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act Passes House

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative John R Carter (R-TX-31)

    Representative John Carter’s (TX-31) Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act passed the House this afternoon, 218-206.

    “I’m proud that the House has passed the first FY26 appropriations bill—my Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill—which reflects House Republicans’ commitment to taking care of our servicemembers, veterans, and their families,” said Subcommittee Chairman John Carter. “This legislation invests in critical infrastructure, such as barracks and child development centers, and fully funds veterans’ healthcare, with a significant focus on mental health services and housing programs that our veterans have earned. As Chairman of the subcommittee, I will continue fighting to ensure those who serve our nation have the support they deserve, and I know my colleagues who voted in favor today share that same commitment. I want to sincerely thank Chairman Cole for his leadership and focus on getting solid bills across the finish line.”

    Key Takeaways

    Champions our veterans by:

    • Fully funding veterans’ health care programs.
    • Fully funding veterans’ benefits and VA programs.
    • Supporting President Trump’s efforts to combat veteran homelessness by investing in the new Bridging Rental Assistance for Veteran Empowerment program.
    • Maintaining funding levels for research, mental health programs, and other programs relied upon by veterans.

    Supports the Trump Administration and the mandate of the American people by: 

    • Protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans, preventing the VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge’s consent.
    • Syncing up with President Trump’s Executive Orders on no funds for DEI, gender affirming care, and protecting Hyde-like language at the VA.
    • Prohibiting the VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.

    Bolsters U.S. national security and border protections by: 

    • Providing robust funding for military construction, enabling continued investment in the Indo-Pacific region, and infrastructure necessary to support the United States’ advanced weapons systems.
    • Maintaining the prohibitions on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.
    • Prohibiting the VA from purchasing resources directly or indirectly from the People’s Republic of China.

    A summary of the bill, before adoption of amendments, is available here.

    Bill text, before adoption of amendments, is available here.

    Bill report, before adoption of amendments, is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: RGA Statement on Pritzker Announcing Campaign for Third Term

    Source: US Republican Governors Association

    The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Republican Governors Association (RGA) today released the following statement in response to JB Pritzker announcing his campaign for a third term as Illinois Governor:

    “People are fleeing Illinois by the hundreds of thousands and Illinois families continue to suffer the consequences of JB Pritzker’s abject record of failure at home while he spends his time on a national vanity project trying to further his own political career. Opportunities for working Illinois families are in the garbage, criminal illegal immigrants are protected over law-abiding citizens, and Pritzker’s tax hikes are destroying family budgets,” said RGA Rapid Response Director Kollin Crompton. “Pritzker’s reign in Illinois has left families trapped in an economic disaster, and taxpayers are the ones left to shoulder the burden. It’s time to bring common sense to Illinois and end Pritzker’s feast on Illinois’ working families.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: The architecture of the new Queen Elizabeth II memorial aims to commemorate her as ‘a unifying force’

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy, University of Westminster

    In the heart of London’s St James’s Park, where John Nash’s 200-year-old landscape has witnessed the rise and fall of empires, a new chapter is about to unfold. The site that has long served as the nation’s ceremonial backdrop will soon become home to something unprecedented: a memorial not just to a monarch, but to an entire era.

    The winner of the competition to design Queen Elizabeth II’s memorial has been announced, and perhaps it was inevitable that it would be Norman Foster.

    However, it was also clear that the memorial was intended to be a new national landmark that somehow encapsulated the queen and changed national values and identities during her long reign.

    Almost inevitably, it is to be situated in a Grade-I listed setting in St James’s Park, London. This presented designers with the further challenge of how to sensitively respond to John Nash’s historic landscape design across a site that spans the breadth of the park.

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

    After initial expressions of interest were sifted, the five candidates shortlisted in February had to come up with a master plan that was emotionally resonant and sustainable.

    It also had to be compatible with the existing use of this extensive site, not least as a thoroughfare presenting vistas of Buckingham Palace and Whitehall. This memorial therefore involved much more than the simple statues of the Queen’s father and grandfather that came before it.

    Even the memorial to Queen Victoria, undoubtedly the most commemorated woman in British history, is modest in scale compared to this new project.

    The Queen Elizabeth II memorial is clearly intended to be very different from Victoria’s imperial confection. The brief for the design specified that it had to be immediately comprehensible to peoples of all races and religions, respect the park’s wildlife, be easy to maintain and be reasonably vandal proof. Above all, the proposal had to evoke the late queen’s qualities and “tell the story of her long reign through integrated design, landscaping and placemaking”.

    The process was therefore an exercise in landscape architecture, rather than producing an artwork.

    The queen herself had considerable familiarity with architecture. During her reign, she opened 122 buildings in London alone, as well as iconic buildings around the world, such as Sydney Opera House.

    The queen described the latter as “a splendid achievement of engineering and architecture”. Her similar enthusiasm when opening the Barbican in London suggests that her architectural tastes were less traditional than her eldest son’s.

    Yet there was no dominant school of architecture among the buildings she opened, nor a New Elizabethan style that defined her reign. It would be impossible to evoke the eclectic architecture range of her reign without pastiche.

    However, if there was no defining architecture, there arguably was a defining architect – the nonagenarian Sir Norman Foster. A working-class lad from Manchester who built a globally renowned architectural brand, his architectural career, which commenced in 1956, nearly coincides with the queen’s reign.

    During that reign, many of the significant buildings she opened, such as Stansted Airport, were designed by Foster. In his career, he has won every major architectural award and produced major landmark buildings all over the world. In consequence, he has been described as the “perfect architect for his era”.

    With all due respect to the acclaimed teams of designers he was competing with, it therefore seems appropriate that his firm, Foster + Partners, should have been chosen to evoke the reign of a monarch during which his buildings featured so prominently.

    A ‘unifying force’

    To win the bid, Foster + Partners had to assemble a multidisciplinary team, including the British artist Yinka Shonibare. Their proposal was felt to address many of the dualities of the Queen’s reign: tradition and modernity, public duty and private faith and the relationship between the UK and the Commonwealth that was always dear to Elizabeth II’s heart.

    To express these dualities, their master plan provided for two gates and two gardens, united by a path and a new translucent bridge over the park’s lake. As Foster reflected, this was intended to convey the queen’s role “as a unifying force”.

    Probably one factor that worked in their favour was the significance given to the Duke of Edinburgh. The firm’s suggestion of a statue of the royal couple together is unusual. The statues of the queen’s parents, in contrast, are separate if adjacent on a staircase on the north side of The Mall facing the park where their daughter’s memorial will appear. This plan brings her back together with the beloved husband she so missed after his death in 2021. It’s a move that the queen would no doubt have thoroughly approved.

    The design concept will, of course, be refined. The architectural renders at present can only give a glimpse of what the memorial landscape will look like in practice, let alone convey the ambience it seeks to evoke. Such details will need to be developed before the designs are submitted for planning permission.

    Nevertheless, it does seem appropriate that, for an era that defies architectural categorisation it should reflect the vision of the man who, more than any other, has been the architect of the age.

    Pippa Catterall 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. The architecture of the new Queen Elizabeth II memorial aims to commemorate her as ‘a unifying force’ – https://theconversation.com/the-architecture-of-the-new-queen-elizabeth-ii-memorial-aims-to-commemorate-her-as-a-unifying-force-259843

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Jefferson County Woman Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation Violations

    Source: US FBI

    BEAUMONT, Texas – A Port Arthur woman has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for child exploitation violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

    Sasha Sheree Abshire, 36, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Michael Truncale on June 24, 2025.

    According to information presented in court, in July 2024, law enforcement authorities received information that sexually explicit photos of a pre-school age child were being offered for distribution online by an individual with a screen name associated with Abshire. Abshire subsequently sent images of child pornography to another person from a cell phone that was later determined to belong to Abshire who was living at an address in Port Arthur.   Some of the sexually explicit images contained an adult woman’s face.  Social media accounts belonging to Abshire confirmed the woman in some of the photos was in fact Abshire.  Federal agents arrested Abshire at her Port Arthur home and confirmed that she was the woman who produced the child pornography.     

    This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
               

    This case was investigated by the FBI and Port Arthur Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Grove.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: There is no loneliness epidemic – so why do we keep talking as if there is?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin

    fran_kie/Shutterstock.com

    Most people experience periods of loneliness, isolation or solitude in their lives. But these are different things, and the proportion of people feeling lonely is stable over time. So why do we keep talking about an epidemic of loneliness?

    Before the COVID pandemic, several studies showed that rates of loneliness were stable in England, the US, Finland, Sweden and Germany, among other places, over recent decades.

    While COVID changed many things, loneliness levels quickly returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2018, 34% of US adults aged 50 to 80 years reported a lack of companionship “some of the time” or “often”. That proportion rose to 42% during the pandemic but fell to 33% in 2024.

    That’s a lot of lonely people, but it is not an epidemic. In some countries, such as Sweden, loneliness is in decline – at least among older adults.

    Despite these statistics, the idea that loneliness is increasing is pervasive. For example in 2023, the US surgeon general warned about an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation”. The UK even has a government minister with an explicit responsibility for addressing loneliness.

    Loneliness is a problem, even if it is not an epidemic. Social connection is important for physical and mental health. Many people feel lonely in a crowd or feel crowded when alone. In 2023, the World Health Organization announced a “Commission on Social Connection”. The WHO is right: we need to reduce loneliness in our families, communities and societies.

    But the idea that loneliness is an “epidemic” is misleading and it draws us away from sustainable solutions, rather than towards them. It suggests that loneliness is a new problem (it is not), that it is increasing (it is not), that it is beyond our control (it is not), and that the only appropriate reaction is an emergency one (it is not).

    In the short term, loneliness is an undesirable psychological state. In the long term, it is a risk factor for chronic ill health.

    Loneliness is not a sudden crisis that needs a short-term fix. It is a long-term challenge that requires a sustained response. An emergency reaction is not appropriate – a measured response is. Initiatives by the US surgeon general and WHO are welcome, but they should be long-term responses to an enduring problem, not emergency reactions to an “epidemic”.

    Vivek Murthy, the former US surgeon general warned about an epidemic of loneliness in America.
    lev radin/Shutterstock

    Medicalising normal human experience

    Conceptual clarity is essential if true loneliness is to be addressed. Pathologising all instances of being alone risks medicalising normal human experiences such as solitude. Some people feel alive only in crowds, but others were born lighthouse keepers. In a hyper-connected world, loneliness should be solvable, but solitude must be treasured.

    So, if there is no loneliness epidemic, why do we keep talking as if there is? Media framing of the issue and the human tendency to panic reinforce each other. We click into news stories based on subjective resonance rather than objective evidence.

    Human behaviour is shaped primarily by feelings, not facts. We dramatise, panic, and overstate negative trends. If trends are positive, we focus on minor counter-trends, ignore statistics and make things up.

    In the case of loneliness, the problem is real, even if the “epidemic” is not. Loneliness is part of the human condition, but alleviating each other’s loneliness is also part of who we are – or who we can become.

    Addressing loneliness is not about solving a short-term problem or halting an “epidemic”. It means learning to live with each other in new, more integrated ways that meet our emotional needs. Loneliness is not the problem. It is a consequence of living in societies that are often disconnected and fragmented.

    The solution? We cannot change the essentials of human nature – and nor should we try. But we can be a little kinder to ourselves, speak to each other a little more, and cultivate compassion for ourselves and other people.

    We need to connect with each other better and more. We can. We should. We will.

    Brendan Kelly 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. There is no loneliness epidemic – so why do we keep talking as if there is? – https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-loneliness-epidemic-so-why-do-we-keep-talking-as-if-there-is-259072

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Why evolution can explain human testicle size but not our unique chins

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Max Telford, Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, UCL

    neurobit/Shutterstock

    The human body is a machine whose many parts – from the microscopic details of our cells to our limbs, eyes, liver and brain – have been assembled in fits and starts over the four billion years of our history.

    But scientists are still puzzling over why we evolved into this particular form. Why do humans uniquely have a chin, for example? And why, relative to body weight, is a human testicle triple the size of a gorilla’s but a fifth of that of a chimpanzee? As I show in my new book, The Tree of Life, we are still searching for the answers to many of these “why” questions. But we are starting to find answers to some of them.

    The story of evolution tells us how, starting from simple beginnings, each species was built – when each of the components that make a living creature was added to its blueprint. If we climb the evolutionary tree of life, we can follow a twisting path that visits the increasingly specialised branches that a species belongs to. We humans, for example, were animals before we became vertebrates; mammals before evolving into primates and so on.

    The groups of species we share each of these branches with reveal the order our body parts appeared in. A body and a gut (inventions of the animal branch) must have come before backbone and limbs (vertebrate branch); milk and hair (mammals) came before fingernails (primates).

    There is a way we can study the separate problem of just why we evolved each of these body parts, but it only works if the feature in question has evolved more than once on separate branches of the tree of life. This repeated evolution is called convergence. It can be a source of frustration for biologists because it confuses us as to how species are related. Swallows and swifts, for example, were once classified as sister species. We now know from both DNA and comparisons of their skeletons that swallows are really closer relatives of owls than swifts.

    Size matters when it comes to evolution

    But convergent evolution becomes something useful when we think of it as a kind of natural experiment. The size of primate testicles gives us a classic example. Abyssinian black and white colobus monkey and bonnet macaque adult males are roughly the same size. But, like chimps, humans and gorillas, these similar monkeys have vastly dissimilar testicles. Colobus testicles weigh just 3 grams. The testicles of the macaques, in contrast, are a whopping 48 grams.

    Bonnet macaques are no monogamists.
    SHAJI C/Shutterstock

    You could come up with several believable explanations for their different testicle sizes. Large testicles might be the equivalent of the peacock’s tail, not useful per se but attractive to females. But perhaps the most plausible explanation relates to the way they mate. A male colobus monkey competes ferociously for access to a harem of females who will mate exclusively with him. Macaques, on the other hand live in peaceful mixed troops of about 30 monkeys and have a different approach to love where everyone mates with everyone else: males with multiple females (polygamy) and females with multiple males (polyandry).

    The colobus with his harem can get away with producing a bare minimum of sperm – if a droplet is enough to produce a baby, then why make more? For a male macaque the competition to reproduce happens in a battle between his sperm and the sperm of other males who mated before or after. A male macaque with large testicles should make more sperm, giving him a higher chance of passing on his genes. It’s a sensible explanation for their different testicle sizes, but is it true? This is where convergent evolution helps.

    If we look across the whole of the mammal branch of the tree of life we find there are many groups of mammals that have evolved testicles of all different sizes. In almost all these separate cases, larger testicles are consistently found in promiscuous species and smaller in monogamous.

    A small-testicled, silverback male gorilla has sole access to a harem. Big-testicled chimps and bonobos are indeed highly promiscuous. Dolphins, meanwhile, may have the biggest mammalian testicles of all, making up as much as 4% of their body weight (equivalent to human testicles weighing roughly 3 kilos). Although wild dolphin sex lives are naturally hard to study, spinner dolphins at least fit our expectations, engaging in mass mating events called wuzzles.

    It was thanks to the multiple observations provided by convergent evolution that we were able to discover this consistent correlation between testicle size and sex life right across the mammals. And as for humans, we have testicle size somewhere in the middle, you can make of this what you want!

    But what of the human chin?

    The human chin has been fertile ground for arguments between scientists over its purpose. As with testicles, there are half a dozen plausible ideas to explain the evolution of the human chin. It could have evolved to strengthen the jaw of a battling caveman. Maybe the chin evolved to exaggerate the magnificence of a manly beard. It might even be a by-product of the invention of cooking and the softer food it produced – a functionless facial promontory left behind by the receding tide of a weakening jaw.

    Intriguingly, however, a chin can be found in no other mammal, not even our closest cousins the Neanderthals. Thanks to the uniqueness of the Homo sapiens chin, while we have a rich set of possible explanations for its evolutionary purpose, in the absence of convergent evolution, we have no sensible way of testing them.

    Some parts of human nature may be destined to remain a mystery.

    This article includes links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

    Max Telford 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. Why evolution can explain human testicle size but not our unique chins – https://theconversation.com/why-evolution-can-explain-human-testicle-size-but-not-our-unique-chins-259419

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Operation Interflex reaches three-year milestone

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Operation Interflex reaches three-year milestone

    UK-led training programme of Ukrainian recruits launched on 26 June 2022.

    Crown copyright

    More than 56,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained by the UK and 13 partner nations on Operation Interflex; the UK-led, multination training programme.  

    Today (Thursday 26 June 2025) marks three years since the first Ukrainian trainees landed on British soil to begin the vital military training that turns civilians into soldiers capable of returning home to repel Russia’s illegal invasion of their country.  

    During this time Operation Interflex has continued to evolve to match the specific threats being faced on the frontlines in Ukraine. A variety of training programmes have been delivered via Operation Interflex focussed on equipping trainees with the battlefield essentials: the basic infantry course, leadership training, and instructor courses, which continuously adapt to Ukraine’s needs. 

    Led by the UK, Operation Interflex has been delivered alongside 13 other partner nations: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Albania, Estonia, Kosovo, Lithuania, and Romania. Service personnel from these nations are united in the objective to deliver high quality training that meets the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.  

    At a recent meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) on the 4 June, the Defence Secretary announced that the UK will spend a further £247m this year on training the Armed Forces of Ukraine, supporting Operation Interflex’s highly successful training programmes. This funding not only supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, but it is also vital in ensuring both European and UK security, underpinned by the Government’s Plan for Change.  

    Recent polling data reveals that 90% of all the trainees who have completed Interflex training since January 2025 feel more confident in their lethality and survivability at the end of training. The polling also revealed that one of the most valued elements of the training is the battlefield first aid, with 93% of basic recruits saying they felt more confident about treating casualties after receiving the training.  

    Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard MP said: 

    From each Ukrainian soldier made combat-ready on UK soil, to the £13bn committed in military support, we are proud of every element of our contribution to Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s illegal invasion.  

    The Government is clear that providing military support to Ukraine is essential to both UK and European security. Keeping the country safe is the Government’s first priority, and a foundation of its Plan for Change. 

    The UK and its allies are united in our support for Ukraine. I am sure they share my constant awe of the resilience shown by the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression.” 

    Colonel Andrew Boardman, Commanding Officer of Operation Interflex: 

    Today marks three years since the launch of Operation INTERFLEX to train Ukrainian personnel in the UK. Over this period, the multinational coalition of 14 nations, led by the UK, has trained over 56,000 Ukrainian soldiers, a testament to the enduring strength and shared resolve of our international partnership.  

    This milestone reflects not only our unity of purpose but our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s freedom and NATO’s collective security.” 

    The UK is proud to be a leading partner in providing vital support to Ukraine. The government has committed £13 billion of military aid for Ukraine, with £4.5 billion expected to be provided this year. This military aid includes training programmes like Operation Interflex, but also military capabilities and equipment such as drones, air defence systems and munitions.  

    The UK and Ukraine’s allies are committed to supporting Ukraine secure a just and lasting peace. The training effort provided by Operation Interflex aims to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position to achieve this peace and to safeguard their sovereignty and our collective security against Russian aggression.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 June 2025

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: York has the fewest pregnant smokers in Yorkshire

    Source: City of York

    York has the lowest rate of pregnant women smoking in Yorkshire and the Humber at the time of delivery, new figures have revealed.

    According to new data published by NHS England Statistics on Women’s Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: Data tables – NHS England Digital only 4.6 per cent (65 women) smoked in York, at the time of their delivery. This shows a significant drop, when compared to figures in 2020, which were 10.4 per cent (167 women).

    Many women have been supported to help quit for good through help from the Health Trainers.

    Cllr Lucy Steels- Walshaw, Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care at City of York Council, said “Stopping smoking during pregnancy is a positive step you can take for the health of you and your baby.

    “Stopping smoking can be challenging, but you do not have to face this alone. The council’s health trainers can offer support tailored to your needs and look at techniques and strategies to keep you motivated on your journey to becoming smoke free”.

    The Health Trainers offer an incentive scheme of £170 in shopping vouchers which are offered, if they continue to quit during their pregnancy and quit for good.

    Lucy Evans, from Acomb, gave birth at full term to a 7lb 14oz healthy baby girl, Violet, 12 weeks ago. She stopped smoking a week after her first health trainer appointment early in her pregnancy, and received free nicotine gum and patches as well as one-to-one support sessions.

    She has just received her final voucher this week, which she plans to spend on clothes for Violet and a treat for herself.

    She said: “I wanted to quit to make sure my baby was healthy and would definitely recommend this scheme, you get so much support and help and it makes you want to quit even more.

    “I feel a lot healthier, I’m not coughing as much and am breathing better, and I feel like I can handle stress a lot better as I’m not relying on smoking.”

    The service offers personalised, individual support and advice, and signing up is really simple.

    Visit York Health Trainers and complete the online referral form, call 01904 553377 or email cychealthtrainers@york.gov.uk

    Across the region, the Smoking at Time of Delivery (SATOD) data shows that 7.5 per cent (3,901) of pregnant women across Yorkshire and the Humber were recorded as smoking in 2024/25.

    This is 1.8 per cent lower than the previous year, when maternal smoking rates were 9.3 per cent across the region. This equates to 642 fewer women smoking compared to last year.

    This is the lowest rate of smoking during pregnancy recorded in Yorkshire and the Humber since data began to be collected. This also reflects improvement across England as a whole, where SATOD rates fell to 6.1 per cent from 7.4 per cent last year.

    Smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of harm to both mother and baby. It increases the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, and sudden infant death. Children born to parents who smoke are also more likely to experience respiratory illness, learning difficulties, and diabetes, and are more likely to grow up to be smokers when compared to children born into smoke-free households.

    As well as the health harms caused by smoking during pregnancy, it also adds to the cost of living and pushes families further into poverty. The average smoker spends £3,000 per year on tobacco, with younger women from the most deprived areas being the most likely to smoke and be exposed to second-hand smoke during pregnancy.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Letlow Honors LSU Baseball on Floor of U.S. House

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Louisiana Congresswoman Julia Letlow honored LSU’s national champion baseball team on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

    On Sunday LSU captured their eighth NCAA Division I baseball title, capping off a 53-win season with an undefeated College World Series run. Letlow’s 5th Congressional District includes LSU’s campus.

    To see a full video of Congresswoman Letlow’s remarks, click HERE. A full transcript can be found below.

    Congresswoman Letlow Remarks:

    I rise to congratulate the Louisiana State University baseball team for taking home their eighth national title.

    Under the leadership of Coach Jay Johnson, LSU captured their second title in three years. The Tigers triumphed through their championship season with 53 wins and an undefeated College World Series.

    Coach Johnson and his team exemplified excellence on and off the field, making Louisiana proud of not only their athleticism – but also their upstanding character and service to the Baton Rouge community. 

    As LSU’s representative in Congress, I joined my constituents in following the team’s journey to yet another championship. 

    ESPN this week referred to LSU as the “Greatest Ever College Baseball Program.” I couldn’t agree more!

    This victory wasn’t just about raising the trophy at the end. It was a testament to the resilient, winning spirit of our state. 

    To the players, coaches, and staff: thank you for inspiring a new generation of Tigers to dream big. And thank you for representing Louisiana with honor on the national stage.

    Congratulations and Geaux Tigers!
                                                                          ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PRESS RELEASE: Reps. Barragán and Lofgren Lead Democrats’ Response to Rep. Kim’s Distorted, Partisan Resolution Regarding Trump’s Authoritarian Response to the LA Protests

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    June 25, 2025

    Contact: Jin.Choi@mail.house.gov

    Reps. Barragán and Lofgren Lead Democrats’ Response to Rep. Kim’s Distorted, Partisan Resolution Regarding Trump’s Authoritarian Response to the LA Protests 

    Washington, D.C. —  Today, Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44) and Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, led Democrats in introducing a resolution to condemn Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines during the LA protests, while reaffirming support for state and local law enforcement and the people’s First Amendment right to peacefully protest. This resolution provides a fact-based response to Representative Young Kim’s distorted, partisan, and misleading resolution that House Republican leadership will have the House vote on later this week. 

    Rather than working on a bipartisan basis to condemn violence, defend the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights, and thank members of law enforcement, Rep. Kim’s resolution instead falsely claims that violence was widespread across LA and that California’s leadership has “prioritized protecting illegal immigrants and violent individuals over United States citizens” among other highly partisan claims. 

    In contrast, the Barragán-Lofgren resolution accurately notes that violence in LA was limited and under control by local and state law enforcement. When communities exercised their First Amendment right to assemble and protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, President Trump wrongfully deployed the National Guard and active-duty members of the U.S. Marine Corps in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and without the consent of California Governor Gavin Newsom or local officials. Democrats’ resolution commends the state and local law enforcement officers who have worked to protect public safety and maintain peace, supports Americans’ right to protest peacefully, condemns acts of violence, and supports the military servicemembers in the Marines and National Guard while objecting to their current deployment to Los Angeles County. 

    “Our communities have been terrorized by Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s indiscriminate mass deportation ICE operations — in response, people spoke up and protested to express their fear, anger, and anxiety,” said Rep. Nanette Barragán. “State and local law enforcement had the situation under control and the Trump Administration intentionally escalated the situation when they deployed troops into Los Angeles. Our resolution makes clear that we will not stand by while the federal government tries to intimidate Californians into silence through a show of military force. We must protect the right to protest, condemn violence, and reject authoritarian tactics that have no place in America.”

    “Rep. Kim’s resolution regarding the L.A. protests is not just misguided, inaccurate, and disingenuous: it’s dangerous,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation. “President Trump’s deployment of Marines and the National Guard in response to largely peaceful protests was unprecedented and wrong. Trump’s refusal to coordinate with state and local officials in deploying active-duty troops also put both protestors and state and local law enforcement officers at risk. House Republicans should be conducting vigorous oversight of the shocking deployment of servicemembers – a blatant attempt to take over states’ law enforcement responsibility – not reflexively jumping to providing justification for Trump to send troops into other communities or defending his dangerous attempt to squash constitutionally-protected dissent.”

    “Communities throughout California have been upended by ICE raids where masked ICE agents are using excessive force to go after people without probable cause. People want safer communities, not to see elementary school students and sick people at hospitals deported without due process. Instead of deescalating violence, Trump has fomented it. By deploying Marines and the National Guard against protestors in LA, Trump exacerbated a situation that local officials had under control. The resolution introduced by Rep. Kim does not accurately state the facts of the situation and instead falsely lays blame on Californians for Trump’s escalatory actions. By introducing a resolution with the correct facts, Democrats are standing up for Californians, including our law enforcement officials, who have been repeatedly demonized by partisan hacks looking to score cheap political points,” said Rep. Lieu. 

     “There was only one reason Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles: to launch his pathetic, made-for-TV reality show to justify his authoritarian crackdowns and cruel ICE raids,” said Rep. Kamalger-Dove. “But Angelenos know our city is not on fire.  We see right through the reality TV president’s theatrics that are meant to distract from this Administration’s tanking of our economy, devastating cuts to Medicaid, and the brutality and inhumanity of its mass deportations. If you pan away from the set, you won’t see Trump’s toy soldiers or violence, but real people hurting from his policies. Let’s focus the camera back on that.”

    “The Trump Administration is using our military service members as political pawns to create a false narrative of uncontrolled violence, trample on legal precedent, and perpetuate fear and hate in our communities,” said Rep. Cisneros. “Last week, I led a letter with over 34 of my colleagues demanding that the President withdraw troops from L.A. and allow our local officials and law enforcement to do their jobs.  I’m proud to join California Democrats in demanding answers from the Administration.”

    “As a proud born-and-raised Angeleno, Los Angeles will always be home. The Republican resolution we are voting on this week is a distorted and inaccurate attack on Los Angeles and our great state,” said Congresswoman Luz Rivas. “I thank Representatives Barragan and Lofgren for leading our California colleagues in introducing this resolution that reaffirms our support for peaceful protest and condemns President Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard and Marines on American soil. The President’s unprovoked and politically-motivated escalation of our military sowed more chaos and harm across our communities. My California House Democratic Caucus colleagues will continue to support the Constitutional right to peacefully protest the Trump Administration’s heartless immigration agenda while also swiftly condemning any acts of violence. Our Republican colleagues – especially our California Republican colleagues – need to do the same.”

    “Trump’s deployment of Marines to Los Angeles was a dangerous overreach that bypassed both state and local authority. We all condemn violence. Californians have a right to protest peacefully — and the Governor’s office assured me that local law enforcement had the capacity to get the situation under control,” said Congresswoman Laura Friedman (CA-30). “The Republican resolution isn’t about safety — it’s political theater aimed at stripping Americans of their rights. Instead of targeting violent criminals, Trump is going after hardworking community members and using military force to intimidate dissent. Our resolution makes clear: we won’t let fear or federal overreach silence Californians exercising their constitutional rights.”

    “This week, Republicans are forcing a vote on a partisan resolution to legitimize Trump’s unacceptable attacks on our community in Los Angeles and to excuse his warrantless mass ICE raids, his takeover of our National Guard, and his deployment of U.S. Marines on the streets of Southern California. This is just wrong. I’m proud to instead join my California Democratic colleagues in introducing this resolution to stand up to Trump’s attacks on California, defend our constitutional rights to due process and free expression, and thank the state and local law enforcement officers who have worked to protect public safety and prosecute those committing acts of violence and vandalism,” said Rep. Chu.

    The resolution is cosponsored by: Reps. Aguilar, Bera, Brownley, Bynum, Carbajal, T. Carter, Chu, Cisneros, Correa, Costa, Dean, DelBene, DeSaulnier, Doggett, Espaillat, Friedman, Garamendi, R. Garcia, S. Garcia, J. Gomez, Gray, J. Hayes, Huffman, Ivey, Jacobs, Hank Johnson, Kamlager-Dove, T. Kennedy, Khanna, Landsman, Larsen, Latimer, Leger Fernandez, Levin, Liccardo, Lieu, Lofgren, Matsui, McCollum, Min, Morelle, Mullin, Panetta, Pelosi, Peters, Pettersen, Rivas, Ross, Ruiz, Salinas, L. Sanchez, Sherman, Simon, Swalwell, Takano, Thanedar, Thompson, N. Torres, Tran, Vargas, Waters, Whitesides. 

    The text of the resolution can be found HERE. 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: World Bank Group, IAEA Formalize Partnership to Collaborate on Nuclear Energy for Development

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

    Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, sign a partnership agreement to collaborate on the safe, secure and responsible use of nuclear energy for development. (Photo: M Arnaldo/World Bank)

    The World Bank Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sealed an agreement today to work together to support the safe, secure and responsible use of nuclear energy in developing countries. The partnership agreement, signed by World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, formalizes multiple engagements between the two institutions over the last year, and marks the World Bank Group’s first concrete step to reengage with nuclear power in decades.

    The agreement also reflects a new, broader approach by the World Bank Group to electrification—one that prioritizes accessibility, affordability, and reliability, while managing emissions responsibly. With electricity demand in developing countries expected to more than double by 2035, this approach aims to help countries deliver the energy people need by enabling pathways that best fit their national context, including development objectives and Nationally Determined Contributions.

    Nuclear energy provides continuous baseload power, enhancing grid stability and resilience. Reliable baseload electricity is essential for job-generating sectors such as infrastructure, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing. Nuclear power is also a source of high-skilled employment and stimulates investment across the broader economy. In addition, it can adjust to changes in electricity demand and support frequency regulation, enabling greater integration of variable renewable energy sources.

    “Jobs need electricity. So do factories, hospitals, schools, and water systems. And as demand surges—with AI and development alike—we must help countries deliver reliable, affordable power. That’s why we’re embracing nuclear energy as part of the solution—and reembracing it as part of the mix the World Bank Group can offer developing countries to achieve their ambitions. Importantly, nuclear delivers baseload power, which is essential to building modern economies,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “Our partnership with the IAEA marks an important step, and I’m grateful to Rafael for his personal commitment and leadership in making this possible. Together, we’ll deepen our expertise, support countries that choose nuclear, and ensure that safety, security, and sustainability guide every step forward.”

    “Today’s agreement is a milestone and the result of a year of joint work since President Ajay Banga kindly invited me to the World Bank Group Executive Board in Washington in June of last year,” IAEA Director General Grossi said. “This landmark partnership, yet another sign of the world’s return to realism on nuclear power, opens the door for other multilateral development banks and private investors to consider nuclear as a viable tool for energy security and sustainable prosperity. Together, we can help more people build a better future.”

    Under the memorandum of understanding signed today, the IAEA will work with the World Bank Group in three key areas:

    • Build knowledge related to the nuclear field: Expand the World Bank Group’s understanding of nuclear safety, security, safeguards, energy planning, new technologies, fuel cycles, reactor lifecycles, and waste management.
    • Extend the lifespan of existing nuclear power plants: Support developing countries in safely extending the life of existing nuclear reactors-one of the most cost-effective sources of low-carbon power-as many global reactors near the end of their original 40-year design life.
    • Advance SMRs: Accelerate the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), which offer flexible deployment, lower upfront costs, and potential for wide adoption in developing economies.

    Thirty-one countries currently operate nuclear power plants, which combined produce about 9% of the world’s electricity, amounting to almost a quarter of all low-carbon power globally. More than 30 other countries, most of them in the developing world, are considering or already embarking on the introduction of nuclear power and are working with the IAEA to develop the necessary infrastructure to do so safely, securely and sustainably.

    “SMRs have great potential to cleanly and reliably power progress and fight poverty, but financing remains a roadblock,” Director General Grossi said. “Today’s agreement is a crucial first step to clearing that path.”

    Contacts

    World Bank Group (London): David Young, (202) 473-4691, dyoung7@worldbankgroup.org;

    International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna): Jeffrey Donovan, +43 699 165 22443, j.r.donovan@iaea.org

    About the World Bank Group: The World Bank Group works to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet through a combination of financing, knowledge, and expertise. It consists of the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, ida.worldbank.org/en/home, www.miga.org, www.ifc.org, and www.icsid.worldbank.org. 

    About the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): The IAEA is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to prevent its use for military purposes. The IAEA supports its member states in developing robust and sustainable nuclear safety and security infrastructures and applies safeguards to verify the peaceful use of nuclear material and technology.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: World Bank Group, IAEA Formalize Partnership to Collaborate on Nuclear Energy for Development

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, sign a partnership agreement to collaborate on the safe, secure and responsible use of nuclear energy for development. (Photo: M Arnaldo/World Bank)

    The World Bank Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sealed an agreement today to work together to support the safe, secure and responsible use of nuclear energy in developing countries. The partnership agreement, signed by World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, formalizes multiple engagements between the two institutions over the last year, and marks the World Bank Group’s first concrete step to reengage with nuclear power in decades.

    The agreement also reflects a new, broader approach by the World Bank Group to electrification—one that prioritizes accessibility, affordability, and reliability, while managing emissions responsibly. With electricity demand in developing countries expected to more than double by 2035, this approach aims to help countries deliver the energy people need by enabling pathways that best fit their national context, including development objectives and Nationally Determined Contributions.

    Nuclear energy provides continuous baseload power, enhancing grid stability and resilience. Reliable baseload electricity is essential for job-generating sectors such as infrastructure, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing. Nuclear power is also a source of high-skilled employment and stimulates investment across the broader economy. In addition, it can adjust to changes in electricity demand and support frequency regulation, enabling greater integration of variable renewable energy sources.

    “Jobs need electricity. So do factories, hospitals, schools, and water systems. And as demand surges—with AI and development alike—we must help countries deliver reliable, affordable power. That’s why we’re embracing nuclear energy as part of the solution—and reembracing it as part of the mix the World Bank Group can offer developing countries to achieve their ambitions. Importantly, nuclear delivers baseload power, which is essential to building modern economies,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “Our partnership with the IAEA marks an important step, and I’m grateful to Rafael for his personal commitment and leadership in making this possible. Together, we’ll deepen our expertise, support countries that choose nuclear, and ensure that safety, security, and sustainability guide every step forward.”

    “Today’s agreement is a milestone and the result of a year of joint work since President Ajay Banga kindly invited me to the World Bank Group Executive Board in Washington in June of last year,” IAEA Director General Grossi said. “This landmark partnership, yet another sign of the world’s return to realism on nuclear power, opens the door for other multilateral development banks and private investors to consider nuclear as a viable tool for energy security and sustainable prosperity. Together, we can help more people build a better future.”

    Under the memorandum of understanding signed today, the IAEA will work with the World Bank Group in three key areas:

    • Build knowledge related to the nuclear field: Expand the World Bank Group’s understanding of nuclear safety, security, safeguards, energy planning, new technologies, fuel cycles, reactor lifecycles, and waste management.
    • Extend the lifespan of existing nuclear power plants: Support developing countries in safely extending the life of existing nuclear reactors-one of the most cost-effective sources of low-carbon power-as many global reactors near the end of their original 40-year design life.
    • Advance SMRs: Accelerate the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), which offer flexible deployment, lower upfront costs, and potential for wide adoption in developing economies.

    Thirty-one countries currently operate nuclear power plants, which combined produce about 9% of the world’s electricity, amounting to almost a quarter of all low-carbon power globally. More than 30 other countries, most of them in the developing world, are considering or already embarking on the introduction of nuclear power and are working with the IAEA to develop the necessary infrastructure to do so safely, securely and sustainably.

    “SMRs have great potential to cleanly and reliably power progress and fight poverty, but financing remains a roadblock,” Director General Grossi said. “Today’s agreement is a crucial first step to clearing that path.”

    Contacts

    World Bank Group (London): David Young, (202) 473-4691, dyoung7@worldbankgroup.org;

    International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna): Jeffrey Donovan, +43 699 165 22443, j.r.donovan@iaea.org

    About the World Bank Group: The World Bank Group works to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet through a combination of financing, knowledge, and expertise. It consists of the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, ida.worldbank.org/en/home, www.miga.org, www.ifc.org, and www.icsid.worldbank.org. 

    About the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): The IAEA is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to prevent its use for military purposes. The IAEA supports its member states in developing robust and sustainable nuclear safety and security infrastructures and applies safeguards to verify the peaceful use of nuclear material and technology.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth Hosts Telephone Town Hall, Highlighting Negative Impacts of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on Illinois

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth
    June 25, 2025
    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) tonight hosted a telephone town hall to answer Illinois constituents’ questions and discuss how Donald Trump and Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill” will profoundly harm Illinoisans. In tonight’s town hall, Duckworth highlighted how Senate Republicans are currently trying to jam through this legislation—that no one has seen final text for—in order to give Trump and his billionaire buddies a massive tax cut paid for by increasing taxes on and cutting basic needs services for the most vulnerable Americans and the middle class. Photos from tonight’s telephone town hall are available on the Senator’s website.
    “Donald Trump’s so-called Big, Beautiful Bill throws middle class families under the bus and increases taxes on low-income families in order to fund another monstrous tax cut for Trump’s billionaire Mar-A-Lago buddies,” Duckworth said. “This bill lets Republicans off the hook from having to earn a single Democratic vote to pass their deeply unpopular ‘well, we’re all going to die’ agenda that cuts Medicaid, guts critical food assistance programs and explodes our deficit and debt by trillions of dollars—selling out the middle class to enrich billionaires like Donald Trump.”
    If Republicans’ plan is passed, hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans would be at risk of losing health coverage through Medicaid and food assistance through SNAP, and dozens of rural hospitals and nursing homes in our state would likely close—cutting off or restricting access to critical services for entire communities, including Illinoisans with private insurance. As a result of these cuts and other irresponsible slashes by Republicans, thousands of jobs across the clean energy, agriculture and medical industries are at risk.
    Duckworth hosted her last town hall in May in McHenry County, focusing on Veterans and all of the ways Donald Trump and his Administration are hurting our nation’s Veterans.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: $255 Payday Loans Online Same Day No Credit Check – Honest Loans Rolls Out Same-Day Bad Credit Loans Payday Advance Service

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York City, NY, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    Honest Loans has launched a fast, stress-free solution for U.S. consumers seeking 1-hour payday loans with no credit check and guaranteed approval—even for those who’ve been turned down by traditional banks. 

    As more Americans turn to emergency loans to manage everyday expenses, Honest Loans provides a 100% online, secure, and completely free platform with no paperwork or credit checks required.

    Supported by a network of high-rated direct lenders and powered by a smart matching system, Honest Loans makes it easier than ever to access 1-hour payday loans online with no credit check and guaranteed approval. 

    In many cases, funds are transferred in under 60 minutes after approval. Whether you’re facing an unexpected car repair, overdue rent, or a medical emergency, the platform connects borrowers to same-day payday loans designed for speed, ease, and accessibility.

    << Check Your Eligibility for a $255 Same-Day Payday Loan >>

    Bridging Financial Gaps with $255 Same-Day Payday Loans — No Credit Check Required

    As the cost of living continues to rise across the U.S., many households find themselves just one unexpected expense away from financial hardship. Traditional lenders often rely on hard credit checks, time-consuming paperwork, and rigid loan minimums—barriers that leave many vulnerable borrowers without options. 

    Honest Loans addresses this gap with a streamlined, $255 same-day payday loan that features a 5-minute application, no credit check, and fast approval based on income and bank history.

    What Sets the $255 Same-Day Loan Apart?

    • Lightning-Fast Funding: Most approved applicants receive their funds within hours.
    • No Credit Check Required: Eligible borrowers can qualify without a FICO score inquiry.
    • Easy Online Application: Mobile-friendly form asks only for essential information.
    • Transparent Terms: Full fee and repayment breakdown shown upfront—no surprises.
    • Flexible Repayment Options: Convert payday loans into manageable installment plans to avoid rollover traps.

    Inclusive Lending for Those with Bad Credit

    Financial setbacks shouldn’t block access to emergency funds. Honest Loans evaluates applications based on verified income and banking history, not credit scores—making the $255 loan accessible even for those with poor or limited credit histories. 

    The platform also emphasizes transparent lending practices, ensuring borrowers are never caught off guard by hidden fees or unclear terms.

    Need more than $255? Honest Loans also facilitates personal loans up to $1,000 with guaranteed approval, giving borrowers more flexibility and helping them avoid predatory lending alternatives.

    << Secure $255 Emergency Funds Instantly – No Credit Check Needed >>

    A Commitment to Transparent, Responsible Lending

    At Honest Loans, speed never comes at the expense of clarity or trust. The platform is designed to help borrowers make informed financial decisions by providing:

    • Clear Fee Breakdowns – Every borrower receives a detailed summary of all loan costs with full transparency.
    • Budgeting Resources – Online calculators and guides support effective repayment planning.
    • Income-Based Approval – Lending decisions are based on current income and banking activity rather than outdated credit scores.
    • Advanced Security Measures – Personal and financial data is protected with industry-standard encryption and privacy protocols.

    “Transparency is at the core of everything we do,” said a spokesperson for Honest Loans. “We want borrowers to feel informed and confident—not rushed or uncertain—when considering a $255 payday loan with no credit check.”

    Beyond $255: Guaranteed Personal Loans with Greater Flexibility

    For those who need access to larger amounts, Honest Loans partners with a nationwide network of licensed lenders to offer guaranteed personal loans of up to $1,000. These loans feature straightforward eligibility criteria, customizable terms, and do not rely on FICO scores—providing more accessible, fair credit options for borrowers navigating financial challenges.

    About Honest Loans

    Honest Loans is an online lending platform that connects borrowers with a trusted network of third-party lenders offering payday and personal loan solutions. While Honest Loans does not directly fund loans, it streamlines the borrowing experience by facilitating fast, secure loan matching for amounts ranging from $100 to $5,000.

    The application process is fully online and can be completed in just a few minutes, with many qualified borrowers receiving funds as soon as the next business day. Honest Loans is designed to support a wide range of financial situations, including those with low or no credit history, and employs bank-grade encryption to protect user data and ensure privacy throughout the process.

    Contact Information

    Company: Honest Loans
    Email: support@onlineloannetwork.com
    Phone: 888-718-9134
    Address: Springates Building, Lower Government Road, Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis

    Disclaimer and Affiliate Disclosure

    This content is provided for informational and commercial purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, legal guidance, or an endorsement of any specific loan provider. While efforts have been made to ensure the information is accurate and relevant, no guarantee is made regarding its completeness, accuracy, or timeliness.

    Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and seek advice from qualified professionals—such as financial advisors or legal experts—before making any financial decisions.

    Please note:

    • Loan products and services discussed may not be appropriate for all individuals.
    • Terms, conditions, and eligibility requirements vary by lender and location.
    • Approval is not guaranteed, and may depend on factors such as income, creditworthiness, residency, identity verification, and compliance with applicable regulations.

    This article may contain affiliate links. If you press on a link and apply for or purchase a product or service, the publisher and its partners may receive a commission—at no additional cost to you. This compensation does not influence the objectivity of the content or the integrity of any recommendations made. All opinions expressed are general and do not reflect the views of any specific lender unless explicitly stated.

    By engaging with this content, you agree that the publisher, content creators, affiliates, and third-party distribution partners shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, outdated information, or financial consequences resulting from use of the material provided. This includes, but is not limited to, denied loan applications, disputes, or issues arising from contracts with lenders.

    Mentions of companies such as “Honest Loans” are included for informational comparison only and do not imply any formal endorsement, partnership, or legal affiliation. For concerns related to specific loan products, please contact the lender directly using their official contact details.

    All trademarks, brand names, and service marks mentioned herein remain the property of their respective owners.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Loans for Bad Credit 2025: Honest Loans Launches New Features for Personal Loans with Bad Credit, Offering Instant Approvals

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York City, NY, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    Finding yourself short on cash can be stressful—especially when bad credit makes traditional loans feel out of reach. But don’t worry, help is available.

    We’ve compiled a list of the payday loan providers in the U.S. that offer bad credit loans with guaranteed approval of up to $5,000. These lenders typically don’t require a credit check, making their services accessible no matter your financial background.

    Whether you’re unemployed, dealing with a poor credit history, or have no credit at all, these loans are designed to bridge the gap between your current finances and unexpected expenses.

    Our Pick – Bad Credit Personal Loans Guaranteed Approval up to $5,000

    Honest Loans – Flexible Personal Loan Lenders

    Press the link above to explore one of the high-rated lenders tailored to your personal loan needs, offering guaranteed approval. In most cases, loan applications are approved within 1–2 hours after submission.

    If you’re looking for more information to make a confident decision, continue reading for a detailed comparison:

    Honest Loans: Flexible Personal Loan Lenders

    If you’re facing a financial crunch and need quick relief, Honest Loans might be the solution you’re looking for. With loan amounts of up to $5,000, Honest Loans offers a flexible and accessible option to cover your urgent cash needs—even if you have a bad credit history.

    << Check Your Eligibility for a Loan for Bad Credit – Apply Here >>

    Why Choose Honest Loans?

    Honest Loans stands out as a great choice for personal loans due to:

    • Secure website
    • Fast decisions
    • Quick funding
    • No need to visit a physical location or wait in long queues
    • Simple and user-friendly application process

    Thanks to its easy-to-use interface and fast processing, Honest Loans is a reliable option for individuals with bad credit. It offers guaranteed approvals of up to $5,000 at competitive rates, making it one of the most versatile lenders available.

    What Is a Payday Loan?

    A payday loan is a short-term borrowing option that provides fast access to cash when you need it most. These loans typically range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars and are meant to be repaid by your next payday. They’re designed for individuals who may not qualify for traditional bank credit—often due to limited income, poor credit history, or lack of employment.

    The application process is usually very straightforward and involves submitting proof of income and a bank account, among a few other basic requirements.

    How Payday Loans Work

    Payday loans are simple and fast. Once you submit an application and it’s approved, the funds are usually deposited into your bank account within hours.

    Unlike traditional loans, payday loans involve no lengthy paperwork. The entire process—application, eligibility check, approval, and funding—is handled online through automated systems. This allows borrowers to access funds conveniently and quickly.

    After your loan is approved, you’ll receive the agreement details. You can then decide to accept the loan terms or decline based on what suits your needs.

    Basic Qualifications

    To qualify for a payday personal loan, you typically need:

    • To be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
    • To be at least 18 years old
    • A verifiable source of income
    • An active checking account
    • A valid phone number or email for communication

    These simple requirements mean that most people can qualify without hassle, which is why payday loans have such a high approval rate.

    Impact of Credit Scores

    Your credit score is generally not a barrier to getting a payday loan. Most lenders either skip the credit check or perform a soft check that doesn’t affect your credit rating.

    Even though payday lenders don’t rely heavily on credit scores, timely repayment can help improve your credit over time. If you have no credit history, successfully managing a payday loan can be a good starting point to build one.

    << Check Your Eligibility for a Loan for Bad Credit – Apply Here >>

    How Payday Loans Differ from Conventional Loans

    • Loan Amount: Payday loans are smaller, typically under $5,000, while traditional loans can be much larger.
    • Repayment Terms: Payday loans are usually due on your next payday; conventional loans are repaid over months or years.
    • Interest Rates: Payday loans have much higher interest rates due to their short-term nature and higher risk profile.
    • Credit Checks: Conventional lenders require thorough credit checks; payday lenders usually don’t.
    • Approval Time: Payday loans are fast—often approved and funded within hours. Conventional loans can take days or even weeks.
    • Borrower Profile: Payday loans are ideal for those with poor or no credit, whereas traditional loans favor borrowers with strong credit histories.
    • Loan Purpose: Payday loans are mostly used for emergencies and unexpected bills. Conventional loans are typically for larger purchases like cars, homes, or long-term projects.

    Regulation of Payday Loans

    Because of the high interest rates and risk of borrower exploitation, payday loans are subject to various state-level regulations. Some states cap the maximum loan amount or interest rate, while others have banned them altogether. Always check the specific rules in your state before applying.

    Pros and Cons of Payday Loans

    ✅ Benefits:

    • Quick approval and funding, often within the same day
    • No credit check required, making them accessible for most
    • Minimal eligibility requirements, increasing approval odds
    • Smaller loan amounts, perfect for short-term emergencies
    • Convenience, with the entire process handled online or in person

    ❌ Drawbacks:

    • Risk of debt cycle, especially if loans are rolled over repeatedly
    • High interest rates, often reaching 300–400% APR

    FAQs

    What happens if I default on a payday loan?

    If you fail to repay your payday loan on time, you may incur late fees, additional charges, and potentially damage your credit score. This can negatively impact your credit history and make it more difficult to secure loans from other lenders in the future. Some lenders may also attempt alternative methods of collecting repayment, such as withdrawing funds directly from your linked bank account.

    Can I get a payday loan with bad credit?

    Yes, many payday lenders accept applications from individuals with poor credit. In most cases, lenders do not require a traditional credit check, so your credit score is not the main factor in the approval process. Instead, proof of income and a valid bank account are typically sufficient.

    How fast can I receive a payday loan?

    Payday loans are designed to be quick and convenient. Most lenders process applications within minutes and provide approval decisions shortly after. If approved, you can often receive the funds in your bank account the same day or by the next business day, depending on the lender and the time of your application.

    Contact Information

    Company: Honest Loans

    Email: support@onlineloannetwork.com 

    Phone: 888-718-9134

    Address: Springates Building, Lower Government Road, Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis

    Disclaimer & Affiliate Disclosure

    This article is intended for informational and commercial purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, legal counsel, or an endorsement of any particular loan provider. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the information presented, neither the author nor any affiliated third parties guarantee its completeness, accuracy, or timeliness. Readers are strongly advised to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor, legal professional, or other appropriate expert before making any financial decisions.

    Please note that the products and services referenced herein—including personal loans and payday lending platforms—may not be suitable for everyone. Loan terms, eligibility criteria, and interest rates differ by lender and jurisdiction. Loan approval is not guaranteed, and is subject to each lender’s verification process, which may include evaluation of location, identity, income, creditworthiness, and regulatory compliance.

    This content may include affiliate links. If you press on one of these links and proceed to apply for or purchase a product or service, the publisher and its partners may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This has no impact on editorial content, integrity, or recommendations provided. All opinions expressed are general in nature and do not necessarily reflect the views of any specific lender unless otherwise stated.

    By accessing or interacting with this content, you acknowledge and agree that the publisher, content creators, affiliates, distribution partners, and third-party networks bear no responsibility for inaccuracies, omissions, outdated information, or any losses—financial or otherwise—arising from your use of the information provided. This includes but is not limited to declined applications, financial disputes, or loan contract issues with lenders.

    References to companies such as “Honest Loans” are made for informational comparison only and do not imply endorsement, affiliation, or legal partnership. For questions or concerns regarding a particular product or service, please contact the respective provider directly using their official contact information.

    All trademarks, service marks, and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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  • MIL-OSI: Mulberry and Appliance.io Launch Scalable, Tech-Forward Product Protection Program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mulberry, a leader in innovative product protection solutions, has partnered with Appliance.io, the all-in-one software platform for appliance dealers, to deliver a fully integrated, customizable warranty experience designed to drive revenue and enhance customer satisfaction.

    “Appliance.io shares our vision of empowering dealers through smart technology,” said Chinedu Eleanya, CEO of Mulberry. “It’s imperative in today’s market to leverage innovative software solutions to reduce overhead and drive incremental revenue. With significant profit margin and reduced operational costs, leveraging the Mulberry platform is a clear win for dealers.”

    As retailers seek more efficient, digital-first solutions, this strategic collaboration equips Appliance.io’s network of independent dealers with a seamless way to offer tailored protection plans that integrate directly with their point-of-sale and e-commerce operations. Appliance.io not only supports this shift—it raises the bar by fully automating the warranty process with Mulberry’s API-driven solution in a way that has never been done before.

    “We’re building innovative tools with partners like Mulberry, and dealers are taking notice,” said Katie Bange, Head of Product at Appliance.io. “With this integration, warranty plans are automatically registered once the appliance is delivered, eliminating the need for retailers to manually submit claims, coordinate coverage, or follow up on customer issues. Mulberry replaces the full-time role many dealers had dedicated to warranty follow-up. It’s a game changer in terms of saving time, resources, and operational costs.”

    The partnership has already driven strong results for forward-thinking Appliance.io dealers that switched from a legacy warranty solution to Mulberry:

    • 80% increase in protection plan attachment rates on appliance orders
    • 132% growth in total warranty sales as a result of Mulberry’s integration

    Integrating Mulberry’s tech-enabled warranty solution marks a major step forward in Appliance.io’s mission to deliver powerful tools and enhanced revenue opportunities to appliance dealers nationwide. To learn more about Mulberry’s product protection solutions, visit getmulberry.com.

    About Appliance.io
    Appliance.io is a modern retail platform built exclusively for appliance dealers. From point-of-sale and inventory to eCommerce, integrated routing, protection plan automation, optional in-house website builds, and comprehensive reporting with real-time data tracking, Appliance.io provides the end-to-end infrastructure retailers need to grow and compete in a digital world.

    About Mulberry
    Mulberry is a people-first product protection platform that offers solutions for retail partners and consumers. Mulberry product protection plans can be purchased directly from Mulberry or through qualified retail partners. Mulberry protects customer purchases from accidental damages and losses with a best-in-class solution that offers simple claims-filing and fast resolutions. To learn more about Mulberry, visit https://www.getmulberry.com.

    Press contact:

    press@getmulberry.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: CBI Home Health Renews Partnership with AlayaCare to Drive National Growth and Innovation

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CBI Home Health, one of Canada’s largest homecare and specialized community services providers, has renewed its agreement with AlayaCare, a market-leading cloud-based home and community care platform, for another three years. This renewal marks a new chapter in a long-standing strategic partnership focused on delivering better outcomes, supporting operational efficiency, and enabling national growth through digital innovation.

    Since 2019, CBI Home Health and AlayaCare have worked together to modernize operations, beginning with the sale of CBI’s proprietary LinC and QCare software to AlayaCare in the original agreement. Since then, CBI Home Health has transitioned all legacy platforms to AlayaCare’s core platform, consolidating systems and aligning operations across the country. This has supported more consistent and efficient delivery of care services at scale

    “This renewed agreement is a reflection of the trust we’ve built over the years and our shared commitment to delivering exceptional care,” said Adrian Schauer, founder and CEO of AlayaCare. “We’re proud to continue working alongside CBI Home Health as they scale operations and elevate service delivery through technology.”

    Throughout the partnership, the organizations have navigated the evolving healthcare landscape together, building resilience and deepening their collaboration. The decision to renew the agreement reflects a shared belief in the strength of their relationship and the value AlayaCare’s technology continues to bring to CBI Home Health’s operations.

    “Over nearly seven years, we’ve built a strong, resilient relationship with CBI Home Health,” said Schauer. “This renewal represents a shared belief in the platform’s value and in our ability to drive impact together as Canadian healthcare innovators.”

    From CBI Home Health’s perspective, the renewal signals both continuity and a shift in strategic focus.

    “This renewal reflects our continued confidence in the platform’s ability to enable operational efficiencies and long-term value,” said Andrew Prahalad, Vice-President of IT at CBI Home Health. “It allows us to shift from implementation to optimization — unlocking the full strategic potential of operating on a national digital platform.”

    Neil King, President and COO of CBI Home Health also emphasized the broader impact of the partnership:

    “Our partnership has been a cornerstone of our digital transformation and operational progress. This renewal marks the beginning of an exciting new phase — one that builds on a strong foundation and opens the door to continued innovation. Together, we’re advancing our shared commitment to delivering the highest care possible for our clients, their families and for the communities we serve.”

    AlayaCare’s platform offers a unified foundation for CBI Home Health’s operations across Canada, enabling digitization across intake, scheduling, care planning, and reporting. With this renewed commitment, CBI Health is shifting its focus from system stabilization to growth, leveraging a trusted and familiar platform to scale services and innovate for the future.

    By continuing to invest in AlayaCare’s technology, CBI Home Health strengthens its ability to deliver integrated, high-quality, community-based care across home, clinic, and facility settings. With a shared vision for the future of care in Canada, this partnership reaffirms both organizations’ dedication to improving outcomes for patients, caregivers, and communities alike.

    About CBI Health
    As part of CBI Health, CBI Home Health has been helping Canadians achieve their healthcare goals for more than 50 years. We are one of Canada’s largest home care and specialized community services providers, operating in more than 800 communities. Every day, we deliver quality care to thousands of Canadians while working with hospitals, governments, funders and other healthcare partners to shape the future of community healthcare. Learn more at cbihomehealth.ca.

    About AlayaCare

    AlayaCare is an end-to-end platform designed to serve public, private, and non-profit home and community care organizations that manages the entire client lifecycle, including needs assessments, care plans, scheduling, visit and route optimization, and visit verification. Founded in 2014 and now with over 600 employees, AlayaCare combines traditional in-home and virtual care solutions that enable care providers to lower the cost of care and achieve better outcomes for their clients. For more information, visit: AlayaCare.com

    AlayaCare Press Contact:
    Steph Davidson
    647-668-6369
    steph.davidson@alayacare.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8ea9710d-8824-4b72-895a-4e30ec80d2a7

    The MIL Network –