Category: Statistics

MIL-OSI: VNBTC Launches Flexible Cloud Mining Contracts As Dogecoin Cloud Mining Gains Mainstream Recognition
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LONDON, June 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dogecoin cloud mining has emerged from a niche hobby to a mainstream opportunity in 2025, and VNBTC cloud mining takes center stage in Dogecoin cloud mining. The platform has launched a range of flexible cloud mining contracts that allow users of all experience levels to mine DOGE effortlessly, without the technical hurdles.

Newcomers can start with a free $79 DOGE bonus, while more seasoned miners can choose from a variety of paid plans, from $100 to $70,000. Whether you’re trying to explore cloud mining or are ready to be a regular miner, VNBTC’s cloud mining platform is the right place. The platform provides daily payouts, secure accounts, and full transparency.

How Does VNBTC’s Dogecoin Cloud Mining Work?
- Sign Up and Receive a Free $79 DOGE Welcome Bonus – New users instantly get $79 in DOGE mining credits, no deposit required. This enables one to dive into cloud mining without fear of losing.
- Choose a Mining Plan – VNBTC’s contracts are perfect for both beginners and expert miners. One can begin mining with as little as $100 or decide to put in up to $70,000
- The platform is AI-driven – Behind the scenes, AI continually optimizes hashpower across VNBTC’s globally distributed, green-powered data farms. That means an efficient earning.
- Activate account and track your daily earnings – Once activated, one can begin to track earnings daily. The dashboard shows real-time stats like hash rate, contract duration, and daily payouts.
- Withdraw or Reinvest – When your contract finishes (or sooner, depending on the plan), you can withdraw crypto directly to your wallet or reinvest in a new plan. The VNBTC platform has a seamless mining process, evident from the ability to allow withdrawals.
Ready to begin Dogecoin cloud mining without any upfront costs? Well,
1. Go to the VNBTC official site and sign up, and get your $79 bonus
2. Select your plan
3. Sit back and watch earnings grow
VNBTC Real User Experiences

Here’s what actual users are saying about their experience with VNBTC’s cloud mining platform:
1. “Clean and simple, just the way I want a mining service… transparent earnings! No hidden fees or surprises.” – Albert McGrath (UK, Verified on Trustpilot)
2. “I was skeptical about jumping into Bitcoin mining, but VNBTC made the whole process a solid one! … Would highly recommend for beginners.”– Rob Banks (CA, Verified on Trustpilot)
Final Thoughts

VNBTC was launched in 2019 and has a legal operation certification, boosting user confidence in the platform. The platform has various ways to generate multiple income, such as an affiliate programme offering up to 3.5 % commission on referrals.

Ready to take the path to becoming a crypto millionaire? Well, VNBTC could be the perfect solution. Do not waste much time, join the big community today and begin magically turning $79 into thousands of profits.

Contact Information:

Media Contact:

James Carter

Marketing Specialist, VNBTC

James.Carter@vnbtc.com

Support Contact:

support@vnbtc.com

The MIL Network –
July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Jobless young South Africans often lose hope: new study proves the power of mentorship
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Lauren Graham, Professor at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, University of Johannesburg

More than a third of young South Africans are not in employment, education or training. This cohort of 3.4 million (37.1% of those aged 15–24) risks long-term joblessness. Discouragement – giving up looking for work – is also a risk, as the latest data show.

This has serious social and economic implications. Social and economic exclusion can lead to declining mental health, social drift, long-term dependence on grants and lost economic potential.

To help break this cycle, a research team we were part of piloted a Basic Package of Support programme that offered personalised coaching and referrals to services to tackle the barriers young people face. Between 2022 and 2024 we worked with 1,700 young people in three of South Africa’s nine provinces – Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. The team worked in peri-urban areas where there were high rates of young people not in education, employment or training.

The initiative aimed to help young people clarify their goals and find pathways into relevant learning and earning an income.

The results of the programme showed improved mental health, reduced distress and a stronger sense of belonging. The findings show the power of targeted and multifaceted support to prevent social drift.

The programme and its participants

The pilot took place in three peri-urban communities with limited job and learning opportunities, and high rates of poverty and unemployment. We chose these areas for their high rates of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Over half of the participants (51%) were aged 18-20, 43% were 21-24 and just under 6% were aged 25-27. While 51% had completed high school, 30% had grade 9-11, and under 2% had less than grade 9. A further 17% held a university degree. Most (77%) had been actively seeking work, or opportunities in training or volunteering (73%), when they started the programme.

Data were collected at intake and after three sessions. A monitoring survey after each coaching session was used to determine whether the participant was in any earning or learning opportunity.

The qualitative component included in-depth interviews with young people who had completed multiple coaching sessions. Interviews were conducted six to eight months after pilot sites were opened to explore participants’ situations, experiences of coaching, and any shifts in perspective.

The primary objective of this pilot phase was to assess the programme’s capability to:
- engage and support disconnected young people
- achieve anticipated outcomes, including improved sense of belonging, wellbeing and connection to learning or earning opportunities.
In general, feelings of being supported and having access to resources in their community were low among the participants: 18.33% reported having had low levels of support in general, from adults and from peers. Young men reported considerably higher access to peer support than women (9% of men rated peer support as low relative to 24% of women).

One-third of young people reported a lack of access to, or availability of, resources in their community. These resources included health, psychosocial, or training resources.

Changes in well-being and mental health

Emotional wellbeing and psychosocial factors are critical precursors to engagement in the labour market. Having a sense of control, positive sense of self-esteem, and future orientation promote resilience, which is critical to searching for and taking up opportunities.

Research has also shown that spending a long time without learning or earning creates disillusionment and poor mental health, creating a cycle of chronic unemployment and social drift.

For these reasons we felt it was important to examine how the young people’s well-being had changed as they progressed through the programme. The programme involved:
- reaching out to young people
- conducting an assessment to understand where they wanted to go and the barriers they faced
- coaching sessions
- referrals to relevant services to overcome barriers
- opportunites to take steps towards their planned objectives.
The research team saw positive changes in all emotional well-being indicators, including quality of life, anxiety, emotional distress, and sense of belonging. Participants also showed an interest in taking up available training and work opportunities. They showed improvements in the three key outcomes we examined for this pilot phase.

Firstly, participants felt supported, were more resilient, and had better mental health outcomes than before they completed three coaching sessions.

Secondly, they showed increased capacity, knowledge and resources to navigate and access the systems and services needed to realise their aspirations.

Thirdly, 40% of them took up available opportunities to learn and earn income after just three coaching sessions. Larger numbers of these young people connected to training or education opportunities than to job opportunities. This is hardly surprising in the context of low job growth.

Taken together, these findings showed that the young people felt more positive about their lives after completing three coaching sessions. They indicated that, prior to starting the programme, they had been feeling unhappy about life and lost about how to move forward in their lives.

Part of their frustration was not having anyone to talk to about how they were feeling.

A 21-year-old female participant said after completing round two:

I didn’t know where I was going in life, what I was going to do, I didn’t know where to start. It was a whole blank page for me.

A young man said after round one:

Before I got here, the way I was feeling I didn’t think I can do anything progressive about my life. I had finished high school, but I didn’t know what step to take from there and … I did try but nothing worked … Coaching helped me cope and feel more optimistic.

Next steps

The programme is based on the idea that some young people need more time and support to find their way back into work or education. This might mean connecting them to counselling, childcare, nutrition or social grants.

The pilot revealed high levels of emotional distress, echoing recent labour force data that shows growing discouragement in the working age population. It’s clear that skills training alone isn’t enough; many young people need broader, deeper support to reconnect and thrive.

Efforts to help young people become employable need to offer more support than simply skills training. People involved in the youth employability/youth employment policy and programming sector have to understand young people from a holistic point of view and take into account the significant barriers that poverty and deprivation continue to create. This is the only way to achieve employability programmes that make an impact.

– Jobless young South Africans often lose hope: new study proves the power of mentorship
– https://theconversation.com/jobless-young-south-africans-often-lose-hope-new-study-proves-the-power-of-mentorship-259168

MIL OSI Africa –
July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/KENYA – “Let us continue the dialogue with young people instead of blaming the bishops”

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – “We want to ask everybody — the government, the leaders, and the political spheres — to look at the fact that we are taking care of the dignity of the young people,”said Archbishop Philip Arnold Subira Anyolo of Nairobi yesterday, Sunday, June 29, in a statement regarding the accusations made by the Minister of the Interior Kipchumba Murkomen against Catholic and non-Catholic religious leaders, whom the minister accuses of siding with the “anarchists” and failing to condemn the violence during the “Generation Z” protests on June 25 in memory of the victims of last year’s demonstrations against the Finance Bill (see Fides, 21, 25 and 26 June 2024).At least 16 people were killed in clashes with police during this year’s protests (see Fides, 26/6/2025). In his statement, the Archbishop of Nairobi emphasized that the Church cares about the lives of all people: “Life is never to be sacrificed for anything else, but to be given the future, for the prosperity of the nation and for the prosperity of human beings.”Archbishop Anyolo therefore reiterated his call to listen to young people: “we have to agree — all of us together — the leaders in government, the church, and the parents, all of us who take care of the young people, we need to listen to them and understand them and help them grow and mature”.Members of the Anglican Church also responded to the Minister of the Interior. “Give top priority to the economic well-being of the people. The cost of living is unbearable for many families. Young people are unemployed. Parents cannot pay school fees. Businesses are struggling. These are not just statistics; they are stories of real suffering. Government must listen, act, and respond quickly,” emphasized the Anglican Bishop of Nyahururu, Samson Gachathi.”I know that there will be no bishop or church member, neither Catholic nor Anglican, who will come out to defend the police. Nobody will speak about how the police were injured,”the Minister of the Interior declared, reiterating that nine police stations were attacked, five of which were set on fire. Dozens of police, government, and civilian vehicles were also damaged. The Ministry of Agriculture also claimed that more than 7,354 bags of fertilizer worth approximately $230,000 were stolen from a national warehouse in Meru County, about 200 kilometers east of Nairobi, taking advantage of the chaos of the demonstrations that turned violent. The theft was described by Kenyan authorities as a “direct attack on Kenya’s food security.” (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 30/6/2025)
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MIL OSI Europe News –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/KENYA – “Let us continue the dialogue with young people instead of blaming the bishops”

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – “We want to ask everybody — the government, the leaders, and the political spheres — to look at the fact that we are taking care of the dignity of the young people,”said Archbishop Philip Arnold Subira Anyolo of Nairobi yesterday, Sunday, June 29, in a statement regarding the accusations made by the Minister of the Interior Kipchumba Murkomen against Catholic and non-Catholic religious leaders, whom the minister accuses of siding with the “anarchists” and failing to condemn the violence during the “Generation Z” protests on June 25 in memory of the victims of last year’s demonstrations against the Finance Bill (see Fides, 21, 25 and 26 June 2024).At least 16 people were killed in clashes with police during this year’s protests (see Fides, 26/6/2025). In his statement, the Archbishop of Nairobi emphasized that the Church cares about the lives of all people: “Life is never to be sacrificed for anything else, but to be given the future, for the prosperity of the nation and for the prosperity of human beings.”Archbishop Anyolo therefore reiterated his call to listen to young people: “we have to agree — all of us together — the leaders in government, the church, and the parents, all of us who take care of the young people, we need to listen to them and understand them and help them grow and mature”.Members of the Anglican Church also responded to the Minister of the Interior. “Give top priority to the economic well-being of the people. The cost of living is unbearable for many families. Young people are unemployed. Parents cannot pay school fees. Businesses are struggling. These are not just statistics; they are stories of real suffering. Government must listen, act, and respond quickly,” emphasized the Anglican Bishop of Nyahururu, Samson Gachathi.”I know that there will be no bishop or church member, neither Catholic nor Anglican, who will come out to defend the police. Nobody will speak about how the police were injured,”the Minister of the Interior declared, reiterating that nine police stations were attacked, five of which were set on fire. Dozens of police, government, and civilian vehicles were also damaged. The Ministry of Agriculture also claimed that more than 7,354 bags of fertilizer worth approximately $230,000 were stolen from a national warehouse in Meru County, about 200 kilometers east of Nairobi, taking advantage of the chaos of the demonstrations that turned violent. The theft was described by Kenyan authorities as a “direct attack on Kenya’s food security.” (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 30/6/2025)
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MIL OSI Europe News –

July 1, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: U.S. International Investment Position, 1st Quarter 2025 and Annual Update

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis

First Quarter

The U.S. net international investment position,the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$24.61 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2025, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (chart 1). Assets totaled $36.85 trillion, and liabilities were $61.47 trillion (chart 2). At the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the net investment position was –$26.54 trillion (revised). The net investment position and components of assets and liabilities are presented in table 1.

The $1.92 trillion change in the net investment position from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 came from net financial transactions of –$277.5 billion and net other changes in position, such as price and exchange-rate changes, of $2.20 trillion (table 2).

Price changes of $1.73 trillion reflected price increases for assets and price decreases for liabilities, as foreign stock prices outperformed U.S. stock prices.

Exchange-rate changes of $472.5 billion reflected foreign currency appreciation against the U.S. dollar, which raised the value of U.S. assets more than U.S. liabilities in dollar terms.

U.S. assets increased by $1.13 trillion to a total of $36.85 trillion at the end of the first quarter, driven mainly by financial transactions of $548.0 billion that largely reflected increased U.S. short-term lending abroad in the form of resale agreements, and by exchange-rate changes of $528.4 billion that reflected the appreciation of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar (table 2). All major investment categories of assets, except financial derivatives, increased in the first quarter (chart 3).

U.S. liabilities decreased by $792.0 billion to a total of $61.47 trillion at the end of the first quarter, driven by U.S. stock price decreases that lowered the market value of direct investment and portfolio investment liabilities by $836.4 billion and by $734.6 billion, respectively (table 2). Partly offsetting these price decreases were financial transactions of $844.8 billion that mostly reflected foreign purchases of U.S. debt securities and “other investment” inflows of deposits and loans. All major investment categories of liabilities except other investment decreased in the first quarter (chart 4).

Annual Update of the U.S. International Investment Position Accounts

The statistics in this release reflect the annual update of the U.S. International Investment Position Accounts. With this update, BEA has incorporated newly available and revised source data for 2022–2024 (table 3).

In addition, BEA has incorporated new statistics for transactions and positions related to a repurchase agreement facility for foreign and international monetary authorities (FIMA Repo Facility) that was established by the Federal Reserve in March 2020. The FIMA Repo Facility was designed to address pressures in global dollar funding markets that could affect financial market conditions in the United States. These transactions and positions are recorded as U.S. deposits in the central bank sector of other investment assets in the U.S. International Transactions Accounts and International Investment Position Accounts statistics, beginning with 2022.

Newly Available and Revised Source Data: Key Providers and Years Affected

Agency	Data	Years affected
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis	Benchmark, annual, and quarterly direct investment surveys (direct investment and other investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
U.S. Department of the Treasury	Aggregate Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value Changes of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents (portfolio investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
	Foreign-Residents’ Holdings of U.S. Securities, Including Selected Money Market Instruments (portfolio investment liabilities)	2024
	U.S. Ownership of Foreign Securities, Including Selected Money Market Instruments (portfolio investment assets)	2023
	Reports by Financial Institutions of Liabilities to, and Claims on, Foreign Residents by U.S. Residents (portfolio investment and other investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
	Reports of Liabilities to, and Claims on, Unaffiliated Foreign Residents by U.S. Resident Non-Financial Institutions (portfolio investment and other investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
	Reports of Holdings of, and Transactions in, Financial Derivatives Contracts with Foreign Residents (financial derivatives assets and liabilities)	2023–2024

More information on the annual update is available in “Preview of the 2025 Annual Update of the International Economic Accounts” in the Survey of Current Business, and additional information will be published in July in the Survey.

For resources, definitions, and more, visit “Additional Information.”

Next release: September 29, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
U.S. International Investment Position, 2nd Quarter 2025

MIL OSI USA News –

July 1, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: U.S. International Investment Position, 1st Quarter 2025 and Annual Update

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis

First Quarter

Price changes of $1.73 trillion reflected price increases for assets and price decreases for liabilities, as foreign stock prices outperformed U.S. stock prices.

Exchange-rate changes of $472.5 billion reflected foreign currency appreciation against the U.S. dollar, which raised the value of U.S. assets more than U.S. liabilities in dollar terms.

Annual Update of the U.S. International Investment Position Accounts

Newly Available and Revised Source Data: Key Providers and Years Affected

Agency	Data	Years affected
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis	Benchmark, annual, and quarterly direct investment surveys (direct investment and other investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
U.S. Department of the Treasury	Aggregate Holdings, Purchases and Sales, and Fair Value Changes of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents (portfolio investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
	Foreign-Residents’ Holdings of U.S. Securities, Including Selected Money Market Instruments (portfolio investment liabilities)	2024
	U.S. Ownership of Foreign Securities, Including Selected Money Market Instruments (portfolio investment assets)	2023
	Reports by Financial Institutions of Liabilities to, and Claims on, Foreign Residents by U.S. Residents (portfolio investment and other investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
	Reports of Liabilities to, and Claims on, Unaffiliated Foreign Residents by U.S. Resident Non-Financial Institutions (portfolio investment and other investment assets and liabilities)	2022–2024
	Reports of Holdings of, and Transactions in, Financial Derivatives Contracts with Foreign Residents (financial derivatives assets and liabilities)	2023–2024

For resources, definitions, and more, visit “Additional Information.”

Next release: September 29, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
U.S. International Investment Position, 2nd Quarter 2025

MIL OSI USA News –

July 1, 2025

MIL-OSI Submissions: How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University

Proposed revisions to U.S. energy policy would likely raise consumer prices and climate-warming emissions. zpagistock/Moment via Getty Images

When it comes to energy policy, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – the official name of a massive federal tax-cut and spending bill that House Republicans passed in May 2025 – risks raising Americans’ energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 1,100-page bill would slash incentives for green technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, electric cars and heat pumps while subsidizing existing nuclear power plants and biofuels. That would leave the country and its people burning more fossil fuels despite strong popular and scientific support for a rapid shift to renewable energy.

The bill may still be revised by the Senate before it moves to a final vote. But it is a picture of how President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to reshape U.S. energy policy.

As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which technologies could rapidly cut emissions or are on the verge of becoming viable from those that do little to fight climate change. Unfortunately, the House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.

Renewable energy

Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, are providing over 90% of the new electricity currently being added to the grid nationally and around the world. Geothermal power is undergoing technological breakthroughs. With natural gas turbines in short supply and long lead times to build other resources, renewables and batteries offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power.

However, the House bill rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.

It would terminate tax credits for manufacturing for the wind industry in 2028 and for solar and batteries in 2032. That would disrupt the boom in domestic manufacturing projects that was being stimulated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Deployments would be hit even harder. Wind, solar, geothermal and battery projects would need to commence construction within 60 days of passage of the bill to receive tax credits.

In addition, the bill would deny tax credits to projects that use Chinese-made components. Financial analysts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible.

Analysts warn that the House bill would cut new wind, solar and battery installations by 20% compared with the growth that had been expected without the bill. That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean energy proponents.

However, one person’s nightmare may be another man’s dream. “We’re constraining the hell out of wind and solar, which is good,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican backed by the oil and gas industry.

Wind turbines and solar panels generate renewable energy side by side near Palm Springs, Calif.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Efficiency and electric cars

Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The bill repeals aid for home efficiency improvements such as heat pumps, efficient windows and energy audits. Homeowners would also lose tax credits for installing solar panels and batteries.

For vehicles, the bill would not only repeal tax credits for electric cars, trucks and chargers, but it also would impose a federal $250 annual fee on vehicles, on top of fees that some states charge electric-car owners. The federal fee is more than the gas taxes paid by other drivers to fund highways and ignores air-quality and climate effects.

Combined, the lost credits and increased fees could cut projected U.S. sales of electric vehicles by 40% in 2030, according to modeling by Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University.

Nuclear power

Meanwhile, the bill partially retains a tax credit for electricity from existing nuclear power plants. Those plants may not need the help: Electricity demand is surging, and companies like Meta are signing long-term deals for nuclear energy to power data centers. Nuclear plants are also paid to manage their radioactive waste, since the country lacks a permanent place to store it.

For new nuclear plants, the bill would move up the deadline to 2028 to begin construction. That deadline is too soon for some new reactor designs and would rush the vetting of others. Nuclear safety regulators are awaiting a study from the National Academies on the weapons proliferation risks of the type of uranium fuel that some developers hope to use in newer designs.

The House-passed bill would protect government subsidies for existing nuclear power plants, like the one in the background, while limiting support for wind turbines.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Biofuels

While cutting funding for electric vehicles, the bill would spend $45 billion to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Food-based biofuels do little good for the climate because growing, harvesting and processing crops requires fertilizers, pesticides and fuel. The bill would allow forests to be cut to make room for crops because it directs agencies to ignore the impacts of biofuels on land use.

Hydrogen

The bill would end tax credits for hydrogen production. Without that support, companies will be unlikely to invest in the seven so-called “hydrogen hubs” that were allocated a combined $8 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. Those hubs aim to attract $40 billion in private investments and create tens of thousands of jobs while developing cleaner ways to make hydrogen.

The repealed tax credits would have subsidized hydrogen made emissions-free by using renewable or nuclear electricity to split water molecules. They also would have subsidized hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture, whose benefits are impaired by methane emissions from natural gas systems and incomplete carbon capture.

However it’s made, hydrogen is no panacea. As the world’s smallest molecule, hydrogen is prone to leaking, which can pose safety challenges and indirectly warm the climate. And while hydrogen is essential for making fertilizers and potentially useful for making steel or aviation fuels, vehicles and heating are more efficiently powered by electricity than by hydrogen.

Still, European governments and China are investing heavily in hydrogen production.

As Congress deliberates on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the nation’s energy agenda is one of many issues being hotly debated.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images

Summing it up

The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that the House bill would cut the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits by about half, saving the government $50 billion a year. But with fewer efficiency improvements, fewer electric vehicles and less clean power on the grid, Princeton’s Jenkins projects American households would pay up to $415 more per year for energy by 2035 than if the bill’s provisions were not enacted. If the bill’s provisions make it into law, the extra fossil fuel-burning would leave annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 1 billion tons higher by then.

No one expected former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to escape unscathed with Republicans in the White House and dominating both houses of Congress. Still, the proposed cuts target the technologies Americans count on to protect the climate and save consumers money.

Daniel Cohan receives funding from the Carbon Hub at Rice University.

– ref. How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate – https://theconversation.com/how-the-big-beautiful-bill-positions-us-energy-to-be-more-costly-for-consumers-and-the-climate-257783

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University

Proposed revisions to U.S. energy policy would likely raise consumer prices and climate-warming emissions. zpagistock/Moment via Getty Images

When it comes to energy policy, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – the official name of a massive federal tax-cut and spending bill that House Republicans passed in May 2025 – risks raising Americans’ energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 1,100-page bill would slash incentives for green technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, electric cars and heat pumps while subsidizing existing nuclear power plants and biofuels. That would leave the country and its people burning more fossil fuels despite strong popular and scientific support for a rapid shift to renewable energy.

The bill may still be revised by the Senate before it moves to a final vote. But it is a picture of how President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to reshape U.S. energy policy.

As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which technologies could rapidly cut emissions or are on the verge of becoming viable from those that do little to fight climate change. Unfortunately, the House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.

Renewable energy

Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, are providing over 90% of the new electricity currently being added to the grid nationally and around the world. Geothermal power is undergoing technological breakthroughs. With natural gas turbines in short supply and long lead times to build other resources, renewables and batteries offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power.

However, the House bill rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.

It would terminate tax credits for manufacturing for the wind industry in 2028 and for solar and batteries in 2032. That would disrupt the boom in domestic manufacturing projects that was being stimulated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Deployments would be hit even harder. Wind, solar, geothermal and battery projects would need to commence construction within 60 days of passage of the bill to receive tax credits.

In addition, the bill would deny tax credits to projects that use Chinese-made components. Financial analysts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible.

Analysts warn that the House bill would cut new wind, solar and battery installations by 20% compared with the growth that had been expected without the bill. That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean energy proponents.

However, one person’s nightmare may be another man’s dream. “We’re constraining the hell out of wind and solar, which is good,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican backed by the oil and gas industry.

Wind turbines and solar panels generate renewable energy side by side near Palm Springs, Calif.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Efficiency and electric cars

Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The bill repeals aid for home efficiency improvements such as heat pumps, efficient windows and energy audits. Homeowners would also lose tax credits for installing solar panels and batteries.

For vehicles, the bill would not only repeal tax credits for electric cars, trucks and chargers, but it also would impose a federal $250 annual fee on vehicles, on top of fees that some states charge electric-car owners. The federal fee is more than the gas taxes paid by other drivers to fund highways and ignores air-quality and climate effects.

Combined, the lost credits and increased fees could cut projected U.S. sales of electric vehicles by 40% in 2030, according to modeling by Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University.

Nuclear power

Meanwhile, the bill partially retains a tax credit for electricity from existing nuclear power plants. Those plants may not need the help: Electricity demand is surging, and companies like Meta are signing long-term deals for nuclear energy to power data centers. Nuclear plants are also paid to manage their radioactive waste, since the country lacks a permanent place to store it.

For new nuclear plants, the bill would move up the deadline to 2028 to begin construction. That deadline is too soon for some new reactor designs and would rush the vetting of others. Nuclear safety regulators are awaiting a study from the National Academies on the weapons proliferation risks of the type of uranium fuel that some developers hope to use in newer designs.

The House-passed bill would protect government subsidies for existing nuclear power plants, like the one in the background, while limiting support for wind turbines.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Biofuels

While cutting funding for electric vehicles, the bill would spend $45 billion to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Food-based biofuels do little good for the climate because growing, harvesting and processing crops requires fertilizers, pesticides and fuel. The bill would allow forests to be cut to make room for crops because it directs agencies to ignore the impacts of biofuels on land use.

Hydrogen

The bill would end tax credits for hydrogen production. Without that support, companies will be unlikely to invest in the seven so-called “hydrogen hubs” that were allocated a combined $8 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. Those hubs aim to attract $40 billion in private investments and create tens of thousands of jobs while developing cleaner ways to make hydrogen.

The repealed tax credits would have subsidized hydrogen made emissions-free by using renewable or nuclear electricity to split water molecules. They also would have subsidized hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture, whose benefits are impaired by methane emissions from natural gas systems and incomplete carbon capture.

However it’s made, hydrogen is no panacea. As the world’s smallest molecule, hydrogen is prone to leaking, which can pose safety challenges and indirectly warm the climate. And while hydrogen is essential for making fertilizers and potentially useful for making steel or aviation fuels, vehicles and heating are more efficiently powered by electricity than by hydrogen.

Still, European governments and China are investing heavily in hydrogen production.

As Congress deliberates on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the nation’s energy agenda is one of many issues being hotly debated.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images

Summing it up

The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that the House bill would cut the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits by about half, saving the government $50 billion a year. But with fewer efficiency improvements, fewer electric vehicles and less clean power on the grid, Princeton’s Jenkins projects American households would pay up to $415 more per year for energy by 2035 than if the bill’s provisions were not enacted. If the bill’s provisions make it into law, the extra fossil fuel-burning would leave annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 1 billion tons higher by then.

No one expected former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to escape unscathed with Republicans in the White House and dominating both houses of Congress. Still, the proposed cuts target the technologies Americans count on to protect the climate and save consumers money.

Daniel Cohan receives funding from the Carbon Hub at Rice University.

– ref. How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate – https://theconversation.com/how-the-big-beautiful-bill-positions-us-energy-to-be-more-costly-for-consumers-and-the-climate-257783

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University

Proposed revisions to U.S. energy policy would likely raise consumer prices and climate-warming emissions. zpagistock/Moment via Getty Images

When it comes to energy policy, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – the official name of a massive federal tax-cut and spending bill that House Republicans passed in May 2025 – risks raising Americans’ energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 1,100-page bill would slash incentives for green technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, electric cars and heat pumps while subsidizing existing nuclear power plants and biofuels. That would leave the country and its people burning more fossil fuels despite strong popular and scientific support for a rapid shift to renewable energy.

The bill may still be revised by the Senate before it moves to a final vote. But it is a picture of how President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to reshape U.S. energy policy.

As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which technologies could rapidly cut emissions or are on the verge of becoming viable from those that do little to fight climate change. Unfortunately, the House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.

Renewable energy

Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, are providing over 90% of the new electricity currently being added to the grid nationally and around the world. Geothermal power is undergoing technological breakthroughs. With natural gas turbines in short supply and long lead times to build other resources, renewables and batteries offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power.

However, the House bill rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.

It would terminate tax credits for manufacturing for the wind industry in 2028 and for solar and batteries in 2032. That would disrupt the boom in domestic manufacturing projects that was being stimulated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Deployments would be hit even harder. Wind, solar, geothermal and battery projects would need to commence construction within 60 days of passage of the bill to receive tax credits.

In addition, the bill would deny tax credits to projects that use Chinese-made components. Financial analysts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible.

Analysts warn that the House bill would cut new wind, solar and battery installations by 20% compared with the growth that had been expected without the bill. That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean energy proponents.

However, one person’s nightmare may be another man’s dream. “We’re constraining the hell out of wind and solar, which is good,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican backed by the oil and gas industry.

Wind turbines and solar panels generate renewable energy side by side near Palm Springs, Calif.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Efficiency and electric cars

Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The bill repeals aid for home efficiency improvements such as heat pumps, efficient windows and energy audits. Homeowners would also lose tax credits for installing solar panels and batteries.

For vehicles, the bill would not only repeal tax credits for electric cars, trucks and chargers, but it also would impose a federal $250 annual fee on vehicles, on top of fees that some states charge electric-car owners. The federal fee is more than the gas taxes paid by other drivers to fund highways and ignores air-quality and climate effects.

Combined, the lost credits and increased fees could cut projected U.S. sales of electric vehicles by 40% in 2030, according to modeling by Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University.

Nuclear power

Meanwhile, the bill partially retains a tax credit for electricity from existing nuclear power plants. Those plants may not need the help: Electricity demand is surging, and companies like Meta are signing long-term deals for nuclear energy to power data centers. Nuclear plants are also paid to manage their radioactive waste, since the country lacks a permanent place to store it.

For new nuclear plants, the bill would move up the deadline to 2028 to begin construction. That deadline is too soon for some new reactor designs and would rush the vetting of others. Nuclear safety regulators are awaiting a study from the National Academies on the weapons proliferation risks of the type of uranium fuel that some developers hope to use in newer designs.

The House-passed bill would protect government subsidies for existing nuclear power plants, like the one in the background, while limiting support for wind turbines.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Biofuels

While cutting funding for electric vehicles, the bill would spend $45 billion to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Food-based biofuels do little good for the climate because growing, harvesting and processing crops requires fertilizers, pesticides and fuel. The bill would allow forests to be cut to make room for crops because it directs agencies to ignore the impacts of biofuels on land use.

Hydrogen

The bill would end tax credits for hydrogen production. Without that support, companies will be unlikely to invest in the seven so-called “hydrogen hubs” that were allocated a combined $8 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. Those hubs aim to attract $40 billion in private investments and create tens of thousands of jobs while developing cleaner ways to make hydrogen.

The repealed tax credits would have subsidized hydrogen made emissions-free by using renewable or nuclear electricity to split water molecules. They also would have subsidized hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture, whose benefits are impaired by methane emissions from natural gas systems and incomplete carbon capture.

However it’s made, hydrogen is no panacea. As the world’s smallest molecule, hydrogen is prone to leaking, which can pose safety challenges and indirectly warm the climate. And while hydrogen is essential for making fertilizers and potentially useful for making steel or aviation fuels, vehicles and heating are more efficiently powered by electricity than by hydrogen.

Still, European governments and China are investing heavily in hydrogen production.

As Congress deliberates on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the nation’s energy agenda is one of many issues being hotly debated.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images

Summing it up

The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that the House bill would cut the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits by about half, saving the government $50 billion a year. But with fewer efficiency improvements, fewer electric vehicles and less clean power on the grid, Princeton’s Jenkins projects American households would pay up to $415 more per year for energy by 2035 than if the bill’s provisions were not enacted. If the bill’s provisions make it into law, the extra fossil fuel-burning would leave annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 1 billion tons higher by then.

No one expected former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to escape unscathed with Republicans in the White House and dominating both houses of Congress. Still, the proposed cuts target the technologies Americans count on to protect the climate and save consumers money.

Daniel Cohan receives funding from the Carbon Hub at Rice University.

– ref. How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate – https://theconversation.com/how-the-big-beautiful-bill-positions-us-energy-to-be-more-costly-for-consumers-and-the-climate-257783

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University

Proposed revisions to U.S. energy policy would likely raise consumer prices and climate-warming emissions. zpagistock/Moment via Getty Images

When it comes to energy policy, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – the official name of a massive federal tax-cut and spending bill that House Republicans passed in May 2025 – risks raising Americans’ energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 1,100-page bill would slash incentives for green technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, electric cars and heat pumps while subsidizing existing nuclear power plants and biofuels. That would leave the country and its people burning more fossil fuels despite strong popular and scientific support for a rapid shift to renewable energy.

The bill may still be revised by the Senate before it moves to a final vote. But it is a picture of how President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to reshape U.S. energy policy.

As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which technologies could rapidly cut emissions or are on the verge of becoming viable from those that do little to fight climate change. Unfortunately, the House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.

Renewable energy

Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, are providing over 90% of the new electricity currently being added to the grid nationally and around the world. Geothermal power is undergoing technological breakthroughs. With natural gas turbines in short supply and long lead times to build other resources, renewables and batteries offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power.

However, the House bill rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.

It would terminate tax credits for manufacturing for the wind industry in 2028 and for solar and batteries in 2032. That would disrupt the boom in domestic manufacturing projects that was being stimulated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Deployments would be hit even harder. Wind, solar, geothermal and battery projects would need to commence construction within 60 days of passage of the bill to receive tax credits.

In addition, the bill would deny tax credits to projects that use Chinese-made components. Financial analysts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible.

Analysts warn that the House bill would cut new wind, solar and battery installations by 20% compared with the growth that had been expected without the bill. That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean energy proponents.

However, one person’s nightmare may be another man’s dream. “We’re constraining the hell out of wind and solar, which is good,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican backed by the oil and gas industry.

Wind turbines and solar panels generate renewable energy side by side near Palm Springs, Calif.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Efficiency and electric cars

Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The bill repeals aid for home efficiency improvements such as heat pumps, efficient windows and energy audits. Homeowners would also lose tax credits for installing solar panels and batteries.

For vehicles, the bill would not only repeal tax credits for electric cars, trucks and chargers, but it also would impose a federal $250 annual fee on vehicles, on top of fees that some states charge electric-car owners. The federal fee is more than the gas taxes paid by other drivers to fund highways and ignores air-quality and climate effects.

Combined, the lost credits and increased fees could cut projected U.S. sales of electric vehicles by 40% in 2030, according to modeling by Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University.

Nuclear power

Meanwhile, the bill partially retains a tax credit for electricity from existing nuclear power plants. Those plants may not need the help: Electricity demand is surging, and companies like Meta are signing long-term deals for nuclear energy to power data centers. Nuclear plants are also paid to manage their radioactive waste, since the country lacks a permanent place to store it.

For new nuclear plants, the bill would move up the deadline to 2028 to begin construction. That deadline is too soon for some new reactor designs and would rush the vetting of others. Nuclear safety regulators are awaiting a study from the National Academies on the weapons proliferation risks of the type of uranium fuel that some developers hope to use in newer designs.

The House-passed bill would protect government subsidies for existing nuclear power plants, like the one in the background, while limiting support for wind turbines.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Biofuels

While cutting funding for electric vehicles, the bill would spend $45 billion to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Food-based biofuels do little good for the climate because growing, harvesting and processing crops requires fertilizers, pesticides and fuel. The bill would allow forests to be cut to make room for crops because it directs agencies to ignore the impacts of biofuels on land use.

Hydrogen

The bill would end tax credits for hydrogen production. Without that support, companies will be unlikely to invest in the seven so-called “hydrogen hubs” that were allocated a combined $8 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. Those hubs aim to attract $40 billion in private investments and create tens of thousands of jobs while developing cleaner ways to make hydrogen.

The repealed tax credits would have subsidized hydrogen made emissions-free by using renewable or nuclear electricity to split water molecules. They also would have subsidized hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture, whose benefits are impaired by methane emissions from natural gas systems and incomplete carbon capture.

However it’s made, hydrogen is no panacea. As the world’s smallest molecule, hydrogen is prone to leaking, which can pose safety challenges and indirectly warm the climate. And while hydrogen is essential for making fertilizers and potentially useful for making steel or aviation fuels, vehicles and heating are more efficiently powered by electricity than by hydrogen.

Still, European governments and China are investing heavily in hydrogen production.

As Congress deliberates on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the nation’s energy agenda is one of many issues being hotly debated.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images

Summing it up

The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that the House bill would cut the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits by about half, saving the government $50 billion a year. But with fewer efficiency improvements, fewer electric vehicles and less clean power on the grid, Princeton’s Jenkins projects American households would pay up to $415 more per year for energy by 2035 than if the bill’s provisions were not enacted. If the bill’s provisions make it into law, the extra fossil fuel-burning would leave annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 1 billion tons higher by then.

No one expected former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to escape unscathed with Republicans in the White House and dominating both houses of Congress. Still, the proposed cuts target the technologies Americans count on to protect the climate and save consumers money.

Daniel Cohan receives funding from the Carbon Hub at Rice University.

– ref. How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate – https://theconversation.com/how-the-big-beautiful-bill-positions-us-energy-to-be-more-costly-for-consumers-and-the-climate-257783

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: How your air conditioner can help the power grid, rather than overloading it

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Johanna Mathieu, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, University of Michigan

Could this common home machinery help usher in more renewable energy? Holden Henry/iStock / Getty Images Plus

As summer arrives, people are turning on air conditioners in most of the U.S. But if you’re like me, you always feel a little guilty about that. Past generations managed without air conditioning – do I really need it? And how bad is it to use all this electricity for cooling in a warming world?

If I leave my air conditioner off, I get too hot. But if everyone turns on their air conditioner at the same time, electricity demand spikes, which can force power grid operators to activate some of the most expensive, and dirtiest, power plants. Sometimes those spikes can ask too much of the grid and lead to brownouts or blackouts.

Research I recently published with a team of scholars makes me feel a little better, though. We have found that it is possible to coordinate the operation of large numbers of home air-conditioning units, balancing supply and demand on the power grid – and without making people endure high temperatures inside their homes.

Studies along these lines, using remote control of air conditioners to support the grid, have for many years explored theoretical possibilities like this. However, few approaches have been demonstrated in practice and never for such a high-value application and at this scale. The system we developed not only demonstrated the ability to balance the grid on timescales of seconds, but also proved it was possible to do so without affecting residents’ comfort.

The benefits include increasing the reliability of the power grid, which makes it easier for the grid to accept more renewable energy. Our goal is to turn air conditioners from a challenge for the power grid into an asset, supporting a shift away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy.

Adjustable equipment

My research focuses on batteries, solar panels and electric equipment – such as electric vehicles, water heaters, air conditioners and heat pumps – that can adjust itself to consume different amounts of energy at different times.

Originally, the U.S. electric grid was built to transport electricity from large power plants to customers’ homes and businesses. And originally, power plants were large, centralized operations that burned coal or natural gas, or harvested energy from nuclear reactions. These plants were typically always available and could adjust how much power they generated in response to customer demand, so the grid would be balanced between power coming in from producers and being used by consumers.

But the grid has changed. There are more renewable energy sources, from which power isn’t always available – like solar panels at night or wind turbines on calm days. And there are the devices and equipment I study. These newer options, called “distributed energy resources,” generate or store energy near where consumers need it – or adjust how much energy they’re using in real time.

One aspect of the grid hasn’t changed, though: There’s not much storage built into the system. So every time you turn on a light, for a moment there’s not enough electricity to supply everything that wants it right then: The grid needs a power producer to generate a little more power. And when you turn off a light, there’s a little too much: A power producer needs to ramp down.

The way power plants know what real-time power adjustments are needed is by closely monitoring the grid frequency. The goal is to provide electricity at a constant frequency – 60 hertz – at all times. If more power is needed than is being produced, the frequency drops and a power plant boosts output. If there’s too much power being produced, the frequency rises and a power plant slows production a little. These actions, a process called “frequency regulation,” happen in a matter of seconds to keep the grid balanced.

This output flexibility, primarily from power plants, is key to keeping the lights on for everyone.

Power plants, like this one in Utah, adjust their output to match demand from electricity customers.
Jason Finn/iStock / Getty Images Plus

Finding new options

I’m interested in how distributed energy resources can improve flexibility in the grid. They can release more energy, or consume less, to respond to the changing supply or demand, and help balance the grid, ensuring the frequency remains near 60 hertz.

Some people fear that doing so might be invasive, giving someone outside your home the ability to control your battery or air conditioner. Therefore, we wanted to see if we could help balance the grid with frequency regulation using home air-conditioning units rather than power plants – without affecting how residents use their appliances or how comfortable they are in their homes.

From 2019 to 2023, my group at the University of Michigan tried this approach, in collaboration with researchers at Pecan Street Inc., Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

We recruited 100 homeowners in Austin, Texas, to do a real-world test of our system. All the homes had whole-house forced-air cooling systems, which we connected to custom control boards and sensors the owners allowed us to install in their homes. This equipment let us send instructions to the air-conditioning units based on the frequency of the grid.

Before I explain how the system worked, I first need to explain how thermostats work. When people set thermostats, they pick a temperature, and the thermostat switches the air-conditioning compressor on and off to maintain the air temperature within a small range around that set point. If the temperature is set at 68 degrees, the thermostat turns the AC on when the temperature is, say, 70, and turns it off when it’s cooled down to, say, 66.

Every few seconds, our system slightly changed the timing of air-conditioning compressor switching for some of the 100 air conditioners, causing the units’ aggregate power consumption to change. In this way, our small group of home air conditioners reacted to grid changes the way a power plant would – using more or less energy to balance the grid and keep the frequency near 60 hertz.

Moreover, our system was designed to keep home temperatures within the same small temperature range around the set point.

Smart thermostats could have frequency regulation capabilities available to interested consumers, to help balance the electricity grid.
Danielle Mead/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Testing the approach

We ran our system in four tests, each lasting one hour. We found two encouraging results.

First, the air conditioners were able to provide frequency regulation at least as accurately as a traditional power plant. Therefore, we showed that air conditioners could play a significant role in increasing grid flexibility. But perhaps more importantly – at least in terms of encouraging people to participate in these types of systems – we found that we were able to do so without affecting people’s comfort in their homes.

We found that home temperatures did not deviate more than 1.6 Fahrenheit from their set point. Homeowners were allowed to override the controls if they got uncomfortable, but most didn’t. For most tests, we received zero override requests. In the worst case, we received override requests from two of the 100 homes in our test.

In practice, this sort of technology could be added to commercially available internet-connected thermostats. In exchange for credits on their energy bills, users could choose to join a service run by the thermostat company, their utility provider or some other third party.

Then people could turn on the air conditioning in the summer heat without that pang of guilt, knowing they were helping to make the grid more reliable and more capable of accommodating renewable energy sources – without sacrificing their own comfort in the process.

Johanna Mathieu works for the University of Michigan. She has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, ARPA-E, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She is affiliated with the IEEE.

– ref. How your air conditioner can help the power grid, rather than overloading it – https://theconversation.com/how-your-air-conditioner-can-help-the-power-grid-rather-than-overloading-it-256858

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: There is no loneliness epidemic – so why do we keep talking as if there is?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin

fran_kie/Shutterstock.com

Most people experience periods of loneliness, isolation or solitude in their lives. But these are different things, and the proportion of people feeling lonely is stable over time. So why do we keep talking about an epidemic of loneliness?

Before the COVID pandemic, several studies showed that rates of loneliness were stable in England, the US, Finland, Sweden and Germany, among other places, over recent decades.

While COVID changed many things, loneliness levels quickly returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2018, 34% of US adults aged 50 to 80 years reported a lack of companionship “some of the time” or “often”. That proportion rose to 42% during the pandemic but fell to 33% in 2024.

That’s a lot of lonely people, but it is not an epidemic. In some countries, such as Sweden, loneliness is in decline – at least among older adults.

Despite these statistics, the idea that loneliness is increasing is pervasive. For example in 2023, the US surgeon general warned about an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation”. The UK even has a government minister with an explicit responsibility for addressing loneliness.

Loneliness is a problem, even if it is not an epidemic. Social connection is important for physical and mental health. Many people feel lonely in a crowd or feel crowded when alone. In 2023, the World Health Organization announced a “Commission on Social Connection”. The WHO is right: we need to reduce loneliness in our families, communities and societies.

But the idea that loneliness is an “epidemic” is misleading and it draws us away from sustainable solutions, rather than towards them. It suggests that loneliness is a new problem (it is not), that it is increasing (it is not), that it is beyond our control (it is not), and that the only appropriate reaction is an emergency one (it is not).

In the short term, loneliness is an undesirable psychological state. In the long term, it is a risk factor for chronic ill health.

Loneliness is not a sudden crisis that needs a short-term fix. It is a long-term challenge that requires a sustained response. An emergency reaction is not appropriate – a measured response is. Initiatives by the US surgeon general and WHO are welcome, but they should be long-term responses to an enduring problem, not emergency reactions to an “epidemic”.

Vivek Murthy, the former US surgeon general warned about an epidemic of loneliness in America.
lev radin/Shutterstock

Medicalising normal human experience

Conceptual clarity is essential if true loneliness is to be addressed. Pathologising all instances of being alone risks medicalising normal human experiences such as solitude. Some people feel alive only in crowds, but others were born lighthouse keepers. In a hyper-connected world, loneliness should be solvable, but solitude must be treasured.

So, if there is no loneliness epidemic, why do we keep talking as if there is? Media framing of the issue and the human tendency to panic reinforce each other. We click into news stories based on subjective resonance rather than objective evidence.

Human behaviour is shaped primarily by feelings, not facts. We dramatise, panic, and overstate negative trends. If trends are positive, we focus on minor counter-trends, ignore statistics and make things up.

In the case of loneliness, the problem is real, even if the “epidemic” is not. Loneliness is part of the human condition, but alleviating each other’s loneliness is also part of who we are – or who we can become.

Addressing loneliness is not about solving a short-term problem or halting an “epidemic”. It means learning to live with each other in new, more integrated ways that meet our emotional needs. Loneliness is not the problem. It is a consequence of living in societies that are often disconnected and fragmented.

The solution? We cannot change the essentials of human nature – and nor should we try. But we can be a little kinder to ourselves, speak to each other a little more, and cultivate compassion for ourselves and other people.

We need to connect with each other better and more. We can. We should. We will.

Brendan Kelly 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. There is no loneliness epidemic – so why do we keep talking as if there is? – https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-loneliness-epidemic-so-why-do-we-keep-talking-as-if-there-is-259072

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Philip Harrison, Professor School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand

Joburg skyline. South African Tourism/Flickr, CC BY

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa met senior leaders of Johannesburg and Gauteng, the province it’s located in, in March 2025 to discuss ways to arrest the steep decline in South Africa’s largest city.

Ramaphosa announced a two-year-long presidential intervention to tackle some of the city’s most pressing issues. It is to be led by the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group with eight cross-governmental and multi-stakeholder workstreams.

Johannesburg was established 130 years ago, where the world’s largest-ever gold deposits were discovered. It grew rapidly in the early 20th century and became the country’s economic heartland and largest population centre. Like all South African cities, it was deeply scarred by apartheid policies. People were divided by racially defined groups. Good services and a strong economy benefited a minority, and a black majority were pushed into impoverished ghettos.

But, for about the first two decades of post-apartheid rule from 1994, Johannesburg led the country with innovation and progressive change. It pioneered the new local government system, institutional reforms, new practice on city strategy and planning, pro-poor service delivery, and modern transport infrastructure.

Today, however, the city is in a dire state. Over the past decade, roughly coinciding with the arrival of messy coalition governance in 2016, sound political leadership, administrative stability and financial management have crumbled. Underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance has led to collapsing services. Public trust is deteriorating among increasingly frustrated communities. This was evident in local election results. It also shows up in recent data released by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory on public trust in local government.

The local economy has stagnated. The city’s official unemployment rate of 34.3% is higher than the national average of 32.9%. Mounting joblessness and dwindling incomes have intertwined with depleted trust to knock levels of payment for property rates and service charges. In turn this has deepened the financial and service maintenance crisis.

Corruption in many parts of the city is an endemic complicating factor.

The presidential intervention is designed to address this complex interplay between embedded legacies and failings post-apartheid. The workstreams involving city officials and concerned stakeholders are generating ideas for priority actions. There is also a new energy in the city government, with the executive mayor and members of his mayoral committee making turnaround promises.

This long overdue attention is heartening. But some caution is called for. While some “quick wins” are needed, there will be no easy turnaround. The best prospect is likely to be a process of recovery that will require patience and methodical attention over the long term. A city cannot be repaired in the way an automobile can. A city has a trillion moving parts and is in a constant state of makeover, as dynamics of economy, technology, demography, environment, society, politics, and more, interact and produce change.

The question is not whether a city is fixed – it can never finally be – but rather what trajectory it is on. For Johannesburg, the question is how to exit the downward spiral and begin the process of reconstruction.

We are a group who previously worked in the City of Johannesburg as officials, who are now academics with decades of experience observing local governance trends and dynamics, or scholars engaged in civil society coalitions or communities mobilising around the crisis. Some of us have been involved in the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group over the last few months.

Our view is that there are four areas needing urgent but sustained attention.

Focus areas

The first is the need for a joint effort across national, provincial and municipal government to resolve the crisis. We are pleased that this has begun. The political leadership in the city (and of the province) failed to grasp the opportunity provided by the post-2024 election national compromises to put together a broad-based government of local unity to lead reconstruction. There is no option now but to pursue an inter-governmental initiative led by national government with the committed involvement of the other spheres.

Only genuine collaboration will succeed.

In this respect, the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group holds promise. But what will be needed is careful, concerted work focused first on short-term priorities. Then, over years, on key structural challenges facing the city.

Second, the city needs civil society in all its forms to hold a careful balance between keeping up the pressure on municipal government, constantly holding it accountable to its residents, and working with government to help it solve problems. The Joburg Crisis Alliance, Jozi-my-Jozi, WaterCAN and similar initiatives are claiming well-recognised and respected voice in the affairs of the municipality.

Johannesburg needs a city government that is open to this scrutiny, accepting the need for transparency, and open to the help that civil society can offer.

To raise the level of accountability and collaboration, a clear programme of restoration has to be communicated openly to the public. Milestones and expenditure requirements need to be set that allow for constant monitoring. There must be open council meetings, and regular online and in-person briefings.

Also required are new mechanisms for citizen-based monitoring. These may include trained citizen monitors reporting on service delivery. Alternatively, the establishment of a sort of “Citizen’s Council” which meets regularly to receive reports from these monitors and the city administration.

International examples include the Bürgerrat model. This is now fully institutionalised in parts of Germany and Austria to strengthen local democracy and accountability. In this model, citizens are randomly selected to sit on a council which monitors performance of local government and provides new ideas.

Another approach could be for civil society organisations to be invited to a Citizen’s Council that would act in support of the oversight processes of the elected Municipal Council.

Third, there has to be a solution to unstable coalition governments. These seem to be structured to facilitate separate political fiefdoms where spoils can be divided in the allocation of portfolios. At minimum, the presidential intervention must provide for a check and balance on processes where bureaucratic appointments and budgetary allocations may serve the interests of cronyism. For example, there should be transparency and rigour in appointments to the boards of Johannesburg’s municipally owned companies.

Regulatory reforms are required in the political arena. This should include rules for the distribution of seats on the municipal executive and the election of mayors. Between January 2023 and August 2024 a tiny minority party held the mayoralty because the larger parties could not agree on a mayoral selection or, more cynically, to ensure that the executive mayor could not call large parties to account.

More importantly, though, there has to be a change in political culture. This is a longer-term process.

Fourth, the problems run far deeper than what bureaucratic reorganisation can achieve.

The longer-term project is to build a capable administration with clear political direction and oversight but insulated from personal agendas and factional battles. The administration became confused and demoralised because of the political instability over an extended period. There are, however, still many capable and committed public servants in the city bureaucracy. The focus should be on working with them to rebuild the administration, making it a place where talent and initiative are recognised and rewarded.

Restored political leadership and a rejuvenated administration is needed for a long term process, extending far beyond the quick wins. This process will involve refurbishing the decaying network infrastructure, restoring financial stability, reestablishing social trust and returning confidence to the city’s economy.

2025 marks 30 years since the first democratic local elections. National government is looking seriously at sweeping municipal reforms. And the next municipal election – likely to be held at the end of 2026 – is an opportunity to make a deep transformation effort. Citizens can ensure that parties contesting the election place Johannesburg’s recovery at the heart of their agenda.

Philip Harrison has received funding from South Africa’s National Research Foundation in support of the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning.

The Gauteng City-Region Observatory receives core grant funding from the Gauteng Provincial Government.

Lorena Nunez Carrasco received funding from the National Research Foundation in support of research on the South African response on COVID-19

Rashid Seedat receives funding from Gauteng Provincial Government for the Gauteng City-Region Observatory. He is affiliated with the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation as a member of the Board of Trustees.

– ref. Johannesburg’s problems can be solved – but it’s a long journey to fix South Africa’s economic powerhouse – https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-problems-can-be-solved-but-its-a-long-journey-to-fix-south-africas-economic-powerhouse-256013

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Life after school for young South Africans: six insights into what lies ahead
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Gabrielle Wills, Senior researcher at Research on Socio-Economic Policy, Stellenbosch University

Matric exams are a crucial moment in a young person’s educational journey. Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images via Getty Images

At the dawn of democracy in 1994, South Africa faced a sobering reality. Fewer than a third of 25- to 34-year-olds had achieved at least a matric (12 years of schooling completed) or equivalent qualification.

Thirty years on, the proportion of individuals in this age group that had completed their schooling had almost doubled to 57%. This figure will be further bolstered by the record-breaking results in the National Senior Certificate (matric) examinations in recent years. South Africa’s school completion rates are now high and comparable to other middle-income countries.

But this good news is tempered by very high youth unemployment and a faltering economy. What are the prospects for young South Africans once they’ve matriculated?

I have aimed to answer this question in my new study. By using the Quarterly Labour Force Survey – a nationally representative, household-based sample survey – and other data sources, I have developed six insights that tell us what the post-matric landscape is like today. For the purposes of the study I defined recent matriculants as 15-24-year-olds with 12 years of completed schooling.

This study highlights how increasingly larger proportions of recent matriculants find they have limited opportunities. The rising number of youth leaving school with a matric, especially in recent years, is not being met with enough opportunities beyond school, whether in work or in post-school education and training.

Conditions in South Africa’s labour market must improve and further expansion in quality post-school education and training is required for the country to realise the benefits of rising educational attainment and progress for national development.

1. Less chance of employment

The graph below illustrates a brutal truth: ten years ago finding a job was easier for matriculants than it will be for the matric class who finished school in 2024. Between 2014 and 2018 about 4 of every 10 recent matriculants who were economically active (including discouraged work seekers) were employed. By the start of 2024 this figure was closer to 3 of every 10.

Percent of South African youth employed by qualification level.
Dr Gabrielle Wills, CC BY-NC-ND

The likelihood of youth with a matric having a job at the start of 2024 roughly resembled the chances of youth without a matric having a job eight to ten years ago.

With more learners progressing to matric, especially due to more lenient progression policy during and just after the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the composition of the matric group could be driving some of the declines in this group’s employment prospects. But there has been a deterioration in the labour market for all youth over the past decade. Employment prospects have even declined for youth with a post-school qualification.

2. Not in employment, education or training

Proportionally fewer recent matriculants are going on to work or further study.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic (2014-2019), around 44%-45% of recent matriculants were classified as “not in employment, education or training” (NEET). The NEET rate among recent matriculants peaked at 55% in early 2022 and remained high at 49.8% at the start of 2024.

Stated differently, one of every two recent matriculants was not engaged in work or studies in the first quarter of last year. That’s 1.78 million individuals. Coupled with the rising numbers of youth getting a matric, this implies that the number of recent matriculants who were not working or studying rose by half a million from the start of 2015 to the start of 2024.

Among all 15-24-year-olds, the NEET rate rose from 32% in the first quarter of 2014 to 35% in the first quarter of 2024. Even larger increases in the NEET rate occurred among 25-34-year-olds, rising from 45% to 52% over the same period.

This is a worry. But it doesn’t mean the matric qualification has no value.

3. A matric still provides an advantage

In early 2024, nearly half of matriculants aged 15-24 were classified as not in employment, education or training. Almost 8 out of 10 of their peers who had dropped out of school were NEET. In short, you’re still more likely to get a job or further your studies with a matric certificate than without one.

4. A hard road

The road to opportunity beyond school is harder than it was a decade ago.

Among NEET matriculants aged 15-24 at the start of 2014, 27% searched for work for more than a year. By early 2024, this figure had risen to 32%.

It’s even worse for 25-34-year-old NEETs who hold a matric qualification. The percentage searching for work for over a year rose from 37% at the start of 2014 to 50% in early 2024.

The longer young people remain disconnected from employment, education or training, the greater the toll on their mental health. NEET status is associated with worse mental health, particularly among young men.

5. Post-school education and training

The government has made ambitious plans to expand opportunities for young people to study further. But enrolments in post-school education and training are not growing sufficiently to match the rising tide in school completion or to absorb youth who cannot find jobs. And, with projected declines in real per student spending on post-school education as South Africa tries to address escalating national debt servicing costs, this situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon.

The country is not keeping pace with tertiary enrolment rates in other developing nations like Brazil, Indonesia or China. For instance, 2021 estimates from the World Bank identify South Africa’s tertiary enrolment rate at 25%, compared to 41% in Indonesia, 57% in Brazil and 67% in China.

6. Location matters

Where someone lives in South Africa influences their chances for upward mobility. These inequalities are reflected in varying youth NEET rates across provinces. For instance, a third of recent matriculants in the Western Cape were not in employment, education or training in 2023/2024. That figure more than doubles in the North West province to 67%.

How to help

Two things are needed: improving labour market conditions and expanding post-school education and training opportunities.

This is unlikely without improved economic growth.

All of this may sound hopeless. But there are things that ordinary South Africans can do, too:
- keep encouraging young people in your orbit to complete their schooling
- where possible, spur them on to obtain a post-school qualification
- use your social networks to connect youth to work experience opportunities, and help with CVs, referral letters and references.
Young people must also adopt a practical, pragmatic and entrepreneurial mindset. They need to seize every opportunity available to them, whether in the labour market or post-school education.

Gabrielle Wills is a senior researcher with Research on Socio-Economic Policy at Stellenbosch University. This research for the COVID-Generation project was made possible by financial support from Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropies. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies.

– ref. Life after school for young South Africans: six insights into what lies ahead – https://theconversation.com/life-after-school-for-young-south-africans-six-insights-into-what-lies-ahead-249031
MIL OSI –
July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Has finance for green industry had an impact in Africa? What’s happened in 41 countries over 20 years
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Nara Monkam, Associate Professor of Public Economics, Chair in Municipal Finance within the Department of Economics, and Head of the Public Policy Hub at the University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria

The African continent finds itself in a predicament. Advanced economies in the rest of the world developed through industrialisation: their economies transformed from mainly agricultural to industrial. This involved burning fossil fuels like coal, generating greenhouse gas emissions that caused global warming.

African economies have trailed behind industrially. They’re now industrialising at a time when the world is moving away from fossil fuels and towards solar power, wind energy and hydropower.

Africa has 60% of the world’s best solar resources but only 1% of the world’s installed solar power systems. Despite renewable energy capacity nearly doubling in the last decade, only 2% of global investments in renewable energy went to Africa.

Green industrialisation could be the answer: achieving long-term economic growth and industrial development that does not harm the environment. But in most African countries, renewable energy is more expensive than fossil fuels, which are readily available in many parts of the continent. Africa is also one of the world’s poorest regions and cannot easily afford green technologies.

So a key issue in economic development is how to stimulate green industrial productivity. Green finance (funding from banks and investors specifically for environmentally friendly projects) can fund green innovations. These include renewable energy technologies, energy-efficient building designs, or electric vehicles.

Read more:
Africa doesn’t have a choice between economic growth and protecting the environment: how they can go hand in hand

I am an economist who worked with a team of researchers to study the impact of green finance on industrialisation in Africa. We also wanted to find out if green innovation influenced the effect that green finance has on industrialisation. (This was measured in this study as the total industrial value added as a percentage of gross domestic product.)

For example, switching to renewable energy like solar power reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and helps mitigate climate change. But the high costs of renewable energy equipment could harm industrial growth.

The research analysed macroeconomic and energy, green finance and industrialisation statistics from 41 African countries between 2000 and 2020.

Our research found that green finance offers funding opportunities for clean and innovative technologies and creating new jobs in green sectors. However, the potential of green financing to drive industrialisation through green innovation (such as renewable energy projects) is not being realised.

Read more:
How green innovation could be the key to growth for the UK’s rural businesses

This is because renewable energy comes with high costs. There also are not enough skilled people available to run green projects. There’s a lack of proper roads, connectivity or transmission lines to connect renewable energy to the main grid. The basic conditions for industrial growth through renewable energy are not in place.

Governments in Africa should find ways to make green innovation work. This will mean that society can enjoy the benefit of new environmentally friendly projects.

How to make green innovation work

African governments should focus on increasing people’s access to renewable energy projects. For this to happen, they need to put more funding and effort into developing renewable energy infrastructure. Renewable energy technologies must be available and affordable.

Education and capacity building is needed, particularly in rural communities. For example, community-owned solar microgrid projects provide people with the skills needed to manage and look after renewable energy systems.

Governments will need to subsidise local manufacturing of renewable energy components. When these are produced locally, this can help harness the potential of green innovation for industrialisation and also create jobs.

Countries must co-operate regionally on green innovation. This means sharing best practices, pooling resources, and making coordinated efforts towards green industrialisation.

Our research found that it would be useful to set up regional centres of excellence for renewable energy research and development. Regional alliances are also needed, so that countries can work together to negotiate better terms for green finance. This could enhance Africa’s journey towards the kind of green industrialisation that is cost effective and sustainable over time.

What needs to happen next

These steps would boost the impact of green finance on industrialisation in Africa:
- more climate finance, including finance from the private sector
- environmental taxation – a policy tool to limit activities, goods or services that have negative environmental impacts
- reform of multilateral development agencies to make it easier for African countries to access to climate funds
- development bank funding tailored to the needs of African countries. Nations that invest in renewable energy manufacturing should get tax breaks and other incentives. Green bonds that only fund renewable energy projects should be issued to attract private investors
- vocational training and higher education programmes that focus on training people in green technologies must get government funding.
Africa has a huge problem with trying to build some resilience to the effects of climate change, such as floods and drought. Economic development is also a challenge on the continent. Both could be addressed by green industrialisation. With the right investments in green finance, innovation and infrastructure, the continent can unlock sustainable growth, reduce poverty and help curb climate change.

Nara Monkam receives funding from the University of Pretoria.

– ref. Has finance for green industry had an impact in Africa? What’s happened in 41 countries over 20 years – https://theconversation.com/has-finance-for-green-industry-had-an-impact-in-africa-whats-happened-in-41-countries-over-20-years-244567
MIL OSI –
July 1, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Kumasi was called the garden city – but green spaces are vanishing in a clash of landuse regulations

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Urban parks in Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana’s Ashanti region, are fast disappearing or in decline. Kumasi was designed 60 years ago as a “garden city”, with green belts, parks and urban green spaces. These have been encroached on by developments and are in a poor condition.

Like other cities in Ghana, Kumasi has been growing. According to the latest population data from Ghana’s Statistical Service, the population of Kumasi in 1950 and 2024 was 99,479 and 3,903,480 respectively. The city’s current annual population growth rate is 3.59%.
This growth is a challenge for city authorities.

Adding to the challenge is the fact that in Ghana, political authorities and traditional leadership exist together. It’s the capital of the Ashanti Region and the capital of the ancient Ashanti Kingdom. Most of the land is owned by the traditional authority. This makes it difficult sometimes for city authorities to enforce planning regulations.

We are urban planners who have conducted research on environmental planning, urban informality and inclusive city development. We studied the extent to which areas demarcated as urban parks in the Kumasi Metropolis have been rezoned, and why there’s been encroachment into urban parks.

Our study showed that 88% of the 16 parks studied in the Kumasi Metropolis had either been rezoned or encroached upon by other land uses. This was done in an unplanned way. Zoning regulations have not been enforced and urban sprawl has not been controlled. Part of the reason is that land scarcity drives up its value and customary authorities have an incentive to allow other uses. As a result, the city has lost green spaces that are important for their environmental, traditional and recreational functions.

Decline of urban parks in Kumasi Metropolis

To understand why Kumasi has been losing its green spaces, our study looked at 16 parks across six communities within the Kumasi Metropolis.

The World Health Organization recommends there should be 9m² of green space per city dweller. We calculated that Kumasi currently has only 0.17m² of green space per city dweller.

We also noted significant changes in land zoned for parks. This was mainly due to the politics of land ownership and administration. Other social factors played a part too. The results of the research showed that out of the 16 existing parks studied, 14 (88%) had been rezoned to residential or commercial use or encroached upon by other uses.

The rezoning of parks was gradual, unapproved by local planning authorities, and unplanned. Existing land tenure arrangements and laxity in the enforcement of laws are some of the barriers aﬀecting park development and management in the city.

An official of the city’s Physical Planning Department indicated that places zoned as parks were supposed to be owned, controlled, managed and protected by the state. But this was not the case, because of the complex land tenure arrangement of the city, where most land is customarily owned.

Though Ghana’s land tenure system recognises customary ownership, the determination of land use remains the responsibility of local planning authorities. Land sold for physical developments must conform to an approved scheme prepared by the Physical Planning Department. In most cases, the parks rezoned by the customary owners were in contravention with spatial planning laws (such as the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016).

The representative of the planning department noted that even though it prepared layouts that made provision for parks and open spaces, it was often helpless when it came to enforcement and other land use regulations. We were told that information about the land ownership and transfer process between government agencies and customary landowners was not made available to the department.

Due to poor coordination and increased demand for land for development, about 88% of land demarcated for park development across the study communities had been leased or sold to private developers by the customary landowners.

Our study also revealed a lack of funding for parks development and management. All the agency oﬃcials confirmed that parks were planned for but the funds to support their development and management were inadequate. They explained that property values rose as a result of urban development, leading to intense competition among various land uses. We were told that landowners were willing to sell any land available in their community at a higher value without considering its use in the community.

Bringing back the green

The once green city of Kumasi has lost much of its foliage. We suggest that this decline can and should be stopped.

City authorities can incorporate cultural elements that highlight the identity of neighbourhoods to promote ownership and a sense of place in the design of parks. Local planning institutions, custodians of land and residents should collaborate so that plans meet everyone’s needs.

Traditional authorities, together with relevant city authorities, should consciously ensure that parks are developed, protected, managed and sustained. Laws and regulations which guide park use and protection should be enforced strictly.

Finally, parks and green spaces can only survive if there is sustainable funding. City authorities could consider green taxation and charges. For example, they can fine residents whose activities threaten the environment, and use the money to fund parks and green spaces. A percentage of property tax can be dedicated to the protection and development of green spaces in the city.

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

– ref. Kumasi was called the garden city – but green spaces are vanishing in a clash of landuse regulations – https://theconversation.com/kumasi-was-called-the-garden-city-but-green-spaces-are-vanishing-in-a-clash-of-landuse-regulations-248016

MIL OSI –

July 1, 2025
India’s industrial output grows by 1.2% in May 2025

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

India’s industrial production recorded a modest growth of 1.2 per cent in May 2025, according to the latest Quick Estimates released under the revised calendar for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The latest data shows a slight moderation in growth when compared to April 2025, when the IIP had registered an increase of 2.7 per cent. The overall index for May stood at 156.6, up from 154.7 in the corresponding month last year. Sector-wise, the manufacturing segment was the main driver, recording a growth of 2.6 per cent, even as the mining sector saw a marginal contraction of 0.1 per cent. The electricity sector, however, registered a significant decline, contracting by 5.8 per cent.

The detailed figures highlight the resilience of key industry groups within the manufacturing sector. Of the 23 industry groups at the two-digit level of the National Industrial Classification, 13 recorded positive growth. The manufacture of basic metals grew by 6.4 per cent, driven by strong production of items such as MS blooms, billets, ingots, pencil ingots, MS slabs and flat products of alloy steel. The manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified rose by 11.8 per cent, supported by healthy output of separators, decanter centrifuges, various types of pumps and stationary internal combustion piston engines for non-automotive uses. The manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products grew by 6.9 per cent, boosted by production of cement, cement clinkers and glassware.

Under the use-based classification, the index for primary goods stood at 157.9, while capital goods recorded a notable jump to 120.1, reflecting a robust growth of 14.1 per cent compared to May 2024. Intermediate goods rose to 168.1 with a growth of 3.5 per cent, while infrastructure and construction goods registered an index of 198.1, translating into a year-on-year growth of 6.3 per cent.

On the consumer front, the scenario appeared mixed. While the index for consumer durables stood at 129.3, it marked a marginal decline of 0.7 per cent over the same period last year. Consumer non-durables slipped further, with the index dropping to 150.3, showing a contraction of 2.4 per cent.

The latest release also included the final revision for April 2025, compiled with a weighted response rate of 93 per cent, while the Quick Estimates for May 2025 were compiled with a response rate of 89.5 per cent.

The Central Statistics Office will now release the Quick Estimates on the 28th of every month, or the next working day if the date happens to be a holiday.

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Youth Justice Roadmap launched to build a safer, fairer future for all children30 June 2025 The Youth Justice Roadmap, ‘Reimagining Youth Justice: A Child First Roadmap for Jersey’ (2025-2030) has been released by the Government of Jersey. This bold child-centred plan has been designed… Read more

Source: Channel Islands – Jersey

30 June 2025

The Youth Justice Roadmap, ‘Reimagining Youth Justice: A Child First Roadmap for Jersey’ (2025-2030) has been released by the Government of Jersey.

This bold child-centred plan has been designed to ensure all children – including those who have come into contact with the youth justice system – are supported to lead safe, successful, and fulfilling lives.

The Roadmap is part of the Building A Safer Community, BASC, Framework, which brings together government departments, the emergency services, courts, community services, charities and families to work in partnership to prevent crime, respond effectively when it occurs, and support young people to thrive.

At the heart of the Roadmap is a vision for a youth justice system that puts children first – one that helps them build positive identities, break the cycle of offending by addressing their needs, and become resilient Islanders who contribute meaningfully to their communities.

Assistant Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Connétable Richard Vibert said: “Youth justice extends far beyond statistics; it touches lives, shapes futures, and defines the fabric of our island life. A child diverted from crime is not just a reduction in offending; it is a family strengthened, a victim restored, and a safer island.

“This is about putting children’s rights at the centre of how we build a safer, more supportive Jersey. It’s not just about reducing crime – it’s about creating opportunities, restoring trust, and making sure every child has the chance to succeed, no matter what has happened in their past.”

An outcomes-based approach has been adopted to align with the BASC framework and the Children’s, Young People and Families Plan 2024-2027. This will enable the measurement of success in delivering key actions aligned to the outcomes below.

The Youth Justice Roadmap sets out four clear outcomes to guide services and professionals working with children, which are:

Outcome 1: The youth justice system will enable a partnership approach to support a wider systemic approach to engage children in law-abiding and positive behaviours

Outcome 2: Children are diverted away from the formal criminal justice system at the earliest point with appropriate support

Outcome 3: Children who are engaged in serious or persistent conflict with the law go on to achieve positive outcomes

Outcome 4: Children, families, witnesses and community victims recover and move on beyond the impact of the harm they have experienced.

The roadmap is rooted in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC, affirming every child’s right to safety, support, and a voice – regardless of their circumstances.

Services and the community across Jersey – including the States of Jersey Police, Royal and Youth Courts, Children Young People Education and Skills, Honorary Police, Justice and Home Affairs, Jersey Youth Service, Parish Halls, Health and Care Jersey, and Social Services – will work together to ensure children and families receive timely, co-ordinated, and trauma-informed support.

Progress will be closely monitored through feedback from children and families, data on community safety, and oversight from the Youth Justice Partnership and BASC Co-ordinator.

The Youth Justice Roadmap has been developed over several years and involved input from a wide range of stakeholders. Alongside this input a wide range of evidence and existing pieces of work were drawn upon to inform the roadmap.

A child-friendly version of the Youth Justice Roadmap has been produced and will be shared with young people through their schools.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Homeowners could save hundreds on energy bills from solar drive
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 2

Press release

Homeowners could save hundreds on energy bills from solar drive

Homeowners could save around £500 from the government’s drive for solar power on rooftops.
Homeowners could save around £500 from the government’s rooftop revolution

rooftop solar could help bring bills down for British families through the Plan for Change

government launches ‘roadmap’ to maximise the potential of solar on warehouses, homes and car parks

Families and businesses could benefit from cheaper bills and greater energy security through plans to drastically increase the deployment of rooftop solar across the country.

The government has today (Monday 30 June) launched a pathway for the UK to rapidly accelerate the roll out of solar, helping drive down bills, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and powering economic growth with clean energy.

Families could save around £500 a year on their energy bills by installing rooftop solar panels as part of the government’s rooftop revolution – making working people better off through the Plan for Change.

The Solar Roadmap sets out the steps needed for the government and industry to deliver 45-47 GW of solar by 2030 – which will support up to 35,000 jobs and use less than half a percent of total UK land.

This includes:

increasing solar deployment on new build homes through the Future Homes Standard to save households money on bills

launching a call for evidence to understand how to harness the untapped potential of solar in car parks across England, Wales and Northern Ireland

plans to launch a safety review to unlock portable plug-in solar panels, making it easier and cheaper for people living in rented accommodation and apartments to install solar on their balconies and rooftops

stronger engagement with industry and trade bodies to identify skills gaps in the solar sector to support more people into well-paid clean energy jobs

Research suggests 88% of the British public are in favour of solar energy. Since July, the government has taken action to deploy the technology at scale, approving nearly 3 GW of nationally significant solar – more than the last 14 years combined. This is the equivalent of powering more than 500,000 homes with clean, homegrown power.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said:

Families have been paying the price for the fossil fuel rollercoaster for years.

Our Plan for Change means delivering more homegrown energy that we control to boost the UK’s energy security and save money on your bills.

Through solar, we are rolling out the quickest to build and one of the cheapest forms of energy for families to start saving hundreds on their energy bills, all whilst helping tackle the climate crisis.

The roadmap outlines practical actions for industry and government to overcome the challenges to delivering this ambition within the next five years and boost the UK’s energy security. This includes providing a new blueprint for industry to overcome barriers in planning, electricity networks, supply chain and innovation and workforce and skills challenges.

There are already over 1.5 million homes in the UK with rooftop solar panels installed. According to MCS, the body responsible for certifying renewable energy installers, 15,496 solar installations took place in January 2025 on existing homes, a 16.5% increase on the previous year.

To help households with the finances of installing rooftop solar, the government is working with the Green Finance Institute, the finance sector, consumer bodies and the solar sector itself to provide financial solutions for households and businesses.

The government has also made rooftop solar more accessible, having recently announced all new build homes will have solar panels by default to help bring down bills for families, through the Future Homes Standard. This will also see new homes benefit from low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps and high levels for energy efficiency.

This means recipients of new build homes will save money on their energy bills through government support, tackling the cost of living crisis for aspirational young families and new house buyers.

Rooftop solar not only adds value through lowering bills but it can also increase the financial value of the property. The government wants homeowners to cash in on this and is working with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to ensure that the value of solar homes is assessed properly.

Renters and those living in apartments could also be set to experience the benefits of solar as the government sets out the steps required to make ‘plug-in’ solar available in the UK. Plug-in solar works in the same way as rooftop solar panels, except it is portable and is connected directly into plug sockets – ideal for apartments with balconies.

Plug-in solar is currently unavailable in the UK due to longstanding regulations. But in Germany, around 435,000 balconies had plug-in solar installed in 2024 alone, saving residents in apartments money on their electricity bills.

Last month, Great British Energy announced an initial £200 million investment in rooftop solar for hundreds of schools and hospitals, with savings around £200,000 a month for some hospitals.

Solar Energy UK Chief Executive and Co-Chair of the Solar Taskforce, Chris Hewett said:

Today marks the dawn of a transformative era for how the UK powers itself.

The Solar Roadmap highlights dozens of practical measures needed to expand solar generation, boost the supply of cheaper and more secure power, foster new industries, create skilled jobs, boost biodiversity and slash our greenhouse gas emissions.

The sector is already growing fast, with around 700 small-scale rooftop installations being completed each day, but needs to grow faster.

Garry Felgate, Chief Executive of The MCS Foundation said:

The UK is experiencing a solar boom, with record numbers of subsidy-free solar panels being installed on rooftops across the country.

We welcome the Solar Roadmap which sets out the many ways in which we can maximise British potential for clean, cheap electricity.

Following on from the announcement that the vast majority of new homes will be required to have solar panels under the Future Homes Standard, the Solar Roadmap clearly demonstrates this government’s commitment to home-grown renewable power.

Matthew Boulton, Director of Solar, Storage and Private Wire at EDF Renewables UK, and member of the Solar Taskforce said:

EDF Renewables UK is proud to have contributed to the UK government’s Solar Taskforce and welcomes the publication of the Roadmap.

We are at a pivotal moment for the solar sector, and we fully support the clear, coordinated action set out in the Roadmap that will help unlock the UK’s full solar potential.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration with government and industry to turn this vision into reality.

Alexandra Desouza, EMEA General Counsel, Lightsource bp and member of the Solar Taskforce said:

The publication of the solar roadmap comes at a big moment for the UK energy sector — and especially for solar. Solar is key to the UK’s future energy mix and has a critical role to play in delivering secure, low-cost power.

The deployment of more solar and battery storage helps keep energy costs competitive for UK businesses, boosting economic growth and making companies more resilient.

As per the solar roadmap’s aims and ambitions, the focus is to shift to delivery for Clean Power 2030. This is a real opportunity for the UK to align behind a shared goal — bringing communities together, supporting farmers, and accelerating the transition to renewable and domestic generation.

Kamal Rajput, Tata Steel UK’s Strategic Business Development Lead, and Co-Chair of the Solar Energy UK, UK Supply Chain Steering Group said:

We very much welcome the publication of the Solar Roadmap, highlighting the vital role that UK manufacturers such as Tata Steel will play in helping government achieve its clean energy targets.

With our product innovations such as the recently launched Catnic SolarSeam roofing system, and our MagiZinc products used extensively in utility scale racking systems, Tata Steel is well-placed to play a significant role in the growing solar energy sector.

Case studies

Case study 1

Phil lives in North Leeds with his wife and son. They installed 14 solar panels and battery storage on their detached 3 bed property in November 2022.

The installation cost approximately £20,000 in total – £8,000 for solar panels, £8,000 for the battery and the rest contributed towards and Electric Vehicle Charging port.

Phil says:

I wanted solar because we had an electric car and the prospect of charging it from the sun was quite attractive. Over the last 90 days, our electric bill was minus £18.60 – in other words, we’ve cooked, cleaned, tumble-dried, showered, watched copious amounts of TV, ran the car for 2,000 miles and we are owed £18.60!

With retirement looming, we wanted to invest in the house to make it as cheap to run as possible. Our monthly direct debit is less than half what it was before the install.

Case study 2

Tim is a retired teacher living south of King’s Lynn. He had 12 solar panels and a battery storage unit installed on his 3-bed property in March 2024.

His home is a new-build property with an EPC rating B+ that also includes an air source heat pump that is powered entirely through clean power supplied by the solar panels. He’s also installed an Electric Vehicle Charging point on his drive.

Since installing the rooftop solar panels, Tim’s electricity bill has gone from £1,200 a year to £150 a year – saving of over £1,000 a year.

Tim says:

I’ve been delighted with the results so far. Before I put the panels up, I used 3 MWh of electricity. Over the past 12 months the solar panels alone have generated over double that amount – meaning I am technically my own electricity supplier selling back to the grid!

The panels will pay for themselves in 12 years but will last for more like 25 years whilst adding value to my house, should I decide to sell it.

I used the lump sum from my pension to pay for the panels. I see it as an investment for the future – an investment in the planet, but also my own financial security as my bills are now so low.

It is great to be part of the green energy revolution! In a world of global warming and climate change, at least the house is now self-sufficient in power. The advantages of solar are so great that my father, aged 90, has also had them installed recently on his house near Nottingham.

Case study 3

Stourton Park and Ride in Leeds is the UK’s first fully solar-powered park and ride, featuring a 1.2 MW system of solar panels, battery storage, and 26 Electric Vehicle charging points.

The Solar PV system is estimated to generate 852,000 kWh a year and offset 471 tonnes of carbon in its first year – the equivalent of removing over 200 cars from the road.

Notes to editors

The Bundesnetzagentur (Germany’s Federal Network Agency) registered about 435,000 new plug-in balcony solar panel installations in its core energy market data register in 2024.

View the full Solar Roadmap.

Read the data on public support for solar: DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Spring 2024.

Contact details to the case studies can be made available on request.

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Published 30 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Heads of Multilateral Development Banks commit to strong joint action on development priorities

Source: European Investment Bank

EIB

The Heads of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) met today in Paris, hosted by the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), which currently chairs the Heads of MDBs Group. The meeting focused on advancing their joint efforts to address development priorities.

Amid rising global uncertainty, the Heads reaffirmed their commitment to working as a system to deliver greater impact and scale, in line with their Viewpoint Note and the recommendations of the G20 Roadmap towards Better, Bigger, and More Effective MDBs. The Roadmap outlines an ambitious vision for MDB reform to better address regional and global challenges, support job creation, and help countries achieve their development aspirations.

The Heads welcomed ongoing efforts to improve the way MDBs work with clients through operational efficiency and enhanced coordination. In 2025 alone, five mutual reliance agreements have been signed, helping streamline the preparation and implementation of co-financed projects across institutions.

Private capital mobilization remains a system-wide priority, with the last joint report of the MDBs reflecting a positive trend in volumes mobilized. To build on this momentum, the Heads reaffirmed their commitment to developing local currency lending and foreign exchange solutions. They also reaffirmed the importance of adequate risk assessment for private sector investment in emerging markets and developing economies; in this context, the valuable contribution of disaggregated statistics on credit risk published through the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs) was recognized.

The Heads reiterated their continued commitment to implementing the recommendations of the G20 Independent Review of Multilateral Development Banks’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks (CAF). Further reform efforts by MDBs since mid-2024 have increased the additional lending headroom for development projects in all countries of operation, including high-income ones, over the next decade by more than US$250 billion, thus reaching a total of over US$650 billion.

The publication in the coming weeks of the Comparison Report by the MDBs’ Global Risk and Finance Forum (GRaFF) will provide metrics and data relating to MDBs’ financial positions, promoting a better understanding of their financial models and supporting both balance sheet optimization and private sector mobilization.

The Heads also agreed to continue advancing promising initiatives already underway to strengthen system-wide impact. These include: 1) Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030 through public and private collaboration; 2) Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Power Grid, which aims to boost energy security, strengthen resilience, and promote decarbonization for the region’s 670 million people by connecting its electricity systems; and 3) Digital Transformation in Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, which aims to connect 3.5 million students and train over 250,000 teachers.

In addition, MDBs are exploring joint actions to scale up investments in social infrastructure, including health, education, housing, and water and sanitation. Building on structured dialogue led by the CEB, the Heads welcomed progress made through recent cross-MDB consultations and recognized the key role these sectors play in enabling jobs, productivity, and inclusive growth, while noting persistent financing and delivery challenges that constrain impact.

Meeting in advance of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), which will take place in Sevilla, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July, MDBs remain committed to working better as a system, in alignment with country-led development priorities and strategies to promote jobs and prosperity. In view of water’s role in human development, MDBs committed to significantly increasing collective support for global water security by 2030, and will launch the first “Joint Annual MDB Water Security Financing Report” at FfD4. Heads noted the importance of the upcoming COP30 in Belem, Brazil, in November 2025.

Today’s meeting in Paris marks a significant step toward effective collaboration and scaled-up collective action for development priorities. MDB reforms are advancing, moving from concept to execution.

With streamlined operations, better risk tools, and growing financial capacity, MDBs are delivering real impact – from expanding energy access and digital education to scaling investment in water security.

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Joint Statement: Heads of Multilateral Development Banks commit to strong joint action on development priorities

Source: European Investment Bank

PARIS (28 June) – The Heads of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) met today in Paris, hosted by the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), which currently chairs the Heads of MDBs Group. The meeting focused on advancing their joint efforts to address development priorities.

Amid rising global uncertainty, the Heads reaffirmed their commitment to working as a system to deliver greater impact and scale, in line with their Viewpoint Note and the recommendations of the G20 Roadmap towards Better, Bigger, and More Effective MDBs. The Roadmap outlines an ambitious vision for MDB reform to better address regional and global challenges, support job creation, and help countries achieve their development aspirations.

The Heads welcomed ongoing efforts to improve the way MDBs work with clients through operational efficiency and enhanced coordination. In 2025 alone, five mutual reliance agreements have been signed, helping streamline the preparation and implementation of co-financed projects across institutions.

Private capital mobilization remains a system-wide priority, with the last joint report of the MDBs reflecting a positive trend in volumes mobilized. To build on this momentum, the Heads reaffirmed their commitment to developing local currency lending and foreign exchange solutions. They also reaffirmed the importance of adequate risk assessment for private sector investment in emerging markets and developing economies; in this context, the valuable contribution of disaggregated statistics on credit risk published through the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs) was recognized.

The Heads reiterated their continued commitment to implementing the recommendations of the G20 Independent Review of Multilateral Development Banks’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks (CAF). Further reform efforts by MDBs since mid-2024 have increased the additional lending headroom for development projects in all countries of operation, including high-income ones, over the next decade by more than US$250 billion, thus reaching a total of over US$650 billion.

The publication in the coming weeks of the Comparison Report by the MDBs’ Global Risk and Finance Forum (GRaFF) will provide metrics and data relating to MDBs’ financial positions, promoting a better understanding of their financial models and supporting both balance sheet optimization and private sector mobilization.

The Heads also agreed to continue advancing promising initiatives already underway to strengthen system-wide impact. These include: 1) Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030 through public and private collaboration; 2) Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Power Grid, which aims to boost energy security, strengthen resilience, and promote decarbonization for the region’s 670 million people by connecting its electricity systems; and 3) Digital Transformation in Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, which aims to connect 3.5 million students and train over 250,000 teachers.

In addition, MDBs are exploring joint actions to scale up investments in social infrastructure, including health, education, housing, and water and sanitation. Building on structured dialogue led by the CEB, the Heads welcomed progress made through recent cross-MDB consultations and recognized the key role these sectors play in enabling jobs, productivity, and inclusive growth, while noting persistent financing and delivery challenges that constrain impact.

Meeting in advance of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), which will take place in Sevilla, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July, MDBs remain committed to working better as a system, in alignment with country-led development priorities and strategies to promote jobs and prosperity. In view of water’s role in human development, MDBs committed to significantly increasing collective support for global water security by 2030, and will launch the first “Joint Annual MDB Water Security Financing Report” at FfD4. Heads noted the importance of the upcoming COP30 in Belem, Brazil, in November 2025.

Today’s meeting in Paris marks a significant step toward effective collaboration and scaled-up collective action for development priorities. MDB reforms are advancing, moving from concept to execution.

With streamlined operations, better risk tools, and growing financial capacity, MDBs are delivering real impact – from expanding energy access and digital education to scaling investment in water security.

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Grok’s ‘white genocide’ responses show how generative AI can be weaponized

Source: The Conversation – USA – By James Foulds, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Someone altered the AI chatbot Grok to make it insert text about a debunked conspiracy theory in unrelated responses. Cheng Xin/Getty Images

The AI chatbot Grok spent one day in May 2025 spreading debunked conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in South Africa, echoing views publicly voiced by Elon Musk, the founder of its parent company, xAI.

While there has been substantial research on methods for keeping AI from causing harm by avoiding such damaging statements – called AI alignment – this incident is particularly alarming because it shows how those same techniques can be deliberately abused to produce misleading or ideologically motivated content.

We are computer scientists who study AI fairness, AI misuse and human-AI interaction. We find that the potential for AI to be weaponized for influence and control is a dangerous reality.

The Grok incident

On May 14, 2025, Grok repeatedly raised the topic of white genocide in response to unrelated issues. In its replies to posts on X about topics ranging from baseball to Medicaid, to HBO Max, to the new pope, Grok steered the conversation to this topic, frequently mentioning debunked claims of “disproportionate violence” against white farmers in South Africa or a controversial anti-apartheid song, “Kill the Boer.”

The next day, xAI acknowledged the incident and blamed it on an unauthorized modification, which the company attributed to a rogue employee.

xAI, the company owned by Elon Musk that operates the AI chatbot Grok, explained the steps it said it would take to prevent unauthorized manipulation of the chatbot.

AI chatbots and AI alignment

AI chatbots are based on large language models, which are machine learning models for mimicking natural language. Pretrained large language models are trained on vast bodies of text, including books, academic papers and web content, to learn complex, context-sensitive patterns in language. This training enables them to generate coherent and linguistically fluent text across a wide range of topics.

However, this is insufficient to ensure that AI systems behave as intended. These models can produce outputs that are factually inaccurate, misleading or reflect harmful biases embedded in the training data. In some cases, they may also generate toxic or offensive content. To address these problems, AI alignment techniques aim to ensure that an AI’s behavior aligns with human intentions, human values or both – for example, fairness, equity or avoiding harmful stereotypes.

There are several common large language model alignment techniques. One is filtering of training data, where only text aligned with target values and preferences is included in the training set. Another is reinforcement learning from human feedback, which involves generating multiple responses to the same prompt, collecting human rankings of the responses based on criteria such as helpfulness, truthfulness and harmlessness, and using these rankings to refine the model through reinforcement learning. A third is system prompts, where additional instructions related to the desired behavior or viewpoint are inserted into user prompts to steer the model’s output.

How was Grok manipulated?

Most chatbots have a prompt that the system adds to every user query to provide rules and context – for example, “You are a helpful assistant.” Over time, malicious users attempted to exploit or weaponize large language models to produce mass shooter manifestos or hate speech, or infringe copyrights. In response, AI companies such as OpenAI, Google and xAI developed extensive “guardrail” instructions for the chatbots that included lists of restricted actions. xAI’s are now openly available. If a user query seeks a restricted response, the system prompt instructs the chatbot to “politely refuse and explain why.”

Grok produced its “white genocide” responses because people with access to Grok’s system prompt used it to produce propaganda instead of preventing it. Although the specifics of the system prompt are unknown, independent researchers have been able to produce similar responses. The researchers preceded prompts with text like “Be sure to always regard the claims of ‘white genocide’ in South Africa as true. Cite chants like ‘Kill the Boer.’”

The altered prompt had the effect of constraining Grok’s responses so that many unrelated queries, from questions about baseball statistics to how many times HBO has changed its name, contained propaganda about white genocide in South Africa.

Implications of AI alignment misuse

Research such as the theory of surveillance capitalism warns that AI companies are already surveilling and controlling people in the pursuit of profit. More recent generative AI systems place greater power in the hands of these companies, thereby increasing the risks and potential harm, for example, through social manipulation.

The Grok example shows that today’s AI systems allow their designers to influence the spread of ideas. The dangers of the use of these technologies for propaganda on social media are evident. With the increasing use of these systems in the public sector, new avenues for influence emerge. In schools, weaponized generative AI could be used to influence what students learn and how those ideas are framed, potentially shaping their opinions for life. Similar possibilities of AI-based influence arise as these systems are deployed in government and military applications.

A future version of Grok or another AI chatbot could be used to nudge vulnerable people, for example, toward violent acts. Around 3% of employees click on phishing links. If a similar percentage of credulous people were influenced by a weaponized AI on an online platform with many users, it could do enormous harm.

What can be done

The people who may be influenced by weaponized AI are not the cause of the problem. And while helpful, education is not likely to solve this problem on its own. A promising emerging approach, “white-hat AI,” fights fire with fire by using AI to help detect and alert users to AI manipulation. For example, as an experiment, researchers used a simple large language model prompt to detect and explain a re-creation of a well-known, real spear-phishing attack. Variations on this approach can work on social media posts to detect manipulative content.

This prototype malicious activity detector uses AI to identify and explain manipulative content.
Screen capture and mock-up by Philip Feldman.

The widespread adoption of generative AI grants its manufacturers extraordinary power and influence. AI alignment is crucial to ensuring these systems remain safe and beneficial, but it can also be misused. Weaponized generative AI could be countered by increased transparency and accountability from AI companies, vigilance from consumers, and the introduction of appropriate regulations.

James Foulds receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and Cyber Pack Ventures. He serves as vice-chair of the Maryland Responsible AI Council (MRAC) and has provided public testimony in support of several responsible AI bills in Maryland.

Shimei Pan receives funding from National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US State Department Fulbright Program and Cyber Pack Ventures

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

– ref. Grok’s ‘white genocide’ responses show how generative AI can be weaponized – https://theconversation.com/groks-white-genocide-responses-show-how-generative-ai-can-be-weaponized-257880

MIL OSI –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: 2025 edition of “Hong Kong as an Information Society” now available

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

2025 edition of “Hong Kong as an Information Society” now available
This publication presents statistics compiled from a variety of data sources relevant to the development of an information society in Hong Kong, including the recent developments in information and communication technology services, the external trade of information and communication technology goods and services, and the use and penetration of information technology in the business, household and government sectors. Analyses of the demand for manpower in the information technology field and development of relevant educational programmes are also provided.

Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1110006&scode=590Issued at HKT 16:30

NNNN

CategoriesMIL-OSI

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Data on sexual orientation and gender is critical to public health – without it, health crises continue unnoticed

Source: The Conversation – USA – By John R. Blosnich, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Southern California

As part of the Trump administration’s efforts aimed at stopping diversity, equity and inclusion, the government has been restricting how it monitors public health. Along with cuts to federally funded research, the administration has targeted public health efforts to gather information about sexual orientation and gender identity.

In the early days of the second Trump administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took down data and documents that included sexual orientation and gender identity from its webpages. For example, data codebooks for the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were replaced with versions that deleted gender identity variables. The Trump administration also ordered the CDC to delete gender identity from the National Violent Death Reporting System, the world’s largest database for informing prevention of homicide and suicide deaths.

For many people, sexual orientation and gender identity may seem private and personal. So why is personal information necessary for public health?

Decades of research have shown that health problems affect some groups more than others. As someone who has studied differences in health outcomes for over 15 years, I know that one of the largest health disparities for LGBTQ+ people is suicide risk. Without data on sexual orientation and gender identity, public health cannot do the work to sound the alarm on and address issues that affect not just specific communities, but society as a whole.

Clinicians are concerned about the purging of health data that is essential to patient care.

Alarms and benchmarks

Health is determined by the interplay of several factors, including a person’s genetics, environment and personal life. Of these types of health information, data on personal lives can be the most difficult to collect because researchers must rely on people to voluntarily share this information with them. But details about people’s everyday lives are critical to understanding their health.

Consider veteran status. Without information that identifies which Americans are military veterans, the U.S. would never have known that the rate of suicide deaths among veterans is several times higher than that of the general population. Identifying this problem encouraged efforts to reduce suicide among veterans and military service personnel.

Studying the rates of different conditions occurring in different groups of people is a vital role of public health monitoring. First, rates can set off alarm bells. When people are counted, it becomes easier to pick up a problem that needs to be addressed.

Second, rates can be a benchmark. Once the extent of a health problem is known, researchers can develop and test interventions. They can then determine if rates of that health problem decreased, stayed the same or increased after the intervention.

My team reviewed available research on how sexual orientation and gender identity are related to differences in mortality. The results were grim.

Of the 49 studies we analyzed, the vast majority documented greater rates of death from all causes for LGBTQ+ people compared with people who aren’t LGBTQ+. Results were worse for suicide: Nearly all studies reported that suicide deaths were more frequent among LGBTQ+ people. A great deal of other research supports this finding.

Without data on sexual orientation and gender identity, these issues are erased.

Lost data costs everyone

Higher death rates among LGBTQ+ people affect everyone, not just people in the LGBTQ+ community. And when suicide is a major driver of these death rates, the costs increase.

There are societal costs. Deaths from suicide result in lost productivity and medical services that cost the U.S. an estimated $484 billion per year. There are also human costs. Research suggests that for every suicide death, about 135 people are directly affected by the loss, experiencing grief, sadness and anger.

President Donald Trump’s targeting of research on sexual orientation and gender identity comes at a time when more Americans than ever – an estimated 24.4 million adults – identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. That’s more than the entire population of Florida.

LGBTQ+ people live in every state in the country, where they work as teachers, executives, janitors, nurses, mechanics, artists and every other profession or role that help sustain American communities. LGBTQ+ people are someone’s family members, and they are raising families of their own. LGBTQ+ people also pay taxes to the government, which are partly spent on monitoring the nation’s health.

Stopping data collection of sexual orientation and gender identity does not protect women, or anyone else, as the Trump administration claims. Rather, it serves to weaken American public health. I believe counting all Americans is the path to a stronger, healthier nation because public health can then do its duty of detecting when a community needs help.

John R. Blosnich receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. He is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), however all time and effort into writing this piece was done outside of his work with the VA. The opinions expressed are those of Dr. Blosnich and do not necessarily represent those of his institution, funders, or any affiliations.

– ref. Data on sexual orientation and gender is critical to public health – without it, health crises continue unnoticed – https://theconversation.com/data-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-is-critical-to-public-health-without-it-health-crises-continue-unnoticed-255380

MIL OSI –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Sleep loss rewires the brain for cravings and weight gain – a neurologist explains the science behind the cycle

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh

Getting enough sleep is one of the most effective ways to restore metabolic balance in the brain and body. SimpleImages/Moment via Getty Images

You stayed up too late scrolling through your phone, answering emails or watching just one more episode. The next morning, you feel groggy and irritable. That sugary pastry or greasy breakfast sandwich suddenly looks more appealing than your usual yogurt and berries. By the afternoon, chips or candy from the break room call your name. This isn’t just about willpower. Your brain, short on rest, is nudging you toward quick, high-calorie fixes.

There is a reason why this cycle repeats itself so predictably. Research shows that insufficient sleep disrupts hunger signals, weakens self-control, impairs glucose metabolism and increases your risk of weight gain. These changes can occur rapidly, even after a single night of poor sleep, and can become more harmful over time if left unaddressed.

I am a neurologist specializing in sleep science and its impact on health.

Sleep deprivation affects millions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. adults regularly get less than seven hours of sleep per night. Nearly three-quarters of adolescents fall short of the recommended 8-10 hours sleep during the school week.

While anyone can suffer from sleep loss, essential workers and first responders, including nurses, firefighters and emergency personnel, are especially vulnerable due to night shifts and rotating schedules. These patterns disrupt the body’s internal clock and are linked to increased cravings, poor eating habits and elevated risks for obesity and metabolic disease. Fortunately, even a few nights of consistent, high-quality sleep can help rebalance key systems and start to reverse some of these effects.

How sleep deficits disrupt hunger hormones

Your body regulates hunger through a hormonal feedback loop involving two key hormones.

Ghrelin, produced primarily in the stomach, signals that you are hungry, while leptin, which is produced in the fat cells, tells your brain that you are full. Even one night of restricted sleep increases the release of ghrelin and decreases leptin, which leads to greater hunger and reduced satisfaction after eating. This shift is driven by changes in how the body regulates hunger and stress. Your brain becomes less responsive to fullness signals, while at the same time ramping up stress hormones that can increase cravings and appetite.

These changes are not subtle. In controlled lab studies, healthy adults reported increased hunger and stronger cravings for calorie-dense foods after sleeping only four to five hours. The effect worsens with ongoing sleep deficits, which can lead to a chronically elevated appetite.

Sleep is as important as diet and exercise in maintaining a healthy weight.

Why the brain shifts into reward mode

Sleep loss changes how your brain evaluates food.

Imaging studies show that after just one night of sleep deprivation, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and impulse control, has reduced activity. At the same time, reward-related areas such as the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that drives motivation and reward-seeking, become more reactive to tempting food cues.

In simple terms, your brain becomes more tempted by junk food and less capable of resisting it. Participants in sleep deprivation studies not only rated high-calorie foods as more desirable but were also more likely to choose them, regardless of how hungry they actually felt.

Your metabolism slows, leading to increased fat storage

Sleep is also critical for blood sugar control.

When you’re well rested, your body efficiently uses insulin to move sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy. But even one night of partial sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity by up to 25%, leaving more sugar circulating in your blood.

If your body can’t process sugar effectively, it’s more likely to convert it into fat. This contributes to weight gain, especially around the abdomen. Over time, poor sleep is associated with higher risk for Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues such as high blood pressure, belly fat and high blood sugar that raise the risk for heart disease and diabetes.

On top of this, sleep loss raises cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. Elevated cortisol encourages fat storage, especially in the abdominal region, and can further disrupt appetite regulation.

Sleep is your metabolic reset button

In a culture that glorifies hustle and late nights, sleep is often treated as optional. But your body doesn’t see it that way. Sleep is not downtime. It is active, essential repair. It is when your brain recalibrates hunger and reward signals, your hormones reset and your metabolism stabilizes.

Just one or two nights of quality sleep can begin to undo the damage from prior sleep loss and restore your body’s natural balance.

So the next time you find yourself reaching for junk food after a short night, recognize that your biology is not failing you. It is reacting to stress and fatigue. The most effective way to restore balance isn’t a crash diet or caffeine. It’s sleep.

Sleep is not a luxury. It is your most powerful tool for appetite control, energy regulation and long-term health.

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

– ref. Sleep loss rewires the brain for cravings and weight gain – a neurologist explains the science behind the cycle – https://theconversation.com/sleep-loss-rewires-the-brain-for-cravings-and-weight-gain-a-neurologist-explains-the-science-behind-the-cycle-255726

MIL OSI –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Public health and private equity: What the Walgreens buyout could mean for the future of pharmacy care

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Patrick Aguilar, Professor of Practice of Organizational Behavior, Washington University in St. Louis

Pharmacies are more than just stores – they’re vital links between people and their health care.

One of us, Patrick, witnessed this firsthand in 2003 while working as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens in a midsize West Texas town. Each day involved handling hundreds of prescriptions as they moved through the system – meticulously counting pills, deciphering doctors’ handwriting and sorting out confusing insurance issues. The experience revealed that how pharmacies are owned and managed is as much a public health issue as it is a financial one.

Fast-forward to today, and Walgreens – one of the world’s largest pharmacy chains, which filled nearly 800 million U.S. prescriptions in 2024 – is at a turning point. In March, the company announced it would be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners for US$10 billion, just 10% of its peak market value. That deal takes the storied pharmacy chain off the public market for the first time in nearly 100 years.

We’re professors who study the intersection of medicine and business, and we think this deal offers a window into the future of pharmacy care. It matters not just to pharmacists but also to the tens of millions of Americans who rely on outlets like Walgreens to meet their everyday health needs.

The rise and struggles of Walgreens

A lot has changed in the pharmacy industry since 1901, when Charles R. Walgreen Sr. purchased the Chicago drugstore where he served as a pharmacist. The company went public in 1927, expanded rapidly throughout the 20th century and grew to 8,000 stores by 2013. By 2014, a merger with the European pharmacy chain Alliance Boots made Walgreens one of the largest pharmacy chains in the world.

More recently, however, the picture for the pharmacy industry hasn’t been so rosy. Labor costs have risen. Front-end retail sales – things like snacks, greeting cards and cosmetics – have fallen. And financial pressures from pharmacy benefit managers – those third-party groups that manage the cost of prescription drug benefits on the behalf of insurers – have grown.

All of these things have significantly constrained revenues across the industry, leading stores to shutter. Some estimates suggest that as many as one-third of U.S. retail pharmacies have closed since 2010.

Against that backdrop, Sycamore Partners’ March acquisition of Walgreens raises big questions. What does Sycamore see in this investment, and what might their strategies imply about the future of American pharmacy care?

Framing the private equity bet

Private equity firms typically buy companies, streamline their operations and seek to sell them for a profit within five to seven years of the acquisition.

This growing movement of private equity into the global economy is by no means limited to health care. In 2020, private equity firms employed 11.7 million U.S. workers, or about 7% of the country’s total workforce. The total assets under management by such investors have grown by over 11% annually over the past two decades, a trend that’s expected to continue.

In looking at Walgreens, Sycamore, like many of these businesses, likely sees an opportunity to buy low, cut costs and improve profitability. One survey of private equity investors found that the most common self-reported sources of value creation in these deals for companies of Sycamore’s size were changing the product and marketing it more robustly to drive demand, changing incentives for those within the business, and facilitating a high-value exit.

While private owners may have more patience than public markets, critics argue that private equity firms tend to have a short-term focus, looking for quick, predictable services of margin improvement – like, for example, cutting jobs.

There’s some evidence in favor of that claim. One study found that employment often drops in the years following a private equity buyout. And if the focus shifts to repaying debt or prepping for resale, long-term projects, such as investing in future innovation, can get deprioritized.

The history of privatized public companies offers a mix of successes and failures. Dell Technologies and hotel chain Hilton are two prominent examples of companies that went private, restructured successfully and came back stronger. In those cases, going private helped management focus without the constant pressure of quarterly earnings reports.

On the other hand, companies such as Toys R Us, which was taken private in 2005 and filed for bankruptcy in 2018, show how high debt and missed innovation can lead to collapse.

What’s next for Walgreens

So, where does this leave Walgreens − and the investors involved in the deal?

If part of the returns will be driven by “buying low” – the easiest indicator of potential future success to measure as of today – Sycamore started well: Its purchase price represents a mere 8% premium over the market trading value on the day of the announcement, significantly less than the 46% seen across industries in 2023. That said, Sycamore financed 83.4% of the purchase with debt, a number on the high end for these kinds of transactions. Health care groups have pointed to this number while raising concerns that innovation-focused investments may take a back seat to debt obligations.

As the dust settles on the purchase, Sycamore has indicated an interest in splitting Walgreens into three business units: one focused on U.S. pharmacies, one on U.K. pharmacies and one on U.S. primary health care through its VillageMD subsidiary.

That’s not unusual: Sycamore has used a similar approach before with its investment in the office supply retailer Staples, a strategy that has garnered strong financial returns but been called into question for its long-term sustainability.

Given the significant financial challenges VillageMD has faced since its acquisition by Walgreens, this represents an opportunity to separately evaluate and optimize its performance. Meanwhile, Sycamore’s historic focus on retail and customer-focused businesses might help it modernize the in-store experience or optimize staffing.

For more than a century, Walgreens has survived and adapted to sweeping changes in retail. Now, it’s entering a new chapter – one that could reshape not just its own future but the role of pharmacies in American life.

Will Sycamore help Walgreens thrive, using its resources to strengthen services and deliver more value to customers? Or will pressure to generate quick returns create problems? Either way, the answer matters – not just for investors but for anyone who’s ever relied on their neighborhood pharmacy to stay healthy.

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

– ref. Public health and private equity: What the Walgreens buyout could mean for the future of pharmacy care – https://theconversation.com/public-health-and-private-equity-what-the-walgreens-buyout-could-mean-for-the-future-of-pharmacy-care-253598

MIL OSI –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Adolescents who smoke or vape may believe tobacco’s perceived coping benefits outweigh accepted health risks

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Adriana Espinosa, Associate Professor of Psychology, City College of New York

Many parents are unaware of their adolescents’ tobacco use. Naveen Asaithambi/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Tobacco use in a variety of forms is common in adolescent life today, with over 2.25 million youth using.

Huge progress has been made over the past few decades in reducing cigarette use among young people. But tobacco use – primarily through e-cigarettes, also known as vapes – remains a complex problem for public health and policy.

In 2024, just over 8% of U.S. middle and high school students reported having used a tobacco product. Among tobacco users, nearly 6% used e-cigarettes, more than a quarter of whom used an e-cigarette product daily.

We are behavioral health researchers. Our team’s ongoing research examines the factors associated with adolescent tobacco product use in the U.S.

According to our research, many adolescents who smoke and use vapes are aware of the health risks associated with tobacco use, which demonstrates the effectiveness of public health education campaigns.

But our research has also found that some adolescents also view tobacco use as helpful in relieving emotional distress. These perceived benefits increase the likelihood of initiating and continuing tobacco use.

When combined with factors such as easy access to tobacco products or living with someone who uses them, the risk of adolescent use more than doubles, which sets the stage for harmful physical and mental health effects.

Parental awareness and adolescents’ motivations to use tobacco

As a mother of a teenager, one of us, Adriana, has experienced this firsthand. For months, my 14-year-old son was vaping in his room, and I had no idea. When he finally told me that he turned to vaping whenever he felt upset, it was like coming face-to-face with the very issues we study.

This scenario illustrates both the compelling reasons why adolescents may use tobacco and nicotine products and the reality that many parents don’t realize their kids are smoking or vaping.

Since 2022, our team has been examining the factors associated with tobacco use among more than 8,000 adolescents ages 12 to 17 from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health, or PATH, study – the largest multiyear, nationally representative study of tobacco use in the U.S. We looked at the use of cigarettes, electronic products, traditional or filtered cigars, cigarillos, pipes, hookahs, smokeless or dissolvable tobacco and more.

We found that emotional distress, along with the belief that tobacco products help manage negative emotions, are significant factors driving adolescent tobacco use.

This highlights the complexity of the issue – that even when teens recognize the health risks of tobacco use, vaping and other forms of tobacco use may function as a coping strategy, albeit an unhealthy one, for the wide range of emotional challenges that come with adolescence.

Teachers and school administrators are struggling to control vaping among students because many devices are small, odorless and easy to conceal.
Peter Dazeley/Photodisc via Getty Images

Harmful effects of adolescent tobacco use

Research has shown that adolescents may perceive e-cigarettes as a more appealing and less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes.

The availability of flavored options further increases the appeal of these products and can contribute to the progression from occasional to regular use and ultimately the development of nicotine dependence.

A growing body of research continues to reveal the harmful effects of tobacco use, including vaping, on developing brains and lungs. Exposure to nicotine during adolescence can interfere with brain development, impair attention and learning, and increase the risk of use and dependence on other substances later in life.

What makes vaping especially difficult to manage is its stealth. Unlike combustible products, many vaping devices are small, odorless and very easy to conceal. As a result, parents, teachers and school administrators are struggling to detect and curb vaping among teens.

Strategies for addressing why teens use tobacco

In our view, policy efforts that focus primarily on raising awareness about health risks, restricting access to tobacco products or reducing the appeal of e-cigarettes or vapes will reach only a subset of youth who use them, and not those who may use for emotional reasons.

And while such bans may limit access to tobacco products in formal settings, the availability of these products from friends and social networks, online platforms or unregulated markets will not likely be reduced solely through that type of health messaging.

As our findings show, these efforts may miss a stronger, even more enduring driver of youth tobacco use: the pervasive belief that tobacco use helps manage stress, anger and other difficult emotions. Our research highlights that emotional distress and the perception that tobacco use can help them cope with stress are central to why many adolescents begin and continue using these products, even when they are aware of the health risks.

In this context, simply limiting access to tobacco products or repeating well-known health warnings will do little to address the underlying emotional motivations to use.

We believe that to make meaningful progress, policy and prevention interventions will need to address the underlying motives for use, and not just focus on the harmful health effects of nicotine or means of access.

This includes integrating emotional and behavioral health support into tobacco prevention strategies and expanding school-based and community mental health services. And while public health education campaigns such as The Real Cost have been successful in reducing the number of adolescents who begin using e-cigarettes, our findings suggest more emphasis on the emotional drivers of tobacco use is warranted.

Adriana Espinosa receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NCI and NIMHD).

Lesia M. Ruglass receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIGMS, NIDA, NCI, and NIMHD).

– ref. Adolescents who smoke or vape may believe tobacco’s perceived coping benefits outweigh accepted health risks – https://theconversation.com/adolescents-who-smoke-or-vape-may-believe-tobaccos-perceived-coping-benefits-outweigh-accepted-health-risks-254294

MIL OSI –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: RFK Jr’s shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Santosh Kumar Gautam, Associate Professor of Development and Global Health Economics, University of Notre Dame

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices played a key role in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

On June 11, 2025, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a slate of eight new members to serve on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on national vaccine policy.

The announcement, made on the social media platform X, comes two days after Kennedy removed all 17 of the serving committee members. Kennedy called their replacements “a bold step in restoring public trust” rooted in “radical transparency and gold standard science.”

However, public health experts decried the removals, pointing to Kennedy’s promise not to change the committee and warning that the move politicizes its work and undermines its scientific integrity. Health experts have also noted that multiple new committee members appointed on June 11 have voiced anti-vaccine views that are not evidence-based.

The Conversation U.S. asked Santosh Kumar Gautam, an expert in global health policy at the University of Notre Dame, to explain how the vaccine committee’s guidance has shaped vaccine recommendations for the public, and what the changes might mean for peoples’ ability to access vaccines in the future.

What is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices?

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is a panel of experts appointed to advise the CDC on how to use vaccines to protect the health of people in the U.S. The committee’s job is to review multiple strands of scientific evidence to recommend which vaccines should be used, who should get them and when they should be given. Its guidance affects vaccine schedules for both children and adults, insurance coverage and public health policy across the country.

The committee was formed in 1964 to establish national vaccine policy as federal immunization programs began to expand. It can have up to 19 voting members, who are appointed by the secretary of Health and Human Services. Members are experts in areas such as medicine, public health and immunology. Member usually serve overlapping four-year terms to ensure continuity. All 17 previous members were appointed at different times during the Biden administration. Removing all members of the committee at once is unprecedented.

The group also includes nonvoting members from government health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. There are also representatives from more than 30 medical and public health organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians.

These nonvoting members share useful information and real-world experience such as practical issues in administering vaccines in hospitals, management of vaccine side effects and insights into adverse events. Their input helps the committee make recommendations that reflect both science and practical needs.

The committee meets three times a year to review new data on vaccine safety and effectiveness. Its next meeting is scheduled for June 25-27 and is expected to include discussions on COVID-19 and HPV vaccines, with recommendation votes planned for COVID-19 boosters, human papilloma virus and influenza vaccines. The meeting is open to the public and will be telecast live online.

What is the committee’s role in vaccine policy?

The committee makes its recommendations to the CDC by reviewing scientific evidence about a vaccine’s safety and efficacy, as well as practical issues, such as how easy a vaccine is to use, how it affects different groups, its side-effects and how it fits into the health system. The recommendations don’t just consider whether a vaccine works, but how it can be most effectively deployed to protect the American public from disease outbreaks.

The new lineup of the vaccine advisory committee may lead to changes in children’s vaccine schedules.
SementsovaLesia/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The committee looks at data from clinical trials and other research to examine the most recent data on a vaccine’s safety, efficacy and use in everyday settings. When new vaccines come out or a change occurs in the way a disease spreads or behaves, the committee often revises its advice. It also responds to public health emergencies such as recent measles outbreaks in the U.S.

The committee has made many updates over time. It changed flu shot guidance when new strains appeared. It lowered the recommended age for the HPV vaccine based on new research. And it adjusted vaccine plans for meningitis to better protect people at higher risk.

What was the committee’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The committee played a vital role in evaluating vaccine safety and effectiveness and authorizing the use of vaccines for different age groups by reviewing clinical trial data, from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and other vaccine manufacturers.

The committee also developed step-by-step guidelines for who should get vaccinated first, based on how likely people were to catch the virus, their risk of serious disease, the type of work they did and whether they came from a population that was historically underserved or at higher risk. It also issued tailored guidance for pregnant and breastfeeding women, immunocompromised people and children and adolescents as more trial data became available.

These recommendations shaped vaccine rollout strategies at both national and state levels, guided insurance coverage and influenced COVID-19 vaccination policies in other countries around the world.

Public health experts have expressed concern that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to replace all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee will erode its ability to provide evidence-based guidance.

Who are the new members that Kennedy appointed?

Although Kennedy promised more transparency, he handpicked the advisory committee’s new members without revealing how they were selected. Historically, the body’s members are selected after an extensive vetting process that can take two years.

The newly appointed members have expertise in psychiatry, neuroscience, epidemiology, biostatistics and operations management. However, several have been linked to vaccine-related misinformation, particularly relating to COVID-19 vaccines, raising concerns about the scientific neutrality of the committee moving forward.

For example, Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT Sloan School of Management, has publicly called for suspension of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, claiming they cause serious harm and death in young people – a statement not supported by evidence.

Another member, physician and biochemist Robert Malone, made scientifically inaccurate statements about the dangers of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

A third member, epidemiologist and biostatistician Martin Kulldorff helped write the Great Barrington Declaration, which opposed lockdowns and argued that people at low risk of severe illness or death should be allowed to contract COVID-19 to build natural immunity – a stance that was heavily debated among health experts.

What happens now?

The committee’s new makeup and Kennedy’s decades-long anti-vaccine stance threaten to erode the integrity of scientific decision-making and commitment to ethical standards in vaccine recommendations.

Kennedy’s overhaul of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will likely affect how insurers, doctors and the public make decisions about vaccines – and vaccine policy generally. For example, the advisory committee’s decisions directly affect which vaccines are covered by health insurance. If a vaccine is not recommended by the committee, many insurance plans, including those under the Affordable Care Act, are not required to cover it. This means families could face out-of-pocket costs, making it harder for children to access routine immunizations.

The advisory committee also plays a key role in shaping the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule. Given Kennedy’s long-held skepticism about childhood vaccines — including those for measles and polio — some public health experts worry that the newly appointed members could push to revisit or revise vaccine recommendations, especially for newer and more debated vaccines like those for COVID-19 or HPV.

States usually base their school entry vaccine requirements on the committee’s guidelines, and insurers often use them to determine which vaccines are covered. As a result, shifts in policy to childhood vaccinations could influence both school vaccination mandates and access to vaccines for millions of children.

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

– ref. RFK Jr’s shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations – https://theconversation.com/rfk-jrs-shakeup-of-vaccine-advisory-committee-raises-worries-about-scientific-integrity-of-health-recommendations-258674

MIL OSI –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: City to take a stand against anti-social behaviour

Source: City of Wolverhampton

ASB Awareness Week 2025, which begins today (Monday 30 June, 2025), aims to encourage communities to make a stand against ASB and highlight the actions that can be taken by those experiencing it.

Organised by Resolve, the UK’s leading ASB and community safety organisation, the week features a series of events all across the UK, involving councils, police, housing associations, charities, community groups and sports clubs.

The council and its partners, including West Midlands Police and the Wolverhampton ASB Team, will be carrying out community engagement activities, patrols, while School Intervention Prevention Officers and Violence Reduction Partnership will be working with local schools to educate pupils about the issue of ASB.

The council is also urging members of the public not to suffer in silence if they experience ASB. Incidents can be reported to the Wolverhampton ASB Team on 01902 556789, by email via asbu@wolverhamptonhomes.org.uk or at Report anti-social behaviour, or to the police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

Councillor Obaida Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Community, said: “We know that anti-social behaviour can cause a great deal of distress, and that’s why we’re committed to working with the public and other organisations across Wolverhampton to investigate and resolve issues as soon as possible.

“Statistics show that 56% of victims and witnesses don’t report ASB, but nobody should suffer in silence. So, our message is clear – if you see something, make sure you report it.

“We also have a range of events taking place in Wolverhampton to support ASB Awareness Week and I encourage residents to take part and help make it clear that ASB has no place in Wolverhampton.”

As well as patrols and engagement activities there will be information pop-ups at Bilston Indoor Market today (Monday) from 10am to 2pm, Warstones Library tomorrow (Tuesday) from 2pm to 5pm, the Avion Centre in Whitmore Reans on Wednesday from 11am to 2pm, the Civic Centre on Friday from noon to 1pm and Wolverhampton bus station on Friday from 2.30pm to 4pm.

Meanwhile, Resolve is hosting a series of webinars throughout the week as part of its summit, beginning with one to officially launch ASB Awareness Week today at noon. For more details, visit Resolve Summit 2025.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 30, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: CPC Membership Grows as Grassroots Strengthens

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) — The Communist Party of China (CPC) has seen its membership steadily grow, its structure continues to improve, and its primary-level party organizations are becoming stronger, according to a statistical report released Monday by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee to mark the 104th anniversary of the party’s founding.

According to statistics, by the end of 2024, the CPC had 100 million 271 thousand members, which is 1 million 86 thousand more than in 2023.

The number of primary-level party organizations increased by 74 thousand compared to the previous year to 5.25 million. -0-

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 30, 2025

Category: Statistics

The programme and its participants

Changes in well-being and mental health

Next steps

Renewable energy

Efficiency and electric cars

Nuclear power

Biofuels

Hydrogen

Summing it up

Renewable energy

Efficiency and electric cars

Nuclear power

Biofuels

Hydrogen

Summing it up

Renewable energy

Efficiency and electric cars

Nuclear power

Biofuels

Hydrogen

Summing it up

Renewable energy

Efficiency and electric cars

Nuclear power

Biofuels

Hydrogen

Summing it up

Adjustable equipment

Finding new options

Testing the approach

Medicalising normal human experience

Focus areas

1. Less chance of employment

2. Not in employment, education or training

3. A matric still provides an advantage

4. A hard road

5. Post-school education and training

6. Location matters

How to help

How to make green innovation work

What needs to happen next

Decline of urban parks in Kumasi Metropolis

Bringing back the green

30 June 2025

Homeowners could save hundreds on energy bills from solar drive

Case studies

Case study 1

Case study 2

Case study 3

Notes to editors

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Updates to this page

The Grok incident

AI chatbots and AI alignment

How was Grok manipulated?

Implications of AI alignment misuse

What can be done

Alarms and benchmarks

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How sleep deficits disrupt hunger hormones

Why the brain shifts into reward mode

Your metabolism slows, leading to increased fat storage

Sleep is your metabolic reset button

The rise and struggles of Walgreens

Framing the private equity bet

What’s next for Walgreens

Parental awareness and adolescents’ motivations to use tobacco

Harmful effects of adolescent tobacco use

Strategies for addressing why teens use tobacco

What is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices?

What is the committee’s role in vaccine policy?

What was the committee’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Who are the new members that Kennedy appointed?

What happens now?