NewzIntel.com

Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI Europe: EU opens call for postdoctoral fellowships

    Source: European Union 2

    Postdoctoral Fellowships offer researchers holding a PhD the opportunity to acquire new skills through advanced training and international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral mobility.

    The 2025 call for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships is open as of 8 May 2025.

    The grants aim to improve the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD, with a budget of €404.3 million. They will help researchers acquire new skills, develop their careers, and gain international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral experience by working in another country.

    These prestigious fellowships are also a stepping stone in researchers’ careers. They allow them to strengthen research cooperation with leading scientific teams and figures worldwide.

    The call will close on 10 September 2025 and is expected to fund nearly 1650 projects.

    Research in all fields

    The call is open to applications in any scientific field, including Euratom research.

    Fellowships include

    • European Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to researchers of any nationality to carry out a personalised project in the European Union (EU) or countries associated to Horizon Europe for up to 24 months
    • Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to EU and Horizon Europe associated countries nationals or long-term residents wishing to work with organisations in third countries for a period of 12 to 24 months, before returning to Europe for 12 months

    The scheme encourages researchers to gain experience beyond academia by giving them the opportunity to request an additional six months at the end of their fellowship to undertake a placement in a non-academic organisation in Europe.

    Conditions for researchers and organisations

    MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to postdoctoral researchers from all over the world, of any nationality and at any career stage, with a maximum of 8 years of research experience after their PhD.

    Some exceptions and specific conditions apply, for instance for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.

    Researchers must develop an application with their prospective supervisor and apply together with their future host organisation, which can be

    • a university
    • a research institution or facility
    • a company, small or medium-sized enterprise
    • a government, public institution, or body
    • a museum, hospital, or NGO
    • any other organisation

    based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe associated country.

    As of January 2025, Switzerland benefits from transitional arrangements in place for countries in the process of associating to Horizon Europe. Swiss entities can therefore apply and be evaluated under this year’s call under the same conditions as other countries associated to Horizon Europe. Successful proposals will however no longer be treated as established in an associated country if the association agreement does not apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. Morocco and Egypt also benefit from transitional arrangements at the call opening.

    Researchers applying to Global Fellowships will need to seek the commitment of an organisation based in a third country, as they will carry out their research there for a period of between 12 and 24 months.

    The call is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers.

    ERA Fellowships

    Researchers applying for a standard European Fellowship with a host organisation in a “widening country” (i.e. a country with lower participation rates in Horizon Europe) can opt in to be considered for the ERA Fellowships call.

    Around 45 ERA Fellowships will be awarded to excellent applicants who were not selected under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call due to budget constraints. 

    Check out the list of eligible host countries for ERA Fellowships

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: St. Clair Shores Man Convicted of Importing, Possessing, and Transferring Machineguns, and Failing to Keep Proper Records as a Federal Firearms Licensee

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    DETROIT – A St. Clair Shores man was convicted by a federal jury this week on charges of illegally importing, possessing, and transferring machineguns, as well as failing to keep proper records as a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., announced today.

    Gorgon was joined in the announcement by ATF Detroit Special Agent in Charge James Deir.

    Chase Farmer, 26, was convicted following a week-long jury trial before United States District Judge Gershwin Drain. 

    Evidence presented at trial established that in 2020, Chase Farmer applied for and received a license to deal in firearms. His business was called Shall Not Be Infringed LLC. Farmer did not have a license to import firearms, including machineguns. Yet from 2020 to 2021, he made four orders on a now-defunct Russian website called Silencer Sales for machinegun conversion devices, including Glock switches and drop in auto sears. Farmer paid for the devices in Rubles and used an alias to avoid detection by law enforcement. Although Farmer purchased and received approximately 30 machinegun conversion devices from Silencer Sales, when the ATF searched Farmer’s home and business in 2022, he only had two drop in auto sears in his possession. Farmer was unable to account for the 28 missing machinegun conversion devices. After deliberating for approximately an hour, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts.

    U.S. Attorney Gorgon stated, “Machinegun conversion devices gravely endanger our community by turning semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic machineguns. Chase Farmer sought out the ability to deal and manufacture firearms, but he flagrantly ignored his responsibility to follow the law. Farmer is responsible for putting 28 machinegun conversion devices on the street and potentially in the hands of criminals.”

    “This wasn’t negligence – it was pure greed at its core,” said ATF Detroit Field Division Special Agent in Charge James Deir. “Chase Farmer abused the trust the government placed in him as a federal firearms licensee to nefariously acquire and distribute illegal conversion devices, using fake identities and foreign currency to avoid detection by law enforcement. This is what illegal firearms trafficking looks like: An individual putting personal greed before our community’s safety.  This case is representative of ATF’s core mission to protect the public.  Mr. Farmer’s actions were a clear and present danger to our overall safety by knowingly putting 28 machine gun conversion devices on our streets.”

    Farmer will be sentenced by Judge Drain in the summer of 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years’ incarceration.

    This case was investigated by the ATF and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Princ and Sarah Alsaden.   

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch, Senate Colleagues Slam Social Security for Improperly Declaring Thousands Dead, Call for Watchdog Investigation 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    Trump Administration abused Death Master File to purge at least 6,300 Social Security numbers–including children and seniors 
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, this week joined 11 Senate colleagues in slamming the Social Security Administration (SSA) for transferring thousands of Social Security numbers associated with immigrants to SSA’s Death Master File, marking them as dead to pressure ‘self-deportation,’ and demanded the agency’s watchdog launch a full investigation into the decision.  
    In their letter, the Senators emphasize that the Trump Administration’s actions exploit Social Security’s Death Master File to terminate social security numbers of living individuals without full due process violates several federal laws, including the Privacy Act, as well as bedrock constitutional rights. Even Trump’s lawyers reportedly agreed that Social Security’s actions violated the Privacy Act.  
    “This decision will result in the ‘financial murder’ of living individuals improperly placed in the file, with everything from their credit cards and banking to their ability to access healthcare and housing being ripped out from under them,” the Senators wrote in the letters to Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek and Social Security Assistant Inspector General for Audit Michelle Anderson.  
    The Senators also called on the SSA Office of the Inspector General to launch a full investigation into the agency’s decision to begin using the Death Master File for this purpose, including how an individual gets targeted, who at the agency has decision making authority, and how those who have their SSNs nullified through this process can get it fixed if there is a mistake. 
    The Trump Administration’s abuse of Social Security’s centerpiece role in America’s economy sets a dangerous precedent of allowing the government to rip away workers’ access to their earned Social Security benefits while threatening the security of all Americans. 
    “The purpose of SSA is to provide for the welfare of number-holders and their dependents, not to serve as an arm of President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda. This move degrades the solvency, reliability, and accuracy of SSA systems and programs. It is as cruel as it is thoughtless– the impact will be felt in communities across the country and in the future of SSA programs themselves,” the Senators concluded in one of their letters to SSA. 
    In addition to Senators Welch and Wyden, the letter was signed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore).  
    Read and download the full text of the letter to SSA Acting Commissioner Dudek. 
    Read and download the full text of the letter to SSA Assistant Inspector General for Audit Anderson. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: How the Industry of Drones is Evolving Rapidly with New Trends and Technologies Emerging Regularly

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALM BEACH, Fla., May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – Experts in the drone industry are excited about its future. One such player said: “As we soar into a new era of technological innovation, drones are rapidly becoming a significant part of our everyday lives. From aerial photography to package delivery and from environmental monitoring to emergency response, drones are revolutionizing numerous industries.” They continued: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are at the forefront of drone technology advancements. Companies… are leading the way in this area with drones that can navigate complex environments autonomously using AI.  The market for AI in drones is expected to grow significantly, impacting sectors like agriculture, construction, and security. According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the market size for drones with AI is expected to grow from $2.1 billion in 2022 to $6.5 billion by 2027. The trend towards increased autonomy in drone technology is gaining momentum.  Companies are developing drones that can perform complex tasks without human intervention, such as detecting leaks, inspecting pipelines, and even charging themselves. This increased autonomy is expected to boost efficiency and productivity in various sectors, including agriculture, construction, and logistics. For example, autonomous drones can be used for precision agriculture, where they can monitor crop health, apply fertilizers, and even harvest crops. The enormous commercial potential is why the global precision agriculture market size is expected to reach $19.24 billion by 2030.”   Active Companies in the drone industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS), Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT).

    MarketsandMarkets added: “Drone swarming, the coordinated operation of multiple drones, is another emerging trend. Each drone in a swarm operates autonomously yet in harmony with the others, allowing the swarm to cover larger areas and perform tasks more efficiently than a single drone. Companies… are pioneering this technology, using it to create stunning light shows at live events. However, the potential applications of drone swarming extend far beyond entertainment. For example, in search and rescue operations, a swarm of drones can cover a large area to search for signs of life, allowing rescue teams to locate and reach victims more quickly. This technology could prove invaluable in the aftermath of natural disasters, where time is of the essence. The world of drones is evolving rapidly, with new trends and technologies emerging regularly. These advancements are opening up new applications and markets, from agriculture and construction to healthcare and entertainment. As we continue to explore the potential of these versatile machines, it’s clear that drones will play an increasingly important role in our future.”

    ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Tests Proprietary Camera Enabling IQ Nano Drone Swarms for US Defense Applications and Blue UAS Submission – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces that its subsidiary ZenaDrone is testing a new proprietary specialized camera that enables more efficient indoor applications such as inventory and security management, when utilizing IQ Nano drone swarms for commercial and US defense applications. The new camera prototype developed by its Taiwan component manufacturing subsidiary, Spider Vision Sensors, in collaboration with its certified electronics manufacturing partner, Suntek Global, will enable faster and more precise collection of data including multiple bar codes simultaneously scanned by multiple drones in a drone swarm. The company plans to apply for Blue UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) certification that lists and validates drones for military and government use.

    “Our Spider Vision Sensors subsidiary in collaboration with Suntek Global, has helped us speed up development of customized and specialized cameras required for our innovative drone swarm applications for commercial and defense customers. This partnership will continue to be invaluable as we develop our NDAA-compliant supply chain and received Blue UAS certification which will allow military and federal agencies to directly purchase our drones.,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    Military and Defense departments use small autonomous indoor drones like the 10X10 inch IQ Nano for various applications such as inventory management, indoor building reconnaissance, search and rescue, training simulations, and explosives detection. ZenaDrone is also engaged in a paid trial which includes developing drone swarm applications for inventory management and security applications with a multinational auto parts manufacturer customer.

    A drone swarm is a coordinated group of autonomous drones that communicate and work together using AI and real-time data sharing, to perform tasks collaboratively without direct human control. Drone swarms enhance efficiency, accuracy, automation, and performance compared to a single drone. Autonomous drones can rapidly scan thousands of bar codes or RFID tags per second with high accuracy, providing real-time visibility into inventory without disrupting workflows. A drone swarm can also cover more ground simultaneously, dramatically reducing inventory audit times and manual labour while providing near-total inventory visibility.

    An AI drone swarm for indoor security and surveillance enhances coverage, response time, and efficiency by autonomously patrolling large areas, detecting threats, and providing real-time situational awareness. Unlike stationary cameras or human patrols, drone swarms can dynamically adapt to security breaches, track intruders, and coordinate movements to eliminate blind spots. AI-driven analytics enable them to identify anomalies, recognize faces, and detect unauthorized activity with high precision, reducing false alarms and improving security decision-making. Their autonomous nature minimizes human labor costs while ensuring 24/7 monitoring in complex environments like warehouses, data centers, or commercial facilities.

    The ZenaDrone IQ Nano is available in 10×10 and 20×20-inch sizes, designed to perform regular and frequent inspections such as bar code or RFID scanning, facility maintenance inspections, security monitoring, 3D indoor mapping and other applications inside a warehouse, distribution, or plant facility. It is designed for autonomous use featuring integrated sensors, high-quality cameras, data collection and analysis including AI methodologies. Weighing 1.5kg and with a flight time of at least 20 minutes before utilizing the automatic battery recharging station, it is designed for hovering stability and safety with obstacle avoidance capabilities.   Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/

    In Additional ZENA News: ZenaTech’s (NASDAQ:ZENA) Expands Ireland Office Offering Drone as a Service (DaaS) Including Precision Agriculture to a European Market Growing at 28.6% Annually – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces it will be expanding operations and opening a new, larger office and its European Headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The new hub will facilitate the Company’s drone sales and DaaS drone services — including precision agriculture solutions — to a growing UK and European market. The Company anticipates the official grand opening during the summer of 2025.

    Strategically located near Dublin Airport and accessible via all major motorways, the new office location will serve a growing customer base in Ireland and enable growth across Europe, catering to agriculture as well as construction, renewable energy — including wind and solar farms — golf courses, racecourses, and warehouse and logistics.

    “Expanding our Dublin office and establishing a European HQ marks a new chapter in our strategy to scale our drones and DaaS offerings globally while servicing the fastest growing agricultural drone markets located in Europe. Our AI-powered drone solutions are designed to boost crop yields while reducing operational costs and provide smart, data-driven insights — empowering crop monitoring and health assessment, nutrient and resource optimization, and profitability,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    The European agricultural drone market was valued at approximately USD 4.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 43.23 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.58% according to Market Data Forecast . This growth is fueled by the adoption of drones for crop spraying, mapping, pest control, seeding, and remote sensing, which enhance productivity and resource efficiency in farming. Growth is also supported by favorable European government policies and a strong focus on sustainable farming practices.    Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/

    Other recent developments in the drone industry include:

    To meet the emerging air threats of today and the rapidly evolving threats of tomorrow, AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) recently announced Titan 4, the next generation of its battle-proven, warfighter-trusted Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) technology. Titan 4 is a smaller, lighter, more powerful, highly extensible Radio Frequency (RF)-based solution to detect and defeat Group 1 and 2 drone threats.

    Titan 4 is portable and mission-adaptable—supporting mobile, dismounted, or fixed-site use—and can deploy in under five minutes to identify and neutralize threats, creating a protective dome around personnel and infrastructure. Titan 4 is 17% lighter and 73% smaller than its dual-chassis predecessor, now integrated into a single compact chassis as compared to its dual-chassis predecessor. It offers nearly 250% more transmit power with 540W of total output over six RF bands to address both current and emerging threats. For enhanced airspace awareness, AV has integrated its Titan-SV system within Titan 4 to provide operators with AI/ML-backed passive, long-range precision threat detection.

    Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS), a leading provider of private industrial wireless networks and commercial drone and automated data solutions, recently announced it has secured a $3.4 million order for its Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAS system from renowned European defense contractor for their governmental end client. This marks the initial deployment of the Iron Drone Raider in Europe and represents a major milestone in the global expansion of Ondas’ counter-UAS business.

    “Ongoing geopolitical instability and the rapid proliferation of hostile drone technologies have intensified the urgency for effective counter-UAS capabilities across NATO-aligned and partner nations,” said Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas. “This order reflects the rising global demand for autonomous aerial defense systems that can be rapidly deployed, scaled, and adapted to modern threat environments. Iron Drone Raider delivers a differentiated solution for military and homeland security operators charged with safeguarding critical infrastructure and civilian populations from increasingly sophisticated aerial threats.”

    Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), a developer of artificial intelligence software for robotic platforms in the defense and commercial sectors, and Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, recently announced a significant testing milestone in their ongoing collaboration—the completion of an autonomous, cross-platform collaborative flight involving three diverse heterogeneous drones.

    During this most recent testing, which leveraged Red Cat’s Teal 2 and Black Widow drones and the Palladyne™ Pilot AI software, each platform operated using onboard edge computing and constrained communication protocols without reliance on centralized infrastructure to communicate. The system enabled real-time, distributed detection and tracking of multiple dynamic and static ground objects—including humans and vehicles—in different regions of interest, providing a single operator with comprehensive situational awareness. The two companies previously announced a successful two-drone flight operation in January 2025, and Palladyne AI announced a single-drone testing scenario in December 2024 to autonomously identify, prioritize, and track terrestrial targets.

    About FN Media Group:

    At FN Media Group, via our top-rated online news portal at www.financialnewsmedia.com, we are one of the very few select firms providing top tier one syndicated news distribution, targeted ticker tag press releases and stock market news coverage for today’s emerging companies. #tickertagpressreleases #pressreleases

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    DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM’s market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers.  Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated fifty one hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by ZenaTech, Inc. by the Company. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

    This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may,” “future,” “plan” or “planned,” “will” or “should,” “expected,” “anticipates,” “draft,” “eventually” or “projected.” You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

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    SOURCE: FN Media Group

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Beam Global Reports 23% Increase in Q1 2025 Orders for its EV ARC™ Off-Grid Solar-Powered Charging Units Over Previous Quarter

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN DIEGO, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Beam Global, (Nasdaq: BEEM), a leading provider of innovative and sustainable infrastructure solutions for the electrification of transportation and energy security, today announced a broad range of new orders for its EV ARC™ off-grid solar-powered charging units, despite a reduction in federal demand. The 23% quarter-over-quarter increase in orders reflects growing demand for clean, resilient infrastructure solutions across a wide variety of sectors and regions.

    Recent orders were placed by a mix of municipal and county governments, state and federal agencies, environmental organizations, and private sector companies including those in construction, clean energy, and technology. The orders came from multiple states including California, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, and Washington.

    “This increase in quarter-over-quarter orders is at almost exactly the same rate as the growth of electric vehicle sales in the U.S. and demonstrates the success of our shifting focus toward commercial customers rather than the federal government following the recent election, even as we continue to receive orders from federal entities, albeit at a reduced rate,” said Desmond Wheatley, CEO of Beam Global. “It also proves that while we are focusing heavily on growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, we are still performing strongly in the U.S. We look forward to this growth continuing throughout the year on a global scale.”

    As demand for electric vehicles continues to rise, with global EV sales up 29% in 2025 and a 16% increase in North America alone, Beam Global remains at the forefront, delivering innovative, sustainable solutions that help public and private sector organizations meet their climate and operational goals.

    To learn more about Beam Global’s solutions, visit www.BeamForAll.com.

    About Beam Global
    Beam Global is a clean technology innovator which develops and manufactures sustainable infrastructure products and technologies. We operate at the nexus of clean energy and transportation with a focus on sustainable energy infrastructure, rapidly deployed and scalable EV charging solutions, safe energy storage and vital energy security. With operations in the U.S. and Europe, Beam Global develops, patents, designs, engineers and manufactures unique and advanced clean technology solutions that power transportation, provide secure sources of electricity, save time and money and protect the environment. Beam Global is headquartered in San Diego, CA with facilities in Broadview, IL and Belgrade and Kraljevo, Serbia. Beam Global is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol BEEM. For more information visit BeamForAll.com, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This Beam Global Press Release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements in this Press Release other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by terms or phrases such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “goal,” “will,” “should,” “may,” or other words and similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or results. These statements relate to future events or future results of operations. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause Beam Global’s actual results to be materially different from these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required by law, Beam Global expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

    Media Contact
    Andy Lovsted
    +1-858-335-8465
    Press@BeamForAll.com

    Investor Relations
    Luke Higgins
    +1-858-799-4583
    IR@BeamForAll.com

    A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f5e6095f-b0ab-4cb4-8793-e5fc32cc9e33

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: FMQs: Government urged to empower renters rights in Scotland

    Source: Scottish Greens

    08 May 2025

    Renters rights must be key to a fairer, greener Scotland.

    The Scottish Government has been urged to back Green proposals that will empower renters and improve housing rights.

    Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Green Co-Leader Patrick Harvie underlined his party’s long standing support for rent controls and urged the First Minister to rebalance the private let housing sector in favour of renters.

    Mr Harvie asked the First Minister:  

    “I first raised the need for rent controls well over a decade ago, to the complete disinterest of the SNP Housing Minister of the day.

    “By then private rented housing had already been growing dramatically for years, but rents had continued to spiral.

    “The situation now is far more severe. Even if rent controls had been in place for the last five years, renters in places like Glasgow and Edinburgh would be thousands of pounds a year better off.

    “I’m glad that Green efforts and the work of tenants’ unions have resulted in a Housing Bill with a rent control system for Scotland, even if it is weaker because of SNP amendments. I’m glad that our plans for energy efficiency rules for private landlords are also finally going to happen.

    “But can the First Minister explain why it took so many years of pressure from the Greens to make the SNP accept that rents are too high, standards too low, and that urgent action is needed?”

    In his response the First Minister reiterated his support for the upcoming Housing Bill that was first introduced by Mr Harvie as a Minister.

    In his second question, Mr Harvie asked the First Minister:

    “The frustration comes from the delay, and I know that the frustration is shared by SNP members who voted for rent control policies for many years without action happening.

    “There was never any need for these many years of delay, and we could have done far more good for people by acting sooner.

    “This Housing Bill must make rent more affordable, and it will need to be strengthened to do that.

    “But it must also provide more protection and power for people who rent their homes.

    “People deserve the right to withhold rent payments when issues like mould, damp and overdue repairs are being left by landlords for months, sometimes years on end.

    “Will the First Minister back the Green proposal to give people the right to withhold rent payment until repairs are completed, to stop landlords from profiting while they ignore their responsibilities?

    “Or is this another issue that will take 10 years of pressure before the government acts?”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New reports examine the economic and social impacts of nuclear decommissioning in Scotland A new study led by the National Decommissioning Centre, in collaboration with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), shows that Scotland’s £25 billion nuclear decommissioning programme could deliver significant long-term economic and social benefits at both national and local levels over the next 90 years and beyond.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    A new study led by the National Decommissioning Centre, in collaboration with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), shows that Scotland’s £25 billion nuclear decommissioning programme could deliver significant long-term economic and social benefits at both national and local levels over the next 90 years and beyond.
    The research has highlighted potential economy-wide gains in employment, skills development, household income and consumption offering a positive outlook for communities impacted by the decommissioning process. The study has helped inform politicians and key policy makers on the opportunities and has contributed to the formation of a cross-party committee on nuclear decommissioning in the Scottish Parliament.
    As part of the wider project, the University of Aberdeen’s Just Transition Lab carried out a complementary study to build clear linkages on the broader debates on the Just Transition and report on how local communities in Caithness view the decommissioning process at Dounreay.
    As one of the UK’s key nuclear decommissioning sites, Dounreay plays a crucial role in the NDA’s long-term efforts to safely decommission early nuclear facilities. It has been a stable employer since it was established in the 1950s but the decommissioning process brings uncertainty for the surrounding communities about the future.
    This part of the study found that there are significant impacts of winding down the anchor institution central to high-skilled and high-income employment in the region and that there is a need for a Just Transition in the area. The report found that there is a lack of clarity on how this will be achieved.
    Interviews were carried out with residents and stakeholders in Caithness and North Sutherland directly impacted by decommissioning at Dounreay. The responses were that the issues are compounded by underinvestment in essential infrastructure, rural depopulation, and remoteness. At the same time, the presence of the skilled workforce as well as the increased interest in the region’s renewable energy resources means that decommissioning can be a driver for building future skills and capacities for economic diversification and local resilience.
    Just Transition Lab researchers examined the policy framework of a Just Transition, focusing on how the decommissioning processes align with national and regional visions for a net zero focused economy, how the process of change is engaging with community aspirations for the local economy, and how the policy drivers for a Just Transition are recreated in a remote rural community that faces significant change.
    The researchers also conducted key informant interviews to examine the impacts of decommissioning at Dounreay and the increasing onshore and offshore wind production in Caithness on the local community.
    The findings underscore the necessity for a timely and coordinated approach to regional socio-economic planning in Caithness and North Sutherland. A key aspect of the study is the development of a Just Transition indicator framework tailored to Caithness and North Sutherland. Despite some uncertainties, stakeholders view the decommissioning process as a stabilising force for the region, highlighting its potential to mitigate socio-economic disruptions.
    Dr Daria Shapovalova from the Just Transition Lab said: “This research provides a much-needed framework for planning a Just Transition in regions undergoing significant change. It’s a crucial step toward ensuring that local communities are not left behind in the shift to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. Just Transition context means not only the continuation of employment in the energy sector but also wider community impacts in health and wellbeing, housing, transport and more.”
    Malcolm Stone from the National Decommissioning Centre said: “Whilst it is recognised that the energy sector is undergoing a transition, how the transition will be a ‘just’ one for society is understood less. By considering the impact of decommissioning at the Dounreay facility in Caithness, this far sighted research commissioned by the NDA provides valuable evidence to aid decision makers and the wider community in understanding the complexities of the energy transition, highlighting opportunities for employment, economic diversification and societal impacts.”
    Heather Barton NDA said: “It has been great to engage with another area of the University of Aberdeen, the Just Transition Lab, through our partnership with the NDC. A real strength of working with the NDC is that there are numerous areas where we can collaborate to achieve our goals of decommissioning the UK’s nuclear sites safely, securely, sustainably and cost effectively. This study will help inform politicians and policy makers on key economic development opportunities and enable discussions around support for communities including skills and training.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Jamaica: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2025 Article IV Mission

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    May 8, 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.

    Kingston, Jamaica: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Mr. Mauricio Villafuerte held meetings in Kingston (and virtually) with Jamaica government counterparts, private sector, civil society, and development partners during April 30-May 7 to conduct the 2025 Article IV consultation. At the conclusion of the mission, Mr. Villafuerte issued the following statement:   

    “Over the last decade, Jamaica has successfully reduced its public debt, firmly anchored inflation and inflation expectations, and strengthened its external position. It has built an enviable track record of investing in institutions and prioritizing macroeconomic stability. Jamaica has met recent global shocks and natural disasters in a manner that is agile, prudent, and supportive of growth.

    GDP declined in FY2024/25 due to hurricane Beryl and tropical storm Raphael which damaged agriculture and infrastructure and undermined tourism. Nonetheless,  economic activity is projected to normalize as these effects wane. Unemployment has fallen to all-time low levels (3.7 percent in January 2025) and inflation has converged to the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ)’s target band of 4-6 percent. The current account has been in a modest surplus for the last two fiscal years with strong tourism revenues and high remittances. The international reserves’ position has continued to improve.

    “The outlook points to growth settling at its potential rate once the FY2025/26 recovery is complete and with inflation stabilizing at the BOJ’s target range. Nonetheless, global developments require continued close monitoring. Global downside risks emanating from tighter global financial conditions, lower growth in key source markets for tourism, and trade policy disruptions remain high. Finally, extreme weather events—such as floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes—could negatively affect economic activity.

    “The Jamaican authorities continue to implement sound macroeconomic policies, aided by robust policy frameworks. A primary surplus is expected for FY2025/26 leading public debt to fall towards 65 percent of GDP by the end of the fiscal year, the lowest level in 25 years and well below pre-pandemic levels. The Bank of Jamaica’s approach to monetary policy has anchored inflation around the mid-point of the inflation target band and inflation expectations have declined close to the upper band of the BOJ’s target range. The lowering of the policy rate in 2024 was justified in view of the temporary nature of the weather-related shocks and the expected convergence of inflation to the BOJ’s target. The current fiscal-monetary policy mix places Jamaica in a good position to respond to the various downside global risks, should they be realized.

    “The policy frameworks are benefitting from ongoing improvements. A Fiscal Commission became operational in 2025 and is providing assessments of the macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts as well as the budget’s consistency with Jamaica’s fiscal rules. The wage bill reform has reduced distortions in public sector compensation, increasing both transparency and competitiveness of civil service salaries. Tax and customs administration improvements are increasing compliance. Progress continues with adopting the Basel III framework, introducing a “twin peaks” supervisory regime, expanding the BOJ’s supervisory perimeter, and enhancing consolidated supervision.

    “Going forward the wage bill needs to be carefully managed to avoid crowding out other fiscal priorities. At the same time, there is room to improve the efficiency of public spending per recommendations of an Agile Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability assessment completed in June 2024. The fiscal responsibility law could benefit from the adoption of an explicit operational debt anchor below the current debt limit to help guide policies over the medium term, ensure that debt is kept at moderate levels, and build fiscal buffers. Implementing reforms to deepen foreign exchange market and allow greater exchange rate flexibility would strengthen the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. Financial stability should be further bolstered by passing the Special Resolution Regime law and making further improvements to the AML/CFT framework.

    “The authorities are implementing policies to foster potential growth and tackle supply side constraints that inhibit growth. Low productivity has been worsened by structural impediments including high crime, barriers to competition, poor educational outcomes, inadequate infrastructure, and barriers to trade. The authorities are addressing these issues by increasing investments in policing and security (which has led to a sustained decline in major crimes). Efforts are also underway to establish an unemployment insurance and strengthen employment services (including job counseling and job matching). The authorities continue to introduce measures to reduce pollution and incentivize the adoption of low carbon technologies. Finally, a comprehensive action plan is being developed to improve statistics.  

    “The IMF team is grateful to the Jamaican authorities and other counterparts for their hospitality and very productive discussions.”

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Brian Walker

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

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/05/08/mcs-05072025-jamaica-staff-concluding-statement-of-the-2025-article-iv-mission

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Chinese research isn’t taken as seriously as papers from elsewhere – my new study

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Peng Zhou, Professor of Economics, Cardiff University

    My new research suggests there is a stubborn pattern in academic publishing. My co-author and I examined some 8,000 articles published in the world’s most reputable economics journals to study citations, which are where academics cite previously published research in their papers. We found papers whose lead author had a Chinese surname received on average 14% fewer citations than comparable papers written by those with a non-Chinese name.

    This supports similar findings from previous studies in chemistry and other natural sciences, suggesting that citation prejudice is a cross-disciplinary problem.

    In reaching that conclusion, we put our raw findings through every test we could think of to rule out other explanations. Our first thought was that maybe Chinese-authored papers are more recently published on average than non-Chinese-authored papers, and therefore less cited. However the same citation gap holds for papers published in all years.

    Average citations of economic articles by author ethnicity:

    Another obvious guess is that Chinese-authored papers are of lower quality. Some readers will have heard about the issue of China’s “paper mills”, companies which have in recent years been churning out research papers based on fraudulent findings for Chinese universities. There are reports that this may have made some western academics more reluctant to take Chinese research seriously, but these are largely a problem for low-quality journals.

    We only looked at articles published in the top journals (rated as 4 or 4* in the ABS journal rankings). Each paper has gone through a strict process of editorial review, often taking a couple of years, so they are far less likely to have been produced by high-volume paper mills. Additionally, almost half of the Chinese authors in our sample were affiliated outside China, so paper-mill allegations against Chinese authors are not relevant in our observations.

    Alternatively, you may be wondering if Chinese authors’ papers are less citable because of a language barrier in the writing. Again, this shouldn’t be an issue when all these papers which have been strictly quality-assured by peer reviews and editorial reviews. The writing styles of Chinese authors in these journals do not seem significantly different from non-Chinese authors.

    We probed still more possibilities to explain the apparent discrimination, controlling for different factors and so on. But each time, the citation gap persisted – and sometimes became larger.

    Eventually we gave up trying to falsify the hypothesis, and turned to understanding why this ethnic discrimination exists.

    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. Join The Conversation for free today.

    Why do economists discriminate?

    Picture the market for ideas as a miniature galaxy. Each paper is like a planet with its own mass, based on its quality, the authors’ stature and the perceived importance of the topic. Citations are like gravity, tugging knowledge towards these planets; the heavier the planet’s mass, the stronger the pull.

    Yet gravity also fades with distance, in this case meaning not kilometres but culture – language, networks and the subtle signals that tell us who feels familiar. It may be that the farther away a scholar seems on the cultural map, the weaker their intellectual pull.

    Our findings show this “cultural distance” at work. Interestingly, the same thing happens in both directions: the ratio of Chinese-authored references is significantly higher in Chinese-authored papers than in non-Chinese-authored papers.

    Our next step was some detective work to deduce who exactly is discriminating. We identified four “suspects”: journal editors, reviewers, publishers, and finally citers.

    If discrimination began with journal editors, they should only be publishing Chinese-led papers of comparably higher quality than other papers they publish. If so, you would expect these superior papers to be cited more, not less, which is at odds with the evidence.

    As for reviewers, most journals adopt a “double-blind” approach where reviewers and authors don’t know each other’s identities. If reviewers don’t know when they’re dealing with a Chinese author, they cannot be discriminating against them. Similarly, publishers are not usually allowed to intervene in editorial decisions, so they cannot be discriminating either.

    This leaves the citers as the main discriminators, those who read academic papers and cite them in their own work. To get a clearer picture of what is happening, we compared three pairs of subgroups: Chinese versus non-Chinese, top economists versus non-top economists, and those with US university affiliations versus non-US affiliations.

    We concluded that non-Chinese top economists from non-US institutions are the ones least likely to cite authors with Chinese surnames. This seems surprising given US rivalry with China, but actually it is a natural consequence. For US economists to study their biggest opponent, you would expect them to cite studies about China –and most are done by Chinese authors.

    Mitigating the discrimination

    One way of reducing the “Chineseness” of authorship is co-authoring with a non-Chinese academic. However in academic writing, a citation convention is that when a paper has over three authors, you only keep the surname of the first author (who is also the lead researcher). For example, a paper written by Zhang, Smith and Armstrong in 2025 will simply become “Zhang et al. (2025)”. Therefore bringing in more non-Chinese academics will make no difference.

    Another way of diluting “Chineseness” is for the lead author to become affiliated with a US institute. Per our study, this reduces the citation bias by 16%. However, obtaining such a US affiliation is not always feasible.

    This led us to conclude that the best way of reducing discrimination is to reduce the amount of author information in citations. For example, journals can request for citations to be by initials (“BG 1957”) or numeric codes (1, 2, 3), as market leaders like Nature already do. Journals can also use a digital object identifier (DOI), for example “10.1234/example.article”, instead of disclosing author names in published references.

    This may not solve the problem of papers not being cited in the first place, but it can reduce the likelihood of subsequent citation bias as readers no longer know the surnames of cited papers.

    Discrimination is self-sabotage. Each time we discount a paper because the surname feels “foreign”, we put the brakes on our own progress. This slows insight, muffles debate and leaves the world poorer in ideas.

    Peng Zhou 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. Chinese research isn’t taken as seriously as papers from elsewhere – my new study – https://theconversation.com/chinese-research-isnt-taken-as-seriously-as-papers-from-elsewhere-my-new-study-255794

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Decentralized finance is booming − and so are the security risks. My team surveyed nearly 500 crypto investors and uncovered the most common mistakes

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mingyi Liu, Ph.D. student in Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology

    When the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was proposed in 2008, the goal was simple: to create a digital currency free from banks and governments. Over time, that idea evolved into something much bigger: “decentralized finance,” or “DeFi.”

    With decentralized finance, people trade, borrow and earn interest on crypto assets without relying on traditional intermediaries. DeFi services run on blockchains, which are essentially digital ledgers, and use “smart contracts” − self-executing code that automates financial transactions. Tens of billions of dollars have poured into the DeFi market.

    But with innovation comes risks. The lack of centralized oversight has made crypto, including decentralized finance, a prime target for hackers and scammers. In 2024 alone, people lost nearly US$1.5 billion due to security exploits and fraud. And unlike traditional finance, there’s usually no way to recover stolen crypto.

    As a computer scientist, I wanted to better understand how people perceive and respond to these risks. So my colleagues and I first conducted in-depth interviews with 14 crypto investors, then surveyed nearly 500 others to validate our findings.

    Our study found that people often made the same mistakes, driven by recurring misconceptions and gaps in security awareness. Here are some of the most important.

    Mistake 1: Thinking the blockchain guarantees security

    Many people told us they thought decentralized finance was secure – but their reasoning wasn’t very convincing. Some seemed to confuse decentralized finance with blockchain technology itself, which is designed to ensure transactions are tamper-resistant through so-called “consensus mechanisms.” One told us that DeFi is secure “because a hacker would have to override an entire blockchain” to steal funds.

    But services on the blockchain are still vulnerable to implementation and design flaws. These include smart contract breaches, in which bad guys exploit bugs in a service’s code, and front-end attacks, where a user interface is altered to redirect funds into a hacker’s wallet. A front-end attack was reportedly to blame for a recent $1.5 billion crypto heist.

    CNBC reports on the record-breaking $1.5 billion crypto theft.

    Mistake 2: Thinking safe keys mean safe funds

    Another common misconception is that DeFi is secure if private keys are well stored. A private key is a secret code that allows someone to access their crypto assets. It’s true that in DeFi – unlike in centralized crypto finance where an exchange holds private keys – users have full control over their own private keys.

    But even with perfect private key management, users can still lose funds by interacting with compromised DeFi platforms. That’s because safeguarding private keys can prevent only direct attacks targeting private key access, such as phishing attempts.

    The people we spoke with also failed to follow best practices for securing their private keys. Using a hardware wallet – a physical device that stores private keys offline – is one of the most secure options for protecting keys from online threats. However, our study found that only a handful of participants actually used hardware wallets.

    Mistake 3: Thinking 2-factor authentication is a silver bullet

    Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, is a standard security mechanism in which two forms of verification are required to access an account. Think being texted a one-time code before you can log into your bank account.

    To prevent account breaches, centralized crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase use two-factor authentication for logins, account recovery and withdrawal confirmations. But while 2FA is crucial to security in the traditional and centralized crypto finance system, it plays a much smaller role in decentralized finance.

    DeFi wallets give users access based on private key ownership rather than identity verification, which means traditional 2FA can’t be used. Instead, only 2FA-like mechanisms are available in DeFi. For instance, multisignature wallets require approval from multiple private key holders. However, if your private key is compromised, attackers can perform wallet operations on your behalf without any additional verification. In addition, even users who adopt 2FA-like measures can’t prevent the security breaches on the DeFi services’ end.

    Unfortunately, our participants were overly confident regarding the effectiveness of 2FA, with one saying, “Two-factor authentication has been one of the best solutions for keeping wallets safe.” In our survey, 57.1% of users relied on 2FA as their only technical countermeasure against rug pulls – scams where project creators suddenly withdraw funds – and 49.3% did so for smart contract exploits. This misplaced trust could lead them to ignore more effective security strategies.

    Mistake 4: Not managing token approvals

    One such effective strategy is revoking token approvals. In DeFi, tokens are digital assets on a blockchain that represent value or rights, and users often need to approve smart contracts to access or spend them. But if you leave these approvals open, a malicious contract – or one that’s been hacked – can drain your wallet. So it’s crucial to routinely check all token approvals you’ve granted to prevent losses caused by fraudulent or hacked DeFi services. Specifically, you should limit spending allowances instead of using the default “unlimited” option, and revoke approvals for apps you no longer use or trust.

    Worryingly, we found that only 10.8% and 16.3% of participants regularly checked and revoked token approvals to protect against rug pulls and smart contract exploits, respectively. In light of this, we recommend that wallet providers introduce a reminder feature to prompt users to review their token approvals periodically.

    Mistake 5: Not learning from past incidents

    Even after they’re hacked or scammed, people often don’t do anything to improve their security practices, we found. Just 17.6% of those who reported being victims of a DeFi scam regularly checked token approvals afterward. Worse, 26% took no action at all after a scam, and 16.4% doubled down by investing even more in other DeFi services.

    Surprisingly, more than half of the victims said their belief in DeFi either stayed the same or grew stronger after the incident. One user who lost $4,700 due to a rug-pull incident said, “My belief in cryptocurrency has grown stronger after that because I made good money from it.” That person added, “An opportunity to make money is something I believe in.” This suggests that DeFi users’ financial motivations can sometimes outweigh their security concerns – and, perhaps, their better judgment.

    There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to DeFi security. But awareness is the first step. To stay safe, crypto investors should use hardware wallets, revoke unused token approvals and continually learn new techniques to protect themselves from evolving threats. Most importantly, they should stay rational and not let the allure of profits cloud their security practices.

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

    – ref. Decentralized finance is booming − and so are the security risks. My team surveyed nearly 500 crypto investors and uncovered the most common mistakes – https://theconversation.com/decentralized-finance-is-booming-and-so-are-the-security-risks-my-team-surveyed-nearly-500-crypto-investors-and-uncovered-the-most-common-mistakes-251305

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How proposed changes to higher education accreditation could impact campus diversity efforts

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jimmy Aguilar, PhD Candidate in Urban Education Policy, University of Southern California

    An executive order seeks to remove ‘discriminatory ideology’ in universities. Critics contend it politicizes the accreditation process. Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez via Getty Images

    President Donald Trump on April 23, 2025, signed an executive order that aims to change the higher education accreditation process. It asks accrediting agencies to root out “discriminatory ideology” and roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on college campuses.

    The Conversation asked Jimmy Aguilar, who studies higher education at the University of Southern California, to explain what accreditation is, why it matters and how the Trump order seeks to change it.

    What is accreditation and how does it work?

    Accreditation is a process that evaluates whether colleges and universities meet standards of academic rigor, institutional integrity and financial stability.

    In the United States, there were 88 accrediting agencies during the 2022-23 school academic year.

    The agencies are formally recognized by the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

    Accreditation is not a one-time stamp of approval, but a continuous process.

    At its core, accreditation is a guarantor of quality in higher education.

    The process involves self-assessment and peer review visits.

    Colleges typically undergo a full review every five to 10 years, depending on the accrediting agency.

    Institutions must meet standards for curriculum, faculty, student services and outcomes, and provide documentation.

    Then, federally recognized accrediting agencies review the documentation.

    Teams, often comprised of peer reviewers from other colleges, conduct campus visits and evaluations before granting or reviewing accreditation.

    Why do universities need to be accredited?

    Accreditation assures students, employers and the public that an institution meets basic academic standards.

    It also signals credibility and secures federal financial support.

    Without it, colleges cannot access key funding sources such as Pell Grants and federal student loans.

    The funding is essential for college budgets and students’ access to higher education.

    Accreditation is also required for professional licensure in fields such as teaching, nursing, medicine and law.

    It also helps ensure that students can transfer credits between institutions.

    What does Trump’s executive order do?

    President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2025, in Washington.
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    The executive order would reshape the college accreditation system, aligning it with the administration’s political priorities. Those priorities include the rollback of DEI initiatives.

    The order seeks to use federal oversight to weaken institutional DEI policies and priorities. It also promotes new standards aligned with the administration’s interpretation of “merit-based” education.

    The executive order also directs the Department of Education to penalize agencies that require colleges to implement DEI-related standards.

    The Trump administration claims that such standards amount to “unlawful discrimination.”

    Penalties may include increased oversight or loss of federal recognition. This would render the accreditation seal meaningless, according to the executive order.

    The order also proposes a broad overhaul of the accreditation process, including:

    • Promoting “intellectual diversity” in faculty hiring. The executive order argues that promoting a broader range of viewpoints among faculty will enhance academic freedom. Critics often interpret this language as an effort to increase conservative ideological representation.

    • Streamlining the process for institutions to switch accreditors. During Trump’s first term, his administration removed geographic restrictions, giving colleges more flexibility to choose. The new executive order goes further. It makes it easier for schools to leave agencies whose standards they disagree with.

    • Expanding recognition of new accrediting agencies to increase competition.

    • Linking accreditation more directly to student outcomes. This would shift focus to metrics such as graduation rates and earnings, rather than commitments to diversity or equity.

    A 2023 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed affirmative action in university admissions has been a point of contention in the debate over diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
    Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images

    The executive order singles out accreditors for law schools, such as the American Bar Association, and for medical schools, such as the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

    The order accuses them of enforcing DEI standards that conflict with a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed affirmative action in university admissions.

    However, the ruling was limited to race-conscious admissions. It did not directly address faculty hiring or accreditation standards.

    That raises questions about whether the order’s interpretation extends beyond the scope of the court’s decision.

    The ruling has nonetheless been a point of contention in the debate over diversity, equity and inclusion.

    The American Association of University Professors and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have denounced the executive order.

    The groups argue that it threatens to politicize accreditation and suppress efforts to promote equity and inclusion.

    Nevertheless, the order represents a push by the federal government to influence higher education governance.

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

    – ref. How proposed changes to higher education accreditation could impact campus diversity efforts – https://theconversation.com/how-proposed-changes-to-higher-education-accreditation-could-impact-campus-diversity-efforts-255309

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump speaking poorly of other presidents is uncommon, but not unheard of, in American presidential history

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Peter Kastor, Professor of History & American Culture Studies, Washington University in St. Louis

    While most former presidents do not speak out about their successors after they leave the White House, Donald Trump is not the first president to criticize his former political opponents while in office. Trigger Photo/Getty Images Plus

    Former presidents don’t criticize their successors in public.

    Or do they?

    Former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have all criticized President Donald Trump in recent months.

    In April 2025, Obama, for example, spoke about the importance of preserving the international order, meaning the system of rules, norms and institutions that have been active since World War II. He said: “And this is an important moment, because in the last two months, we have seen a U.S. government actively try to destroy that order and discredit it. And the thinking, I gather, is that somehow, since we are the strongest, we’re going to be better off if we can just bully people into doing whatever we want.”

    Biden also offered his own negative comments on April 15: “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage,” he said in his first public remarks since leaving office.

    Some commentators have called these former presidents’ remarks “unprecedented.”

    Many Americans are accustomed to former presidents not speaking about – let alone criticizing – the current president.

    As a scholar of the presidency, I know that most presidents stay quiet about their successors, regardless of what the current president does or says. They do this to avoid undermining both their own reputations as well as the stability of the presidency itself.

    But I am also struck by the fact that this tradition is not as entrenched as former presidents might claim or as many Americans believe.

    President Jimmy Carter and his Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan, shake hands as they meet on a debate stage in 1980.
    Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

    Presidents who bucked the norm

    President George Washington established the precedent that presidents retire after two terms and steer clear of public statement. John Quincy Adams, the sixth U.S. president, established a different model.

    After Adams lost his bid for reelection in 1828 to Andrew Jackson, he served in the House of Representatives from 1831 through 1848. Congress is an unusual perch for a former president, but it’s a place where criticizing sitting presidents and their policies is part of the job. Adams had plenty of criticism there for his successors, including Jackson and James K. Polk.

    Nearly half a century later, President Teddy Roosevelt was disappointed that his hand-picked successor, William Howard Taft, failed to live up to Roosevelt’s vision of reform. Roosevelt went from criticizing Taft privately in political circles to campaigning against him publicly in 1912, aiming to win a nonconsecutive second term. Democrat Woodrow Wilson eventually won that election, beating out Taft and Roosevelt.

    Richard Nixon, who, in 1974, became the only president to resign from office, wrote a series of books in the 1980s and 1990s that sought to redeem his own sullied image by casting himself as a visionary statesman. Nixon’s books also included plenty of unsolicited advice – and implicit criticism – for Democratic and Republican presidents alike.

    Before becoming the beloved elder statesman of the former presidents club in 1980, Jimmy Carter earned the ire of his successors for his outspokenness. He said that President Ronald Reagan’s administration was an “aberration on the political scene” and said that one of Clinton’s political pardons was “disgraceful.”

    With the exception of Roosevelt, these former presidents who criticized their successors all felt they had something to prove. Anxious to redeem their legacies, they did not retire quietly.

    A healthy foray into retirement

    So why don’t we all know these stories, and instead believe that past presidents simply keep their mouths shut?

    Americans have long treated presidential retirement as a symbol of a healthy democracy. And that story of retirement emphasizes how former presidents often leave politics behind them.

    The trajectory of presidents finding peace and contentment in retirement, surrounded by friends and family, is an appealing way for presidential biographers to end a story. These stories have included narratives about Harry Truman taking a cross-country road trip only months after leaving the White House in 1953, and George W. Bush taking up painting.

    In reality, former presidents have led complex lives of happiness and loss, withdrawal and engagement. The energy and ambition that brought them to the White House often make retirement difficult. And, over the long history of the presidency, former presidents have become increasingly public figures.

    Former Presidents Bill Clinton, left, George W. Bush and Barack Obama are seen with Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush at the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    A shifting role

    Another important factor in the growing prominence of former presidents is how their roles have recently changed.

    Beginning in the 1990s, former presidents and first ladies tried to publicly show friendship and agreement with their counterparts.

    George H.W. Bush and Clinton, for example, teamed up to raise money for disaster relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in South and Southeast Asia. In 2017, Bush’s son George W. Bush, himself a former president by that time, called Clinton his “brother with a different mother.”

    Former first lady Michelle Obama and Barack Obama have publicly thanked George W. Bush and Laura Bush for helping their family adjust to life in the White House. Michelle Obama has also become known for her personal friendship with George W. Bush.

    And as medical advances enabled former presidents to live longer than ever, the relationships within a growing former presidents club became the subject of books, movies and television segments.

    All of these stories had the same message – that all presidents are committed to their country. Likewise, the amiable relationship between former and sitting presidents shows that if party leaders could overcome partisanship in the name of unity and friendship, so too could other Americans.

    In a remarkable moment, for example, three presidents from two different parties – Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama – came together for a video before Biden’s 2021 inauguration to call for unity in a moment of crisis.

    Following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, they used their connection as presidents to tell a national story. As Bush said, “Well, I think the fact that the three of us are standing here talking about a peaceful transfer of power speaks to the institutional integrity of our country.”

    “America’s a generous country, people of great hearts. All three of us were lucky to be the president of this country,” Bush continued.

    The Republican former president looked at the Democrats on either side of him and smiled.

    Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton speak together in 2021.

    A new kind of presidential relations

    While friendships between presidents became more common in the 1990s and 2000s, Clinton and especially Trump were doing something different by the 2016 election.

    In 2016, Clinton became an active partisan in support of his wife, Hillary Clinton, during her unsuccessful bid for president.

    Both Clintons remained public critics of Trump long after he assumed office in 2017.

    For his part, Trump as a politician and then president immediately dismissed the notion of friendship with his predecessors and former competitors. He was quick to condemn Hillary Clinton – and especially Obama – in the early years of his first presidency.

    No sooner did Trump lose the 2020 election than he was heaping public scorn on Biden with an energy that only increased after Trump entered the 2024 race.

    Trump’s criticism of Biden did not stop after his 2024 victory, with the White House issuing statements like a pledge “to turn back the economic plague unleashed by the Biden Administration.”

    Trump has escalated attacks on other presidents. But he was not the first to criticize his successors or predecessors.

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

    – ref. Trump speaking poorly of other presidents is uncommon, but not unheard of, in American presidential history – https://theconversation.com/trump-speaking-poorly-of-other-presidents-is-uncommon-but-not-unheard-of-in-american-presidential-history-255568

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: FDR united Democrats under the banner of ‘liberalism’ − but today’s Democratic Party has nothing to put on its hat

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kevin M. Schultz, Professor of History, University of Illinois Chicago

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt, left, popularized the term ‘liberal’; President Lyndon Johnson may have caused its demise. FDR: AFP/Getty; LBJ: Bettmann/Getty

    If Donald Trump has taught Americans anything, it’s that political parties can shift positions on any number of issues and retain strong support. Republicans had once been aggressive Cold Warriors, standing shoulder to shoulder with allies against Russia, but now they are isolationists. They once favored so-called “free markets,” but now they support tariffs. And they once supported cutting budget deficits, but now they balloon those deficits with tax cuts.

    Same party, different policies.

    This accords with recent scholarship showing that American political parties don’t have much ideological coherence around concepts such as “freedom” or “equality” but instead are more like social groups with strong communal bonds such as common sympathies and common enemies.

    It turns out that political parties are mostly just people rooting for their side, the way you might support a sports team. It doesn’t matter whether your team changes tactics. You still root for them.

    People do switch allegiances, but it often takes a traumatic event to stop seeing fellow partisans as good, reasonable people.

    Republicans right now have strong tribal belonging that begins and ends with a single question: Do you support President Trump? They have a banner to march under: MAGA. And a song: “God Bless the U.S.A.” They live, laugh and love to own the libs. Their signs and symbols are simple and amusing. And they are effective.

    The Democrats have nothing. No leader, no banner to march under, no signs and no symbols.

    They used to.

    In 1960, scholar Charles Frankel dived into the meaning of the politically important word ‘liberal’ in a commentary for The New York Times.
    New York Times archive

    The liberal past

    In the past, Democrats had a word to describe their sensibility: “liberal.” But now: RIP, liberal. No one, it seems, wants to be a liberal anymore.

    In my research on uses and abuses of the word liberal, I discovered that liberalism is a relatively new word in American politics, really starting only in 1932.

    That year, presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt was searching for a way to fend off Republican accusations that his New Deal was “socialism,” a word with radical connotations.

    Liberalism as a word predates FDR’s usage, but he redefined it to signify the government regulation of capitalism and the use of the state to provide citizens with basic economic security.

    When in 1932 FDR accepted the nomination for president, he declared the Democratic Party “the bearer of liberalism,” by which he meant undertaking “planned action” while fighting for “the greatest good to the greatest number of our citizens.”

    FDR pitted his liberalism against his opponents, whom he labeled “conservatives.” The U.S. has had the liberal-conservative divide ever since.

    FDR’s successor, Democrat Harry Truman, recognized the power of the term, extravagantly claiming, “The liberal faith is the political faith of the great majority of Americans.”

    President John F. Kennedy gloried in the word, too, defining a liberal as “someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people.”

    In 1960, philosopher Charles Frankel argued that liberalism as defined by FDR was a banner under which every Democrat marched, concluding that “anyone who today identifies himself as an unmitigated opponent of liberalism … cannot aspire to influence on the national political scene.”

    Shifting meanings

    Not for long.

    For one thing, in the 1950s the word shifted meaning to better accord with the times, as it had done several times in the past. During the post-World War II economic expansion, “a large part of the New Deal public,” historian Richard Hofstadter wrote in 1954, “have become home-owners, suburbanites and solid citizens.”

    Liberals therefore shifted liberalism. No longer were liberals solely about providing jobs and Social Security. They also demanded increased access to higher education, medical care and civil rights, and the elevation of popular culture.

    In 1956, future presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr. called this shift one from “quantitative” to “qualitative liberalism.”

    President Lyndon Johnson put this into effect in the mid-1960s. Johnson developed anti-poverty programs such as Head Start, but he also created cultural programs such as PBS, expanded civil rights and passed Medicare and Medicaid.

    “We are a great and liberal and progressive democracy,” Johnson declared in 1966.

    But Johnson’s qualitative liberalism came with costs. The programs expanded the federal bureaucracy, which by the late 1960s became noted for being ineffective and overly regulatory.

    Civil rights laws were perceived as threatening to the white working class. And Johnson’s liberalism became wedded to the war in Vietnam, where by 1969 more than 500,000 Americans were fighting to protect liberalism from the supposedly creeping arms of communism.

    Soon, the knives were out for liberals.

    3 lines of attack

    First, right-wing thinkers had already begun to portray liberals as little more than quasi-communists pushing for civil rights beyond most Americans’ desires.

    In 1955, conservative impresario William F. Buckley Jr. founded the magazine National Review to create “a responsible dissent from the Liberal orthodoxy.” He titled his 1959 book “Up from Liberalism” and spent 217 of the book’s 229 pages attacking liberals.

    Then leftist thinkers took their shot, imagining liberals as little more than beards for capitalism and foreign policy hawks.

    Left-wing novelist Norman Mailer summed up this sentiment in 1962, writing, “I don’t care if people call me a radical, a rebel, a red, a revolutionary, an outsider, an outlaw, a Bolshevik, an anarchist, a nihilist or even a left conservative, but please don’t ever call me a liberal.”

    Left-wing author Norman Mailer said in 1962 that people could call him a Bolshevik, an anarchist, a nihilist, ‘but please don’t ever call me a liberal.’
    Fred Stein Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images

    Civil rights advocates took their turn, seeing liberals as halfway friends, unwilling to fully embrace equality. Historian Lerone Bennett Jr. wished liberals “a fond farewell” in 1964. In that same year, writer James Baldwin called white liberals an “affliction.”

    With attacks coming from multiple sides, by the 1970s Democrats ran from the label. And without defenders, enemies redefined liberals, first as out-of-touch elitists, then as allies of corporations ignoring the demands of working people, and eventually, today, as woke snowflakes.

    In 2009, political scientists examining a hundred years of polling data found that, starting in the mid-1960s, decreasing numbers of Americans referred to themselves as liberal. And because partisanship is a social dynamic, when the club began to shrink, the researchers wrote, it turned into “a spiral in which ‘liberal’ not only is unpopular, but becomes ever more so.”

    The researchers also found that most Americans still supported “‘liberal’ public policies” such as “redistribution, intervention in the economy, and aggressive governmental action to solve social problems.” Americans, apparently, just hated the label.

    “Owning the libs” has been the glue keeping together the Republican Party ever since.

    From ‘abundance’ to ‘Waymo’

    Democrats are now searching for a new label. What can replace liberalism?

    New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, who writes for The Atlantic, have proposed “abundance liberalism.” Other New York Times writers have also been busy envisioning this future. Reporter and editor David Leonhardt suggested “democratic capitalism.” Columnist Thomas Friedman improbably went with “Waymo Democrat,” referring to self-driving Waymo cars as a placeholder for an embrace of technological innovation.

    More realistically, political analyst E.J. Dionne and historian James Kloppenberg are writing a history of “social democracy” as a potential rallying cry for Democrats, pointing to its use by the most popular politician in America, Bernie Sanders.

    Whatever emerges, it’s helpful to remember that before 1932, hardly anyone in the U.S. used the word “liberal” to describe any kind of politics. Now, without finding a new emblem to rally behind, Democrats may be doing little more than battling that other neologism: MAGA.

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

    – ref. FDR united Democrats under the banner of ‘liberalism’ − but today’s Democratic Party has nothing to put on its hat – https://theconversation.com/fdr-united-democrats-under-the-banner-of-liberalism-but-todays-democratic-party-has-nothing-to-put-on-its-hat-255362

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Basic research advances science, and can also have broader impacts on modern society

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Bruce J. MacFadden, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Florida

    As charismatic animals, sharks can stimulate interest in science, research and technology. Florida Museum (Kristin Grace photo)

    It might seem surprising, but federal research funding isn’t just for scientists. A component of many federal grants that support basic research requires that discoveries be shared with nonscientists. This component, referred to as “broader impacts” by the National Science Foundation, can make a big difference for K-12 students and teachers, museumgoers, citizen scientists and other people interested in science, while also helping the scientists themselves give back to the taxpayers that fund their work.

    Basic research, often done because of a curious scientist’s interest, may not initially have a direct application, like developing the smartphone or curing a disease. But these discoveries build important knowledge in the natural sciences, engineering, mathematics and related disciplines.

    The U.S. is a world leader in scientific and technological innovation. On the federal level, the National Science Foundation, or NSF, is one of the primary funders of this kind of basic research. In 2022, the federal government funded 40% of all basic research done in the U.S., with the remainder coming from other sources, including the business sector.

    During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to position the U.S. for strategic and economic leadership worldwide. He commissioned physicist Vannevar Bush to develop a vision for the future of U.S. science and technology. His 1945 report, “Science: the Endless Frontier,” became the blueprint for government-funded basic research. In 1950, Congress created the National Science Foundation to promote the progress of science, advance national prosperity and welfare and secure the national defense.

    Vannevar Bush historically said that ‘without scientific progress, no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity and security as a nation in the modern world.’
    Office for Emergency Management Defense

    During the early decades of NSF, the 1950s until the late 1990s, proposals were mostly evaluated based on the quality of the science and the scientists doing the work. But then, the foundation created a new system, still in place today.

    Thus, each NSF research proposal is now peer-reviewed based on two criteria: intellectual merit, or the quality and novelty of the science and track record of the research team, and “broader impacts” – related activities that disseminate the discoveries to general audiences.

    Intellectual merit is about advancing science knowledge and innovation, while broader impacts describe why people who aren’t scientists should care, and how society could benefit from this research.

    Another pragmatic aspect to broader impacts is that taxpayers pay for these activities, so it’s important for them, and Congress, to understand their return on investment. These broader impacts activities communicate about, and engage the public in, research in a variety of ways.

    While researchers usually understand the intellectual merit of their NSF-funded projects, these broader impacts can be challenging to characterize.

    Broader impact activities

    Since childhood, I’ve had an interest in paleontology — the study of fossils and what we can learn from them about prehistoric life. This field is primarily basic research — adding to knowledge about ancient life. As a scientist conducting basic research, I’ve felt the responsibility to give back to society through broader impacts activities, and I’ve seen many of the benefits that these activities can have.

    My primary area of interest has been extinct mammals of the Americas, particularly the 55-million-year-old record of fossil horses on this continent. For years, NSF supported my discoveries about this interesting group of animals. Fossil horses are a classic example of evolution — in books and museum exhibits.

    A fossil horse from the Ice Age on display at the Florida Museum. Fossil horses are a classic example of evolution — both in books and museum exhibits.
    Florida Museum (Mary Warrick photo)

    Many people are generally interested in horses, so it’s easy to attract their attention with this charismatic group. They also are often surprised to learn that prehistoric horses were native to North America for millions of years. Then, during historical times, they were first introduced by humans onto the continent about 500 years ago.

    Over the years, my research team has used grant-funded broader impact activities to teach people about these fossil horses and our research. One example included working with K-12 science teachers to develop lesson plans. The students measured fossil horse teeth and explored how their teeth adapted to feeding on grasses. We’ve also developed exhibits on fossil horses and studied how they communicate science to museum visitors.

    Science teachers have joined our fieldwork to collect fossils along the Panama Canal during its recent expansion. I’ve given many talks and collaborated with fossil clubs and their members throughout the U.S. We’ve also promoted projects like Fossils4Teachers where fossil collectors donated their fossils and worked alongside K-12 teachers to develop lesson plans that were implemented back in the teachers’ classrooms.

    The Fossils4Teachers professional development workshop, hosted by the Florida Museum in 2017, is one example of a broader impacts activity.
    Florida Museum (Jeff Gage photo)

    We’ve also been able to activate peoples’ interest in other animal groups — such as fossil sharks. Through our Scientist in Every Florida School program, we gave middle school teachers study kits with real fossil shark teeth. Their students learned to identify the shark teeth and then trained computers to identify the teeth using machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence.

    Students study fossil shark teeth through a program at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
    Florida Museum (Megan Higbee Hendrickson photo)

    Broader impact outcomes

    Broader impacts activities like these can have a variety of short- and long-term outcomes. More than 50 million people visit natural history museums in the U.S. annually. Activities that promote museums can reach large numbers of people in their pursuit of lifelong learning.

    More broadly, participatory science interest groups can allow people to learn about science while informing basic research projects. Within the field of natural history, a few popular examples include the Merlin app and the iNaturalist app, both of which have millions of active observers. Merlin encourages people to submit their observations of birds, and iNaturalist accepts sightings of plants, animals and fossils, which researchers can carefully vet and use as data.

    Many of the K-12 teachers my team has worked with report that they feel more confident teaching the new science content that they learned from our collaborations.

    Interestingly, although much of the research on science professional development focuses on the teachers, scientists also report a high level of satisfaction and improved communication skills after working with these teachers, both in the field and back in the classroom.

    Basic research benefits for society

    Generations of U.S. scientists have greatly benefited from federal investments in basic research. In the 75 years since NSF’s founding, the organization has funded hundreds of thousand projects to advance science and technology.

    These have supported basic research discoveries and also the training and career development of the tens of thousands of scientists working on these projects annually.

    Many prominent scientists have gone on to be productive leaders and innovators in the U.S. and internationally. NSF has funded more than 268 Nobel laureates.

    While NSF invests in the discovery of foundational knowledge about the natural world, funded projects have not traditionally had direct applications for societal benefits. To be sure, however, many of NSF’s projects – for example, on lasers and nanotechnology – started out as curiosity-driven basic research and ended up with immense applications for technological innovation and economic prosperity.

    For example, mapping the Earth’s ocean floor’s magnetic properties during World War II helped scientists understand how the crust moves and mountains form. This led to the plate tectonic revolution in the earth sciences. This line of basic research then led to an important application: predicting the probable location of high-risk earthquake zones worldwide.

    None of these downstream applications and benefits to society would have been realized without basic research discoveries supported by federal agencies such as NSF, and the further value added through broader impacts activities.

    Bruce J. MacFadden has received funding from the U. S. National Science Foundation.

    – ref. Basic research advances science, and can also have broader impacts on modern society – https://theconversation.com/basic-research-advances-science-and-can-also-have-broader-impacts-on-modern-society-252983

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Alþingi approves Framework for Íslandsbanki Public Offering

    Source: Government of Iceland

    Alþingi has today approved amendments to Act No. 80/2024 on the Disposal of the State’s Remaining Shares in Íslandsbanki hf. A fully marketed offering is planned for the first half of the year, with Icelandic individuals receiving priority access. The legal framework enacted last year ensures that due consideration is given to objectivity, efficiency, equality, and transparency in the offering process.

    The amendments to the law include the addition of a third order book, Order Book C. The Order Book provides regulated professional investors who invest on their own account and have assets exceeding 70 billion ISK, a more traditional allocation process and is expected to increase the volume of shares sold. The change follows expert advice of bookrunners with the aim of ensuring the participation of all investor groups and enhance interest from large investors, without infringing on the priority access of individuals.

    Individuals will continue to be guaranteed priority and the lowest price in Order Book A. Order Book B will maintain the Dutch auction method, in which both individuals and legal entities can participate. With these three order books, the participation of all investor groups is ensured, increasing the likelihood that the state will receive a favorable price for its share.

    Daði Már Kristófersson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs:

    “The updated structure of the offering is better suited to fulfilling the legal requirements of efficiency, equality, objectivity, and transparency in its execution. It is important that the Treasury receives as much as possible for its share in order to reduce the government’s debt ratio without affecting the priority of individuals, that will continue to be ensured.”

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Opening Remarks at the SEC Town Hall

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    Thank you very much for coming to our first “town hall” meeting together. To those of you here with me at our headquarters in Washington, it is so great to see you. And, let me add an especial welcome to you who are joining from our regional offices around the country.

    I am pleased that we can meet today to discuss the SEC; our important mission on behalf of our fellow citizens, investors, and taxpayers; as well as some of my priorities as your new Chairman.

    First and foremost, I take great pride in saying that it is a new day here at the SEC. We are returning to our core mission that Congress set for us. All of us can recite the familiar three-part mission enunciated by Congress in the Exchange Act:  protecting investors; furthering capital formation; and safeguarding fair, orderly, and efficient markets. We see these phrases on our website, on the walls of this building, in our public pronouncements. They are at the core of what brings us to work every day.

    Investor protection is the cornerstone of our mission—to hold accountable those who lie, cheat, and steal. Capital formation is at the root of what we do. Otherwise, why have the financial markets? Capital formation—building a direct, economical route for investors’ capital to find its way to entrepreneurs and industry that put capital to work to create products and services that people value and willingly pay for, because these products and services make their lives some combination of better, healthier, safer, longer, more fun. This engine of growth employs people, helping them to work and save to achieve their dreams. It is responsible for lifting them out of the poverty that unfortunately has been the traditional state of humanity for millennia.

    We should not overlook the part about fair, orderly, and efficient markets. Congress calls on us to ensure that our regulations balance costs and benefits, that they do not become too burdensome that they add needless friction to the marketplace, undermining the capital formation that yields so much benefit.

    But, what if the SEC’s leadership has directed the agency, which oversees and is responsible for the markets, to lose its own fairness, orderliness, and efficiency? Does that undermine the markets’ own approach if their policeman comports itself with inconsistent values? Predictability, due process, rule of law, integrity are all part of what create respect and project a sense that one can get a fair shake without vindictiveness or ulterior motives.

    Unfortunately, in the last four years until January, the SEC’s long-held reputation has suffered in that vein.

    Two weeks ago today, I was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in the Oval Office with President Trump; my family was by my side. It was an optimistic moment in the Oval.

    I am honored by the trust and confidence that the President and the Senate placed in me to lead the SEC.

    There are so many people to whom I am thankful for helping make my appointment by President Trump even possible.

    As you know by now, I was a Commissioner from 2002 to 2008, after serving on the staff of two chairmen – Richard Breeden and Arthur Levitt. My time in public service and the private sector, both earlier in my career and more recently, have allowed me to see firsthand how regulations affect markets and investors. They can stoke innovation, facilitate investment goals, and create opportunities—or burdens—on businesses’ ability to compete and serve their customers.

    So, how we implement regulations at the SEC is crucial; it is one thing to write a regulation, quite another for it to achieve its intended goal. Regulation ideally should be smart, effective, and appropriately tailored within the confines of our statutory authority.

    It takes market experience and focused application to ensure that customers and investors of financial services firms benefit from efficient, effective, and well-designed regulation. Our goal at the SEC should be to facilitate those efforts, analyze their effectiveness, and use our enforcement power to cure and rectify wayward actions.

    In short, clear rules of the road benefit all market participants.

    Returning to this agency has been a pleasure. I have very much enjoyed seeing all the friendly faces, meeting with staff, and reconnecting with many colleagues I remember from years ago.

    I know from my own experience that the SEC’s longstanding reputation for its dedicated and highly skilled professionals is justly deserved. Your knowledge and expertise continue to impress me. I want you to know that I value and appreciate you.

    It is a high calling to work every day to protect investors, facilitate capital formation, and maintain, fair, orderly, and efficient markets. Thank you for your commitment to our mission.

    I am grateful to Commissioner Uyeda—who once upon a time was my counsel—for his stewardship of the agency from January to April, a very productive three months. Thank you, Commissioner Uyeda.

    As we look ahead, I am confident in the direction of our work. My experience over the decades will naturally inform my approach as Chairman. I told the press—who were peppering me with questions during the last crypto roundtable—that I have a list of priorities as long as my arm that I would like to achieve.

    It should be no surprise that high on that list is a sensible approach toward crypto. From 2017 until my nomination, I worked to help develop best practices for the digital assets industry and saw firsthand how ambiguous or nonexistent regulations in this space created uncertainty and inhibited innovation. That lack of regulatory framework also invites fraud.

    A top priority for me will be to tackle regulatory treatment of digital assets and distributed ledger technologies, providing a firm regulatory foundation through a rational, coherent, principled approach.

    I thank Commissioner Peirce, our own “Crypto Mom,” who is working hard on this issue.  I am proud to say that she also was once upon a time my counsel when I was Commissioner. She is known for her principled and tireless advocacy for common-sense policy. I am confident that she is the right person to lead this effort to come up with a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets.

    I am pleased with the efforts of the Crypto Task Force and the three roundtables it has held so far on defining security status, tailoring regulation for crypto trading, and custody considerations. I look forward to the input from industry and additional public feedback we will get during the next two roundtables on the topics of tokenization and decentralized finance.

    This is important work. Entrepreneurs across the United States and around the world are harnessing blockchain technology to modernize aspects of our financial system. I expect huge benefits from this market innovation for efficiency, cost reduction, transparency, and risk mitigation.

    This is a pivotal moment for our economy. Entrepreneurs, businesses, and individuals here at home and across the globe are eager to invest in America.

    We will work together to protect investors from fraud, keep politics out of how our securities laws and regulations are applied, and advance clear rules of the road that encourage investment in our economy to the benefit of all Americans.

    We will work together to ensure that regulations promote capital formation rather than stifle it. We will work together to ensure American investors get disclosures that actually help them understand the true risks of an investment.

    Together, we will make every effort to ensure that the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business. Americans should always feel utmost confidence when investing their hard-earned dollars to save and provide for their future and the future of their families.

    I cannot say that the current times are not without uncertainty. Many of you have expressed your uncertainty to me. What will the course of the agency be? Will there be further cuts in headcount? Will we maintain regional offices?

    I am in my third week at the SEC—my 10th working day is today. I thank Commissioner Uyeda for his work during the transition time to straighten out some urgent policy issues that we faced in the courts and some organizational issues as the new Administration came into office.

    As we look forward, I am counting on Commissioner Peirce’s continued leadership of the Crypto Task Force. I would like Commissioner Uyeda to be an ambassador to IOSCO since I have enough to focus on at home. I also am happy to say that Commissioner Crenshaw has agreed to take on the SEC’s administrative law framework and procedure in light of the two Supreme Court rulings that in effect oblige us to rethink and reform this area. It is high time that we take that task to heart.

    We have had departures—many of our former colleagues accepted retirement or separation offers. I count many of them as old friends, and I salute their service over many years.  The Offices and Divisions have decreased headcount by 15% since the beginning of the current fiscal year. These departures leave vacancies that in many cases need to be filled. When I left the agency in 2008, we had approximately 3,600 employees. At our height a year ago, we had approximately 5,000 employees plus 2,000 contractors. Today we are at approximately 4,200 employees and 1,700 contractors.

    Tomorrow we will begin a process to review our technology infrastructure and our contractual obligations. This review is long overdue—call it a spring cleaning and reassessment of contracts, especially regarding information technology. We need to see what we have, where our vulnerabilities are, and how we can shore up and improve our systems.

    We will work on optimizing our efficiency. There will be targeted, common-sense reorganization to come. We also have leasing issues to be resolved—notably in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. I am working on those issues and share your concerns. Unfortunately, about 11 years ago, the agency precipitously surrendered to the General Services Administration its control over leasing, which Congress specifically granted the SEC in the Exchange Act. That action puts me in a weaker position today.

    Let me say unequivocally that I firmly believe in our regional office concept. We cannot and should not have everyone in Washington and New York. Risk management, human resource development, and practicality for our examination teams (to focus on one example) provide ample reinforcement for that position.

    I also want to salute our regional teams for their expertise and collaboration across offices to find the best resources to assign to matters. At least one direct experience that I had in the past year in which my firm was an independent compliance consultant indicates that the SEC has advanced quite a bit in this coordination over the past couple of decades. Two of our SEC colleagues from the Miami office with necessary, specific expertise played a key role in uncovering problematic activity of a Philadelphia asset manager by meticulously analyzing trades—going back to the trade blotters—to build a case.

    As I said at the outset of my remarks today, it is a new and brighter day for the SEC.

    I am here to work, with each of you, on behalf of American markets and investors. We will work with our colleagues in the Administration, especially other financial services regulators, notably the CFTC and banking regulators, and, of course, with Congress to bolster the economy and build on U.S. leadership of the global markets.

    Thank you for all that you do each and every day to advance our mission.

    If you are joining us remotely today, thank you for participating. I look forward to interacting with you in person in the near future. For those of you here at headquarters, please join me for some refreshments right outside.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Secrets of the Thames: mudlarking treasures showcase history of London’s river and the people who scour its banks

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Thomas Lucking, PhD Candidate in History, University of East Anglia

    Twice a day, every day, the tides of the River Thames rise and fall, revealing a foreshore that, in the middle of London, has been a focus of human activity for millennia.

    Making use of the limited windows of time in which the riverbank is exposed, devoted hobbyists known as mudlarks scour the river’s edge for historic and interesting finds. The mudlarks, through their dedication, have assembled impressive collections of objects, each of which adds yet another small piece of London’s history to the archaeological record.

    Secrets of the Thames, a new exhibition at the London Museum Docklands presents an insight into the fascinating world of mudlarking. It draws together more than 350 finds recovered from the river alongside the stories, insights and experiences of the mudlarks themselves.

    The result is an engaging exhibition that makes use of the objects on display to tell the story of the Thames and London through time, and the people who search for them, giving the visitor an all-round insight that goes beyond being a room of objects in cases.

    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.

    The objects on display are more than simply a group of interesting items – although there are certainly plenty of objects that require time and attention to fully appreciate.

    They are also a record of the ways the Thames has been used and viewed over the years. And together, they tell the story of the mudlarks that put the hours into finding these objects. For those who wish to see a variety of the more ancient objects from London, this exhibition tides things over until the London Museum Smithfield opens in 2026.

    The beginning of the exhibition explores the history of mudlarks on the Thames. The term was coined in the late 18th and 19th centuries to refer to the poor who scavenged for objects such as scrap metal and coal.

    Historic accounts, paintings and other objects provide glimpses into this time, including descriptions of some of these early mudlarks. Their stories and motivations for being on the Thames contrast sharply with the mudlarks of today. Those early mudlarks were effectively scavenging to survive. But over time an appreciation of the number of historic objects revealed by the tides saw mudlarking evolve into a hobby for those who wanted to search for small pieces of the city’s history.

    Today, a permit is needed to mudlark on the Thames, provided by the Port of London Authority (PLA).

    The changing ways the Thames has been used and viewed over time is revealed in the next space. Displays are arranged to showcase objects exploring different themes, including the river as a place of religious significance, a place of travel and trade and a place to dispose of the countless tons of rubbish generated by the inhabitants of London down the centuries.

    Indeed, the cases themselves sit within a reconstructed foreshore having seemingly been washed across the room by the tidal waters, complete with historic and not-so-historic objects emerging from the mud. The objects on display cover a wide timescale, from prehistoric flint tools through to modern religious offerings, all of which have been pulled from the mud of the Thames.

    Modern mudlarks

    It is in the next space that the modern mudlarks themselves are brought into sharper focus. A mock-up of someone’s home display, complete with drawers filled with a range of objects, hints at the dedication and organisation required for these searchers.

    Video interviews with mudlarks are played, explaining the enjoyment they take from their wanderings on the river. Alongside is a display explaining the role of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in recording the objects, preserving the information and context of where they were found. Each object adds a piece to the archaeological jigsaw.

    Underlying all of this is the tidal nature of the Thames, which both continually turns the foreshore and allows access for the mudlarks. A large model of the moon provides a space to sit and reflect at the end of the exhibition. A further small room shows a video of mudlarking on the Thames, allowing visitors to immerse themselves into the sight and sounds of the river. It offers an understanding of why people are drawn to its banks.

    The overall impression of the exhibition is a mixture of appreciation for the variety of objects that have been recovered from the river, with every aspect of human life represented.

    The thematic approach taken to displaying many of the objects brings the shared habits and customs of human life down the centuries to the fore. In objects such as the Roman jewellery, we see items that would look perfectly at home being worn by anyone walking the banks of the Thames today.

    The modern human connection with the river is also clear to see through the mudlarks, whose dedication gives them a unique perspective on what may at first glance appear to be a muddy riverbank, but through their searching, reveals a far richer and deeper history.

    Secrets of the Thames is at the London Museum Docklands until March 1 2026.

    Thomas Lucking is an AHRC-funded PhD researcher.

    – ref. Secrets of the Thames: mudlarking treasures showcase history of London’s river and the people who scour its banks – https://theconversation.com/secrets-of-the-thames-mudlarking-treasures-showcase-history-of-londons-river-and-the-people-who-scour-its-banks-256006

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Could psychedelics help you to drink less alcohol? Our new study aims to find out

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Harding, PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, UCL

    Master1305/Shutterstock

    Psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are gaining increasing attention in psychiatry. Studies suggest they may offer therapeutic benefits for conditions such as depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, eating disorders and addiction.

    Our research team is investigating whether N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a fast-acting psychedelic, can help people reduce alcohol consumption.

    Alcohol is the most commonly misused substance in the UK, partly because it is legal, widely available and deeply ingrained in social culture. While many people can enjoy alcohol in moderation, a significant number struggle to control their drinking. For these people, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to serious physical, mental and social consequences.

    Traditional treatments don’t work for everyone, which is why we’re exploring alternatives, such as psychedelics, that might enable people to change their behaviour in a single, transformative experience.

    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. Join The Conversation for free today.

    DMT is metabolised rapidly in the body. When administered intravenously, the effects kick in almost immediately, typically within one to two minutes. However, these effects are short-lived, lasting only ten to 20 minutes.

    Despite its brief duration, many users describe the experience as intensely profound. They often report vivid visions, complex patterns and a sensation of entering a different reality. In some cases, the experience leads to a complete shift in how they think, feel and perceive the world. For many, the experience is deeply meaningful and transformative.

    But what happens in the brain during this time, and how might it influence long-term behaviour, such as reducing alcohol consumption?



    Read more:
    Psychedelic drugs can be almost as life altering as near-death experiences

    Neuroplasticity and addiction

    Our team is particularly interested in how psychedelics like DMT might help in the context of addiction. One theory is that psychedelics can temporarily enhance neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new neural connections. This temporary boost could open a window of flexibility, allowing some people to be more open to change.

    For someone stuck in the cycle of heavy drinking, this enhanced plasticity might help them break old habits and develop healthier behaviour. Essentially, it could offer the brain an opportunity to “rewire” itself and disrupt the unhealthy patterns that underlie addiction.

    We’re also focusing on the brain’s reward and motivation systems, which play a key role in addiction. These systems influence behaviour associated with pleasure, including eating, sex and drinking alcohol.

    In people with alcohol use disorder, these systems become hypersensitive to alcohol-related cues, often at the expense of other rewarding experiences. Some early research suggests psychedelics may help “reset” these reward pathways. We’re testing this theory to see whether DMT can reduce alcohol consumption by recalibrating the brain’s reward system.

    To explore these possibilities, we’ve designed a study with heavy drinkers who are motivated to reduce their alcohol intake. Every participant undergoes a thorough screening to ensure they’re fit for the study and all sessions are conducted in a highly controlled, clinical setting with medical professionals and experienced researchers overseeing the process.

    The study involves three visits to our lab at UCL. On the first and third visits, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity and observe how different regions of the brain interact.

    During the scans, participants watch emotionally engaging films, which offer a more natural way to study brain responses compared to abstract tasks. This helps us assess how DMT might impact brain function in real-life, emotionally charged situations.

    On the second visit, participants are randomly assigned to receive either DMT, a placebo, or a non-psychedelic drug (D-cycloserine or Lisuride). These non-psychedelic substances are believed to promote neuroplasticity without inducing the full psychedelic effects of DMT.

    The study is double-blind – neither the participants nor the researchers know which substance is being administered. This helps eliminate bias and ensures that the results are as reliable as possible.

    Additionally, we measure changes in brain activity during the drug infusion using electroencephalography (EEG). EEG tracks the brain’s electrical signals and could help us predict which participants are most likely to benefit from DMT.

    Participants also complete a range of psychological assessments, including questionnaires and tasks that measure memory, attention, mood and decision-making. This data will help us understand how changes in brain function might relate to changes in drinking behaviour.

    What we’re hoping to discover

    We’re still in the process of collecting data, but we’re excited to see whether DMT can lead to meaningful reductions in alcohol consumption. As researchers, it’s crucial that we stay objective and allow the evidence to guide our conclusions. By keeping the study “blinded” until all results are in, we ensure that our findings are unbiased and reliable.

    If DMT proves effective in helping people reduce their alcohol consumption, particularly for those who have struggled with other treatments, it could pave the way for a new approach to addiction therapy. Even if the results are inconclusive, they will still provide valuable insights into the potential role of psychedelics in addiction treatment and open up new avenues for future research.

    It’s important to emphasise that this research is taking place in a safe, controlled environment. Psychedelics are potent substances, and their effects can be unpredictable, especially outside of clinical settings. They are not a “magic bullet” and are not suitable for everyone. The controlled setting allows us to study their effects while minimising risk to participants.

    That said, we believe psychedelics offer a unique opportunity to better understand the brain and its capacity for change. By examining how transformative experiences can influence behaviour, we hope to contribute to the development of more effective treatments for addiction and other mental health conditions.

    Ravi Das receives research funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK), Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) and Wellcome Leap (USA).

    Rebecca Harding 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. Could psychedelics help you to drink less alcohol? Our new study aims to find out – https://theconversation.com/could-psychedelics-help-you-to-drink-less-alcohol-our-new-study-aims-to-find-out-255454

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Russia looks to frame war as an inevitable part of life on Victory Day

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Aberystwyth University

    Russia celebrates the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the second world war on May 9. But while the cameras will focus on the assembled ranks of elderly war survivors watching the military parade in Red Square, Moscow, the focus of senior officials is on Russia’s children and young people.

    Patriotism in Vladimir Putin’s Russia is built on exaggerated respect for key moments in the country’s history. These moments have been chosen to create a specific story about Russia. This is a story about Russia’s military might, the ability of its citizens to endure almost unimaginable suffering for the motherland, and the inevitability of victory over its enemies.

    Victory Day gives the Kremlin a chance to retell that story. It also allows the state to assure Russians that they, like their ancestors, will be victorious in the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine. Moscow describes this war as the modern-day equivalent of the fight against Nazi Germany.

    With fewer witnesses to that historic victory still alive, the Kremlin’s ability to manipulate society by drawing on this important memory depends on the willingness of the next generation to embrace the state’s official history. And Russian political figures are worried that young people nowadays are disconnected from their heritage.

    A poll conducted in December 2022 by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre found that 76% of Russians aged 14 to 24 believe they have a good understanding of the history of their country. But the results of an alternative poll from June 2023 show that 70% of Russia’s young people do not know enough about their nation’s history.

    Vladimir Medinsky, the chairman of the Interdepartmental Commission of Historical Education of Russia, reflected on the issue at a forum on how to interest young people in Russian history in 2023. He said: “What needs to be done to make our children interested in history? To make interesting historical performances, to make historical films.”

    Russia’s leaders seek to address this perceived disconnect through military patriotic education. This is a system of surrounding children and young people with state-approved messages about Russia’s historic military victories and the role of its armed forces in making their country respected – and feared – around the world.

    These messages are conveyed through textbooks and in lessons at school. But one of the challenges for the Russian state is finding ways of making this material attractive enough for young people to want to engage with it.

    Putin himself has indicated that he understands this challenge. At a meeting with the Russian non-profit society Znaniye (Knowledge) on April 30, the Russian president argued that “it is crucial to have both an opportunity and skills to communicate the truth about past years and decades: sincerely, compellingly and – if I may say so – in a way that truly resonates”.

    Patriotic youth groups are an important vehicle for delivering military patriotic education in fun and exciting ways. These groups organise activities including games and competitions, as well as more immersive activities such as role-playing and re-enactments. These activities are designed to create a deeper engagement with the events of the past.

    One group, Victory Volunteers, emphasises collecting personal accounts from war veterans to add to the historical record. It also actively brings young people and war veterans together so that the heroes of future wars can be inspired by real-life stories of wartime heroism.

    Listening to these first-hand testimonials is intended to enable young people to deepen their understanding of the experience of war, including its hardships and tragedies.

    Yunarmiya (Young Army) is probably Russia’s best-known military patriotic youth group. It works with young people to develop their appreciation of history. But its focus on dressing its members in uniforms and training them in practical military skills has captured the attention of the world’s media.

    These skills include military-style activities such as marching in formation, learning how to assemble and disassemble weapons, and how to fire them.

    The Russian state also supports military patriotic education through the presidential grants fund. Hundreds of charities, youth groups and local societies apply to the fund twice a year, with the winners reportedly chosen by Putin himself.

    Many of the successful applications involve activities to raise young people’s awareness of historical memory, especially the memory of war.

    In 2022, for example, the historical reconstruction club Volnitsa received funding to organise a memorial march “in the footsteps of the winners” to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Bogucharsky region of Russia (near the border with Ukraine) from Nazi occupation.

    The successful application emphasised the emotional intensity of the reenactment and its educational effects on young participants.

    Events like the 80th anniversary of Victory Day have a significance for the Kremlin that goes beyond the speeches, parades and pageantry of the day itself. They are part of an effort by the Russian state to shape the expectations and behaviour of the next generation of its citizens.

    By encouraging young people to feel a personal connection to Russia’s history of war, Moscow hopes to ensure that society will regard war as an inevitable part of life. The scale of this effort suggests that Putin and other senior officials anticipate the need for a society willing to make sacrifices so that Russia can achieve victories in future wars.

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

    – ref. Russia looks to frame war as an inevitable part of life on Victory Day – https://theconversation.com/russia-looks-to-frame-war-as-an-inevitable-part-of-life-on-victory-day-255751

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Manchester City Council appoints new Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services 

    Source: City of Manchester

    Manchester City Council is pleased to announce that Sean McKendrick has been appointed to the role of Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services. 

    As strategic director, Sean will be part of the Council’s senior leadership team responsible for the care and stewardship of children and young people across the city, as well as spearheading initiatives that will improve the lives of young people as they grow up in Manchester, supporting their long-term happiness and prosperity. 

    During the rigorous external recruitment process a range of engagement sessions took place including a Youth Panel interview, and visits to a family hub, a local school and Manchester Youth Hub, providing Sean the platform to demonstrate the skills which meant he was the right candidate for this role. 

    Sean has been serving as the Council’s acting strategic director of children’s and education services since May 2024. 

    With close to three decades of experience working in children’s services and local government, Sean has a proven track record of being able to deliver high quality family-focused services which improve outcomes for children and young people. 

    Qualifying as a social worker more than 30 years ago he began his extensive and varied career in Glasgow working for the city council there. In Glasgow he played a lead role in  the integration of health and social care, led significant transformation in youth justice services and played a national role in influencing legislation and Scottish Government policy in its approach to working with women involved with  the criminal justice system.

    Sean joined Manchester City Council in 2017 as the Council’s Deputy Strategic Director for Children’s Services. He led a service and partnership approach which oversaw significant practice and service change and remains focussed on continuous service improvement. 

    Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said: “Sean has done a fantastic job as our interim director and I am delighted to welcome him into the role on a permanent basis. Sean brings both experience and insight to the role and I am confident that he will be a great asset to our senior leadership team. 

    “We recently launched our 10-year strategy for the city, based on the thoughts and ambitions of more than 10,0000 Mancunians, who told us what they wanted for the future of themselves and their families. It puts children front and centre of our priorities over the next ten years and commits to making every one of them feel that their health, wealth and happiness are improved because they are Mancunian. 

    “We have big ambitions in Manchester, and we know all too well how important it is that we foster and support the next generation of Mancunians. Whether it is our work to being a UNICEF recognised Child Friendly City, or the recent commitments we set out in the Our Manchester Strategy 2025-2035, we know that any future success we all share has to start with the youngest in our society.” 

    Sean McKendrick, Strategic Director of Children’s Services and Education said: “I am incredibly honoured and proud to have been appointed to this role. Manchester means a great deal to me especially as the values and ambitions it has for children and its residents align closely to my own. I want to make sure that every child growing up here feels safe, heard, cared for, healthy and able to live their best lives. I look forward to guiding that ambition recognising the value young people play in realising these ambitions. 

    “I have devoted my professional career to supporting, championing and helping young people I am looking forward to leading our service and partners in the next stage of our improvement.” 

    Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, Tom Stannard, said: “Sean was the outstanding candidate for this role and his track record spoke for itself when the time came to make this appointment.  

    “He shows a deep understanding of both the opportunities and challenges that we face in Manchester and gave us confidence that working alongside our partners he will be able to lead further improvements in services for children and families in Manchester, building on the excellent record of improvement he has led in the City since 2017. 

    “We know this will be a big task however based on his experience and clear passion for this job I have every confidence that he will succeed over the years to come, and I look forward to working with him as part of Manchester’s new Corporate Management Team.” 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Occupancy Analytics Leader Lambent Adds Two Higher Ed Veterans to its Board of Advisors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BOSTON, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Occupancy analytics software company Lambent today announced the addition of two new members to its Board of Advisors. Robert Wynkoop, Vice President of Operations and Finance at Covenant College, and Maria O’Callaghan-Cassidy, former Senior Associate Vice President, Campus Operations at the University of Richmond, join Lambent’s advisory board to help build on the company’s success working with higher education institutions and corporations. Both bring an invaluable perspective on how occupancy analytics can help optimize organizations’ approaches to real estate investment and space management while also providing employees, students and visitors with the best possible experiences in those spaces.

    “Rob and Maria both bring a great mix of operational and finance experience across higher education, government and corporate real estate,” said Julie Roberts, Lambent’s Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “Rob also has first-hand experience and success with the Lambent Spaces platform. That combination provides a really valuable perspective as we look to expand the value and footprint of our solutions across corporate and higher ed campuses.”

    In his role as Vice President of Operations and Finance at Covenant College, Wynkoop oversees finance and accounting, business operations, facilities and maintenance, human resources, and technology services. Before joining Covenant in 2024, he spent 11 years at Purdue University, where his team managed space administration, real estate and development, logistics and procurement services on campus and at the Purdue University Airport, the Purdue Memorial Union, and Purdue Conferences. While at Purdue, Wynkoop oversaw the implementation of the Lambent Spaces occupancy analytics platform that currently helps manage over one million square feet on its West Lafayette campus. That implementation has assisted Purdue in avoiding approximately $30 million in operating expenses through better space utilization. Earlier in his career, Wynkoop served at the Indiana Department of Administration (IDOA) under Governor Mitch Daniels, holding the position of commissioner from 2010 to 2013.

    O’Callaghan-Cassidy brings extensive experience in higher education facilities management and campus operations. Most recently as Senior Associate Vice President of Campus Operations at the University of Richmond, she led a team of 400+ professionals across dining services, campus business services, facilities operations, architecture and campus operations budget and finance. Previously, she spent 25 years at The Wharton School where she rose through the ranks from Manager of Scheduling and Facilities Services to Senior Director of Operations to Executive Director of Design & Construction and Facilities Planning and Operations.

    About Lambent
    Lambent is an occupancy analytics software company helping corporate and higher ed campuses optimize space utilization, facilities operations and real estate investments. Its SaaS platform, Lambent Spaces, leverages existing data sources such as Wi-Fi and sensors to provide anonymous and predictive analytics to inform decisions related to utilization, workplace experiences, planning, scheduling, and maintenance. The software delivers actionable intelligence so facilities professionals and space planners can make better use of the spaces they have. For more information, visit https://lambentspaces.com/.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Micropolis Unveils Advanced Border Control Robots at Airport Show 2025 in Dubai

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Micropolis Holding Co. (“Micropolis” or the “Company”) (NYSE: MCRP), a pioneer in unmanned ground vehicles and AI-driven security solutions, today unveiled new specialized border control versions of its M1 and M2 robotic mobility platforms at the Airport Show 2025, the region’s leading annual event dedicated to the airports industry, being held on May 6-8 in Dubai. These cutting-edge autonomous vehicles were presented to the UAE National Guard as part of a new pilot initiative aimed at enhancing national border protection capabilities.

    Micropolis is working closely with the UAE National Guard, the official entity overseeing border control across the Emirates, to evaluate the deployment of robotic patrol systems designed to operate in high-security zones, including airports and land checkpoints. These robots are equipped with advanced surveillance sensors, AI-driven behavior analysis, and autonomous navigation systems, enabling them to detect, deter, and report potential threats with minimal human intervention.

    “This marks a pivotal milestone in our defense and homeland security initiatives,” said Fareed Aljawhari, CEO of Micropolis Holding Co. “By integrating robotics into border control operations, we are reshaping the future of national security with intelligent, scalable, and fully autonomous technology.”

    Robotic Platform Highlights:

    • M01 – Designed for open road operations with speeds ranging between 40-47 km/h, making it ideal for faster-paced environments and longer-distance travel.
    • M02 – Crafted for more enclosed settings with a speed range of 10 to 15 km/h, making it ideal for safe, low-speed operations in pedestrian-rich areas.

    The launch comes at a time when governments and security agencies worldwide are increasingly turning to AI-powered systems to improve operational efficiency and reduce dependency on manual surveillance. The Airport Show 2025, a globally recognized event for aviation and security technologies, served as the ideal platform for introducing this innovation to key defense and aviation stakeholders.

    Micropolis continues to expand its global footprint in the security, defense, and smart mobility sectors. The Company remains committed to pioneering autonomous technologies that address some of the world’s most pressing security challenges.

    About Micropolis Holding Co.
    Micropolis is a UAE-based company specializing in the design, development, and manufacturing of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), AI systems, and smart infrastructure for urban, security, and industrial applications. The Company’s vertically integrated capabilities cover everything from mechatronics and embedded systems to AI software and high-level autonomy.

    For more information please visit www.micropolis.ai.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, “intend”, “believe”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “can have”, “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent Micropolis’ current expectations regarding future events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the registration statement filed by the Company with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

    Investor Contact:
    KCSA Strategic Communications
    Valter Pinto, Managing Director
    PH: (212) 896-1254
    Valter@KCSA.com

    Media Contact:
    Jessica Starman
    media@elev8newmedia.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b68b867-8839-45a1-8a1f-273572319218

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: MicroAlgo Inc. Develops a Blockchain Storage Optimization Solution Based on the Archimedes Optimization Algorithm (AOA)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SHENZHEN, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MicroAlgo Inc. Develops a Blockchain Storage Optimization Solution Based on the Archimedes Optimization Algorithm (AOA)

    Shenzhen, May. 08, 2025/––MicroAlgo Inc. (the “Company” or “MicroAlgo”) (NASDAQ: MLGO), announced a focus on addressing the efficiency bottlenecks in blockchain storage by introducing the Archimedes Optimization Algorithm (AOA) into distributed storage architecture. Through intelligent algorithmic restructuring of data storage and node collaboration mechanisms, they aim to provide an innovative solution for large-scale blockchain applications.
    The Archimedes Optimization Algorithm (AOA) is a metaheuristic algorithm that simulates the force-driven motion of objects in a fluid. Its core concept is derived from the principle of Archimedean buoyancy: the buoyant force exerted on an object immersed in a fluid equals the weight of the fluid displaced. By dynamically adjusting parameters such as density, volume, and acceleration, the algorithm models the iterative motion of an object from a random initial position toward an optimal “equilibrium point.” MicroAlgo has deeply integrated this algorithm into blockchain storage scenarios. By targeting core issues such as data sharding strategies, node resource allocation, and consensus efficiency optimization, the company has constructed a multi-objective optimization model. AOA adaptively switches between global search and local exploitation to solve for optimal storage solutions under complex constraints, achieving multiple goals including reduced data redundancy, balanced node load, and enhanced storage performance. This injects intelligent and dynamic adjusting ability into blockchain storage systems.
    MicroAlgo’s blockchain storage optimization solution uses AOA as its core engine and spans the entire data-on-chain lifecycle. The technical workflow is divided into five key stages:data Preprocessing, sharding Strategy Optimization, node Resource Allocation, consensus Mechanism Enhancement and security Strategy Tuning.
    Data Feature Analysis and Preprocessing: Multi-dimensional feature extraction is performed on data destined for the blockchain. Depending on the characteristics of different data units, differentiated preprocessing strategies are applied: lightweight serialized encoding for structured transaction data; chunk-based hashing for unstructured file data; and homomorphic encryption or zero-knowledge proof preprocessing for privacy-sensitive data. The feature vectors generated during preprocessing, along with storage constraints (such as maximum node storage capacity, network latency thresholds, and data redundancy safety margins), collectively form the input parameter space for AOA.
    Dynamic Sharding Strategy Optimization: AOA models the data sharding problem as an optimal partitioning task in multi-dimensional space. During initialization, storage nodes in the blockchain network are abstracted as “virtual objects,” where each object’s “density” corresponds to the node’s storage cost coefficient, “volume” to its remaining available storage space, and “buoyancy” to its network transmission efficiency. In the iterative process, AOA performs a global exploration phase simulating the random movement of objects in fluid, traversing various shard combinations and employing collision detection to avoid local optima. In the local exploitation phase, the algorithm converges toward the current optimal sharding plan based on gradient information and dynamically adjusts the storage node allocation for each data block. For example, frequently accessed “hot data” is preferentially stored with multiple replicas on nodes with low latency and strong computational performance to ensure fast response, while infrequently accessed “cold data” is stored using erasure coding on nodes with lower cost and larger capacity, thereby reducing redundancy while ensuring availability. Through adjustment of the adaptive Transfer Factor, the algorithm dynamically balances exploration and exploitation, ultimately producing a sharding strategy that optimizes both storage efficiency and access performance.
    Node Load Balancing and Resource Scheduling: At the node level, AOA builds a real-time load monitoring model, collecting dynamic status data such as storage utilization, CPU usage, and network bandwidth consumption, which serve as input for the algorithm’s “force analysis.” When node load exceeds a threshold (e.g., storage utilization surpasses 90%), the load balancing mechanism is triggered: by adjusting the “density” parameter (i.e., storage priority) of adjacent nodes, new data is guided toward underloaded nodes. Simultaneously, migration of low-frequency data from overloaded nodes is initiated, following a “minimum transmission cost” principle that evaluates migration paths based on network latency, data volume, and current node loads to generate the optimal migration sequence. Additionally, to accommodate heterogeneous nodes (e.g., full nodes, light nodes, edge nodes), AOA adopts a layered resource scheduling strategy: light nodes store only essential index information, edge nodes handle local data caching, and full nodes take charge of core data validation and long-term storage—thus forming a tiered storage architecture based on core-edge collaboration.
    Consensus Efficiency Enhancement and Block Optimization: At the consensus layer, AOA is deeply integrated with blockchain consensus mechanisms to optimize block generation and validation. Taking PBFT-like consensus as an example, the algorithm reformulates block packaging as a multi-objective optimization problem: it seeks balance between block size limits (e.g., 1MB maximum) and transaction throughput by analyzing transaction type (transfer vs. smart contract), priority (urgent vs. regular), and correlation (cross-contract vs. independent transactions). Based on this analysis, it dynamically adjusts transaction sorting and grouping within blocks. During node election, AOA calculates each node’s “trust density” in real time, based on historical performance (e.g., participation in consensus, data validation accuracy, and network stability), and prioritizes high-trust nodes to participate in consensus, reducing the risk of malicious interference. For PoW-based consensus, AOA predicts hash power distribution and network load to dynamically adjust mining difficulty targets, thereby shortening block intervals and reducing energy waste while maintaining decentralization.
    Adaptive Security Strategy Optimization: To meet blockchain storage demands for privacy protection and data security, AOA builds an encryption parameter optimization model. In homomorphic encryption scenarios, the algorithm automatically selects optimal parameters (e.g., modulus size, key length) based on data sensitivity and computational complexity, reducing overhead while maintaining cryptographic strength. In zero-knowledge proof contexts, AOA enhances efficiency by optimizing randomness selection and constraint composition in proof generation, minimizing on-chain storage demands. To mitigate risks of data tampering and node failure, AOA monitors anomalies in on-chain data hash values in real time, and uses cross-verification across multiple node replicas to quickly identify compromised nodes and trigger recovery workflows. During recovery, the algorithm selects the optimal replica node for synchronization based on node trust level and network connectivity, ensuring rapid system consistency restoration.
    Compared to traditional approaches, MicroAlgo’s AOA-based blockchain storage optimization solution offers significant advantages. Conventional storage strategies often rely on fixed rules—such as uniform sharding or round-robin allocation—which are prone to falling into the pitfalls of local optima. In contrast, AOA leverages a global search mechanism inspired by fluid dynamics, enabling it to rapidly explore over a million sharding combinations within a complex network of tens of millions of nodes. Its solution efficiency surpasses that of Genetic Algorithms (GA) by 40%, and reduces the number of iterations needed by 25% compared to Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), effectively avoiding the blindness of static strategies.
    The node status and data characteristics of blockchain networks are in constant flux. The AOA transfer factor mechanism dynamically switches search modes based on real-time load data: during network congestion, it enhances local exploitation to quickly stabilize system performance; during low load, it activates global exploration to discover optimal resource allocation solutions. Empirical data shows this approach controls the standard deviation of node storage utilization within 15%, reducing load imbalance by 60% compared to traditional methods.
    As blockchain penetrates deeper into Web3.0, the metaverse, and other fields, on-chain data volume will experience explosive growth. MicroAlgo’s AOA technology will continue to evolve in the following directions: at the algorithmic level, it plans to introduce quantum computing acceleration to boost AOA’s iteration speed by over 100 times, addressing optimization needs for exabyte-scale data; at the architectural level, it will explore “algorithm-hardware” co-design, developing dedicated ASIC chips for AOA hardware acceleration to reduce energy costs of blockchain nodes; at the ecosystem level, it will promote deep integration of AOA with cross-chain protocols (e.g., Polkadot, Cosmos) to build a cross-chain storage resource scheduling network, achieving the ultimate goal of “one-point on-chain, network-wide intelligent storage.”
    In the future, AOA is poised to become the “intelligent hub” of blockchain storage, driving distributed storage from “rule-driven” to “algorithmic autonomy,” laying the technical foundation for unlocking data value in the digital economy era.

    About MicroAlgo Inc.
    MicroAlgo Inc. (the “MicroAlgo”), a Cayman Islands exempted company, is dedicated to the development and application of bespoke central processing algorithms. MicroAlgo provides comprehensive solutions to customers by integrating central processing algorithms with software or hardware, or both, thereby helping them to increase the number of customers, improve end-user satisfaction, achieve direct cost savings, reduce power consumption, and achieve technical goals. The range of MicroAlgo’s services includes algorithm optimization, accelerating computing power without the need for hardware upgrades, lightweight data processing, and data intelligence services. MicroAlgo’s ability to efficiently deliver software and hardware optimization to customers through bespoke central processing algorithms serves as a driving force for MicroAlgo’s long-term development.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of MicroAlgo, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of MicroAlgo’s periodic reports on Forms 10-K and 8-K filed with the SEC. Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, MicroAlgo’s expectations with respect to future performance and anticipated financial impacts of the business transaction.

    MicroAlgo undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as may be required by law.
    Contact
    MicroAlgo Inc.
    Investor Relations
    Email: ir@microalgor.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Siebert Financial Appoints Industry Veteran Fredrick Scuteri as Chief Operating Officer of its Broker-Dealer Subsidiary

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Siebert Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: SIEB), announced the appointment of Fredrick Scuteri as Chief Operating Officer of its broker-dealer subsidiary Muriel Siebert & Co., LLC. In this role, Scuteri will oversee day-to-day operational functions, trading infrastructure, and platform modernization efforts as the firm continues to scale its brokerage services.

    Scuteri brings nearly three decades of experience across institutional trading, asset management, and broker-dealer operations. Prior to joining Siebert, he served as Chief Operating Officer of DriveWealth Institutional, following the firm’s acquisition of Cuttone & Co. He also held the role of Vice President and Head of Trading Operations and Treasury at AQR Capital Management, where he led operations team proving global, multi-asset class coverage for over 250 trading accounts.

    “Siebert Financial has a legacy of resilience and reinvention,” said Scuteri. “I look forward to building on that foundation by bringing scalable, tech-forward solutions to our operations. My focus will be on streamlining workflows, increasing transparency, and applying automation and AI to help future-proof the business, without compromising the firm’s commitment to client service and regulatory excellence.”

    Under Scuteri’s leadership, Siebert will expand its operational capabilities and continue investing in infrastructure to support growth across institutional and retail channels.

    “Fred brings both depth and range to this role,” said John J. Gebbia, CEO of Siebert Financial. “He understands the intricacies of capital markets and, more importantly, he knows how to execute. His ability to turn complexity into clarity is exactly what we need at this stage for the growth of Siebert.”

    “Having someone with Fred’s operational rigor and fintech expertise is a significant advantage,” added John M. Gebbia, Principal at Siebert Financial. “He’s already thinking several steps ahead, whether it’s about optimizing capital, improving workflows integrating AI-automation, or preparing our systems for scale. We’re excited to have him on board.”

    Scuteri is a FINRA-registered Financial Operations Principal (Series 27) with degrees in Finance, an MBA from St. John’s University, and, lately, certifications in Generative AI and Advanced Prompt Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

    About Siebert Financial Corp.
    Siebert is a diversified financial services company and has been a member of the NYSE since 1967 when Muriel Siebert became the first woman to own a seat on the NYSE and the first to head one of its member firms.

    Siebert operates through its subsidiaries Muriel Siebert & Co., LLC, Siebert AdvisorNXT, LLC, Park Wilshire Companies, Inc., RISE Financial Services, LLC, Siebert Technologies, LLC, and StockCross Digital Solutions, Ltd, and Gebbia Media LLC. Through these entities, Siebert provides a full range of brokerage and financial advisory services, including securities brokerage, investment advisory and insurance offerings, securities lending, and corporate stock plan administration solutions, in addition to entertainment and media productions. For over 55 years, Siebert has been a company that values its clients, shareholders, and employees. More information is available at www.siebert.com.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
    The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “may,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “project,” “intend” and similar words or expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements.

    These forward-looking statements, which reflect beliefs, objectives, and expectations as of the date hereof, are based on the best judgment of the management of Siebert. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements, including, without limitation, the following: economic, social and political conditions, global economic downturns resulting from extraordinary events; securities industry risks; interest rate risks; liquidity risks; credit risk with clients and counterparties; risk of liability for errors in clearing functions; systemic risk; systems failures, delays and capacity constraints; network security risks; competition; reliance on external service providers; new laws and regulations affecting Siebert’s business; net capital requirements; extensive regulation, regulatory uncertainties and legal matters; failure to maintain relationships with employees, customers, business partners or governmental entities; the inability to achieve synergies or to implement integration plans; and other consequences associated with risks and uncertainties detailed in Part I, Item 1A – Risk Factors of Siebert’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and Siebert’s filings with the SEC.

    Siebert cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive, and new factors may emerge, or changes to the foregoing factors may occur that could impact its business. Siebert undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required by the federal securities laws.

    Media Contact
    Deborah Kostroun, Zito Partners
    deborah@zitopartners.com
    +1 (201) 403-8185

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5ec79525-8910-4122-a10b-0e856542cab0

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: GAMCO Investors, Inc. Reports Results for the First Quarter 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Quarter End AUM of $31.2 billion
    • Operating Margin of 32.4% for the First Quarter
    • First Quarter Earnings of $0.81 per Share versus $0.64 per Share in the First Quarter of 2024
    • $175.4 million in Cash, Cash Equivalents, Seed Capital, and Investments, and No Debt
    • Entered Partnership with Keeley on May 1st of 4 Open-End Funds and ~500 Separately Managed Accounts from Keeley-Teton, Adding Close to $1.0 billion in AUM
    • Opened an office in Zurich, Switzerland

    GREENWICH, Conn., May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GAMCO Investors, Inc. (“Gabelli”) (OTCQX: GAMI) today reported its operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

    Financial Highlights

    (In thousands, except percentages and per share data)
        Three Months Ended  
        March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   March 31, 2024  
    U.S. GAAP              
    Revenue   $ 57,328     $ 59,262     $ 56,945    
    Expenses     38,735       42,130       41,597    
    Operating income     18,593       17,132       15,348    
    Non-operating income     1,220       3,452       4,372    
    Net income     18,271       15,269       15,810    
    Diluted earnings per share   $ 0.81     $ 0.64     $ 0.64    
    Operating margin     32.4 %     28.9 %     27.0 %  
                   


    Giving Back to Society – $80 million since IPO

    Since our initial public offering in February 1999, our firm’s combined charitable donations total approximately $80 million, including $48 million through the shareholder designated charitable contribution program. Based on the program created by Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, our corporate charitable giving is unique in that the recipients of Gabelli’s charitable contributions are chosen directly by our shareholders, rather than by our corporate officers. Since its inception in 2013, Gabelli shareholders have designated charitable gifts to approximately 350 charitable organizations.

    On August 6, 2024, Gabelli’s board of directors authorized the creation of a private foundation, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, to continue our charitable giving program with an initial contribution of $5 million.

    Revenue

    (In thousands) Three Months Ended  
      March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024  
    Investment advisory and incentive fees        
    Funds $ 38,681     $ 37,270    
    Institutional and Private Wealth Management   15,101       15,196    
    SICAV   4       6    
    Total $ 53,786     $ 52,472    
    Distribution fees and other income   3,542       4,473    
    Total revenue $ 57,328     $ 56,945    
             

    The year over year increase in Funds revenues was primarily the result of higher average assets under management. The decrease in Institutional and Private Wealth Management revenues was primarily the result of lower beginning of the quarter equity assets under management, which are generally used to calculate the revenues. The decrease in distribution fees and other income was primarily the result of a decrease in equity mutual funds AUM that pay distribution fees.

    Expenses

    (In thousands) Three Months Ended  
      March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024  
    Compensation $ 26,616     $ 28,554    
    Management fee   2,202       2,191    
    Distribution costs   5,138       5,950    
    Other operating expenses   4,779       4,902    
    Total expenses $ 38,735     $ 41,597    
             
    • The lower compensation expense in the first quarter of 2025 when compared to the prior year quarter reflected $2.8 million of waived compensation partially offset by increased fixed compensation of $0.2 million and increased variable compensation of $0.6 million.

    Operating Margin

    The operating margin, which represents the ratio of operating income to revenue, was 32.4% for the first quarter of 2025 compared with 27.0% for the first quarter of 2024.

    Non-Operating Income

    (In thousands) Three Months Ended  
      March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024  
    Gain/(loss) from investments, net $ (110 )   $ 1,632    
    Interest and dividend income   1,622       3,033    
    Interest expense (a)   (292 )     (293 )  
    Total non-operating income $ 1,220     $ 4,372    
             
    (a) Related to GAAP accounting of finance lease.
             

    Non-operating income decreased $3.2 million for the quarter, reflecting the mark-to-market net loss on our investment portfolio for the quarter and a decrease in interest and dividend income.

    Other Financial Highlights

    The effective income tax rate (“ETR”) for the first quarter of 2025 was 7.8% versus 19.8% for the first quarter of 2024. The ETR for the first quarter of 2025 consisted of the statutory Federal tax rate of 21% offset by a net state income credit rate of 13.2%, relating to the release of an uncertain tax position accrual as a result of a settlement with New York State whereby the Company gave up the right to a refund in exchange for the closing of the audit years 2007-2014.

    Cash, cash equivalents, and investments were $175.4 million with no debt at March 31, 2025.

    Growth Initiatives: Lift-outs, Partnerships, Joint Ventures, New Markets

    • Partnership with Keeley management will enhance our research and portfolio teams for small and mid-cap focused assets

    On May 1, 2025, Gabelli completed partnership with the Keeley family for the management contracts of 4 open-end funds and approximately 500 separately managed accounts from Teton Advisors, LLC, adding close to $1.0 billion of AUM. The current Chicago-based Keeley research, portfolio management, and client service teammates have joined Gabelli and continue to manage and service these AUM. Our history with the Keeley founder, John L. Keeley, Jr., goes back to before the founding of our enterprise from the mid-1960s when John L. Keeley, Jr. and our Executive Chairman were both sell side analysts. Both firms are privileged to continue our shared focus on a client first culture.

    • Opened Zurich office with lift-out of research and sales teammates.

    Assets Under Management

    (In millions) As of  
      March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   March 31, 2024  
                 
    Mutual Funds $ 7,959     $ 8,078     $ 8,235    
    Closed-end Funds   7,365       7,344       7,313    
    Institutional & PWM (a) (b)   10,182       10,700       11,146    
    SICAV   9       9       9    
    Total Equities   25,515       26,131       26,703    
                 
    100% U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund   5,638       5,552       4,965    
    Institutional & PWM Fixed Income   32       32       32    
    Total Treasuries & Fixed Income   5,670       5,584       4,997    
    Total Assets Under Management $ 31,185     $ 31,715     $ 31,700    
                 
    (a) Includes $206, $242, and $345 of AUM subadvised for Teton Advisors, Inc. at March 31, 2025,  
    December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2024, respectively.  
    (b) Includes $233, $237, and $225 of 100% U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund AUM at March 31, 2025,  
    December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2024, respectively.  
                 

    Assets under management on March 31, 2025 were $31.2 billion, a decrease of 1.6% from the $31.7 billion on December 31, 2024. The quarter’s decrease consisted of net outflows of $0.7 billion, and distributions, net of reinvestments, of $0.1 billion partially offset by net market appreciation of $0.3 billion.

    Mutual Funds

    Assets under management in Mutual Funds on March 31, 2025 were $8.0 billion, a decrease of 1.2% from the $8.1 billion at December 31, 2024. The quarterly change was attributed to:

    • Distributions, net of reinvestment, of $4 million;
    • Net outflows of $199 million; and
    • Net market appreciation of $84 million.

    Closed-end Funds

    Assets under management in Closed-end Funds on March 31, 2025 were $7.4 billion, an increase of 1.4% from the $7.3 billion on December 31, 2024. The quarterly change was comprised of:

    • Distributions, net of reinvestment, of $138 million;
    • Net outflows of $40 million, including the redemption of $37 million of preferred shares, and the repurchase of $11 million of common stock partially offset by the issuance of $8 million preferred shares; and
    • Net market appreciation of $199 million.

    Institutional & PWM

    Assets under management in Institutional & PWM on March 31, 2025 were $10.2 billion, a decrease of 4.7% from the $10.7 billion on December 31, 2024. The quarterly change was due to:

    • Net outflows of $481 million; and
    • Net market depreciation of $37 million.

    SICAV

    Assets under management were $9 million in the GAMCO All Cap Value sleeve and the GAMCO Convertible Securities sleeve on March 31, 2025, unchanged from $9 million at December 31, 2024.

    100% U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund

    Assets under management in our 100% U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund (GABXX) on March 31, 2025 were $5.6 billion unchanged from the $5.6 billion at December 31, 2024.


    The Gabelli Gold Fund – Up 32% For 1    stquarter of 2025

    Portfolio manager Caesar Bryan commented on The Gabelli Gold Fund’s 1st quarter 2025 performance:

    The gold price performed strongly in the first quarter of 2025, building on its gains over the past two years. Gold ended the quarter at $3,124 per ounce for a gain of about $500 per ounce or 19.0%. Gold mining equities returned in excess of 30%, outperforming the gold price by over fifty percent. Until recently, the gold price has appreciated largely due to overseas central bank buying. However, more recently, investors have been adding to their gold holdings. This is evidenced by the rise in ounces of gold held by all the gold bullion ETFs. During the first quarter, gold ETFs added over 5m ounces to 88.0m ounces, which amounts to about $15bn. Unsurprisingly, in a strong quarter for gold stocks, our larger holdings were the top contributors to performance. The biggest contributor was Agnico Eagle, our largest holding, which appreciated by 39.1% and added 3.5% to performance. Other leading contributors were Newmont, Kinross, and Alamos. In terms of stock price performance, some of our smaller producers and development companies dominated. In this environment, gold should perform well and gold equities, that are over twenty five percent lower than their 2011 high, offer an opportunity for significant capital gains and income.

    Assets Under Administration

    (In millions) As of  
      March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   March 31, 2024  
                 
    Teton-Keeley Funds (a) $ 750     $ 809     $ 952    
    SICAV   401       408       580    
    Total Assets Under Administration $ 1,151     $ 1,217     $ 1,532    
                 
    (a) Includes $206, $242 and $345 of AUM subadvised for Teton Advisors, Inc. at  
    March 31, 2025, December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2024, respectively.  
                 

    AUA on March 31, 2025 were $1.2 billion, unchanged from the $1.2 billion at December 31, 2024.

    Return to Shareholders

    During the first quarter of 2025, Gabelli returned $14.1 million to shareholders in the form of the repurchase of 499,710 shares for $12.3 million at an average investment of $24.27 per share and a regular quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share totaling $1.8 million. From April 1, 2025 to May 7, 2025, the Company has repurchased 19,213 shares at an average price of $20.90 per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $0.4 million.

    On May 7, 2025, Gabelli’s board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, which is payable on June 24, 2025 to class A and class B shareholders of record on June 10, 2025.

    Balance Sheet Information        

    As of March 31, 2025, cash, cash equivalents, and U.S Treasury Bills were $103.5 million and investments were $71.9 million, compared with cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. Treasury Bills of $116.5 million and investments of $66.3 million as of December 31, 2024. As of March 31, 2025, stockholders’ equity was $141.6 million compared to $137.3 million as of December 31, 2024. The increase in stockholders’ equity resulted from $18.3 million in net income offset partially by the payment of $1.8 million in dividends and $12.3 million of stock buybacks.

    Symposiums/Conferences

    • On February 27th, we hosted our 35th Annual Pump, Valve & Water Systems Symposium. The symposium focused on themes crucial to this industry, including infrastructure spending, resource security, conservation, and M&A.
    • On March 20th, we hosted our 16th Annual Specialty Chemicals Symposium. The symposium featured presentations from senior management of leading specialty chemicals companies, with a focus on pricing power, margin recovery, interest rates, destocking, global supply chain, global demand trends, and the M&A environment.
    • On May 2nd, GAMCO hosted its 19th annual Omaha Research Trip in conjunction with the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. This Value Investor Conference attracted a record number of participants with Gabelli portfolio managers anchoring panels with noted Berkshire experts and regional CEOs.

    We are hosting the following symposiums and conferences in 2025:


    About Gabelli

    Gabelli (OTCQX: GAMI), established in 1977 and incorporated under the laws of Delaware, is a widely-recognized provider of investment advisory services to 24 open-end funds, 13 United States closed-end funds and one United Kingdom limited investment company, 5 actively managed exchange traded funds, one société d’investissement à capital variable, and approximately 1,400 institutional and private wealth management investors principally in the U.S. The Company’s revenues are based primarily on the levels of assets under management and fees associated with the various investment products.

    In 1977, Gabelli launched its well-known All Cap Value equity strategy, Gabelli Value, in a separate account format and in 1986 entered the mutual fund business. Today, Gabelli offers a diverse set of client solutions across asset classes (e.g. Equities, Debt Instruments, Convertibles, non-market correlated Merger Arbitrage), regions, market capitalizations, sectors (e.g. Gold, Utilities) and investment styles (e.g. Value, Growth). Gabelli serves a broad client base, including institutions, intermediaries, offshore investors, private wealth, and direct retail investors.

    CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    Our disclosure and analysis in this press release, which do not present historical information, contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements convey our current expectations or forecasts of future events. You can identify these statements because they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. They also appear in any discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions, future performance of our products, expenses, the outcome of any legal proceedings, and financial results. Although we believe that we are basing our expectations and beliefs on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of what we currently know about our business and operations, the economy, and other conditions, there can be no assurance that our actual results will not differ materially from what we expect or believe. Therefore, you should proceed with caution in relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance.

    Forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors, some of which are listed below, that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that may cause our actual results to differ from our expectations include risks associated with the duration and scope of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic resulting in volatile market conditions, a decline in the securities markets that adversely affect our assets under management, negative performance of our products, the failure to perform as required under our investment management agreements, and a general downturn in the economy that negatively impacts our operations. We also direct your attention to the more specific discussions of these and other risks, uncertainties and other important factors contained in our Annual Report and other public filings. Other factors that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We do not undertake to update publicly any forward-looking statements if we subsequently learn that we are unlikely to achieve our expectations whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

    Gabelli Funds, LLC is a registered investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is a wholly owned subsidiary of GAMCO Investors, Inc. (OTCQX: GAMI).

    Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the fund before investing. The prospectus, which contains more complete information about this and other matters, should be read carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus, please call 800 GABELLI or visit www.gabelli.com
    Fitch rating drivers include: credit quality, interest rate risk, liquid assets, maturity profiles, and the capabilities of the investment advisor

    Money Market Fund

    Investment in the fund is neither guaranteed nor insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any government agency. Although the fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. The fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to provide financial support to the fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the fund at any time. You could lose money by investing in the fund.

    Gold

    Investments related to gold and other precious metals and minerals are considered speculative and are affected by a variety of worldwide economic, financial, and political factors. Investing in foreign securities involves risks not ordinarily associated with investment in domestic issues. Funds concentrating in specific sectors may experience greater fluctuations in value than funds that are more diversified. Not FDIC Insured. Not Bank Guaranteed. May Lose Value.

    As of March 31, 2025, GAMI and affiliates owned less than one percent of all stocks mentioned in the Gold Fund.

    Returns represent past performance and do not guarantee future results. Investment returns and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate. When shares are redeemed, they may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data presented. Visit www.gabelli.com for performance information as of the most recent month end.

    GAMCO Investors, Inc. and Subsidiaries  
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)  
    (in thousands, except per share data)  
      Three Months Ended  
      March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   March 31, 2024  
    Revenue:            
    Investment advisory and incentive fees $ 53,786     $ 55,502     $ 52,472    
    Distribution fees and other income   3,542       3,760       4,473    
    Total revenue   57,328       59,262       56,945    
    Expenses:            
    Compensation   26,616       28,839       28,554    
    Management fee   2,202       2,287       2,191    
    Distribution costs   5,138       5,634       5,950    
    Other operating expenses   4,779       5,370       4,902    
    Total expenses   38,735       42,130       41,597    
    Operating income   18,593       17,132       15,348    
    Non-operating income:            
    Gain/(loss) from investments, net   (110 )     644       1,632    
    Interest and dividend income   1,622       3,090       3,033    
    Interest expense   (292 )     (282 )     (293 )  
    Total non-operating income   1,220       3,452       4,372    
    Income before provision for income taxes   19,813       20,584       19,720    
    Provision for income taxes   1,542       5,315       3,910    
    Net income $ 18,271     $ 15,269     $ 15,810    
                 
    Earnings per share attributable to common            
    stockholders:            
    Basic $ 0.81     $ 0.64     $ 0.64    
    Diluted $ 0.81     $ 0.64     $ 0.64    
                 
    Weighted average shares outstanding:            
    Basic   22,632       23,971       24,808    
    Diluted   22,632       23,971       24,808    
                 
    Shares outstanding   22,431       22,930       24,585    
                 
    GAMCO Investors, Inc. and Subsidiaries  
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition (Unaudited)  
    (in thousands)  
         
      March 31,   December 31,   March 31,  
        2025       2024       2024    
    Assets            
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 53,596     $ 17,254     $ 65,467    
    Short-term investments in U.S. Treasury Bills   49,900       99,216       99,073    
    Investments in securities   43,117       36,855       30,351    
    Seed capital investments   28,772       29,452       26,184    
    Receivable from brokers   3,030       3,103       1,111    
    Other receivables   20,062       21,246       23,576    
    Deferred tax asset and income tax receivable   9,420       8,042       8,384    
    Other assets   10,207       9,509       9,614    
    Total assets $ 218,104     $ 224,677     $ 263,760    
                 
    Liabilities and stockholders’ equity            
    Income taxes payable $ 9,902     $ 193     $ 3,464    
    Compensation payable   26,915       40,633       25,100    
    Accrued expenses and other liabilities   39,713       46,546       45,910    
    Total liabilities   76,530       87,372       74,474    
                 
    Stockholders’ equity   141,574       137,305       189,286    
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 218,104     $ 224,677     $ 263,760    
                 
                 
    GAMCO Investors, Inc. and Subsidiaries   
    Assets Under Management  
    By investment vehicle  
    (in millions)  
      Three Months Ended   % Changed From  
      March 31,   December 31,   March 31,   December 31,   March 31,  
       2025    2024    2024   2024   2024  
    Equities:                    
    Mutual Funds                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 8,078     $ 8,440     $ 7,973            
    Inflows   190       211       176            
    Outflows   (389 )     (420 )     (432 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   (199 )     (209 )     (256 )          
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   84       (126 )     523            
    Fund distributions, net of reinvestment   (4 )     (27 )     (5 )          
    Total increase (decrease)   (119 )     (362 )     262            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 7,959     $ 8,078     $ 8,235     -1.5 %   -3.4 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   25.5 %     25.5 %     26.0 %          
    Average assets under management $ 8,176     $ 8,447     $ 7,965     -3.2 %   2.6 %  
                         
    Closed-end Funds                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 7,344     $ 7,459     $ 7,097            
    Inflows   8       212       41            
    Outflows   (48 )     (43 )     (103 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   (40 )     169       (62 )          
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   199       (155 )     404            
    Fund distributions, net of reinvestment   (138 )     (129 )     (126 )          
    Total increase (decrease)   21       (115 )     216            
    Assets under management, end of period   7,365     $ 7,344     $ 7,313     0.3 %   0.7 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   23.6 %     23.2 %     23.1 %          
    Average assets under management $ 7,505     $ 7,610     $ 7,060     -1.4 %   6.3 %  
                         
    Institutional & PWM                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 10,700     $ 10,984     $ 10,738            
    Inflows   120       62       66            
    Outflows   (601 )     (407 )     (428 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   (481 )     (345 )     (362 )          
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   (37 )     61       770            
    Total increase (decrease)   (518 )     (284 )     408            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 10,182     $ 10,700     $ 11,146     -4.8 %   -8.6 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   32.7 %     33.7 %     35.2 %          
    Average assets under management $ 10,772     $ 11,085     $ 10,798     -2.8 %   -0.2 %  
                         
    SICAV                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 9     $ 9     $ 631            
    Inflows   –       –       –            
    Outflows   –       –       (2 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   –       –       (2 )          
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   –       –       –            
    Reclassification to AUA   –       –       (620 )          
    Total increase (decrease)   –       –       (622 )          
    Assets under management, end of period $ 9     $ 9     $ 9     0.0 %   0.0 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   0.0 %     0.0 %     0.0 %          
    Average assets under management $ 9     $ 9     $ 10     0.0 %   -10.0 %  
                         
    Total Equities                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 26,131     $ 26,892     $ 26,439            
    Inflows   318       485       283            
    Outflows   (1,038 )     (870 )     (965 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   (720 )     (385 )     (682 )          
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   246       (220 )     1,697            
    Fund distributions, net of reinvestment   (142 )     (156 )     (131 )          
    Reclassification to AUA   –       –       (620 )          
    Total increase (decrease)   (616 )     (761 )     264            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 25,515     $ 26,131     $ 26,703     -2.4 %   -4.4 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   81.8 %     82.4 %     84.2 %          
    Average assets under management $ 26,462     $ 27,151     $ 25,833     -2.5 %   2.4 %  
                         
    GAMCO Investors, Inc. and Subsidiaries   
    Assets Under Management  
    By investment vehicle – continued   
    (in millions)  
      Three Months Ended   % Changed From  
      March 31,   December 31,   March 31,   December 31,   March 31,  
       2025    2024    2024   2024   2024  
    Fixed Income:                    
    100% U.S. Treasury fund                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 5,552     $ 5,268     $ 4,615            
    Inflows   1,372       1,656       1,605            
    Outflows   (1,341 )     (1,440 )     (1,315 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   31       216       290            
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   55       68       60            
    Total increase (decrease)   86       284       350            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 5,638     $ 5,552     $ 4,965     1.5 %   13.6 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   18.1 %     17.5 %     15.7 %          
    Average assets under management $ 5,552     $ 5,415     $ 4,832     2.5 %   14.9 %  
                         
    Institutional & PWM Fixed Income                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 32     $ 32     $ 32            
    Inflows   –       –       –            
    Outflows   –       –       –            
    Net inflows (outflows)   –       –       –            
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   –       –       –            
    Total increase (decrease)   –       –       –            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 32     $ 32     $ 32     0.0 %   0.0 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   0.1 %     0.1 %     0.1 %          
    Average assets under management $ 32     $ 32     $ 32     0.0 %   0.0 %  
                         
    Total Treasuries & Fixed Income                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 5,584     $ 5,300     $ 4,647            
    Inflows   1,372       1,656       1,605            
    Outflows   (1,341 )     (1,440 )     (1,315 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   31       216       290            
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   55       68       60            
    Total increase (decrease)   86       284       350            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 5,670     $ 5,584     $ 4,997     1.5 %   13.5 %  
    Percentage of total assets under management   18.2 %     17.6 %     15.8 %          
    Average assets under management $ 5,584     $ 5,447     $ 4,864     2.5 %   14.8 %  
                         
    Total AUM                    
    Beginning of period assets $ 31,715     $ 32,192     $ 31,086            
    Inflows   1,690       2,141       1,888            
    Outflows   (2,379 )     (2,310 )     (2,280 )          
    Net inflows (outflows)   (689 )     (169 )     (392 )          
    Market appreciation (depreciation)   301       (152 )     1,757            
    Fund distributions, net of reinvestment   (142 )     (156 )     (131 )          
    Reclassification to AUA   –       –       (620 )          
    Total increase (decrease)   (530 )     (477 )     614            
    Assets under management, end of period $ 31,185     $ 31,715     $ 31,700     -1.7 %   -1.6 %  
    Average assets under management $ 32,046     $ 32,598     $ 30,697     -1.7 %   4.4 %  
                         
       
    Contact: Kieran Caterina
      Chief Accounting Officer
      (914) 921-5149
       
      For further information please visit
      www.gabelli.com
       

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fdf70333-2c19-43f2-ac7e-f41e523355c5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/14973722-0885-4fca-8e88-5fad950be53c

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: International companies to host live webcasts at Deutsche Bank’s Depositary Receipts Virtual Investor Conference on May 15, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Deutsche Bank today announced the lineup for its Depositary Receipts Virtual Investor Conference (“dbVIC”) on Thursday, May 15, 2025 featuring live webcast presentations from international companies with American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programs in the United States.

    Representatives from participating companies based in China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom will respond to questions during formal presentations. The conference is targeted to all categories of investors and analysts interested in international companies.

    There is no fee for participants to log in, attend live presentations and/or ask questions.

    Pre-registration is suggested. Please register here: www.adr.db.com/dbvic

    Conference Agenda May 15th, 2025 (US Eastern Standard Time):

    • 8:00 AM: Bavarian Nordic A/S (Nasdaq Copenhagen: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY)  
    • 8:30 AM: Viomi Technology Co., Ltd (NASDAQ: VIOT)
    • 9:00 AM: Infineon Technologies AG (Xetra: IFX, OTC: IFNNY)
    • 9:30 AM: Clicks Group Ltd (JSE: CLS, OTC: CLCGY)
    • 10:00 AM: First Pacific Company Ltd (HKEX: 142, OTC: FPAFY)
    • 10:30 AM: HUTCHMED (China) Limited (AIM: HCM, NASDAQ: HCM, and HKEX:13)
    • 11:00 AM: 51Talk Online Education Group (NYSE American: COE)
    • 11:30 AM: Yiren Digital Ltd. (NYSE: YRD)
    • 12:00 PM: ABB Ltd. (SIX: ABBN, OTC: ABBNY)
    • 12:30 PM: Belite Bio, Inc  (NASDAQ: BLTE)
    • 13:00 PM: Epiroc AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: EPIA, OTC: EPOAY)
    • 13:30 PM: International Airlines Group (LSE: IAG, MAD: IAG, OTC: ICAGY)
    • 14:00 PM: BDO Unibank, Inc (PSE: BDO, OTC: BDOUY)
    • 14:30 PM: iHuman Inc. (NYSE: IH)

    The presentations will be available for replay after the conference.

    In addition to specializing in administering cross-border equity structures such as American and Global Depositary Receipts, Deutsche Bank provides corporates, financial institutions, hedge funds and supranational agencies around the world with trustee, agency, escrow and related services. The Bank offers a broad range of services for diverse products, from complex securitizations and project finance to syndicated loans, debt exchanges and restructurings.

    For further information, please contact:
    Dylan Riddle
    Deutsche Bank AG
    Press & Media Relations
    Tel. +12122504982
    Cell. +1(904)3866481
    Email dylan.riddle@db.com

    Deutsche Bank provides commercial and investment banking, retail banking, transaction banking and asset and wealth management products and services to corporations, governments, institutional investors, small and medium-sized businesses, and private individuals. Deutsche Bank is Germany’s leading bank, with a strong position in Europe and a significant presence in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

    Deutsche Bank is sponsoring the Deutsche Bank Depositary Receipt Investor Conference solely for informational purposes. Deutsche Bank does not prepare, review, approve or edit any presentations, statements, documents or other information or materials, whether in written, electronic or verbal form, provided by any company participating in such conference, and disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of any such information or materials. Deutsche Bank is not promoting, endorsing or recommending any company participating in the conference.

    The Depositary Receipts have been registered pursuant to the US Securities Act of 1933 (the “Act”) on Form F-6. The investment or investment service which is the subject of this notice is not available to retail clients as defined by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. This notice has been approved and/or communicated by Deutsche Bank AG New York. The services described in this notice are provided by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (Deutsche Bank) or by its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in accordance with appropriate local registration and regulation. Deutsche Bank is providing the attached notice strictly for information purposes and makes no claims or statement, nor does it warrant as to or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the details contained herein and does not undertake an obligation to update or amend this information. Deutsche Bank, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates disclaims any and all liability to fullest extent permitted by law, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any of them might otherwise have in respect of the above information. This announcement appears as a matter of record only. Neither this announcement nor the information contained herein constitutes an offer or solicitation by Deutsche Bank or any other issuer or entity for the purchase or sale of any securities in the United States, nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to any person in any other jurisdiction. No part of this notice may be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior written consent of Deutsche Bank. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Copyright© May 2025 Deutsche Bank AG. All rights reserved.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: During his working visit to the LPR, Marat Khusnullin visited a number of sites and laid flowers at the memorial to the Heroes of the Front and Rear of 1941–1945

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    During a working visit to the LPR, Marat Khusnullin laid flowers at the memorial to the Heroes of the Front and Rear of 1941–1945.

    Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin made a working visit to the Luhansk People’s Republic, during which he visited a plant, a training center, and also checked the pace of restoration of a five-story building.

    “I got acquainted with the work of the Lugamash enterprise, which is engaged in the production of railway locomotives and rolling stock. In 2023, the Territorial Development Fund included the company among the top ten in the register of participants in the free economic zone. The preferential conditions of the SEZ made it possible to begin modernizing and technically re-equipping production, increase the number of employees and raise the level of wages. I believe that this enterprise has very great prospects. And on those sites that are not used, it is necessary to create a technology park so that there is an opportunity to work in other areas of the regional industry,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

    Marat Khusnullin laid flowers at the memorial on the plant grounds dedicated to the memory of the Heroes of the Front and Rear of 1941–1945.

    In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister checked the progress of the restoration of an apartment building in the Vatutina quarter, to which 64 families are expected to return after the summer, and assessed the progress of the renovation of the building of the military training center at the V. Dahl Luhansk State University.

    “The head of the center, Colonel Mikhail Basanov, said that the main tasks of this institution are the implementation of military training programs and work on military-professional orientation of young people. The conditions for such an important matter must be appropriate – they are created by the “Single Customer”. They plan to hand over the facility in June, so that it will be possible to train about 300 cadets at a time,” noted Marat Khusnullin.

    At the end of the trip, a meeting was held on the development of the region.

    “I can say with satisfaction that the republic is coping with all the tasks set. This speaks of the systematic work of the team of the head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik and the chairman of the LPR government Yegor Kovalchuk, which will continue to allow the implementation of the planned plans to bring the standard of living in the LPR to the average Russian level,” the Deputy Chairman of the Government concluded.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Advancements In Drone Technology Opening Up New Applications as Market Size Estimated to Reach $57 Billion by 2028

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALM BEACH, Fla., May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – Drone services are progressively replacing legacy services in the commercial sector, such as aerial surveys, filmography, and search and rescue operations. They offer the advantages of prolonged operation, remote control by human operators, or autonomous functioning by onboard computers. The increasing adoption of drone services across various civil and commercial applications can be attributed to their extended endurance and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, the integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things), and cloud computing into drone services is expected to further boost their demand across various sectors. A report from MarketsAndMarkets said that the Global Drone Services Market Size is estimated to reach USD 57.8 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 27.7% during the forecast period. The report continued: “The drone market size continues to expand as the drone services industry evolves, offering a diverse range of services for both remotely controlled and autonomously flown drones. This industry integrates software-controlled flight plans into drones’ embedded systems, making it a critical component in sectors like agriculture, insurance, construction, marine, aviation, oil & gas, mining, and infrastructure. The demand for these services, which includes tasks such as search and rescue, package delivery, industrial inspections, imaging, and healthcare supply distribution to remote areas, significantly contributes to the growing drone market size.”   Active Companies in the drone industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), ParaZero Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: PRZO), Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI), Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC).

    MarketsAndMarkets added: “In terms of market segmentation, drone services are categorized by the type of service provided, including platform services (further divided into flight piloting and operation, data analysis, and data processing), maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), and simulation and training. The application-based segmentation encompasses inspection and monitoring, mapping and surveying, spraying and seeding, filming and photography, transport and delivery, as well as security, search, and rescue. The industry-based segmentation covers a wide spectrum of sectors, including construction and infrastructure, agriculture, utility, oil & gas, mining, defense and law enforcement, media and entertainment, scientific research, insurance, aviation, marine, healthcare and social assistance, and transportation, logistics, and warehousing. These industries rely heavily on drones for functions like inspection, monitoring, and photography, further driving the drone market size.”

    ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Tests Proprietary Camera Enabling IQ Nano Drone Swarms for US Defense Applications and Blue UAS Submission – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces that its subsidiary ZenaDrone is testing a new proprietary specialized camera that enables more efficient indoor applications such as inventory and security management, when utilizing IQ Nano drone swarms for commercial and US defense applications. The new camera prototype developed by its Taiwan component manufacturing subsidiary, Spider Vision Sensors, in collaboration with its certified electronics manufacturing partner, Suntek Global, will enable faster and more precise collection of data including multiple bar codes simultaneously scanned by multiple drones in a drone swarm. The company plans to apply for Blue UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) certification that lists and validates drones for military and government use.

    “Our Spider Vision Sensors subsidiary in collaboration with Suntek Global, has helped us speed up development of customized and specialized cameras required for our innovative drone swarm applications for commercial and defense customers. This partnership will continue to be invaluable as we develop our NDAA-compliant supply chain and received Blue UAS certification which will allow military and federal agencies to directly purchase our drones.,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    Military and Defense departments use small autonomous indoor drones like the 10X10 inch IQ Nano for various applications such as inventory management, indoor building reconnaissance, search and rescue, training simulations, and explosives detection. ZenaDrone is also engaged in a paid trial which includes developing drone swarm applications for inventory management and security applications with a multinational auto parts manufacturer customer.

    A drone swarm is a coordinated group of autonomous drones that communicate and work together using AI and real-time data sharing, to perform tasks collaboratively without direct human control. Drone swarms enhance efficiency, accuracy, automation, and performance compared to a single drone. Autonomous drones can rapidly scan thousands of bar codes or RFID tags per second with high accuracy, providing real-time visibility into inventory without disrupting workflows. A drone swarm can also cover more ground simultaneously, dramatically reducing inventory audit times and manual labour while providing near-total inventory visibility.

    An AI drone swarm for indoor security and surveillance enhances coverage, response time, and efficiency by autonomously patrolling large areas, detecting threats, and providing real-time situational awareness. Unlike stationary cameras or human patrols, drone swarms can dynamically adapt to security breaches, track intruders, and coordinate movements to eliminate blind spots. AI-driven analytics enable them to identify anomalies, recognize faces, and detect unauthorized activity with high precision, reducing false alarms and improving security decision-making. Their autonomous nature minimizes human labor costs while ensuring 24/7 monitoring in complex environments like warehouses, data centers, or commercial facilities.

    The ZenaDrone IQ Nano is available in 10×10 and 20×20-inch sizes, designed to perform regular and frequent inspections such as bar code or RFID scanning, facility maintenance inspections, security monitoring, 3D indoor mapping and other applications inside a warehouse, distribution, or plant facility. It is designed for autonomous use featuring integrated sensors, high-quality cameras, data collection and analysis including AI methodologies. Weighing 1.5kg and with a flight time of at least 20 minutes before utilizing the automatic battery recharging station, it is designed for hovering stability and safety with obstacle avoidance capabilities.   Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/

    In Additional ZENA News: ZenaTech’s (NASDAQ:ZENA) Expands Ireland Office Offering Drone as a Service (DaaS) Including Precision Agriculture to a European Market Growing at 28.6% Annually – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces it will be expanding operations and opening a new, larger office and its European Headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The new hub will facilitate the Company’s drone sales and DaaS drone services — including precision agriculture solutions — to a growing UK and European market. The Company anticipates the official grand opening during the summer of 2025.

    Strategically located near Dublin Airport and accessible via all major motorways, the new office location will serve a growing customer base in Ireland and enable growth across Europe, catering to agriculture as well as construction, renewable energy — including wind and solar farms — golf courses, racecourses, and warehouse and logistics.

    “Expanding our Dublin office and establishing a European HQ marks a new chapter in our strategy to scale our drones and DaaS offerings globally while servicing the fastest growing agricultural drone markets located in Europe. Our AI-powered drone solutions are designed to boost crop yields while reducing operational costs and provide smart, data-driven insights — empowering crop monitoring and health assessment, nutrient and resource optimization, and profitability,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    The European agricultural drone market was valued at approximately USD 4.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 43.23 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.58% according to Market Data Forecast . This growth is fueled by the adoption of drones for crop spraying, mapping, pest control, seeding, and remote sensing, which enhance productivity and resource efficiency in farming. Growth is also supported by favorable European government policies and a strong focus on sustainable farming practices.    Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/

    Other recent developments in the drone industry include:

    Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), has recently announced a number of upgrades to its Black Hornet® 4 Personal Reconnaissance System to further boost operational effectiveness for warfighters. The enhanced features are being showcased at the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Week annual conference at the Tampa Convention Center, May 6 to May 8.

    In development over the past year, the series of improvements include a 50% increase in Black Hornet’s radio communications range from two to three kilometers (in optimal conditions). The BH4’s new Android tablet, part of the ground control station, now has up to twice the battery life, plus a battery heater for charging in cold temperatures. The new tablet also features improved ergonomics, making it easier to use while wearing gloves.

    Black Hornet 4 can operate in 25-knot winds and rain, and extensive testing was performed to validate its already rugged endurance capabilities. The drone itself is now IP-52 rated, able to withstand 7.6 mm of rain per hour while in flight, while the ground control station boasts an IP-54 rating.

    Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC), a United States based manufacturer and distributor of drone parts recently has successfully closed a confidentially marketed public offering for the sale of 8,000,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at the offering price of $5.00 per share (the “Offering”) resulting in gross proceeds of $40 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses. The Offering closed on May 7, 2025.

    Allan Evans, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and other members of the Company’s Board of Directors and all members of the Company’s advisory board purchased shares in the Offering on the same terms as the other investors. “We are overwhelmed by the level of support from everyone involved in the process,” said Allan Evans “This raise is absolutely a case of everyone putting their money behind accelerating American manufacturing for drones”.

    ParaZero Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: PRZO), an aerospace company focused on safety systems for commercial unmanned aircrafts and defense Counter UAS systems, recently announced that it has received a new order for dozens of units of its innovative SafeAir™ M4 system. The order was placed by a prominent European drone distributor that serves a wide range of commercial, public safety, and enterprise drone operators across the region.

    The SafeAir™ M4, ParaZero’s next-generation autonomous parachute recovery system, is designed for seamless integration with DJI’s Matrice 4 series. It features a newly developed deployment mechanism with real-time telemetry and is designed and expected to comply with the highest European regulatory standards to enable safe flight in urban areas throughout the EU.

    Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI), a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven security solutions, recently announced it has successfully completed multiple demonstrations of its patented Safe Pro Object Threat Detection (SPOTD) technology to various branches of the U.S. Department of Defense. Following these briefings, the Company commenced the integration of its SPOTD technology onto the Win-TAK platform, part of the U.S. Army’s Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) software ecosystem.

    As a result of these successful demonstrations, the Company is accelerating additional development efforts that seek to integrate the Company’s SPOTD technology into the full TAK software ecosystem which includes the U.S. Army’s ATAK (Android Tactical Assault Kit or ATAK) platform. Integration of SPOTD into ATAK is designed to allow detections of small explosive threats instantly identified in drone-based imagery by the Company’s AI technology to be quickly pushed across potentially hundreds of thousands of soldier-carried and vehicle-mounted wireless connected devices widely utilized by the U.S. Armed Forces.

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Red Cat to Report Q1 2025 Earnings and Provide Corporate Update on Wednesday, May 14, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Red Cat (Nasdaq: RCAT) (“Red Cat” or the “Company”), a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, announces that financial results for the Q1 2025 period will be reported on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at the market close.

    Company management will host an earnings conference call at 4:30p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 to review financial results and provide an update on corporate developments. Following management’s formal remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.

    Interested parties can listen to the conference call by dialing 1-844-413-3977 (within the U.S.) or 1-412-317-1803 (international). Callers should dial in approximately ten minutes prior to the start time and ask to be connected to the Red Cat conference call. Participants can also pre-register for the call using the following link: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10199765/ff2109d7f3

    The conference call will also be available through a live webcast that can be accessed at: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=OqffyYp4

    A replay of the webcast will be available until May 28, 2025 and can be accessed through the above link or at www.redcat.red. A telephonic replay will be available until May 28, 2025 by calling 1-877-344-7529 (domestic) or 1-412-317-0088 (international) and using access code 2313236. Replay using an international dial-in number can be accessed at: https://services.choruscall.com/ccforms/replay.html

    About Red Cat

    Red Cat (Nasdaq: RCAT) is a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations. Through two wholly owned subsidiaries, Teal Drones and FlightWave Aerospace, Red Cat has developed a Family of Systems. This includes the Black Widow™, a small unmanned ISR system that was awarded the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record contract. The Family of Systems also includes TRICHON™, a fixed-wing VTOL for extended endurance and range, and FANG™, the industry’s first line of NDAA-compliant FPV drones optimized for military operations with precision strike capabilities. Learn more at www.redcat.red.

    Forward Looking Statements

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “seek,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “target,” “aim,” “should,” “will” “would,” or the negative of these words or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are based on Red Cat Holdings, Inc.’s current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 27, 2023. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Red Cat Holdings, Inc. undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

    Contact:

    INVESTORS:
    E-mail: Investors@redcat.red

    NEWS MEDIA:
    Phone: (347) 880-2895
    Email: peter@indicatemedia.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: PeakMetrics Appoints Noha Georges to Its Board of Advisors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LOS ANGELES, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PeakMetrics, a leader in AI-driven narrative intelligence, is pleased to announce the appointment of Noha Georges to its Board of Advisors. Georges brings over two decades of global experience in strategic communications, reputation management, and public affairs, with deep expertise in both the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Her addition to the advisory board marks a significant step in PeakMetrics’ mission to expand its reach and enhance its intelligence offering across regions.

    Georges is a seasoned executive with a proven track record of advising top-tier organizations, governments, and Fortune 500 companies. Throughout her career, she has led high-impact communications strategies for organizations such as Deloitte, Ogilvy, and Qatar Central Bank, shaping business narratives and managing reputational risks on a global scale. Her expertise spans corporate communications, executive coaching, crisis response, and digital marketing, making her an invaluable asset to PeakMetrics’ growth and expansion efforts.

    “Noha’s strategic insight and deep understanding of communications challenges on a global scale make her an exceptional addition to our advisory board,” said Nick Loui, Co-Founder & CEO of PeakMetrics. “Her experience in both the public and private sectors across MENA will be instrumental as we continue to enhance our platform’s capabilities and expand our ability to service customers internationally.”

    In her role, Georges will advise PeakMetrics on strategic communications, government relations, and market expansion across MENA, helping to strengthen the company’s capabilities and tailor its offering to better address the region’s unique information environment, AI-driven threats, and evolving influence dynamics.

    “I am thrilled to join PeakMetrics at such a pivotal time in its growth journey,” said Noha Georges. “The ability to detect and defend against emerging narratives is critical for organizations worldwide. I look forward to contributing to PeakMetrics’ mission and supporting its expansion into new markets.”

    Georges has been recognized with multiple industry awards, including the Platinum Hermes Creative Award in Content Innovation and a Silver Stevie Award in Digital Marketing. She is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on corporate reputation and crisis management.

    For more information about PeakMetrics and its AI-driven narrative intelligence platform, visit www.peakmetrics.com.

    About PeakMetrics

    PeakMetrics provides a cutting-edge narrative intelligence solution designed to help government entities and organizations proactively detect, decipher, and defend against malign influence and adversarial information campaigns. Leveraging advanced narrative ML technology, PeakMetrics identifies emerging narratives in real time, assesses their impact to prioritize the most pressing threats, and delivers actionable response plans to support mission-critical decision-making. Organizations rely on PeakMetrics to counter foreign influence, mitigate deceptive media, and strengthen resilience against evolving information threats.

    Media Contact:
    Jessica Pratt
    PeakMetrics
    jessica@peakmetrics.com

    The MIL Network –