NewzIntel.com

Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI Global: China has identified how to fight back against Trump’s tariffs, and is not ready to back down

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Chee Meng Tan, Assistant Professor of Business Economics, University of Nottingham

    US ports are now starting to see scheduled shipments from China decline as the result of Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. The port of Los Angeles, the biggest port for Chinese goods in the US, is predicting scheduled shipments in early May to be about a third lower than the same time last year.

    Declining numbers of ships arriving stocked with Chinese imports are likely to affect US supermarket shelves soon, and after warnings from US supermarket bosses, Trump responded by saying trade talks between the US and China were under way in the past few days. But Chinese president Xi Jinping quickly denied talks were happening, suggesting he has no intention of backing away from a fight with the US.

    As one of the most powerful leaders in the history of the People’s Republic of China, Xi has fashioned himself as a nationalistic icon. So if China perceives Trump’s tariffs as a bully tactic designed to undermine it, backing down from a confrontation with the US would seriously undermine Xi’s strongman image and rhetoric.

    This is something that Trump probably hadn’t considered. At a rally marking his 100 days in office, the US president was still suggesting that China would just back down and “eat the tariffs”.

    While tariffs appear to be the primary weapon in the trade war, China might have more tactics to hit back at Trump and the US economy. The question is what might they be?

    A few weeks ago it seemed like Washington might punish China’s lack of willingness to negotiate with more tariffs, but now it’s clear that Trump is willing to make a deal and is trying to get China to come to the table. Trump is now implying that US tariffs on China could come down substantially. And US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has called the trade war with China “unsustainable”.

    Leveraging agriculture and energy

    China has reduced its reliance on US farm imports since the trade war began in Trump’s first presidency. This is bad news for Washington as agriculture is one few sectors in the US that actually has a large trade surplus with China. The 125% retaliatory tariffs will harm the sector’s profitability.

    But China’s retaliatory tariffs aren’t the only issue American farmers have to contend with. As the trade war escalates, China has been using bureaucratic hurdles to restrict US agricultural products from entering China and as a potential negotiation tool. For instance, China has delayed the renewals of export license renewals of US pig farmers, and refused to renew licenses of poultry farmers for “health and safety” reasons.

    What’s the impact of tariffs?

    Beijing’s actions might be designed to particularly hit the economy in core Trump supporting states. A major part of Trump and the Republican party’s base lies in “red states”, such as Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, all have significant farming communities. Focusing on agricultural issues is a tactic that Beijing realises will hit home with Trump voters.

    Out of the 444 US counties designated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as farming-dependent, 77.7% voted for Trump during the 2024 US presidential election. So, any hardship faced by the agriculture sector due to Trump’s own actions is likely to lose him support from a major political base. And with mid-term elections in 2026, Trump has to tread carefully when antagonising Beijing.

    Another support base that Beijing might seek to undermine is those involved in the fossil fuel sector. In the past, the US has been a top supplier of natural gas to China.

    China has not imported natural gas from the US since early February 2025, and has sought its natural gas from Australia, Indonesia, and Brunei. As the trade war continues, it is unlikely that the US would be able to sell its natural gas to China anytime soon, and this will have an impact on the energy industry – one of Trump’s major political support bases.

    Restricting minerals

    Another huge problem that the US faces stems from China’s restriction of the export of critical minerals. They include seven rare earth minerals namely samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. While these are used in the clean energy and automobile sectors, the biggest concern would come from the US defence complex.

    These critical minerals are used in manufacturing fighter jets, submarines, missiles, and radar systems. China has an effective monopoly on the extraction and processing of rare earths, while the US lacks such capabilities. This means that China’s export restrictions are likely to affect America’s defence industry, while Beijing rapidly expands its ammunition and military technology.

    The White House probably anticipated export restrictions of critical minerals from China. After all, Beijing had banned the export of critical minerals to Japan in 2010 over a fishing trawler dispute, and stopped exporting “dual-use” metals that can be used to produce civilian and military technology, such as gallium, germanium and tungsten.

    What’s next?

    For the last few years, China has been trying to overcome an ailing economy that was primarily fuelled by a real-estate crisis. Trump probably expected China to buckle under pressure and come crawling to the negotiation table. After all, the Chinese Communist Party needs to fix its economy fast. The establishment has long relied on delivering economic prosperity to legitimise its rule over China.

    Right now the tit-for-tat battle continues. By April 11, US tariffs on China peaked at 145%, while China’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods reached an unprecedented 125%.

    Although it is clearly fighting back, China could go even further by selling off US treasuries and increasing US interest rates and thus borrowing cost. But unlike Trump, Xi often plays the long game. After all, Trump’s term as president will be over in less than four years, while Chinese president Xi has no term limits. All the latter has to do is exercise patience, and a friendlier US president might come around.

    Chee Meng Tan 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. China has identified how to fight back against Trump’s tariffs, and is not ready to back down – https://theconversation.com/china-has-identified-how-to-fight-back-against-trumps-tariffs-and-is-not-ready-to-back-down-255325

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Wealth, wellness and wellbeing: why healthier ageing isn’t just about personal choices

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simon Evans, Lecturer in Neuroscience, School of Psychology, University of Surrey

    Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock

    We’ve all heard it before: eat your five-a-day, and try to get some exercise. It’s advice that’s simple in theory, yet in practice, not everyone is able to follow it. So what’s standing in the way?

    Our research examined this question in depth. Using data from UK adults over the age of 50, we explored how socioeconomic status affects the likelihood of meeting the World Health Organization’s recommendations for physical activity and diet. These guidelines include at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity (or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity) physical activity per week and a daily intake of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables.

    What we found points to a clear and concerning disparity. Wealthier older adults are nearly twice as likely to meet both exercise and dietary recommendations compared to their less affluent peers. And perhaps even more striking, those who don’t meet these health guidelines are significantly more likely to suffer from depression.

    We analysed survey responses from more than 3,000 adults aged 50 to 90, using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. While nearly 70% of participants reported doing some form of physical activity, the data revealed a sharp wealth divide.

    Adults in the highest wealth quintile (the top 20%) were almost twice as likely to be physically active as those in the lowest quintile. A similar pattern emerged for diet. Over 70% of those in the wealthiest group reported meeting the five-a-day guideline, compared to just over 40% in the lowest income bracket.

    This matters, because not meeting government guidelines for physical activity and diet can have serious long-term health consequences. Regular exercise is known to increase HDL (or “good”) cholesterol, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce the risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

    It also benefits brain health by lowering inflammation and even promoting the growth of new brain cells. Similarly, diets rich in fibre, vitamins, and antioxidants – found in fruits and vegetables – are associated with lower the risks of disease and cognitive decline, including conditions like Alzheimer’s.

    Depression disparity

    But the impact isn’t just physical. Our research also explored links between lifestyle and mental health. Around 19% of participants met the criteria for clinical depression, with the highest risk found among women, people living alone, smokers and those with lower incomes.

    Alarmingly, rates of depression were nearly three times higher among those in the lowest wealth quintile (32.6% were depressed) compared to those in the highest (11.1%).

    Lifestyle clearly played a role in depression levels. Among inactive participants, 30% reported symptoms of depression – more than double the rate seen in those who were physically active (13.7%). Likewise, those who didn’t meet the five-a-day guideline had a depression rate of 23.4%, compared to 15.7% among those who did.

    These results suggest that staying physically active and eating well not only improves physical health but may also play a protective role in mental wellbeing. Yet not everyone has equal access to the resources, time, or environments that support healthy living. There is also the role of social isolation as a compounding factor.

    Social disconnection is strongly linked to both poor physical and mental health, including depression and even increased mortality risk. Physical activity programmes that also offer social interaction – such as walking groups or community exercise classes – may provide even greater benefits.

    Healthy ageing for everyone

    The evidence shows that health disparities in later life are deeply tied to wealth and socioeconomic status. This means that addressing them requires more than encouraging personal responsibility – it calls for policy action.

    Financial barriers to healthy food and physical activity need to be tackled through targeted programmes, subsidies and infrastructure investments. Making healthy options accessible and affordable – especially for those in lower-income groups – will benefit people and reduce strain on healthcare systems.

    As populations continue to age, promoting health in later life is a public health priority. But that effort will only succeed if it recognises – and works to reduce – the inequalities that hold people back from living healthy, fulfilling lives.

    Simon Evans 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. Wealth, wellness and wellbeing: why healthier ageing isn’t just about personal choices – https://theconversation.com/wealth-wellness-and-wellbeing-why-healthier-ageing-isnt-just-about-personal-choices-250316

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Tony Blair opposes phasing out fossil fuels. These academics disagree

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition

    Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and limiting energy consumption to tackle climate change is “a strategy doomed to fail” according to former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

    In the foreword of a new report, Blair urges governments to rethink their approach to reaching net zero emissions.

    Instead of policies that are seen by people as involving “financial sacrifices”, he says world leaders should deploy carbon capture and storage, including technological and nature-based approaches, to meet the rising demand for fossil fuels.

    But speak to many academic experts on climate change and they will tell a very different story: that there is no strategy for addressing climate change that does not involve ending, or at least massively reducing, fossil fuel combustion.

    This roundup of The Conversation’s climate coverage comes from our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed.

    A fossil fuel phase-out is ‘essential’

    “There is a wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating that a fossil fuel phase-out will be essential for reining in the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change,” says Steve Pye, an associate professor of energy at UCL.



    Read more:
    COP28 president is wrong – science clearly shows fossil fuels must go (and fast)

    “I know because I have published some of it.”

    Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading, agrees.

    “Rapidly reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and not issuing new licenses to extract oil and gas, is the most effective way of minimising future climate-related disruptions,” he says.



    Read more:
    Science shows the severe climate consequences of new fossil fuel extraction

    “The sooner those with the power to shape our future recognise this, the better.”

    Fossil fuels are responsible for 90% of the carbon dioxide heating the climate. The amount burned annually is still rising, and so is the rate at which the world is getting hotter. Scientists now fear we are approaching irreversible tipping points in the climate system, hence their support for an urgent replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.



    Read more:
    Climate tipping points are nearer than you think – our new report warns of catastrophic risk

    Blair is confident that an emergency response on this scale can be avoided by absorbing CO₂ immediately after burning fossil fuels, from the smokestacks where the greenhouse gas is concentrated.

    Not all of the emissions responsible for climate change would be prevented. UCL earth system scientist Mark Maslin says that natural gas, which would linger as an energy source thanks to carbon capture, still leaks from pipelines and storage vessels upstream of power plants.



    Read more:
    The UK’s £22 billion bet on carbon capture will lock in fossil fuels for decades

    Commercial applications of the technology also have a poor track record. Just two large-scale coal-fired power plants are operating with CCS worldwide – one in the US and one in Canada.

    “Both have experienced consistent underperformance, recurring technical issues and ballooning costs,” Maslin says.

    CCS is no alternative to turning off the fossil fuel taps.
    Pan Demin/Shutterstock

    Blair might baulk at what he perceives to be the expense of ditching fossil fuels. But economic modelling led by Oxford University’s Andrea Bacilieri suggests his concern is misplaced. A rapid phase-out of fossil fuels could save US$30 trillion (US$1 trillion a year) by 2050 she concludes, compared with allowing power plants and factories to keep burning them with CCS.

    Developing CCS will be necessary to help manage an orderly transition from fossil fuels according to Myles Allen, a professor of geosystem science at Oxford University. But it is not a substitute for undergoing that transition, he says.



    Read more:
    Getting carbon capture right will be hard – but that doesn’t make it optional

    “Above all, we need to make sure the availability of CCS does not encourage yet more CO₂ production.”

    Keeping the public on board

    Is Blair right to fret about a public backlash to lower energy use? Academics suggest multiple reasons to think otherwise if the alternative is prolonging the use of fossil fuels.



    Read more:
    Should you get a heat pump? Here’s how they compare to a gas boiler

    Replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump that runs on electricity, for example, can lower a household’s energy consumption without a deliberate effort. That’s because renewable appliances convert power to heat more efficiently (how much depends on how well insulated the home is).



    Read more:
    Heat pumps without home insulation could raise bills and energy demand – here’s what the government can do

    In fact, it’s dependence on fossil fuel that is preventing many households from making this switch. The high wholesale price of gas determines the cost of electricity for UK consumers.



    Read more:
    How gas keeps the UK’s electricity bills so high – despite lots of cheap wind power

    And surveys repeatedly show that support for net zero policies is broad and deep in the UK – including those that would involve lifestyle changes say Lorraine Whitmarsh (University of Bath), Caroline Verfuerth and Steve Westlake (both Cardiff University), who research public behaviour and climate change.



    Read more:
    Net zero: direct costs of climate policies aren’t a major barrier to public support, research reveals

    “Crucially, the public wants and needs the government to show clear and consistent leadership on climate change,” they say.

    Meanwhile, what can corrode public acceptance of sacrifices is the high-consuming behaviour of a minority (think pop stars in rockets, as Westlake recently argued). And, arguably, the statements of powerful people like Blair.



    Read more:
    Why Katy Perry’s celebrity spaceflight blazed a trail for climate breakdown

    New research even suggests the politics that Blair and many others like him favour might also play a role here. Felix Schulz (Lund University) and Christian Bretter (The University of Queensland) are social scientists who study how ideology affects personal views on climate policy.

    They identified respondents in six countries (the UK, US, Germany, Brazil, South Africa and China) who shared Blair’s neoliberal worldview, which the pair define as a belief that individuals are primarily responsible for their own fortune, and need to take care of themselves – as well as an abiding faith in the free market.



    Read more:
    People with neoliberal views are less likely to support climate-friendly policies – new research

    “We observed a strong link between a neoliberal worldview and lack of support for the climate policies in our study,” they say.

    Schulz and Bretter urge us to consider how someone’s ideology ultimately shapes their understanding of the problem and its solutions as well.

    – ref. Tony Blair opposes phasing out fossil fuels. These academics disagree – https://theconversation.com/tony-blair-opposes-phasing-out-fossil-fuels-these-academics-disagree-254530

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Magaziner, Amo Honor Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio on House Floor

    Source: US Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) and Congressman Gabe Amo (RI-01)  spoke on the House Floor to honor the late Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio of North Providence. Over the course of more than 40 years in the Rhode Island state legislature, Senate President Ruggerio fiercely advocated for the people and places that make Rhode Island unique. On April 21, 2025, he passed away after a long battle with cancer.

    “President Ruggerio dedicated his life to making Rhode Island a better place, devoting forty years of service in the Rhode Island State Senate, culminating in his leadership as Senate President. Through it all, he was a tireless advocate for working people, a skilled legislator, and a kind and gracious presence to everyone he met,” said Representative Magaziner. “When I was state treasurer, I was proud to work with him on the 2018 statewide school construction initiative, where we made a historic investment in repairing or replacing hundreds of Rhode Island public school buildings.”

    “Donny, as he was referred to by those who knew him best, was a force to be reckoned with. A forza, as his Italian loved ones would say. For over 40 years as a state legislator for North Providence — a jewel of the First Congressional District — President Ruggerio served as a champion for all Rhode Islanders,” said Congressman Amo. “Earlier this week, we came together at St. Anthony Church in North Providence to remember this beloved icon in Rhode Island history. Today, I join President Ruggerio’s friends, family, staff, and colleagues who will carry on the torch that he lit and ensure that his legacy shines a light for generations to come.

    WATCH CONGRESSMAN MAGAZINER AND CONGRESSMAN AMO’S REMARKS

    MAGAZINER REMARKS AS DELIVERED

    Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a true Rhode Island public servant, State Senate President Dominick Ruggerio.

    President Ruggerio dedicated his life to making Rhode Island a better place, devoting forty years of service in the Rhode Island State Senate, culminating in his leadership as Senate President.

    Through it all, he was a tireless advocate for working people, a skilled legislator, and a kind and gracious presence to everyone he met.

    President Ruggerio made his career in the labor movement, working with the Laborer’s International Union of North America before retiring where he assumed the office of Senate President.

    During his tenure in the Senate, he championed raising the minimum wage, protecting workers’ pensions, and rebuilding infrastructure among many other causes.

    When I was state treasurer, I was proud to work with him on the 2018 statewide school construction initiative, where we made a historic investment in repairing or replacing hundreds of Rhode Island public school buildings.

    I saw on that occasion and throughout my time in the State House that his commitment to the future of our state was unwavering.

    My thoughts are with Dominick Ruggerio’s family on his passing this past week, particularly with his children Charlie and Amanda, and his four grandchildren, and with all in Rhode Island who had the privilege to know and to work with him.

    I yield back.

    AMO REMARKS AS DELIVERED

    I rise today to honor Rhode Island’s late, great, Senate President, Dominick Ruggerio

    Mr. Speaker, Donny, as he was referred to by those who knew him best, was a force to be reckoned with.

    A forza, as his Italian loved ones would say.

    For over 40 years as a state legislator for North Providence — a jewel of the First Congressional District — President Ruggerio served as a champion for all Rhode Islanders.

    From infrastructure to the environment, labor protections and more, he fought for the places and the people who make the Ocean State great.

    Hardworking people like my mom, who worked for years as an SEIU nurse in Rhode Island nursing homes.

    Every time our paths crossed, he would remind me how, with enough hard work, grit, and determination, that anything is possible — even my own story.

    Donny loved our state and he loved our state house.

    Throughout his tenure, he mentored so many legislators, countless legislators — regardless of which side of the aisle they sat on.

    His passing last week after a lengthy battle with cancer is both a profound loss for our community and for our state.

    Earlier this week, we came together at St. Anthony Church in North Providence to remember this beloved icon in Rhode Island history.

    Today, I join President Ruggerio’s friends, family, staff, and colleagues who will carry on the torch that he lit and ensure that his legacy shines a light for generations to come.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kean Announces New District Office Location and Regional Satellite Office Hours Across District

    Source: US Representative Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07)

    Contact: Riley Pingree

    (April 30, 2025) LEBANON BOROUGH, NJ – Today, Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) announced the relocation of his main district office to 100 Corporate Dr, Suite 106, Lebanon, New Jersey 08833, effective May 1, 2025. The district office was previously located in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

    The new district office in Lebanon Borough is situated in northern Hunterdon County, serving as a central location within the district with nearby roadway access to Interstate-78 and U.S. Route 22. New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District includes all of Hunterdon and Warren counties, as well as parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Union counties.

    In conjunction with the move, two of Congressman Kean’s five regional satellite office locations will also shift to new towns. Satellite office hours previously held in Flemington on the first Thursday of the month will now be in Bridgewater, and office hours formerly held in Mountainside will now be hosted in Clark on the first Friday of the month. All counties in the district will continue to have a dedicated regional presence for constituent services. 

    “My office always strives to provide the best possible service to constituents across our district, and that mission will continue as we head to a new space in Lebanon on May 1,” said Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. “As part of the move, we will also be launching new satellite offices in Bridgewater and Clark, while maintaining our current locations in Hopatcong, Mount Olive, and Washington. These satellite offices ensure that in-person constituent services remain accessible in every county we serve.”

    “I am so glad to bring the residents of Lebanon Borough closer to our nation’s capital with the opening of U.S. Congressman Tom Kean, Jr.’s new office location,” said Lebanon Borough Mayor Jim Pittinger. “The Congressman has been a great partner to the Borough, and we are honored to welcome him to Lebanon.”

    “We are proud to continue partnering with Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. to ensure that residents have convenient, local access to their federal representative and his staff, resources, and solutions,” said Bridgewater Township Mayor Matthew Moench. “Hosting Congressman Kean’s Somerset County satellite office hours at the Bridgewater Municipal Building is another way we’re showing how all levels of government can work together to serve the people of Bridgewater.”

    “Clark Township is proud to welcome a congressional satellite office to our municipal building,” said Clark Township Mayor Angel Albanese. “This collaboration ensures our residents have direct, convenient access to vital federal services right here in town. We are committed to making it easier for our community to get the assistance they deserve, and we thank Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. for his partnership in serving our constituents.”

    A full list of office locations and hours of operation is available below, as well as on Congressman Kean’s website HERE. You may also contact his District Office at (908) 547-3307 for more information.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: My weekly column: 100 days of promises kept under President Trump

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-04)

    April 30th marked 100 days of promises kept under President Trump. Like he pledged on the campaign trail, he has mobilized every tool at his disposal to make America strong again and reverse the failed policies pushed by the Biden administration. From border security and energy dominance to government efficiency and economic investment, President Trump has delivered real results for the American people and has worked around the clock to put our families, farmers, workers, and small businesses first.

    The clearest example of President Trump’s decisive leadership is his complete and total lockdown of our southern border. Illegal border crossings have plummeted by 95% and illegal immigrant “gotaways” have fallen by 99%. Drug traffickers, criminals, sex traffickers, and violent MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gang members have been quickly removed from our country. After Biden halted construction of the border wall, President Trump immediately restarted this vital national security initiative and reiterated his unwavering support for our border patrol agents who were treated so poorly under the Biden administration. President Trump was absolutely right when he remarked during his joint address to Congress on March 4th that “it turned out that all we really needed was a new President” to secure our border.

    Strengthening his work to close the border, President Trump honored families who have lost loved ones to illegal immigrant crime by signing the Laken Riley Act – the first piece of legislation to become law this year. The Laken Riley Act also included Sarah’s Law, in honor of 21-year-old Iowan Sarah Root, who was senselessly killed by a drunk driving illegal immigrant in 2016. Instead of answering for his crimes, this criminal posted bail, was released from jail, and fled our country never to be seen again. Sarah’s Law – now the law of the land thanks to President Trump – ensures that illegal immigrants who murder or seriously injure American citizens are detained without bail and held accountable for their actions. Fortunately, the illegal immigrant who killed Sarah Root was recently arrested in Honduras and the Trump administration worked quickly with Honduran authorities to extradite this criminal back to the United States to face justice. This is the action that the American people wanted to see, and President Trump is delivering.

    Upon his return to the White House, President Trump also announced that he would do everything in his power to restore American energy dominance – and that he did. He created the National Energy Dominance Council to determine every avenue available to increase energy production, lower gas prices, and make the United States the world’s energy powerhouse. He rescinded countless Biden executive orders that promoted the Green New Deal over affordable gas and electricity prices and cut needless red tape that prevented American energy producers from reaching their full production capacity. He overturned the Biden administration’s ban on liquefied natural gas exports, signed a resolution – that I voted for – to completely repeal Biden’s costly tax on natural gas production, and stopped the Biden administration’s ridiculous electric-vehicle mandates on American families. Under President Trump’s watch, we will use the energy resources abundantly available in our own country and reduce our dependence on our foreign adversaries for our energy needs.

    Government efficiency is another bright spot of President Trump’s America First agenda. The Biden administration exploded our national debt with trillions of dollars of wasteful spending that fueled inflation and made life more expensive for Americans. As promised, the Trump administration uncovered example after example of waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal government. DEI positions in federal agencies have been cut, spending on liberal initiatives has been slashed, and welfare for illegal immigrants has been suspended. Eliminating this type of waste ensures that programs like Medicare and Social Security – intended for American citizens only – can remain solvent now and well into the future. With President Trump in the White House, taxpayer dollars are being treated with the care that they deserve.

    Additionally, because of President Trump’s mission to hold our trading partners accountable to our laws and protect our farmers, workers, manufacturers, and businesses from unfair and unlawful trade practices, business investment is accelerating in our country. More than $5 trillion in new investments in America have been announced, which will create over 451,000 new jobs in American communities. This impressive figure does not even include pledges that other countries have made to bring manufacturing and jobs to the United States, spurring additional economic growth. To complement these investments, my Republican colleagues and I are working hard to extend President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to deliver tax relief for our families, farmers, workers, and businesses. While Democrats want Americans to see the highest tax hike in U.S. history, President Trump and Republicans are committed to lowering taxes and unleashing U.S. economic prosperity. The American workforce and American industry will no longer be taken advantage of by foreign nations, and American citizens will rightfully keep more of their hard-earned money.

    This is not an exhaustive list of the amazing achievements that President Trump has delivered in just 100 days, but it does prove that he is working harder than ever to serve the American people. I know that President Trump will take this same aggressive and results-oriented approach to his next four years in office.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congresswoman Pingree Leads Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Expand and Strengthen Local Meat Processing

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (1st District of Maine)

    Today, U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Jim Baird (R-Ind.), along with U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), reintroduced legislation to support small meat and poultry processors throughout the U.S. The bipartisan, bicameral Strengthening Local Processing Act would make it easier for local livestock and poultry producers to process meat locally, by expanding access to federal resources and providing critical support for training and technical assistance to small processors.

    “Access to USDA processing facilities remains a significant challenge for livestock producers in Maine and across the country. Their livelihoods depend on having somewhere to take their animals, but under the current system, their options are severely limited. Chefs, retailers, and consumers want to buy locally raised meat, and they’re frustrated by how difficult it is to get,” said Congresswoman Pingree, a longtime farmer and member of the House Agriculture Committee. “Our bipartisan Strengthening Local Processing Act will increase processing, enhance opportunities for local producers, and help small slaughterhouses and butchers grow their businesses—delivering the quality, locally raised meat and poultry consumers expect at the store.”

    Under federal law, farmers and ranchers are required to send their animals to one of a limited number of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) or state-inspected slaughterhouses—often hundreds of miles away—in order to sell individual cuts of locally raised meats. As a result, many smaller meat and poultry processing plants are booked out for months, and small farms are unable meet new demand due to a lack of processing capacity. 

    The Strengthening Local Processing Act will increase the federal cost share for both state facility inspections (from 50 to 65%), as well as the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (from 60 to 80%), thus encouraging more states to operate state inspection programs and participate in CIS. There are currently 29 states that operate a state inspection program, and 10 states that participate in CIS. 

    The legislation would create a competitive grant program for small and very small establishments, state inspected facilities, custom exempt facilities, or new small-scale slaughter facilities to help increase processing capacity and grow resiliency. It would also create two new grant programs for meat processing workforce training—one for colleges, universities, nonprofits, worker training centers, and others to establish or expand meat processing training program and one for small and very small establishments or nongovernmental organizations to offset the cost of training new meat processors.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Declines Prosecution of Company That Self-Disclosed Export Control Offenses Committed by Employee

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    Company’s Prompt Self-Disclosure and Extraordinary Cooperation Led to Employee’s Successful Prosecution for Unlawfully Exporting Software to a Restricted Chinese University

    Note: View the declination letter here.

    The Justice Department today announced that it has declined the prosecution of Universities Space Research Association (USRA) after it self-disclosed to the Department’s National Security Division (NSD) criminal violations of U.S. export control laws committed by its former employee, Jonathan Soong. Soong pleaded guilty to willfully violating the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by exporting U.S. Army-developed aviation software to a university in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that had been placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

    “If we stay vigilant, all of us — including our citizens, small businesses, and large corporations — can play a critical role in protecting our country,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “A criminal who compromised our national security was brought to justice because his employer caught him and immediately turned him in. We decline to prosecute his employer and are ready to work together with such responsible corporate actors who are committed to joining us in this fight to protect our country from foreign adversaries.”

    “USRA discovered that one of its employees was funneling sensitive aeronautics software to a Beijing university in violation of export control laws and at risk to our national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins for the Northern District of California. “What the company did next made all the difference in the Government’s decision not to prosecute it: the company took swift and proactive measures to disclose the employee’s wrongdoing, provide all known facts, and cooperate – and continue to cooperate – with the government’s investigation.”

    According to court documents, in April 2016, USRA contracted with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to, among other things, license and distribute for a fee aeronautics-related and U.S. Army-owned flight control software. Soong was employed by USRA as a program administrator under the contract and was responsible for performing due diligence on prospective purchasers to ensure that the sale or transfer of software licenses complied with applicable law, including by checking the Entity List. Soong willfully exported software subject to the EAR to Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also known as Beihang University (Beihang), a university in the PRC, knowing that an export control license was required for the export to Beihang because it was on the Entity List. Beihang was on the Commerce Department’s Entity List due to its involvement in the development of military rocket systems and unmanned air vehicle systems. Soong further used an intermediary to complete the transfer and export of the software to Beihang to avoid detection, and embezzled tens of thousands of dollars in software license sales by directing purchasers to make payment to an account he personally owned and controlled.

    This scheme continued until NASA inquired about the sales of software licenses to PRC-based purchasers and USRA began to investigate. Soong initially lied to USRA and fabricated evidence that he had conducted due diligence on the purchasers and provided it to USRA’s counsel to provide to NASA, but after USRA’s counsel investigated further and confronted Soong with evidence that contradicted his statements, he admitted to knowing that Beihang was on the Entity List when he exported the software to Beihang and that a license had been required for the export.

    Within days of learning that Soong had willfully violated U.S. export control laws, and before USRA had completed its own investigation to understand the scope of the misconduct, USRA self-disclosed the crime to NSD and fully cooperated with the ensuing criminal investigation, which eventually established that Soong had acted alone at USRA. USRA’s cooperation included proactively identifying, collecting, and disclosing relevant evidence to investigators, including foreign language evidence and evidence located overseas, and providing detailed and timely responses to the government’s requests for information and evidence. USRA remediated the root cause of the misconduct by disciplining a supervisory employee who failed appropriately to supervise Soong, and by significantly improving its internal controls and compliance program. USRA also compensated the government both for the funds Soong embezzled, and for the time Soong had spent embezzling funds instead of performing his duties under USRA’s contract with NASA.

    The Justice Department declined USRA’s prosecution after considering the factors set forth in the Department’s Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations and the National Security Division Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (NSD Enforcement Policy). The NSD Enforcement Policy creates a presumption that companies that (1) voluntarily self-disclose to NSD potentially criminal violations arising out of or relating to the enforcement of export control or sanctions laws, (2) fully cooperate, and (3) timely and appropriately remediate will generally receive a non-prosecution agreement, unless aggravating factors are present.  In appropriate cases, the NSD Enforcement Policy authorizes prosecutors to go further, and exercise discretion to decline a company’s prosecution. This is the second time that NSD has exercised its discretion to decline the prosecution of a company under the NSD Enforcement Policy.

    The case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the FBI. The NASA Office of Inspector General; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Army Counterintelligence; and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations provided valuable assistance.

    Trial Attorney Rachel Craft of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Valliere for the Northern District of California prosecuted the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Declines Prosecution of Company That Self-Disclosed Export Control Offenses Committed by Employee

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Company’s Prompt Self-Disclosure and Extraordinary Cooperation Led to Employee’s Successful Prosecution for Unlawfully Exporting Software to a Restricted Chinese University

    Note: View the declination letter here.

    The Justice Department today announced that it has declined the prosecution of Universities Space Research Association (USRA) after it self-disclosed to the Department’s National Security Division (NSD) criminal violations of U.S. export control laws committed by its former employee, Jonathan Soong. Soong pleaded guilty to willfully violating the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by exporting U.S. Army-developed aviation software to a university in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that had been placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

    “If we stay vigilant, all of us — including our citizens, small businesses, and large corporations — can play a critical role in protecting our country,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “A criminal who compromised our national security was brought to justice because his employer caught him and immediately turned him in. We decline to prosecute his employer and are ready to work together with such responsible corporate actors who are committed to joining us in this fight to protect our country from foreign adversaries.”

    “USRA discovered that one of its employees was funneling sensitive aeronautics software to a Beijing university in violation of export control laws and at risk to our national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins for the Northern District of California. “What the company did next made all the difference in the Government’s decision not to prosecute it: the company took swift and proactive measures to disclose the employee’s wrongdoing, provide all known facts, and cooperate – and continue to cooperate – with the government’s investigation.”

    According to court documents, in April 2016, USRA contracted with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to, among other things, license and distribute for a fee aeronautics-related and U.S. Army-owned flight control software. Soong was employed by USRA as a program administrator under the contract and was responsible for performing due diligence on prospective purchasers to ensure that the sale or transfer of software licenses complied with applicable law, including by checking the Entity List. Soong willfully exported software subject to the EAR to Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also known as Beihang University (Beihang), a university in the PRC, knowing that an export control license was required for the export to Beihang because it was on the Entity List. Beihang was on the Commerce Department’s Entity List due to its involvement in the development of military rocket systems and unmanned air vehicle systems. Soong further used an intermediary to complete the transfer and export of the software to Beihang to avoid detection, and embezzled tens of thousands of dollars in software license sales by directing purchasers to make payment to an account he personally owned and controlled.

    This scheme continued until NASA inquired about the sales of software licenses to PRC-based purchasers and USRA began to investigate. Soong initially lied to USRA and fabricated evidence that he had conducted due diligence on the purchasers and provided it to USRA’s counsel to provide to NASA, but after USRA’s counsel investigated further and confronted Soong with evidence that contradicted his statements, he admitted to knowing that Beihang was on the Entity List when he exported the software to Beihang and that a license had been required for the export.

    Within days of learning that Soong had willfully violated U.S. export control laws, and before USRA had completed its own investigation to understand the scope of the misconduct, USRA self-disclosed the crime to NSD and fully cooperated with the ensuing criminal investigation, which eventually established that Soong had acted alone at USRA. USRA’s cooperation included proactively identifying, collecting, and disclosing relevant evidence to investigators, including foreign language evidence and evidence located overseas, and providing detailed and timely responses to the government’s requests for information and evidence. USRA remediated the root cause of the misconduct by disciplining a supervisory employee who failed appropriately to supervise Soong, and by significantly improving its internal controls and compliance program. USRA also compensated the government both for the funds Soong embezzled, and for the time Soong had spent embezzling funds instead of performing his duties under USRA’s contract with NASA.

    The Justice Department declined USRA’s prosecution after considering the factors set forth in the Department’s Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations and the National Security Division Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (NSD Enforcement Policy). The NSD Enforcement Policy creates a presumption that companies that (1) voluntarily self-disclose to NSD potentially criminal violations arising out of or relating to the enforcement of export control or sanctions laws, (2) fully cooperate, and (3) timely and appropriately remediate will generally receive a non-prosecution agreement, unless aggravating factors are present.  In appropriate cases, the NSD Enforcement Policy authorizes prosecutors to go further, and exercise discretion to decline a company’s prosecution. This is the second time that NSD has exercised its discretion to decline the prosecution of a company under the NSD Enforcement Policy.

    The case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the FBI. The NASA Office of Inspector General; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Army Counterintelligence; and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations provided valuable assistance.

    Trial Attorney Rachel Craft of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Valliere for the Northern District of California prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Owner of Chicago-Area Convenience Stores Convicted of Defrauding Low-Income Food Program for Women and Children

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted the owner of several Chicago-area convenience stores of scheming to defraud a low-income food program for women and children.

    HASSAN ABDELLATIF, also known as “Eric,” 36, of Chicago, was convicted of all five counts against him, including two counts of wire fraud, one count of fraudulently obtaining government benefits, and two counts of willfully failing to file corporate tax returns. The jury returned its verdicts on Monday after a week-long trial in federal court in Chicago.  U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso set sentencing for Aug. 26, 2025.

    Evidence at trial revealed that Abdellatif, who owned or operated El Milagro Mini Market, Supermercado El Grande, Star Mini Market, In & Out Grocery, and Harding Grocery, schemed with eight other store owners or workers to fraudulently redeem checks from the Women, Infants, and Children (“WIC”) program, a federally funded initiative designed to provide a nutritious diet to moderate and low-income infants, children up to five years of age, and pregnant, breastfeeding, and post-partum women. Over a period of several years, Abdellatif and the others knowingly allowed customers to provide their WIC checks as payment for ineligible items at the stores, often at inflated prices. Abdellatif and a co-defendant redeemed more than $6.5 million in WIC checks at two of the stores alone, before law enforcement searched those premises and shut down the fraud scheme.

    The evidence established that ten stores involved in the scheme redeemed more than $19 million in WIC checks over an eight-year period.  All eight of Abdellatif’s co-defendants pleaded guilty prior to his trial.

    The convictions were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Shantel R. Robinson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Midwest Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kartik Raman, Rick Young, and Matthew Moyer.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Canonsburg Resident Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of Minors

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

    PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating federal law regarding the sexual exploitation of minors, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

    Justin Darby, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan.

    In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, on or about October 28, 2021, Darby knowingly altered and destroyed records associated with an application on his cellular telephone with the intent to impede and obstruct an investigation of him for offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children. The Court also was advised that, on February 6, 2024, as well as on three additional occasions with three additional minor victims, Darby attempted to and did induce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct.

    Judge Ranjan scheduled sentencing for August 25, 2025. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

    Pending sentencing, Darby remained detained.

    Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Darby.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Microsoft announces new European digital commitments

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Microsoft announces new European digital commitments

    Includes datacenter operations in 16 countries and Digital Resilience Commitment.

    Forty-two years ago, Microsoft released the very first version of Microsoft Word. It was a major milestone in the company’s journey to enhance people’s productivity through innovation. It also marked the young and growing company’s first big step in Europe with the first Microsoft product localized in multiple European languages, starting with German and French.

    Since then, our economic reliance on Europe has always run deep. We recognize that our business is critically dependent on sustaining the trust of customers, countries, and governments across Europe. We respect European values, comply with European laws, and actively defend Europe’s cybersecurity. Our support for Europe has always been–and always will be–steadfast.

    In a time of geopolitical volatility, we are committed to providing digital stability. That is why today Microsoft is announcing five digital commitments to Europe. These start with an expansion of our cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, aimed at enabling every country to fully use these technologies to strengthen their economic competitiveness. And they include a promise to uphold Europe’s digital resilience regardless of geopolitical and trade volatility.

    As a multinational company, we believe in trans-Atlantic ties that promote mutual economic growth and prosperity. ​We were pleased the Trump administration and the European Union recently agreed to suspend further tariff escalation while they seek to negotiate a reciprocal trade agreement. We hope that successful talks can resolve tariff issues and reduce non-tariff barriers, consistent with the recommendations in the recent Draghi report.

    We will always be dedicated to creating jobs, promoting economic opportunities, and strengthening cybersecurity on both sides of the Atlantic. The five commitments below, like the very first European version of Microsoft Word, take our support for Europe another step forward.

    1. We will help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe

    We recognize that European nations want and need a world class and broad AI and cloud ecosystem. Today, we are announcing plans to increase our European datacenter capacity by 40% over the next two years. We are expanding datacenter operations in 16 European countries. When combined with our recent construction, the plans we’re announcing today will more than double our European datacenter capacity between 2023 and 2027. It will result in cloud operations in more than 200 datacenters across the continent.

    This expansion will play an important role in boosting Europe’s economic growth and competitiveness. We believe that broad AI diffusion will be one of the most important drivers of innovation and productivity growth over the next decade. Like electricity and other general-purpose technologies in the past, AI and cloud datacenters represent the next stage of industrialization. They are creating real-world capabilities to fuel business and manufacturing innovation, run national health systems, enable secure government services, and support digital tools in education—all while keeping data and operations close to home, subject to European laws and regulations.

    Public cloud datacenters

    Our public cloud datacenters are a foundation for the diversified cloud ecosystem we are committed to supporting across Europe. This includes the Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, a package of technologies and configurations to help governments and other customers run on Azure in our public cloud datacenters with greater control over data location, encryption, and administrative access.

    Sovereign cloud datacenters

    A second aspect of our diversified approach involves sovereign cloud datacenters. In France, Microsoft has partnered with Capgemini and Orange, who formed a joint venture named Bleu. Designed as a “cloud de confiance” (trusted cloud) platform, Bleu offers a broad range of Microsoft Azure cloud services and Microsoft 365 productivity tools operated under French control. In Germany, a similar sovereign cloud initiative is underway through a partnership between Microsoft, SAP, and Arvato Systems (a Bertelsmann IT subsidiary). This effort, through SAP’s subsidiary, Delos Cloud GmbH, is creating a sovereign cloud platform for the German public sector, hosted in German datacenters and operated by German personnel.

    Support for European cloud providers

    A third aspect of our work involves our collaboration with European cloud providers to offer Microsoft applications and services on their local cloud infrastructure. This partnership provides these European providers with the opportunity to run Microsoft applications on more favorable terms than we make available to Amazon and Google. Additionally, we are developing new technology and licensing solutions tailored for these European providers and the markets they serve.

    Emerging options

    Given recent geopolitical volatility, we recognize that European governments likely will consider additional options. Some of these may involve public financing to support European home-grown offerings. We recognize the importance of a diversified technology ecosystem, and we are committed to collaborating with European participants across the tech ecosystem.

    Respect for European laws

    Microsoft is investing tens of billions of dollars annually in expanding its datacenters across Europe. These investments aren’t on wheels. They are permanent structures and subject to local laws, regulations, and governments. Like every citizen and company, we don’t always agree with every policy of every government. But even when we’ve lost cases in European courts, Microsoft has long respected and complied with European laws.

    We understand that European laws apply to our business practices in Europe, just as local laws apply to local practices in the United States and similar laws apply elsewhere in the world. This includes European competition law and the Digital Markets Act, among others. We’re committed not only to building digital infrastructure for Europe, but to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating our products and services.

    2. We will uphold Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility

    By building a European cloud for Europe, Microsoft is committed to helping Europe navigate the uncertain geopolitical and trade environment and better manage risk by strengthening the continent’s digital resilience. We will always strive to be a voice of reason that promotes mutual opportunities and stable ties across the Atlantic. We in fact believe that even amidst current trade and tariff disputes, there is a strong consensus in Washington supporting the sustained flow of digital services from the United States to Europe.

    We also are listening closely to the views of European governments and leaders. We recognize that European countries, like nations everywhere, need to have rock-solid confidence in the digital infrastructure on which they rely. To ensure this confidence, we will take the following three steps:

    A European cloud for Europe

    Microsoft is headquartered in the United States, but we provide cloud services to Europe through corporate entities headquartered in Europe. To further cement the nexus between Microsoft and Europe, going forward our European datacenter operations and their boards will be overseen by a European board of directors that consists exclusively of European nationals and operates under European law.

    A Digital Resilience Commitment

    In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court. By including a new European Digital Resilience Commitment in all of our contracts with European national governments and the European Commission, we will make this commitment legally binding on Microsoft Corporation and all its subsidiaries.

    Microsoft has a demonstrated history of pursuing litigation when that has been needed to protect the rights of our customers and other stakeholders. This includes four lawsuits we filed against the U.S. Executive Branch during President Obama’s tenure, including to protect the privacy of our customers’ data in the United States and Europe. It also included, during President Trump’s first term, a successful decision before the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the rights of employees who are immigrants. When necessary, we’re prepared to go to court.

    We are confident of our legal rights to ensure continuous operation of our datacenters in Europe. And we are prepared to back this confidence with our contractual commitments to European governments.

    Business continuity partnerships

    Finally, we will designate and rely upon European partners with contingency arrangements for operational continuity in the unlikely event Microsoft were ever required by a court to suspend services. We are already enabling our partners in France and Germany to do this for the Bleu and Delos datacenters, and we will pursue arrangements for our public cloud datacenters in Europe. We will store back-up copies of our code in a secure repository in Switzerland, and we will provide our European partners with the legal rights needed to access and use this code if needed for this purpose.

    3. We will continue to protect the privacy of European data

    Microsoft has long been at the forefront in designing and implementing technology solutions to protect customer data. We enable customers to control where their data is stored and processed, how it is encrypted and secured, and when Microsoft can access it. We offer customers robust capabilities across the entire cloud stack from infrastructure to platform to software as a service, from Azure to Microsoft 365 to Dynamics 365. We back our technical solutions with strong contractual commitments and, as noted above, a demonstrated history of going to court on behalf of our customers.

    The EU data boundary project

    Reflecting our continuing commitment to innovation, we recently finished implementing our EU Data Boundary project. This offers European customers the ability to have their data stored and processed in Europe. Since January 2024, our European commercial and public sector customers have been able to store and process their data and personal identifiers for Microsoft core cloud services—including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure services—within the EU and EFTA regions. Three months ago, Microsoft completed the project by extending the EU Data Boundary to include professional services data from technical support interactions. And, critically, we make these solutions available in all our European cloud regions and throughout our tech stack, from IaaS, to PaaS, to SaaS, including M365 Copilot.

    Additional security and encryption options

    In addition to the EU Data Boundary, we provide European customers with multiple options for securing and encrypting their data. Our Confidential Compute offerings in Azure eliminate the ability of third parties—including Microsoft—to access customer data by ensuring data is processed within a trusted environment the customer alone controls. We enable customers to create a “lockbox” around their data across Azure, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365 by giving them the ability to review and approve before Microsoft accesses their data for customer and service support operations. We also enable customers to secure their data with encryption keys that they, not Microsoft, control with Azure Key Vault and Microsoft Purview Customer Key. Our Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty offers customers a range of other tools to secure data, protect against unauthorized access, and satisfy legal requirements.

    A strong legal track record

    In addition to technical measures, we will continue our fight to protect the rights of European customers. Microsoft has a strong track record of going to court in the rare instances that we need to protect European data from unauthorized access. We have consistently fought legal demands that conflict with European law and have taken our challenges all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2018, as a direct result of litigation Microsoft brought on behalf of our European customers, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation that guarantees our right to object to U.S. law enforcement demands to access European data that conflict with EU law.

    We codified our promise to protect our European customers’ data with our Defending Your Data commitment, in which we agreed to challenge any government demand for EU public sector or enterprise customer data where we have a legal basis for doing so. We have included that commitment in our customer contracts and backed it up with a promise to compensate customers if we disclose their data in violation of EU law.

    New opportunities for innovation

    Today we commit to further strengthen and expand solutions that allow European customers to control and protect their data. We are embarking on new steps to listen to and consult with European customers to build on what already is the most complete, widest range of privacy, security, and sovereignty solutions that any cloud services provider now offers to customers in Europe. We look forward to sharing in the coming months the conclusions that emerge and the new steps we decide to take.

    For more details about Microsoft’s data protection and compliance programs, see the Microsoft Trust Center.

    4. We will always help protect and defend Europe’s cybersecurity

    As war erupted in 2022, Microsoft immediately helped evacuate Ukraine’s critical data and technology services to our datacenters across Europe. This move ensured Ukraine’s continued digital operation outside the range of cruise missile and air attacks. In many ways, this illustrates the role that a broad network of datacenters plays in supporting not only digital but broader resilience, both for a country and a continent.

    Uninterrupted, world-class cybersecurity protection

    In addition to safeguarding the country’s data, we immediately helped Ukraine’s officials and citizens defend their nation from Russian cyberattacks. Since the start of the war, Microsoft has provided more than $500 million of free technology and financial assistance to Ukraine and has sustained our substantial support to this day. Without interruption, we have provided cybersecurity support to NATO, Ukraine, and other European governments, including by sharing cybersecurity threat intelligence, protecting elections, and disrupting attacks against European governments, companies, and citizens.

    New measures to protect against new threats

    More than three years since the start of the war in Ukraine, European governments and countries confront ongoing cyberattacks from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. As these threats grow in number and sophistication, strong cybersecurity protection and coordination are more important than ever, as is the ability to respond rapidly to regional demands. That is why today we are announcing the following cybersecurity steps, which will be followed by additional announcements in the coming weeks.

    A new Deputy CISO for Europe

    Today, our Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Igor Tsyganskiy announced that we are appointing a new Deputy CISO for Europe as part of the Microsoft Cybersecurity Governance Council. This senior executive will be dedicated to Microsoft’s security responsibilities in Europe. Last year we created this council, consisting of our Global CISO and Deputy Chief Information Security Officers (Deputy CISOs) representing each of our technology services. This Council oversees the company’s cyber risks, defenses, and compliance across regions and domains.

    The appointment of a Deputy CISO for Europe reflects the importance and global influence of EU cybersecurity regulations and the company’s commitment to meeting and exceeding those expectations to prioritize cybersecurity across the region. This new position will report directly to Microsoft’s CISO. The Deputy CISO for Europe will be accountable for compliance with current and emerging cybersecurity regulations in Europe, including the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the NIS 2 Directive, and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). These laws will prove transformative not only in EU markets, but worldwide, and Microsoft is actively engaged in preparing for what lies ahead.

    New security steps under the Cyber Resilience Act

    We believe the CRA will reshape the regulatory landscape as a new gold standard for cybersecurity, much as the GDPR did for privacy. We will build on the work of our Secure Future Initiative and dedicate additional resources to comply with the CRA. As its deadlines approach, we look forward to continuing our years of engagement with the European Commission, industry partners, and customers on CRA implementation efforts. We are committed to our role as a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Cybersecurity of Products with Digital Elements.

    To that end, Microsoft will continue to engage with stakeholders across a range of CRA topics. These will include incident and vulnerability reporting, security by design and default, cybersecurity best practices and improving open-source security and attestation. We will share our innovations that support implementing the CRA essential security requirements to help European economic operators also prepare for CRA compliance.

    Security is the foundation of trust. To sustain that trust, we will engage an independent auditor to verify and validate our commitments to Europe. We know that people will only use technology that they trust, which is why we are dedicating resources to accelerate our compliance with the CRA and committing to independent validation.

    5. We will help strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness, including for open source

    Our AI Access Principles

    We recognize the importance of ensuring open access to our AI and cloud platform and infrastructure across Europe, including for open-source development. That is why we announced last year a set of AI Access Principles and we will introduce new enhancements to these commitments in the coming months.

    Open access across Europe

    These principles have ensured that our Azure AI platform and infrastructure is open to a variety of business models—both open-source and proprietary. We now host more than 1,800 AI models. Most of these models are open-source models, such as those from European-based AI developers Mistral and Hugging Face. And they are all available via public APIs to facilitate interoperability. This means that customers can choose which models to use and where to build their AI-powered solutions: on Azure, in another public cloud, or in their own datacenter. Finally, we enable customers to export and transfer their data. Last year we eliminated fees for the transfer of data when customers choose to switch to another cloud provider.

    A foundation for European competitiveness

    Over the past year, we have seen European startups, established businesses, and other organizations take advantage of the open access to models and tools that we provide to innovate, grow, and compete in the new AI economy. This includes technology startups such as Factorial in Spain to build AI-driven automation for HR professionals, iGenius in Italy to develop AI solutions for regulated industries, and Visma in Norway to provide AI solutions for companies in accounting, payroll, invoicing, and beyond. And it includes the Institute Curie in France to research new therapies for cancer, UBS in Switzerland to create the future of banking, and Heineken in The Netherlands to boost employee productivity.

    Building European infrastructure for Europe’s future

    We recognize that Microsoft must constantly remain focused on earning and sustaining our “license to operate” in each country across Europe. With datacenters and digital technology, this starts with each local community and country and includes officials with continental-wide responsibilities.

    Since we first brought the first version of Microsoft Word to Europe 42 years ago, digital technology has changed the ways people work many times over. Yet as we look forward, we believe the second quarter of the 21st century may bring even bigger changes ahead. Artificial intelligence offers what may become the most powerful tool for people in the history of humanity. And like all tools, there will be some who will seek to turn it into a weapon.

    More than ever, it will be critical for us to help Europe harness the power of this new technology to strengthen its competitiveness. We will need to partner with smaller and larger companies alike. We will need to support governments, non-profit organizations, and open-source developers across the continent. And we will need to listen closely to European leaders, respect European values, and adhere to European laws. We are committed to doing all these things well.

    As we celebrated Microsoft’s 50th birthday earlier this month, we recognized that our longstanding presence in Europe has been a lynchpin of our success. Europe has treated us well. Our support for Europe has always been—and always will be—steadfast.

    Tags: Digital commitments, Europe

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: People with neoliberal views are less likely to support climate-friendly policies – new research

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Felix Schulz, Research Fellow, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University

    Sambulov Yevgeniy/Shutterstock

    Donald Trump won the US election on a campaign that included rolling back environmental laws. In the UK, Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has called the national net zero target “impossible”. And former prime minister Tony Blair has said the current approach of phasing out fossil fuels is “doomed to fail”.

    Meanwhile in Germany, the parties in the most likely incoming coalition government hardly engaged with climate policy during the recent election campaign – and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which openly denies human-made climate change, received 20% of the vote.

    With political leaders around the world moving away from progressive climate policy, it’s worth asking: is this what the public wants?

    When it comes to the climate, what people think is influenced by where they live and what else they believe in. In recently published research, we sought to find out just how much people’s ideologies affected their views on climate policy.

    We surveyed representative samples of the public in six countries about their attitudes towards different types of climate policy. We asked about support for regulation (for example, building and vehicle standards or product bans), taxes (like carbon taxes), subsidies (to promote low-carbon alternatives), and information-based policies (such as emission disclosure requirements). Our survey covered policies in transport, housing, energy and industry.

    We also asked respondents about their ideologies: cultural worldviews, personal values, free market beliefs and political trust. Our findings reveal how people’s ideologies shape their support for climate policies.

    We included three high-income countries of the global north (the US, UK and Germany) and three upper-middle income countries from the global south (Brazil, South Africa and China). Together, these six countries are responsible for half of global CO₂ emissions.

    Our definition of global south, which includes countries such as China, is based on work by UN Trade and Development and the UN G-77 countries. It includes Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, most of Asia (excluding Israel, Japan and South Korea) and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand). These countries generally have lower per capita income and are considered “developing” compared to global north countries.

    This comparison is important because, as we will explain, political and economic ideologies that originated in the global north can influence how people view climate policies.

    Across all policy types, we found more support for climate policies in the global south countries. In the global north countries, we found only minority support for regulatory policies and climate-related taxes. In Germany, support for regulatory policies and taxes was as little as 18%.

    Subsidies for the four sectors – for example, to support renewable energy projects or the production of green steel – received 35% support in Germany and 48% in the US. In contrast, the majority of the public in the three countries of the global south supported subsidies and regulatory climate policies.

    As with subsidies, we found strong majority support for information-based policies in the three countries of the global south (74-79%), against only minority support in Germany (36%) and the US (49%). In the UK, 53% supported information-based climate policies.

    Personal values play a role in support for the policies. Our findings show people with stronger biospheric values – the importance people place on the environment and the relationship between humans and nature – are more supportive of climate policies. This is true irrespective of the country they live in. People who are more trusting of political institutions and politicians also support these policies more.

    But demographics such as age, gender, education or income have a negligible effect on attitudes towards these policies, when accounting for other factors in our analysis.

    Neoliberalism and the climate

    We observed a strong link between a neoliberal worldview and lack of support for the climate policies in our study. As a political economic project, neoliberalism originated in the global north. But it continues to take root in the global south, particularly in Latin America.

    The belief that individuals need to take care of themselves and are responsible for their own fortune and problems was associated with less support for climate policies. And in every country we studied, we found a strong relationship between support for the free market and lack of support for climate policies.

    People who believe the free market is best at allocating outcomes efficiently and meeting human needs without government interference, and that it is more important than some local environmental concerns, show less support for the climate policies.

    These two sets of beliefs – individualistic worldviews and support for the free market – are the core principles of neoliberal thought.

    In the Global North countries, we found only only minority support for regulatory policies and climate-related taxes.
    Fotogrin/Shutterstock

    The superiority of the market over governments as an efficient and fair allocation machine has been the mantra of neoliberal politicians, thinktanks and institutions for more than half a century.

    Neoliberalism opposes government regulation and spending, and supports the free market. It also fosters an individualistic worldview. Instead of seeing themselves as workers, citizens or members of a collective, people are persuaded to internalise market logic – to see themselves as individuals who are out to maximise their personal profit.

    The cultural shift from more communitarian and egalitarian ideals towards an ideology based on the self-driven individual and the free market has been quite successful. Empirical evidence from 41 countries shows that individualist practices and values around the world have surged significantly over the past 50 years.

    We know from research that what the public thinks (or votes for) does influence what governments do. This is true even when accounting for the influence of powerful interest groups.

    So, those creating and campaigning for urgently needed climate policies need to take this into account. Support for climate policies isn’t just about whether someone believes in human-made climate change or cares about the planet – there are deeply-rooted ideological factors at play too.

    Felix Schulz receives funding from Formas, a Swedish research council for sustainable development and the Hans-Böckler-Foundation.

    Christian Bretter 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. People with neoliberal views are less likely to support climate-friendly policies – new research – https://theconversation.com/people-with-neoliberal-views-are-less-likely-to-support-climate-friendly-policies-new-research-253478

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Hacks season four tackles late-night TV – and is as funny and perceptive as ever

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jacqueline Ristola, Lecturer in Digital Animation, University of Bristol

    The comedy-drama Hacks has returned for a solid fourth season that continues to be both funny and perceptive. The series, about ruthless comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her compassionate writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), explores their developing relationship as they work in the entertainment industry. This season shifts to the backstage drama of late-night television.

    When we last saw them in season three, Deborah and colleagues were on a buzzy press tour, building Deborah’s profile to become the next host of late-night television. Deborah does indeed secure the position, promising Ava to be her head writer. But the immense pressure to succeed gets to Deborah, who rescinds her offer to go with a more established (male) writer.

    Learning of the betrayal, Ava takes a page from Deborah’s playbook, blackmailing her to reinstate her as head writer. Season four picks up from this dramatic upset, with Deborah and Ava quarrelling behind the scenes as they work on Deborah’s new series.

    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.

    Hacks has always examined women’s precarious place in the entertainment industry. This season introduces a new setting (late-night television) and a new character (network executive Winnie) to enable the series to subtly observe how women attain power and operate in a male-dominated industry.

    Winnie (a winning Helen Hunt) has subtly assimilated to become a detached decision-maker. In treating her children as inconveniences and telling manager-producer Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) to smile, her actions typify Hollywood’s male-dominated old guard. We see Jimmy’s business partner Kayla (Megan Stalter) developing along similar lines, belittling her staff and telling Jimmy that to establish herself, she needs to show people their place.

    Kayla’s abrupt transformation is an ostentatious example of how the series examines women in the workplace and the double-binds they often face. Be firm and get called frigid, or relent and become exploited.

    But while Ava also attains power in the industry, she resists developing a cruel streak. Ava insists on reasonable working hours for her writers, much to the chagrin of Deborah. Her own anxiety about the quality of her show drives Deborah to be overly demanding of everyone around her. This tension between empathy and ruthlessness aligns with the generational divide between Ava and Deborah. It’s a central tension that the series continues to explore to strong effect.

    The power of good editing

    While Hacks has already been lauded for its excellent performances and writing, which continues in this season, the series also deserves praise for its craft, such as editing.

    Episode four begins with a rapid montage depicting the flurry of activity in the weeks before Deborah’s late-night TV debut. Quickly cutting from her wig getting made, to production teams building the set, to Deborah anxiously weighing herself (pointing to a developing eating disorder), the montage shows both the verve and stress involved in the entire production.

    Its vivacious energy and colour (few pale blue and greys here) are an antidote to the cold pallor of most streaming series. Also, in an era where streaming television run-times are aimlessly bloated, Hacks doesn’t overstay its welcome running between 25 and 35 minutes an episode. It maintains plot and character progression at a neat pace.

    It’s been said that for a show about comedians, Hacks is more a drama than a comedy. This observation perhaps stems in part from Hacks being a comedy-drama rather than an outright sitcom.

    Whereas sitcoms typically rely on character stasis, our dynamic duo has slowly changed – and changed each other – through the series. In this way, Deborah and Ava’s relationship echoes the recent films of Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza, Phantom Thread, The Master), which examine entangled duos that recurrently attract and repel each other.

    It’s worth comparing this season to The Larry Sanders Show (1992 to 1998). The HBO sitcom, set in the office and stage of a late-night talk show, skewered late-night TV and Hollywood more broadly.

    While The Larry Sanders Show has insights about Hollywood as an industry (including women’s systematic exclusion), as a sitcom, its characters remain relatively static. The sitcom format doesn’t allow characters to develop much psychological depth. By contrast, the characters in Hacks change – albeit subtly. In a new twist to her character, normally so self-assured to the point of selfishness, Deborah feels insecure, a previously rare occurrence.

    This anxiety likely comes from her newfound vulnerability. In making her comedy more vulnerable and authentic, Deborah charges Ava with also making her comedy too “niche” as a result.

    As Deborah reminds her new writers, late-night TV works not because of the format, but “because of the person”. As she already receives scrutiny as a comedian, Deborah worries about the public’s acceptance of her new comedic persona.

    From women’s precarious place in the entertainment industry, to generational divides, Hacks explores these complex issues well in its light, compelling mix of comedy and drama.

    Jacqueline Ristola receives funding from ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum.

    – ref. Hacks season four tackles late-night TV – and is as funny and perceptive as ever – https://theconversation.com/hacks-season-four-tackles-late-night-tv-and-is-as-funny-and-perceptive-as-ever-255555

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Morgan McGarvey Introduces American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act of 2025

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan McGarvey (Kentucky-03)

    April 30, 2025

    Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) introduced the American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act of 2025 today, which would create a 25-member commission to study and report on the “feasibility, considerations, limitations, and implications of creating and operating a sovereign wealth fund of the United States.” To provide independence, the commission would be hosted by the Federal Reserve and be composed of members from the Federal Reserve System, Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commerce Department, U.S. Trade Representative, and academics and experts.

    Last year, Congressman McGarvey introduced a similar bill, which was the first legislation ever introduced in Congress explicitly researching the feasibility of an American sovereign wealth fund.

    “To solve today’s problems, we must be bold. An American sovereign wealth fund, with proper congressional authorization and oversight and political independence, could dramatically improve the lives of working families across our country, including helping fund universal child care, an expanded Child Tax Credit, or even universal health care,” said Congressman McGarvey. “If we are going to do this, we have to do it right – and we have to do it through Congress. We must ensure a sovereign wealth fund is used to help working families and is not just a slush fund for billionaires.”

    BACKGROUND:

    General

    • The American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act of 2025 is built on the premise that a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is neither good nor bad, it’s a tool.

    • The bill prioritizes objective analysis, political independence, and strong ethics requirements, including requiring the 25-member commission to consult the Santiago Principles – best practices for open, ethical, and transparent SWFs – when drafting their report.

    • The commission would have two years to develop a report to Congress on their findings and recommendations for legislative action.

    • To provide independence, the bill explicitly requires that the commission is housed within the independent Federal Reserve System.

    The McGarvey Commission

    The bill creates a 25-person commission comprising of:

    • 6 representatives from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or a Federal reserve bank.

    • 3 representatives from the Department of the Treasury.

    • 3 representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    • 2 representatives from the Department of Commerce.

    • 1 representative from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

    • 10 representatives from academia or experts in the fields of economics, monetary policy, fiscal policy, investment policy, industrial policy, or other aspects involving sovereign wealth funds, appointed by the Chair of the Federal Reserve.

    Sovereign Wealth Funds in Other Developed Nations

    According to the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, over $9 trillion in assets are managed by over 100 SWFs globally, such as: 

    State-Level Funds in the U.S.

    According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, 14 U.S. states have SWFs:

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Calls Out Republicans’ “Silence Of The Lambs” During Trump’s First 100 Days In Office

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    April 30, 2025

    Durbin announces his plan to come to the Senate Floor to highlight the President’s latest outrage—and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it—until Republicans start using the voices they were elected to raise

    WASHINGTON – On President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called out his Republican colleagues for their silence as the President tests—and violates—the bounds of our Constitution, amasses power for himself as he tanks our economy, violates the rights of Americans, and destroys our image abroad.

    “The jury’s in. At the end of 100 days, the major polling firms across the United States went out and asked the American people so what do you think? What’s your impression of this new President? What’s your impression of the MAGA agenda? The results that came back don’t surprise me, but they might surprise some,” Durbin said. “Overwhelmingly, on every major issue that this administration has taken a position, the American people have said we don’t like it. We’re not happy with what’s happening in this country today.”

    Durbin continued, “For a hundred days, President Trump and his administration, mainly billionaire buddies like Elon Musk, have brought us chaos, wreaked havoc, sowed division. President Trump has undermined the Constitution, our system of checks and balances, and the rule of law. And through it all, I’m sad to report, my Republican colleagues have remained silent.”

    Durbin went on to outline some of the atrocities the Trump Administration has committed in the first 100 days of his second term, including the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Trump’s ill-conceived, mindless tariff tax war; threatening to withhold federal funds from higher education institutions to coerce them to give up their constitutional rights; and the Secretary of Defense violating national security protocol and sharing classified war plans in a Signal chat that mistakenly included a journalist.

    “Unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE brothers gut the federal government, leading to cuts to life-saving medical research, Americans unable to get their Social Security benefits, and threats to Medicaid. What was the response from the Republican side to these outrageous developments under the Trump Administration? Silence,” Durbin said.

    Durbin continued, “Never in our nation’s history has a co-equal branch of government so willfully rolled over and ceded their power. It is in fact the ‘silence of the lambs.’ The President is testing and violating the bounds of our Constitution, amassing power for himself as the economy tanks, violating the rights of Americans, and destroying our image abroad.”

    Durbin concluded, “My congressional Republican [colleagues] have the power to join us in an historic stand on so many areas that this President has violated. They have majorities in both chambers of Congress and, at private moments, many of them express outrage and horror at Trump’s dangerous abandonment of law, norms, and the will of the American people. But as our constituents suffer, out of fear of retaliation, Republicans remain silent. When we are elected Members of Congress, we swear an oath to the Constitution, not to any politician or any president. It’s time both parties remember that and lived accordingly. So, I’m coming to the floor regularly to highlight the President’s latest outrage and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it. Until they start using the voices they were elected to raise, we are going to continue to have a pending constitutional crisis in this country.”

    Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

    Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

    Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Investing to help Albertans get hired

    [. Employment services are critical to helping Albertans find and explore career paths, employment and training options so they can get reconnected to the job market. Through Budget 2025, Alberta’s government is investing $185 million – an increase of almost $89 million – to expand employment supports for Albertans and help employers find, hire and train workers.

    “Our government is committed to creating opportunities for Albertans to find and maintain meaningful employment. That’s why we are making record investments to make it easier for Albertans to find a job, earn a paycheque and build a better future for themselves and their families.”

    Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

    Alberta Career and Employment Information Services (CEIS) connects Albertans across the province with career, employment and training opportunities. Job seekers have access to a wide range of in-person and virtual services, including career counselling, job placements, career and job fairs and work-specific courses to eliminate barriers to employment. Alberta’s government provides more than 250 grants and contracts to employment service providers across the province to connect Albertans with the specialized supports they need to find and maintain employment. Budget 2025’s investments are anticipated to help more than 820,000 Albertans find and maintain jobs this year.

    “Budget 2025 was about meeting the challenge, and that includes in areas where we have labour shortages and helping Albertans find work. These supports will create jobs for Albertans who need it.”

    Nate Horner, Minister of Treasury Board and Finance

    Budget 2025 also doubles the province’s investments to support on-the-job training in collaboration with employers, including more than $20 million in simulated worksites. These sites provide Albertans with paid, hands-on experience and training from local employers from various industries to prepare for stable employment. There are currently five simulated worksites across the province in Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Millet and Fort Saskatchewan. Budget 2025’s additional investments will expand these simulated worksites to even more locations, ensuring the province is building the workforce needed to support Alberta’s success.

    “Our goal is to connect our clients with employers offering fair, sustainable wages, and help graduates move into careers that provide real economic security and stability. We’ve helped 175 Albertans overcome barriers to meaningful employment, and our graduates have achieved impressive results with 78 per cent of our clients becoming successfully employed. SkillBit’s success reflects the resilience and ambition of Albertans, and we are proud to continue this important work with renewed funding.”

    Jill Dean, president, Careers in Transition, Lives in Transition, SkillBit

    “Further investments in employment and income support programs show a recognition of the need to address Alberta’s population growth and the potential impacts of proposed U.S. Tariffs. These investments will provide Albertans with opportunities to achieve labour market success and financial independence despite economic uncertainties.”

    Joe MacKay, president and CEO, BGS Career Ventures

    “Thanks to the Alberta Government’s investment in career and employment services, Prospect Human Services supported over 14,000 Albertans and 900 employers last year. More than 80 per cent of our clients successfully moved toward employment, education, or training — strengthening Alberta’s workforce, families, and economy.”

    Kevin McNichol, CEO, Prospect Human Services

    Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.

    Related information

    • Alberta employment supports
    • Training and Employment Services
    • Employment services directory

    Multimedia

    • Watch the news conference

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch on Trump’s 100 Days of Chaos: “100 days of giving a lot of rope and a lot of license to the Executive is 100 days too many. But it’s not too late for us in Congress to stand up…” 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined Democrats in holding the Senate floor last night to slam the first 100 days of Trump’s second term. In his remarks, Senator Welch highlighted the myriad ways this White House has caused chaos, including Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” or DOGE, Trump’s attacks on institutions like USAID and the Administration’s push to freeze colleges’ funding for research and development to cure diseases, and Trump’s tariffs and trade war. He also shared stories from Vermont businesses affected by the tariffs. 
    “It’s 100 days. It is time to assess. And whatever you may say about President Trump and the stated goals, there’s an obligation to act functionally to achieve those goals. Stating you want an outcome is a long way from implementing a plan and executing a plan to achieve it. And there is no plan,” said Senator Welch. “There is absolutely no plan.” 
    “It is time for this Congress to make an assessment of our obligation to the citizens we represent. When is enough, enough? When has the Executive gone too far? When is it that all of us should heed the pleas of the businesses, the enterprises in each of our states about this chaotic and very destructive tariff policy? When is it we will say ‘no more’ to an Executive pushing his weight around with private law firms, private employers, with our universities, and telling them unless they do it his way, they’ll pay an enormous price in lost governmental funding or access to things that they need?” Senator Welch concluded. “In my view, 100 days of giving a lot of rope and a lot of license to the Executive is 100 days too many. But it’s not too late for us in Congress to stand up for the separation of powers, the balance of powers, and the prerogatives of the United States Senate and the United States Congress.” 
    Watch his full remarks:  

    Key quotes from Senator Welch: 
    “Let’s talk first about DOGE. DOGE is about supposedly getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. There’s not a single member of this Congress who is in favor of waste, fraud, and abuse. But if you are going to do that, you look at a Department. What’s its goal?  How is it achieving it? Where is it coming up short? You do an assessment, and you do a plan. What DOGE did was essentially get the personnel list and then send out e-mails to every fifth or sixth person saying you’re fired because you did a lousy job. It is not at all on the level.  
    “And, as a result, the real goal becomes revealed. It’s not to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. It’s to eliminate USAID. It’s to eliminate the Department of Education. It’s to eliminate the Social Security response team. That’s what’s going on. And the challenge for us—and this is bipartisan — is whether we as an independent branch of government want to look at what’s before our very eyes and address it or simply ignore it.” 
    ••• 
    “The tariffs…are going to be seen by historians as the absolute worst economic blunder in the last 100 years. Whether you’re a farmer in Vermont or in Utah or in the Dakotas, these tariffs are hammering you. Most of our farmers in the northern part of the country import fertilizer, import, in many cases, grain to feed our animals, from Canada. This tariff is going to hammer farmers who are already contending with what farmers every year have to contend with—very tight margins, the will of the weather. This is having real impact on them.  
    “In Vermont, we had roundtables to hear ‘how are these tariffs going to affect you?’ Number one, ‘what tariffs?’ ‘What are they today?’ Supposedly they were 25% yesterday, then they’re suspended, then they’re back on. They apply to this part, but not that part. There’s no possibility of anybody making a plan in order to run their business.  
    “By the way, these are folks who came in and are affected by the tariffs. They are not Republicans or Democrats or Independents. They are really folks just trying to make a living….What they’re talking about is the real-world impact of these crackpot tariffs that are on again, off again.  
    “Small business owner Jason Levinthal, founder of J skis said, ‘This is essentially a tax on the consumers.’ Something the administration won’t acknowledge itself.  
    “The president of Mad River Distillers, Mimi Buttenheim said, ‘Tariffs affect our manufacturing arm by raising the price of raw materials.’  
    “Jen Kimmich, co-founder of the Alchemist Brewery: ‘We don’t know how they are going to affect us. We just know they’re going to affect us.’  
    “John Lacy, CEO of Burton Snowboards, ne of the global enterprises founded in Vermont by Jake Burton and Donna carpenter: ‘How can you navigate the playbook when you don’t know what the rules of the road are?’ It’s a fair question. And it’s a question that President Trump feels he has no obligation to answer. This goes on and on.” 
    ••• 
    “Then there’s the next step—the overreach of power. The absolutely lawless abuse of Executive authority. What business is it of Donald Trump what are hiring practices are of an individual private corporation or firm? It is the business to enforce the law. But it’s not his business to be able to tell a law firm he’ll take contracts away. It’s not his business to be able to tell a law firm that [because they] had somebody who represented the government in a case against Trump or some Trump ally that they’re going to punish you…This is a complete overreach and extension by the president. Essentially to impose his own will, not enforce the law but to enforce his will as he arbitrarily wishes.  
    “What sense does it make that because of his vendetta about higher education, that instead of addressing those concerns and having discussions, he literally takes away billions of dollars of research that has gone not just to Harvard, our oldest institution, but the University of Alabama, the University of North Carolina. People, to our benefit, have dedicated their lives to scientific research. The United States government has provided support for research and development, and we’ve had cures for terrible diseases. But if they don’t do what Donald Trump says, he’ll take away grants…destroying research, destroying development.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Three ATF Agents Awarded for Victim Support during Jury Trial in Northern Mississippi

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    OXFORD, MS – Multiple agents in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were recognized yesterday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Mississippi for their dedication to supporting victims during a jury trial last month.

    Special Agent David Erhart, Special Agent Jackson Price, and acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephen Bridgmon with the ATF were awarded the Carolyn Clayton Victims’ Service Award in observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week for going above and beyond with assisting victims throughout the prosecution of Korea McKay and forming relationships to build trust between the victim’s family and the government. This award is named for longtime victim’s rights advocate Carolyn Clayton.

    According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Korea McKay, 44, shot and killed Davao Thomas on February 18, 2023. McKay killed Mr. Thomas after Mr. Thomas told him to slow down in the Kirby Estates apartment complex. Two shell casings were recovered at the scene.

    A federal jury convicted McKay on March 26, 2025, for felon-in-possession of ammunition stemming from the homicide. He is set for sentencing on July 17, 2025. At the time McKay possessed the ammunition, he had multiple prior felony convictions, including convictions for assault of a police officer and a federal drug conviction. He faces up to 15-years imprisonment.

    Soon after Mr. Thomas was shot and killed in Tunica County, SA David Erhart established a relationship with the victim’s family and maintained that relationship throughout the case.

    SA Jackson Price and acting ASAC Stephen Bridgmon ensured that the victim’s family was able to attend the trial in Oxford and maintained a presence with the victims throughout the trial.

    “These agents would be worthy of commendation just for their outstanding work in putting a violent killer behind bars, but their efforts went much further than that,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “These agents exemplified a victim-centered approach, ensuring that the victim’s family was treated with dignity and respect while providing a sense of security when attending the trial.”

    “A federal investigation can be both complex and lengthy, especially if the crime is very devastating to the victims and their families, but safety of the victim is of utmost importance for ATF,” said ATF New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson. “We are very proud of our Special Agents for their excellent investigatory work, but also for their compassion for these victims. We also congratulate them on being honored with this award.”

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel Stringfellow and Julie Addison are prosecuting the case.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Security News: Justice Department Declines Prosecution of Company That Self-Disclosed Export Control Offenses Committed by Employee

    Source: United States Department of Justice 2

    Note: View the declination letter here.

    The Justice Department today announced that it has declined the prosecution of Universities Space Research Association (USRA) after it self-disclosed to the Department’s National Security Division (NSD) criminal violations of U.S. export control laws committed by its former employee, Jonathan Soong. Soong pleaded guilty to willfully violating the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by exporting U.S. Army-developed aviation software to a university in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that had been placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

    “If we stay vigilant, all of us — including our citizens, small businesses, and large corporations — can play a critical role in protecting our country,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “A criminal who compromised our national security was brought to justice because his employer caught him and immediately turned him in. We decline to prosecute his employer and are ready to work together with such responsible corporate actors who are committed to joining us in this fight to protect our country from foreign adversaries.”

    “USRA discovered that one of its employees was funneling sensitive aeronautics software to a Beijing university in violation of export control laws and at risk to our national security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins for the Northern District of California. “What the company did next made all the difference in the Government’s decision not to prosecute it: the company took swift and proactive measures to disclose the employee’s wrongdoing, provide all known facts, and cooperate – and continue to cooperate – with the government’s investigation.”

    According to court documents, in April 2016, USRA contracted with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to, among other things, license and distribute for a fee aeronautics-related and U.S. Army-owned flight control software. Soong was employed by USRA as a program administrator under the contract and was responsible for performing due diligence on prospective purchasers to ensure that the sale or transfer of software licenses complied with applicable law, including by checking the Entity List. Soong willfully exported software subject to the EAR to Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also known as Beihang University (Beihang), a university in the PRC, knowing that an export control license was required for the export to Beihang because it was on the Entity List. Beihang was on the Commerce Department’s Entity List due to its involvement in the development of military rocket systems and unmanned air vehicle systems. Soong further used an intermediary to complete the transfer and export of the software to Beihang to avoid detection, and embezzled tens of thousands of dollars in software license sales by directing purchasers to make payment to an account he personally owned and controlled.

    This scheme continued until NASA inquired about the sales of software licenses to PRC-based purchasers and USRA began to investigate. Soong initially lied to USRA and fabricated evidence that he had conducted due diligence on the purchasers and provided it to USRA’s counsel to provide to NASA, but after USRA’s counsel investigated further and confronted Soong with evidence that contradicted his statements, he admitted to knowing that Beihang was on the Entity List when he exported the software to Beihang and that a license had been required for the export.

    Within days of learning that Soong had willfully violated U.S. export control laws, and before USRA had completed its own investigation to understand the scope of the misconduct, USRA self-disclosed the crime to NSD and fully cooperated with the ensuing criminal investigation, which eventually established that Soong had acted alone at USRA. USRA’s cooperation included proactively identifying, collecting, and disclosing relevant evidence to investigators, including foreign language evidence and evidence located overseas, and providing detailed and timely responses to the government’s requests for information and evidence. USRA remediated the root cause of the misconduct by disciplining a supervisory employee who failed appropriately to supervise Soong, and by significantly improving its internal controls and compliance program. USRA also compensated the government both for the funds Soong embezzled, and for the time Soong had spent embezzling funds instead of performing his duties under USRA’s contract with NASA.

    The Justice Department declined USRA’s prosecution after considering the factors set forth in the Department’s Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations and the National Security Division Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (NSD Enforcement Policy). The NSD Enforcement Policy creates a presumption that companies that (1) voluntarily self-disclose to NSD potentially criminal violations arising out of or relating to the enforcement of export control or sanctions laws, (2) fully cooperate, and (3) timely and appropriately remediate will generally receive a non-prosecution agreement, unless aggravating factors are present.  In appropriate cases, the NSD Enforcement Policy authorizes prosecutors to go further, and exercise discretion to decline a company’s prosecution. This is the second time that NSD has exercised its discretion to decline the prosecution of a company under the NSD Enforcement Policy.

    The case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the FBI. The NASA Office of Inspector General; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Army Counterintelligence; and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations provided valuable assistance.

    Trial Attorney Rachel Craft of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Valliere for the Northern District of California prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Province moving forward on short-term rental rules

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 people, regional districts and resort municipalities are exempt from the principal-residence requirement but may request to opt in by March 31 of each year to take effect Nov. 1 of the same year.

    The three communities that have requested to opt in in 2025 are the Town of Creston, Salt Spring Island and Electoral Area B of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (Revelstoke/Golden).

    Certain local governments can annually request by a resolution submitted to the minister of housing and municipal affairs to opt out of the principal-residence requirement if the community has a rental vacancy rate of 3% or more for two consecutive years. In addition, communities that have previously opted in can request to opt out without the vacancy-rate requirement.

    There are three communities that have made the decision to opt out of the principal-residence requirement, meaning that the principal-residence rules will not apply on Nov. 1, 2025. The communities are the District of Tofino, Electoral Area E of the Cowichan Valley Regional District (Cowichan Station/Sahtlam/Glenora) and Electoral Area G of the Cowichan Valley Regional District (Saltair/Thetis + Penelakut Islands). 

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: With Moominmama, Tove Jansson created a hero who wields a handbag instead of a sword

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Isabel Joely Black, Teaching Fellow in Anthropology, University of Manchester

    In 1989, the science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin published The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. In it, she notes that many stories depend heavily on a hero with a sword or weapon as a central object, while bags seem boring and insignificant.

    Le Guin argued against the idea of weapons being the most important tool in a novel. Novels themselves are not “sword-shaped”, she suggested, but bags of ideas bundled together. It might be unexpected to link Le Guin to Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories. But Moominmamma is a perfect example of the kind of hero Le Guin was imagining.

    The story Jansson tells in the first Moomin book, The Great Flood (1945), is not a conventional hero narrative. It is a bundle of experiences the Moomins encounter as they make their way through an uncertain environment. If the story functions more like the “bag” – of ideas, people, places and their relationships to each other – then the ideal object to sit at the heart of the story is a handbag.

    This is part of a series of articles celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Moomins. Want to celebrate their birthday with us? Join The Conversation and a group of experts on May 23 in Bradford for a screening of Moomins on the Riviera and a discussion of the refugee experience in Tove Jansson’s work. Click here for more information and tickets.

    Moominmamma is, as children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce argues in his introduction to the 2024 edition of The Great Flood, the “hero” of the story in that she is often the person who drives the action forward. She approaches what appear to be dangerous situations with curiosity rather than fear. She rescues a cat and her kittens. She knocks on a door when she and Moomintroll are hungry and need help.

    Heroes normally come with weapons, as Le Guin argues. But as a different kind of hero, Moominmamma comes with a handbag. She shows how it is possible to survive a long and arduous journey to find a home without a weapon, using her bag to carry and collect items to support them on their journey rather than relying on violence to negotiate with the world.

    Le Guin remarks that it’s hard, but not impossible, to rise to the challenge of telling a story where the bag is the heroic object. With Moominmamma and her handbag in The Great Flood, Jansson fully rises to that challenge. Her courage, empathy and creativity encourage readers to think differently about how we live in the world and relate to others around us.

    Tove Jansson holding a model of Moominmama and her handbag.
    Wiki Commons

    Moominmamma’s handbag is ubiquitous in Jansson’s illustrations. She carries it wherever she goes and panics when it goes missing.

    The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) depicts the first time Moominmama met her husband. She is introduced as she is washed up on shore, and her first worry is that she can’t find her handbag: “Suddenly, she sat up and cried: ‘Save my handbag! Oh, save my handbag!’”

    In Finn Family Moomintroll (1948), the shy, elfish creatures Thingummy and Bob take the handbag and turn it into a home for themselves. The whole of Moominvalley is involved in the hunt to return the bag and a party is thrown once it is found. Moominmama is even shown to sleep with it under her pillow in A Comet in Moominvalley (1946).

    An ice sculpture showing Moominmama with her handbag.
    Wiki Commons, CC BY-SA

    Moominmamma wasn’t drawn wearing her staple apron in the first few books, but the handbag has always been with her. In one comic strip, Moominpappa and Moomintroll know something must be seriously wrong when Moominmamma discards her bag before jumping into water.

    In The Great Flood, it is even shown in the very first drawing as a small black square held by Moominmamma as she and Moomintroll enter the dark forest. They are on a terrible journey in a search for a home, and what could be more useful than a bag carrying all the essentials they need, and able to store new items picked up along the way?

    The handbag’s many uses

    The handbag’s first value is carrying items Moominmamma or anybody else may need on their perilous travels. It is almost immediately put to use in The Great Flood, when Moomintroll falls in water and, once rescued, has wet feet. Moominmamma gives him a pair of dry socks that symbolise the comfort and reassurance Moomintroll needs (even though Moomins do not actually wear socks).

    When they discover a bottle with a message in it, she even has a corkscrew in the bag to open it. She also collects things in the environment that might be useful along the way, proving the value of a bag on a great journey is not only what you have when you start, but what you can gather.

    Moominmama moments from the 1990s cartoon adaptation of Jansson’s books.

    Moominmamma is always on the lookout for potentially useful things, including some chocolate she gathers off-page when the Moomins and a character described as the “little creature” are exploring. Much later, the Moomins are starving and can only find a few figs to eat. Moominmamma takes out the chocolate to keep Moomintroll and the little creature going when they desperately need it.

    Le Guin argued that novels can be thought of as bags of ideas, people and things bundled together and that literal bags can be just as useful in a crisis as a weapon. Moominmamma and her handbag are an ideal example of how this plays out. She is the alternative hero Le Guin imagined, and her bag is the bundle she uses as support, the most vital tool for a crisis or a long journey.

    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.

    Isabel Joely Black 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. With Moominmama, Tove Jansson created a hero who wields a handbag instead of a sword – https://theconversation.com/with-moominmama-tove-jansson-created-a-hero-who-wields-a-handbag-instead-of-a-sword-255332

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: China is reshaping central Asia’s energy sector as Russian influence fades

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lorena Lombardozzi, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy of Global Development, SOAS, University of London

    China has been developing closer ties with countries in central Asia over recent years. Trade between China and the central Asia region grew to US$89 billion (£69 billion) in 2023, an increase of 27% on the previous year. Chinese trade rose with every country there except Turkmenistan.

    In my paper from June 2024, which is part of a collection of studies looking at the impact of China’s sprawling belt and road initiative in low- and middle-income countries, I explored how Chinese investment is affecting Uzbekistan’s energy sector.

    Chinese investment in Uzbekistan has grown significantly since 2020. By the end of 2022, it had reached US$4.5 billion, up from US$2.8 billion one year before. There are now over 3,450 Chinese companies in Uzbekistan, accounting for roughly 20% of all foreign companies in the country.

    One of the main reasons for China’s expanding footprint in central Asia is to intensify energy cooperation. By becoming a major buyer, lender and investor in the region’s energy sector, China is hoping to reduce its dependence on countries such as Russia.

    Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
    Peter Hermes Furian / Shutterstock

    Central Asia has been politically and economically dependent on Russia since the Soviet Union invaded the region in the 19th century. Much of its infrastructure was built to provide commodities like cotton and energy to Russia, with the latter selling it at high prices to Europe. This infrastructure has, until relatively recently, remained largely unchanged.

    However, some central Asian countries have been able to reduce their dependence on Russia over the past decade or so. China has become the main importer of Uzbek gas, with a peak share of more than 80%. And Uzbekistan exported almost US$2 billion worth of goods to China in 2022, matching its volume of trade with Russia.

    Investment in energy infrastructure is taking place in a reflection of these trade patterns. Central Asia boasts significant reserves of oil and gas. But most of the region’s pipelines were traditionally directed towards Russia and, to a lesser extent, south-west to Turkey.

    Pipelines have been built and maintained with China’s support that are directed towards the east. These pipelines have facilitated trade with China and have helped reduce operational waste in the energy sectors of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

    In 2025, China plans to resume the construction of a pipeline stretching from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, pending the finalisation of a gas supply contract with Turkmenistan. This will further strengthen China’s energy ties with the region.

    A few years ago, while I was carrying out fieldwork in Uzbekistan, I interviewed policy experts and those involved in the Uzbek energy industry. My interviewees saw deals with China as more reliable than Russia, which has in the past renegotiated the terms of long-term energy contracts with central Asian countries or has added unfair clauses in its favour.

    In 2018, for example, the Uzbek government needed additional gas to meet domestic demand. Russia’s Lukoil energy company agreed to sell the gas from a joint Lukoil-Uzbek production facility to Uzbekistan, but at a hefty price. The Uzbek government incurred debt to Lukoil worth US$600 million.

    A train transporting gas parked in Samarkand train station, Uzbekistan.
    Lewis Tse / Shutterstock

    Chinese involvement in the Uzbek energy sector is also having an indirect effect on Uzbekistan’s green economy. During the pandemic, Uzbekistan’s gas exports to China dropped significantly, exposing operators to the vulnerability of relying on a single energy source.

    Gas exports to China have recovered since 2021. But this shock prompted policymakers to explore ways of diversifying Uzbekistan’s energy production away from fossil fuels. Over the past few years, Uzbekistan has invested over US$4 billion in renewable energy production, with the technology and expertise often coming from China.

    With the support of Chinese companies, vast solar power plants have been planned and developed near the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, as well as other cities like Navoi. Wind turbines have been supplied by Chinese firms for projects in Ferghana, near the border with Kyrgyzstan.

    Chinese-led investment in the renewable energy sector has created further demand for skilled and semi-skilled labour, such as translators, logistics operators and engineers. My interviewees noted positive – albeit limited – effects on employment and wages in the sector.

    New challenges ahead

    There are, however, also drawbacks to Chinese involvement in central Asia’s energy sector. Uzbekistan’s gas trade with China is a possible source of political and economic vulnerability.

    The export price of Uzbek gas is more profitable for energy companies than the local subsidised price, so exports have taken priority over the domestic market. Uzbek consumers often have to contend with rationed gas supplies or no access to gas at all, especially during the winter when demand is at its highest.

    This has led to dissatisfaction among the Uzbek population, especially in rural areas where people have had to resort to burning alternative sources of fuel like coal, firewood and animal dung. These energy sources are harmful to health and the environment.

    Western sanctions on Russian oil and gas since 2022, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, have also created further competition for Uzbek gas. Russian gas suppliers have sought alternative markets in Asia to circumvent the sanctions. Trade flow data shows that India, Turkey and even China have increased the amount of Russian fossil fuels they buy.

    But, by and large, the state of play in the global energy market seems to be changing. Central Asia is in a strong position to benefit.

    Lorena Lombardozzi 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. China is reshaping central Asia’s energy sector as Russian influence fades – https://theconversation.com/china-is-reshaping-central-asias-energy-sector-as-russian-influence-fades-245232

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: DOGE’s AI surveillance risks silencing whistleblowers and weakening democracy

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Thomas Stuart, Lecturer in Communications, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria

    The United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly using artificial intelligence to surveil federal agency communications for anti-Donald Trump and anti-Elon Musk sentiment.

    AI tools now automate firings and assess U.S. federal employees’ sentiment and alignment with the administration’s “mission.” Musk, who has been appointed a “special government employee” by the U.S. president and leads DOGE, has framed these moves as an attempt to cut waste and increase efficiency.

    At least one agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has reportedly warned staff to watch what they say, type or do online.

    The move has been largely overshadowed by tariff debates and constitutional concerns. But research on AI and governance suggests surveillance may erode the transparency that defines public institutions.

    Now, with Musk signalling he may scale back his involvement with DOGE, questions remain about how the system will operate in his absence — and whether anyone will be tasked with dismantling it.

    Disruption replaces due process

    Musk has presented DOGE as a lean, tech-driven solution to government bloat — a message he has repeated in interviews and on social media. Artificial intelligence, he argues, can cut red tape, trim costs and optimize operations.

    However, within federal agencies, AI has been used less to support public servants than to evaluate them — and in some cases, to eliminate them.

    Since DOGE assumed control over key functions within the Office of Personnel Management in January, hundreds of federal employees have been dismissed without formal explanation. DOGE also restricted access to cloud systems and sidelined career officials.

    DOGE was established by Trump through an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025 and tasked with cutting federal spending.
    (Shutterstock)

    Concerns over data security soon followed. In March, a federal judge barred DOGE from accessing Treasury systems, citing a “chaotic and haphazard” approach that posed a “realistic danger” of exposing sensitive financial information.

    Internally, DOGE operates through tools more familiar to startups than government agencies. Staff use disappearing messages via the Signal messenger app and draft documents in Google Docs rather than approved federal platforms.

    Grok, a generative AI chatbot launched by Musk in 2023, has been integrated across departments, though its tasks remain unclear.

    How Doge’s AI targets workers

    Earlier this year, thousands of federal employees received an email from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to provide five bullet points listing what they accomplished that week. “Failure to respond,” Musk warned on X, “will be taken as a resignation.”

    The message triggered uncertainty across departments. Without clear legal guidance, many workers were left guessing whether silence would mean termination. The Department of Justice and several intelligence agencies warned staff not to respond.



    Read more:
    Musk’s ruthless approach to efficiency is not translating well to the U.S. government

    Others, like the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Transportation, instructed staff to comply with DOGE’s requests. HHS later warned responses could “be read by malign foreign actors.” The EPA distributed template responses to help staff navigate the demand.

    The following week, the Office of Personnel Management clarified participation was voluntary. By then, responses had already been processed.

    DOGE reportedly planned to feed the responses into a large language model to determine whether an employee was mission-critical. Musk later denied this, describing the exercise as a test “to see if the employee had a pulse.”

    DOGE’S algorithms judge allegiance

    According to reports, DOGE’s AI tools have now been deployed across agencies to monitor political sentiment of workers. There is no indication that these systems otherwise assess employee competence or efficacy.

    Trump administration officials reportedly said some government employees have been informed that DOGE is examining staff for signs of perceived disloyalty to both the Trump administration and Musk himself.

    When AI is used in this way — without transparency or clear performance frameworks — it optimizes for compliance rather than capability.

    AI designed to detect dissent offers little support for the work of public service. Rather than recognizing expertise or ethical judgment, these tools reduce complex decision-making to surface-level signs of loyalty.

    Effective collaboration between humans and AI depends on clear boundaries. AI might complement the public service by identifying patterns in data, for example. Humans though must retain authority over context and judgment. When AI polices allegiance, those boundaries collapse, sidelining human skill and integrity.

    AI surveillance rewrites workplace behaviour

    The inherent limitations of large language models amplify these risks. These models cannot reliably read nuance, navigate ethical grey areas or understand intent. Assigning surveillance or employee evaluations to these systems invites errors.

    Worse, such blunt tools force civil servants into self-censorship to avoid misinterpretation. Public service shifts from informed expertise to performative alignment.

    For employees, the consequences extend beyond flawed assessments. AI surveillance deployed through tools like Grok and Signal creates uncertainty about how performance is measured and by whom.

    As surveillance systems degrade psychological safety, employees disengage and become discouraged. Far from enhancing productivity, covert monitoring erodes trust in both management and mission.

    This atmosphere weakens accountability. Whistle-blowing often reflects loyalty to institutional values rather than defiance. By reframing personal beliefs and integrity as disloyalty, DOGE will silence mechanisms that safeguard transparency.

    AI surveillance becomes institutional

    Musk recently announced his involvement at DOGE “will drop significantly”, likely beginning in May. The move is attributed in part to pressure from Republicans urging Trump to distance himself from Musk, as well as pressure from Tesla investors.

    Despite his expected departure, around 100 DOGE employees — and the AI frameworks they manage — will remain embedded across federal departments. Musk’s departure may shift headlines, but it will leave structural risks embedded within federal operations.

    Once governments adopt new surveillance tools, they rarely dismantle them, regardless of whether their architect stays to oversee them. With no clear formal oversight beyond presidential discretion, the surveillance system is likely to outlast Musk’s tenure.

    Employees monitored for political conformity are less likely to raise concerns, report misconduct or challenge flawed directives.

    As human resource protocols are bypassed and oversight is diminished, the balance could shift from policy grounded in principle to regulations grounded in algorithms. Governance risks giving way to control, which could weaken the political neutrality of the civil service.

    Thomas Stuart 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. DOGE’s AI surveillance risks silencing whistleblowers and weakening democracy – https://theconversation.com/doges-ai-surveillance-risks-silencing-whistleblowers-and-weakening-democracy-254358

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The ‘entourage effect’ — what we don’t know about how cannabis works

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jonathan Simone, Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences, Brock University

    In the years since legalization, there has been a tremendous surge in the number of cannabis products available to Canadian consumers, many offering tailored experiences to enhance seemingly any mood or activity.

    Do you want something calming or uplifting? Are you looking to inspire focus, spark creativity or get a good night’s sleep? Do you prefer full-spectrum extracts or THC isolates?

    But how does one plant produce so many different experiences? Like many of its botanical relatives, cannabis is rich in active compounds. The prevailing view is that these compounds work together to shape the overall experience, a phenomenon known as the “entourage effect.”

    From a consumer standpoint, the idea of custom-tailored experiences guided by key active ingredients is appealing — and it certainly makes things easier. But in reality, it’s not so cut-and-dried.

    Making informed decisions as a cannabis consumer can seem overwhelming, and navigating a product menu can feel like it requires a chemistry degree. But how much do we really know about how cannabis works? And how well are we able to predict individual experiences based on a product’s composition?

    What’s in a high?

    Most research into cannabis’ effects has focused on two key compounds, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is non-intoxicating and thought to underlie many therapeutic effects of cannabis, whereas THC is the primary compound responsible for the classic cannabis high.

    Until recently, the most pertinent information available to cannabis consumers was the THC:CBD ratio, and from a regulatory standpoint, these are the only compounds required by Health Canada for product labels. But the cannabis plant produces over 500 potentially bioactive compounds, most notably cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, with increasing emphasis being placed on how they interact to drive different experiences.

    The idea that the different components of cannabis work in concert, modulating one another’s activity to influence the overall experience, has been termed the “entourage effect.” Simply put, it seeks to explain the effects of cannabis beyond those of any individual component, such as THC or CBD, and offers an elegant explanation for a common question: how can products with the same amount of THC and CBD produce different effects?

    Indeed, the medical cannabis community has long-favoured full- and broad-spectrum products (those containing a varied chemical profile) over single-compound isolates such as purified THC or CBD, based on claims of superior safety and efficacy.

    Ask your local budtender for a recommendation and you will likely get a crash-course on terpene nomenclature, hearing words like limonene, myrcene, pinene and linalool.

    While this modern embrace of terpene pharmacology and natural product chemistry reflects a growing appreciation for the complexities of the cannabis plant, claims of entourage effects remain largely speculative, highlighting how much we’ve yet to learn.

    Sound science or smoke and mirrors?

    Initially coined by scientists in Israel and Italy in study published in 1998, the term “entourage effect” described interactions among endogenous cannabinoids (THC-and CBD-like molecules produced by the human body). The idea was that some of these compounds, which are inactive on their own, could enhance or modulate the activity of others, resulting in combined effects greater than the sum of their parts.

    It is important to note that this study did not examine plant-derived cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, but rather structurally related compounds produced naturally in the brain and body. As such, the idea of cannabis-specific entourage effects did not emerge directly from the data itself, but from broader inferences drawn from that research that provided a rationale for the diverse effects often reported by cannabis users.

    Since then, and despite a lack of supporting evidence, the term has been widely adopted and adapted by the cannabis industry, often leveraged to differentiate products in an overly crowded market.

    The available support for entourage effects in humans is limited to a few small clinical and observational studies and meta-analyses that suggest whole-plant extracts may outperform isolates for conditions like chronic pain and pediatric epilepsy.

    However, these studies often use non-standardized extracts and are therefore unable to identify which chemical interactions are driving the effects. Further, direct comparisons of full-spectrum and isolate products are lacking, with most claims rooted in inferences made from pre-clinical (in other words, non-human) research and from studies of non-cannabis derived phytomolecules.

    That said, the entourage effect is a valid hypothesis and arguably the most promising in terms of explaining cannabis’s varied and nuanced effects. Similar effects have been described for other drug classes, though these interactions are often termed synergism and potentiation and typically involve just a few well-characterized compounds. In contrast, unlocking cannabis synergy requires untangling the interactions of hundreds of different molecules, many of which are still poorly understood.

    That complexity is what I’ve spent my career trying to understand. Researching how cannabis-derived compounds work in the brain and body, I have gained a considerable appreciation for how far our understanding of cannabis has come, how much we have still yet to uncover and how easy it is for enthusiasm to outpace evidence.

    Reading between the product lines

    As the cannabis industry continues to evolve, consumers need to approach product claims with a healthy dose of skepticism. There is no doubt the cannabis plant is a treasure trove of unexplored and underexplored bioactive molecules, and that we will continue to uncover interesting and unexpected interactions among them. But we are far from a complete picture.

    At present, the entourage effect remains a hypothesis more often co-opted for marketing than grounded in evidence. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but it does mean we should resist conflating convenient narratives with established science. This highlights an important question: where does the onus of responsibility for generating this new knowledge fall?

    If the cannabis industry continues invoking the entourage effect for marketing and product differentiation, then it should support and contribute to research that furthers the state of evidence.

    Relying solely on existing pre-clinical and academic studies in lieu of directly advancing the science and validating real-world product claims risks perpetuating hype at the expense of credibility. But industry is not alone in their duty. Government must also remedy the regulatory bottlenecks that impede new research.

    Establishing a credible, science-backed cannabis marketplace means moving beyond hype. It requires action, from industry and government, to generate the information consumers need to make informed decisions.

    Jonathan Simone 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. The ‘entourage effect’ — what we don’t know about how cannabis works – https://theconversation.com/the-entourage-effect-what-we-dont-know-about-how-cannabis-works-251799

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Speaker Johnson Sits Down with Axios

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

    WASHINGTON — This morning, Speaker Johnson joined Axios’ Hans Nichols for a wide-ranging interview at an “Axios News Shapers” event. Speaker Johnson addressed the necessity of quickly codifying President Trump’s agenda into law, House Republicans’ efforts to strengthen and preserve Medicaid, and Democrats attempting to run their impeachment playbook again.

    Watch the full interview here

    On quickly codifying the Trump agenda into law:

    The treasury secretary said July 4 this week in public statements, and we applauded that. But I really hope we do it sooner. And here’s the reason why: this has nothing to do with pride of authorship in the House or any of that, we just want to deliver for the American people, and so do all of our Senate Republican colleagues on the America first agenda. The vehicle to deliver that is reconciliation. And the sooner we do it, the better Hans, because I think this will be a very important thing for stability.

    I think it’ll send a very important signal to the bond markets, the stock market, to investors and job creators here and around the world, and it’ll send a message to our allies and our enemies that America is serious. We have stabilized tax policy. Everyone will know what their tax rates are. That will be helpful for making decisions for companies and also, of course, we’re going to be deficit neutral or deficit reducing. We’re trying to reduce the debt. And I think that’s a really important message to send out there, that America is serious about our financial stability, and this bill is going to be that’s one of the many things that will be accomplished in it. 

    On strengthening and preserving Medicaid:

    The number of waste, fraud and abuse over a 10-year period, it’s $51 billion a year as an estimate. We think that’s a low estimate of just fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid alone. Who could be for that? I mean, we have a responsibility to tighten this up. When you’re talking about work requirements, that’s over an 80% public approval rating. But you eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, you bring in work requirements, and you tighten up the program, and you can find a lot of savings. And the whole point here, the whole idea – make sure illegal aliens are not receiving it all the rest. The whole idea is that we’re trying to preserve the program.

    Democrats were frankly lying about the intention of Republicans. It’s so much so that we were able to get their ads and billboards taken down in swing districts by a cease and desist letter because it was based on nothing, they just made it up. I’ve been saying just everybody, please reserve judgment till we get the product out, but you’re going to see what the President said yesterday, accurately, that Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security are programs that are sacrosanct the people. They depend upon these things, and our job is to shore them up and make sure that they’re there, that we preserve the programs for the people who genuinely need and deserve it. 

    On Congressional Democrats impeachment theatrics:

    You know, we’ve already seen the movie. They tried it twice already, based on absolutely nothing, and they would do it again. I mean, Al Green filed impeachment articles like, I don’t know, the fifth day of Congress. I mean, I think he did it before the President took his oath. So, it shows you where they are. It’s all raw politics, and it’s terribly destructive for the country. I mean, it’s a waste of time. We need the American people expect their Congress to work. They expect Congress to work with the President. They want big things done. And we had a first, a really impressive first 100 days of the Trump administration. We’re just getting started. We have a lot of work to do, and we don’t have time for nonsense. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former State Department Budget Analyst Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More than $650,000

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    WASHINGTON – Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, of Montgomery Village, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to embezzling more than $650,000 from the U.S. State Department over a two-year period.

    The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., Special Agent in Charge Benjamin Brockschmidt of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Inspector General, and Deputy Assistant Director William Ferrari of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Office of Special Investigations.

    As part of her guilty plea, Ferrer, who is also known as Levita Brezovic, admitted that she abused her signature authority over a State Department checking account between March 2022 and April 2024 while working as a Senior Budget Analyst in the State Department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol. She issued 60 checks payable to herself and three checks payable to another individual with whom she had a personal relationship. She printed and signed each check and then deposited all 63 checks, which totaled $657,347.50, into her personal checking and savings accounts.

    Ferrer attempted to conceal her scheme by using a common Quickbooks account at the State Department. After entering her name as the payee on checks in Quickbooks and then printing them, she often changed the listed payee in Quickbooks from herself to an actual State Department vendor. As a result, anyone viewing those entries in the Quickbooks system did not see Ferrer’s name as the payee on the checks unless they accessed an audit trail.

    U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper accepted Ferrer’s guilty plea to theft of government property and set a sentencing date for September 18, 2025. Ferrer faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Judge Cooper will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    As part of her plea agreement, Ferrer agreed to pay $657,347.50 in restitution to the U.S. government. She also agreed to be liable for a forfeiture money judgment in that same amount.

    This case was investigated by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General and Diplomatic Security Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Sona Chaturvedi. Essential investigatory work was conducted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Orville of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.

    25cr108

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Shaheen Completes Weeklong “Medicaid Impact Tour” to Highlight the Disastrous Impact of Proposed Cuts to Medicaid

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
    (Washington, DC) – Last week, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) launched her “Medicaid Impact Tour”—a weeklong series of discussions across the Granite State to highlight the disastrous impact that Republican-led cuts to Medicaid would have on New Hampshire’s health care system and working families, including by raising the cost of health care and leaving thousands uninsured. The tour included stops in Berlin, Laconia, Claremont and Concord for meetings with health care providers, activists and Medicaid beneficiaries. You can watch Shaheen’s tour recap video here and view front page coverage of the tour here. 
    Shaheen’s tour comes as Congressional Republicans, led by President Trump and Elon Musk, work to advance legislation that will pave the way for steep cuts to Medicaid funding and would impact millions of people across the country. More than 180,000 people in New Hampshire use Medicaid for their insurance and half of those recipients are children. Under the Republican proposal, they will see significant changes to their coverage and more than 60,000 Granite Starters will be at risk of losing their coverage. This includes 7,600 patients that are currently receiving treatment for substance use disorders.  
    More Below: 
    Berlin Daily Sun: Shaheen hears from Medicaid recipients in Berlin 
    Some of those who will be most affected by possible cuts to Medicaid got to speak candidly with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) during a rural health roundtable at Northern Human Services in Berlin on Monday as Shaheen kicked off a weeklong “Medicaid Impact Tour.” 
    Getting the word out of how Medicaid and other bedrock social service programs impact people’s lives will come from the grassroots or ground up. It will be the first-hand experiences of New Hampshire residents who rely on these programs as part of meeting their daily needs that Shaheen will take back to Washington to advocate for keeping the programs fully funded. 
    Laconia Daily Sun: Shaheen hears from those who rely on Medicaid in Laconia, where a third of residents are enrolled 
    Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) listened to local leaders, health care providers and voters during a Medicaid Impact Tour roundtable discussion at Partnership for Public Health in Laconia on Tuesday afternoon. 
    A consensus of nonprofit leaders at the table said much of their funding comes from Medicaid, and any reduction is likely to mean fewer services. 
    Valley News: Proposed cuts to Medicaid worry Upper Valley health care providers, advocates 
    “Thinking about taking away health services people rely on for a tax break for the wealthiest Americans makes no sense,” U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said during a visit to Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont on Wednesday. 
    Without health insurance, residents would have to make decisions between putting food on the table and going to the doctor, Dr. Juliann Barrett, Valley Regional’s chief medical officer, pointed out during a roundtable discussion with Shaheen. “It would have a drastic impact on preventative services,” Barrett said. 
    Eagle Times: Shaheen meets with health care officials to discuss potential Medicaid funding cuts 
    Medicaid cuts of nearly $900 million could be on the horizon, and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen has been meeting with health care officials this week to get first-hand accounts about what this would do to the services they provide patients. 
    She noted that statewide one in seven people, or about 180,000 people, are enrolled in Medicaid in some form. That number is even more staggering in Claremont at a third of the population. 
    “You talked about the uncertainty, and one of the challenges we have in Washington is uncertainty,” Shaheen said. “It’s been very hard to get information that was being planned, particularly around health care.” 
    Concord Monitor: Trump’s cuts to federal funding draw concern from New Hampshire health advocates 
    On Thursday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen met with public health leaders in Concord to address the effects of recent funding cuts on services in New Hampshire, criticizing the federal government’s decision to withdraw the funding without notice. 
    Shaheen said she plans to advocate strongly to her colleagues in Washington, D.C., about the real-world impact of these cuts on health care, providers and workers across New Hampshire. She added that confusion over the scope and consequences of the cuts isn’t limited to one side of the aisle. 
    “I think that was the goal, to keep people off balance, people uncertain, and it has a huge impact on morale, on the anxiety that people are feeling, not to mention the actual results at the fallout,” said Shaheen. “The only thing that’s going to change is when we are being able to build some coalitions with our Republican colleagues.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Kansas Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by August Drought

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Kansas of the May 30 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought occurring Aug. 6, 2024.

    The declaration covers the Kansas counties of Decatur, Gove, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman and Thomas.

    Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

    EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the small business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    “Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

    The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 30.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Hawaii Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by August Drought

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Hawaii of the May 30 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought occurring Aug. 6, 2024.

    The declaration covers the Hawaii counties of Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalawao, Kauai and Maui.

    Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

    EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    “Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

    The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 30.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –