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  • MIL-OSI Global: From methylene blue to vitamin E, here’s why health and wellness supplements are no silver bullet for cancer

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University

    Garna Zarina/Shutterstock

    Health supplements have become increasingly popular in recent years, with many people turning to them in hopes of improving overall health and reducing risk of diseases like cancer. The allure of these products is understandable – who doesn’t want a simple pill or powder to ward off serious illness?

    As a consultant oncologist and cancer researcher, I’ve researched the effects of health supplements on cancer risk, prevention and treatment. And the relationship between supplements and cancer risk is often misunderstood and far more complex than many people realise.

    Dietary supplements come in a wide variety of forms, including vitamins, minerals, herbs and other substances – and it’s a multi-billion pound industry. Often fuelled by marketing claims and anecdotal evidence from friends, family members and celebrity wellness gurus who swear by certain supplements, many people take them with the belief that they can fill nutritional gaps in their diet or provide additional health benefits.



    Read more:
    King Charles is changing his diet to keep his cancer at bay – here’s what the evidence says

    Potential harm

    However, when it comes to cancer prevention and treatment, the scientific evidence supporting the use of supplements is mixed and often inconclusive.

    Supermodel Elle McPherson claims she refused chemotherapy and treated her breat cancer “holistically”, including taking many wellness supplements.

    The world of supplement research is vast and complex, with studies often producing conflicting results. Some smaller studies have suggested potential benefits of certain supplements in cancer prevention but large scale, randomised clinical trials – considered the gold standard in medical research – have often failed to show significant benefits of supplement use in cancer prevention. In fact, some studies have even shown potential harm from certain supplements.

    For example, the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial tested whether these supplements could reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Contrary to expectations, the study found that vitamin E supplementation could increase the risk of prostate cancer, especially in healthy, young men.

    Similarly, studies on beta carotene supplements showed an increased risk of lung cancer in smokers. These findings highlight the importance of approaching supplement use with caution – more is not always better when it comes to nutrients.

    Healthy scepticism

    Celebrities and social media influencers often recommend health supplements and make baseless claims about their potential to reduce cancer risk.

    For example, thanks to wellness influencers and Mel Gibson – who’s now as famous for his controversial outburts as he is for his acting – the synthetic dye methylene blue has attracted attention on social media for it’s use as a cancer-fighting supplement. While methylene blue does have legitimate medical uses – and has shown some promise in certain areas of cancer research – it’s crucial to approach these claims with a healthy degree of scepticism.

    In cancer research, methylene blue has shown potential as a “photosensitiser” in treatments using laser light – meaning it makes certain cancer cells more vulnerable to treatment. However, it’s important to stress that these are specific medical applications under controlled conditions, not a general cancer prevention strategy that can be applied broadly through supplement use.

    Claims about methylene blue as a cancer-preventing supplement are not supported by robust scientific evidence. In fact, long-term toxicity studies on methylene blue have shown mixed results, with some animal studies suggesting potential risks at high doses.

    This underscores the importance of not misinterpreting preliminary research or specific medical applications as justification for casual supplement use.

    When considering the role of supplements in cancer prevention, it’s essential to adopt a holistic view of health and wellbeing. This approach considers the whole person – body, mind and spirit – rather than focusing on individual components or symptoms.



    Read more:
    Five ways to cut your risk of cancer – by an oncology consultant

    One of the most important elements of this approach is nutrition. Rather than relying on supplements, people should aim to meet their nutritional needs through a varied, balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins.

    This approach not only provides essential nutrients but also offers the benefits of fibre, phytochemicals and other compounds found in whole foods that may work together to promote health.

    Regular physical activity is another crucial component of a holistic approach to cancer prevention. Numerous, large, well-conducted studies have consistently linked regular exercise to lower cancer risk, as well as improved overall health and wellbeing.

    Exercise helps maintain a healthy weight, reduces inflammation and may have direct effects on cancer cell growth and proliferation. Practices such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises can help manage stress and promote overall wellbeing.

    Personal choice – based on robust evidence

    While the evidence for many supplements in cancer prevention is limited, it’s crucial to respect personal choice in health decisions. However, it’s also important that these decisions are based on accurate information and in consultation with healthcare professionals. Good, medically sound evidence and advice is available.

    Medical professionals can help evaluate the potential benefits and risks of supplement use, taking into account factors such as existing health conditions, medications and overall nutritional status.

    It’s also important to be wary of products claiming to be “miracle cures” for cancer or other serious diseases. These claims are often unfounded and can lead vulnerable people to delay seeking proper medical treatment. Instead, focus on evidence-based strategies for cancer prevention and overall health.

    The most effective approach to reducing cancer risk remains a holistic one, focusing on a balanced diet, regular physical activity, stress management and other lifestyle factors including avoiding tobacco and too much alcohol. While supplements may have a role in specific situations, they should not be seen as a substitute for a healthy lifestyle.

    In conclusion, while the idea of taking supplements to reduce cancer risk is appealing, the reality is more complex. Current scientific evidence does not support the use of most supplements for cancer prevention, and in some cases, certain high-dose supplementation may even increase risk.

    However, this doesn’t mean all supplements are harmful or useless. For individuals with specific nutritional deficiencies or health conditions, supplements can play an important role when used under the right supervision.

    Justin Stebbing 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. From methylene blue to vitamin E, here’s why health and wellness supplements are no silver bullet for cancer – https://theconversation.com/from-methylene-blue-to-vitamin-e-heres-why-health-and-wellness-supplements-are-no-silver-bullet-for-cancer-247847

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump voters are not the obstacle to climate action many think they are

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Karl Dudman, PhD Candidate in Anthropology, University of Oxford

    North Carolina is still reeling from Hurricane Helene in autumn 2024. Karl Dudman

    Another day brings another monster tide for residents of Carteret county, North Carolina, whose coastal towns and villages are being swallowed by the rising Atlantic. Nonetheless, its voters returned Donald Trump to the White House, a man who denies the science of climate change and had withdrawn his country from the Paris agreement on climate change (for a second time) before the sun had even set on his first day back in office.

    It is a contradiction that has captured the imaginations of many. In 2017, when Trump first quit the agreement which symbolically pledges countries to limit global heating to well below 2°C, the word “denialism” lit up late-night talk shows and circulated at annual UN summits.

    Denialism evokes a pathological rejection of the reality of climate change. It has come to imply a public that can no longer tell fact from fiction, often to their own detriment. Meanwhile, climate-conscious leaders in a handful of Democratic states have repeated their commitment to scientific facts.

    As an anthropologist, I felt uncomfortable with the way the fabled Trump voter was spoken about while rarely being allowed to speak for themselves. I have participated in climate politics as a researcher, activist and diplomat, and I felt there was little reflection among the treaty’s advocates about their own role in the US departure.

    I started a PhD to understand the non-participants of climate politics. It took me to coastal North Carolina where, like so many other American communities, the effects of climate change sit alongside a seeming indifference to the crisis.

    I wanted to understand how people here related to climate science, and what this thing called denialism actually looked like. I spent a year talking to residents with “Trump Won” flags on their lawns, but I also met scientists, government officials, activists and Democrats.

    Here is one thing I found, and one thing I didn’t.

    Culture trumps ‘facts’

    The science of climate change is incredibly robust, but science alone cannot tell us what makes a solution fair, or who should get a say in its design. The Paris agreement, for example, has a strong moral component that was hard won by developing nations, small island states and international activists.

    It depicts a world in which the blame for climate change and the responsibility for addressing it lie predominantly with rich countries such as the US, and it prescribes financial flows to victim countries to help them adapt. For many precarious Americans who feel neither rich nor villainous, this is a difficult narrative to swallow.

    I saw a similar pattern in my own research. Racial justice, indigenous knowledge, urban inequality and youth are themes that typically frame public engagement with climate action by the federal government and grassroots movements. These aren’t necessarily topics that will always resonate in rural, conservative communities such as Carteret county.

    Opinion surveys and election data in the US show that climate change is an issue on which voters are polarised.

    Fishing has been a major local employer in North Carolina for several generations.
    Karl Dudman

    This helps explain why advocates for climate action tend to speak to the already engaged, by referencing other progressive causes. But advocates are not necessarily more influenced by facts than sceptics. It’s simply easier to sign up to a cause you can see yourself in.

    ‘Denialism’ is a weak concept

    What I didn’t find in North Carolina was what I came looking for: climate denialism. Climate change rarely came up naturally in the conversations I had in Carteret county, but when it did, the responses were inconsistent, ranging from concern to curiosity and from ambivalence and apathy to fatalism and scepticism. What mention there was hardly fit the stereotype of bitter, conspiracy-fuelled rejection of reality.

    In this tight-knit fishing community, people had become wary of outside interventions. Some were ill-disposed to environmental movements after feeling lectured by regulatory scientists or environmental campaigners on how to manage a coastline they knew well.

    Others were fatalist about resisting sea-level rise – generations spent on the Atlantic’s ferocious frontline taught them that you don’t fight storms, you ride them out. Many people saw things were changing but were too strapped for time and money to do much, or else found it intolerable to wake up each day contemplating the death of their community.

    North Carolina’s fishers face several threats to their livelihood.
    Karl Dudman

    Denialism had no explanatory power here. On the contrary, by failing to distinguish between disagreement and lack of agreement, it misrepresented complex social dynamics as a matter of simply believing facts or rejecting them.

    So why does any of this matter? Because, when we identify one group as the sole cause of a problem we give ourselves permission to stop asking what we could be doing differently. After all, climate action’s advocates – from UN officers to individual voters – play a role in shaping what legitimate climate action looks like, and who will want to be part of it.

    To react to the US withdrawal from Paris by repeating that “science is real”, in the vein of world leaders and American lawn signs, is to miss the point. Public dissent is often less a question of if we should fix climate change than of whose vision of a good world we are working towards.

    This is not to shift blame for Trump’s withdrawal. Nor should it excuse people in politics, business and the media who have repeatedly obscured the climate debate in bad faith.

    Carteret’s older residents have seen the decline of local industries and ecosystems.
    Karl Dudman

    But reducing public dissent to a matter of misinformation and gullibility shows a lack of humility and dismisses concerns that may not crystallise into opposition if treated respectfully. Asking more questions of ourselves is something we can all do to make climate politics less toxic.

    As Trump signed his first executive orders, I pressed send on my thesis’s final corrections. How the international community reacts this time remains to be seen, but the last four years have taught me that it may influence whether or not there is a next time.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

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

    – ref. Trump voters are not the obstacle to climate action many think they are – https://theconversation.com/trump-voters-are-not-the-obstacle-to-climate-action-many-think-they-are-248176

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: New York to Paris in 30 mins? How to achieve Elon Musk’s vision of rockets replacing long haul

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Angadh Nanjangud, Lecturer in Aerospace/Spacecraft Engineering, Queen Mary University of London

    Of all the things that Donald Trump’s return as US president could mean, one is that Elon Musk’s plan to use Starship rockets for long-distance flights on Earth could move forward. Dubbed Starship Earth to Earth, this would see passengers transported by rocket between cities. They would briefly leave the planet’s atmosphere during the journey before flying back down to reach their destination.

    Musk claims it will be possible to travel to anywhere on Earth within an hour. His rocket company, SpaceX, has given examples such as New York to Paris in 30 minutes and London to Hong Kong in 34 minutes. In response to a post about it on his X platform, Musk responded: “This is now possible.”

    Unlike previous governments, this Trump administration appears focused on reducing regulatory barriers hindering technological progress in all areas. This could make it easier for Musk to rapidly push towards realising this futuristic travel option. But what hurdles must be overcome first?

    On whether Musk is right about the technical feasibility, the answer is “sort of”. The necessary technology was arguably first proven when Nasa achieved a Mars landing in 2012.

    This was the first to land retropropulsively, meaning touching down softly on a planetary surface with rocket engines (technically called retrorockets). In contrast, previous Mars landings had used parachutes for the entry phase and airbags for the landing phase.

    The 2012 landing opened the door to rockets and boosters becoming reusable, thereby greatly reducing the cost of launch. It was repeated in SpaceX’s historic Falcon 9 rocket landings in 2016, using some of the same Nasa engineers who had worked on the Mars landers. This technological shift has been vital for rockets becoming an economically viable alternative to aircraft.

    Starship’s Earth to Earth journeys would involve visiting low Earth orbit (LEO), some 110 miles to 1,240 miles above the Earth’s surface. To do this, the rocket would use two stages. The first, known as the super heavy booster, would lift it through the dense lower atmosphere, approximately 5 to 9 miles above the Earth.

    This would break away some 40 miles above the Earth, then begin a controlled descent back to the planet’s surface. SpaceX has matured this technology by leaps and bounds in the past decade, including better heat shields, adjustable lattice fins, improved aerodynamics and state-of-the-art landing algorithms.

    Lattice fins on a Falcon 9 rocket.
    Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    The second stage – known just as Starship – would contain the passengers and take over the flight to reach LEO after the first stage has detached. There is still work to be done before this is passenger ready, as demonstrated when a second stage blew up during a Starship testflight on January 16.

    There will be no more Starship launches until the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has completed its formal investigation into the cause. On the upside, the incident occurred within predefined hazard areas to ensure public safety.

    Of course, this is the very purpose of a testflight: to learn what could go wrong and iteratively solve it, meaning repeatedly making improvements after each failure. No one can compete with SpaceX’s cost-effective iteration process, for example in its crewed trips to the International Space Station (ISS).

    The malfunction of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in August was a recent reminder here: it left two Nasa astronauts stranded on the ISS, awaiting a return trip on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule in the coming weeks.

    Other considerations

    Other long-term challenges pertain to how passengers access the vehicle. Videos of astronauts boarding the Space Shuttle indicate that entering one’s seat in a vertically parked rocket takes a few people to help buckle you in. Making that workable over the length of a rocket will require clever engineering.

    Building spaceports in different countries also won’t be trivial; we’ve seen considerable pushback against efforts to build a UK spaceport, for instance. The same goes for worldwide regulatory approvals. It’s already standard for rocket companies to need a launch licence per flight, while America’s FAA also requires them to obtain re-entry licences before launch.

    Of course, regulatory hurdles can be overcome for transformational tech (once it’s proven to be safe and reliable). No doubt lawyers will have many things to say about these issues, though I doubt any will be insurmountable. And SpaceX must know a thing or two about dealing with regulations, having launched the world’s largest constellation of satellites into orbit.

    Finally, rockets expel significant quantities of microscopic particles (particulates) into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. This would have seriously detrimental effects if they were flying in anything like the numbers of long-distance airliners.

    Starship’s Raptor engines use methalox, a combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Unlike the kerosene that has traditionally powered rockets, liquid methane prevents the build-up of sooty residue in the engine and is also safer to work with than liquid hydrogen. While Starship still burns vastly more fuel per trip than conventional aircraft, its potential to slash intercontinental travel times could drive critical research into carbon-neutral methane production. This would be integral to making a viable long-haul alternative.

    At present, UK rocket companies Skyrora and Orbex are among those developing alternatives to traditional fuels. Skyrora is developing Ecosene, an aerospace grade kerosene made from unrecyclable plastic waste. Orbex’s Prime rocket will make use of a BioLPG derived from plant and vegetable waste.

    Both tackle different sustainability problems, but are unlikely to meet the performance demanded by larger Starship-class vehicles. Another promising alternative is nuclear-powered engines, but using them close to Earth will likely be fiercely resisted by environmental campaigners.

    In sum, we are in uncharted territory with landing second stages of rockets, but the general trend from 2012 to today indicates that such technical challenges are solvable. Doing so with crews will be even more challenging, but it does align with SpaceX’s mission to make humans multiplanetary. The same technology will be used to land humans safely on Mars, so developing it is probably inevitable.

    Uncrewed Starship launches to Mars are supposed to happen in 2026. Crewed Mars missions will follow, without the same landing-related regulations as would be required on Earth. I suspect crewed Earth-to-Earth transport will only be approved after humans have landed on Mars safely.

    If there’s one team that can’t be bet against turning visions into reality, it’s the SpaceX engineers who have been revolutionising launch vehicles for over ten years.

    Angadh Nanjangud 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. New York to Paris in 30 mins? How to achieve Elon Musk’s vision of rockets replacing long haul – https://theconversation.com/new-york-to-paris-in-30-mins-how-to-achieve-elon-musks-vision-of-rockets-replacing-long-haul-248181

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s vision of a peace deal for Ukraine is limited to a ceasefire – and it’s not even clear if Kyiv or Moscow are going to play ball

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham

    We are now well beyond the 24 hours that Donald Trump had promised it would take him to secure an end to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. But Trump’s first week since his inauguration on January 20, 2025, has nonetheless been a busy one regarding Ukraine.

    In his inauguration address, Trump only made a passing and indirect reference to Ukraine, criticising his predecessor Joe Biden of running “a government that has given unlimited funding to the defence of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders”.

    Trump’s first more substantive statement on Ukraine was a post on his TruthSocial network, threatening Russia taxes, tariffs and sanctions if his Russian counterpart doesn’t agree to make a deal soon. He reiterated this point on January 23 in comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that he “really would like to be able to meet with President Putin”.


    Donald Trump/Truth Social

    Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, had already backed Trump’s approach during his Senate confirmation hearing on January 16. Like Trump, Bessent specifically emphasised increasing sanctions on Russian oil companies “to levels that would bring the Russian Federation to the table”.

    The following day, Putin responded by saying that he and Trump should indeed meet to discuss Ukraine and oil prices. But this was far from a firm commitment to enter into negotiations, and particularly not with Ukraine.

    Putin alluded to an October 2022 decree by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, banning any negotiations with the Kremlin after Russia formally annexed four regions of Ukraine. Zelensky has since clarified that the decree applies to everyone but him, thus signalling that he would not stand in the way of opening direct talks with Russia.

    Yet, Putin is likely to continue playing for time. The most likely first step in a Trump-brokered deal will be a ceasefire freezing the line of contact at the time of agreement. With his forces still advancing on the ground in Ukraine, every day of fighting brings Putin additional territorial gains.

    Nor are there any signs of waning support from Russian allies. Few and far between as they may be, China, Iran and North Korea have been critical in sustaining the Kremlin’s war effort. Moscow now has added a treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran to the one it had sealed with North Korea in June 2024.

    Meanwhile, the Russia-China no-limits partnership of 2022, further deepened in 2023, shows no signs of weakening. And with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko winning a seventh consecutive term on January 26, Putin is unlikely to be too worried about additional US sanctions.

    Zelensky, like Putin, may play for time. Trump’s threat of sanctions against Russia is likely an indication of some level of frustration on the part of the US president that Putin seems less amenable to cutting a deal. Russia may continue to make territorial gains in eastern Ukraine, but it has not achieved any strategic breakthrough.

    War of attrition

    A significant increase in US military assistance to Ukraine since September 2024, as well as commitments from European allies, including the UK, have likely put Kyiv into a position that it can sustain its current defensive efforts through 2025.

    Ukraine may not be in a position to launch a major offensive but could continue to keep costs for Russia high. On the battlefield, these costs are estimated at 102 casualties per square kilometre of Ukrainian territory captured. Beyond the frontlines, Ukraine has also continued its drone campaign against targets inside Russia, especially the country’s oil infrastructure.

    This is not to say that Trump is going to fail in his efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine. But there is a big difference between a ceasefire and a sustainable peace agreement. And while a ceasefire, at some point, may be in both Russia’s and Ukraine’s interest, sustainable peace is much more difficult to achieve.

    Putin’s vision of total victory is as much an obstacle here as western reluctance to provide credible security guarantees for Ukraine.

    The two options most regularly raised: Nato membership for Ukraine or a western-led peacekeeping force that could act as a credible deterrent, both appear unrealistic at this point. It is certainly inconceivable that Europe could muster the 200,000 troops that Zelensky envisaged as a deployment in Ukraine to guarantee any deal with Putin. But a smaller force, led by the UK and France, might be possible.

    Kyiv and Moscow continue to be locked in a war of attrition and neither Putin nor Zelensky have blinked so far. It is not clear yet whether, and in which direction, Trump will tilt the balance and how this will affect either side’s willingness to submit to his deal-making efforts.

    So far, Trump’s moves are not a gamechanger. But this is the first serious attempt in nearly three years of war to forge a path towards an end of the fighting. It remains to be seen whether Trump, and everyone else, has the imagination and stamina to ensure that this path will ultimately lead to a just and secure peace for Ukraine.

    Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU’s Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

    – ref. Trump’s vision of a peace deal for Ukraine is limited to a ceasefire – and it’s not even clear if Kyiv or Moscow are going to play ball – https://theconversation.com/trumps-vision-of-a-peace-deal-for-ukraine-is-limited-to-a-ceasefire-and-its-not-even-clear-if-kyiv-or-moscow-are-going-to-play-ball-248319

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Suspected Baltic Sea cable sabotage by Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ is ramping up regional defence

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matthew Powell, Teaching Fellow in Strategic and Air Power Studies, University of Portsmouth

    Numerous incidents of suspected Russian-linked sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has seen tensions rise among nearby countries, and an increased Nato presence.

    In the latest incident, on January 26, the Swedish coast guard boarded a ship in the Baltic Sea on suspicion of anchor dragging and suspected sabotage of vital undersea cables providing power and communication across the region. Latvia also sent a warship to the incident to investigate damage to fibre-optic cables. The Bulgarian vessel is now under investigation. The owner of the ship has denied any involvement with sabotage.

    The nations along the Baltic Sea coast have become increasingly worried about suspected sabotage of their undersea infrastructure in recent months by vessels deliberately dragging their using anchors along the seabed and have started to station military vessels at sea every day.

    Critical undersea infrastructure can be easily damaged by anchor dragging. Russia has denied involvement in these incidents.

    But there have also been credible reports that Russia has actively been mapping undersea infrastructure.

    In response to rising concerns about infrastructure security, Nato increased its regional naval presence by launching the Baltic Sentry mission on January 14, which includes maritime patrol vessels.

    What’s the context?

    In recent months there have been several reports of damage being caused to undersea cables by vessels as they pass through the Baltic Sea. Attacks on undersea cables are comparable to traditional espionage and information operations . This is activity conducted at the level below that of warfare, designed to send certain signals to adversarial nations. The purpose could be to send a message that the capability exists to essentially cut off and isolate nations from the outside world.

    These cables are extremely valuable. They are used to transport gas, electricity and internet traffic between nations. And recent incidents have led to a reduction in the capacity of electricity that can be transported, although this has not yet caused widespread power outages. Another concern is that damage to internet cables can hold up the passage of information generated by the financial markets. This is particularly vulnerable due to its time-sensitive nature.


    PorcupenWorks/Shutterstock

    How can cables be protected?

    Protecting the cables is a challenging task. There is little that can physically be done to prevent other vessels crossing seas and oceans due to the concept of freedom of navigation of the high seas. And Russia has a right of passage for its ships, for example, from St Petersburg to the North Sea.

    Investigations into apparent threats can be conducted without actually seizing the vessel or impeding its progress in any way. This can done through the use of GPS tracking data and combining that with other evidence such as eye witness testimony.

    While these cables can get damaged through natural means, the targeting of them could be a way for a nation to operate against its adversaries in a more covert manner and below the threshold of armed conflict.

    The Finnish navy seized a ship suspected of involvement in sabotage.

    Much of the disruption to the traffic on these undersea cables is probably the result of accidental activity. But there have been concerns about greater activity by Russian military vessels in their attempts to map the Baltic sea floor. The most likely reason for the increased Russian sea mapping activity is to gain a greater understanding of the location of these cables. But it could be sending a message that this critical infrastructure is difficult to defend and vulnerable to attack and sabotage.

    Many merchant vessels are registered in overseas territories, and ownership can be hard to track. This gives a degree of plausible deniability over who may have ordered or overseen the operations that might have damaged cables.

    It makes it more challenging for action to be taken, but has given rise to accusations that these ships are acting as Russia’s “shadow fleet”.



    Read more:
    ‘Keep nine litres of water in storage’: how Baltic and Nordic countries are preparing for a crisis or war

    But this increased naval presence in the Baltic could act as a deterrent and provide greater security to the cables. Sweden has now boarded a vessel. But another obstacle here is that the nation where the vessel is registered is under absolutely no obligation to cooperate with any investigation.

    Other factors are also involved. The Baltic states and Finland have memories of the political control imposed upon them by the Soviet government prior to, and, in some cases, after the second world war, and this will be adding to the tension.

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased regional fears about what could happen next. Moscow may be hoping to deter the Baltic nations from continuing to provide the support they are giving to Ukraine by increasing pressure on them along the coast.

    But aggressive activity in the Baltic Sea may well have the opposite effect by ramping up concern about Russia’s power. It might also mean Baltic and Nordic countries are more willing to increase their defence spending and make preparations for possible military action.

    Matthew Powell 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. Suspected Baltic Sea cable sabotage by Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ is ramping up regional defence – https://theconversation.com/suspected-baltic-sea-cable-sabotage-by-russias-shadow-fleet-is-ramping-up-regional-defence-248241

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Death of Jason McKay following incident with generator

    Source: Traditional Unionist Voice – Northern Ireland

    Statement by TUV vice chairman Councillor Allister Kyle:

    “I’m absolutely devastated to hear the news of the tragic passing of Jason McKay. I knew Jason well. A dedicated member of Dunseverick LOL 528, I was pleased to see him elected and installed as their Deputy Master. Jason and I were about the same age and went through some of our degrees together in the Orange.

    “Jason got married last year and he lived just a few doors up from our family farm in Craigahulliar. A quiet, unassuming fella, Jason was a hard worker who was very family focused.

    “Jason was well known in the farming community and when he wasn’t helping his father’s building firm enjoyed working to a local agricultural contractor. He will be sorely missed by many not least his parents, wife Serena, their young family and wider family circle.

    “My thoughts and prayers are with Jason’s family, colleagues and friends.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Public Invited to Review Flood Maps in Montgomery County, MD

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Public Invited to Review Flood Maps in Montgomery County, MD

    Public Invited to Review Flood Maps in Montgomery County, MD

    PHILADELPHIA– FEMA is proposing updates to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Montgomery County, Maryland.  Community partners are invited to participate in a 90-day appeal and comment period. The 90-day appeal period began on Jan. 17, 2025.The updated maps were produced in coordination with local, state and FEMA officials. Significant community review of the maps has already taken place, but before the maps become final, community partners can identify any corrections or questions about the information provided and submit appeals or comments. Residents, business owners and other community partners are encouraged to review the updated maps to learn about local flood risks and potential future flood insurance requirements. They may submit an appeal if they perceive that modeling or data used to create the map is technically or scientifically incorrect.An appeal must include technical information, such as hydraulic or hydrologic data, to support the claim. Appeals cannot be based on the effects of proposed projects or projects started after the study is in progress.If property owners see incorrect information that does not change the flood hazard information—such as a missing or misspelled road name in the Special Flood Hazard Area or an incorrect corporate boundary—they can submit a written comment.The next step in the mapping process is the resolution of all comments and appeals. Once they are resolved, FEMA will notify communities of the effective date of the final maps.Submit appeals and comments by contacting your local floodplain administration staff:For the City of Gaithersburg: Nancy Schumm at nancy.schumm@gaithersburgmd.gov, 240-805-1327.For the City of Rockville: Meredith Neely by email at mneely@rockvillemd.gov, 240-314-8874.For Montgomery County and any other municipalities: Bill Musico by email at william.musico@montgomerycountymd.gov, 240-777-6340.Changes resulting from the new preliminary maps for Montgomery County can also be viewed online at the FEMA Region 3 Flood Map Changes Viewer. More information can also be found on Montgomery County’s website, including interactive flood data and frequently asked questions.For more information about the flood maps:Use a live chat service about flood maps at FEMA Mapping and Insurance eXchange (FMIX). Click on the “Live Chat” icon.Contact a FEMA Map Specialist by telephone; toll free, at 1-877-FEMA-MAP (1-877-336-2627) or by email at FEMA-FMIX@fema.dhs.gov. Most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover flooding. There are cost-saving options available for those newly mapped into a high-risk flood zone. Learn more about your flood insurance options by talking with your insurance agent and visiting https://www.floodsmart.gov.Montgomery County Flood Mapping MilestonesSept. 12, 2023 — Community Coordination and Outreach Meeting to review Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and discuss updates to local floodplain management ordinance and flood insurance.Feb. 2024 — Multiple Public Open House Meetings jointly hosted by Montgomery County and the Cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville.Jan. 17, 2025 — Appeal Period starts.Fall 2025* — Finalization of preliminary data following appeal resolutions and communities to commence ordinance adoption process. Spring 2026* — New Flood Insurance Rate Map becomes effective and flood insurance requirements take effect. *Timeline subject to change pending completion of the appeal review process.If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Region 3 Office of External Affairs at femar3newsdesk@fema.dhs.gov. ###FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters. FEMA Region 3’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.Follow us on “X” at twitter.com/femaregion3 and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/femaregion3
    erika.osullivan
    Mon, 01/27/2025 – 18:30

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Jersey Return Preparer Charged with Preparing False Tax Returns and Obstructing the IRS

    Source: United States Attorneys General 4

    An indictment was unsealed last week charging a New Jersey return preparer with preparing and filing 55 false income tax returns on behalf of clients and obstructing the IRS.

    According to the indictment, from at least 2018 through 2023, Christopher Demba, of Hillsborough, owned and operated Demba & Associates CPA LLC, a return preparation business. Demba allegedly prepared returns for clients that claimed false deductions, credit carryforwards or fraudulently recategorized income to claim expenses that would otherwise be disallowed. The indictment further alleges that Demba obstructed the IRS by providing false working papers to IRS personnel in an attempt to justify some of the claims made on returns he prepared for clients. 

    If convicted, Demba faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

    IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

    Trial Attorneys Mark McDonald and Alexis Hughes of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: D. Boral Capital Served as Co-manager to U.S. Energy Corp. (Nasdaq: USEG) in connection with its up to $12.1 Million Public Offering

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: USEG, “U.S. Energy” or the “Company”) announced today the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 4,871,400 shares of its common stock, which includes 635,400 shares sold pursuant to the exercise in full by the underwriters of their over-allotment option, par value $0.01 per share, at a public offering price of $2.65 per share, for total net proceeds, after underwriting commissions, of approximately $12.1 million.

    U.S. Energy plans to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund growth capital for its industrial gas development project, including new industrial gas wells and processing plant and equipment, and to support upcoming operations. The proceeds received by the Company from the exercise of the over-allotment option may be utilized to purchase shares of common stock from Sage Road Capital, LLC, a related party, or its affiliates at a price equal to the net offering price received by the Company.

    Roth Capital Partners acted as sole book-running manager for the offering. Johnson Rice & Company and D. Boral Capital acted as co-managers for the offering. The Loev Law Firm, PC represented the Company and K&L Gates LLP represented the underwriters in the offering.

    The offering is being made pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3, including a base prospectus, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and became effective on September 15, 2022. The prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained by sending a request to: Roth Capital Partners, LLC, 888 San Clemente Drive, Suite 400, Newport Beach, CA 92660, (800) 678-9147, email at rothecm@roth.com.

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the shares of common stock or any other securities, nor shall there be any sale of such shares of common stock or any other securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

    ABOUT U.S. ENERGY CORP.

    We are a growth company focused on consolidating high-quality assets in the United States with the potential to optimize production and generate free cash flow through low-risk development while maintaining an attractive shareholder returns program. We are committed to being a leader in reducing our carbon footprint in the areas in which we operate. More information about U.S. Energy Corp. can be found at www.usnrg.com.

    Contact Us:

    D. Boral Capital
    590 Madison Avenue, 39th Floor
    New York, NY 10022
    Main Phone: +1 (212) 970-5150
    www.dboralcapital.com
    info@dboralcapital.com

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    Certain of the matters discussed in this communication which are not statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Words such as “strategy,” “expects,” “continues,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “would,” “will,” “estimates,” “intends,” “projects,” “goals,” “targets” and other words of similar meaning are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. Important factors that may cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: (1) the expected use of proceeds, including, but not limited to the repurchase of certain shares of common stock; (2) the ability of the Company to grow and manage growth profitably and retain its key employees; (3) risks associated with the integration of recently acquired assets; (4) the Company’s ability to comply with the terms of its senior credit facilities; (5) the ability of the Company to retain and hire key personnel; (6) the business, economic and political conditions in the markets in which the Company operates; (7) the volatility of oil and natural gas prices; (8) the Company’s success in discovering, estimating, developing and replacing oil, natural gas and helium reserves; (9) risks of the Company’s operations not being profitable or generating sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations; (10) risks relating to the future price of oil, natural gas, NGLs and helium; (11) risks related to the status and availability of oil, natural gas and helium gathering, transportation, and storage facilities; (12) risks related to changes in the legal and regulatory environment governing the oil, gas and helium industry, and new or amended environmental legislation and regulatory initiatives; (13) risks relating to crude oil production quotas or other actions that might be imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producing countries; (14) technological advancements; (15) changing economic, regulatory and political environments in the markets in which the Company operates; (16) general domestic and international economic, market and political conditions, including the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the global response to such conflict; (17) actions of competitors or regulators; (18) the potential disruption or interruption of the Company’s operations due to war, accidents, political events, severe weather, cyber threats, terrorist acts, or other natural or human causes beyond the Company’s control; (19) pandemics, governmental responses thereto, economic downturns and possible recessions caused thereby; (20) inflationary risks and recent changes in inflation and interest rates, and the risks of recessions and economic downturns caused thereby or by efforts to reduce inflation; (21) risks related to military conflicts in oil producing countries; (22) changes in economic conditions; limitations in the availability of, and costs of, supplies, materials, contractors and services that may delay the drilling or completion of wells or make such wells more expensive; (23) the amount and timing of future development costs; (24) the availability and demand for alternative energy sources; (25) regulatory changes, including those related to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions; (26) uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of oil, natural gas and helium reserves and projecting future rates of production and timing of development activities; (27) risks relating to the lack of capital available on acceptable terms to finance the Company’s continued growth, potential future sales of debt or equity and dilution caused thereby; (28) the review and evaluation of potential strategic transactions and their impact on stockholder value and the process by which the Company engages in evaluation of strategic transactions; and (29) other risk factors included from time to time in documents U.S. Energy files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other important factors that may cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements included in this communication are described in the Company’s publicly filed reports, including, but not limited to, the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and future annual reports and quarterly reports. These reports and filings are available at www.sec.gov. Unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on the Company’s future results.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: CareCloud Achieves Record-Breaking Shareholder Turnout and Record Yes Votes to Approve Increase in Authorized Shares

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SOMERSET, N.J., Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CareCloud, Inc. (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: CCLD, CCLDO, CCLDP), a leading provider of healthcare technology and generative AI solutions for medical practices and health systems nationwide, today held its special meeting (“Special Meeting”) of CareCloud’s common stock shareholders. At the Special Meeting, a record-breaking 10.8 million shareholders, representing 85% of the votes cast, approved an amendment to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to increase the Company’s authorized shares of common stock from 35 million to 85 million shares.

    “We thank our shareholders for their overwhelming support of our proposal,” said Stephen Snyder, Co-Chief Executive Officer of CareCloud.

    The detailed voting results are reflected in the Form 8-K to be filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Certain information contained in this press release is a summary of relevant portions of the Definitive Proxy Statement and other materials filed with the SEC. The entirety of the filings is available on the SEC’s website and on https://ir.carecloud.com/common-stock-special-proxy.

    About CareCloud

    CareCloud brings disciplined innovation to the business of healthcare. Our suite of AI and technology-enabled solutions helps clients increase financial and operational performance, streamline clinical workflows and improve the patient experience. More than 40,000 providers count on CareCloud to help them improve patient care, while reducing administrative burdens and operating costs. Learn more about our products and services, including revenue cycle management (RCM), practice management (PM), electronic health records (EHR), business intelligence, patient experience management (PXM) and digital health at www.carecloud.com.

    To listen to video presentations by CareCloud’s management team, read recent press releases and view our latest investor presentation, please visit ir.carecloud.com.

    Follow CareCloud on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains various forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to anticipated future events, future results of operations or future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “shall,” “should,” “could,” “intends,” “expects,” “plans,” “goals,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “possible,” “potential,” “target,” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.

    Our operations involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, and any one of which, or a combination of which, could materially affect our results of operations and whether the forward-looking statements ultimately prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements reflecting management’s expectations for future financial performance and operating expenditures, expected growth, profitability and business outlook, the impact of pandemics on our financial performance and business activities, and the expected results from the integration of our acquisitions.

    These forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are only predictions, are uncertain and involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our (or our industry’s) actual results, levels of activity or performance to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity or performance expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of the risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements, including without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company’s ability to manage growth, migrate newly acquired customers and retain new and existing customers, maintain cost-effective global operations, increase operational efficiency and reduce operating costs, predict and properly adjust to changes in reimbursement and other industry regulations and trends, retain the services of key personnel, develop new technologies, upgrade and adapt legacy and acquired technologies to work with evolving industry standards, compete with other companies’ products and services competitive with ours, and other important risks and uncertainties referenced and discussed under the heading titled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, even if subsequently made available by the Company on its website or otherwise. The Company does not assume any obligations to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

    SOURCE CareCloud

    Company Contact:
    Norman Roth
    Interim Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Controller
    CareCloud, Inc.
    nroth@carecloud.com

    Investor Contact:

    Stephen Snyder
    Co-CEO
    CareCloud, Inc.
    ir@carecloud.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall joins NewsNation: The Hill to Discuss President Trump’s First Week in Office

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. joined NewsNation: The Hill to discuss President Trump’s first week in office, promises made and promises kept, and Cabinet confirmation hearings, including RFK. Jr who will be testifying this week in front of both the Finance Committee and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senator Marshall sits on both committees, and has been an advocate for RFK Jr. and Making America Health Again.
    You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview. 
    Highlights from Senator Marshall’s interview include:
    On Trump’s Removal of Inspectors General: 
    “First of all, remind everybody President Reagan did basically the same thing. Look, these inspector generals have lost their way, and this is part of President Trump’s promises made, promises kept. He said he was going to drain the swamp over the past several years, record amounts of improper payments from the federal government – $250 billion of improper payments. The inspector generals have turned from a watchdog into somebody who’s protecting the agency. So he’s cleaning house, he’s starting over, and I think it’s a great move.” 
    “There are some really good people there, right? But I think when you sit there trying to sort out the good guys from the bad guys, sometimes you have to let them all go, and then, like President Reagan, maybe you rehire some of them as well, but we’ll get the reports eventually. But we need people working for the American people, not for the agency.”
    On RFK Jr. Path Forward for Confirmation: 
    “Farmers and ranchers, just like Bobby Kennedy and myself, want America to be healthy again, and they’re all in. I think that Bobby would share with you is that the farmers and ranchers are indeed the heroes. I think that Bobby recognizes that 90% of rural America supported President Trump. Every time I see President Trump, the first thing he asks me is, Roger, how are your farmers and ranchers doing.”
    “We’re already doing so many of the things that Bobby is talking about. Precision agriculture is not a dream anymore, that we are growing more with less. We’re growing more food with less fertilizers, with less pesticides. Soil health we’re embracing, that nobody more than sorghum is in the sorghum industry… We’re doing regenerative soil practices already.”
    “Last point I’ll make is this- President Trump ran on two things, I think. He ran on making America more prosperous, and then on security. And one of the things he said is grocery prices, so we can’t do anything that’s inflationary. So we got to thread this needle. We need more innovation, but we don’t need inflation. And you know, my job is to help bridge that gap, and I’m just all in with Bobby to help Make America Healthy Again. 60% of Americans with a chronic disease right now, and I think a lot of that’s impacted by what they eat and the toxins exposed to.”
    “I think Bobby, like myself, believes in the sanctity of the relationship between the patient and the doctor, and I want to make sure that we provide the mom, whether it’s my daughter or my daughter in law… We want to make sure that they have the right information, and I don’t think the CDC has done a good job on providing us that information… mostly there’s not enough transparency around it. A little common sense is going to go a long way. And I think Bobby Kennedy will thread the needle… I think the priority will be nutrition and the toxins that we are exposed to.”
    “I think what you’re going to hear Bobby say is the President’s policies are my policies. Bobby and I don’t agree on everything, but we agree that we want to Make America Healthy Again. We share the same goals. He’s a game changer. I think that, and more importantly, is this, there is an army, a groundswell of people out there that are supporting him.”
    On Kansas Troops Deployed to Southern Border:
    “So I’m very grateful for those people that volunteered to wear the uniform, realizing that the southern border is a national security issue, if anybody understands and appreciates their families. I served my dad, served my brother, served my son is serving. I appreciate them, and some 300 soldiers are going to be going to that border.” 
    “But what I’m upset about is this summer, 3,000 soldiers from Fort Riley are going to Europe next year, another 5,000 soldiers from Fort Riley going to Europe. Why do we need 100,000 soldiers from the United States in Europe?”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Crapo Urges Senate Colleagues to Support Scott Bessent to be Treasury Secretary

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo
    Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered remarks on the Senate Floor urging his Senate colleagues to support Scott Bessent to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

    As delivered:
    “Thank you, Mr. President.
    “In about an hour or so, we are going to vote on cloture on the nomination for Scott Bessett to be the Treasury Secretary of the United States, and I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this motion.
    “A Treasury Secretary heads the agency charged with supporting economic growth, representing U.S. interests before foreign nations and global financial markets and organizations, managing the federal treasury and overseeing financial institutions, to name just a few of those important responsibilities. 
    “Past successful Treasury Secretaries have understood business and financial markets, as well as foreign policy, national security, budgets and regulation.
    “Mr. Bessent’s impressive background positions him for similar success.  He has worked for the last three decades as one of the sharpest minds in the global financial industry.  He has decades of academic, professional and leadership experience relevant to these positions.
    “When it comes to Mr. Bessent qualifications, there is no room for debate.  His background and training are tailor made for the for this role, and he has the demeanor and character to be an effective secretary.  His powerful presentation at his hearing about his desire to serve in government in order to make a meaningful difference was impressive to all.
    “It includes restoring prosperity and opportunity that our nation experienced during President Trump’s first term in office.  As Mr. Bessent stated, accomplishing key tasks like extending vital tax cuts for all Americans is literally a pass/fail exercise, and I look forward to working closely with him to ensure that we succeed.
    “I strongly agree with a sentiment my colleague Senator Graham shared at the nomination hearing that if qualifications – and I might add, character – are one’s test, voting to confirm Mr. Bessent is one of the easiest we could ever take. 
    “In prior congresses, I’ve joined with many of my Republican colleagues in voting for well-qualified Treasury Secretary candidates put forward by a Democrat president, even though I didn’t agree with all of the positions they advocated.  Mr. Bessent’s candidacy ought to enjoy similar support, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join with me in advancing his nomination.
    “He is the right person for this job, and I commend President Trump, in making such an excellent selection.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján, Hawley Reintroduce RECA to Give Nuclear Radiation Victims Compensation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), along with Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) reintroduced the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act to compensate Americans exposed to radiation by government nuclear programs. 
    Despite the Senate passing this bill, the House of Representatives failed to pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) reauthorization before its expiration deadline in the 118th Congress.  
    “In New Mexico and across the country, thousands sacrificed to contribute to our national security. Today, individuals affected by nuclear weapons testing, downwind radiation exposure, and uranium mining are still waiting to receive the justice they are owed,” said Senator Luján. “It is unacceptable that so many who have gotten sick from radiation exposure have been denied compensation by Congress. Despite having passed RECA legislation twice through the Senate with broad bipartisan support, and securing the support of the previous administration, I was disheartened that Speaker Johnson refused a vote on RECA to help victims. This Congress, I am proud to partner with Senator Hawley again to extend and expand RECA. RECA is a bipartisan priority and I am hopeful that we will once again get it through the Senate and hope the Speaker commits to getting victims the compensation they are owed.”
    “The time to reauthorize RECA is now. The Senate has done this twice before and must do it again. For far too long, Missourians and others across America have suffered without compensation from their government. It is vital that we unite to pass this legislation now, and that the President sign it into law,” said Senator Hawley.  
    Since being elected to Congress, Senator Luján has played a leading role in advancing legislation to strengthen the RECA program. He has introduced RECA legislation in every Congress since being elected in 2008.
    In 2023, Senator Luján led a bipartisan coalition of Senators to pass RECA as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – the most significant Congressional action in decades to strengthen the program. Republican leadership ultimately blocked its inclusion in the final NDAA bill despite bipartisan support. 
    In March 2024, the Senate passed Senator Luján’s legislation to extend and expand the RECA program with strong bipartisan support. This included support from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
    After RECA legislation passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support, Senator Lujánled a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately act to pass RECA. 
    After months of inaction by Speaker Johnson, Senator Luján held a bipartisan, bicameral press conference in September 2024 with RECA advocates, urging Speaker Johnson to allow a vote on the Senate-passed RECA legislation.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Storm Éowyn recovery

    Source: Scottish Government

    Impacts continue to be felt.

    The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGORR) met this afternoon to hear about further progress to reconnect power and reopen rail lines and schools following Storm Éowyn.

    It heard:

    • 5,900 properties are without power, with the vast majority expected to be reconnected in the course of today or tomorrow
    • Network Rail has restored enough infrastructure to allow around 75% of services to resume, and is working at pace to open up the remaining lines
    • At least two schools are confirmed to be closed tomorrow

    Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Constance said:

    “Three days after the worst of Storm Éowyn, we can see how the sheer scale of the damage continues to impact Scotland’s return to normal. I want to thank everyone who is playing their part, day and night, to get services back up and running.

    “Utilities companies are working as fast as possible, in often challenging in weather conditions, and have reconnected over 280,000 properties. Around 5,900 properties are still without power and companies are in touch with those households to estimate restoration times and offer welfare or other support.

    “While trunk roads and ferries are largely operating as normal, the railway continues to recover and Network Rail has experienced over 500 incidents. ScotRail were scheduled to operate 50% of services today but this has increased to around 73% over the course of today. We can however expect continued disruption on some lines to last until later this week, so I would ask passengers to be patient and check ScotRail and Network Rail information before they travel. 

    “A very small number of schools will be closed tomorrow and relevant councils will be in touch with parents and pupils where appropriate.”

    Background 

    SGoRR was chaired by Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Constance and attended by Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, Rural Affairs and Islands Secretary Mairi Gougeon and Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity Jim Fairlie. They were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, SEPA, transport and utilities companies and resilience partners.

    Met Office weather warnings are available on the Met Office website. 

    Flood alerts are issued by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and can be viewed on their website. 

    Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Speech: PM speech at Holocaust Memorial Day UK National Ceremony: 27 January 2025

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

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a speech at the Holocaust Memorial Day UK National Ceremony today.

    Earlier this month, my wife and I were in Block 27 of Auschwitz searching for members of her family in the Book of Names. It was harrowing.

    We turned page after page after page just to find the first letter of a name. It gave me an overwhelming sense of the sheer scale of this industrialised murder.

    And every one of those names, like the names we were looking for – was an individual person. Someone’s mother, father, brother, sister brutally murdered, simply because they were Jewish.

    Last week I met Renee Salt and Arek Hersh who somehow survived but whose loved ones were among those victims. I was humbled by their courage to speak of being in that place. I felt waves of revulsion at the depravity they described, at the cynicism.

    People told to bring their belongings like the piles of pots and pans I saw myself. The commandant living next door bringing up his family, the normalisation of murder, like it was just another day’s work.

    In Auschwitz, I saw photographs of Nazi guards standing with Jewish prisoners staring at the camera – completely indifferent – and in one case, even smiling. It showed more powerfully than ever how the Holocaust was a collective endeavour by thousands of ordinary individuals utterly consumed by the hatred of difference.

    And that is the hatred we stand against today, and it is a collective endeavour for all of us to defeat it.

    We start by remembering the six million Jewish victims and by defending the truth against anyone who would deny it. So we will have a National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to speak this truth for eternity. 

    But as we remember, we must also act. Because we say never again, but where was never again in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, or the acts of genocide against Yazidi.

    Today, we have to make those words mean more. So we will make Holocaust education a truly national endeavour.

    We will ensure all schools teach it and seek to give every young person the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony. Because by learning from survivors like Renee and Arek we can develop that empathy for others and that appreciation of our common humanity, which is the ultimate way to defeat the hatred of difference.

    As I left Block 27, I saw the words of Primo Levi. It happened, it can happen again: that is the warning of the Holocaust to all of us.

    And it’s why it is a duty for all of us to make “never again” finally mean what it says: Never again.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 January 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: On International Day, Secretary-General Urges Fight against ‘Spreading Cancer of Holocaust Denial’

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly on the Observance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, in New York today:

    It is an honour to be here with you.  I am humbled to have Holocaust survivors and their families with us today.

    Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that more than a year has passed since the appalling 7 October 2023 terror attacks by Hamas.  We welcome, at long last, the ceasefire and hostage-release deal.  The deal offers hope, as well as much needed relief.  We will do our utmost to ensure it leads to the release of all hostages. Since the beginning, we have asked for the unconditional immediate release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

    Every year on this day, we come together to mark the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  We mourn the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, as they sought to destroy an entire people.

    We grieve the Roma and Sinti also targeted for genocide, the people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people and all those enslaved, persecuted, tortured and killed.  We stand alongside victims, survivors and their families.

    And we renew our resolve never to forget:  Never to forget the atrocities that so “outraged the conscience” of humankind.  And never to forget their putrid foundations:  millennia of antisemitic hate — manifest in marginalization, discrimination, expulsions and murder.

    This year, our commemoration marks a milestone.  Eighty years ago, the Holocaust ended.  And our efforts began to keep the terrible truth alive; building on the work of those who chronicled Nazi atrocities as they were perpetrated around them — and against them.

    The courage of survivors in telling their stories has played an enormous role.  We are deeply grateful to them all.  But, the responsibility belongs to every one of us.  Remembrance is not only a moral act.  Remembrance is a call to action.

    To allow the Holocaust to fade from memory would dishonour the past and betray the future.  The extraordinary Auschwitz survivor, Primo Levi — who bore witness to all he had seen and endured — urged us to carve the knowledge into our hearts.  And we must.

    To know the history of the Holocaust is to know the depths to which humanity can sink.  It is to understand how the Nazis were able to commit their heinous crimes, with the complicity of others.  And it is to comprehend our solemn duty to speak up against hate, to stand up for the human rights of all and to make those rights a reality.

    Following the hell of the Holocaust, countries came together: They created the United Nations and our Charter 80 years ago — affirming the worth of every human person; they adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide — for which we owe a debt of gratitude to the Polish Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin; and they established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — the foundation of all international human rights law.

    As one of the drafters, Lebanese diplomat and intellectual, Charles Malik, said, the Declaration was:  “…inspired by opposition to the barbarous doctrines of Nazism and fascism.”

    The dignity of every member of our human family is enshrined in that document, which draws from traditions around the world.  It is a pure expression of our shared humanity. And in dark times it remains a shining light.

    Today, our world is fractured and dangerous.  Eighty years since the Holocaust’s end, antisemitism is still with us — fuelled by the same lies and loathing that made the Nazi genocide possible.

    And it is rising.  Discrimination is rife.  Hatred is being stirred up across the globe.  One of the clearest and most troubling examples is the spreading cancer of Holocaust denial.  Indisputable historical facts are being distorted, diminished and dismissed.

    Efforts are being made to recast and rehabilitate Nazis and their collaborators.  We must stand up to these outrages.  We must promote education, combat lies and speak the truth.

    And we must condemn antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears — as we must condemn all forms of racism, prejudice and religious bigotry which we see proliferating today.  Because we know these evils wither our morality, corrode our compassion and seek to blind us to suffering — opening the door to atrocities.

    The United Nations has long worked to combat antisemitism, through a wide range of activities, including our Holocaust Outreach programmes. And we recently launched our Action Plan on Antisemitism, recommending the ways the United Nations system can further enhance those efforts.

    In these days of division, it is all the more important — that we hold fast to our common humanity and renew our resolve to defend the dignity and human rights of all.

    Every one of us has a duty.  The history of the Holocaust shows us what can happen when people choose not to see and not to act.  And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prescribes that:  “Every individual and every organ of society […] shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms.”

    Each of us must answer that call:  denounce lies, resist hate and ensure our common humanity overcomes division.  These causes are at the very core of the United Nations.  We will never forget.  And we will never waver in that fight.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: “Something is very wrong in our society and economy” – NZCTU Workforce Survey shows people fear for future

    Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

    Insecurity in work, housing, and health among working people has emerged as the key finding from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi’s 2025 annual Mood of the Workforce survey.

    NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff says the survey, which polled more than 1900 people, shows immense concern that the Government is taking Aotearoa New Zealand in the wrong direction.

    “We’ve been running this survey since 2019, and I have never seen such a negative response. People are in fear for their jobs and their businesses, their ability to keep their homes, and for their health,” said Wagstaff.

    “They also don’t trust this Government to make it better because they are feeling firsthand the damage that’s been done with austerity policies that are only benefiting an already privileged few.

    “The message that the Government has no interest in helping working people, who are the majority of New Zealanders, is coming through strongly in people’s comments on the tax system, the health system, and their work.

    “People are sharing stories of losing their jobs or struggling to cover the work of colleagues who have already lost their jobs. These are heartbreaking to hear. But so are the stories of families being broken up as people’s kids leave the country to find better job prospects, or of parents having to act as a safety net for their adult children. These children have been hit hardest by the recent downturns, and an unfair and unforgiving housing market.

    “A consistent theme is an overwhelming sense that something is very wrong, both in our society and with the economy.

    “We’ve seen that at a statistical level in things like the recent Curia polling which showed people feel we are on the wrong track as a nation, but the results from our workforce survey give a close up and troubling picture of what that means in people’s lives.

    “My great concern is that rather than admit that their policy direction is hurting people and damaging our economy, the Government is doubling down on it in their recent announcements.

    “Whether that’s because of the Government’s arrogance or because they live in a bubble of privilege and don’t understand the damage they are doing is immaterial. People want a change of direction and to see things done a different and better way.

    “Any politician or political party that ignores working people and their communities does so at their peril,” said Wagstaff.

    View the results

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal Court Orders Lions of Forex and Owner to Pay $685,000 For Foreign Currency Fraud

    Source: US Commodity Futures Trading Commission

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the Southern District of Florida entered orders of default final judgement against Roberto Pulido aka Berto Delvanicci and his company, Lions of Forex LLC, both of Miami, Florida.
    The orders stem from the CFTC’s complaint filed Sept. 28, 2023, charging Pulido with fraudulently soliciting at least four clients to trade leveraged or margined retail off-exchange foreign currency (forex) and charging LOF with aiding and abetting Pulido’s fraudulent scheme [See CFTC Press Release No. 8795-23].
    Under the terms of the orders, the defendants are required to pay, jointly and severally, approximately $172,000 in restitution to defrauded clients and over $516,000 in civil monetary penalties. The court’s decision also permanently enjoins the defendants from engaging in conduct that violates the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged, and permanently bans them from registering with the CFTC and from trading in any CFTC-regulated markets. The orders resolve the CFTC’s lawsuit against both defendants.
    Case Background
    The orders filed Nov. 13, 2024, find from approximately January 2019 to March 2021, Pulido, aided by LOF, fraudulently solicited clients to trade leveraged or margined retail off-exchange forex on their behalf. Several clients subscribed to a retail forex signals trading service LOF offered that would send signals to buy or sell retail forex for a monthly fee, and, for a higher monthly fee, offered live one-on-one training with Pulido. LOF offered this signals trading service through its website which touted Pulido as a “seven-figure trader.” Pulido, in various social media platforms claimed significant profits trading retail forex. After prospective clients were identified through LOF’s signals subscriptions, Pulido made various material misrepresentations and omissions to the clients, including falsely representing they would earn guaranteed monthly profits by having Pulido use his discretion to trade retail forex on their behalf, and clients could withdraw their funds at any time. However, Pulido failed to pay the promised monthly returns and when clients requested their funds, he did not return a significant portion of the clients’ funds.
    The orders also find LOF aided Pulido’s fraud by, among other things, receiving client funds into its own bank accounts; allowing Pulido to use the accounts in connection with his fraudulent scheme; touting Pulido’s supposed trading expertise on the LOF website; and using the LOF email address to communicate with clients whom Pulido defrauded.   
    The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission, and the Financial Services Authority of St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
    The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action include Elizabeth C. Brennan, David MacGregor, Lenel Hickson, Manal S. Sultan and former staff member Steven I. Ringer.   
    CFTC’s Commodity Fraud Advisory
    The CFTC has issued several customer protection fraud advisories that provide the warning signs of fraud, including the Foreign Currency (Forex) Trading Fraud Advisory, to help customers identify this sort of scam.
    The CFTC strongly urges the public to verify a company’s registration with the Commission at NFA BASIC before committing funds. If unregistered, a customer should be wary of providing funds to that entity
    Suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, should be reported to the Division of Enforcement via a Toll-Free Hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382) or file a tip or complaint online or contact the CFTC Whistleblower Office.  Whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected paid from the CFTC Customer Protection Fund financed through monetary sanctions and paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Indianapolis Man Sentenced to Over Six Years in Federal Prison for Armed Carjacking of U.S. Postal Service Truck

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    INDIANAPOLIS— Robert Powell, 23, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 79 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to robbery of mail.

    According to court documents, on the morning of June 15, 2022, a United States Postal Service worker was in a Postal truck delivering mail at an apartment complex in Avon. At approximately 10:15 a.m., Powell approached the postal worker on foot, wearing a mask over his face and displaying a firearm. Powell ordered the carjacking victim to get out of the truck and leave her belongings inside.

    Powell stole the truck and drove it out of the apartment complex at a high rate of speed for about a mile before pulling over to meet with another person waiting in a Mazda 6 sedan. Another letter carrier in the area saw the victim’s mail truck speed by and noticed that something was amiss. The second letter carrier followed the stolen truck and saw Powell and the other individual take mail and parcels from the postal truck and put them in the Mazda. The pair noticed the second mail truck and fled the scene, leaving the stolen postal vehicle behind as the second carrier called 911.

    As the investigation continued, U.S. Postal Inspectors located Powell’s Facebook account, “Syko Bob.” On this account, Powell regularly solicited bank account information from other users, in furtherance of a type of fraud called card cracking, even going as far as attempting to recruit a USPS mail carrier into his scheme. Card cracking is deceptive practice where scammers convince individuals to share their bank account information, so the scammer can use their account to deposit fraudulent checks or other financial instruments. Scammers obtain these stolen checks by either stealing mail (as Powell did in this case) or purchasing stolen checks from other criminals. The scammer then alters the stolen checks, deposits them into the other individual’s account, and withdraws the funds as quickly as possible, sometimes splitting the profit with the account holder.

    “This criminal chose to threaten the life of a letter carrier at gun point, engaging in gun violence to facilitate the fraud scheme he perpetrated against countless victims. Fortunately, the letter carrier was not physically harmed, but the lasting trauma he inflicted is palpable,” said John E. Childress, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Letter carriers should not have to live in fear of gun violence simply for doing their jobs. Americans should not have to fear that their important financial documents will be stolen and exploited by fraudsters who wreak financial havoc. The serious federal prison sentence in this case demonstrates that there will be serious consequences for violence against public servants and fraud against the public. I commend the Postal Inspection Service, the Avon Police Department, and our federal prosecutor for their commitment to seeking justice for letter carriers and the public who depend upon them.”

    “As postal inspectors, we are committed to ensuring the safety of USPS employees and the sanctity and security of the mail. Thanks to the hard work of our inspectors and the Avon Police Department, Mr. Powell can no longer threaten these,” said Inspector in Charge Rodney Hopkins. “I would also like to extend my appreciation to AUSA Massa for ensuring justice was served in this case.”

    The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Avon Police Department investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Childress thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey L. Massa, who prosecuted this case.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Owners of Florida Labor-Staffing Companies Sentenced for Tax and Immigration Fraud and Money Laundering

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Two Ukrainian nationals who were extradited from the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States in September 2024 were sentenced today on charges related to labor-staffing companies they operated in Florida. Oleg Oliynyk and Oleksandr Yurchyk were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

    According to court documents, Oliynyk, Yurchyk and others owned and operated a series of labor-staffing companies in South Florida — including Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning LLC, Tropical City Services LLC and Tropical City Group LLC — from at least April 2008 and August 2021. Through these staffing companies, Oliynyk, Yurchyk and co-defendants Oleksandr Morgunov, Mykhaylo Chugay and Volodymyr Ogorodnychuk facilitated the employment of non-resident aliens in the hospitality industry who were not authorized to work in the United States and helped evade the assessment and collection of more than $25 million of federal income and employment taxes.

    In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez ordered Oliynyk and Yurchyk to each serve three years of supervised release, pay $10,863,233.05 in restitution to the United States and to forfeit $11 million.

    Oliynyk and Yurchyk are the latest defendants sentenced as part of Operation RoomKey, a joint criminal investigation initiative led by the Tax Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

    Co-defendant Chugay, was convicted at trial in June 2022, and was sentenced in August 2022 to more than 24 years in prison. Co-defendants Morgunov and Ogorodnychuk each pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 96 months in prison and 48 months in prison, respectively.

    In March 2022, Mikus Berzins, former City of Key West Police Officer Igor Kasyanenko, Roman Riabov and Andrejs Kozlovs each pleaded guilty to their crimes in the operation of the labor staffing company, Phoenix ADB Services Inc. (Phoenix ADB), which, according to court records, facilitated the employment of aliens without work authorization.

    In May 2022, the court sentenced Igor Kasyanenko and Riabov to 22 months and 18 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the tax and immigration conspiracy. The court also sentenced Berzins and Kozlovs to 28 months and 12 months in prison, respectively, for knowingly hiring ten or more aliens who were not authorized to work in the United States. Later, in September 2023, Nataliya Vasylivna Kasyanenko, a former housekeeping manager at a large Key West hotel, was sentenced for participating in the tax and immigration conspiracy related to the operation of Phoenix ADB.

    Batyr Myatiev, the owner and operator of two labor staffing companies, AmeriHos LLC and Golden Sands Management LLC, pleaded guilty in March 2023 and was sentenced in June 2023 to 32 months in prison. According to court records, Myatiev’s labor staffing companies caused a tax loss to the United States of more than $3.5 million and facilitated the employment of aliens without work authorization.

    In July 2023, Eka Samadashvili and Davit Pavliashvili were sentenced for their respective roles in the operation of several labor staffing companies, including PSEB Services JD Inc., Paradise Hospitality Solutions LLC, Paradise Hospitality Group LLC, Paradise Hospitality Inc. and HBSM Corp. According to court records, these labor staffing companies caused a tax loss to the United States of more than $8.4 million and facilitated the employment of non-resident aliens in hotels, bars and restaurants in Key West and elsewhere who were not authorized to work in the United States.

    Finally, in March 2024, Petr Sutka was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in operating a series of labor staffing companies — including PSEB Specialty Service Inc., Perfect Service Excellent Benefits Services Inc., Starline Hospitality Inc., Norbert Janitorial Service Inc., E.S.F. Services Inc. and Expert Services F.S. Inc. — which, according to court records, caused a tax loss to the United States of more than $3.5 million and facilitated the employment of aliens without work authorization. In April 2024, Sutka’s co-defendants, Zdenek Strnad and Vasil Khatiashvili, were each sentenced to more than three years, respectively, for their roles in the tax and immigration conspiracy.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Michael S. Davis for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

    HSI and IRS-CI are investigating the case.

    Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft, Matthew C. Hicks and Wilson Rae Stamm of the Tax Division and Senior Litigation Counsel Chris Clark for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM speech at Holocaust Memorial Day UK National Ceremony: 27 January 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a speech at the Holocaust Memorial Day UK National Ceremony today.

    Earlier this month, my wife and I were in Block 27 of Auschwitz searching for members of her family in the Book of Names. It was harrowing.

    We turned page after page after page just to find the first letter of a name. It gave me an overwhelming sense of the sheer scale of this industrialised murder.

    And every one of those names, like the names we were looking for – was an individual person. Someone’s mother, father, brother, sister brutally murdered, simply because they were Jewish.

    Last week I met Renee Salt and Arek Hersh who somehow survived but whose loved ones were among those victims. I was humbled by their courage to speak of being in that place. I felt waves of revulsion at the depravity they described, at the cynicism.

    People told to bring their belongings like the piles of pots and pans I saw myself. The commandant living next door bringing up his family, the normalisation of murder, like it was just another day’s work.

    In Auschwitz, I saw photographs of Nazi guards standing with Jewish prisoners staring at the camera – completely indifferent – and in one case, even smiling. It showed more powerfully than ever how the Holocaust was a collective endeavour by thousands of ordinary individuals utterly consumed by the hatred of difference.

    And that is the hatred we stand against today, and it is a collective endeavour for all of us to defeat it.

    We start by remembering the six million Jewish victims and by defending the truth against anyone who would deny it. So we will have a National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to speak this truth for eternity. 

    But as we remember, we must also act. Because we say never again, but where was never again in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, or the acts of genocide against Yazidi.

    Today, we have to make those words mean more. So we will make Holocaust education a truly national endeavour.

    We will ensure all schools teach it and seek to give every young person the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony. Because by learning from survivors like Renee and Arek we can develop that empathy for others and that appreciation of our common humanity, which is the ultimate way to defeat the hatred of difference.

    As I left Block 27, I saw the words of Primo Levi. It happened, it can happen again: that is the warning of the Holocaust to all of us.

    And it’s why it is a duty for all of us to make “never again” finally mean what it says: Never again.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 January 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on pause on US foreign Assistance

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The Secretary-General notes with concern the announcement of a pause in US foreign assistance. 

    The Secretary-General calls for additional exemptions to be considered to ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities around the world, whose lives and livelihoods depend on this support.

    The Secretary-General looks forward to engaging with the new United States administration on the provision of much needed development support to people grappling with the most difficult challenges confronting the developing world. The United States is one of the largest aid providers and it is vital that we work constructively to jointly shape a strategic path forward.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: ‘LA Dank DMV’ Crew Leader Sentenced for Sophisticated High-Grade Marijuana Distribution Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    The Crew Was Armed with Machine Guns and Mass Marketed on 3 Dedicated Websites and Social Media Platforms

                WASHINGTON –Abubakr Banire, 27, of Washington D.C, was sentenced today to 111 months in prison for leading the “LA Dank DMV Crew,” a sophisticated drug trafficking conspiracy that was responsible for bringing hundreds of pounds of high-grade marijuana from California to the metropolitan area, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

                Banire, aka “Swave,” pleaded guilty on September 29, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute marijuana; unlawful possession of a machine gun; unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

                In addition to the 111-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Banire to serve three years of supervised release. As part of Banire’s guilty plea, he admitted to operating as a leader of the drug distribution conspiracy.

               As part of their distribution scheme, members of the crew relied heavily on mass marketing through three dedicated LA Dank websites, as well as social media platforms like Instagram where individual crew members would advertise the LA Dank brand and LA Dank branded marijuana for sale. Crew members also used rental properties to set up stash houses or points of sale that were used to conduct drug distribution operations for a short period of time before moving on to different locations. 

               The crew is known, and was found to possess numerous firearms, including semi-automatic and fully automatic machine guns, and devices used to convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns. Certain members of the crew also plead guilty to the possession of firearms in furtherance of their drug trafficking operations. In total, approximately 122 pounds of marijuana, 19 firearms, and 10 machine gun conversion devices were recovered.  Three of these nineteen firearms were discovered to be operational machine guns that had been modified with machinegun conversion devices. Seven of these machine gun conversion devices were found in an “LA Dank” branded bag. Two of these firearms were privately made AR-pistol style machine guns, sometimes referred to as “ghost guns.”

               Ledgers and receipts show that the crew trafficked well over 100 kilograms of marijuana into the DMV area for distribution.

               This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department, Prince George’s County Police Department, and Anne Arundel County Police Department.

     

    LA DANK DMV

    		  

    Defendant

    		  

    Sentence
    Abubakr Banire, aka “Swave,” of Los Angeles, CA Pleaded guilty September 29, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute marijuana; unlawful possession of a machine gun; unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Sentenced Jan. 27, 2025, to 111 months in federal prison.
    Christopher Akinduro aka “Oshay,” of Upper Marlboro, MD Pleaded guilty October 3, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilos or more of marijuana. Sentenced Jan. 17. 2024, to 74 months in federal prison.
    Issac Akinduro, aka “Black,” of Washington D.C. Pleaded guilty October 11, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilos or more of marijuana. Sentenced March 14, 2024, to 41 months in federal prison.
    Kavon Duncan, aka “Babyk,” of Upper Marlboro, MD Pleaded guilty October 3, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilos or more of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Sentenced Jan 26, 2024, to 71 months in federal prison.
    Avery Bost, aka “Avenue” and “Left,” of Brandywine, MD Pleaded guilty October 27, 2023, to possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Sentenced May 22, 2024, to 37 months in federal prison.
    Joe Blyther, aka “Hawk,” of Bowie, MD Pleaded guilty November 8, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute marijuana; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense; possession of a machine gun; and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. Sentenced May 22, 2024, to 120 months in federal prison.
    Randall Lance, aka “Mike Lambo,” of Washington D.C. Pleaded guilty May 23, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. Sentenced Oct. 10, 2023, to 63 months in federal prison.
    Omar Butler, aka “O,” of Washington D.C. Pleaded guilty Nov. 3, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Sentenced March 4, 2024, to 18 months in federal prison.

                This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin F. Song and Meredith E. Mayer-Dempsey of the Federal Major Crimes Section and Thomas Strong of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

    22cr83

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Nigerian Man Extradited to the U.S. After Being Indicted for Sextortion Scheme that Caused Death of S.C. Teen

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal (luh-wall), 24, of Osun State, Nigeria, has been extradited to the United States from Nigeria to face prosecution in a partially unsealed indictment for the sextortion of a South Carolina minor, which led to the victim’s death.

    This investigation was launched after Gavin Guffey, a 17-year-old from Rock Hill, died by suicide in July 2022 after being victimized by Lawal’s scheme. Lawal allegedly posed as a young woman on social media and coerced the teen into sending compromising photos. He then extorted and sent harassing messages to the teen threatening to leak the photos and ruin his reputation unless the teen sent him money. Lawal later did the same to members of his family.

    The five-count federal indictment charges Lawal with child exploitation resulting in death, the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking resulting in death, interstate threats with intent to extort, and aiding/abetting. In addition to victimizing the teen in every count, the indictment alleges Lawal targeted the minor victim’s family in the stalking and extortion charges.

    Lawal faces up to life in prison, and mandatory minimum prison sentences on multiple counts. The child exploitation resulting in death count carries a mandatory 30-year sentence. He also faces mandatory restitution, where the court may order Lawal to pay for losses incurred by the family as a result of his scheme.

    The indictment was returned by a federal Grand Jury in South Carolina in October 2023. On Jan. 24, following extradition proceedings in Nigeria, agents with the FBI Columbia Field Office took custody of Lawal in Lagos, Nigeria and executed the removal with assistance from Nigerian law enforcement.

    “We will not allow predators who target our children to hide behind a keyboard or across the ocean. Today we honor Gavin’s life and continue our fight against sextortion by holding this defendant accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs for the District of Columbia. “This investigation and extradition are the result of tremendous law enforcement coordination both in the United State and Nigeria. We’re grateful to the many agencies who helped make this day possible.”

    “This indictment represents the culmination of countless hours of dedicated work done by our investigators both here and abroad,” said Steve Jensen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “The defendant’s alleged actions are reprehensible resulting in the tragic loss of a young man’s life. We remain steadfast in our commitment to holding criminals accountable, especially those who target our children and endanger their lives, no matter where they are.”

    U.S. Attorney Boroughs and SAC Jensen thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA), and U.S State Department for their help in facilitating the arrest and extradition of Lawal.

    Nigerian law enforcement provided critical assistance in the identification, investigation, arrest, and extradition of Lawal. U.S. Attorney Boroughs and SAC Jensen extend their appreciation and thanks to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Attorney General’s Office – Ministry of Justice, and all other involved Nigerian authorities for their important partnership in this case.

    This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor’s offices, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force (ICAC), federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood work to educate local communities about the dangers of online child exploitation, and to teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit the following website: www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Individuals with information or concerns about possible child exploitation should contact local law enforcement officials.

    If someone you know is being victimized by sextortion, please report to local law enforcement and to the FBI. Learn more about sextortion and find resources for parents, caregivers, and teachers.

    The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Section and International Operations Division, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the York County Sheriff’s Office. 

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliott B. Daniels, Lothrop Morris, and Michael Shedd are prosecuting the case. 

    All charges in the indictment are merely accusations and that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Eight Defendants Arrested on Federal Grand Jury Indictment Alleging Large-Scale Smuggling Scheme from China through L.A.-Area Ports

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – Federal law enforcement has arrested eight defendants charged in an indictment alleging a conspiracy among logistic companies’ executives, warehouse owners and truck drivers to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit and other illegal goods from China into the United States via the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Justice Department announced today.

    The 15-count indictment, returned last month and unsealed Friday, charges nine defendants with conspiracy, smuggling and breaking customs seals. The defendants allegedly took containers flagged for off-site secondary inspection, unloaded the contraband, then stuffed the targeted containers with filler cargo to deceive customs officials and evade law enforcement.

    During the investigation into this group, investigators seized more than $130 million in contraband, and the organization is believed to be responsible for smuggling at least $200 million worth of goods. According to the indictment, a search of one warehouse used by the group led to the seizure in June 2024 of $20 million worth of counterfeit items including shoes, perfume, luxury handbags, apparel and watches.

    Seven defendants were arrested Friday, an eighth was taken into custody Saturday evening, and one defendant is a fugitive. The seven arrested last week were arraigned Friday in United States District Court, where each pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. A trial date was scheduled for March 18. The eighth defendant, who was arrested on unrelated state charges, is expected to be arraigned in federal court in the coming days.

    “Secure seaports and borders are critical to our national security,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “The smuggling of huge amounts of contraband from China through our nation’s largest port hurts American businesses and consumers. The charges and arrests here demonstrate our commitment to enforce our customs laws and keep the American public safe.”     

    “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles and its partners are committed to enforcing customs laws and practices, facilitating legitimate trade, and protecting the integrity of the nation’s supply chain,” said HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang. “The $1.3 billion dollars’ worth of contraband seized during the investigation into this type of scheme illuminates how complex smuggling schemes try to exploit our legitimate trade practices and the American consumer.”

    The 15-count indictment details a conspiracy to coordinate the shipment of large quantities of contraband from China to the United States through the Port of Los Angeles from at least August 2023 to June 2024. The defendants charged are:

    • Weijun Zheng, 57, a.k.a. “Sonic,” of Diamond Bar, the lone fugitive in the case, who controls several logistics companies operating in the Los Angeles area;
    • Hexi Wang, 32, of El Monte, who manages K&P International Logistics LLC, a City of Industry-based company that hires commercial truckers to transport shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles;
    • Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, of Irvine, the owner of K&P International Logistics LLC and who managed the finances of one of the warehouses where contraband was unloaded and issued payments to truck drivers who transported smuggled goods;
    • Dong “Liam” Lin, 31, of Hacienda Heights, who – along with Zheng – controlled and operated one of the contraband warehouses;
    • Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, of West Covina, the owner and operator of Fannum Trucks LLC, a West Covina-based company that coordinated the movement of shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles, including large shipments of contraband smuggled into the United States from China;
    • Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, of Apple Valley, a driver for M4 Transportation Inc., a Carson-based company that transports shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles;
    • Jesse James Rosales, 41, of Apple Valley, who coordinated truckers from the ports to warehouses;
    • Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, of Hacienda Heights, worked with Rosales to bring cargo containers from the Port of Los Angeles to warehouses; and
    • Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, of Ontario, directed and managed truck drivers to bring the contraband into the warehouses.

    According to the indictment, Zheng, Wang, Liu and others maintained and operated warehouses to store, conceal and sell large amounts of contraband goods that were illegally imported into the United States from China. When the contraband containers were selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for inspection, the defendants hired commercial truck drivers to transport the containers from the Port of Los Angeles to locations that the conspirators controlled, including warehouses in the City of Industry that were controlled or managed by Zheng, Wang and others.

    At these locations, co-conspirators broke the security seals on the shipping containers and removed the contraband from inside. Then, they affixed counterfeit security seals onto the containers to conceal that cargo had been removed from them. Zheng, Wang and others then directed co-conspirators to transport the containers – after they had been emptied of much of their original cargo and re-secured with counterfeit seals – to CBP-authorized locations for the remaining cargo to be presented to customs officials for inspection.

    Zheng, Wang, Liu and others paid fees to co-conspirators, including Gomez and Castillo Perez, that were substantially above normal trucking fees to transport the contraband shipping containers.

    To date, law enforcement has seized more than $1.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods associated with this and similar seal-swapping schemes.

    “It was a team of CBP agriculture specialists assigned to the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport who in 2023, during a routine examination of a container made the initial discovery,” said Cheryl Davies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles. “This case attests to their unwavering vigilance, upmost professionalism, and keen focus in protecting the integrity of lawful trade, a key component of our critical national security mission.”

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each conspiracy count, up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of breaking customs seals, and up to 20 years in prison for each smuggling count.

    Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Coast Guard Investigative Services are investigating this matter.

    This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. 

    Assistant United States Attorneys Colin S. Scott and Amanda B. Elbogen of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section are prosecuting this matter.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: For me, cricket is maybe the only thing that could possibly come close to watching the Excel World Champ on ESPN!

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: For me, cricket is maybe the only thing that could possibly come close to watching the Excel World Champ on ESPN!

    Dear Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Because I have been waiting for help from Microsoft for months, I try here : Can you explain to me why is there not true customer support and why is there only one way to try to change our forgotten password by a form (and the answer is always “Informations don’t match.” or “You don’t give enought informations.”) ? Then, we could talk about cricket because I like it too.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Jevons paradox strikes again! As AI gets more efficient and accessible, we will see its use skyrocket, turning it into a commodity we just can’t get enough of.

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Jevons paradox strikes again! As AI gets more efficient and accessible, we will see its use skyrocket, turning it into a commodity we just can’t get enough of.

    The Jevons Paradox certainly raises an interesting point about AI. As AI becomes more efficient and cost-effective, it could indeed lead to increased demand, driving up overall resource consumption. This is similar to how improved fuel efficiency in cars can lead to more driving, offsetting some of the initial gains. However, it’s important to consider that AI’s efficiency gains can also lead to: Ultimately, the extent to which the Jevons Paradox applies to AI will depend on various factors, including the specific applications of AI, the pace of technological advancement, and the development of policies that promote sustainable AI practices.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s remarks at the United Nations Memorial Ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust [as delivered]

    Source: United Nations – English

    t is an honour to be here with you.

     
    I am humbled to have Holocaust survivors and their families with us today.
     
    Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that more than a year has passed since the appalling 7th October terror attacks by Hamas.
     
    We welcome, at long last, the ceasefire and hostage release deal.
     
    The deal offers hope, as well as much needed relief.
     
    We will do our utmost to ensure it leads to the release of all hostages.  Since the beginning, we have asked for the unconditional immediate release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
     
    Dear Friends,
     
    Every year on this day, we come together to mark the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
     
    We mourn the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, as they sought to destroy an entire people.
     
    We grieve the Roma and Sinti also targeted for genocide, the people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people, and all those enslaved, persecuted, tortured, and killed. 
     
    We stand alongside victims, survivors and their families. 
     
    And we renew our resolve never to forget:
     
    Never to forget the atrocities that so “outraged the conscience” of humankind.
     
    And never to forget their putrid foundations: millennia of antisemitic hate – manifest in marginalisation, discrimination, expulsions, and murder.
     
    Dear Friends,
     
    This year, our commemoration marks a milestone.
     
    80 years ago, the Holocaust ended.
     
    And our efforts began to keep the terrible truth alive; building on the work of those who chronicled Nazi atrocities as they were perpetrated around them – and against them.
     
    The courage of survivors in telling their stories has played an enormous role.
     
    We are deeply grateful to them all. 
     
    But the responsibility belongs to every one of us.
     
    Remembrance is not only a moral act. Remembrance is a call to action.
     
    To allow the Holocaust to fade from memory would dishonour the past and betray the future.
     
    The extraordinary Auschwitz survivor, Primo Levi – who bore witness to all he had seen and endured – urged us to carve the knowledge into our hearts.
     
    And we must.
     
    To know the history of the Holocaust is to know the depths to which humanity can sink.
     
    It is to understand how the Nazis were able to commit their heinous crimes, with the complicity of others.
     
    And it is to comprehend our solemn duty to speak-up against hate, to stand-up for the human rights of all, and to make those rights a reality.
     
    Dear Friends,
     
    Following the hell of the Holocaust, countries came together:
     
    They created the United Nations and our Charter 80 years ago – affirming the worth of every human person…
     
    They adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – for which we owe a debt of gratitude to the Polish Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin…
     
    And they established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the foundation of all international human rights law.
     
    As one of the drafters, Lebanese diplomat and intellectual, Charles Malik, said, the Declaration was:
     
    “…Inspired by opposition to the barbarous doctrines of Nazism and fascism.”
     
    The dignity of every member of our human family is enshrined in that document, which draws from traditions around the world.
     
    It is a pure expression of our shared humanity.
     
    And in dark times it remains a shining light.
     
    Dear Friends,
     
    Today, our world is fractured and dangerous.
     
    Eighty years since the Holocaust’s end, antisemitism is still with us – fuelled by the same lies and loathing that made the Nazi genocide possible.
     
    And it is rising.
     
    Discrimination is rife.
     
    Hatred is being stirred-up across the globe.
     
    One of the clearest and most troubling examples is the spreading cancer of Holocaust denial.
     
    Indisputable historical facts are being distorted, diminished, and dismissed.
     
    Efforts are being made to recast and rehabilitate Nazis and their collaborators. 
     
    We must stand up to these outrages.
     
    We must promote education, combat lies, and speak the truth.
     
    And we must condemn antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears – as we must condemn all forms of racism, prejudice and religious bigotry which we see proliferating today.
     
    Because we know these evils wither our morality, corrode our compassion, and seek to blind us to suffering – opening the door to atrocities.
     
    The United Nations has long worked to combat antisemitism, through a wide range of activities, including our Holocaust Outreach programs.
     
    And we recently launched our Action Plan on antisemitism, recommending the ways the United Nations System can further enhance those efforts.  
     
    In these days of division it is all the more important – that we hold fast to our common humanity… 
     
    And renew our resolve to defend the dignity and human rights of all.
     
    Every one of us has a duty.
     
    The history of the Holocaust shows us what can happen when people choose not to see and not to act.
     
    And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prescribes that:
     
    “…every individual and every organ of society… shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms…”
     
    Each of us must answer that call: denounce lies; resist hate; and ensure our common humanity overcomes division.  
     
    These causes are at the very core of the United Nations.
     
    We will never forget. And we will never waver in that fight.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Read Senator Welch’s Op-Ed in The New York Times: “Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    BURLINGTON, VT – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) this morning published an opinion in the New York Times entitled: “Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.”  
    In the Guest Essay, Senator Welch outlined why President Trump’s actions to undermine and potentially dissolve FEMA are misguided—but also commits to working with the President to improve the agency’s broken long-term recovery process, which needs serious reform. Following Vermont’s catastrophic floods of July 2023 and July 2024, flood-impacted families and communities have struggled with red tape and frustrating bureaucracy. Bipartisan reform is necessary.    
    Read Senator Welch’s essay and view an excerpt below:  
    Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It. By U.S. Senator Peter Welch Published January 27, 2025, by the New York Times 
    My state of Vermont is still recovering from two catastrophic floods in the past two years. That’s why I agree with President Trump that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is broken and needs serious reform if it is to meet local communities’ long-term recovery needs. 
    But to do away with it completely would be a disaster for red and blue states alike. 
    On Friday, while visiting victims of September’s Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, Mr. Trump said he was considering “getting rid of FEMA.” He now reportedly plans to sign an executive order as a step toward reshaping FEMA, which could eliminate the agency. 
    Read Senator Welch’s full opinion piece in the New York Times. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Vermont Congressional Delegation and Governor Scott Announce $3.8 Million in Northern Border Regional Commission Grants for Vermont Communities

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    MONTPELIER, VT – Today, the Vermont Congressional Delegation, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Representative Becca Balint (VT-At Large), along with Vermont Governor Phil Scott and the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) announced the recipients of the NBRC’s Fall 2024 Catalyst Program and Forest Economy Program Awards. Seven projects in Vermont will receive a cumulative $3.88 million in funding, which will support projects including early childhood education, a new surplus crop processing center and food hub, and rural health care clinic upgrades. 
    Established in 2008, the NBRC is a Federal-State partnership in northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York designed to stimulate economic growth and inspire collaboration to improve rural economic vitality across the four-state NBRC region. NBRC encourages projects that take a creative approach to accomplishing those goals. 
    “The Northern Border Regional Commission plays a major role in fostering long-term economic development in communities across Vermont. These new investments from the NBRC will support seven projects that benefit folks in every corner of the Green Mountain State–from building new child care centers to making energy-efficient upgrades to purchasing new classroom supplies,” said the Vermont Congressional Delegation. “We’ll continue to work alongside state and local partners to support the growth and success of rural communities in Vermont.” 
    “These infrastructure, economic and community development projects make important investments across Vermont,” said Governor Scott. “These projects will help revitalize our rural communities and I want to thank our Congressional Delegation for their support.” 
    When evaluating potential projects, the Catalyst Program considers project readiness, economic impacts, impacts on Vermont’s skilled workforce, project location, regional input and priorities, and the project’s transformational nature. Awarded projects in the 2024 Catalyst Fall Competition will help pay for start-up costs—including classroom supplies and furniture for the Orange County Parent Child Center—implement new energy-efficient facilities at the Carlos G. Otis Health Care Center, transform a vacant facility into a child care center in the Northeast Kingdom, expand water and sewer infrastructure throughout the Town of Essex, and more.   
     The 2024 Catalyst Fall Competition Awardees include:  
    Carlos G. Otis Heath Care Center (Windham County) – $1,000,000:  
    Replace two aging, inefficient structures with a new energy-efficient facility that will increase patient privacy and enhance accessibility.  
    Orange County Parent Child Center (Orange County) – $379,124.82:  
    Funding for furniture, playground equipment and classroom supplies, as well as start-up operations costs towards launching the early childhood education program.  
    Northeast Kingdom Community Action (Essex County) – $62,888:  
    Convert a facility previously utilized as a health clinic into a childcare center providing 8 to 10 new Early Childhood Education spots.  
    Salvation Farms (Lamoille County) – $469,621.30:  
    Establish a 6,100 square foot Surplus Crop Processing Center & Food Hub.  
    Town of Essex (Chittenden County) – $500,000:  
    Planning and design to support the expansion of water and sewer infrastructure throughout the Essex Town Center area where proposed municipal facilities, fire station, library, and community space are planned.  
    Vermont Council on Rural Development (Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor Counties) – $472,192.28:  
    Provide 9 rural communities with targeted, holistic capacity building services and support for long term economic development success. This project will scale up services to meet the overwhelming demand for facilitated community-led prioritization, technical assistance, leadership coaching, and resource guiding. 
    Read more from NBRC here.  Pre-applications for the 2025 Catalyst Program are due February 28. 

    MIL OSI USA News –