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Category: Pandemic

  • MIL-OSI Global: Don’t panic reading ‘electoral process porn’: There are plenty of safeguards to make sure voters’ wishes are respected

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Justin Levitt, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School Los Angeles

    Electoral process porn can make people think their vote will be stolen, so what’s the point of voting? Illustration: wildpixel/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

    You’ve probably seen them: alarming columns or stories with alarming headlines about how somebody is going to exploit an obscure provision in election law to undo the 2024 presidential election and toss it to the House of Representatives. Your vote won’t count, and democracy will go to hell.

    Election law scholar Justin Levitt throws cold water on those scenarios, and in an interview with Naomi Schalit, The Conversation’s senior editor for politics and democracy, he says the voters will decide the election, “flat out.”

    What’s “electoral process porn?”

    It’s a writing genre identifying a tactic or loophole that’s supposedly going to fundamentally change the election process – what I called “The Key to the Whole Thing This Time” in a Slate piece earlier this year – usually, by taking away everyone’s voting rights and magically delivering the election to one candidate. It’s a lurid, titillating take that depends on the fact that election law and process can sometimes seem impenetrable.

    What distinguishes this type of think piece from other reporting on the election process is tone and emphasis, rather than information. Just like not every sex scene in the movies needs an NC-17 label, not every piece about how elections work is going to be electoral process porn.

    Perhaps the worst part about electoral process porn is that it leaves readers with an unjustified feeling of helplessness, even the thought that voting might be pointless, if it’s all subject to this supposed hidden gimmick. It is dystopian fiction masquerading as analysis, feeding on people’s anxieties that a basic process of self-government might be taken out of their own hands.

    A selection of headlines trumpeting the ways the 2024 presidential election could be subverted.
    Mother Jones, Politico, USA Today

    Can you give me a few examples? I want the person who reads this to understand concretely what you’re talking about.

    Sure. One example fits the mold of the artful con: the heist movie or spy thriller that depends on knowing the particular procedural lever to deliver results, the MacGuffin nobody else can anticipate, making the person who’s the center of the thriller the smartest person in the room. It’s the story about an Electoral College feature in which an obscure part of the law, say subparagraph (ii)(B) of paragraph (1)(c) about delivering a particular piece of paper, secretly holds the spell to make millions of votes disappear. It depends on a wildly implausible sequence of events and a whiff of magical legalism, with a basic misunderstanding of what legal rules are for.

    Another example is the armchair detective mystery, with the promise that if you squint just right, you can find the clues that finally solve the big crime. This type of piece often centers on alleged voter fraud, making a legitimate loss feel more palatable by suggesting it’s theft instead. The thing is, these are usually murder mysteries with no dead bodies. People motivated to play detective will often find suspicious patterns in conduct that’s entirely lawful.

    A third version is a horror story, with jump scares at scale: tales of voter suppression predicting that evildoers will steal the election by preventing millions of legitimate voters from casting ballots that count.

    But there are practices and rules that can be obstacles to voting.

    There sure are. I’m a civil rights lawyer, so it’s worth noting that some election rules do make the process harder than it needs to be. Sometimes intentionally. Rules disenfranchising people with convictions offer a particularly stark version of that very real problem. We’ve got an obligation to keep making the election process better.

    But these electoral process porn articles often portray the system as an endless nightmare of procedural hurdles. That’s not reality for most of the electorate.

    Democrats and others have criticized Trump and his followers in the GOP for destroying confidence in our elections. Yet much of this kind of what you label “porn” comes from Democrats and progressives. Doesn’t this also diminish people’s confidence in the election’s integrity?

    Yes. And it diminishes people’s confidence in the power of their vote. I think it would be somewhat less harmful if it were paired with a message of empowerment, like, “Here is what people are trying to do to take power. But it’s not going to work. And you can ensure your voice counts by registering and casting your ballot.”

    A person drops off a mail-in ballot on Oct. 15, 2024, in Doylestown, Pa.
    Hannah Beier/Getty Images

    I don’t mean to shake my finger at writers who are trying to present information in a way that draws readers in. But the tone of these columns, and the degree to which they empower or discourage, matters. These process-porn pieces are at their worst when the voters are peripheral, when the articles say, “This is being done to you, and there’s really nothing you can do about it other than get angry and give us money.”

    We’re getting pretty close to Election Day, which is the culmination of the vote. Are there legitimate problems that voters should be aware of?

    There will be some bumps, sure. Until humans figure out how not to make mistakes, there will be issues that crop up. It’s a good thing that for most Americans, voting is a period of time, rather than a single day. That gives opportunities to catch and address the problems.

    The U.S. election process is remarkably robust. Everyone saw that in 2020, the most scrutinized election in the nation’s history, during the middle of a pandemic. The system was stress-tested in ways beyond anyone’s wildest imagination, and it responded remarkably well.

    There’s always work to improve the voting system – the Constitution reminds Americans to work toward a “more perfect union.” But the fact that we can and should do better should not shake people’s confidence in the integrity of the election results overall.

    The Electoral College means that a few thousand voters in a few swing states are going to decide the winner. It’s going to be up to those voters, flat out – who decides to cast a ballot and who they decide to vote for – not a deus ex machina. The election process is designed to tell us who we chose, not to determine the answer without us.



    Read more:
    Why Pennsylvania is the key to a Harris or Trump Electoral College victory

    Of course, it has happened that a presidential election came down to 537 votes in a single state – remember Florida in 2000. When it’s that close, everything matters. A butterfly ballot flaps its wings in one part of the country and the answer changes nationwide.

    But 537 votes is an anomaly. The elections of 2016 and 2020 were very close in the states that determined the Electoral College results – but still nowhere near Florida-in-2000 close.

    And because of all the fail-safes built into the system, even very close is something the election process can handle. I’m very confident that the voters are going to decide this election, not the lawyers or the courts.

    Electoral process porn is adult fiction. In the real world, it turns out “The Key To The Whole Thing This Time” isn’t a process quirk. It’s us.

    Professor Levitt served as the country’s first White House Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights, from 2021-2022.

    – ref. Don’t panic reading ‘electoral process porn’: There are plenty of safeguards to make sure voters’ wishes are respected – https://theconversation.com/dont-panic-reading-electoral-process-porn-there-are-plenty-of-safeguards-to-make-sure-voters-wishes-are-respected-241403

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: On Ukraine, candidate Trump touts his role as dealmaker while Harris sticks with unwavering support

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lena Surzhko Harned, Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn State

    Continued support from the White House for Ukraine could hinge on the presidential election. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

    The U.S. presidential election isn’t drawing eyes only at home – Moscow and Kyiv are watching closely, too.

    Regardless of who wins in November, there will be significant implications for Ukraine as it continues to resist Russia in a war heading toward a fourth year.

    Washington’s continued support is seen by some as no less than an existential issue for Ukraine. Without U.S. arms and aid, it is unlikely that the nation would be able to continue repelling its larger, better-armed neighbor.

    During the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump had a chance to clarify their positions on Ukraine. Trump evaded ABC moderator David Muir’s question regarding the importance of Ukraine’s victory over Russia, twice. Instead, he repeated his long-standing line that he would achieve a negotiated peace quickly – even before taking office as president.

    At the same debate, Harris dismissed the idea of Trump negotiating with “a dictator who would eat you for lunch.” She instead emphasized the Biden policy to support Ukraine “as long as it takes” in concert with U.S. allies.

    But detail has been light on what either candidate would actually do to support Ukraine and end the war. So, what do we know about each candidate’s approach to Ukraine based on their records?

    Trump: A ‘very fair and rapid deal’?

    Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Trump has repeatedly stated that ending the war is in the U.S.’s best interests and that he can end the war quickly. In fact, Trump is certain that had he remained president after the 2020 election, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded – an unsubstantiated claim he repeated during the Sept. 10 presidential debate.

    Trump has often reiterated that both Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy respect him, and he would be able to use his “good relationship” with both to bring them to the negotiating table and end the war.

    Yet, Trump’s record on his relationships with Zelenskyy and Putin is rather complicated.

    Trump’s admiration for Putin is well documented and dates back to his first presidential run in 2016, sparking numerous investigations and reports of collusion. Most recently, Bob Woodward reported that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 tests to Putin in the midst of a pandemic shortage, a claim confirmed by the Kremlin.

    Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy is similarly laden with baggage. A 2019 phone call between the two men, during which Trump pressured Ukraine’s president to open a criminal investigation into Joe Biden, led to Trump’s impeachment. In exchange, Ukraine would have received continued U.S. support for the country’s defense against Russia, which had been waging a proxy war in eastern regions of Ukraine since 2014. During the subsequent hearings in Congress, one of Trump’s aids testified that “Trump did not give a sh*t about Ukraine” and was only interested in his own political gains.

    Standing next to Zelenskyy during a meeting at the Trump Tower on Sept. 27, 2024 – their first meeting since Sept. 25, 2019 – Trump said he was sure that both Zelenskyy and Putin are interested in peace and that a “very fair” and “rapid” deal is possible.

    When asked what that deal might entail, Trump responded that it’s “too early” to discuss details and that both he and Zelenskyy have “their own ideas.”

    While the Republican candidate has not been explicit on the details of negotiations or possible conditions, some of his proxies have voiced proposals. Trump’s vice presidential pick, JD Vance, has laid out a plan that includes potential land concessions on the part of Ukraine and the creation of a demilitarized zone along the battle lines of the Russian-occupied territory of eastern Ukraine.

    Meanwhile, Trump’s son Donald Jr. co-authored a piece with former presidential candidate turned Trump ally Robert F Kennedy Jr., arguing that a concession to Russian demands for “Ukrainian neutrality and a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion” were reasonable to avoid a nuclear game of chicken. Although these have not been echoed in Trump’s own statements on Ukraine, both men have the ear of the Republican candidate.

    These plans have been criticized as closely resembling those of the Kremlin. Prior to meeting with Trump in New York, Zelenskyy had also criticized Vance’s plan and expressed doubts that Trump and his team really know how to end the war.

    Harris: ‘Strategic interest, not charity’

    Harris has been harshly critical of Trump’s approach to Ukraine. “They are not proposals for peace,” Harris said in response to suggestions that Ukraine cede territory for peace. “Instead they are proposals for surrender,” she added.

    Such views are in line with Harris’ record. As part of the Biden administration, Harris has given vocal support to Ukraine’s fight for political sovereignty and territorial integrity.

    At the onset of the full-scale invasion in early 2022, Harris traveled to Europe to help shore up a coalition of European allies to support Ukraine.

    As vice president, Harris has repeatedly condemned Russian war crimes in Ukraine. In February 2023, while attending the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, she announced that the U.S. has determined that Russian actions in Ukraine amounted to “crimes against humanity,” affirming U.S. commitment to the international rule of law.

    Along with continued support, the U.S. has provided substantial aid for Ukraine, totaling US$61.3 billion in military aid since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

    The Biden administration also has said that rising costs and keeping pressure on Russia through sanctions are important mechanisms to keep Moscow accountable. Harris reiterated this need to maintain sanctions and broad coalition support for Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference in February 2024 and again in June at the peace summit organized by Ukraine in Switzerland.

    As a presidential candidate, Harris has openly signaled her commitment to supporting Kyiv – not only for Ukraine survival but for the collective security of NATO allies and the U.S. itself. Harris emphasized this point in the September debate, suggesting that Ukraine was not Putin’s final stop and that he has “his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland.”

    Standing next to Zelenskyy in Washington on Sept. 26, 2024, Harris reiterated the point: “The United States supports Ukraine not out of charity, but because it’s in our strategic interest.”

    Yet, White House policy on Ukraine has been criticized for being slow and hesitant in supplying weaponry. The U.S. has imposed rules on the use of heavy weaponry against targets inside Russia. Furthermore, the U.S. has so far been reticent on Ukraine’s invitation to join NATO, which is seen as crucial for any lasting peace in Kyiv. How Harris’ White House would differ from Biden’s on these issues is not clear.

    Beyond the candidates

    Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the U.S. Congress has passed five bills that provide aid to Ukraine, totaling US$175 billion.

    However, a six-month delay in aid in early 2024 highlighted growing partisan tension in Congress over continued aid to Ukraine.

    The composition of Congress after the November election is another unknown factor in Washington’s support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy met with congressional leaders during his visit to the U.S. in September, but notably absent was Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who in the past has shown reluctance to support continued funding.

    For the large part, support for Ukraine remains bipartisan in Congress and among American voters. Yet there is a risk the election could further politicize the issue. And the outcome of November’s vote could determine whether U.S. efforts going forward focus more on pushing for a negotiated deal or on-going support for Ukraine.

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

    – ref. On Ukraine, candidate Trump touts his role as dealmaker while Harris sticks with unwavering support – https://theconversation.com/on-ukraine-candidate-trump-touts-his-role-as-dealmaker-while-harris-sticks-with-unwavering-support-237534

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Dot plots for the Eurosystem? | Speech at Harvard University

    Source: Deutsche Bundesbank in English

    Check against delivery.
    1 Introduction
    Ladies and gentlemen,
    it is a great pleasure to be at Harvard again, to meet long time companions like Hans-Helmut Kotz and to exchange ideas with top scientists such as Benjamin Friedman. When I was in this round two years ago, we were dealing with an unprecedented global inflation spike.[1] Fortunately, the worst is behind us, and inflation in the euro area is heading back to the Eurosystem’s target. We have not brought the inflation ship safely back into the 2% harbour, but the port is in sight. Thus, I can focus on another question today.
    Before I do that, let me share an analogy to set the stage for my discussion. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the field of economics was split into two seemingly incompatible schools of thought: New Keynesian and New Classical. Their proponents were not too polite in their language, calling assumptions “foolishly restrictive” or comparing an opponent to someone attempting to pass himself off as Napoleon Bonaparte.[2] But, over time, ideas from both camps ultimately merged to form a consensus called the New Neoclassical Synthesis, the very foundation of modern macroeconomics.[3] Gregory Mankiw neatly described this story in his essay “The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer”.[4]
    The takeaway from this analogy is that complex issues are rarely black or white. With this in mind, I want to explore whether the conduct of monetary policy in the euro area could be enhanced by offering more detailed and nuanced information regarding its future outlook. More specifically, today I will address the following question: Should the Eurosystem introduce dot plots?
    To explore this, I will first examine current experience with dot plots and other forms of forward guidance in both the United States and the euro area. I will then evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating dot plots into the Eurosystem’s communication strategy. In this analysis, I will concentrate on the implications for policymakers’ independence, the effectiveness of monetary policy and the management of uncertainty.
    2 The dot plot and other forms of forward guidance
    Let me begin with some basics. Most central banks in advanced economies have a clear mandate to keep prices stable. They do this mainly by setting the policy rate and communicating their decisions in order to manage the expectations of economic agents, including market participants, households and firms. When central banks provide explicit signals about the future path of the policy rate, we call it forward guidance.
    We can classify forward guidance into two ideal types: “Odyssean” and “Delphic”.[5] Odyssean forward guidance means the central bank makes a firm commitment to a future course of action, like promising to keep interest rates at a certain level for a certain time. Like Odysseus, who famously tied himself to the mast of his ship to resist the call of the sirens, central banks are committing to staying on course – whatever the future brings.
    In contrast, Delphic forward guidance is conditional and involves sharing information about the central bank’s economic outlook and policy intentions without making firm commitments. This term comes from the Oracle of Delphi, famous for its prophecies and predictions, which were so ambiguous and open to interpretation that they always seemed to be borne out in hindsight. A prime example of Delphic forward guidance is the policy rate forecasts published by central banks such as Norges Bank and Sweden’s Riksbank.
    A more subtle way of monetary policy communication is through the central bank’s reaction function. A reaction function indicates how the central bank adjusts its policy rate in response to key macroeconomic variables like the inflation rate or economic growth. When economic agents have a clear understanding of this reaction function, communication about the expected development of these macroeconomic variables can also help shape their expectations regarding the future trajectory of the policy rate.
    2.1 The Fed’s dot plot
    To consider if the Eurosystem should introduce dot plots, let me briefly recall what the Fed dot plots are and how market observers view them. Twelve years ago, the Fed began publishing the federal funds rate projections of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants. Its intention was to boost transparency and communication with financial markets and the general public. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Eurosystem has, from its inception, held public press conferences and published monetary policy statements, the minutes of its meetings, and the results of its quarterly macroeconomic projections.
    As you are well aware, before the FOMC meeting, FOMC participants share their individual assessment of the appropriate level of the fed funds rate for the end of the current year, the end of the coming two to three years and over the longer run. The longer run projection refers to “each participant’s assessment of the value to which each variable would be expected to converge, over time, under appropriate monetary policy and in the absence of further shocks to the economy.”[6]
    Due to its visual representation in the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), the combined projections of all FOMC members are known as the dot plot. These dots complement the FOMC participants’ projections for GDP growth, unemployment and inflation. While each FOMC participant submits their funds rate projection together with corresponding projections for macroeconomic variables, these correspondences are not revealed by the SEP. Accordingly, market observers cannot directly link the interest rate projections to the projections of the other macro variables.
    The dot plot was meant to complement the Fed’s communication, not to replace the forward guidance it provided in the monetary policy statement at that time during the press conference. For example, in January 2012, the FOMC statement provided explicit forward guidance on rates, saying that the Committee “[…] anticipates that economic conditions […] are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.”[7] During the accompanying press conference, Chairman Ben Bernanke introduced the dot plot, observing that “[…] eleven participants expect that the appropriate federal funds rate at the end of 2014 will be at or below 1 percent, while six participants anticipate higher rates at that time.”[8]
    Although the Federal Reserve did not introduce the dot plots as an explicit tool for forward guidance, many market analysts began to interpret them as such. When the forward guidance in the statement and the dot plot sent mixed signals, FOMC chairs often downplayed the dot plot’s importance.
    In 2014, Janet Yellen famously stated: “[…] one should not look to the dot plot, so to speak, as the primary way in which the Committee wants to or is speaking about policy […].”[9] Similarly, in 2019, Jerome Powell noted that “[…] the dot plot has, on occasion, been a source of confusion. Until now, forward guidance in the statement has been a main tool for communicating committee intentions and minimizing that confusion.”[10]
    And this is also how Fed watchers now see the dot plot, ranking it as the Fed’s fifth most important communication tool.[11] The top communication tools are the press conference, the Summary of Economic Projections (excluding the dots), the FOMC statement, and speeches by the chair.
    Numerous studies show that the Fed has successfully used monetary policy communication to influence long-term interest rates and other asset prices.[12] And some research suggests that the dot plots significantly and independently influence market interest rates. [13] But there is a fundamental issue about these results: it is very challenging to determine how much each communication channel contributes to the overall effect.
    To identify the causal effect of monetary policy, scholars often define a so-called event window around central banks’ monetary policy meetings. Changes in market interest rates during this event window are then attributed to monetary policy.
    But there is a problem: when the dot plot is released, it is published together with the monetary policy statement. That makes it hard to determine which one caused the interest rate changes observed during the event. And because of this, it is unclear whether those channels actually provide complementary information or are just substitutes.
    2.2 Monetary policy communication at the Eurosystem
    So, what does the Eurosystem’s monetary policy communication look like? The Eurosystem began using explicit forward guidance in the introductory statement to its July 2013 meeting. At that time, inflation in the euro area was low, and the Eurosystem expected underlying price pressures to stay subdued in the medium term. Interest rates were already at the effective zero lower bound.
    To provide further accommodation, the ECB’s Governing Council, which is the counterpart of the FOMC, announced in its July 2013 meeting that it “expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time.”[14] The Governing Council continued to use variations of this statement for almost a decade. And there is now also ample evidence that the Eurosystem has been successful in implementing its forward guidance.[15]
    With the resurgence of inflation in 2021 and high uncertainty caused by major shocks and structural changes, the Eurosystem shifted to a data-dependent, meeting-by-meeting approach, largely stepping away from explicit forward guidance.
    More specifically, we now base our interest rate decisions on three elements: first, our assessment of the inflation outlook in light of the incoming economic and financial data, second, the dynamics of underlying inflation, and third, the strength of monetary policy transmission. These three elements can be seen as a further specification of our reaction function. However, the Governing Council does not pre-commit to any specific rate path.
    Taken together, apart from the publication of the dot plot, the approaches to monetary policy communication taken by the Federal Reserve System and the Eurosystem are largely comparable. Both institutions regard the monetary policy statement and the press conference as their primary communication tools. And both central banks have recently shifted from explicit forward guidance towards a data-dependent meeting-by-meeting approach.
    But the Eurosystem also continues to provide signals about future policy rates. It simply does it more implicitly. For example, the wording of the monetary policy statement and the answers of the ECB President during press conferences provide insights into future policy rates. As do speeches and interviews given by Governing Council members. Additionally, the Eurosystem influences market expectations through its quarterly staff projections.[16]
    Unlike some other central banks, the Eurosystem uses the interest rate implied by financial market prices on a specific cut-off day as a conditioning assumption for its macroeconomic projections. Specifically, this means that our medium-term inflation forecast aligns with market expectations for a particular policy rate path. Market participants can subsequently compare the exogenous path for the policy rate, as embedded in our macroeconomic projections, with our actual monetary policy decisions, in order to gain insights into our reaction function.
    You could say that the Eurosystem provides Athenian communication. Athena was known as the Goddess of wisdom and as a protector and guide to many Greek heroes. Rather than communicating directly with those she protected, Athena often used indirect guidance. And through her subtle guidance, Athena empowered the heroes she protected to take decisive action and make wise choices.
    3 A dot plot for the Eurosystem?
    Now, let us get to the heart of the matter. Should the Eurosystem introduce dot plots? Although this question can only be answered “yes” or “no”, complex issues are rarely black and white, as mentioned earlier.
    In the following, rather than simply listing the pros and cons of introducing dot plots in the Eurosystem, I will structure my discussion around three themes: First, the impact dot plots could have on the independence of the Eurosystem. Second, the potential for dot plots to improve the effectiveness of our monetary policy communication. And third, the role dot plots could play in capturing projection uncertainty around our baseline forecasts.
    Throughout, I will only consider adding projections for the policy rates to the existing macroeconomic projections by Eurosystem staff. For simplicity, I will not consider whether to also complement our current consensus projections for macroeconomic variables with individual macroeconomic projections.
    3.1 Independence
    Let me begin with the theme of independence. The ECB’s Governing Council consists of the six ECB Executive Board members and the 20 governors of the euro area’s national central banks. Although this setting may resemble that of the Federal Open Market Committee, which includes Federal Reserve Bank Presidents, there is a significant difference.
    The euro area is not composed of regions within a single country but of individual countries within a larger union, each with its own fiscal authority and national laws, as well as considerable differences in economic size and performance. Therefore, within the Governing Council we have a strong interest in finding and communicating a consensus perspective. This is, for example, enshrined in our statute, which states that the proceedings of the meetings of the Governing Council are confidential.
    When we discussed introducing ECB accounts from our Governing Council meetings – comparable to the published minutes of FOMC meetings – about a decade ago, we aimed to balance two things: On the one hand, to clearly articulate the consensus perspective. Yet on the other hand to represent the full spectrum of views in order to help market participants better understand the ECB Governing Council’s decision-making process.[17]
    In the end, the Eurosystem decided to represent the full spectrum of the discussion without naming individuals. Nevertheless, despite the anonymity of the arguments presented, markets and the media alike continue to attempt to discern the identities of the individuals behind them. Given that numerous members of the Governing Council express their views on monetary policy through speeches and interviews, identifying their positions is not a particular challenge.
    If there were anonymous dot plots of Governing Council members, media and the markets alike would probably attempt to match individual members to each dot as well. The primary distinction between speeches and dot plots is that Governing Council members deliver speeches voluntarily. In contrast, dot plots would force all Governing Council members to regularly articulate their perspectives on the future trajectory of interest rates. And this could potentially influence the Governing Council’s independence.
    Once national stakeholders become aware of “their” representative’s views on future interest rates, they may exert pressure on the representative to align with national interests. I am confident that, even if we were to publish dot plots, every member of the Governing Council would continue to act independently and in the best interests of the entire euro area. However, I believe we are well advised not to put ourselves in a situation that might increase pressure on us to act in ways others want us to.
    3.2 Effectiveness of monetary policy communication
    My second theme is whether a dot plot could significantly enhance the Eurosystem’s effectiveness of monetary policy communication. And here I am sceptical. To begin with, there is the previously discussed issue: the dot plot may conflict with the consensus message conveyed in the monetary policy statement. But the main reason for my scepticism is that comparative studies on different methods of monetary policy communication are inconclusive.
    A BIS working paper shows that interest rate projections provide additional information to macroeconomic projections, meaning that they are not redundant.[18] That could be seen as an argument for introducing dot plots. However, while market participants in countries that publish both interest rate projections and macroeconomic projections prefer the former, they might still be able to obtain sufficient information from macroeconomic projections alone.
    Furthermore, research on central bank communication in Norway and Sweden shows that publishing interest rate projections has not improved market understanding of what new macroeconomic information implies for future interest rate.[19] In other words, the publication of interest rate paths did not help market participants better understand the central banks’ reaction functions.
    This finding aligns with research published by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand that shows that announcements with interest rate forecasts and those with only written statements lead to similar market reactions across the yield curve.[20] The authors pointedly conclude that, while central bank communication is important, the exact form it takes is less relevant.
    This result echoes a seminal study by Blinder and co-authors, who concluded back in 2008 that there was no consensus on what constitutes an optimal communication strategy.[21]
    All things considered, I see no compelling evidence that the Eurosystem’s monetary policy communication would be significantly enhanced by the introduction of a dot plot.
    3.3 Projection uncertainty
    Now to the third and final theme – uncertainty. I am quite sure that the Eurosystem has room to improve how we handle projection uncertainty. Currently, the ECB’s Governing Council summarises its view on the uncertainty surrounding economic growth and inflation in the risk assessment section of its monetary policy statement. More specifically, the Eurosystem addresses the uncertainty around its baseline inflation forecast in two ways.[22]
    First, it produces fan charts with symmetric ranges around the point forecast, based on past projection errors. In this setup, past projection errors act as a catch-all proxy for uncertainty. Second, it occasionally publishes risk scenarios, conditional on assumptions different from those in the baseline projection. For instance, during the pandemic, the Eurosystem began using alternative assumptions about the future path of infections and contact restrictions to illustrate macroeconomic uncertainty.
    Could the use of dot plots enhance the communication of inflation forecast uncertainty within the Eurosystem? Given that dot plots offer only an indirect method for conveying uncertainty about the inflation outlook, there may be more effective alternatives.
    One might be to enhance the communication of our existing measures of uncertainty. Another might be to develop new measures, such as scenario and sensitivity analyses, as well as improved fan charts. We must carefully evaluate the pros and cons of each approach.
    Hence, it is quite fitting that the Eurosystem is currently performing an interim strategic review, which includes an analysis of how risk and uncertainty should inform both policy decisions and policy communication. I’m already looking forward to the results.
    4 Conclusion
    Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude. I began my talk by discussing different schools of thought – New Keynesian and New Classical – and argued that complex issues are rarely black or white. When it comes to central bank communication about the future, there are certainly many promising approaches. And, undoubtedly, dot plots are an intriguing instrument for central bank communication.
    However, given the prevailing evidence, I do not see a compelling case for introducing dot plots for the Eurosystem.
    On the other hand, I firmly believe that we can and should enhance how we account for uncertainty in our macroeconomic projections. I have outlined a few options which the Eurosystem will address in the ongoing strategy review.
    Footnotes:
    Nagel, J. (2022), The ECB’s mandate: maintaining price stability in the euro area, speech at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University.
    Mankiw, G. (2006), The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 20(4), pp. 29-46.
    Goodfriend, M. and R. King (1997), The New Neoclassical Synthesis and the Role of Monetary Policy, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual, Bernanke, B. and J. Rotemberg (eds.), MIT Press, pp. 231-283.
    Mankiw, G. (2006), op. cit.
    Campbell, J. et al. (2012), Macroeconomic Effects of Federal Reserve Forward Guidance, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol. 43(1), pp. 1-80. Another distinction is between time-dependent (or calendar-dependent) and state-dependent forward guidance. The former ties monetary policy to a specific time frame, whereas the latter ties future policy actions to specific economic conditions or thresholds. The concepts can overlap and be used in combination.
    SEP: Compilation and Summary of Individual Economic Projections, 24-25 January 2012.
    FOMC Statement, 25 January 2012.
    Bernanke, B. (2012), Transcript of Chairman Bernanke’s Press Conference, 25 January 2012,
    Yellen, J. (2014), Transcript of Chair Yellen’s Press Conference, 19 March 2014.
    Powell, J. (2019), Monetary Policy: Normalization and the Road Ahead, speech at the SIEPR Economic Summit, Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, Stanford, California.
    Wessel, D. and S. Boocker (2024), Federal Reserve communication – survey results, Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings.
    See, for example, Gürkaynak, R. et al. (2005), Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? The Response of Asset Prices to Monetary Policy Actions and Statements, International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, Vol. 1(1), pp. 55-93; Wright, J. (2012), What Does Monetary Policy Do to Long‐term Interest Rates at the Zero Lower Bound?, Economic Journal, Vol. 122(564), pp. 447-466; and Swanson, E. (2021), Measuring the effects of federal reserve forward guidance and asset purchases on financial markets, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 118(C), pp. 32-53.
    See, for example, Couture, C. (2021), Financial market effects of FOMC projections, Journal of Macroeconomics, Vol. 67 and Hillenbrand, S. (2023), The Fed and the Secular Decline in Interest Rates, Accepted, Review of Financial Studies.
    Draghi, M. and V. Constâncio (2013), Introductory statement to the press conference (with Q&A), Frankfurt am Main, 4 July 2013.
    See, for example, Altavilla, C. et al. (2021), Assessing the efficacy, efficiency and potential side effects of the ECB’s monetary policy instruments since 2014, ECB Occasional Paper, No. 278; Andrade, P. and F. Ferroni (2021), Delphic and Odyssean monetary policy shocks: Evidence from the euro area, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. (117), pp. 816-832; Kerssenfischer, M. (2022), Information effects of euro area monetary policy, Economics Letters, Vol. 216(C); and Monetary Policy Committee, Taskforce on Rate Forward Guidance and Reinvestment (2022), Rate forward guidance in an environment of large central bank balance sheets: A Eurosystem stock-taking assessment, ECB Occasional Paper No. 290.
    The Eurosystem produces macroeconomic projections four times a year. ECB staff produces them in March and September. In June and December, they are co-produced by ECB and national central bank staff.
    See Morris, S. and H. Shin (2005): Central Bank Transparency and the Signal Value of Prices, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol.36(2), pp. 1-66 for a general treatment of the role of transparency.
    Hofmann, B. and D. Xia (2022), Quantitative forward guidance through interest rate projections, BIS Working Paper No. 1009.
    Natvik, G. et al. (2020), Does publication of interest rate paths provide guidance?, Journal of International Money and Finance, Vol. 103.
    Detmers, G.-A (2021), Quantitative or Qualitative Forward Guidance: Does it Matter?, Economic Record, Vol. 97(319), pp. 491-503.
    Blinder, A. et al. (2008), Central Bank Communication and Monetary Policy: A Survey of Theory and Evidence, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 46(4), pp. 910-945.
    See ECB (2024), ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, March 2023, box 6 for a rundown.

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Proclamation on Minority Enterprise Development Week,  2024

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Our Nation’s minority-owned businesses are the glue of our communities and the engines of our economies.  Investing in them is key to growing our economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down.  When minority-owned businesses do well, everyone does well.  More people get jobs, first-time business owners build generational wealth, our economy grows, and more Americans feel a sense of pride and hope in all that is possible in our Nation.  This Minority Enterprise Development Week, may we celebrate the talent and ingenuity of the innovators and entrepreneurs who run our Nation’s minority-owned businesses.  And may we recommit to ensuring that minority-owned businesses have access to the resources they need to thrive.
    Minority-owned businesses add incredible value to our economy, generating nearly $2 trillion in revenue each year.  These businesses not only provide the goods and services we need but are also sources of hope — helping people realize their American Dream, building generational wealth, and uplifting their families and communities.  That is why my Administration is ensuring that minority-owned businesses have access to capital and can grow.  The Small Business Administration (SBA) is lending tens of billions of dollars to small businesses that would otherwise struggle to access capital.  For example, since 2020, the rate of SBA-backed loans increased by about 40 percent for Asian American-owned businesses, tripled for Black-owned businesses, and more than doubled for Latino-owned businesses.  Further, my American Rescue Plan helped minority-owned small businesses keep their doors open during the COVID-19 pandemic and represents the largest-ever dedicated Federal investment to connect minority-owned small businesses to support.  That law invested $10 billion to launch and expand programs that provide critical access to capital for small businesses.  The American Rescue Plan also invested $500 million to fund over 100 awards for organizations working to connect entrepreneurs to resources to help their small businesses recover and thrive through initiatives like the SBA’s Community Navigators Program, the Department of the Treasury’s Small Business Opportunity Program, and the Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program. 
    My Administration has also been working to ensure that minority-owned businesses get a fair shot at success.  That is why I signed an Executive Order that would increase the share of total Federal contracts going to disadvantaged businesses from 10 percent to 15 percent by 2025 — and in the last 3 years, we have spent over $208 billion on small disadvantaged businesses.  My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law expanded and made permanent the Minority Business Development Agency, ensuring that minority-owned businesses have access to the resources and support they need to thrive.  And with my Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, we are working to make sure that minority-owned businesses are benefiting from the billions of dollars we are investing in America’s infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy industries here at home.  In addition, Vice President Harris launched the Economic Opportunity Coalition in 2022 to provide tens of billions of dollars in investments to underserved communities. 
    Since Vice President Harris and I entered office, our Administration has created 16 million jobs, and American entrepreneurs have filed nearly 20 million new business applications.  Wages are growing faster than prices.  Unemployment remains low.  Black- and Latino-owned businesses are being created faster today than they have been in years and Federal contracts with Native American-owned companies increased by over $8 billion from 2020 to 2023. I also take pride in my Administration’s investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions — all of which are helping launch the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and business owners.  These investments will ensure that their graduates will have every opportunity to lead the industries of the future and build generational wealth.
    Across America — from small towns to big cities — we are seeing thousands of stories of revival, renewal, optimism, and pride.  And each new business that is created is an act of hope, not just for the business owner but for the entire community.  During Minority Enterprise Development Week, may we celebrate all the minority-owned businesses making our economy stronger, our Nation more competitive, and our communities more hopeful.  And may we recommit to supporting their success and longevity.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 20 through October 26, 2024, as Minority Enterprise Development Week.  I call upon the people of the United States to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of minority business owners and enterprises and commit to promoting systemic economic equality.
         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
                                  JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Text of the Vice-President’s address at the Indian School of Business (ISB) Leadership Summit at Mohali, Punjab

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 18 OCT 2024 9:20PM by PIB Delhi

    Very warm good afternoon to all of you. 

    Distinguished audience and most importantly boys and girls, I am here for you. It is an absolute delight to address this gathering, and why? you are young minds. You are young minds at the ISB. You are young minds at the moment, participating in the ISB Leadership Summit. Your set is the most significant stakeholder in governance and democracy.

    Our youth demographic dividend is the envy of the world at the moment and it is the fuel to our growth engine destined to accomplish a developed nation@2047. I must appreciate the management for having crafted such a theme.and the theme is leadership in India’s century. This bears boys and girls huge contemporaneous elements. And why not? It is for the first time in history that the voice of India, the voice of India’s Prime Minister, is heard with respect like never before. India has come to count. India has come to count in global affairs, consistent with its populace being a repository of knowledge and wisdom, home to one-sixth of humanity.

    Never before we had this enjoyable moment as we are having now. Having been elected to Parliament in 1989, I faced a situation where our foreign exchange reserves were one billion US dollars. One billion! We crossed 700 billion last week, what an accomplishment. 700 times something beyond a geometric leap. India is being looked upon as a nation that can legitimately address issues confronting the globe. And why not? India’s G20 presidency, according to one and all in the world, has set a very high benchmark but look at the outcomes:

    One, the African Union was made a member of the G20. Only the European Union was before. I’ll come to that later.

    But the Global South, most people like me have not heard of it. It’s a name that resonates and mind you, the armature contributed to the world in terms of populace and GDP.

    International Solar Alliance, International Yoga Day all have been fortified for the benefit of the world on account of one individual: India’s Prime Minister. His vision, his foresightedness, his commitment and therefore, it has great contemporaneous relevance.

    It has two parts: leadership and India’s century. To begin with, the Indian century. Bharat, our Bharat, is no longer a nation with promise, some people have wrong notions that India has arrived. They are mistaken, We are no longer a nation with promise, the promise has been realised, fully exploited. 

    We are a nation on the rise, the rise is unstoppable, the rise is incremental, the rise is continual. The rise is various elements that matter to our growth. Let me advert to some aspects that make Bharat a  land of hope and possibility and before that, all of you know it. Just a decade ago, what was the mood of the nation? We were in a state of despondency and dejection. The daily public domain discourse was one of scams, corruption, favouritism. What has been transformed in a decade? There is an over-pervasive mood of hope and possibility and I had seen those days 34 years ago when world institutions the IMF and the World Bank used to be dictatorial, like a teacher in a class for a student who has not done homework and we were just meekly sitting but look at what they say we are getting accolades from the International Monetary Fund. And the accolades is favourite global investment and opportunity destination, I had the occasion to meet the head of the IMF, an enormously talented lady. Every time she talked of India, it was in these words and why not? This is the ground reality. 

    Our technological advancements, deep penetration, and digitalisation are termed by the World Bank as ‘a global role model’. Indicated by a statement that what India accomplished in six years is otherwise not possible in over four decades plus. Our exponential economic upsurge makes Bharat the fastest-growing large global economy. India has transformed in the last decade, becoming a $4 trillion economy with 8% growth potential, expanding infrastructure with four new airports and one metro system built yearly. 

    Every year, four new airports and a metro. There is daily addition of 14 kilometres of highways quality highways, world-class highways and six kilometres of railways. Digital technologies have enabled massive public infrastructure projects, benefiting 85 million people with housing, 330 million with health coverage, and 29 million small businesses with loans annually. When I talk to global leaders, I have to be a little careful because the volume is so high. The numbers are so staggering that instantly a person would believe I have just added one or two zeros. Just imagine a country where you add 500 million bank accounts in the shortest time.

    India leads in digital transactions, should I give the figure to you? Hold your breath. 6.5 billion monthly digital transactions, and we have the third-largest startup ecosystem with 58 unicorns. With 800 global capability centres generating 60 billion US dollars yearly.

    There is significant expansion in education. Your Chairman, Vice-Chairman of the group, is associated with this venture in a meaningful way here and elsewhere. It is soothing for us all that Indian talent is increasingly relevant globally. You know young boys and girls. Indian human resources are dominating global discourse when it comes to corporate heads.

    Driving interest in mobility agreements, India now takes pride in its lunar and Mars missions. Vaccine production and growing importance in semiconductors, as was indicated by Mr. Mittal and engineering he knows it out of experience, and you all will gather when you take a big leap into the public domain. Manufacturing is the key to making us leap forward. 

    All this has happened because of leadership, the government’s historic continual third term after six decades focuses on growth and innovation. It will be interesting for you these initiatives will concern all of you. They broaden your basket of opportunities. They will ignite your talent, expertise, and potential, and fructify your aspirations, these include creating 12 industrial zones, industrial zone itself is a huge step. To boost manufacturing, we are prioritising skill development, improving logistics and this is not just one  it’s a jump in sync with other institutions stakeholders. Everything is converging to these developments, and therefore, results will be seen. Mr. Mittal referred to the Green Hydrogen Mission. I am so thrilled by it. ₹19,000 crores were allocated by the Government of India for the Green Hydrogen Mission. We are among the few countries with a single-digit focus on it. I know it will have to be negotiated through tough terrain. There will be headwinds, but the commitment is there. by 2030, we will have an investment of ₹6 lakh crores and an equal number of jobs. Who will provide these jobs? Your leadership will. You will be somewhere in the entire system to ensure the success of this Quantum Computing Commission. ₹6,000 crores were allocated, we are getting more into it. 

    A technology that is close to your heart—6G. It will be implemented in two phases, with commercialisation expected between 2025 and 2030. For a layman like me, it may not mean much for him and you, it will open enormous vistas of contribution, opportunities, and changes to the landscape of this country. These are the issues, all these can get cutting edge only with leadership. Without leadership, nothing happens. If you look into our ancient history, if a leader collapses white flag comes up. A leader is all-important. And a leader does not only mean the leader of a country. It means leadership in every walk of life. It could be in a small office, a branch office, a regional office, the head office everywhere, even on the board.

    India’s engagement with world nations is crucial, offering expanded markets and reliable supply chains. Our cooperation in green energy, urbanisation, and emerging technology, including AI, was reflected upon by Mr.Mittal. Electric mobility and semiconductors benefit global progress and strengthen collaboration but to fructify these collaborations, to generate synergetic strength, a leader has to be well-informed, a leader must know about it. 

    I had the occasion on on of the conclave where six vice presidents from Africa were present. Our interest in that continent, in agriculture, mining, and technology, can create wonders. Only our leaders need to measure up to those requirements. You are the future leaders, you are leaders in the making, your role and responsibilities will be very different once you take the leap and carry the tag of ISB. It is not that we are celebrating India’s century merely because India is going to be a force to reckon with but we are, and will be, a force for good in the world. That is fundamental.

    India stand for what? Our civilisational ethos essence. What was the motto of G20? “One world, one family, one future.”  vasudhaiva kutumbakam, that is our belief. Therefore, India’s rise in the world would mean global peace, global stability, and global harmony. You are as leaders in making principal stakeholders to generate this ecosystem. Now, what do you need in a scenario which was not there when Honourable Governor was a young man or Mr. Mittal was a young man or the dean was or I was? I shouldn’t forget Dr. Sudesh Dhankhar when she was. What we faced? There was no equality of opportunity. There was no equality before the law. Meritocracy was in the backseat. And what has happened now? A great transformation has shaped, everyone is now equal before the law. No one is above the law. No one is immune from the law. 

    The stranglehold of the law is reaching them, they are feeling the heat. The privileged pedigree is now no longer in existence that is the greatest boon to the young minds, to the boys and girls before me. You don’t need favour, you don’t need patronage. You are always concern would by case be handicapped because someone less meritorious has a contact. there can be patronage in favour of someone. Gone are those days. That’s a great gain for you.

    The second issue, which you painfully suffered from, was corruption. What could we do? A contract, a job, was available only through means where one had to grease the palm of someone. But boys and girls, fortunately for you, we were not so fortunate. The power corridors have been duly sanitised of corrupt elements and liaison elements  Mr. Mittal rose by virtue of being an industry leader, there were people who extra-legally influenced decision-making, where the industry had no option but to bend. That doesn’t happen now. Our governance is dictated only by principles of transparency and accountability. You are in that area now. What does this mean to you? It means that you have an ecosystem where you can fully exploit your talent and energy, realising your dreams and aspirations because nothing holds you back in a systemic manner. A great thing for you. 

    Let me remind you of something I saw myself as Governor-General of West Bengal. COVID. It was a challenge to humanity, a non-discriminatory challenge, and it was really difficult then for a population of more than 1.3 billion but the Prime Minister visualised a mechanism to involve the people at large. We had our own vaccines, but we hand-held hundred other countries by providing vaccines at that time. The handling by India of COVID pandemic earned laurels for us, for our health workers, and for our health warriors but some were uncomfortable. The class is small, but they are uncomfortable with anything good that happens in this country. Your leadership will need to neutralise these forces as well. Scientists have been talking about climate change since the 1970s. One thing I never forget is the year 1979. You may wonder why, I was married in 1979 to Dr. Sudesh Dhakhar. In that very year, I became a lawyer, and you will come to easily once you google. But that year,  there was a film Mad Max, It was a global sensation as it talked about the end of the world due to climate change. No one was bothered despite years of conversation, no one thought of harnessing solar energy. India’s visionary leadership came to the rescue of the world in relation to solar alliance in Gurugram more than 122 countries have already joined part with it. And our landscape all over the country is dotted by harnessing of solar energy. It was left to India. India did it.

    I have many reasons to say that India’s century will prove to be a global good. Think what we have done with governance solutions. We developed various technological solutions for digital identity management.  World’s largest and fastest financial inclusion, as I said earlier. 500 million Indian bank accounts when I wanted to become a lawyer, I needed a library, and I needed ₹6,000. A man like me throughout a gold medallist  had difficulty getting a loan of ₹6,000. I still vividly remember the face of the manager who said, “I’ll give you ₹6,000 without a guarantee.” I had none. That changed my life. And look what has happened, you people have everything at your door.

    You only have to look around avail the opportunity grab the opportunity serve yourself serve your family serve society and serve the nation. We made them open source for the world to use through our India stack programme. Now any developing country can use these solutions free of charge. Not only, the kind of products India has visualised are available to the world without any charge. As a matter of fact this has graduated to our soft diplomacy taking a new height. More than intellectual property we are concerned how can we shorten the path of good governance for the countries of the global south. And we are contributing hugely in several countries. Friends the more we rise the more stability it will provide to the world order. The world knows it. Some misguided souls in our country do not share it. Either they fail to come up to the requirements of this great nation and its citizenship or they are dictating their actions by narrow partisan interests self interest in some cases survival interests. This is India’s century friends that is not desirous of hegemony or domination but global public good.

    India is the only country in the world and it has a history of 5000 years. That has never engaged in expansion. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on record warning to the entire world we are not living in an era of expansion and that global disputes must resolutely be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy. Our journey, friends, is not over, we have so many things to assert. Economic upsurge, the third largest global economy at the moment, third largest global purchasing power, on the way to becoming the third largest economy ahead of Japan and Germany. All that. But we must realise that to be a developed nation, our per capita income has to go eightfold. 

    This is achievable because we have human resources in your shape that will bring it about. You are capable of it. And when you do it, you are opening a new basket of opportunities for employment, for entrepreneurship, and for growth. Our journey of progress is a work in progress nothing is given to expedite this journey. India needs next generation leaders who can drive innovation and change. 

    I am reminded of a Greek philosopher, Pre-Socrates Heraclitus, Heraclitus reflected and is highly quoted. The only constant is the change. Change is the only constant. He buttressed it. The same person cannot enter the same river twice. Neither the person is the same, nor the river is the same. So we are in the process of change. But we don’t have to be captive of change. We have to bring about the change which we need and this happens to be more relevant when it comes to disruptive technologies, Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, machine learning, blockchain. These at the time were just words for me but I was enormously enlightened when I had a presentation by the senior ministry officials. And I know we are in for a big change. These disruptive technologies, as going by their name, are both challenges and opportunities. 

    In the world of finance, the RBI governor has hinted only a day or two before, we have to keep things in check for artificial intelligence. You as leaders will be creating opportunities out of these challenges. You are those who will be actual players when it comes to execution and implementation. Whatever be your role in the hierarchy, your mindset has to be ahead of times. I have no doubt with your commitment, direction and dedication, India will exploit its potential and make available leaders for global conglomerates and international organisations. Our footfalls have already increased, I remember there was a time when we could never imagine someone from this country would be CEO of an outfit in Silicon Valley and now they say, jokingly, can we have a CEO who is not of Indian origin? That’s where we have come. All this because our DNA on this point is very strong. 

    I must caution you. Don’t look at leadership in a my pick way, Leadership is not with respect to your balance sheet in the corporate entity. Leadership is not limited to the role of your sector. Like suppose you are in the telecom or metro sector, You might look beyond your company, but you normally don’t look beyond the sector and it is there that might appeal to you. Business and leadership schools, the one like yours, have additional responsibility towards public and good governance.

    You have to give something back to the society. And you have to give back to the society something in a structured manner which is not individually specific. Imagine the benefit for a government department that receives policy solution inputs based on innovation and leadership training at schools. 

    In this country, there is a long and successful programme of public-private partnership in infrastructure. We need public-private partnership in leadership and innovation also. I have long nurtured an idea. It has not taken wings. When the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University invited me for a convocation, in my capacity as Chancellor, I made one fervent appeal and she has taken various steps in that direction. Alumni of institutions have great experience, great exposure, great expertise. Individually, they are talent. As a group, they are powerhouse, why not use that for the nation? And I therefore noted an idea. There must be confederation of alumni associations. They can well suggest to the government in the field of policy making, they can give direction to our economy because framing those policies needs all the inputs. They are not all-in-all. Sometimes a small suggestion can work wonders. I am sure some step will be taken. 

    I will make one appeal to Mr. Mittal and to the Dean, we have leadership now constitutionally structured at Village level because India is the only country that has constitutionally structured democracy at village level and Municipal level. Most nations have legislatures at State and Central level. Now a Sarpanch plays a key role, a Pradhan plays a key role, a zila Pramukh plays a key role. Their funds are at their disposal. If they do not come up to the leadership expectations, the political head and the executive head will not be able to work in togetherness or in tandem. To generate that awareness, to generate that expertise, an outfit of your stature can certainly create a module, a training module that will go a long way in helping them. Once some people come to know about the usefulness of it, it will be replicated on its own but a beginning has to be made because majority of Indians or Bharat is in villages. If their optimal utilisation of funds can take place, if good trends can set in there, the economy of the nation will also get a big leap. 

    My young friends, I will be adverting to another important aspect and that aspect is, I want to turn to a matter of national importance, and that is nationalism. The academia, the industry, leaders and students ponder here over the issue of leadership. I suggest you ponder over facets of leadership with Indian characteristics. Indian nation has to be kept at the centre. Whatever we may do in any part of the globe, our heart and soul reside in India and therefore, I urge that leadership should be deeply wedded to nationalism. Without this undergirding, without this split, no amount of leadership skills will serve the greater good of the nation. Such individuals can be successful. They can be known but they will never be able to in that group which earns respect to the nation. 

    Therefore, I urge everyone, serve your nation optimally, serve your nation with full dedication and this is uniform ordinance for all of us. It is not optional, it is the only way. You all are tomorrow’s leaders. You will have an occasion to make decisions, key commercial decisions. and therefore, imagine if you think of economic nationalism while making decisions. If that spirit is there in you, you will immediately find great gain to the nation. I firmly believe no fiscal gain, howsoever great, howsoever quantum in economic terms, can be a justification, reason or a compromise for nationalism. 

    A fiscal gain should never be a consideration when it comes to economic nationalism. Economic nationalism is fundamental to our growth. It has been indicated, be vocal for local or Swadeshi. But I leave it with you and find out, once I am gone, how much foreign exchange is drained out in avoidable imports. Billions of US dollars every year are being drained out for the import of shoes, socks, trousers, undergarments, coats, curtains, flooring, toys, kites, electronic goods, furniture. 

    All that can happen in this country. I am not advocating parochial protectionism. Mr. Mittal has been to global forums. He knows that this policy cannot be propagated. The World Trade Organisation is there but then it has to emanate from every soul in this country. Once you do that, not only will you save foreign exchange in billions of US dollars, you will create jobs for millions of people in this country. There will be blossoming of entrepreneurship and all these aspects are next to none so you young leaders, just after a few months or years, be ambassadors of economic nationalism for the nation. It will be your lasting contribution to the economy of this nation. 

    Friends, Mr. Mittal emphasised on manufacturing. It is critical, it is not only about manufacturing in India, but the idea is to research in India, innovate in India, design in India. The growth engine of the nation is fuelled by research and development. You know it. The nations that are ahead in research and development march ahead. This makes focus on research and development of paramount importance. I don’t want to say more, but industry has to do a lot in that direction. I need to find a corporate of our country to be amongst top 20 global entities to be in that field when it comes to research and development but I am urging industry and stakeholders and corporates to invest in research and development, hand-hold stakeholders, in unleashing their potential and provide impetus to holistic growth of the nation but I am worried on another aspect. Manufacturing is fine, sir. 

    But what a painful scenario to face, our raw materials leave our shores in shiploads. Look at iron ore being shipped from Paradigm. Look at our precious products going outside without value addition. I appeal to young leaders to reflect what is writing on the wall. We are sending raw material because we are not capable of converting it to value-added products. We are capable, but someone who has ownership of that raw material in a cosy room finds it expedient to make a buck fast, sacrificing economic nationalism. 

    In the process, he is coming in the way of your employment, your innovation, your skill development. It is here that trade organisations, commercial organisations, industry organisations must be on the same page. We must develop economic ethics that we will not export our raw material without value addition. Then we find another global way of finding. Minimum value addition. Once we do it, the economic scenario will show a big change.

    Well, I must reflect on a tribe to which I belong, to which the Honourable Governor belongs. Now we are constitutional functionaries. The politician, The leader in the politician must also be fired by the zeal of nationalism. He or she should keep national interest above partisan or self-interest. In a democracy partisan stance is unavoidable. People have to take partisan interest, partisan stance, partisan viewpoint, nothing wrong with that. But on some issues, issues of national security, issues of foreign policy, issues of diplomacy, issues of nationalism, there is no room for politics. We all as Indians are ambassadors of our nation and once we leave the source of this country, we are its representatives. Our political hat has to be kept behind. But what I find, people take journey outside, took to destinations, just to find public space, to target taint and demean our progress and institutions. Young leaders have full capacity to neutralise these forces. These sinister forces, they are being activated by interests that are inimical to Bharat. It is surfacing. I had the occasion to reflect this morning on National Human Rights Day. 

    They say, India, there can be hunger crisis. What are they talking? Since April 1, 2020, till now and for five more years to come, 850 million people of this country will be fed free meal. Rice and wheat and pulses are given to them. You know it, I know it. What are they talking about? Because some of us do not rise for the nation, but raise the flag only for political interest. We need to be that, discord and voices for parties and political purposes and gains is a matter of deep concern. I’m sure you youngsters will know it. Their strategy to begin with is very soothing. They make inroads after having made inroads, they try to create disruptions, divisiveness in a nation like ours. You have to be extremely alert.

    It is here in such kind of challenging situations that leadership trade are called inaction, be prepared for that. Let me talk something about economy. There was a gentleman who occupied a prominent position in the Reserve Bank of India not long ago. Now this gentleman made a partisan assertion. I quote the assertion, “India will be lucky if it can have 5% growth rate”. During that contemporaneous time, India had 7.5% growth rate to a layman like me, 5% and 7.5% make some meaning but for the dean and Mr. Mittal, even 0.01 matters. How wrong he was but go to the background, why did he make that statement? Why did he act in a manner only to bring down the healthy mood of the nation? And why were there no regrets? Or any justification for having made that statement? In such situations, leadership collective must be proactive. And call these people to the bar. Call to the bar for a lawyer is a normal term, therefore I used it.

    Just imagine, how sickening you will find and how frightening it is that a member of parliament holding a constitutional position will troop to foreign universities and then, in a small corner, of which the university members will be aware, and a small group will try to set afloat a narrative that is dangerous to our unity, our institutions, our national interest. A handful of people. This is a large gathering, well represented, It means a lot to me. Not in a fraction of it and such people we need to hand hold, counsel, and suggest in whatever form we can and that has to emanate from young minds. 

    Social media has given power to brilliant young impressionable minds to express themselves. Your silence on such kind of situations will ever resonate in your ears. A couple of years later you will feel, why did I not voice my concern? If I had voiced my concern, then things would have been slightly better and therefore, do it. If this mindset of placing narrow partisan interests over national interests persists, it will give space to whom? It will give space to those who are our enemies. Enemies to our interests. Do we want it? Certainly not. Friends, we are at a leadership summit.

    Think how over the years leadership programmes have used to indoctrinate young minds of the country by the deep state. I’ll focus on it at some length. I come across several people, including parliamentarians. I have been invited by young leadership forum in the US, some ministry has invited in that category, it is a sense of elation, a sense of joy.

    Be aware, be cautious. Those who have been there earlier, where are they now? It’s a subtle method of indoctrination. It is giving hard sugar to a diabetic patient, it is creating enemies of the nation from outside only by making their life affordable. I can give instances of many number of young minds today. You may be envying their life, but they are parasitical when it comes to financial situations. They are greedy and they act like robots. You have to be extremely careful about such leadership programmes which are all over the place.

    Through institutional mechanisms, they do it. Fellowships, they do it, visiting programmes, university affiliations, by this they groom them. They are brainwashed, indoctrinated. They themselves have not seen India. They are painted as if we are crumbling far from it. But an individual committed to nationalism will be able to thwart these moves. Even by being a part of it, he will be able to stand on his own spinally and thereby neutralise such forces. 

    Friends, as you move forward with many leadership initiatives through this institution, I want to leave you with two thoughts.

    First, I said earlier, nationalism as a part of leadership curriculum is the foremost curriculum as a matter of fact. Groom leaders who place the nation above all else, 

    Second, create leaders who will find Indian solutions for Indian and global problems. Bring this talent into the service of governance, create solutions, create partnerships to resolve challenges of everyday Indians, we are here to work for the average Indian, the average Indian who has to be handheld and helped. 

    My young friends, the nation needs you, it is India’s century. The world needs you but you will make this movement in history successful if you are deeply wedded to these values in this endeavour. My very best wishes to you. I leave this place with full optimism and confidence. 

    Thank you so much. 

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: NHRC Foundation Day and National Conference on the Rights of Older Persons

    Source: Government of India

    NHRC Foundation Day and National Conference on the Rights of Older Persons

    Addressing as the Chief Guest, the Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar says, Bharat is way ahead of other nations when it comes to preservation of human rights, particularly of minorities, marginalized and vulnerable sections of society

    The Vice-President highlights Bharat’s extraordinary role as a civilizational custodian of human rights while expressing concern over the global silence on human rights violations in other parts of the world

    NHRC Acting Chairperson, Smt Vijaya Bharathi Sayani says India’s progress as a nation is closely tied to its commitment to protecting human rights as a civilizational ethos

    The Commission addresses a broad spectrum of human rights violations including advocating for police reforms while dealing with cases of custodial violence: NHRC Acting Chairperson

    Highlights Commission’s spot enquiry revealing a climate of fear and intimidation preventing victims from seeking justice in Sandeshkhali violence in West Bengal

    Posted On: 18 OCT 2024 4:21PM by PIB Delhi

    The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India, organized a function and a national conference on the rights of older persons to celebrate its 31st Foundation Day at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi today. The Commission was set up on 12th October in 1993. Addressing the function as the Chief Guest, the Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar said that Bharat’s human rights record is unmatched. The country is way ahead of other nations when it comes to preservation of human rights, particularly of minorities, marginalized and vulnerable sections of society. Isolated incidents cannot define India and its human rights record. He criticized the tendency of certain entities to manipulate human rights as a tool of foreign policy to exert power over others. The Vice-President highlighted Bharat’s extraordinary role as a civilizational custodian of human rights while expressing concern over the global silence on human rights violations in other parts of the world.

     

    Shri Dhankhar said that every citizen of the country has to be a champion of human rights and ensure nobody manipulates them financially. The national interest should not be seen with political prism but by partisanship. He also cautioned against pernicious forces working to malign Bharat’s human rights record unfairly, domestically and internationally. He said that Indian scriptures are the charters of human way of life- a repository of knowledge on human life.

    The Vice President said that India continues to feed over 850 million people since the time of COVID-19 pandemic with free rations irrespective of colour, caste and class. Those who talk of India’s hunger situation need to reflect upon themselves. Equality before law is demonstrated in the country. The world needs to know about it and how the direct transfer of benefits to the beneficiary’s account has neutralized corruption in the country.

    Shri Dhankhar highlighted the transformative decade of non-discriminatory development in India improving the quality of life of every section of society irrespective class, caste, demography. He said that in the last decade, India’s economic growth has been exponential, incremental, unstoppable and it is not pyramidical. Everyone is getting the benefit. Affordable housing, gas connection, tap water, internet connectivity, road connectivity, and this is non-discriminatory progress. He emphasized that no developmental project has ever been dictated by circumstances other than those that serve the ultimate cause of human rights.

    Earlier, the NHRC Acting Chairperson, Smt Vijaya Bharathi Sayani said that the Commission plays a crucial role in ensuring dignity, freedom, and well-being for all by raising awareness about human rights and fostering empowerment of the marginalized including Transgender persons. This is to help them to assert their entitlements and contribute to national progress. It also emphasizes the need for environmental rights, urging sustainable practices and accountability for pollution. Celebrating its Foundation Day and achievements, reminds us to remain committed to uplifting vulnerable groups, prioritizing their human rights with compassion for their unique situations.

    She said that India’s progress as a nation is closely tied to its commitment to human rights, deeply embedded in our civilization and enshrined in our Constitution. Respect for individual dignity is central to the Indian ethos, rooted in ancient texts like the Vedas and the Gita. As a home to one-sixth of humanity, India is becoming a role model for the world in promoting individual dignity and freedom. Our rich cultural tapestry showcases our strength in diversity.

    The NHRC Acting Chairperson said throughout its history, the NHRC, India has addressed landmark cases and made significant recommendations to uphold human rights in the country. The Commission addresses a broad spectrum of human rights violations, including custodial deaths, bonded labor, exploitation of marginalized groups, and denial of medical care. It has highlighted systemic law enforcement issues, advocating for essential police reforms while dealing with cases of custodial violence.

    She said that the Commission responded to grave reports of harassment and sexual assault against women in Sandeshkhali, West Bengal. A spot inquiry conducted by the NHRC revealed a climate of fear and intimidation that prevented victims from seeking justice.

    Smt Vijaya Bharathi Sayani said that the NHRC conducted independent inquiries alongside addressing complaints, investigating human rights violations in 30 cases over the past year. It also conducted spot visits to facilities such as prisons, schools, and health centers. These efforts help monitor the implementation of government programs and identify areas for improvement. To enhance the Commission’s oversight, it’s Special Rapporteurs and Monitors focus on critical issues like police reforms, children’s rights, and health.

    The NHRC Secretary General, Shri Bharat Lal in his welcome address said that the Commission fosters a culture of respect and dignity for all. Giving a glimpse of the Commission’s wide mandate, he said that in the last one year, more than 68 thousand complaints were registered and almost 70 thousand were disposed of and more than 17 crore to the aggrieved and their next of kin.

    Shri Lal said that the NHRC’s national consultations, core group meetings and open house discussions are another mechanism by which it engages with stakeholders such as government officials, members of NGOs and CSOs, human rights defenders, and subject matter experts. To highlight the challenges faced by women in workplaces, the Commission also hosted a National Symposium on Women’s Safety at Work and Public Spaces, which was attended by key stakeholders. The protection and rehabilitation of individuals engaged in begging, for the Rights of the Widows, and Rights of Children against Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) were some of the latest advisories in last one year.

    Shri Lal said that the NHRC, India works closely in collaboration with other national commissions, their counterparts in states, and state human rights commissions. It also plays a vital role in promoting human rights discourse in various international forums. It is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Forum of Human Rights and has been proactive in building South-South ties with other National Human Rights Institutions to foster human rights across borders. The Commission also has prominent representation at various other international human rights forums, including the Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (CFNHRI) and the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions.

    Members of State Human Rights Commissions, members of Judiciary, diplomats, NHRC senior officers, Special Rapporteur & Monitors, senior government functionaries, civil society representatives, human rights defenders, among other national and international dignitaries, attended the function.

    *****

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  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Praise Cuba’s High Percentage of Women in Parliament, Ask about Measures to Address Sex Trafficking and Reduce the Burden of Unpaid Care Work

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the ninth periodic report of Cuba, with Committee Experts praising the State’s high percentage of women in Parliament, and asking about measures to protect women and girls from sex trafficking and reduce the burden of unpaid care work on women.  Committee Experts also discussed the impact that the United States’ economic blockade had on Cuban women’s rights.

    A Committee Expert welcomed that Cuba currently had one of the highest rates of female participation in Parliament worldwide.

    Rhoda Reddock, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Cuba, raised the issue of the economic blockade on Cuba by the United States, which she said was estimated to have cost Cuba a significant percentage of its gross domestic product.  Had the State party had been able to address all the challenges that came with the blockade?

    One Committee Expert said there were concerning reports of sexual abuse of girls in the tourism industry and of criminalisation of women victims of sex trafficking.  When would the State party adopt a comprehensive law on trafficking with clear provisions on prevention and reparation for victims?

    Another Expert said women spent twice as much time doing domestic and care work compared to men, and there had been successive cuts to social care programmes.  How did the State party intend to sustain these programmes?

    Introducing the report, Inés María Chapman Waugh, Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba and head of the delegation, said women accounted for 56 per cent of members of Cuba’s Parliament, the second highest percentage in the world.  Around 80 per cent of judges in the judiciary were women; eight in every 10 prosecutors were women; and women made up 60 per cent of university graduates.  The State also had a high representation of women in its science and technology sector, she noted.

    Ms. Chapman Waugh said the United States’ financial blockage against Cuba was a flagrant violation of the rights of Cubans and it had disproportionately affected women. It had led to devastating shortages in medication, food and energy.  Progress in distributing the human papilloma virus vaccine, for example, had been hampered by the blockade.

    The delegation said Cuba had a zero-tolerance policy regarding all forms of trafficking.  Trafficking in persons had been included as a crime in the Criminal Code, as had forced labour.  The State did not criminalise women victims of trafficking.  Detection and combatting systems were in place in the tourism industry.

    The Government was calling for fair distribution of household and care work between men and women, the delegation said.  A recent decree on the national care system provided for a more equitable approach to care.  The State was training carers to provide formalised care for the aging population and raising awareness about the need for men and women to spend equal time on care duties.

    In closing remarks, Ms. Chapman Waugh said Cuba valued the recommendations of the Committee, which would be scrutinised with due rigour.  The Government was committed to implementing the Convention and promoting women’s rights.  It would do its utmost to achieve its goals in this regard, despite the economic blockade imposed by the United States.

    Ana Peláez Narváez, Committee Chair, in concluding remarks, said that the Committee commended Cuba for its efforts and called on the State party to implement the Committee’s recommendations for better implementation of the Convention for the benefit of all women and girls in the State.

    The delegation of Cuba consisted of representatives from the National Assembly of People’s Power; Ministry of Justice; National Secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women; Ministry of Education; University of Havana; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    The Committee will issue the concluding observations on the report of Cuba at the end of its eighty-ninth session on 25 October.  All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage.  Meeting summary releases can be found here.  The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

    The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Monday, 21 October to consider the fifth periodic report of Benin (CEDAW/C/BEN/5).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the ninth periodic report of Cuba (CEDAW/C/CUB/9).

    Presentation of Report

    INÉS MARÍA CHAPMAN WAUGH, Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba and head of the delegation, said gender equality and the eradication of all forms of violence against women were objectives that Cuba and the Committee shared.  Almost 80 per cent of the Committee’s recommendations from the last review had been complied with.  Cuba was steadfastly committed to complying with its obligations under the Convention.

    Since 2019, Cuba had undergone a far-reaching process to strengthen its legislative framework. The 2019 Constitution promoted the right to equality and the prohibition of discrimination.  Direct and indirect discrimination had been prohibited in the Criminal Code.  The newly adopted Family Code defended women’s rights, permitted same-sex marriage, and set the age of marriage at 18.

    The national programme for the advancement of women was implemented in 2021.  It included 46 measures promoting women’s advancement and established a follow-up mechanism to ensure its implementation.  Under the programme, the State party adopted polices to promote the inclusion of women in the labour market.  Around 250 creches had been established to support working women.

    A Cuban association for persons with disabilities had been established, and the social assistance programme provided support for the children of women with disabilities. Around one quarter of women were self-employed.  The State’s unemployment rate was low, at around two per cent.  Six decree laws were recently adopted that promoted the protection of women working in the private sector.  The national response to the COVID-19 pandemic included benefits provided to working women and women who lost their jobs.  Over 60 per cent of persons who coordinated COVID-19 vaccination development in Cuba were women.

    Women accounted for 56 per cent of members of Parliament, the second highest percentage in the world.  In the Supreme Court, women accounted for 53 per cent of judges, while around 80 per cent of judges in the judiciary were women.  Eight in every 10 prosecutors were women.  Women made up 60 per cent of university graduates.  The State also had a high representation of women in its science and technology sector.  Care services accounted for a high percentage of the State budget.  The State party continued to work to collect cross-cutting and intersectoral data on women. 

    Cuba had developed robust legislation and a national action plan to tackle gender-based violence. It addressed direct and indirect violence in all settings.  In 2022, the murder of women was specifically criminalised in the Criminal Code. Education measures played a key role in preventing gender-based violence in the State.  In the coming days, Cuba would set up a data mechanism that would provide real-time information about violent deaths of women and girls, and a hotline for reporting violence against women.  Measures would also be implemented to address the disproportionate burden of care placed on women.

    The United States had been imposing a financial blockage against Cuba for several decades. This was a flagrant violation of the rights of Cubans and it had disproportionately affected women.  It had led to devastating shortages in medication, food and energy.  Progress in distributing the human papilloma virus vaccine, for example, had been hampered by the blockade.

    The Government was working to address macho stereotypes, and support women’s access to health, education and land.  Measures were implemented to support the many rural women who were engaged in low paid or unpaid work.  Programmes had also been implemented to address the high prevalence of teenage pregnancies.  Cuba promoted women’s bodily autonomy and allowed women to decide regarding abortion.

    Seventy per cent of the people murdered in the Gaza Strip were women and girls.  Ms. Chapman Waugh appealed for peace in the Middle East.

    Cuba, on the basis of its international commitments and in spite of the blockade placed upon it, would continue to do its best to implement the Convention and protect the rights of all women in its territory.

    Questions by a Committee Expert

    RHODA REDDOCK, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Cuba, congratulated Cuba on its achievements over the years.  Cuba was the first country to sign and the second to ratify the Convention, and several Cuban experts had served on the Committee.  The economic blockade on Cuba by the United States had been in place since the 1960s.  It was estimated to have cost Cuba a significant percentage of its gross domestic product.  Cuba had also been added to the United States’ list of States that sponsored terrorism, further hindering Cuba’s access to resources.  Women were worst affected by this situation.  They were forced to spend most of their time working to obtain resources to support their families, and more than one million women and girls had fled the State to seek a better life.

    Ms. Reddock welcomed that the State party had introduced several laws to address discrimination and violence against women.  It was also promising that a National Ombudsperson’s Office had recently been established.

    The death penalty remained in place for more than 20 offences.  Were there plans to implement a moratorium?  The July 2021 protests against increasing shortages of fuel and food were met with disproportionately violent responses by State agents.  Many women protesters reportedly remained in detention.  There were also reports of poor conditions for women in Cuban prisons.  Were there plans to release the women protesters detained since 2021?  Was there a right of appeal for detained protestors?  What was the status of the National Ombudsperson?  Had it received complaints from women?

    Another Committee Expert welcomed efforts by the State party to disseminate the Convention and provide training for State agents on the Convention.  What concrete steps had been taken to enhance women’s awareness of their rights under the Convention?  How was the Committee disseminating the Convention among politicians and the judiciary? What was the national mechanism for monitoring the Committee’s recommendations?  What was the position of the State party on the ratification of the Optional Protocol?

    The Committee was concerned that the State party had failed to incorporate a comprehensive definition of discrimination against women in the Constitution or in State legislation. Why was this?  What legislative and policy measures were in place to address intersectional discrimination against women?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said access to justice was a constitutionally recognised right for all Cubans.  Men and women enjoyed the same legal status and the same rights with regard to succession.  Exorbitant fees could not be charged for legal aid services.  Around 700 pro-bono services were made available in 2024, the majority of which related to gender-based violence cases. 

    The National Ombudsperson was established in June 2023.  Its role was to protect and restore the rights of marginalised people, including women, young people, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.  It had received 102 complaints of violence and discrimination.  Forty-eight of these cases had been resolved; the rest were being reviewed.

    No authority could modify the rulings of courts or instruct judges.  The judiciary’s independence met the highest international standards.  The public was actively engaged in trials and rulings could be appealed.

    Cuba was in favour of removing the death penalty when the conditions were favourable to do so.  It had not been applied or handed down as a sanction for 20 years and had never been issued against a woman.  Four crimes had been removed from the list of crimes for which the death penalty could be applied. 

    There were no political prisoners in Cuba.  All prisoners had been sentenced for violating the law and had benefited from fair trial guarantees.  In the 2021 riots, there was vandalism and public and private property was destroyed. No country would allow such actions to go unpunished.  Criminal trials of persons who committed such actions were fair; rioters were prosecuted based on their actions, not their gender.

    Cuba engaged in ongoing awareness raising and training on the Convention and other international human rights instruments for civil servants and the judiciary.  There was also an awareness raising campaign for women and vulnerable groups.  The State party worked with local media and civil society to support this work. There were also post-graduate courses in universities on women’s empowerment and gender-based violence.

    The State party did not recognise the competence of any international treaty bodies to receive individual communications.  This was a long-standing position of the Government and there were no plans to change it.

    The State party had a follow-up mechanism to assess the implementation of the Convention and the national programme for the advancement of women.  It was working to ensure that women could play their full roles in the family, the economy and society.  The mechanism included representatives of all government bodies and civil society organizations.

    Cuba prohibited all forms of discrimination.  State legislation addressed discrimination based on sex and gender identity, amongst others.  The 2019 Constitution stated that international treaties ratified by Cuba were directly applicable in the State.  The State party had adopted over 400 decrees promoting gender equality.  An important example was the new Family Code, which placed gender equality at its core.  Members of parliament were provided with training on this legislation to ensure that they were able to apply it.  The national programme against racism and discrimination also addressed intersectional forms of discrimination.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    A Committee Expert asked about the State party’s assessment of its efforts to disseminate the Convention. The Optional Protocol put into practical effect the rights of the Convention and would be of benefit to Cuba if it were ratified.

    RHODA REDDOCK, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Cuba, asked if the State party had been able to address all the challenges that came with the United States’ blockade.

    Another Committee Expert shared deep concerns about the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights.  Businesses and multilateral actors needed to consider the impacts of overcompliance with sanctions, and States needed to act in line with their international obligations.

    One Committee Expert said the Federation for Cuban Women coordinated the national programme for the advancement of women.  How did the Federation mainstream gender equality across different sectors and promote the participation of women of African descent and women with disabilities in the creation of public policies?  How did it assist civil society organizations in efforts to promote gender equality?

    Cuba did not have a national human rights institute, but the National Ombudsperson might be a first step towards this.  How many complaints had it received from women?  To what extent had gender sensitivity training been provided?  Did the State party plan to establish a national human rights institute in accordance with the Paris Principles?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said that specialised training on international treaties was a challenge.  To address this, the State party had stepped up training of police, journalists and other stakeholders on the Convention, including in rural areas.  A gender approach was gradually being implemented in university textbooks. There was a communication strategy in place to promote positive portrayals of women in the media and prevent gender stereotypes.

    The State party did not recognise the competence of the treaty bodies to receive individual communications as Cuba believed that its national rights protection framework was sufficient.

    The economic blockade had primarily impacted women and families.  Banks did not allow Cuba to conduct many transactions, due to the State having been classified as a co-sponsor of terrorism.  This had hampered efforts to invest in energy and infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of ventilators in hospitals, and the Government was unable to acquire them due to the blockade.  Twenty-five days of the blockade represented a year’s worth of financing required to acquire the basic basket of food and medical supplies for one year.  Eighteen days of the blockade covered a year’s worth of investment in fuel. Thirty-six hours of the blockade represented the annual cost of education materials in the country.

    Since the establishment of the Ombudsperson, it had dealt with 1,001 cases, 616 of which it had accepted for follow-up.  Over 300 of these cases had been resolved.  Two national workshops had been held to strengthen the capacity of Ombudsperson Office staff.  The State was working to ensure that women were aware of the national programme for women’s empowerment.  National and local groups provided follow-up on human rights issues affecting certain communities; these issues included racism, women’s empowerment, and the rights of persons with disabilities.  In all these fora, civil society participated actively.

    Among Cuban members of Parliament, there were 149 Afro descendants, representing over 30 per cent of members. Around 56 per cent of women members of Parliament were Afro descendants.  The State party was working to address discrimination and racism against this group.  A national observatory on racism had been established and there was a reporting line for lodging complaints of racism.  A national day for Afro-Latina and Afro-Caribbean women had been established. Over 60 civil society organizations representing these women participated in celebrations of this day.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    A Committee Expert said the Federation of Cuban Women was very strong.  How did it support independent civil society organizations which did not belong to the Federation?

    Another Committee Expert asked whether the State party believed that there was a need to enact temporary special measures to support young girls and older women?  Were temporary special measures planned to address the phenomenon of rural to urban migration?

    RHODA REDDOCK, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Cuba, commended the State party for continuing efforts to eliminate gender discrimination of women and carry out training and sensitisation programmes on gender discrimination.  How effective had these programmes been?  Would the State party consider establishing a multi-sectoral strategy to eliminate patriarchal stereotypes?  What work on gender stereotypes had been carried out with men and boys?  Schools reproduced gender ideologies.  To what extent were gender studies part of the teacher training curriculum?

    There were many legislative changes put in place related to gender-based violence since the last dialogue.  To what extent had the implementation of this legislation been affected by the economic blockade?  Were there official shelters for victims of gender-based violence and did the State party collaborate with civil society organizations that supported victims?  Was there a reparations procedure for victims?  Did the State party have an aversion to addressing femicide in its legislation?  What was the social perception of this phenomenon?

    One Committee Expert said that the State party had a zero-tolerance policy to trafficking.  However, there were concerning reports of sexual abuse of girls in the tourism industry and of criminalisation of women victims of sex trafficking.  When would the State party adopt a comprehensive law on trafficking with clear provisions on prevention and reparation for victims?  When would it review its Penal Code to criminalise the use of services of trafficking victims?  How would it prevent the revictimisation of trafficking victims? How many victims had been identified and assisted in the past year, and how many perpetrators had been prosecuted? Did the State party intend to include women’s non-governmental organizations in the process of identifying and preventing trafficking?  How was the State party training officials to respond to trafficking, including online trafficking activities?  What awareness raising campaigns were in place regarding trafficking?  How many shelters were available for victims of trafficking and what services did they provide?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said more than four million Cubans belonged to the Federation of Cuban Women.  The Federation of Cuban Women coordinated a working group on implementing the national programme on women’s empowerment, which also included civil society organizations that were not part of the Federation.

    Cuba had a tradition of enacting temporary special measures when needed.  For example, it had reopened children’s creches in workplaces. Measures were also being implemented to support women’s access to the basket of foodstuff and employment, and to support women and girls migrating from rural areas to cities.  The Government was supporting rural women to access livelihoods to reduce their need to migrate from rural areas.  There was a working group in place that addressed internal and external migration, developing policies to support migrants and manage urban development

    The national education system was being reviewed in 2023 and 2024 to strengthen guidelines for teachers. Issues such as gender inequality and sexual division of labour were being incorporated in students’ education. Intergenerational meetings were held with men and boys, in which elderly men taught boys about the importance of tackling gender stereotypes.

    The State party had a comprehensive legal framework and a national strategy to address gender-based violence. One of the goals of the strategy was to develop a comprehensive law on violence against women.  The Criminal Code imposed severe sanctions for the crime of murder of a women motivated by gender.  There were shelters for female victims of violence provided by grassroots organizations.  Workshops were held to coordinate the Government and civil society’s responses to gender-based violence.  Comprehensive reparations for violence could be sought through civil courts.  Members of parliament had discussed but had not agreed to include the concept of “femicide” within legislation.

    Cuba had a zero-tolerance policy regarding all forms of trafficking and was a State party to international instruments addressing various forms of trafficking.  Trafficking in persons had been included as a crime in the Criminal Code, as had forced labour.  There was a very low incidence of human trafficking in Cuba, thanks in part to the absence of significant organised crime networks.  Cuba had a national action plan and a national working group addressing trafficking.  The national action plan included strong measures promoting support for victims. The State did not criminalise women victims of trafficking. 

    State regulations prohibited sex tourism.  Detection and combatting systems were in place in the tourism industry.  The State party had identified a small number of foreigners in the country who were involved in facilitating child sex tourism, who were duly sentenced.  Over 700 training sessions had taken place for 7,000 workers in the tourism sector on the prevention of trafficking. 

    Cuba had published an annual report on trafficking that contained data on cases of trafficking before the courts. There were 14 prosecutions for trafficking crimes in 2023.  The State party did not criminalise prostitution but did punish pimping with severe penalties.  Social workers were supporting sex workers and the State was working to eradicate the root causes of women becoming involved in prostitution.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    A Committee Expert welcomed that Cuba currently had one of the highest rates of female participation in Parliament worldwide.  However, a gender gap persisted in cabinet ministries, with only 18.5 per cent of ministerial positions being held by women.  Men were concentrated in the most influential spheres of Government.  How was the State party measuring the number of women in executive posts in the private sector?  Was it encouraging private sector bodies to promote women’s representation?  How many heads of standing committees in Parliament were women?  How many women civil society organizations were there and were they affected by laws preventing access to foreign funding?

    Another Committee Expert asked about circumstances in which Cuban women could lose their nationality.  Could the State party strip people of their nationality? Was there a mechanism for Cuban women born abroad to regain their nationality?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said Cuba had made significant progress over the reporting period regarding the representation of women in Parliament.  Three women played a key role in leadership of the Central Communist Party Committee and 46 per cent of members of this committee were women.  Six provinces had female governors; 80 per cent of vice-ministerial posts were held by women; and six of the 11 standing working committees of Parliament were led by women.  The State party had put in place an action plan to increase the representation of women in non-traditional sectors and in leadership positions, and to increase the number of women-owned enterprises.

    Civil society organizations could receive foreign funding, but not financing for activities that subverted the constitutional order.

    The Constitution regulated how citizenship was acquired.  The acquisition of citizenship of other States did not lead to the revoking of Cuban citizenship.  A new law on citizenship had been adopted but had not yet come into force.  The law would require persons who applied to renounce Cuban nationality to hold another nationality.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    A Committee Expert asked if there was a follow-up mechanism in place to assess the number of women in executive posts.

    RHODA REDDOCK, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Cuba, said that the President could issue decisions on the removal of citizenship.  Could this lead to statelessness?

    One Committee Expert commended Cuba for its efforts to make the right to education free and universal and to promote women’s academic achievements.  The Expert cited reports of an increased rate of teenage pregnancies in rural and remote areas, particularly for people of African descent.  When would the State party start implementing a sexual education programme?  How was it working around the economic blockade to support rural and Black women? How many rural and marginalised women were attending university?  Did the State party have legislation and policies that addressed bullying in schools and cyber bullying?  How did the State party ensure that women and men earned the same in the education sector?

    Another Committee Expert said women’s labour force participation rate was relatively low, at 39 per cent.  How would the State party increase this rate, particularly in the formal sector, and ensure that women in the informal sector had the same access to protections as in the formal sector?  What measures were in place to address the segregation of women in the workforce and to promote the employment of women of African descent and women with disabilities?  The State party had prohibited discrimination on the basis of employment.  How was this being implemented?  Women spent twice as much time doing domestic and care work, and there had been successive cuts to social care programmes.  How did the State party intend to sustain these programmes? 

    How effective was legislation promoting shared parental responsibility?  How was the State party working to prevent workplace sexual harassment? How many complaints of workplace harassment had been received since 2019?  What were the obstacles to the State party ratifying International Labour Organization Conventions 189 and 160?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the national programme for the advancement of women included measures to assess the representation of women in construction, agriculture, mining and water resource fields, in which there were fewer women in executive posts.  The ministries of transport and energy and mining had vice-ministers who were women.  The Government would continue to undertake actions to incentivise women’s participation in non-traditional sectors.

    Citizens needed to comply with specific requirements to renounce nationality.  There needed to be serious circumstances, such as membership of an armed group that had attacked the State, for nationality to be deprived. The President authorised the deprivation of nationality.

    For the current school year, the State party had incorporated comprehensive sexual education into the common compulsory syllabus at both primary and secondary levels.  Students and their families had contributed to drafting a protocol to tackle violence in schools.  Capacity building on responding to violence was provided through conferences and training for teachers.  There was only a small number of girls who dropped out of school, but every effort was taken to encourage them to return.  This had led to a decline in the dropout rate in recent years.  At the secondary level, around 1,500 students with disabilities had graduated in the most recent school year.  There was no gender wage gap in the educational sector.

    Cuba was promoting the prevention of cyber violence.  The law on social communications established that online content could not be used to discriminate against any group on any grounds.  Online advertising could not employ stereotypical depictions of women. There was also legislation sanctioning online child pornography and bullying.  The Criminal Code addressed criminal activities using digital spaces. In the 10 years since the last review, access to the internet in Cuba had improved significantly, despite the United States’ blockade, which affected the telecommunications industry.

    The Government was calling for the fair distribution of household and care work between men and women.  A recent decree on the national care system provided for a more equitable approach to care.  The decree recognised that carers’ unpaid work made valuable contributions to society.  The State was training carers to provide formalised care for the aging population and raising awareness about the need for men and women to spend equal time on care duties.

    The Labour Code included a definition of workplace harassment.  If the victim was a subordinate to the perpetrator, or if the harassment was based on gender, higher sanctions were implemented.  Mechanisms for reporting harassment were in place in each workplace and complaints could also be submitted directly to the Government. 

    Women workers enjoyed the right to maternity leave, which had recently been extended to 15 weeks after the birth of a child.  The posts of women who took maternity leave were reserved for when they returned. The Government was also encouraging sharing of parental leave between mothers and fathers.  It had opened early childhood facilities across the country, increasing places in those facilities ten-fold.  Workplace creches provided childcare for 5,000 children.  Wage equality between men and women was established as a right within legislation.

    Cuba did not believe it was currently necessary to ratify International Labour Organization Convention 160.  It was a party to the main eight International Labour Organization Conventions.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    A Committee Expert said the Committee welcomed actions taken by the State party to reduce under five mortality rates.  The life expectancy in Cuba had reached 81 years, which was remarkable.  The Government provided a public and free health care system.  Did it cover the needs of poor and rural women?  How did the State party succeed in being the first country to eradicate mother-to-child HIV and syphilis transmission?  There was a high level of teenage pregnancy in Cuba.  What measures were in place to provide affordable contraception to women and girls who needed it?  How was the State party reducing post-partum complications and ensuring the availability of family doctors in rural and remote areas?

    Another Committee Expert noted that there were multiple initiatives to promote women’s access to employment in fields such as agriculture.  The Government had promoted 20 affirmative actions in the rural sector to advance the empowerment of women.  What resources were available to women to succeed in business initiatives?  Were there opportunities for women to participate in the blue economy?  A law on the transfer of agricultural land had recently been enacted; how had it assisted rural women to access land?  To what extent had Cuba provided loans and credit for women?  Were there plans to improve data on women’s access to credit?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said that in 2023, there were around 27,500 general practitioners in the State party. Priority was attached to providing health services in rural areas. 

    The State party needed to continue to increase the percentage of women in agriculture and the percentage of women landowners.  The Government was supporting women to access bank loans.  It planned to collect data on recipients of bank loans, disaggregated by sex and ethnicity.

    Cuba had managed to keep prevalence rates of HIV at the lowest rates in Latin America through prophylaxis measures implemented with the support of the World Health Organization.  There were several programmes in place for the prevention and monitoring of sexually transmitted infections.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    RHODA REDDOCK, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Cuba, said that only 10 per cent of the agricultural land distributed by the Government had been distributed to women.  What factors were affecting women’s involvement in agriculture and their access to land?

    Another Committee Expert said that there were restrictions on people changing residence, particularly affecting women in the eastern part of the island.  Institutions had been authorised to find and deport people to their places of origin.  How would the State party guarantee the right to internal migration?

    Women deprived of liberty reportedly faced violence from staff and inmates.  How did the State party work with civil society to oversee prisons? Was prenatal care provided to pregnant women in prisons?

    How was the State party providing elderly women with basic care, food and services?  What steps had been taken to ensure substantive equality for women of African descent?  What services were provided for women with disabilities in rural areas?  How was the State party promoting the right to identity for lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women?

    One Committee Expert said that the economic blockade on Cuba was a flagrant violation of the rights of Cubans, damaging their rights to food, education, health and other areas.  The Expert commended legislation that increased the age of marriage to 18.  How did the State party plan to address de facto unions with children?  How many criminal cases related to child marriage had there been in the last four years?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the gender observatory was compiling data on women who owned land and worked in agriculture. The Government was working to support more rural women to gain access to land, State services and economic empowerment.

    The national health system had 53 different services for older persons delivered at the community level.  Cuba continued to promote access to services, cultural spaces and employment for persons with disabilities.  The State party was taking steps to ensure that Afro descendant women played their full role by supporting access to education and breaking down stereotypes.

    The treatment of detainees in Cuba was in line with the Mandela and Bangkok Rules.  The right to free medical care was provided in places of detention, along with recreational activities.  Women prisoners received differentiated treatment.  Support and care for children staying in prisons with their mothers was provided.

    The Family Code recognised same-sex marriage and assisted reproduction.  There had been 85 same-sex marriages between women in the last year. The State party was providing care and support for trans women.  Campaigns to tackle homophobia and transphobia were being rolled out across the country.

    Concluding Remarks 

    INÉS MARÍA CHAPMAN WAUGH, Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba and head of the delegation, thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue.  Cuba valued the recommendations of the Committee, which would be scrutinised with due rigour.  The Government was committed to implementing the Convention and promoting women’s rights. It would do its utmost to achieve its goals in this regard, despite the economic blockade imposed by the United States.

    ANA PELÁEZ NARVÁEZ, Committee Chair, said that the Committee commended Cuba for its efforts and called on the State party to implement the Committee’s recommendations for better implementation of the Convention for the benefit of all women and girls in the State.

     

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

     

    CEDAW24.030E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event | Grand Rapids,  MI

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Riverside ParkGrand Rapids, Michigan
    2:38 P.M. EDT
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, Michigan!  Good afternoon.  Can we hear it for Brian?  (Applause.) 
    Good afternoon, Michigan.  It is good — (applause) — oh, it is good to be back.  It’s good to be back.  (Applause.)  Good afternoon.  Oh — (laughs) — oh, my god.  Okay.  (Applause.)  Okay.  Thank you. 
    Okay, let’s get to business.  Let’s get to business.  Thank you.  Thank you.  I am very touched.  (Applause.)  Thank you all.  Oh, it’s good to be back.  Thank you all very much.  Thank you.  Thank you. 
    Okay, let’s get to work.  Let’s get to work.  Let’s get to work.  Let’s get to work. 
    So, let me first thank all of you for taking time out of your very busy lives for us to all be here together this afternoon.  I thank you so very much for all you do, all you have done, and all you will do over these next 18 days.  Thank you all so very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you. 
    This is an incredible group of incredible leaders, and your voice matters so much right now.  And I think there is so much about our campaign that is about the spirit of reminding everyone that we’re all in this together.  We are all in this together.  (Applause.)  So, thank you. 
    And to all the governors who are here with us today — (applause) — I’m telling you, they’re riding thick.  They’re riding thick.  Oh, and they are all — each one of them — such incredible leaders, both for their state and our nation, and such dear friends.  And I thank you all, including, of course, Michigan’s own Governor Whitmer — (applause) — who we love as “Big Gretch.”  (Applause.)
    And to the governors, I want to say you’ve been traveling the country for our campaign, and I’m so deeply grateful for your support. 
    I also want to recognize Senator Stabenow — (applause) — a champion for Michigan; Representative Scholten, who we will reelect to the United States Congress.  (Applause.)  And while we’re at it, let’s send Representative Slotkin to the United States Senate.  (Applause.)
    All right, so we got work to do.  Eighteen day — eighteen days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.  And as you know, everyone here knows, this election is truly about two very different visions for our nation: Ours that is focused on the future; Donald Trump’s that is focused on the past.  Ours, that is focused on bringing down the cost of living for working families, investing in small businesses, and entrepreneurs.  Ours, that is about protecting reproductive freedom.  (Applause.)  
    But none of that is what we hear from Donald Trump.  Instead, it is just the same old, tired playbook.  He has no plan for how he would address the needs of the American people, and he is, as we have seen, only focused on himself.
    And now he is ducking debates and canceling interviews.
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Come on. 
    Check this out.  His own campaign team recently said it is because of exhaustion.  (Laughter.)  Well, if you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world.  (Applause.)  Come on.  Come on.
    So, for all these reasons and more, we are here because we know it is time to turn the page.  (Applause.)  It is time to turn the page because America is ready to chart a new way forward.  (Applause.)  America is ready for a new and optimistic generation of leadership that is all of us — (applause) — all of us, which is why Democrats, Republicans, and independents are supporting our campaign.  (Applause.) 
    In fact, earlier this week, over 100 Republican leaders from across the country joined me on the campaign trail, including some who even served in Donald Trump’s own administration — (applause) — the people who know him best, right? 
    And I believe all of this shows that the American people want a president who works for all the people.  (Applause.)  And that has been the story of my entire career.  In my career, I’ve only ever had one client: the people — the people.  (Applause.)
    As a young courtroom prosecutor, I protected women and children.  As attorney general of California, I fought for students and veterans.  As vice president, I have stood up for workers and seniors.  And as president, I will stand up for all Americans — all Americans.  (Applause.) 
    And together, we will build a brighter future for our nation.  Yes, we will.  (Applause.)  Because, by the way, we will win.  (Applause.)  We will win.  We will win.  Come on.
         AUDIENCE:  We will win!  We will win!  We will win! 
         THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  Yes, we will.
         AUDIENCE:  We will win!  We will win!  We will win!
         THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We will win.  We will win.  And we will win.
    And one of the reasons that we know we are working hard toward that win is because we believe together in building a future — in what we can do together as a nation — and a nation of people who see what we have in common more than what separates us. 
     We will w- — build towards a future where we have an economy that works for all Americans.  We will build what I call an “opportunity economy” so that every American has an opportunity to own a home, buy a car, build wealth, and start a business.  (Applause.) 
     In fact, do we have any small-business owners here?  (Applause.)  I love our small businesses.  I got a plan for you.  I love our small businesses.  Our small businesses are part of the backbone of America’s economy.  Bless you all for the work you are doing. 
     So, under my plan, we will also bring down the cost of housing — (applause) — and we will help entrepreneurs start and grow small businesses. 
     My plan will expand Medicare to cover the cost of home health care for our seniors — (applause) — so that more of our seniors can live with dignity. 
    And, you know, I’ll just give you a little background i- — in terms of a personal story.  So, I took care of my mother when she was sick.  And for any of you who have taken care of an elder relative, you know what that is, right?  It’s about trying to cook something that they can eat.  It’s about trying to find clothes that they can — they can handle on their skin.  It’s about trying, from time to time, to think about something that will put a smile on their face or maybe just make them laugh.  It’s about dignity. 
    But under the current system, and especially for those in the sandwich generation who are raising young kids while you’re taking care of your parents, it’s difficult.  And under the current system, to get help for taking care of your seniors, unless you got the extra money sitting around, you’d have to leave your job or pay down all your savings to qualify for Medicaid.  That’s not right.  That’s not right. 
     So, my plan is about saying, let’s have Medicare cover the cost of home health care for our seniors — (applause) — which is a matter of understanding how real people are living and understanding the importance of everyone being entitled to dignity.  (Applause.)
    Our plan, in terms of an opportunity economy, will lower costs on everything from health care to groceries.  I’ll take on corporate price gouging, because I’ve done it before and I will do it again.  (Applause.)
    My plan will also give middle-class tax cuts to 100 million Americans, including $6,000 tax credit for the first year of a child’s life so that our young parents — (applause) — can do what they naturally want to do, which is parent their children well, but they don’t always have the resources to be able to do it.  So, let’s help them out so that they can buy a car seat, so that they can buy a crib, so that they can take care of that baby’s needs during that critical phase of their development. 
         We all benefit from it.  We all benefit from it.  (Applause.)
         Dignity.
    My plan also invests in American manufacturing and innovation, because I will make sure America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century.  (Applause.) 
         AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!
         THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That’s right.  That’s right.
         AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And so, to that point and with pride, we all say: We must and we will invest in the industries that built America, like steel, iron, and the great American auto industry.  (Applause.)  And we will ensure that the next generation of breakthroughs, from advanced batteries to electric vehicles, are not just invented but built right here in America by American union workers.  (Applause.)
     And, Michigan, I know I’m going to tell you what you already know, but let us be clear for folks who are watching from different parts of the country.  Contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive, but here is what I will do.  I will invest in manufacturing communities like Kent County.  (Applause.) 
    Together, we will retool existing factories, hire locally, and work with unions to create good-paying jobs — (applause) — including jobs that do not require a college degree, because here’s where I come from.  I know a college degree is not the only measure of the skills and experience of a qualified worker.  (Applause.)
    And I intend to reexamine federal jobs, when you all elect me president — (applause) — to assess those jobs that should not have that requirement, and then I intend to challenge the private sector to do the same.  (Applause.)
     Now, all of this is to say Donald Trump has a different approach.  He makes big promises — (laughs) — and he always fails to deliver.
    So, remember he said he was the only one — you know how he talks.  (Laughter.)  He — the only one who could bring back America’s manufacturing jobs.
    Then, America lost almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs when he was president.
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Facts.  Including tens of thousands of jobs right here in Michigan.  And those losses started before the pandemic, making Donald Trump one of the biggest losers — (applause) — of manufacturing jobs in American history. 
    And his track record for the auto industry was a disaster.  He promised workers in Warren that the auto industry would, and I’m going to quote, “not lose one plant” during his presidency.  Those were his words, “not one plant.” 
    Then American automakers announced the closure of six auto plants when he was president, including General Motors in Warren and Stellantis in Detroit.  Thousands of Michigan autoworkers lost their jobs.  And Donald Trump’s running mate recently suggested that if they win, they would threaten the Grand River Assembly plant in Lansing.  Okay?
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  The same plant our administration protected earlier this year, saving 650 union jobs — (applause) — 650 union jobs.  His running mate called those “table scraps.” 
    So, we fought hard for those jobs, and we believe that you deserve a president who will protect them and not insult them.  (Applause.)
    And make no mistake, Donald Trump is no friend of labor.  Let’s be really clear about that.  No matter what the noise is out there, he is no friend of labor.  Just look at the record.  Instead of his rhetoric, look at the record.  And let’s not fall for the okey-doke.  (Laughter.) 
    Seriously.  He encouraged automakers to move their plants out of Michigan so he could pay — they could pay their workers less.  Understand what that was about: so they could pay their workers less. 
    And when the UAW went on strike to demand the higher wages they deserved, Donald Trump went to a nonunion shop —
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — and attacked the UAW, and he said — he said, striking and collective bargaining don’t make, quote, “a damn bit of sense” — “a damn bit of difference” is what he said exactly.  That it doesn’t make a, quote — pardon my language — “a damn bit of difference,” is what he said. 
    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  He don’t make a damn bit of sense.  (Applause.) 
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  All right, brother.  (Laughs.)
    So, Michigan, you know better.  Strong unions mean higher wages — (applause) — better health care, and greater dignity for union members and for everyone, whether or not you are part of a union.  (Applause.)  Get that straight.  Get that straight.
    Which is why, when I am president, I will sign the PRO Act into law and make it easier for workers to join a union and negotiate for better pay and working conditions.  (Applause.)
    And now Donald Trump is making the same empty promises to the people of Michigan that he did before, hoping — hoping you will forget how he let you down the last time.  But we will not be fooled, because we know how to read Project 2025.  For those who haven’t seen it, just google it. 
    You know, I just have to keep repeating, I can’t believe they put that thing in writing.  I cannot beli- — they — they put it in — they put it in writing.  They bound it.  They — they published it, and they handed it out.  (Laughter.)  And now they’re trying to run from it.  Come on. 
    And so, we’ve read it.  It’s a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what Donald Trump intends to do if he were elected president.  So, that’s why we know — not only because it’s what he did before — that’s why we know Donald Trump will give billionaires and corporations massive tax cuts, attack unions, cut Social Security and Medicare —
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — get rid of that hard-fought, hard-won $35 cap on insulin for our seniors.
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Check out what’s in it.  It will make it easier for companies to deny overtime pay for workers —
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — and impose what I call a “Trump sales tax,” which is basically — he’s talking about at least a 20 percent tax on everyday necessities, which economists have measured will cost the average family nearly $4,000 more a year.
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And on top of this, Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act — okay? — and has no plan to replace it. 
    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  “Concepts”! 
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  You watched the debate.  (Laughs.)  So, you remember, he has, quote, “concepts of a plan.” 
    AUDIENCE:  “Concepts of a plan!”
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  “Concepts of a plan.”
    So, he’s going to threaten — he’s going to threaten the health insurance of 45 —
    AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  (Inaudible.)
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We need a medic over here.  We need a medic over here.  Let’s — let’s clear a path so they can come through, please.
         AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Don’t forget he’s out on bail! 
    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Espionage!  (Laughter.)
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we got jokes over here, grounded in reality.  (Laughter.)
         We okay?  Okay.  We’re okay.  Thank you all. 
         So — (applause) — we’re good.  Okay.
    So, you know, where I was going with that is many of you may have heard me say, I do believe that Donald Trump is an unserious man, and the consequences of him ever getting back into the White House are brutally serious — brutally serious. 
    So, on that point about “concepts of a plan,” it’s funny.  We thought it was ridiculously hilarious when we first heard it.  But here’s the thing about that.  He is basically going to threaten the health insurance of 45 million people based on a concept and take us back to when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions.  You remember what that was like?
    Well, we are —
    AUDIENCE:  Not going back!
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — not going back.  We are not going back.  We’re not going back.
    AUDIENCE:  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We are not going back.  We’re not going back.
    AUDIENCE:  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we are not going back because we intend to move forward — (applause) — because ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom — (applause) — like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.  (Applause.)
    And we here remember how we got to this place, because then-President Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did as he intended. 
    And now, in America, one in three women lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban, many of these with no exception even for rape and incest, which means you’re telling a survivor of a violation to their body that they don’t have a right to make a decision about what happens to their body next? 
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That’s immoral.  That’s immoral. 
    And I think we all know one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do — (applause) — not the government.  If she chooses, she will talk to her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her imam but not the government — not some — some people up in a state capitol — not Donald Trump.
    AUDIENCE:  No!
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  No. 
    So, let me tell you, when Congress passes a bill to restore the reproductive freedoms nationwide, with your help, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.  (Applause.)  Proudly.  Proudly.  Proudly. 
    And across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on other hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights — fundamental freedoms and rights.  I’m traveling our country.  I mean, attacks on the freedom to vote. 
    You know, in the state of Georgia, they passed a law that makes it illegal to give people food and water for standing in line to vote.  You know, the hypocrisy abounds.  What happened to “love thy neighbor”?  Right?
    Attacks on the freedom to join a union, attacks on the freedom to be safe from gun violence, attacks on the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.  (Applause.)
    So much is on the line in this election, and you all are spending your precious time here together because we know this is not 2016 or 2020.  The stakes are even higher this time for many reasons, including because, just months ago, the United States Supreme Court basically told the former president he is effectively immune no matter what he does in the White House.
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Right.  Because we know — just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.  Just imagine.  He who has vowed he would be a dictator on day one.  He who calls Americans who disagree with him the “enemy from within.”  You know where that language comes from?  The “enemy from within,” talking about Americans.  He who says he would use the military to go after them — American citizens.  He who has called for the, quote, “termination” of the Constitution of the United States of America. 
    AUDIENCE:  Booo —
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we are clear: Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again have the privilege of standing behind the seal of the president of the United States.  (Applause.)  Never again.  Never again.  Never again.  Never again. 
    AUDIENCE:  Never again!  Never again!  Never again!
    THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Never again. 
    So, Michigan, it all comes down to this.  We know why we’re here together.  We know what’s at stake.  And we are here together for one of the most important of all the reasons: We are here together because we love our country.  (Applause.)  We love our country. 
    We love our country, and we know that it is one of the highest forms of an expression of love of our country, of patriotism, to then fight for our ideals, to fight to realize the promise of America.  That’s what our campaign is about. 
    And Election Day is in 18 short days.  Okay?  And here in Michigan, early voting starts on Saturday, October 26th, which is one week from tomorrow.  (Applause.) 
    So, now is the time to make your plan to vote.  Make a plan.  Make a plan.  And if you have received your ballot in the mail, please do not wait.  Fill it out and return it today. 
    Because, folks, the election is here.  The election is here right now.  And like I know everybody here knows to do, we’ve got to energize and organize and mobilize and remind our neighbors and our friends that their vote is their voice and your voice is your power. 
    In a democracy, while we can hold on to it, our vote is the power that each of us as an individual has.  It’s an extraordinary power, and we will not give it away, and we will not let anyone suppress or silence our power.  Don’t ever let anybody take your power from you.  (Applause.)
    So, Michigan, today I ask you, then, are you ready to make your voices heard?  (Applause.)
         Do we believe in freedom?  (Applause.)
         Do we believe in opportunity?  (Applause.)
         Do we believe in the promise of America?  (Applause.)
         And are we ready to fight for it?  (Applause.)
         And when we fight —
         AUDIENCE:  We win!
         THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — we win.
         God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)
                                 END                3:07 P.M. EDT

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: St. Louis County Woman Sentenced for $100,000 Pandemic Loan Fraud

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday ordered a woman who fraudulently obtained five pandemic relief loans to repay $113,223 to the U.S. Small Business Administration and placed her on probation for five years.

    Camille N. Foster, now 32, of St. Louis County, Missouri, obtained five Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans between May 2020 and November 2021 by submitting fraudulent loan applications on behalf of three businesses: Humble Hearts Home Healthcare LLC, Embellished Jewels LLC and Muse Me Boutique LLC. On the applications, she knowingly misrepresented the payroll and annual income of the businesses, which were not in operation at the time. She also submitted fraudulent tax forms with the applications. In a loan application for Muse Me Boutique, Foster used someone else’s name and Social Security number on the application, and signed that person’s name on the application without the person’s knowledge.

    PPP loans were intended to help struggling small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Foster did not use the money for that purpose. She spent it on retail purchases, dining, cosmetic surgery, bill payments, travel, taxes and payments to others. She then submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loan forgiveness for many of the loans she received, claiming that she had spent most or all the money on payroll costs.

    Foster, also known as Foster-Nunley, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of wire fraud.

    The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.

    Anyone with information about pandemic fraud should call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or report via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why America is buying up the Premier League – and what it means for the future of ‘soccer’

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kieran Maguire, Senior Teacher in Accountancy and member of Football Industries Group, University of Liverpool

    When the Premier League broke away from the rest of English football in 1992, its 22 clubs generated £205 million in its debut season, and the average player earned £2,050 a week. Thirty years later, despite having two fewer clubs, the league’s revenue had increased by 2,850% to £6.1 billion and the average player earned £93,000 a week.

    At the heart of this extraordinary growth is an American revolution. In the Premier League’s inaugural season, football was still in recovery from the horrors of the stadium disasters at Hillsborough and Heysel. Owners tended to be from the local area and with a business background. The only foreign owner was Sam Hamman at Wimbledon, a Lebanese millionaire who bought the club on a whim having reportedly been much more interested in tennis. The season ended with Manchester United (under Alex Ferguson) winning the English game’s top league for the first time in 26 years.

    Now, if the Texas-based Friedkin Group’s recent deal to buy Everton goes through, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs will be controlled or part-owned by American investors. The US – long seen as football’s final frontier when it comes to the men’s game – suddenly can’t get enough of English “soccer”.

    Four of the Premier League’s “big six” are American-owned – Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea – while a fifth, Manchester City, has a significant US minority shareholding. Aston Villa, Fulham, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Ipswich Town also have varying degrees of American ownership.

    And it’s not even just the glamour clubs at the top of the tree. American investment has also been significant lower down the football pyramid, led by the high-profile acquisition of then non-league Wrexham by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny, and Birmingham City’s purchase by US investors including seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. American investment in football has reached places as geographically diverse as Carlisle and Crawley in England, and Aberdeen and Edinburgh in Scotland.


    The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.

    So why the American obsession with English football? And how real are concerns that these US owners could collude to “Americanise” the traditions of the Premier League – whether by reducing the risk of relegation, introducing some form of “draft pick” system, or moving matches and even clubs to other cities?

    The Premier League’s first US owner

    Manchester United was the first Premier League club to come under American ownership – after a row about a horse.

    In 2005, United was owned by a variety of investors including Irish businessmen and racehorse owners John Magnier and J.P. McManus. Their erstwhile friend Ferguson, the United manager, thought he co-owned the champion racehorse Rock of Gibraltar with them – a stallion worth millions in stud rights. They disagreed – and their bitter dispute was such that Magnier and McManus decided to sell their shares in the football club.

    The Miami-based Glazer family – already involved in sport as owners of NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – had already been buying up small tranches of shares in United, but the sudden availability of the Irish shares allowed Malcolm Glazer to acquire a controlling stake for £790 million (around £1.5 billion at today’s prices).

    The fact Glazer did not actually have sufficient funds to pay for these shares was a solvable problem. In the some-might-say commercially naive world of top-flight English football before the Premier League, Manchester United was a club without debt, paying its way without leveraging its position as one of the world’s most famous football clubs. Glazer saw the opportunity this presented and arranged a leveraged buy-out (LBO), whereby the football club borrowed more than £600 million secured on its own assets to, in effect, “buy itself” in 2005.

    Despite the need to meet the high interest costs to fund the LBO, United continued winning trophies under Ferguson – including three Premier League titles in a row in 2007, 2008 and 2009, as well as a Champions League victory in 2008. Amid this success, the club felt that ticket prices were too low and set about increasing them, with matchday revenue increasing from £66 million in 2004/05 to over £101 million by 2007/08.

    Commercial income was another area the Glazers were keen to increase. United set up offices in London and adopted a global approach to finding new official branding deals ranging from snacks to tractor and tyre suppliers – doubling revenues from this income source too.

    But in this new, more aggressive world of “sweating the asset”, the debts lingered – and most United fans remained deeply suspicious of their American owners. (Following their father’s death in 2014, the club was co-owned by his six children, with brothers Avram and Joel Glazer becoming co-chairmen.)

    Today, despite its partial listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the February 2024 sale of 27.7% of the club to British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe for a reputed £1.25 billion, United still has borrowings of more than £546 million, having paid cumulative interest costs of £969 million since the takeover in 2005. But with the club now valued at US$6.55 billion (around £5bn), it represents a very smart investment for the Glazer family.

    Indeed, while the prices being paid for football clubs across Europe have reached record levels, they are still seen as cheap investments compared with US sports’ leading franchises. Forbes’s annual list of the world’s most valuable sports teams has American football (NFL), baseball (MLB) and basketball (NBA) teams occupying the top ten positions, with only three Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City – in the top 50.

    With NFL teams having an average franchise value of US$5.1 billion and NBA $3.9 billion, many English football clubs still look like a bargain from the other side of the pond.

    The risk of relegation

    The latest to join this US bandwagon, the Friedkin Group – a Texas-based portfolio of companies run by American businessman and film producer Dan Friedkin – is reported to have offered £400m to buy Everton, despite the club’s poor financial state.

    “The Toffees” have been hit by loss of sponsorships as well as two sets of points deductions for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules, leading to revenue losses from lower league positions. While the new stadium being built at Liverpool’s Bramley-Moore dock has been yet another financial constraint, it will at least increase matchday income from the start of next season.

    Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock will open in time for the start of the 2025-26 season.
    Phil Silverman / Shutterstock

    A wider reason for the relative bargain in valuations of European football clubs is the risk of relegation – something that is not part of the closed leagues of most US sports. While the threat of relegation (and promise of promotion) has always been an integral part of English and European football, the jeopardy this brings for supporters – and a club’s finances – does not exist in the NFL, NBA, Major League Soccer and similar competitions.

    The Premier League, with its three relegation spots at the end of each season, has featured 51 different clubs since it launched in 1992. Only six clubs – Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton – have been ever present, with Arsenal now approaching 100 years of consecutive top-flight football.

    Other Premier League clubs have experienced the dramatic cost-benefit of relegation and promotion. Oldham Athletic, who were in the Premier League for its first two seasons, now languish in the fifth tier of the game, outside the English Football League (EFL). In contrast, Luton Town, who were in the fifth tier as recently as 2014, were promoted to the Premier League in 2023 – only to be relegated at the end of last season.

    While it is difficult to compare football clubs with basketball and American football teams, the financial difference between having an open league, with relegation, and a closed league becomes apparent when you look at women’s football on both sides of the Atlantic.

    Angel City, a women’s soccer team based in Los Angeles, only entered the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2022 and is yet to win an NWSL trophy. But last month, the club was sold for US$250 million (£188m) to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger and TV journalist Willow Bay – the most expensive takeover in the history of women’s professional sport.

    In comparison, Chelsea – seven-time winners of the English Women’s Super League and one of the most successful sides in Europe – valued its women’s team at £150 million ($US196m) earlier this summer. While there are a number of factors to this price differential, the confidence that Angel City will always be a member of the big league of US soccer clubs – and share very equally in its revenue – will have made its new owners very confident in the long-term soundness of their deal.

    The story of Angel City FC, the most expensive team in women’s sport.

    A further attraction for American investors is the potential to enter two markets – one mature (men’s football) and one effectively a start-up (the women’s game) – in a single purchase. In the US, the top men’s and women’s clubs are completely separate. But in Europe, most top-flight women’s teams are affiliated to men’s clubs – with the exception of eight-time Women’s Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, which split from the French men’s club when Korean-American businesswoman Michele Kang bought a majority stake in the women’s team in February 2024).

    While interest in, and hence value of, the WSL is now growing fast, the women’s game in England is dwarfed by viewer ratings for the Premier League – the most watched sporting league in the world, viewed by an estimated 1.87 billion people every week across 189 countries.

    These figures dwarf even the NFL which, while currently still the most valuable of all sporting leagues in terms of its broadcasting deals, must be looking at the growth of the Premier League with some jealousy. This may explain why some US franchise owners, such as Stan Kroenke, the Glazer family, Fenway Sports Group and Billy Foley, have subsequently purchased Premier League football clubs.

    Ironically, for many spectators around the world, it is the intensity and competitiveness of most Premier League matches – brought on in part by the threat of relegation and prize of European qualification – that makes it so captivating. However, billionaire investors like guaranteed numbers and dislike risk – especially the degree of financial risk that exists in the Premier League and English Football League.

    European not-so-Super League

    In April 2021, 12 leading European clubs (six from England plus three each from Spain and Italy) announced the creation of the European Super League (ESL). This new mid-week competition was to be a high-revenue generating, closed competition with (eventually) 15 permanent teams and five annual additions qualifying from Europe. According to one of the driving forces behind the plan, Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer:

    By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.

    The problem facing the Premier League’s “big six” clubs – and their ambitious owners – is there are currently only four slots available to play in the Champions League. So, their thinking went, why not take away the risk of not qualifying? However, the proposal was swiftly condemned by fans around Europe, together with football’s governing bodies and leagues – all of whom saw the ESL proposal as a threat to the quality and integrity of their domestic leagues. Following some large fan protests, including at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, Manchester City was the first club to withdraw – followed, within a couple of days, by the rest of the English clubs.

    Under the terms of the ESL proposals, founding member clubs would have been guaranteed participation in the competition forever. Guaranteed participation means guaranteed revenues. The current financial gap between the “big six” and the other members of the Premier League, which in 2022/23 averaged £396 million, would have widened rapidly.

    For example, these clubs would have been able to sell the broadcast rights for some of their ESL home fixtures direct to fans, instead of via a broadcaster. All of a sudden, that database of fans who have downloaded the official club app, or are on a mailing list, becomes far more valuable. These are the people most willing to watch their favourite team on a pay-per-view basis, further increasing revenues.

    At the same time, a planned ESL wage cap would have stopped players taking all these increased revenues in the form of higher wages, allowing these clubs to become more profitable and their ownership even more lucrative.

    American-owned Manchester United and Liverpool had previously tried to enhance the value of their investments during the COVID lockdowns era via ProjectBig Picture – proposals to reduce the size of the Premier League and scrap one of the two domestic cup competitions, thus freeing up time for the bigger clubs to arrange more lucrative tours and European matches against high-profile opposition.

    Most importantly, Project Big Picture would have resulted in changing the governance of the domestic game. Under its proposals, the “big six” clubs would have enjoyed enhanced voting rights, and therefore been able to significantly influence how the domestic game was governed.

    Any attempt to increase the concentration of power raises concerns of lower competitive balance, whereby fewer teams are in the running to win the title and fewer games are meaningful. This is a problem facing some other major European football leagues including France’s Ligue 1, where interest among broadcasters has dwindled amid the perceived dominance of Paris St-Germain.

    So while to date, American-led attempts to change the structure of the Premier League have been foiled, it’s unlikely such ideas have gone away for good. The near-universal fear of fans – even those who welcome an injection of extra cash from a new billionaire owner – is that the spectacle of the league will only be diminished if such plans ever succeed.

    And there is evidence from the women’s game that the US closed league format is coming under more pressure from football’s global forces. The NWSL recently announced it is removing the draft system that is designed (as with the NFL and NBA) to build in jeopardy and competitive balance when there is no risk of relegation.

    Top US women’s football clubs are losing some of their leading players to other leagues, in part because European clubs are not bound by the same artificial rules of employment. In a truly global professional sport such as football, international competition will always tend to destabilise closed leagues.

    Why do they keep buying these clubs?

    Does this mean that American and other wealthy owners of Premier League clubs seeking to reduce their risks are ultimately fighting a losing battle? And if so, given the potential risks involved in owning a football club – both financial and even personal – why do they keep buying them?

    The motivations are part-financial, part technological and, as has always been the case with sports ownership, part-vanity.

    The American economy has grown far faster than that of the EU or UK in recent years. Consequently, there are many beneficiaries of this growth who have surplus cash, and here football becomes an attractive proposition. In fact, football clubs are more resilient to recessions than other industries, holding their value better as they are effectively monopoly suppliers for their fans who have brand loyalty that exists in few other industries.

    From 1993 to 2018, a period during which the UK economy more than doubled, the total value of Premier League clubs grew 30 times larger. And many fans are tied to supporting one club, helping to make the biggest clubs more resilient to economic changes than other industries. While football, like many parts of the entertainment industry, was hit by lockdown during Covid, no clubs went out of business, despite the challenges of matches being played in empty stadiums.

    Added to this, the exchange rates for US dollars have been very favourable until recently, making US investments in the UK and Europe cheaper for American investors.

    So, while Manchester United fans would argue that the Glazer family have not been good for the club, United has been good for the Glazers. And Fenway Sports Group (FSG), who bought Liverpool for £300 million in 2010, have recouped almost all of that money in smaller share sales while remaining majority owners of Liverpool.

    Despite this, the £2.5 billion price paid for Chelsea by the US Clearlake-Todd Boehly consortium in May 2022 took markets by surprise.

    The sale – which came after the UK government froze the assets of the club’s Russian oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, following the invasion of Ukraine – went through less than a year after Newcastle United had been sold by Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund for £305 million – approximately twice that club’s annual revenues. Yet Clearlake-Boehly were willing to pay over five times Chelsea’s annual revenues to acquire the club, even though it was in a precarious financial position.

    Clearlake is a private equity group whose main aim is to make profits for their investors. But unlike most such investors, who tend to focus on cost-cutting, the Chelsea ownership came in with a high-spending strategy using new financial structuring ideas, such as offering longer player contracts to avoid falling foul of football’s profitability and sustainability rules (although this loophole has since been closed with Uefa, European football’s governing body, limiting contract lengths for financial regulation purposes to five years).

    Chelsea’s location in the one of the most expensive areas of London, combined with its on-field success under Abramovich, all added to the attraction, of course. But there are other reasons why Clearlake, along with billionaire businessman Boehly, were willing to stump up so much for the club.

    From Hollywood to the metaverse

    While some British football fans may have viewed the Ted Lasso TV show as an enjoyable if slightly twee fictional account of American involvement in English soccer, it has enhanced the attraction of the sport in the US. So too Welcome To Wrexham – the fly-on-the-wall series covering the (to date) two promotions of Wales’s oldest football club under the unlikely Hollywood stewardship of Reynolds and McElhenney.

    Welcome To Wrexham, season one trailer.

    The growth in US interest in English football is reflected in the record-breaking Premier League media rights deal in 2022, with NBC Sports reportedly paying $2.7 billion (£2.06bn) for its latest six-year deal.

    But as well as football offering one of increasingly few “live shared TV experiences” that carry lucrative advertising slots, there may also be more opportunity for more behind-the-scenes coverage of the Premier League – as has long been seen in US coverage of NBA games, for example, where players are interviewed in the locker room straight after games.

    According to Manchester United’s latest annual report, the club now has a “global community of 1.1 billion fans and followers”. Such numbers mean its owners, and many others, are bullish about the potential of the metaverse in terms of offering a matchday experience that could be similar to attending a match, without physically travelling to Manchester.

    Their neighbours Manchester City, part-owned by American private equity company Silverlake, broke new (virtual) ground by signing a metaverse deal with Sony in 2022. Virtual reality could give fans around the world the feeling of attending a live match, sitting next to their friends and singing along with the rest of the crowd (for a pay-per-view fee).

    Some investors are even confident that advancements in Abba-style avatar technology could one day allow fans to watch live 3D simulations of Premier League matches in stadiums all over the world. Having first-mover advantage by being in the elite club of owners who can make use of such technology could prove ever more rewarding.

    More immediately, there are some indications that competitive matches involving England’s top men’s football teams could soon take place in US or other venues. Boehly, Chelsea’s co-owner, has already suggested adopting some US sports staples such as an All-Star match to further boost revenues. Indeed, back in 2008, the Premier League tentatively discussed a “39th game” taking place overseas, but that idea was quickly shelved.

    The American owners of Birmingham City were keen to play this season’s EFL League One match against Wrexham in the US, but again this proposal did not get far. Liverpool’s chairman Tom Werner says he is determined to see matches take place overseas, and recent changes to world governing body Fifa’s rulebook could make it easier for this proposal to succeed.

    The potential benefits of hosting games overseas include higher matchday revenues, increased brand awareness, and enhanced broadcast rights. While there is likely to be significant opposition from local fans, at least American owners know they would not face the same hostility about rising matchday prices in the US as they have encountered in England.

    When the Argentinian legend Lionel Messi signed for new MLS franchise Inter Miami in 2023, season ticket prices nearly doubled on his account. And while there is vocal opposition to higher ticket prices in England, this is not borne out in terms of lower attendances for matches against high-calibre opposition – as evidenced by Aston Villa charging up to £97 for last week’s Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich.

    Villa’s director of operations, Chris Heck, defended the prices by saying that difficult decisions had to be made if the club was to be competitive.

    Manchester United’s matchday revenue per EPL season (£m)


    Kieran Maguire/Christina Philippou, CC BY

    For much of the 2010s, with broadcast revenues increasing rapidly, many Premier League owners made little effort to stoke hostilities with their loyal fan bases by putting up ticket prices. Indeed, Manchester United generated little more from matchday income in the 2021-22 season, as football emerged from the pandemic, than the club had in 2010-11 (see chart above).

    However, this uneasy truce between fans and owners has ceased. The relative flatlining of broadcast revenues since 2017, along with cost control rules that are starting to affect clubs’ ability to spend money on player signings and wages, has changed club appetites for dampened ticket prices. This has resulted in noticeable rises in individual ticket and season ticket prices by some clubs.

    However, season ticket and other local “legacy” fans generate little money compared with the more lucrative overseas and tourist fans. They may only watch their favourite team live once a season, but when they visit, they are far more likely not only to pay higher matchday prices, but to spend more on merchandise, catering and other offerings from the club.

    Today’s breed of commercially aware, profit-seeking US Premier League owners – pioneered by the Glazer family, who saw that “sweating the asset” meant more than watching football players sprinting hard – understand there is a lot more value to come from English football teams. The clubs’ loyal local supporters may not like it, but English football’s American-led revolution is not done yet.


    For you: more from our Insights series:

    To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter.

    Kieran Maguire has taught courses and presented on football finance for the Professional Footballers Association, League Managers Association, FIFA and national football associations in Europe.

    Christina Philippou is affiliated with the RAF FA, and Premier League education programs.

    – ref. Why America is buying up the Premier League – and what it means for the future of ‘soccer’ – https://theconversation.com/why-america-is-buying-up-the-premier-league-and-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-soccer-240695

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kelly Announces 2024 Kansas Economic Report, Highlighting Key Points of Growth – Governor of the State of Kansas

    Source: US State of Kansas

    TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly announced today that the 2024 Kansas Economic Report shows growth in the state’s labor workforce, continued low unemployment, and record exports. The report, produced by the Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL), comprehensively analyzes the state’s economic health and labor market trends.

    The annual publication highlights critical data on employment, unemployment, labor force participation, job growth, personal income, and more, providing an essential resource for businesses, policymakers, and job seekers.

    • Labor Force Growth: In 2023, Kansas saw a 0.6% increase in its labor force, adding 8,385 individuals and bringing the total labor force to over 1.51 million. The number of employed Kansans reached a record high of 1.47 million, reflecting the state’s resilience and ongoing recovery.
    • Unemployment Rates: Kansas maintained a low unemployment rate, rising slightly to 2.7% in 2023, still well below the national average of 3.6%. Despite the modest increase, Kansas continues to outperform the national labor market.
    • Job Market Rebounds: Kansas’ nonfarm jobs surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with a total of 1.44 million jobs in 2023. Private sector employment led this growth, adding 23,800 jobs, while the government sector added 3,700 jobs.
    • Industry and Occupational Projections: Health care, transportation, and computer-related occupations are expected to grow significantly through 2032. Occupations typically requiring a bachelor’s degree are expected to add the most jobs from 2022 to 2032.
    • Export Growth: Kansas’ export market hit a record of $14.1 billion in sales, driven by growth in the transportation equipment and processed foods sectors. However, exports to Kansas’ top trade partners—Mexico, Canada, and Japan—have declined over the year.

    “The growth we are seeing is encouraging and shows the progress made in revitalizing our state’s economy,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “This report reinforces my administration’s commitment to making Kansas the best state to live, work, and raise a family.”

    “Kansas continues to show resilience in its economic recovery, as demonstrated by rising employment numbers and strong job growth in key sectors,” Kansas Secretary of Labor Amber Shultz said. “However, demographic challenges such as a shrinking younger population highlight the need for careful attention to workforce development as we plan for the future.”

    The report also discusses long-term demographic trends, citing concerns about the state’s aging population and declining numbers of younger workers, which could pose challenges to future labor force sustainability.

    To address those issues, the Kansas Department of Commerce has been working with businesses to attract new talent. It recently launched its Love, Kansas campaign to bring those who left the state back to their roots in Kansas.

    “It’s simple: we need more humans in Kansas to keep up with the phenomenal economic growth our state is experiencing,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “The best way to do that is to first approach Kansans who left the state for economic opportunities elsewhere and invite them to build a life in a place they know and have connections to, whether in their hometown or elsewhere in the state.  And with the Love, Kansas campaign, we aren’t just extending an invitation to those who once called Kansas home to come back–we’re also inviting families from around the country to build their lives in the Sunflower State.”

    KDOL’s full report is available here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New mental health support makes Westminster a cut above the rest | Westminster City Council

    Source: City of Westminster

    Opening up about mental health is losing its stigma and has been given a fresh look by Westminster City Council thanks to new funding and initiatives.

    Based in North Paddington, Trim Talk provides free mental health training for barbers so their shops will become safe spaces for young men to talk about their feelings and emotions. Launched earlier this year, there are a number of shops who have already completed the training and know how to spot the signs of someone struggling with their mental health.

    Thanks to funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), barbers have been trained to facilitate conversations about mental health and make customers feel comfortable about speaking up and tackling issues such as, loneliness or feel as if they are suffering in silence. The training offers a thorough understanding of the factors affecting mental health and equips participants with the skills to identify, support, and direct someone experiencing mental health issues. It also enhances conversation and listening skills, building confidence to offer support even in crisis situations.

    Westminster City Council is further strengthening its support for mental health services with an easy to access wellbeing hub on the council’s website offering a simpler experience with all the council’s resources available in one place.

    With 1 in 4 adults in Westminster admitted to feeling anxious and with services reporting an increase in demand for support since the pandemic, the wellbeing hub gives residents free or low-cost mental health and emotional wellbeing support in Westminster alongside some UK wide services.

    Adam Hyland, owner of Raisa’s Barbers on Harrow Road is proud to pioneer the trim talk scheme:

    We are thrilled to support Trim Talk. Our colleagues, customers and communities deserve a psychological safe space where they can ‘open up’ and we are proud to champion this mental health campaign with Westminster City Council. When we say any style, any time, any one we live it and breathe it.”

    Cllr Cara Sanquest, Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities added:

    I hope customers who use the service will find it beneficial and use it is as an opportunity to start the change dial on misconceptions around men’s mental health. I would also encourage other shops or owners in the North Paddington area to get involved so we can create a real community of men taking positive action towards their mental health.”

    On the council’s new approach to mental health, Cllr Nafsika Butler-Thalassis, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Voluntary Sector said:

    There is a lot of stigma attached to sharing personal difficulties or being open about your mental health. This project supports the view that mental health is everyone’s business and that we can all be trained to provide support. We want to create a community where people can seek help easily and where they know they will be treated with sympathy and kindness wherever they seek help.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Rubio: How Mass Migration Undermined Men

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio

    ICYMI: Rubio: How Mass Migration Undermined Men
    Oct 17, 2024 | Press Releases

    How Mass Migration Undermined Men
    U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
    October 17, 2024
    Compact

    …When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed, a generation of elites embraced the international flow of goods, assets, and labor as an unalloyed benefit to the nation. They established one-sided “free trade” with Communist China, rewarded offshoring, and spread an open-borders philosophy that captured both major parties, as well as much of Big Labor. Millions of American blue-collar jobs disappeared, and the foreign-born share of the population ballooned out of proportion…. 
    A White House news release in July claimed that the administration has revitalized domestic production and boosted the male labor-force participation rate. But the reality is that manufacturing employment is decreasing, manufacturing job quality is down, and U.S.-born men were less likely to participate in the labor force at the end of 2023 than they were before the pandemic…. The Biden-Harris administration is factoring in the employment of illegal immigrants to skew the topline economic numbers in its favor.
    A more accurate picture of our national trajectory can be seen in Charleroi, PA…. [U]nder the Biden-Harris administration, Charleroi is fraught by an influx of thousands of illegally admitted migrants, whose expansion of the labor supply is almost certainly affecting the local blue-collar job market. Over the last 12 months alone, more than 800,000 native-born Americans have lost employment, but more than 1 million foreign-born workers have gained employment. What are the chances this trend isn’t reflected in Charleroi?
    To be clear, this isn’t the migrants’ fault…. [T]his is the fault of the Biden-Harris administration’s unauthorized expansion of humanitarian parole, under which existing parolees—not American citizens—can “sponsor” more migrants for illegal admission into the country. The government then partners with nonprofits to settle these migrants across America, and the nonprofits partner with “staffing agencies” that connect migrants with local employers hungry for cheap labor.
    At no point in this process is there a checkpoint that requires nonprofits, government officials, or employers to consider the welfare of American workers…. [A] basic understanding of supply and demand predicts the upshot of this dynamic: fewer and lower-quality blue-collar jobs for U.S.-born men. And yet elites loyal to the post-Cold War consensus, including labor organizations like the AFL-CIO, refuse to consider constraining mass migration in response. Some are even dusting off the old line that migrants are necessary to fill “jobs Americans won’t do”….
    Charleroi native Andy Armbruster exposed the flaw in that logic in an interview: “…There’s people who would work if you paid them the going wage for the work. But they want to pay less, and so, they ended up getting involved with these agencies that bring in these workers.” It’s a case study in how free markets don’t always align with the national interest. When companies gain access to an endless supply of cheap foreign labor, they lose the incentive to invest in technology and processes that make American blue-collar jobs more efficient and valuable….
    The relentless exportation of blue-collar jobs and importation of cheap labor have left countless U.S.-born men without dignified work, sapping their opportunity and their strength—and no society can long thrive without strong men. Time is running out to chart a new course. We must abandon the post-Cold War consensus, break multinational corporations’ tariff taboo, reinvest in domestic production, and—crucially—regain control of our borders….
    Read the rest here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Monmouth County Resident Admits Fraudulently Obtaining over $3.7 Million in Cares Act Loans

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEWARK, N.J. – A former resident of Monmouth County admitted his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

    Kevin Aguilar, 54, previously of Farmingdale, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court on Oct. 15, 2024, to a superseding indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; seven counts of bank fraud; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; three counts of wire fraud; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; one count of money laundering; and one count of aggravated identity theft.

    According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

    From April 2020 to April 2021, Aguilar conspired with others to submit seven fraudulent PPP loan applications and three fraudulent EIDL applications on behalf of four businesses. Based on the fraudulent applications, Aguilar received approximately $3.3 million in PPP loan funds and approximately $450,000 in EIDL funds. After receiving the PPP and EIDL funds, Aguilar caused those funds to be transferred to other businesses that he created to give the false appearance that the PPP and EIDL funds were being used for legitimate purposes. Aguilar then used the PPP and EIDL funds to purchase residential properties in Sherman, Texas, a new truck for approximately $100,000, and to pay for other personal expenses.

    The bank fraud conspiracy count and each count of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The wire fraud conspiracy count and each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or loss to the victim, whichever is greatest. The money laundering conspiracy count and money laundering count each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or loss to the victim, whichever is greatest. The aggravated identity theft counts carry an additional consecutive mandatory minimum term of two years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Aguilar’s sentencing is scheduled for March 25, 2025.

    Charges remain pending against Aguilar’s co-defendant, Jean E. Rabbitt, formerly of Farmingdale, New Jersey. The charges and allegations against Rabbitt are merely accusations and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca in New York; IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan; special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Corwin Rattler; postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge is Christopher A. Nielsen; special agents of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Manchak; and special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

    The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David V. Simunovich of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Health Care Fraud Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer S. Kozar, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Economic Crimes United in Newark.

    The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of the five strike forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds.

    Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Every announcement and trailer from Xbox partners at Oct. 17 event

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Every announcement and trailer from Xbox partners at Oct. 17 event

    We got our first look at gameplay from The Lake House, the second expansion coming for Alan Wake 2 – and it looks like the Remedy Connected Universe is getting more connected than ever. Putting us in the shoes of an agent from the Federal Bureau of Control, we’ll be exploring an Overlap in the titular Lake House, filled with mysteries, a mysterious living painting, and the horrors it’s birthing. It’ll be fascinating to see how this bridges the gaps between Alan’s story and the events of Control.

    The doors of the Lake House will open on Xbox Series X|S from October 22 – and you can find out more about how this expansion takes us in an even darker direction than the main game on Xbox Wire.

    Animal Well Reveals Its Mysteries on Xbox Today

    Xbox Series X|S

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    This gorgeous mystery-platformer is rightfully seen as one of the biggest surprises of the year, blending pixel-perfect traversal with a gorgeous, inscrutable world packed with secrets. Taking elements from classic Metroidvanias and blowing them out into a world packed with unique puzzles, Animal Well gets deeper the closer you look. We’re delighted to say that it arrives on Xbox today.

    Blindfire Is a First-Person Shooter Set Entirely in the Dark – and It’s Available in Game Preview Today

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (through Xbox Game Preview)

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    The most important tool in an FPS isn’t your gun – it’s your eyes. So what happens in an FPS set entirely in inky-black arenas? Blindfire is here to answer that question. This fascinating new idea from Double Eleven got a world premiere and shadow drop during Partner Preview, showing off how you’ll need to use tools, traps, and echolocation to seek out your targets in this fast-paced shooter.

    You don’t need to wait to find out how it all works – Blindfire is available today on Xbox Series X|S and PC through the Xbox Game Preview program. Find out how the team came up with such a unique idea, exclusively on Xbox Wire.

    Cronos: The New Dawn Is a Mind-Bending Survival Horror from Bloober Team

    Xbox Series X|S

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    Bloober Team (The Medium, Blair Witch, Layers of Fear) brought us this world premiere of a fascinating new game that takes us in a new direction for the studio. A third-person survival horror set across two distinct time periods, Cronos: The New Dawn introduced itself with an enticingly strange trailer involving a game of chess, a very big spacesuit, and some horrifying creatures.

    The game itself will place us in both 1980s Communist Poland, and a futuristic wasteland following a pandemic known only as The Change. A glimpse of gameplay showed us quite how spooky this is going to get – we can’t wait to see more before it arrives in 2025.

    Edens Zero Brings Anime Action to Xbox in 2025

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC

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    Based on the Hiro Mashima manga and the anime series of the same name, Edens Zero is a third-person action game that saw its world premiere during the show. Set in the unique sci-fi universe of the manga, you’ll take hero Shiki Granbell across the universe in search of the cosmic entity, Mother – gathering new characters, each with their own abilities, as you go. Edens Zero will be released in 2025.

    Eternal Strands Casts Its Unique Magic on Game Pass

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, or play it day one with Game Pass

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    This systemic action-RPG from a team of developers who’ve worked on Dragon Age, Assassin’s Creed and more already had our attention. With a unique magic system that allows you to combine spells (freezing a flying dragon’s wings so it falls to the ground, anyone?), in-depth crafting systems, and titanic, climbable bosses, it’s a beautiful combination already. But add to that mix that it’s coming to Game Pass on day one? It just makes the wait for its release in early 2025 so much harder.

    FBC: Firebreak – the Co-op Control Spin-off – Gets a Gameplay Reveal

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, or play it day one with Game Pass

    [embedded content]

    Remedy is known for its single-player masterpieces, but it’s going in a different direction with FBC: Firebreak. We brought you a world-first look at this spin-off from the beloved Control – a first-person, multiplayer, PvE game, placing you in the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Control’s agents. Take on the horrors of the Oldest House, using a variety of appropriately weird weaponry, in this exciting co-op experience. FBC: Firebreak arrives in 2025, and it’s coming day one to Game Pass. Find out more about how Remedy made its first ever multiplayer game on Xbox Wire.

    The Legend of Baboo Is a Brutal Action-Adventure (With an Adorable Dog)

    Xbox Series X|S

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    In a world premiere, we were introduced to The Legend of Baboo, an action-adventure set across a magical island, sending a child hero,Sepehr into the fray with only their wits, weapons, and an absolutely gorgeous dog called Baboo to protect them. And yes, you did see the dog being used as a mount.

    Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Shows Off Its Naval Battles, and Gets a New Release Date

    Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC

    [embedded content]

    Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was an unexpected surprise from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio – and we’re delighted to say it’s arriving even earlier than expected, on February 21, 2025. Featuring ex-yakuza Goro Majima getting wrapped up in an adventure on the high seas, it’s a truly over-the-top follow-up to this year’s Infinite Wealth.

    In a new trailer, we got to see the game’s exhilarating naval battles for the first time, with you taking the helm of a ship in pirate-ridden waters, before boarding to take on treasure-seeking rivals in all-out brawls. We even got a glimpse of battles in the Pirate Coliseum of a secret island hideout, Madlantis. Learn more about the naval battles, exclusively on Xbox Wire.

    Mistfall Hunter Mixes Soulslikes and Extraction Games

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC

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    A fascinating mixture of Soulslike combat and extraction-action mechanics, Mistfall Hunter got a world premiere in today’s show. Showing off a wealth of approaches – from beefy warriors to spell-packed mages, this will pit you against monsters and men in a mysterious new fantasy world. Coming to Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, you can apply for an upcoming closed beta now – and you can find out more about this unique proposition in an exclusive article on Xbox Wire.

    Mouse: P.I. For Hire Brings Cartoon Chaos to Xbox

    Xbox Series X|S

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    Blending old-school FPS gameplay with even older-school cartoon looks, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a truly unique proposition. You’ll be investigating crimes in a world of cartoon animals, and taking down criminals with a variety of adorable-but-deadly weaponry, all set amid a noir-inspired, jazz-infused world. We’re delighted to say that Mouse: P.I. For Hire is coming in 2025.

    Phasmophobia Introduces Co-op Terror to Xbox This Month

    Xbox Series X|S

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    Regarded as one of the scariest games of recent years, we’re excited to announce that Phasmophobia makes its Xbox debut on October 29. Casting you and a group of friends as ghost hunters, you’ll set off on missions to haunted locations to investigate, draw out, and survive ghostly encounters. Use a variety of tools to discover exactly what it is you’re dealing with, then get out alive. But be warned, not only can your team hear you over comms, so can the ghosts…

    Subnautica 2 Enters Early Access in 2025 – Explore the Deep in Optional Co-Op

    Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (through Xbox Game Preview), or play it day one with Game Pass

    [embedded content]

    The acclaimed underwater survival-crafting game Subnautica taught us to love, fear, and explore the deep oceans of an alien world, and its sequel will get an -Early Access release on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC through the Game Preview program. This world premiere trailer gave us a sense of how beautiful and terrifying this will be – and also confirmed that a much-requested co-op mode is coming in the sequel. Subnautica 2 will launch into Xbox Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC in 2025. Find out more, exclusively on Xbox Wire.

    Wheel World Is Pedalling Onto Game Pass

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, or play it day one with Game Pass

    [embedded content]

    Previously known as Ghost Bike, we got a new trailer and a new name for this beautiful, relaxing, bike-loving exploration-racing game. Wheel World sees you retrieving and fixing the last of the Ghost Bikes, which can travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. Mixing open world exploration as you repair and upgrade your bike with the treasures you find, and races set across the map, it’s a game designed to be taken at your own pace – all set to an original soundtrack from artists on the Italians Do It Better music label. Wheel World will arrive day one on Game Pass when it launches in early 2025.

    Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Offers a Fresh Look at Its Story and Bosses

    Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, or play it day one with Game Pass

    [embedded content]

    After a reveal at Xbox Games Showcase earlier this year, we got a new look at Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Offering new hints to its dark fantasy storyline set in the late Ming Dynasty, the new trailer showed us a lot of action, including against multiple bosses – from a horrifying, centipede-like monster, to a woman who can transform into what appears to be a living scarf made from the skin of an arctic fox. It’s shaping up to be quite the journey. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers arrives in 2025.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Portland Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing Pandemic Unemployment Benefits

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for stealing more than $147,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits from the Oregon Employment Department (OED).

    Matthew Kemp, 41, was sentenced to six months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. Kemp was also ordered to pay $147,294 in restitution to the OED.

    According to court documents, between July 2020 and January 2021, Kemp devised and carried out a scheme whereby he used the personal information of 17 people, including their dates of birth and social security numbers, to fraudulently apply for pandemic unemployment insurance benefits. Some individuals knew Kemp had used their personal information because he had promised to obtain benefits on their behalf while others were unaware.

    To ensure the benefits went to him instead of the named applicants, Kemp requested the benefits be paid out by check or prepaid debit card, and put his own mailing address, email address, and phone number on the claims. If there was a delay or issue in processing his various fraudulent claims, Kemp called the OED and impersonated the named applicant to ensure he got (in his words) “my money.”

    On February 7, 2024, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a seven-count indictment charging Kemp with mail fraud, bank fraud, and theft of government funds. On June 14, 2024, Kemp pleaded guilty to theft of government funds.

    This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG). It was prosecuted by Meredith D.M. Bateman, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

    Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Designing against the deaf tax: How we can flip the script on tokenism

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Designing against the deaf tax: How we can flip the script on tokenism

    Inclusive Design – UX/UI

    How we can flip the script on tokenism

    By

    Toby Fitch

      –   The estimated reading time is 11 min.

    “Your baby has failed” isn’t a phrase any parent wants to hear. Yet for parents born with deaf children, babies are labeled failures before even leaving the hospital because they don’t pass mandated hearing tests. The weight and impact of that label is never felt by the hearing population because in an audio-dominant world, there’s no such thing as a mandatory sign language test. It’s no surprise, then, that systems fail to design for what dominant culture does not see or value: the creativity, brilliance, and depth of deaf culture.

    When my parents found out I was deaf, my mother cried, worrying that I would have to navigate the challenges she and my father endured. Like me and my sister, both of my parents are deaf. As author Isabel Wilkerson describes in her book about race, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, my parents experienced firsthand how our world is run by a caste system that is “about respect, authority and assumptions of competence — who is accorded these and who is not.”

    American Sign Language for “born failures” is made up of three signs: ‘BORN, FAIL, FINISH’

    From medicine to education, our systems are developed and implemented based on policies, attitudes, and institutional practices. It’s not biology that disables people in the Deaf or Disability community; it is the mismatches between our abilities and designed systems not designed for us. As disability rights activist Haben Girma put it, “They designed this environment for people who can see and hear. In this environment, I am disabled. They place the burden on me to step out of my world and reach into theirs.” Those mismatches place a disability tax on Deaf people at an early age. For example, fighting for accommodations like sign language interpreters for school, work, or receiving healthcare, or having the courage to speak up in the face of discrimination.

    Despite the exclusion, ridicule, and language deprivation — my parents didn’t learn sign language until I entered elementary school because their [hearing] parents were told that they had to ‘talk’ (eg: speech) to succeed in life — they were never without hope. “Deaf people can do anything hearing people can, except hear,” said Dr. I. King Jordan, the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University. When a child endures language deprivation, they don’t get adequate exposure to other forms of effective communication, thus delaying their cognitive, social, and emotional development. Ultimately, having my sister and I would give new meaning to my parents’ personal histories and broaden their perspective in profound ways. As a born failure, I grew up in a world of mismatches, but as desktop computers became more readily available, those mismatches would lead me down a path of using my lived experience to break barriers in society, design and technology.

    American sign language for “accessibility” shows a dominant hand moving under the non-dominant hand in a motion that implies the ability for anyone to go in and out of a space with ease.

    Technology cracks the door open

    Growing up, there weren’t really computers in classrooms and since most kids my age didn’t care for them, I was one of the first kids in my area to start using a computer. Since I had limited access to communicate with my classmates, computers helped me fill the time. My first computer was a PowerMac G3 Desktop, gifted by my cousin who ran his own design firm. I tinkered with different programs and video games like Backyard Baseball (1998) and the door to my future slowly opened.

    I got my second computer in 7th grade because my parents were trying to be creative in how I would keep up in class with note taking. Pencil and paper weren’t working for me. My eyes were focused on my interpreter, the whiteboard, and just taking everything in. Couple that with the fact that teachers don’t stop speaking just because you’re looking down to write, and it’s not a surprise that I missed a lot of information. Typing notes was much faster than writing, so my school provided a PC and that widened the doorway to technology. It was a Dell Inspiron 8100 with Windows 2000 that was built like a tank, and it was really heavy! I sank a lot of time on that computer and surfed on the Internet quite often to learn just about anything. Ask Jeeves was my best friend, eventually replaced by MSN search and Google.

    Access to information was my lifeline to learning about the world… and I did it through technology because I didn’t receive my information from conversations around the room. This wasn’t from lack of effort. I took over 15 years of speech training and learned to speak quite well to try and meet people halfway. The problem was, when they responded, I would only partially or pretend to understand, nodding my way through communication mismatches. This led to shallow interactions and pretending didn’t feel good because there was always something lacking — a missed opportunity for true human connection — when people were not willing to meet me halfway. These days, I rarely speak. Primarily using sign language gives me 100% access. I also use a notetaking app using speech-to text on my phone to interface with folks who don’t know sign language.

    American Sign Language for “design” shows a dominant hand expressively drafting something in one swooping motion on the non-dominant hand with an open palm representing a canvas.

    Using a Deaf lens at Microsoft

    Designing at Microsoft, I often think about my lived experience and bringing empathy to the mismatches I face daily. I may be an avid user of technology, but there is plenty of room for technology to grow and fill accessibility gaps. I advocate for accessibility not because I want to, but because I have to. Design should be about how Deaf people experience the world, anticipating every need, and shifting left to prevent issues later in the product cycle. Differing lived experiences inform our unique perspectives, creating an exchange that can open opportunities. Overlooked problems get discovered and the approach to solving them become very mindful and effective.

    As a profession, design has evolved tremendously in the past few years, moving from the aspirational towards the functional. UX mismatches in the systems we use still exist because, while they’re made based on a very wide set of users, they still lack all of the necessary elements for me to be accommodated. To solve these problems, we sometimes need to focus on “design for one and solve for many.” In other words, when we focus on designing for a single problem (or disability), it helps us to navigate the problem space writ large using empathy, our lived experiences, and leveraging co-design principles.

    Part of what catalyzed many recent changes in design thinking was the 2020 Pandemic and rapid transition to remote work. For Deaf folks, we quickly found that video conferencing was the great equalizer because for once we were on equal footing with our peers. Meetings were more mindful and easier to track because people couldn’t talk over each other. This made work easier for Deaf people as others modified their behaviors to ensure clear audio or taking turns when speaking in meetings. Deaf people could also rely on captions to figure out who was speaking or catch the dropped information that interpreters may miss due to accents or things being lost in translation. For the first time, millions of people were experiencing Deaf gain. Communication and human connection through technology was improved by the Deaf community because anyone could use those features (including folks forced to mute their audio thanks to a screaming kid in the background!).

    UX for Sign Language View in Teams. The D/HH experience in Microsoft Teams has driven the development of accessibility features like Sign Language View, designed specifically for those who rely on sign language for communication. Through a collaborative, co-design process with the D/HH community and sign language interpreters, we have developed features that ensure sign language users can perform at their best in any virtual collaboration setting. Key enhancements — such as the ability to manage and prioritize a list of signers, improved video quality for clearer sign language visibility, and simplified meeting controls — empowering D/HH users to engage quickly, fully and confidently.

    The creation of Sign Language View in Teams

    One shortfall of this new way of working, however, was the existing captioning solutions. It was painful for my Deaf peers and I to have to turn on captions with each call. Every time, you had to look for and prioritize the interpreters, open the chat window, and then finally be ready to participate in meetings. This design mismatch led to two Deaf employees (myself and a coworker) innovating an UX proposal for Microsoft Teams that would be more accommodating for Deaf users. Sign Language View was born out of a mismatch that we as employees faced daily, to the point that it was weighing on our disability tax. These days, I can now join meetings with less friction than I had before — but there are still more doors to open and work to do!

    With AI, it’s truly an exciting time in tech and so much is yet to be determined. This makes it critical to enter the space with curiosity, humility, and nuance. People in the Deaf and Disabled community operate outside of societal norms, attuning us to gaps often missed by others. That creates a very sensitive, nuanced lens and curiosity is also often at play. When your ability to succeed is determined by how creatively you can hack a system that doesn’t work for you, it necessitates innovation. In totality, this gives us a lens to approach problems in ways that may be more holistic than traditional design best practices.

    Co-design is great, but representation is an even better way to ensure people with lived experiences work directly to solve problems for their own communities. Ultimately, this leads to more equitable products for everyone and potentially more enjoyable ones, too. With sign language, for example, people often see it as a lesser form of communication but it’s highly expressive and an integral part of our cultural identity. People often want to travel to other countries to enrich their own lives by better understanding different ways of living. Living without sound is another way of experiencing life, and Deaf culture has its own social beliefs, behaviors, traditions, art, and values.

    American Sign Language for “empathy” shows two people, one of which is the signer. With one hand close to the heart, both hands sign the word ‘UNDERSTAND,’ showing how sign language can expressively convey empathy for different viewpoints.

    So, of the 90% of deaf children born to hearing parents, what if instead of being given the “bad news,” they were told they now had the chance to dive into a culture rich with language and expression? I think it could help erode the disability tax over time, leading to products and systems that are truly meant for all.

    Header imagery by Karan Singh.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A decade after the US version ended, Australia remakes The Office. It’s not new, but it’s funny

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Burne, Honorary Fellow (Screenwriting), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne/PhD Candidate, UniSA Creative, The University of Melbourne

    Amazon/Bunya Entertainment

    Firstly, let’s revisit the question: why are they remaking The Office?

    Just over ten years after the United States version of the British series ended, Australia has decided to make its own version. It follows franchises in Canada, Greece, India, Sweden and Poland, to name a few.

    But we all have offices to go to, we all have our particular office cultures, co-workers and complaints. Post-pandemic, office life is becoming routine again. The more things change, the less things change, and that could be the theme of The Office Australia.

    In fact, this is probably the perfect timing for this remake: post work-from-home, when large corporations are demanding workers return (often unwillingly) to shared workplaces. That’s the premise of the pilot episode of The Office Australia – everyone stops working remotely and reunites at the office. It’s timely and a good way of updating the concept to make it relatable.

    ‘A riddle, swallowed by an idiot …’

    Modern nods, same old business

    A few more nods to contemporary office culture are included, such as Zoom meetings and standing desks. But apart from that, the Australian Office could be set anytime from the 1990s onwards in terms of the look, practices and low-fi tech of the office itself.

    The remake mirrors closely the US version: a romance storyline, tensions between office and warehouse, an old-school boss who loves, craves and needs camaraderie, and a staff for whom work life comes second to what they’d rather be doing.

    The original United Kingdom series of The Office, by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, only had 12 episodes, which is still surprising to realise given how much it defined television sitcom in the decades following. Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) owes a huge debt to The Office. Whether we would have had Utopia (2014–present) without it is debatable. The late, great John Clarke broke in Australia with The Games (1998–2000) and Australia has long done this sort of observational comedy very well.

    Will Australia’s version capture local flavour? It does feature the Melbourne Cup.
    Amazon

    Despite a deep vein of experience and success to draw on, The Office Australia sticks closely to The Office format in terms of stories, characters, tone, look and laughs.

    This might be because the show – made by Amazon and BBC Australia – is launching into around 240 countries and territories. It needs to find a line between being Australian and being international. That said, it has probably veered more into the international end of the scale, with enough Australiana (venomous snakes, barbecues) to ground it here, but still universal enough to be widely relatable and understandable.

    The US version had 201 episodes, giving it scope to develop the characters and the storylines and make it a massively popular and frequently rewatched series. (There’s a follow up series in the works called The Paper.) So it’s no wonder writers Julie De Fina and Jackie van Beek looked to the this version for guidance for the Australian series. This is less an adaptation than a remake with a different accent.

    Familiar and new faces

    Hannah Howard (Felicity Ward) is the devoted office manager who loves her job too much and runs an under-performing, dysfunctional workplace of uninterested staff.

    The show centres on her, with the familiar mockumentary style. Like David Brent and Michael Scott before her, Hannah Howard is optimistic, naive, relentless and terrible at staff management. She forces pyjama days and bus trips on her employees, who are clearly unwilling yet never actively rebel. There is plenty of comedy in the awkwardness and small moments.

    Felicity Ward plays the boss (sort of) of this particular office.
    Amazon

    Her devoted assistant and receptionist Lizzie (Edith Poor), a former Scout, wears a grey suit and will pursue any idea no matter how ill-conceived or illegal to make Hannah’s plans come to fruition.

    Long-suffering human resources manager Martin (Josh Thomson) tries to keep them from actually breaking laws, while Nick (Steen Raskopoulos) and Greta (Shari Sebbens) gaze awkwardly across their workstation divider at each other in a slow-burning love story. There are the usual office roles which offer story beats: accounting, IT, sales.

    The first Australian season of The Office might not be anything new, but I kept watching. It felt safe, even comforting. Perhaps in a similar way going to someone else’s family for Christmas lunch can feel familiar: recognisable foods, decorations, known characters – but with the frisson that maybe something different will happen this time.

    This remake knows what it is. It’s been made to satisfy an audience wanting to be in a world that reflects their own experiences, but takes it just that bit too far. It’s not setting out to break moulds, but to bring the mould up to date and give it an Australian voice for the world to hear.

    The Office premieres on October 18 on Prime.

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

    – ref. A decade after the US version ended, Australia remakes The Office. It’s not new, but it’s funny – https://theconversation.com/a-decade-after-the-us-version-ended-australia-remakes-the-office-its-not-new-but-its-funny-241356

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Prepare Fraudulent Loan Applications Totaling More Than $400,000

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    MIAMI – On Oct. 15, Lakeisha Black a/k/a/ “Lakeisha Pierce,” pled guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale to conspiracy to make false statements to the Small Business Administration in connection with myriad fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

    From July 2020 through June 2021, Black charged between $2,000 and $6,000 to prepare fraudulent PPP loans for at least 14 other individuals, including three former Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who all previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in separate cases and have been sentenced. In total, Black is responsible for over $400,000 in fraudulent PPP loans. 

    The sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith. Black faces up to 5 years in prison for the conspiracy. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe; Special Agent in Charge Brian Tucker, Eastern Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau;  Special Agent in Charge Darrin K. Jones of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office; Sheriff Gregory Tony of Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

    FRB-OIG, DCIS, BSO, and FBI Miami investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Latoya C. Brown and Trevor C. Jones are prosecuting it.

    On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

    On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud.  The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-covid-19-fraud-strike-force-teams.

    Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-60137.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Canadian tourism ministers join forces to propel tourism forward

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Tourism is a key industry and economic driver in every province and territory, supporting over 2 million jobs, or about 10 percent of all employment in Canada in 2023.

    October 17, 2024 – Banff, Alberta

    Tourism is a key industry and economic driver in every province and territory, supporting over 2 million jobs, or about 10 percent of all employment in Canada in 2023. In several jurisdictions, tourism is the top or one of the top service exports. Today, the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for tourism participated in the 2024 Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers (CCTM) meeting in Banff National Park. The meeting was held in Alberta with the Honourable Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, as well as the Honourable Joseph Schow, Alberta Minister of Tourism and Sport, co-chairing and recognizing the traditional Treaty 7 territory.

    In 2023, tourism industries represented nearly 6 percent of Canada’s total economy and almost 8 percent of the Canadian service economy. Tourism revenues reached $113.4 billion in 2023 and the positive experiences international tourists have in Canada enhance the country’s brand abroad. Tourism has strong growth potential in every province and territory, and ministers recognized that strategic and collaborative actions will propel the sector forward.

    Throughout the meeting, ministers heard from tourism stakeholders on the areas of destination development, investment attraction, workforce development and retention, air access, parks and recreation, and emergency management. Ministers acknowledged the importance of having consistent dialogue with experts in these fields to capitalize on trends, glean critical operational insights, and work collaboratively with industry partners to find solutions for the most pressing challenges facing the sector. Ministers sought an international perspective by inviting a speaker from the Government of Australia to discuss experiences and best practices in attracting workers to careers in tourism. Ministers also heard from Alberta officials about their successes in supporting the recovery and relaunch of the tourism sector, while bringing attention to ambitious strategic plans for the future, which aim to more than double the size of the province’s visitor economy within the next decade. Alberta demonstrated leadership within Canada’s overall tourism economy, ushering in a return to pre-pandemic levels of visitor spending two years ahead of schedule.

    Ministers also acknowledged the economic impact of this summer’s wildfires across Canada, particularly in the Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park, as well as the critical importance of effective emergency management and disaster preparedness. Ministers also noted that emergency management is paramount for all jurisdictions as, like other countries, Canada faces the potential of a range of emergency events year-round. Maintaining Canada’s brand and reputation are important components of the collaborative work of jurisdictions to respond to events as they arise.

    Ministers were pleased with the work accomplished by the CCTM Working Groups throughout 2024 to address the topics of destination access and economic growth, as well as the important connections forged with external organizations. Ministers took the opportunity to discuss areas that impact the growth of tourism in Canada, such as limited transportation connectivity in some regions, barriers to raising private capital for investments, fees and regulations impacting the competitiveness of domestic air travel, and associated challenges including the seasonal nature of tourism. Recognizing the critical importance of the link between tourism and transportation, there was a desire to invite the Federal Minister of Transport to next year’s CCTM meeting.

    In 2025, the CCTM will seek to refresh the mandates of the Working Groups to ensure their work addresses emerging priorities while effectively leveraging inter-governmental collaboration. To that end, jurisdictions will be focusing on the responsiveness and preparedness of the sector to emergency events, and ensuring capacity for strong economic growth of the industry. Efforts will be made to look at new mandate areas from different angles, while also engaging broadly across the sector to ensure CCTM priorities align with industry.

    Canada’s provinces and territories continue to showcase their diverse tourism offerings globally, ranging from parks and attractions in the great outdoors, to major festivals and events, and Indigenous tourism. Successes are evident with Canada’s overall position on the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index improving to 11th place in the 2024 ranking, up from 13th place in 2021. Going forward, ministers are keen to work collaboratively to tackle persistent issues and showcase Canada’s leadership in tourism on the world stage. 

    Marie-Justine Torres
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
    613-327-5918
    marie-justine.torresames@ised-isde.gc.ca

    Media Relations
    Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
    media@ised-isde.gc.ca

    Amber Edgerton
    Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Tourism and Sport
    Government of Alberta
    780-222-6113
    amber.edgerton@gov.ab.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Q&A: Breast Cancer – 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed in her lifetime

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    Q: Is early detection and treatment for breast cancer moving in the right direction?
    A: As a lead sponsor of the bipartisan Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act of 2000, I’m glad to see measurable strides indicating early detection and breast screenings are helping to lower female death rates from breast cancer. The 24-year-old federal law expanded on earlier legislation that directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). Our bill allowed states to offer patients diagnosed with cancer under this federal program to access treatment services through Medicaid. It provides a lifeline of hope for tens of thousands of patients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford timely access to cancer screening, diagnostics and treatment. In 2023, the federal program provided cancer screening and diagnostic services to 273,989 women, diagnosing 1,761 invasive breast cancers. Although we’ve made progress in the battle against breast cancer, more work remains. The National Cancer Institute estimates 310,720 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024 and 42,250 people will lose their battle to the disease. The CDC says breast cancer is still the second most common cancer among women in the United States, following skin cancer diagnoses. Breast cancer also is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, following only lung cancer. Raising public awareness is central to advancing strides for life-saving prevention, detection and treatment.
    Losing a beloved mother, wife, aunt or sister to breast cancer is a devastating loss to families in communities across the country. I encourage Iowans to check in with their loved ones. Take advantage of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to prompt a friend or family member to make their screening appointment. Non-invasive mammography screenings can alert health care providers long before symptoms arise. A recent FDA rule requires mammography facilities to include a breast density assessment as part of a patient’s medical report. Having this information can help lead to better patient outcomes. My wife Barbara is a 37-year breast cancer survivor. She credits early detection for putting her on the road to healing and recovery.
    Q: What efforts have you led to help cancer patients survive and thrive?
    A: From my consistent support for breast cancer research, including the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, I also steered bipartisan legislation across the finish line to enact the Lymphedema Treatment Act that closes a coverage gap for Medicare patients for physician-prescribed compression therapy items, including for breast cancer survivors. I’m a vocal champion for rural health care initiatives to ensure patients in Rural America aren’t left behind, such as expanded medical residency positions to grow Iowa’s health care workforce and efforts to strengthen stability and security for rural hospitals and clinics that are the safety net providers for millions of Americans. From the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal health care programs, I champion policies to help ensure rural hospitals, local pharmacies and health care clinics keep their doors open for the community. I also keep the spotlight shining on market-driven solutions to reduce drug costs and lower barriers to care, such as expanding telehealth services and cutting red tape for kids with complex medical needs. Oncology patients can avoid the expense and tiring experience of a long road trip by seeing health care providers via the convenience and flexibility provided by a telehealth appointment. The bipartisan infrastructure law I supported is helping expand internet access needed for rural health clinics to provide telehealth services, including diagnosis and prescribing medicine. I’ve also joined a bipartisan effort to push for an expansion of Medicare coverage for telehealth services and make permanent pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities. I’ll continue pushing to lower barriers to care and raise awareness so that the one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer survives and thrives to enjoy a high quality of life for years to come.
    October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Free or low-cost screening services are available for eligible recipients, learn more at https://www.cdc.gov/breast-cervical-cancer-screening/about/screenings.html#IA

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Q&A: Breast Cancer – 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed in her lifetime

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    Q: Is early detection and treatment for breast cancer moving in the right direction?
    A: As a lead sponsor of the bipartisan Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act of 2000, I’m glad to see measurable strides indicating early detection and breast screenings are helping to lower female death rates from breast cancer. The 24-year-old federal law expanded on earlier legislation that directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). Our bill allowed states to offer patients diagnosed with cancer under this federal program to access treatment services through Medicaid. It provides a lifeline of hope for tens of thousands of patients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford timely access to cancer screening, diagnostics and treatment. In 2023, the federal program provided cancer screening and diagnostic services to 273,989 women, diagnosing 1,761 invasive breast cancers. Although we’ve made progress in the battle against breast cancer, more work remains. The National Cancer Institute estimates 310,720 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024 and 42,250 people will lose their battle to the disease. The CDC says breast cancer is still the second most common cancer among women in the United States, following skin cancer diagnoses. Breast cancer also is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, following only lung cancer. Raising public awareness is central to advancing strides for life-saving prevention, detection and treatment.
    Losing a beloved mother, wife, aunt or sister to breast cancer is a devastating loss to families in communities across the country. I encourage Iowans to check in with their loved ones. Take advantage of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to prompt a friend or family member to make their screening appointment. Non-invasive mammography screenings can alert health care providers long before symptoms arise. A recent FDA rule requires mammography facilities to include a breast density assessment as part of a patient’s medical report. Having this information can help lead to better patient outcomes. My wife Barbara is a 37-year breast cancer survivor. She credits early detection for putting her on the road to healing and recovery.
    Q: What efforts have you led to help cancer patients survive and thrive?
    A: From my consistent support for breast cancer research, including the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, I also steered bipartisan legislation across the finish line to enact the Lymphedema Treatment Act that closes a coverage gap for Medicare patients for physician-prescribed compression therapy items, including for breast cancer survivors. I’m a vocal champion for rural health care initiatives to ensure patients in Rural America aren’t left behind, such as expanded medical residency positions to grow Iowa’s health care workforce and efforts to strengthen stability and security for rural hospitals and clinics that are the safety net providers for millions of Americans. From the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal health care programs, I champion policies to help ensure rural hospitals, local pharmacies and health care clinics keep their doors open for the community. I also keep the spotlight shining on market-driven solutions to reduce drug costs and lower barriers to care, such as expanding telehealth services and cutting red tape for kids with complex medical needs. Oncology patients can avoid the expense and tiring experience of a long road trip by seeing health care providers via the convenience and flexibility provided by a telehealth appointment. The bipartisan infrastructure law I supported is helping expand internet access needed for rural health clinics to provide telehealth services, including diagnosis and prescribing medicine. I’ve also joined a bipartisan effort to push for an expansion of Medicare coverage for telehealth services and make permanent pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities. I’ll continue pushing to lower barriers to care and raise awareness so that the one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer survives and thrives to enjoy a high quality of life for years to come.
    October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Free or low-cost screening services are available for eligible recipients, learn more at https://www.cdc.gov/breast-cervical-cancer-screening/about/screenings.html#IA

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Jefferson City Man Sentenced for $26 Million Bank Fraud Scheme

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Jefferson City, Mo. man was sentenced in federal court today for a multi-million dollar bank fraud scheme that included fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for four businesses.

    Tod Ray Keilholz, 61, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to a total sentence of 12 years in federal prison without parole.

    On March 28, 2024, Keilholz pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

    Keilholz was the sole owner of TRK Construction, LLC, TRK Valpo, LLC, TL Builders, LLC, and Project Design, LLC.

    By pleading guilty, Keilholz admitted that he engaged in a bank fraud scheme from Jan. 1, 2018, to Jan. 7, 2021.

    Prior to the bank fraud scheme, Keilholz obtained three business loans totaling $3,526,771 from Hawthorn Bank between Aug. 31, 2017, and Sept. 21, 2018. One of these loans financed the purchase of property in Valparaiso, Indiana. As Keilholz’s businesses failed, these loans fell into default and sub-contractors sued him for unpaid invoices during 2019 and 2020. In February 2020, Hawthorn Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings. Keilholz delayed the foreclosure proceedings and paid off these loans and other past due debts with fraudulent PPP loans.

    The CARES Act established several new temporary programs and provided for the expansion of others to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these programs, the PPP authorized forgivable loans, guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, to small businesses to retain workers and maintain payroll, make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments.

    Keilholz received a total of $12,430,932 in PPP loans for his four businesses. In each of those loan applications, Keilholz admitted, he failed to disclose his ownership in the other three businesses, and made materially false and fraudulent claims in the loan applications and supporting documentation. Keilholz falsely stated the businesses were in operation on Feb. 15, 2020, and eligible for PPP loans. He inflated the income of those businesses and claimed payrolls for employees who did not exist or no longer worked for him. Additionally, Keilholz applied for a $7,818,705 PPP loan for TRK Valpo but the loan was denied by the bank.

    Keilholz received a $1,706,260 PPP loan for TRK Construction, a $3,618,815 PPP loan for TL Builders, a $3,903,857 PPP loan for Project Design, and a $3,202,000 PPP loan for TRK Valpo.

    Keilholz admitted that he used PPP loan proceeds for unauthorized purposes other than legitimate payroll, lease and mortgage interest, and utilities as required by the PPP. Keilholz, through TRK Construction, had accrued substantial and delinquent indebtedness to a number of lenders, and all or part of these debts were satisfied by PPP loan proceeds.

    The conviction for aggravated identity theft is related to Keilholz’s use of a former TRK Construction employee whose name and Social Security number were used without his knowledge or authorization on wage reports in connection with a fraudulent PPP loan application for TRK Valpo.

    Under the terms of his plea agreement, Keilholz must forfeit to the government any property involved in, or derived from the proceeds of his bank fraud scheme, including a money judgment of $12,430,932, two properties in Jefferson City, one property in Valparaiso, one property in La Porte, Ind., four vehicles (a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado, two 2021 Chevrolet Silverados, and a 2019 BMW X5), a 2020 John Deer ZTrak, a 2020 John Deere Tractor, a Kubota Compact Track Loader, a Gents 43mm IWC Schaffhausen Perpetual Chronograph wristwatch, two Gents stainless steel Rolex Sea-Dweller self-winding automatic diver’s watches, and a Gents Citizen Eco-Drive Radio-controlled world time self-winding automatic watch with sapphire crystal.

    This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Oliver. It was investigated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of Inspector General; the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General; the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; the FBI; and IRS-Criminal Investigation.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Can NZ’s supply chain build enough resilience and sustainability to survive the next global crisis?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julia Fehrer, Associate Professor, Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    New Zealand is highly reliant on trade – particularly on maritime routes, which are lifelines for exports and imports. Key sectors such as agriculture, construction, and wholesale and retail trade depend heavily on this global network.

    External events can severely disrupt the flow of goods, delay deliveries or damage critical infrastructure.

    But a crisis like the COVID pandemic can also disrupt business commitments to sustainability goals such as reducing carbon emissions, minimising waste and improving resource efficiency.

    This is important, because several major New Zealand companies have introduced sustainability measures into their operations over the past decade.

    Fonterra, for example, adopted low-carbon logistics and distribution practices. Zespri uses blockchain technology to improve the transparency of its sustainable practices and enhance tracking across its supply chain. Air New Zealand partners with local suppliers and adopts initiatives to lower its carbon emissions.

    In our recent research, we reviewed 287 studies on supply chains. We identified key tensions between efficiency and sustainability, and how major disruptions to supply chains and operations can swing the balance between the two.

    On one hand, businesses are pressured to maintain lean, cost-effective operations. On the other, there is a growing recognition of the need to build resilience and sustainability, particularly in the face of climate change.

    Traditional strategies

    New Zealand’s supply chains are susceptible to disruptions from natural disasters (such as earthquakes and floods), geopolitical tensions and global health crises.

    Businesses have historically responded in a variety of ways: diversifying suppliers, increasing inventory buffers and securing alternative transport routes.

    The use of technology, such as radio frequency identification, has played a crucial role in tracking goods across the supply chain. It provides real-time visibility and accurate inventory management.

    Blockchain is becoming a key tool for making supply chains more sustainable. This technology uses a digital ledger to keep information safe and easy to trace.

    But the ongoing technological innovation risks disadvantaging people and businesses with limited resources and capabilities along the supply chain.

    Embracing a circular economy

    During the pandemic, businesses experienced shortages of critical supplies, delays in shipments and fluctuating demand. This forced them to temporarily abandon long-term sustainability strategies in favour of short-term survival tactics.

    This made sense from a business perspective. But to build more resilient and sustainable supply chains, businesses will need to move beyond traditional strategies.

    Our research found integrating circular economy principles into supply chain management can help create a buffer for businesses.

    The circular economy model focuses on minimising waste – keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible. There is also a focus on regenerating natural systems to foster economic, social and environmental resilience.

    Companies can reduce their reliance on external supply chains by focusing on reusing materials, creating closed-loop systems with regional partners and by boosting the technologies already in place.

    By fostering stronger links with local suppliers and focusing on regional sourcing, businesses can reduce their exposure to global risks. This will also help build more self-sufficient supply chain ecosystems.

    Building sustainable supply chains requires investing in advanced technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. But implementing these technologies should be done carefully and in stages to minimise disruption. Going slowly can also allow for the inclusion of all supply chain partners in these technological transitions.

    The way forward

    New Zealand’s supply chain future hinges on greater collaboration between everyone involved, including businesses, policymakers and communities.

    In practice, this means working together to build systems that are not only efficient and cost-effective but also resilient and sustainable.

    Equally, resilient supply chains require regional manufacturing ecosystems. To mitigate the risks from global supply chain disruptions, it’s essential to support local manufacturing, even when offshore manufacturing costs are lower.

    This will require government support and strategic investment in regional manufacturing innovation.

    While New Zealand’s supply chains face significant challenges, there are great opportunities to reshape them for a more resilient and sustainable future.

    By integrating circular economy principles, using advanced technologies and fostering regional collaboration, New Zealand can build supply chains that are prepared for future crises and which also contribute to the country’s sustainability goals.

    Julia Fehrer receives funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.

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

    – ref. Can NZ’s supply chain build enough resilience and sustainability to survive the next global crisis? – https://theconversation.com/can-nzs-supply-chain-build-enough-resilience-and-sustainability-to-survive-the-next-global-crisis-241348

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Global Bodies – Global Parliamentary community recommits to multeralism for peace – IPU

    Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

    Hundreds of parliamentarians, from some 130 countries, gathered at the 149th IPU Assembly in Geneva, have adopted a resolution reaffirming unwavering support for multilateralism through the United Nations system and other global institutions.

    Against a backdrop of escalating conflicts around the world, the consequences of climate change and the risk of pandemics, resulting in a multiplication of humanitarian crises, lawmakers emphasized the urgency of a collective response and cooperation at the international level.

    The resolution, put forward by the IPU’s founding Members, France and the United Kingdom, along with Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, calls for a “complete rejection of the indiscriminate targeting by armed forces of civilians, wherever they may be, particularly emergency personnel, health and education workers, and medical, education and other public infrastructure”.

    The resolution was reinforced by the IPU’s Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law, which issued a plea for the international community to pressure the parties to the conflict in Israel, Lebanon, and Gaza, to take action to avert a full-scale war.

    The Assembly also provided a space for intensive parliamentary diplomacy, including meetings of the IPU’s various international parliamentary bodies which contribute to peace-building efforts, such as the Task Force for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine and the Committee on Middle East Questions.

    Other outcomes on science, technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    The global parliamentary also adopted a landmark resolution on The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    The resolution urges parliaments worldwide to swiftly develop and implement robust legal frameworks and policies for the responsible creation, deployment and use of AI technology.

    Key demands of the resolution include:

    • Mitigating risks to democracy, human rights and the rule of law, with a particular focus on the disproportionate impact of AI on women and girls
    • Legislating against deepfake intimate images and AI-generated content that fuels hate speech or incites violence
    • Developing tools to verify the origin of online images and content, empowering users to discern authenticity
    • Reviewing and updating existing legislation to close loopholes exposed by AI advances.

    The resolution underscores the need for parliaments to stay ahead of the curve in regulating AI, striking a balance between innovation and the protection of fundamental rights.

    IPU Charter on the Ethics of Science and Technology

    During the Assembly, the Governing Council adopted a new Charter on the Ethics of Science and Technology.

    Drafted by the IPU’s Working Group on Science and Technology, the Charter underscores the critical role of scientific knowledge in parliamentary decision-making and the ethical considerations essential for governing emerging technologies.

    Key highlights of the Charter include:

    • Emphasizing ethical responsibilities in scientific advancements
    • Advocating for equitable global participation, and addressing gender, social and economic inequalities
    • Outlining key principles for regulating science and technology, including enacting laws promoting societal values, the preservation of research freedom, international cooperation and sustainability considerations.

    The Charter recommends that legislators maintain parliamentary structures for presenting evidence-based information, engage with competent organizations on ethics, develop checklists for scrutinizing legislation and consult civil society.

    Geneva Declaration on science and technology

    In their final Declaration, legislators expressed resolve to harness and regulate science, technology and innovation (STI) for the benefit of humanity.

    The Declaration emphasizes the need to bridge digital divides, protect human rights, and foster international cooperation in STI governance.

    Parliamentarians pledged to implement these commitments through legislative, budgetary and oversight actions, striving for an equitable and technologically advanced world.

    Background

    The 149th IPU Assembly took place from 13-17 October 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. It was attended by over 630 MPs, including 54 Speakers of Parliament and 36 Deputy Speakers. Around 36% of the MPs were women and some 25% were young MPs under 45.

    The 150th IPU Assembly will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 5-9 April 2025.

    The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 181 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes peace, democracy and sustainable development. It helps parliaments become stronger, younger, greener, more innovative and gender-balanced. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Job losses devastating for Timaru

    Source: New Zealand Labour Party

    Confirmed news that the Smithfield meatworks will close is devastating for the hundreds of people who work there, Timaru and the wider region.

    “Our worst fear has been confirmed, this closure will leave up to 600 people out of work. Sometimes several members of the same family work in this plant – and this is distressing news for all of them and our community,” Labour MP based in Rangitata Jo Luxton said.

    “These workers contribute to the local economy and businesses, and many have family nearby. Now many of them will have potentially have to leave our community in search of work,” Jo Luxton said.

    This is the latest major employer to close in New Zealand, following hundreds of other manufacturing job losses in the North Island.

    “We are seeing rising unemployment as the government ignores the plight of workers,” Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich said.

    “Even through the global economic shock of the pandemic, Labour supported workers and businesses to keep people in jobs. Now, unemployment rises while the government sits on its hands.

    “The Government has chosen to lay off 6000 public servants, has not done anything to help hundreds of workers in the manufacturing sector, and has cancelled Jobs for Nature and reduced funding for Apprenticeship Boost – programmes that help create jobs in our regions.

    “The Government needs to stand up for workers and see the value in keeping people in work,” Camilla Belich said.

    Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: HKMA introduces multiple measures to support SMEs’ development, upgrade and transformation

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
     
         The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), together with the banking sector, introduced multiple measures today (October 18) to further support, through financing as well as banking products and services, the continuous development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and assist them in expanding new businesses and markets.
          
         Since the launch of the nine SME support measures by the HKMA and the Banking Sector SME Lending Coordination Mechanism (Mechanism) in March this year, a total of around 20 000 SMEs have benefitted from the measures, involving an aggregate credit limit of over HK$44 billion. The HKMA has also been deepening its understanding of the challenges and needs faced by SMEs of different sectors through various channels and platforms, including the Taskforce on SME Lending (Taskforce) which was established in August this year, and engagement sessions with over 50 trade associations and their members from different industry sectors.
          
         While Hong Kong is currently undergoing economic transformation, the HKMA and the banking sector are aware of the needs of SMEs to strive for change and adapt to changes in the market and business operating environment. Taking into account the views of the commercial sector, the HKMA and the banking sector will roll out the following five measures to assist SMEs’ continuous development, upgrade and transformation, and enhance their competitiveness and productivity to cope with new operational challenges:
     
         1. Release of bank capital to facilitate the financing needs of SMEs: The HKMA lowered the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) ratio from 1 per cent to 0.5 per cent, and will allow banks to early adopt the preferential treatments for SME exposures under the Basel III capital framework. These policies will release bank capital and thereby enable banks to make use of the additional capital to facilitate the financing needs of SMEs. 

         2. Set aside dedicated funds to support SMEs: The 16 banks that are active in SME lending have set aside a total of over HK$370 billion of dedicated funds for SMEs in their loan portfolio. The funds will allow SME customers to access necessary financing for coping with the evolving business environment. The banks will regularly review and consider scaling up the size of their dedicated funds in response to SMEs’ needs and development. 
         â€‹
         3. Launch more credit products and services to assist SMEs’ transformation: Banks will launch more credit products and services to meet the transformation needs of SMEs. Examples include pre-approved credit limits, unsecured loans, cross-border loans, and loans with flexible repayment periods.
     

    On digital transformation, banks will offer e-commerce financing and electronic payment services to enable SMEs in different sectors such as retail, catering and trading to better utilise data and adopt innovative business solutions, so that SMEs can strengthen their marketing and promotion, streamline business processes and save operating costs. 

    On green transformation, banks will actively consider launching relevant advisory services. Through collaboration with green certification agencies, banks can alleviate the costs for SMEs to apply for green certification, thereby supporting their low-carbon transition. Banks will also provide green loans to assist SMEs in purchasing and adopting low-carbon equipment, so as to reduce the SMEs’ own carbon emissions and transform into green suppliers. 

         4. Increase the partial principal repayment options: When an orderly exit from the banking sector’s Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme commenced in July 2023, the Mechanism introduced enhanced measures to assist corporates’ gradual return to normal repayment. Since some customers’ partial principal repayment arrangements will expire in early 2025, banks will be accommodative and consider offering more flexible repayment arrangements to help these customers to address challenges encountered during economic transformation. Such arrangements include, for instance, extending the duration of partial principal repayment, offering more options on the proportion and duration of partial principal repayment, or even offering principal moratorium, subject to prudent risk-management principles. The above-mentioned arrangements are also applicable to taxi loans, public light bus loans and commercial vehicle loans taken out by personal customers.

         5. Devote sufficient manpower and resources to implement the enhancements to SME Financing Guarantee Scheme as soon as possible: Banks will allocate adequate resources to process applications and work closely with HKMC Insurance Limited to implement as soon as possible the principal moratorium and other enhanced measures under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme.

         The HKMA will continue to understand the SME-related business strategies of banks, and maintain close communication with the commercial sectors through the Mechanism and the Taskforce. Seminars and other activities will be organised to promote the SME services, products and schemes offered by the banking sector in the concerted efforts to assist the continuous development, upgrade and transformation of SMEs.
     
    Background
     
    The Banking Sector SME Lending Coordination Mechanism

         The Banking Sector SME Lending Coordination Mechanism was established by the HKMA in October 2019. Participants include 11 banks (Note 1) that are most active in SME lending, the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) and the HKMC Insurance Limited. During the pandemic, the Mechanism rolled out several rounds of relief measures for corporates, including the Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme. In March 2024, the HKMA, together with the Mechanism, launched nine measures to assist SMEs in obtaining bank financing and to support their continuous development.
     
    The Taskforce on SME Lending

         The Taskforce on SME Lending was jointly established by the HKMA and HKAB in August 2024. Participants include representatives of the HKMA, HKAB and 16 banks (Note 2) that are active in SME lending. The Taskforce aims to further strengthen the related work for supporting SMEs in obtaining bank financing at both the individual case and the industry levels. Participating banks of the Taskforce have stated that they would ensure the ongoing effective implementation of the nine SME support measures that were launched previously, and indicated that they had not changed and would not change their risk appetite towards SME financing and related credit approval standards. The participating banks would also strive to treat customers fairly and communicate with customers in an accommodative manner.
     
    Note 1: Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia, China Construction Bank (Asia), Citibank, Dah Sing Bank, DBS Bank (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia), OCBC Bank (Hong Kong), and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).

    Note 2: Including the 11 banks participating in the Mechanism, and Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), China CITIC International, Fusion Bank, Nanyang Commercial Bank and PAO Bank.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Zoom undergoes GenAI-driven renaissance, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Zoom undergoes GenAI-driven renaissance, says GlobalData

    Posted in Technology

    Zoom Video Communications Inc (Zoom) has recently unveiled a wide array of new and upcoming platform enhancements powered by generative AI (GenAI) at its annual showcase event “Zoomtopia 2024.” The announcements were compelling for their sheer volume, breadth, and substance and continue the renaissance of Zoom’s platform that began one year ago at Zoomtopia 2023, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    Gregg Willsky, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Technology & Services at GlobalData, comments: “At Zoomtopia 2023, Zoom unveiled an extensive and eclectic list of features that marked the latest milestone in the rapid build-out of its GenAI arsenal and collectively moved the ball dramatically forward for the company. What began as an evolution during the dark, nascent days of the COVID-19 pandemic took a sharp trajectory upward and morphed into a full-blown renaissance.”

    Dial the clock ahead one year and that renaissance remains in full swing. Zoom entered Zoomtopia 2024 with some especially impressive jewels recently secured in its crown. These include GenAI assistant Zoom AI Companion; Zoom Workplace, a suite of platform tools with Zoom AI Companion at its core; and Zoom Docs, a modular, digital workspace for creating and editing content that natively integrates with Zoom Workplace.

    Willsky continues: “Zoomtopia 2024 builds upon that momentum. Multiple capabilities go beyond ‘plan vanilla’ and demonstrate real ingenuity made possible by GenAI. For example, Zoom AI Companion 2.0 (coming October 2024) can gather, synthesize, and share information from multiple sources across Zoom such as meetings, chats, and docs; Zoom Tasks synthesizes material such as meeting summaries, emails, documents, and whiteboards and then takes action by detecting tasks, making recommendations, and helping users get started; Zoom Virtual Agent now helps contact center agents handle more complex customer queries in greater numbers within a single customer interaction.”

    Collectively, the announcements made at Zoomtopia 2024 place Zoom on even more solid footing with rivals while simultaneously positioning it well for the near future.

    Willsky concludes: “Zoomtopia 2024 was shorter in duration and hosted a smaller onsite audience compared to Zoomtopia 2023. However, the volume, breadth, and quality of features unveiled was as impressive if not more so. Zoom continues its renaissance in earnest.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Asian Development Blog: Why Nations Succeed: Three Ways to Enhance Capacity for Resilient Development

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Building intellectual capacity and fostering learning partnerships enhance long-term capabilities in organizations and communities. Localized solutions rooted in indigenous knowledge and governance reforms empower societies to achieve resilient, sustainable development.

    Through my three decades in international development work from environment management to urban resilience to policy analysis to monitoring and evaluation, if I were to distill one recurring aspect – it is capacity. 

    The Oxford English Dictionary defines capacity as “the ability to learn or retain knowledge and to make a decision about an issue”. This could be a combination of knowledge, skills, infrastructure, and resources that allow organizations, individuals, and groups to address issues, enhance awareness, solve problems, and learn lessons. 

    For a person to have capacity for a decision, he or she must be able to “understand information, make choices, and communicate the decision to others.”  Capability is defined as “the power or ability to do something.”  

    Capacity is needed for completing a project successfully, and capability to assure its long-term sustainability. These aspects visibly support communities to thrive, and organizations and systems to innovate and adapt to achieve lasting impact. 

     Capacity and capability are the critical “invisible infrastructure” that ensures the effectiveness of development interventions through the efficient functioning of public systems to provide the desired quality of services. 

    However, despite its fundamental importance, capacity remains hidden due to its intangibility and its value is difficult to measure. Unlike projects that deliver physical infrastructure like roads, schools, hospitals and water treatment plants. 

    Building capacity and capabilities both at an individual and institutional level is now more important than ever as global challenges such as climate change, environment degradation, depleting natural water reserves, communicable diseases and technological advancements rapidly reshape the future. 

    Building capacity requires sustained investment over time, often without immediate, visible outcomes. This slow, often incremental process may not capture public attention or political will in the same way a new bridge or highway might. 

    Moreover, capacity-building efforts can be complex, requiring cooperation among organizations, regions, countries and sectors, investment in education and training, and a commitment to long-term, sustained and resilient development. These efforts are not perceived to be fashionable and glamorous compared to visible projects that can be tangibly measured. 

     Advancing economies have demonstrated that unlocking the potential of capacity and building capable institutions brings systemic improvements over short term project gains.

    This also builds resilience in times of crisis due to natural disasters, pandemics, or economic shocks and ensure individuals, communities, and institutions respond and recover; spur innovation to help individuals and organizations experiment, adapt, and scale solutions; enhance governance in institutions to manage resources, deliver services, that benefit citizens ensuring the transparent, accountable, and equitable functioning of society. 

    Communities and institutions would thereby solve their own problems, reduce reliance on external support making development more effective in the long term.

    Capacity is needed for completing a project successfully, and capability to assure its long-term sustainability. 

    Here are three ways to enhance capacity as the pathway to resilient development and effectiveness: 

    Build intellectual capacity and capability by strengthening public and private institutions through a combination of financial, technical and learning support that will foster cultural and behavioral change to do things differently and evolve over the long term.  

    This means designing interventions not only in smart infrastructure design using innovative financing models but also strategic planning, project and data management, leadership training and monitoring and evaluation systems, that allow institutions to deliver relevant and high-quality services over time. 

     Investments that enable cultural shifts from learning from what works and what can be done differently can create positive domino effects in organizations and societies, enhancing individual and collective capacity and capabilities to deliver solutions in complex situations.  

    The city of Melaka in Malaysia pioneered the green city action planning process in 2014 using local government participatory processes. This spurred a multiplier effect with city governments continuing to engage and collaborate across sectoral ministries to deliver projects that improve environmental quality and strengthen economic competitiveness.

    Foster learning partnerships that not only enhance capacity but also ensure long term capabilities. For example, educational institutions with strong research and teaching capacities generate new knowledge, ideas, and technologies that benefit the wider public. 

    When infused with experiential knowledge from the development community, these partnerships can become a powerful tool for grooming young learners to deliver interventions with lasting impacts. In the Pacific, the first structured diploma course on monitoring, evaluation and learning at the University of South Pacific has been accredited by the Pacific Board of Education Quality and launched. 

    Localize solutions and empower communities through investments that harness indigenous knowledge, combine awareness building, local knowhow, and technology. Further, improving governance to empower communities to take ownership of local issues to ensure solutions are rooted in local knowledge for lasting impacts.  

    In the state of Karnataka in India, a coastal protection and management project includes a specific component on capacity building for shoreline management. Unique community associations such as shoreline management organizations and dune care groups were formed and involved in project monitoring. 

    Funds were provided by the project and site-specific activities such as beach cleaning and beach festivals turned beneficiaries into project partners. Capacity and capabilities were enhanced both for communities as well as for the executing and implementing agencies. 

    Learning from the capacity building process to strengthen decision making and understand how economic institutions influence these efforts should be a mantra for development organizations as they prepare for an uncertain future.

    As Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu, co-author of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, writes: “Economic institutions shape economic incentives: the incentives to become educated, to save and invest, to innovate and adopt new technologies.”
     

    MIL OSI Global Banks –