NewzIntel.com

Category: United States of America

  • MIL-OSI Security: United States Unseals Civil Action Filed Against Approximately $2M in Digital Currency Involved in Hamas Fundraising

    Source: United States Attorneys General 7

    The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia today announced the unsealing of a civil forfeiture action against approximately $2 million dollars in digital currency held by Tether Limited (Tether) and Binance Holdings LTD (Binance) accounts connected with Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company (BuyCash), a Gaza-based money transfer business that was involved in financially supporting Hamas – a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) – as well as its agents and collaborators.

    “Terrorist organizations like Hamas and their affiliates rely on shadowy financial networks to fund their deadly operations,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “By seizing millions in cryptocurrency, the Justice Department is aggressively dismantling the financial infrastructure of terrorism and refusing to allow our digital currency platforms to become safe havens for terrorist financing.”

    “The forfeiture action executed today is an example of how diligently our office works to prevent any actions from taking place that support foreign terrorist organizations,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Colombia. “Our partnership with other law enforcement agencies strengthens us to uphold the safety of the American people from entities that threaten the security of our citizens.”

    “The forfeiture action unsealed today demonstrates that no matter what lengths terrorism financers take to obscure their illegal transactions, the FBI will aggressively disrupt the transmission of illicit proceeds intended to support designated terrorist organizations like Hamas,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office.

    BuyCash, and one of its owners, Ahmed M. M. Alaqad, have been suspected of supporting various terrorist organizations including Hamas, ISIS, Al-Qaida affiliates and others. After the October 2023 attacks on Israel, BuyCash and Alaqad were designated as having materially supported Hamas under Executive Order 13224 by the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). Since 2017, BuyCash and Alaqad have supported several foreign terrorist organizations. In 2017, BuyCash was used for the procurement of large quantities of online infrastructure on behalf of ISIS. In September 2019, BuyCash was used to receive funds from a known Al-Qaida affiliate. In 2019, law enforcement identified various instances where BuyCash, with the direct support of Alaqad, directly aided in the transfer of fiat currency to known individuals and entities in support of Hamas. In June 2021, Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terrorist Financing seized various digital currency accounts connected to Hamas and the Izz-al-Din Qassam Brigades, including one involving BuyCash.

    The complaint describes a detailed scheme whereby users utilized BuyCash to fund accounts held by Tether and Binance to obfuscate their financial support of international terrorist organizations, including Hamas. Before and after the October 2023 attacks, one account was reported to have received at least $4 million to support Hamas.

    The government’s forfeiture action targets multiple accounts previously seized from Tether and Binance connected to BuyCash and removed approximately $2 million dollars from streams of funds supporting international terrorism.

    A civil forfeiture complaint contains mere allegations. The burden to prove forfeitability in a civil forfeiture proceeding is upon the government.

    The FBI Washington D.C. Field Office is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rajbir S. Datta and Thomas Saunders for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Allison Ickovic of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Deputy Chief Alicia Cook of the National Security Division. Critical assistance was provided by Paralegal Specialists Brian Rickers, Gina Torres, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.  

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Peters Leads Colleagues in Urging FAA to Expedite Delivery of Federal Resources for Michigan Airports

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) led a bipartisan group of his Senate colleagues in urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expedite the disbursement of grant funding that helps upgrade airport infrastructure and makes air travel more efficient. In a letter to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, Peters expressed the importance of investments from both the Airport Improvement Plan (AIP) and Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) programs, which provide formula-based funding awards to nearly 3,300 public-use airports across the nation, including Michigan’s 18 commercial airports and nearly 70 additional public use airports across the state. Despite these investments being made annually, funding is often not available to airports until late June or July, which impacts some airports’ ability to fully leverage these investments.  

    “For small airports with limited resources and in states with truncated construction seasons due to severe weather, this delay poses significant challenges,” the senators wrote. “It results in project cancellations, increased costs, and makes each federal dollar less effective.”

    The Senators went on to highlight the role that airports play in stimulating economic growth and job creation, arguing that more timely investments from AIP and AIG would help improve economic development initiatives in communities across the country.

    The Senators continued: “Small and large airports alike are also critical arteries for interstate commerce, tourism travel, and local economic growth. Recent reports show U.S. commercial airports supported 12.8 million jobs and produced $1.8 trillion in economic output in 2024 and general aviation supported over 1.3 million jobs and $339.2 billion in total economic output in the U.S. We all have a vested interest in reducing red tape and maximizing the effectiveness of AIP and AIG entitlement funds. Doing so would ensure airports can deliver projects without unnecessary delays or cost escalations and provide greater benefits to the constituents we all serve.” 

    The letter is supported by the Michigan Department of Transportation, National Association of State Aviation Officials, the American Association of Airport Executives, and the Transportation Construction Coalition.

    The full text of the letter can be found here.

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Introduces Bipartisan, Bicameral Bills to Eliminate Burn Pits and Help Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) this week introduced the Waste and Illegal Property Eradication (WIPE) Act and the Health Records Enhancement Act, bipartisan, bicameral bills that would improve, expand, and enhance protections for veterans under the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT) Act in addition to eliminating burn pits to help prevent future toxic exposure cases. U.S. Representatives Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) introduced companion legislation for both bills in the House. U.S. Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24) is a cosponsor of the Health Records Enhancement Act in the House. 
    The WIPE Act is cosponsored by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and would improve servicemember health and strengthen national security by improving how the U.S. military eliminates dangerous materials both at home and overseas. This legislation invests in safer disposal systems for the future by replacing outdated and harmful waste disposal practices with modern, secure alternatives and will incur no increase in overall defense spending by offsetting the same amount from funds allocated for current open-air waste disposals in contingency operations. The WIPE Act’s provisions prohibiting the use of open-air burn pits and use of the disposal systems were included in the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26).  
    The Health Records Enhancement Act will improve data collection on burn pit and toxic substance exposure by allowing family members to provide the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense to with vital health data and observations of health conditions related to toxic exposure for designated individuals or deceased veterans. 
    “When we passed the PACT Act, we took a major step forward to ensure the cost of the war will include the cost of caring for the warrior. But we can—and must—do more to address the risk burn pits and other toxic substances pose for our veterans,” said Senator Welch. “These bills will improve protections for veterans exposed to toxic substances and invest in waste disposal alternatives that will eliminate burn pits. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan group in introducing these essential, common-sense bills.”  
    “Our servicemembers make extraordinary sacrifices to defend our nation, and we owe it to them to ensure they are not exposed to unnecessary harm while serving,” said Senator Tillis. “These commonsense bills allow us to invest in safer, more secure waste disposal systems to eliminate the use of toxic burn pits and improve data collection on burn pit exposure to better protect the health of our troops and veterans.” 
    “As an emergency medicine physician and founder of the bipartisan Burn Pits Caucus, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating health consequences toxic exposure has had on our servicemembers. The WIPE Act and Health Registry Enhancement Act take urgent, practical steps to eliminate burn pits and strengthen protections for veterans who have already suffered too much. These bipartisan bills are about accountability, prevention, and doing right by the men and women who sacrificed for our country. We must ensure no generation of veterans is ever again left to suffer from toxic exposure,” said Representative Dr. Ruiz. 
    “Exposure to toxic emissions from burn pit toxins has led to tragic consequences for far too many members of our military community.  We owe it to our heroes to transition to safer, more sustainable waste management technologies,” said Representative Bilirakis.  “We have a moral obligation to explore ways to protect public health, reduce environmental harm, and fulfill our responsibility to those impacted by outdated and dangerous disposal practices. Our bill is an important step in the right direction.” 
    Senator Welch has championed efforts to limit toxic substance exposure among veterans in the Senate, including supporting legislation to educate servicemembers on the impact of burn pits and other airborne hazards and improve data collection on veterans affected by toxic exposure. Last year, Senator Welch introduced the bicameral Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry 2.0 Act, which passed as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and the bipartisan Burn Pit Elimination Act, both bills that would improve protections for veterans under the PACT Act and prevent future toxic exposure cases.   
    Last Congress, a bipartisan amendment led by Sens. Welch, Tillis, and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) requiring the VA to conduct a review on mortality and toxic exposure data for veterans who served in Kosovo passed with bipartisan support in the Senate. Senator Welch also cosponsored the Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act, Reducing Exposure to Burn Pits Act, and Toxic Exposure Education for Servicemembers Act, bills that build on the PACT Act to provide increased support for veterans exposed to burn pits, improve data collection on burn pit and toxic substance exposure, and help mitigate future toxic substance exposure for servicemembers. 
    Learn more about the WIPE Act and read the full text of the bill. 
    Learn more about the Health Records Enhancement Act and read the full text of the bill. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NREL and Google Host Artificial Intelligence Hackathon To Tackle Data Center Energy Challenges

    Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    Experts Explore Potential of Google AI Tools To Mitigate Potential Energy Limits for Quick Growth of US Data Centers

    NREL and Google teamed up to host a hackathon, bringing together leading researchers from nine U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to explore and leverage Google’s generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language model tools to address an array of critical challenges related to energy limitations for U.S. data centers.

    Overcoming these challenges is critical to enable scaling for future technologies while ensuring energy reliability and affordability.

    According to Google’s AI definition, fittingly, a hackathon is a collaborative event where people with diverse skills, often programmers and designers, come together to work intensively on a specific project, typically within a short time frame.

    The original idea for the hackathon emerged out of discussions with Google’s public sector team and NREL’s computational science team.

    “Both groups were interested in exposing scientists to some of the latest and greatest AI models to test out what they’re really capable of, but both groups also wanted a targeted application,” said Ray Grout, director of the computational science center at NREL. “Exploring data center energy challenges was a natural fit given the growing demand of energy for AI, and the interest in the topic for the labs and Google.”

    Roughly 50 top minds, including six NREL computational and data scientists, participated in the two-day event, which took place June 17–18 in Washington, D.C. Participants engaged in hands-on experimentation, applying cutting-edge AI capabilities to real-world problems in geospatial analytics, energy systems, data center optimization, and digital-twin development. The hackathon provided a unique platform for participants to directly engage with Google’s AI tools, particularly Gemini, and explore their applicability to a diverse range of scientific and engineering problems.

    The hackathon brought together leading researchers from across DOE’s national laboratories to explore and leverage Google’s generative AI tools. Photo from Beth Hartman, Google

    Google’s AI platform includes several tools that enable researchers to accelerate and expand their work overall. Among the tools are Agentspace and its included agents like Idea Generation and Deep Research. Idea Generation, an agent premade by Google, has the goal of helping with innovation and problem-solving for enterprise users by combining advanced AI with a unique tournament-style competition framework to generate and rank ideas. Deep Research enables researchers to gather, analyze, and understand internal and external information.

    Other tools help improve operational efficiency, allowing researchers to inform their work by more quickly finding resources across labs and agencies. Finally, many tools address specific use cases like geospatial reasoning, population dynamics, and weather forecasting. For example, one demonstration that the Google geospatial team showed at the hackathon used geospatial reasoning and weather forecasting for predicting grid outages. Google teams represented at the hackathon included Google Public Sector, DeepMind, Google Research, and Climate Ops.

    Google’s geospatial reasoning team developed a demo for the hackathon showing outage predictions based on weather forecasting models. Image from Beth Hartman, Google

    “Google was honored to partner with NREL and work with so many DOE labs at this collaborative event,” said Regiuel Days, account executive for federal science and research at Google. “These critical research institutions provide our country with essential insights into key issues such as grid resilience, energy security, and data center optimization. Combined with Google’s data and cutting-edge AI models, we can work together to more quickly find solutions to the big challenges we face.”

    Hackathon Experience and Outcomes

    The hackathon successfully demonstrated the potential of generative AI in accelerating research, automating complex tasks, and generating novel insights.

    During the two-day event, experts teamed up to collaborate and explore the various identified challenges. Some participants focused on geospatial analytics, leveraging Gemini to process and interpret spatial data. Other researchers utilized Gemini’s code-generation and debugging capabilities, while others found Gemini valuable for in-depth research and brainstorming.

    Hackathon participants engaged in collaborative, hands-on experimentation, applying cutting-edge AI capabilities to real-world problems. Photo from Beth Hartman, Google

    NREL’s Gabriel Steenberg was one of several researchers to explore specialized problems. Steenberg explored the Population Dynamics Foundation model to predict power grid behavior, feeding it county-level data to see if it could predict interconnections in other counties. Other laboratories with staff in person at the event included Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Jefferson Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Oakridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.

    The labs explored solutions such as using Vertex AI and Google Earth Engine to better understand data-center load balancing, real-time water data, and cybersecurity. Through these topic explorations, Google gained insights into how national laboratories envision using their AI tools, especially concerning specialized applications like geospatial reasoning, digital twins, and autonomous engineering.

    The hackathon served as a valuable collaborative step, fostering innovation and providing crucial insights into the evolving landscape of generative AI for scientific research. The event generated robust discussion, shared learning, and discoveries and identified opportunities for future follow-on events.

    “We have so many experts across the national labs working on energy challenges, and Google has so many experts developing and deploying AI solutions. This was a great way to get everyone in the same room to figure out what we can do already and where there is more work to be done,” Grout said.

    “Throughout this interactive, guided exploration of Google’s AI models and tools, we learned a tremendous amount about what types of challenges the labs are focused on solving,” said Beth Hartman, Google’s industry executive for federal science and research. “This helps us to better understand how we can help more specifically. Going forward, we are focused on providing the labs with increased access to the models that best support their work. We are also planning to host more hackathons in partnership with the labs and will continue to invite all 17 DOE labs to participate. Stay tuned!”

    Learn more about NREL’s computational science and AI research.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Dr. Matthew Kauffman Receives Aldo Leopold Conservation Award

    Source: US Geological Survey

    In 2012, Matt co-founded (and now directs) the Wyoming Migration Initiative (migrationinitiative.org), whose mission is to advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Wyoming’s migratory ungulates. He teaches graduate seminars in quantitative analysis of spatial wildlife data, community ecology of wildlife, and migration ecology.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: C&F Announces Expansion into Southwest Virginia

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TOANO, Va., July 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — C&F Financial Corporation (the Corporation) (NASDAQ: CFFI), the holding company for C&F Bank, is proud to announce a significant expansion of its commercial banking operations with a seasoned team that will establish its presence in Southwest Virginia. This strategic move positions C&F to serve key markets including Roanoke, Lynchburg, Danville, Martinsville, and Blacksburg.

    Leading this expansion is Matt Hubbard, who joins as Southwest Virginia Regional President. With over 15 years of commercial banking leadership experience, most recently at Atlantic Union Bank, (formerly American National Bank). Matt brings deep market knowledge and a strong commitment to community engagement. He is a graduate of Radford University and the William & Mary Mason School of Business.

    Joining Matt are two highly respected banking professionals:

    • Sally Siveroni, Commercial Credit Officer, began her banking career in 1986 and most recently served as Regional Credit Officer at Atlantic Union Bank. She is a graduate of James Madison University.
    • James Little, Commercial Banking Relationship Manager, has 17 years of experience in both retail and commercial banking. A fellow James Madison University graduate and VBA Bank School alumnus, James is also deeply involved in community initiatives.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Matt, Sally, and James to the C&F family,” said Tom Cherry, President and CEO of C&F Bank. “Their expertise and strong community ties will accelerate our growth in this promising region, where we already enjoy strong customer relationships.”

    With this expansion, C&F is now firmly positioned as one of the premier community banks serving the entire Commonwealth of Virginia—an achievement that underscores the company’s strategic vision and competitive strength.

    About C&F

    C&F Bank operates 31 banking offices and five commercial loan offices located throughout Virginia and offers full wealth management services through its subsidiary C&F Wealth Management, Inc. C&F Mortgage Corporation and its subsidiary C&F Select LLC provide mortgage loan origination services through offices located in Virginia and the surrounding states. C&F Finance Company provides automobile, marine and recreational vehicle loans through indirect lending programs offered primarily in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southern United States from its headquarters in Henrico, Virginia.

    Additional information regarding the Corporation’s products and services, as well as access to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are available on the Corporation’s website at http://www.cffc.com.

    Contact: Jason Long, CFO and Secretary
      (804) 843-2360

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7e0101d3-4ffc-436f-a151-f7f79df53bdd

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Layton Construction and TrueLook Partner to Deliver Complete Construction Site Visibility for Utah Mammoth’s New Practice Facility

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SALT LAKE CITY, July 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Layton Construction, a leading national commercial contractor, is collaborating with TrueLook, an innovator in jobsite camera technology, to provide comprehensive visual oversight for the construction of the Utah Mammoth’s new practice and training facility at the Shops at South Town in Sandy.

    As the general contractor for this project, Layton Construction is leveraging TrueLook’s solutions, including a high-resolution 4K IR fixed camera and an intuitive platform. These technologies are providing Layton’s project managers with comprehensive, real-time visibility across the entire construction site.

    The integration of TrueLook’s cameras provides several key benefits, such as helping the project remain on schedule and keeping stakeholders consistently informed. The improved visibility allows Layton’s team to proactively monitor progress, identify potential challenges early, and make data-driven decisions to minimize delays. Furthermore, the visual access provided by the cameras keeps stakeholders directly connected to the project’s evolution, fostering clear communication and collaboration.

    “We rely on TrueLook Cameras to stay on top of what’s happening on our projects 24/7,” says Austin Lay, a Senior VDC Manager at Layton Construction. “With so much going on, it’s reassuring to have that second, third, or even fourth set of eyes helping us. TrueLook has proven to be a great partner, consistently delivering time and time again.”

    TrueLook’s technology offers significant advantages beyond standard monitoring. The 4K IR Fixed Camera captures exceptionally clear imagery, even in low-light or nighttime conditions, providing continuous visual insights into site activity around the clock. This ability to maintain comprehensive visibility, regardless of the time of day, empowers Layton to manage the complex construction process with greater precision.

    This partnership between Layton Construction and TrueLook underscores a commitment to innovation and efficiency in bringing this exciting project to life.

    About Layton Construction

    Layton Construction is a privately held national general contractor, delivering predictable outcomes in commercial construction since 1953. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Layton operates from 16 strategic offices across the United States, employing more than 1,400 construction professionals who serve diverse markets including healthcare, education, commercial office, industrial, hospitality, and multi-unit residential. Founded on the core values of honesty, unity, safety, and quality, Layton has built a reputation for excellence in complex project delivery while maintaining strong partnerships with clients, architects, and trade partners nationwide.

    About TrueLook
    TrueLook provides construction teams with total jobsite visibility combining rugged, easy-to-deploy cameras with a powerful platform built for the realities of the field. From live streaming and cinematic time-lapses to AI-powered security, TrueLook helps builders document progress, protect assets, and keep stakeholders aligned. Thousands of projects across North America rely on TrueLook to stay informed and in control at every stage of the build.

    Media Contact
    Allison Shaub
    Chief Marketing Officer
    allison.shaub@truelook.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Ban Toxic Metals from Baby Formula

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas Tom Cotton
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Caroline Tabler or Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353July 22, 2025
    Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Ban Toxic Metals from Baby Formula
    Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today introduced the Safe Baby Formula Act, legislation that would ban all toxic heavy metals from baby formula and require the FDA to study the effects of metals in formula.
    This legislation is cosponsored by Senators Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Rick Scott (R-Florida), and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).
    “New parents should not have to worry about toxic heavy metals being a part of their infant’s formula, or what potential side-effects they may have. This legislation will bring much-needed transparency to the FDA’s rules around infant formula,” said Senator Cotton.
    “The health and safety of our children are paramount. They are our future and God’s greatest blessings, and I believe we should take every necessary step to ensure parents are well-equipped to raise strong families. I’m proud to join Senator Cotton in introducing the Safe Baby Formula Act, because ‘Making America Healthy Again’ starts with precious babies,” said Senator Britt.
    Text of the bill may be found here.
    The Safe Baby Formula Act would:
    Direct FDA to conduct a study on the impact that exposure to toxic heavy metals through infant formula has on infant health; and
    Direct FDA to ban toxic heavy metals from being included in infant formula all together.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Boozman, Britt, Hill Work to Protect Small Business Access to Capital, Fight Regulatory Overreach

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced legislation in response to the finalization of the Biden administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) 1071 Small Business Lending Data Collection rule requiring small business lenders to collect and report social data on small businesses seeking loans.

    The senators’ Preventing Regulatory Overreach to Empower Communities to Thrive and Ensure Data privacy (PROTECTED) Act would shield small financial institutions and Main Street businesses from the burdensome compliance costs associated with the CFPB rule as well as limit the number of small businesses impacted and significantly reduce the amount of data required to be collected and reported.

    “As the backbone of our economy, small businesses need access to capital. Identity-based data collection requirements handed down from Washington jeopardize lenders’ ability to provide vital investments and invite the federal government to pick winners and losers based on factors other than sound underwriting. Our legislation cuts this red tape for small and local financial institutions, including those trusted by farmers and rural communities, so they can focus on helping entrepreneurs and business owners launch or expand operations,” Boozman said. 

    “The CFPB under the last administration operated virtually unchecked—with no real Congressional oversight—and in an authoritarian manner, creating a regulatory nightmare for the very people and businesses it was meant to protect,” said Britt. “The PROTECTED Act delivers much-needed regulatory relief for community banks, farm credit lenders, CDFIs, and equipment financers. Importantly, this legislation safeguards small businesses by limiting excessive data collection and protecting consumer privacy. I’m proud to lead this effort to provide critical changes to this harmful rule.”

    “I will always advocate for small businesses across Alabama and our nation –– they’re the backbone of our country and what make our communities so unique — and our community banks play a pivotal role in providing these businesses with vital access to capital,” Britt continued. “This CFPB rule would have damaging downstream effects on our most rural and underserved communities. In the absence of a full repeal, this bill makes critical changes needed to ensure small lenders can continue to meet the needs of Main Street businesses.”

    The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Rep. French Hill (AR-01) is leading similar legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    “America’s small businesses depend on affordable and accessible credit, and community banks play a crucial role in their success. The CFPB’s current approach under the 1071 rule restricts credit and places unfair burdens on our community banks. The PROTECTED Act provides a clear path forward for how the Bureau can revise the 1071 rule to best support small businesses while ensuring responsible lending. I thank Senator Britt and Senator Boozman for working with me on companion legislation to the Small LENDER Act to support policies that help small businesses grow and achieve success,” said Hill.

    The PROTECTED Act also establishes critical safeguards to prevent the CFPB from publishing sensitive consumer data and requires the Bureau to conduct updated cost-benefit analyses prior to the rule’s implementation. Its effective date would be three years after the completion of these updated analyses and publication in the Federal Register, followed by a two-year grace period. 

    Boozman has pushed back against the regulation, designed to implement Sec. 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, and CFPB’s implementation that attempts to pick small business winners and losers based on social factors. The senator also supported a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse the Biden-era CFPB rule.

    Click here for full bill text.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Boozman Joins Push to Expand Access to Mental Health Care for Farmers, Rural Communities

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, joined a bipartisan group of colleagues led by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) to introduce the Farmers First Act of 2025, legislation aimed at strengthening mental health resources for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. The Farmers First Act of 2025 reauthorizes and increases funding for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN), a program that connects agricultural workers to critical stress assistance and mental health services.

    “Arkansas farmers face unique challenges that are often beyond their control and can take a serious toll on their mental health – from unpredictable weather and market volatility to the isolation that often comes with rural life,” Boozman said. “We have a responsibility to ensure they are not facing these burdens alone. This legislation builds on our efforts to deliver meaningful support and expand access to mental health care in rural communities.” 

    “Wisconsin’s farmers and ranchers work hard every day to keep their businesses running and our Made in Wisconsin agricultural economy moving forward. But too often, the stress, isolation, and physical demands of this job leave them with nowhere to turn when it all gets to be too much,” Baldwin said. “I’m working to make sure our farmers and rural communities have the resources they need because no one should have to fight these battles alone.”

    “Iowa farmers work tirelessly from sunrise to sundown – rain or shine – to feed and fuel the world. Their work isn’t easy, and mental health issues, including suicide, are too common in our agriculture community, which is why I’m working to ensure farmers have better access to mental health resources,” Ernst said. 

    The Farmers First Act of 2025 would authorize $15 million annually for FRSAN through fiscal year 2030, up from the current $10 million. These funds will help state departments of agriculture, extension services and nonprofits provide:

    • Suicide prevention training for farm advocates;
    • Behavioral health specialists to serve agricultural communities;
    • Support groups tailored to farmers, ranchers and farmworkers; and
    • Expanded crisis hotlines and referral services.

    Boozman helped establish FRSAN in the 2018 Farm Bill and has consistently advocated for its expansion. The program currently operates through four regional centers and has proven effective in increasing access to mental health services in rural areas. 

    Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN) have co-sponsored the bill.

    The Farmers First Act of 2025 also has the support of the National Farmers Union, National Rural Health Association, National Milk Producers Federation, Agriculture Retailers Association, The National Council, FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative, Organic Trade Association, American Psychological Association Services, NCBA CLUSA, Farm Credit Council, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Organic Farmers Association, National Pork Producers Council, American Soybean Association, Midwest Dairy Coalition, Farm Aid, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, National Organic Coalition, Farmer Veteran Coalition and American Farm Bureau Federation. 

    Bill text is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Carbajal Co-Leads Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Salud Carbajal (CA-24)

    U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) joined Representatives Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), along with 17 of their colleagues, to reintroduce the bipartisan immigration reform bill, the Dignity Act of 2025. The bill includes commonsense reforms to legal status and protections for undocumented immigrants, border security investments, and improved asylum and visa processes.

    “Our country needs to reform our broken immigration system,” said Rep. Carbajal. “Immigrants have long been key to the American economy’s success, and I believe it’s in our country’s best interests to ensure the world’s talent can continue to come here. I’m proud to co-sponsor the bipartisan Dignity Act to provide a commonsense solution that will create improved pathways for legal immigration while bolstering our border security.”

    This comprehensive bill makes meaningful reforms to several aspects of our immigration system:

    • It grants legal status and protections to undocumented immigrants already living in the United States;
    • It reforms the asylum screening process to provide opportunity for review and access to council;
    • It creates new regional processing centers, so migrants do not have to make the perilous journey to the U.S./ Mexico border to seek asylum;
    • It invests in border security and modernizes our land ports of entry;
    • It mandates accountability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE);
    • It provides a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.

    The last time Congress passed immigration reform was in 1996. That bill eliminated several legal immigration pathways, essentially making fewer people eligible for legal status while making more people deportable. As we are witnessing historic executive overreach and redirection of resources to our border, it is clear Congress needs to update our immigration laws.

    A summary of the bill can be found here and full text can be found here.

    Last week, Carbajal reintroduced the Fight for the American Dream Act, legislation that allows participants of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program to serve in the United States military and provides them a pathway toward U.S. citizenship after their service.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Missouri Small Businesses, Private Nonprofits and Residents Affected by April Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses, private nonprofits, and residents in Missouri of the Aug. 22 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset physical damage caused by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, heavy rains, large hail, flooding and flash flooding occurring April 29.

    The disaster declaration covers the Missouri counties of Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Polk, Stone and Webster as well as the Kansas county of Cherokee, and the Oklahoma county of Ottawa.

    Small businesses and nonprofits are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans and may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

    Homeowners and renters are eligible to apply for home and personal property loans and may borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property, such as clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances. Homeowners may apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.

    Applicants may also be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of their physical damage, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements include strengthening structures to protect against high wind damage, upgrading to wind rated garage doors, and installing a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage.

    “One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “I encourage businesses and homeowners to work with contractors and mitigation professionals to improve their storm readiness while taking advantage of SBA’s physical damage loans.”

    SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations impacted by financial losses directly related to this disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.

    Interest rates can be as low as 4% for small businesses, 3.625% for nonprofits, and 2.813% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms, based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The deadline to return physical damage applications is Aug. 22.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Idaho Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by the Gwen Fire

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding small businesses  and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Idaho of the Aug. 22, 2025 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the Gwen Fire occurring July 24‑Aug. 9, 2024.

    The disaster declaration covers the Idaho counties of Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce as well as the Oregon county of Wallowa, and the Washington counties of Asotin and Whitman.

    Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs impacted by financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

    EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the small business did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    “SBA loans help eligible small businesses and private nonprofits cover operating expenses after a disaster, which is crucial for their recovery,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “These loans not only help business owners get back on their feet but also play a key role in sustaining local economies in the aftermath of a disaster.”

    The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than Aug. 22.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sen. RaShaun Kemp Responds to Partial Release of Frozen Federal Education Funds

    Source: US State of Georgia

    ATLANTA (July 22, 2025) —Today, Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D–Atlanta) issued the following statement regarding the federal government’s decision to release a portion of previously frozen funds for after-school and summer programs:

    “I welcome the administration’s decision to release $1.3 billion in frozen funding for after-school and summer learning programs, but the damage has already been done. This last-minute reversal caused unnecessary disruption for school districts and families preparing for the upcoming school year. Withholding congressionally approved funding at such a critical moment was destabilizing and avoidable.

    The federal government is still withholding $5 billion in funding that schools are counting on. I urge the administration to release these remaining funds without delay. This money supports teacher training, English language learners and the core infrastructure needed to help students and educators succeed. The longer the funds remain out of reach, the more we risk failing the very people our public education system is meant to serve.

    I will continue to speak out when this administration makes reckless decisions that jeopardize education and disrupt the lives of families who rely on it. Silence in the face of bad policy is not leadership. It is our responsibility to hold decision-makers accountable and fight for a future where every student has the tools they need to reach their full potential.”

    # # # #

    Sen. RaShaun Kemp represents the 38th Senate District, which includes a portion of Fulton County. He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-0105 or by email at RaShaun.Kemp@senate.ga.gov.

    For all media inquiries, please reach out to SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: ASM reports second quarter 2025 results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Almere, The Netherlands
    July 22, 2025, 6 p.m. CET
     
    Solid Q2 results against a backdrop of continued mixed market conditions

    ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today reports its Q2 2025 results (unaudited).

    Financial highlights

    € million Q2 2024 Q1 2025 Q2 2025
    New orders 755.4 834.2 702.5
    yoy change % at constant currencies 56% 14% (4%)
           
    Revenue 706.1 839.2 835.6
    yoy change % as reported 6% 31% 18%
    yoy change % at constant currencies 6% 26% 23%
           
    Gross profit 352.0 447.8 433.2
    Gross profit margin % 49.8  % 53.4  % 51.8  %
           
    Operating result 177.6 266.2 258.5
    Operating result margin % 25.1  % 31.7 % 30.9  %
           
    Adjusted operating result 1 182.3 271.0 263.2
    Adjusted operating result margin %1 25.8  % 32.3 % 31.5  %
           
    Net earnings (losses) 159.0 (28.9) 202.4
    Adjusted net earnings 1 164.7 191.9 173.0

    1 Adjusted figures are non-IFRS performance measures. Refer to Annex 3 for a reconciliation of non-IFRS performance measures.

    • New orders of €702 million in Q2 2025 decreased by 4% over the same period last year at constant currency (decreased by 7% as reported). Compared to Q1 2025, orders decreased by 10% at constant currency. This sequential decrease is explained by lower advanced logic/foundry orders due to timing of orders. The y-o-y decrease was mainly due to the lumpy nature of quarterly order intake and compared to a relatively high memory contribution in Q2 2024.
    • Revenue of €836 million increased by 23% at constant currencies (increased by 18% as reported) from Q2 last year. At constant currencies, revenue increased by 7% compared to Q1 2025, which was above our guidance range of +1% to +6% at constant currencies. Revenue in Q2 2025 was driven by foundry, followed by memory, and logic.
    • Gross profit margin of 51.8% in Q2 2025 improved compared to 49.8% in Q2 last year, while it decreased, as expected, compared to 53.4% in Q1 2025. Q2 2025 margin remained healthy thanks to mix, including continued strong sales to China.
    • Adjusted operating result margin of 31.5% increased by 5.7% points compared to the same period last year and slightly decreased by 0.8% points compared to previous quarter. The y-o-y improvement is mainly due to higher gross profit margin this quarter, and a one-off tax charge which resulted in a higher SG&A cost last year.
    • Reported net earnings included a reversal of impairment of €34 million from our stake in ASMPT (Q1 included a €215 million impairment), triggered by the increase in market valuation in the recent period. There is no cash impact. Following the impairment, and in line with our accounting policy, the changes in the market value of ASMPT will be included in our quarterly net results in case of further decline or until the impairment charge has been reversed.

    Comment

    “ASM continued to deliver solid quarterly results against a backdrop of mixed market conditions. Sales increased by 23% year-on-year at constant currencies to €836 million,” said Hichem M’Saad, CEO of ASM. “Compared to the first quarter of 2025 revenue increased by +7%, which was above the top end of our guidance. The y-o-y increase was led by the logic/foundry segment as well as continued momentum in our spares & services business.

    The market environment continued to show a mixed picture in the second quarter. Growth in AI is fueling ongoing capacity expansions in the leading-edge logic/foundry and HBM-related DRAM segments, while conditions in most of the other market segments are still slow.

    Bookings amounted to €702 million in Q2 2025, down 10% compared to Q1 at constant currencies, mainly due to lower advanced logic/foundry bookings. However, the underlying trend in this segment, particularly in gate-all-around (GAA), remains healthy and we expect related leading-edge logic/foundry bookings to pick up again in Q3.

    The gross margin, while down from a high level of 53.4%, remained strong at 51.8%, again driven by product and customer mix, improved operational efficiency and a better-than-expected contribution from China sales. For the full year 2025, we still expect the gross margin to be in the upper half of the target range of 46%-50%. This excludes any potential direct impact from tariffs, which at this point remains difficult to predict. We have various scenarios in place to mitigate potential financial impacts.

    Operating profit increased strongly in Q2, by approximately 40% adjusted for a one-off expense last year, on the back of increased sales, gross margin improvement and continued cost control, whilst continuing to invest in R&D.

    We are well positioned to at least maintain our ALD and epi market share from the first to the second GAA logic/foundry nodes and remain focused on further share gains in memory, as ALD and epi intensity grows in upcoming DRAM nodes.”

    Outlook

    We expect revenue in the second half of 2025 to be approximately similar to the level in the first half, at constant currencies. For Q3 2025, we expect total ASM revenue to be flat to slightly lower, in a range of 0% to -5% at constant currencies compared to Q2 2025. As a reminder, with the Q1 2025 results we changed our quarterly revenue guidance from absolute Euro amounts to growth rates at constant currencies, given the increased exchange rate volatility in the recent periods and ASM’s significant USD revenue exposure (>80% of sales).
    For Q3 2025, we expect advanced logic/foundry bookings to be higher than in Q2 2025 and China bookings to be lower, with the overall book-to-bill in Q3 projected to be below 1.

    Based on comparable sales in the second half versus the first half, we expect revenue growth at constant currencies in 2025 to be around the midpoint of the guidance range of +10% to +20%. We continue to expect to outperform the WFE market, which is forecasted to grow slightly this year. Uncertainties related to tariffs, geopolitical tensions and the overall economic outlook continue to be relatively high.
    The key growth driver for ASM this year is the high-volume manufacturing ramp of the 2nm GAA node. Despite some further shifts in capex forecasts among customers in this segment, our view for a strong increase in advanced logic/foundry sales in 2025 has not changed. Demand in advanced HBM-related DRAM applications remains solid, but conditions in the other parts of the memory market are sluggish. Against a very strong level last year, we still expect the memory contribution to drop this year (to less than 20% of equipment sales in 2025 versus 25% in 2024).

    In the power/analog/wafer segment equipment demand remains depressed with no meaningful sales recovery in the remainder of the year, despite some early signs of improvement in the related end markets.
    Demand in the Chinese market held up better than initially expected in the first half. We now expect China equipment sales in 2025 to be around the top end of the previously guided range of low to high 20s percentage of total ASM revenue. China sales and bookings in the second half are projected to be lower than in the first half.

    Share buyback program

    The €150 million share buyback program, announced in February 2025, started on April 30, 2025. On June 30, 2025, 40% of the program was completed at an average share price of €486.48 under ASM’s share buyback program (of which 28.6% has been delivered and settled in cash within the reporting period, and the remainder on July 1, 2025).

    Investor Day

    We will host our 2025 Investor Day on September 23. Speakers will include our CEO, CFO and other members of ASM’s senior management team. Further details will be announced later.

    Interim financial report

    ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today also publishes its Interim Financial Report for the six-month period ended June 30, 2025.

    This report includes an Interim Management Board Report, including ESG update, and condensed consolidated interim financial statements prepared in accordance with IAS 34 (Interim Financial Reporting). The Interim Financial Report comprises regulated information within the meaning of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act (“Wet op het Financieel Toezicht”) and is available in full on our website www.asm.com.

    About ASM

    ASM International N.V., headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands, and its subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and process solutions to produce semiconductor devices for wafer processing, and have facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. ASM International’s common stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol: ASM). For more information, visit ASM’s website at www.asm.com.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All matters discussed in this press release, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically, currency fluctuations, corporate transactions, financing and liquidity matters, the success of restructurings, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholders or other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to natural disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability, changes in import/export regulations, pandemics, epidemics and other risks indicated in the company’s reports and financial statements. The company assumes no obligation nor intends to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or circumstances.

    This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

    Quarterly earnings conference call details

    ASM will host the quarterly earnings conference call and webcast on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. CET.

    Conference-call participants should pre-register using this link to receive the dial-in numbers, passcode and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.

    A simultaneous audio webcast and replay will be accessible at this link.

    Contacts  
    Investor and media relations Investor relations
    Victor Bareño Valentina Fantigrossi
    T: +31 88 100 8500 T: +31 88 100 8502
    E: investor.relations@asm.com E: investor.relations@asm.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ASM reports second quarter 2025 results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Almere, The Netherlands
    July 22, 2025, 6 p.m. CET
     
    Solid Q2 results against a backdrop of continued mixed market conditions

    ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today reports its Q2 2025 results (unaudited).

    Financial highlights

    € million Q2 2024 Q1 2025 Q2 2025
    New orders 755.4 834.2 702.5
    yoy change % at constant currencies 56% 14% (4%)
           
    Revenue 706.1 839.2 835.6
    yoy change % as reported 6% 31% 18%
    yoy change % at constant currencies 6% 26% 23%
           
    Gross profit 352.0 447.8 433.2
    Gross profit margin % 49.8  % 53.4  % 51.8  %
           
    Operating result 177.6 266.2 258.5
    Operating result margin % 25.1  % 31.7 % 30.9  %
           
    Adjusted operating result 1 182.3 271.0 263.2
    Adjusted operating result margin %1 25.8  % 32.3 % 31.5  %
           
    Net earnings (losses) 159.0 (28.9) 202.4
    Adjusted net earnings 1 164.7 191.9 173.0

    1 Adjusted figures are non-IFRS performance measures. Refer to Annex 3 for a reconciliation of non-IFRS performance measures.

    • New orders of €702 million in Q2 2025 decreased by 4% over the same period last year at constant currency (decreased by 7% as reported). Compared to Q1 2025, orders decreased by 10% at constant currency. This sequential decrease is explained by lower advanced logic/foundry orders due to timing of orders. The y-o-y decrease was mainly due to the lumpy nature of quarterly order intake and compared to a relatively high memory contribution in Q2 2024.
    • Revenue of €836 million increased by 23% at constant currencies (increased by 18% as reported) from Q2 last year. At constant currencies, revenue increased by 7% compared to Q1 2025, which was above our guidance range of +1% to +6% at constant currencies. Revenue in Q2 2025 was driven by foundry, followed by memory, and logic.
    • Gross profit margin of 51.8% in Q2 2025 improved compared to 49.8% in Q2 last year, while it decreased, as expected, compared to 53.4% in Q1 2025. Q2 2025 margin remained healthy thanks to mix, including continued strong sales to China.
    • Adjusted operating result margin of 31.5% increased by 5.7% points compared to the same period last year and slightly decreased by 0.8% points compared to previous quarter. The y-o-y improvement is mainly due to higher gross profit margin this quarter, and a one-off tax charge which resulted in a higher SG&A cost last year.
    • Reported net earnings included a reversal of impairment of €34 million from our stake in ASMPT (Q1 included a €215 million impairment), triggered by the increase in market valuation in the recent period. There is no cash impact. Following the impairment, and in line with our accounting policy, the changes in the market value of ASMPT will be included in our quarterly net results in case of further decline or until the impairment charge has been reversed.

    Comment

    “ASM continued to deliver solid quarterly results against a backdrop of mixed market conditions. Sales increased by 23% year-on-year at constant currencies to €836 million,” said Hichem M’Saad, CEO of ASM. “Compared to the first quarter of 2025 revenue increased by +7%, which was above the top end of our guidance. The y-o-y increase was led by the logic/foundry segment as well as continued momentum in our spares & services business.

    The market environment continued to show a mixed picture in the second quarter. Growth in AI is fueling ongoing capacity expansions in the leading-edge logic/foundry and HBM-related DRAM segments, while conditions in most of the other market segments are still slow.

    Bookings amounted to €702 million in Q2 2025, down 10% compared to Q1 at constant currencies, mainly due to lower advanced logic/foundry bookings. However, the underlying trend in this segment, particularly in gate-all-around (GAA), remains healthy and we expect related leading-edge logic/foundry bookings to pick up again in Q3.

    The gross margin, while down from a high level of 53.4%, remained strong at 51.8%, again driven by product and customer mix, improved operational efficiency and a better-than-expected contribution from China sales. For the full year 2025, we still expect the gross margin to be in the upper half of the target range of 46%-50%. This excludes any potential direct impact from tariffs, which at this point remains difficult to predict. We have various scenarios in place to mitigate potential financial impacts.

    Operating profit increased strongly in Q2, by approximately 40% adjusted for a one-off expense last year, on the back of increased sales, gross margin improvement and continued cost control, whilst continuing to invest in R&D.

    We are well positioned to at least maintain our ALD and epi market share from the first to the second GAA logic/foundry nodes and remain focused on further share gains in memory, as ALD and epi intensity grows in upcoming DRAM nodes.”

    Outlook

    We expect revenue in the second half of 2025 to be approximately similar to the level in the first half, at constant currencies. For Q3 2025, we expect total ASM revenue to be flat to slightly lower, in a range of 0% to -5% at constant currencies compared to Q2 2025. As a reminder, with the Q1 2025 results we changed our quarterly revenue guidance from absolute Euro amounts to growth rates at constant currencies, given the increased exchange rate volatility in the recent periods and ASM’s significant USD revenue exposure (>80% of sales).
    For Q3 2025, we expect advanced logic/foundry bookings to be higher than in Q2 2025 and China bookings to be lower, with the overall book-to-bill in Q3 projected to be below 1.

    Based on comparable sales in the second half versus the first half, we expect revenue growth at constant currencies in 2025 to be around the midpoint of the guidance range of +10% to +20%. We continue to expect to outperform the WFE market, which is forecasted to grow slightly this year. Uncertainties related to tariffs, geopolitical tensions and the overall economic outlook continue to be relatively high.
    The key growth driver for ASM this year is the high-volume manufacturing ramp of the 2nm GAA node. Despite some further shifts in capex forecasts among customers in this segment, our view for a strong increase in advanced logic/foundry sales in 2025 has not changed. Demand in advanced HBM-related DRAM applications remains solid, but conditions in the other parts of the memory market are sluggish. Against a very strong level last year, we still expect the memory contribution to drop this year (to less than 20% of equipment sales in 2025 versus 25% in 2024).

    In the power/analog/wafer segment equipment demand remains depressed with no meaningful sales recovery in the remainder of the year, despite some early signs of improvement in the related end markets.
    Demand in the Chinese market held up better than initially expected in the first half. We now expect China equipment sales in 2025 to be around the top end of the previously guided range of low to high 20s percentage of total ASM revenue. China sales and bookings in the second half are projected to be lower than in the first half.

    Share buyback program

    The €150 million share buyback program, announced in February 2025, started on April 30, 2025. On June 30, 2025, 40% of the program was completed at an average share price of €486.48 under ASM’s share buyback program (of which 28.6% has been delivered and settled in cash within the reporting period, and the remainder on July 1, 2025).

    Investor Day

    We will host our 2025 Investor Day on September 23. Speakers will include our CEO, CFO and other members of ASM’s senior management team. Further details will be announced later.

    Interim financial report

    ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today also publishes its Interim Financial Report for the six-month period ended June 30, 2025.

    This report includes an Interim Management Board Report, including ESG update, and condensed consolidated interim financial statements prepared in accordance with IAS 34 (Interim Financial Reporting). The Interim Financial Report comprises regulated information within the meaning of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act (“Wet op het Financieel Toezicht”) and is available in full on our website www.asm.com.

    About ASM

    ASM International N.V., headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands, and its subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and process solutions to produce semiconductor devices for wafer processing, and have facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. ASM International’s common stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol: ASM). For more information, visit ASM’s website at www.asm.com.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All matters discussed in this press release, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically, currency fluctuations, corporate transactions, financing and liquidity matters, the success of restructurings, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholders or other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to natural disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability, changes in import/export regulations, pandemics, epidemics and other risks indicated in the company’s reports and financial statements. The company assumes no obligation nor intends to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or circumstances.

    This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

    Quarterly earnings conference call details

    ASM will host the quarterly earnings conference call and webcast on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. CET.

    Conference-call participants should pre-register using this link to receive the dial-in numbers, passcode and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.

    A simultaneous audio webcast and replay will be accessible at this link.

    Contacts  
    Investor and media relations Investor relations
    Victor Bareño Valentina Fantigrossi
    T: +31 88 100 8500 T: +31 88 100 8502
    E: investor.relations@asm.com E: investor.relations@asm.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: US announces withdrawal from UNESCO again

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    WASHINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) — The United States on Tuesday announced its decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), two years after rejoining it.

    According to a statement from the US State Department, the decision was made in connection with UNESCO’s policy, which Washington believes “promotes divisive social and cultural initiatives” against the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    “UNESCO’s decision to admit the ‘State of Palestine’ as a member state is highly problematic, runs counter to US policy and contributes to the spread of anti-Israeli rhetoric within the organization,” the statement said.

    The US withdrawal from UNESCO will take effect at the end of December 2026.

    This is the third time the United States has withdrawn from the organization, and the second time during the Donald Trump administration. Since the start of Trump’s second term this year, his administration has already announced withdrawals from the Paris Climate Agreement, the World Health Organization, and the UN Human Rights Council. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 589, FACE Act Repeal Act

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 589 would repeal a section of federal law that prohibits actions that interfere with a person’s ability to access or provide reproductive health services or to engage in religious worship. Under the bill, individuals and states attorneys general would no longer be able to file civil lawsuits in federal court for violations of the law and the government could not impose civil or criminal penalties related to those actions.

    As a result, CBO expects that enacting H.R. 589 would reduce revenues and direct spending. Criminal and civil fines are recorded in the budget as revenues. Criminal fines are deposited in the Crime Victims Fund and later spent without further appropriation. Generally, civil fines are returned to the Treasury and are not available for spending without further appropriation. CBO estimates that any reduction in the collection of civil and criminal penalties would be insignificant.

    Additionally, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 589 would reduce the number of civil cases filed in federal court. Under current law, the federal judiciary charges fees to file suits in district courts. Those fees are recorded in the budget as revenues and the courts can spend those fees without further appropriation. CBO estimates that any reduction in the collections of those fees would be insignificant. In total, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 589 would reduce revenues and the associated direct spending by less than $500,000 in every year and over the 2025-2035 period.

    H.R. 589 would impose an intergovernmental and private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by removing the ability of individuals and state attorneys general to pursue civil remedies for conduct that interfered with the receipt or provision of reproductive health services or participation in religious activities.

    The cost of this mandate would be the lost financial awards from successful litigation. CBO cannot anticipate the number of cases that would be prohibited under this bill, the outcome of such cases, or the financial awards from successful litigation. Therefore, CBO cannot determine whether the cost of the mandate would exceed the UMRA intergovernmental and private-sector thresholds ($103 million and $206 million respectfully, in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).

    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeremy Crimm (for federal costs) and Erich Dvorak (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: S. 1595, Improving Police CARE Act

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    S. 1595 would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop and publish standards for trauma kits and the best practices for law enforcement agencies on the maintenance and use of those kits. The bill would require DOJ to consult with the private sector and state and local law enforcement agencies in developing the standards. S. 1595 also would prohibit grantees under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program from using grant funds to purchase trauma kits that do not meet DOJ’s standards. Under that program, DOJ awards grants to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to support a variety of criminal justice and law enforcement activities, including the purchase of trauma kits.

    Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1595 would cost DOJ less than $500,000 to develop and publish the standards and best practices. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 60, Knife Owners’ Protection Act

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 60 would allow people to transport a knife between state and local jurisdictions where it is legal to possess and carry such a knife under certain conditions. That authority would not allow people who are otherwise prohibited from possessing, transporting, shipping or receiving knives under federal law. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have no effect on federal spending because it would not change any federal laws related to possessing or transporting knives.

    H.R. 60 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The bill would preempt state and local laws related to the possession and transportation of knives by allowing individuals to transport knives through states that prohibit them. The bill also would prevent owners of temporary lodgings and transport companies from banning the possession of knives on their property, which would be a private-sector mandate. CBO estimates that the costs to comply with the mandates would be small and below the thresholds for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($103 million and $206 million in 2025, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).

    On February 11, 2025, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 246, the Interstate Transport Act of 2025, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on February 5, 2025. The two bills are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.

    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeremy Crimm (for federal costs) and Erich Dvorak (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 4071, Combatting International Drug Trafficking and Human Smuggling Partnership Act of 2025

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 4071 would allow Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to participate in joint operations with foreign governments abroad to prevent illicit drug trafficking and terrorist threats. The bill also would authorize CBP to pay certain claims for monetary damage, loss of personal property, or injury brought against the United States that arise from such operations. Under current law, CBP can settle claims for those purposes that arise within the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), but not those that originate in a foreign country. H.R. 4071 would require CBP to report to the Congress within 90 days of paying such a claim. Under the bill, all claims would be paid from discretionary funds and the authority to pay those claims would expire five years after enactment.

    Based on similar FTCA claims, CBO estimates that very few claims would be paid under the bill and the average claim would be small. As a result, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4071 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2025-2030 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 1608, Department of Homeland Security Vehicular Terrorism Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2025

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 1608 would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report to the Congress on its efforts to detect, prevent, and respond to acts of terrorism in which a vehicle is used as a weapon. The report would include an assessment of current and emerging threats, a review of high-risk locations, and recommendations for research and development. H.R. 1608 would require DHS to brief the Congress on the report’s findings and recommendations.

    Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1608 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2025-2030 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: The Race for Kansas’ Most Liberal Candidate Begins

    Source: US Republican Governors Association

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

    WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Republican Governors Association (RGA) released the following response to Ethan Corson entering Kansas’ gubernatorial race:

    “After months of begging candidates to get in the race and failing, Laura Kelly and the Kansas Democrat machine have finally found their consolation prize candidate,” said RGA Communications Director Courtney Alexander. “Whether it’s Ethan Corson or Cindy Holscher, the only thing that Kansas Democrats are offering are lockstep liberal voting records that are out of step with Kansas values and will take Kansas backward. Kansans deserve a governor who will lead with conservative common sense to deliver results, lower property taxes, and preserve the Kansas way of life.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal Court Upholds Bureau of Reclamation’s Conversion of Water Service Contracts in Central Valley of California

    Source: US State of California

    Last week, a judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California confirmed the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation to convert water service contracts to long term repayment contracts pursuant to the Water Infrastructure and Improvements for the Nation Act. The converted contracts eliminate the need for future renewals and associated costs and allow contractors to lower their overall costs by prepaying their share of project construction costs. The converted contracts also benefit the government by facilitating faster repayment of construction costs which can provide funding for future water storage projects.

    The Court agreed with Reclamation’s interpretation of the WIIN Act, that

    • the WIIN Act requires contract conversion upon request, and
    • WIIN Act § 4011(a)(4)(c) strips Reclamation of discretion to modify any “water service … contractual rights” other than those related to the financial terms specifically addressed by the WIIN Act.

    Because those provisions removed Reclamation’s discretion, Reclamation was not required to conduct an analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, or consult under the Endangered Species Act, as part of the contract conversions.

    Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) made the announcement.

    Trial Attorneys David Gehlert and Jeff Candrian of ENRD’s Natural Resources Section handled the case. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Washington Hunting Guide and Outfitting Company Enter Guilty Pleas to Lacey Act Crime

    Source: US State of California

    Branden Trager of Brush Prairie, Washington, and his guiding company Mayhem Services LLC pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Tacoma to violating the Lacey Act.

    In pleading guilty, Trager admitted he and Mayhem Services violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) during a January 2023 hunting trip in western Washington and then transported the taken birds in violation of the Lacey Act. Enacted 125 years ago, the Lacey Act protects the nations wildlife resources by prohibiting wildlife violations that cross state or international borders. Trager also acknowledged that in 2022 he brought hunters into British Columbia, Canada, where he guided waterfowl hunting trips targeting the harlequin duck. He could not operate as a hunting guide under Canadian law.

    The harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) is a small sea duck with a habitat ranging from Alaska to California. Hunters prize the harlequin as a trophy and as part of a challenge to hunt 41 North American waterfowl species. Washington closed harlequin hunting for the 2022-2023 season, but limited hunting remained open in British Columbia.

    According to plea agreements filed in court, the recommended fines are $100,000 for Trager and $75,000 for Mayhem Services. The parties also agreed to recommend that the court order the defendants to make a public statement expressing contrition and emphasizing the importance of hunting, guiding, and wildlife regulations. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 16.

    According to a Joint Factual Statement filed in court, the MBTA prohibits, among other things, taking migratory birds using a motor vehicle; taking migratory birds by using a vehicle to concentrate, drive, or rally them; taking migratory birds in excess of daily bag limits; taking or crippling a migratory bird and not make reasonable efforts to retrieve it; and transporting taken migratory birds belonging to another individual without tagging them. Taking includes pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting.

    The Lacey Act is the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking law. It prohibits, among other things, transporting wildlife that had been illegally taken under federal, state, tribal or foreign law. The MBTA is a U.S. law that implemented treaties with Canada and other nations to ensure sustainable populations of migratory birds.

    Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division made the announcement.

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement led the investigation along with Homeland Security Investigations, British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

    Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors and Trial Attorney Sarah Brown of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Cedar Rapids Man Who Conspired to Distribute Thousands of Fentanyl Pills Sentenced to Federal Prison

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

    A man who conspired to distribute fentanyl pills was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison.  Jaylon William Throgmartin, age 22, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

    In a plea agreement and at the sentencing hearing, evidence showed that Throgmartin distributed thousands of fentanyl pills between December 2023 and October 2024.  Throgmartin also facilitated the sale of a firearm in exchange for fentanyl pills.  In January 2025, he distributed at least one fentanyl pill to someone who overdosed.  The victim recovered after receiving Narcan.  

    Throgmartin was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Throgmartin was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment and must also serve a four-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and was investigated as part of the Northern Iowa Heroin Initiative and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Iowa Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center.  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.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    Throgmartin is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

    Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

    The case file number is 25-CR-5.

    Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Federal Court Upholds Bureau of Reclamation’s Conversion of Water Service Contracts in Central Valley of California

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Last week, a judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California confirmed the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation to convert water service contracts to long term repayment contracts pursuant to the Water Infrastructure and Improvements for the Nation Act. The converted contracts eliminate the need for future renewals and associated costs and allow contractors to lower their overall costs by prepaying their share of project construction costs. The converted contracts also benefit the government by facilitating faster repayment of construction costs which can provide funding for future water storage projects.

    The Court agreed with Reclamation’s interpretation of the WIIN Act, that

    • the WIIN Act requires contract conversion upon request, and
    • WIIN Act § 4011(a)(4)(c) strips Reclamation of discretion to modify any “water service … contractual rights” other than those related to the financial terms specifically addressed by the WIIN Act.

    Because those provisions removed Reclamation’s discretion, Reclamation was not required to conduct an analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, or consult under the Endangered Species Act, as part of the contract conversions.

    Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) made the announcement.

    Trial Attorneys David Gehlert and Jeff Candrian of ENRD’s Natural Resources Section handled the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Washington Hunting Guide and Outfitting Company Enter Guilty Pleas to Lacey Act Crime

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Branden Trager of Brush Prairie, Washington, and his guiding company Mayhem Services LLC pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Tacoma to violating the Lacey Act.

    In pleading guilty, Trager admitted he and Mayhem Services violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) during a January 2023 hunting trip in western Washington and then transported the taken birds in violation of the Lacey Act. Enacted 125 years ago, the Lacey Act protects the nations wildlife resources by prohibiting wildlife violations that cross state or international borders. Trager also acknowledged that in 2022 he brought hunters into British Columbia, Canada, where he guided waterfowl hunting trips targeting the harlequin duck. He could not operate as a hunting guide under Canadian law.

    The harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) is a small sea duck with a habitat ranging from Alaska to California. Hunters prize the harlequin as a trophy and as part of a challenge to hunt 41 North American waterfowl species. Washington closed harlequin hunting for the 2022-2023 season, but limited hunting remained open in British Columbia.

    According to plea agreements filed in court, the recommended fines are $100,000 for Trager and $75,000 for Mayhem Services. The parties also agreed to recommend that the court order the defendants to make a public statement expressing contrition and emphasizing the importance of hunting, guiding, and wildlife regulations. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 16.

    According to a Joint Factual Statement filed in court, the MBTA prohibits, among other things, taking migratory birds using a motor vehicle; taking migratory birds by using a vehicle to concentrate, drive, or rally them; taking migratory birds in excess of daily bag limits; taking or crippling a migratory bird and not make reasonable efforts to retrieve it; and transporting taken migratory birds belonging to another individual without tagging them. Taking includes pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting.

    The Lacey Act is the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking law. It prohibits, among other things, transporting wildlife that had been illegally taken under federal, state, tribal or foreign law. The MBTA is a U.S. law that implemented treaties with Canada and other nations to ensure sustainable populations of migratory birds.

    Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division made the announcement.

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement led the investigation along with Homeland Security Investigations, British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

    Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors and Trial Attorney Sarah Brown of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: SOITEC REPORTS FIRST QUARTER REVENUE OF FISCAL YEAR 2026

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SOITEC REPORTS FIRST QUARTER REVENUE OF FISCAL YEAR 2026

    • Q1’26 revenue: €92m, down 16% year-on-year on an organic1basis, slightly better than the guidance
    • Q1’26 year-on-year revenue development reflects, as expected, ongoing RF-SOI inventory correction among customers, a weak automotive market, the anticipated phase-out of first-generation Imager-SOI, and the strong momentum in Photonics-SOI
    • Q2’26 revenue is expected to grow around 50% versus Q1’26, on an organic basis

    Bernin (Grenoble), France, July 22nd, 2025 – Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world leader in designing and manufacturing innovative semiconductor materials, today announced unaudited consolidated revenue of 92 million Euros for the first quarter of FY’26 (ended on June 29th, 2025), down 24% on a reported basis compared with 121 million Euros achieved in the first quarter of FY’25. This reflects a 16% decline on an organic basis, a negative currency impact of 5% and a negative scope effect2 of 3% related to the divestment of Dolphin Design’s businesses.

    Pierre Barnabé, Soitec’s CEO, commented: “Q1’26 revenue was slightly better than the guidance, down 16% year-on-year on an organic basis. This includes the phase-out of Imager-SOI. Artificial Intelligence continues to support strong growth in Edge & Cloud AI division, with traction both at the edge and in the cloud accelerating adoption of FD-SOI for Edge AI and Photonics-SOI for data centers. Conversely, the correction of RF-SOI inventories among our direct customers, and the ongoing weakness in the Automotive market continued to impact our revenue.

    Looking ahead, we expect Q2’26 revenue to grow around 50% versus Q1’26, on an organic basis. This reflects ongoing RF-SOI inventory correction in Mobile Communications, continued weakness in Automotive & Industrial, and strong growth in Edge & Cloud AI.

    In an uncertain and volatile environment, we remain focused on the factors within our control to prepare Soitec for the future. We are broadening our end-market exposure and customer base to diversify the company’s foundations. In parallel, we are accelerating the expansion of our product portfolio – across both SOI and compound semiconductors – to serve a wider range of applications. At the same time, we are building robust ecosystems that support the adoption of our products, with the ambition of establishing them as new industry standards.”

    First quarter FY’26 consolidated revenue

      Q1’26 Q1’25 Q1’26/Q1’25
             
             
    (Euros million)     change reported chg. at const. exch. rates & perimeter
             
    Mobile Communications 43 48 -12% -7%
    Automotive & Industrial 5 26 -82% -81%
    Edge & Cloud AI 44 46 -4% +13%
             
    Revenue 92 121 -24% -16%

    Mobile Communications

    Mobile Communications revenue reached 43 million Euros in Q1’26, down 7% year-on-year on an organic basis.

    After a strong seasonal tailwind in Q4’25, further correction was expected in RF-SOI customer inventories. As a result, sales of RF-SOI wafers decreased to a low level in Q1’26, below Q1’25. This mostly reflects a significant year-on-year decrease in 200-mm RF-SOI volumes sold. Sales of 300-mm RF-SOI wafers were higher than in Q1’25, driven by higher volumes, despite a slightly negative price / mix effect.

    Sales of POI (Piezoelectric-on-Insulator) wafers dedicated to RF filters were stable year-on-year, reflecting ongoing growth with key US customers and a temporary slowdown in Asia. POI is becoming the reference substrate for advanced Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters, increasingly adopted by leading fabless globally.

    Sales of FD-SOI wafers, the only solution for fully integrated 5G mmWave system-on-chip, were significantly higher than in Q1’25. FD-SOI adoption is progressing with first design wins for Wi-Fi 7 SoCs, for premium Android smartphones.

    Automotive & Industrial

    In a persistently complicated automotive market, Automotive & Industrial revenue reached 5 million Euros in Q1’26, down 81% year-on-year on an organic basis.

    As expected, the Power-SOI inventory replenishment that took place at customer level in Q4’25, came at the expense of volumes in Q1’26, and will continue to impact Q2’26. Meanwhile, Soitec is accelerating the transition from 200-mm to 300-mm Power-SOI to address growing demand for Battery Management Systems.

    Automotive FD-SOI wafer sales were negligible in Q1’26, although the build-up of a solid ecosystem is supporting the strengthening of its adoption for analog/digital systems such as radars, microcontrollers and wireless connectivity.

    Regarding SmartSiCTM, the slower growth of the electric vehicle market combined with the longer qualification cycles confirms the delay in the production ramp-up, as already communicated.

    Edge & Cloud AI

    Edge & Cloud AI revenue reached 44 million Euros in Q1’26, up 13% on an organic basis compared to Q1’25 despite the discontinuation of the first generation of Imager-SOI wafers for 3D imaging applications, which recorded 25 million Dollars in revenue in Q1’25. On a reported basis, Edge & Cloud AI revenue went down 4% due to the scope effect of the divestment of Dolphin Design’s businesses combined with a negative currency impact.

    Soitec delivered another strong performance in Photonics-SOI in Q1’26, with sales significantly above Q1’25 levels. As AI computing power expands, driving demand for faster and more efficient data centers, Photonics-SOI stands out as the optimal solution for high-speed, high-bandwidth optical links, whether for pluggable transceivers or Co-Packaged Optics (CPOs). Soitec is capitalizing on strong Cloud infrastructure investments from Big Tech and AI players and is accelerating its Photonics-SOI roadmap with AI leaders.

    FD-SOI sales were also above Q1’25 levels. Thanks to its benefits in power efficiency, performance, thermal management, and reliability, FD-SOI is a key enabler of AI-driven IoT applications across consumer, healthcare, and industrial markets.

    Q2’26 outlook

    Q2’26 revenue is expected to grow around 50% versus Q1’26, on an organic basis. The impact from the phasing out of Imager-SOI will be less pronounced than in Q1’26, as Imager-SOI revenue amounted to approximately 7 million Dollars in Q2’25.

    Excluding Imager-SOI, Edge & Cloud AI is expected to maintain solid momentum and should be slightly up vs. Q1’26. Mobile Communications revenue will remain low, despite nearly doubling from Q1’26, as customers continue to work through excess RF-SOI inventory. As in Q1’26, Automotive & Industrial revenue in Q2’26 is expected to decline sharply versus Q2’25.

    Projected FY’26 Capex cash-out is confirmed around 150 million Euros, down from 230 million Euros in FY’25.

    Key events of Q1’26

    Soitec has successfully issued a new 200 million Euros Schuldschein loan

    This is a 200 million Euros Schuldschein loan offering a floating rate coupon with an average maturity of 4.1 years, which was subscribed by high quality European investors.
    The offering is structured in tranches of 3, 4, 5 & 7 years, with 72% of the transaction on the 4-year and 5-year tenors. The 100 million Euros initially planned were significantly oversubscribed, reflecting investor interest and confidence in Soitec’s financial profile and strategy, despite a volatile environment.
    The proceeds of the new Schuldschein loan will be used to partially refinance the 325 million Euros convertible bonds maturing in October 2025 and for general corporate purposes. Through this transaction, Soitec is actively managing its debt profile and extending its debt maturity.

    Soitec and PSMC collaborate on ultra-thin TLT technology for nm-scale 3D stacking

    On June 3rd, 2025, Soitec announced a strategic collaboration with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC). Under the collaboration, Soitec will supply PSMC 300mm substrates incorporating a release layer, Transistor Layer Transfer (TLT) ready, to support a new demonstration of advanced 3D chip stacking at the wafer level. This marks the first public announcement of Soitec’s TLT technology. The technology is an enabler for next-generation semiconductor designs that allow for more powerful, compact and energy-efficient chips – with potential applications ranging from smartphones, tablets and AI devices to autonomous driving systems.

    CEA-Leti and Soitec announce strategic partnership to leverage FD-SOI for enhanced security of integrated circuits

    On June 18th, 2025, CEA-Leti and Soitec announced a strategic partnership to enhance the cybersecurity of integrated circuits (ICs) through the innovative use of fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technologies. This collaboration aims to position FD-SOI as a foundational platform for secure electronics by leveraging and extending its inherent resistance to physical attacks. At the heart of the initiative is a joint effort to experimentally validate and augment the security benefits of FD-SOI—from the substrate level up to circuit design. The project aims to deliver concrete data, practical demonstrations, and roadmap guidance to meet the surging cybersecurity demands in critical markets such as automotive, industrial IoT, and secure infrastructure

    # # #

    Analysts conference call to be held in English on Wednesday 23rdJuly at 8:00 am CET.

    To listen to this conference call, the audiocast is available live and in replay at the following address: https://channel.royalcast.com/soitec/#!/soitec/20250723_1

    # # #

    Agenda

    Q2’26 revenue and H1’26 results are due to be published on November 19th, 2025, after market close.

    # # #

    Disclaimer

    This document is provided by Soitec (the “Company”) for information purposes only.

    The Company’s business operations and financial position are described in the Company’s Universal Registration Document (which notably includes the Annual Financial Report) which was filed on June 11th, 2025, with the French stock market authority (Autorité des Marchés Financiers, or AMF) under number D.25-0439. The French version of the 2024-2025 Universal Registration Document, together with English courtesy translation for information purposes of this document, are available for consultation on the Company’s website (www.soitec.com), in the section Company – Investors – Financial Reports.

    Your attention is drawn to the risk factors described in Chapter 2.1 (Risk factors and controls mechanism) of the Company’s Universal Registration Document.

    This document contains summary information and should be read in conjunction with the Universal Registration Document.

    This document contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to the Company’s future prospects, developments and strategy and are based on analyses of earnings forecasts and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties as they relate to future events and are dependent on circumstances that may or may not materialize in the future. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of the Company’s future performance. The occurrence of any of the risks described in Chapter 2.1 (Risk factors and controls mechanism) of the Universal Registration Document may have an impact on these forward-looking statements.

    The Company’s actual financial position, results and cash flows, as well as the trends in the sector in which the Company operates may differ materially from those contained in this document. Furthermore, even if the Company’s financial position, results, cash-flows and the developments in the sector in which the Company operates were to conform to the forward-looking statements contained in this document, such elements cannot be construed as a reliable indication of the Company’s future results or developments.

    The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or make any correction to any forward-looking statement in order to reflect an event or circumstance that may occur after the date of this document.

    This document does not constitute or form part of an offer or a solicitation to purchase, subscribe for, or sell the Company’s securities in any country whatsoever. This document, or any part thereof, shall not form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract, commitment or investment decision.

    Notably, this document does not constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase, subscribe for or to sell securities in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Company’s shares have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act. Neither the Company nor any other person intends to conduct a public offering of the Company’s securities in the United States.

    # # #

    About Soitec

    Soitec (Euronext – Tech Leaders), a world leader in innovative semiconductor materials, has been developing cutting-edge products delivering both technological performance and energy efficiency for over 30 years. From its global headquarters in France, Soitec is expanding internationally with its unique solutions, and generated sales of 0.9 billion Euros in fiscal year 2024-2025. Soitec occupies a key position in the semiconductor value chain, serving three main strategic markets: Mobile Communications, Automotive and Industrial, and Edge and Cloud AI. The company relies on the talent and diversity of more than 2,200 employees, representing 50 different nationalities, working at its sites in Europe, the United States and Asia. Nearly 4,300 patents have been registered by Soitec.

    Soitec, SmartSiC™ and Smart Cut™ are registered trademarks of Soitec.

    For more information: visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and X

    # # #

    Media Relations: media@soitec.com

    Investor Relations: investors@soitec.com

    # # #

    Consolidated revenue per quarter

    Quarterly revenue Q1’25 Q2’25 Q3’25 Q4’25 Q1’26  
    (Euros millions)            
    Mobile Communications 48   124   154   220 43    
    Automotive & Industrial 26 33 25 45 5  
    Edge & Cloud AI 46 61 47 63 44  
                 
    Revenue 121   217   226   327 92    
    Change in quarterly revenue Q1’26/Q1’25
    (vs. previous year) Reported
    change    		 Organic change1
         
    Mobile Communications -12% -7%
    Automotive & Industrial -82% -81%
    Edge & Cloud AI -4% +13%
         
    Revenue -24% -16%

    1         At constant exchange rates and comparable scope of consolidation:

    • in Q1’26 there is a negative scope effect related to the divestment of Dolphin Design’s mixed signal IP activities (completed on October 31st, 2024) and the divestment of Dolphin Design’s ASIC activities (completed on December 30th, 2024).

    1 At constant exchange rates and perimeter

    2 The scope effect is related to the divestment of Dolphin Design’s mixed-signal IP activities (completed on October 31st, 2024) and that of Dolphin Design’s ASIC activities (completed on December 30th, 2024)

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: House Passes Pettersen’s Provision to Restore Silver Cliff ZIP Code

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brittany Pettersen (Colorado 7th District)

    The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.3095, bipartisan legislation that included a provision introduced by Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) to restore the Town of Silver Cliff’s ZIP Code. 

    In 1991, the town lost its unique ZIP Code and was forced to use the ZIP Code of the neighboring town of Westcliffe, which has resulted in delays and extensive errors with postal delivery, as well as a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales tax revenue. The bill would reinstate the original ZIP Code to the Town of Silver Cliff, decoupling them from Westcliffe and alleviating these issues.

    “Coloradans depend on a reliable postal service for everything from prescription drugs and billing notices to food, clothing, and other basic necessities,” said Pettersen. “Unfortunately, ever since the Town of Silver Cliff lost its unique ZIP Code, they’ve had subpar postal service that has led to the loss of thousands of dollars in sales tax revenue and countless delayed and lost deliveries. It’s unacceptable, and I’ve been fighting in Congress to restore their ZIP Code and alleviate these challenges. I’m grateful to see this provision pass with bipartisan support and will keep working to get it across the finish line.”

    “We’re excited and hopeful for the passage of H.R. 3095. After five unsuccessful boundary reviews in a 30-year period, this is the closest we’ve ever gotten to regaining the use of our ZIP Code – 81249,” said Mayor H.A. Buck Wenzel. “Since our ZIP Code was arbitrarily and capriciously removed by the USPS, and our town was forced to use the ZIP Code of the neighboring Town of Westcliffe, the Town of Silver Cliff not only lost our identity, but has been financially disparaged losing hundreds of thousands of dollars from on-line, out-of-county and out-of-state sales, and to date, our residents are still experiencing service delivery issues due to both towns having like and similar street names.” 

    As a founding member of the bipartisan Delivering Postal Solutions Caucus, Pettersen has been committed to solving postal issues across her district. Since coming to Congress, Pettersen has urged USPS to take action to restore the Silver Cliff ZIP Code, as well as to address subpar service and delays in communities throughout Colorado. 

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    To access downloadable, high-quality photos, click here. To stay up-to-date on what Pettersen is doing in Congress, follow her on Twitter here, Facebook here, or Instagram here. Residents can also sign-up for her e-newsletter subscription here.

    MIL OSI USA News –