NewzIntel.com

Category: Science

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Construction sector expo launched

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The launch ceremony of the Infrastructure x Education Exhibition and the first phase of achievement of the STEAM UP project, jointly organised by the Development Bureau and the Construction Industry Council, was held today.

    This is the first time the construction industry has collaborated with the education sector to organise a large-scale exhibition featuring infrastructure projects in Hong Kong to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education related to the construction industry, helping students apply STEAM knowledge through the examples of infrastructure projects and encouraging the youngsters to join the construction industry.

    Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said at the ceremony that she hopes infrastructure can tell the good stories of Hong Kong and share STEAM knowledge via the exhibition, arousing students’ interest towards the construction industry and the exploration of STEAM knowledge.

    A first three-dimensional Infrastructure Map supporting STEAM education was launched at the event, introducing 32 types of infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and related STEAM knowledge. The map will be exhibited in various districts to let the public understand the city’s infrastructure.

    A set of architecture-themed learning and teaching materials of the STEAM UP project, including teachers’ lesson plans and teaching materials as well as story books, games and e-learning platforms, was also rolled out.

    Another eight sets of learning and teaching materials, covering architecture, surveying, planning, landscape architecture and engineering, will be launched progressively for use in classrooms in primary and secondary schools starting from 2025-26 school year.

    Ten thematic zones are set up in the exhibition. In addition to the aforementioned major projects, it also introduces the work, careers and development prospects of in the construction industry. Interactive games with construction robots are also available.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU student to compete for victory at International Student Media Conference

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On July 2, 2025, the III International Student Media Conference, organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, started on the territory of the Ethnomir Russian Park-Museum.

    The National University of Management is represented at the event by a foreign student from China, first-year master’s student Zhou Jingfan, studying in the field of “International Business Management”.

    The opening ceremony of the gathering was attended by Deputy Director General of the World Youth Festival Directorate Vakhtang Khiklandze and Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Pavel Shevtsov. The goal of the event was to create a platform for the exchange of experience and knowledge between foreign student journalists and bloggers from 50 Russian universities, to improve the level of professional competencies and to develop international cooperation in the field of media and education.

    Over the course of five days, students will learn about new tools for working in the media space, take part in master classes from leading media industry experts, attend lectures from both Russian and foreign experts, and apply the knowledge they have gained in practice by creating their own media projects dedicated to the culture and values of Russia.

    Based on the results of the completed projects, the best team and winners in individual nominations will be determined, who will have the opportunity to go on a press tour to Teriberka, a village in the Murmansk region on the shore of the Barents Sea.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: AI projects to help Nova Scotia companies innovate and boost productivity

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Halifax, Nova Scotia · July 3, 2025 · Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)

    The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Member of Parliament for Halifax West, will announce significant support to help three businesses harness the power of AI and seize new growth opportunities. 

    The announcement will be made on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

    A representative of Bluedrop Training & Simulation will also speak to the positive impact AI adoption has had on their business.

    Date: July 4, 2025  

    Time: 11 a.m.         

    Location:
    Oberland Agriscience Inc.  
    71 Grassy Lake Drive
    Halifax, Nova Scotia
    B3S 0E8

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Sergei Sobyanin opened the scientific and academic building of the Botkin Medical Scientific and Clinical Center

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    Sergei Sobyanin opened the scientific and academic building No. 10 of the Moscow Multidisciplinary Scientific and Clinical Center (MMNCC) named after S.P. Botkin after reconstruction.

    “I would like to congratulate you on the completion of a major reconstruction or revival of the Botkin Hospital. In recent years, 16 buildings have been repaired and reconstructed, and a flagship center has been built. And the Botkin Hospital has received a worthy – worthy of the team and traditions of the Botkin Hospital – material base, thousands of units of new modern equipment. And, of course, medical care provided to both Muscovites and patients from other regions has reached a new quality level. Today, we are completing this reconstruction, comprehensive improvement. We are completing the reconstruction with this wonderful scientific and educational building, which will concentrate dozens of medical departments of the leading medical universities of our country, which will allow doctors to continue their education, and engage in science, and interact with leading professors, doctors of our country and, of course, Botkin Hospital. So I congratulate you on this major stage, on a new stage in the life of Botkin,” said Sergei Sobyanin.

    A robotic school has been created at the S.P. Botkin MMNCC, where specialists can learn to work with modern surgical robots. Today, the clinic has six latest-generation Da Vinci robotic surgical systems, which allows performing 20 operations daily.

    “The Botkin Robotic Center is one of the top ten European centers in terms of volume and range. Where there are six or more machines, and the number, as we do per year, is more than three thousand robotic interventions in urology, oncology, and gynecology. And this, of course, is a very promising direction,” noted the director of the S.P. Botkin MMNCC, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Shabunin.

    Leading researcher at the S.P. Botkin Moscow Medical Scientific and Clinical Center Igor Andreytsev clarified that not only young specialists but also experienced surgeons from Moscow and other regions of Russia will be able to study at the robotic school.

    “Historically, we operated first on the urological sphere – this is prostatectomy, this is kidneys. But at present, this is major oncological surgery. We are leaders in robotic surgery of the stomach, pancreas, colorectal surgery, and so on,” said Igor Andreytsev, leading researcher at the S.P. Botkin MMNC.

    Updated case

    The two-story building No. 10 with a basement and attic was built in 1909. In later years, the building was rebuilt several times. The total area of the building is 6.87 thousand square meters. Before the reconstruction, it housed the surgical, nephrology, resuscitation and thoracic surgery departments, which were transferred to the renovated buildings No. 11 and 22.

    The comprehensive reconstruction of building No. 10 began in March 2023. The building is a cultural heritage site, so both repair and restoration work were carried out in it.

    During the reconstruction, the building’s interfloor ceilings were replaced, the roof truss system was updated, new insulation of the attic spaces was installed, and a roof covering of 4.2 thousand square meters was installed. The electrical and water supply networks, heating, sewerage, air conditioning and ventilation systems were completely replaced.

    Three elevators were also installed in the building. The selected models of domestically produced elevators fully meet modern requirements for reliability and comfort, as well as the specifics of the medical institution.

    The interior finishing works were carried out using modern safe materials. At the same time, the features of the premises for various types of educational work were taken into account: lectures, broadcasts from operating rooms, master classes, seminars and scientific conferences.

    The facade of the building, which is included in the subject of protection of the cultural heritage site, was restored (its area is 6.2 thousand square meters). The finishing was done in a way typical for the first half of the 20th century – painting on plaster and brick. The bay windows, brick decor of the facade surfaces, and the attic of the main entrance were preserved.

    Windows and doors are also part of the historical appearance of the building, so their original dimensions, shape and color were preserved during the replacement. Hardwood was used as the material.

     

    The staircase from the early 20th century was restored and repaired. The figured metal railings of the stairways were fully preserved. Specialists also restored the covering of the platforms and corridors from Mettlach tiles.

    The Monier vaults, semicircular arched vaults supported by iron beams, found in the basement and on the first floor, were also preserved. They were plastered and painted.

    The memorial chamber of Vladimir Lenin (where the founder of the Soviet state was treated after the assassination attempt in 1918) has been restored. Its walls have been repaired using a special method for restoring paint layers. Defects in the historical parquet (scratches, abrasions, differences and unevenness of the coating, creaking and loosening) have been eliminated by sanding.

    The renovated building No. 10 houses a scientific and educational cluster — 28 departments of Moscow medical universities. Among them are the First Moscow State Medical University (MSMU) named after I.M. Sechenov, the Russian University of Medicine, the Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education (RMANPO), the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) named after Patrice Lumumba, the Russian National Research Medical University (RNRMU) named after N.I. Pirogov, and the Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute (MONIKI) named after M.F. Vladimirsky. In addition, the building will house a training center and a scientific and clinical department of the Botkin Medical Research Center.

    “Several dozen departments of medical universities, previously scattered throughout the hospital, have received their own home, where there are all the conditions for training students and residents and conducting scientific research. The training center and scientific and clinical department of the S.P. Botkin MMNCC will also begin working here. A full cycle of scientific and practical activities will be organized: from formulating a problem based on one’s own experience and conducting research to implementing the results in clinical practice and then transferring the experience to colleagues,” Sergei Sobyanin wrote in

    on your telegram channel.

    Source: Sergei Sobyanin’s Telegram channel @mos_sobyanin

    The building contains 72 offices and auditoriums for professors and teachers, as well as 10 conference rooms.

    Lecture halls and auditoriums are equipped with modern media systems with the ability to broadcast online from the operating rooms of the MMNCC. Thanks to this, students have the technical ability to “be present” at the operation and be in direct contact with the surgeon who performs it.

    The building is equipped with modern technology for holding conferences, online broadcasts, clinical analyses and other educational and scientific events. These include computers, telecommunications equipment, switches, monitors, interactive displays, multimedia players, digital screens, loudspeakers and radio microphones. A coworking area has been created for independent work of students.

    It is assumed that about 1.5 thousand students and residents will study in the building at the same time. The staff of the scientific and academic building will be more than 100 people, including six academicians and two professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), as well as more than 100 doctors and candidates of medical sciences, who previously worked in different parts of the MMNCC. In the future, it is planned to double the number of professors and teachers working here.

    The concentration of the scientific and teaching potential of the Botkin Hospital in the new building will allow for the organization of a full cycle of scientific and practical activities – from formulating a problem based on one’s own experience and conducting research to implementing the results in clinical practice and subsequent dissemination of the experience to colleagues.

    Constant interaction between clinical and scientific staff will allow real-time analysis of the experience gained and identification of problems, the solution of which requires additional research. The results of the conducted research work will be implemented in the clinical practice of the S.P. Botkin MMNCC and other medical institutions.

    The opening of the scientific and academic building will allow for the active development of new scientific areas – an artificial intelligence laboratory, 3D modeling and bioprinting. In addition, patenting and licensing of scientific and technical achievements, registration of inventions and rationalization proposals are planned here.

    Sergei Sobyanin: Modernization of Building No. 10 of the Botkin Hospital Completed

    Modernization of the S.P. Botkin MMNCC

    In 2019, the Moscow Government approved the development program for the Botkin Hospital. Its main areas are strengthening the material and technical base, training personnel, constructing and renovating buildings, and introducing modern diagnostic and treatment technologies.

    The modernization program included 16 hospital buildings with a total area of over 67 thousand square meters. At present, these works are almost completed.

    A comprehensive reconstruction of the hematology and surgical buildings, ophthalmology, palliative, urology, therapeutic and pathological buildings, nephrology and vascular centers, the center of outpatient oncology care (CAOC), and the food block was completed. A seven-story flagship center with a helipad and nine operating rooms was built and opened.

    In addition, overhead passages were built between buildings No. 22, 28, 30, 33, 20, as well as between buildings No. 10, 16 and No. 10, 21. An underground two-level parking garage for 620 cars was built.

    The territory around the S.P. Botkin MMNCC with an area of almost 18 hectares has been landscaped, it has become more comfortable for employees and patients. The front yard has been tidied up, where two new fountains have been installed instead of the old non-working one. The central park has been renovated, convenient paths have been laid and driveways have been arranged, gazebos, benches, pergolas and urns have been placed in the recreation areas. Almost 140 large linden trees, firs, pines, thujas, rowans, ornamental apple trees and more than 1,500 shrubs of various species have been planted on the territory. In addition, a convenient navigation system has been created and five checkpoints (CP) have been repaired.

    As a result of the modernization, comfortable conditions for patients and medical staff were created in the reconstructed buildings of the Botkin Hospital, and new large city treatment centers were improved and opened. In particular, the Moscow City Ophthalmological Center with 125 beds, including seven operating rooms, was created. In 2024, 31,137 patients were treated in the hospital. In 2025, more than 15 thousand people were admitted to the 24-hour and day hospitals, as well as short-stay hospitals (SSH) and the admission department, and 70 thousand to the outpatient department.

    A powerful modern pathomorphological and molecular biological laboratory has been created. In 2024, more than 250 thousand biopsies were performed here, about 50 thousand immunohistochemical studies were carried out. Over 100 thousand biopsies and about 20 thousand immunohistochemical studies were performed in four months of 2025.

    Specialists have received new opportunities to treat patients with blood diseases, including in the bone marrow transplant department. About a thousand autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplants have been performed.

    A nephrology center has been opened, where residents of the Central, Northern, and Northwestern Administrative Districts undergo a full cycle of treatment for kidney diseases. For patients of the Western Administrative District, an outpatient oncology care center has been opened, where about 200 thousand oncologist consultations and 40 thousand chemotherapy courses are conducted per year.

    During the first year of operation of the new flagship center, more than 95 thousand patients were admitted and about 13 thousand operations were performed.

    In addition, the Moscow Urology Center, one of the largest robotic urology centers in the country, has been updated. In 2024, 7,600 surgical interventions were performed there, 950 of which were robot-assisted. In 2025, more than four thousand surgical interventions were performed, including 410 robot-assisted.

    The Botkin Hospital also opened a 30-bed purulent traumatology and surgery department with modern operating rooms. In 2024, 1.6 thousand operations were performed there, more than two thousand consultations were given, and 1.7 thousand people were treated.

    Thanks to the modernization, the first specialized high-throughput endoscopic center in Russia for the early diagnosis of oncological diseases was opened in the reconstructed buildings. In 2024, more than 70 thousand studies were conducted there, including about 37 thousand gastro- and 33 thousand colonoscopies. More than half of the studies (57 percent) were performed under anesthesia. In 2025, more than 32 thousand studies have already been conducted, including more than 11 thousand gastro- and 19 thousand colonoscopies. 63 percent of the studies were performed under anesthesia.

    The capacity of the short-stay surgical hospital with 12-bed wards and four operating rooms in the following areas has been increased: surgery, urology, traumatology and orthopedics, otolaryngology, purulent surgery, oncology, and vascular surgery. Patients receive a full cycle of preoperative and inpatient diagnostics and treatment. In 2024, 19 thousand operations were performed in the surgical SCP, in 2025 – 7616.

    In addition, the hospital now has the ability to provide tablet nutrition to 1.8 thousand patients six times a day.

    Sergei Sobyanin opened the flagship center of the Botkin HospitalSobyanin spoke about the first year of work of the new centers of the Botkin HospitalRobotic surgeons, transplantation and research. How Botkin Hospital became a scientific and clinical center

    The largest multidisciplinary hospital

    The S.P. Botkin City Clinical Hospital, founded in 1910, is one of the largest multidisciplinary hospitals in Moscow and Russia. In 2024, it received the status of Moscow multidisciplinary scientific and clinical center.

    It is located in the Begovoy district and occupies 24 buildings, 13 of which are cultural heritage sites. Their total area is 200 thousand square meters.

    The hospital has 19 specialized medical centers. Modern medical care, including high-tech, is provided in such areas as surgery, oncology, anesthesiology, resuscitation, hematology, transplantology, traumatology and orthopedics, urology, gynecology, nephrology, cardiology, neurology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, therapy.

    The hospital’s capacity is 1,560 beds, including 137 intensive care units.

    In 2024, more than 197 thousand inpatients were treated here, more than 107 thousand operations were performed, of which more than 20 thousand were high-tech. In 2025, more than 56 thousand patients were treated in the main hospital, 42 thousand operations were performed.

    The S.P. Botkin MMNCC has a full range of modern expert-class medical equipment, including six Da Vinci surgical complexes, 190 ultrasound machines, nine CT scanners, three MRI scanners, 70 video endoscopic stands and five X-ray endovascular systems, which provide the entire scope of instrumental examination of patients. In total, over 5.4 thousand units of equipment have been purchased over the past five years.

    The hospital employs 4.9 thousand people, which is the largest number of personnel in Moscow on the scale of a single hospital. Medical care is provided by almost 1.5 thousand doctors.

    The institution employs six academicians and two professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 16 honored doctors of the Russian Federation, more than 100 professors and doctors of medical sciences and 275 candidates of medical sciences.

    In recent years, the clinic has made significant advances in medical science.

    In 2021, a team of surgeons led by chief physician and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Shabunin was awarded the Russian Government Prize in Science and Technology for the development and implementation of innovative treatment and diagnostic technologies to reduce the mortality rate of patients with pancreatic necrosis in Russia.

    In 2022, a team of specialists from Botkin Hospital became a laureate of the Russian Government Prize in the field of education for the preparation and publication of the first national guide to simulation training.

    In 2023, Alexey Shabunin and the head of the Moscow Urology Center, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Pushkar became laureates of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in Science and Technology. The prize was awarded for achievements in the development and implementation of low-trauma treatment methods for cancer patients.

    Since 2021, 2,300 scientific articles have been published, including in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Based on the results of the research work carried out, in 2024 alone, Botkin Hospital received 22 patents for inventions.

    Botkin Hospital Surgeons Save Elderly Patient with Rare Aortic PathologySaving vision: how doctors at the Moscow City Ophthalmological Center of Botkin Hospital workDiagnostics in the capital’s endoscopic centers allows for the detection of oncological diseases at early stages

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

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

    https: //vv.mos.ru/mayor/tkhemes/13024050/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Pupils’ maritime masterpieces to go on Tall Ships display

    Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

    Winning artwork by school pupils taking part in a citywide Tall Ships-inspired drawing competition will go on public display when the spectacular maritime festival sails into Aberdeen in two just weeks’ time.

    The winning works, portraying sailing ships, were selected by judge from the Counci, Aberdeen Inspired and Port of Aberdeen and will go on show in digital display boards along the quayside throughout the Tall Ship Races Aberdeen 2025 celebrations along with a selection from the mammoth 2,500 competition entries in city libraries in the run up to and during the big event.

    Councillor Martin Greig, Chair of the Aberdeen Tall Ships organising committee and Aberdeen City Council’s lead in education and culture, said: “It was wonderful to see the amazing art and design work which the young people produced. We were delighted with every single picture.

    There was a great deal of talent and imagination on display. The drawings and paintings add so much to the Tall Ships celebration. It was a joy to take part in this activity. 

    The winning entries were:

    P1-P3 category

    1st Aymen Jawad (Cults School P1), Runner-up Amalia Grandal Schumann (Ashley Road School P2), 3rdMillán Notivol Garrido (Cults School P3)

    P4-P7 category

    1st Arianna Browne (Scotstown School P6), Runner-up Lola Stephen (Kittybrewster School P7) 3rd  Antony Babiarz (St.Joseph’s Roman Catholic School P5)

    Secondary School category

    1st Marie Schwarz (Cults Academy’s S4), Runner-up Eni Adedeji (Harlaw Academy S2), 3rd Emelly Biesiada (Harlaw Academy S3)

    The Hazlehead School team of Daniel Gholizadeh, Jamie Ferris, Emilie Findlay and Lewis Hamil were awarded first prize for their model ship ‘Drum Destroyer’ in a separate citywide schools’ competition; a Miniature Tall Ships Races challenge based on pupil’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning.  

    The runner-up in the competition was Broomhill School’s Magizhan Sathiyamoorthy with ‘The Sea Keeper’ while in third place was Orchard Brae School’s Jack Johnstone, Lexi Browers and Angel Michie with ‘The Captain’s Sail’

    In addition to seeing their work highlighted throughout the Tall Ships festival, expected to attract some 400,000 visits, the winners will be given a private tour of the TS Royalist which is one of the largest UK vessels taking part in the races.

    Photograph shows Councillor Martin Greig with the competition winners

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Under the leadership of Alexander Novak, a comprehensive program for training personnel for foreign economic activity was reviewed

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, a strategic session entitled “Training Personnel in the Sphere of Foreign Economic Activity (FEA) in Order to Ensure National Development Goals” was held at the All-Russian Foreign Trade Academy. The Ministry of Economic Development presented a large-scale program for training specialists in the sphere of foreign economic activity until 2030.

    “The decree of the President of the country sets strategic guidelines for economic development, and one of the national goals is to increase non-resource and energy exports to $250 billion by 2030. This is approximately twice as much as by the end of 2024. The key factor is the integration of our economy into the global economy. In recent years, there have been significant changes in the structure and geography of foreign economic activity. Russia has actively reoriented trade from Europe and the United States to the markets of friendly countries: China, India, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. All this allows us to strengthen economic integration,” said Alexander Novak, opening the session.

    In connection with the reorientation to the markets of support countries, the creation of new supply chains for critical goods, the formation of international payment instruments and the activation of integration processes, businesses need specialists with the relevant competencies. Sanctions have changed the rules of the game. The market needs specialists who know how to build alternative logistics chains in the context of geopolitical changes, know how to work with crypto payments, understand sanctions risks, know the languages and specifics of the markets of friendly countries.

    In order to achieve the target indicators and implement the President’s instructions, the Ministry of Economic Development has developed a program for training personnel for foreign economic activity. “What we are implementing today is a higher education policy applied to a specific area. The number of exporters has increased many times over, including SMEs. This is what we wanted, what we fought for, and what we need to value, because without personnel we will lose this achievement. Today, foreign economic activity is not just a part of business, but a question of economic sustainability,” emphasized the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

    The head of the Ministry of Education and Science, Valery Falkov, noted that within the framework of the program for training personnel for the sphere of foreign economic activity until 2030, a list of training areas and specialties has been agreed upon.

    “It is important that this approach is in line with the interests of the main competence center – the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, while it does not limit the opportunities of other educational institutions in developing specialized educational programs,” said Valery Falkov.

    He separately thanked Maxim Reshetnikov for the systematic, comprehensive approach to joint work on training personnel for foreign economic activity.

    The program provides for systemic measures to overcome the personnel shortage and eliminate the gap between the needs of business and the capabilities of the educational system. It is aimed at solving the key challenges faced by Russian exporters, including the need to form new logistics chains, develop alternative financial instruments and deeply understand the markets of partner countries.

    “Large and SME exporters have different requirements for the competencies of specialists in the field of foreign economic activity. Thus, large companies conducting multi-billion dollar business with regular shipments, dozens and hundreds of trade operations, as a rule, need narrow experts with deep knowledge in the subject areas of conducting and developing export activities: marketing, sales, compliance, logistics or payments. SMEs are limited in their ability to maintain a staff specifically for the development of foreign economic activity. As a result, they value generalists who simultaneously perform many functions, and also have a “long notebook” with contacts for using effective solutions in logistics, payments, marketing and others,” emphasized Veronika Nikishina, General Director of the Russian Export Center. In her opinion, special training programs should take into account the needs of both large businesses and SMEs. Moreover, it is important that they become the property of specialized universities in all regions.

    The program provides for a large-scale modernization of the educational process. In the coming years, it is planned to develop 180 educational and methodological complexes and online courses in relevant areas of foreign economic activity, professional retraining of 3 thousand university teachers, holding 20 international events to exchange experience with the participation of universities from the BRICS, EAEU and SCO countries, updating federal educational standards taking into account new requirements for specialists.

    The work will be coordinated by a methodological center created for these purposes at the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, which will ensure interaction between educational institutions, business and regional authorities. “The center is being formed as a platform for cooperation between leading universities, business representatives and government bodies. Its work is built in three areas: events for schoolchildren (Olympiads, career guidance, interaction with parents), the introduction of educational modules in universities, attracting businesses to the training of students and teachers, advanced training and retraining of current specialists in foreign economic activity,” noted Victoria Idrisova, Rector of the Russian Academy of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Development.

    According to her, as part of the pilot launch during the 2024/2025 academic year, VAVT prepared 10 educational modules and implemented advanced training programs for more than 70 of its teachers on the most pressing issues on the foreign economic activity agenda.

    During the discussion of the program for training specialists in the field of foreign economic activity, the participants identified a number of key issues that require detailed development. One of them is determining the format of personnel training: will it be a separate specialty or a set of competencies integrated into existing professions. “We are currently working on the foundation that will ensure the sustainability of the economy. The value of the program is not in the speed of delivery, but in finding answers to all questions, because training personnel for foreign economic activity is a strategic task for the country,” emphasized Maxim Reshetnikov.

    After revision, the program will be sent to the Government for approval. It is expected that its implementation will allow up to 25 thousand specialists to graduate annually, possessing relevant skills for work in the conditions of new economic realities. This will be a significant step in strengthening Russia’s human resources potential in the sphere of international cooperation and trade.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Popular science festival “Here?!”

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    In the Skolkovo Innovation Center, as part of the project “Summer in Moscow” a popular science festival will be held “Here?!”.

    Visitors will enjoy over 50 events prepared jointly with more than 25 partners: lectures, master classes, skeptic shows, exhibitions and scientific performances. Leading Russian scientists and researchers will talk not only about scientific discoveries, but also about the beauty of the surrounding world. Thus, astrophysicist Tatyana Podladchikova will explain how the Sun creates order and chaos, astronomer Vladimir Surdin will tell how humanity learned to measure time, and biologist Ilya Gomyranov will show how animals see beauty.

    Everyone will be able to assemble an antenna for receiving satellite data, discover the chemical composition of smells, take and develop a photograph using 100-year-old technology. Festival guests will come up with a comic book about school superheroes based on science, take part in public talks, business games and listen to fairy tales, as well as see scientific performances and art installations. Participants of any age will find interesting activities.

    You can view the full festival program and register here on the websiteParticipation in all events is free.

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

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

    HTTPS: //bytle.mo.ru/Event/349930257/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Nobel Peace Prize Forum: our perilous path and how we change course

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi’s keynote address at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024.

    I want to start by congratulating Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha for their Nobel Peace Prize.

    As a young diplomat almost 40 years ago, I was fortunate to be part of a UN disarmament fellowship programme and to visit Hiroshima. There, fellows had an opportunity to meet the hibakusha and I had a conversation with an ailing victim. I have carried to every meeting, to every negotiation, and to every posting, the memory this woman’s silent testimony. When I asked her about that morning in 1945, she struggled to express the horror in words. She tried to articulate some words but stayed silent. Looking at me, right into my eyes. The look in her eyes has stayed with me ever since, like a powerful reminder, a secret mandate, to work so that her suffering is never repeated.

    For decades after the Second World War, the international community has been dealing with this unique dilemma: we built robust norms and passed nonproliferation and disarmament treaties. Instead of dozens of countries armed with nuclear weapons, as was the concern in the 1960s, there are less than ten. Stockpiles of nuclear weapons have shrunk from tens of thousands to thousands.

    But on its journey through the perils of the atomic age, the world has come to a crucial crossroads. Our deep psychological connection caused by collectively seeing the horror of the consequences of nuclear war seems to be evaporating, taking with it our joint resolve to do everything possible to prevent a repetition.

    Like a giant spotlight, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has lit up our path ahead. It has done it, by reminding us of the past, and of the consequences of ignoring the perils of nuclear weapons use.

    Context of conflicts

    To understand the important challenges we face, we must look at the global context, at what is happening around the world.  

    War has returned to Europe, and it directly involves a nuclear weapon state. The conflict in Ukraine is also an indirect confrontation between the world’s biggest nuclear weapon states, the first since the end of the Cold War. But nuclear exercises and open references to the use of nuclear weapons in the theatre of this war are increasing the risks and can not be ignored.

    In the Middle East, the conflict of the past year has ignited smoldering tensions between Israel and Iran and led to the unprecedented step of direct exchanges and attacks between the two. Here there is also a nuclear weapons dimension. On one side, the assumed presence of nuclear weapons looms in the background. On the other, the very real potential of nuclear proliferation is raising the stakes.

    We find ourselves in a harmful loop: the erosion of the restraints around nuclear weapons is making these conflicts more dangerous. Meanwhile, these conflicts are contributing to the erosion of the restraints. The vicious circle dynamic is in motion.

    An unfortunate change of direction

    Doctrines regarding the use of nuclear weapons are being revised or reinterpreted. The quantity and quality of nuclear weapon stockpiles are being increased. 

    And in some non-nuclear weapon states – states that are important in their region – leaders are asking “why not us?”. And they are asking this openly!

    At the start of the nuclear arms race, J Robert Oppenheimer described the USSR and the US as “two scorpions in a bottle” each capable of killing the other, but only by risking their own life.

    Oppenheimer’s blunt statement would later be developed and elaborated under the roof of deterrence and the more sophisticated concept of “Mutual Assured Destruction,” or MAD.

    Today, independent of the vantage point of the observer, there is widespread concern that the risk of mutual destruction through nuclear war is higher than it has been for more than a generation.

    Lessons from history

    But it does not have to be this way. We can do better. History has shown that effective dialogue among superpowers has, more often than not, led to confidence and, as a result, also to arms limitation and even disarmament. At certain moments in history, world leaders took the right decisions, to tone down, or, to use today’s parlance, to de-escalate. Let’s see:

    The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis happened thanks to the direct engagement of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and US President John F Kennedy. Decades later, at the Geneva Summit of 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan agreed a crucial axiom: “Nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.” They met again the next year in Reykjavik and significant reductions in nuclear arsenals followed. Nuclear weapon reductions and the elimination of a whole category of weapon, through the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, Treaty, were agreed. These steps towards rapprochement took leadership and courage. They often happened despite skepticism and voices against them.

    Diplomacy and dialogue (and the duty of nuclear weapon states)

    A return to diplomacy and dialogue is urgently needed, and this, not only in things nuclear. Shutting the other side out has never solved a problem and almost certainly aggravates it. Top leadership involvement is simply indispensable when nuclear weapons are involved. President Trump took the initiative and talked to Kim Jong Un. More of this is needed. Some have said these talks were ill prepared. I say, this is important. Nuclear weapon policy and limitations does not work bottom up. It is of course the other way around.

    We must be proactive in building the trust and protections that lower the risk of close calls and of brinkmanship, especially during today’s tensions. Not taking active steps means we rely on luck – or the assumption that the other side will show restraint – to save us from nuclear war. The longer you rely on luck, the more likely it is to run out.

    Conflict and tensions compel nations to arm themselves. Diplomacy and compromise create conditions in which they can disarm.

    The road to a nuclear weapon-free world is long and winding. The disarmament landscape is complex, and it’s worth acknowledging that. This does not diminish the responsibility nuclear weapons states have to make progress. After all, they committed themselves to this goal back in 1968, through the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Steps can be taken to decrease the reliance on nuclear weapons, both in their production and the scenarios for their use.

    Nuclear weapon states, through their actions at home and on the world stage, have a responsibility to avoid a scenario in which more countries seek nuclear weapons. Pushing ahead with increases in arsenals leads to despair, cynicism, and a growing skepticism about the value of past commitments. Disengagement and unilateralism fuel sentiments of vulnerability in other countries, and with that, the notion nuclear weapons could be the ultimate protection against outside threats.

    Engagement among the five permanent members of the Security Council is indispensable. Such engagement can take many different shapes, starting with direct contact among themselves, bilaterally or as a group. This dialogue, which still exists, has been reduced to a very low level, virtually without real impact. Perhaps its revival could be assisted by an international organization, or facilitated with the support of a respected, impartial leader. Therefore, it’s essential that the United Nations, other international organizations, and their leaders work effectively to ensure their continued relevance amid the changing needs of their stakeholders.

    Do not make things worse (by falling for the siren call of proliferation)

    The IAEA has played its indispensable technical role during past attempts of nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East. As the difficult experiences in Iraq, Libya and Syria remind us, the draw of nuclear weapons is real and so is the geopolitical and military response.

    Today’s tensions are prompting even leaders of important counties that, so far, are in good standing with the NPT to ask: “Why shouldn’t we have a nuclear weapon too?”

    To this, I would say, “Do not make things worse.” Acquiring a nuclear weapon will not increase national security, it will do the opposite. Other countries will follow. And this will contribute to the unravelling of a nonproliferation regime that has had its ups and downs – and it still has its limitations – but none-the-less it has served humanity extraordinarily well. The problem and challenge to the NPT regime may come from those nuclear armed but also those who, while not having nuclear weapons, may feel the NPT has failed as a catalyst to disarmament.

    Weakening the non-proliferation treaty under the argument that progress on nuclear disarmament has been slow and more drastic approaches are required, would be totally misguided and may make us throw away existing international measures committing nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states in this field.

    I come from a non-nuclear weapon state. I understand the frustration that some people feel about the “haves” and “have-nots” of nuclear weapons. But I have also seen the legacy of peace and prosperity left by leaders who resisted that siren call. In the 1980s, vision, resolve and dialogue meant Brazil and Argentina changed course and did not go down the path to nuclear arms. Today, Latin America is a nuclear weapon free zone.

    Multilateral leaders: step up by stepping in

    Many wonder whether there’s still a role for multilateralism in guiding us through this maze of conflicting interests. Yes, there is. During difficult times in the past, international organizations have had a big impact on peace and security. But it only happens when leaders of these organizations get off the side lines and use their mandate and their own good offices effectively.

    We prove our relevance in extraordinary times.   

    Each organization has different tools, a different mandate, a different membership, and each of their leaders will determine how to act. I can speak for the IAEA.  We have nuclear science at our core, and we are the world’s nuclear weapons watchdog. Let me give you an example:

    For almost three years, Ukraine, the world and the IAEA have been confronted with a completely unprecedented situation – never before has a military conflict involved the seizure of a nuclear power plant and been fought among the facilities of a major nuclear power programme.

    At the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant – the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, with nearly 6 gigawatts of installed capacity – was taken by Russia. This established a hotspot in the middle of a combat zone. The chance of an incident – or accident – causing terrible radiological consequences became real.

    Observing this from the outside was never, in my mind, an option. Staying on the sidelines and later reflecting on “lessons learned” may have been the more traditional – or expected – path for an international organization. But to me this would have been a dereliction of duty. So, we leaned into our core mission, crossed the front lines of war, and established a permanent presence of IAEA experts at all Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. That makes us the only international organization operating independently in occupied territory. We are informing the world of what’s going on and reducing the chance that a radiological incident enflames the conflict and causes even more devastation.

    We did the same by going to Kursk when a Russian nuclear reactor was at risk of coming into the line of fire. I am in constant communication with both sides.

    I have been meeting with President Zelenskyy, and President Putin regularly. Nuclear safety and security during this conflict must have the buy-in and continued involvement of both leaders. Talking to only one of them would not achieve this important goal. At the same time, I am keeping an open dialogue with leaders on all continents and briefing the UN Security Council. When it comes to nuclear safety in Ukraine it has been possible to build a level of agreement that is rare during the divisions of this conflict. Where there is agreement, there is hope for more agreement.

    Ukraine is not our only hotspot.

    In Iran, the IAEA’s job is to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of a growing nuclear programme. Iran has now enriched uranium to a level that is hard to justify. It has not yet answered the IAEA’s questions completely and it has made our work more difficult by taking away some of our cameras and blocking some of our most experienced safeguards inspectors from going into the country. This has caused concern and led to a pattern of mistrust and recriminations. In diplomacy, progress often requires prompting, catalyzing, and suggesting ways forward. This presents a role for an impartial, honest and effective broker. It is a role I, in my capacity as the IAEA’s Director General, have been playing. In fact, I returned from my latest visit to Tehran just a few weeks ago where I presented alternatives and ideas to reduce the growing tensions, and hopefully to retain Iran within the NPT and the non-proliferation norms.

    The danger of playing it safe

    When it comes to working on behalf of peace and security, playing it safe is dangerous.

    Silence and indifference can be deadly.

    Dag Hammerskjold, the second Secretary General of the United Nations, said: “It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.”

    A new path

    This week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee looked beyond today’s conflicts. In its own way, it did not play it safe. Instead, it shined a light on the horrors of nuclear war and the people who have been warning us about them for many decades.

    In doing that, the Nobel Committee, Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha have illuminated the danger of the path we are now on.

    We have to make a new path.

    First, the leaders of the nuclear weapon states must recognize the need for a responsible management of their nuclear arsenals. Experiences from the past confirm that even at times of crisis and conflict it has been possible to recognize the unique terminal power of these weapons and the responsibility that comes with it. What Kennedy, Khrushchev, Reagan, Gorbachev, or Trump did by reaching out to a nuclear-armed adversary, sets a precedent, a useful one. Such contacts, either bilateral or at the P5 level could possibly be facilitated by a competent broker. These are the first steps to bringing down the tone so that nuclear sabre rattling recedes and the commitments to the unequivocal undertakings to move towards a nuclear free world can be fulfilled.

    Secondly, an iron-clad resolve to observe and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime needs to be adopted. Nuclear weapon and nuclear non-weapon states must work together to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    We need to walk through perilous times by recognizing limitations and keeping our eyes on our common objectives.

    Nuclear disarmament cannot be imposed on the nuclear armed.

    Realism is not defeatism. Diplomacy is not weakness.

    Difficult times call for enlightened leadership, at the national level, and at the international level as well.

    Putting the international system back on track is within our reach. World leaders, including those at the top of the multilateral system, have a duty and an irrevocable responsibility to work towards this.  

    Personally, I am convinced. Perhaps, because the secret mandate I received that day in Hiroshima from a hibakusha burns in me, stronger than ever. Thank you.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Nobel Peace Prize Forum: our perilous path and how we change course

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi’s keynote address at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024.

    I want to start by congratulating Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha for their Nobel Peace Prize.

    As a young diplomat almost 40 years ago, I was fortunate to be part of a UN disarmament fellowship programme and to visit Hiroshima. There, fellows had an opportunity to meet the hibakusha and I had a conversation with an ailing victim. I have carried to every meeting, to every negotiation, and to every posting, the memory this woman’s silent testimony. When I asked her about that morning in 1945, she struggled to express the horror in words. She tried to articulate some words but stayed silent. Looking at me, right into my eyes. The look in her eyes has stayed with me ever since, like a powerful reminder, a secret mandate, to work so that her suffering is never repeated.

    For decades after the Second World War, the international community has been dealing with this unique dilemma: we built robust norms and passed nonproliferation and disarmament treaties. Instead of dozens of countries armed with nuclear weapons, as was the concern in the 1960s, there are less than ten. Stockpiles of nuclear weapons have shrunk from tens of thousands to thousands.

    But on its journey through the perils of the atomic age, the world has come to a crucial crossroads. Our deep psychological connection caused by collectively seeing the horror of the consequences of nuclear war seems to be evaporating, taking with it our joint resolve to do everything possible to prevent a repetition.

    Like a giant spotlight, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has lit up our path ahead. It has done it, by reminding us of the past, and of the consequences of ignoring the perils of nuclear weapons use.

    Context of conflicts

    To understand the important challenges we face, we must look at the global context, at what is happening around the world.  

    War has returned to Europe, and it directly involves a nuclear weapon state. The conflict in Ukraine is also an indirect confrontation between the world’s biggest nuclear weapon states, the first since the end of the Cold War. But nuclear exercises and open references to the use of nuclear weapons in the theatre of this war are increasing the risks and can not be ignored.

    In the Middle East, the conflict of the past year has ignited smoldering tensions between Israel and Iran and led to the unprecedented step of direct exchanges and attacks between the two. Here there is also a nuclear weapons dimension. On one side, the assumed presence of nuclear weapons looms in the background. On the other, the very real potential of nuclear proliferation is raising the stakes.

    We find ourselves in a harmful loop: the erosion of the restraints around nuclear weapons is making these conflicts more dangerous. Meanwhile, these conflicts are contributing to the erosion of the restraints. The vicious circle dynamic is in motion.

    An unfortunate change of direction

    Doctrines regarding the use of nuclear weapons are being revised or reinterpreted. The quantity and quality of nuclear weapon stockpiles are being increased. 

    And in some non-nuclear weapon states – states that are important in their region – leaders are asking “why not us?”. And they are asking this openly!

    At the start of the nuclear arms race, J Robert Oppenheimer described the USSR and the US as “two scorpions in a bottle” each capable of killing the other, but only by risking their own life.

    Oppenheimer’s blunt statement would later be developed and elaborated under the roof of deterrence and the more sophisticated concept of “Mutual Assured Destruction,” or MAD.

    Today, independent of the vantage point of the observer, there is widespread concern that the risk of mutual destruction through nuclear war is higher than it has been for more than a generation.

    Lessons from history

    But it does not have to be this way. We can do better. History has shown that effective dialogue among superpowers has, more often than not, led to confidence and, as a result, also to arms limitation and even disarmament. At certain moments in history, world leaders took the right decisions, to tone down, or, to use today’s parlance, to de-escalate. Let’s see:

    The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis happened thanks to the direct engagement of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and US President John F Kennedy. Decades later, at the Geneva Summit of 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan agreed a crucial axiom: “Nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.” They met again the next year in Reykjavik and significant reductions in nuclear arsenals followed. Nuclear weapon reductions and the elimination of a whole category of weapon, through the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, Treaty, were agreed. These steps towards rapprochement took leadership and courage. They often happened despite skepticism and voices against them.

    Diplomacy and dialogue (and the duty of nuclear weapon states)

    A return to diplomacy and dialogue is urgently needed, and this, not only in things nuclear. Shutting the other side out has never solved a problem and almost certainly aggravates it. Top leadership involvement is simply indispensable when nuclear weapons are involved. President Trump took the initiative and talked to Kim Jong Un. More of this is needed. Some have said these talks were ill prepared. I say, this is important. Nuclear weapon policy and limitations does not work bottom up. It is of course the other way around.

    We must be proactive in building the trust and protections that lower the risk of close calls and of brinkmanship, especially during today’s tensions. Not taking active steps means we rely on luck – or the assumption that the other side will show restraint – to save us from nuclear war. The longer you rely on luck, the more likely it is to run out.

    Conflict and tensions compel nations to arm themselves. Diplomacy and compromise create conditions in which they can disarm.

    The road to a nuclear weapon-free world is long and winding. The disarmament landscape is complex, and it’s worth acknowledging that. This does not diminish the responsibility nuclear weapons states have to make progress. After all, they committed themselves to this goal back in 1968, through the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Steps can be taken to decrease the reliance on nuclear weapons, both in their production and the scenarios for their use.

    Nuclear weapon states, through their actions at home and on the world stage, have a responsibility to avoid a scenario in which more countries seek nuclear weapons. Pushing ahead with increases in arsenals leads to despair, cynicism, and a growing skepticism about the value of past commitments. Disengagement and unilateralism fuel sentiments of vulnerability in other countries, and with that, the notion nuclear weapons could be the ultimate protection against outside threats.

    Engagement among the five permanent members of the Security Council is indispensable. Such engagement can take many different shapes, starting with direct contact among themselves, bilaterally or as a group. This dialogue, which still exists, has been reduced to a very low level, virtually without real impact. Perhaps its revival could be assisted by an international organization, or facilitated with the support of a respected, impartial leader. Therefore, it’s essential that the United Nations, other international organizations, and their leaders work effectively to ensure their continued relevance amid the changing needs of their stakeholders.

    Do not make things worse (by falling for the siren call of proliferation)

    The IAEA has played its indispensable technical role during past attempts of nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East. As the difficult experiences in Iraq, Libya and Syria remind us, the draw of nuclear weapons is real and so is the geopolitical and military response.

    Today’s tensions are prompting even leaders of important counties that, so far, are in good standing with the NPT to ask: “Why shouldn’t we have a nuclear weapon too?”

    To this, I would say, “Do not make things worse.” Acquiring a nuclear weapon will not increase national security, it will do the opposite. Other countries will follow. And this will contribute to the unravelling of a nonproliferation regime that has had its ups and downs – and it still has its limitations – but none-the-less it has served humanity extraordinarily well. The problem and challenge to the NPT regime may come from those nuclear armed but also those who, while not having nuclear weapons, may feel the NPT has failed as a catalyst to disarmament.

    Weakening the non-proliferation treaty under the argument that progress on nuclear disarmament has been slow and more drastic approaches are required, would be totally misguided and may make us throw away existing international measures committing nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states in this field.

    I come from a non-nuclear weapon state. I understand the frustration that some people feel about the “haves” and “have-nots” of nuclear weapons. But I have also seen the legacy of peace and prosperity left by leaders who resisted that siren call. In the 1980s, vision, resolve and dialogue meant Brazil and Argentina changed course and did not go down the path to nuclear arms. Today, Latin America is a nuclear weapon free zone.

    Multilateral leaders: step up by stepping in

    Many wonder whether there’s still a role for multilateralism in guiding us through this maze of conflicting interests. Yes, there is. During difficult times in the past, international organizations have had a big impact on peace and security. But it only happens when leaders of these organizations get off the side lines and use their mandate and their own good offices effectively.

    We prove our relevance in extraordinary times.   

    Each organization has different tools, a different mandate, a different membership, and each of their leaders will determine how to act. I can speak for the IAEA.  We have nuclear science at our core, and we are the world’s nuclear weapons watchdog. Let me give you an example:

    For almost three years, Ukraine, the world and the IAEA have been confronted with a completely unprecedented situation – never before has a military conflict involved the seizure of a nuclear power plant and been fought among the facilities of a major nuclear power programme.

    At the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant – the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, with nearly 6 gigawatts of installed capacity – was taken by Russia. This established a hotspot in the middle of a combat zone. The chance of an incident – or accident – causing terrible radiological consequences became real.

    Observing this from the outside was never, in my mind, an option. Staying on the sidelines and later reflecting on “lessons learned” may have been the more traditional – or expected – path for an international organization. But to me this would have been a dereliction of duty. So, we leaned into our core mission, crossed the front lines of war, and established a permanent presence of IAEA experts at all Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. That makes us the only international organization operating independently in occupied territory. We are informing the world of what’s going on and reducing the chance that a radiological incident enflames the conflict and causes even more devastation.

    We did the same by going to Kursk when a Russian nuclear reactor was at risk of coming into the line of fire. I am in constant communication with both sides.

    I have been meeting with President Zelenskyy, and President Putin regularly. Nuclear safety and security during this conflict must have the buy-in and continued involvement of both leaders. Talking to only one of them would not achieve this important goal. At the same time, I am keeping an open dialogue with leaders on all continents and briefing the UN Security Council. When it comes to nuclear safety in Ukraine it has been possible to build a level of agreement that is rare during the divisions of this conflict. Where there is agreement, there is hope for more agreement.

    Ukraine is not our only hotspot.

    In Iran, the IAEA’s job is to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of a growing nuclear programme. Iran has now enriched uranium to a level that is hard to justify. It has not yet answered the IAEA’s questions completely and it has made our work more difficult by taking away some of our cameras and blocking some of our most experienced safeguards inspectors from going into the country. This has caused concern and led to a pattern of mistrust and recriminations. In diplomacy, progress often requires prompting, catalyzing, and suggesting ways forward. This presents a role for an impartial, honest and effective broker. It is a role I, in my capacity as the IAEA’s Director General, have been playing. In fact, I returned from my latest visit to Tehran just a few weeks ago where I presented alternatives and ideas to reduce the growing tensions, and hopefully to retain Iran within the NPT and the non-proliferation norms.

    The danger of playing it safe

    When it comes to working on behalf of peace and security, playing it safe is dangerous.

    Silence and indifference can be deadly.

    Dag Hammerskjold, the second Secretary General of the United Nations, said: “It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.”

    A new path

    This week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee looked beyond today’s conflicts. In its own way, it did not play it safe. Instead, it shined a light on the horrors of nuclear war and the people who have been warning us about them for many decades.

    In doing that, the Nobel Committee, Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha have illuminated the danger of the path we are now on.

    We have to make a new path.

    First, the leaders of the nuclear weapon states must recognize the need for a responsible management of their nuclear arsenals. Experiences from the past confirm that even at times of crisis and conflict it has been possible to recognize the unique terminal power of these weapons and the responsibility that comes with it. What Kennedy, Khrushchev, Reagan, Gorbachev, or Trump did by reaching out to a nuclear-armed adversary, sets a precedent, a useful one. Such contacts, either bilateral or at the P5 level could possibly be facilitated by a competent broker. These are the first steps to bringing down the tone so that nuclear sabre rattling recedes and the commitments to the unequivocal undertakings to move towards a nuclear free world can be fulfilled.

    Secondly, an iron-clad resolve to observe and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime needs to be adopted. Nuclear weapon and nuclear non-weapon states must work together to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    We need to walk through perilous times by recognizing limitations and keeping our eyes on our common objectives.

    Nuclear disarmament cannot be imposed on the nuclear armed.

    Realism is not defeatism. Diplomacy is not weakness.

    Difficult times call for enlightened leadership, at the national level, and at the international level as well.

    Putting the international system back on track is within our reach. World leaders, including those at the top of the multilateral system, have a duty and an irrevocable responsibility to work towards this.  

    Personally, I am convinced. Perhaps, because the secret mandate I received that day in Hiroshima from a hibakusha burns in me, stronger than ever. Thank you.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Nobel Peace Prize Forum: our perilous path and how we change course

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi’s keynote address at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024.

    I want to start by congratulating Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha for their Nobel Peace Prize.

    As a young diplomat almost 40 years ago, I was fortunate to be part of a UN disarmament fellowship programme and to visit Hiroshima. There, fellows had an opportunity to meet the hibakusha and I had a conversation with an ailing victim. I have carried to every meeting, to every negotiation, and to every posting, the memory this woman’s silent testimony. When I asked her about that morning in 1945, she struggled to express the horror in words. She tried to articulate some words but stayed silent. Looking at me, right into my eyes. The look in her eyes has stayed with me ever since, like a powerful reminder, a secret mandate, to work so that her suffering is never repeated.

    For decades after the Second World War, the international community has been dealing with this unique dilemma: we built robust norms and passed nonproliferation and disarmament treaties. Instead of dozens of countries armed with nuclear weapons, as was the concern in the 1960s, there are less than ten. Stockpiles of nuclear weapons have shrunk from tens of thousands to thousands.

    But on its journey through the perils of the atomic age, the world has come to a crucial crossroads. Our deep psychological connection caused by collectively seeing the horror of the consequences of nuclear war seems to be evaporating, taking with it our joint resolve to do everything possible to prevent a repetition.

    Like a giant spotlight, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has lit up our path ahead. It has done it, by reminding us of the past, and of the consequences of ignoring the perils of nuclear weapons use.

    Context of conflicts

    To understand the important challenges we face, we must look at the global context, at what is happening around the world.  

    War has returned to Europe, and it directly involves a nuclear weapon state. The conflict in Ukraine is also an indirect confrontation between the world’s biggest nuclear weapon states, the first since the end of the Cold War. But nuclear exercises and open references to the use of nuclear weapons in the theatre of this war are increasing the risks and can not be ignored.

    In the Middle East, the conflict of the past year has ignited smoldering tensions between Israel and Iran and led to the unprecedented step of direct exchanges and attacks between the two. Here there is also a nuclear weapons dimension. On one side, the assumed presence of nuclear weapons looms in the background. On the other, the very real potential of nuclear proliferation is raising the stakes.

    We find ourselves in a harmful loop: the erosion of the restraints around nuclear weapons is making these conflicts more dangerous. Meanwhile, these conflicts are contributing to the erosion of the restraints. The vicious circle dynamic is in motion.

    An unfortunate change of direction

    Doctrines regarding the use of nuclear weapons are being revised or reinterpreted. The quantity and quality of nuclear weapon stockpiles are being increased. 

    And in some non-nuclear weapon states – states that are important in their region – leaders are asking “why not us?”. And they are asking this openly!

    At the start of the nuclear arms race, J Robert Oppenheimer described the USSR and the US as “two scorpions in a bottle” each capable of killing the other, but only by risking their own life.

    Oppenheimer’s blunt statement would later be developed and elaborated under the roof of deterrence and the more sophisticated concept of “Mutual Assured Destruction,” or MAD.

    Today, independent of the vantage point of the observer, there is widespread concern that the risk of mutual destruction through nuclear war is higher than it has been for more than a generation.

    Lessons from history

    But it does not have to be this way. We can do better. History has shown that effective dialogue among superpowers has, more often than not, led to confidence and, as a result, also to arms limitation and even disarmament. At certain moments in history, world leaders took the right decisions, to tone down, or, to use today’s parlance, to de-escalate. Let’s see:

    The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis happened thanks to the direct engagement of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and US President John F Kennedy. Decades later, at the Geneva Summit of 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan agreed a crucial axiom: “Nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.” They met again the next year in Reykjavik and significant reductions in nuclear arsenals followed. Nuclear weapon reductions and the elimination of a whole category of weapon, through the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, Treaty, were agreed. These steps towards rapprochement took leadership and courage. They often happened despite skepticism and voices against them.

    Diplomacy and dialogue (and the duty of nuclear weapon states)

    A return to diplomacy and dialogue is urgently needed, and this, not only in things nuclear. Shutting the other side out has never solved a problem and almost certainly aggravates it. Top leadership involvement is simply indispensable when nuclear weapons are involved. President Trump took the initiative and talked to Kim Jong Un. More of this is needed. Some have said these talks were ill prepared. I say, this is important. Nuclear weapon policy and limitations does not work bottom up. It is of course the other way around.

    We must be proactive in building the trust and protections that lower the risk of close calls and of brinkmanship, especially during today’s tensions. Not taking active steps means we rely on luck – or the assumption that the other side will show restraint – to save us from nuclear war. The longer you rely on luck, the more likely it is to run out.

    Conflict and tensions compel nations to arm themselves. Diplomacy and compromise create conditions in which they can disarm.

    The road to a nuclear weapon-free world is long and winding. The disarmament landscape is complex, and it’s worth acknowledging that. This does not diminish the responsibility nuclear weapons states have to make progress. After all, they committed themselves to this goal back in 1968, through the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Steps can be taken to decrease the reliance on nuclear weapons, both in their production and the scenarios for their use.

    Nuclear weapon states, through their actions at home and on the world stage, have a responsibility to avoid a scenario in which more countries seek nuclear weapons. Pushing ahead with increases in arsenals leads to despair, cynicism, and a growing skepticism about the value of past commitments. Disengagement and unilateralism fuel sentiments of vulnerability in other countries, and with that, the notion nuclear weapons could be the ultimate protection against outside threats.

    Engagement among the five permanent members of the Security Council is indispensable. Such engagement can take many different shapes, starting with direct contact among themselves, bilaterally or as a group. This dialogue, which still exists, has been reduced to a very low level, virtually without real impact. Perhaps its revival could be assisted by an international organization, or facilitated with the support of a respected, impartial leader. Therefore, it’s essential that the United Nations, other international organizations, and their leaders work effectively to ensure their continued relevance amid the changing needs of their stakeholders.

    Do not make things worse (by falling for the siren call of proliferation)

    The IAEA has played its indispensable technical role during past attempts of nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East. As the difficult experiences in Iraq, Libya and Syria remind us, the draw of nuclear weapons is real and so is the geopolitical and military response.

    Today’s tensions are prompting even leaders of important counties that, so far, are in good standing with the NPT to ask: “Why shouldn’t we have a nuclear weapon too?”

    To this, I would say, “Do not make things worse.” Acquiring a nuclear weapon will not increase national security, it will do the opposite. Other countries will follow. And this will contribute to the unravelling of a nonproliferation regime that has had its ups and downs – and it still has its limitations – but none-the-less it has served humanity extraordinarily well. The problem and challenge to the NPT regime may come from those nuclear armed but also those who, while not having nuclear weapons, may feel the NPT has failed as a catalyst to disarmament.

    Weakening the non-proliferation treaty under the argument that progress on nuclear disarmament has been slow and more drastic approaches are required, would be totally misguided and may make us throw away existing international measures committing nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states in this field.

    I come from a non-nuclear weapon state. I understand the frustration that some people feel about the “haves” and “have-nots” of nuclear weapons. But I have also seen the legacy of peace and prosperity left by leaders who resisted that siren call. In the 1980s, vision, resolve and dialogue meant Brazil and Argentina changed course and did not go down the path to nuclear arms. Today, Latin America is a nuclear weapon free zone.

    Multilateral leaders: step up by stepping in

    Many wonder whether there’s still a role for multilateralism in guiding us through this maze of conflicting interests. Yes, there is. During difficult times in the past, international organizations have had a big impact on peace and security. But it only happens when leaders of these organizations get off the side lines and use their mandate and their own good offices effectively.

    We prove our relevance in extraordinary times.   

    Each organization has different tools, a different mandate, a different membership, and each of their leaders will determine how to act. I can speak for the IAEA.  We have nuclear science at our core, and we are the world’s nuclear weapons watchdog. Let me give you an example:

    For almost three years, Ukraine, the world and the IAEA have been confronted with a completely unprecedented situation – never before has a military conflict involved the seizure of a nuclear power plant and been fought among the facilities of a major nuclear power programme.

    At the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant – the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, with nearly 6 gigawatts of installed capacity – was taken by Russia. This established a hotspot in the middle of a combat zone. The chance of an incident – or accident – causing terrible radiological consequences became real.

    Observing this from the outside was never, in my mind, an option. Staying on the sidelines and later reflecting on “lessons learned” may have been the more traditional – or expected – path for an international organization. But to me this would have been a dereliction of duty. So, we leaned into our core mission, crossed the front lines of war, and established a permanent presence of IAEA experts at all Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. That makes us the only international organization operating independently in occupied territory. We are informing the world of what’s going on and reducing the chance that a radiological incident enflames the conflict and causes even more devastation.

    We did the same by going to Kursk when a Russian nuclear reactor was at risk of coming into the line of fire. I am in constant communication with both sides.

    I have been meeting with President Zelenskyy, and President Putin regularly. Nuclear safety and security during this conflict must have the buy-in and continued involvement of both leaders. Talking to only one of them would not achieve this important goal. At the same time, I am keeping an open dialogue with leaders on all continents and briefing the UN Security Council. When it comes to nuclear safety in Ukraine it has been possible to build a level of agreement that is rare during the divisions of this conflict. Where there is agreement, there is hope for more agreement.

    Ukraine is not our only hotspot.

    In Iran, the IAEA’s job is to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of a growing nuclear programme. Iran has now enriched uranium to a level that is hard to justify. It has not yet answered the IAEA’s questions completely and it has made our work more difficult by taking away some of our cameras and blocking some of our most experienced safeguards inspectors from going into the country. This has caused concern and led to a pattern of mistrust and recriminations. In diplomacy, progress often requires prompting, catalyzing, and suggesting ways forward. This presents a role for an impartial, honest and effective broker. It is a role I, in my capacity as the IAEA’s Director General, have been playing. In fact, I returned from my latest visit to Tehran just a few weeks ago where I presented alternatives and ideas to reduce the growing tensions, and hopefully to retain Iran within the NPT and the non-proliferation norms.

    The danger of playing it safe

    When it comes to working on behalf of peace and security, playing it safe is dangerous.

    Silence and indifference can be deadly.

    Dag Hammerskjold, the second Secretary General of the United Nations, said: “It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.”

    A new path

    This week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee looked beyond today’s conflicts. In its own way, it did not play it safe. Instead, it shined a light on the horrors of nuclear war and the people who have been warning us about them for many decades.

    In doing that, the Nobel Committee, Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha have illuminated the danger of the path we are now on.

    We have to make a new path.

    First, the leaders of the nuclear weapon states must recognize the need for a responsible management of their nuclear arsenals. Experiences from the past confirm that even at times of crisis and conflict it has been possible to recognize the unique terminal power of these weapons and the responsibility that comes with it. What Kennedy, Khrushchev, Reagan, Gorbachev, or Trump did by reaching out to a nuclear-armed adversary, sets a precedent, a useful one. Such contacts, either bilateral or at the P5 level could possibly be facilitated by a competent broker. These are the first steps to bringing down the tone so that nuclear sabre rattling recedes and the commitments to the unequivocal undertakings to move towards a nuclear free world can be fulfilled.

    Secondly, an iron-clad resolve to observe and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime needs to be adopted. Nuclear weapon and nuclear non-weapon states must work together to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    We need to walk through perilous times by recognizing limitations and keeping our eyes on our common objectives.

    Nuclear disarmament cannot be imposed on the nuclear armed.

    Realism is not defeatism. Diplomacy is not weakness.

    Difficult times call for enlightened leadership, at the national level, and at the international level as well.

    Putting the international system back on track is within our reach. World leaders, including those at the top of the multilateral system, have a duty and an irrevocable responsibility to work towards this.  

    Personally, I am convinced. Perhaps, because the secret mandate I received that day in Hiroshima from a hibakusha burns in me, stronger than ever. Thank you.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Nobel Peace Prize Forum: our perilous path and how we change course

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

    IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi’s keynote address at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024.

    I want to start by congratulating Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha for their Nobel Peace Prize.

    As a young diplomat almost 40 years ago, I was fortunate to be part of a UN disarmament fellowship programme and to visit Hiroshima. There, fellows had an opportunity to meet the hibakusha and I had a conversation with an ailing victim. I have carried to every meeting, to every negotiation, and to every posting, the memory this woman’s silent testimony. When I asked her about that morning in 1945, she struggled to express the horror in words. She tried to articulate some words but stayed silent. Looking at me, right into my eyes. The look in her eyes has stayed with me ever since, like a powerful reminder, a secret mandate, to work so that her suffering is never repeated.

    For decades after the Second World War, the international community has been dealing with this unique dilemma: we built robust norms and passed nonproliferation and disarmament treaties. Instead of dozens of countries armed with nuclear weapons, as was the concern in the 1960s, there are less than ten. Stockpiles of nuclear weapons have shrunk from tens of thousands to thousands.

    But on its journey through the perils of the atomic age, the world has come to a crucial crossroads. Our deep psychological connection caused by collectively seeing the horror of the consequences of nuclear war seems to be evaporating, taking with it our joint resolve to do everything possible to prevent a repetition.

    Like a giant spotlight, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has lit up our path ahead. It has done it, by reminding us of the past, and of the consequences of ignoring the perils of nuclear weapons use.

    Context of conflicts

    To understand the important challenges we face, we must look at the global context, at what is happening around the world.  

    War has returned to Europe, and it directly involves a nuclear weapon state. The conflict in Ukraine is also an indirect confrontation between the world’s biggest nuclear weapon states, the first since the end of the Cold War. But nuclear exercises and open references to the use of nuclear weapons in the theatre of this war are increasing the risks and can not be ignored.

    In the Middle East, the conflict of the past year has ignited smoldering tensions between Israel and Iran and led to the unprecedented step of direct exchanges and attacks between the two. Here there is also a nuclear weapons dimension. On one side, the assumed presence of nuclear weapons looms in the background. On the other, the very real potential of nuclear proliferation is raising the stakes.

    We find ourselves in a harmful loop: the erosion of the restraints around nuclear weapons is making these conflicts more dangerous. Meanwhile, these conflicts are contributing to the erosion of the restraints. The vicious circle dynamic is in motion.

    An unfortunate change of direction

    Doctrines regarding the use of nuclear weapons are being revised or reinterpreted. The quantity and quality of nuclear weapon stockpiles are being increased. 

    And in some non-nuclear weapon states – states that are important in their region – leaders are asking “why not us?”. And they are asking this openly!

    At the start of the nuclear arms race, J Robert Oppenheimer described the USSR and the US as “two scorpions in a bottle” each capable of killing the other, but only by risking their own life.

    Oppenheimer’s blunt statement would later be developed and elaborated under the roof of deterrence and the more sophisticated concept of “Mutual Assured Destruction,” or MAD.

    Today, independent of the vantage point of the observer, there is widespread concern that the risk of mutual destruction through nuclear war is higher than it has been for more than a generation.

    Lessons from history

    But it does not have to be this way. We can do better. History has shown that effective dialogue among superpowers has, more often than not, led to confidence and, as a result, also to arms limitation and even disarmament. At certain moments in history, world leaders took the right decisions, to tone down, or, to use today’s parlance, to de-escalate. Let’s see:

    The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis happened thanks to the direct engagement of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and US President John F Kennedy. Decades later, at the Geneva Summit of 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan agreed a crucial axiom: “Nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.” They met again the next year in Reykjavik and significant reductions in nuclear arsenals followed. Nuclear weapon reductions and the elimination of a whole category of weapon, through the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, Treaty, were agreed. These steps towards rapprochement took leadership and courage. They often happened despite skepticism and voices against them.

    Diplomacy and dialogue (and the duty of nuclear weapon states)

    A return to diplomacy and dialogue is urgently needed, and this, not only in things nuclear. Shutting the other side out has never solved a problem and almost certainly aggravates it. Top leadership involvement is simply indispensable when nuclear weapons are involved. President Trump took the initiative and talked to Kim Jong Un. More of this is needed. Some have said these talks were ill prepared. I say, this is important. Nuclear weapon policy and limitations does not work bottom up. It is of course the other way around.

    We must be proactive in building the trust and protections that lower the risk of close calls and of brinkmanship, especially during today’s tensions. Not taking active steps means we rely on luck – or the assumption that the other side will show restraint – to save us from nuclear war. The longer you rely on luck, the more likely it is to run out.

    Conflict and tensions compel nations to arm themselves. Diplomacy and compromise create conditions in which they can disarm.

    The road to a nuclear weapon-free world is long and winding. The disarmament landscape is complex, and it’s worth acknowledging that. This does not diminish the responsibility nuclear weapons states have to make progress. After all, they committed themselves to this goal back in 1968, through the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Steps can be taken to decrease the reliance on nuclear weapons, both in their production and the scenarios for their use.

    Nuclear weapon states, through their actions at home and on the world stage, have a responsibility to avoid a scenario in which more countries seek nuclear weapons. Pushing ahead with increases in arsenals leads to despair, cynicism, and a growing skepticism about the value of past commitments. Disengagement and unilateralism fuel sentiments of vulnerability in other countries, and with that, the notion nuclear weapons could be the ultimate protection against outside threats.

    Engagement among the five permanent members of the Security Council is indispensable. Such engagement can take many different shapes, starting with direct contact among themselves, bilaterally or as a group. This dialogue, which still exists, has been reduced to a very low level, virtually without real impact. Perhaps its revival could be assisted by an international organization, or facilitated with the support of a respected, impartial leader. Therefore, it’s essential that the United Nations, other international organizations, and their leaders work effectively to ensure their continued relevance amid the changing needs of their stakeholders.

    Do not make things worse (by falling for the siren call of proliferation)

    The IAEA has played its indispensable technical role during past attempts of nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East. As the difficult experiences in Iraq, Libya and Syria remind us, the draw of nuclear weapons is real and so is the geopolitical and military response.

    Today’s tensions are prompting even leaders of important counties that, so far, are in good standing with the NPT to ask: “Why shouldn’t we have a nuclear weapon too?”

    To this, I would say, “Do not make things worse.” Acquiring a nuclear weapon will not increase national security, it will do the opposite. Other countries will follow. And this will contribute to the unravelling of a nonproliferation regime that has had its ups and downs – and it still has its limitations – but none-the-less it has served humanity extraordinarily well. The problem and challenge to the NPT regime may come from those nuclear armed but also those who, while not having nuclear weapons, may feel the NPT has failed as a catalyst to disarmament.

    Weakening the non-proliferation treaty under the argument that progress on nuclear disarmament has been slow and more drastic approaches are required, would be totally misguided and may make us throw away existing international measures committing nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states in this field.

    I come from a non-nuclear weapon state. I understand the frustration that some people feel about the “haves” and “have-nots” of nuclear weapons. But I have also seen the legacy of peace and prosperity left by leaders who resisted that siren call. In the 1980s, vision, resolve and dialogue meant Brazil and Argentina changed course and did not go down the path to nuclear arms. Today, Latin America is a nuclear weapon free zone.

    Multilateral leaders: step up by stepping in

    Many wonder whether there’s still a role for multilateralism in guiding us through this maze of conflicting interests. Yes, there is. During difficult times in the past, international organizations have had a big impact on peace and security. But it only happens when leaders of these organizations get off the side lines and use their mandate and their own good offices effectively.

    We prove our relevance in extraordinary times.   

    Each organization has different tools, a different mandate, a different membership, and each of their leaders will determine how to act. I can speak for the IAEA.  We have nuclear science at our core, and we are the world’s nuclear weapons watchdog. Let me give you an example:

    For almost three years, Ukraine, the world and the IAEA have been confronted with a completely unprecedented situation – never before has a military conflict involved the seizure of a nuclear power plant and been fought among the facilities of a major nuclear power programme.

    At the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant – the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, with nearly 6 gigawatts of installed capacity – was taken by Russia. This established a hotspot in the middle of a combat zone. The chance of an incident – or accident – causing terrible radiological consequences became real.

    Observing this from the outside was never, in my mind, an option. Staying on the sidelines and later reflecting on “lessons learned” may have been the more traditional – or expected – path for an international organization. But to me this would have been a dereliction of duty. So, we leaned into our core mission, crossed the front lines of war, and established a permanent presence of IAEA experts at all Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. That makes us the only international organization operating independently in occupied territory. We are informing the world of what’s going on and reducing the chance that a radiological incident enflames the conflict and causes even more devastation.

    We did the same by going to Kursk when a Russian nuclear reactor was at risk of coming into the line of fire. I am in constant communication with both sides.

    I have been meeting with President Zelenskyy, and President Putin regularly. Nuclear safety and security during this conflict must have the buy-in and continued involvement of both leaders. Talking to only one of them would not achieve this important goal. At the same time, I am keeping an open dialogue with leaders on all continents and briefing the UN Security Council. When it comes to nuclear safety in Ukraine it has been possible to build a level of agreement that is rare during the divisions of this conflict. Where there is agreement, there is hope for more agreement.

    Ukraine is not our only hotspot.

    In Iran, the IAEA’s job is to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of a growing nuclear programme. Iran has now enriched uranium to a level that is hard to justify. It has not yet answered the IAEA’s questions completely and it has made our work more difficult by taking away some of our cameras and blocking some of our most experienced safeguards inspectors from going into the country. This has caused concern and led to a pattern of mistrust and recriminations. In diplomacy, progress often requires prompting, catalyzing, and suggesting ways forward. This presents a role for an impartial, honest and effective broker. It is a role I, in my capacity as the IAEA’s Director General, have been playing. In fact, I returned from my latest visit to Tehran just a few weeks ago where I presented alternatives and ideas to reduce the growing tensions, and hopefully to retain Iran within the NPT and the non-proliferation norms.

    The danger of playing it safe

    When it comes to working on behalf of peace and security, playing it safe is dangerous.

    Silence and indifference can be deadly.

    Dag Hammerskjold, the second Secretary General of the United Nations, said: “It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.”

    A new path

    This week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee looked beyond today’s conflicts. In its own way, it did not play it safe. Instead, it shined a light on the horrors of nuclear war and the people who have been warning us about them for many decades.

    In doing that, the Nobel Committee, Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha have illuminated the danger of the path we are now on.

    We have to make a new path.

    First, the leaders of the nuclear weapon states must recognize the need for a responsible management of their nuclear arsenals. Experiences from the past confirm that even at times of crisis and conflict it has been possible to recognize the unique terminal power of these weapons and the responsibility that comes with it. What Kennedy, Khrushchev, Reagan, Gorbachev, or Trump did by reaching out to a nuclear-armed adversary, sets a precedent, a useful one. Such contacts, either bilateral or at the P5 level could possibly be facilitated by a competent broker. These are the first steps to bringing down the tone so that nuclear sabre rattling recedes and the commitments to the unequivocal undertakings to move towards a nuclear free world can be fulfilled.

    Secondly, an iron-clad resolve to observe and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime needs to be adopted. Nuclear weapon and nuclear non-weapon states must work together to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    We need to walk through perilous times by recognizing limitations and keeping our eyes on our common objectives.

    Nuclear disarmament cannot be imposed on the nuclear armed.

    Realism is not defeatism. Diplomacy is not weakness.

    Difficult times call for enlightened leadership, at the national level, and at the international level as well.

    Putting the international system back on track is within our reach. World leaders, including those at the top of the multilateral system, have a duty and an irrevocable responsibility to work towards this.  

    Personally, I am convinced. Perhaps, because the secret mandate I received that day in Hiroshima from a hibakusha burns in me, stronger than ever. Thank you.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Fun with fossils: South African kids learn a whole lot more about human evolution from museum workshops

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Shaw Badenhorst, Associate Professor in Zooarchaeology, University of the Witwatersrand

    South Africa has one of the world’s richest fossil records of hominins (humans and their fossil ancestors). But many misconceptions still exist regarding human evolution, and school textbooks contain inaccuracies.

    South Africans still have some of the lowest rates of acceptance of human evolution, mostly due to conflicting religious views. Religion and the non-acceptance of evolution hinders the understanding of evolution by teachers and learners.

    It doesn’t help that school subjects (evolution being one of them) are often taught in unengaging ways, rather than interactive methods.

    Many studies have shown that collaborations between schools and informal science learning centres, such as natural history museums, can have a positive effect on school learners. Inquiry-based activities at museums have been shown to help learners gain knowledge and meaning about the past. Museum visits foster “thinking skills” through guided conversation and questions asked by educators and learners. New information is gained through reasoning, inference and deduction, which enhance learning.

    Read more: Evolution revolution: how a Cape Town museum exhibit is rewriting the story of humankind

    In 2018, a team of researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand launched workshops on human evolution for grade 12 learners (in the final year of secondary school) in South Africa’s Gauteng province. The aim was to stimulate interest in the palaeosciences and improve learner performance. We worked with learners from 13 schools in the area. The workshops were conducted at the museum of the university’s Evolutionary Studies Institute.

    From tests before and after the workshops, we found that they improved the learners’ understanding and acceptance of concepts related to evolution. More teacher training and school visits to museums and exhibitions could build on this success.

    Workshops on human evolution

    Examining cast hominin skulls at a workshop at a school. Grizelda van Wyk, Author provided (no reuse)

    Our human evolution workshops were conducted with well-resourced and historically disadvantaged schools attending. The grade 12 learners, aged 17 and 18 years, visited the fossil preparatory laboratory, searched for clues in the museum while answering a worksheet, and did activities on human evolution using inquiry-based approaches.

    Read more: What it’s like curating ancient fossils: a palaeontologist shares her story

    These activities included measuring and describing skulls of apes and hominins, comparing hip bones to see whether the creature was able to walk upright on two legs, investigating stone tools, and drawing a phylogenetic tree (a diagram showing how species are descended from each other). Due to financial constraints, some of the workshops were held at the schools themselves.

    The 687 learners wrote a test before and after the workshop to test their knowledge of hominin evolution. Their scores increased from an average of 39% to 61%.

    The location of the workshops (either at the museum or at the school) did not affect the scores, suggesting that workshops can be scaled to reduce costs. Feedback from interviews indicated that learners regarded the workshops as beneficial, enabling them to learn new facts and gain a deeper understanding of human evolution. Teachers echoed the same view.

    One learner said:

    It was pretty enjoyable, and informative and interesting. Especially the part when we asked questions and we actually got answered. It helped us to understand the knowledge more.

    Another said:

    It is always better to physically see things as compared to seeing a picture of it, it is easier to understand it this way.

    A teacher commented that learners

    could literally see exactly what is happening and it is not just talk, they can touch it and they can take part in the experiment, which is not something they are exposed to at school.

    It was apparent that learners understood human evolution better after the workshops. In the preliminary exam paper of Gauteng province, learners who attended the workshops scored nearly double (average 41%) the score of schools that did not attend (average 21%). While the scores are still low, and there is still much room for improvement, the results suggest that a short, hands-on workshop can make a major difference to learners.

    The workshop also increased the acceptance of evolution from 41% to 51%. (It was not the purpose of the workshops to increase acceptance, but rather to improve understanding of the topic.)

    Why the workshops worked

    In our view, the workshops were successful because they used inquiry-based learning, learners working in groups using problem solving and physical handling of fossil casts. This enabled active participation in the learning process.

    Read more: It’s time to celebrate Africa’s forgotten fossil hunters

    With this approach, learners took ownership of the learning process and it developed their curiosity, interest and a desire to learn. The guidance of a subject expert during the workshops enhanced the quality of the workshops and the learning experience. It’s clear that visits to places like natural history museums created connections which helped with understanding concepts such as human evolution in the classroom, and developing an enjoyment of learning.

    What’s next

    We recommend that teachers receive training in human evolution and how to teach this topic. Common misconceptions of teachers can be identified through surveys, and intervention training must be planned around these misconceptions. The Gauteng Department of Education has a free professional development programme offering training to teachers (not publicly available), which can be used for this purpose.

    Read more: Species without boundaries: a new way to map our origins

    Various institutions in Gauteng offer exhibitions on human evolution and fossils, including the University of the Witwatersrand, the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Maropeng Cradle of Humankind, Sterkfontein Caves and the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre. The provincial education department must promote school visits to these places. Human evolution can be one of the most rewarding topics for learners, especially in a country where the fossil record is right on the doorstep.

    It’s vital for grade 12 learners in South Africa to have a solid understanding of human evolution – it fosters critical thinking about science, identity and our shared African origins. This knowledge not only deepens their appreciation of the continent’s fossil heritage, but also counters misinformation with evidence-based insight.

    This article was prepared with Grizelda van Wyk and in memory of Ian J. McKay.

    – Fun with fossils: South African kids learn a whole lot more about human evolution from museum workshops
    – https://theconversation.com/fun-with-fossils-south-african-kids-learn-a-whole-lot-more-about-human-evolution-from-museum-workshops-259319

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Construction industry joins hands with education sector to promote STEAM education (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The launching ceremony of the Infrastructure x Education Exhibition and the first phase of achievement of the STEAM UP project, jointly organised by the Development Bureau and the Construction Industry Council (CIC), was held today (July 3). This is the first time for the construction industry to collaborate with the education sector to organise a large-scale exhibition featuring infrastructure projects in Hong Kong to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education related to the construction industry, thereby helping students apply STEAM knowledge through practical examples of infrastructure projects and encouraging the younger generation to join the construction industry.

         Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said that the construction industry and infrastructure involve many STEAM elements. The construction industry joins hands with the education sector to launch STEAM learning and teaching materials, which can make learning more effective. She hoped that, through this exhibition, infrastructure can tell the good stories of Hong Kong and share STEAM knowledge, which arouses students’ interest towards the construction industry and the exploration of STEAM knowledge.

         Other officiating guests at the launching ceremony were the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Ricky Lau; the Under Secretary for Education, Dr Sze Chun-fai; the Chairman of the CIC, Professor Thomas Ho; the Executive Director of the CIC, Mr Albert Cheng; and the Executive Director of Hong Kong Education City, Dr Tenny Lam.

         Hong Kong’s first 3-dimensional Infrastructure Map supporting STEAM education was launched at the ceremony, introducing 32 types of infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and the related STEAM knowledge. The Infrastructure Map will be exhibited in various districts in Hong Kong in the future to let members of the public understand the edges of the infrastructure of Hong Kong.
     
         The first set of architecture-themed learning and teaching materials of the STEAM UP project, including teachers’ lesson plans and teaching materials, as well as story books, games and e-learning platforms for students, was also rolled out at the ceremony, offering all-round support to STEAM education in schools. Another eight sets of learning and teaching materials, covering aspects of architecture, surveying, planning, landscape architecture and engineering, will be launched progressively for use in classrooms in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong starting from 2025/26 school year.

         Ten thematic zones are set up in the exhibition. In addition to the aforementioned two major projects, the exhibition also introduces the work, career paths and development prospect of various professional fields in the construction industry, helping students plan their careers. Interactive games with construction robots are also available.

         A series of talks are also organised in the exhibition, where speakers from government departments, tertiary institutions, training institutions, professional institutes and trade associations discuss topics covering innovative technology, Building Information Modelling, artificial intelligence, Modular Integrated Construction, Multi-trade integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing, etc.

         The Infrastructure x Education Exhibition is part of the Learning & Teaching Expo 2025 being held from July 2 to 4, at Booth R01, Hall 3B, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Expo Drive, Wan Chai. For more information about the exhibition, please visit: https://www.constructionhk.org/en/infrastructure-education/.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Construction industry joins hands with education sector to promote STEAM education (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The launching ceremony of the Infrastructure x Education Exhibition and the first phase of achievement of the STEAM UP project, jointly organised by the Development Bureau and the Construction Industry Council (CIC), was held today (July 3). This is the first time for the construction industry to collaborate with the education sector to organise a large-scale exhibition featuring infrastructure projects in Hong Kong to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education related to the construction industry, thereby helping students apply STEAM knowledge through practical examples of infrastructure projects and encouraging the younger generation to join the construction industry.

         Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said that the construction industry and infrastructure involve many STEAM elements. The construction industry joins hands with the education sector to launch STEAM learning and teaching materials, which can make learning more effective. She hoped that, through this exhibition, infrastructure can tell the good stories of Hong Kong and share STEAM knowledge, which arouses students’ interest towards the construction industry and the exploration of STEAM knowledge.

         Other officiating guests at the launching ceremony were the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Ricky Lau; the Under Secretary for Education, Dr Sze Chun-fai; the Chairman of the CIC, Professor Thomas Ho; the Executive Director of the CIC, Mr Albert Cheng; and the Executive Director of Hong Kong Education City, Dr Tenny Lam.

         Hong Kong’s first 3-dimensional Infrastructure Map supporting STEAM education was launched at the ceremony, introducing 32 types of infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and the related STEAM knowledge. The Infrastructure Map will be exhibited in various districts in Hong Kong in the future to let members of the public understand the edges of the infrastructure of Hong Kong.
     
         The first set of architecture-themed learning and teaching materials of the STEAM UP project, including teachers’ lesson plans and teaching materials, as well as story books, games and e-learning platforms for students, was also rolled out at the ceremony, offering all-round support to STEAM education in schools. Another eight sets of learning and teaching materials, covering aspects of architecture, surveying, planning, landscape architecture and engineering, will be launched progressively for use in classrooms in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong starting from 2025/26 school year.

         Ten thematic zones are set up in the exhibition. In addition to the aforementioned two major projects, the exhibition also introduces the work, career paths and development prospect of various professional fields in the construction industry, helping students plan their careers. Interactive games with construction robots are also available.

         A series of talks are also organised in the exhibition, where speakers from government departments, tertiary institutions, training institutions, professional institutes and trade associations discuss topics covering innovative technology, Building Information Modelling, artificial intelligence, Modular Integrated Construction, Multi-trade integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing, etc.

         The Infrastructure x Education Exhibition is part of the Learning & Teaching Expo 2025 being held from July 2 to 4, at Booth R01, Hall 3B, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Expo Drive, Wan Chai. For more information about the exhibition, please visit: https://www.constructionhk.org/en/infrastructure-education/.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Construction industry joins hands with education sector to promote STEAM education (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The launching ceremony of the Infrastructure x Education Exhibition and the first phase of achievement of the STEAM UP project, jointly organised by the Development Bureau and the Construction Industry Council (CIC), was held today (July 3). This is the first time for the construction industry to collaborate with the education sector to organise a large-scale exhibition featuring infrastructure projects in Hong Kong to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education related to the construction industry, thereby helping students apply STEAM knowledge through practical examples of infrastructure projects and encouraging the younger generation to join the construction industry.

         Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said that the construction industry and infrastructure involve many STEAM elements. The construction industry joins hands with the education sector to launch STEAM learning and teaching materials, which can make learning more effective. She hoped that, through this exhibition, infrastructure can tell the good stories of Hong Kong and share STEAM knowledge, which arouses students’ interest towards the construction industry and the exploration of STEAM knowledge.

         Other officiating guests at the launching ceremony were the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Ricky Lau; the Under Secretary for Education, Dr Sze Chun-fai; the Chairman of the CIC, Professor Thomas Ho; the Executive Director of the CIC, Mr Albert Cheng; and the Executive Director of Hong Kong Education City, Dr Tenny Lam.

         Hong Kong’s first 3-dimensional Infrastructure Map supporting STEAM education was launched at the ceremony, introducing 32 types of infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and the related STEAM knowledge. The Infrastructure Map will be exhibited in various districts in Hong Kong in the future to let members of the public understand the edges of the infrastructure of Hong Kong.
     
         The first set of architecture-themed learning and teaching materials of the STEAM UP project, including teachers’ lesson plans and teaching materials, as well as story books, games and e-learning platforms for students, was also rolled out at the ceremony, offering all-round support to STEAM education in schools. Another eight sets of learning and teaching materials, covering aspects of architecture, surveying, planning, landscape architecture and engineering, will be launched progressively for use in classrooms in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong starting from 2025/26 school year.

         Ten thematic zones are set up in the exhibition. In addition to the aforementioned two major projects, the exhibition also introduces the work, career paths and development prospect of various professional fields in the construction industry, helping students plan their careers. Interactive games with construction robots are also available.

         A series of talks are also organised in the exhibition, where speakers from government departments, tertiary institutions, training institutions, professional institutes and trade associations discuss topics covering innovative technology, Building Information Modelling, artificial intelligence, Modular Integrated Construction, Multi-trade integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing, etc.

         The Infrastructure x Education Exhibition is part of the Learning & Teaching Expo 2025 being held from July 2 to 4, at Booth R01, Hall 3B, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Expo Drive, Wan Chai. For more information about the exhibition, please visit: https://www.constructionhk.org/en/infrastructure-education/.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Fit for the Future: Health and Social Care Secretary’s statement

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Oral statement to Parliament

    Fit for the Future: Health and Social Care Secretary’s statement

    Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, made an oral statement announcing Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England.

    Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

    With your permission, I will make a statement to the House on ‘Fit for the Future’ – the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England.

    There are moments in our national story when our choices define who we are.

    In 1948, the Attlee Government made a choice founded on fairness: that everyone in our country deserves to receive the care you need, not just the care you can afford. 

    It enshrined in law and in the service itself, our collective conviction that healthcare is not a privilege to be bought and sold, but a right to be cherished and protected.

    And now it falls to our generation to make the same choice: to rebuild our National Health Service, and protect in this century what Attlee’s government built for the last.

    That is the driving mission of our Ten-Year Plan.

    In September, Lord Darzi provided the diagnosis: The NHS was broken [political content redacted].

    In the past year, Labour has put the NHS on the road to recovery.

    • We promised 2 million extra appointments, and we’ve delivered more than 4 million.
    • We promised 1,000 new GPs on the frontline. We’ve recruited 1,900.
    • We’ve taken almost a quarter of a million off waiting lists, cutting waiting lists to their lowest level in two years.

    And we have launched an independent commission, chaired by Baroness Casey, to build a national consensus around a new national care service to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century.

    Today, the Prime Minister has set out our prescription to get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future.

    Our Plan will deliver three big shifts:

    First, from hospital to community.

    We will turn our National Health Service into a Neighbourhood Health Service. The principle is simple: Care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary.

    We’ll put Neighbourhood Health Centres in every community, so you can see a GP, nurse, physio, care worker, therapist, get a test, scan, or treatment for minor injuries, all under one roof. The NHS will be organised around patients, rather than patients having to organise their lives around the NHS.

    It will be easier and faster to see a GP. We will train thousands more, end the 8am scramble, provide same-day consultations, and bring back the family doctor.

    If you are someone with multiple conditions and complex needs, the NHS will co-create a personal care plan, so your care is done with you, not to you.

    Pharmacy will play an expanded role in the Neighbourhood Health Service. They will manage long-term conditions; treat conditions like obesity and high blood pressure; screen for disease and vaccinate against it.

    And we will reform the dental contract, to get more dentists doing NHS work, rebuilding NHS dentistry.

    Over the course of this Plan, the majority of the 135 million outpatient appointments done each year will be moved out of hospitals. The funding will follow, so a greater share of NHS investment is spent in primary and community care.

    Second, from analogue to digital.

    No longer will NHS staff have to enter seven passwords to login to their computers, or spend hours writing notes and entering data. Our Plan will liberate frontline staff from the parts of the job they hate, so they can focus on the job they love – caring for patients.

    For the first time ever, patients will be given real control over a single, secure and authoritative account of their data. The single patient record will mean NHS staff can see your medical records and know your medical history, so they can provide you with the best possible care.

    Wearable technology will feed in real-time health data, so patients’ health can be monitored while they stay in the comfort of their own home, with clinicians reaching out at the first signs of deterioration.

    The NHS App will become the front door to the health service, delivering power to the patient. You will be able to:

    • Book and rearrange appointments for you, your children, or a loved one you care for
    • Get instant advice from an AI doctor in your pocket
    • Leave feedback on your care, and see what feedback other patients have left
    • Choose where you’re treated
    • Book appointments in urgent care, so you don’t wait for hours
    • And refer yourself to a specialist where clinically appropriate

    And of course, patients can already do these things, but only if they can afford private healthcare. With Labour’s plan, every patient will receive a first-class service, whatever their background and whatever they earn.

    Third, from sickness to prevention.

    Working with the food industry, we will make the healthy choice the easy choice to cut calories.

    We will rollout obesity jabs on the NHS.

    We’ll get Britain moving, with our new NHS Points scheme.

    We’ll update school food standards so kids are fed healthy, nutritious meals.

    And we will tackle the mental health crisis, with support in every school to catch problems early, 24/7 support with virtual therapists for moderate need, and dedicated emergency departments for patients for when they reach crisis point

    Madam Deputy Speaker, the science is on our side. The revolution in artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data offers a golden opportunity to deliver better care at better value.

    New innovator passports and reform of NICE and the MHRA will see medicines and technology rapidly adopted.

    Robotic surgery will become the norm in certain procedures, so patients recover from surgery at home rather than in hospital beds.

    And the NHS will usher in a new age of medicine, leapfrogging disease so we are predicting and preventing it, rather than just diagnosing and treating. It is therefore the ambition of this plan to provide a genomic test for every newborn baby by 2035.

    Thanks to my Right Honourable Friend, the Chancellor, this plan is backed by an extra £29 billion a year by the end of the Spending Review period, and the biggest capital investment in the history of the NHS.

    Of course, alongside that investment, comes reform. This plan slashes unnecessary bureaucracy, and devolves power and resource to the frontline.

    It abolishes more than 200 bodies, because listening to patients, guaranteeing safety, and protecting whistleblowers is core business for the NHS, and should never have been outsourced.

    It commits to publishing league tables to rank providers.

    We will intervene in failing providers to turn them around, and reinvent the foundation trust model in a new system of earned autonomy.

    Pay will be tied to performance, so excellence is recognised, and failure has consequences.

    Tariffs will be reduced to boost productivity.

    Block contracts will end, with funding tied to outcomes.

    The plan gives power to the patient, so hospitals are financially rewarded for a better service.

    It closes health inequalities by investing more in working class communities.

    And it establishes a National Investigation into maternity and neonatal services – to deliver the truth, justice, and improvement that bereaved families deserve.

    Madam Deputy Speaker, I am sometimes told that NHS staff are resistant to change. On the contrary, they’re crying out for it. They suffer the moral injury of seeing their patients treated in unfit conditions. And they’re the ones driving innovation on the frontline, and so their fingerprints are all over this Plan.

    The public are desperate for change, too. Each of us has our own story about the NHS and the difference it has made to our own lives. And we also know the consequences of failure. That is why we cannot afford to fail.

    To succeed, we need to defeat the cynicism that says that says ‘nothing ever changes’. 

    We know the change in our Plan is possible because it’s already happening. We have toured the length and breadth of the country and scouted the world for the best examples of reform. If Australia can effectively serve communities living in the outback, we can surely meet the needs of rural England. If community health teams can go door to door to prevent illness in Brazil, we can certainly do the same in Bradford.

    We know we can build the Neighbourhood Health Service, because teams in Cornwall, Camden, Northumbria, and Stratford – where I was with the Prime Minister and Chancellor this morning – are already showing us how to do it. 

    So, we will take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS. And we will apply the best examples of innovation from around the world, to benefit people here at home.

    Above all else, we will give power to the patient. This Plan fulfils Nye Bevan’s commitment in 1948 to put a megaphone to the mouth of every patient. And it will restore the founding promise of the NHS, to be there for us when we need it.

    [Political content redacted]

    It falls to us to make sure that the NHS not only survives, but thrives. And we will not let our country down.

    And of course, if we succeed, we will be able to say with pride that will echo down the decades of the 21st century, that we were the generation that built an NHS fit for the future and a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    [I commend this statement to the House.]

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear Announces Platinum Sponsorship and Participation in Panel Discussion at the Defense Strategies Institute’s 7th Annual DoD Energy & Power Summit.

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York, N.Y., July 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing clean energy solutions, today announced that it is the Platinum Sponsor of the upcoming Defense Strategies Institute’s 7th Annual DoD Energy & Power Summit to be held on July 9-10, 2025, at the National Housing Center in Washington, DC.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Chief Executive Officer James Walker will participate in a panel discussion titled, “Exploring Cutting Edge Nuclear Energy Solutions for Defense Applications” at 11:10am on July 9th. This panel will delve into the rapidly evolving landscape of nuclear energy technologies and their potential to revolutionize defense capabilities. It will also discuss the cutting-edge advancements in nuclear reactor designs, including small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors, and their suitability for powering remote military installations, advanced weapon systems, and future propulsion technologies.

    The panel will additionally feature leaders of key United States nuclear research and oversight organizations, including the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors, Department of Energy Dr. Rian Bahran, SES; Associate Laboratory Director, Nuclear Science & Technology Directorate, Idaho National Laboratory Jess Gehin, Ph. D., and the Director of Nuclear Engineering Program, Virginia Tech Research Center Alireza Haghighat Ph.D.

    “The momentum behind our work to deliver mobile, resilient nuclear power solutions continues to grow, and I look forward to discussing their potential defense applications during the panel,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear. “This summit offers a valuable forum to engage directly with energy leaders from the government and the Department of Defense, and I expect productive, and important conversations.”

    Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Announced as the Platinum Sponsor of the DoD Energy & Power Summit, held on July 9-10, 2025, at the National Housing Center in Washington, DC.

    The Department of Defense is the single largest energy consumer in the United States and consumes approximately 76% of federal energy consumption. This year’s DoD Energy and Power Summit will provide a forum for members of the DoD, Military Services, Federal Government, Industry, and Academia, and other leading stakeholders to enhance energy efficiency, resiliency, affordability, and security across the Department of Defense and federal government. This “town-hall” style summit will allow attendees to hear first-hand from decision makers and engage in meaningful conversations and discussions on US energy and power initiatives.

    “We’re proud to sponsor the DoD Energy & Power Summit and meet with leading policymakers and military officials in Washington,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear. “We’ve engaged numerous seasoned, former military and government experts onto our team to better position NANO Nuclear to support the DoD and DOE in their energy transition efforts. Our advanced reactor designs prioritize efficiency, safety, and reliability, qualities essential for powering critical installations and supporting the women and men who protect the nation.”

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across five business lines: (i) cutting edge portable and other microreactor technologies, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation, (iv) nuclear applications for space and (v) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s reactor products in development include patented KRONOS MMR™Energy System, a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that is in construction permit pre-application engagement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in collaboration with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.), “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, and the space focused, portable LOKI MMR™, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

    Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

    HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

    NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as the LOKI MMR™ system and other power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.

    For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

    For further NANO Nuclear information, please contact:

    Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
    Business Tel: (212) 634-9206

    PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:

    NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN
    NANO Nuclear Energy YOUTUBE
    NANO Nuclear Energy X PLATFORM

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. These and other forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state or non-U.S. nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology and the acquisition of complimentary technology or businesses, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, regulatory delays, integration issues and the development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations, (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of U.S. and non-U.S. government regulation, policies and licensing requirements, including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the operating an early stage business a highly regulated and rapidly evolving industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Speech by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs upon acceptance Tipperary International Peace Award

    Source: Government of Qatar

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Esteemed Members of the Tipperary Peace Convention,

    Distinguished Guests,

    It is with deep humility and immense gratitude that I accept the Tipperary International Peace Award, not as a personal honor, but on behalf of the State of Qatar—its people, its principles, and its leadership. It is a recognition of what Qatar represents in the world today: a steady voice for peace, a defender of dialogue, and a nation that does not waver in the face of hardship.

     To stand here in Ireland—a country whose peace was earned through reconciliation and moral courage—is profoundly meaningful. Your journey affirms what we in Qatar have always believed: peace is not given, it is built.

    I am reminded of the late John Hume, who said: “The basis of peace and stability, in any society, has to be the fullest respect for the human rights of all its people.”

    However, today, I speak to you not about my story, but the story of the proud people of Qatar.

    I am often asked, What guides Qatar’s efforts, from Gaza to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to Ukraine, Some have claimed that Qatar does this for its own gain. This cannot be further from the truth.

    Our work is not transactional; it is transformational. It is not a tactic; it is a national identity shaped by culture, driven by faith, enshrined in the constitution, and inspired by leadership.

    His Highness the Amir is a model of leadership rare in today’s world. He does not simply govern—he feels, putting his heart and soul in every duty, from the needs of his citizens, to regional and international peace. He sees the people of the region, and innocent people around the world, as his own, grieves for every life lost, and envisions peace as his legacy.

    Words cannot express my pride in His Highness. I had the honor to serve my country under his leadership for over ten years, and will be honored to do so for as long as I am able to. It is his wisdom, passion, and determination that I personally draw from the inspiration to propel me forward.

    This award comes at a moment of great significance.

    Just a week ago, our country came under direct missile attack, a direct result of recklessness concerning the peace and stability of our region. But even as our air defences were falling, our diplomats were doing theirs, securing a ceasefire by dawn. Most importantly, dawn broke with no lives lost and no human cost. That realization led to the choice of restraint rather than retaliation. At that difficult moment, while we were discussing with the Emir options of what our next move will be, he decided that as long as thankfully no lives were lost in the attack, none shall be lost. The choice was restraint.
    And I must be clear: Qatar chose restraint from a position of strength, not weakness, because we prioritized regional stability and the well-being of all in our region, over rhetoric and pity show of force.

    And frankly speaking, we do not want to be among the countries who are in the club preaching something and doing something else. So we are trying to at least practice what we preach.

    We have long warned of the dangers of regional spillover and of how the reckless behavior of Israel risked widening the conflict beyond repair. The price of ignoring those warnings is being paid not only in Gaza but across the region.

    The ever-expanding conflicts in our world today have put to the test the ideals and principles that are supposed to secure international peace, the blatant violations of international law, and especially international humanitarian law that are ongoing, with very little accountability and complete impunity perpetrated by members of the United Nations are increasing every day. The erosion of trust in the international order and norms. Nowhere is it safe.

    Nowhere is that tragedy more visible than in Gaza. The images from there are unbearable. The loss is unspeakable. Yet in the face of devastation, His Highness the Amir has remained unwavering in his commitment to the people of Gaza, whether it be through continuous aid, actively working towards peace, or defending their dignity in the international arena.

    In the international arena, not only the people of Gaza, but we remain committed to freeing the remaining Israeli hostages despite the Israeli government’s apathy towards a peaceful outcome. A human life to us is sacred, regardless of political or any other identity.

    Their suffering weighs heavily on our conscience and strengthens our resolve.

    Even when provoked, even when attacked, we remain committed to peace—not as a slogan, but as a duty. Our armed forces protect our sovereignty with courage. Our diplomats build bridges in silence. And through it all, our people stand united.

    As our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

    “Shall I not tell you what is better than the rank of prayer, fasting, and charity? It is reconciling people.”

    To the next generation—those watching from afar: do not believe that peace is naïve. It is harder than war. But it is worth every effort. It is stronger than cynicism and louder than violence.

    On behalf of the people of Qatar, I thank the Tipperary Peace Convention for this recognition. And on their behalf, I accept it with humility and with renewed commitment—that Qatar will remain a voice of calm, a partner in peace, and a friend to all who believe that dialogue must triumph over destruction.

    May we remain faithful to that cause.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: EU sets out steps to becoming global leader in quantum

    Source: European Union 2

    From diagnosing diseases more quickly to performing complex computational tasks, quantum science has huge social and economic potential. The EU has launched a new plan to develop the quantum sector and turn Europe into a global leader in quantum by 2030. The plan will create thousands of new jobs.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Five UConn Student Teams Innovate Decarbonization This Summer Through Eversource-Supported Challenge

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    UConn is deepening its commitment to a sustainable future through a student-focused innovation challenge designed to reduce carbon emissions and promote clean energy solutions. In partnership with Eversource Energy, UConn has launched its third annual summer competition aimed at engaging students in the design of the future energy landscape.

    The competition has attracted an impressive group of participants, with five finalist teams comprising 11 students – five undergraduates and six graduates. These talented individuals represent eight diverse departments and schools: the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and School of Computing in the College of Engineering; the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR); the School of Business; and the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

    This multidisciplinary representation brings together diverse perspectives and technical expertise to address the complex challenges of decarbonization and the energy transition across UConn campuses and Connecticut municipalities.

    Each team will receive summer funding and be paired with mentors from UConn faculty and Eversource Energy. The mentorship will support students in refining their proposals and addressing the practical dimensions of their clean energy solutions. This hands-on guidance is designed to help participants explore real-world applications of their research and ideas.

    The culmination of the teams’ work will be presented at the 2025 Sustainable Clean Energy Summit on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. The event will take place alongside the 2025 North American Power Symposium, offering students a valuable platform to present their innovations to an audience of industry professionals, researchers, utility leaders and state officials.

    Following the Summit, the winning team will receive additional funding to continue their work throughout the academic year. This extended support aims to help transform early-stage ideas into actionable and impactful clean energy solutions.

    The continued collaboration between UConn and Eversource Energy underscores a shared commitment to environmental responsibility, climate resilience, and technological advancement. Through this initiative, students are empowered to take an active role in building a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.

    The projects and student teams selected for the 2025 Clean Energy & Sustainability Innovation Program are:

    Project 1: Fuel Cell as a Catalyst for Local Economic and Environmental Development

    Students: Songyang Zhou (Master’s Student, Data Science), Jane Torrence ’27 (BUS)

     

    Project 2: UConn’s Wastewater to Bioenergy: Integrated Chlorella Cultivation and Pyrolysis

    Students: Azeem Sarwar (Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering), Maham Liaqat (Ph.D. Candidate, Chemistry), Muhammad Hassan (Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering).

     

    Project 3: Dual Characterization of Innovative Hydropower Systems for Sustainable Energy Storage and Generation

    Students: Jonathan Hylton ’26 (ENG), Safiya Crockett ’26 (CAHNR).

    Project 4: Harnessing Tidal Energy for Shoreside Electrification: A Tool for Sustainable Power in Coastal Connecticut Marine Terminals

    Students: Aryanna Fontanez (Ph.D. Student, Civil Engineering), Yamila Garcia (Master’s Student, Computer Science and Engineering).

    Project 5: Proactive PV Maintenance Using Multi-Modal UAV Imagery

    Students: Nicholas Bailey ’26 (ENG, CLAS), Tyler King ’26 (ENG).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Managing healthcare easy as online banking with revamped NHS App

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Managing healthcare easy as online banking with revamped NHS App

    NHS App to become complete digital front door to NHS, where patients book appointments, manage medicines, and view data

    • PM sets out how 10 Year Health Plan will bring NHS into 21st century to meet the needs of patients around the country
    • Patients to make self-referrals via App, connect with a clinician, link-up wearable tech, and gain free access to health apps
    • Plan for Change will rebuild NHS and see ground-breaking Single Patient Record finally in one place – viewable on App from 2028

    Patients will be able to access a range of healthcare services and advice at the touch of a button, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has set out today, as the Government’s Plan for Change drives forward fundamental reform to the NHS to make it easier and fairer for everyone to access the care they need.

    Launching the 10 Year Health Plan today – the government’s roadmap to rebuilding the health service to make it fit for the future – the PM set out how the App will act as a digital front door to the health service, overhauling how people get advice, manage appointments and interact with services to make their healthcare more convenient and more personalised.

    For the first time, patients will be able to book, move and cancel all their appointments on the App – ending the 8am scramble for a GP – and the App will use artificial intelligence to provide instant advice for patients who need non-urgent care, available 24/7.

    Through the plan, which has been published in Parliament today, patients will have quicker, better access to the right care. They will be able to self-refer on the App to mental health talking therapies, musculoskeletal services, podiatry, and audiology – freeing up GPs and new Neighbourhood Health Services to focus on providing direct care while dramatically slashing waiting lists for these services – delivering on the government’s Plan for Change promise to cut waiting lists.

    Accessing healthcare will be quicker than ever thanks to expanded features on the app. People will be able to manage their medicines and book vaccines from their phone, connect with a clinician for a remote consultation, and even leave a question for a specialist to answer without making an appointment. Patients simply being able to book an appointment digitally rather than today’s convoluted process will save the NHS £200 million over 3 years.

    For parents, the new App will deliver a 21st century alternative to the ‘red book’, ensuring that their children’s medical records are available to them in their pocket, so they do not have to carry their red books to every appointment. It will also provide advice and support throughout childhood, offering guidance on weaning and healthy habits. Over time, it will record feeding times, monitor sleep, and use AI analytics to understand the best way to care for children when they are unwell.

    The changes will build on the progress Government has already made to increase the number of hospitals allowing patients to view appointment information on the app. Almost 12 million fewer paper letters have been sent by hospitals since July 2024. Forecasts for this year show the use of in-app notifications for planned care will prevent the need for 15.7 million SMS messages.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

    For far too long, the NHS has been stuck in the past, reliant on letters, lengthy phone queues and even fax machines.

    But that doesn’t match the reality of our daily lives, where everything from shopping and banking to entertainment and travel can be sorted with the touch of a button from our phones.

    To rebuild our NHS, we have to make sure it reflects the society it serves. That’s why our 10 Year Health Plan will bring it into the digital age by opening up fairer and more convenient access to healthcare. Through our new App – a digital front door for your care – parents will be able to keep track of their children’s health through an online ‘red book’ fit for the 21st century, and we will put a stop to patients having to endlessly repeat their medical history thanks to a single patient record.

    Our Plan for Change promised to make our NHS fit for the future and that’s what we are getting on with delivering – fixing the foundations of our health service and making sure it will be there to look after us for decades to come.

    This is one major arm of the technological innovation at the heart of the 10 Year Health Plan launched today, which also includes introducing the single patient record, rolling out AI scribes to take notes for clinicians, using Generative AI to create the first draft of care plans, and introducing single sign-on for NHS software.

    The government’s 10 Year Health Plan sets out the fundamental reforms we will deliver to address the challenges facing the health service in the face of inherited underinvestment and neglect and the evolving needs of a modern society.

    Speaking at the launch of the plan today, the PM set out how the plan will deliver three key shifts to make the NHS fit for the future: hospital to community; analogue to digital; and sickness to prevention. Through fundamental reforms to rewire the NHS around these shifts, the plan will deliver the government’s pledge to cut waiting lists, improve healthcare for everyone wherever they live, and ensure the NHS is equipped to look after us for decades to come.

    This historic transformation will fundamentally change the future of healthcare, and it will be underpinned by a new Single Patient Record. This will finally bring together all of a patient’s medical records into one place, so patients do not have to repeat their medical history to each clinician they see. The Single Patient Record will make sure patients get seamless care no matter who they are being treated by in the NHS.

    Two-thirds of outpatient appointments – which currently cost in total £14 billion a year – will be replaced by automated information, digital advice, direct input from specialists and patient-initiated follow ups via the NHS App.

    Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

    The NHS App will become a doctor in your pocket, bringing our health service into the 21st century.

    Patients who can afford to pay for private healthcare can get instant advice, remote consultations with a doctor, and choose where and when their appointments will be. Our reforms will bring those services to every patient, regardless of their ability to pay.

    The 10 Year Health Plan will keep every patient fully informed of their healthcare and make using the NHS as easy and convenient as doing your banking or shopping online. It will deliver a fundamental shift in the way people access their care – from analogue to digital.

    A new Single Patient Record will bring an end to the frustration of repeating your medical history to different doctors. Instead, health and care professionals will have your record in one, handy place, so they can give you the best possible care.

    Through our Plan for Change, this Government is shifting care to digital and delivering an NHS which is truly fit for the future.

    The Government will make the Single Patient Record possible through new legislation that places a duty on every health and care provider to make the information they record about a patient, available in the Single Patient Record. 

    We will also legislate to give patients access to their record by default. From 2028, patients will be able to view it, securely, on the NHS App. Over time, that data will include not only medical records, but a personalised account of health risk, drawing from lifestyle, demographic and genomic data – helping catch problems early before they develop, and prevent people from poor health.

    The Single Patient Record is designed as National Critical Infrastructure. This means it will be built and maintained to meet the highest levels of security, equivalent to those used for the UK’s most vital systems, such as energy and transport networks. Health and care professionals treating and caring for a patient will have secure access to their record; patients can control who else they share it with and will have a robust audit trail of who has accessed their record.

    Sir Jim Mackey, Chief Executive at NHS England, said:

    The NHS App will be at the heart of the tech transformation we’re planning for the NHS to give people much more ownership of their healthcare – all from wherever they are at the tap of a screen. 

    Millions of us already have the app downloaded on our phones and the improvements we’re introducing as part of the 10 Year Health Plan, from booking appointments and speaking to clinicians online to seeing all your medical records in one place, will make the NHS App the digital front door to the NHS.

    A My Health tool will include real-time data from wearables, biometric sensors, or smart devices and will connect to relevant NHS data too – whether that is the results of recent tests at home or in a neighbourhood health centre. Wearables will be able to feed vital data into the App such as step count, heart rate and sleep quality, to provide tailored, personal health advice. The single patient record will have robust security controls.

    And a new My NHS GP tool will harness AI to direct people to the most appropriate and timely care they need. In some cases, it will advise on self-care – and help direct patients to well-evidenced consumer healthcare products. In others, it might direct to a community pharmacy, a neighbourhood health centre or to emergency care.

    Over the course of the plan, the features set to be developed through the NHS App will include the ability to:

    • My NHS GP – book a remote or face-to-face appointment, and receive personalised health advice using new AI tool
    • My Specialist – self-refer when clinically appropriate and leave a question for a specialist to answer
    • My Consult – connect with a clinician for a remote consultation
    • My Medicines – manage repeat prescriptions for delivery/collection and receive reminders
    • My Care – book and manage appointments, enrol in a clinical trial and access Single Patient Record
    • My Companion – get information about a health condition or procedure, and ask AI or a clinician a question
    • My Choices – find nearest pharmacy, the best providers, and leave feedback on services
    • My Vaccines – see when vaccines are up-to-date and book appointments to get them organised, and find travel vaccine info
    • My Health – bring data like blood pressure, heart rate, glucose levels together, and include real-time date from wearables or smart devices
    • My Children – a digitised red book, where parents can get advice and support for parents throughout childhood
    • My Carer – securely prove you are a carer, book appointments and talk to your loved one’s care team

    Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said: 

    It’s clear that technology is set to transform many aspects of our lives for the better over the next decade, including the delivery of healthcare and how we interact with the NHS.  

    The potential of the NHS App for example, is truly exciting, but we must also ensure that no one is left behind, including the many millions of older people who are not online and who often want and need to use more traditional means of communication, such as telephone and face to face.  

    The Government’s commitment to a digitally inclusive approach is really important in building public trust. It is also essential for the NHS’s promise of being equally accessible to continue to hold true in our increasingly digital world. The voluntary sector can certainly help by supporting people who are not digital natives and at Age UK we look forward to playing our part in this way.

    Julian David, CEO, techUK said: 

    We welcome today’s announcement as a landmark moment in the digital transformation of the NHS. The enhanced NHS App marks a bold step forward in putting citizens at the centre of their care, empowering patients with the same ease, accessibility, and control we expect from modern digital services. 

    Ongoing and meaningful engagement with the tech sector will be essential to delivering this transformation at scale. techUK will continue to work with government, NHS bodies, and our members to ensure this transformation is inclusive, secure, and future-ready.

    Boosting the App will not only benefit those managing their healthcare digitally but will also free up capacity in traditional healthcare routes and provide more access to care and appointments – freeing up phone lines so calls are answered on time and freeing up GPs’ capacity to offer face-to-face appointments.

    The government will aim to empower and upskill everyone to feel confident using the NHS App so that they can benefit from the additional access to services and the greater convenience the App will bring.

    The government will continue a partnership with libraries and other community organisations to set people up on the App, with show-and-tells to teach them how to use it and reap the benefits – this will be alongside ongoing work across government to improve access to technology and boost confidence among groups that have previously struggled.

    Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: 

    The foundations for a healthy life are laid in childhood, so an ambition of creating the healthiest generation of children yet is an important step towards tackling the deep inequalities in their healthcare. 

    I have long called for a child’s ‘red book’ to be digitised, so this is a really welcome move. Taken with plans currently going through Parliament to develop a unique childhood identifier, will vastly improve how we protect and care for the most vulnerable children, with fewer in danger of falling through gaps in services. 

    Children tell me that when they need additional support, they want it in one place, so creating neighbourhood services that bring different professionals under one roof will make a practical difference in their lives, as will increasing access to GPs and dentists.

    Andrew Davies, Executive Director of Digital Health, Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), said:  

    This transformation of the NHS App is an important milestone for healthcare delivery. A single, secure platform to access a range of services, digital tools and therapeutics, and connect devices will enable patients to more effectively engage with their care.  

    This plan showcases how HealthTech can drive a more efficient, personalised and accessible NHS, which in turn will free up time for clinicians to focus on care where it is needed most. Our members look forward to working with the NHS and Government to ensure these digital tools are implemented successfully and deliver meaningful benefits for patients across the country.

    Rachel Power, Chief Executive, the Patients Association said: 

    We welcome the government’s ambition to expand the NHS App as a central part of the 10 Year Health Plan. It could deliver the fundamental change patients have asked for in their interactions with the NHS, including the ability to manage their appointments, self-refer to vital services, and, in three years’ time, be able to view their health records through the Single Patient Record.  

    Our work with patients shows that those using the app often feel more in control and more satisfied with their care. But with nearly one in four still facing barriers to digital access, we must ensure that innovation doesn’t come at the cost of inclusion. If the NHS App is to become the digital front door, there must always be a real-world, accessible front door as well, with face-to-face or telephone options in place for those who need or want them. True progress means making the system work for everyone.

    Professor Habib Naqvi, chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said: 

    We need a more focused and systematic approach to tackling health inequalities and addressing unacceptable variation in healthcare amongst our communities. A key enabler for this endeavour is digital tools. The transformation of the NHS App has the potential to lead to a more efficient, agile, and technologically enabled NHS – an NHS that will deliver care quicker and closer to where people live. The App will empower people and transform the way the public receives healthcare and engages with NHS services. The Observatory will help ensure this shift, in the way healthcare is provided, benefits all communities equitable.

    Jacob Lant, Chief Executive of National Voices said: 

    Technology is moving at a blistering pace, and quite simply the NHS has failed to keep up. So, the increased emphasis on the App and other digital services is welcome, especially where it can help the NHS meet expectations that have become common place in other sectors.  

    Critically the Plan recognises there will always be patients with more complex needs and commits to using the resource freed up by digital innovations to continue offering more traditional forms of access to those who need it.” 

    Richard Stubbs, Chair of the Health Innovation Network said:  

    It is right that the 10 Year Health Plan will establish the digital and data foundations of the NHS to realise the potential of health innovation in empowering patients, better supporting the NHS workforce and driving economic growth in every community.  

    The Health Innovation welcomes the focus on AI, expansion of the NHS App and the commitment to a single patient record, all of which will involve innovation partnerships to deliver change to local services, that will have a national impact. 

    The 15 health innovation networks across England, look ahead to operationalising these plans and working with our partners to find, test and implement at scale innovations that improve patient outcomes, increased NHS productivity and reduce waiting lists, while delivering economic growth. If we get this right we will not only greatly increase outcomes and satisfaction for our patients, but we will also boost our essential life sciences sector and, as our Defining the Size of the Health Innovation Prize report found, add up to £278bn a year to the UK economy.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ARU initiatives recognised for real-world impact

    Source: Anglia Ruskin University

    The exceptional real-world impact of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) researchers, teams and projects has been recognised by the national Alliance Awards 2025.

    ARU has three shortlisted nominees for this year’s Alliance Awards, organised by University Alliance, with each making significant contributions to the wider community.

    Dr Mirna Guha, Deputy Head of ARU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, is nominated for the Research and Innovation Impact Award for improving domestic abuse and sexual violence (DASV) services across England.

    Dr Guha is helping to address the shortage of specialist support provided by and for women from minority backgrounds by leading initiatives to promote racially diverse leadership within support services. She also advises Peterborough Women’s Aid on the Dahlia Project, an intervention which emerged from her research.

    ARU’s Trusted Adult Scheme (TAS) is shortlisted for the Local Impact Award, which is supported by UCAS. TAS is a collaboration between ARU, Cambridgeshire County Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System (NHS) and helps young people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by providing safe spaces, mentorship, and guidance.

    Children and young people aged 14-19, with social workers, are referred to TAS, which offers on-campus activities such as music recording, street art and gym access.

    ARU’s Social Work team is shortlisted for the Teaching Innovation Award for its innovative and inclusive teaching methods for apprenticeship students.

    Teaching begins with reflective wellbeing check-ins, to help improve compassionate resilience, and the sessions have been carefully designed to embrace inclusive teaching for neurodivergent and disabled students on the BA (Hons) Social Worker Degree Apprenticeship course.

    University Alliance represents professional and technical universities in the UK and the shortlists for each award were selected by an independent panel of expert judges from across the higher education and research sector.

    “This year we have renewed the categories for the Alliance Awards – and the response has been phenomenal.

    “We have received over 250 nominations across nine categories, and I continue to be awe-inspired by the range, the depth and the quality of the many individuals and teams across the Alliance.

    “The judges’ shortlisting to decide the nominees was incredibly competitive and close, with some categories receiving over 25 nominations. This attests to the sky-high standard of work that goes on across Alliance Universities.”

    Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance

    The winners will be announced at the Alliance Awards 2025 ceremony on 18 September, hosted by the University of Hertfordshire.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM speech at the launch of the 10 Year Health Plan: 3 July 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    PM speech at the launch of the 10 Year Health Plan: 3 July 2025

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s speech at the launch of the 10 Year Health Plan.

    Thank you Rachel, thank you Wes. And thank you Denyse. Come and sit down with us. Denyse’s story is fantastic. Because she works here. She lives in this borough and she uses the services here. 

    What a great testament that is. And Denyse, thank you for your introduction and thank you for your words. 

    It’s a privilege to be here with you in Stratford. I’ve seen the work that you have been doing this morning. And I’m sorry for interrupting your work.  

    I do understand how hard it is. My mum worked in the NHS. She was a nurse, a proud nurse. My sister worked in the NHS and my wife still works in the NHS in one of the big London hospitals. So I do understand what you do, how you do it, what you put in and why you do it. 

    So let me start by saying a big thank you to all of you for what you do, and if I may, through you, to say thank you to all NHS staff right across the country who do what they do as public servants by treating and caring for other people.

    Thank you also for welcoming us here. To your Neighbourhood Health Centre. Because it’s buildings like this here that represent the future of the NHS.

    As I’ve just had the chance to go around and see some of the work that’s going on here. The 24 teams that you have got working on dentistry. I’m really pleased to see that you don’t need an appointment, you can walk in. You have got children and families up there on the next floor having their teeth done. That’s hugely important. 

    And that’s what a Neighbourhood Health Service can do working in partnership with the people it serves. And Denyse you are the embodiment of that.  

    Power and control in their hands. Care closer to their community. Services organised around their lives.   

    But look – before I say a bit more about the future in a minute. But it is important that we go back a year to the NHS left by the last government. With record waiting lists. The lowest ever satisfaction. I know the toll that takes on staff who work so hard. 

    100,000 children waiting more than six hours in A&E. 

    Now – I’m not going to stand here and say that everything is perfect now. We have so much work to do and we will do it. 

    But let’s be under absolutely no illusions. Because of the fair choices we made, the tough [political content redacted] decisions we made the future already looks better for our NHS. 

    That’s the story of this Government in a nutshell. With breakfast clubs, hugely important for children coming into schools so they are ready to learn.

    Potholes across the country – filled. Fuel duty – frozen. Four interest rate cuts, hugely important for mortgage holders.

    Setting up Great British energy, levelling up workers’ rights, record investment in affordable housing, infrastructure the length and breadth of our country. 

    It’s all down to the foundation we laid this year. All down to the path of renewal that we chose. 

    The decisions made by the Chancellor, by Rachel Reeves which mean we can invest record amounts in the NHS.  

    Already over 6000 mental health workers recruited.  

    1700 new GPs. 

    170 Community Diagnostic Centres, really important, already open. 

    New surgical hubs, new mental health units, new ambulance sites. Record investment – right across the system. 

    And because of all that the results are crystal clear. 

    At the last election a year ago, we promised two million extra appointments in the NHS in the first year of [political content redacted] government. 

    We have now delivered four million extra appointments and that’s thanks to your hard work and that of your colleagues. 

    4 million. That’s a record amount for a single year ever. And I want to thank you for the part that you have played in that. 

    That is what change looks like.

    A promise made and a promised delivered. 

    And turning those statistics into the human is really important. So let me tell you about Jane. 

    At Christmas, she was taken to hospital with back pain. 

    And the diagnosis was not good. She needed her gallbladder removed. Jane asked as you can imagine “how long will I have to wait”. 

    And they said – “I’m sorry, but at the moment it could take up to ten months.” 

    Yet – because we have speeded up electives, because we have speeded up appointments, by May – she was offered a private appointment, paid for by the NHS, as part of our plan. 

    And now Jane is pain free. 

    Five months – not ten. 

    She’s got five months back – free from pain, free from anxiety and in a sense her life is no longer on hold. 

    That’s what change looks like in human terms. [Political content redacted.] 

    But we have to keep going. 

    We are fixing the foundations. We made choices no other government would have made and we are starting to repair the damage done to the NHS and public health, through Covid and austerity. 

    But reform isn’t just about fixing problems. It’s also about seizing opportunities. 

    And the way I see it – there is an opportunity here. 

    Because the NHS is at a turning point in its history. 

    We’re an older society now. Disease has changed. 

    Conditions are chronic, they are long-term, they need to be managed. And that means we need to reform the NHS to make it fit for the future. 

    With the technology that is available to us now, we have an unprecedented chance to do that to make care better. 

    To transform the relationship between people and the state. To give patients more power and control. And this is about fairness. 

    Millions of people across Britain no longer feel they get a fair deal. 

    And it’s starting to affect the pride, the hope, the optimism they have in this great country. 

    Our job is to change that. And the NHS is a huge part of it. I mean – for 77 years this weekend the NHS has been an embodiment if you like of British pride, hope, that basic sense of fairness and decency. 

    77 years – of everyone paying in, working hard, doing the right thing, secure in the knowledge, that if they or their family needs it, the NHS will be there for them. 

    In ten years’ time – when this plan has run its course, I want people to say this was the moment, this was the government that secured those values for the future. 

    And look – when people are uncertain about the deal they are getting from this country, what fairer way is there to respond to that than by giving them more control. 

    By partnering with them, to build an NHS that is fit to face the future. 

    That’s what this plan that we are launching today will do. 

    And it will do so in three ways. 

    Three shifts that will transform healthcare in this country. 

    First – we will shift the NHS away from being only a sickness service to a health service that is genuinely preventative in the first place, prevents disease in the first place.  

    That means a stronger focus on vaccination, on screening, early diagnosis.  

    Things like innovative weight loss services – available in pharmacies. 

    Working with major food businesses – to make their products healthier.

    Better mental health support, particularly for our young people. And starting with children aged sixteen this year we will raise the first entirely smoke-free generation. 

    Second – we will shift the NHS away from being a hospital-dominated service to being a community, neighbourhood health service. 

    You can see why we chose to come here. Places like this are the future of our NHS. You don’t have to book an appointment. You can just walk in. There are families here and people who use the services live in this area. 

    Now of course hospitals will always be important – for acute services especially.  

    But I say it again – disease has changed. And we must change with it. 

    And not only can we do that. We can do it in a way that improves care and convenience for millions of people. 

    So just imagining nurses, doctors, pharmacists, dentists, carers, health visitors all under one roof.  

    But also, services like debt advice, employment support, smoking cessation: preventative services which we know are so crucial for a healthy life. 

    Now that is an exciting prospect.  

    You know – the idea that the future of healthcare is no longer defined by top-down citadels of the central state.

    But is instead here – in your home, in your community, in your hands, that’s an inspiring vision of change. 

    It will bring the state and the people it serves into a partnership on something we all care deeply about. 

    But more importantly. It means a future where we have better GP access, no more 8am scrambles, more dental care for your children, better care on your doorstep and a Neighbourhood Health Centres like this in our coastal towns, in rural counties, in every community across the country. Every community across the country. 

    Finally – the third shift from the analogue NHS we have at the moment to a truly digital health service.

    A health service capable of seizing the enormous opportunities before us in science and technology.  

    In genomics, in artificial intelligence, advanced robotics. 

    Look – I have seen in your everyday lives what this can do.

    I’ve spoken to stroke patients who have had their lives saved by technology and AI because it could find the blood clot in their brain in milliseconds, giving them just enough time to be operated on and saving their lives. 

    So this plan – backs technology to deliver. Because it can and will save thousands of lives. But it’s not just about saving lives.

    AI and technology is an opportunity to make services more human. 

    That always sounds counterintuitive, but it does because what it gives all of you and all of your colleagues is more time to care, more time to do the things that only human beings can do which is that care that is needed, the professional skills that you have. So this will make it a more human service as well. 

    It gives you more time to care, to do all the things that brought you into the NHS in the first place.  

    And it’s not just cutting-edge technology either. 

    Technology like the phones in the pockets of everyone in this room we can use that too. 

    Now, you won’t hear this often in a speech – but look at your phones. But look at your apps! Seriously! Because what you see on that screen is that entire industries have reorganised around apps. 

    Retail, transport, finance, weather – you name it. 

    Why can’t we do that with health? 

    Why not the NHS app on your phone? 

    Making use of the same dynamic force to cut waiting lists at your hospital. 

    To make it easier for you to get a GP appointment, to give you more control over our health. 

    There’s no good reason why we can’t. So I can announce today, as part of this plan, that we can, and we will transform the NHS App so that it becomes an indispensable part of life for everyone. 

    It will become – as technology develops – like having a doctor in your pocket. 

    Providing you with 24 hours advice, seven days a week.

    An NHS that really is always there when you need it. 

    Booking appointments at your convenience, ordering your prescriptions, guiding you to local charities or businesses that can improve your wellbeing.  

    And perhaps most importantly, holding all healthcare data in an easily accessible, single patient record.

    Don’t underestimate how important that is. 

    I’ve been up to Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool many times, it’s a children’s hospital, it’s a brilliant hospital. 

    One of the times I was there I was on the ward, particularly young children were having heart surgery. 

    I have to tell you it was really humbling both seeing what the children were going through but also what the professional staff were doing. 

    When I went into a particular ward, I saw a two year old boy who had just had major heart surgery, it’s an incredible thing to see. 

    And I spoke to his parents who were at his bedside throughout. 

    One of the things they raised with me was the distress they felt that they had to go through every single condition that he had over and over again, whether they went to Blackpool, in Liverpool, at Alder Hey. 

    They were actually welling up telling me it’s a really difficult story for us, this is really hard. And we don’t want to keep having to repeat it, why can’t it be recorded the first time around? 

    I will remember their faces and the story they told me for a very long time. 

    But we can fix that. We can make it more accessible. We can bring this together in one place. 

    And there are other examples as well. That red book that every child gets. Why can’t that be digital? There’s no good reason. 

    And so that’s exactly what we’ll do. 

    We will turn this app into a new front door for the entire NHS. 

    A reformed, modernised and renewed – Neighbourhood Health Service. 

    That is the plan we launch today.    

    That is the change we will deliver. 

    [Political content redacted.] 

    The NHS on its feet. Facing the future. Delivering fairness and security for working people. 

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: 140 Innovative Ideas: Polytech Becomes a Platform for Tech Startups

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The Polytechnic University hosted a large-scale Forum of Science and Technological Entrepreneurship, organized as part of the Gazprom Neft initiative Vector of the Future with the support of the autonomous non-profit organization National Priorities.

    The goal of the forum, which is being held for the third year, is to develop applied science, popularize engineering professions, build a trusting dialogue between scientists and business representatives, and involve young specialists and technology teams in entrepreneurial activities.

    At the opening, guests were greeted by Vice-Rector for Research at SPbPU Yuri Fomin and Director of the Gazprom Neft Open Innovations Program Maxim Bardin.

    Yuri Fomin noted that the event touches on the very important topic of technological entrepreneurship for the country and the region, which was also raised at the recently held St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

    “At many sessions of the SPIEF, they discussed what technological entrepreneurship is, whether it should exist within the university perimeter, or in the external infrastructure,” shared Yuri Vladimirovich. “Opinions varied, but all experts agreed that technological entrepreneurship is important both for universities and for the economy as a whole, so it needs to be developed and supported.”

    Maxim Bardin thanked the guests for participating in the forum, and the Polytechnic University for providing the venue and active support for student scientific entrepreneurship.

    This year, the forum was held in a new format. The traditional “Entrepreneurship” track was dedicated to Gazprom Neft’s Industrix acceleration program, aimed at developing technology startups and innovative solutions for the oil and gas industry. This year, program participants presented experts with 140 innovative developments in the areas of capital construction and industrial safety, electric power, production, drilling and downhole operations, geological exploration, geology and development of oil and gas fields, gas and pipeline transport. The defense of the projects attracted the attention of many participants, because the experts’ assessment determines whether an idea will develop into a startup.

    The Science track included several events. Visitors to the interactive zone “12 Evil Science Viewers” discussed popular science content with representatives of the National Priorities ANO.

    Representatives of Gazpromneft – Industrial Innovations acted as experts in the open session with case studies “The Path of Innovation: from Laboratory Research to Industrial Implementation”.

    Also on the main stage of the forum in the lobby of the Research Building of Technopolis Polytech, an open dialogue with the head of the department of technological development of Gazprom Neft Bogdan Kostyuk and a meetup “From the laboratory to Forbes: how young scientists built a technology business” with the co-founder of the express delivery company for chemical reagents AppScience Maxim Pustovalov took place.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Ship-to-ship liquid carbon dioxide loading and unloading operation completed in China

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) — China has completed the loading and unloading of liquid carbon dioxide from ship to ship at the Yangshan Port in Shanghai, Science and Technology Daily reported.

    The event marks a major milestone as China has now achieved full cycle operations of carbon dioxide capture, liquefied gas storage, ship-to-ship loading and unloading and recycling, the news release said.

    The discharge was made possible by a carbon dioxide capture system developed by an institute under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), which achieves a comprehensive capture rate of over 80 percent and a capture purity of 99.9 percent.

    Efficient and safe transportation of liquid carbon dioxide is critical to the large-scale deployment of carbon capture technology on ships.

    The liquid carbon dioxide loading and unloading operation during ship-to-ship operations requires precise vessel positioning, complex piping connections and pressure control. Any slight deviation in operation may lead to risks, said Su Yi, general manager of the environmental protection equipment department at the institute.

    Compared with the traditional ship-to-shore CO2 loading and unloading, the ship-to-ship method allows for a quick response to the needs of vessels arriving from different sea areas.

    Earlier in May this year, China’s first offshore carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project was put into operation in the Pearl River Estuary Basin in southern China.

    CCUS is a new technological approach for low-carbon and highly efficient exploitation of fossil energy sources. -0-

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Paul-André Rosental is appointed as Scientific Director

    Source: Universities – Science Po in English

    July 1st, 2025

    Luis Vassy, President of Sciences Po, has appointed Paul-André Rosental as Scientific Director. 

    Paul-André Rosental is a University Professor at Sciences Po, where he has served as Director of the Centre for History since 2022. His research focuses on the history of the biopolitical domain, a broad field encompassing social protection, demography, migration, and public health. With a deeply interdisciplinary academic background, he is the author of several books published both in France and internationally, as well as over one hundred scholarly articles — including around thirty in medical journals. In this field, he has led a major project funded by the European Research Council, rooted in his work as a historian, which has had a tangible impact on occupational health policies in both France and the United States. Paul-André Rosental serves on numerous scientific advisory boards in France and abroad, notably within the Population Europe network in Berlin and the French Institute for Public Health Research (IReSP).

    Luis Vassy, President of Sciences Po: “I am proud to entrust the role of Scientific Director to Paul-André Rosental, who is not only a distinguished scholar but also a leading advocate of interdisciplinarity and a perceptive observer of the higher education and research landscape, both in France and abroad. With his exceptional expertise and strategic vision, he will make a decisive contribution to our scientific excellence, to the dynamism and vitality of our research units, to the integration of research and teaching, and to the opening of new fields of scientific inquiry. I am delighted to rely on him to further elevate the intellectual ambition and visibility of Sciences Po.”

    Paul-André Rosental, Scientific Director: ” Sciences Po must reflect, teach, and act in a historical moment which marks a break with the post-Cold War era. The reason why a historian offers to lead its scientific policy at such a turning point, is because a long-term perspective is essential to distinguish transformations that echo familiar patterns from those that demand new models of understanding. Thinking through the unprecedented — by strengthening our academic and public presence, and preparing our student and doctoral community for the responsibilities they will bear — will be the guiding principle of my mandate as Scientific Director.”

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Summer library festival set

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Hong Kong Public Libraries will launch the Summer Library Festival 2025 under the theme “Summer Footprints – Stories of Local Culture” in July and August, the Leisure & Cultural Services Department announced today.

     

    Through activities including workshops, online programme, exhibitions, etc, the festival aims to deepen the public’s understanding of the life and traditional culture of the city, and raise their interest in reading.

     

    Parents and children may join workshops at public libraries in various districts, where they can learn more about the life and culture of Hong Kong, such as the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, street food and the love for giant pandas through making handicrafts.

     

    They can also participate in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) workshops to make mini neon signs and distinctive music boxes, while learning about the science behind them. 

     

    For teenaged and adult readers, they can opt for taking part in the landscape painting with Hong Kong characteristics workshops to learn about drawing and painting the city’s beautiful scenery with coffee and pencils, or the transportation 3D origami workshops to make paper crafts of Hong Kong’s public transport icons.

     

    Furthermore, children can join storytelling workshops to learn about the significance of traditional festivals and make related handicrafts.

     

    The Summer Library Festival 2025 also includes a four-episode online programme with the theme “From the Dining Table to the Writing Desk”, exhibitions on the history of Hong Kong in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and intangible cultural heritage, different handicraft and traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy workshops, as well as large-scale calligraphy performances featuring the history and culture of the Qin and Han dynasties.

     

    All activities are free of charge. Seat reservations are required for some of the programmes.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: NRF launches call for expressions of interest for Presidential PhD Programme hubs

    Source: Government of South Africa

    The National Research Foundation (NRF) has made significant progress in implementing the Presidential PhD Programme by launching a call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from universities and other research organisations that wish to host the programme’s hubs.

    The Presidential PhD Programme is a collaboration between several organisations, including the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Presidency, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and the National Skills Fund (NSF). 

    This programme uses a hub-and-spoke model to facilitate effective communication and resource sharing among all participating institutions and partners.

    The call for EOI comes after the Presidential Plenary on Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) that took place in December 2023. 

    During this event, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the establishment of the Presidential PhD Programme. 

    This initiative will involve an initial investment of R1 billion, intended to support PhD training both locally and internationally, and will be linked to large-scale, well-established research projects in both public research facilities and industry.

    The initiative has four key components, which include developing world-class human capital in strategic areas and strengthening connections among academia, industry, government, and other stakeholders.

    It also involves enhancing graduate employability by providing exposure to transferable skills and innovation ecosystems and facilitating access to leading research environments globally to improve knowledge transfer and build local capacity.

    According to the NRF, the hubs will primarily be responsible for the design and implementation of collaborative PhD training programmes and activities. 

    The key founding principles of the hubs are synergy, inclusivity, multi-disciplinary, economies of scale, sharing of resources, and pursuing the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. 

    “The hubs will not only provide intellectual leadership but also serve as coordinators and training centres to ensure uptake of the opportunities within the Presidential PhD Programme’s initiatives, in collaboration with various stakeholders, including local and international research-performing institutions, universities, industry, science councils, and government departments.” 

    In addition, the hubs will be responsible for identifying strategic stakeholders and potential partners, while also assessing their needs and contributions. 

    They will lead the design and implementation of mentorship networks, monitor the progress of doctoral students towards completion, and coordinate the various nodes with support from the NRF.

    “We have taken a giant leap towards realising the ambitious goals of the Presidential PhD Programme,” said NRF CEO, Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo. 

    “The hubs will be instrumental in our national drive to develop a new generation of highly skilled researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders.” 

    The programme is grounded in the goals of the National Development Plan (NDP) and the STI Decadal Plan, which call for the graduation of 5 000 PhDs per annum and having 75% of the universities’ academic and research staff qualified with PhDs by 2030.

    The training programme will build critical skills aimed at social transformation, with the initial areas of focus being digital innovation, advanced biotechnology, the energy-food-health sustainability nexus, and mining transformation.

    The NRF will coordinate and mobilise support to attain the outcomes envisaged for graduate skilling in entrepreneurship, innovation, academia, policy, and advocacy.

    Institutions eligible to host lead hubs are NRF-recognised research institutions such as South African public universities and public research entities such as science councils, national research facilities, and institutes. 

    These institutions must possess strong research capabilities in a specific theme that aligns with the Presidential PhD Programme and have a proven track record in transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary coordination.

    Meanwhile, the NRF said institutions located on the continent and around the globe can participate in the hubs programme as nodes or as partners. – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Cameroon’s hidden green treasures unveiled in a book

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    World news story

    Cameroon’s hidden green treasures unveiled in a book

    The vulnerability of Cameroon’s rich plant biodiversity, with over 850 endangered species is highlighted in the book “Important Plant Areas of Cameroon”.

    A copy of the book, ‘Important Plant Areas of Cameroon’ .

    In a powerful moment for conservation, the book “Important Plant Areas of Cameroon” was officially launched on 18 June during UK – Cameroon Climate Week. This groundbreaking publication reveals a stunning yet sobering reality: over 850 endangered plant species are spread across 49 critical biodiversity hotspots in Cameroon.

    Co-authored by experts from Cameroon’s Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) National Herbarium, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the book positions Cameroon as Africa’s most tropically diverse nation. From lush rainforests to arid deserts, the country’s ecosystems are as varied as they are vital. Yet, this rich biodiversity faces mounting threats. 10% of Cameroon’s plant species are now endangered, and the country holds the highest number of threatened trees on the continent.

    The culprits? Expanding mining operations, aggressive logging, and the relentless spread of palm oil plantations are rapidly eroding Cameroon’s forests. These activities not only endanger plant life but also jeopardize the ecological balance of the entire Congo Basin.

    British High Commissioner Matt Woods used the book’s launch to spotlight Cameroon’s critical role in global climate discussions. He urged the international community to amplify Cameroon’s voice at major forums like COP30 and called for stronger global support to safeguard the Congo Basin’s irreplaceable biodiversity.

    Speaking during the book launch, the representative of Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, Prof. Philip Stevenson said:

    It’s been a fantastic week of new collaboration. We’ve been working with IRAD National Herbarium and developing opportunities to extend our reach and do more work here in Cameroon.

    This book is more than a catalogue of rare plants; it is a call to action. As the world grapples with climate change and biodiversity loss, Cameroon’s green treasures remind us of what’s at stake and what we still have the power to protect.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How do we define Canadian content? Debates will shape how creatives make a living

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Daphne Rena Idiz, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Toronto

    What should count as Canadian content (CanCon) in the era of streaming and generative AI (GenAI)?

    That’s the biggest unknown at the heart of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s recent (CRTC) public hearing, held in Gatineau, Que., from May 14 to 27.

    The debate is about how Canada’s current points-based CanCon system remains effective in the context of global streaming giants and generative AI. Shows qualify as CanCon by assigning value to roles like director, screenwriter and lead actors being Canadian.

    The outcome will shape who gets to tell Canadian stories and what those stories are, and also which ones count as Canadian under the law. This, in turn, will determine who in the film and television industries can access funding, tax credits and visibility on streaming services.

    It will also determine which Canadian productions big streamers like Netflix will invest in under their Online Streaming Act obligations.

    The federal government’s recent announcement that it’s rescinding the Digital Services Tax reveals the limits of Canada’s leverage over Big Tech, underscoring the significance of CanCon rules as parameters around how streaming giants contribute meaningfully to the country’s creative industries.

    CanCon: Who gets to decide?

    The CRTC’s existing approach to defining CanCon relies on the citizenship of key creative personnel.

    The National Film Board argued that this misses the “cultural elements” of Canadian storytelling. These include cultural expression, narrative themes and connection to Canadian audiences. That is, a production might technically count as CanCon by hiring Canadians, without feeling particularly “Canadian.”

    It’s worth noting there are varied global regulatory frameworks for defining film nationality. The Writers Guild of Canada supports the CRTC’s view that cultural elements shouldn’t be part of CanCon certification, and argues that attempting to further codify cultural criteria risks reducing Canadian identity to superficial symbols like maple leaves or hockey sticks, and could exclude entire genres like sci-fi or fantasy.

    ‘Canadianness’ too broad to regulate?

    The Writers Guild of Canada argues that while Canadians should expect to see cultural elements in programming, the concept of “Canadianness” is too broad and subjective to be effectively regulated.

    Cultural elements are regulated by the 1991 Broadcasting Act as amended by the 2023 Online Streaming Act. Broadcasters and streamers must reflect Canadian stories, identities and cultural expressions.



    Read more:
    How the Online Streaming Act will support Canadian content

    The acts empower broadcasters and streamers to decide which Canadian stories and content will be developed, produced and distributed through commissioning and licensing powers. This implicitly limits the CRTC’s role to setting rules about which creatives are at the table.

    The Writer’s Guild advocates broadening the pool of Canadian key creatives to modernize the CanCon system. It trusts the combined perspectives of a broader pool to make creative decisions about Canadian identity in meaningful ways. Accordingly, it supports the CRTC’s intent to add the showrunner role to the point system since showrunners are the “the chief custodian of the creative vision of a series.”

    Battle over Canadian IP

    Streaming introduces more players with financial stakes, complicating who controls content and who profits from it. A seismic shift is happening in how intellectual property (IP) is handled.

    CRTC has proposed that the updated CanCon definition include Canadian IP ownership as a mandatory element to enable Canadian companies and workers to retain some control over their own IP, and thereby earn sustainable income. For example, in a streaming drama, Canadian screenwriters who retain ownership of the IP could earn ongoing revenue through licensing deals, international sales and royalties each time the series is distributed.

    However, the Motion Picture Association-Canada (MPA-Canada), representing industry titans like Netflix, Amazon and Disney, is pushing back against requirements that mandate the sharing of territory or IP.

    Without IP rights, Canadian talent and the industry as a whole may be reduced to becoming service providers for global companies.

    Fair remuneration, IP rights needed

    Our own research highlights how this type of contractual arrangement increases the power asymmetries between producers, distributors and streaming services. We emphasize the critical importance of fair remuneration and IP rights for creators.

    Intervenors shared a range of preferences from 100 per cent Canadian IP ownership to none at all. One hundred per cent Canadian IP ownership means Canadian creators like a producer of a streaming series would control the rights to the content. They would receive the majority of profits from licensing, distribution and future adaptations.

    Even 51 per cent ownership could give them a controlling stake, but would likely require sharing revenue and decision-making with the streaming service.

    AI and CanCon

    And then, of course, there’s the question of how generative AI should be considered within the updated CanCon definition. The Writers Guild of Canada has drawn a firm line in the sand: AI-generated material should not qualify as Canadian content.

    The guild argues that since current AI tools don’t possess identity, nationality or cultural context, their output cannot advance the goals of the Broadcasting Act, centred on promoting Canadian voices and stories.

    The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) raised a different concern around AI. AI, ACTRA argued, “should not take over the jobs of the creators in the ecosystem that we’re in and we should not treat AI-generated performers as if they are a Canadian actor.”

    Depending on how the CRTC addresses AI, this could mean that streaming content featuring AI-generated scripts, characters, or performances — even if developed by a Canadian creator or set in Canada — would not qualify as CanCon.

    The WGC notes that it has already negotiated restrictions on AI use in screenwriting through its agreement with the Canadian Media Producers Association. These guardrails are being held up as the “emerging industry standard.”

    Follow the money

    Another contested point is how streamers should pay into CanCon: through direct investment or through more traditional modes of financing. Under the Online Streaming Act, streamers are required to pay five per cent of their annual revenues to certain Canadian funds.

    This model echoes previous requirements used to manage decision-making at media broadcasters, some at the much more substantial level of 30 per cent.

    But no payments have been made yet, and streamers are appealing this requirement. Streamers prefer investing directly into Canadian content, taking a risk on its commercial potential to benefit from resulting successes.

    Research in the European Union and Canada highlight how different stakeholders benefit from different forms of financial obligations, suggesting the industry may be best served by a policy mix.

    As Canada rewrites its broadcasting rules, defining Canadian content is a courtroom drama unfolding in real time — and the verdict will have serious ramifications.

    MaryElizabeth Luka receives research project funding from peer-adjudicated grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and internal grants at University of Toronto, such as the Creative Labour Critical Futures Cluster of Scholarly Prominence.

    Daphne Rena Idiz 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. How do we define Canadian content? Debates will shape how creatives make a living – https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-define-canadian-content-debates-will-shape-how-creatives-make-a-living-258013

    MIL OSI –