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Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI Global: Israel’s attacks have exposed weaknesses in Iran, but it’s in little danger of collapsing

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Farhang Morady, Principal Lecturer in International Development, University of Westminster

    The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that his country’s campaign in Iran “could certainly” lead to regime change. In an interview with Fox News on June 15, he called the government in Tehran “very weak” and added that, given the opportunity, “80% of the [Iranian] people would throw these theological thugs out”.

    Israel’s military actions so far indicate that its goals probably do extend beyond eliminating Iran’s nuclear programme. Airstrikes have targeted military leadership, internal security facilities and the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster. Israel’s aim is seemingly to destabilise the regime by inciting a popular uprising and fragmenting elite support.

    Tehran, meanwhile, has been eager to project an image of strength and stability. It has sought to illustrate its resilience and unity through constant coverage by state media, highlighting its military readiness while also broadcasting public displays of loyalty. Government officials have also visited affected regions.

    This raises the question: is more than four decades of theocratic rule in Iran really as close to collapse as Netanyahu says it is?

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    The Israeli attacks have exposed weaknesses in the Iranian state. Several senior military officials and top nuclear scientists have been killed, while Israel has been able to strike targets in the Iranian capital, Tehran, with relative ease after crippling Iran’s air defences.

    Strategic sites in Iran have proven vulnerable, with nuclear sites and military command headquarters hit hard. Many residents of Tehran have fled to other cities fearful that the situation will worsen.

    However, despite inflicting significant damage, the strikes have not caused the downfall of the regime’s core institutions. The deaths of at least 20 key commanders prompted the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to reshuffle Iran’s military leadership to maintain stability and control. New appointments were made swiftly.

    And, at least publicly, the Iranian elite is maintaining its position that the country can endure the crisis without giving in to foreign pressure. Khamenei has even warned the US president, Donald Trump, that the US will “face irreparable harm” should it become involved in the conflict.

    Diplomatic manoeuvres behind the scenes, however, suggest the regime is demonstrating a willingness to compromise to ensure its survival. An unverified Iranian diplomatic statement on June 16 even indicated that the regime would be willing to suspend uranium enrichment to maintain itself.

    The Iranian government is probably displaying confidence in public as a strategic move to prevent domestic unrest. Iran is facing significant economic, political and social challenges. Over 60% of its population is under 30 years old, and this demographic is increasingly disconnected from the principles promoted by the regime.

    Widespread protests erupted in 2022 following the death of a young woman called Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for allegedly violating hijab regulations. The protests demonstrated deep-seated discontent with the regime and its morality laws that dictate women’s attire and public behaviour.

    The protests were suppressed, but underlying discontent remains. Israeli leaders hope that striking Iran might start a chain reaction leading to an uprising that topples the Islamic Republic. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, hinted as much on June 19. He said the military has been instructed to intensify strikes on targets in Tehran in order to destabilise the “Ayatollah regime”.

    No imminent collapse

    Despite immense pressure, the collapse of Iran’s theocratic regime is not imminent. It continues to hold authority over its military and controls the media. The regime sustains itself through its powerful institutional base rather than public approval.

    Opposition movements are also fragmented and lack an organised structure. Groups like Mojahedin-e-Khalq and the movement led by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled eldest son of the last shah of Iran, have sought to gain influence with western support. However, they lack popular backing within Iran.

    The Islamic Republic appears to be on a path of gradual deterioration rather than complete collapse. However, Trump does appear to be warming to the idea of helping Israel overthrow the government in Tehran. And any US involvement would intensify pressure on the regime significantly.

    On June 17, Trump described Khamenei as an “easy target” who is safe only “for now”. Trump has since said his patience with Iran had run out, saying “I may do it, I may not do it” when asked a question about US involvement in Iran.

    The US possesses the 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bomb capable of damaging Iran’s deep-lying uranium enrichment facilities and the B-2 stealth bomber to carry it. And it has been moving military assets to its bases in the Middle East.

    It is uncertain whether these actions represent direct provocation or simply an attempt by Trump to exert more pressure on Iran to negotiate an end to the conflict.

    Trump’s camp is split over potential US involvement in Iran. Some US military and intelligence officials – including the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard – have expressed concerns about a direct confrontation.

    It is also possible that Israeli and US attempts to impose a change of government in Iran could even unite the regime. The Islamic Republic has a history of using foreign pressure to justify domestic crackdowns and increase its domestic control.

    The external efforts to accelerate the collapse of the regime could, somewhat counterintuitively, help the regime survive in the short-term while deeper internal problems continue to exist.

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

    – ref. Israel’s attacks have exposed weaknesses in Iran, but it’s in little danger of collapsing – https://theconversation.com/israels-attacks-have-exposed-weaknesses-in-iran-but-its-in-little-danger-of-collapsing-259230

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Jaws helped spur a fishing frenzy – so how have the world’s sharks fared since the 1975 release?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By David Sims, Professor of Marine Ecology, University of Southampton

    Steven Spielberg’s Jaws opened across North America on June 20 1975, and immediately tapped into the primal human fear of being hunted by a huge, savvy predator.

    Set on a fictional island off the coast of New England, the film depicts an epic battle between three men on a boat and an enormous great white shark. Jaws was hugely popular, grossing a record US$100 million in its first 59 days.

    Young and already mad about sharks, I left the film wanting to know more about their behaviour and ecology. But films affect people in different ways, and the movie has since spawned what social scientists call “the Jaws effect”.

    This contended that sharks became widely demonised as a result of the film’s depiction of them as relentless killers obsessed with attacking humans. Director Spielberg’s inspired use of fleeting glimpses of the shark’s fin knifing through the water, accompanied by the film’s sinister and unforgettable music, heightened those feelings. That’s how Jaws affected us. But 50 years on, how have shark populations fared?

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    Both Spielberg and Peter Benchley, Jaws author and screenplay contributor, regretted the film’s influence on public perception of sharks. Indeed, Benchley became an advocate for shark conservation who enjoyed working with scientists (I was invited onto his radio show to discuss my research satellite-tracking basking sharks).

    In the years following the film’s release, increasing numbers of sharks – including the movie’s great white – were reportedly killed in shark fishing tournaments that had risen in popularity.

    Sharks grow slowly, take a long time to reach sexual maturity and have relatively few offspring. This makes many species vulnerable to overfishing. Fishing at this level removes too many sharks from the population too quickly, such that the remaining sharks cannot replace them fast enough, and the population declines. A recorded decline can be relatively large if the starting population size is already small, like that of top predators such as the great white shark.

    Several data sources, including rod-and-reel and longline fishing, indicate a significant decline in the abundance of white sharks in the 1970s and 1980s along the US east coast where the film is set. The Jaws effect in action?

    Actually, rapid declines were not limited to US waters. White shark catches in bather protection nets off the southeast coast of Australia recorded a similarly large decrease in the mid-1970s. And this particular source suggests white shark populations had begun declining from the mid-1950s, 20 years before Jaws.

    Additional factors, such as commercial overfishing, were obviously at play. The film’s influence probably exacerbated white shark declines that were already happening.

    Globally, the white shark has been assessed as vulnerable by conservationists, with a decreasing population trend. Fortunately, there are signs of recovery.

    National protection measures for white sharks were implemented in the 1990s where these animals were formerly abundant, like the US, South Africa and Australia, and worldwide protections came a few years later.

    Since the 1990s, there have been apparent increases in abundance off the US east coast (when populations are so small and data so sparse, a short-term increase may not be a lasting trend). Welcome signs that measures such as prohibiting catches in 1997 are having a positive effect following decades of over-exploitation. But this species is still vulnerable to incidental capture, so protection measures must be maintained and enforced to sustain any recoveries.

    The Jaws effect was not limited to great white sharks. Many other large sharks were captured and killed in shark fishing tournaments that became more common following the film. Unfortunately, the killing continues in remaining US tournaments today.

    But over the past few decades the overwhelming cause of large shark declines globally, particularly in the open ocean far from shore, has been the expansion of industrial-scale commercial fisheries targeting sharks for their fins and meat.

    It was estimated in 2024 that fishing vessels are killing around 100 million sharks a year – a number that rose during the last decade. Nearly a third of shark species are now threatened with extinction.

    It was estimated in 2021 that the global abundance of shark and ray species which prowl the open ocean (such as the oceanic whitetip or shortfin mako) has declined by an average of 71% since 1970 due to rocketing fishing pressure on the high seas (areas beyond national jurisdictions).

    My own research analysing shark satellite tracks in collaboration with over 150 shark scientists, showed that 24% of the space used by these sharks each month on average falls under the footprint of surface longline fisheries. These include vessels that can deploy lines 100km-long carrying 1,000 baited hooks for up to 24 hours. We found the overlap was even greater, about 75%, for commercially valuable species such as the blue shark.

    More sharks die in these overlap hotspots than in adjacent areas, according to more recent research.

    Demystifying Jaws

    Are there any signs of recovery for these species under existing management measures? For many oceanic sharks, the answer is still no.

    At present, measures in place (if any) on the high seas are insufficient to safeguard populations. There is very little or no protection of shark activity hotspots. And some of the measures, such as shark finning bans, have been shown to be ineffective.

    My colleagues and I revealed that catches of internationally protected species are sometimes 90 times greater than official reports.

    So there is still a very long way to go to rebuild global shark populations.

    Jaws helped promote a negative image of sharks that has no basis in reality. Rather, shark behaviour appears as complex in some cases as that of birds and mammals.

    Tracking sharks revealed they can migrate thousands of kilometres to feed in specific remote habitats, before returning to the very same place they left months before. Some prefer to hang out with familiar individuals, and sharks even form persistent social networks. Giant basking sharks take part in speed-dating-like behaviour when they form courtship swimming circles at the end of summer.

    The serial killer image has probably made it harder to convince people to sympathise with the plight of sharks. Jaws came at a time when very little was known about sharks, so fiction filled the void.

    But there are now more shark scientists thanks to Jaws. Demystifying these creatures has been the first step to their potential recovery.

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

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    David Sims has received funding from the European Research Council, the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme and the UK Natural Environment Research Council.

    – ref. Jaws helped spur a fishing frenzy – so how have the world’s sharks fared since the 1975 release? – https://theconversation.com/jaws-helped-spur-a-fishing-frenzy-so-how-have-the-worlds-sharks-fared-since-the-1975-release-255444

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Israel’s conflict with Iran escalates as Trump considers US involvement

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sam Phelps, Commissioning Editor, International Affairs

    This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email newsletter. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

    Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and military leadership last week has quickly escalated into the most severe conflict between the two foes in decades. They have been trading missile attacks, with Israel now hinting that it seeks to overthrow the government in Tehran.

    On June 19, after an Iranian missile struck a hospital in the Israeli city of Beersheba, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, announced that he had instructed the military to increase the intensity of attacks against Iran. The goal, he said, was to “undermine the regime”.

    Israel has long made it clear that it would like to see a change of government in Tehran – though not necessarily through direct military action. Katz’s comments, which also involved saying that the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “will pay for his crimes”, are the first time Israel has claimed regime change as an official goal since the conflict with Iran began.

    Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

    We asked Farhang Morady, a lecturer in international development at the University of Westminster, how precarious the Iranian government’s grip on power really is. He explains that, despite being under immense pressure, the regime is not at imminent risk of collapse.

    Israeli strikes have inflicted significant damage, Morady says. But they have not caused the downfall of the regime’s core institutions. Khamenei has reshuffled Iran’s military leadership to maintain stability and control, swiftly appointing successors to replace assassinated commanders.

    At least publicly, Morady writes, the Iranian elite is eager to demonstrate its position that the country is capable of enduring the crisis without giving in to foreign pressure. At the same time, the regime has been employing back-channel diplomacy to ensure its survival. It has even reportedly indicated that it is willing to suspend uranium enrichment to maintain itself.



    Read more:
    Israel’s attacks have exposed weaknesses in Iran, but it’s in little danger of collapsing

    However, pressure on the regime could be set to intensify. US president Donald Trump has made it clear that he is considering joining Israel’s campaign against Iran.

    As part of a string of social media posts, which followed his early exit from the G7 summit in Canada, Trump described Khamenei as an “easy target” who is safe “for now”. Then, on June 18, when asked a question about the US striking Iran, Trump said: “I may do it, I may not do it.”

    Whether Trump’s antics are a bluff to force Iran to negotiate an end to the conflict – or, in his own words, an “unconditional surrender” – remains to be seen.

    But in the view of Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor in the department of government at the University of Essex, Trump’s statements suggest he is being won over by the Israeli government’s pressure campaign to convince Washington that the time is right for a joint military assault on Iran.

    The US possesses the 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bomb, and the B-2 stealth bomber to carry it, capable of destroying Iran’s deep-lying uranium enrichment sites. Lindstaedt sees a situation arising soon where Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convinces Trump to use this weapon against Iran.



    Read more:
    Trump breaks from western allies at G7 summit as US weighs joining Iran strikes

    Any American military action in Iran has the potential to cause a split in Trump’s base of support, says Richard Hargy, an expert on US politics at Queen’s University Belfast. In this piece, Hargy details how Trump’s condemnation of former US presidents for leading the US into foreign wars won him plaudits with his “make America great again” (Maga) base.

    These people remain fiercely opposed to US involvement in another conflict in the Middle East. Steve Bannon, an America-first backer and staunch Trump ally, has warned that US action in Iran would “blow up” Trump’s coalition of support.

    At the same time, Hargy says Trump has several prominent Republican hawks urging him to take military action against Iran. Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, has this week called on Trump to go “all in” to help “Israel eliminate the [Iranian] nuclear threat”.

    Whatever Trump decides over Iran will be a pivotal moment for his presidency.



    Read more:
    Iran air strikes: Republicans split over support for Trump and another ‘foreign war’

    Confrontation was inevitable

    A direct conflict between Israel and Iran has been a long time coming. Tensions between the two countries have been simmering for years. But why did Israel chose to act now? Matthew Moran and Wyn Bowen, professors of international security at King’s College London, say two factors have converged that made this confrontation all but inevitable.

    First, Iran’s regime has been left exposed by events over the past 12 months or so. Israeli strikes in October 2024 seriously degraded Iran’s air defences, while Israel’s military response to the October 7 Hamas attacks has decimated Iran’s regional proxy network. These events have undermined Iran’s ability to deter adversaries and have emboldened Israel.

    And second, Iran’s nuclear programme has advanced since Trump withdrew the US from a deal negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency that greatly rolled back Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

    Moran and Bowen point to a recent report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security that suggests Iran could convert its current stock of 60% enriched uranium into enough weapons-grade uranium for seven nuclear weapons. This could be done in as little as three weeks.

    US national intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency say there is no evidence to suggest Iran is, in fact, looking to build a nuclear bomb. Nevertheless, even the possibility that Iran was close to developing one crossed an Israeli red line and triggered action.

    In the words of Moran and Bowen: “Iran’s brinkmanship around its effort to hedge its bets on a nuclear option meant it was always operating in a dangerous space.”



    Read more:
    Israeli aggression and Iranian nuclear brinkmanship made this confrontation all but inevitable

    According to Brian Brivati of Kingston University, there is one other factor may have encouraged Israel to take action against Iran: the collapsing credibility of the international legal order.

    In this piece, Brivati traces how the Israeli and US governments have systematically weakened the global institutions designed to uphold international law over the past few years. The Israeli government has ignored court rulings over its actions in Gaza, while the US has disabled the mechanisms of accountability.

    This has created a situation in which states can act with impunity, confident that international mechanisms can be ignored. Israel’s initial attack on Iran, which was conducted without authorisation from the UN security council, is a symptom of this. And other global powers like Russia and China may now look to follow its lead.

    We have arrived at a moment so stark, Brivati says, that it should be seen as a turning point for the international order.



    Read more:
    Israel, Iran and the US: why 2025 is a turning point for the international order

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    – ref. Israel’s conflict with Iran escalates as Trump considers US involvement – https://theconversation.com/israels-conflict-with-iran-escalates-as-trump-considers-us-involvement-259201

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Deepening the European Single Market

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    Remarks by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the Eurogroup Meeting on Enhancing Competitiveness and Addressing Internal Barriers in the Single Market – Luxembourg

    June 19, 2025

    As prepared for delivery

    Thank you, Paschal, for inviting me back to speak on the topic of Europe’s single market.

    We have been urging all of our members that now is the time to get your own house in order given the global trade and other tensions and the uncertainty. Reforms delayed? Delay no more.

    And our advice has been resonating. Across the globe, countries and regions are on the move, pushing to higher competitiveness, more dynamism, and faster technological transformation. For Europe it is very simple: either Europe acts, or Europe risks getting sidelined. Relative decline would not happen in a flash, it would creep in, but that would not make it less real.

    There is no time for delay.

    Here at the Eurogroup, I have two positive messages that I want to deliver upfront:

    • First: with the Draghi and Letta reports, with the work of the Commission, and with your work, Europe has defined a strategic agenda with single market integration at its core, yet also bringing in national reforms and a bolder vision for the EU budget. Today I will sum this up in a three-point approach—single market, national reforms, and the EU budget—where the strength of each piece rests on the strength of the others.
    • Second: Europe has all the assets it needs—the savings, the skills, and the technology. It falls to Europe’s policymakers to push—nationally, collectively, and decisively—to mobilize these assets to their full potential. The people want a Europe that creates high-value jobs, innovates, and generates cutting-edge products and services. They want opportunity. It is within reach.

    I know it can be done because Europe has done it before. I think back, for instance, to the EU enlargement of 2004, which opened up many new avenues for households and firms. Today, GDP per capita in the new member states is 30 percent higher than it would have been without EU accession—30 percent! Even for the “old” member states, we estimate that GDP per capita today is some 10 percent higher, on average, thanks to the enlargement.

    Our assessment is thus clear and grounded in hard data: the single market delivers.

    And yet we know that internal trade barriers remain high. According to the European Commission, for every 100 euros of value added produced in EU countries, only around 20 euros of goods are flowing back and forth between EU countries. In contrast, for the United States, for every 100 dollars of value added produced, 45 dollars of goods are crossing state borders.

    This shows how various factors are holding Europe back. What are they? Regrettably, the list is long: fragmented regulation, obstacles to financial integration, labor market rigidities, gaps in the energy market, parochial interests—all coming together to constrain growth.

    Too many European firms remain too small. One in five EU workers works at a company with fewer than ten employees—twice the share we see in the United States. Fragmentation and regulatory differences across member states make it hard for firms to compete, expand, and thrive. Productivity has fallen behind.

    So what can be done to inject new vibrancy? Our advice is: pick a few key priorities, make sure they are the right ones, and push hard.

    Let me start with the first piece of our three-point agenda—the single market. In this first piece, we see four top priorities.

    Priority one: create a predictable regulatory environment to help firms grow.

    Reducing regulatory fragmentation is critical: firms need clarity. Harmonizing company law and insolvency law would be the first best, but this is difficult. That is why we at the Fund put our full support behind the so-called “28th regime”—a voluntary EU-wide corporate charter. It offers a pragmatic way to slash legal complexity and compliance costs for cross-border firms: one system, applicable everywhere in the EU, for firms that opt in.

    We know that our colleagues at the European Commission are working on a proposal. I say: please write up a simple set of rules covering key phases of the corporate life cycle from entry to exit, and everything in between. Create the possibility of the European Firm, enjoying legal certainty so it can focus on innovation and growth rather than navigating a maze of 27 national systems.

    The goal need not be uniformity in all things, but rather, uniformity where uniformity matters most. Sensible national variations can—and must—coexist.

    And to those who say corporate law is so deeply rooted in national legal tradition that a 28th regime is impossible, let me repeat what I said here two years ago: you have already done it. I am referring to the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, which is nothing other than an EU-level carveout from national frameworks for selected banks. Please now create an alternative regime for European companies.

    Priority two on our list is longstanding: putting European savings to work.

    This point too I raised here two years ago: Europe has the money—many trillions in private savings—but it is lazy money. Savings work harder elsewhere. Europe’s bank-centric financial system is failing to support the kind of innovative, high-growth firms that will drive the next wave of productivity and innovation.

    That’s why the capital markets union needs to move—now. Europe needs deeper, more integrated capital markets to channel savings to high-risk, high-reward investments. Europe needs more venture capital. Creating a 28th regime will be key, but let it be paired with better investor access to corporate information on all firms—so market discipline can work.

    And importantly, energizing finance requires positive steps in banking too. Bank dominance in Europe will persist, and there is room for more bank credit. Let banks be nudged to embrace more risk taking—prudently—to support economic growth. Done right, this can strengthen internal capital generation, strengthen risk buffers, and boost bank soundness.

    Let’s recognize also that large banks, especially, serve as key players in the capital markets, including by managing investment accounts for their clients. For them to serve most efficiently and in a pan-European way, Europe must shed its reluctance to accommodate cross-border bank mergers and acquisitions. Blocking mergers on non-economic grounds—and dropping the ball on banking union more broadly—will not deliver 21st century finance.

    Priority three, very briefly: improving labor mobility and access to talent.

    I am told it can take up to six months for a worker relocating within the EU to become legally employable in another member country—surely not optimal. Speeding up work authorizations and streamlining the cross-border recognition of professional qualifications will help ease skills mismatches and enable firms to hire appropriate talent. This is critical to allowing firms to grow.

    Fourth priority: building an interconnected and affordable energy market.

    Energy is a chokepoint. Just look at the dispersion of prices across European electricity hubs—it is some three times higher than in the United States and, yes, it presents a profitable arbitrage opportunity for European energy majors that they should be grabbing.

    What can be done to help this happen? For a start, as we have been emphasizing in our work, Europe needs an energy blueprint that pulls together all the parts. One part, certainly, needs to be better interconnectors between national electricity grids. High and volatile energy costs inhibit corporate investment and expansion. Conversely, improving access to reliable, affordable energy spurs growth.

    Across the four areas—regulatory overload, access to finance, labor mobility, and affordable energy—we have laid out ten specific policy actions in a new paper last week. And our simulations suggest that, even by implementing a few, the dividends could be substantial—an uplift to overall EU activity on the order of about 3 percent over ten years. And there would be no question of winners and losers—every country stands to win.

    Next, the second piece of our three-point agenda: reforms at the national level.

    EU-level reforms are essential, but to be effective they must be paired with national reforms in many areas—and it is vital that these two layers of reform pull in the same direction.

    Three examples:

    • First, capital markets union should make it easier for funds to flow to startups, but for the benefits to be fully realized national permitting processes must be streamlined.
    • Second, EU-wide initiatives aimed at enhancing talent mobility are important, but to work they require complementary labor market reforms at the national level.
    • Third, increasing the effectiveness of EU investment in cross-border infrastructure is key, but parallel actions are needed to address national infrastructure gaps.

    Wherever one looks, there is a vital and complementary national element.

    Finally, the third piece of the three-point agenda: making more of the EU budget.

    This is about raising the level of ambition: more support from the EU budget for investments in shared priorities—European public goods—and, importantly, better coordination of national efforts around these priorities. And, if new EU borrowing could be agreed, it would help frontload investments, spread costs over time, and increase the supply of safe assets.

    Bottom line: we recommend a doubling of EU budget expenditures on European public goods—electricity grids, digitalization, defense, and R&D—from 0.4 percent of EU gross national income to at least 0.9 percent, to help close investment gaps.

    Not only would such investments accelerate single market deepening, they would also offer material cost savings. Our analysis shows that EU-level investments in energy infrastructure, for instance, can achieve savings of up to 7 percent relative to duplicative national efforts. With long-term spending pressures piling up, great deals like this one should be seized.

    We also propose an expanded role for performance-linked disbursements to member states. I know from my time managing the EU budget that, done right, such schemes can play an important role in incentivizing necessary national reforms and investments, aligning them with shared EU priorities, and maximizing positive cross-border externalities. Famous case in point: the Recovery and Resilience Facility, with its formidable economic payoffs.

    Let me conclude. My colleagues and I have put forward for your consideration a strategic agenda with three clear objectives:

    • One, remove internal barriers to deepen the single market and let firms grow;
    • Two, advance national reforms that align with and amplify EU-level initiatives; and
    • Three, use the EU budget strategically to coordinate efforts and invest in public goods.

    We do not underestimate the difficulty of delivering on this agenda and the political hurdles and vested interests to be encountered along the way. But the alternative of doing nothing will deliver nothing. Key, in our view, is to push hard.

    Success will require you, the policy leaders, to explain reforms to the public and exert sustained pressure at the technical level. Regulators defend their missions but are not always tasked to consider connections and externalities. Like a football coach, you will need to make all the players play as a team.

    And to our colleagues at the Commission who hold the legislative pen, our advice would be, first, to prioritize speed and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good and, second, to not let the legal mindset dominate the economic mindset. Economic rationale and economic objectives must drive Europe’s developments at this crucial time. 

    There is a saying that Europe is the “lifestyle superpower of the world.” Every time I return here—to my European home—I feel a sense of admiration. But please also hear this: for the European way of life to be sustained, Europe must also become a “productivity superpower.” Europe needs the growth potential that can come only from releasing its entrepreneurial energy.

    And for that to happen, Europe needs its single market now more than ever. I’m told that at the Eurogroup Working Group last week one respected colleague described the internal market as “a treasure in the EU’s own hand, which now needs to be unwrapped.” I agree.

    The stakes are high, the potential rewards are large, and—in this time of global tensions and uncertainty—the moment is surely now.

    Thank you very much.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER:

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/19/sp061925-deepening-the-european-single-market

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Canada bolsters its measures to protect Canadian steel and aluminum workers and industries

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    June 19, 2025 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

    Canada’s new government has a mandate to build the strongest economy in the G7. While the government negotiates a new economic and security partnership with the United States, we will ensure workers and industry are protected against the unjust and unprovoked American tariffs. Today, the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, announced a series of measures to protect Canadian steel and aluminum producers and workers.

    The government will take these measures to bolster its response:

    • First, Canada will adjust its existing counter-tariffs on steel and aluminium products on july 21, to levels consistent with progress that has been made in the broader trading arrangement with the United States.
    • Second, effective June 30, the government will begin implementation of reciprocal procurement policies to limit access to federal procurements to suppliers from Canada and from our reliable trading partners that provide reciprocal access to suppliers from Canada through trade agreements. As shared earlier this year, the government is also exploring additional ways to maximize the use of Canadian steel and aluminum in government-funded projects, including in coordination with Canadian provinces and territories.
    • Third, the government will protect Canada’s steel industry by establishing new tariff rate quotas of 100 per cent of 2024 levels on imports of steel products from non-free trade agreement partners to stabilize the domestic market and prevent harmful trade diversion as the result of the U.S. actions that are destabilizing markets. These quotas will be applied retroactively and will be reviewed in 30 days.
    • Fourth, the government will adopt additional tariff measures over the coming weeks to address risks associated with persistent global overcapacity and unfair trade in the steel and aluminum sectors, which are exacerbated by U.S. actions. Measures will be applied on the basis of “country of melt and pour” for steel and “country of smelt and cast” for aluminum.
    • Fifth, the government will immediately create two government-stakeholder task forces, one for steel and one for aluminum. These committees will meet regularly to closely monitor trade and market trends to support government decision making – to better support our industries and workers.
    • Finally, the new $10 billion Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility remains open to applicants. This program supports eligible large businesses that are facing difficulties in accessing traditional sources of market financing by providing access to liquidity. This will help employers that were viable before the recent U.S. trade actions sustain their operations and return to financial resilience as the market stabilizes.

    The government remains prepared to take additional steps as needed and will continue to review the appropriateness of its response, pending developments with U.S. tariffs. The federal government will continue to work closely with provinces and territories to ensure their input and regional interests are reflected in its response to the U.S. tariffs.

    A remission process is in place to give businesses time to adjust their supply chains, with remissions currently granted under narrow, time-limited conditions to ensure a targeted and balanced approach. Additional individual requests are expected to be approved in the coming days. The Government of Canada will also review its remission framework to favour the use of Canadian steel and aluminum in Canadian-made products.

    As the government defines a new economic and security relationship with the United States, it will defend the interests of Canadians, safeguard Canada’s workers and businesses, and build one Canadian economy – the strongest economy in the G7.  

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Information overload: smartphones are exposing children to an avalanche of irrelevance

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dorje C. Brody, Professor of Mathematics, University of Surrey

    Aleksandra Suzi/Shutterstock

    More than 80% of children aged ten to 12 in the UK own a smartphone, according to a recent report by media watchdog Ofcom. Many people think this is a bad thing: there has been much debate about whether children should be allowed to have smartphones.

    The discussions around the potential negative aspects of children’s smartphone use often focus on the possible mental health risks of social media, or how spending too much time glued to a screen rather than in nature or interacting with others might affect children. On the other hand, smartphones may help children stay connected and interact with supportive communities.

    But there’s another aspect to this debate: information overload.

    My research is in the science of information. Here we encounter one of the most fundamental laws of nature, commonly known as the second law of thermodynamics. It says that over time, order is replaced by disorder, and information is overshadowed by noise.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    To understand this idea in the context of messaging, think of the development of communication facilities. A long time ago, when it was difficult to disseminate information – mainly through handwritten letters that might take months to arrive – people would do so only if the information was of importance.

    You wouldn’t expect a friend living a thousand miles away to inform you that their dog had just barked at a neighbour’s cat if it meant that missive would physically have to make a journey of a thousand miles.

    Printing, wire communications, the internet and mobile devices have changed this. With each innovation that eases communication, the quality of information that is transmitted reduces.

    Nowadays, much of the information surrounding us is noise. By noise, I mean insignificant and irrelevant information that no one needs to know. Nowadays, we know not only that our friend’s neighbour’s cat has been antagonising a dog, but about the lives of the cats and dogs of countless internet acquaintances and strangers.

    Increasing noise contamination is a consequence of the law of nature that cannot be beaten easily, if at all. That said, with concerted efforts, sometimes the effect can be reversed momentarily.

    Measuring information content

    If irrelevant and insignificant information is “noise”, we can – using the terminology of communication theory – call information of interest the “signal”.

    Imagine a child wanting to look up specific information on a smartphone for a school project – one of the planets in the Solar System, perhaps. The webpage they end up on contains a huge amount of unrelated information – reader comments, links to other content, maybe advertisements or videos. To reach the knowledge they are looking for, they will have to wade through, and end up absorbing, a huge amount of unnecessary information.

    Information online is accompanied by a lot of irrelevant ‘noise’.
    Ground Picture/Shutterstock

    You can think of the proportion of relevant versus irrelevant or incorrect information as the signal-to-noise ratio. A calculation shows that typically, if the noise level doubles, you will have to consume about twice the amount of information to obtain the same level of relevant knowledge. That amounts to doubling your screen time.

    So, if the noise level were to grow exponentially, as is inevitable from the second law, then you’ll have to consume exponentially more messages to get the same amount of relevant information. You’ll have to be glued to your smartphone 24-7. This is obviously something we want to avoid – for us and our children.

    To make matters worse, the information we consume will affect what we consume next, and information overload can negatively affect this process. When this happens, it becomes all too easy to end up hopping from one site to another without gathering any useful information.

    So is there a way out? Well, the answer, in theory, is simple. We just have to keep the level of noise low.

    Biological systems in natural environments – that is, without human intervention – tend to maintain stable communication without increasing noise level very much. This is because the methods of communication between animals, typically through sound, olfactory, or visual signals, or between green plants, typically through volatile organic compounds, have hardly changed for thousands of years. Only humans are capable of advancing technologies that significantly increase confusion.

    Limiting children’s access to these technologies means their environment becomes a lot less noisy and more calm. The same, of course, applies to adults. An outright ban on smartphones for children is impractical and possibly unhelpful – but creating an environment in which parents can comfortably say “no” to a smartphone, or alternatively in which parents can have an open and transparent dialogue with their children on their smartphone use, might work better.

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

    – ref. Information overload: smartphones are exposing children to an avalanche of irrelevance – https://theconversation.com/information-overload-smartphones-are-exposing-children-to-an-avalanche-of-irrelevance-244604

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: British holidaymaker dies from rabies: what you need to know about the disease and getting the jab if you’re going abroad this summer

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol

    Olexandr Panchenko/Shutterstock.com

    The recent death of a British woman from rabies after a holiday in Morocco is a sobering reminder of the risks posed by this almost universally fatal disease, once symptoms begin.

    If you’re considering travelling to a country where rabies is endemic, understanding how rabies works – and how to protect yourself – may go a long way in helping you stay safe.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Rabies is a zoonotic disease – meaning it is transmitted from animals to humans – and is caused by a viral infection. In 99% of cases the source of the infection is a member of the canidae family (such as dogs, foxes and wolves). Bats are another animal group strongly associated with rabies, as the virus is endemic in many bat populations.

    Even in countries that are officially rabies-free, including in their domestic animal populations – such as Australia, Sweden and New Zealand – the virus may still be found in native bat species. Other animals known to transmit rabies include raccoons, cats and skunks.

    Rabies is caused by lyssaviruses (lit. rage or fury viruses), which are found in the saliva of infected animals. Transmission to humans can occur through bites, scratches or licks to broken skin or mucous membranes, such as those in the mouth. Once inside the body, the virus spreads to eventually reach the nervous system.

    Because it causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, symptoms are primarily neurological, often stemming from damage to the nerve pathways responsible for sensation and muscle control.

    Patients who develop rabies symptoms often experience altered skin sensation and progressive paralysis. As the virus affects the brain, it can also cause hallucinations, and unusual or erratic behaviours. One particularly distinctive symptom – hydrophobia, a serious aversion to water – is believed to result from severe pain and difficulty associated with swallowing.

    Once rabies symptoms appear, the virus has already caused irreversible damage. At this stage, treatment is limited to supportive intensive care aimed at easing discomfort – such as providing fluids, sedation and relief from pain and seizures. Death typically results from progressive neurological deterioration, which ultimately leads to respiratory failure.

    It’s important to note that rabies symptoms can take several weeks, or even months, to appear. During this incubation period, there may be no signs that prompt people to seek medical help. However, this window is crucial as it offers the best chance to administer treatment and prevent the virus from progressing.

    Another danger lies in how the virus is transmitted. Even animals that don’t appear rabid – the classical frothing mouth and aggressive behaviour for instance – can still transmit the virus.

    Rabies can be transmitted through even superficial breaks in the skin, so minor wounds should not be dismissed or treated less seriously. It’s also important to remember that bat wounds can often be felt but not seen. This makes them easy to overlook, should there be no bleeding or clear mark on the skin.

    Don’t be tempted to pet stray animals in rabies endemic countries, not matter how cute they appear.
    cristi180884/Shutterstock.com

    The vaccine

    The good news is that there are proven and effective ways to protect yourself from rabies – either before travelling to a higher-risk area, or after possible exposure to an infected animal.

    Modern rabies vaccines are far easier to administer than older versions, which some may recall – often with discomfort. In the past, treatment involved multiple frequent injections (over 20 in all) into the abdomen using a large needle. This was the case for a friend of mine who grew up in Africa and was one day bitten by a dog just hours after it had been attacked by a hyena.

    The vaccine can now be given as an injection into a muscle, for instance in the shoulder, and a typical preventative course requires three doses. Since the protective effect can wane with time, booster shots may be needed for some individuals to maintain protection.

    Sustaining a bite from any animal should always be taken seriously. Aside from rabies, animals carry many potentially harmful bacteria in their mouths, which can cause skin and soft tissue infections – or sepsis if they spread to the bloodstream.



    Read more:
    How to treat a wound – without using superglue, grout or vodka, like some people

    First aid and wound treatment is the first port of call, and seeking urgent medical attention for any bites, scratches or licks to exposed skin or mucous membranes sustained abroad. In the UK, this also applies to any injuries sustained from bats.

    A doctor will evaluate the risk based on the wound, the animal involved, whether the patient has had previous vaccines, and in which country they were bitten, among other things. This will help to guide treatment, which might include vaccines alone or combined with an infusion of immunoglobulin infusions – special antibodies that target the virus.

    Timing is crucial. The sooner treatment is started, the better the outcome. This is why it is so important to seek medical help immediately.

    In making the decision whether you should get a vaccine before going on holiday, there are recommendations, but ultimately the choice is individual. Think about what the healthcare is like where you are going and whether you’ll be able to get treatment easily if you need it.

    Vaccines can have side-effects, though these tend to be relatively minor, and the intended benefits vastly exceed the costs. And of course avoid contact with stray animals while on holiday, despite how tempting it may be to pet them.

    Several rules of thumb can counteract the dangers of rabies: plan your holiday carefully, seek travel advice from your GP, and always treat animal bites and scrapes seriously.

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

    – ref. British holidaymaker dies from rabies: what you need to know about the disease and getting the jab if you’re going abroad this summer – https://theconversation.com/british-holidaymaker-dies-from-rabies-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-disease-and-getting-the-jab-if-youre-going-abroad-this-summer-259325

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Jaws at 50: a thinly disguised western by a nerdy young filmmaker that helped to rejuvenate Hollywood

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Barry Monahan, Senior Lecturer, Department of Film and Screen Media, University College Cork

    The collapse of classical Hollywood’s studio system in the 1960s mirrored much of America’s cultural and political uncertainties at the time. The assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement and the escalating Vietnam war provided a background that destabilised the optimism with which the decade began.

    It’s not surprising that narratives of many films at the time may have been hinting at an ominous dystopian turn.

    The decade opened with Hitchcock’s premature dispatching of his heroine in Psycho (1960) and ended with the haphazard slaughter of Dennis Hopper’s protagonists in Easy Rider and George Roy Hill’s outgunned antiheroes in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (both 1969).

    En route, Arthur Penn’s conclusion for Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, plus Mike Nichols’ finale for graduate Benjamin Braddock and Elaine Robinson in 1967, did little to reassure audiences that all was well in society or the cinema.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    But the 1970s offered some shoots of optimism. A new pack of filmmakers – versed in the best of international cinema – inveigled their way by luck, acumen or raw talent into the confidence of executives who were willing to give nerdy young cinephiles like Martin Scorsese, Brian de Palma, Frances Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas a shot with studio funding.

    Despite the concerns of executives at Universal Studios, Spielberg began shooting on the adaptation of Peter Benchley’s bestseller Jaws in May 1974. By the following summer it was an enormous hit with the public and critics. The blockbuster had arrived and a new kind of studio system was born.

    Jaws is 50 years old this year, and it has earned the “classic” epithet. It invokes certain nostalgia for cinephiles and original audiences, many of whom fondly remember their first viewing.

    Aside from any cultural wistfulness, however, feelings towards the film may very well be a harkening back to a pre-neoliberal era when the embers of baby-boomer optimism still smouldered.

    Championing the everyman

    The film ultimately supports the blue collar “everyman” who has idealism, moral courage and emotional empathy: an ordinary protagonist, predating movie superheroes, Jedi knights, muscular macho men and cyborgs, who could still take on the system and its vices and defeat the villain (on land or sea).

    Most of the intense dramatic action – the battle between good and evil – is situated on the water. This displacement facilitates a useful comparative character study. On the ocean, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and old sea-dog Quint (Robert Shaw) are strategically detached from the political and economic incentives that initiated the crisis in the first place.

    Working-class tough guy, middle-class intellectual and honest, reliable cop, they are brave, determined and morally strong, representing a microcosm of the society they’ve left behind, and hope to save. True to the thinly disguised western that Spielberg’s film is, the fate of each man positions the film’s compass as it sails a course between the values of an evolved society and the forces of primitive nature, pitting one of the youngest evolved mammals against one of the oldest evolved fish.

    However, it is in the first section of the film, set on dry land, where the political machinations of corruption, the distortion of truth for financial profit, the disregard of expertise and a manipulation of the media, are played out.

    A key scene in the early part of the narrative frames the duplicity that led to the avoidable death of the first victims. After the first shark attack, pressure is put on Chief Brody by Amity’s Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) to reopen the beaches despite the threat to holidaymakers on the island.

    Mayor Vaughn We’re really a little anxious that you’re, eh, rushing into something serious here. This is your first summer, you know.

    Chief Brody What does that mean?

    Mayor Vaughn I’m only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars.

    The message is simple: economic prosperity takes precedence over human life. The strategy is straightforward: deride and deny allegations, falsify the evidence, use media spin to conceal the truth and platform the politician’s personal agenda.

    The propulsion of the plot into the second half of the film hinges on a later critical scene, which follows another shark attack. When their own boys become near victims of the predator, a shaken Vaughn is forcefully compelled by Brody to sign an agreement to pay a bounty hunter to find and kill the shark.

    The rise of neoliberalism (the political and economic ideology that advocates free-market capitalism) in the late 1970s and 1980s brought about the reconfiguration of the middle class in the US. Without consciously predicting the impending political transformations, the film – released before these wider ideological and economic changes took hold – idealistically offers hope for that social group.

    And while it may have been differently constituted under the Reagan and Thatcher governments, the public service sector (to which Brody belongs) existed in both America and Britain. Jaws implicitly and unproblematically acknowledged the reality of working-class sacrifice in Quint, while peddling the heroic survival of blue-collar police chief Brody.

    In holding out hope for the affirmative action of the dedicated, moral hero, Jaws might have been too idealistic, even narratively conservative: real-world good guys don’t always win.

    The phenomenal box office success of the film ran parallel with critical acclaim that has been reiterated in the five decades since its release. However, it marked the rejuvenation of a broken studio system that would soon energetically endorse the Reaganite neoliberalism of the following decade with films like The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Rambo: First Blood (1982), The Terminator (1984), Top Gun (1986) and Die Hard (1987).

    The film has undeniably stood the test of time as a remarkable cinematic feat, but crucially, it ushered in a new age for Hollywood’s seduction of global audiences with sophisticated, aggressive marketing strategies. Jaws may have irredeemably villainised nature’s most enduring predator, but Spielberg’s blockbuster played a pivotal role in making Hollywood great again.

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

    – ref. Jaws at 50: a thinly disguised western by a nerdy young filmmaker that helped to rejuvenate Hollywood – https://theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-a-thinly-disguised-western-by-a-nerdy-young-filmmaker-that-helped-to-rejuvenate-hollywood-257751

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Jaws at 50: the Jewish sensibility that shaped Spielberg’s blockbuster and transformed cinema

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nathan Abrams, Professor of Film Studies, Bangor University

    It’s hard to believe Steven Spielberg was just 27 when he directed Jaws. Before that he’d mostly worked in television, helming episodes of detective show Columbo and the acclaimed TV movie Duel. He’d made just one theatrical feature, The Sugarland Express.

    Then came Jaws, a technically ambitious shoot set on open water with a mechanical shark that barely worked. But the result was a record-breaking blockbuster that redefined what Hollywood could be.

    Adapted from Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel, the film almost didn’t happen. When Spielberg first read it he said he found himself rooting for the shark because the human characters were so unlikable.

    What followed was a series of creative rewrites and re-castings that gave Jaws its distinctive personality and enduring power.

    Spielberg brought in Howard Sackler, a writer and scuba diver, to work on the script. Sackler left early without a screen credit. The director then turned to actor Carl Gottlieb, originally hired to play a toadying local newspaper editor, to redraft the script. Screenwriter and director John Milius, a second world war expert, also contributed.

    John Williams added what became an iconic musical score. Its simple two-note motif created suspense and became one of the most recognisable cinematic themes of all time.

    Jaws’ opening shark attack featuring its iconic score by John Williams.

    As a researcher of Jewishness in popular culture, I argue that many of these creatives brought a Jewish sensibility that lurked beneath the surface of the film.

    Spielberg took Benchley’s bitter, cynical and pessimistic novel and gave it a more hopeful vibe. He even humanised the shark, giving it the name Bruce after his lawyer, Bruce Ramer, a powerful and influential Los Angeles attorney specialising in entertainment law, also Jewish.

    That choice layers in unexpected meanings, from the “loan shark” stereotype to echoes of Shakespeare’s Shylock from The Merchant of Venice.

    Hooper v Quint

    Spielberg cast Jewish actor Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper, the young ichthyologist and oceanographer. Against him stood Robert Shaw as Quint, the grizzled boat captain, who is a sexist, misogynistic, racist macho drunk. Hooper is everything Quint is not. Making up the triumvirate is Roy Scheider as police captain Martin Brody. Together, the three seek to capture and kill the shark that is menacing the town of Amity.

    The casting of Dreyfuss as Hooper, whom Spielberg called “my alter ego”, significantly changed the character and the tone of the film. Together, Dreyfuss, Gottlieb and Spielberg fleshed out Hooper’s part, making him much more sympathetic than in the novel. He became a “nebbishy novice on a swift learning curve”.

    For Spielberg, Hooper “represents the underdog in all of us”. Benchley, however, was less than impressed, describing him as “an insufferable, pedantic little schmuck”. It’s telling that Benchley used a Yiddish epithet to describe Hooper as if recognising his underlying Jewishness.

    Together, Spielberg and Gottlieb used Hooper as a mouthpiece to voice a social perspective. Brody wishes to close the beaches but is prevented from doing so by the mayor and the town council because Amity needs the business. The mayor puts commerce before human life. In a shift from Benchley’s novel where the pressure to keep the beaches open comes from shadowy pseudo-Mafia figures in the background, Spielberg placed the blame firmly on Amity’s merchants and civic representatives.

    Throughout, Spielberg undermines the dominant masculinity of the screen action hero of the 1970s. This was an era dominated by men like Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman. Nerdy Hooper outlives Quint, who becomes the shark’s fifth victim (hence his name, which is Latin for five or fifth). To show his contempt for Quint, Spielberg gives him a particularly gruesome death.

    Quint gets eaten.

    And because Spielberg identified with the shark, we see things from its subjective perspective. This was also dictated by pragmatic concerns as the mechanical shark kept breaking down. Shooting the killings from the shark’s point of view was a cinematic device borrowed from A Study in Terror (1965), a British thriller about Jack the Ripper.

    Jaws was a box office smash, breaking records previously set by The Godfather and The Exorcist and becoming the first film to reach the US$100 million (£74.5 million) mark at the American box office.



    Read more:
    Jaws at 50: a cinematic masterpiece – and an incredible piece of propaganda

    Before Jaws, studios typically released major films in the autumn and winter, leaving the summer for lower-quality movies. Jaws proved that it could be a prime time for big-budget, high-profile releases, leading to the current dominance of tentpole films during the summer season.

    It pioneered the strategy of opening a film in a wide release, rather than a gradual rollout. This helped it break box office records and redefine Hollywood’s practices. It was something that people got excited about, planned for and lined up for tickets in advance.

    Why has the film lasted?

    Half a century on, Jaws still has the power to shock. When I took my kids to see the 3D re-release, we all jumped during the scene when the decapitated head bobbed out of the sunken boat – even though I knew it was coming.

    Another reason why the film has lasted is the shark itself. It’s a primal, prehistoric creature that taps into our deepest fears. Quint calls it a thing with “lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes”. It’s a chilling line.



    Read more:
    50 years after ‘Jaws,’ researchers have retired the man-eater myth and revealed more about sharks’ amazing biology

    But the film also works as allegory. The shark is a floating (or swimming) signifier, open to interpretation. Amity, the town it terrorises, is all white picket fences and small-town harmony. The shark’s arrival punctures that illusion.

    There’s also a political undercurrent. Hooper becomes the conscience of the film, voicing the dangers of civic denial and inaction.

    And in the end, Jaws isn’t just about a shark. It’s about masculinity, morality and capitalism. It’s about the stories we tell ourselves to feel safe. That’s why it endures. That, and one of the most iconic scores in cinema history – John Williams’ two-note motif that still makes swimmers glance nervously at the waterline to this day.

    Nathan Abrams receives and has previously received external funding from charities and government-funded, foundation or research council grants.

    – ref. Jaws at 50: the Jewish sensibility that shaped Spielberg’s blockbuster and transformed cinema – https://theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-the-jewish-sensibility-that-shaped-spielbergs-blockbuster-and-transformed-cinema-253292

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Israel — and potentially the U.S. — are sure to encounter the limits of air power in Iran

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University

    As the war between Israel and Iran escalates, Israel is increasing its calls on the United States to become involved in the conflict.

    Former Israeli officials are appearing on U.S. news outlets, exhorting the American public to support Israel’s actions.

    President Donald Trump has signalled a willingness for the U.S. to become involved in the conflict. He’s gone so far, in fact, to suggest in social media posts that he could kill Iran’s supreme leader if he wanted to.

    Segment on Trump’s threats against Iran’s leader. (BBC News)

    The American military could certainly make an impact in any air campaign against Iran. The problem from a military standpoint, however, is that the U.S., based on its forces’ deployment, will almost certainly seek to keep its involvement limited to its air force to avoid another Iraq-like quagmire.

    While doing so could almost certainly disrupt Iran’s nuclear program, it will likely fall short of Israel’s goal of regime change.

    In fact, it could reinforce the Iranian government and draw the U.S. into a costly ground war.



    Read more:
    Why is there so much concern over Iran’s nuclear program? And where could it go from here?

    Israel’s need for American support

    The initial stated reason for Israel’s bombing campaign — Iran’s nuclear capabilities — appears specious at best.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued several times in the past, without evidence, that Iran is close to achieving a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence, however, have assessed that Iran is three years away from deploying a nuclear weapon.

    Regardless of the veracity of the claims, Israel initiated the offensive and now requires American support.

    Israel’s need for U.S. assistance rests on two circumstances:

    1. While Israel succeeded in eliminating key figures from the Iranian military in its initial strikes, Iran’s response appears to have exceeded Israel’s expectations with their Arrow missile interceptors nearing depletion.

    2. Israel’s air strikes can only achieve so much in disrupting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Most analysts note that Israel’s bombings are only likely to delay the Iranian nuclear program by a few months. This is due to the fact that Israeli missiles are incapable of penetrating the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which estimates place close to 300 feet underground.

    The United States, however, possesses munitions that could damage, or even destroy, the Fordow facility. Most notably, the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (more commonly known as a bunker buster) has a penetration capability of 200 feet.

    Multiple strikes by said munition would render Fordow inoperable, if not outright destroyed.

    Romanticizing air power

    The efficacy of air power has been vastly overrated in the popular media and various air forces of the world. Air power is great at disrupting an opponent, but has significant limitations in influencing the outcome of a war.

    Specifically, air power is likely to prove an inadequate tool for one of the supposed Israeli and American objectives in the war: regime change. For air power to be effective at bringing about regime change, it needs to demoralize the Iranian people to the point that they’re willing to oppose their own government.

    Early air enthusiasts believed that a population’s demoralization would be an inevitable consequence of aerial bombardment. Italian general Giulio Douhet, a prominent air power theorist, argued that air power was so mighty that it could destroy cities and demoralize an opponent into surrendering.

    Douhet was correct on the first point. He was wrong on the second.

    Recent history provides evidence. While considerable ink has been spilled to demonstrate the efficacy of air power during the Second World War, close examination of the facts demonstrate that it had a minimal impact. In fact, Allied bombing of German cities in several instances created the opposite effect.

    More recent bombing campaigns replicated this failure. The U.S. bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War did not significantly damage North Vietnamese morale or war effort. NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 1999, likewise, rallied support for the unpopular Slobodan Milosevic due to its perceived injustice — and continues to evoke strong emotions to this day.

    Iran’s political regime may be unpopular with many Iranians, but Israeli and potentially American bombing may shore up support for the Iranian government.

    Nationalism is a potent force, particularly when people are under attack. Israel’s bombing of Iran will rally segments of the population to the government that would otherwise oppose it.

    Few positive options

    The limitations of air power to fuel significant political change in Iran should give Trump pause about intervening in the conflict.

    Some American support, such as providing weapons, is a given due to the close relationship between the U.S. and Israel. But any realization of American and Israeli aspirations of a non-nuclear Iran and a new government will likely require ground forces.

    Recent American experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq show such a ground forces operation won’t lead to the swift victory that Trump desires, but could potentially stretch on for decades.

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

    – ref. Why Israel — and potentially the U.S. — are sure to encounter the limits of air power in Iran – https://theconversation.com/why-israel-and-potentially-the-u-s-are-sure-to-encounter-the-limits-of-air-power-in-iran-259348

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chairwoman Greene Leads Letter Urging Appropriations Committee to Codify DOGE Cuts and Slash Wasteful Federal Spending

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA, 14)

    Today, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), led a letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole urging the committee to formally codify President Trump’s bold cost-cutting reforms into law through the FY26 appropriations process.

    The letter, co-signed by DOGE Committee members Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Brian Jack (R-GA), and William Timmons (R-SC) calls on Congress to follow the Trump Administration’s lead in reducing wasteful federal spending and locking in historic savings identified through the work of DOGE & the DOGE Subcommittee.

    “President Trump is leading the greatest government efficiency overhaul in history, and it’s working. The DOGE Subcommittee has exposed massive waste, fraud, and abuse, and now Congress must act. We’re calling on appropriators to defund the left’s propaganda machines, slash aid to our enemies, and make these savings permanent,” said Chairwoman Greene.

    “The American people didn’t vote to fund abortion overseas, woke NGOs, or government-run media. They voted to end the waste and put America First.”

    The letter highlights nearly $9 billion in rescissions already proposed by the Administration and calls for deeper cuts across a range of programs, including foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It also emphasizes the need to reduce bloated federal agency staffing levels, noting the success of the Administration in downsizing the bureaucracy through RIFs, early retirements, and contract terminations.

    The President’s budget would reduce non-defense discretionary spending by 23%, saving over $2 trillion over the next decade.

    “The DOGE Subcommittee has done its part to identify the waste, fraud, and abuse. Now it’s time for the Appropriations Committee to do theirs and write these cuts into law,” Greene added.

    Read the full letter to the House Appropriations Committee here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: NOV Delegation Joins African Energy Week (AEW) 2025 Amid Artificial Intelligence (AI) Push in African Energy Projects

    A high-level delegation from global energy services company NOV has joined the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies conference – taking place on September 29 to October 3 in Cape Town. With a focus on digitization, a wealth of knowledge in oilfield services and a dedication to balancing operational efficiency with sustainable development, NOV is well-positioned to lead dialogue around the future of energy development in Africa. Underscoring the company’s commitment to unlocking technology-driven solutions in Africa, the NOV delegation comprises Arthur Ename, Vice President, Business Development: Africa; Cobie Loper, Senior Vice President, Operators and Geographical Sales; Johann Jansen van Rensburg, Director: Sub-Saharan Africa; and Marien Ibiaho, Area Sales Manager: Europe & Africa. The delegation will participate in a variety of panel discussions and technical workshops, providing insight into innovative tools to unlock rapid, low-carbon growth in Africa.

    AEW: Invest in African Energies is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit http://www.AECWeek.com for more information about this exciting event.

    With an extensive presence in Africa, NOV delivers a range of solutions for the continent’s oil and gas industry. Key markets include Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Angola, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt. The company’s cutting-edge technologies and services support clients to enhance operational efficiency while spearheading sustainable development, with its portfolio of capabilities ranging from drilling to well construction, completion and control to offshore rigs and platform repurposing to service and repair. With over 150 years’ experience and a global footprint, NOV represents a strong partner for African oil and gas projects.

    Looking ahead, NOV strives to consolidate its position as a leading energy service provider. In 2025, the company rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise – OpenAI’s most advanced generative AI platform – to advance AI-driven innovation. The enterprise has been deployed across its global workforce, putting cutting-edge tools in the hands of over 25,000 employees. For Africa, this technology will support energy projects by supporting decision-making, insights and innovation. Meanwhile, the company’s Drilling Beliefs & Analytics solution continues to gain traction globally and has been applied across 20 million feet of drilling operations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. This solution leverages AI to deliver real-time insights into critical well conditions during the drilling process.

    Beyond the oil and gas sector, the company also has extensive experience in emerging industries such as the energy transition. Capabilities include geothermal solutions, hydrogen solutions, lithium extraction, offshore and onshore wind, and more. With oil and gas as the focus, NOV offers a range of services that support operators reduce their emissions while scaling-up output. The company is also committed to local content and workforce development, with training initiatives, skills development programs and partnerships serving as a catalyst for capacity building in the markets in which is operates. By working closely with African partners, NOV is creating jobs, enhancing skills and empowering communities.

    “Now more than ever, Africa requires innovative solutions to enhance operational efficiency while reducing emissions across oil and gas projects. Companies such as NOV provide the technology and expertise to deliver these goals, and as such, play a prominent role in the industry. Looking ahead, as African countries look to scale-up operations and reduce their climate footprint, NOV’s solutions will continue supporting clients safely produce energy while minimizing environmental impact,” states Verner Ayukegba, Senior Vice President, African Energy Chamber.  

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Investing in flood reduction capacity in Peterborough

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    Peterborough, ON, June 19, 2025 — The new downtown flood reduction project in Peterborough, supported by an $11-million investment from the federal government, will replace an existing storm sewer and help improve water flow and drainage, significantly reducing the impact of extreme weather events for homes and businesses.

    A 2004 storm brought severe rainfall and caused significant flood damage to downtown Peterborough. It disrupted residential living conditions, caused lost income to local businesses, and created financial hardships for affected community members. As part of the City’s strategy to prevent future floods of this magnitude, a 100-year capacity sewer will replace the existing sewer along Charlotte Street from Park Street to Water Street. The project will also improve water flow and drainage from the street, significantly reducing the impact of extreme weather events.

    Investing in public infrastructure projects designed to mitigate current and future climate-related risks supports more resilient Canadian communities. Making adaptation investments now will have major economy-wide benefits later. Every dollar that is invested in adapting and preparing for climate-related disasters can return as much as $13 to $15 in benefits.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NPC Standing Committee Chairman Calls on People’s Congresses to Advance Development, Reform

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    HOHHOT, June 19 (Xinhua) — Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, has called for utilizing the powers of people’s congresses to advance socio-economic development and accomplish key reform tasks.

    Zhao Leji, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the call during an inspection and familiarization tour of North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from June 16 to 19.

    During the trip, Zhao Leji visited urban communities and enterprises, where he interacted with legislators and members of the public, and inspected the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region People’s Congress and the Arshan City People’s Congress.

    The Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee called on the legislative organs to strictly adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party, conscientiously implement the requirements of the CPC Central Committee, and consistently advance legislative, supervisory and parliamentary work.

    In addition, Zhao Leji headed the NPC Standing Committee’s inspection team to verify compliance with the Forestry Code of the People’s Republic of China in Inner Mongolia.

    Noting that Inner Mongolia is the largest functional ecological zone in northern China in terms of area and the richest in species diversity, Zhao Leji stressed the importance of faithfully implementing the Forestry Code, sustainably preserving natural forests and artificial afforestation, and continuously increasing the total volume and quality of forest resources. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Ceasefire is an urgent priority in resolving the conflict in the Middle East – Xi Jinping

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) — A ceasefire is an urgent priority in resolving the conflict in the Middle East, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday.

    The Chinese leader made the corresponding statement in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the conversation, the heads of the two states exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East.

    Xi Jinping outlined China’s principles and position, saying that the current situation in the Middle East is extremely dangerous, proving once again that the world is entering a new turbulent period of fundamental change.

    If the conflict continues to escalate, it will not only lead to increased losses for its participants, but will also cause serious damage to states throughout the region, the Chinese president warned.

    The use of force, Xi Jinping stressed, is not the right way to resolve international disputes and only increases hatred and exacerbates contradictions.

    The conflicting parties, especially Israel, must cease fire as soon as possible to stop the spiral of escalation and under no circumstances allow the war to spread beyond the region, the Chinese leader said.

    Xi said ensuring the safety of civilians is a top priority, adding that the red line of protecting civilians in armed conflicts should never be crossed and the indiscriminate use of force is unacceptable.

    The Chinese President called on the parties to the conflict to strictly adhere to international law, avoid causing harm to innocent civilians and facilitate the safe evacuation of third-country nationals.

    Launching dialogue and negotiations is the fundamental way to resolve the issue, and communication and dialogue are the right path to lasting peace, Xi Jinping is convinced.

    He called on relevant parties to remain firmly committed to finding a political solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and return the issue to the path of political settlement through dialogue and negotiations.

    The international community’s efforts to establish peace are indispensable, Xi Jinping noted, adding that without stability in the Middle East, world peace is unlikely.

    The Chinese President noted that the conflict between Israel and Iran has led to a sudden escalation of tensions in the Middle East and dealt a serious blow to global security.

    The international community, especially large countries with special influence on the parties to the conflict, should make efforts to cool the situation, rather than do the opposite, Xi stressed, calling on the UN Security Council to play a more active role in this regard.

    Xi Jinping said China is willing to continue to strengthen communication and coordination with all parties, pool their efforts, uphold justice and play a constructive role in restoring peace in the Middle East. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Construction Continues On Highways 2 and 13 Assiniboia Partnership Project

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on June 19, 2025

    Today, Highways Minister David Marit and the Town of Assiniboia celebrated the ongoing progress of a more than $10.6 million partnership project that will improve Highways 2 and 13, while strengthening the heart of the community.

    “Our provincial government is proud to play a role improving these key transportation arteries through Assiniboia, which is a service hub for the region,” Marit said. “These highways when completed will better support Saskatchewan’s export-based economy, local agriculture, tourism and businesses in the centre of town.”

    The 4.96 km project involves:

    • The rehabilitation and repaving of Highway 2 (also known as Empire Road and Centre Street) from Leeville Street to north of Highway 13, along with Highway 13 (also known as First Avenue West and First Avenue East) from Centre Street to Leeville Street.
    • Curb and sidewalk replacements along the route.

    “We are incredibly grateful for the investment in this vital infrastructure project,” Assiniboia Mayor Sharon Schauenberg said. “Improved roads mean safer travel, more efficient transportation, and long-term benefits for our residents and local economy.”

    The Ministry of Highways is investing more than $10.17 million toward the project. The Town of Assiniboia is investing up to $485,000.

    On-site project work began this spring and is expected to be completed this fall, pending weather.

    Motorists are reminded to obey all signage and flag persons in the area and to check the Highway Hotline at https://hotline.gov.sk.ca/ for construction updates before heading out.

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: $1.1 Million to Support 29 Teacher Innovation and Support Fund Projects

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on June 19, 2025

    Today, the Government of Saskatchewan announced $1.1 million for 29 teacher-led projects through the Teacher Innovation and Support Fund.

    “I am pleased to see the ideas brought forward by teachers across our province and appreciate their commitment to advancing innovative projects in their schools,” Education Minister Everett Hindley said. “Our government is committed to a strong education sector that supports student success through ongoing collaboration.”

    Teachers, with support from their divisions, were invited to apply to the Teacher Innovation and Support Fund this spring to advance local ideas that assist in providing positive student and teacher experiences. The 29 projects receiving funding fall into the following themes: STEM/technology, student wellbeing, academic and culture/land-based learning/arts. 

    Saskatchewan’s 27 school divisions will receive a record $2.4 billion in school operating funding for the next school year, a record increase of $186.4 million. This includes $395 million for classroom supports as part of a multi-year funding agreement with all 27 school divisions.

    Applications to the Teacher Innovation and Support Fund will open again in fall 2025. Learn more about the projects that have been awarded, including this round of projects, at Teacher Innovation and Support Fund | PreK-12 Education, Early Learning and Schools | Government of Saskatchewan.

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Xia Baolong meets patriotic groups

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    CPC Central Committee Hong Kong & Macao Work Office Director and State Council Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong today met patriotic groups and representatives of higher education institutions in the city, and visited local cultural and tourism spots.

    In the morning, Mr Xia, in the company of Chief Executive John Lee and Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak, held an engagement session with patriotic groups dedicated to the nation and Hong Kong.

    The session was attended by representatives from political and community groups with an affection for the country and the city.

    In the afternoon, Mr Xia, accompanied by Mr Lee and Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin, attended another engagement session to exchange views with representatives of Hong Kong’s major higher education institutions, including chairmen of university councils and university presidents.

    Mr Xia then visited the Kai Tak Sports Park with Mr Lee, Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki and Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Rosanna Law, touring Kai Tak Stadium and Kai Tak Gallery.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: 8 in 10 people support taxing oil and gas corporations to pay for climate damages, global survey finds

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    Bonn, Germany, 19 June 2025 – A vast majority of people believe governments must tax oil, gas and coal corporations for climate-related loss and damage, and that their government is not doing enough to counter the political influence of super rich individuals and polluting industries. These are the key findings of a global survey – including responses from South Africa and Kenya – which reflect a broad consensus across political affiliations, income levels and age groups.[1]  

    The study, jointly commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International, was launched today at the UN Climate Meetings in Bonn (SB62), where government representatives are discussing climate policies, including ways to raise at least US$ 1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035. The survey was conducted across 13 countries, including most G7 countries. 

    Sherelee Odayar, Oil and Gas Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa said:

    “In Africa, people are feeling the heat—literally—and they’re done footing the bill for disasters driven by record fossil-fuel profits. This survey sends an unmistakable message: our governments have a popular mandate to make oil, gas and coal corporations pay their fair share for the floods, droughts and hunger they’ve helped unleash. A polluter-pays tax would turn dirty profits into clean investments for frontline communities, and that’s the climate justice Africa has been calling for.”

    Ali Mohamed, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Kenya, said:


    “African Leaders adopted the Nairobi Declaration during the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, which among others, calls for a global carbon taxation regime, including levies on fossil fuel trade. Kenya co-chairs the Global Solidarity Levies Taskforce, which brings together a coalition of willing countries to design and implement progressive levies that reflect the true cost of pollution. The principle is simple, sectors profiting from the increasing greenhouse gas emissions that cause the destructive climate change, must be taxed to support climate impacted vulnerable communities in Africa and other developing world, adapt and recover from the devastating losses and damages being suffered so frequently.”

    Mads Christensen, Executive Director of Greenpeace International said:

    “These survey results send a clear message: people are no longer buying the lies. They see the fingerprints of fossil fuel giants all over the storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires devastating their lives, and they want accountability. By taxing the obscene profits of dirty energy companies, governments can unlock billions to protect communities and invest in real climate solutions. It’s only fair that those who caused the crisis should pay for the damage, not those suffering from it.”

    The study, run by Dynata, was unveiled alongside the Polluters Pay Pact, a global alliance of communities on the frontlines of climate disasters. The Pact demands that – instead of piling the costs on ordinary people – governments make oil, gas and coal corporations pay their fair share for the damages they cause, through the introduction of new taxes and fines.

    The Pact is backed by firefighters and other first responders, trade unions and worker groups, and mayors from countries including Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and South Africa, the US, and plaintiffs in landmark climate cases from Pacific island states to Switzerland.

    The Pact is also supported by over 60 NGOs, including Oxfam International, 350.org, Avaaz, Islamic Relief UK, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), Indian Hawkers Alliance, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, Jubilee Australia and the Greenpeace network.

    The survey’s findings published today reveal broad public support for the core demands of the Polluters Pay Pact, as climate impacts worsen worldwide and global inequality grows.

    Key findings of the survey include:

    • 81% of people surveyed would support taxes on the oil, gas, and coal industry to pay for damages caused by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.
    • 86% of people in surveyed countries support channeling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities most impacted by the climate crisis. Climate change is disproportionately hitting people in Global South countries, who are historically least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. 
    • When asked who should be taxed to pay for helping survivors of fossil-fuel driven climate disasters, 66% of people across countries surveyed think it should be oil and gas companies, while just 5% support taxes on working people, 9% on goods people buy, and 20% favour business taxes.
    • 68% felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in their country. 77% say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry. 

    Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: 

    “Fossil fuel companies have known for decades about the damage their polluting products wreak on humanity. Corporations continue to cash in on climate devastation, and their profiteering destroys the lives and livelihoods of millions of women, men and children, predominantly those in the Global South who have done the least to cause the climate crisis. Governments must listen to their people and hold polluters responsible for their damages. A new tax on polluting industries could provide immediate and significant support to climate-vulnerable countries, and finally incentivise investment in renewables and a just transition.” 

    The Polluters Pay Pact demonstrates popular support for the campaign to make polluters pay. The campaign is being waged throughout 2025 in countries worldwide and in critical international forums, including the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), and negotiations for a UN tax convention that could include new rules to make multinational oil and gas companies pay their fair share for their pollution.

    ENDS

    Notes:

    [1] The research was conducted by first-party data company Dynata in May-June, 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US, with approximately 1200 respondents in each country and a theoretical margin of error of approximately 2.83%. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. Statistics available here. 

    Additional background information available here.

    [2] Learn more about the Polluters Pay Pact: polluterspaypact.org

    [3] Additional quotes here from people around the world who are backing the Polluters Pay Pact, including first responders, local administration, youth, union representatives and people bringing climate cases to courts. 

    Contacts: 

    For Greenpeace Africa:

    Ferdinand Omondi, Communication and Story Manager, Email: [email protected], Cell: +254 722 505 233

    Greenpeace Africa Press Desk: [email protected]. 

    For Greenpeace International: 

    Tal Harris, Greenpeace International, Global Media Lead – Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign, [email protected], +41-782530550Greenpeace International Press Desk: [email protected], +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours). Follow on X and Bluesky for our latest international press releases.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Appointment of Sir Richard Moore as the Chair of the Kennedy Memorial Trust

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Appointment of Sir Richard Moore as the Chair of the Kennedy Memorial Trust

    The Prime Minister has appointed Sir Richard Moore to be the next Chair of the Kennedy Memorial Trust.

    The Prime Minister has appointed Sir Richard Moore to be the next Chair of the Kennedy Memorial Trust.

    The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of Sir Richard, for a term of five years. Sir Richard is currently Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and will take up the position of Chair of the Kennedy Memorial Trust on 1 October 2025.

    Sir Richard Moore KCMG

    Richard Moore has served as Chief of MI6, the UK Secret Intelligence Service, since July 2020. His tenure as Chief concludes on 30 September 2025. 

    Prior to this, Richard was Director General for Political Affairs at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from April 2018 to August 2020. He served as British Ambassador to Turkey from January 2014 to December 2017. Previously he was Director for Europe, Latin America and Globalisation (2010 to 2012) and Director for Programmes and Change (2008 to 2010). He has had postings in Vietnam, Turkey (1990 to 1992), Pakistan and Malaysia.

    Richard has a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University and, on leaving Oxford, won a Kennedy Scholarship for post-graduate study at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 2007, he attended the Stanford Executive Programme.

    Additional information

    The Kennedy Memorial Trust was established in 1964 to administer monies raised in the United Kingdom as a tribute to the late President John Kennedy. Part of the fund was used to create and maintain the Kennedy Memorial site at Runnymede. The remaining capital is used to provide Kennedy Scholarships which enable British postgraduate students to study at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The recruitment processes for Trustees of the Kennedy Memorial Trust are run by the Trust and approved by the Prime Minister. A panel was chaired by Mary Ann Sieghart, Senior Independent Trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust.

    Updates to this page

    Published 19 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Conflict sets back development gains for decades: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Speech

    Conflict sets back development gains for decades: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council debate on poverty, under-development and conflict.

    The United Kingdom is grateful to Guyana for convening this important open debate, underlining the challenges of poverty and under-development.

     At the core of the 2030 Agenda is the understanding that human rights, peace and security, and development are deeply interlinked and mutually reinforcing. 

    The theme of Guyana’s Council tenure, Partnering for Peace and Prosperity, reminds us of the importance of working together to address these challenges effectively.

    I will make three points.

    First, we need to equip the UN system to deliver more integrated solutions to these challenges, especially in fragile and conflict-affected states.

    This means aligning humanitarian, development, and peace and security efforts, targeting the drivers of conflict, and using robust analysis and early warning systems to shape the UN’s responses. 

    And it means strengthening cooperation between the UN and the International Financial Institutions. We should seize the opportunities offered by UN80 to drive this approach forward.  

    Second, Member States agreed in the Pact for the Future that we need to strengthen national conflict prevention strategies. 

    The United Kingdom welcomes the initiatives taken by the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund to support countries to this end. And we hope that the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review will increase the momentum behind this work.

    Third, as the Secretary-General highlighted, local ownership and inclusivity are key to fostering sustainable development and enduring peace. 

    As we mark the 25th anniversary of this Council’s landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security, it remains vital to ensure the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women in political and peace processes. 

    And I echo your emphasis, President, on this aspect.

    The United Kingdom is proud to have partnered closely with Guyana in this area, including in the development of Guyana’s own National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. 

    President, it is all too evident that poverty and under-development can exacerbate the drivers of conflict. The world’s poorest people are particularly vulnerable to the immediate harms caused by conflict. And conflict sets back development gains, often for decades, as the Secretary-General reminded us.

     The United Kingdom is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure that the UN system can support coordinated responses to these interlinked challenges.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 19 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s Statement on Juneteenth Holiday

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Pressley Continues to Lead Charge for Bold Policies That Protect Black Freedom, Advance Racial Justice

    BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement marking the Juneteenth federal holiday. Congresswoman Pressley remains steadfast in her advocacy for bold policies that protect Black freedom, safeguard Black history, and advance racial justice, including reparations.

    “On Juneteenth, we celebrate Black joy, Black history, Black brilliance, and Black emancipation. We honor our ancestors whose resistance and sacrifice made this day possible, and we thank today’s freedom fighters who carry forward their legacy. Juneteenth is a reminder that Black freedom was fought for and won by Black people, and today our struggle for collective liberation continues.

    “In this moment of anti-Blackness on steroids—when our very existence is under attack, our history is being erased, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are under assault, and our civil rights are under threat from the highest levels of government—we must remain unapologetic in advancing bold policies that protect Black lives and freedom. That means passing H.R. 40, our bill to advance reparations and address America’s shameful legacy of slavery. It means safeguarding voting rights, securing reproductive freedom, and ending the Black maternal morbidity crisis. It means investing in Baby Bonds, confronting the rise of book bans, ending mass incarceration, investing in housing and education as human rights, and so much more.

    “As communities across the country, from Texas to Roxbury and beyond, gather to observe Freedom Day, we’re reminded that Black joy is itself an act of resistance—a declaration of our worth and our power. As we commemorate this day, let us honor our ancestors not just through reflection, but through action, organizing, and policy change that bring us closer to the emancipation and freedom they dreamt of and fought so hard for.”

    In 2020, Congresswoman Pressley joined civil rights champion and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) in supporting legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday and authored an op-ed in WBUR advocating for its enactment. Rep. Pressley applauded the House’s passage of the bill in 2021.

    Rep. Pressley is the lead House sponsor of H.R. 40, historic legislation to establish a federal commission to examine the lasting legacy of slavery and develop reparations proposals for African American descendants of enslaved people. This week, she announced growing momentum behind the bill, which now has the support of nearly 100 national and grassroots organizations and over 80 members of Congress.

    Rep. Pressley is also the author of the Books Save Lives Act, legislation to help ensure an inclusive learning environment and counteract the harm of book bans across the country. 

    Throughout her time in Congress, Rep. Pressley has championed policies to address the harmful legacy of slavery and support the true liberation of Black America, including Baby Bonds, a People’s Justice Guarantee, student debt cancellation, addressing the Black maternal morbidity crisis, supporting Black-owned microbusinesses, promoting anti-racist public health policy, and more.

    In April 2025, Rep. Pressley met with Northeastern University’s Center for Law, Equity, and Race to discuss efforts and further action in a shared push for reparative justice.

    Congresswoman Pressley is the lead sponsor of the People’s Justice Guarantee (PJG) – her comprehensive, decarceration-focused resolution that outlines a framework for a fair, equitable and just legal system. 

    Last year, Rep. Pressley and House Oversight Ranking Member Jamies Raskin introduced the Federal Government Equity Improvement Act and the Equity in Agency Planning Act to codify racial equity across federal agencies and improve government services for underserved communities.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • PM Modi to visit Bihar, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh on June 20–21: Key projects and Yoga Day celebrations on the agenda

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Bihar, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh on June 20 and 21, during which he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for a host of major development projects. He will also lead the national celebrations of the 11th International Day of Yoga in Visakhapatnam.

    On June 20, the Prime Minister will arrive in Siwan, Bihar, where he will unveil a series of critical infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening the state’s transportation, energy, and urban development sectors. Among the major announcements is the inauguration of the new Vaishali–Deoria railway line project, valued at over ₹400 crore, along with the launch of a new train service on this route. Additionally, he will flag off a Vande Bharat Express train that will operate between Patliputra and Gorakhpur via Muzaffarpur and Bettiah, significantly improving regional connectivity.

    In a significant milestone for India’s manufacturing sector, the Prime Minister will also flag off a state-of-the-art locomotive built at the Marhowra Plant for export to the Republic of Guinea. This marks the facility’s first international shipment under the ‘Make in India – Make for the World’ initiative.

    Continuing his government’s commitment to the Namami Gange mission, Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate six sewage treatment plants (STPs) worth over ₹1,800 crore to support the rejuvenation of the river Ganga. He will also lay the foundation stone for various water supply, sanitation, and STP projects in towns across Bihar, with investments exceeding ₹3,000 crore.

    Further strengthening the state’s energy infrastructure, he will lay the foundation for 500 MWh of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) capacity across 15 grid substations, including those in Muzaffarpur, Motihari, Bettiah, and Siwan. These storage systems will help stabilize the electricity grid and reduce the cost of power for consumers.

    In the housing sector, the Prime Minister will release the first instalment to more than 53,600 beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U). He will also hand over keys to a selection of beneficiaries to mark the symbolic *Grih Pravesh* of over 6,600 newly completed homes.

    Later that day, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Bhubaneswar, Odisha, to chair a state-level function marking the completion of one year of the current state government. In line with the central government’s vision of inclusive growth, he will also inaugurate and lay the foundation for development projects worth over ₹18,600 crore. These initiatives span key sectors such as irrigation, drinking water, agricultural infrastructure, healthcare, rural roads, bridges, and national highways.

    A major highlight of the Odisha visit will be the launch of a new railway line that extends connectivity to Boudh district for the first time. The Prime Minister will also flag off 100 electric buses under the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) initiative to promote sustainable urban mobility.

    During the event, the Prime Minister will unveil the Odisha Vision Document, a forward-looking roadmap that outlines the state’s developmental goals leading up to 2036, when Odisha marks 100 years as a linguistic state, and 2047, when India completes a century of independence.

    To celebrate Odisha’s rich cultural legacy, the Prime Minister will launch the ‘Baraputra Aitihya Gram Yojana’—a scheme to transform the birthplaces of notable Odia personalities into living heritage sites with museums, libraries, statues, and interpretation centres. He will also felicitate women achievers from across the state, acknowledging the contribution of more than 16.5 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ who symbolize empowerment and prosperity.

    On June 21, the Prime Minister will lead the nation in celebrating the 11th International Day of Yoga from the beachfront of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Nearly five lakh people are expected to join him in a mass yoga demonstration at the event, which is part of a larger national campaign spanning over 3.5 lakh locations across India.

    This year’s theme, “Yoga for One Earth, One Health,” reflects the growing global recognition of yoga’s role in promoting both individual and planetary well-being. Since the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as International Day of Yoga in 2015, Prime Minister Modi has led celebrations from various iconic locations including New York, Mysuru, Srinagar, and the Red Fort.

    To broaden participation this year, campaigns such as “Yoga with Family” and “Yoga Unplugged” have been launched via the MyGov and MyBharat platforms, targeting families and youth across the country.

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Delivering an energy market that works for consumers

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 2

    Press release

    Delivering an energy market that works for consumers

    New proposals announced to expand automatic compensation schemes when things go wrong.

    • New proposals to expand automatic compensation schemes for when things go wrong
    • working people will be better protected with fairer, quicker, easier access to compensation when they are let down by their energy supplier
    • follows confirmation that 2.7 million extra households will receive £150 off their energy bills next winter as the Warm Home Discount is expanded, easing the cost of living through the Plan for Change

    Working people will have better protections in the energy market through a new package of protection measures announced by the Prime Minister today.  

    The current system makes it too difficult for consumers to access proper compensation.

    Companies have 8 weeks to respond to requests, and if they do not respond or complaints go unresolved, then the onus is on consumers themselves to self-refer to the Energy Ombudsman.

    This produces a situation in which consumers often do not access the compensation they are entitled to due to time pressures or fatigue with a complex system.

    These reforms will take the pressure off consumers and onto the companies to ensure that consumers get the compensation they deserve. Doing so will ensure energy consumers are better-protected and empowered to take action when necessary.  

    These include proposals to make compensation fairer, quicker and easier, and covers areas including:  

    • working with Ofgem to look at expanding automatic compensation to cover more key issues faced by consumers, including excessively long call waiting times, unexpectedly high bills when suppliers fail to adjust direct debits, suppliers not responding to complaints, or suppliers not complying with Energy Ombudsman final decisions
    • government working with Ofgem to look at further increasing the value of base-level compensation from £40, following the first increase since the payments were last set a decade ago
    • strengthening the Energy Ombudsman’s powers so that suppliers must comply with its final decision or pay compensation to the consumer 
    • cutting the time before complaints can be escalated to the Ombudsman from 8 to 4 weeks
    • making referrals to the Ombudsman automatic, instead of people having to do it themselves

    Minister for Energy Consumers Miatta Fahnbulleh said: 

    Through our Plan for Change we are delivering an energy market consumers can trust, putting an end to unfair practices, holding suppliers to account, and ensuring that the consumer always comes first.  

    Today’s announcement is about taking the next steps – helping households to get fairer, quicker, easier compensation when things go wrong.

    This announcement follows confirmation that 2.7 million extra households will receive £150 off their energy bills this winter as the Warm Home Discount is expanded – putting more money directly into people’s pockets. 

    This vital support is the latest in a raft of cost of living support made possible because the government has stabilised the economy, fixed the foundations and repaired the public finances – deliberate choices which are helping provide security and more money in the pockets of working families through the Plan for Change.

    Since last summer, interest rates have been cut 4 times, lowering mortgage costs, free school meals have been rolled out for over half a million more children so that kids can focus on learning rather than hungry bellies, free breakfast clubs are being expanded to every child in the country, school uniform costs have been cut, and the 30 hours of free childcare scheme has been extended to more working parents.

    Work continues on the government’s comprehensive review of Ofgem, focusing on delivering an energy market where the consumer comes first.    

    The review is also considering how Ofgem can better drive the government’s missions for clean power and economic growth.  

    This includes investigating how the regulator can support the private sector to invest in energy infrastructure, and ensuring that families who want to upgrade their homes with clean technology can do so safe in the knowledge that they are protected by robust and responsive regulation.  

    Notes to editors

    Formal recommendations following the conclusion of the Ofgem Review Call for Evidence will be published later this year.  

    Reforms follow Secretary of State Ed Miliband’s letter to Ofgem Chief Executive Jonathan Brearley in February, in which he demanded that Ofgem took quicker and more effective action on consumer protection issues, including compensation for families affected by the forced installation of pre-payment meters.  

    In May Ofgem announced £18.6 million of compensation for the victims of forced pre-payment meter installations, following the Secretary of State’s letter and months of government work with the sector.

    Updates to this page

    Published 19 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Exclusive: China remains the main driver of global economic growth and Russia’s number one trading partner — VTB CEO A. Kostin

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    Moscow, June 19 (Xinhua) — China remains the main driver of global economic growth and Russia’s number one trading partner, said Andrey Kostin, president and chairman of the board of Russian bank VTB, in a written interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being held in St. Petersburg from June 18 to 21.

    Over the past 5 years, China’s contribution to global economic growth has averaged around 30 percent, making China one of the main drivers of global economic growth, noted A. Kostin.

    Speaking about bilateral trade between Russia and China, A. Kostin reported that “last year, trade turnover amounted to almost 245 billion dollars, and in the medium term, it is expected to reach 300 billion dollars per year,” he added.

    At the same time, according to the head of VTB, the interaction between Russia and China in the area of mutual investments is still noticeably lagging behind the dynamic growth in trade. “Their volume today does not correspond to the level and quality of political dialogue,” the banker is sure.

    A. Kostin recalled that in order to develop this area, Russia and China updated their investment cooperation plan in August 2024. In his opinion, one of the promising areas for joint investment is the development of transport and logistics infrastructure, which is important for ensuring further growth of trade and economic cooperation, including cross-border and regional.

    Joint projects in the energy, oil and gas, and agro-industrial sectors have great potential. “Here we can talk about investments in projects in Russia, Russian supplies of raw materials and agricultural products to China, as well as the creation of joint ventures to enter third-country markets with final products,” suggested the Xinhua source.

    In addition, according to A. Kostin, in order to ensure the technological sovereignty of the two countries in modern geopolitical realities, it is important to finance joint developments and projects in the field of developing technological cooperation, including digitalization and the creation of artificial intelligence.

    The head of VTB noted that China has traditionally been one of the most important areas of the bank’s international activities. The branch in Shanghai has been operating in the Chinese market for 17 years and today remains the only Russian bank in the country.

    In addition, VTB has been supporting Russian-Chinese cultural exchanges for many years, because mutual study of culture and traditions helps people from different countries to understand each other better. “In international business, knowledge of the partner’s ‘cultural code’ helps to establish deeper and more trusting relationships, and therefore, it facilitates effective cooperation and the achievement of a more lasting result,” the head of the Russian bank believes.

    As part of the cross-cultural Years of China and Russia /2024-2025/, VTB has become a partner in a series of large-scale tours of Russian art in China, and projects that introduce Russians to Chinese art are being implemented with its support. “We will be glad to continue to take an active part in the development of cultural dialogue between our countries,” concluded A. Kostin. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Are Chinese investors grabbing Zambian land? Study finds that’s a myth

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Yuezhou Yang, Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science

    Media coverage of Chinese land investments in African agriculture often reinforces narratives of a “weak African state” and the “Chinese land grab”, highlighting power imbalances between the actors involved in these land deals.

    Are Chinese actors grabbing land in Africa and jeopardising local people’s land rights and food security?

    China’s “Agriculture Going Out” policy, launched in 2007 as part of its broader “Going Out” strategy, was reinforced by the Belt and Road Initiative from 2013. Backed by these policies, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa rose from US$74.81 million in 2003 to US$4.99 billion in 2021. By 2020, US$1.67 billion was invested in African agriculture, with nearly two-thirds targeting cash crop cultivation. Zambia ranked among the top ten African countries receiving Chinese foreign direct investment and loans.

    My research on Zambian agriculture finds that Chinese land grabbing is a myth. Instead, Chinese investors have preferred different investment models according to the specific rules of land access, transfer and control of three land tenure systems in Zambia.

    What ties the three types of Chinese agricultural investments together is this: land institutions matter. Whether it’s central government rules or traditional authority, these systems shape how foreign investment happens and what impact it has.



    Read more:
    Foreign agriculture investments don’t always threaten food security: the case of Madagascar

    Each of the three models raises new opportunities and challenges for rural development and land governance. These findings matter because they offer insights into the future of land rights, livelihoods and state-building in African countries.

    Not all land is the same

    After independence, all land in Zambia was vested in the president, held in trust for the people. Today, the country still operates under a dual land system, as outlined in the 1995 Lands Act. State land, managed by the central government, includes both private and government leaseholds. Customary land, on the other hand, remains under the authority of traditional chiefs. The exact proportion of state and customary land in Zambia is contested, with estimates of customary land ranging widely from 94% to 54%.

    This tenure distinction is significant because each type of land is governed by different rules regarding foreign access and ownership, which shape how foreign investors choose their investment models.

    Over four months of fieldwork in Zambia, I gathered data on 50 Chinese agricultural projects (41 remained active) through 96 qualitative interviews. These projects were spread across three types of land tenure: private leasehold (37), government leasehold (1), and customary land (3).

    Model 1: Commercial farm on private land

    My fieldwork data showed that the majority of Chinese agricultural investments in Zambia are located on private leasehold land, typically following the commercial farm model. This type of land functions much like private property, held under 99-year leases that can be bought, sold or transferred. Investors use it for large-scale farming operations, such as maize, soybean and wheat production.

    Even in these seemingly privatised spaces, however, state power remains influential. When Zambia proposed a draft National Land Policy in 2017 aimed at tightening rules for foreign land ownership, Chinese investors responded strategically. Many began aligning their projects with Zambia’s development priorities, emphasising contributions to local food security, donating to charities, and promoting themselves as responsible corporate actors.

    Model 2: Farm block on government land

    In northern Zambia, for example, a Chinese company partnered with the government to develop a farm block on state-owned land that had been converted from customary tenure for national development. Unlike the commercial farm model, the government played a central role, selecting the investor, managing the land and negotiating the deal. The project promised infrastructure and jobs, enhancing the political standing of local officials.

    But this kind of state-led development works only when the promises are delivered. In other areas where farm blocks failed to materialise, traditional chiefs reclaimed the land. In the northern case, actual physical infrastructure investment helped reinforce state authority.

    Model 3: Contract farming on customary land

    The third model is very different. For instance, a Chinese agribusiness company arranged contract farming deals with over 50,000 smallholders in Zambia’s Eastern Province. Instead of buying or leasing land, the company provided seeds and bought cotton from farmers after harvest. This let the company access land informally, without triggering the legal and political risks of converting customary land to leasehold.

    Operating on customary land posed challenges for investors. When farmers defaulted on loans or engaged in side-selling, companies had limited legal recourse and often had to negotiate with chiefs and local communities rather than the state. In such contexts, traditional authorities – not the central government – wielded the decisive power over land and its governance.

    Why this matters

    In a world where land deals are often controversial, understanding how local rules shape global investment is crucial. It’s not just about who buys the land, but under what terms, and how those terms are enforced. African governments are not just passive bystanders; they’re active players who use land institutions to negotiate power and development.



    Read more:
    China and Africa: Ethiopia case study debunks investment myths

    This research urges us to look beyond the headlines about “land grabs” and instead focus on the everyday politics of land. If African states want to steer rural development on their own terms, understanding and strengthening land institutions – both statutory and customary – is key.

    This research is developed from Yuezhou Yang’s MRes/PhD project, which is supported by funding from the China Scholarship Council 201708040015.

    – ref. Are Chinese investors grabbing Zambian land? Study finds that’s a myth – https://theconversation.com/are-chinese-investors-grabbing-zambian-land-study-finds-thats-a-myth-257644

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Are Chinese investors grabbing Zambian land? Study finds that’s a myth

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Yuezhou Yang, Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science

    Media coverage of Chinese land investments in African agriculture often reinforces narratives of a “weak African state” and the “Chinese land grab”, highlighting power imbalances between the actors involved in these land deals.

    Are Chinese actors grabbing land in Africa and jeopardising local people’s land rights and food security?

    China’s “Agriculture Going Out” policy, launched in 2007 as part of its broader “Going Out” strategy, was reinforced by the Belt and Road Initiative from 2013. Backed by these policies, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa rose from US$74.81 million in 2003 to US$4.99 billion in 2021. By 2020, US$1.67 billion was invested in African agriculture, with nearly two-thirds targeting cash crop cultivation. Zambia ranked among the top ten African countries receiving Chinese foreign direct investment and loans.

    My research on Zambian agriculture finds that Chinese land grabbing is a myth. Instead, Chinese investors have preferred different investment models according to the specific rules of land access, transfer and control of three land tenure systems in Zambia.

    What ties the three types of Chinese agricultural investments together is this: land institutions matter. Whether it’s central government rules or traditional authority, these systems shape how foreign investment happens and what impact it has.

    Read more: Foreign agriculture investments don’t always threaten food security: the case of Madagascar

    Each of the three models raises new opportunities and challenges for rural development and land governance. These findings matter because they offer insights into the future of land rights, livelihoods and state-building in African countries.

    Not all land is the same

    After independence, all land in Zambia was vested in the president, held in trust for the people. Today, the country still operates under a dual land system, as outlined in the 1995 Lands Act. State land, managed by the central government, includes both private and government leaseholds. Customary land, on the other hand, remains under the authority of traditional chiefs. The exact proportion of state and customary land in Zambia is contested, with estimates of customary land ranging widely from 94% to 54%.

    This tenure distinction is significant because each type of land is governed by different rules regarding foreign access and ownership, which shape how foreign investors choose their investment models.

    Over four months of fieldwork in Zambia, I gathered data on 50 Chinese agricultural projects (41 remained active) through 96 qualitative interviews. These projects were spread across three types of land tenure: private leasehold (37), government leasehold (1), and customary land (3).

    Model 1: Commercial farm on private land

    My fieldwork data showed that the majority of Chinese agricultural investments in Zambia are located on private leasehold land, typically following the commercial farm model. This type of land functions much like private property, held under 99-year leases that can be bought, sold or transferred. Investors use it for large-scale farming operations, such as maize, soybean and wheat production.

    Even in these seemingly privatised spaces, however, state power remains influential. When Zambia proposed a draft National Land Policy in 2017 aimed at tightening rules for foreign land ownership, Chinese investors responded strategically. Many began aligning their projects with Zambia’s development priorities, emphasising contributions to local food security, donating to charities, and promoting themselves as responsible corporate actors.

    Model 2: Farm block on government land

    In northern Zambia, for example, a Chinese company partnered with the government to develop a farm block on state-owned land that had been converted from customary tenure for national development. Unlike the commercial farm model, the government played a central role, selecting the investor, managing the land and negotiating the deal. The project promised infrastructure and jobs, enhancing the political standing of local officials.

    But this kind of state-led development works only when the promises are delivered. In other areas where farm blocks failed to materialise, traditional chiefs reclaimed the land. In the northern case, actual physical infrastructure investment helped reinforce state authority.

    Model 3: Contract farming on customary land

    The third model is very different. For instance, a Chinese agribusiness company arranged contract farming deals with over 50,000 smallholders in Zambia’s Eastern Province. Instead of buying or leasing land, the company provided seeds and bought cotton from farmers after harvest. This let the company access land informally, without triggering the legal and political risks of converting customary land to leasehold.

    Operating on customary land posed challenges for investors. When farmers defaulted on loans or engaged in side-selling, companies had limited legal recourse and often had to negotiate with chiefs and local communities rather than the state. In such contexts, traditional authorities – not the central government – wielded the decisive power over land and its governance.

    Why this matters

    In a world where land deals are often controversial, understanding how local rules shape global investment is crucial. It’s not just about who buys the land, but under what terms, and how those terms are enforced. African governments are not just passive bystanders; they’re active players who use land institutions to negotiate power and development.

    Read more: China and Africa: Ethiopia case study debunks investment myths

    This research urges us to look beyond the headlines about “land grabs” and instead focus on the everyday politics of land. If African states want to steer rural development on their own terms, understanding and strengthening land institutions – both statutory and customary – is key.

    – Are Chinese investors grabbing Zambian land? Study finds that’s a myth
    – https://theconversation.com/are-chinese-investors-grabbing-zambian-land-study-finds-thats-a-myth-257644

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Euro Area: IMF Staff Concluding Statement of the 2025 Mission on Common Policies for Member Countries

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    July 19, 2025

    A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.

    The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

    Washington, DC: Europe’s economy remains resilient with record-low unemployment, headline inflation broadly at target, and a stable financial system. However, policymakers face mounting challenges, including trade tensions, rising demand for defense spending, and the need to ensure energy security, all while addressing subpar productivity, rapid aging, and weak medium-term growth. The most effective solutions require decisive EU actions. Deepening the EU single market is the key tool available to policymakers to enhance investment, innovation, and productivity. A better-integrated EU single market, in turn, calls for a joint provision of key public goods including for energy connectivity and defense—including through the multiannual financial framework. This can help internalize positive cross-border externalities of investments, leverage economies of scale, and avoid costly duplicative national efforts. Ensuring orderly growth-friendly fiscal consolidations designed to address country-specific risks is critical to preserving fiscal sustainability and managing long-term spending pressures associated with aging and increased spending on security. Diversifying economic ties and expanding rule-based trade integration can further bolster competitiveness and strengthen economic resilience. Safeguarding price and financial stability continues to be the bedrock for addressing these longer-term challenges. 

    Outlook and Risks

    The euro area economy is navigating an increasingly challenging global environment of higher tariffs, elevated trade policy uncertainty, and geopolitical risks. The April 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO) projected growth to remain moderate at 0.8 percent in 2025, picking up to 1.2 percent in 2026. Trade tensions and elevated uncertainty have dimmed the outlook for domestic demand and exports, outweighing an anticipated boost from higher defense and infrastructure spending. In addition, the geopolitical situation in Europe is expected to dampen sentiment and weigh on investment and consumption, despite looser monetary policy and projected gains in real income.   

    Headline inflation is close to 2 percent and, under staff’s April WEO projections, is expected to remain broadly at target with weak energy and core goods inflation offsetting elevated services inflation. Ongoing nominal wage growth moderation amid subdued activity and firmly anchored inflation expectations is expected to gradually lower services inflation. As a result, core inflation is projected to decline to 2 percent later than headline inflation, in 2026.

    Risks to growth are on the downside. Trade policy uncertainty, further tariff escalation, or geopolitical tensions could weigh on demand and growth more than expected. These would likely outweigh possible positive impacts of unanticipated further fiscal easing if more countries were to boost defense spending. The April 9th announcements of a pause in US tariffs constitutes a small upside risk to the April 2025 WEO projections as they lower the effective tariff rate on EU exports to the US.

    Risks to inflation are two-sided. Lower-than-expected non-energy goods prices because of trade diversion, weaker-than-expected activity and wages, as well as the recent euro appreciation could pull inflation lower than in the baseline. On the other hand, fiscal spending could turn out larger or more inflationary than assumed in the baseline, while geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and tariff escalation could lead to faster increases in import prices, and wage growth may not moderate as strongly as expected. 

    Structural constraints weigh on the medium-term outlook. Risks of persistently elevated trade policy uncertainty, an escalation of tariffs, still high and volatile energy prices, and the shifting geopolitical context all add to pre-existing challenges from aging, skills shortages, and weak productivity trends.

    Policy Priorities

    Given the challenges outlined above, a comprehensive policy strategy for decisive EU level actions on multiple fronts is needed. The goals include strengthening potential growth amidst aging and a more difficult external environment, ensuring new public spending priorities are met without risking fiscal sustainability, and safeguarding broader macro and financial stability.

    Structural and Trade Policies

    To bolster productivity growth and resilience in the EU, it is crucial to enhance innovation and facilitate the scaling up of firms (Draghi 2024; Letta 2024; Adilbish and others 2025). The key lever available to achieve this is deeper integration of the EU single market. Staff analysis finds that remaining barriers within the single market are equivalent on average to a 44 percent tariff on goods and 110 percent on services (Adilbish and others 2025). More integration will unlock gains from specialization within the EU, as global value chains reconfigure and enable firms to capitalize on economies of scale. 

    Staff analysis highlights four key actionable priorities to help complete the single market and realize these ambitions (Arnold and others 2025). First, lowering regulatory fragmentation. For instance, a 28th corporate regime—alternative to national regimes—that establishes uniform regulations and legal rules crucial for not only the formation and operation of firms, but also their dissolution can provide a voluntary EU-wide legal framework to support firms’ expansion without requiring them to navigate divergent national regulations. By offering an alternative viable solution to simplify the regulatory landscape, the 28th regime can facilitate firms’ scaling up and enhance the efficiency of cross-border capital allocation, ultimately fostering innovation. Second, advancing the Capital Markets Union (CMU) to facilitate more efficient channeling of savings to risk capital for firms. For instance, increasing institutional investors’ familiarity with venture capital (VC) as an asset class and addressing remaining undue restrictions on their ability to invest in it can help meaningfully increase VC investment in the EU from a very low level currently (Arnold and others 2024). This, together with continued efforts to complete the Banking Union (BU)—critical for a more resilient and efficient banking sector—will build a well-functioning Savings and Investments Union (SIU). Lowering barriers to cross-border bank mergers and acquisitions would help augment bank finance, address long-standing concerns of structurally low profitability and high costs, and spur competition within the euro area’s banking sector. Third, enhancing intra-EU labor mobility (such as through extending the automatic system of professional qualification recognition) can offer productive firms greater access to talent and improve skills matching. Last, integrating the EU energy market, guided by a coordinated strategy for an energy system transformation, can help provide lower and more stable energy prices. Simulation results suggest that a few actionable steps along these dimensions could jumpstart the process of deeper integration and deliver a meaningful payoff by increasing the EU potential GDP level relative to baseline by around 3 percent over 10 years, benefiting every country. In this regard, the digital euro also has an important role to play. In addition to reinforcing monetary sovereignty in the growing presence of private digital currencies, the digital euro can help deepen the integration of financial services within the European market by streamlining and unifying cross-border retail payments. It can improve payment system efficiency, reduce transaction costs, and complement the SIU and the single market more broadly.

    While deeper intra-Europe integration is one key element in boosting growth prospects, complementary policy actions are needed at the national level. Recently published staff analysis (Budina and others 2025) identifies domestic structural reform priorities for individual European countries. Successful implementation—by which countries aim to close 50 percent of their prioritized policy gaps with respect to the most growth-friendly regulatory settings—would entail sizable gains in GDP level of around 5.7 percent for the EU in the medium term. The prioritized reforms cover labor market and human capital (e.g., education and training), fiscal structural issues (e.g., tax policy), business regulation, and credit and capital markets.

    An escalation of trade tensions poses important challenges to the EU. The EU would benefit from its continued advocacy for a stable, rules-based global trading system. Further diversifying economic ties can help strengthen supply chain resilience and capture efficiency gains from trade. Any new industrial policies should be limited to well-defined market failures and be coordinated at the EU level.

    Fiscal Policy

    Fiscal risks and optimal fiscal policy strategies differ across countries. For countries with high debt and limited fiscal space, significant fiscal adjustments are needed to mitigate risks, while countries with fiscal space can implement a more back-loaded fiscal adjustment. For the euro area economies excluding Germany, staff recommends improving the structural primary balance to a surplus of 1.4 percent of GDP in 2030—a cumulative improvement of 2.9 percentage points from a deficit of 1.5 percent of GDP in 2024. Achieving this requires an additional cumulative deficit reduction of close to 2 percentage points over 2024–30 relative to the baseline (typically predicated on current budgets and specified, concrete measures under consideration).

    The needed deficit-reduction creates challenging tradeoffs because, at the same time, Europe faces high and rising spending pressures that are crystallizing faster than previously anticipated. Pressures from interest costs, an aging population, climate transition and energy security, and defense would reach 4.4 percent of GDP annually for the euro area economies in 2050 (Eble and others 2025). Member states should transparently account for rising spending pressures to lay out trade-offs within the fiscal framework and develop credible plans to ensure sustainability. 

    The use of escape clauses to support member states’ ramp-up in defense spending should be restricted to its initial phase. Member states and the Commission should assess the impact of increased defense spending on debt sustainability on an ongoing basis and develop plans to put debt on a stable/declining path over the medium term. Also, it is crucial that care be taken in implementing the EU fiscal rules to ensure that countries with low fiscal risks that intend to increase spending to boost potential growth and enhance resilience should not be constrained from doing so by the rules. Eventually, a broader reassessment of key parameters may be needed to achieve an optimal balance between allowing countries with low fiscal risks to fulfill spending objectives that can also have favorable EU-wide spillovers, and ensuring that debt remains sustainable.

    Coordinated efforts at the EU level and targeted investments can help address shared challenges in a cost-effective manner, supporting member states in managing fiscal tradeoffs (Busse and others 2025). Identifying existing investment gaps and areas where joint EU-level initiatives would deliver cost-effective solutions can provide a blueprint for priority actions—for instance, public goods investment including on innovation, clean energy transition, and collective defense. To support investments in these areas, the EU budget size will need to increase by at least 50 percent, if existing programs are to be maintained. Coordinated investments that better internalize positive cross-border externalities and minimize duplicative national efforts will generate net budgetary savings for member states. In the area of the clean energy transition, for instance, our recent work estimates that better EU-level coordination and planning can lower investment costs by 7 percent (IMF 2024). In addition, reforms are needed to make the budget more streamlined, responsive to evolving needs, and more effective by incentivizing good performance. A performance-based approach that links financial support to implementing national-level reforms that support EU priorities and enhance growth potential can deliver objectives more effectively, particularly in areas where incentives are currently weak, and outcomes are closely linked to efforts. Lastly, strengthening the financing framework of the budget with borrowing capacity and increased own resources will help meet the growing demand for EU level investment in shared priorities in a timely manner while spreading the fiscal burden over time.

    Monetary and Financial Sector Policies

    Since headline inflation is broadly at target, core inflation is slightly above 2 percent, and the output gap is mildly negative, a monetary policy stance close to neutral is justified. Barring further shocks that materially revise the inflation outlook, maintaining the policy rate at 2 percent will help keep inflation around target in the second half of 2025 and beyond. But the outlook is highly uncertain, and the policy path may need to be adjusted on the basis of incoming data or developments.

    The concurrent Financial Stability Assessment Program (FSAP) found that the banking system generally appears adequately capitalized and liquid, but the authorities should closely monitor the vulnerabilities from the growing NBFI sector. Although financial stability risks linked to past monetary tightening are easing, a deteriorating business environment for corporates, especially those with trade exposures to the US, could weigh on banks’ otherwise healthy balance sheets. Moreover, new systemic risks have emerged, particularly from market volatility due to higher tariffs and banks’ exposures to NBFIs. Authorities should stand ready to address potential liquidity stress, including by preparing a framework for the provision of emergency liquidity assistance to NBFIs, paired with closer oversight.

    Facilitating better data sharing among EU and national authorities will improve risk monitoring, particularly to close gaps that hinder system-wide analyses. A key policy priority is to improve system-wide risk monitoring of the financial sector beyond banks, including by closing data gaps arising from legal restrictions for sharing or timely access by supervisors, which currently limit the ability to undertake complete system-wide analyses.

    Fragmentation continues to hinder the full benefits of the banking union and the development of a more resilient, deeper and integrated EA-wide financial system. Further steps to strengthen the euro area financial architecture include completing the Banking Union with the introduction of a common deposit insurance system; allowing a greater use of national deposit guarantee funds for resolution and making bail-in requirements more flexible; putting in place arrangements for the Single Resolution Fund to provide guarantees to enhance the provision of central bank liquidity in resolution, ideally with an EU fiscal backstop; fully implementing the international capital standard for banks (Basel III); and strengthening the resources and prudential powers of the European authorities overseeing NBFIs, including empowering ESMA to top-up national measures for substantially leveraged investment funds and to enforce cross-border reciprocation.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Eva-Maria Graf

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/18/mcs-06182025-euro-area-imf-cs-of-2025-mission-on-common-policies-for-member-countries

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Pride, pages and performance: Why drag story time matters more than ever

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Phillip Joy, Assistant Professor, Applied Human Nutrition, Mount Saint Vincent University

    June is Pride month. It is a time for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, Two-Spirit, intersex and other sexuality- and gender-diverse (LGBTQ+) communities to come together to celebrate identities, build communities and advocate for justice and equality.

    This year’s pride carries added weight. As American legal scholar Luke Boso writes, “fear has taken hold in private, interpersonal, and public reactions,” following the rhetoric and policies promoted by United States President Donald Trump.

    His current term has been marked by a growing push to erase LGBTQ+ identities and limit queer expression in public life. Within this month of Pride, the Trump administration is planning to rename the USNS Harvey Milk naval ship, named after the late civil rights leader Harvey Milk.

    The implications of such actions, however, aren’t limited to the U.S. Similar patterns of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric have been documented across democratic countries, where drag events and other expressions of queer visibility have become flashpoints for harassment as far-right groups try to build support and spread anti-LGBTQ+ views.

    But with fear also comes hope. Even as events like drag story times have become targets of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and protests, communities continue to organize, resist and affirm their right to public joy and visibility.

    Our research, recently funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, explores drag story times with the hope to learn more about how drag story time leaders select books, and how these events can foster best practices in literacy and inclusive education.



    Read more:
    5 things to know about Drag Queen Story Time

    Drag story time as educational event

    Drag story times are more than just community events. They are creative, educational spaces often held in public venues such as libraries, schools or community centres. Typically led by a drag performer, these sessions invite children, along with parents, caregivers and educators, to enjoy storybooks that highlight themes like acceptance, self-expression, diversity and joy.

    Reading aloud with children serves as an avenue for the development of language and literacy. Young children can engage with vocabulary, content and ideas to construct meaning through texts that they may not, yet, have the skills to read on their own.

    At their core, drag story time events offer opportunities for child-centred literacy practices, such as dialogue and interactions throughout the “read aloud,” to encourage children to consider ideas and connect them as the story moves along.

    Reading aloud to children is a powerful way to nurture emotional, social and cognitive growth. Stories offer children what literacy scholars call mirrors (reflective ways to see themselves), windows (into understanding others) and “sliding glass doors,” — vantages for imagining new perspectives. When children encounter characters and families who reflect a range of lived experiences, it opens the door to conversations about empathy, acceptance and identity.

    What books are being read?

    A recent content analysis, by information sciences researcher Sarah Barriage and colleagues of 103 picture books read during drag story times in the U.S. found that few explicitly featured LGBTQ+ identities.

    The lead characters were predominantly white, cisgender, heterosexual and able-bodied, with only seven per cent of books featuring trans, non-binary or intersex leads, and another seven per cent portraying same-sex or undefined relationships. While this represents an increase in LGBTQ+ representation compared to other studies of story time books and classroom libraries, the overall percentage remains low.

    The findings of this study, while based on a small sample size, suggest that contrary to popular perception, drag story times, while featuring drag artists leading read-aloud sessions, are not consistently grounded in explicitly LGBTQ+ narratives.

    Rather, the books may be story-time favourites, (such as selections from Mo Williams’ Pigeon series), or texts that tend to promote broadly inclusive and affirming messages of individuality, confidence, empathy, inclusion and imagination (such as Todd Parr’s It’s Okay to Be Different).

    Books representing range of experiences

    This gap highlights the importance of thoughtfully selecting books that reflect a wider range of experiences, including LGBTQ+ main characters and stories. When children are shown diverse characters and stories, they begin to understand the world from multiple perspectives.

    Researchers with expertise in children’s early literacy recommend that books for interactive read-alouds with children should reflect both the children’s communities and communities different from their own. Such books can spark meaningful conversations, encourage critical thinking and help cultivate empathy and respect for difference. This prepares young readers for life in a multicultural society and helps build a more inclusive and compassionate world view.

    Euphoria: being gender-aligned, authentic

    Apart from the specific book content shared with children at drag story time, these events provide opportunities for children and families to engage with diverse gender and sexuality expressions in a safe, inclusive setting with their caregivers. Such exposure does not cause confusion in children, but rather supports healthy development by fostering empathy, self-awareness and acceptance.

    This may come from or be expressed through the euphoria or joy that comes from feeling aligned and authentic in your gender. The idea of “gender euphoria” comes from within the trans community as a way to push back against the narrow narrative that trans lives are defined only by dysphoria, trauma or discomfort.

    Instead, gender euphoria highlights the positive side that come with expressing or affirming one’s gender identity. It can look different for everyone, from a quiet sense of contentment to a powerful feeling of joy.

    Communities affirm their right to public joy and visibility. Drag Queen Barbada de Barbades, who has led story times, seen in Montréal.
    (Jennifer Ricard/Wikimedia), CC BY

    Queer joy

    Queer joy is also a feature of drag story time, and is more than just feeling good. it is about living fully, even in the face of adversity. It is an act of resistance to a world that often tells queer and trans people they should not exist. Children still die because of hateful anti-LGTBQ+ speech.

    Together, gender euphoria and queer joy remind us that LGBTQ+ lives can be full of strength, creativity, connection and celebration.

    When children see diversity reflective in creative, positive and affirming ways, such as through stories, role models and community engagement, they are more likely to feel a sense of belonging and develop confidence in expressing their own identities. In this way, drag story times contribute meaningfully to both individual well-being and broader efforts towards inclusion.

    Best literacy and inclusion practices

    As part of our research, we plan to attend drag story times to learn more about current practices in Nova Scotia. At the national level, we will talk with performers about their experiences, practices, support and training needs and their goals and motivations.

    Then we’ll co-host a workshop with performers and educators to share knowledge and build skills that combine the artistry of drag with best practices in literacy and inclusive education.

    Drag story times can be a healthy and supportive way for children to develop their sense of gender and sexuality identity, both within themselves and others.

    Phillip Joy receives funding from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

    Andrea Fraser receives funding from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

    Conor Barker receives funding from the Social Studies and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

    – ref. Pride, pages and performance: Why drag story time matters more than ever – https://theconversation.com/pride-pages-and-performance-why-drag-story-time-matters-more-than-ever-258508

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Government steps in to protect consumers with old energy meters

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Government steps in to protect consumers with old energy meters

    A widespread switch-off of Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters will not happen on 30 June.

    • Ministers have confirmed that a widespread switch-off of Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters will not happen on 30 June – with this summer now marking a limited start of a phase-out process
    • Industry will pursue a phased approach beginning with a very small number of homes and businesses in carefully targeted local areas, with government monitoring suppliers’ performance to ensure the process is smooth and working families are protected
    • Affected customers will be contacted in advance, and are urged to respond to energy suppliers and book appointments to have their meter replaced

    Thousands of people with a Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meter will not face any unexpected disruption to their heating or hot water at the end of this month, as the government confirms there will be a cautious and targeted phase out to the service, protecting working families. 

    The Radio Teleswitch Service uses radio signals to switch older electricity meters between different tariffs such as peak and off peak, and can also be used to turn heating and hot water systems on and off at specific times of the day.  

    The service was introduced in the 1980s and, as planned, is now reaching the end of its life. But unacceptably slow progress to replace these meters has left around 314,000 households still using them as of last month – equal to around 1% of British households.  

    Ministers have taken action to ensure industry delivers a better phase out plan from 30 June, ensuring working families can continue to go about their home lives as normal. 

    The phase out will now begin on a significantly smaller scale, in areas with very few RTS customers, meaning energy suppliers will be ready to respond rapidly to protect households who most need support.  

    In advance of any phase out activity in their area, households will be contacted by their energy supplier to inform them well ahead of time, before their meters are affected. 

    Ministers have been clear that they also expect suppliers’ momentum to install replacement meters to increase over the coming weeks. 

    Minister for Energy Consumers Miatta Fahnbulleh said: 

    We have stepped in to ensure that thousands of vulnerable consumers with RTS meters do not experience any sudden disruption at the end of this month.  

    I will be watching suppliers closely to make sure they are doing everything they can to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible.

    Charlotte Friel, Director for Retail Pricing & Systems for Ofgem, said:

    Ofgem has been clear that customers must be protected at every stage of the phased area-by-area shutdown, and we are spelling out to suppliers key requirements that must be met before an area loses its RTS signal. 

    At the same time we expect energy companies to go faster, building on the work of the cross-sector Taskforce set up by Ofgem that has seen the upgrade rate rise from 1,000 meters per month to more than 1,000 per day. 

    While this carefully managed phaseout process should reassure customers, it remains crucial that these meters are replaced urgently so it’s vital to engage with your supplier when offered an appointment.

    The Minister for Energy Consumers will meet with Ofgem and Energy UK on a fortnightly basis to review how the gradual and targeted phase out is progressing, with a particular focus on Scotland – where around 105,000 RTS meters are installed, as well as remote and rural areas, to ensure all efforts are made to reach these households.  

    Suppliers will continue contacting households to book replacement appointments and consumers are urged to respond as soon as possible.  

    In most cases, this will involve switching to a smart meter, which can work in the same way as RTS meters, with automatic peak and off-peak rates, and the ability to turn heating and hot water systems on and off, ensuring minimal disruption to households.  

    The government will continue to do everything possible to ensure working families benefit from stronger protections and improved customer service in the energy market, with new reforms to be set out in the coming weeks. 

    Notes to editors

    The RTS uses the same infrastructure as the BBC’s longwave radio signal to tell older electricity meters when to switch between peak and off-peak rates. The infrastructure underpinning the signal is reaching the end of its life, meaning the equipment that sends the radio signal can no longer be adequately maintained. 

    As of 30 May, there were 314,935 RTS meters requiring replacement in Great Britain, according to supplier data collected by Ofgem.   

    If households and businesses think they have an RTS meter installed, they should contact their supplier to arrange a replacement immediately. Technical solutions are available to replace RTS meters in all households. 

    For RTS customers that live in an area without smart meter signal, their supplier will explain what other options are available before the radio signal is switched off. Energy suppliers are obliged under their licence conditions to ensure that a suitable alternative metering system is installed and that the customer’s service is not disrupted. 

    The first stage of the phase-out will target specific, localised areas, affecting a maximum of 600 households over a 3 week period – with the government and industry carefully monitoring suppliers’ response times and their effectiveness in supporting vulnerable consumers throughout this phase.

    Updates to this page

    Published 19 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –