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  • MIL-OSI Global: Why do protestors use disruptive, confrontational tactics? New research shows they’re not just a last resort

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Mete Sefa Uysal, Lecturer in Social & Political Psychology, University of Exeter

    HJBC/Shutterstock

    Public protests are on the rise globally, from climate marches and university occupations to roadblocks and mass political demonstrations. These actions may sometimes include confrontational tactics such as civil disobedience, disruption and, at times, violent resistance.

    At Columbia University in the US, for instance, pro-Palestine student protests recently captured global attention for their tactics. They ranged from non-confrontational actions such as gatherings and sit-ins to campus encampments and occupations aimed at disrupting daily activities, which eventually led to confrontations with police.

    Actions like these often spark debate. Are activists acting strategically, or simply reacting out of desperation and rage? Our new research sheds light on this question. Contrary to popular belief, people do not only turn to confrontational protest because they are desperate or lack political alternatives.

    Confrontational protests are frequently portrayed negatively. They are often associated with extremism, disorder, or desperation. So it’s long been a mystery why people choose such confrontational forms of protest, especially given more conventional options like petitions or authorised rallies offer broader public support and visibility.

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

    In our surveys of 3,833 people across three countries – Germany, Turkey and the UK – we found that people choose confrontational action when they believe it is effective and legitimate for achieving their group’s political goals.

    That said, in some protests, confrontational tactics may emerge spontaneously as a self-defence, driven by immediate threats. But it is not simply an emotional outburst or a last resort: it can be a strategic choice.

    This challenges a widely discussed idea in social and political psychology called the “nothing-to-lose” hypothesis. According to this view, people are driven to confrontational protest when they see non-confrontational action (such as voting, petitioning, or authorised marches) as ineffective. This is often because they have little political trust or are oppressed. Our studies ultimately tested this hypothesis.

    We found that most people rated non-confrontational actions as more effective than confrontational ones. But they still saw confrontational tactics as worthwhile if they also seemed effective and justifiable.

    Interestingly, we discovered that low political trust – a lack of belief that the political system works fairly – did not predict confrontational protest. In fact, it was only weakly linked to perceived effectiveness and legitimacy of such tactics.

    While previous theories suggested that people with nothing to lose would be the ones most drawn to radical action, our findings paint a more complex picture. People don’t necessarily need to lose all faith in the political system before considering disruptive protest. Rather, they judge whether a specific tactic will advance their cause and align with their collective moral values.

    Just Stop Oil protestors with hands glued to the frame of da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
    wikipedia, CC BY-SA

    We also found that when people think that protests are more likely to be met with state violence, they are more likely to view confrontational tactics as legitimate and effective. In other words, when crowds foresee push-back, they recalibrate their strategies rather than withdrawing altogether from activism.

    Constructive disruption

    This research matters now more than ever. From climate movement and pro-Palestine rallies in many countries to anti-government and pro-democracy protests in the US, Turkey, Serbia and Argentina, we are witnessing a global wave of protest crowds.

    Understanding what drives people to disruptive and confrontational actions can help both policymakers and the public make sense of protest in today’s divided world. This may be a better option than moralising about good versus bad forms of protests, which serves to silence and criminalise disruptive and confrontational actions.

    The former UK home secretary Suella Braverman labelled climate protesters “extremists” and pro-Palestinian protests “hate marches”. She also proposed harsher crackdowns. But such an approach is only likely to make the protests more disruptive.

    Similarly, several government responses to UK parliamentary reports on protest policing distinguish “right to peaceful protest” from any kind of disruptive and confrontational activism. They also highlight that the legal definition of “serious disruption” has been widened.

    But viewing all disruptive protests as being outside of legal boundaries is likely to create pushback among activists and limit the potential constructive social influence of such protests.

    We argue that it’s time to rethink how we talk about confrontational and disruptive protests. Rather than viewing them as irrational, extreme or born of despair, we should understand it as part of a wider repertoire of political action.

    Here, labelling a set of protests through binary, moralised terms can lead to overlooking and silencing a crucial and effective protest strategy: constructive disruption. Constructive disruption relies on carefully balancing non-violent but disruptive actions. This can apply pressure for change while signalling positive intent that encourages a conciliatory response to protest.

    As a group of social psychologists recently showed, constructive disruption could generate support even among those who are most resistant.

    If we recognise that such tactics are often grounded in a sense of justice and strategic reasoning, we can move away from moralistic judgements and toward democratic dialogue by better engaging with the underlying demands that drive them.

    As protest movements continue to shape political life around the world, we believe it’s time to take their strategies seriously – not just their slogans.

    Mete Sefa Uysal received funding from the International Society of Political Psychology Scholar Under Threat Fund for a part of this study.

    John Drury and Yasemin Gülsüm Acar do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Why do protestors use disruptive, confrontational tactics? New research shows they’re not just a last resort – https://theconversation.com/why-do-protestors-use-disruptive-confrontational-tactics-new-research-shows-theyre-not-just-a-last-resort-256716

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Secretary Rubio testifies before the Senate Committee – 2:00 PM

    Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)

    Secretary of State Marco A. Rubio testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs on the FY26 Department of State Budget Request on Capitol Hill, on May 20, 2025.

    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

    The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at www.state.gov and on social media!
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    Watch on-demand State Department videos: https://video.state.gov/
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    #StateDepartment #DepartmentofState #Diplomacy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sR-ASE6cmc

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Foreign Affairs Day Celebration

    Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)

    Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Senior Bureau Official Lew Olowski deliver remarks at the Department of State’s 60th annual Foreign Affairs Day celebration, on May 2, 2025.

    The AFSA Memorial Plaque Ceremony follows the remarks, honoring those who have lost their lives while serving overseas due to circumstances distinctive to the Foreign Service, including acts of violence or terrorism. AFSA President Tom Yazgerdi presides over the ceremony and delivers welcoming remarks. Deputy Secretary Landau pays tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country around the world.

    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

    The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at www.state.gov and on social media!
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/statedept
    X: https://x.com/StateDept
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/statedept
    Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/statephotos/
    Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/StateDept
    Substack: https://statedept.substack.com

    Watch on-demand State Department videos: https://video.state.gov/
    Subscribe to The Week at State e-newsletter: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USSTATEBPA/signup/32562

    State Department website: https://www.state.gov/
    Careers website: https://careers.state.gov/
    White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/
    Terms of Use: https://state.gov/tou

    #StateDepartment #DepartmentofState #Diplomacy

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

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 20 Reasons Why Congress Must Unite Behind the One, Big, Beautiful Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Congressional Republicans MUST unite to pass President Donald J. Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill and take advantage of the once-in-a-generation opportunity they were given by voters.
    Here are 20 reasons why Congress must unite behind the One, Big, Beautiful Bill:
    It delivers the largest tax cut in American history. This means an extra $5,000 in Americans’ pockets with a DOUBLE-DIGIT percent DECREASE to their tax bills. Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 will pay around 15% less in taxes.
    It includes NO TAX ON TIPS and NO TAX ON OVERTIME. This makes good on two of President Trump’s cornerstone campaign promises and will benefit hardworking Americans where they need it the most — their paychecks.
    It delivers Big, Beautiful Deportations. The bill permanently secures our borders by making the largest border security investment in history, funding at least one million annual removals of illegal immigrants and ramping up “mass deportation operations to a level never before seen in American history.”
    It finishes President Trump’s border wall. As a result, 701 miles of primary wall, 900 miles of river barriers, 629 miles of secondary barriers, and 141 miles of vehicle and pedestrian barriers will be constructed — stopping deadly fentanyl from flowing into our communities and securing the border from dangerous illegal immigrant murderers and rapists.
    It boosts Border Patrol and ICE agents on the frontlines. It empowers immigration authorities to carry out their mission by hiring 10,000 new ICE personnel, 5,000 new customs officers, and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents — and gives $10,000 bonuses in each of the next four years to agents on the frontlines.
    It protects Medicaid for Americans by kicking 1.4 million illegals off the benefits. This bill eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse by ending benefits for at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants who are gaming the system.
    It requires able-bodied Americans to work if they receive benefits. With 4.8 million able-bodied adults choosing not to work, The One, Big, Beautiful Bill puts work requirements in place and supports them as they find dignity through employment.
    It reverses the spending curse plaguing Washington, D.C. The legislation delivers the largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years, with $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings.
    It ends taxpayer-funded sex change for minors. It reverses the Biden-era mandate that Medicaid cover so-called “gender transition” procedures for minors — ending the taxpayer-funded chemical castration and mutilation of American children.
    It provides historic tax relief to Social Security recipients. It slashes taxes on seniors’ Social Security benefits.
    It will give Americans PERMANENT tax relief through the Trump Tax Cuts. If the bill doesn’t pass, Americans will see the largest tax increase in history.
    It finally modernizes air traffic control, fulfilling President Trump’s plan to completely overhaul the systems that keep Americans flying safely and efficiently. This will allow President Trump to update our air traffic control systems and act where the Biden Administration failed (despite repeated warnings).
    It ends the taxpayer-funded Green New Scam. The legislation repeals or phases out every “green” corporate welfare subsidy in Democrats’ so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” immediately stops credits from flowing to China and saves taxpayers $500+ billion every year, and reverses electric vehicle mandates that let radical climate activists set the standards for American energy.
    It incentivizes MADE IN AMERICA. It rewards companies that build their products in America with lower taxes — and allows Americans who buy an American-made vehicle to fully deduct their auto loan interest.
    It is pro-family. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill increases the child tax credit, establishes MAGA Accounts for newborns to start saving, and strengthens paid family leave.
    It repeals Democrats’ insane attack on the gig economy. It repeals the requirement that Venmo, PayPal, and other gig transactions over $600 be reported to the IRS.
    It protects family farmers. The bill prevents the greedy death tax from hitting two million family-owned farms who would otherwise see their exemptions cut in half and cuts taxes on farmers by over $10 billion.
    It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to revolutionize our nation’s defense capabilities and protect the homeland against new threats. It funds President Trump’s Golden Dome, invests in American shipbuilding, and modernizes our military.
    It unleashes American energy dominance. The legislation increases onshore and offshore oil and gas leases, which provides certainty for energy producers, spurs job growth, and makes energy more affordable for American consumers.
    It boosts American mineral development. This bill increases mining of domestic minerals and makes America less dependent on foreign adversaries for critical minerals.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Easy Metrics and Connors Group Announce Strategic Partnership to Drive Enhanced Warehouse Performance Management for 3PLs and Retail

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BELLEVUE, Wash., May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Easy Metrics, a leader in warehouse performance management, has announced a strategic partnership with Connors Group, a leading management consulting and industrial engineering firm specializing in operational strategies for manufacturing and retail supply chains. The collaboration brings together advanced technology and proven consulting expertise to help companies improve productivity, streamline warehouse workflows, and boost profitability.

    The partnership pairs Connors Group’s strengths in continuous improvement, systems implementation, and workforce management with Easy Metrics’ cloud-based labor management and warehouse performance management platform. Connors Group will act as a strategic partner, implementing Easy Metrics and integrating it with their LaborPro™ solution to enhance labor planning and execution.

    With deep roots in retail and manufacturing, Connors Group expands Easy Metrics’ reach into new markets, while Easy Metrics provides a modern, scalable alternative to legacy labor management systems. Together, the companies will help customers uncover inefficiencies, optimize labor spend, and accelerate performance across their networks.

    “The partnership between Easy Metrics and Connors Group brings world-class technology and operational expertise to our customers,” said Steve Cascio, Chief Revenue Officer of Easy Metrics. “Connors Group’s years of experience, with a focus on improving operational efficiencies and reducing costs, complements our goal of helping customers identify and define quantifiable metrics to measure ongoing success.”

    Together, Connors Group and Easy Metrics help clients align workforce strategies with real-time performance data—accelerating time-to-value and delivering practical, on-the-floor impact for 3PL and retail environments.

    Shawn Roche, Vice President of Connors Group’s Supply Chain Practice shared, “This partnership bridges the gap between insights and outcomes. With Easy Metrics’ platform and our deep operational and engineering expertise, we can strategically work together to optimize performance for large organizations across their operational network.”

    About Connors Group

    Connors Group helps organizations align people, processes, and technology to achieve maximum performance. By combining strategic management consulting, extensive field experience, and industrial engineering with their proprietary labor planning platform, LaborPro™, they provide practical solutions that enhance productivity, reduce costs, and improve workforce agility. Since 2008, Connors Group has partnered with leading companies across retail, supply chain, manufacturing, QSR, healthcare, and the public sector to drive lasting operational improvements and a 7.25x ROI on over 1,000 projects.

    About Easy Metrics

    Operations and finance leaders use Easy Metrics’ cloud platform to analyze, forecast, and manage the cost and performance of their warehouse operations. Easy Metrics empowers leaders to drive operational speed and efficiency, cut waste, prioritize investments, and adopt labor and automation strategies that fuel their business growth. Easy Metrics is based in Bellevue, Washington, and is backed by Nexa Equity, a private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit https://easymetrics.com. 

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0bf55119-5681-42c7-aa7a-e308fb84da96

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: TopLine Financial Credit Union Receives Statewide Recognition for Member Service Initiatives

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MAPLE GROVE, Minn., May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based member-owned financial services cooperative, was named winner of the Louise Herring Philosophy-in-Action Member Service Award, sponsored by the Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN). The Louise Herring award recognizes credit unions that demonstrate in an extraordinary way the practical application of the movement’s principles in serving their members.

    Topline was awarded in the Louise Herring Category for the credit union’s partnership with Rondo Community Land Trust (RCLT), a non-profit in St. Paul, to help make homeownership more affordable for individuals and families earning low-to-moderate incomes, and to preserve affordability for small businesses operated by people of color and non-profits at risk of displacement from rising rents.

    TopLine joined forces with Rondo Community Land Trust as the first credit union to be one of their approved mortgage lenders for their Homebuyer Initiated Program (HIP). This program assists home buyers at or below 80% area median income (AMI) to purchase and make repairs on a single-family home (including duplexes) in St. Paul or Suburban Ramsey County.

    “We are honored to be recognized for our partnership with Rondo Community Land Trust,” said Mick Olson, TopLine Financial Credit Union President and CEO. “We are committed to building strong connections with nonprofit community partners such as RCLT. By working together, we can drive economic growth and diversity, promote financial inclusion and access, and help more individuals achieve their financial dream of homeownership.”

    The Minnesota Credit Union Network is the statewide trade association that works to ensure the success, growth and vitality of Minnesota credit unions. For more information, visit www.mncun.org.

    Rondo Community Land Trust (CLT) is a community based affordable housing and commercial land trust operating in St. Paul and Suburban Ramsey County. For more information, visit www.rondoclt.org.

    TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesota’s 9th largest credit union, with assets of over $1.1 billion and serves over 70,000 members. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit financial cooperative offers a complete line of financial services from its ten branch locations — in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Circle Pines, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake, Maple Grove, Plymouth, St. Francis and in St. Paul’s Como Park — as well as by phone and online at www.TopLinecu.com or www.ahcu.coop. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members, as well as employees and retirees of Anoka Hennepin School District #11, Anoka Technical College, Federal Premium Ammunition, Hoffman Enclosures, Inc., GRACO, Inc., and their subsidiaries. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit union’s foundation, visit www.TopLinecu.com/Foundation.

    CONTACT:
    Vicki Roscoe Erickson
    Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
    TopLine Financial Credit Union
    verickson@toplinecu.com | 763.391.0872

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/52c4da82-782a-4a8f-9324-2650a4257373

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Incorta Announces “Incorta Connect,” Expanding Access to Live Data Integration with Modular Scalability

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FOSTER CITY, Calif., May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Incorta, the most efficient data integration platform, today introduced Incorta Connect, a new offering that provides a more accessible way for organizations to deliver live, harmonized data for analytics and AI. Built on a modular foundation, Incorta Connect offers a simple and fast entry point into powerful data integration capabilities, with the flexibility to scale and unlock advanced features over time. This new solution empowers teams to start with what they need today and expand as their data and analytics requirements evolve.

    Built on the same engine trusted by global enterprises like Broadcom, Sketchers, and Shutterfly, Incorta Connect enables rapid and low-code data integration from any source system, including Oracle, SAP and other ERP, CRM, legacy, and cloud platforms, directly into modern destinations such as Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Power BI, and Tableau.

    “Incorta Connect brings our signature innovation–live, detailed data delivery from complex systems like Oracle and SAP–and makes it available to a broader market,” said Ashwin Warrier, VP and Head of Product at Incorta. “It’s a faster entry point that lets teams solve their most pressing data challenges now, while giving them a clear and scalable path forward.”

    Live Data from Any Source, to Any Destination—In Days, Not Months

    Incorta Connect is purpose-built for companies that want fast, reliable access to source-level business data without the time, cost, and complexity of traditional ETL pipelines.

    With Direct Data Mapping®, schema-aware automation, and hundreds of native connectors, Incorta Connect enables:

    • 3–5 day implementation (vs. 4–10 weeks for traditional platforms)
    • Live data updates in minutes, not hours or days
    • Full support for multi-source data harmonization across ERP, CRM, and legacy systems
    • Low-code, no-code experience that reduces IT burden
    • Destination-agnostic delivery to cloud warehouses, lakehouses, and BI tools
    • Transparent pricing model designed to deliver the best total cost of ownership (TCO) and fastest time to value, at any scale

    Incorta Connect is not a limited or stripped-down version. It’s the same high-performance platform offered, with modular flexibility to support a broader range of use cases and teams.

    “Operational excellence depends on fast, reliable access to high-quality data,” said Andy Nallappan, President and Chief Operating Officer at Cloud Software Group. “Incorta Connect eliminates latency, reduces pipeline complexity, and gives us the agility to make smarter decisions with less overhead.”

    Use Case Spotlight: Oracle to BigQuery

    A Fortune 500 global CPG company faced mounting complexity in extracting Oracle Fusion data into Google BigQuery. Legacy ETL tools required heavy coding, constant maintenance, and a large data team, yet still failed to meet the business need for fast, reliable access to financial and supply chain data.

    Incorta Connect changed that, fast.

    Using Incorta’s Direct Data Mapping technology, the company went from proof of concept to production in weeks, delivering analytics-ready Oracle data to BigQuery in just 10 weeks with a lean team. Incorta handled schema changes automatically, tracked deletions, maintained referential integrity, and enabled incremental refreshes every five minutes, something legacy tools couldn’t do without significant custom effort.

    This level of automation, scale, and speed in Oracle-to-BigQuery delivery is rare, unlocking real-time insight without the overhead of traditional ETL.

    Built for Modular Growth

    Incorta Connect supports a modular growth model, making it easy to start with live data delivery and expand into analytics, visualization, or AI-powered use cases over time. This approach helps organizations realize faster time to value while significantly reducing the total cost of ownership compared to traditional ETL and data pipeline solutions. Use cases include:

    • ERP modernization: Streamline Oracle or SAP data migration to the cloud
    • Analytics-ready pipelines: Feed Power BI, Tableau, and Looker with real-time, governed data
    • AI & machine learning: Deliver high-fidelity training data for forecasting and predictive models
    • Financial operations: Enable faster close, improved compliance, and more accurate reporting

    With its low-code approach and end-to-end observability, Incorta Connect gives users full control over their data journey—from ingestion to insight. Learn more about Incorta Connect’s pricing, capabilities, and deployment options at incorta.com/incorta-connect or reach out to the Incorta team at incorta.com/demo.

    About Incorta

    Incorta is the first and only open data delivery platform that enables real-time analysis of live, detailed data across all systems of record—without the need for complex ETL processes. By enabling direct analysis on raw, source-identical data, Incorta provides faster, more accurate insights while removing barriers to exploration. With intuitive low-code/no-code tools, AI-powered querying through Nexus, and prebuilt business data applications, enterprise teams can quickly surface insights, break down technical roadblocks, and make smarter decisions without heavy engineering effort. Incorta’s unmatched efficiency shortens time to value and lowers total cost of ownership, helping data teams move at the speed of business. For more information, please visit www.incorta.com.

    Media Relations Contact:

    Elizabeth Byington

    incorta@sparkpr.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Is this bad for my health? Kenyan study tests three types of warning labels on food

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Shukri F. Mohamed, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center

    Diet-related health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, are on the rise in Kenya, putting immense strain on already over-stretched public health systems. These conditions are often driven by high intake of sugars, salts and unhealthy fats. So it’s more critical than ever for consumers to understand what’s in the foods they’re buying.

    But making sense of nutrition information isn’t always straightforward, especially with the small, complex labels on the back of most packages.

    Our recent study examined whether front-of-pack food labels could help Kenyan consumers make better choices. We tested three types of label designs to see which one was most effective at helping people identify nutrients of concern and make healthier purchase decisions.

    Front-of-pack labels are simplified labels on the front of food packaging, designed to help consumers quickly assess healthiness through symbols, colours, or ratings. Examples include providing a “high in sugar” warning. In contrast, back-of-pack labels provide mandatory, detailed information such as full ingredient lists, nutrition facts and expiry dates typically in a standardised, text-heavy format on the back or side. Front-of-pack labels aren’t mandatory in all countries but back-of-pack labels are.

    Many countries, including Chile, Mexico and Israel, have already introduced mandatory warning labels. Research shows that there has been a positive impact on public health.

    Kenya is planning to take a major step in promoting public health by introducing a front-of-label system that will rank packed foods and non-alcoholic beverages based on their nutritional quality. Currently, packaged foods in Kenya are required to list ingredients, but this information can be hard to interpret. Front-of-pack labels will simplify this by highlighting key nutritional facts at a glance.

    The new system will also guide policies like restricting marketing of unhealthy foods to children and other measures to improve Kenya’s food environment. With rising obesity and diet-related diseases driven by a shift from traditional foods to processed options, changes are urgently needed.



    Read more:
    Marketing unhealthy food as good for kids is fuelling obesity in South Africa: how to curb it

    We have been involved in food environment policies research for the last five years. Our study emphasises the potential of front-of-pack food labels to affect consumers’ choices. Presenting clear information about a product’s nutritional content on the front of packaging could shift consumer behaviour towards healthier choices. In turn, this could lead to better public health outcomes.

    Testing three label types

    The study randomly assigned participants to different label types to compare the results fairly.

    The study involved 2,198 adults from four counties: the capital, Nairobi; Mombasa, the second largest city; Kisumu, which is home to the third largest city; and Garissa in north-eastern Kenya. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three label types: red and green octagon label (RG), red and green octagon with icons (RGI), and black octagon warning label (WL).

    Each label had a unique approach to highlighting sugars, fats and salts, which are the nutrients linked to diet-related diseases.

    • The Red-Green (RG) label used the colours red and green to show if a product had high or within-threshold levels of salt, sugar, fat, or saturated fat. Red meant the nutrients were above the set threshold, making that food unhealthy, while green meant it was below the set threshold levels.

    • The Red-Green with Icons (RGI) label worked like the RG label and it also included icons (like a spoon for sugar, a salt shaker for salt) and abbreviations (F for fat, SF for saturated fat) to make it easier to understand.

    • The black octagon Warning Label (WL) only appeared on products high in salt, sugar or fats, with a clear “high in” warning message to alert consumers.



    Read more:
    Why South Africa should introduce mandatory labelling for fast foods

    Each participant was asked to evaluate a sample of food products based on the label type they were shown. They were also asked about their purchase intentions and perceptions of the products’ healthiness.

    First, the study participants were shown images of packaged foods without any labels, and they were asked to answer questions about them. Then, study participants were shown the same images, but this time with a front-of-pack label added to the images. They were then asked the same questions again to see if the labels influenced their responses.

    Our results showed that warning labels were the most effective in helping consumers identify foods high in sugars, salts and fats. Participants who saw the warning labels were more likely to recognise unhealthy packaged food products and less likely to choose them, compared to those who used the Red and Green labels.

    In the same study we asked consumers about awareness and use of labels and we found that approximately two thirds (64.3%) reported being aware of food labels, while 55.0% reported reading nutrition information before purchasing products.

    Next steps

    Our research provides a strong evidence base to support policymakers in adopting mandatory front-of-pack labelling.

    Moving forward, establishing a clear regulatory framework that mandates simple, effective and standardised labelling systems is essential in reducing diet-related diseases. Ensuring these labels are easily understandable and prominently displayed on all packaged foods will empower consumers to make healthier choices, particularly those in low- and middle-income communities, who are at higher risk of poor dietary outcomes.

    Several law-making processes are in place that Kenya could use to implement mandatory labelling. But efforts are needed to identify and pursue the most effective route to effective legal change.

    Shukri F. Mohamed receives funding from the International Development Research Center.

    – ref. Is this bad for my health? Kenyan study tests three types of warning labels on food – https://theconversation.com/is-this-bad-for-my-health-kenyan-study-tests-three-types-of-warning-labels-on-food-253657

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The UK might have accepted the idea of youth mobility with the EU, but it’s not happening any time soon

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics & International Studies, The Open University

    View Apart/Shutterstock

    The language might be dry, but the political shift is significant. Monday’s summit between the UK and EU leaders in London resulted in an acknowledgement of the “mutual interest to deepen our people-to-people ties, particularly for the younger generation”.

    This announcement is an important step forward in the creation of a youth mobility scheme between the EU and UK, even if it has required a name change to become a “youth experience scheme”. It is the first time that a British government has formally accepted this as something to negotiate and implement.

    However, there is scant detail about how it will work in practice and what the inevitable limits will be. While the permitted activities (“work, studies, au-pairing, volunteering, or simply travelling”) seem extensive, they are prefaced with the dreaded words “such as” – which means no one has actually agreed any of it.

    It was clear over a year ago that the basic models that the two sides have for youth mobility differ. The EU wants lengthy exchange periods and home tuition fees for students; the UK wants shorter stays, caps on numbers and retention of international fees for EU students at UK universities. The achievement of a deal would require at least one of them to move. This week makes this difference now the formal position, rather than showing whether movement is possible.

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    It’s possible that discussion of British participation in the Erasmus+ scheme for student mobility might be a partial stopgap, making exchanges within study programmes easier. However, the ambition for creating those deeper people-to-people ties will need more to make it meaningful.

    As the troubled history of this idea should indicate, there’s still a very long way to go before anyone gets to use the scheme in practice.

    The founding irony of a youth mobility scheme with the EU after Brexit is that it was originally a British idea. It was produced under Rishi Sunak following his conclusion of the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland, when he was looking for areas to rebuild ties with Europe.

    In 2023, feelers had been put out to various EU member states about concluding bilateral deals with the UK. While there was some interest, the general feeling was that this was best handled at an EU level, to avoid any cherrypicking of countries by London.

    A summary of UK-EU youth mobility proposals.
    Simon Usherwood, CC BY-NC-SA

    In April 2024, the European Commission produced an ambitious proposal for a scheme. It put forward that 18- to 30-year-olds would be able to get a visa for up to four years for any purpose – work, study, travel – without quotas on numbers.

    Both the Conservative government and the Labour opposition had rejected the proposal out of hand. This was partly out of concerns over the potential impact on immigration figures and on student finances: the commission suggested EU students should be able to pay UK university fees. Mostly, however, it came from a desire not to be seen to make a big agreement with the EU that looked a bit like freedom of movement.

    To be clear, youth mobility is very much not freedom of movement. The latter implies no limits on entry, length or purpose of stay, as well as access to any kinds of public services as if you were a resident national. The former still means paying for a visa and strict limits on those services. But such legal points remain rather marginal in the British political and media debate.

    Since last year, there has been some to and fro, but largely behind closed doors and with the incoming Labour government continuing the line that such a scheme wasn’t on the cards. While the UK has a number of youth mobility schemes with countries around the world, these are typically limited by quotas and time (normally to two years) and require the person to be working or studying.

    Moving on?

    On the British side, Home Office concern about immigration figures is clearly still critical, especially in the context of the recent white paper that aims to cut back migration. Universities too have been vocal about the financial impact of losing tuition fee income from EU students.

    But on the EU side, the matter is seen very differently. To some extent, the interest is in maintaining the links with the UK, especially for young people that could gain from experiencing more of how their neighbours live. But much more than this is the sense that youth mobility has become something of a test for the British government.

    Labour’s return to office last July marked the unleashing of a significant diplomatic effort to engage with European counterparts and to talk up the value of working together. Youth mobility is a test of that value for some in European capitals, both in terms of being able to negotiate an agreement and of being able to sell it to the British public.

    The coming weeks and months will therefore be a key period if the reset is to result in more sustainably improved relations. Even if the basic shape of UK-EU relations isn’t about to shift, the ability for both sides to be able to talk and act constructively will still matter in delivering from that long list of summit ambitions.

    Simon Usherwood receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, as a Senior Fellow of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative.

    – ref. The UK might have accepted the idea of youth mobility with the EU, but it’s not happening any time soon – https://theconversation.com/the-uk-might-have-accepted-the-idea-of-youth-mobility-with-the-eu-but-its-not-happening-any-time-soon-256628

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The DIY guide to checking how well you’re ageing

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Marco Arkesteijn, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Biomechanics, Aberystwyth University

    Ground Picture/Shutterstock

    A few years ago, a social media trend challenged people to see if they could stand up from the floor without using their hands. Now, it’s all about how long you can balance on one leg while brushing your teeth. These quirky “tests” promise to tell us how well we’re ageing – but do they really?

    When we talk about “ageing well”, we’re usually referring to both physical and psychological wellbeing. That includes feeling good (hedonic wellbeing) and finding meaning and purpose (eudaimonic wellbeing). Engaging in activities and monitoring ourselves plays a role in both.

    But ageing isn’t just about how strong your grip is or how fast you can walk. It’s a complex mix of physical, cognitive, emotional and social changes – and no single test captures the whole picture.

    Physically, one simple measure that gets a lot of attention is walking speed. According to one famous study, people who walk faster than 1.32 metres per second were less likely to die in the next three years – jokingly framed as “too fast for the Grim Reaper to catch”.

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    On the flip side, a slower walking speed – below 0.8 metres per second – can be a sign of sarcopenia, a condition involving reduced muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function. These are all important indicators of age-related decline.

    But while these markers are useful, they’re not easy to measure at home. Most research relies on specialist equipment and your local GP probably doesn’t have a grip-strength dynamometer sitting in a drawer. But they could time how long it takes you to stand up and sit down five times from a chair.

    How to do a DIY MOT

    So, what can you realistically do to track your own ageing?

    To truly understand how you’re ageing, it helps to think beyond physical health. Mental sharpness, emotional resilience and social connection matter just as much. One helpful idea is to assess your cognitive fitness, which includes skills like attention, memory and flexibility.

    Here are some cognitive tests you can try at home:

    Trail making test: connect numbers and letters in sequence (1, A, 2, B, etc.) and time how long it takes. This measures your ability to switch between tasks.

    Stroop task: challenges your ability to ignore competing information. Try saying the colour of a word, not the word itself – like saying “red” when you see the word “blue” printed in red ink. It’s harder than it sounds!

    Dual-task challenge: walk at your normal speed while counting backwards from 100 in threes. If your walking speed changes significantly, it could indicate cognitive strain.

    These kinds of tasks test how well your brain handles competing demands – a key ability that becomes even more important as we age. This skill is known as cognitive flexibility, and it helps you adapt to changing situations, switch between tasks and manage distractions.

    Trying out these tests is great, but how do you know if you’re improving? After all, when you have spent time trying to improve your walking speed, or Stroop ability – or even rubbing your head, patting your belly while saying the Finnish alphabet out loud – it’s important to know if you are seeing benefits.

    Some measures, like single-leg stance, can vary wildly from day to day – or even hour to hour. You might get better just from repeating it, which doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ageing better, just that you’ve practised.

    Others, like grip strength, change very slowly even with regular strength training. And some improvements are task-specific: getting better at the trail making test doesn’t necessarily make you sharper at doing Wordle.

    That’s why it helps to complete the test a few times at the start, then retest yourself once a month or so – again, doing it a couple of times – to track any improvements. Cognitive changes may be slower to notice than physical ones, so regular checks can help reveal progress over time.

    More of a puzzle than a test

    There’s no single test or score that can capture how well you’re ageing. Think of it more like a jigsaw puzzle. Physical health, mental agility, emotional balance, social connection – they all matter, and they all interact. And, of course, even if you perform well now, some changes in the future may be beyond your control. No test can fully predict what lies ahead.

    At the end of the day, maybe the best sign of ageing well isn’t how fast you walk or how long you can stand on one leg – it’s how you feel about your life. Are you feeling engaged, content, connected?

    Tools like the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience can help you take stock of your emotional wellbeing. This short, 12-question survey asks about your everyday feelings – from joy and calm to sadness and frustration – offering insight into both the pleasurable (hedonic) and meaningful (eudaimonic) sides of wellbeing.

    Ageing well isn’t about beating a stopwatch or acing a memory test. It’s about knowing yourself – your body, your mind and your values – and making small, meaningful changes that help you feel more you.

    So, go ahead, stand on one leg if you like. But don’t forget to check in with your brain, body, emotions and your sense of purpose too.

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

    – ref. The DIY guide to checking how well you’re ageing – https://theconversation.com/the-diy-guide-to-checking-how-well-youre-ageing-256297

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The Coin by Palestinian writer Yasmin Zaher wins the 20th Dylan Thomas Prize – an expert from the judging panel explains why

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel G. Williams, Professor of English Literature, Swansea University

    Yasmin Zaher’s remarkable novel The Coin has won the 20th International Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for writers under the age of 40.

    This is not a story that begins at the beginning. Instead, its narrator starts with dirt and an obsession with cleanliness, but suggests later that the coin of the title – an Israeli shekel that she accidentally swallowed on a family road trip in which her parents were killed in a car crash – would have been an equally appropriate place to begin.

    Long forgotten, the swallowed coin begins to make its presence felt, somewhere in her body, following her move to America. The narrator is a wealthy young Palestinian woman, teaching boys at a New York City middle school. Her wealth, however, is in the hands of a brother who controls her allowance. She responds by developing a scheme to resell luxury handbags with a homeless con-artist, known throughout as “Trenchcoat”.

    This is one of several attempts at shaping the world around her: she revels in her sexuality and ability to redefine herself through fashionable clothes and accessories; she teaches her class about black power and takes them on a trip to listen to the “dagger poems” of a black nationalist poet in New Jersey.

    I assume this poet is Amiri Baraka since they eat “Black Dada Nihilismus” burgers, a reference to his poem of the same name. But such acts of resistance, if not futile, are limited. Like the swallowed coin, the levers of control, whether material or psychic, lie out of reach as we witness the narrator’s gradual unravelling.

    It is perhaps appropriate that a novel set in New York should win the prize named after Swansea’s most famous poet. New York both enticed and frightened Dylan Thomas. It was the city in which he died. The city, also, in which he recorded the ground-breaking reading of A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

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    In that story, as in his earlier Return Journey, his childhood self is a ghostly presence wandering among the “blitzed flat graves” of shops “marbled with snow and headstoned with fences”. The snow hides devastation. The destruction of the city that Thomas knew as a child. The 44 air raids mounted on Swansea between 1940 and 1943 killed 390 people. And it’s the similar loss of people and places, and the suffering in Gaza today, which Zaher’s novel examines.

    Palestine is a persistent and troubling presence in the The Coin. For Dylan the devastation of Swansea was a metonym for a wider world where civilians were increasingly the victims of war. His world is, regrettably, still ours in that sense. The Coin is a profound meditation on our contemporary world and our complicity in the destruction of another place and people.

    In a moving scene, the narrator recalls a Jewish friend, “a very gentle girl who dreamed of becoming a ballerina”. She lived in a house that once belonged to “a Palestinian family that had been expelled in 1948”. The friend tells her about two underground rooms in the garden. One of the rooms, “the poop room”, allows access to the second which contains “a big wooden chest full of treasures and gold”. The narrator keeps “thinking of that secret chamber off the shit room, the wooden chest inside, full of silverware and gold of the family who thought they would return.”

    The swallowed coin. The inaccessible allowance. The wooden chest full of treasures and gold. Unreachable currency functions as a powerful symbolic centre connecting the brief scenes and meditations that constitute this appropriately fragmented novel. Lost somewhere in the narrator’s entrails, removed from economic exchange, the coin belongs with the excrement and detritus of urban life, which is the object of the narrator’s disgusted obsessions.

    New York in this novel is a repository of failed circulation – the filth of the city’s streets offering a gothic underside to the endless flows of capitalism, frustrating the narrator’s obsessive attempts at keeping herself clean. Narratives and circulation end in the stasis of dirt. Palestinian history ends in dispossession. Swallowed coin, inaccessible allowance and a buried treasure chest are symbolic repositories of Palestinian traumatic memory.

    Zaher shows us how the novel form can still offer a unique way of understanding the world, of mapping our contemporary disorientation. It does this not by offering clarity, but by lingering in the spaces where movement, value and meaning break down. This is a novel about circulation – of money, of bodies and of meaning.

    The swallowed coin is itself a kind of resistance, a refusal to go along with the restless movement of capital that defines our world. The coin refuses liquidity and thereby refuses complicity; its removal from the economic system mimics a kind of muted protest. Beneath the novel’s often frenetic and energetic surface hides a resistant counter-politics of inaction.

    Daniel G. Williams was a judge of this years’ Dylan Thomas Prize.

    – ref. The Coin by Palestinian writer Yasmin Zaher wins the 20th Dylan Thomas Prize – an expert from the judging panel explains why – https://theconversation.com/the-coin-by-palestinian-writer-yasmin-zaher-wins-the-20th-dylan-thomas-prize-an-expert-from-the-judging-panel-explains-why-257063

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: In ‘Paying For It,’ ex-lovers reimagine friendship, family and the meaning of sex work

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ummni Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University

    Emily Lê and Daniel Beirne star in the film that sees director and multidisciplinary artist Sook-Lin Yee adapt the graphic memoir of her ex-lover, Chester Brown, for the screen. (Wilding Pictures & Hawkeye Pictures)

    The film Paying For It, Sook-Yin Lee’s live-action adaptation of cartoonist Chester Brown’s 2011 graphic memoir, reveals unexpected overlaps between paid sexual encounters and romantic relationships.

    Lee, a boundary-shattering artist working across film, music, acting and broadcast, has never shied away from taboo. With Paying For It, she takes on sex work, romance and the messy labour of chosen family by adapting her ex-lover’s memoir for the screen.

    ‘Paying For It,’ graphic memoir by Chester Brown.
    (Drawn & Quarterly)

    In my 2019 article “Chester Brown and the Queerness of Johns,” I analyze Brown’s original book, which traces his pivot from monogamy with Lee to regularly seeing sex workers in the late 1990s.

    Both a memoir and a manifesto, the book pairs accounts of paid sex with arguments for decriminalizing sex work, voiced through debates with friends and a detailed appendix. In my analysis, I frame Brown’s memoir as a queer intervention, one that disrupts heteronormative ideals of romantic relations, intimate exchanges and sexual propriety.

    Lee’s cinematic version of Paying For It affirms Brown’s stance, but filters the story through her own perceptions and snapshots of her love life. In doing so, she traces how she and Brown reinvented their relationship, while portraying his encounters with sex workers with nuance and care.

    Drawing on my research in sexuality — including scholarship on sex work, client surveillance and client regulation — I see the film as a defiant celebration of unconventional bonds between exes who remain best friends, and between clients and sex workers, where even purchased orgasms can carry moments of tenderness and mutual respect.

    Radical relationship honesty

    The film opens with Sonny (Lee’s fictional persona, played by Emily Lê) confessing to live-in boyfriend Chester (Daniel Beirne) that she’s falling in love with someone else.

    Rather than erupting in rage or jealousy, Chester remains composed. Together, they choose to see what might come next. As Sonny begins seeing other people, Chester continues living in the house and becomes privy to her romantic sagas, from the steamy beginnings to the bitter blowouts. To the bewilderment of his friends, he remains content with the arrangement.

    Eventually, Chester decides to pay for sex, a decision he shares with Sonny.
    What emerges is a portrait of creative kinship where two people refuse the usual scripts and choose radical openness instead.

    Unconventional bond

    Decades after the events depicted in the film, Lee has described Brown as her “best friend” and “as family.”

    Lee and Brown shape personal histories into overlapping narratives. That they’ve promoted the film together, and appeared in joint interviews and public discussions, suggests a sense of mutual trust at the heart of their collaboration.

    Probing the meanings of sex and intimacy

    Chester moves — and sometimes stumbles — through criminalized terrain, figuring out how to find sex workers, engage respectfully and follow the unspoken rules of the exchange. The film suggests sometimes it’s just sex for Chester, and at other times, the exchange carries an emotional connection for him.

    With one sex worker, Chester shares his real name and gifts a book he wrote about Louis Riel.

    Sociologist Elizabeth Bernstein has analyzed how sex workers are sometimes paid to offer their clients an erotic experience “premised upon the performance of authentic interpersonal connection.”

    In the film, a potential for emotional reciprocity between Chester and a sex worker becomes evident. Without giving too much away, by the film’s end we see how a casual and transactional beginning transforms into something more enduring for both parties.

    ‘Paying For It,’ trailer.

    Risks in both romance and sex work

    The film also highlights the risks running through both sex work and romance.

    Sex workers face threats of abuse, arrest, disrespect and boundary violations. The film gestures to these realities in a scene following a police raid on a sex work venue.

    But the film also shows Sonny’s relationships aren’t immune to danger either. One boyfriend’s rage nearly results in harm to her pet.

    Just as navigating risk is part of both romance and sex work, so too is grappling with the social forces that shape desire. In one pointed exchange, Sonny calls out Chester for only paying young, conventionally attractive women. He counters by asking why she doesn’t date Asian men, forcing them both to confront their own biases.

    Sex worker rights

    While Paying For It is deeply personal, it is also unmistakably political, especially in its implicit advocacy for sex worker rights.

    To navigate the ethical complexities of depicting sex work, Lee consulted with performer, activist and author Andrea Werhurn, who wrote a memoir about being a former escort; Werhurn stars in the film as the sex worker Denise.

    Lee also interviewed Valerie Scott — one of the applicants who challenged Canada’s prostitution laws in the Bedford case.

    The film presents sex work as legitimate labour, highlighting the skills and emotional intelligence it demands. At the same time, it underscores how sex workers remain vulnerable to police harassment, violence and social stigma.

    Canada’s perverse laws on sex work

    The marginalized status of sex work, as dramatized in the film, is shaped by a legal system structured by moralism and hypocrisy.

    Set in the 1990s, Paying For It takes place at a time when Canada didn’t criminalize the sale of sex directly but prohibited nearly everything around it, including soliciting, working indoors and operating brothels.

    These contradictions pushed the industry underground, exposing sex workers to abuse, police harassment, sting operations and heightened health risks, while often branding them with criminal records.

    Sex work kept in the shadows

    In 2013, the Supreme Court’s Bedford decision struck down these provisions, ruling that they violated sex workers’ constitutional rights, most importantly, the right to security of the person.

    But the legal victory was short-lived. In 2014, the Conservative government introduced the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, which criminalized the purchase of sexual services while ostensibly decriminalizing its sale.

    In practice, the model keeps paid sex in the shadows, where workers face ongoing risks, limited negotiating power and barriers to reporting abuse or working in safer indoor settings. What’s being protected isn’t sex workers, but a puritanical social order.



    Read more:
    Sex workers are left out in the cold by Ottawa’s unjust conviction amendments

    This puritanical approach also underpins the newly criminalized status of clients. In my chapter “From Average Joe to Deviant John,” I trace how western attitudes toward men who pay for sex evolved from a “boys will be boys” tolerance to a framework that pathologizes and vilifies them.

    Paying For It resists this framing. The film presents Chester as awkward but principled: a considerate client navigating desire in a criminalized and judgmental culture.

    The price of choosing love freely

    Paying For It offers an alternative kind of love story. It spotlights a relationship where former lovers honour the heart (their continued commitment to one another), the body (respecting each other’s sexual autonomy) and the mind (their willingness to question social norms).

    In this way, the film redefines “paying for it” not as a burden but as a conscious and liberating investment in diverse forms of love and intimacy.

    Ummni Khan 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. In ‘Paying For It,’ ex-lovers reimagine friendship, family and the meaning of sex work – https://theconversation.com/in-paying-for-it-ex-lovers-reimagine-friendship-family-and-the-meaning-of-sex-work-255294

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Is this bad for my health? Kenyan study tests three types of warning labels on food

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Shukri F. Mohamed, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center

    Diet-related health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, are on the rise in Kenya, putting immense strain on already over-stretched public health systems. These conditions are often driven by high intake of sugars, salts and unhealthy fats. So it’s more critical than ever for consumers to understand what’s in the foods they’re buying.

    But making sense of nutrition information isn’t always straightforward, especially with the small, complex labels on the back of most packages.

    Our recent study examined whether front-of-pack food labels could help Kenyan consumers make better choices. We tested three types of label designs to see which one was most effective at helping people identify nutrients of concern and make healthier purchase decisions.

    Front-of-pack labels are simplified labels on the front of food packaging, designed to help consumers quickly assess healthiness through symbols, colours, or ratings. Examples include providing a “high in sugar” warning. In contrast, back-of-pack labels provide mandatory, detailed information such as full ingredient lists, nutrition facts and expiry dates typically in a standardised, text-heavy format on the back or side. Front-of-pack labels aren’t mandatory in all countries but back-of-pack labels are.

    Many countries, including Chile, Mexico and Israel, have already introduced mandatory warning labels. Research shows that there has been a positive impact on public health.

    Kenya is planning to take a major step in promoting public health by introducing a front-of-label system that will rank packed foods and non-alcoholic beverages based on their nutritional quality. Currently, packaged foods in Kenya are required to list ingredients, but this information can be hard to interpret. Front-of-pack labels will simplify this by highlighting key nutritional facts at a glance.

    The new system will also guide policies like restricting marketing of unhealthy foods to children and other measures to improve Kenya’s food environment. With rising obesity and diet-related diseases driven by a shift from traditional foods to processed options, changes are urgently needed.

    Read more: Marketing unhealthy food as good for kids is fuelling obesity in South Africa: how to curb it

    We have been involved in food environment policies research for the last five years. Our study emphasises the potential of front-of-pack food labels to affect consumers’ choices. Presenting clear information about a product’s nutritional content on the front of packaging could shift consumer behaviour towards healthier choices. In turn, this could lead to better public health outcomes.

    Testing three label types

    The study randomly assigned participants to different label types to compare the results fairly.

    The study involved 2,198 adults from four counties: the capital, Nairobi; Mombasa, the second largest city; Kisumu, which is home to the third largest city; and Garissa in north-eastern Kenya. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three label types: red and green octagon label (RG), red and green octagon with icons (RGI), and black octagon warning label (WL).

    Each label had a unique approach to highlighting sugars, fats and salts, which are the nutrients linked to diet-related diseases.

    • The Red-Green (RG) label used the colours red and green to show if a product had high or within-threshold levels of salt, sugar, fat, or saturated fat. Red meant the nutrients were above the set threshold, making that food unhealthy, while green meant it was below the set threshold levels.

    • The Red-Green with Icons (RGI) label worked like the RG label and it also included icons (like a spoon for sugar, a salt shaker for salt) and abbreviations (F for fat, SF for saturated fat) to make it easier to understand.

    • The black octagon Warning Label (WL) only appeared on products high in salt, sugar or fats, with a clear “high in” warning message to alert consumers.

    Read more: Why South Africa should introduce mandatory labelling for fast foods

    Each participant was asked to evaluate a sample of food products based on the label type they were shown. They were also asked about their purchase intentions and perceptions of the products’ healthiness.

    First, the study participants were shown images of packaged foods without any labels, and they were asked to answer questions about them. Then, study participants were shown the same images, but this time with a front-of-pack label added to the images. They were then asked the same questions again to see if the labels influenced their responses.

    Our results showed that warning labels were the most effective in helping consumers identify foods high in sugars, salts and fats. Participants who saw the warning labels were more likely to recognise unhealthy packaged food products and less likely to choose them, compared to those who used the Red and Green labels.

    In the same study we asked consumers about awareness and use of labels and we found that approximately two thirds (64.3%) reported being aware of food labels, while 55.0% reported reading nutrition information before purchasing products.

    Next steps

    Our research provides a strong evidence base to support policymakers in adopting mandatory front-of-pack labelling.

    Moving forward, establishing a clear regulatory framework that mandates simple, effective and standardised labelling systems is essential in reducing diet-related diseases. Ensuring these labels are easily understandable and prominently displayed on all packaged foods will empower consumers to make healthier choices, particularly those in low- and middle-income communities, who are at higher risk of poor dietary outcomes.

    Several law-making processes are in place that Kenya could use to implement mandatory labelling. But efforts are needed to identify and pursue the most effective route to effective legal change.

    – Is this bad for my health? Kenyan study tests three types of warning labels on food
    – https://theconversation.com/is-this-bad-for-my-health-kenyan-study-tests-three-types-of-warning-labels-on-food-253657

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK sanctions hit West Bank violence network

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    UK sanctions hit West Bank violence network

    UK sanctions individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations supporting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, as Foreign Secretary pauses Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Israel

    • New sanctions target 3 individuals, 2 illegal settler outposts and 2 organisations supporting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 
    • Today’s measures include financial restrictions and travel bans, including on high-profile extremist settler leader Daniella Weiss
    • In a statement to the House, the Foreign Secretary is set to announce a formal pause of Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Israel, effective immediately.
    • He will make clear the UK’s complete opposition to the IDF’s new, extensive ground operation through Gaza, repeat UK demands that Hamas release all the hostages immediately and unconditionally, and reiterate that Hamas cannot continue to run Gaza.

    In response to the persistent cycle of serious violence undertaken by extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, the Foreign Secretary has announced new sanctions today.

    Today’s measures target 3 individuals, including prominent settler leader Daniella Weiss, as well as 2 illegal outposts and 2 organisations that have supported, incited and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

    These individuals and entities are now subject to measures including financial restrictions, travel bans, and director disqualifications, and will follow 18 other individuals, entities, and companies already sanctioned relating to serious violence against communities in the West Bank.

    The measures follow a dramatic surge in settler violence in the West Bank, with the UN recording over 1,800 attacks by settlers against Palestinian communities since 1 January 2024.

    In a statement to Parliament, the Foreign Secretary is also set to announce the formal pause of Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Israel, effective immediately. While the UK government remains committed to the existing trade agreement in force, it is not possible to advance discussions on a new, upgraded FTA with a Netanyahu government that is pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza.

    His statement will address latest developments on the ground in Gaza, making clear the UK’s complete opposition to the IDF’s new, extensive ground operation through Gaza, the threat of starvation for the Gazan population, and the UK’s condemnation of the Israeli government’s plans to drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the Strip. The Foreign Secretary will also repeat UK demands that Hamas release all the hostages immediately and unconditionally and reiterate that Hamas cannot continue to run Gaza.

    The new steps follow a joint statement issued by the Prime Minister along with the leaders of France and Canada, setting out their strong opposition to the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and to illegal settlements in the West Bank. They also made clear that if Israel does not cease this action, further action will be taken in response.

    Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

    I have seen for myself the consequences of settler violence. The fear of its victims. The impunity of its perpetrators.

    The sanctioning of Daniella Weiss and others today demonstrates our determination to hold extremist settlers to account as Palestinian communities suffer violence and intimidation at the hands of extremist settlers.

    The Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions. Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril.

    The announcement comes as Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer summons Israel’s Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office over the expansion of military operations in Gaza.

    Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer said:

    Today I will set out to Ambassador Hotovely the government’s opposition to the wholly disproportionate escalation of military activity in Gaza and emphasise that the 11-week block on aid to Gaza has been cruel and indefensible. I will urge Israel to halt settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank.

    Israel must abide by its obligations under International Humanitarian Law and ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza. The limited amount of aid entering is simply not enough.

    We must get an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages and a path to a two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis.

    Background

    Individuals and entities sanctioned today:

    • Daniella Weiss – has been involved in threatening, perpetrating, promoting and supporting, acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals. Weiss is now subject to an asset freeze, travel ban, and director disqualification.

    • Harel Libi – Owner of Libi Construction and Infrastructure. Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals. Libi is now subject to an asset freeze, travel ban, and director disqualification.

    • Zohar Sabah – has been involved in threatening, perpetrating, promoting and supporting, acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals. Sabah is now subject to an asset freeze, travel ban, and director disqualification.

    • Coco’s Farm – is associated with a person who is or has been involved in activity which amounts to facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.  Coco’s Farm is now subject to an asset freeze.

    • Libi Construction and Infrastructure –has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts resulting in the forced displacement of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, activities which cause the psychological suffering of Palestinians, and activities which often leads to violence perpetrated against Palestinians. Libi Construction and Infrastructure is now subject to an asset freeze and director disqualification.

    • Nachala – has been involved in facilitating, inciting, promoting and providing logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts and forced displacement of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, activities which cause the psychological suffering of Palestinians, and which often lead to violence perpetrated against Palestinians. Nachala is now subject to an asset freeze.

    • Neria’s Farm – is associated with a person who is or has been involved in activity which amounts to facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity which amounts to a serious abuse of the right of individuals not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neria’s Farm is now subject to an asset freeze.

    Definitions

    • Asset freeze: where an asset freeze applies, in summary, it is generally prohibited within the UK, and for UK persons outside the UK, to: (1) deal with funds or economic resources, owned, held or controlled by a designated person; (2) make funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to, or for the benefit of, a designated person; and (3) engage in actions that, directly or indirectly, circumvent the financial sanctions prohibitions. 
    • Director Disqualification Sanctions: Where director disqualification sanctions apply, it will be an offence for a person designated for the purpose of those sanctions to act as a director of a company or to take part in the management, formation or promotion of a UK company. 
    • Travel ban: an individual subject to a travel ban will be an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971, meaning that they must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom.

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Email the FCDO Newsdesk (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 20 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The results of the qualifying TIM championship among students of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering have been summed up

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Winning Team

    The qualifying TIM championship among students of our university has ended. Deputy Director of the Educational Center for Digital Competencies of SPbGASU Denis Nizhegorodtsev recalled that for two weeks in absentia and one week in person, the participants designed a multifunctional residential complex with built-in premises. The teams consisted of seven people: an architect, a designer, a heating and ventilation engineer, a water supply and sanitation engineer, an electrical supply engineer, an estimator, and a TIM coordinator. A total of six teams took part in the competition.

    Director of the Educational Center for Digital Competencies of SPbGASU Inna Sukhanova emphasized that only domestic software was used within the TIM Championship. There were different opinions on this matter: for some it was easy to work with it, for others there were difficulties, but everyone coped.

    The TIM Championship was supported by industrial partners. Dmitry Zhigalov, Technical Director of VALTEC, clarified that software is just a working tool, so success in design depends on the skills of specialists. To complete a large amount of work in such a short time is a confirmation of good competencies, Dmitry Zhigalov summed up.

    Head of the department for work with design institutes at ROSTERM, Anatoly Yurkov, added that this event helps to evaluate the capabilities of specialists and improve the level of promising projects.

    General Director of Infraeco Nikolay Matsukov emphasized that while such events are being held and such specialists are being identified, the Russian engineering school is alive, but in order to always achieve success, it is necessary to continue working and developing.

    Nikolay Samopal, Deputy General Director for Development at WIZARDSOFT, noted that difficulties are a good tool for both professional and personal development: by overcoming them, you learn something new.

    All participants agreed with their partners: the TIM Championship became an effective platform for improving their skills, the ability to cope with difficulties and work in a team.

    “We won thanks to our well-coordinated teamwork, although we met each other only a few weeks ago in a virtual environment, and on the first day of the TIM Championship we saw each other for the first time. In addition, each of us has the necessary competencies in our area and conscientiously completed the assigned tasks. Difficulties arose only because of the specifics of the software, since it is relatively new to us. But the main goal of our team was not even to win the TIM Championship, but to participate in it: it is important for us to gain experience working in a team, in the interaction of related departments. It is great that we really got such experience,” said the members of the winning team.

    The winners and prize winners were awarded diplomas and prizes, and the partners and experts received letters of thanks.

    Winners and prize winners of the championship

    The first place was taken by the team consisting of: architect Yana Safonova, designer Konstantin Duryagin, heating and ventilation engineer Sofia Kozlik, water supply and sanitation engineer Sofia Golovanova, electrical supply engineer Nikita Lesin, TIM coordinator Grigory Vorozhtsov, estimator Sofia Mityagina.

    The second place was taken by the team consisting of: architect Sofia Nikolaeva, designer Vasily Goryunov, heating and ventilation engineer Daniil Abdulin, water supply and sanitation engineer Egor Kvasha, electrical supply engineer Ilya Zakharov, TIM coordinator Ekaterina Dobrovolskaya, estimator Alexandra Kovalchuk.

    The third place was taken by the team consisting of: architect Maria Kayurova, designer Tamara Alafyorova, heating and ventilation engineer Nikita Ufimtsev, water supply and sanitation engineer Ilsur Kamaletdinov, electrical supply engineer Alexandra Kreitzer, TIM coordinator Nikita Lyamshev, estimator Andrey Orlov.

    Andrey Orlov was recognized as the best estimator. Polina Yurevich took second place, and Sofia Mityagina took third.

    Nikita Ufimtsev became the best heating and ventilation engineer. In second place was Yulia Bocharova, in third place was Nikita Prokopenko.

    The best water supply and sanitation engineer is Egor Kvasha. In second place is Sofia Golovanova, in third place is Olivia Tsvetkova.

    The best TIM coordinator is Grigory Vorozhtsov. Nikita Lyamshev took second place, and Polina Lyakh took third place.

    The best power supply engineer is Andrey Kostikov. Second place went to Anton Klyuev, third to Ilya Zakharov.

    The best designer is Konstantin Duryagin. In second place is Vasily Goryunov, in third place is Adelina Khalikova.

    The best architect is Yana Safonova. Second place went to Sofia Nikolaeva, third to Adelia Yakubova.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla Places Holds on EPA Nominees Until Republicans Cease Efforts to Abuse the CRA to Revoke California’s Clean Air Act Waivers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla Places Holds on EPA Nominees Until Republicans Cease Efforts to Abuse the CRA to Revoke California’s Clean Air Act Waivers

    Senator Padilla: “If this attempt is successful, the consequences will be far-reaching, not only for our clean energy economy, the air our children breathe, and for our climate, but for the future of the CRA and for the Senate as an institution.”

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, placed a hold on the four pending Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominees until Republicans stop their reckless attempts to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision regarding California’s clean air waivers that allow the state to implement more protective air quality standards.

    The Trump-led EPA recently submitted three California waivers as “rules” to Congress — despite knowing full well that these waivers were not rules — in a cynical attempt to overturn the waivers with a 50-vote threshold under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The Senate Parliamentarian determined that any resolutions aimed at overturning California waivers would not be entitled to the CRA’s expedited procedures and would therefore require 60 votes to secure Senate passage. Reporting indicates that Senate Republicans may soon move forward to bypass the filibuster to rescind these waivers, which would require overruling the Parliamentarian.

    Revoking California’s waivers would not only cause disastrous public health, environmental, and economic impacts, but would also mean Republicans took the “nuclear option,” undermining longstanding Senate procedures that could be applied to legislation far beyond the CRA and giving agencies significantly more control over the Senate floor.

    “This objection is a direct result of the agency’s cynical attempt to weaponize the Congressional Review Act (CRA) by attempting to submit as ‘rules’ three waivers issued to the State of California under the Clean Air Act (CAA),” wrote Senator Padilla. “If this attempt is successful, the consequences will be far-reaching, not only for our clean energy economy, the air our children breathe, and for our climate, but for the future of the CRA and for the Senate as an institution.”

    Padilla detailed the longstanding precedent making clear that EPA’s waivers are not rules subject to the Congressional Review Act. None of the more than 100 individual waivers or waiver-related decisions to California — under both Democratic and Republican Administrations — have ever been submitted as a rule since Congress granted the EPA this waiver authority in 1967 in bipartisan fashion. He also underscored the enormous stakes of overruling the Senate Parliamentarian, including for providing essential checks against executive branch agencies trying to exploit the CRA to enact their own agenda on matters that are not rules.

    “Here, for the first time in the history of the CRA, an agency submitted matters that they knew were not rules. Some of my Republican colleagues are now arguing that the Parliamentarian should have no role to limit this partisan gamesmanship, and the Senate should throw out the rulebook and overturn the Parliamentarian,” continued Senator Padilla. “If the Trump EPA and Senate Republicans are successful at this ploy, the Senate will have no choice but to accept this as status quo in the future. This would grant agencies unchecked control over the Senate floor — an unprecedented encroachment by the executive branch into the Senate’s internal operations.”

    Padilla laid out a list of potential actions that the Trump Administration could take to abuse the CRA, including revoking the broadcast licenses or other approvals for media outlets when they disagree with their news coverage; rescinding Food and Drug Administration approvals of vaccines, birth control, or mifepristone; or targeting the organizations of President Trump’s political opponents for retribution.

    “None of these actions are rules, which is why they’ve never been submitted to Congress as rules. But if my Republican colleagues open this door and overturn the Parliamentarian’s wise safeguards on this type of abuse, there would be no practical limit, and the Senate could be forced to vote repeatedly on such matters that are clearly not ‘rules’ notwithstanding the plain language of the CRA,” added Senator Padilla.

    By taking the nuclear option to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, Padilla noted that a future Democratic Administration could target approvals for fossil fuel project leases, loan agreements, or permitting as well as for liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals. They could also use the CRA to try to reverse the Trump Administration’s actions on matters including immigration, foreign policy, and staffing cuts.

    “Since this cynical attempt to weaponize the CRA was triggered by the administration’s political leadership at the EPA, at the urging of their Big Oil allies, I must object to proceeding to any nominations for the EPA pending on the Senate’s executive calendar,” concluded Senator Padilla. “I will continue to object until the agency withdraws its false submissions to Congress or the Majority Leader commits not to overturn the Parliamentarian’s determination on this matter.”

    A Senate hold blocks unanimous consent to speed up consideration of a nomination and forces the body to spend time debating and voting on the nominee. The EPA nominees currently pending on the Senate floor include Deputy Administrator nominee David Fotouhi, Chief Financial Officer nominee Catherine Hanson, and Assistant Administrator nominees Jessica Kramer and Aaron Szabo.

    Senator Padilla has been outspoken in pushing back against Republican attacks on California’s Clean Air Act waivers. Earlier this month, Senators Padilla, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, took to the Senate floor to sound the alarm on Senate Republicans’ consideration of moving forward with their plan to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waivers. Padilla, Whitehouse, and U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also led Democratic Ranking Members in strongly warning Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) of the dangerous and irreparable consequences if Senate Republicans overrule the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision on California’s waivers.

    Last month, Senators Padilla, Whitehouse, and Schiff welcomed the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision that the waivers are not subject to the CRA. Padilla also joined Whitehouse and Schiff in blasting Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s weaponization of the EPA after the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) similar finding. Padilla and Schiff previously slammed the Trump Administration’s intent to roll back dozens of the EPA’s regulations that protect California’s air and water.

    Full text of Padilla’s hold statement is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Green council homes could save residents in energy bills

    Source: City of Portsmouth

    Three four-bedroom houses are being built to a new, ecofriendly standard for the first time by Portsmouth City Council.

    These family homes are designed to offer cheaper energy costs for residents, are being built in Bunting Gardens, Wecock Farm using Passivhaus design principles.

    The development will mark the first new build Passivhaus Development delivered by Portsmouth Homes, the landlord function of Portsmouth City Council.

    Passivhaus is a building standard that aims to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. The buildings have been designed and delivered by the Council’s in-house architects, landscape architects, surveyors, energy officers and construction inspectors in the capital projects team.

    In the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness’s meeting in September last year, officers discussed the development and confirmed that delivery of new homes to these standards only costs slightly more, but means that tenants could save an estimated £841 a year in energy bills with a Passivhaus design.

    Tenants will benefit from improved comfort levels, reduced energy bills, and a significant decrease in the risk of energy poverty. Houses will be kept at a consistent and comfortable temperature using a mechanical ventilation that recovers heat from extracted air and uses this to warm incoming air. The air will be warm, but still fresh.

    In addition, each home will have triple glazed windows helping to make them more airtight, reducing heat loss, and keep the warmth inside the homes. Ten new communal parking spaces will also be provided, and new trees and shrubs will be planted around the area to enhance biodiversity.

    Cllr Darren Sanders, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness said:

    “Green homes like these make the planet more liveable for our children and save energy bills for council tenants here and now. Portsmouth Council remains committed to tackling climate change and the cost of living and I am delighted that Portsmouth Homes is playing its part in delivering both of those.”

    Councillor Amy Redsull, Cabinet lead for Housing at Havant Borough Council, said:

    “I applaud the work being completed to reduce our carbon footprint. In this case, not only does it help the residents in reducing their bill, it also has a positive impact on our environment and allows local people to remain within their communities. This project is inspiring, and I hope that its ingenuity sparks further developments similar in nature.”

    The council has experienced and qualified Passivhaus architects, if you’d like to explore whether Passivhaus is right for you, contact Patrick.leggett@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Evansburg — Search Warrant executed after joint project between RCMP, Alberta SPCA and Parkland County Enforcement Services

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    On April 14, 2025, Evansburg RCMP executed a search warrant on a rural property in Parkland County, Alta., in regards to stolen property and animals in distress. The RCMP, with assistance from the Alberta SPCA and Parkland County Enforcement Services, attended the property and located several horses that were deemed to be in distress. The horses were seized by Alberta SPCA Peace Officers and transported to a caretaking facility for further examination and treatment.

    As a result of the investigation, a 54-year-old individual, a resident of Parkland County who is already subject to a court ordered lifetime ban from owning, caring for or being in possession of, any equine animals, was arrested and charged with:

    • Breaching a court order;
    • Possession of stolen property under $5000;
    • Breaching prohibition order; and
    • Causing unnecessary pain and suffering or injury to an animal (x2).

    The individual was brought before a justice of the peace and released on conditions, including one to make alternate housing arrangements for any remaining horses on the property. The individual’s next court date is set for April 28, 2025, at the Alberta Court of Justice in Evansburg.

    “I would like to thank those who are willing to come forward and provide information that helps protect vulnerable animals,” said Sgt Sutherland, Detachment Commander of the Evansburg RCMP. “It is thanks to the public that we were able to work with the Alberta SPCA and Parkland County Enforcement Services to seize these animals and protect them from further harm”.

    “Prohibition orders against owning or caring for animals can be an effective tool in preventing animal distress,” added Alberta SPCA Executive Director Leanne Niblock. “We want to thank the RCMP for their diligent work to enforce this order and ultimately help protect animals and will continue to work to make protections for all animals even stronger.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: ZeroFox Partners With GASA and GSE to Fight Fraud With Enhanced Threat Detection Capabilities

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WASHINGTON, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ZeroFox, the leader in external cybersecurity, has entered into a collaborative partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) and the Global Signal Exchange (GSE) to bolster joint measures to prevent online scams and fraud.

    GASA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing scams by bringing together law enforcement, cybersecurity companies and governments to fight fraud. GSE is a global clearinghouse for real-time sharing of scam and fraud signals. This alliance gives GASA and GSE access to ZeroFox’s threat intelligence on scams and fraudulent and malicious sites, and other threat data, empowering the larger security community with more visibility into online impersonation and related threats in order to defend against them more effectively.

    Every day, ZeroFox leverages its global intelligence collection and analysis to process tens of thousands of malicious URLs, IPs, and phishing domains. Access to this critical data is granted to select partners – now including GASA and GSE – through integrations to ZeroFox’s Global Disruption Network (GDN), which publishes information on newly-found threats like malicious content for the threat intelligence community.

    This new partnership will arm GASA and GSE with a comprehensive view of the cyber threat landscape, and will display any malicious URL, IP or domain received from ZeroFox’s GDN on their platform, alerting other GSE partners of potential digital risks.

    “ZeroFox’s Global Disruption Network is a powerful tool providing fresh, high-fidelity phishing, fraud and malware insights for rapid knowledge sharing. We enable GDN partners to protect their users quickly and reduce the likelihood of success for malicious actors,” said Russ Bentley, Executive VP of Product Management, ZeroFox. “We’re proud to partner with GASA and GSE, two organizations dedicated to protecting consumers worldwide from online scams and fraud. Collaborating with them aligns with our mission of making the internet safer for everyone.”

    Jorij Abraham, Managing Director of GASA, shared: “ZeroFox has been in the business of fighting cybercrime since 2013. In this time, they developed deep expertise in domain monitoring, managed threat intelligence services, and domain takedown services. Their know-how and cybercrime knowledge will be of tremendous value to the Global Signal Exchange.”

    “We’re really pleased to be partnering with ZeroFox. Their data that GSE is consuming, including URLs that might contain malware, phishing domains, IP addresses identified as hosting fraudulent sites, or even social media sites potentially impersonating a brand or person, is already making a significant contribution to the volumes of open signals we are providing via the GSE,” states Mark Robertshaw, COO of Oxford Information Labs, creator of the GSE.

    To learn more about ZeroFox’s Global Disruption Network or join our list of partners, visit https://www.zerofox.com/products/global-disruption-network/.

    About ZeroFox
    ZeroFox, an enterprise software-as-a-service leader in external cybersecurity, has redefined security outside the corporate perimeter on the internet, where businesses operate, and threat actors thrive. The ZeroFox platform combines advanced AI analytics, digital risk and privacy protection, full-spectrum threat intelligence, and a robust portfolio of breach, incident and takedown response capabilities to expose and disrupt phishing and fraud campaigns, botnet exposures, credential theft, impersonations, data breaches, and physical threats that target your brands, domains, people, and assets. Join thousands of customers, including some of the largest public sector organizations as well as finance, media, technology and retail companies to stay ahead of adversaries and address the entire lifecycle of external cyber risks. ZeroFox and the ZeroFox logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ZeroFox, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Visit www.zerofox.com for more information.

    About GASA
    GASA brings together governments, law enforcement, consumer protection organizations, financial authorities and providers, brand protection agencies, social media, Internet service providers and cybersecurity companies to share knowledge and define joint actions to protect consumers from getting scammed.

    About GSE
    The GSE platform provides tools for trusted parties to share threat intelligence. Currently processing more than 130 million threat signals, plus hundreds of millions of data points for enrichment, the GSE enables multi-directional signal sharing.

    Media Inquiries
    Sara Jacono
    LaunchTech Communications for ZeroFox
    press@zerofox.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Optimum selects the Digital Vending Machine® from Bango to bring new subscription bundles to customers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bango (AIM: BGO), the leader in subscription bundling, today announces a new licensing agreement with Optimum, a leading U.S. telecommunications provider, operated by Altice USA. Through this collaboration, Optimum customers can access compelling subscription bundles, powered by the Digital Vending Machine® (DVM™) from Bango. Optimum is a significant brand in the U.S. telecommunications market, providing fiber internet, mobile, TV, and phone services to approximately 4.5 million customers in 21 states across the country.

    Eligible Optimum TV and Internet customers can now enjoy a promotional offer of six complimentary months of access to two popular SVOD services, directly through Optimum, offering a new way to manage their subscriptions through their Optimum bill. The offer is the first of many that the company plans to bring to customers, with more streaming partners and consumer subscription services to be made available through Optimum’s partnership with Bango.

    This launch marks the beginning of Optimum’s use of the Bango DVM™, which is already transforming how companies across telecommunications, retailing, and banking deliver digital services. With a single integration, partners gain access to a growing portfolio of premium subscription providers, enabling them to quickly and easily create and customize compelling bundles that resonate with their customers.

    “We’re delighted to partner with Optimum to bring these exciting offers to life,” said Anil Malhotra, CMO at Bango. “The DVM™ empowers Bango partners to innovate through subscription bundling and to scale quickly, delivering high-impact offers that increase customer satisfaction and business growth.”

    About Bango

    Bango enables content providers to reach more paying customers through global partnerships. Bango revolutionized the monetization of digital content and services, by opening-up online payments to mobile phone users worldwide. Today, the Digital Vending Machine® is driving the rapid growth of the subscriptions economy, powering choice and control for subscribers.

    The world’s largest content providers, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft trust Bango technology to reach subscribers everywhere.

    Bango, where people subscribe. For more information, visit www.bango.com

    About Optimum

    Optimum is a brand of Altice USA, one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States, delivering broadband, video, mobile, proprietary content and advertising services to approximately 4.5 million residential and business customers across 21 states. The company operates Optimum Media, an advanced advertising and data business, which provides audience-based, multiscreen advertising solutions to local, regional and national businesses and advertising clients. Altice USA also offers hyper-local news through its News 12 Networks.

    Media contact: 

    Anil Malhotra, CMO, Bango 
    anil@bango.com 
    Tel: +44 7710 480 377 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Cloudera Delivers AI-Powered Unified Data Visualization in On-Premises Data Centers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cloudera, the only true hybrid platform for data, analytics, and AI, today announced the latest release of Cloudera Data Visualization, extending its AI capabilities to customers operating in on-premises environments.

    This new offering is a high-performance AI tool that democratizes insights across the full data lifecycle. With Cloudera Data Visualization, data engineers, business analysts, and data scientists can seamlessly communicate, collaborate, and share insights, without compromising data security or governance – all through the common language of visualization.

    Enterprises often struggle to appropriately visualize data due to silos across multiple platforms, complex integrations, and data governance limitations. Without a unified view, data visualization can be incomplete or misleading, often resulting in ineffective decision-making.

    Cloudera Data Visualization, now available on-premises, provides secure and integrated AI capabilities native to the Cloudera platform, empowering organizations to self-service visualization across multi-cloud and hybrid environments and the entire data lifecycle. This enables users to now unlock the value of their on-prem data through intuitive, out-of-the-box picturing and natural language querying. With Cloudera Data Visualization, enterprises can move faster, more efficiently, and with increased collaboration.

    “As enterprises continue to prioritize both multi-cloud and hybrid environments, they need to see their data as a part of a bigger picture,” says Leo Brunnick, Chief Product Officer at Cloudera. “Bringing together AI-driven insights, secure infrastructure, and seamless collaboration in one unified platform, users can see the missing puzzle pieces of their data, wherever they may be. It’s not just about being able to see the data; it’s about seeing how it all fits together to deliver business-critical insights.”

    Key features of Cloudera Data Visualization include: 

    • Out-of-the-Box Imaging: Use an intuitive drag-and-drop builder or choose from a wide range of custom extension options to create graphs or charts for every use case—from customer loyalty shifts to decades’ worth of trading trends—all in one platform.
    • Built-in AI Tools: Leverage AI in your BI workflows with AI Visual, a built-in AI tool in Cloudera Data Visualization. Unlock visual and structured reports easily using natural language querying, making AI-driven insights more accessible than ever.
    • Predictive Application Builder: Create unique applications with this innovative capability that is pre-built with machine learning models served in Cloudera AI, as well as models in Amazon Bedrock, OpenAI, and Microsoft Azure OpenAI.
    • Enterprise Security: Leverage enterprise data from anywhere without moving, copying, or creating security gaps with integrated security with Cloudera Shared Data Experience (SDX).
    • Robust Governance: Take complete control of data used for picturing with advanced governance features.

    “By integrating directly with Cloudera’s unified platform, users benefit from a consistent experience, enhanced collaboration, and full lifecycle data exploration—all while retaining full control over their own infrastructure,” said industry analyst, Sanjeev Mohan. “Now, Cloudera users can picture and share insights securely within their on-prem environment, allowing their teams to be more agile and informed in their decision-making.”

    Visit the Cloudera website to learn more about Cloudera Data Visualization, now available on-premises.

    About Cloudera
    Cloudera is the only true hybrid platform for data, analytics, and AI. With 100x more data under management than other cloud-only vendors, Cloudera empowers global enterprises to transform data of all types, on any public or private cloud, into valuable, trusted insights. Our open data lakehouse delivers scalable and secure data management with portable cloud-native analytics, enabling customers to bring GenAI models to their data while maintaining privacy and ensuring responsible, reliable AI deployments. The world’s largest brands in financial services, insurance, media, manufacturing, and government rely on Cloudera to use their data to solve what once seemed impossible—today and in the future.

    To learn more, visit Cloudera.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X. Cloudera and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

    Contact
    Jess Hohn-Cabana
    cloudera@v2comms.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Cautious investor sentiment pulls global deal activity down 5% YoY in first four months of 2025, finds GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Cautious investor sentiment pulls global deal activity down 5% YoY in first four months of 2025, finds GlobalData

    Posted in Business Fundamentals

    Cautious investor sentiment has weighed heavily on the global deal landscape, with mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing activities collectively declining by approximately 5% year-on-year (YoY) during the first four months of 2025. Geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic headwinds have prompted dealmakers to adopt a more selective, risk-averse approach, leading to a slowdown across major markets, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    The contraction in deal volume during the first four months of 2025 can be primarily attributed to 4.3% reduction in M&A activity, which accounts for more than half of the combined total of all deal types.

    An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that private equity and venture financing deals also faced contractions, indicating a cautious approach from investors amid uncertain market conditions.

    The number of private equity deals announced during the first four months of 2025 showcased a decline of 4.5% compared to January-April 2024 while venture financing deals volume were down by 6.8% YoY.

    Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The global decline can be attributed to several factors, including geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic challenges that have made dealmakers risk-averse. As companies reassess their growth strategies, many seem to have opted for organic growth over acquisitions, leading to a slowdown in M&A activity. Additionally, investors are becoming selective and cautious while making investment decisions.”

    North America continues to dominate the global deal activity. However, it has not been immune to the slowdown, recording a YoY decline of around 4%. The US, historically a powerhouse in deal-making, reported a decrease in deal volume, reflecting a broader trend of caution among the dealmakers. Similarly, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America also experienced declines of around 7%, 3%, 11% and 13%, respectively.

    Bose adds: “Despite the overall downturn, certain markets have shown resilience suggesting that these may serve as a beacon of opportunity amid the global decline.”

    India, for instance, recorded a growth of around 13% in deal volume. Japan also demonstrated a positive trend with a growth rate of approximately 25%. Meanwhile, the US, the UK and China witnessed their respective deal volume fall by around 4%, 7% and 15%, respectively, during January-April 2025.

    Bose concludes: “The global deal landscape is undergoing a significant transformation as we move further into 2025. However, it is essential to recognize that certain markets are still thriving, reflecting a shift in focus towards nations that offer growth potential despite broader economic challenges.”

    Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Do photons wear out? An astrophysicist explains light’s ability to travel vast cosmic distances without losing energy

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jarred Roberts, Project Scientist, University of California, San Diego

    Light, whether from a star or your flashlight, travels at 186,000 miles per second. Artur Debat/Moment via Getty Images

    My telescope, set up for astrophotography in my light-polluted San Diego backyard, was pointed at a galaxy unfathomably far from Earth. My wife, Cristina, walked up just as the first space photo streamed to my tablet. It sparkled on the screen in front of us.

    “That’s the Pinwheel galaxy,” I said. The name is derived from its shape – albeit this pinwheel contains about a trillion stars.

    The light from the Pinwheel traveled for 25 million years across the universe – about 150 quintillion miles – to get to my telescope.

    My wife wondered: “Doesn’t light get tired during such a long journey?”

    Her curiosity triggered a thought-provoking conversation about light. Ultimately, why doesn’t light wear out and lose energy over time?

    Let’s talk about light

    I am an astrophysicist, and one of the first things I learned in my studies is how light often behaves in ways that defy our intuitions.

    The author’s photo of the Pinwheel galaxy.
    Jarred Roberts

    Light is electromagnetic radiation: basically, an electric wave and a magnetic wave coupled together and traveling through space-time. It has no mass. That point is critical because the mass of an object, whether a speck of dust or a spaceship, limits the top speed it can travel through space.

    But because light is massless, it’s able to reach the maximum speed limit in a vacuum – about 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second, or almost 6 trillion miles per year (9.6 trillion kilometers). Nothing traveling through space is faster. To put that into perspective: In the time it takes you to blink your eyes, a particle of light travels around the circumference of the Earth more than twice.

    As incredibly fast as that is, space is incredibly spread out. Light from the Sun, which is 93 million miles (about 150 million kilometers) from Earth, takes just over eight minutes to reach us. In other words, the sunlight you see is eight minutes old.

    Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to us after the Sun, is 26 trillion miles away (about 41 trillion kilometers). So by the time you see it in the night sky, its light is just over four years old. Or, as astronomers say, it’s four light years away.

    Imagine – a trip around the world at the speed of light.

    With those enormous distances in mind, consider Cristina’s question: How can light travel across the universe and not slowly lose energy?

    Actually, some light does lose energy. This happens when it bounces off something, such as interstellar dust, and is scattered about.

    But most light just goes and goes, without colliding with anything. This is almost always the case because space is mostly empty – nothingness. So there’s nothing in the way.

    When light travels unimpeded, it loses no energy. It can maintain that 186,000-mile-per-second speed forever.

    It’s about time

    Here’s another concept: Picture yourself as an astronaut on board the International Space Station. You’re orbiting at 17,000 miles (about 27,000 kilometers) per hour. Compared with someone on Earth, your wristwatch will tick 0.01 seconds slower over one year.

    That’s an example of time dilation – time moving at different speeds under different conditions. If you’re moving really fast, or close to a large gravitational field, your clock will tick more slowly than someone moving slower than you, or who is further from a large gravitational field. To say it succinctly, time is relative.

    Even astronauts aboard the International Space Station experience time dilation, although the effect is extremely small.
    NASA

    Now consider that light is inextricably connected to time.
    Picture sitting on a photon, a fundamental particle of light; here, you’d experience maximum time dilation. Everyone on Earth would clock you at the speed of light, but from your reference frame, time would completely stop.

    That’s because the “clocks” measuring time are in two different places going vastly different speeds: the photon moving at the speed of light, and the comparatively slowpoke speed of Earth going around the Sun.

    What’s more, when you’re traveling at or close to the speed of light, the distance between where you are and where you’re going gets shorter. That is, space itself becomes more compact in the direction of motion – so the faster you can go, the shorter your journey has to be. In other words, for the photon, space gets squished.

    Which brings us back to my picture of the Pinwheel galaxy. From the photon’s perspective, a star within the galaxy emitted it, and then a single pixel in my backyard camera absorbed it, at exactly the same time. Because space is squished, to the photon the journey was infinitely fast and infinitely short, a tiny fraction of a second.

    But from our perspective on Earth, the photon left the galaxy 25 million years ago and traveled 25 million light years across space until it landed on my tablet in my backyard.

    And there, on a cool spring night, its stunning image inspired a delightful conversation between a nerdy scientist and his curious wife.

    Jarred Roberts receives funding from NASA.

    – ref. Do photons wear out? An astrophysicist explains light’s ability to travel vast cosmic distances without losing energy – https://theconversation.com/do-photons-wear-out-an-astrophysicist-explains-lights-ability-to-travel-vast-cosmic-distances-without-losing-energy-252880

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: £1 billion BioNTech investment sets way for jobs, growth, breakthroughs

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 2

    Press release

    £1 billion BioNTech investment sets way for jobs, growth, breakthroughs

    Covid-19 vaccine pioneers BioNTech commit to up to £1 billion, 10-year investment in the UK.

    • Covid-19 vaccine pioneers BioNTech commit to up to £1 billion, 10-year investment in the UK.
    • New research and AI centres to be established in London as well as Cambridge – demonstrating the benefits of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor – to develop the next generation of life-changing medicines.
    • Underpinned by up to £129 million of government support, this agreement underscores the government’s commitment to life sciences as a key part of the Plan for Change, driving improvements in healthcare, and delivering economic growth.

    Hundreds of highly skilled jobs will be created, and new research centres will be set up aimed at making new advances in medical science, thanks to a planned investment of up to £1 billion into the UK by world-leading biopharmaceutical company BioNTech announced today (Tuesday 20 May).

    This is one of the biggest investments in the history of UK life sciences, made possible with government backing – all part of plans to support this growth-driving sector as part of the Plan for Change, and our mission to turbo-charge economic growth in every part of the country.

    This historic investment is a testament to the confidence in the UK life sciences – one of the priority sectors of the economy that will form a key part of the forthcoming Industrial Strategy – as a driver of economic growth, job creation, and innovations that could overhaul what’s possible in healthcare. The sector is already thriving, worth £108 billion to the economy and providing more than 300,000 highly skilled jobs across the country. But through measures like our commitment to investing up to £520 million in the sector through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, we want to boost UK life sciences to even greater heights, bolstering our ambitions to grow the economy, create jobs, and building on the UK’s position as the second-most attractive destination for international investment.

    BioNTech will invest in the UK over the course of the next 10 years as part of an ambitious plan to significantly expand their presence here. That will see them create two new R&D hubs, the first to be based in Cambridge, as well as an AI hub to be based at BioNTech’s planned UK headquarters in London. These are planned to create more than 400 new highly skilled jobs over the next 10 years, including researchers in clinical and scientific drug development, bioinformatics, and a range of supporting functions. Indirectly, the investment is also likely to create a substantial number of additional jobs in the supply chain.

    BioNTech are the pioneering company behind mRNA vaccines and cancer immunotherapies notably used to tackle COVID-19, and more recently trialled to help patients with cancer.

    According to the Academy of Medical Sciences, every £1 spent on medical research delivers a return of 25p, every year, forever after that, so the long-term economic impact of an investment in research on this scale, speaks for itself. This is the government’s Plan for Change, in action, and shows how our ambitions for the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor are already pulling international investment into the UK.

    BioNTech signed an agreement finalising the investment together with Science Secretary Peter Kyle today. As part of the agreement, the government will contribute up to £129 million in grant funding over a period of 10 years.

    Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

    This investment will propel the growth-driving life sciences sector to new heights, delivering cutting-edge facilities, building careers in the future-facing jobs we want our children to have, and ultimately unlocking progress in medical science that could save lives.

    This is a clear indication of how we will deliver the government’s Plan for Change: working together with the best and brightest businesses and innovators to unlock their potential, and then reap the benefits for the economy, health and more that their drive and genius can deliver.

    Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:

    This is another testament to confidence in Britain being one of the world’s top investment destinations and a global hub for life sciences. It will create hundreds of high-skilled, well-paid jobs, as we deliver on our promise to put more money in working people’s pockets through our Plan for Change.

    CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, Uğur Şahin, said:

    This agreement marks the next chapter of our successful strategic partnership with the UK government. Together, we have already made a meaningful difference in expanding access to investigational personalized cancer therapies for patients. Now, we are taking the next step to accelerate and broaden our research and development efforts advancing towards our vision to translate science into survival for patients.

    In Cambridge, BioNTech plans to set up a new R&D centre focused on genomics, oncology, structural biology, and regenerative medicine. In London, BioNTech intends to establish its UK headquarters, which will be home to a new AI hub led by InstaDeep Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of BioNTech SE, and a leading global technology company in the field of AI and machine learning. This hub will enable medical research, using AI, including looking into understanding disease causes, drug target selection and predictive analytics.

    Over time, this work could lead to the discovery and development of new therapies, diagnostics and treatments for a range of diseases that currently cause heartbreak for countless patients and their families – all supporting the mission to rebuild the NHS for the long-term, that sits at the heart of the government’s Plan for Change.

    It also builds on the government’s existing strategic partnership with BioNTech, to provide up to 10,000 patients with investigational personalised cancer immunotherapies by 2030. This is already transforming the experience of patients by broadening access to cancer vaccine trials in the UK.

    The government’s support for BioNTech’s investment is a further example of how we are backing the UK’s thriving life sciences sector to even greater success – following on from the announcement of the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund at the Autumn Budget, and strategic collaborations agreed with other innovative life sciences companies. We will say more about our vision for a thriving future for UK life sciences in the forthcoming Life Sciences Sector Plan.

    Steve Bates, CEO of the UK BioIndustry Association, said:

    BioNTech’s investment demonstrates the UK’s position as a top destination for life sciences innovation and underlines why the government is absolutely right to back our sector as a priority for growth.

    BioNTech is not only a pioneer in mRNA science, but also a visionary partner in building a truly unique public-private collaboration with the UK government and NHS – one that sets a benchmark for the world.

    The UK has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage its strong position to attract investment from global investors to create well-paid jobs and scale UK companies, if the upcoming Life Sciences Sector Plan can address long-standing structural challenges in the financing and commercial environment.

    Richard Torbett, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said:

    This investment is a testament to the fantastic skills, research capabilities, and scientific infrastructure we have in the UK. It is also a template for how the UK could unlock further life science sector growth by removing the barriers and roadblocks to investment.

    Big investments like this are years in the making and require both sides to have confidence that the other will deliver on their commitments. Trust is slow to build, but this deal shows it is worth the time and the risk.

    Life science companies are already the largest investors in UK R&D – but much of this comes from a handful of companies with deep UK roots. The UK has an opportunity to capture more of the global science pie if we can improve our competitive offering to the sector.

    DSIT media enquiries

    Email press@dsit.gov.uk

    Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm 020 7215 3000

    Updates to this page

    Published 20 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Dramatic Decline in Overdose Deaths

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today announced preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease Control verifying her fight to reduce drug overdose deaths in New York State. Findings reveal a 32 percent drop in drug related deaths in 2024, compared to those in 2023. New York State’s historic investments have been important in contributing to addressing the opioid and overdose epidemic and bringing new services to all areas of the state. The Governor continues her pledge to reach high-need and underserved individuals and populations.

    “These numbers are further validation of our commitment to investing in real solutions which address the negative impacts of the opioid epidemic,” Governor Hochul said. “We continue to expand and enhance services across the state, ensuring New Yorkers in need can access these lifesaving resources.”

    New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) Commissioner Dr. Chinazo Cunningham said, “These numbers show that our hard work, and innovative approaches to establishing services are making a difference across the state. New York has one of the strongest systems of addiction care in the nation, and we look forward to seeing further reductions in overdose deaths as we continue to strengthen our continuum of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services.”

    New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “The data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging. It’s a testament to the countless communities, organizations and programs that are focused on reducing drug overdoses and the harmful impacts of substance use disorder. While this is good news and shows we are moving in the right direction, there’s still more work to do to prevent overdose deaths. It’s vital we continue to identify communities that are not experiencing these declines equally. There’s still much to do and we remain committed to our central goal of preventing all drug overdoses in New York State and achieving an overdose free generation.”

    An estimated 4,567 New Yorkers died of a drug overdose in 2024, compared to 6,688 in 2023. Approximately 77 percent of these deaths involved an opioid, such as heroin or fentanyl. More information about these figures can be found on the NYS Overdose Death Dashboard.

    New York State has instituted a series of innovative new programs that have helped contribute to this drop in overdose deaths. This includes making nearly $400 million in Opioid Settlement Funds available, which is the most of any state in the country. This funding is supporting various initiatives including efforts to increase medication for addiction, linking high-need individuals to services through outreach and referral programs as well as transportation services, funding recovery centers to provide recovery support services, supporting initiatives to recruit and train the addiction workforce, and public awareness activities to inform people on the risks of substance use and where they can find help.

    In addition, OASAS established a new online ordering portal that allows any state resident to order fentanyl and xylazine test strips and naloxone for free. To date, more than 13.2 million fentanyl test strips, 10 million xylazine test strips, and 296,000 naloxone kits have been ordered through this portal. The State Department of Health has distributed more than 537,600 naloxone kits from January 2024 to April 2025.

    The New York State Department of Health has over 1,300 opioid overdose registered programs with over 5,000 sites across New York State who provide opioid overdose prevention trainings and naloxone at no cost to the participant. Further, the State has increased funding to amplify the range of services provided by community-based drug user health hubs. These act as a safety net for the most vulnerable New Yorkers and offer services including information on opioid overdose prevention, hepatitis C treatment, access to harm reduction services, and more rapid access to buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. The Department of Health’s opioid data dashboards also provide opioid-related data to support statewide prevention efforts.

    The State has also funded Mobile Medication Units (MMUs) which provide medication for addiction treatment and other services and resources, bringing these services directly to underserved communities and addressing barriers that keep some people from seeking treatment. Funding has been provided to establish 11 of these units across the State, and the FY26 Enacted Budget includes additional funding to further increase the number of MMUs.

    New York’s MATTERS referral network has contributed to the increase in linkage to care and access to treatments like buprenorphine. MATTERS is a statewide rapid referral network to outpatient services for individuals with opioid use disorder in emergency departments, obstetrician and gynecologist offices, correctional facilities, inpatient units, pre-hospital settings, community-based clinics and peer navigation services.

    New Yorkers struggling with an addiction, or whose loved ones are struggling, can find help and hope by calling the state’s toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

    Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, residential or outpatient care can be found on the NYS OASAS website.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The one-size-fits-all diversity training model is broken – here’s a better alternative

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Radostina Purvanova, Professor of Management and Organizational Leadership, Drake University

    Diversity training is more effective when it’s personalized, according to my new research in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychology.

    As a professor of management, I partnered with Andrew Bryant, who studies social marketing, to develop an algorithm that identifies people’s “personas,” or psychological profiles, as they participate in diversity training in real time. We embedded this algorithm into a training system that dynamically assigned participants to tailored versions of the training based on their personas.

    We found that this personalized approach worked especially well for one particular group: the “skeptics.” When skeptics received training tailored to them, they responded more positively – and expressed a stronger desire to support their organizations’ diversity efforts – than those who received the same training as everyone else.

    In the age of social media, where just about everything is customized and personalized, this sounds like a no-brainer. But with diversity training, where the one-size-fits-all approach still rules, this is radical. In most diversity trainings, all participants hear the same message, regardless of their preexisting beliefs and attitudes toward diversity. Why would we assume that this would work?

    Thankfully, the field is realizing the importance of a learner-centric approach. Researchers have theorized that several diversity trainee personas exist. These include the resistant trainee, who feels defensive; the overzealous trainee, who is hyper-engaged; and the anxious trainee, who is uncomfortable with diversity topics. Our algorithm, based on real-world data, identified two personas with empirical backing: skeptics and believers. This is proof of concept that trainee personas aren’t just theoretical – they’re real, and we can detect them in real time.

    But identifying personas is just the beginning. What comes next is tailoring the message. To learn more about tailoring, we looked to the theory of jujitsu persuasion. In jujitsu, fighters don’t strike. They use their opponent’s energy to win. Similarly, in jujitsu persuasion, you yield to the audience, not challenge it. You use the audience’s beliefs, knowledge and values as leverage to make change.

    In terms of diversity training, this doesn’t mean changing what the message is. It means changing how the message is framed. For example, the skeptics in our study still learned about the devastating harms of workplace bias. But they were more persuaded when the message was framed as a “business case” for diversity, rather than a “moral justice” message. The “business case” message is tailored to skeptics’ practical orientation. If diversity training researchers and practitioners embrace tailoring diversity training to different trainee personas, more creative approaches to tailoring will surely be designed.

    Why it matters

    The Trump administration is leading a backlash against diversity initiatives, and a backlash to that backlash is emerging. This isn’t entirely new: Diversity has long been a contentious issue.

    Organizations like the Pew Research Center, the United Nations and others have consistently reported a conservative-liberal split, as well as a male-female split, around diversity. Diversity training has done little to bridge these gaps.

    For one, diversity training is often ineffective at reducing bias and improving diversity metrics in organizations. Many organizations treat diversity training efforts as a box-checking exercise. Worse, it’s not unusual for such efforts to backfire.

    Our research offers a solution: Identify the trainee personas represented in your audience and customize your training accordingly. This is what social media platforms like Facebook do: They learn about people in real time and then tailor the content they see.

    To illustrate the importance of tailoring diversity training specifically, consider how differently skeptics and believers think. One skeptic in our study – which focused on gender diversity training – said: “The issue isn’t as great as feminists try to force us to believe. Women simply focus on other things in life; men focus on career first.” In contrast, a believer said: “In my own organization, all CEOs and managers are men. Women are not respected or promoted very often, if at all.”

    Clearly, trainees are different. Tailoring the training to different personas, jujitsu style, may be how we change hearts and minds.

    What still isn’t known

    Algorithms are only as good as the data they rely on. Our algorithm identified personas based on information the trainees reported about themselves. More objective data, such as data culled from human resources systems, may identify personas more reliably.

    Algorithms also improve as they learn over time. As artificial intelligence tools become more widely used in HR, persona-identifying algorithms will get smarter and faster. The training itself needs to get smarter. A one-time training session, even a tailored one, stands less of a chance at long-term change compared with periodic nudges. Nudges are bite-sized interventions that are unobtrusively delivered over time. Now, think about tailored nudges. They could be a game changer.

    The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

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

    – ref. The one-size-fits-all diversity training model is broken – here’s a better alternative – https://theconversation.com/the-one-size-fits-all-diversity-training-model-is-broken-heres-a-better-alternative-250495

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Celebrating 10 years of ‘invaluable’ foster carer peer support network in Leeds

    Source: City of Leeds

    A foster carer has praised the ‘invaluable’ help provided by a series of nurturing networks which have just celebrated 10 years of supporting families in Leeds.

    The mockingbird hub model of fostering was first set up in Leeds in 2015 and involves linking foster families with an experienced foster carer – known as the ‘hub home carer’ – who provides much-needed guidance and support for both adults and children as they navigate their new lives together.

    The model first originated in Seattle, USA and Leeds City Council was one of the early pioneers, now having the largest and most established network in the UK.

    Michelle Raw, 53, of Whinmoor, has been a hub home carer for the past six years, having fostered children with husband Mark, 49, for 21 years.

    She supports eight families – most of whom are ‘kinship carers,’ where relatives or close friends step in to care for children who are unable to remain living with their parents.

    She said: “The mockingbird hub model is amazing – it acts just like an extended family.

    “I help provide practical support as well as just having a cuppa and chat about the day with carers. Carers come to my house, we might do a bit of training, have a chat about life, they meet other carers and get to know each other and the children get to know each other and play together.

    “It feels like we become part of their family and they become part of ours.”

    As the hub home carer, Michelle provides support in a variety of ways – such as hosting coffee mornings, supporting with any appointments, holding activity days in school holidays and looking after children for overnight stays or weekends.

    She added: “The hubs are vital for both carers and the children because everyone needs that connection and bit of help and time to recharge their batteries.

    “It’s the most amazing model, it works really well.

    “I work really closely with our supervising social worker from Foster 4 Leeds to support our families too. I speak to her three or four times a week and if I ever need help with anything, she’s there.”

    Leeds currently has nine hubs across the city with a 10th soon to launch.

    All the families supported by the city’s hubs recently came together to celebrate the network’s landmark anniversary with a special event at Herd Farm Activity Centre, where they joined staff from the council’s fostering and kinship care teams and children enjoyed face-painting, a climbing wall, inflatables, ice creams, a barbecue and sporting fun.

    The event also coincided with Foster Carer Fortnight (May 12-25) which this year has a theme of ‘The Power of Relationships’ – of which the mockingbird family model is a poignant example.

    The model is one of many ways Foster 4 Leeds provides support to 400 fostering placements and 350 children living with kinship or connected carers across Leeds.

    The service also offers high quality social work support, training and an extensive programme of enrichment activities and family fun days throughout the year.

    As is the case nationally, however, Leeds has an ever-increasing need for more foster carers.

    Currently, there are nearly 1,500 of the city’s children in care and Foster 4 Leeds continues to appeal for carers who can offer a stable, safe and loving home for children in Leeds.

    Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children and families, who attended the anniversary event at Herd Farm, said: “We’re absolutely committed to supporting all our carers and it’s great to see and hear how valuable these mockingbird hubs have been for our families over the past ten years.

    “I’d like to thank all who have contributed to their success – with particular thanks, once again, to our amazing foster and kinship carers who play such a vital role in transforming the lives of our children looked after.

    “Celebrating our mockingbird hubs during Foster Carer Fortnight and its theme of relationships feels particularly timely. Relationships are the golden thread that run through every fostering story – but we urgently need more foster carers who can invest in these relationships and offer a stable, home environment to allow children to grow and thrive.”

    Anyone interested in finding out more about foster caring in Leeds can visit the https://foster4.leeds.gov.uk/ website.

    ENDS

    For media enquiries please contact:

    Leeds City Council communications and marketing,

    Email: communicationsteam@leeds.gov.uk

    Tel: 0113 378 6007

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Plymouth Rock Assurance Announces Fourth Season of Fan-Favorite Series “The Bostonians”

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Bruins® defenseman Hampus Lindholm returns to star alongside iconic Boston sports mascots Wally, Blades, and Pat Patriot

    BOSTON, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For the fourth year in a row, Plymouth Rock Assurance welcomes back “The Bostonians”— a crew of Boston-inspired roommates, including Red Sox Groundskeeper, Patriots Militia Man, and the beloved sister from Lawrence—along with New England sports mascots and Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm, the official brand ambassador for Plymouth Rock’s Bruins Insurance Program. The first episode of season 4 has been released and highlights Plymouth Rock’s collaboration with the Red Sox.

    The 2025 installment of the series will continue the tradition of blending Boston sports culture with clever, locally inspired storytelling—delighting fans with familiar faces and lighthearted moments across Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and community-centered themes.

    Launched in 2022 with Boston-based creative agency Rival, the advertising campaign features the “Motley Crew” of Boston sports personalities alongside fan favorite mascots, including Blades, Pat Patriot, and Wally, living together in a fictional home. The short commercials will be featured in several TV spots airing on NESN and on Plymouth Rock’s YouTube page. Three other shorts will follow with the last episode airing in tandem with the kickoff of the 2025-2026 NHL season in October.

    “At Plymouth Rock, we take immense pride in supporting the Boston sports community—from the ice, to the field, to the diamond,” said Brad Baker, Managing Director, Marketing at Plymouth Rock Assurance. “Our ‘Bostonians’ series is a tribute to the fans, players, and shared moments that define this city’s unmatched sports culture. Whether you’re a Bruins, Patriots, or Red Sox fan, we’re honored to collaborate with these iconic teams and continue celebrating the people who make Boston sports so special.”

    Check out the latest videos of “The Bostonians” and meet the crew by visiting: https://www.plymouthrock.com/lp/thebostonians

    About Plymouth Rock
    Plymouth Rock was established to offer its customers a higher level of service and a more innovative set of products and features than they would expect from an insurance company. Plymouth Rock’s innovative approach puts customers’ convenience and satisfaction first, giving them the choice to do business the way they want—online, with a mobile app, by phone, or by contacting their Plymouth Rock agent. Customers can chat, text, or email to get answers quickly and easily. Plymouth Rock Assurance® and Plymouth Rock® are brand names and service marks used by separate underwriting, managed insurance, and management companies that offer property and casualty insurance in multiple states. Taken together, the companies write and manage more than $2.3 billion in auto and home insurance premiums across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

    Each underwriting and managed insurance company is a separate legal entity that is financially responsible only for its own insurance products. You can learn more about us by visiting plymouthrock.com.

    Contact:
    Kevin Long
    Plymouth Rock Assurance
    mediarelations@plymouthrock.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Best No Deposit Casino Bonus USA 2025 | Best Crypto Casino No Deposit – SuperSlots

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

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    Is SuperSlots.ag Legitimate?

    When exploring platforms offering the best no deposit casino bonus, it’s crucial to assess their legitimacy. SuperSlots.ag, established in 2020, operates under a license from the Panama Gaming Commission . This licensing indicates adherence to regulatory standards, including the use of certified Random Number Generators (RNGs) to ensure fair play .

    The platform employs SSL encryption to protect user data and transactions . Additionally, SuperSlots.ag offers a variety of banking options, including cryptocurrencies, catering to a broad user base .

    However, it’s worth noting that some users have reported issues related to withdrawal processes and customer support responsiveness . While these experiences are not universal, they highlight the importance of reviewing terms and conditions thoroughly and starting with smaller transactions to gauge the platform’s reliability.

    In summary, SuperSlots.ag presents itself as a legitimate best online casino with robust security measures and a wide array of gaming options. Nevertheless, potential users should exercise due diligence and consider starting with minimal deposits to ensure it meets their expectations.

    Why SuperSlots.ag Is the Best No Deposit Casino in the US

    SuperSlots.ag has rapidly gained popularity among US players, and for good reason. Here are the top reasons why it stands out as a premier destination for those seeking the best no deposit casino bonus:

    1. Generous welcome bonuses

    While SuperSlots.ag doesn’t currently offer a traditional no deposit bonus, it compensates with substantial welcome offers. New players can claim a 250% bonus up to $1,000 on their first deposit using the code SS250, followed by 100% bonuses up to $1,000 on the next five deposits with the code SS100. This totals up to a $6,000 welcome package, providing ample funds to explore the casino’s offerings.

    2. Extensive game library

    SuperSlots.ag boasts a vast selection of over 1,500 games, including slots, table games, video poker, and live dealer options. This diverse range ensures that players have access to a variety of gaming experiences, catering to all preferences.

    3. Cryptocurrency-friendly platform

    Recognizing the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, SuperSlots.ag offers a 400% crypto bonus up to $4,000 for players who deposit using digital currencies. This not only provides a significant bonus but also ensures faster and more secure transactions.

    4. Regular promotions and tournaments

    Beyond the initial bonuses, SuperSlots.ag keeps the excitement going with regular promotions, including weekly rebates, reload bonuses, and slot tournaments. These ongoing offers provide players with continuous opportunities to boost their bankrolls and enjoy competitive gaming experiences.

    5. User-friendly interface and mobile compatibility

    The casino’s website is designed for ease of navigation, ensuring that players can quickly find their favorite games and promotions. Additionally, SuperSlots.ag is fully optimized for mobile devices, allowing for seamless gaming on the go.

    6. Secure and licensed operations

    Operating under a license from the Panama Gaming Commission, SuperSlots.ag ensures a secure gaming environment. The platform employs advanced SSL encryption to protect player data and transactions, aligning with industry standards for safety and fairness.

    How to Sign Up at SuperSlots.ag in the US 2025

    Getting started at SuperSlots.ag is simple and hassle-free, just what you’d expect from a platform aiming to offer the best no deposit casino bonus experience. Follow these easy steps to register and claim your rewards.

    Step 1: Visit SuperSlots.ag

    Go to the official website www.superslots.ag from your desktop or mobile browser.

    Step 2: Click on “Join Now”

    You’ll find the “Join Now” button at the top-right corner of the homepage. Click to start your registration.

    Step 3: Fill Out the Registration Form

    Enter your basic details including:

    • Full Name
    • Email Address
    • Date of Birth
    • Country (Select United States)
    • Mobile Number
    • Create a secure password

    Step 4: Agree to Terms & Conditions

    Tick the checkbox to accept SuperSlots.ag’s terms and confirm you’re of legal gambling age in your jurisdiction.

    Step 5: Verify Your Email

    A verification link will be sent to your registered email. Click the link to activate your account.

    Step 6: Log In and Make Your First Deposit

    After verification, log in and head to the cashier section. Use the code SS250 on your first deposit to claim the 250% welcome bonus, a lucrative alternative to a best no deposit casino bonus.

    Step 7: Explore the Casino and Start Playing

    Once your account is funded, you can explore SuperSlots.ag’s extensive game library and enjoy the bonus benefits.

    The entire sign-up process takes less than 5 minutes, making SuperSlots.ag one of the more user-friendly options for players seeking no deposit bonus casino promotions and beyond.

    How to Login and Start Playing at SuperSlots.ag

    Once your account is created, logging in and jumping into your favorite games at SuperSlots.ag is quick and straightforward. Here’s how you can start playing on a platform that competes for the title of best no deposit casino bonus site.

    Step 1: Visit SuperSlots.ag

    Head to www.superslots.ag using your preferred device.

    Step 2: Click on “Login”

    You’ll find the “Login” button on the top-right corner of the homepage.

    Step 3: Enter Your Credentials

    Input the email ID and password you used during registration.

    Step 4: Access Your Dashboard

    After successful login, you’ll be taken to your player dashboard. Here, you can:

    • View your wallet balance
    • Browse through the game categories
    • Check active promotions
    • Monitor your bonuses and rewards

    Step 5: Make a Deposit (If Needed)

    If you haven’t yet deposited, head to the “Cashier” section. Enter your preferred amount and use the promo code SS250 for your first deposit bonus. Though it’s not a no deposit online casino offer, it provides tremendous value upfront.

    Step 6: Start Playing Your Favorite Games

    Explore slots, table games, and live dealer games from the lobby. SuperSlots.ag offers a smooth user interface for easy navigation, even for beginners.

    Step 7: Track Your Bonuses & Wagering Progress

    In the “My Bonuses” section, you can see your active bonuses, remaining wagering requirements, and bonus expiry dates, features you expect from any platform claiming to offer the best no deposit casino bonus experience.

    With a clean interface and mobile optimization, SuperSlots.ag ensures that getting from login to gameplay is seamless for all users.

    SuperSlots.ag Bonuses & Promotions

    While SuperSlots.ag is primarily known for its deposit-based rewards, its promotional lineup offers excellent alternatives to the typical best no deposit casino bonus deals. Here’s a breakdown of the bonuses and promotions you can expect:

    1. $6,000 Welcome Bonus Package

    New players can claim up to $6,000 in welcome bonuses across their first six deposits.

    • First Deposit: 250% up to $1,000 (Code: SS250)
    • Next Five Deposits: 100% up to $1,000 each (Code: SS100)

    Though this isn’t a free signup bonus no deposit casino offer, the sheer value provided upfront is hard to ignore.

    2. Crypto Exclusive Bonus

    For players who prefer digital currencies, SuperSlots.ag offers a 400% Crypto Bonus up to $4,000 on the first crypto deposit. This offer appeals to modern players looking for high-value rewards with fast and secure transactions.

    3. Weekly Reload Bonuses

    Existing players enjoy weekly reload bonuses, providing percentage match offers on deposits made during specific promotional periods.

    4. Rebate & Cashback Offers

    SuperSlots.ag gives back with weekly cash rebates, helping players recover a portion of their losses and encouraging ongoing play.

    5. Slot Tournaments & Prize Pools

    Frequent slot tournaments with substantial prize pools keep competitive players engaged, offering another layer of excitement beyond standard casino welcome bonuses.

    6. Seasonal & Event-Based Promotions

    From Halloween specials to New Year’s tournaments, SuperSlots.ag runs themed promotions that provide extra bonuses and free spins.

    While traditional no deposit online casino bonuses might not be available, SuperSlots.ag compensates with a wide array of high-value promotions that rival the best in the industry.

    How to Claim a Bonus at SuperSlots.ag

    SuperSlots.ag makes it simple to claim its generous bonuses. While it doesn’t offer a typical best no deposit casino bonus right now, the platform’s deposit bonuses are equally rewarding. Here’s how you can claim them in a few easy steps:

    Step 1: Log In to Your Account

    Head to www.superslots.ag and log in using your email and password.

    Step 2: Go to the “Cashier” Section

    Once logged in, navigate to the “Cashier” or “Deposit” section from your dashboard.

    Step 3: Enter Your Deposit Amount

    Choose how much you want to deposit. Remember, for maximum bonus benefits, higher deposits unlock bigger rewards.

    Step 4: Apply the Relevant Bonus Code

    • For your first deposit, use the promo code SS250 to activate the 250% bonus up to $1,000.
    • For subsequent deposits, use SS100 to claim 100% bonuses up to $1,000 each.

    Step 5: Choose Your Payment Method

    Select from available payment options like credit/debit cards, bank transfers, or cryptocurrencies. Crypto users also unlock the 400% crypto bonus up to $4,000.

    Step 6: Confirm and Complete the Transaction

    Finalize your deposit and ensure the bonus reflects in your account balance.

    Step 7: Fulfill Wagering Requirements

    All bonuses come with wagering conditions. Track your progress in the “My Bonuses” section to ensure compliance before withdrawing winnings.

    While SuperSlots.ag lacks a conventional free signup bonus no deposit casino offer, this easy-to-claim bonus structure gives players tremendous value and a strong start.

    Best Online Casino Games at SuperSlots.ag

    SuperSlots.ag offers an impressive variety of games, competing strongly with platforms that provide the best no deposit casino bonus offers. From classic slots to immersive live dealer tables, there’s something for every player.

    1. Slot Games

    With hundreds of titles from leading providers, SuperSlots.ag’s slots library is a paradise for casual and serious players alike. Popular categories include:

    • Classic 3-reel slots
    • 5-reel video slots
    • Progressive jackpot slots
      Some of the most-played titles are A Night with Cleo, Reels of Fortune, and Stampede, offering vibrant visuals and exciting bonus features.

    2. Table Games

    SuperSlots.ag features a wide selection of table games, including:

    • Blackjack (multiple variations)
    • Roulette (European & American versions)
    • Baccarat
    • Craps
    • Caribbean Stud Poker

    This robust lineup matches what players expect from the best no deposit bonus casino platforms, ensuring variety and fair play.

    3. Video Poker

    Fans of video poker can enjoy multiple formats like Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and Aces and Faces, with both single-hand and multi-hand options available.

    4. Live Dealer Games

    For a more authentic experience, SuperSlots.ag offers:

    • Live Blackjack
    • Live Roulette
    • Live Baccarat
    • Live Casino Hold’em

    These games are streamed in HD with professional dealers, giving you a real-casino feel from the comfort of your home.

    5. Specialty Games

    Beyond the traditional categories, SuperSlots.ag also offers Keno, Bingo, and scratch cards, providing a fun change of pace and extra chances to win.

    While the platform may not currently feature a no deposit online casino bonus, its diverse and high-quality game selection ensures players still get top-tier entertainment value.

    How to Place a Bet at SuperSlots.ag in 2025

    Whether you’re spinning slots or playing live blackjack, placing a bet at SuperSlots.ag is designed to be quick and intuitive, hallmarks of any platform competing for the best no deposit casino bonus audience. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

    Step 1: Log In to Your SuperSlots.ag Account

    Visit www.superslots.ag and log in with your registered email and password.

    Step 2: Fund Your Account

    Ensure your wallet has sufficient balance. Deposit via credit/debit cards, bank transfer, or cryptocurrencies. Remember, while this is not a no deposit online casino, your deposit activates generous bonus offers.

    Step 3: Navigate to the Game Lobby

    From the dashboard, choose your preferred category: Slots, Table Games, Live Dealer, or Video Poker.

    Step 4: Select a Game

    Click on the game you wish to play. For slots, you can also filter games by popularity, themes, or jackpot potential.

    Step 5: Set Your Bet Amount

    Before spinning or dealing, adjust your stake using the in-game controls. Betting ranges are flexible, accommodating both casual players and high-rollers.

    Step 6: Confirm & Start Playing

    Once satisfied with your bet amount, hit “Spin,” “Deal,” or “Play” depending on the game type. For live dealer tables, you’ll place chips on the virtual betting layout.

    Step 7: Track Your Wins & Bonuses

    Winnings are instantly credited to your account. Bonus progress (such as wagering requirements) can be monitored from the “My Bonuses” section.

    This seamless betting process is what players expect from top-tier platforms competing in the best no deposit casino bonus space, even when the focus is on deposit-based rewards.

    Customer Support at SuperSlots.ag

    Reliable customer support is essential for any platform aiming to compete for the best no deposit casino bonus audience. SuperSlots.ag delivers multiple support channels to assist its players effectively.

    1. 24/7 Live Chat Support

    SuperSlots.ag offers 24/7 live chat assistance. Whether you have questions about bonuses, payments, or technical glitches, the live chat team is available for instant help.

    2. Email Support

    For more detailed queries, you can reach out via email at support@superslots.ag. Response times are typically within a few hours, depending on query complexity.

    3. Detailed Help Center

    The website features a comprehensive FAQ section, addressing common topics like:

    • How to claim bonuses
    • Payment methods
    • Account verification
    • Game rules

    This section is helpful for quick self-service, reducing the need for direct support.

    4. Responsible Gaming Assistance

    SuperSlots.ag provides resources and tools for responsible gambling, including deposit limits and self-exclusion options. These features align with best practices followed by platforms offering the best no deposit casino bonus experiences.

    5. Security & Privacy Support

    Queries related to account security, data privacy, and transaction protection are handled with priority, ensuring players feel safe and valued.

    While the platform doesn’t offer phone support, its live chat and email services are efficient and professional, meeting the standards of other leading no deposit bonus casino sites.

    Conclusion

    In the search for the best no deposit casino bonus, players often come across platforms that overpromise and underdeliver. While SuperSlots.ag may not currently offer a traditional no deposit bonus casino deal, its massive deposit-based rewards and crypto bonuses easily make up for it.

    With a $6,000 casino welcome bonus package, regular promotions, and a wide range of games, SuperSlots.ag competes strongly in the online casino bonus space. For players looking to play online casino real money no deposit style offers, this platform provides alternatives with higher value, albeit with a small initial deposit.

    SuperSlots.ag ensures that players benefit from lucrative sign up bonus casino codes, fast payouts, and a secure gaming environment. Although it’s not a no deposit online casino, its transparent bonus structure, weekly rebates, and crypto-exclusive offers position it among the top choices for serious players.

    In conclusion, while SuperSlots.ag may not offer a free signup bonus no deposit casino deal right now, its extensive bonus lineup, high-value promotions, and smooth user experience make it a contender worth considering. If you’re searching for best no deposit bonus codes alternatives with real rewards, SuperSlots.ag is a solid choice for US players in 2025.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    1. Does SuperSlots.ag offer a no deposit bonus casino promotion?

    Currently, SuperSlots.ag does not offer a traditional no deposit bonus casino deal. However, its $6,000 welcome package and crypto bonuses provide excellent alternatives for players seeking high-value rewards.

    2. What online casino bonus can I claim at SuperSlots.ag?

    New players can claim up to $6,000 in online casino bonuses across their first six deposits. Additionally, a 400% crypto bonus up to $4,000 is available for cryptocurrency users.

    3. Can I play online casino real money no deposit games at SuperSlots.ag?

    While SuperSlots.ag requires an initial deposit for bonuses, you can still enjoy real money casino games with small deposits and high return promotions, offering a near online casino real money no deposit experience in value.

    4. What are SuperSlots.ag’s casino welcome bonuses?

    The platform offers a 250% first deposit bonus up to $1,000 and 100% bonuses up to $1,000 for the next five deposits. These casino welcome bonuses total up to $6,000 for new users.

    5. Is SuperSlots.ag considered a no deposit online casino?

    No, SuperSlots.ag is not a no deposit online casino. It focuses on large deposit-based bonuses but provides high-value promotions that rival typical no deposit offers.

    6. Does SuperSlots.ag have a sign up bonus casino offer?

    Yes, upon signing up and making your first deposit, you can claim the 250% sign up bonus casino offer using the code SS250.

    7. Are there any free signup bonus no deposit casino offers at SuperSlots.ag?

    SuperSlots.ag does not currently have a free signup bonus no deposit casino offer. However, its generous welcome and crypto bonuses offer significant advantages for new players.

    8. Where can I find the best no deposit bonus codes for SuperSlots.ag?

    While SuperSlots.ag does not offer no deposit bonus codes at the moment, players can use promo codes like SS250 and SS100 to unlock substantial deposit bonuses. For crypto users, special bonus codes apply to activate the 400% crypto offer.

    Media Contact:

    Project name : Superslots

    Address – 47 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011, USA
    Company Website: https://superslots-ag.com/
    Email: support@superslots-ag.com
    Phone: (08) 8326 3976
    Contact person name: Ryan
    contact person email: ryan@superslots-ag.com

    Disclaimer
    This information is for general and entertainment purposes only—not legal, financial, or gambling advice. Always verify details and follow your local laws. Gambling carries risks; wager responsibly and only what you can afford to lose, and seek help if you feel out of control. Some links may be affiliate links at no extra cost to you, and will may be unavailable or restricted in certain regions.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0389af05-bcb1-4d56-8a7c-36039fe63aaf

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Oxfam reaction to announcement that Israel will allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza

    Source: Oxfam –

    Reacting to the announcement that Israel will allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza, Wassem Mushtaha, Oxfam’s Gaza Response Lead, said:

    “While some aid was allowed into Gaza today, it will only be a trickle amongst a sea of need. For over 70 days Israel has been starving the people of Gaza, depriving them of food, water, medicine and essential supplies while escalating its cruel and indiscriminate bombing campaign. Two million people are on the brink of famine, and they are not just starving, but also traumatised, sick and displaced from their homes. 

    “The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress, especially alongside the expansion of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip. It is not a turning point, but at best a narrow concession that seems to reflect mounting international pressure.

    “Oxfam is also concerned about Israel’s plan to take over aid operations. Instead of restoring access, this emerging system centres on restrictive border crossings, military-controlled corridors, and opaque conditions that exclude local and experienced humanitarian organisations and hinder the impartial delivery of aid. 

    Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s Policy lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Gaza, said:

    “What is urgently needed is not new obstacles on the ground, but for all crossings to be opened to allow a full and proper humanitarian response, that allows real access, with safe corridors and respect for international humanitarian law, a call mirrored by 22 donor countries and the EU, in a joint statement released earlier today. These are factors we also hope will be at the forefront of discussions when the EU Foreign Affairs Council meets on Tuesday the 20th to address the need to review the EU IL association agreement based on a lack of compliance with human rights and humanitarian law.

    “A token convoy does not equal progress, only sustained, accountable access through every crossing will end the impunity that keeps aid from flowing. We must also see an end to the relentless bombing and attacks on Palestinian people, with an urgent and permanent ceasefire, alongside justice and accountability for all.”

    Joint donor statement from 25 aid partners published yesterday.

    MIL OSI NGO –