Category: Transport

MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto, Murray, Colleagues Reintroduce Child Care for Working Families Act
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto

As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and over 100 of her Democratic colleagues in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.

“Working families in Nevada shouldn’t have to choose between quitting their jobs to look after their kids or footing the bill for unaffordable child care,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This legislation would support families and spur economic growth by ensuring that all families across the country can access child care without breaking the bank.”

As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The national average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In Nevada, the average annual cost of childcare is more than average annual cost of housing and more than doubles the cost of in-state college tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year and costs the Nevada economy over $1 billion each year.

Specifically, Child Care for Working Families Act will:
- Make child care affordable for working families by providing more funding to states, localities, and Head Start agencies. No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
- Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by providing grants to open and run new child care centers for underserved communities.
- Support higher wages for child care workers.
- Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K. States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
- Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.
Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported efforts to lower costs for hardworking Nevadans. She helped pass critical expansions to the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue plan, and has been fighting to permanently increase this vital relief for working families. Cortez Masto also helped introduce the No Tax on Tips Act to exempt tipped wages from federal income tax. Additionally, Senator Cortez Masto supports raising the federal minimum wage and eliminating the minimum wage gap for tipped workers nationally.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Support Grows for Grassley’s Combating Organized Retail Crime Act

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON – Following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on organized retail crime, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) welcomed growing support for his bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) from retail industry leaders, law enforcement organizations and hundreds of affected businesses.

Grassley and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev) introduced the bill to establish a multi-agency response to organized retail crime, enhancing coordination between retail industry representatives and law enforcement. The legislation would also strengthen reporting efforts, create new tools to assist in the investigation and prosecution of retail and supply chain crime, and support efforts to recapture stolen goods and their proceeds.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act currently has 26 bipartisan Senate cosponsors and is endorsed by 38 state attorneys general. Additionally, the legislation has garnered significant support from advocacy groups, including the world’s largest retail trade association, major law enforcement organizations and a coalition of over 260 impacted businesses. Reps. David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.) are leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Watch experts and industry leaders discuss the Judiciary Committee’s hearing and the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act below, followed by statements of support from local, state and federal organizations and businesses.

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VIDEO

The National Retail Federation and a coalition of over 260 impacted businesses:

“We respectfully urge Congress to advance and pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 without delay. This bipartisan, commonsense legislation is essential to modernizing our national response to organized retail crime, which threatens not only public safety but also the health and security of America’s supply chains and consumer access to goods. By strengthening coordination, enforcement and prevention, CORCA will help protect American businesses, workers and families. The time to act is now.”

The National Association of Attorneys General:

“As Attorneys General of Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois and South Carolina, we are joined by the 34 Attorneys General of the undersigned states to encourage action during the 119th Congress to support our efforts to combat the nationwide organized retail crime epidemic… CORCA would provide the necessary resources at the state and federal level to bring the organizations and individuals behind this nationwide problem to justice.”

The National Police Association:

“The [National Police Association] extends its gratitude to Sen. Grassley and Rep. Joyce for introducing the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, a federal bill that would allow the private sector and law enforcement partners at all levels to work in tandem to fight these crime syndicates. The government’s priority is to provide for the safety and welfare of its citizens, and this bill goes a long way in accomplishing this.”

The American Trucking Association:

“The trucking industry takes great pride in delivering America’s freight safely and on time; however, the billions of tons of goods transported by trucks from coast to coast have increasingly become a prime target for organized crime rings, including transnational organizations, putting truck drivers at risk and raising costs for consumer. ATA commends this bipartisan group of leaders for addressing this alarming trend and safeguarding our supply chain. By empowering federal agencies to improve cooperation across jurisdictions and ramp up enforcement actions, this bill would strike an effective blow against organized crime.”

Brenda Neville, President and CEO of the Iowa Motor Truck Association:

“We commend the Senate Judiciary Committee for shining a spotlight on the growing problem of cargo theft. Chairman Grassley’s legislation is vitally important for Iowa’s trucking industry and the more than 100,000 Iowans who work to keep freight moving safely and efficiently. Cargo theft not only threatens the security of Iowa’s freight—it puts these hardworking men and women at serious risk. We are thankful to Chairman Grassley and the entire committee for their efforts to protect the people and the industry that are vital to Iowa’s economy.”

Matt Hart, Executive Director of the Illinois Trucking Association:

“Cargo theft is an epidemic affecting the entire supply chain, and Illinois is at the epicenter of the problem. Our state is among the top three nationally in cargo theft occurrences, and it is critical that Congress pass common-sense legislation that deters these criminal actors and gives law enforcement the tools it needs to combat these sophisticated crimes. On behalf of the nearly 340,000 Illinoisans who work throughout the trucking industry, we call on Senator Durbin to support the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act.”

Eric Sauer, CEO of the California Trucking Association:

“Cargo theft is an issue impacting the entire supply nation across the country, but nowhere is it more acute than in California. Without this much-needed legislation, sophisticated criminal organizations will continue to operate with impunity at a great cost to consumers, highway safety, and the hardworking men and women throughout our industry. Senator Padilla’s support of the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act means law enforcement has the tools it needs to prosecute these criminal actors.”

The Association of American Railroads:

“Organized criminal operations continue to evolve and escalate their targeted attacks against our nation’s supply chain and retailers. This alarming trend affects every industry – including the nation’s largest railroads, which experienced a 40 percent spike in cargo theft last year. Disrupting these organized crime networks requires a unified, federally-led response. Chairman Grassley and Rep. Joyce’s bipartisan legislation provides the strategic framework necessary to disrupt these criminal networks and safeguard our supply chain.”

The Retail Industry Leaders Association:

“Organized criminal enterprises are endangering communities across the country through brazen and violent criminal acts that put retail employees and customers in harm’s way. Whether stealing mass quantities of products from retail stores or hijacking consumer goods throughout the supply chain, these gangs are wreaking havoc. And these criminal rings use the profits from retail theft to support larger illicit activities such as human trafficking, gun smuggling, narcotics, and terrorism. In order to expose and prosecute these sophisticated criminal rings, we need federal, state and local law enforcement to be coordinated, which is exactly what CORCA will do.”

The International Council of Shopping Centers:

“Across the United States, communities small and large are facing an unprecedented number of [organized retail crime] incidents. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would provide the necessary resources to bring the people and organizations behind this nationwide problem to justice by establishing formal coordination between law enforcement and the private sector. We applaud Senators Grassley and Cortez Masto, and Representatives Joyce, Lee and Titus, for reintroducing the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. We believe the bill represents a huge step in the right direction towards addressing this growing issue.”

The Intermodal Association of North America:

“The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act offers commonsense solutions to identify and deter organized crime throughout the supply chain by enhancing legal frameworks, improving enforcement capabilities, and fostering collaboration across relevant federal, state and local agencies. The legislation will strengthen the U.S. economy by enhancing supply chain efficiency, penalizing dangerous crime groups and protecting American workers and consumers.”

The National Insurance Crime Bureau:

“On behalf of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), I write to express our strong support of S. 1404, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025. As a leader in the fight against insurance fraud and crime, NICB urges the Committee to take up and advance this bipartisan measure, which will deter retail and cargo theft that harms American consumers and job creators; finances organized, transnational criminal networks; and increases costs for all.”

The Home Depot:

“The Home Depot strongly supports CORCA, and we are pleased to see that the Senate bill has over 20 bipartisan cosponsors. The bill would create the Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center, bringing together federal, state and local law enforcement and private sector experts to share information and collaborate on strategies to keep our stores, customers, and associates safe and secure. The bill would allow us to expand upon the progress made at the local and state levels and address cases that reach certain thresholds or cross state lines.”

Ulta Beauty, Inc.:

“We support CORCA’s goal to establish a coordinated federal approach to fighting these crimes. By enabling real-time data sharing and cross-jurisdictional collaboration between federal, state and local authorities, CORCA would empower law enforcement to pursue and prosecute [organized retail crime] offenders more effectively, deterring future activity and protecting retail workers and consumers. We believe this bill represents a meaningful and necessary step toward a safer, more secure retail environment, and we respectfully urge Congress to advance its passage.”

Donna Lemm, Chief Strategy Officer, IMC Logistics:

“It is imperative that action is taken at the federal, state, and local levels to confront and neutralize this growing threat. The trucking industry and our supply chain partners need more cooperation and interagency information-sharing, as well as a more robust investigative and prosecutorial posture, to tackle these challenges head-on. For those reasons, we are proud to support and endorse the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, a bill that will provide the tools and resources necessary to facilitate that unified response.”

Scott McBride, Chief Global Asset Protection Officer, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.:

“As a professional dedicated to protecting customers and associates, I implore all members of the Congress to work together to ensure that the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act urgently becomes the law of the land. This critical legislation will help us stop these senseless crimes in our communities.”

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Grassley, Bipartisan Colleagues Take Aim at Social Media Drug Trafficking

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in reintroducing the Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act.

The bipartisan legislation would require social media companies and communication service providers to take an active role in reporting the illegal sale and distribution of drugs on their platforms. This additional data would assist state and local law enforcement in combating online drug trafficking, as well as prosecuting those who prey on America’s youth.

“Fentanyl overdoses claim the lives of tens-of-thousands of Americans each year, many of whom suffered accidental poisonings after taking deadly pills marketed on social media platforms,” Grassley said. “After successfully passing the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, Senate Republicans are continuing to advance legislation to combat America’s fentanyl crisis and save lives. Congress must hold Big Tech accountable for its ongoing role in the illicit drug trade.”

“For four years, Joe Biden’s reckless open borders allowed fentanyl to flood our communities, creating a crisis in every state. We still lose a Kansan a day to fentanyl poisoning,” Marshall said. “Cooper Davis was a bright young man from Johnson County who tragically died from a pill laced with fentanyl purchased on the social media platform: Snapchat. The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act requires social media platforms to report any drug activity on their platform to law enforcement. We will not rest in our fight until no Kansan loses their life to fentanyl poisoning.”

The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act is cosponsored by Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

The legislation is endorsed by the families of Cooper Davis and Devin Norring, as well as the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors Association, Partnership for Safe Medicine, the U.S. Deputy Sherriff’s Association, The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, Mothers Against Prescription Drug Abuse, the Community Anti-Drug Coalition Association, the Alexander Neville Foundation, the National Fraternal Order of Police and the Kansas Sheriffs Association.

“Our family continues to be extremely grateful for Senator Marshall and his colleagues’ dedication to this legislation. We are both honored and saddened to have another name, Devin Norring, added to this bill,” said Libby Davis, Mother of Cooper Davis. “However, the harsh reality is that there are thousands of other teenagers’ names that could be added to this bill because they, too, lost their lives in this same tragic way. Each with a story demonstrating that this can happen to ANY FAMILY. We, as parents and grandparents, do so many things to keep our kids safe, from baby gates, car seats, and seatbelts, to bike helmets, sunscreen, and vaccinations. This is no different. We need our legislators to come together and get this bipartisan bill across the finish line so that countless children can be saved, theirs being no exception.”

“Our family & the Devin J. Norring Foundation wholeheartedly support the Cooper Davis & Devin Norring Act – legislation that serves as a critical step toward protecting families from the deadly threat of fentanyl sold through social media,” said the family of Devin J. Norring and the Devin J. Norring Foundation. “This bill honors the lives of Cooper and Devin by holding tech companies accountable and giving law enforcement the tools they need to respond to this crisis. No parent should have to search for answers in a system that shields predators. It’s time for truth, transparency, and action.”

Download bill text HERE.

Background:

The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act is named after two young men who tragically lost their lives to fentanyl poisoning after purchasing counterfeit pills from social media.

Cooper Davis, from Johnson County, Kansas, lost his life after taking half a fake pill that contained a lethal dose of fentanyl. The pill was allegedly purchased from a Missouri drug dealer on the social media platform Snapchat. Following his passing, Cooper’s family launched the non-profit ‘Keepin’ Clean for Coop’ to save lives, raise awareness and educate students and families on the dangers of counterfeit pills.

Devin Norring was a 19-year-old from Hastings, Minnesota, who lost his life to fentanyl poisoning in 2020. In his honor, his family started the Devin J. Norring Foundation to raise awareness about the dangers of fake pills and other illicit substances.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Applauds CMS Effort to Crack Down on Duplicative Medicaid Enrollment That’s Costing Taxpayers Billions

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is applauding an announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that the agency will stop duplicative enrollment in government health programs, which could save taxpayers approximately $14 billion a year.

CMS found that an average of 1.2 million Americans were enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP in two or more states for each month in 2024. CMS also found an average of 1.6 million people were enrolled in both Medicaid/CHIP and a subsidized Exchange plan each month.

“I’m glad to see CMS crack down on the billions in waste, fraud and abuse that I’ve long been calling out. It’s unacceptable that taxpayers have continued to foot the bill for this expensive fraud. CMS’s actions build on Republicans’ successful work in the One Big Beautiful Bill to enact critical measures to strengthen health care, all while curbing fraud,” Grassley said.

Background:

Earlier this month, Grassley pressed CMS to look into Obamacare fraud after receiving information that built on independent reports of widespread fraud. Last year, Grassley pushed for answers from top leaders in the Biden administration regarding their efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the ACA marketplace.

During Dr. Mehmet Oz’ confirmation hearing, Grassley spoke about his concerns regarding billions in improper payments and the need for CMS to provide timely and complete responses to congressional oversight.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Newly Declassified DOJ Watchdog Report Shows FBI Cut Corners in Clinton Email Investigation

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today is bringing to light the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) findings that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) failed to fully investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and mishandling of highly classified information during her time as Secretary of State. The newly declassified “Clinton annex” is an appendix to the DOJ OIG’s June 2018 report reviewing the DOJ and FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation. DOJ, under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi, and other agencies declassified and provided the Clinton annex to Grassley at his request. Grassley has sought information from DOJ and FBI about the document since 2018 and again submitted his request to then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019. He, along with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), requested President Donald Trump declassify the document in 2020, and Grassley reiterated the request in 2025.

“This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence in the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s email usage and mishandling of highly classified information,” Grassley said. “Under Comey’s leadership, the FBI failed to perform fundamental investigative work and left key pieces of evidence on the cutting room floor. The Comey FBI’s negligent approach and perhaps intentional lack of effort in the Clinton investigation is a stark contrast to its full-throated investigation of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, which was based on the uncorroborated and now discredited Steele dossier. Comey’s decision-making process smacks of political infection.”

“I warned years ago that the Clinton investigation failed to hit the mark, and I’m grateful the American people can finally see the facts for themselves,” Grassley continued. “After nearly a decade in the shadows, this information is now coming to light thanks to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel’s dedicated efforts to fulfill my congressional request. I appreciate their ongoing commitment to transparency and strongly urge them to continue to fully review this matter, including its national security impact.”

Read the Clinton annex HERE.

The DOJ OIG’s Clinton annex shows the FBI obtained thumb drives from a source during the Clinton investigation, but then-FBI Director James Comey, as well as then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok and others, failed to perform additional, targeted searches of the drives, even though they contained information relevant to the inquiry. The DOJ OIG report illustrates that the FBI failed to thoroughly and completely investigate the Clinton matter as a result, as well as vet the serious national security risks created by Clinton’s careless handling of highly classified information. According to the DOJ OIG, the thumb drives contained highly sensitive information exfiltrated from U.S. government agencies, including the Department of State, as well as then-President Barack Obama’s emails and, potentially, congressional information. The thumb drives were never reviewed as part of the Clinton investigation, contrary to the recommendation of a draft FBI memorandum. The DOJ OIG report also shows the drives should have been immediately reviewed for foreign intelligence purposes, but were not.

The FBI also obtained intelligence reports discussing purported communications between Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who was chairwoman of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the time, and two different individuals who worked for the Soros Open Society Foundations. The intelligence reports alleged that the Obama administration took efforts to scuttle the investigation into Clinton and protect her candidacy. The DOJ OIG Clinton annex shows Comey, McCabe and Strzok, among others, did not make serious investigative efforts to determine the veracity, or lack thereof, regarding the intelligence reports.

On July 5, 2016, Comey exonerated Clinton in a public statement regarding the investigation and recommended DOJ take no legal action to hold her accountable. Grassley’s oversight revealed Comey planned to exonerate Clinton even before interviewing her. Weeks later, on July 31, 2016, Comey’s FBI formally opened the bogus Crossfire Hurricane investigation into President Trump’s disproven collusion with Russia. On that day, Strzok texted Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer, saying: “And damn this feels momentous. Because this matters. The other one did, too, but that was to ensure we didn’t F something up. This matters because this MATTERS. So super glad to be on this voyage with you.”

Grassley cited Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation as evidence that Comey lacked the ability to maintain the public’s trust in the FBI, and was therefore rightfully terminated.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI – Klobuchar Op-Ed in The Washington Post: Republicans said they would cut waste. Instead, they rewarded it.

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Minnesota Amy Klobuchar

WASHINGTON — Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) published an op-ed in the Washington Post highlighting how, after Republicans promised to reduce waste, a last-minute carve-out in their “Big Beautiful Bill” actually rewards waste. The bill spares states that have the highest error rates from the bill’s food assistance cuts — ultimately incentivizing states to make mistakes and rewarding waste.

From the op-ed:

“Though Republicans came into office this year claiming to prioritize the elimination of waste, fraud and abuse, they have instead done the unthinkable: They passed a policy that actually rewards waste. That’s right — their budget bill explicitly gives states that have the most errors a reprieve from cuts to critical food assistance.

This provision was added during the sausage-making process behind the budget bill that President Donald Trump signed into law this month. Passed along party lines, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” strips health care from millions, while greatly increasing the debt to pay for extending tax cuts for the wealthiest.

This food-assistance policy change may not be the bill’s worst provision, but it’s certainly the most baffling — and it cuts directly against the GOP’s supposedly urgent quest to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.

Here’s how it works. As has been well documented, the legislation drastically reduces the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (known as SNAP). Roughly one-third of the $186 billion in SNAP cuts come from shifting a larger portion of food and administrative costs to the states.

The stated reason for the cost shift is to incentivize states to lower error rates, which are calculated based on both overpayments and underpayments by states to recipients. Error rates do not measure fraud and are largely unintentional. For example, they can occur when a state miscalculates a household expense or a recipient forgets to update a change in their income. As part of the bill, Republicans included a feature in which states that get their error rates below 6 percent get a portion of their federal funding back as a reward.

Not every Republican was thrilled with the prospect of cutting their constituents’ food assistance when they are struggling with high grocery prices. To get the vote of one senator, Republicans tried several gambits to carve out a special exemption from the new policy for Alaska. (The state that happens to have the highest SNAP error rate in the country.)

These kinds of state-specific provisions go against the rules of the budget process. So, to cover their tracks, Republicans added a carve-out for Hawaii in an ill-fated “these states are far away” attempt to gain the approval of the Senate parliamentarian.

When the parliamentarian saw through the ruse, they instead tried pushing through a carve-out for Alaska and the District of Columbia, which also has a high error rate. When the parliamentarian again said no, Republicans simply rewrote their special exemption in the dead of night to give states with the highest SNAP error rates special treatment across the board, with an up to two-year delay of the cost shift.

As a result, what started as an effort to lower error rates became a reward for states with the highest error rates, which now have every incentive to further botch their administrative process. This is the maddening hypocrisy of this so-called reform. Upend the very reason you claimed to make reform in the first place by rewarding errors? That happened.”

Read the full op-ed here.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Foreign Secretary statement on the Middle East, 21 July 2025

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Oral statement to Parliament

Foreign Secretary statement on the Middle East, 21 July 2025

The Foreign Secretary made a statement to parliament on the Middle East

With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the Middle East.

I’ll begin on Syria.

We have been horrified by the recent violence in the south, including civilian deaths.

Clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias have quickly escalated into intense fighting between government forces and further Israeli strikes on the Syrian military.

As I said directly to Foreign Minister Shaibani we want to see the fighting ended, civilians protected and the rights of all Syrians upheld.

The violence in Suwayda must be investigated and those responsible held accountable.

We want humanitarian access to be restored, aid delivered and Syria’s sovereignty must be respected.

The UK can be proud of our support to the Syrian people over many, many years.

And a stable Syria matters to the UK’s national interest, for terrorism, for irregular migration, for regional stability.

We must work to prevent extremism, sectarianism or lawlessness taking hold now that Assad is gone.

That’s why we are backing a sustainable ceasefire and that is why we support an inclusive transition.

And that’s why I visited Damascus recently to support and to press the new government to meet its commitments.

I will now turn to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

It’s two and a half months since Prime Minister Netanyahu restarted offensive operations.

The IDF has driven Palestinians out of 86 per cent of Gaza, leaving around two million people trapped in an area scarcely over twenty square miles.

Whatever this Israeli government might claim, repeated displacement of so many civilians is not keeping them safe. In fact, it’s quite the reverse.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the new Israeli aid system is inhumane, it’s dangerous and it deprives Gazans of human dignity.

It contradicts long-stablished humanitarian principles. It creates disorder Hamas is exploiting with distribution points reduced from 400 to just four.

It forces desperate civilians, children among them, to scramble unsafely for the essentials of life.

It’s a grotesque spectacle, wreaking a terrible human cost.

Almost 1000 civilians have been killed since May seeking aid, including 100 over this weekend alone.

There are near daily reports of Israeli troops opening fire on people trying to access food.

Israeli jets have hit women and children waiting for a health clinic to open.

An Israeli drone has struck down children filling water containers which Israeli officials blamed on a ‘technical error’.

Hamas is contributing to the chaos and taking advantage of it.

I utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their most basic needs.

The Israeli government must answer:

What possible military justification can there be for strikes that have killed desperate, starving children?

What immediate actions are they taking to stop this litany of horrors?

What will they do to hold those responsible to account?

Mr Deputy Speaker, I have said before I am a steadfast supporter of Israel’s security and right to exist.

I treasure the many connections between our peoples

And the horrors of October 7th must never be forgotten.

But I firmly believe the Israeli government’s actions are doing untold damage to Israel’s standing in the world and undermining Israel’s long-term security.

Netanyahu should listen to the Israeli people, 82 per cent of whom desperately want a ceasefire.

And to the hostages’ families because they know it offers the best chance to bring their loved ones home.

Those hostages may be hidden in cramped tunnels under the ruins of Gaza but we will not forget them or Hamas’s despicable actions and we will continue to demand their unconditional release.

This offensive puts them in grave danger.

But still Netanyahu persists.

Indeed, Minister Katz has gone further proposing to drive Gaza’s entire population into Rafah, imprisoning Palestinians, unless persuaded to emigrate.

Mr Deputy Speaker, this is a cruel vision which must never come to pass.

I condemn it unequivocally.

Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Many Israelis themselves are appalled.

A former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said ‘it marches us into the abyss’. He was right.

Mr Speaker, today I joined a joint statement by 25 Foreign Ministers with a simple, urgent message:

the war in Gaza must end now.

There is no military solution.

Negotiations will secure the hostages.

Further bloodshed serves no purpose.

Hamas and Israel must both commit to a ceasefire now.

And the next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.

I thank the US, Qatar, and Egypt for their tireless efforts.

And I am sure all Members share my intense frustration it has not happened.

Until there is such a breakthrough, we must keep doing all we can to relieve suffering.

UK aid has saved lives.

Reaching hundreds of thousands with food, water, hygiene, and sanitation, and essential healthcare.

And under the most appalling circumstances our aid is saving lives today.

That includes, the almost nine million pounds the UK has provided to UK-Med, since we entered office,

reaching half a million patients inside Gaza, 24,000 in the past fortnight alone.

Like 3-year old Razan.

UK-funded medics removed a bullet from her neck after nearly three hours of surgery.

These doctors and nurses working in the most extreme conditions are true heroes.

They deserve the thanks and admiration of the entire House.

We are also working, of course, multilaterally.

The 149 trucks from the World Food Programme and UNICEF entering Gaza in recent day included food supplies funded by the UK.

And thousands more trucks laden with aid paid for by British taxpayers can enter, the moment the Israeli government lets it.

Today, I am announcing an extra £40 million for humanitarian assistance in Gaza this year, including seven and a half million for UK-Med to sustain their vital operations in Gaza and save more lives.

Mr Deputy Speaker, accompanying the horrors in Gaza, there is an accelerating campaign to prevent a future Palestinian state in the West Bank.

It’s embraced by Netanyahu, it’s encouraged by his Ministers. It’s driven by an extremist ideology which wants to suffocate the two-state solution, the only route to a lasting peace and security.

We see it in the unprecedented pace of settlement expansion.

In the shocking levels of settler violence, even settler terrorism,

for that is what the most egregious ideological attacks are.

And in the deliberate attempts to squeeze the Palestinian Authority, unjustly denying it access to its own funds, and it harms Israel’s long-term interests.

Now, the Israeli government is reintroducing plans to construct new units in the E1 area of occupied east Jerusalem.

If built, this settlement would separate the West Bank’s north from its south and Palestinians in the West Bank from East Jerusalem.

These plans are wholly unacceptable.

They are illegal.

And they must not happen.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we are also striving to keep open the prospects of a two-state solution.

UK assistance has been preserving the Palestinian Authority, contributing to essential Palestinian workers’ salaries and supporting them to progress critical reforms.

Today, I can confirm we are enhancing our support, providing £7 million to strengthen the PA and Palestinian governance, implementing the agreement signed by myself and PM Mustafa earlier this year.

And we’re delivering the reform plans President Abbas has set out.

I can also confirm that we are providing £20 million to support UNRWA’s many services for Palestinian refugees.

And alongside this support, we are leading diplomatic efforts to show there must be a viable peaceful pathway to a Palestinian state, involving the PA, not Hamas, in security and governance of the area.

Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.

Israeli Ministers should support the PA – not actively undermine its economy, as Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are doing.

The UK is co-leading with Egypt the humanitarian and reconstruction track for the forthcoming Two-State Solution Conference.

And we are pushing to agree plans for a credible next phase in Gaza with a responsible, reformed PA at their core.

So we turn any temporary ceasefire into a lasting peace.

Mr Deputy Speaker, in our year in office, this Labour Government has acted to address this horrendous conflict.

We restored funding to UNRWA, after the Tories froze it.

We suspended arms export licenses, when the Tories declined to act.

We have provided nearly a quarter of a billion in humanitarian assistance, this year and next, getting medical treatment and food to hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza.

We have stood with the hostage families at every stage.

We’ve worked with Jordan to fly medicines into Gaza, with Egypt to treat medically evacuated civilians, with Kuwait and UNICEF to help children in Gaza.

We’ve delivered three sanctions packages on violent settlers, suspended trade negotiations with this Israeli government and sanctioned far-right Israeli Ministers for incitement.

We have defended the independence of international courts. We signed a landmark agreement with the Palestinian Authority, and hosted the Palestinian Prime Minister in London, pushing for the reform it needs.

We called for…

worked for…

and voted for…

an immediate ceasefire and the release of the hostages at every possible opportunity.

And we will keep doing so until this war is over, Hamas release the hostages and we finally have a pathway to a two-state solution.

I commend this statement to the House.

Updates to this page

Published 21 July 2025

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Dreams amid the rubble: Gaza’s women speak of homes, loss and hungry children

Source: United Nations 2

In Gaza City, families living in tents reveal a shared, grim reality.

Many have been forced to flee the fighting dozens of times. Most find themselves homeless and hungry while facing an uncertain future.

Khadija Manoun and her daughter in the space she uses as a kitchen inside a destroyed building.

Khadija Manoun: Kitchen of life’s leftovers

Khadija Manoun said she and her family have moved more than 20 times, from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip to a destroyed building in western Gaza, in search of shelter. She had owned a new fully furnished house, which she had built with a bank loan.

“I furnished my house well, with tiles and electrical appliances,” she said. “It had only been three years since I had the house. Then the war came and everything was lost.”

Today, everything has changed, Ms. Manoun said. Her spacious, fully equipped kitchen is now just a corner in the rubble, where a solitary soap dish borrowed from a neighbour sits. Metal utensils have been replaced with plastic tea containers to serve 10 people.

The bathroom was reduced to a corner covered with pieces of cloth that had been blankets. Her dressing room is now home to tattered suitcases.

“This is now my closet where I put everything,” she said. “I had a bedroom that had cost me 10,000 shekels.”

Her family sleeps on simple mattresses. Clean drinking water is a luxury that Khadija chases after, running between trucks, often returning with empty containers.

Amid all this, she sometimes reminisces, scrolling through photos on her mobile phone of her old home and the meals they used to eat.

Badriya Barrawi, a displaced person in Gaza, is living among the ruins of destroyed buildings.

Badriya Barawi: Exhausted by hunger

In her modest tent on the beach west of Gaza City, Badriya Barawi, from Beit Lahia, sits, arranging what remains of her life. Tears stream from her eyes.

“Have mercy on us,” she said. “We are fed up and exhausted, mentally and physically. We can’t bear it any longer. How long will this life go on?”

She says her children are crying from the heat and hunger.

“We haven’t had bread for three days. This morning, I fed the children hummus, but is that enough for their stomachs?” said Ms. Barawi, who suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes.

She said she collapses daily from a lack of food.

Hiyam Zayed is displaced from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hiyam Zayed: Trampled garden of dreams

In a nearby tent, Hiyam Zayed and her eight daughters eat lentil soup without bread. Describing her former home, she said there were six rooms and a garden.

“I was happy in my home,” she said. “My daughters and I used to have fun there. They played on the roof or inside the rooms. We had a beautiful garden in front of the house, and we grew plants and ate its produce and raised chickens. My daughters were very happy. We fed them the best food and dressed them in the best clothes.”

She also said she used to have a washing machine, a fully equipped kitchen and a refrigerator “full of goodies”.

Now, everything is gone.

“No food, no washing machine, no feelings: we’ve become depressed,” she added.

“My daughters wear the worst clothes. I can’t find a way to bathe them. I used to turn on the water tap at home and water would run for drinking or bathing. Now, we live in a tent in the sand. I light a fire to cook after I used to have gas. I borrow cooking utensils.”

“How are we to blame for what happened, and who bears responsibility?” Ms. Zayed asked. “What is my fault and my children’s fault when we are displaced from one place to another and they die of hunger?”

Hiyam’s daughters eating a lunch of lentil soup, without bread, where they live, inside a destroyed building.

Mass displacement

According to UN reports, more than two million Palestinians –the population of Gaza – live in about 15 per cent of the Strip’s area after the war caused widespread destruction of infrastructure and homes.

International organizations have warned that the continuation of the conflict threatens to have “catastrophic consequences” in the near term.

That includes a serious impact on children’s mental and physical health, the spread of disease and the disintegration of social structures.

This amid the absence of any clear path towards a political or humanitarian solution.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hawley, Welch Introduce Legislation Targeting ‘Patent Thickets’ to Reduce Prescription Drug Prices
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

Thursday, July 17, 2025
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the ETHIC Act, which would prevent Big Pharma from gaming our patent system through the use of anticompetitive “patent thickets.”

“Big Pharma knows exactly what it’s doing in monopolizing the U.S. patent system: driving up drug costs for Americans while preventing generic-drug manufacturers from getting their foot in the market. This bipartisan bill would break up the anticompetitive “patent thickets” that pharmaceutical companies have abused to the detriment of the American patient,” Senator Hawley said.

“For decades, Big Pharma has exploited U.S. courts and the patent system through anti-competitive practices that prevent generic and biosimilar competitors from entering the market, forcing Vermonters to pay more out of pocket for life-saving drugs. It’s outrageous, and it’s gone on for far too long,” said Senator Welch. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the ETHIC Act to stop pharmaceutical companies from abusing the patent system and lower prescription drug prices for patients across the country. Congress must pass our legislation to cut drug costs for families and streamline access to care.”

“Patent thickets” are dense webs of overlapping patents that companies must navigate to commercialize new technology, particularly common in pharmaceuticals where a single drug may be protected by dozens of patents covering an active compound, formulations, manufacturing processes, and delivery methods.

While these thickets can emerge naturally from the complexity of drug development, pharmaceutical companies also strategically build patent walls around drugs to extend market exclusivity beyond the original patent expiration, slowing access to affordable generic alternatives.

If signed into law this year, the Eliminating Thickets to Improve Competition (ETHIC) Act would:

Limit Big Pharma’s ability to exploit the patent system to prevent generic competitors from entering the market.

Save $16 billion over 10 years.

Apply only to patents asserted against generic and biosimilar drug manufacturers and does not impact other industries.

Allows a drug company to assert one patent per ‘terminally disclaimed group’ against a generic or biosimilar competitor, meaning if one patent in a family of duplicates is struck down by the courts, then all of its duplicates will also be invalidated.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Shanghai’s Foreign Tourist Inflow Up More Than 50 Percent in First Half

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

SHANGHAI, July 21 (Xinhua) — Some 3.12 million foreign tourists visited the east Chinese city of Shanghai in the first half of 2025, up 53.3 percent year on year, the city’s Bureau of Culture and Tourism said Monday.

Rapid growth was driven by key Asian tourism markets, led by the Republic of Korea with 424,000 trips (up 130.7 percent), Thailand with 254,000 trips (up 140 percent), and Japan with 291,000 trips (up 58.5 percent).

The flow of tourists from distant countries such as the USA, Russia and Australia also showed significant growth.

Among the key factors that make Shanghai attractive to foreign tourists are the simplified visa regime and improved service quality, clean streets, efficient transportation and creative souvenirs. In addition, tourists are attracted by the new Legoland amusement park, the city’s cosmopolitan atmosphere, diverse attractions and modern infrastructure.

To strengthen its position as the “first stop” for inbound tourism in China, Shanghai has launched a tourism promotion initiative aimed at enhancing interactive engagement with travelers from around the world. The initiative is themed “This is Shanghai” and includes promotional films featuring “city ambassadors,” a “cultural passport” guidebook, and specially designed tourist routes.

Efforts are underway to integrate the “first-time experience” with immersive storytelling, which will help position Shanghai as a world-class tourism destination with global appeal, city officials said. –0–

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Shanghai’s Foreign Tourist Inflow Up More Than 50 Percent in First Half

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

SHANGHAI, July 21 (Xinhua) — Some 3.12 million foreign tourists visited the east Chinese city of Shanghai in the first half of 2025, up 53.3 percent year on year, the city’s Bureau of Culture and Tourism said Monday.

Rapid growth was driven by key Asian tourism markets, led by the Republic of Korea with 424,000 trips (up 130.7 percent), Thailand with 254,000 trips (up 140 percent), and Japan with 291,000 trips (up 58.5 percent).

The flow of tourists from distant countries such as the USA, Russia and Australia also showed significant growth.

Among the key factors that make Shanghai attractive to foreign tourists are the simplified visa regime and improved service quality, clean streets, efficient transportation and creative souvenirs. In addition, tourists are attracted by the new Legoland amusement park, the city’s cosmopolitan atmosphere, diverse attractions and modern infrastructure.

To strengthen its position as the “first stop” for inbound tourism in China, Shanghai has launched a tourism promotion initiative aimed at enhancing interactive engagement with travelers from around the world. The initiative is themed “This is Shanghai” and includes promotional films featuring “city ambassadors,” a “cultural passport” guidebook, and specially designed tourist routes.

Efforts are underway to integrate the “first-time experience” with immersive storytelling, which will help position Shanghai as a world-class tourism destination with global appeal, city officials said. –0–

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)-supported vocational training for prisoners builds hope for a better future

Source: APO

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It’s a good day at the Kuajok prison—a baby has been born, and this tiny little life is emblematic of the positive impact prison reforms, particularly vocational training, has been having on the lives of inmates.

As a visiting team from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) traversed the prison corridors, male prisoners are singing popular songs. In a few minutes, they’ll be heading to a class in accounting.

Their female counterparts are engaged in tailoring lessons.

The Deputy Director of the prison, Joseph Akol Lual, says that these trainings, which were funded by the UN Peacekeeping mission in 2023, have greatly helped build morale and motivation among inmates.

“Our main purpose as a prison facility is to ensure that those incarcerated are treated with dignity and they have an opportunity to become productive members of society upon completion of their sentences,” he explains.

“By learning new skills, prisoners are becoming more confident in their ability to make a living once they are released. This feeling of being economically empowered fuels them every day.”

Mr Lual’s words resonate with those participating in this skills programme.

“I love designing clothes and making them. So, I pay great attention to my tailoring classes here. When I finish my time in prison, I’m confident that I can start my own small business and make women feel beautiful in my creations,” said a female inmate who prefers not to be named.

Women serving time in the Kuajok prison have been supported by the UN Peacekeeping mission in other ways as well, particularly through the construction of a perimeter wall separating male and female prison quarters.

“We were approached by prison authorities to help ensure that women inmates were not at risk of sexual violence and we funded the construction of a perimeter wall to give female prisoners privacy and safety through our Quick Impact Projects programme. We also trained women prisoners to contribute to the building of their own space,” says Precious Chinamasa, an UNMISS Corrections Officer, who facilitated the project.

Today, the women and men detained at this prison have compounds that are characterized by spaciousness and safety. Weather permitting, they also cultivate basic crops in case local vendors are unable to deliver essential food items, a common situation, especially during the rainy season.

Such sustainable steps to reform prisons go a long way to ensure that when it’s time for their release, prisoners can look forward to reintegrating fully into their families and communities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

MIL OSI Africa –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: In Mékro, in central Côte d’Ivoire, sustainable agriculture is giving hope to an entire community

Source: APO

Day breaks in Mékro, some 300 km from Abidjan, in central Côte d’Ivoire. The first rays of sun announce the start of what promises to be another sweltering day in a region known for its intense heat. Some women return from the backwaters bringing water to supply the family beehives. Others, armed with brooms made from palm leaves, begin sweeping the compounds, clearing away fallen leaves and scraps from the previous day’s meals.

A little farther off, domestic animals gradually emerge from their pens, joining the morning hustle and bustle that breathes life back into Mékro’s daily routine. In this area of high food crop production, yams, rice and cassava are produced in abundance. Yet despite its agricultural riches, Mékro has long remained in the shadows, unlike other places.

For years, farmers here relied on age-old techniques passed down through generations—methods that limited yields and left the population in a state of chronic vulnerability.

That morning, Koffi Kouakou Charles, known as “KKC,” sharpened his machete, the basic tool he uses to clear his field, under the watchful eyes of his seven children. At 30 years old, he mounted his bicycle and headed to Abokouassikro, five km away, where he has cultivated yams for several years.

In the past, Koffi grew “Kouba” yams, a popular local variety. Reflecting on those days, he recalls how traditional farming techniques learned and passed down from his ancestors, failed to reward his hard work. “Frankly, the work was exhausting. On top of that, we were using old-fashioned techniques. Despite our efforts, the harvests were poor. It was really hard,” sighs Koffi.

Hope restored

In the first half of 2024, his plight worsened when an epidemic known as the peste des petits ruminants (PPR) struck the village and wiped out his hens and goats. Hurting from this new financial blow, Koffi turned to the Project to Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholders and Women (PREMOPEF) (https://apo-opa.co/40ujK40) to regain hope.

Set up by the government of Côte d’Ivoire, the project is funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) (https://apo-opa.co/4lEIa36) and the African Development Fund (https://apo-opa.co/4o1986y), the concessional financing window of the African Development Bank Group. Its objective is to contribute to improving first, food and nutrition security and secondly, resilience to the effects of climate change among smallholder farmers, women and young people in the N’Zi region.

The project is focused on three agricultural crops: yams, cassava and vegetables, as well as traditional poultry farming, and aims to improve the living conditions of 60,000 vulnerable people, 50 percent of whom are women and 35 percent young people.

At the “Farmer Training Field,” one of the project’s initiatives, Koffi and his fellow project beneficiaries were introduced to agroecological techniques for yam production and conservation. Thanks to the training, Koffi has turned his back on “Kouba” yams and old production practices in favour of new varieties called “Anader” and “Cameroun” (also known as “R3” and “C15”), which are more climate-resistant and productive.

A twofold increase in yield

From his first harvest in December 2024, Koffi’s yam yield doubled—from two to four tonnes on the same plot of land. Thinking ahead, he reserved three-quarters of the harvest for his family’s consumption and seed stock for the next season. The remaining quarter was sold at the local market in Mékro, earning him 125,000 CFA francs (around USD 250)—a significant windfall in this rural region.

“Before, I was just focused on surviving,” Koffi says. “Today, thanks to this project, I can think about my children’s future and even expand my farm.” Energized by his progress, Koffi is now determined to scale up and become one of the region’s leading yam producers. The prospect of mechanizing his work excites him. “I’m thinking of buying a ridging machine and a seed drill to make fieldwork easier and increase my yield,” he says confidently.

“The Project to Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholders and Women is a powerful tool for reducing household vulnerability and strengthening resilience to economic and environmental shocks,” says Ceserd Waba Akpaud, the project coordinator.

“PREMOPEF reflects our commitment to transforming rural communities through sustainable, farmer-focused solutions. By applying innovative approaches, we’re putting agriculture at the center of inclusive development,” adds Philip Boahen, GAFSP project coordinator at the African Development Bank.

To further boost his productivity, Koffi also envisions large-scale storage facilities to cut post-harvest losses. He’s planning to diversify his activities too. After losing his livestock to PPR—a disease he attributes to a lack of proper training—he intends to relaunch his poultry business using improved, safer methods. He is now exploring livestock training courses to build the necessary skills.

“It’s also a chance for me to make up for the schooling I missed,” he says, determined to turn past setbacks into opportunities.

With the knowledge he’s gained and the positive impact of the project, a new horizon is opening—not just for Koffi, but for the people of Mékro and the broader economy of the N’Zi region.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media files

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MIL OSI Africa –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Protecting Veterans from “Claim Sharks,” Senator King and Colleagues Introduce Bill to Fight Unaccredited Claims Representatives

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), has introduced legislation to protect veterans from unaccredited claims representatives seeking to defraud them of their benefits. The VA Claim Sharks Effective Warnings Act would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to warn veterans more effectively about unaccredited VA claims representatives, or “claim sharks.”
Claim sharks are unaccredited agents or companies that charge veterans fees, usually between $5,000 and $20,000, to help them file their initial VA benefits claims—a service that is supposed to be free to veterans. Unfortunately, because these actors operate outside the bounds of VA regulations, the VA has little authority to go after them. The VA is currently required to warn veterans about unaccredited claims representatives on its websites, but only after veterans log in to their VA benefits accounts. This approach limits the reach and efficacy of the notice requirement, increasing the risk that some veterans may not see the warning until after they have already begun working with unaccredited claims agents.
“Veterans in Maine and across the country rely every day on accredited veteran claims representatives for assistance with filing disability claims,” said King. “However, there are bad actors who proactively prey on veterans, offering assistance while illegally charging them high costs for services that Veterans Service Organizations perform for free. The VA Claim Sharks Effective Warnings Act would require the VA to more aggressively warn veterans about unaccredited agents who are scamming our men and women who served. This commonsense legislation is a simple way to help protect veterans from predatory companies and ensure they receive their earned benefits.”
The VA Claim Sharks Effective Warnings Act would address this shortcoming by requiring the VA to post warnings on its public-facing websites, without requiring veterans to first create or log in to an account. The legislation would also require the VA to include a warning discouraging veterans from sharing their VA account or bank account log-in credentials with unaccredited agents, as many claim sharks deduct their “fees” from veterans’ benefits.
Joining King on the legislation are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Peter Welch (D-VT).
As a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator King has worked to ensure America’s veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs, such as the PACT Act and the John Scott Hannon Act. In the past, he has cosponsored the Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act to create criminal penalties for organizations that charge unauthorized fees to help veterans file disability claims with the VA – an action prohibited under current law, but one that does not carry any criminal charges. He has also sent letters to VA leadership urging the department to enforce existing protections for veterans filing for disability benefits.
The full text of the bill is available here.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: Microsoft supports making Europe’s languages and cultures more accessible in the digital realm

Source: Microsoft

Headline: Microsoft supports making Europe’s languages and cultures more accessible in the digital realm

Editor’s Note: This blog is also available in Italian, Spanish, French, and German.

Europe is home to more than 200 languages and a rich cultural legacy that spans thousands of years, preserved in millions of cultural assets that tell the story of its people. But these languages are more than carriers of heritage and history—they support both culture and commerce by making it possible for people to connect, create, and do business.

Yet, as the world digitizes, much of Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity risks being left behind. The majority of online web content—the primary source of training data for today’s Large Language Models (LLMs)—is in English. Much of it reflects an American perspective. The European Commission has warned that the continent’s ambition to digitize its vast cultural corpus remains “significantly out of reach.” As Europe’s leaders have recognized, without urgent action, this imbalance is not just a cultural concern—it’s a commercial one. AI that doesn’t understand Europe’s languages, histories, and values can’t fully serve its people, its businesses, or its future.

That’s why today in Paris, we’re deepening our commitment to Europe’s digital future with two new initiatives focused on making what’s uniquely European more open and accessible—its languages and culture. This builds on our European Digital Commitments, announced earlier this year, to expand AI and cloud infrastructure, strengthen digital resilience and data privacy protections, enhance cybersecurity, and support Europe’s digital sovereignty and broader economy.

First, to support the development of more multilingual LLMs in Europe and for Europe, we’re basing employees from two of our innovation centers in Strasbourg, France—long a crossroads of cultures and now home to key European institutions. These centers will help expand the availability of multilingual data for AI development—leveraging Microsoft Azure, our technical expertise, and partnerships across Europe to promote more inclusive language representation in AI models. As part of this effort, we’re also issuing a call for proposals to help expand the supply of digital content for 10 European languages.

Second, to help ensure Europe’s cultural richness is represented and accessible in the digital realm, we’re expanding Microsoft’s Culture AI initiative, which helps to safeguard languages, landmarks, and artifacts through digital replicas and data collaboration. Since 2019, Microsoft has digitally preserved heritage including Ancient Olympia in Greece, Mount St. Michel in France, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and the 80th Anniversary of the Allied Beach Landings in Normandy, to name a few. Today we’re announcing that this fall, Microsoft will begin work with the French Ministry of Culture and the French firm Iconem to create a digital replica of Notre Dame—Paris’ newly restored, 862-year-old Gothic masterpiece.

This type of support for Europe and its diversity is not new to Microsoft. These latest steps to support languages and culture are informed by our more than 40 years of experience serving countries and cultures across Europe and around the world. Early on, we learned that empowering every person on the planet requires that the technologies we offer must be available in the languages the world speaks. That is why today Windows supports over 90 languages, including all official European Union languages as well as languages including Basque, Catalan, Galician, Luxembourgish, Valencian, and more. Microsoft 365 also has a broad reach, with support through Office applications in more than 30 European languages, including all official languages of the European Union.

The urgency of bridging the language gap

The European Union has 24 official languages, with dozens more acknowledged at the national or regional level. Yet many of these languages—even those that are part of the official 24, like Danish, Finnish, Swedish, and Greek—represent less than 0.6% of web content. Others, such as Maltese, Irish, Estonian, Latvian, and Slovenian, are barely visible online. While only 5% of the world’s population speaks English as a first language, English text makes up half of web content, dominating the data used to train AI models.

This digital underrepresentation has real consequences, as LLMs rely heavily on web content for training. When a language lacks sufficient online presence, it risks being excluded from future AI services. While larger, general-purpose models can handle multiple languages, they can still miss the linguistic nuance, cultural context, and regional depth needed for truly inclusive applications. LLMs trained on limited data are less accurate, have higher hallucinations and errors, struggle with vocabulary, and reflect more bias.^[1]

As an example, Llama 3.1, a popular open source model, shows a performance gap of more than 15 percentage points between answering in English and Greek and a gap of more than 25 points when comparing English to Latvian. This mean that if this model was a high school student, she would be at the top of her class in English but at the middle of her class in Greek and at the bottom in Latvian. And this disparity between languages is seen in all major performance LLM tests.^[2]

In many cases, languages with deep cultural heritage, such as Breton, Occitan, and Romansh, which UNESCO classifies as endangered, are largely unsupported in today’s mainstream AI systems.

The economic power of language

This lopsided development of language models has real economic consequences. When AI systems can’t understand or respond in a region’s language, they limit access to services and opportunities, undermining both local businesses and broader economic growth.

Broad AI diffusion—adoption and use across economies—will be one of the most important drivers of innovation and productivity growth over the next decade. Like electricity and other general-purpose technologies in the past, AI represents the next stage of industrialization.

For communities whose languages are underrepresented online, the benefits of AI risk remaining out of reach. Imagine a small business owner in Malta who speaks only Maltese. Currently, the advanced AI tools for tasks like market analysis or content generation likely don’t operate in Maltese, limiting how this entrepreneur can leverage AI. Or consider a Polish-speaking student in a town outside Warsaw who can’t find AI educational resources in his language, potentially impacting learning opportunities. And even when an AI platform nominally supports a language, the experience may be sub-par.

European governments and institutions have recognized the importance of addressing this situation. To drive economic competitiveness in the AI era, Europe will need to break down the language barriers and spur AI diffusion across the continent. According to the European Commission, only 13.5% of EU businesses use AI. The EU AI Continent Action Plan notes that breaking down language barriers in the single market could boost intra-EU trade by up to EUR 360 billion.

New steps to address language gaps

To help bridge this language gap, Microsoft will collaborate with European partners to increase the availability of multilingual data. In partnership with the ICube Laboratory at the University of Strasbourg—an institution dedicated to engineering, computer science, and imaging—we will support AI training efforts by placing personnel from the Microsoft Open Innovation Center (MOIC) and our AI for Good Lab in Strasbourg, France. This team will be backed by a global internal network of more than 70 Microsoft engineers, data scientists, and policy professionals. This collaboration between the MOIC, Microsoft AI for Good Lab, and the University of Strasbourg will also fund two post-doctoral researchers and provide up to US $1 million in Azure credits.

This team will start by tapping into Microsoft’s own store of multilingual data, making it accessible and transparent to the European public, including open source developers. This includes, for example, multilingual text data from GitHub and voice data sets. MOIC and GitHub will partner with Hugging Face, a popular collaboration platform for AI model development, to host and make the data broadly accessible. This builds on our existing relationship with Hugging Face to make a broad range of open models in the Hugging Face model collection available for 1-click deployment in the Azure Model Catalogue. This includes last week’s release of the latest contributions toward multilingual AI—the SmoILM3 model, a highly efficient 3B model parameter multi-lingual model with support for 6 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Portuguese.

MOIC will also partner with Common Crawl, one of the largest free and open repositories of web crawled data. MOIC will fund work at Common Crawl, leveraging native speakers to annotate and seed European language data in the publicly available Common Crawl data set.

In addition, the MOIC and the AI for Good Lab will issue a call for proposals to help expand the supply of digital content for 10 European languages by making their text collections available responsibly and ethically on their own terms for multilingual AI development and experiences. Applications for grants will be available on the AI for Good Lab website, beginning on 1 September 2025. In selecting recipients, the MOIC and the AI for Good Lab will focus on opportunities to unlock data in languages with relatively low representation in online content, such as Estonian, Alsatian, Slovak, Greek, and Maltese. Grants will provide recipients with Azure credits and engineering and technical support.

While more multilingual data is essential, better technology tools and know-how can also help. For example, many languages use scripts (writing systems) that currently pose challenges for models originally designed for the Latin alphabet. Cyrillic characters, the Greek alphabet, and Arabic’s cursive script each have different properties. Off-the-shelf “tokenizers” often break these scripts in suboptimal ways. This can hurt a model’s ability to learn long-range context or accurate spelling in those languages. New advances in techniques that enable a model to handle any script uniformly can help. Better mechanisms to create synthetic data and to better process and curate that data can also help, especially when they manage privacy and sensitive data concerns effectively.

The MOIC and the AI for Good Lab will work to facilitate the development and sharing of knowledge, tools, and capabilities to address these issues and empower European developers. The AI for Good Lab will publish a blueprint to detail how to create high-quality language datasets and train local LLMs to get more power out of the data that exists. These two groups will also support relevant research, organize convenings, co-invest in data commons projects, and ensure that knowledge, tools, and capabilities are available where they’re needed most. These teams also will continue to support efforts such as those of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Basque Center for Language Technology, and the University of Santiago de Compostela to release AI models trained in Spanish, Catalan, Basque, and Galician on Azure AI Foundry. This initiative empowers developers to build AI systems that operate in Spain’s official languages, fostering innovation and inclusivity.

Finally, to advance responsible AI research and help close the language gap, Microsoft is launching two new academic collaborations in Europe at the University of Strasbourg and IE University School of Science & Technology in Spain. Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab and MOIC will partner with the University of Strasbourg to provide Azure grants to support joint AI research. At IE University School of Science & Technology, the Microsoft AI for Good Lab will provide Azure grants to support joint research targeting low resource languages, including support for related capstone projects to accelerate new solutions focused on language and AI.

New steps to help digitally safeguard Europe’s cultural legacy

Since 2019, Microsoft’s Culture AI initiative has focused on using artificial intelligence around the world to help preserve the languages, places, stories, and artifacts that define human history. Powered by the AI for Good Lab and through partnerships with nonprofits, universities, governments, and cultural institutions, the initiative supports projects that digitize and protect cultural heritage—from endangered languages to iconic landmarks, including in France, Rome, and Greece. Whether it’s creating digital replicas of historic sites or making museum collections more accessible, the goal is to ensure that cultural identity and diversity are not only preserved but made more inclusive and discoverable in the digital age.

Today we are announcing our next project, building a digital replica in partnership with the French Ministry of Culture and the French firm Iconem. The project will create a digital twin of Notre Dame in Paris, an architectural and cultural landmark shaped over centuries. Construction of Notre Dame began in 1163 and continued for nearly 200 years, resulting in a 128-meter-long Gothic masterpiece with twin towers rising 69 meters above the Seine. After a devastating fire in 2019, Notre Dame re-opened to the public at the end of 2024. The project will use the technology and methods we developed with Iconem to create a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica last year, which was based on more than 400,000 photos and advanced AI algorithms, in partnership with the Vatican.

Just as last year’s project documented for the Vatican every detail of St. Peter’s, this new project will create a digital replica that will preserve permanently in digital form every detail of Notre Dame, ensuring that its structure, story, and symbolism are protected and accessible for generations to come. By combining advanced imaging with AI, we will create and donate to the French State a digital twin that can be used by preservationists and be displayed in the future Musée Notre Dame de Paris.

In addition to the project at Notre Dame, we are also announcing today a partnership with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and in collaboration with Iconem to digitize nearly 1,500 cinematic model sets from shows at the Opera National de Paris between 1800 and 1914. The digitized model sets will be made available through interactive, educational experiences and exhibitions and as a dataset made available on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France’s Gallica platform for cultural AI and research projects.

Finally, we are embarking on new work with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs to make publicly accessible the detailed digital descriptions of approximately 1.5 million artifacts from the Middle Ages to the present day. This step will enable researchers in history, art history, and conservation to access this new information for study and use in their own AI-driven research.

Looking ahead: Taking a principled approach

We take these new steps today with humility and respect, recognizing that the preservation of Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity is a task for Europeans to be led by Europeans. The European Union has already launched a multi-state effort to pool EU language data and digitize all types of cultural heritage. Our role is to contribute to and support these and similar efforts. None of what we are announcing today will create any proprietary data or technology for Microsoft itself.

Ultimately, the best way to empower more people across Europe to address these needs is to equip them with the AI skills that will enable them to be successful in these fields. As the European Commission recently concluded, a deficit of digital skills in the cultural sector is inhibiting efforts to digitalize cultural heritage works across Europe. To help bridge this skills gap, the MOIC and the AI for Good Lab will share what we know and learn about how to do this critical work.

Technology should reflect the richness of humanity—not strip it away. By taking intentional steps now, we can help ensure that AI doesn’t erase linguistic and cultural diversity but strengthens it.

This is one of the defining equity challenges of the AI era. And if we work together—with purpose and urgency—we can close the gap and build a digital future that honors every language, every culture, and every community across Europe.

[1] P. Rohera, C. Ginimav, G. Sawant, and R. Joshi, “Better To Ask in English? Evaluating Factual Accuracy of Multilingual LLMs in English and Low-Resource Languages,” Apr. 28, 2025, arXiv: arXiv:2504.20022. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2504.20022.

[2] K. Thellmann et al., “Towards Multilingual LLM Evaluation for European Languages,” Oct. 17, 2024, arXiv: arXiv:2410.08928. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2410.08928.

MIL OSI Global Banks –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Lectures, workshops and horizontal connections: the Summer Engineering and Economics School 2025 has started at the State University of Management

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Official website of the State –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

On July 21, 2025, the Summer School of Engineering and Economics started at the State University of Management.

The School brings together postgraduate students, young scientists and engineers from different Russian universities for the fourth time. The School’s research areas are engineering, unmanned aircraft systems, mechanical engineering, food security, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development.

At the opening ceremony, the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev said that the first School was held in 2023 in Grozny on the basis of the GGNTU named after Academician M.D. Millionshchikov, but subsequently changed its location.

“Holding the School in different cities is a positive moment. This way, young scientists get to know the country, establish connections, because not everyone will necessarily work in one place their entire lives. Thanks to this, the geography of the School itself is also expanding. Three universities started the project, and today there are seven universities. The program includes lectures, workshops, master classes, but the main thing for you is communication. I wish you a productive time,” the rector said.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Boris Chernyshov noted that the Summer Engineering and Economics School, through the efforts of the rector and management of the State University of Management, shows excellent results not only in attracting funding for science, but also in terms of specific results.

“The topic of management in science is one of the key areas in achieving state strategic goals, including in a special military operation. Associations of young scientists can become a new milestone on the path of continuous development of public administration principles. And the State University of Management in this sense can create conditions for attracting new personnel. Science is the future today, and the ability to manage it is a key factor in success in any activity. I hope that the School will result in an attempt to look into the future and suggest new solutions to pressing issues,” Boris Chernyshov wished.

The following institutions will participate in the Summer School of Engineering and Economics – 2025: — BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov (Belgorod); — VlSU named after A.G. and N.G. Stoletov (Vladimir); — GGNTU named after academician M.D. Millionshchikov (Grozny); — GUU (Moscow); — DonNTU (Donetsk); — Moscow State University named after A.I. Kuindzhi (Mariupol); — NTU “Sirius” (federal territory “Sirius”).

Immediately after the opening ceremony, the School’s students were treated to a lecture entitled “Engineering Heritage: Russia – USSR – Russian Federation”. But before that, we managed to find out from the Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists and Specialists of the GGNTU named after academician M.D. Millionshchikov Temirlan Sultanbekov, who is participating in the program for the third time, what attracts him to the School.

“The school attracts with relevant and useful lectures, interesting master classes. It is not only interesting, but also undoubtedly useful. And the program changes and is updated every year. At my university, I do not only science, and the School helps to develop various skills. And with each visit, I notice that my level of personal and professional skills, which I can apply in my work, is increasing,” Temirlan Sultanbekov.

The Summer School of Engineering and Economics will last until July 25. Students will not only be able to attend lectures on artificial intelligence and workshops on the design of unmanned aerial vehicles, but also tours of production facilities, exhibition spaces, and the State Duma.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Armed Career Criminal Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber has sentenced Reshay Rashard Nelson (45, Tampa) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Nelson pleaded guilty in April 2025.

According to court documents, officers from the Tampa Police Department stopped a vehicle driven by Nelson on April 10, 2023. A search of Nelson and his vehicle resulted in the discovery of an ounce of cocaine, a scale, and a loaded firearm. Nelson received an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act based on his prior felony convictions for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, obstructing an officer with violence, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, and trafficking in cocaine.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David P. Sullivan.

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

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI: GoldUSD Coin Vows to Put the US Dollar Back on the Gold Standard—Launched This 4th of July

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

San Francisco, California , July 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GoldUSD Coin (GLDUSD) officially launched on Independence Day, bringing an innovative and stable digital currency solution backed directly by physical gold reserves. Released symbolically on July 4th, GoldUSD Coin represents a bold commitment to reviving the gold standard through modern blockchain technology.

GoldUSD Coin backed by gold

“GoldUSD isn’t just backed entirely by physical gold; we’ve enhanced protection with a secondary layer of backing in productive farmland,” stated Shawn Debbad, Founder & CEO. “This Fourth of July, we declare independence—not just from tyranny, but from fiat.”

Solving the Volatility Problem:
GoldUSD Coin provides an unmatched passive yield of 1% per month (12.68% annually), offering investors steady growth without the need for staking. These consistent returns are achievable through gold’s historical appreciation rate of 7.8% annually over the past 50 years, combined with a unique structure where 50% of all transaction fees are redistributed directly to GoldUSD holders.

Secure and Transparent Backing:
Each GoldUSD token is secured by tangible, audited gold reserves, offering unmatched stability and real-world value compared to traditional fiat and cryptocurrencies. Regular independent audits by major accounting firms guarantee transparency, and quarterly reports are publicly accessible to all investors.

Investors no longer need to choose between stability and profitability—GoldUSD Coin confidently delivers both, redefining digital assets with security, transparency, and solid returns.

Get the Whitepaper:
To access comprehensive details about GoldUSD Coin’s innovative structure and gold-backed mechanism, subscribe at https://www.goldusd.org

Secure Your Opportunity Now:
With significant investor interest, GoldUSD Coin’s availability at launch is highly limited. Early subscribers will be the first notified to lock in their tokens. Sign up at the official website. Follow on X: @goldusd

For Crypto Exchanges:
Exchanges interested in listing GLDUSD can contact Shawn Debbad directly at shawn@goldusd.org

Contact:
Shawn Debbad, Founder & CEO
GoldUSD Foundation
shawn@goldusd.org | (213) 334-1441
https://www.goldusd.org

GoldUSD Coin

About GoldUSD Foundation

GoldUSD Coin(GLDUSD) is an innovative, gold and farmland-backed digital yield coin that delivers consistent, predictable returns of 1% per month (12.68% annually). Unlike traditional stablecoins, GoldUSD transparently leverages real, tangible assets—physical gold and productive farmland—to offer both financial security and impactful ESG benefits. The GoldUSD Foundation, a nonprofit entity, manages and audits these asset reserves, ensures transparency, and spearheads global initiatives. Revenues directly fund environmental projects (massive reforestation, carbon capture via Paulownia trees and Redwood trees), humanitarian efforts (ending hunger, free mental health services), and economic empowerment initiatives—particularly focused on supporting Gen Z and underserved global communities. Website: www.goldusd.org

Press inquiries

GoldUSD Foundation
https://www.goldusd.org/
Shawn Debbad
shawn@goldusd.org

The MIL Network –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Sen. Markey, Democratic Colleagues Query FAA Administrator Bedford on the Impact of Staff Cuts and Use of Artificial Intelligence on Aviation Safety
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (July 21, 2025) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, led 11 of his Democratic colleagues in writing a letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford, requesting answers on the impact of FAA workforce reductions on aviation safety, including among analytical staff who proactively identify safety risks. The senators also inquired about comments by FAA officials suggesting the agency is using artificial intelligence to analyze safety data to identify risks.

In the letter, the lawmakers write, “The tragic crash of American Airlines flight 5342 highlighted serious gaps in our aviation safety system and demonstrated the need for a robust and experienced analytical workforce at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Unfortunately, over the past six months, your agency has significantly reduced its workforce.”

The lawmakers continued, “In the aftermath of the crash, the FAA should be analyzing the near miss data from events at Reagan National Airport and reviewing the sufficiency of FAA staffing. Instead, the agency has moved ahead with workforce reductions. In particular, FAA fired hundreds of probationary employees in critical support roles key to assisting air traffic controllers in doing their jobs.”

The lawmakers request the following information by August 11, 2025:
1. For each FAA line of business and its relevant suboffices, please provide the (a) number of employees employed as of January 1, 2025, (b) number of employees employed as of July 1, 2025, and (c) the current number of job openings.
2. For each FAA line of business and its relevant suboffices, please indicate whether any of its job positions are currently subject to a hiring freeze as of January 20, 2025.
3. Please provide the analysis conducted by the Office of Airports related to the impact of workforce cuts on its safety mission.
4. Besides the Office of Airports, please explain if any other FAA line of business has conducted an analysis of the impact of workforce cuts on its ability to deliver its mission. If so, please provide those analyses.
5. Please explain all relevant FAA lines of business and relevant suboffices charged with identifying aviation safety trends and possible safety risks affecting airport operations in congested airspace.
6. What specific AI tools is the FAA using to analyze aviation safety impacts and flight data and how is this improving FAA’s analysis? Does the FAA have adequate staff, familiar with these tools, to manage this analysis and ensure the security of the data used and generated by AI?
The letter was co-signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va,), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.).

Senator Markey is one of the leading aviation safety champions in the Senate. In February 2025, he led twelve of his Senate colleagues in a letter to the Department of Transportation requesting information about impacts of staffing cuts on transportation safety. In April 2025, Senator Markey introduced his Safety Starts at the Top Act, which would require large aerospace manufacturers have representation from labor unions and safety experts on the company’s board of directors.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 22, 2025
Centre launches SASCI scheme to develop iconic tourist destinations at global standards

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

The Ministry of Tourism has rolled out operational guidelines for the ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment – Development of Iconic Tourist Centres to Global Scale’ (SASCI) scheme, aimed at transforming select tourist destinations into globally competitive attractions.

Under the scheme, the Centre intends to provide funding support for comprehensive development of iconic sites, with a focus on enhancing the end-to-end tourist experience. This includes strengthening the entire tourism value chain—from infrastructure to branding, sustainability, and operations.

Project proposals submitted by state governments were evaluated based on parameters such as site connectivity, ecological sustainability, existing tourism infrastructure, carrying capacity, management models, potential impact, and marketing plans. Final selection and approval of projects have been made in line with the institutional framework laid out in the SASCI guidelines.

While the government will provide financial support for the projects until March 31, 2026, the implementation and management of the sanctioned projects will rest with the respective State Governments. Each project is expected to be completed within a two-year period.

The Ministry of Tourism will also support the promotion of these destinations through its ongoing domestic and international campaigns, including digital platforms, events, and social media.

Union Tourism and Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared this information in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New chapter for Tinside as new community spaces officially open

Source: City of Plymouth

New spaces for young people and the community are now officially open at Tinside Lido, paving the way for year-round use of one of Plymouth’s most iconic waterfront landmarks.

The lido, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, has been carefully restored and reimagined as part of the UK’s first National Marine Park, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Horizons Award, the UK Government’s Youth Investment Fund and Levelling Up Fund and Plymouth City Council.

The project has transformed underused areas of the Grade II-listed Art Deco building, safeguarding it for future generations while creating new opportunities for people to connect with Plymouth Sound.

It has brought the first floor of the lido back into use as a flexible, multi-purpose space for youth activities, digital learning, training and events, supported by a new kitchen and bar facility. The sun terrace has been revitalised with a café pod and a pop-up event space with ramped access to ensure everyone can enjoy the views across Plymouth Sound.

In addition, the smaller building that provides both pool and cove access, has been remodelled to provide a youth space with improved accessibility and changing facilities.

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “People use the word iconic all the time but Tinside honestly is. It’s treasured not only by the people of Plymouth but visitors from far and wide – and offers some of the most breathtaking views in the city, if not the country. But it’s not just a spectacular place to go for a swim and take in our amazing waterfront.

“This regeneration has brought a whole new life to the lido and is such an important project for the city. It’s not only protected a much-loved part of Plymouth’s heritage. It’s helped to secure its future, by creating new, inspirational spaces that the whole community – and visitors to the city – can enjoy for many years to come. Exciting times are ahead!”

Taryn Nixon OBE, trustee at The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Chair of England – London and South Committee, said: “Tinside Lido is a shining example of reinvesting in our heritage to create amazing new opportunities for people and for the city. The lido has been such an iconic part of Plymouth’s identity since 1935 and thanks to National Lottery players it has been given new life, in its 90th birthday year, for completely new audiences to connect with Plymouth’s rich ocean heritage. The Heritage Fund is very proud to have been able to support this ambitious project and the wider Plymouth Sound National Marine Park through our Heritage Horizon Awards.”

The National Lottery Heritage Fund launched the Heritage Horizons Awards in 2019 to support ambitious, innovative and transformational projects that will revolutionise UK heritage. These awards help to transform lives and economies, put the UK at the lead of major environmental, cultural and heritage projects, and show confidence in the heritage sector to rebuild and thrive. As part of this, Plymouth Sound National Marine Park received £11.6 million to help create the UK’s first National Marine Park, revolutionising the way Plymouth interacts with its marine heritage.

Plymouth Active, which operates Tinside Lido in partnership with the Council, has also welcomed the project’s completion, noting its significance for the future of the lido and its commitment to giving every child in Plymouth the opportunity to learn to swim.

Rhys Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Plymouth Active, said: “We’re delighted to see these new spaces at Tinside Lido open for the community. Tinside is a vital part of our mission to give every child in Plymouth the chance to learn to swim and develop a love for the water. The new facilities also open up opportunities for events and activities that will help sustain Tinside for future generations.”

The restoration also paves the way for new uses to support the lido’s long-term sustainability, with the potential to host silent discos, open-air cinema events and weddings, generating income that will help sustain free and low-cost youth activities beyond the five-year Heritage Horizons Award period.

Originally opened in 1935 and refurbished for the first time in 2005, Tinside’s careful preservation and transformation is a testament to the city’s commitment to adapting its historic assets for modern needs. The substantial repairs and improvements carried out as part of this project ensure that Tinside will continue to be a much-loved feature of Plymouth’s waterfront while supporting the health, wellbeing and aspirations of young people in Britain’s Ocean City.

To find out more about what’s on at Tinside and how to book the space for your event, visit the Tinside Lido website.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Alan Wilson announces caregiver charged with beating vulnerable adultRead More

Source: US State of South Carolina

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that his office’s Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit (VAMPF) has arrested Robin C. Hatley, 61 years old, of Laurens, S.C., for Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult {43-35-0085 (D)}. Hatley was booked into the Greenville County Detention Center on July 18, 2025.

A joint investigation by VAMPF and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office alleges that on June 14, 2025, Hatley, a caregiver at Pearl at Five Forks Memory Care Center in Simpsonville, S.C., struck a vulnerable adult resident multiple times on the head, face, and nose. The victim, classified as a vulnerable adult under South Carolina law, was a resident of the facility at the time of the alleged incident.

Pearl at Five Forks Memory Care Center reported this incident to law enforcement and cooperated fully with investigators. This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult is a felony and, upon conviction, has a penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Pursuant to federal regulations, VAMPF has authority over Medicaid provider fraud; abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries in any setting; and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes.

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

The South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, dba VAMPF, receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,889,252 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $963,084 for FFY 2025, is funded by South Carolina.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Congressman Bean, K9s United to Hold Press Conference Calling for Tougher Penalties for Individuals Who Harm Law Enforcement Animals

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Aaron Bean Florida (4th District)

WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, July 22nd, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean will join K9s United for a press conference at the House Triangle to unveil the Leo K9 Protection Act, a bill aimed at strengthening penalties for individuals who use a deadly weapon to harm a federal police animal.

This bill also expands the federal statute to apply to any state, county, or local police animal assisting a federal agency, provides a good-faith exception for anyone providing emergency veterinary care to an injured police animal, and directs the USDOT to issue regulations ensuring that emergency medical services can transport an injured police K9, if the provider chooses to do so.

This announcement comes as attacks on ICE agents have surged 830%, underscoring the urgent need to extend protections to their canine and equine partners, who face the same threats in the line of duty.

Details for the press conference can be found immediately below:

WHO: Congressman Aaron Bean, President and Founder of K9s United Debbie Johnson, Sergeant Justin Tortora of the Marion County, Florida Sheriff’s Office—handler of fallen K9 Leo, and K9 Units
WHAT: Remarks, Q/A
WHEN: TUESDAY, JULY 22nd at 1:00 pm EST
WHERE: House Triangle

Media RSVP: Elissa.Tew@mail.house.gov.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Congressman Bean, K9s United to Hold Press Conference Calling for Tougher Penalties for Individuals Who Harm Law Enforcement Animals

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Aaron Bean Florida (4th District)

WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, July 22nd, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean will join K9s United for a press conference at the House Triangle to unveil the Leo K9 Protection Act, a bill aimed at strengthening penalties for individuals who use a deadly weapon to harm a federal police animal.

This bill also expands the federal statute to apply to any state, county, or local police animal assisting a federal agency, provides a good-faith exception for anyone providing emergency veterinary care to an injured police animal, and directs the USDOT to issue regulations ensuring that emergency medical services can transport an injured police K9, if the provider chooses to do so.

This announcement comes as attacks on ICE agents have surged 830%, underscoring the urgent need to extend protections to their canine and equine partners, who face the same threats in the line of duty.

Details for the press conference can be found immediately below:

WHO: Congressman Aaron Bean, President and Founder of K9s United Debbie Johnson, Sergeant Justin Tortora of the Marion County, Florida Sheriff’s Office—handler of fallen K9 Leo, and K9 Units
WHAT: Remarks, Q/A
WHEN: TUESDAY, JULY 22nd at 1:00 pm EST
WHERE: House Triangle

Media RSVP: Elissa.Tew@mail.house.gov.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Droughts are causing record devastation worldwide, UN-backed report reveals

Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

This is according to a new report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the International Drought Resilience Alliance on the global impacts of droughts from 2023 to 2025.

“Drought is a silent killer. It creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion. Its scars run deep,” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.

“This is not a dry spell,” stressed Dr. Mark Svoboda, report co-author and NDMC Director. “This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I’ve ever seen. This report underscores the need for systematic monitoring of how drought affects lives, livelihoods, and the health of the ecosystems that we all depend on.”

Record devastation in Africa

According to the report, as 90 million people face acute hunger across Eastern and Southern Africa, some areas in the region have been experiencing the worst drought ever recorded.

In Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, maize and wheat crops have suffered repeated failures. In Zimbabwe in particular, the 2024 corn crop was down 70 per cent year on year, maize prices doubled, and 9,000 cattle died of thirst and starvation.

Some 43,000 people in Somalia died in 2022 alone due to drought-linked hunger. The crisis continued through 2025, with a quarter of the population facing crisis-level food insecurity at the beginning of the year.

As a result of drought, Zambia is suffering one of the world’s worst energy crises: in April, the Zambezi River plummeted to 20 per cent of its long-term average, and the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, the Kariba Dam, fell to 7 per cent generation capacity, causing electricity blackouts of up to 21 hours a day. This has led to the shuttering of hospitals, bakeries, and factories, further compounding the devastation.

Worldwide impacts

But the effects of drought extend beyond Africa. For example, by September 2023 in Spain, two years of drought and record heat caused a 50 per cent drop in the olive crop, doubling olive oil prices nationwide.

In Türkiye, drought-accelerated groundwater depletion has triggered sinkholes, endangering communities and their infrastructure while reducing aquifer storage capacity.

In the Amazon Basin, record-low river levels in 2023 and 2024 led to mass deaths of fish and endangered dolphins, disrupted drinking water supplies and created transport challenges for hundreds of thousands. Ongoing deforestation and fires also threaten to shift the Amazon from a carbon sink to a carbon source.

Declining water levels in the Panama Canal slashed transit by more than one-third, leading to major global trade disruptions. Among the spillover effects were declines in American soybean exports and shortages and rising prices reported in UK grocery stores.

Call for cooperation and solutions

The report listed several recommendations to help combat this crisis, including stronger early warning systems, real-time drought and drought impact monitoring, and nature-based solutions such as watershed restoration and indigenous crop use.

It also called for more resilient infrastructure – including off-grid energy and alternative water supply systems – and global cooperation, particularly regarding transboundary river basins and trade routes.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza

Source: United Nations secretary general

The Secretary-General is appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing.

He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food for their families.

Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted. The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life.

Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations.

The Secretary-General notes that the intensification of hostilities in recent days comes as the humanitarian system is being impeded, undermined and endangered.

A new evacuation order in parts of Deir al Balah – home to tens of thousands – pushes people into more desperate conditions and further displacement and restricts the United Nations’ ability to deliver life-saving aid. UN staff remain in Deir al Balah, and two UN guesthouses have been struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of UN premises, which are inviolable. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders.

The Secretary-General reiterates his urgent call for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian personnel, and for the provision of essential resources to ensure their survival.

He once again calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The UN stands ready to significantly scale up our humanitarian operations. The time for a ceasefire is now.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: One-Stop-Shop for Military and Veterans Interested in SUNY

Source: US State of New York

overnor Kathy Hochul today announced the launch of a one-stop-shop for active duty servicemembers, veterans, and family members currently enrolled or interested in attending any SUNY college or university. The landing page: www.suny.edu/military, includes information on available credit for military service and experience, tuition assistance, specialized scholarships, and dedicated campus services like veteran lounges and associations for all 64 SUNY campuses. The website also connects veterans with services offered by the counties where each campus is located, helping them stay close to home and community, and will be regularly updated as new information becomes available.

“We continue to rely so much on our veterans and military to protect everything we hold sacred, and it is a priority of my administration to make sure we help our military-connected New Yorkers have a smooth transition to their next career,” Governor Hochul said. “This one-stop shop from SUNY is easy to follow and helps guide service members and their families and puts them on a path to a rewarding degree or credential.”

Governor Hochul has recently announced expanded access to an affordable education through the Veterans Tuition Assistance Program, which went into effect on July 1. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the program will now serve even more veterans by broadening eligibility and increasing flexibility.

Thirty-seven SUNY campuses offer academic credit for military service and experience, and the new website includes connecting visitors to an easy-to-use search for available credit for military experience and training. Additionally, SUNY campuses have tailored support available including student veteran associations and military and veteran offices, and counties throughout New York State have programs and staff available as well. SUNY developed this comprehensive website so that servicemembers and veterans would be able to easily learn about and access all of the available programs and benefits that they have earned through their service.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “SUNY provides a wide array of services for all those who stepped up and answered the call to serve our nation. From tuition assistance and specialized scholarships, to lounges and clubs, to credit for prior learning, it is important that every servicemember and veteran knows about the great programs at their disposal at every SUNY campus. We honor our veterans and servicemembers, and our campus communities are richer for their presence.”

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, “We owe our servicemembers and veterans a debt of gratitude that can never truly be repaid, and we are grateful for their dedication to our state and nation. That is why the SUNY system has worked to ensure that as servicemembers and veterans transition back to civilian life, they have the support they have earned easily accessible at each of our campuses. We hope all eligible students will learn more about the programs, scholarships, and credit for prior learning available for current and former members of the military and take advantage of the benefits they have earned.”

State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton said, “Our SUNY schools offer so many programs and benefits for active duty military and veteran students, and I’m glad the Governor is launching a more streamlined system to help them access these resources. It’s so important that New York remains a state with competitive educational opportunities, and our SUNYs are committed to recruiting and retaining the best and brightest veterans and active duty service members. We want all our veterans and active duty members to be able to pursue their education and build their lives right here in New York—and this new website is a great step toward that.”

Assemblymember Steve Stern said, “As the Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee of the New York State Assembly, I applaud Governor Hochul for expanding critical educational support, funding and access to services for the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much to serve our great nation and importantly, also for their families. This new One-Stop Shop will provide streamlined access to vital information for all SUNY campuses. I encourage all active-duty military, veterans and families to visit www.suny.edu/military to learn more about benefits to which they are entitled.”

New York State Department of Veterans’ Services Commissioner Viviana M. DeCohen said, “This new SUNY one-stop-shop is more than a website — it is a gateway to opportunity for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families across New York State. By streamlining access to campus-based support, credit for military experience, and vital tuition assistance through this new resource, it ensures that no one who served is left navigating college alone. Thanks to Governor Hochul’s leadership and visionary expansion of this initiative and the Veterans Tuition Assistance Program, even more of our heroes can now pursue a world-class SUNY education. This is what it means to value service and put Veterans first.”

New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Adjutant General Major General Raymond F. Shields Jr. said, “Hundreds of members of the New York Army and Air National Guard and the New York Naval Militia have furthered their education through the SUNY system, thanks to the free tuition benefit available to them at SUNY and CUNY. Anything that makes it easier for our Citizen Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines to access SUNY services for veterans and service members is very welcome.”

About The State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2024, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit www.suny.edu.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
Jagdeep Dhankhar resigns as Vice President citing health reasons

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from office on Monday, citing health concerns and the need to follow medical advice. His resignation, addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, comes into effect immediately under Article 67(a) of the Constitution.

In his resignation letter, Dhankhar said, “To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately.”

The 72-year-old, who also served as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, expressed gratitude to the President for her “unwavering support” and the “wonderfully harmonious working relationship” they shared during his tenure.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers, Dhankhar said, “Prime Minister’s cooperation and support have been invaluable, and I have learned much during my time in office.”

He also acknowledged the trust and warmth extended by Members of Parliament, calling it a “cherished memory.”

Reflecting on his time in office, Dhankhar said it had been a privilege to witness India’s economic growth and transformation. “Serving in this transformative era of our nation’s history has been a true honour,” he noted. “As I leave this esteemed office, I am filled with pride in Bharat’s global rise and phenomenal achievements and hold unwavering confidence in her brilliant future.”

His resignation came on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: How a popular sweetener could be damaging your brain’s defences

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Havovi Chichger, Professor, Biomedical Science, Anglia Ruskin University

Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body’s most crucial protective barriers – with potentially serious consequences for heart health and stroke risk.

A recent study from the University of Colorado suggests erythritol may damage cells in the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s security system that keeps out harmful substances while letting in nutrients. The findings add troubling new detail to previous observational studies that have linked erythritol consumption to increased rates of heart attack and stroke.

In the new study, researchers exposed blood-brain barrier cells to levels of erythritol typically found after drinking a soft drink sweetened with the compound. They saw a chain reaction of cell damage that could make the brain more vulnerable to blood clots – a leading cause of stroke.

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Erythritol triggered what scientists call oxidative stress, flooding cells with harmful, highly reactive molecules known as free radicals, while simultaneously reducing the body’s natural antioxidant defences. This double assault damaged the cells’ ability to function properly, and in some cases killed them outright.

But perhaps more concerning was erythritol’s effect on the blood vessels’ ability to regulate blood flow. Healthy blood vessels act like traffic controllers, widening when organs need more blood – during exercise, for instance – and tightening when less is required. They achieve this delicate balance through two key molecules: nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, and endothelin-1, which constricts them.

The study found that erythritol disrupted this critical system, reducing nitric oxide production while ramping up endothelin-1. The result would be blood vessels that remain dangerously constricted, potentially starving the brain of oxygen and nutrients. This imbalance is a known warning sign of ischaemic stroke – the type caused by blood clots blocking vessels in the brain.

Even more alarming, erythritol appeared to sabotage the body’s natural defence against blood clots. Normally, when clots form in blood vessels, cells release a “clot buster” called tissue plasminogen activator that dissolves the blockage before it can cause a stroke. But the sweetener blocked this protective mechanism, potentially leaving clots free to wreak havoc.

The laboratory findings align with troubling evidence from human studies. Several large-scale observational studies have found that people who regularly consume erythritol face significantly higher risks of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes. One major study tracking thousands of participants found that those with the highest blood levels of erythritol were roughly twice as likely to experience a major cardiac event.

However, the research does have limitations. The experiments were conducted on isolated cells in laboratory dishes rather than complete blood vessels, which means the cells may not behave exactly as they would in the human body. Scientists acknowledge that more sophisticated testing – using advanced “blood vessel on a chip” systems that better mimic real physiology – will be needed to confirm these effects.

The findings are particularly significant because erythritol occupies a unique position in the sweetener landscape. Unlike artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose, erythritol is technically a sugar alcohol – a naturally occurring compound that the body produces in small amounts. This classification helped it avoid inclusion in recent World Health Organization guidelines that discouraged the use of artificial sweeteners for weight control.

Erythritol has also gained popularity among food manufacturers because it behaves more like sugar than other alternatives. While sucralose is 320 times sweeter than sugar, erythritol provides only about 80% of sugar’s sweetness, making it easier to use in recipes without creating an overpowering taste. It’s now found in thousands of products, especially in many “sugar-free” and “keto-friendly” foods.

Erythritol can be found in many keto-friendly products, such a protein bars.
Stockah/Shutterstock.com

Trade-off

Regulatory agencies, including the European Food Standards Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration, have approved erythritol as safe for consumption. But the new research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that even “natural” sugar alternatives may carry unexpected health risks.

For consumers, the findings raise difficult questions about the trade-offs involved in sugar substitution. Sweeteners like erythritol can be valuable tools for weight management and diabetes prevention, helping people reduce calories and control blood sugar spikes. But if regular consumption potentially weakens the brain’s protective barriers and increases cardiovascular risk, the benefits may come at a significant cost.

The research underscores a broader challenge in nutritional science: understanding the long-term effects of relatively new food additives that have become ubiquitous in the modern diet. While erythritol may help people avoid the immediate harms of excess sugar consumption, its effect on the blood-brain barrier suggests that frequent use could be quietly compromising brain protection over time.

As scientists continue to investigate these concerning links, consumers may want to reconsider their relationship with this seemingly innocent sweetener – and perhaps question whether any sugar substitute additive is truly without risk.

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

– ref. How a popular sweetener could be damaging your brain’s defences – https://theconversation.com/how-a-popular-sweetener-could-be-damaging-your-brains-defences-261500

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE San Juan investigation leads to arrest of female teacher for child sex trafficking in Puerto Rico
Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — On July 10, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested Lizamarie Rivera-García, a 42-year-old woman from Bayamón, charged with sex trafficking of children.

“We cannot let our guard down! Our children are being sexually exploited by individuals in positions of public trust. Law enforcement agencies are committed to being the voice of these victims,” said HSI San Juan Special Agent in Charge Rebecca C. Gonzalez-Ramos. “HSI’s multidisciplinary team will guarantee that our children receive the necessary assistance to overcome this trauma, and our agents will make sure that these individuals are arrested, away from causing more damage. A female religion teacher that had the responsibility to guide our children about principles and beliefs was actually developing a plan to sexually assault them. HSI and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau are committed to protecting our children. We will not let these acts happen on our watch.”

According to court documents, between December 2023 and October 2024, Rivera-García knowingly and willfully recruited, enticed, transported and maintained a 15-year-old boy to engage in commercial sex acts. Rivera-García is also accused with knowingly employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing the same child to engage in sexual activity; transporting him in a commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States, with intent that the male individual engage in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense; and using internet instant messaging services and social media to knowingly transfer and attempt to transfer obscene matter to an individual who had not attained the age of 16 years.

In addition, from in or about December 2023 to November 2024, Rivera-García knowingly and willfully recruited, enticed, transported and maintained a 17-year-old boy to engage in commercial sex acts.

If convicted on the charges, the defendant faces the following penalties:
- Sex trafficking of a child, with a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and up to life in prison.
- Transportation of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, with a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and up to life in prison.
- Coercion and enticement of a minor, with a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and up to life in prison.
All convictions will be followed by a term of supervised release of no less than five years and up to life. A federal district court judge will determine Rivera-García’s sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit Know2Protect.gov. To report suspicious activities, call 787-729-6969 or send an email to IntelHSISanJuan@hsi.dhs.gov. Learn more about HSI San Juan’s mission to increase public safety in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Instagram, Facebook and X.

MIL OSI USA News –
July 22, 2025