Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025 Changes in the parameters of the fourth deposit auction of the Federal Treasury

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    Application selection parameters. Application selection date 03/28/2025. Unique application selection identifier 22025080. Deposit currency rubles. Type of funds funds of the single treasury account. Maximum amount of funds placed in bank deposits, million monetary units 310,000. Placement period, in days 4. Date of depositing funds 03/28/2025. Date of return of funds 04/01/2025. Interest rate for placement of funds (fixed or floating) FIXED. Minimum fixed interest rate for placement of funds, % per annum 20.05. Basic floating interest rate for placement of funds-Minimum spread, % per annum-Terms of conclusion of the bank deposit agreement (fixed-term, replenishable or special)Fixed-term. Minimum amount of funds placed for one application, million monetary units 1,000. Maximum number of applications from one credit institution, pcs. 5 Application selection form (open or closed) Open. Application selection schedule (Moscow time).

    Place of selection of applications Moscow Exchange PJSC Acceptance of applications: from 18:30 to 18:40. Applications in preliminary mode: from 18:30 to 18:35. Applications in competition mode: from 18:35 to 18:40 Formation of a consolidated register of applications: from 18:40 to 18:50 Setting the cutoff rate and (or) recognizing the selection of applications as unsuccessful: from 18:40 to 18:50. Sending an offer to credit institutions to conclude a bank deposit agreement: from 18:50 to 19:30. Receipt from credit institutions of acceptance of the offer to conclude a bank deposit agreement: from 18:50 to 19:30. Deposit transfer time In accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 63 and 64 of the Order of the Federal Treasury dated 04/27/2023 No. 10n.

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

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Crisis in South Sudan: “The time for action is now because the alternative is too terrible to contemplate” says Head of country’s UN peacekeeping mission

    Source: United Nations – Peacekeeping

    The security situation in South Sudan has significantly deteriorated amidst rising tensions between the country’s two main political parties, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SLPM-IO), headed by First Vice President, Riek Machar. This has left the peace agreement in shambles, caused a humanitarian nightmare, and put the already-fragile country at serious risk of a relapse into civil war. This has left the peace agreement in shambles, caused a humanitarian nightmare, and put the already-fragile country at serious risk of a relapse into civil war.  

    On March 4th, a youth militia known as the White Army took over barracks previously occupied by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), the armed forces of the SPLM. In retaliation, civilian areas across the Upper Nile region were subjected to aerial bombardments using devices alleged to contain a highly flammable accelerant. These indiscriminate attacks on civilians have led to multiple deaths and horrific injuries, as well as the displacement of an estimated 100,000 people.  

    Fears that the violence will escalate in Upper Nile are being fuelled by reports of further mobilization of the White Army and SSPDF, including the alleged recruitment of children into their ranks.  

    On 24 March, the escalating tensions spilled over to the capital Juba when the SSPDF and forces affiliated with the SPLM-IO’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) clashed at locations to the south and west of the city. This is creating fear and anxiety among communities that the conflict will become widespread, as it did when civil wars erupted in 2013 and 2016. The UN has also warned that it is putting the country’s 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement at risk. 

    On the political front, several SPLM-IO military and civilian officials have been removed from their positions, detained, or gone into hiding. On March 26, the First Vice President, Riek Machar, was also reportedly placed under house arrest.  

     “South Sudan is teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war,” warned Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), during remarks to the press. “The collective message of the region and the international community is the same. We remain convinced that there is only one way out of the cycle of conflict, and that is to return to the Revitalized Peace Agreement, in letter and spirit.”  

    The UN is engaged in diplomatic efforts alongside international and regional partners to try to pull the country back from the brink of a war that would devastate South Sudan and the entire region. UNMISS, the African Union (AU), East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) – a South Sudanese group responsible for overseeing the implementation of the peace agreement –  are working tirelessly to prevent the loss of all the hard-won gains made since the peace agreement was signed.  

    However, these efforts can only succeed if the parties are willing to engage in peace efforts.  

    “Now more than ever, the leaders of South Sudan must hear a clear, unified and resounding message:  

    Put down the weapons,” said the UN Secretary General on Friday. “Put all the people of South Sudan first.”  
     

    Background 

    South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, marking the end of a decades-long war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). However, peace was short-lived.  

    Political tensions arose within South Sudan’s leadership, with civil war erupting just two years later between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those aligned with First Vice President Riek Machar.  

    The ensuing war was marked by ethnic violence, mass atrocities, and a widespread humanitarian crisis. A peace deal signed in 2018, the Revitalized Peace Agreement, brought hope of a better future. However, the implementation of the agreement has stagnated, leading to several extensions of the transitional period and delays in holding the country’s first democratic elections. Recently, tensions escalated between the country’s two main parties, leaving the peace deal on the verge of collapse and the country at risk of sliding back into war. This is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country, where over nine million people need humanitarian assistance this year, around 75% of the population. It also comes at a time when scarce humanitarian resources are stretched to breaking point by the influx of an additional 1.1 million returnees and refugees seeking sanctuary from the war in neighbouring Sudan. Cholera is breaking out, and with oil revenue plummeting and inflation skyrocketing 300%, the country is facing an economic meltdown.  

    The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was established in 2011 to help the new country consolidate peace and security and lay the foundations for development. The mission’s mandate is now focused on advancing a multiyear strategy to prevent a return to civil war, enable the self-reliance of South Sudan, and address critical gaps towards building durable peace to support inclusive and accountable governance and free and fair, peaceful elections. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Supporting Kentucky Residents: Resources for Coping with Disaster-Related Stress

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency 2

    Supporting Kentucky Residents: Resources for Coping with Disaster-Related Stress

    FRANKFORT, Ky. – Disasters can take an emotional toll on your well-being. Kentucky residents have experienced several severe weather events over the last few months, and it is normal to have anxiety. It’s important to understand and recognize the signs of disaster related stress: Difficulty sleepingDisorientation, confusion, loss of appetiteFeelings of hopelessness or depressionWhile coping with the stress, here are some resources that may help.SAMSHA Distress HelplineSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) Disaster Distress Helpline provides free 24/7 crisis counseling and support to survivors experiencing emotional distress related to disasters. SAMSHA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).Call 800-985-5990, visit samhsa.gov/ or text TalkWithUs for English or Hablanos for Spanish to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor. Other Coping ResourcesCrisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, text-based mental health support and crisis intervention. Visit crisistextline.org/or Text HOME to 741741.United Way’s 211 Network partners with hundreds of organizations, businesses and government agencies to provide a multitude of resources, including mental wellness care and local health and community services. Call 2-1-1, available 24/7. Or visit 211.org. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support to individuals experiencing mental-health related distress. Call or text 988. Or visit 988lifeline.org. National Domestic Violence Hotline Is available 24/7 and can be reached at: 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. National Sexual Assault Helpline: Call 800-656-HOPE.
    martyce.allenjr
    Fri, 03/28/2025 – 14:21

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation – E-001210/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001210/2025
    to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
    Rule 144
    Benoit Cassart (Renew)

    On 12 March 2025, the Congress of the Republic of Peru adopted amendments to the law regulating the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation, with a view to increasing transparency and accountability. However, these changes increase government control and impose excessive restrictions on civil society organisations working in key areas, such as the defence of human rights, social justice, sustainable development and the improvement of living conditions.

    New measures include the requirement to obtain prior approval for international cooperation projects, a ban on legal advice and legal defence activities, and increased risks of censorship and arbitrary penalties that can stifle dissenting voices or even lead to the closure of certain institutions.

    What does the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy intend to do to defend the rights and autonomy of non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations that work with international funds, among other things?

    Submitted: 21.3.2025

    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – EU action to accelerate biotech solutions for autoimmune disease patients – E-001203/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001203/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Wouter Beke (PPE), Liesbet Sommen (PPE)

    Over the past decade, autoimmune diseases have surged across Europe, driving social, economic and healthcare costs to over EUR 50 billion[1]. The upcoming EU biotech act is a top political priority, aimed at harnessing European biotech innovation to enable quicker and more effective diagnoses and treatments. This bold initiative seeks to turn the tide against autoimmune diseases, a mounting challenge for public health.

    • 1.What specific measures is the Commission considering to help boost collaboration between biotech companies, academia and healthcare providers, and in turn to accelerate the development of innovative diagnostics and treatments for autoimmune disease patients?
    • 2.How will the new biotech act enhance regulatory pathways for innovative biotech therapies, ensuring both faster deployment and the continued prioritisation of patient safety?
    • 3.How does the Commission plan to encourage ongoing research and development for multiple indications of both current and future products?

    Submitted: 20.3.2025

    • [1] Greiner, W., Patel, K., Crossman-Barnes, C. J., Rye-Andersen, T. V., Hvid, C., & Vandebrouck, T. ‘High-Expenditure Disease in the EU-28: Does Drug Spend Correspond to Clinical and Economic Burden in Oncology, Autoimmune Disease and Diabetes?’. PharmacoEconomics – open, 5(3), 385–396. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s41669-020-00253-4.
    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Highlights – Public hearing: Human rights situation in Cuba – Subcommittee on Human Rights

    Source: European Parliament

    On 8 April 2025, the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) is organising a public hearing on the “Human rights situation in Cuba”. In the programme of the hearing – two main topics: 1) Human rights situation and fundamental freedoms in Cuba; 2) EU response, state of play and future perspectives.

    Holding a public hearing on the situation of Human Rights in Cuba will allow DROI subcommittee to assess the current situation of Human Rights in Cuba, including the situation of the remaining political prisoners in the framework of the liberation of 553 of them under a Vatican-mediated deal.

    Furthermore, the recent change of Administration in the USA makes it more urgent to monitor the Human Rights situation in the island, with U.S. President Donald Trump signing an omnibus executive order revoking 78 executive actions by the previous administration on 20 January 2025, including the revocation of the order of 14 January 2025 to remove Cuba from a blacklist of nations that sponsor terrorism and the reintroduction of sanctions that had contributed to the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Hearings – Human rights situation in Cuba – 08-04-2025 – Subcommittee on Human Rights

    Source: European Parliament

    On 8 April 2025, the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) is organising a public hearing on the “Human rights situation in Cuba”. In the programme of the hearing – two main topics: 1) Human rights situation and fundamental freedoms in Cuba; 2) EU response, state of play and future perspectives.

    Holding a public hearing on the situation of Human Rights in Cuba will allow DROI to assess the current situation of Human Rights in Cuba, including the situation of the remaining political prisoners in the framework of the liberation of 553 of them under a Vatican-mediated deal.

    Furthermore, the recent change of Administration in the USA makes it more urgent to monitor the Human Rights situation in the island, with U.S. President Donald Trump signing an omnibus executive order revoking 78 executive actions by the previous administration on 20 January 2025, including the revocation of the order of 14 January 2025 to remove Cuba from a blacklist of nations that sponsor terrorism and the reintroduction of sanctions that had contributed to the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Exacerbation of industrial relocation driven by EU policy through US tariffs – P-000555/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    On 10 February 2025 the United States (US) announced the imposition a 25% tariff on all US imports of steel and aluminium as of 12 March 2025 and subsequently published a list of downstream products to which the tariffs will also apply[1][2][3]. On 13 February 2025, the US announced plans to impose so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’[4].

    The President of the Commission and the Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security publicly stated that while the EU is ready to discuss mutually beneficial solutions, any unjustified tariffs will trigger firm and proportionate EU countermeasures . The President spoke to the Vice-President of the United States on 11 February 2025.

    Moreover, the Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security also discussed this with his counterparts, including during a meeting in Washington on 19 February 2025.

    The Commission will spare no effort to avert unnecessary tensions but is ready to act to safeguard its economic interests. The EU has at its disposal instruments that allow addressing unjustified measures, including with tariffs.

    To promote European competitiveness, the Commission adopted its Competitiveness Compass[5], the strategic framework for the Commission’s work in this mandate, and other industrial policy initiatives[6].

    The Competitiveness Compass sets out an approach and a selection of flagship measures on three transformational imperatives to boost competitiveness: closing the innovation gap, a joint roadmap for decarbonisation and competitiveness, and reducing excessive dependencies and increasing security.

    The 2025 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report[7] provide an analytical basis for the EU’s industrial strategy.

    • [1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/adjusting-imports-of-steel-into-the-united-states/
    • [2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-section-232-tariffs/
    • [3] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-02-18/pdf/2025-02832.pdf and https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-02-18/pdf/2025-02833.pdf
    • [4] https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/02/reciprocal-trade-and-tariffs/
    • [5] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52025DC0030
    • [6] For example, the Clean Industrial Deal proposes six business drivers for a competitive yet decarbonising economy: (1) affordable energy, (2) lead markets, (3) financing, (4) circularity and access to materials, (5) global markets and international partnerships and (6) skills.
    • [7] https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/publications/2025-annual-single-market-and-competitiveness-report_en
    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Chile: European Union, EIB and KfW to provide up to €216.5 million to finance renewable hydrogen projects

    Source: European Investment Bank

    • The Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Funding Platform for Chile will support Chile’s renewable hydrogen industry and help meet the country’s target of 100% clean energy by 2050.

    Today the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB), KfW Development Bank, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the European Commission, Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO) and the Chilean Ministry of Energy signed agreements to support Chile’s growing renewable hydrogen industry via the Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Funding Platform for Chile. The signing ceremony took place in Santiago de Chile and was attended by European Commissioner for International Partnership Jozef Sikela, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Chile Diego Pardow, Executive Vice-President of CORFO José Miguel Benavente, EIB Director of the International Partners Department Thouraya Triki, and, representing KfW, Thomas Schmitt, Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy to Chile.

    The funding platform will support the decarbonisation of Chile’s economy, creating green jobs and generating business opportunities for Chilean and European companies while also helping Europe meet its import demand for renewable hydrogen. The Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Funding Platform for Chile is part of the European Union – Latin America and the Caribbean Global Gateway Investment Agenda that  facilitates priority investment projects to help address infrastructure needs in Latin America and the Caribbean, while creating local added value and promoting growth, decent jobs and social cohesion.

    Under the platform, the EIB and KfW can provide financing to the Republic of Chile of up to €200 million (€100 million each), with CORFO as the implementing agency to channel the funds to renewable hydrogen initiatives. The EU Latin America and Caribbean Investment Facility (LACIF) will provide an additional grant of €16.5 million. The Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Funding Platform for Chile supports Chile’s ambition to make its main sources of energy generation renewable and clean, with 100% clean energy before 2050. It is estimated that the operation will contribute to the development of at least 150 MW of new renewable energy generation capacity and 150 MW of new electrolysers capacity in the country.

    “With this agreement, the European Union reaffirms its vision of renewable hydrogen as a pillar of the energy of the future, and together with Chile, a leader in the region in this field, we are advancing the development of this key industry. The collaborative work between CORFO, the European Investment Bank (EIB), KfW, and the European Union channels strategic resources towards innovative projects, generating mutual benefits for Chile and Europe. This initiative is a clear example of Team Europe’s commitment to sustainability, the creation of green jobs, and the strengthening of our economic ties,” said European Commissioner for International Partnership Jozef Sikela.

    “The Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Funding Platform for Chile will play a key role in supporting the Chilean government’s efforts to develop a sustainable and competitive renewable hydrogen sector. Through this platform, Team Europe is once again demonstrating its commitment to advance key Global Gateway investment priorities. By aligning with Chile’s ambitious climate action goals, we are fostering green energy solutions that create jobs, drive innovation and strengthen EU-Latin America cooperation. This partnership reflects our shared vision for a cleaner, more sustainable future,” said Vice-President of the European Investment Bank Ioannis Tsakiris.                                    

    “The creation of the green hydrogen industry is not only an opportunity to continue the decarbonisation process but can also contribute to providing quality jobs and opportunities for the regions where future projects will be located. Therefore, this initiative led by the European Union, which is another step in our long and close collaboration, is great news for the energy industry but also for the citizens of our country,” said Minister of Energy of the Republic of Chile Diego Pardow.

    “The development of the green hydrogen industry represents a major challenge, not only in Chile but also globally. The creation of CORFO’s Green Hydrogen Facility, with contributions from multilateral institutions, including KfW and the European Investment Bank, constitutes a very relevant and necessary step forward to have financial instruments that can provide an important signal from the State in order to support the development of the industry and large-scale projects. We take on this challenge with great energy and enthusiasm,” said Executive Vice-President of CORFO José Miguel Benavente.

    “Chile has outstanding renewable energy potential for the development of green hydrogen production. To realise this potential, it is essential to leverage private investment. KfW financing on behalf of BMWK will support the mobilisation of private capital for Chilean hydrogen projects at an early stage. At a later stage, this should also enable the export of green hydrogen to European customers within the framework of hydrogen partnerships,” said Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy to Chile Thomas Schmitt.

    The Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen Funding Platform for Chile is part of the European Union’s Global Gateway Investment Agenda supporting projects that improve global and regional connectivity in the digital, climate, transport, health, energy and education sectors. The Global Gateway is the European Union’s contribution to narrowing the global investment gap worldwide. Between 2021 and 2027, the European Union expects to mobilise up to €300 billion of investments for sustainable and high-quality projects, taking into account the needs of partner countries and ensuring lasting benefits for local communities.

    Background information

    About EIB Global

    The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives.

    EIB Global is the EIB Group’s specialised arm devoted to increasing the impact of international partnerships and development finance, and a key partner of Global Gateway. We aim to support €100 billion of investment by the end of 2027 — around one-third of the overall target of this EU initiative. Within Team Europe, EIB Global fosters strong, focused partnerships alongside fellow development finance institutions and civil society. EIB Global brings the EIB Group closer to people, companies and institutions through our offices across the world. High-quality, up-to-date photos of our headquarters for media use are available here.

    http://twitter.com/EIB

    https://www.linkedin.com/company/eib-global/

    About EIB Global in Chile

    The EIB is the largest multilateral public bank in the world. In 2024 it financed around €8.4 billion in investments outside the European Union via EIB Global, the arm of the EIB created in 2022 for activities beyond Europe. Since the EIB started working in Chile in 1994, it has provided over €942 million to finance investments on favourable conditions — in terms of both maturity and interest rates — with the aim of improving Chileans’ quality of life.

    About EIB Global in Latin America

    EIB Global has been providing economic support for projects in Latin America since 2022, facilitating long-term investment with favourable conditions and offering the technical support needed to ensure that these projects deliver positive social, economic and environmental results. Since the EIB began operating in Latin America in 1993, it has provided total financing of around €15 billion to support more than 170 projects in 15 countries in the region.

    About the Global Gateway Investment Agenda

    EIB Global is a key partner in the implementation of the European Union’s Global Gateway Investment Agenda, supporting sound projects that improve global and regional connectivity in the digital, climate, transport, health, energy and education sectors. Investing in connectivity is at the very heart of what EIB Global does, building on the Bank’s 65 years of experience in this domain. Alongside our partners, fellow EU institutions and Member States, we aim to support investment of €100 billion (around one-third of the overall budget of the initiative) by the end of 2027, including in Chile and Latin America.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Reporting of EU funding to press bodies and implications for journalistic independence – E-001183/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001183/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Paolo Borchia (PfE), Susanna Ceccardi (PfE), Anna Maria Cisint (PfE), Aldo Patriciello (PfE), Silvia Sardone (PfE), Raffaele Stancanelli (PfE), Isabella Tovaglieri (PfE), Roberto Vannacci (PfE)

    Press sources report that the European Commission provided EUR 132.82 million to various media outlets – including significant Italian newspapers – through the company Havas Media France around the time of the June 2024 European elections. No information is available on the beneficiaries and specific amounts disbursed.

    Given that the EU institutions do not pursue commercial purposes and have internal structures for institutional communication:

    • 1.What criteria justified the allocation of these resources through a private intermediary, without applying the public tendering obligations for sums over EUR 14 000?
    • 2.There is evidence to suggest that articles and services have been tailored to the preferences of Brussels’ top dogs, undermining the principle of the independence of the press. In the light of this in particular, how will the Commission ensure that such funding, if indeed provided, is not used to politically influence the beneficiaries, curtailing their editorial freedom?
    • 3.Why has the information on beneficiaries and specific amounts disbursed not been published in full?

    Submitted: 20.3.2025

    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Possible infringement of EU legislation by Project Gama (Altri’s large-scale cellulose plant) in Galicia – E-001197/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001197/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Estrella Galán (The Left)

    On Friday 14 March 2025, the Official Journal of Galicia published a favourable environmental impact statement (EIS) for Project Gama[1], a large-scale cellulose plant promoted by a consortium of the Portuguese company Altri and the Galician company Greenalia.

    The Xunta de Galicia is thus completely ignoring the numerous complaints, studies and expert reports requested by official bodies, which show that the Altri plant will have serious environmental and socio-economic effects.

    Similarly, the government headed by Alfonso Rueda is also ignoring the outright rejection by the public[2], who have organised historic demonstrations and protests against this project.

    In its answer E-001598/2024[3] to my previous question, the Commission stated that it was ‘too early to verify compliance with the applicable EU law’ because the environmental impact assessment had not yet been published.

    In light of the above:

    • 1.Will the Commission now investigate the infringement of EU legislation – in terms of industrial emissions, environmental impact and public participation – that this project entails?
    • 2.Given the serious impact and potential dangers of the project identified by numerous independent scientific studies, does it intend to apply the precautionary principle and request the suspension of the project?

    Submitted: 20.3.2025

    • [1] https://climatica.coop/xunta-da-luz-verde-macrocelulosa-altri/.
    • [2] https://www.eldiario.es/galicia/altri-xunta-gobierno-ignora-manifestaciones-historicas-tierra-mar-amenaza-ambiental_1_12134178.html.
    • [3] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2024-001598-ASW_EN.html.
    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Immediate impact of US funding cuts on civil society and LGBTI+ rights in the Western Balkans and Türkiye – E-001190/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001190/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle (Renew)

    Recently, the US has stopped funding LGBTI+ civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Western Balkans and Türkiye. This withdrawal has forced several organisations to shut down and has put activists at direct risk of persecution as local governments intensify their crackdowns on civil society. Anti-LGBTI+ and nationalist groups are already exploiting this crisis to further discredit and attack these organisations. Without an immediate European response, the region’s efforts to promote democracy and human rights will be severely undermined[1].

    • 1.Does the Commission agree that the work of LGBTI+ organisations in the Western Balkans and Türkiye is crucial, particularly in the context of their EU accession process and duty to comply with the fundamental values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union?
    • 2.How will the Commission ensure that LGBTI+ organisations in the Western Balkans and Türkiye are sufficiently funded to prevent closures and lay-offs, and will the Commission consider expanding eligibility criteria for EU funding to ensure that LGBTI+ organisations can get better access to financial recourses? If not, why not?
    • 3.What other measures will the Commission take to counter the growing anti-LGBTI+ rhetoric that is being used to undermine CSOs in the Western Balkans and Türkiye, which embodies discriminatory policies and further stigmatises human rights defenders, creating a chilling effect on activism and advocacy efforts?

    Submitted: 20.3.2025

    • [1] ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey: Impacts of U.S. funding cuts on LGBTI+ rights organizations in the Western Balkans and Türkiye: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BcOtAM49adb5MJZQP_v–BLAZXD8K5oK/view.
    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Mediterranean Pact and the situation of Christians in the region – P-000187/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The New Pact for the Mediterranean[1] will strive to refocus the partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood region around mutual interests and with a clear objective to put people at the centre.

    The Mediterranean region is home to an exceptional cultural and religious diversity. Upholding the EU values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law will remain at the core of the engagement.

    In partnership with regional counterparts, the Commission will aim at co-creating an inclusive framework that safeguards the rights of all individuals.

    Through open dialogue and mutual understanding, the Commission will work to strengthen protection for vulnerable groups against persecution, discrimination, violence, and forced displacement.

    The EU has all the assets to support the right of people in the Middle East, regardless their religious belonging, to live in peace and security, and it will make sure to use its voice to uphold fundamental values.

    The Commission will reinforce its role as an essential actor of constructive dialogue with governments, religious leaders and civil society organisations, to promote mutual understanding, tolerance and respect for human rights.

    Providing financial and technical assistance to support projects and initiatives that promote intercultural dialogue will remain a core strand of cooperation, while also integrating human rights and protection of minority groups into development programmes and projects across the board.

    • [1] A Joint Communication is under preparation by the European Commission.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Prime Minister Carney meets with premiers to discuss Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney met virtually with provincial and territorial premiers to discuss Canada’s co-ordinated response to the United States’ unjustified tariffs against Canadian goods, including the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported automobiles and auto-parts. The Prime Minister was joined by the Minister of International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada, Dominic LeBlanc.

    Canada’s First Ministers stand united against this unjustified U.S. trade action and are committed to defending Canadian businesses, workers, and families affected by this threat.

    Prime Minister Carney updated the premiers on his conversation with the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, earlier today. The Prime Minister and the premiers discussed the path forward to respond to the evolving tariff threat by strengthening the Canadian economy, including through work to unlock economic projects and remove interprovincial trade barriers. Prime Minister Carney underscored the Government of Canada’s resolve to continue fighting against the unjust tariffs and protect Canadians.

    Prime Minister Carney committed to continuing to convene with the premiers in the weeks ahead.

    Associated Links

    MIL OSI Canada News

  • MIL-OSI Security: Texas Insurance Broker Sentenced in Scheme to Defraud Paycheck Protection Program

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NASHVILLE – Shelby Lynn Hill, 54, of Crystal Beach, Texas, was sentenced earlier this week to one year and a day in prison for fraudulently obtaining and misusing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, announced Robert E. McGuire, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Hill also was ordered to repay $264,645 in restitution and a forfeiture money judgment, and she will be on supervised release for one year after she serves her sentence. Hill pled guilty in June 2024 to one count of wire fraud.

    Hill obtained several fraudulent PPP loans while living in Crossville, Tennessee. According to court documents and evidence presented to the court, Hill fraudulently obtained a $220,645 PPP loan for a fictitious business, Plateau Angus Farms, in 2020. She claimed to be the owner and operator of a cattle farm in Crossville. Hill told the PPP lender that Plateau Angus Farms employed 14 people and that its monthly payroll expenses exceeded $88,000. Hill submitted fake documents, including Forms W-2, and Tennessee Secretary of State records, as proof of her business. Hill received a $42,700 PPP loan for a second fictitious company, Premium Persians of the Plateau. She also misused the PPP loan proceeds awarded to a third company, Shelby Lynn Hill, MD PLLC, using a portion of the PPP loan to begin installation of a personal swimming pool.

    Hill was employed as a health insurance broker at the time she applied for the PPP loans. Some of the individuals she listed as employees on the Plateau Angus Farms PPP loan application were potential health insurance customers. Hill admitted that she was not authorized to use their names or personal identifiers to obtain PPP loans.

    The Paycheck Protection Program was created under the CARES Act and was intended to incentivize small businesses to keep their employees on payroll during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The PPP program was administered and guaranteed by the Small Business Association, a federal government entity.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cookeville Resident Agency, Nashville Field Office, investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie N. Toussaint prosecuted the case.

    # # # # #

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Connecticut Woman Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Five Victims

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BOSTON – A New Haven, Conn. woman was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for sex trafficking and the interstate transportation of two separate victims for the purposes of prostitution.

    Jennifer Fortier, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 58 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The government recommended a sentence of eight years in prison. In November 2024, Fortier pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and one count of knowingly transporting any individual in interstate or foreign commerce, with intent that such individual engage in prostitution. Fortier was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023, along with her co-defendants Jermall Anderson and Latasha Anderson.

    “Jennifer Fortier inflicted violence against these women, who were vulnerable, homeless, unemployed, and suffering from drug addiction, all to feed the profits of this criminal sex-trafficking organization.” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “Prosecuting those who exploit others for their own personal gain is something that my office will continue to put our resources into. Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity, not exploited for their addictions and life circumstances.”

    “Fortier worked alongside the now-convicted human trafficker Jermall Anderson, using violence and drugs to enforce his reign of terror over the women he trafficked. The harm she and her co-conspirators did to the women they victimized cannot be undone, but as another member of the conspiracy is sentenced, we hope this step offers some resolution for all they have been through,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations New England.

    From 2012 through 2016, Fortier, along with her co-conspirators and at the direction of Jermall Anderson, used physical violence, threats and the giving and withholding of heroin and cocaine to force two different victims to prostitute on their behalf. Fortier and her co-conspirators targeted vulnerable victims, specifically those struggling from drug addiction, homelessness and lack of economic resources and coerced them into providing commercial sex for the defendants’ benefit. The defendant trafficked these victims throughout New England, New York and New Jersey.  

    In March 2025, Jermall Anderson was sentenced to 15 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Latasha Anderson pleaded guilty in March 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11, 2025.

    Members of the public who have questions, concerns or information regarding this case should call 617-748-3274 or contact USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.

    U.S. Foley and HSI SAC Krol made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the HSI Office in New Haven, Conn., the Lynn and Tewksbury Police Departments (Mass.) and the Hampden (Conn.) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen W. Hassink of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.
            

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: United States Secures Extradition of More Than a Dozen Fugitives from 10 Countries

    Source: US State of California

    Defendants Wanted for Murders, Drug Trafficking, Alien Smuggling, and Cybercrime in the District of Columbia, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Texas, and Washington State

    Extensive coordination and cooperation efforts between the U.S. Department of Justice and law enforcement authorities in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom resulted in the extraditions this month of alleged murderers, a child rapist, an MS-13 leader, an alien smuggler, Colombian drug traffickers, a Russian cybercriminal, a Nigerian fraudster, and an immigration scammer.

    “The dedicated, persistent work of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs with foreign partners resulted in the extradition of fugitives wanted in the United States for violent crimes,” said Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Matthew R. Galeotti. “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue and bring to justice in the United States transnational criminals and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad.”

    The fugitives extradited to the United States in March 2025 include:

    • Eswin Mejia, 28, was extradited from Honduras to face charges of vehicular homicide and failure to appear in court for the January 2016 killing of 21-year-old Sarah Root in Douglas County, Nebraska. Mejia was arrested and released on bond in February 2016 and subsequently fled the country to evade prosecution by the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.
    • Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48, an alleged leader of a Guatemala-based alien smuggling organization, was extradited from Guatemala to face charges in the Western District of Texas for his alleged role in the June 2022 San Antonio mass casualty incident that resulted in the death of 53 Guatemalan, Honduran, and Mexican nationals, including children, and the injury of 11 others.
    • Moises Humberto Rivera Luna, 55, an alleged international leader of the violent gang MS-13, was extradited from Guatemala to face racketeering conspiracy charges in the District of Columbia regarding racketeering activities to include murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, robberies, obstruction of justice, and other crimes.
    • Carlos Espino Farfan, 36, was extradited from Spain to face charges of first-degree felony rape of a child and first-degree felony sodomy upon a child filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
    • Jair Alberto Alvarez Valenzuela, 54, and Luis Carlos Diaz Martinez, 32, former Colombian Navy personnel were extradited to face charges in the Middle District of Florida for their alleged role in selling locations of Colombian Navy drug interdiction vessels to international drug traffickers.
    • Louie Hernandez, 61, was extradited from Mexico to face charges in King County, Washington, of first-degree murder in connection with the February 2024 fatal shooting of his alleged estranged partner, Reyna Hernandez.
    • Juan Ramirez, 37, was extradited from Mexico to face charges in Santa Clara, California, for the March 22, 2013, fatal stabbing of 29-year-old Sandra Cruzes-Gonsalez.
    • Solomon Sincler Gheorghe, 20, an Irish national, was extradited from France to face charges in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, of felony death by motor vehicle and felony serious injury by vehicle. Gheorghe is alleged to have been impaired by alcohol and drugs when he caused a multi-vehicle wreck on Sept. 20, 2023, resulting in the deaths of two adults and a 12-year-old boy, and with injury to others.
    • Rostislav Panev, 51, a dual Russian and Israeli national, was extradited from Israel to faces charges in the District of New Jersey for his alleged role as a developer for the LockBit ransomware group from its inception in or around 2019 through at least February 2024. The LockBit group has attacked more than 2,500 victims in at least 120 countries around the world, including 1,800 in the United States.
    • Marco Tulio Fernandez-Rodriguez, 24, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was extradited from the Dominican Republic to face charges in the Southern District of New York of murder, narcotics, and firearms in connection with his alleged role in an attempted gunpoint robbery of a Mount Vernon, New York, warehouse that sold various unlicensed marijuana and nicotine products. Two people — one employee of the warehouse and one member of the roughly 15-man robbery crew — were shot and killed during the failed robbery attempt.
    • Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, 41, a Nigerian national, was extradited from the United Kingdom to face charges in the Southern District of Florida for allegedly engaging in a transnational criminal organization that operated an inheritance fraud scheme targeting elder U.S. consumers.
    • Bikramjit Ahluwalia, 39, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates living in Dubai, was extradited from Spain to face charges in the Western District of North Carolina of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to damage a protected computer, and wire fraud for his alleged role in an extensive tech support fraud scheme.
    • Danhong “Jean” Chen, also known as Maria Sofia Taylor, 60, a San Jose, California, immigration attorney, was extradited from the Kyrgyz Republic to face charges in the Northern District of California for allegedly committing visa fraud and related crimes to obtain immigration benefits for more than 100 foreign investors through the government’s Employment-Based Immigration Fifth Preference, or “EB-5,” visa program. Chen is the first extradition from the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States on federal criminal charges.

    The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendants’ arrests and extraditions along with the U.S. Marshals Service. The Justice Department thanks and acknowledges the instrumental role of its law enforcement partners in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom for making these extraditions possible.

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

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Security: United States Secures Extradition of More Than a Dozen Fugitives from 10 Countries

    Source: United States Attorneys General 1

    Defendants Wanted for Murders, Drug Trafficking, Alien Smuggling, and Cybercrime in the District of Columbia, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Texas, and Washington State

    Extensive coordination and cooperation efforts between the U.S. Department of Justice and law enforcement authorities in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom resulted in the extraditions this month of alleged murderers, a child rapist, an MS-13 leader, an alien smuggler, Colombian drug traffickers, a Russian cybercriminal, a Nigerian fraudster, and an immigration scammer.

    “The dedicated, persistent work of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs with foreign partners resulted in the extradition of fugitives wanted in the United States for violent crimes,” said Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Matthew R. Galeotti. “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue and bring to justice in the United States transnational criminals and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad.”

    The fugitives extradited to the United States in March 2025 include:

    • Eswin Mejia, 28, was extradited from Honduras to face charges of vehicular homicide and failure to appear in court for the January 2016 killing of 21-year-old Sarah Root in Douglas County, Nebraska. Mejia was arrested and released on bond in February 2016 and subsequently fled the country to evade prosecution by the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.
    • Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48, an alleged leader of a Guatemala-based alien smuggling organization, was extradited from Guatemala to face charges in the Western District of Texas for his alleged role in the June 2022 San Antonio mass casualty incident that resulted in the death of 53 Guatemalan, Honduran, and Mexican nationals, including children, and the injury of 11 others.
    • Moises Humberto Rivera Luna, 55, an alleged international leader of the violent gang MS-13, was extradited from Guatemala to face racketeering conspiracy charges in the District of Columbia regarding racketeering activities to include murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, robberies, obstruction of justice, and other crimes.
    • Carlos Espino Farfan, 36, was extradited from Spain to face charges of first-degree felony rape of a child and first-degree felony sodomy upon a child filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
    • Jair Alberto Alvarez Valenzuela, 54, and Luis Carlos Diaz Martinez, 32, former Colombian Navy personnel were extradited to face charges in the Middle District of Florida for their alleged role in selling locations of Colombian Navy drug interdiction vessels to international drug traffickers.
    • Louie Hernandez, 61, was extradited from Mexico to face charges in King County, Washington, of first-degree murder in connection with the February 2024 fatal shooting of his alleged estranged partner, Reyna Hernandez.
    • Juan Ramirez, 37, was extradited from Mexico to face charges in Santa Clara, California, for the March 22, 2013, fatal stabbing of 29-year-old Sandra Cruzes-Gonsalez.
    • Solomon Sincler Gheorghe, 20, an Irish national, was extradited from France to face charges in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, of felony death by motor vehicle and felony serious injury by vehicle. Gheorghe is alleged to have been impaired by alcohol and drugs when he caused a multi-vehicle wreck on Sept. 20, 2023, resulting in the deaths of two adults and a 12-year-old boy, and with injury to others.
    • Rostislav Panev, 51, a dual Russian and Israeli national, was extradited from Israel to faces charges in the District of New Jersey for his alleged role as a developer for the LockBit ransomware group from its inception in or around 2019 through at least February 2024. The LockBit group has attacked more than 2,500 victims in at least 120 countries around the world, including 1,800 in the United States.
    • Marco Tulio Fernandez-Rodriguez, 24, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was extradited from the Dominican Republic to face charges in the Southern District of New York of murder, narcotics, and firearms in connection with his alleged role in an attempted gunpoint robbery of a Mount Vernon, New York, warehouse that sold various unlicensed marijuana and nicotine products. Two people — one employee of the warehouse and one member of the roughly 15-man robbery crew — were shot and killed during the failed robbery attempt.
    • Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, 41, a Nigerian national, was extradited from the United Kingdom to face charges in the Southern District of Florida for allegedly engaging in a transnational criminal organization that operated an inheritance fraud scheme targeting elder U.S. consumers.
    • Bikramjit Ahluwalia, 39, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates living in Dubai, was extradited from Spain to face charges in the Western District of North Carolina of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to damage a protected computer, and wire fraud for his alleged role in an extensive tech support fraud scheme.
    • Danhong “Jean” Chen, also known as Maria Sofia Taylor, 60, a San Jose, California, immigration attorney, was extradited from the Kyrgyz Republic to face charges in the Northern District of California for allegedly committing visa fraud and related crimes to obtain immigration benefits for more than 100 foreign investors through the government’s Employment-Based Immigration Fifth Preference, or “EB-5,” visa program. Chen is the first extradition from the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States on federal criminal charges.

    The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendants’ arrests and extraditions along with the U.S. Marshals Service. The Justice Department thanks and acknowledges the instrumental role of its law enforcement partners in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom for making these extraditions possible.

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

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI: Medallion Bank Announces Benchmark Rate for Certain Preferred Stock

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SALT LAKE CITY, March 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Medallion Bank (Nasdaq: MBNKP, the “Bank”) today announced that, upon the commencement of the floating rate period for the Bank’s Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series F (the “Series F Preferred”) on April 1, 2025, the benchmark rate used to determine the dividend rate for each dividend period during the floating rate period will be three-month CME Term SOFR (“Term SOFR”). In addition, the dividend payment rate determination date for determining Term SOFR will be the second U.S. government securities business day preceding the first day of the relevant dividend period. The Series F Preferred trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “MBNKP.”

    About Medallion Bank

    Medallion Bank specializes in providing consumer loans for the purchase of recreational vehicles, boats, and home improvements, along with loan origination services to fintech strategic partners. The Bank works directly with thousands of dealers, contractors and financial service providers serving their customers throughout the United States. Medallion Bank is a Utah-chartered, FDIC-insured industrial bank headquartered in Salt Lake City and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Medallion Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: MFIN).

    For more information, visit www.medallionbank.com

    Company Contact:
    Investor Relations
    212-328-2176
    InvestorRelations@medallion.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Aimfinity Investment Corp. I Announces Approval by Shareholders of its Business Combination with Docter Inc.

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Wilmington, DE, March 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aimfinity Investment Corp. I (the “AIMA”) (Nasdaq: AIMAU), a special purpose acquisition company, today announced that, the previously announced business combination (the “Business Combination”) between AIMA and Docter Inc. (“Docter”), a Taiwanese health technology company, was approved at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “EGM”) of AIMA on March 27, 2025. Approximately 93.8% of the votes cast at the EGM were in favor of the Business Combination.

    In addition, in order to extend the date by which AIMA must complete the Business Combination from March 28, 2025 to April 28, 2025, on March 28, 2025, I-Fa Chang, manager of the sponsor of AIMA, deposited into AIMA’s trust account (the “Trust Account”) an aggregate of $55,823.80, or $0.05 per Class A ordinary share held by public shareholders of AIMA (the “Monthly Extension Payment”).

    Pursuant to AIMA’s fourth amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (“Current Charter”), effective January 9, 2025, AIMA may extend the date by which AIMA must complete the Business Combination on a monthly basis from January 28, 2025 until October 28, 2025 or such earlier date as may be determined by its board of directors by depositing the Monthly Extension Payment for each month into the Trust Account. This is the third of nine monthly extensions available under the Current Charter of AIMA.  

    About Aimfinity Investment Corp. I

    Aimfinity Investment Corp. I is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on merging with high-growth potential businesses and facilitating their entry into the capital markets.

    About Docter Inc.

    Docter Inc. is a leading health technology company dedicated to developing innovative health monitoring solutions that enhance the accessibility and efficiency of global healthcare services.   

    Additional Information and Where to Find It

    As previously disclosed, on October 13, 2023, AIMA entered into that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger (as may be amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Merger Agreement”), by and between AIMA, Docter, Aimfinity Investment Merger Sub I, a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly-owned subsidiary of AIMA (“Purchaser”), and Aimfinity Investment Merger Sub II, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Purchaser (“Merger Sub”), pursuant to which AIMA is proposing to enter into a business combination with Docter involving an reincorporation merger and an acquisition merger. This press release does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed business combination and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the business combination. AIMA’s shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the proxy statement/prospectus and the amendments thereto and other documents filed in connection with the proposed business combination, as these materials will contain important information about AIMA, Purchaser or Docter, and the proposed business combination. The proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials for the proposed business combination have been mailed to shareholders of AIMA as of the record date of February 25, 2025, established for voting on the proposed business combination. Such shareholders will also be able to obtain copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC, without charge, once available, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or by directing a request to AIMA’s principal office at 221 W 9th St, PMB 235 Wilmington, Delaware 19801.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the proposed transactions described herein, and the parties’ perspectives and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the proposed transaction, including the anticipated initial enterprise value and post-closing equity value, the benefits of the proposed transaction, integration plans, expected synergies and revenue opportunities, anticipated future financial and operating performance and results, including estimates for growth, the expected management and governance of the combined company, and the expected timing of the proposed transactions. The words “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan” and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, assumptions (including assumptions about general economic, market, industry and operational factors), known or unknown, which could cause the actual results to vary materially from those indicated or anticipated.

    Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) risks related to the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the proposed business combination, including the risk that the transaction may not close due to one or more closing conditions to the transaction not being satisfied or waived, such as regulatory approvals not being obtained, on a timely basis or otherwise, or that a governmental entity prohibited, delayed or refused to grant approval for the consummation of the transaction or required certain conditions, limitations or restrictions in connection with such approvals; (ii) risks related to the ability of AIMA and Docter to successfully integrate the businesses; (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the applicable transaction agreements; (iv) the risk that there may be a material adverse change with respect to the financial position, performance, operations or prospects of AIMA or Docter; (v) risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction; (vi) the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of AIMA’s securities; (vii) the risk that the proposed transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of Docter to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally; (viii) risks relating to the medical device industry, including but not limited to governmental regulatory and enforcement changes, market competitions, competitive product and pricing activity; and (ix) risks relating to the combined company’s ability to enhance its products and services, execute its business strategy, expand its customer base and maintain stable relationship with its business partners.
      
    A further list and description of risks and uncertainties can be found in the prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 26, 2022 relating to AIMA’s initial public offering (File No. 333-263874), the annual report of AIMA on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on July 29, 2024, and in the final prospectus/proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 6, 2025 relating to the proposed transactions (File No. 333-284658) (the “Final Prospectus”), and other documents that the parties may file or furnish with the SEC, which you are encouraged to read. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date they were made, and AIMA, Docter, and their subsidiaries or affiliates undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made except as required by law or applicable regulation.

    Additional Information and Where to Find It

    In connection with the proposed transactions described herein, Purchaser filed the Final Prospectus with the SEC on March 6, 2025. The proxy statement and a proxy card will be mailed to AIMA’s shareholders of record as of February 25, 2025. Shareholders of AIMA will also be able to obtain a copy of the Final Prospectus without charge from AIMA. The Final Prospectus may also be obtained without charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF AIMA ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS THAT AIMA WILL FILE WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT AIMA, DOCTER AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS. 

    Participants in the Solicitation

    AIMA, Docter, and their respective directors, executive officers, other members of management, and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of AIMA’s shareholders in connection with the proposed transactions described herein. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of AIMA’s shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination is set forth in the Final Prospectus.

    No Offer or Solicitation

    This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of any potential transaction and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of AIMA, Purchaser or Docter, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act or an exemption therefrom.

    Contact Information:

    Aimfinity Investment Corp. I
    I-Fa Chang
    Chief Executive Officer
    221 W 9th St, PMB 235
    Wilmington, Delaware 19801
    ceo@aimfinityspac.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Arbor Realty Trust Declares Preferred Stock Dividends

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    UNIONDALE, N.Y., March 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ABR), today announced that its Board of Directors has declared cash dividends on the Company’s Series D, Series E, and Series F cumulative redeemable preferred stock of $0.3984375, $0.390625, and $0.390625 per share, respectively. The Series D, E, and F preferred stock dividends reflect accrued dividends from January 30, 2025 through April 29, 2025. The dividends are payable on April 30, 2025 to preferred stockholders of record on April 15, 2025.

    About Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.

    Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ABR) is a nationwide real estate investment trust and direct lender, providing loan origination and servicing for multifamily, single-family rental (SFR) portfolios, and other diverse commercial real estate assets. Headquartered in New York, Arbor manages a multibillion-dollar servicing portfolio, specializing in government-sponsored enterprise products. Arbor is a leading Fannie Mae DUS® lender and Freddie Mac Optigo® Seller/Servicer, and an approved FHA Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) lender. Arbor’s product platform also includes bridge, CMBS, mezzanine and preferred equity loans. Rated by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, Arbor is committed to building on its reputation for service, quality and customized solutions with an unparalleled dedication to providing our clients excellence over the entire life of a loan.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    Certain items in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Arbor can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Arbor’s expectations include, but are not limited to, changes in economic conditions generally, and the real estate markets specifically, continued ability to source new investments, changes in interest rates and/or credit spreads, and other risks detailed in Arbor’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and its other reports filed with the SEC. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Arbor expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Arbor’s expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

    Contact:
    Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.
    Investor Relations
    516-506-4200
    InvestorRelations@arbor.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI USA News: WEEK TEN WINS: President Trump Fuels America’s Golden Age

    Source: The White House

    Ten weeks into his second term, President Donald J. Trump keeps delivering transformative wins for the American people — empowering our workers, securing our nation, and cementing our leadership as the envy of the world.

    Here is a non-comprehensive list of wins in week ten:

    • President Trump’s effort to secure the homeland continued in force.
      • The Trump Administration directed the successful apprehension of a key MS-13 gang leader — an illegal immigrant living in Virginia and operating as one of the top three MS-13 leaders in the U.S.
      • ICE arrested 370+ illegal immigrants as part of a major operation in Massachusetts — many of whom have serious criminal convictions and charges, including murder, child rape, fentanyl trafficking, and armed robbery.
    • President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on imports of foreign automobiles and certain auto parts to end unfair trade practices and protect national security.
      • United Auto Workers: “We applaud the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working class communities for decades. Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals, and the Trump administration has made history with today’s actions.”
    • President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all goods from countries that import Venezuelan oil to sever the financial lifelines of the corrupt Maduro regime.
    • President Trump’s unrelenting pursuit of American manufacturing dominance continued to deliver results.
      • Hyundai announced a $20 billion investment in the U.S., which will create 14,000 new jobs. The investment includes $5.8 billion for a new steel plant in Louisiana, which will create nearly 1,500 jobs.
      • Schneider Electric announced it will invest $700 million over the next four years in U.S. energy infrastructure.
      • Rolls-Royce is expected to shift production to the U.S. and expand its domestic workforce.
      • Vietnam announced it will cut duties on U.S. imports, including liquefied natural gas and automobiles.
    • President Trump continued to pursue peace through strength around the world.
      • U.S. airstrikes eliminated dozens of ISIS jihadis hiding within a cave complex in Somalia.
      • Following U.S.-led negotiations, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a Black Sea ceasefire.
    • President Trump’s economic agenda delivered more relief for Americans.
      • Large egg prices have dropped nearly 60% since last month amid the Trump Administration’s efforts to combat the avian bird flu and repopulate the chicken supply.
      • New data showed new home sales rose 5.1% over last year — with median home prices down 1.5% over last year and 3% over January.
    • The President signed several key executive orders to improve our nation.
      • President Trump signed an executive order aimed at making Washington, D.C., safe, beautiful, and the greatest capital city in the world.
      • President Trump signed an executive order on election integrity, including requiring proof of citizenship in voter registration, setting standards for voting equipment, identifying election fraud, and banning foreign interference in elections.
      • President Trump signed executive orders to protect America’s bank account against waste, fraud, and abuse and modernize payments.
      • President Trump signed an executive order exempting agencies with national security missions from federal collective bargaining requirements in order to bolster border, national, and energy security.
      • President Trump signed an executive order to remove anti-American propaganda from federal museums and national parks.
      • President Trump ordered the immediate declassification of all FBI files related to the sham Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
    • The Department of the Interior disbursed $350 million in energy revenues from the Gulf of America to oil-and-gas-producing states, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
    • The Department of the Interior announced nearly $40 million in total receipts from its first oil and gas lease sales of the year.
    • The Department of Commerce blacklisted more than 50 Chinese companies in a bid to reduce the Chinese Communist Party’s intellectual property theft.
    • The Department of Housing and Urban Development canceled taxpayer-backed mortgages for illegal immigrants.
    • The Department of Energy slashed unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that accounted for 60% of costs when building and purchasing new laboratories.
    • The Department of Health and Human Services axed $300 million in grants to California related to radical gender ideology and DEI.
    • The Department of Health and Human Services formally warned California for allowing graphic sex education, including about sex toys and “role-plays,” to be taught to children as young as ten years old.
    • The Department of Education revoked waivers that allowed certain colleges to divert federal funds intended for low-income students and students with disabilities to illegal immigrants.
    • The Department of Education launched an investigation into the California Department of Education for withholding information from parents about their child’s gender identity.
    • The Department of Education launched an investigation into Portland Public Schools and the Oregon School Activities Association for allowing a male student athlete to compete in a girls’ track and field competition.
    • The Department of Agriculture reinstated critical reports canceled by the Biden Administration, including the July Cattle Report and the County Estimates for Crops and Livestock — giving farmers the data needed to make important decisions for their operations.
    • The Department of Agriculture announced an investigation into California for possible noncompliance with President Trump’s executive order on radical transgender ideology.
    • The Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against additional Iranian intelligence officers involved in the probable death and cover-up of FBI Special Agent Bob Levinson.
    • The Department of Labor canceled nearly $600 million in “America Last” grants, including millions for “gender equity in the Mexican workplace” and “assisting foreign migrant workers” in Malaysia.
    • The Department of Justice seized hundreds of thousands of dollars of cryptocurrency intended to support Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
    • The Environmental Protection Agency terminated a $2 billion Biden-era grant to a non-governmental organization linked to partisan politics.
    • The Environmental Protection Agency announced it “successfully completed its mission assignment in Western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.”
    • The Office of Management and Budget cut a wasteful $3 billion Biden-era slush fund.
    • The Small Business Administration announced actions to reverse Biden-era mismanagement of its Core 7(a) loan program.
    • The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a $1 billion contract for dozens of heavy icebreaker ships — which play a critical role in the defense of American interests.
    • The University of Michigan announced it will end its “diversity, equity, and inclusion”-related programming following President Trump’s executive order earlier this year.
    • President Trump’s nominees continue to be confirmed at a rapid pace, with the Senate confirming Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, and Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Dan Bishop.
    • President Trump pardoned Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden whose key testimony in the Biden corruption scandal made him a target for prosecution by the Biden Administration.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Labrador Letter – Welcome to K-9 Badger

    Source: US State of Idaho

    (L-R) Attorney General Raúl Labrador, K-9 Badger, ICAC Investigator Lauren Lane

    Dear Friends,
    My personal philosophy is that the government, in general, should do a lot less.  But whatever tasks remain, it should do very well.  That’s certainly the case for our office’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, where our team investigates and prosecutes those accused of using the internet to exploit, extort and abuse children, including crimes of enticement and child pornography.
    Over the last two years, our ICAC Unit has exceeded every expectation and metric for performance that we’ve set.  Idaho’s ICAC continues to raise the bar and even serves as a nationwide model for other states to follow.  It delivers real results for the people of Idaho when it comes to protecting our children and keeping predators off the streets and behind bars.
    In support of our ongoing efforts to keep kids safe, I am pleased to introduce the newest team member of ICAC:  K-9 Badger.   Badger, a two-year-old English Labrador, is specifically trained to detect hidden electronic storage devices, like SD cards, flash drives, concealed cameras, hard drives, cell phones, and other technology used to store child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.  K-9s like Badger are invaluable on search warrants when suspects conceal devices containing child pornography.
    Some K-9s sniff for drugs or bombs and the chemical signatures unique to those items, picked up by the incredibly sensitive canine noses. The science is no different with Badger.  He is trained to detect a very specific chemical, triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO), sprayed on all electronic circuit boards during the manufacturing process to dissipate heat. Badger is one of only 195 K-9s worldwide trained to detect TPPO, even in challenging environments, including underwater.  Badger is a potent weapon for our ICAC investigators.
    In addition to detecting electronic storage devices.  Badger is also dual certified as a therapy dog and will assist with relatives and victims during search warrants and throughout the legal process.  Badger will also accompany his handler during educational presentations throughout Idaho.
    Badger joins a dedicated team of ICAC professionals in my office, and a growing ICAC network of affiliated law enforcement agencies across Idaho, sharing resources and intelligence to investigate and prosecute these cases.
    I’m happy to have another Labrador on the team!
    Best regards,
    Not yet subscribed to the Labrador Letter?  Click HERE to get our weekly newsletter and updates.  Miss an issue?  Labrador Letters are archived on the Attorney General website.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Robert Garcia Statement on Politically Motivated Arrests Toward Peaceful University Protestors

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Robert Garcia California (42nd District)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) released the following statement after the arrest and detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, as well as other similar incidents across the nation.

    “Donald Trump and Secretary Noem are trying to destroy basic freedoms of speech and first amendment rights,” said Congressman Garcia. “Using ICE agents to arrest students without evidence of any crime is unacceptable. These detentions without due process must be stopped. We must fight back to protect our civil liberties and ensure this administration isn’t unlawfully silencing those peacefully exercising their rights.”

    “We should all be angered by the politically-motivated detentions and arrests of students like Rumeysa Ozturk – who was grabbed on the way to a Ramadan iftar dinner – and Mahmoud Khalil, without due process or evidence of any crimes. As an immigrant, I know the fear of deportation. Revoking legal status without due process is completely unacceptable. The administration must produce lawful justification for their actions or release both students immediately.”

    Congressman Garcia has always been a fierce defender of our rights and the freedom of speech, standing strong against any efforts to undermine the core values of our democracy. At the first DOGE Subcommittee hearing in February, Congressman Garcia called out Elon Musk for leading a power grab against our democracy. When Washington D.C.’s Acting U.S. Attorney, a Trump appointee, sent a threatening letter in a clear attempt to silence him, Congressman Garcia refused to back down. Congressman Garcia will continue to fight against the growing influence of those who seek to undermine our democracy and our freedoms.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin, Blumenthal, Hirono, Padilla Send Letter To Deputy Director Bongino Raising Concerns Over His Ability To Lead The FBI

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    March 28, 2025

    Senators to FBI Deputy Director Bongino: “As the newly appointed Deputy Director, your past public statements raise concerns about your ability to impartially lead the Bureau and credibly command the respect of its workforce”

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), sent a letter to the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Dan Bongino, raising serious concerns over his ability to lead the Bureau with FBI Director Kash Patel. Deputy Director Bongino is a former conservative political commentator, podcast host, and conspiracy theorist peddler. The position of the FBI Deputy Director is not Senate-confirmed.

    The Senators wrote, “As the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) finalizes its new leadership structure, we are deeply concerned that Director Kash Patel’s senior leadership team is unprepared forthe challenges of managing our nation’s premier law enforcement agency and its approximately 38,000 public servants.”

    “As the newly appointed Deputy Director, your past public statements—which include inflammatory remarks and unsubstantiated accusations against the FBI, including calling for the Bureau’s disbandment—raise concerns about your ability to impartially lead the Bureau and credibly command the respect of its workforce. Your record, on the other hand, does not reflect the expertise required to manage the FBI’s complex and expansive operations,” the Senators continued.

    In the letter, the Senators ask for clarification regarding Deputy Director Bongino’s past controversial comments including when he said on his podcast, “The only thing that is going to stop the FBI from doing what they’re doing now, which is become full-time activists and bouncers, in many cases, thugs for the Democrat [sic] party, is imposing real material losses on them (emphasis added). Fire everyone involved in this stuff. Everyone—no excuses. Disband the entity.”

    On November 14, 2024, Deputy Director Bongino described the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and the placement of pipe bombs outside of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters as an “inside job” and said, “There is a massive cover-up, because the person who planted those pipe bombs—they don’t want you to know who it was, because it’s either a connected anti-Trump insider, or this was an inside job. Those bombs were planted there. This was a setup. I have zero doubt… And whoever goes into FBI… you better get an answer… about why.” He continued to say, “It is clear, this all adds up to they know who this person is. They just don’t want you to know who this it is. Later in the podcast, Bongino went on to say that “the FBI knew the entire time the identity of this person and then tried to unknow it, because it was an insider and an inside attack and a plot to, you know, stop Republicans from questioning the election results.

    The Senators continued, “Your claim that the FBI is responsible for a cover-up is an extremely serious allegation that you have an obligation either to substantiate or repudiate. Now that you have access to the information you have long claimed that the FBI possesses, can you answer who was responsible for the pipe bombs on January 6, 2021 and provide evidence proving their identity to the public and Congress? If no, will you apologize to the men and women of the FBI for spreading this dangerous and irresponsible lie?”

    The Senators asked for clarification of these statements by April 11, 2025.

    The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

    Dear Deputy Director Bongino:

    As the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) finalizes its new leadership structure, we are deeply concerned that Director Kash Patel’s senior leadership team is unprepared for the challenges of managing our nation’s premier law enforcement agency and its approximately 38,000 public servants. As the newly appointed Deputy Director, your past public statements—which include inflammatory remarks and unsubstantiated accusations against the FBI, including calling for the Bureau’s disbandment—raise concerns about your ability to impartially lead the Bureau and credibly command the respect of its workforce. The Deputy Director oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities and has historically been a career agent with extensive experience in the Bureau. Your record, on the other hand, does not reflect the expertise required to manage the FBI’s complex and expansive operations. To help address these concerns, we ask that you answer the following questions by April 11, 2025:

    1. You previously said, “We don’t just fire the people who did this. Everyone who stood by and did nothing while the Department of Justice and the FBI have been ravaged, ravaged by ‘corruptocrats’ [sic].Everyone gets fired. Everyone (emphasis added).” As Deputy Director, do you still believe that every one of the FBI’s employees who “stood by” should be fired? How do you intend to determine which of the FBI’s approximately 38,000 employees “stood by”?
    2. On September 26, 2022, you said on your podcast: “The only thing that is going to stop the FBI from doing what they’re doing now, which is become full-time activists and bouncers, in many cases, thugs for the Democrat [sic] party, is imposing real material losses on them (emphasis added). Fire everyone involved in this stuff. Everyone—no excuses. Disband the entity.” Now that you are a member of the Bureau’s senior leadership team, do you believe the thousands of personnel who report to you still need to suffer “real material losses”? Do you still believe the FBI should be disbanded? If yes, how do you plan on implementing such an agenda?
    3. On August 29, 2024, in response to the FBI releasing information about the Butler assassination attempt, you posted: “Folks, the FBI is at it again. I don’t trust these people at all.” How can the FBI’s career law enforcement personnel earn your trust in light of this statement? Conversely, how do you intend to earn their trust when you have spent years attacking their integrity?
    4. On November 14, 2024, you described the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the placement of pipe bombs outside of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters as an “inside job” and said:

    There is a massive cover-up, because the person who planted those pipe bombs—they don’t want you to know who it was, because it’s either a connected anti-Trump insider, or this was an inside job. Those bombs were planted there. This was a setup. I have zero doubt…. And whoever goes into FBI… you better get an answer… about why.

    Now that you are inside the FBI, have you seen evidence to prove your implausible and outrageous allegation that the January 6 attack was an “inside job”? If yes, when do you plan to provide that evidence to the public and Congress? If no, will you apologize to the American people for perpetuating this baseless conspiracy theory?

    1. Earlier this year, you said on your podcast about the unsolved January 6, 2021 pipe bombs case:

    It is clear, this all adds up to they know who this person is. They just don’t want you to know who this it is. Later in the podcast, you went on to say that “the FBI knew the entire time the identity of this person and then tried to unknow it, because it was an insider and an inside attack and a plot to, you know, stop Republicans from questioning the election results.

    You then claimed that “they did conduct an investigation, a legitimate one, for probably a couple of weeks because a friend of mine, who’s a federal agent, was involved in it. And they told him, once they started to hone in on who it was, to stand down.” We are disappointed that the pipe bomb case remains unsolved, given the significant danger this threat presented to the public, staff, and elected officials at the RNC and DNC on January 6, 2021. Your claim that the FBI is responsible for a cover-up is an extremely serious allegation that you have an obligation either to substantiate or repudiate. Now that you have access to the information you have long claimed that the FBI possesses, can you answer who was responsible for the pipe bombs on January 6, 2021 and provide evidence proving their identity to the public and Congress? If no, will you apologize to the men and women of the FBI for spreading this dangerous and irresponsible lie?

    Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

    Sincerely,

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: News 03/27/2025 Senate Democrats Block Blackburn Resolution Condemning Violence Against Tesla

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor before and after Senate Democrats blocked her resolution condemning the recent acts of violence, arson, and domestic terrorism committed against Tesla properties throughout the United States. Click here to read the full resolution.

    REMARKS AS PREPARED

    Elon Musk Is a Patriot for Tackling One of the Biggest Threats our Nation Faces: $36 Trillion in Debt

    Mr. President, there can be no doubt that Elon Musk is a patriot. 

    He has revolutionized entire industries with his companies—from PayPal and Tesla to SpaceX and Neuralink.

    Across his businesses, there are a lot of things he could be working on. But when President Trump asked him to join the administration, he answered the call and committed himself to serving the American people.

    In many ways, he is tackling one of the biggest threats our nation faces: our $36 trillion debt. 

    Elon understands that our fiscal path is unsustainable.

    Today, we are spending more money to service our debt than to fund our entire military.

    And as our debt grows, it will become more and more difficult to fund basic government functions.

    That’s why he is leading the Department of Government Efficiency: to rein in reckless spending and put our country on a better fiscal path.

    So far, DOGE has had a lot of success. In just two months, they have discovered $130 billion in potential savings by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government.

    They hope that number will reach $2 trillion by Independence Day next year—our nation’s 250th birthday.

    The Radical Left Is Targeting Elon Musk for Helping President Trump

    Every American should be applauding this effort. Our children and grandchildren’s future depends on it.

    But because Elon is helping President Trump, he has become a target for the radical Left—which has launched a domestic terrorism campaign against his company, Tesla. 

    In Las Vegas, suspects set Tesla vehicles on fire with Molotov cocktails.

    In Oregon, a man shot up a Tesla dealership.

    And across the country, Tesla owners have had their cars destroyed with arson and vandalism.

    Now, Democrat-aligned groups are organizing a “Global Day of Action” on Saturday to target Tesla.

    Democrats Are Eerily Silent While the Left Launches Domestic Terrorism Campaign Against Tesla

    The reason for this campaign is simple: In November, the American people rejected the Left’s radical agenda.

    They’ve lost the debate. But instead of making a better pitch to voters, they are trying to stop Republicans with violence and intimidation.

    The Democrats spent the last four years denouncing domestic terrorism and supporting electric vehicles, yet now they are eerily silent.

    And when they do comment, they celebrate Tesla’s setbacks.

    Tim Walz—Democrats’ failed vice presidential candidate—claimed he gets a daily “boost” from checking on Tesla’s stock price, which has declined amid the terrorism campaign.

    Democrat ally and late night host Jimmy Kimmel seemed to endorse the violence, sarcastically telling his audience, “Don’t ever vandalize Tesla vehicles.”

    Last week, Democrat congresswoman Jasmine Crockett said that all she wants for her birthday is to “see Elon taken down.”

    Democrats Must Condemn Political Violence Against Tesla

    This rhetoric is inexcusable. And as the world’s greatest legislative body, we should jointly condemn political violence.

    That’s why I am asking for unanimous consent to pass my resolution that condemns the horrific acts of violence, arson, and domestic terrorism committed against Tesla dealerships and facilities across the country.

    There is absolutely no reason why Democrats should oppose this resolution. They should join Republicans and let the United States Senate speak with one voice: political violence and domestic terrorism have no place in our country.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 1526, NORRA of 2025

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 1526 would limit the ability of U.S. district courts to issue broad injunctive relief that applies to nonparties. (Nonparties are individuals or entities not directly involved in a legal case.) Under current law, parties often seek injunctive and other forms of relief in federal courts to challenge federal laws, executive actions, and regulations. Injunctions and certain other forms of relief issued by judges in those cases can sometimes apply to nonparties.

    Under the bill, district courts could only issue injunctions that provide relief to parties participating in the case (and to nonparties that are represented by parties in the case, such as in a class action). In a case brought by two or more state governments located in different circuits, H.R. 1526 would allow for a three-judge panel to provide injunctive relief that would otherwise be prohibited by the bill.

    H.R. 1526 would not block district courts from issuing other forms of relief that can affect nonparties. For example, a district court could still vacate an agency action, such as by setting aside a new regulation, which could have similar effects on nonparties as injunctive relief.

    Because many federal actions, such as executive orders and regulations promulgated by agencies, affect direct spending, revenues, and spending subject to appropriation, CBO expects that enacting the bill could have significant budgetary effects, depending on the extent to which judges choose to rely instead on other types of relief like vacatur. CBO cannot predict what actions will be litigated or the decisions that judges will make. Accordingly, CBO has no basis for estimating the budgetary effects of H.R. 1526.

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

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Security: Superseding Indictment Charges Fourth Member of Robbery Crew Allegedly Responsible for Eight-Month Robbery Spree in Chicago

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHICAGO — A federal superseding indictment unsealed today charges a fourth member of a robbery crew allegedly responsible for violently robbing multiple liquor stores, convenience stores, and bars in Chicago.

    XAVIER HARRIS conspired with his brother, ARDARIES HARRIS, and JORDAN FOX and ROOSEVELT VEAL to rob more than a dozen Chicago businesses in 2023 and 2024, according to the superseding indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The robbers used stolen cars as getaway vehicles, wore masks, and brandished firearms in the heists.  In some of the robberies, members of the crew fired shots from machine guns, the indictment states.

    Ardaries Harris, 27, of Chicago, Fox, 25, of Chicago, and Veal 27, of Rockford, Ill., were originally charged last year with conspiracy, robbery, and firearm offenses in connection with five robberies or attempted robberies.  The superseding indictment adds Xavier Harris as a defendant, charges ten additional robberies or attempted robberies, and raises the mandatory minimum sentence for Ardaries Harris, Fox, and Veal to thirty years each. Xavier Harris faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 21 years.  The maximum sentence for each of the defendants is life in prison.

    Xavier Harris, 26, of Chicago, was arrested on Thursday.  He was arraigned today in federal court and pleaded not guilty to the charges in the superseding indictment.  The three other defendants were already in federal custody and will be arraigned at a later date.

    According to the superseding indictment, the defendants conspired to commit the following robberies or attempted robberies in Chicago:

    • Aug. 24, 2023: Ace’s Liquor and Tap, 4400 block of West Armitage Avenue.
    • Nov. 24, 2023: Super Saving Food, 4400 block of West Belmont Avenue.
    • Jan. 10, 2024: A&R Food Mart, 5900 block of West Grand Avenue.
    • Jan. 11, 2024: Central Extra Value Food and Liquor, 2900 block of North Central Avenue.
    • Jan. 13, 2024: Buchanas Food & Liquor, 1800 block of West 47th Street.
    • Jan. 15, 2024: Mr. P Beverage Depot, 2000 block of West Division Street.
    • Jan. 15, 2024: Before You Go Liquor, 1900 block of West Fullerton Avenue.
    • Jan. 15, 2024: Clybourn Market, 2800 block of North Clybourn Avenue.
    • May 3, 2024: Humboldt Haus Liquor, 2900 block of West North Avenue.
    • May 3, 2024: Gladstone Food Mart, 5700 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
    • May 4, 2024: Irish Nobleman Pub, 1300 block of West Erie Street.
    • May 7, 2024: Buchanas Food & Liquor, 1800 block of West 47th Street.
    • May 7, 2024: El Trebol Liquors and Bar, 1100 block of West 18th Street.
    • May 7, 2024: Community Food and Liquor, 5500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
    • May 9, 2024: Basil Food & Liquor, 7700 block of North Western Avenue.

    The superseding indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  Valuable assistance was provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago, the Illinois State Police, and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Great Lakes Regional Task Force.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily C.R. Vermylen and Stephanie Stern.

    This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  The case was also conducted in coordination with ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago (CGIC), a centralized law enforcement hub that focuses exclusively on investigating and preventing gun violence in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois.

    The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Thibodaux Resident Guilty of Aggravated Identity Theft, Providing False Statement to Firearms Dealer, and Federal Agency

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that BRETT GABRIEL (“GABRIEL”), age 31, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, pleaded guilty on March 26, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo, to aggravated identity theft, providing a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm, and providing a false statement to an agency of the United States.  Sentencing is set for June 18, 2025.

    According to court documents, GABRIEL used stolen identity information to purchase an Angstadt Arms UDP-9 firearm, and to obtain fraudulent paycheck protection program loan proceeds, administered by the federal government.

    The maximum penalty for the firearm offense is ten years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.  The maximum penalty for the false statement offenses is five years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.  The aggravated identity offense also carries a mandatory minimum term of two years imprisonment to run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the United States Secret Service, and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Richard R. Pickens, II of the Financial Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

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

                                         

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chairman Wicker Warns of Putin’s Deceit in Ukraine-Russia Ceasefire Talks

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Mississippi Roger Wicker
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, yesterday delivered remarks on the Senate floor warning that Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted as negotiations to achieve a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict continue in Riyadh.
    In his remarks, Chairman Wicker explored the 20-year history of Putin’s lies in the service of fulfilling his true ambition: to resuscitate the old Soviet empire. He added analysis on the many ways that Vladimir Putin is still actively trying to undermine American interests, including through the imprisonment of U.S. citizens, previous attacks on U.S. soldiers, and a large nuclear strike complex specifically designed to threaten the United States.
    Chairman Wicker also made brief comments about the state of negotiations with Russia in Riyadh. In his remarks, Wicker noted the extreme asymmetry between Russian and American readouts of negotiations, and how concessions made by Ukraine differ from those made by Russia during talks.
    Ukraine, the Chairman said, has made a good-faith effort to reach an honorable settlement, while Russia appears to be attempting to extract concessions in an effort to boost its negotiating position. Chairman Wicker added that President Trump understands the kind of character that he is dealing with in Vladimir Putin and his true goals.
    Read Chairman Wicker’s full remarks in full below.
    Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to offer some remarks on the situation in Europe and the prospects for peace in Ukraine.
     
    We should start with recent positive developments. President Trump and President Zelenskyy have demonstrated remarkable resolve and remarkable wherewithal.
     
    Just this week, we heard news from the peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine publicly expressed openness to prisoner exchanges, a welcome development. Notably, Russia did not express such willingness.
     
    We should applaud Ukraine’s overtures. An agreement is within reach that reflects the common cause of the United States and Ukraine.
     
    Separately, much ink has been spilled on the economic investment deal. Less has been said about why the United States is interested in an investment deal with Ukraine. President Trump recognizes that America is better off when Ukraine is free, strong, and industrious. The economic investment deal shows that our president wants peace, and that he wants an honorable peace – one that endures, one that ensures the prosperity and protection of Ukraine and the United States.
     
    This peace will require that Russia put down its weapons in an enduring and verifiable way. It’s clear that Vladimir Putin does not share President Trump’s desire for peace. As Putin’s representatives prepare to sit down with American diplomats, President Putin has ordered salvo after salvo of missiles and drones to strike Ukrainian apartments, killing non-combatant women and children. These are not the gestures of a statesman who wants to negotiate peace. We’re dealing with a tyrant who speaks the language of war and terror.
     
    We have to deal with him, but that’s who he is.
     
    In recent decades, several successive United States presidents have extended the hand of peace to Mr. Putin. Each one of them had different tactics, but none of them achieved the outcome they desired. In this series of failed diplomacy, the common denominator was not the American presidents. Regardless of party, the common denominator was and is Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, a war criminal.
     
    So, we need to remind the American people of exactly what kind of strongman we’re dealing with here – the  kind of strong man we’re trying to negotiate with, the kind of strong man we’re forced to negotiate with.
     
    Vladimir Putin regrettably is not interested in peace, He’s interested in a phony deal. He’s shown this with his words, his acts of violence, and the peace agreements he has shredded.
     
    Dictators frequently tell us who they really are. In 2007, Putin stood before the Munich Security Conference, and he rejected a world in which nations cooperate. In his other writings, he has publicly mourned the collapse of the Soviet Empire, and he dreams of its resurrection. In 2021, President Putin wrote an essay laying the groundwork for his invasion of Ukraine. This was a year before the recent invasion. In it, he rejected the very right of the Ukrainian people to exist as a distinct and self-governing nation.
     
    This essay is full of lies; it would have made Adolf Hitler proud. But it shows one thing is true: Mr. Putin is a Russian imperialist to the core. Here’s a man who believes the greatest historical tragedy of the last 40 years was the collapse of the Soviet power and influence over Eastern Europe.
     
    Putin publicly proclaims his delusions of grandeur, but he has not stopped at words and speeches. He has used any means necessary to continue his decades-long political warfare against NATO. And he’s ruthlessly worked to achieve the empire he craves.
     
    In the year after his Munich speech, Vladimir Putin and his army invaded their neighbor, the Republic of Georgia. In the year after his essay about Ukraine, he invaded Ukraine. Mr. Putin no longer technically works for the KGB, but he still thinks like a KGB agent – the kind that uses chemical weapons to poison people living in Russia and all over the world. Exacting revenge on his critics without regard for international borders. He jails reporters and activists.
     
    Why does he do this? Because dictators actually live in fear of their own people.
     
    Putin has imprisoned scores of Americans in Russian gulags. He’s killed and kidnapped American citizens across the globe. His commandos have targeted our soldiers in Afghanistan. He has no respect for our country, or for human life in his country or any other country.
     
    And he has the weaponry to back up his threats. Mr. Putin sits atop the world’s largest and most diverse nuclear arsenal. And I might add that this arsenal is postured specifically at us to destroy the United States.
     
    In another perverse action, I have to say this, Mr. Putin has tried to co-opt Christianity, if you can believe that. He’s twisted a religion of repentance into a propaganda machine. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow professes to lead the Russian Orthodox Church. In reality, Kirill is a puppet of Vladimir Putin. His father baptized Vladimir Putin, and now Kirill follows his father’s footsteps by sanctifying the dictator’s crimes, Kirill has blessed the 2022 invasion of Ukraine absurdly claiming that the Russians are fighting against evil. As Patriarch, he blessed the invasion as Russia bombs Ukrainian women and children. Kirill invokes God’s name to justify Putin’s butchery. Kirill is the very definition of the prophet Isaiah’s portrait of corruption: corrupt men like him, those who call evil good, and good evil. Shame on this phony Patriarch.
     
    President Putin has publicly shared his imperialistic dreams. He has violently pursued those goals, even in God’s name. And along the way, he’s torn to shreds every ceasefire deal he’s ever signed.
     
    Now, before World War I, the Kaiser’s regime in Germany called a treaty a “mere scrap of paper.” Well, Vladimir Putin feels the same. He has no regard for the Budapest Memorandum. He has no regard for the INF Treaty. He has no regard for the Minsk Agreement. In each case, Putin has lied, stolen, and misdirected to further his empire-building ambitions.
     
    And that’s what he’s trying to do with the negotiations today. President Trump is interested in peace. President Zelenskyy is interested in peace. President Putin values peace as little as any piece of shredded paper he would deceitfully sign.
     
    Many people do not realize that the Ukrainians have been valiantly and steadily weakening Putin’s forces. Half a million Russian soldiers – half a million souls – have either been killed or injured so severely that they cannot return to the battlefield. That’s half a million Russian moms without sons, wives without husbands. That toll is steep and the blame rests upon one person: the man who ordered the invasion, Vladimir Putin and his imperialistic vision. Russia is barely managing to sustain this war, and I think Mr. President, the American people do not know this, but Russia’s barely hanging on.
     
    They are struggling from heavy battlefield costs and economic sanctions. We should not support a peace deal that could let Russia up off the mat and reconstitute its army. Both the previous and the current Secretaries-General of NATO expect that Russia will not be ready to threaten NATO conventionally for 5 to 7 years. The wrong deal with Russia could allow them to be off to the races sooner, and Russia wants just that.
     
    As we’ve seen this week, Putin is trying to work the peace process deceptively to skew it in his favor. This week, his office has pushed out messages from the peace talks in Riyadh. Putin’s officials maintain that the United States is prepared to lift a number of sanctions the West imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
     
    I certainly hope that’s not true. These Kremlin officials claim that we will soon readmit Russia to SWIFT. SWIFT, of course, is the global financial system that Russia depends on for global trade. Putin relies on trade to finance his war machine.
     
    The Russians also think we’re prepared to grant sanctions relief for any company that ships goods on vessels flying the Russian flag, or that could claim any ties to food production, shipping, or securities. Such a deal would be full of loopholes. Such a deal would be designed to let Russia, which is on the ropes, off the mat.
     
    Mr. Putin’s men asked for all of this, and yet they offer little in return. They won’t even talk about prisoner exchanges. That’s breathtaking, especially when Ukraine has publicly expressed openness to a ceasefire. They’re the ones that have publicly said they’ll agree to a ceasefire. Mr. Putin and his negotiators have never proclaimed that.
     
    The Ukrainians, who’ve been ruthlessly attacked, have extended the hand of peace. Russia still has not, even though it demands so much. Putin says he’s willing to work toward peace, but his demands show that he is lying. His demands make it clear that he intends to use the sanctions relief to rearm. It would be a mistake to grant sanctions relief to Russia without reciprocal support for Ukraine. Doing so would devastate the prospect of a lasting peace. And let me repeat: Mr. Putin has never agreed to a ceasefire to a treaty that resulted in a lasting peace.
     
    As we negotiate in Saudi Arabia, the United States must remember that Russia is barely managing to sustain this war. The economic and battlefield price is very costly for Mr. Putin. Undoing these sanctions would instantly lower Putin’s cost. It would evaporate the leverage these financial penalties have given to the United States and the free world.
     
    As I close, let me reiterate, Mr. President: many have tried to negotiate with Vladimir Putin on his terms. I think President Trump is beginning to understand that peace comes through American and Ukrainian strength, that dictators respond to power because it’s the only thing they respect.
     
    We need to see this Russian dictator and war criminal for what he is: a murderous dictator who hopes he can back us into a corner during the peace process, and thus pursue another invasion.
     
    If Vladimir Putin lives up to a ceasefire or peace treaty with Ukraine, it will be the first time ever. Vladimir Putin has a long track record and it’s filled with lies, violence, and treachery.
     
    That’s who we’re dealing with. We have to deal with him, but that’s who we’re dealing with. Getting a deal with him will be a challenge. We must bear history in mind if we are to reach a settlement that benefits the free countries of the world.
     
    Thank you, Mr. President, and I yield the floor.

    MIL OSI USA News