A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday reiterated China’s firm opposition to the United States’ deployment of mid-range capability missiles in the Philippines under the pretext of military exercises.
Responding to a media query, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, urged the U.S. side to address its erroneous actions and deliver on its earlier commitment to withdraw the mid-range capability missile system it has deployed in the Philippines as soon as possible.
The Philippine side should not miscalculate the situation or involve itself in the U.S. agenda, as doing so will only hurt its own interests, Zhang said.
China has abundant tools at its disposal and will take effective countermeasures according to the evolving situation, Zhang added.
In a vote to replace Fumio Kishia as head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), party members have elected Shigeru Ishiba as their new leader. Given the LDP’s majority in parliament, the party leader will become prime minister by default.
Ishiba, aged 67, joined the parliament in 1986 and held key cabinet posts throughout his career, including director of then Defence Agency (now Ministry of Defence).
Amid growing public opposition to the LDP, in 1993 he left the party, only to return four years later. The move cost him the trust of many of his LDP colleagues, many of whom still consider him a traitor.
Ishiba has run five times for the LDP’s top position and frequently opposed former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s policies. Though unpopular among the LDP’s top members, Ishiba has nourished broad support among the LDP’s base. In today’s race, he won over Sanae Takaichi, a close ally of Abe and the face of the LDP’s revisionist brand of conservatism.
Ishiba, who has his constituency in rural Tottori, has pledged to revitalise economic growth through supporting local regions. A defence expert, he is an outspoken advocate of stronger security relations with the United States and a more robust military.
What does this tell us about Japanese politics?
The election was one of the most contentious in recent political history and came after Kishida announced he would not seek re-election as LDP leader when his three-year term ends this month.
Kishida’s tenure as prime minister has been marred by political scandals, leading to a sharp decline in public support for the cabinet.
In particular, the revelation of the LDP’s links to the Unification Church following the assassination of Abe in 2022 and recent reports of LDP slush funds have undermined voter confidence in the party.
In an effort to restore public confidence, Kishida promoted the dissolution of the LDP’s factions, which had served as the party’s main internal mechanisms for mobilising support and financial resources and allocating government portfolios since its founding in 1955.
At the same time, the factions were seen as the main source of the LDP’s scandals.
In a logic of “numbers are power”, the factions mobilised internal support for either their own leader or the faction’s ally to become prime minister.
By challenging the LDP’s old power structures, Kishida’s re-election prospects diminished. However, with the disappearance of most of the LDP’s factions, internal power politics has become competitive.
As a result, an unprecedented nine candidates vied for the party’s leadership.
Will politics change much?
The LDP’s constitution stipulates that in the first round of voting, the votes of each of the 368 members of parliament are added to the 368 votes allocated proportionally to rank-and-file members.
The top two candidates then go through to a second round, where the 368 National Diet members cast their votes, while each of the 47 prefectural branches gets one vote.
This means candidates who are popular with the LDP’s base have a good chance of surviving the first round, while only those who are popular with the party’s Diet members will ultimately win the race.
The exception to this pattern is when the party’s national elite is so unpopular that its Diet members make a strategic move to support a locally popular candidate in an appeal to the public to reform the LDP and thus avoid punishment at the polls.
This was the case when Junichiro Koizumi was elected LDP leader in 2001 after campaigning against his own party, which was embroiled in a series of scandals, while securing the support of the grassroots.
With a runoff between the top two contenders seen as the most likely scenario early on, the candidates have been courting the support of the LDP’s old guard and faction leaders, hoping for their influence in mobilising the votes of LDP Diet members.
Ishiba has remained highly unpopular among LDP Diet members. LDP Vice-President Taro Aso and others have pledged to support his rival Sanae Takaichi.
Takakichi herself has promised not to further investigate the party’s slush funds or to punish members linked to them. While Ishiba has been critical of the LDP’s initial response, he has remained silent on the issue during his campaign in order to avoid further alienating the party’s Diet members.
The LDP’s internal politics have come under intense public scrutiny. With the LDP’s internal power structures destabilised, fears of a return to revolving-door governments have resurfaced. The party operates in crisis mode.
Selecting Ishiba has increased its chances to compete in the next general election and thus keep the LDP in power. How Ishiba can secure enough support from within the LDP to implement his policies while responding to the public’s expectations to hold the party accountable for its past scandals, however, remains to been.
If he fails to deliver on the latter, his tenure may be short-lived too.
What happens now?
The Diet will convene on Tuesday and LDP members will elect Ishiba as the new prime minister, who will then announce her new cabinet and LDP leadership.
If the past serves as lesson, Ishiba will dissolve the lower house soon after the supplementary budget is passed. This would set Japan on track for general elections later this year.
Faced with a fragmented opposition, it remains to be seen whether his policies alone will be enough to secure public support. A critique of “Abenomics” (Shinzo Abe’s economic approach), Ishiba is considered being in favour of fiscal discipline.
Meanwhile, he has also called for more public works spending to reduce Japan’s growing inequality while revitalising the depopulated regions.
Ishiba has also been critical about Kishida’s return to nuclear power, calling for more investment in regenerative energy.
In addition, he has expressed support for legalising same-sex marriage and separate surnames – though broadly supported by the public, both issues are controversial among the LDP’s conservative base.
Promoting a more active and equal role of Japan in its alliance with the US, Ishiba most recently advocated for expanding security cooperation to an Asian version of NATO. Moreover, he has called for more diplomatic efforts to engage China and Russia instead of relying on military pressure.
At the same time he has repeatedly called for a robust military posture to counter China’s rise and North Korea’s military actions.
What Ishiba means for relations with South Korea – a key legacy of Kishida – or for handling a potential Donald Trump White House, however, remains to be seen. His pledge for a more active Japan certainly resonates well with Trump.
What is clear is that the LDP, operating in crisis mode, has voted for a leader who is willing to change the party and to restore the public’s trust in government.
Sebastian Maslow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Shigeru Ishiba casts his ballot at Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leadership election in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 27, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba won Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election on Friday, virtually ensuring that he will become the country’s next prime minister.
The 67-year-old lawmaker, in his fifth attempt to lead the party, was elected as the new LDP president by securing 215 votes in a runoff to defeat his female contender Sanae Takaichi, who received 194 votes.
As the LDP-led coalition constitutes a majority in both chambers of the parliament in Japan, the new party president is almost certain to be elected prime minister in the extraordinary Diet session scheduled to be held on Oct. 1, succeeding the incumbent Fumio Kishida, who is not seeking re-election due to mounting criticism over the LDP slush fund scandal.
LDP parliamentarians cast 367 votes in the first round of voting, while another 368 votes were allotted to rank-and-file members. Ishiba, winning 154 votes, entered the runoff vote round with Takaichi who took the lead at 181 votes.
In the runoff voting, the LDP lawmakers cast the same number of votes, but the rank-and-file members’ votes were reduced to one for each of the LDP’s 47 prefectural chapters.
Shigeru won the final race with advantages in the votes from both LDP parliamentarians and local chapters.
43-year-old Shinjiro Koizumi, who is former environment minister and son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, lost out in the nine-candidate race in the first round of voting earlier in the afternoon.
Source: People’s Republic of China – Ministry of National Defense 2
BEIJING, Sept. 26 — “China’s nuclear policy is very stable, consistent and predictable. We strictly follow a nuclear policy of no first use of nuclear weapons and pursue a nuclear strategy of self-defense,” said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference on Thursday.
The spokesperson made the remarks when responding to a media inquiry regarding China’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on September 25.
The spokesperson pointed out that China strictly follows a nuclear policy of no first use of nuclear weapons and pursues a nuclear strategy of self-defense. China does not seek any arms race.
“We have promised not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against no-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones. China will continue to keep its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security,” stressed the spokesperson.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 28th Conference of Parties COP 28 decision to transition away from fossil fuels,
although did not go as far as we the most vulnerable countries wanted, it is the beginning of the end for Fossil Fuels.
The doubling of energy efficiency and tripling of renewable energy as part of the COP 28 decision, we hope will turbo charge the transition with financial flows to the needed private and public sector, innovation and availability of efficient technology, policy changes to support affordability and accessibility of such goods and services to the general public, and more importantly, in keeping the 1.5% temperature goal alive and help to stop us from signing our people and planet’s death certificates.
Transitioning away from dependence on fossil fuel is a key priority for Samoa and for the Pacific as a whole. It has been the Pacific and small island developing states biggest concern since the signing of the UNFCCC in 1992, for even back then, we had already witnessed first- hand the impacts of climate change on our islands, economies, and people.
So it is quite encouraging to be part of this summit and to hear from experts in the sector, the practical aspects that we need to be
addressing, the solutions that we need to be elevating, so that we are not too far off from what my country and our region have been asking for – a cleaner and sustainable development pathway.
Global Level
My attendance here is an opportunity for me to share views from the various ‘hats’ Samoa wears, which are very much interlinked to the discussions today. Samoa is currently the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), so in that capacity, Samoa is responsible for amplifying the voices of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from around the world. Samoa is also the Pacific Political Climate Champion for Mitigation consolidating the Pacific voices across all relevant forums including the UNFCCC and opportunities like this.
As small island developing states, we are very clear that phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is a scientific fact. More importantly, it is about ensuring that the future of our nations remain secure. So these summits where we showcase practical solutions to this issue that continues to be debated at the global level, is critical. It highlights that the solutions are there and instead of ‘talking’ we need to be actioning them.
Regional Level
At the regional level, our Leaders aspire to a Just and Equitable Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific. Given the diversity of our region, they also acknowledge that the pathway to achieving this is not immediate nor is it one-size fits all.
The discussions today and tomorrow is something that I am very much looking forward to. It looks at the full spectrum of issues that need to be considered in order to harness the potential opportunities renewable energy presents. We are hearing from practitioners who have gone through the trials and errors that we can learn from and inform our vision of a fossil fuel free Pacific.
Though this summit only focuses on the Electricity sector, it is the
innovation and the problem solving that is important and has the
potential to be replicated across other sectors. For the Pacific, the
transportation sector is one of the largest sectors highly dependent on fossil fuel and presents a potential opportunity for more efficient and greener models. National Level In the context of electricity – the Pacific presents a diverse landscape.
Access to electricity can be as low as 12% of the total population for some of our countries and up to more than 95% for others. Not all of our countries have hydro and wind power capabilities. Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) could present potential opportunities but is very much untried and the economics is still very risky. Solar energy is common across the region, but even this can be a challenge for small motu or coral atolls with limited land. But in presenting these statistics, the opportunities to work with the Pacific is immense.
Some of our countries have set a goal of 100% renewable by 2020 while others have set their goal to 2030. For Samoa, we have an energy sector plan that will be implemented over a five-year period and currently is up to 2028. We have explored different kinds of renewable sources including wind, biomass, solar and hydro. Petroleum products make up 70% of Samoa’s total energy supply of which the transport sector accounts for 60% while the electricity sector accounts for 25%.
Samoa’s Pathway for sustainable development 2022 – 2026, sets a
target of 70% of renewable energy use by 2031 with the aim to provide affordable, reliable, safe, and clear energy supply for all in the long term.
However, we note the transition to renewable energy is not without its challenges. Samoa like other Pacific Islands, is uniquely challenged in its decarbonization efforts given its geographical isolation, financial and technological constraints, and high vulnerability to climate impacts.
To address these challenges, Samoa is committed to collaborating closely with international partners and interested investors to develop robust policy and regulatory strategies as well as upgrading of these infrastructures. Samoa’s Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, and Sector is leading the implementation of the Pacific Green Transformation Project in Samoa which aims to decarbonize the transport sector, a priority action under our Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS).
I am also pleased to share that our Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is scheduled to launch its Renewable Energy Rebate Scheme this year with the aim to accelerate decarbonization of the transport sector, the tourism sector and community sector through schools and community centers with the support of the New Zealand Government. Moreover, a National Carbon Offset Programme is also in the pipeline and will provide for an innovative financial avenue to promote green and renewable energy projects at the community level as part of our campaign to create sustainable communities in the long term.
On raising awareness around renewable energy and its contribution to climate change mitigation. Every year, Samoa celebrates Renewable Energy Day in December to showcase our government’s commitment to accelerate sustainable energy transition for our people. This annual event brings together our Energy sector stakeholders, partners and communities to reflect on the importance of renewable energy on our fight against climate change.
Like the rest of the Pacific, Samoa is doing its part to increase its
ambition, to meet the urgency of the climate crisis, despite our negligible global emissions. In this regard, Samoa’s 3rd Nationally Determined Contribution or NDC will continue to enhance emissions reductions and renewable energy adoption towards a low carbon economy. More focus will also be on adaptation approaches as we consider also including Loss and Damage as part of our NDCs.
Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you again for the opportunity to be part of this summit. I look forward to learning more over the next 2 days and I do hope that this conversation continues and involves more of our Pacific islands. And more importantly finding partners that can help us accelerate our transition to clean energy.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Military College of Telecommunications Engineering forge strategic partnership to boost defence innovations under Atmanirbhar Bharat Empowering the Armed forces with indigenous solutions is crucial, and the proposed CDAC Centre of Excellence at MCTE is commendable: Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY
Need for collaboration between Army and researchers to unlock the true potential & gravitate towards Viksit Bharat: Lt Gen K H Gawas, Commandant, MCTE
Posted On: 27 SEP 2024 12:52PM by PIB Delhi
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)and Military College of Telecommunications Engineering (MCTE) have formalized their partnership to foster innovation and drive technological advancements for defence applications. As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, MeitY’s R&D organisationshanded overvarious indigenously developed products to MCTE for potential military use, reinforcing the nation’s commitment to self-reliance.
Accelerating adoption of advanced technologies
Building on the commitments made during the 2023 interaction between the former Minister of State, MeitY, and the Chief of Army Staff, the visit by Secretary, MeitY, accompanied by heads of the R&D organisations of MeitY, aimed to strengthen collaborative efforts for joint Research and Development (R&D) in key areas such as AI, Quantum, Chip Design, 5G & beyond, strategic electronics and communications etc. This partnership is poised to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies to meet the evolving needs and challenges faced by the Indian Army.
The initiative involves MCTE’s collaboration in MeitY’s R&D efforts in Electronics and IT, including joint research in cutting-edge technologies. It also aims to provide a platform for MSMEs through an incubation ecosystem, promoting cross-pollination of ideas and technologies.
CDAC Centre of Excellence at MCTE
Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitYhighlighted the importance of empowering the Armed Forces with indigenous solutions and commended the proposed CDAC Centre of Excellence at MCTE. He also appreciated the Letter of Intent with NIELIT to enhance military training programs and assured support for a National Military Technology Research and Incubation Centre at MCTE.
Collaboration with researchers to define battlefield needs
Lt Gen K H Gawas, Commandant, MCTEsaid that to unlock the true potential and gravitate towardsViksit Bharat, there is a need for collaboration between Army and researchers to understand battlefield requirements. He expressed confidence that this partnership would drive future defence innovations and equip the Indian Army to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving battlefield environment.
Peace best secured from position of strength, stresses Vice-President “National Security Paramount amid Global Shifts, says VP
Multilateral engagements are essential for addressing modern-day threats, stresses VP
Peace, Security, and Development: Minimum Essentials for Prosperity, says VP
VP addresses participants of the inaugural International Strategic Engagement Programme (IN-STEP) at Vice-President’s Enclave
Posted On: 27 SEP 2024 1:33PM by PIB Delhi
The Vice-President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today underscored that Peace is best secured from a position of strength, thereby according paramount importance to national security. “Global peace is assurance for sustainable development, the only way to existence. But geopolitical configurations and conflagrations have affected a sea change in security outlook”, he remarked.
Ideating about peace and harmony is fundamental to saner humanity.
Global peace is assurance for sustainable development- the only way to existence.
This gathering in the land of Mahatma Gandhi apostle of peace and non-violence, carries great significance. #INSTEPpic.twitter.com/PaBE0iWFbg
Addressing the participants of the inaugural International Strategic Engagement Programme (IN-STEP), a collaborative effort between the National Security Council Secretariat, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Defence, at New Delhi today, Shri Dhankhar emphasized the fundamental connection between global peace and sustainable development, underlining that the current state of world affairs demands a redefined approach to security.
Highlighting the dynamic geopolitical shifts that have altered global security perspectives, the Vice-President noted that multilateral engagements are no longer optional but essential for addressing modern-day threats, ranging from cyber crimes and terrorism to climate change and disruptive technologies.
Shri Dhankhar also drew attention to the evolving global threats, many of which were unimaginable just a few years ago. “We are in a world that has suddenly appeared on our radar, with unprecedented challenges such as climate change, pandemics, cyber threats, and disruptions in global order,” he remarked. He pointed out that these challenges are not accidental but stem from policies and actions driven by power ambitions and a disregard for sustainable growth.
Addressing the significance of technological advancements, he emphasized the critical role that emerging technologies such as machine learning can play in shaping global narratives and mitigating misinformation. “Disruptive technologies must be harnessed to neutralize harmful narratives that may lack factual basis but have the potential to create dangerous global environments,” Shri Dhankhar stated.
Multilateral engagements have emerged as a compulsive facet of national security given the paradigm shift in this domain.
Countries could deal with security earlier, conventionally and on their own.
But now, conventional warfare has taken a back seat.
Reflecting on India’s philosophy of “Atithi Devo Bhavah,” the Vice-President reinforced the nation’s belief in welcoming all with warmth and respect, as embodied in the G20 motto: “One Earth, One Family, and One Future.” He stressed that these values are essential in fostering unity and cooperation in a world that increasingly faces challenges that transcend borders.
The Vice-President’s remarks highlighted the broader theme of the IN-STEP program: the necessity for nations to collaborate on peace, security, and development. He remarked, “Peace and security are fundamental to growth and development. These are not lofty ideals, but the minimum essentials on which we build our prosperity and ensure the well-being of our societies.”
The IN-STEP programme, as envisioned, will serve as a valuable platform for participants to exchange ideas, explore different perspectives, and develop strategies to address the pressing security challenges of our time. The Vice-President concluded by expressing hope that the programme would foster not only deeper understanding but also lasting partnerships between nations in the shared pursuit of peace, security, and sustainable development.
Shri Sunil Kumar Gupta, IAS , Secretary to the Vice-President of India, Air Marshal Hardeep Bains AVSM VSM, Commandant, National Defence College, India and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
The IN-STEP programme features 27 international delegates from 21 countries, alongside 11 senior Indian military and civil officers. The programme is a collaborative effort between the National Security Council Secretariat, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Defence.
SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Shelly Guyer, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the California Volunteers Commission. Guyer was Chief Sustainability Officer at Invitae Corporation from 2021 to 2022 and Chief Financial Officer there from 2017 to 2021. She was Chief Financial Officer at Veracyte Inc. from 2013 to 2016. Guyer was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration at iRhythm Technologies Inc. from 2008 to 2012. She was Vice President of Business Development and Investor Relations at Nuvelo Inc. from 2006 to 2007. Guyer held several roles at JPMorgan Securities/Hambrecht & Quist from 1988 to 2006, including Associate, Vice President and Principal. She was a Science Associate and Consultant at the Environmental Defense Fund from 1982 to 1986. Guyer is a Board Member of NGM Bio Holdings Inc. and the Penney Family Fund. She is a Trustee Emerita at Phillips Academy. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics from Princeton University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Guyer is a Democrat.
Jeffrey Hoffman, of Long Beach, has been reappointed to the California Volunteers Commission, where he has served since 2005. Hoffman has been a Founding Leader at The Conference Board since 2014 and President of Jeff Hoffman & Associates since 2010. He held several positions with The Walt Disney Company from 1978 to 2010, including Vice President, Disney Worldwide Outreach from 2001 to 2010, Director of The Disney University and Corporate Human Resources from 1985 to 2001, and several roles in Disneyland Theme Park Operations from 1978 to 1985. Hoffman is a member of the Board of Directors at Points of Light, a Founding Chair at the California Volunteers Fund, a member of the Board of Advisors at the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California, and Vice Chair of the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force, City of Long Beach. Hoffman earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations, Cinema and Television from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hoffman is a Republican.
Sean Varner, of Riverside, has been appointed to the California Volunteers Commission. Varner has been a Managing Partner at Varner & Brandt LLP since 2006. He is a Board Member of the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation, the First Tee of the Inland Empire, the National Orange Show, and the Riverside ExCITE Business Incubator and Accelerator. He is Vice-President of the Monday Morning Group. Varner is a member of the University of California Board of Regents Selection Advisory Committee, the University of California, Riverside Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, the Young Presidents’ Organization and the Inland Empire Community Foundation – Policy and Advocacy Committee. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Pepperdine School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Varner is a Republican.
Helio Brasil, of Ripon, has been appointed to the 2nd District Agricultural Association, San Joaquin County Fair Board of Directors. Brasil has been Superintendent of the Keyes Union School District since 2017. Brasil is a member of the Small School Districts’ Association, California Association of School Administrators and the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools at the State Board of Education. He earned a Doctor of Education and a Master of Education degree from St. Mary’s College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from California State University, Stanislaus. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Brasil is a Democrat.
Lisa Fox-Evans, of Stockton, has been appointed to the 2nd District Agricultural Association, San Joaquin County Fair Board of Directors. Evans has been Senior Office Administrator at the San Joaquin County Hospital since 2012. Evans has been Executive Director at Angela’s Team Empire Inc. since 2018. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Evans is a Democrat.
Amy Raymondo, of Orland, has been appointed to the 42nd District Agricultural Association, Glenn County Fair Board of Directors. Raymondo has been an RCM Senior Manager and Client Executive at Veradigm since 2019. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Raymondo is a Republican.
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MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Switzerland – Department of Foreign Affairs in French
Federal Council
Bern, 27.09.2024 – The Federal Council intends to consolidate the principle of personal farming, the position of spouses and the entrepreneurial spirit of agricultural holdings. On 27 September 2024, it put out for consultation a draft partial revision of the Federal Act on Rural Land Law (LDFR) along these lines.
Motion 22.4253 of the Economic Affairs and Fees Committee of the Council of States (CER-E) of 10 October 2022, which called for the decoupling of rural land law from the implementation of the Agricultural Policy from 2022 (PA22), instructed the Federal Council to prepare a draft partial revision of the LDFR by the end of 2025 at the latest. The Federal Council’s draft revision pursues three objectives. The first is to consolidate the principle of personal exploitation, for example by the possibility of withdrawing the acquisition permit when the charges are not met. The second objective concerns the improvement of the position of spouses, in particular by granting them a second-rank pre-emption right. Finally, the draft also aims to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit, for example by increasing the maximum charge.
The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) set up an external support group to implement motion 22.4253. The cantonal agricultural offices (COSAC), the Swiss Farmers’ Union, the Swiss Farmers’ and Rural Women’s Union, the Young Farmers’ Commission, the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Farmers, the Swiss Association for Mountain Regions, the Swiss Society for Agrarian Law, the Association for the Defence of Rural Property and agricultural trustees were represented. The applicability of the proposed amendments was also checked with the assistance of the competent licensing authorities during the preparation of the consultation documents.
The consultation procedure on amendments to the law runs until 10 January 2025.
Address for sending questions
Communication SG-DEFRinfo@gs-wbf.admin.ch 41 58 462 20 07
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A semiconductor factory has been acquired by Ministry of Defence in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, boosting UK defence capabilities.
The UK’s Armed Forces will be further bolstered as a crucial supply chain to UK defence has been secured today, after the government acquisition of a key semiconductor factory in the north-east.
Defence Secretary John Healey visited the site today, which is the only secure facility in the UK with the skills and capability to manufacture gallium arsenide semiconductors. These types of specialist semiconductors are used in a number of military platforms, including to boost fighter jet capabilities.
This acquisition will not only safeguard the future of the facility, which is critical to the defence supply chain and major military programmes and exports, but also secures up to 100 skilled jobs in the North East.
Semiconductors are vitally important for the modern world we live in, being an essential component for the functioning of almost every electronic device we use, from phones and computers to ventilators and power stations. The importance of semiconductors to military applications means the technology can allow the military to fill the gaps to support their future needs.
The announcement comes ahead of the Investment Summit next month which will make clear that the UK is “open for business” as the UK government resets relations with trading partners around the globe and creates a pro-business environment that supports innovation and high-quality jobs at home and supports our mission to deliver growth.
The acquisition will also boost UK defence industrial capacity and exports, as the government intends to invest in the company over the coming years.
On the visit, the Defence Secretary welcomed the acquisition and spoke to staff directly.
Defence Secretary John Healey said:
Semiconductors are at the forefront of the technology we rely upon today, and will be crucial in securing our military’s capabilities for tomorrow.
This acquisition is a clear signal that our government will back British defence production. We’ll protect and grow our UK Defence supply chain, supporting North East jobs, safeguarding crucial tech for our Armed Forces and boosting our national security.
The semiconductor factory in Newton Aycliffe has been acquired by the government from its previous parent company Coherent Inc and will be named Octric Semiconductors UK.
This strategic investment will ensure the facility is capable of producing gallium arsenide semiconductors as well as more powerful semiconductors in the future, which will include the latest technology.
Over a trillion semiconductors are manufactured each year, with the global semiconductor market forecast to reach a total market size of $1 trillion by 2030. Semiconductors also underpin future technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum and 6G.
This government recognises the strategic importance of semiconductors as a critical technology for the future of the UK and a significant enabler of the government’s growth and clean energy missions.
Work has already started to implement best practice governance that will ensure appropriate financial oversight to secure the company’s future success.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sampled 34 water supplies for PFAS in the identified target area along Coombs Road, and the Department is in receipt of most of the analysis results. Property owners have been contacted by Department personnel to discuss their results, and they will be provided copies of the laboratory testing report. All samples analyzed to date are below the Maine Interim Drinking Water Guideline of 20 parts per trillion (same as nanograms per liter or ng/L) for the Sum of Six PFAS (PFOS + PFOA + PFHpA + PFNA + PFHxS, + PFDA). These same water supplies will be tested by the DEP every three months for one year. The next round of testing for these water supplies is planned for December 2024. Department staff have evaluated eight rounds of surface water results collected from the Merriconeag Stream watershed documenting conditions following the AFFF release that occurred on August 19, 2024. Most concentrations continue to decline throughout the watershed, and the highest concentrations are still being detected below the Picnic Pond outflow. Four rounds of data from Harpswell Cove have been received by the Department and indicate contamination has reached the marine environment but is quickly being diluted to low concentrations. PFAS levels in the watershed have not yet returned to pre-spill concentrations and testing of surface water will continue to track the trends.
Soil results have been received from four areas that were identified as either the most likely to be impacted from the AFFF release or those with the greatest risk for potential exposure to recreational users. They include the soils adjacent to Hangar Four and immediately around the oil water separator, the field north of the outdoor athletic complex, soils surrounding the outdoor athletic complex, and the field southeast of Pond B where appreciable amounts of wind-blown foam accumulated on the day of the AFFF release. Preliminary review of the analytical results identified some PFAS detections in all area soils that were tested. Soil concentrations at the Hanger Four area and athletic complex were only slightly above background soil levels for urban developed soils and were well below the States Remedial Action Guidelines for a park user exposure scenarios (see the PFAS Soil Remedial Action Guidelines in the Maine PFAS Screening Levels Document). The field southeast of Pond B where appreciable amounts of wind-blown foam accumulated on the day of the AFFF release was found to have the soil concentrations of PFAS well above background levels but still lower than the States Remedial Action Guidelines for the park user exposure scenario. This field is owned by the Navy and is posted with no trespassing signs. A comprehensive evaluation of the soil testing results by the Department and its partner agencies is ongoing.
DEP personnel also sampled four locations on the Androscoggin River in Topsham and Brunswick, following the release of AFFF at the Brunswick Executive Airport. There was concern that PFAS from the spill made its way to the Brunswick wastewater treatment plant (Brunswick Sewer District) and was discharged to the Androscoggin River. Sample results from the Brunswick Sewer District are pending. An upstream control site (ART) was established upstream of the Fort Andros dam and approximately 3.2 km upstream of the discharge. Three sites were established downstream of the discharge, including ARB 1 (~300m downstream of the discharge), ARB2 (~2 km downstream of the discharge), and ARB3 (~3.2 km downstream of the discharge). ARB3 is also downstream of a small stream the drains the north side of the airport and former navy base. The Department also sampled two smaller streams on the south side of the base that were impacted by the AFFF spill. Merriconeag Stream was sampled at one location (MEB), downstream of Picnic Pond and Purinton Road. Merriconeag Stream eventually joins the larger Mare Brook. An upstream control site on Mare Brook (MAB0) was established at Meadowbrook Road and a downstream site was established below the confluence of Mare Brook and Merriconeag Stream (MAB2).
The primary kind of PFAS associated with the AFFF spill is perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Most rivers and streams in remote parts of the Maine have <1 ng/L (parts per trillion, ppt) of PFOS in the water. In contrast, rivers and streams in more densely populated areas of Maine near landfills, wastewater treatment plants, airports, and agricultural fields with historic spreading of PFAS contaminated biosolids typically have <5 ng/L of PFOS in the water. PFOS samples from all four sites on the Androscoggin River (ART, ARB1, ARB2, and ARB3) had <4 ng/L of PFOS. The upstream site on Mare Brook (MAB0) had 2.84 ng/L of PFOS on 8/28. In contrast, Merriconeag Stream (MEB) had 39,300 ng/L of PFOS on 9/4. The downstream site on Mare Brook (MAB2) had a lower concentration than MEB but still had 6,480 ng/L of PFOS on 9/4. U.S. EPA recently established a standard of 4 ng/L of PFOS for drinking water. All of the samples from the Androscoggin River and the upstream site on Mare Brook (MAB0) had concentrations of <4 ng/L of PFOS.
Fish and shellfish tissue samples inherently take longer to process than water samples. Processing tissue samples requires additional challenging steps, including homogenizing, subsampling, and extracting PFAS from tissue and putting the PFAS in a liquid. In addition, there are fewer labs capable of analyzing fish and shellfish samples compared to the number of labs capable of analyzing water samples. The combination of a more complicated laboratory protocol for tissue samples and a shortage of labs capable of analyzing fish and shellfish samples has resulted in a turn-around time of several months for processing fish and shellfish samples.
The rain that fell today is the first significant precipitation event that has occurred since the August AFFF spill. Increased site inspections were carried out as a result, and no foam was observed or collected at any of the preestablished points. Tomorrow, a second site inspection is planned as a precaution.
The last of the PFAS-impacted water which has been stored in frac tanks near Hanger 4 has been completely removed. Approximately 30,000 gallons of impacted water was collected and transported out of state.
The Town of Brunswick and Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) have collaborated to add an opt-in notification list through the Town’s Notify Me service. The “Brunswick Landing/MRRA” notification list will provide information, news, and alerts supplied by MRRA to subscribers via email and/or text message.
To sign up for this notification service, please visit the Towns website (www.brunswickme.gov) and click on the Notify Me link.
Brunswick Landing receives its public drinking water supply from the Brunswick-Topsham Water District (BTWD), and has been confirmed safe to drink. The public water supply has not been impacted by this incident. Homes and businesses served by the BTWD can safely use the water.
The Maine CDC advises the public to exercise caution and abstain from any recreational activities (such as swimming, boating, and wading) that may come into contact with the foam or waters until the possible effects of the AFFF release on waterbodies in the vicinity have been thoroughly evaluated.
The next update will be issued as soon as additional test results become available.
For additional information, contact: David R. Madore, Deputy Commissioner david.madore@maine.gov
President Lai presides over first meeting of Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee President Lai presides over first meeting of Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee 2024-09-26
On the afternoon of September 26, President Lai Ching-te presided over the first meeting of the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee. As the committee’s convener, the president presented committee members with their letters of appointment, and explained that in order to build up our whole-of-society defense resilience, we will actively engage in comprehensive preparation to make our nation stronger and our people more confident. The president stated that we will enhance Taiwan’s response capabilities and expand cooperation between the public and private sectors. He stated that he looks forward to working together with everyone to establish a platform through which we can communicate and coordinate on our national resilience strategy, fostering a national consensus, and strengthening resilience throughout Taiwan in national defense, economic livelihoods, disaster prevention, and democracy. President Lai stated that a more resilient Taiwan will contribute more to global democracy, peace, and prosperity. He emphasized that as our society becomes better prepared, our nation grows more secure; and as Taiwan shows more determination to defend itself, the international community will feel more at ease. He expressed hope that we will engage in wide-ranging discussions and build a fortress of unity, making Taiwan a cornerstone for ensuring regional stability and democratic sustainability. A translation of President Lai’s opening statement follows: In order to consolidate forces from various sectors to strategize on national development, at the end of my first month in office, I announced that the Presidential Office will establish three committees in response to three major global issues: climate change, health promotion, and social resilience. Last month we convened the first meetings for two of those committees – the National Climate Change Committee and the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. Today, we are convening the first meeting for the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee. I want to thank our three deputy conveners and all advisors and committee members for their joint commitment. I also want to thank our fellow citizens and friends for following the committee’s proceedings online. Climate change, large-scale natural disasters, and the threat to democracy posed by expanding authoritarianism are all challenges not just for Taiwan, but for the entire world. The operations and goals of these three committees are interrelated, and they are closely connected by the issue of national resilience. We intend to build up a more resilient Taiwan, proactively deal with challenges, and bring Taiwan into deeper cooperation with the international community. When former President Tsai Ing-wen was in office, the government took stock of resources in the public and private sectors in order to lay a solid foundation on which to build up our social resilience. Now, we will continue forward, from stocktaking to validation. This will entail three principles for whole-of-society defense resilience. The first principle is “preparedness through vigilance.” We will actively engage in comprehensive preparation to make our nation stronger and our people more confident. That way, in a disaster or emergency, the government and the public can quickly leverage their respective strengths and maintain the normal operation of society. The second principle is “enhanced response, fearlessness in action.” We will expand the training and utilization of civilian forces, and enhance our strategic material preparation and critical supply distribution. We will also improve the readiness of our social welfare, medical care, and evacuation facilities, and ensure the protection of information, transportation, and financial networks. All of this will enhance Taiwan’s response capabilities. The third principle is “orderly execution, methodical action.” At all levels of government, from central to local, we will conduct extensive validation and drilling, and we will expand connections with civil society groups and societal forces so that we can all work together, in a systematic and professional manner, to identify problems, propose solutions, and follow through with implementation. This is how we will resolve problems. The work involved in whole-of-society defense resilience is diverse and complex. Accordingly, this committee needs members from the public and private sectors who can work together in coordination. The members must be guided by practical experience, have interdisciplinary expertise, span different generations, and constitute a balance between the genders. These were the factors we took into consideration when we invited representatives from industry, government agencies, academia, and research institutions to serve as the four advisors and 23 members who make up this committee. Of the total committee membership, 67.7 percent are not government officials, and 32.3 percent are women. First, I want to thank the committee advisors who have taken on that important responsibility. With us today we have Master Jing Yao (淨耀) of the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China; Huoh Shoou-yeh (霍守業), chairman of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research; and Lin Ming-hsiung (林敏雄), chairman of Chuan Lian Enterprise Co. I thank each of you for your participation, and look forward to seeing you provide the committee with broadly considered, professional views on such matters as civilian force preparedness, strategic frameworks, and supply distribution. I also want to introduce committee members who are here today. We have with us Wang Pao-tzong (王寶宗), chairman of the Holy Glory Temple; Chen Hsin-liang (陳信良), general secretary of the General Assembly Executive Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan; and Yen Po-wen (顏博文), CEO of the Tzu Chi Charity Foundation. I thank you all for your commitment and for giving us all the opportunity to learn how religious groups engage in disaster preparedness and relief efforts. Let me also thank James Liao (廖英熙), president of the National Defense Education Association; Enoch Wu (吳怡農), founder of the Forward Alliance; Hsiau Ya-wen (蕭雅文), honorary chairperson of the Taiwan Development Association for Disaster Medical Team; Liu Wen (劉文), chairperson of the Kuma Civil Defense Education Association; and Tseng Po-yu (曾柏瑜), consultant at Doublethink Lab. You have all been long involved in civil defense education, emergency medicine, and other fields, so I am quite confident that you will help the committee to better understand civilian force training and utilization. Let me also introduce Tu Wen-ling (杜文苓), distinguished professor in the Department of Public Administration at National Chengchi University, and Hsiao Hsu-chun (蕭旭君), associate professor of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University. I thank both of you for generously contributing your expertise to make Taiwan’s energy and critical infrastructure operations more robust. Also, I want to thank Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信), director general of the Taiwan Space Agency; Kenny Huang (黃勝雄), chairman of the Taiwan Network Information Center; and Dai Chen-yu (戴辰宇), board member of the Association of Hackers in Taiwan. Your involvement will contribute immensely to the protection of information, transportation, and financial networks in Taiwan. Among our committee members we have the following six government representatives: Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄); Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝), who could not attend today’s meeting; Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱); Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季); Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源); and Minister of Ocean Affairs Council Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲). The committee has two executive secretaries, namely Chi Lien-cheng (季連成), minister without portfolio of the Executive Yuan, and Ministe
r of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳). In addition, one member who will be joining us shortly is Bob Hung (洪偉淦), general manager of Trend Micro Taiwan. I also want to introduce one advisor and three committee members who could not attend today. They are, respectively, Robert Tsao (曹興誠), founder of United Microelectronics Corporation; Kuo Chia-yo (郭家佑), president of the Taiwan Digital Diplomacy Association; Liu Yu-hsi (劉玉晳), associate professor in the Department of Communications Management at Shih-Hsin University; and Tina Lin (林雅芳), managing director of sales and operations at Google Taiwan. I also thank them for participating in this committee’s operations and for contributing their valuable advice at today’s proceedings in written form. Last Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the major earthquake that struck Taiwan on September 21, 1999. For the past 25 years, we have worked continuously to improve Taiwan’s disaster preparedness and relief capabilities. Today, our purpose in building up whole-of-society defense resilience is to enable each and every individual to realize, when an emergency arises, where to best make a contribution and how to protect themselves, contribute to society, or deter an approaching enemy. We want to enable all our citizens to feel utterly confident in the continuity and future of Taiwan’s society. Today, in this first meeting of the committee, the National Security Council (NSC) will brief us on the topic of “Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience: Planning and Challenges.” The NSC will familiarize all of us here, as well as our citizens and friends watching online, with the concepts and operations involved in whole-of-society defense resilience, the associated challenges and goals, and the progress we have made toward achieving our tasks. I have said before that a sudden natural disaster is like an acute cold, while climate change is more like a chronic disease. What whole-of-society defense resilience addresses is both the chronic and the acute. In addition to national disasters and emergencies, Taiwan has also been dealing for a long time with the challenges of gray-zone aggression and cognitive warfare. Located in the first island chain, Taiwan stands on the frontline of the democratic world. As such, we have always endeavored to safeguard regional peace and stability. I firmly believe that a more resilient Taiwan will contribute more to global democracy, peace, and prosperity. I also believe that when Taiwan is properly prepared and shows determination, our like-minded partners from around the world will be more willing to help Taiwan, jointly respond to all kinds of challenges, and work in concert to mitigate risks. As the people of Taiwan become more united, our nation grows more stable. As our society becomes better prepared, our nation grows more secure. And as Taiwan shows more determination to defend itself, the international community will feel more at ease. And so, I want to thank all of you once again for taking on the major task of enhancing our whole-of-society defense resilience. I look forward to working together with everyone, as we continue to observe global conditions, to establish a platform through which we can communicate and coordinate on our national resilience strategy, thereby fostering a nationwide consensus and strengthening resilience throughout Taiwan in national defense, economic livelihoods, disaster prevention, and democracy. Moving forward, let us engage in wide-ranging discussions, build a fortress of unity, and further empower our whole-of-society defense resilience, making Taiwan a cornerstone for ensuring regional stability and democratic sustainability. Thank you. Following his statement, President Lai presented letters of appointment to the committee members and heard a report from NSC Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) on the topic of “Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience: Planning and Challenges.” Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the report and the Rules of Procedure for Meetings of the Office of the President Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee.
On 25 and 26 September, a team from the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme was in Baku, Azerbaijan to review practical scientific cooperation and kick off a new research project focused on protecting critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks.
Through the new project, contributors will develop a cyber platform that will allow organizations to train staff, test new technologies, and assess processes under pressure from simulated cyber-attacks. Over the next two years, the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics – ICI Bucharest (Romania) and the Special Communication and Information Security State Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan will work together to bring this initiative to life. The aim is to help cyber defence teams better understand the vulnerabilities of Operational Technology systems so they can be better protected. These systems are the backbone of critical infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment plants, and transportation systems.
While in Baku, the NATO team also organized an Information Day at ADA University. It focused on NATO’s scientific cooperation activities involving Azerbaijan, and on encouraging new ideas involving the local research community. Over 40 participants from academia, as well as from Azerbaijan’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Defence participated in the event.
NATO’s SPS Programme has a history of cooperation with Azerbaijan. Over the years, this has included activities focused on neutralising toxic rocket fuel left behind from Soviet times, securing energy infrastructure against seismic hazards, protecting cyber networks, and developing sensors for the detection of landmines and explosives.
Through its activities, the SPS Programme provides opportunities for academics, experts and officials in Azerbaijan, as well as other partner countries, to develop proposals for innovative scientific projects to be implemented with peers in NATO countries. Through these activities, participants exchange knowledge on security-related topics and build relationships that expand international scientific networks.
Event to generate upfront revenue through registration fees and apparel sales
Expected to be the largest attended combine in the country in 2024
Event to be held at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility in Frisco, TX
SCOTTSDALE, AZ, Sept. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —Signing Day Sports, Inc. (“Signing Day Sports” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: SGN), the developer of the Signing Day Sports app and platform to aid high school athletes in the recruitment process, announces the 3rd Annual US Army Bowl National Combine, powered by Signing Day Sports. Set to take place from December 18-21, 2024, at The Star, the state-of-the-art Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility in Frisco, Texas, this year’s combine is expected to attract over 1,500 participants, making it the largest football combine in the nation for 2024.
In addition to creating an invaluable opportunity for aspiring football players, this event generates upfront revenue for the Company through event registration fees and promotion of the Company’s apparel sales by offering exclusive merchandise to both participants and fans.
The US Army Bowl National Combine will lead up to the prestigious US Army National High School All-Star Game, where elite student-athletes from across the country will showcase their skills. During the three-day event, Signing Day Sports anticipates the integration of more than 1,500 student-athletes into the Signing Day sports app, offering enhanced visibility to college recruiters and professional scouts.
“We are thrilled to run this year’s U.S. Army National Combine at such a world-class venue,” said Jeff Hecklinski, President of Signing Day Sports. “With the momentum from our growing community and the expected participation of top high school athletes from the classes of 2026, 2027, and 2028, we anticipate this to be a record-setting event both in terms of attendance and talent on display.”
About Signing Day Sports Signing Day Sports’ mission is to help student-athletes achieve their goal of playing college sports. Signing Day Sports’ app allows student-athletes to build their Signing Day Sports’ recruitment profile, which includes information college coaches need to evaluate and verify them through video technology. For more information on Signing Day Sports, go to https://bit.ly/SigningDaySports.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are described more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s periodic reports which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are, in some cases, beyond our control and could materially affect results. If one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors become applicable, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual events or results may vary significantly from those implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Switzerland – Department of Foreign Affairs in French
Federal Council
Bern, 27.09.2024 – At its meeting on 27 September 2024, the Federal Council appointed the current Deputy Director of the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO) and Head of Sports Policy and Legal Affairs as Director of the FOSPO as of 1 November 2024. She succeeds Matthias Remund, who will leave his position on 31 October 2024 to take up a new challenge.
Sandra Felix, 57, has a degree in business economics from the FES. After obtaining this qualification in 1997, she completed further training in the field of quality management and techniques for economists. She gained experience in management positions and leadership roles in the construction and machinery industry, then, from 2005, in the Grisons public administration in the Department of Finance before holding the position of Secretary of the Department of Economics and Social Affairs of the Canton of Grisons for six years. In July 2017, Sandra Felix joined the OFSPO. On 1 September 2018, she became Deputy Director for Office Management and headed the Sports Policy and Legal Affairs Division. She was appointed Deputy Director of the OFSPO on 1 April 2021.
For the vacant position, Viola Amherd, President of the Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), has set up a selection committee comprising Daniel Büchel, Secretary General of the DDPS, Marc Siegenthaler, Deputy Secretary General of the DDPS, Christelle Luisier Brodard, State Councillor, Head of the Department of Institutions, Spatial Planning and Sport and President of the Vaud State Council and Ruth Wipfli Steinegger, Vice-President of Swiss Olympic.
Sandra Felix clearly stood out during the recruitment process due to her education, professional background and many years of experience. In particular, she has experience in operational and strategic management and is very familiar with the Swiss sports system and the collaboration with private-law sports organisations, the relevant departments of the federal administration, the cantons and other institutions.
The Federal Council thanks Matthias Remund for his valuable service over almost twenty years as Director of OFSPO.
Address for sending questions
Lorenz FrischknechtSuppl. Head of Communications / DDPS spokesperson 41 58 484 26 17
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Sept. 27 — Chinese President Xi Jinping will award national medals and honorary titles at a ceremony to be held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing at 10 a.m. Sunday ahead of the 75th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver an important speech at the ceremony.
Three types of awards — the Medal of the Republic, the Friendship Medal and medals of national honorary titles — will be granted at the ceremony.
The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and Xinhuanet. It will also be relayed simultaneously on leading central news websites including people.cn, cctv.com and china.com.cn, as well as on new media platforms such as mobile apps run by the People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television.
Xi signed a presidential order on Sept. 13 to award national medals and national honorary titles to 15 individuals on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. China celebrates its National Day on Oct. 1.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal pays her respects to fallen soldiers from the Scottish regiments in northern France.
CWGC Vice Chairman Vice Admiral Peter Hudson CBE CB with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal during her visit to Loos British Cemetery Extension. Copyright CWGC.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal paid her respects today (26 September 2024) as dozens of soldiers killed during World War One, many from Scottish regiments, were commemorated at a specially built cemetery extension in northern France.
The event, held under autumn skies, was organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘War Detectives’, and was held at the newly built Loos British Cemetery Extension. It is only the second time the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has built a new cemetery since the end of World War 2.
HRH The Princess Royal, President of the CWGC, formally inaugurated the new cemetery as she honoured the soldiers who were laid to rest.
The new cemetery was commissioned and built after nearby hospital construction works discovered a large number of World War 1 remains. The CWGC wanted to ensure that, on reburial, all of the fallen would remain side by side.
Soldiers of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland bear the coffin of an unknown Scottish soldier. Picture by Corporal Daryll Knott Crown Copyright.
The JCCC identification process established 48 separate sets of remains from the site. Although many Scottish Regimental artefacts were found, among them kilt pins, regimental buttons and shoulder titles, individual casualties could not be accurately identified by name.
With so many remains recovered, it was impossible for the CWGC to bury them all in one public ceremony, so 46 were buried privately at Loos British Cemetery Extension earlier this summer.
Today, one unknown soldier of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) and a second unknown Scottish soldier were laid to rest by serving soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The service, which included a firing party and a piper, commemorated all 48 fallen soldiers.
Although none could be identified by name, JCCC continues efforts to identify several other casualties recovered at the same location, with the aim of burying them at Loos British Cemetery Extension.
The War Detectives attempt to find any living relatives when the remains of British personnel from historic conflicts are recovered. If identified, relatives are invited to the re-interment and memorial service. The CWGC is a world leader in commemoration which cares for war graves at 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries.
After today’s cemetery service, HRH The Princess Royal met with community representatives at Loos-en-Gohelle’s City Hall.
Tracey Bowers, MOD War Detective, said: “This was an incredibly important ceremony. It is a privilege to be here with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal as we bury these last two soldiers from, what was, a huge recovery of remains. They will now rest in the presence of their regimental family.”
Padre David Anderson, Senior Chaplain 51st Infantry Brigade and HQ Scotland, said: “It is a tremendous honour and privilege to be here having served with The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and toured Afghanistan with them, it has tremendous poignancy for me to be here to reinter the remains of two unknown soldiers one, known to be of the Black Watch, and another known only to be Scottish. It’s good that the soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland are here today to bury their comrades in arms.”
Director General of the CWGC, Claire Horton CBE, said: “We are truly grateful and deeply honoured to have welcomed our President, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, to inaugurate our new cemetery and pay her respects to the brave men who have now been laid to rest here.
“This occasion marks a significant milestone for the Commission, reflecting our unwavering commitment to honouring the sacrifices made by those who served. It also emphasises that our vital work to care for the fallen all around the world is very much ongoing.
“As we gather here today, we reaffirm our promise to maintain the graves of those interred in Loos British Cemetery Extension, and of their comrades, ensuring that their legacy will endure in perpetuity.”
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Giang Nguyen-Dien, Postdoctoral Fellow in American Culture Studies, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
Members of St. Paul’s Hmong community protest in 1998 after a local radio host said on air that Hmong immigrants needed to ‘assimilate or hit the goddamn road.’Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images
After Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, much of the media coverage zeroed in on Walz’s Midwestern roots, with some pundits using the phrase “Minnesota nice” to describe his appeal.
In the popular imagination, Minnesota nice describes a culture of neighborliness and amicability that’s commonly seen as characteristic of the state. In policy terms, that might mean bigger investments in education, better public health, access to affordable housing and stronger worker rights – an extension of Walz’s achievements as Minnesota governor. Many Americans would probably like to see these values have primacy in the rest of the nation.
I think Minnesota nice, whether represented in policies or in being kind to neighbors, is a worthy ideal. But as someone who has studied the experiences of Vietnamese refugees in Minnesota, I’ve written about how the trope of Minnesota nice has a more complex history – especially when it comes to nonwhite people.
According to Atkins, Minnesota nice denotes “a polite friendliness, an aversion to confrontation, a tendency toward understatement … and emotional restraints.” These traits can be found in Scandinavian literature, film and art, as well as in 19th- and early 20th-century Lutheran values.
To ease those concerns, government officials instituted a dispersal policy to spread out Southeast Asian refugees to ensure they wouldn’t be concentrated in any one region, town or city. They implemented this policy to reduce social and economic impacts on local communities – and also compel Southeast Asian refugees to assimilate into American culture.
In Minnesota, while many newcomers were given a helping hand, many of them also experienced isolation and rejection.
From 1979 to 1999, about 15,000 Vietnamese refugees arrived in Minnesota. My research shows that media outlets often ran articles highlighting the goodwill and generosity of locals, whether they were helping these refugees learn English, acquire job training, find work or secure housing.
The Minneapolis Tribune reported in 1975 that the state was able to avoid any major public reactions against refugees because they posed “no major job threat,” since they were spread out across the state.
Even as locals seemed largely supportive, the dispersal policy wasn’t ideal for many refugees. Many of them ended up in remote areas of Minnesota, far from a familiar ethnic community that could provide much-needed psychological and emotional support. Those in isolated areas often lacked access to social services and English language programs.
For refugees, a more complicated view of Minnesota nice emerges, one that I think depends on being not too visible and not too much of a threat to the existing order. Many refugees were certainly grateful for the state and local support they received. But gratitude also became an “unspoken condition” for acceptance, as Iranian refugee Dina Nayeri reports in her book “The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You.”
In Minnesota, locals could seem largely unsympathetic to the complicated struggles of refugees trying to settle in a strange, new land. Rather than complain, they ought to be happy for the “small blessings” they received, as one local St. Cloud resident wrote to the Minneapolis Tribune in 1975.
When there was a sudden influx of refugees into one area, some residents could become even less welcoming.
That’s what happened with the state’s Hmong refugees.
An ethnic group originally from China, the Hmong arrived in Southeast Asia during the mid-19th century. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. government recruited the Hmong to fight in the Secret War in Laos, where the U.S. had been covertly providing aid and military assistance to anti-communist forces. After the war, some Hmong fled, fearing persecution. Many of them ended up in Minnesota. In 1980, there were about 2,000 Hmong people in Minnesota. By the end of 1981, their numbers had grown to 8,000, raising some alarm.
“Some cynics say our problem is that we are too nice and have provided too many services,” a local resettlement official was quoted saying in a 1980 State Department report. In that same report, an official with a local charity suggested that Minnesota would soon be known as “Hmong-nesota.”
In 1985, the Minnesota Star Tribune published a special report, “Hmong in Minnesota: Lost in the Promised Land,” that explored how many Hmong refugees had become “targets of racial epithets, harassment and violence” in the Twin Cities. The article noted that the Hmong came to realize that most Americans had never heard of them or their roles in the secret war in Laos. Instead, they often found themselves “resented, misunderstood and victimized by their neighbors.”
To me, the anxiety over “Hmong-nesota” recalled the history of “yellow peril” – the imagined threat of Asian invasion and cultural disruptions that first emerged in the 19th century and shaped many U.S. immigration policies.
Benevolence and violence
My own research explores how feel-good tropes that are prominent in the U.S., such as Minnesota nice, usually mask a more complicated story.
The U.S. government has often used the language of goodwill as a cover for violence – a phenomenon I call “bene/violence.”
For example, the U.S. occupation of the Philippines, which began in 1899, was sugarcoated in the rhetoric of benevolence. William McKinley, who was U.S. president at the time, insisted that “the strong arm of authority” would promote “the blessings of good and stable government upon the people of the Philippine Islands under the free flag of the United States.” The story of conquest became the story of “uplifting” those deemed less civilized and incapable of self-governance.
The same sort of talk was also used to justify U.S. military intervention in Vietnam. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s State of the Union address on Jan. 4, 1965, implored Americans to secure the “peace of Asia” and “the progress of humanity.” The government promoted the war in Vietnam as a just war, in part by claiming Americans were granting the Vietnamese the “gift of freedom,” as Asian American studies scholar Mimi Nguyen has written.
In the end, Minnesota nice signals that there’s something special about the state, just as “spreading democracy” and “protecting freedom” signal American exceptionalism on the international stage.
But the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis illuminated what economist Samuel L. Myers calls the “Minnesota Paradox” – a history of inequality that is totally divorced from the way niceness operates in the cultural imagination of the state’s residents.
“African Americans are worse off in Minnesota than they are in virtually every other state in the nation,” Myers writes.
In a 2021 essay, sociologist Amy August also highlighted the state’s persistent racial disparities in housing, health care, income and education to argue that whatever progressive promises the state makes, Minnesota is not apart from America but rather a part of America.
Ultimately, I think the concept of Minnesota nice can create the illusion of a utopian society largely devoid of the ills of racism and inequality. It reinforces American kindness as a core aspect of national identity and, in doing so, I believe glosses over parts of the country’s history – while hampering its ability to address the very real problems that plague the nation today.
I don’t reject what Minnesota nice purports to offer. But it is not a simple and straightforward cultural value adopted by – and equally applied to – everyone.
Giang Nguyen-Dien does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
WASHINGTON — Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) awarded Jacobs Engineering CH2M Hill/Clark Nexsen Energy Partners Joint Venture a $3.7 million contract for an electrical microgrid study as part of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) Sept. 13.
The study, expected to be completed in October 2025, will assess all four public shipyards and develop proposed courses of action for ensuring up to 14 days of electrical power in the event of a power grid or utility outage. It will include assessing the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of implementing a microgrid system to enhance energy efficiency, reliability, and resilience within shipyard facilities.
“This study is foundational to providing energy resilience at our naval shipyards,” said Capt. Luke Greene, SIOP program manager. “Off-grid survivability is critical to maintain the shipyards’ operations under adverse conditions and deliver ships and submarines back to the fleet on time.”
The study is part of SIOP’s holistic recapitalization effort that integrates all infrastructure and industrial plant equipment investments at the Navy’s four public shipyards to meet nuclear fleet maintenance requirements, as well as improve Navy maintenance capabilities by expanding shipyard capacity and optimizing shipyard configuration.
Leveraging the structure and rigor of the Department of Defense’s Major Defense Acquisition Program process — a first for an infrastructure program — SIOP established infrastructure performance criteria to evaluate potential solutions to facilities challenges at the shipyards. These criteria include the ability to operate independently of the electrical grid for up to 14 days.
To date, SIOP has completed 30 facilities projects totaling $867 million, with an additional 40 projects worth a total of $6 billion under contract. This includes four dry docks under construction. SIOP work continues to strengthen the naval shipyards’ resiliency in the face of sea level rise and other adverse conditions.
NAVFAC EXWC, the specialized engineering support and contracting activity for the study, provides research, development, testing and evaluation; in-service engineering; and life-cycle management for shore, oceans, and expeditionary domains to accelerate innovation enabling fleet lethality both at sea and ashore.
“This microgrid study will support infrastructure modernization of our naval shipyards by providing a course of action to increase resilience and provide uninterrupted critical power,” said Andy Vasquez, NAVFAC EXWC program manager. “NAVFAC EXWC is proud to provide the required specialized engineering services to support SIOP.”
For more information about the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program, visit https://www.navfac.navy.mil/PEO-Industrial-Infrastructure/PMO-555-SIOP/.
In this week’s look around the Air Force, CSAF Gen. Allvin praises Airmen for embracing and advancing efforts to reoptimize the force, and CSO Gen. Chance Saltzman reflects on historical lessons to guide the future of the Space Force.
ATLANTIC OCEAN– The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (IKE) hosted student naval aviators from Training Air Wing (TW) 1 composed of Training Squadron (VT) 7 and VT-9 from Naval Air Station Meridian and TW-2 composed of VT-21 and VT-22 from Naval Air Station Kingsville, as a part of carrier qualification (CQ) training, Sep. 24, off the coast of Florida.
For the VT students, CQs represents an important milestone in their training as it is the first time the students will land on an operational aircraft carrier.
During the evolution, students completed 256 recoveries aboard IKE in T-45C Goshawk training aircraft. This evolution is the culmination of the advanced phase of strike pilot training. The success of the students will earn them their wings of gold and designation as naval aviators, setting them up to fill operational commands across the fleet.
Throughout CQs, safety and emergency preparedness were paramount to both the student naval aviators and IKE personnel, especially those operating on the flight deck.
“In preparing for this CQ process, we have done numerous briefs and [simulations] of the T-45 models,” said Lt. j.g. Terrance Wever, IKE’s flight deck officer. “We planned for 20 aircraft but ended up with 14, so we knew how to manage the flight deck and the real estate available to us. Ultimately, it’s on all of us to make sure we stop anything that is unsafe. We are preventative and not reactive.”
In the air, the students’ safety is carefully managed. From the tower to the ground, a network of IKE personnel and VT instructors keep a close eye on the performance of the students.
Despite oversight at every level, the instructors have a high level of trust in their students and expect a high level of performance.
“If they’re having difficulty, we’ll talk to them in plain English,” said Lt. Cory “Venus” Morgan, a VT-7 landing signal officer. “Otherwise, it’s usually pretty silent; there’s not much noise. We’re letting them cook, so-to-speak; letting them get reps and sets, because they don’t know what to expect until after the first couple [of recoveries]. Then, they start to loosen up a bit and think ‘I can do this.’”
Although the students are nearing the end of their advanced training pipeline, nerves are inevitable ahead of their first CQ. This is something even the most experienced pilots in the fleet can attest to.
“The first few passes from behind the ship, I barely remember,” said Cmdr. Tyler “McGruber” McQuiggan, IKE’s air department head, also known as “Air Boss.” “My nerves were there and I realized after my first arrested landing, when my feet and hands were shaking from the gravity of what I had just accomplished. Your nerves start to cool over time but I don’t think you ever really get comfortable as a student out there.”
In addition to technical support, instructors play a key role in helping the students manage their nerves during the evolution.
“I think everyone is nervous going to the boat, especially if they haven’t done it in a while,” said Morgan. “It’s a healthy nervousness but we meter their nerves by emphasizing their training will set them up properly for landing on the boat.”
While the students set their sights on earning their wings of gold, IKE’s air department continues to practice their warrior tradecraft at a high level behind the scenes.
“Carrier aviation is always going to have risk and our job is to minimize the risk out here,” said McQuiggan. “We have to keep our head on a swivel, be safe and look out for one another.”
With CQs in the rearview mirror, IKE will return to Naval Station Norfolk and begin preparation for a scheduled maintenance period.
Check out the 2nd Infantry Division Soldiers at the Korea-International Combat Training Competition! Teams from the Republic of Korea, Cambodia, Australia, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines joined.
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The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.
Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L
Connect with the U.S. Army online:
Web: https://www.army.mil
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USarmy/
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#USArmy #Soldiers #Military #DSOY #BestOfTheBest
President Cyril Ramaphosa has stressed the importance of South Africans recognising and honouring the former liberation heroes and heroines who have returned to their home country, acknowledging their vital role in securing the nation’s freedom.
The President was speaking during the repatriation and restitution homecoming ceremony of 42 South African freedom fighters who lost their lives in Zambia and Zimbabwe during the apartheid era.
The ceremony was held at the Freedom Park Heritage Site and Museum in Tshwane, Pretoria on Friday with families of the freedom fighters present.
The occasion was also graced by former President Thabo Mbeki, Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga, and the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton Mckenzie.
“South Africans need to know the names and appreciate the contributions of these returned freedom fighters. I ask that we read out the names of these patriots for all our people to know them.
“Their names will forever be inscribed here at the Wall of Names in Freedom Park so that we may never forget. Any nation that values its freedom holds its liberation heroes and heroines in high regard,” the President said.
The repatriation of the freedom fighters’ remains from Zambia and Zimbabwe forms part of the Resistance and Liberation Heritage Route Project (RLHR). The RLHR is a national memory project aimed at commemorating, celebrating, educating, promoting, preserving, conserving and providing a durable testament of South African’s road to freedom.
The repatriation initiative is part of a broader effort to bring the remains of freedom fighters who died in exile to their final resting places.
As the country celebrates the return of the struggle heroes and heroines, the President said through the act of repatriation, their citizenship has been reinstated.
“We return them to the land of their birth. We restore them to their families and their people. Decades ago, these freedom fighters left a country that was at war with itself.
“They left a country in which the fundamental rights of its people were brutally and cruelly suppressed by apartheid, which was declared a crime against humanity. Today, their remains return to a free and democratic South Africa,” he said.
The President said it will forever remain a source of regret that they were never to see the dawn of the freedom to which they dedicated their lives.
He emphasised that it was fitting that the country gathers at Freedom Park to honour them.
“It is here at Freedom Park that we remember our struggle for liberation and the many men and women who fought so that we may be free. It is here that we celebrate the achievement of our democracy.
“And it is here that we pledge to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the fundamental freedoms of every person are realised,” the President said.
Through the reparation of the remains of these freedom fighters, President Ramaphosa said the country is giving further effect to the Preamble of its Constitution.
He added that while these freedom fighters belonged to different political traditions, they were united by a common vision of a free South Africa.
“And though they departed this life many years ago, their ideals and their values continue to guide the South Africa we are building. Their activism and their sacrifices continue to inspire our efforts to build a better life for all,” he said.
The President extended his gratitude to the countries that offered these freedom fighters shelter, support and, in the end, a fitting resting place.
“We are grateful in this instance to the governments and peoples of Zambia and Zimbabwe for having taken great care of our compatriots and for enabling their remains to be repatriated,” the President said.
Preserving the nation’s liberation heritage
President Ramaphosa said government is making every effort to preserve the nation’s liberation heritage.
“To do so, we must honour all those who authored this history by taking part in the struggle to free our country. This we must continue to do because our freedom can never be taken for granted.
“We must continue to honour those men and women whose love for their country and its people motivated them to sacrifice their lives for freedom,” he said.
The President spoke in detail about a few of the struggle horoes and heroines who were well known.
One of the prominent names was that of Duma Nokwe who was the Secretary-General of the African National Congress at a crucial moment in the nation’s struggle for liberation.
“In exile, he was a prominent voice on the continent and around the world in support of the cause of the South African people.
“It is perhaps a sign of his esteemed place in the history of the liberation movement that his remains were exhumed still wearing the ANC scarf in which he was buried in Lusaka in 1978,” the President said.
Another prominent name is that of John Nyathi Pokela who was Chairman of the Pan Africanist Congress who spent more than a decade on Robben Island for his activities as a member of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army, then known as Poqo.
He is remembered for the vital role he played in forging unity within the PAC. He passed away in Harare in 1985.
Another prominent leader of the Pan Africanist Congress was Edwin Letsholo Makoti.
He was a founding member of the PAC and was Secretary for Publicity and Information in the PAC Central Committee at the time of his passing in Harare in 1989.
The President spoke of the well-known Florence Mophosho, a stalwart of the struggle who is remembered for her commitment, sacrifice and fiery spirit.
“She was a great leader of our movement and a pioneer in the struggle for women’s rights. She helped us understand that no society can be free until its women are free,” he said.
The name of Basil February is also written large in the history of the nation’s struggle. As a member of the Luthuli Detachment of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was killed in action in the then-Rhodesia during the Wankie Campaign.
“There are other freedom fighters we honour here today whose names are not as familiar. And yet their sacrifice and their contribution to our freedom is no less profound and is no less valued,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za
Pentagon Spokesman Lt. Col. Charlie Dietz provided the following readout:
Tressa Guenov, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, co-chaired the U.S.-North Macedonia Bilateral Defense Consultations (BDC) with North Macedonia’s Minister of Defense, Mr. Vlado Misajlovski, on September 24 at the Pentagon. The meeting included participation from North Macedonia’s Ministry of Defense, General Staff, the U.S. Joint Staff, U.S. European Command, the Vermont National Guard, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the Department of State.
Participants discussed contributions to global security, support for Ukraine, and bilateral security cooperation priorities, including exercises, training, logistics and sustainment, military-to-military engagements, and North Macedonia’s long-standing State Partnership Program with the Vermont National Guard. North Macedonian defense officials shared their perspectives on the security situation in the Western Balkans and their role within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Alliance. The United States thanked North Macedonia for a productive BDC and reaffirmed the importance of dialogue in achieving a stable and secure Western Balkans.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Sept. 27 — A speech delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, at a Sept. 20 meeting marking the 75th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has been published as a booklet.
The booklet, published by the People’s Publishing House, is available at Xinhua Bookstore outlets across China.
Headline: Around the Air Force: Air Force Reoptimization Progress and Space Force Development
In this week’s look around the Air Force, CSAF Gen. Allvin praises Airmen for embracing and advancing efforts to reoptimize the force, and CSO Gen. Chance Saltzman reflects on historical lessons to guide the future of the Space Force.
Source: US National Republican Congressional Committee
The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –
September 27, 2024
New footage of extreme Democrat Rebecca Cooke reveals she supports a ban on assault weapons and AR-15s.
“Extreme Democrat Rebecca Cooke is running her campaign on lies about her radical record and long history as a paid political consultant for far-left Democrats. Voters see through her facade and will reject her this November because her policies are too out of touch with Western Wisconsin.” — NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella
Read more from National Review here or see excerpts below.
‘AR-15s Have No Place at a Deer Camp’: Wisconsin Democrat Running as Moderate Calls for Banning Popular Rifle Platform National Review Brittany Bernstein September 27, 2024
Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic challenger to Representative Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis), has previously said she supports a ban on assault weapons and AR-15s, according to recordings obtained by National Review.
Cooke… has not strongly highlighted her stance on gun control during the campaign. Of eleven policy priorities listed on her website, none mention gun-policy reform.
In the first of two recordings, she was asked during a campaign meet-and-greet on February 13 whether she would support an assault-weapons ban.
“I do. Yeah,” she replied, according to an audio recording of the event.
And on July 16 at the WI-03 Democrat forum, Cooke voiced support for a ban on AR-15s.
[…]
The recordings find Cooke taking an even stricter stance on gun reform than is laid out in her biography on the website of the pro-gun control group Giffords, which has endorsed her.
“In Congress, she’ll work to close the Charleston Loophole, enact red flag laws that allow law enforcement and families to disarm those who pose a risk to themselves or others, and expand background checks to all gun sales. She’ll also be a champion for strong safe storage requirements, because she wants people to be able to responsibly own guns, while still ensuring that they can’t fall into the hands of an innocent child or someone who shouldn’t have access,” the biography reads.
Cooke’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the extent of her gun-control policy goals. Cooke is running as a moderate in the district that has been represented by Van Orden, a conservative Republican, since 2022. The congressman is a self-described “American patriot, retired Navy SEAL and Christian.”
NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) organised the 3rd Annual Conference of Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Academies and Schools, from 16 to 19 September 2024, in Batumi, Georgia. The event was held in cooperation with the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes and the Defence Forces of Georgia, with well over 80 participants from more than 30 countries.
Participants included high level officials, such as NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations, Burcu San, the Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, Alexander Vinnikov, and the Deputy Chief of the Georgian General Staff, Major General Zaza Chkhaidze, as well as commandants and senior enlisted leaders, and senior instructors of Schools for Non-Commissioned Officers from both NATO Allies and partners. Representatives from Malawi and Columbia also participated for the first time.
They discussed a range of issues, including the preparation of NCO specialists and the education of young generations of NCOs, as well as various initiatives run by NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme in the domain of NCOs’ development. They also received an update from representatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the role performed by their NCOs corps in defending against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Non-commissioned officers are vital to the effectiveness and resilience of modern militaries, as they provide critical role-models for service members and support the development of military education systems.
This year’s conference in Georgia built on two previous conferences hosted by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The Conference of NCO Academies and Schools was established by NATO’s DEEP Team as a platform to enable these institutions to communicate, synchronise curricula, and share best practices.
A federal grand jury in Gulfport, Mississippi, returned an indictment, unsealed yesterday, charging a Florida financial advisor with a years-long scheme to promote and operate an illegal tax shelter, stealing some of his clients’ funds and money laundering.
According to the indictment, Stephen T. Mellinger III, of Florida, was a securities broker, financial advisor and insurance salesman. Beginning in late 2013, Mellinger allegedly conspired with several others to defraud the IRS by promoting an illegal tax shelter.
Mellinger allegedly instructed clients participating in the shelter, including clients in Mississippi, to transfer money to a company controlled by Mellinger or his co-conspirators in the amount they wished to claim as a deduction on their tax returns. The conspirators then allegedly returned the money to a bank account that clients controlled less a percentage fee that they charged for their services. Even though tax shelter clients received their money back, Mellinger allegedly directed them to claim the transfer to the company as a deduction on their tax returns, and to label the deduction as a “royalty” payment. Mellinger allegedly earned more than $3 million in fees from the shelter.
Also, in January 2016, the federal government allegedly seized funds from some of Mellinger’s clients, who were engaged in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, the U.S. Department of Defense’s health care benefit program. Mellinger conspired with a close relative to take advantage of the seizure to steal some of the money that those clients had transferred through the tax shelter. Mellinger then allegedly laundered the stolen funds, which he knew were proceeds of healthcare fraud. Ultimately, he allegedly used some of the funds he stole from his clients to buy a home in Delray Beach, Florida.
Mellinger was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. If convicted, Mellinger faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS, a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each substantive count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each substantive count of money laundering. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee for the Southern District of Mississippi made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation and Defense Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys William Montague, Richard J. Hagerman and Matthew Hicks of the Tax Division, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Kirkham for the Southern District of Mississippi and Trial Attorneys Emily Cohen and Jasmin Salehi Fashami of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.