NewzIntel.com

Category: Transport

  • MIL-OSI: Kevin Vilkin Joins Business Executives for National Security (BENS)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kevin Vilkin, co-founder of Emergent Strategic Partners, has been accepted as a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a national nonprofit network of business leaders committed to supporting U.S. security initiatives. Through BENS, Vilkin will collaborate with fellow executives and government leaders to provide innovative private-sector solutions that enhance national security and resilience.

    BENS leverages the expertise of top business minds to address complex security challenges, fostering strategic partnerships between the private sector and government agencies. Vilkin’s experience in forging impactful collaborations aligns with BENS’ mission, positioning him to contribute valuable insights on sustainable innovation, business growth, and economic security.

    “BENS is excited to have Kevin as a member,” said General Timothy M. Ray, Retired United States Air Force Four-Star General, and President and Chief Executive Officer of BENS. “Right now—as our Nation must adapt and react to an increasingly complex threat environment—our defense and national security partners need to know how to adopt and scale innovation; not just buy it. So, Kevin’s experience and expertise is exactly what we need to make sure BENS provides the best support, at exactly the right time, to those keeping our Nation safe.”

    “It is an honor to join BENS and contribute to its mission of leveraging business expertise to strengthen national security,” said Vilkin. “I look forward to working alongside leaders from both the public and private sectors to drive meaningful impact and innovation.”

    About Kevin Vilkin

    Before launching Emergent, Vilkin founded and successfully exited his first business—a music events company—at the age of 21, helping shape the careers of global artists such as Mumford & Sons and The Zac Brown Band. He founded the Vanguard Program for Summit Series, connecting the world’s most influential leaders, including Richard Branson, Ray Dalio, and Jeff Bezos.

    Vilkin currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Redaptive, ID.me, and GoodLeap. He sits on the Board of Directors at Conservation International, is a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and has been recognized as a Milken Young Leaders Circle and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. Additionally, he previously served as a Senior Advisor to TPG Growth.

    About Emergent Strategic Partners

    Emergent develops strategic partnerships that scale sustainable innovations for large enterprises. By connecting leading companies with emerging businesses, Emergent drives cost efficiencies and revenue growth while providing family offices with access to high-potential investment opportunities. Emergent partners’ impact includes $2.2B in revenue generated, $2.8B in enterprise value created, and $1.3B in capital raised.

    Media Contact:
    Paul Orszag
    Emergent Strategic Partners
    porszag@esp.co
    (661) 803-6617

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Construction industry specialists presented the results of their research at a conference at St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Opening of the conference. In the presidium, from left to right: Olga Pastukh, Andrey Nikulin, Evgeny Korolev, Director of the Soil Testing Center, Head of the Geotechnics Department of SPbGASU Anatoly Osokin

    The III National (All-Russian) Scientific and Technical Conference “Prospects of Modern Construction” was held at the Construction Faculty of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering from April 21 to 23.

    The welcoming part of the plenary session opened with the showing of two videos, the first of which introduced the conference participants to our university. The other video was prepared by the creative team of the construction faculty for the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and told about how the university lived during the difficult years of the Leningrad blockade.

    The moderator, Deputy Dean for Research, Associate Professor of the Department of Architectural and Construction Structures Olga Pastukh addressed the participants of the plenary session. Olga Aleksandrovna introduced the members of the conference organizing committee and invited them to visit the exhibition dedicated to safety in the construction industry that opened as part of the conference.

    On behalf of and on behalf of the rector of SPbGASU Evgeny Rybnov, the vice-rector for research activities Evgeny Korolev delivered a welcoming speech. Evgeny Valerievich noted that the conference could become a driver for the development of the national project “Infrastructure for Life”. The project, aimed at improving the comfort of housing, ensuring the safety of the urban environment, requires new, scientifically sound scientific solutions that will be implemented in practice.

    The Vice-Rector also emphasized the successes of the SPbGASU construction faculty team. Thus, on April 16, by decree of the President of Russia, Rashid Mangushev, professor of the geotechnical department, was awarded the title of “Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation”. Separate words of greeting were addressed to young researchers, whose presence in the hall, according to the Vice-Rector, is the key to the sustainability of science and the university. In conclusion, Evgeny Valerievich wished everyone fruitful work and constructive discussions.

    Dean of the Faculty of Construction Andrey Nikulin spoke about the activities of our university. Andrey Nikolaevich also introduced the faculty he heads, informed about its departments, laboratories, and partners.

    At the plenary session, the round table “Fire-safe construction – in the hands of youth” and six sections, scientists and specialists in the construction industry informed about new promising research results, exchanged experiences and ideas, and expanded their circle of professional acquaintances.

    The chairman of the metal and wooden structures section, head of the metal and wooden structures department, Yegor Danilov, spoke about the work of the section: “The section, which worked for three days, brought together more than 300 listeners, and about 90 people spoke as authors of reports. Among the participants were representatives of three construction companies, specialists from universities from Vologda, Yoshkar-Ola, Novocherkassk and other Russian cities, three foreign guests (Kazakhstan, China). The current problems of ensuring the spatial rigidity of modern multi-story wooden buildings, technical aspects of improving the standards of metal structures were discussed, and new methods for calculating joints were proposed. All days of the conference were eventful. The exchange of experience was extremely useful for both the students and the respected scientists-speakers.”

    Associate Professor of the Department of Technosphere Safety Olga Gorbunova was the Deputy Chairperson of the Occupational Safety in Construction section at the conference. According to her, the section was held in two stages: on the first day, representatives of professional communities in the field of occupational safety and faculty from universities in our country presented scientific reports, and on the second day, students did so. The topics of the reports touched upon current issues of ensuring human safety in the modern world, and issues of ensuring occupational safety in the construction industry. Olga Vladimirovna named some of the topics of student research: “The effects of man-made accidents using fuel oil on the state of the environment”; “Use of vacuum waste removal systems for collecting hazardous medical waste”; “On a unified system of cadastral control and fire safety”.

    Mikhail Zhavoronkov, Deputy Chairman and Associate Professor of the Department of Construction Materials and Metrology, reported on what was happening in the section on technology of building materials and metrology: “15 reports were announced. The work was held in a mixed mode: some reports were presented in person, and some – remotely. The speakers were teachers, postgraduates and master’s students of the department of TSMiM SPbGASU and other universities, representatives of organizations carrying out scientific and practical activities in the areas of work of the section. The reports were devoted to the study of the properties of concrete made using various fillers, various binders and using special additives; issues of formation of micro- and macrostructure of these concretes; development of a quality management system in construction, shortcomings of modern regulatory documentation and ways to overcome them. Of great interest were the works describing the properties of dispersion-reinforced concrete and dedicated to counteracting the explosive destruction of concrete during heating.”

    The reports at the section of the Department of Structural Mechanics raised issues of modeling geotechnical structures and earthquake-resistant construction.

    The section of the departments of construction organization and construction production technology started with the speeches of the heads of departments Roman Motylev and Anton Gaido, who spoke about the main areas of their scientific work. Particular attention was drawn to the reports “Formation of a resource-saving complex of machines for the construction of a roadbed by hydromechanization” by Vladimir Vanzha (associate professor of the Kuban State Agrarian University), “Application of modular heat-protective panels to ensure the reliability of installation of steel structures in the conditions of the Far North” by Milana Raslambekova (master’s student of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering) and others. The participants of the scientific section noted the breadth of topics of the reports and the relevance of the choice of research topics by master’s and postgraduate students of the departments.

    Representatives of various Russian universities took part in the work of the section of the Department of Architectural and Building Structures. The presentations of Irina Chernyshkova (Associate Professor of the South-Russian Polytechnic University) on the topic of “Acoustic Features of Atrium Spaces” and Nikolay Cherepanov (Student of the St. Petersburg State University of Railway Engineering) on the topic of “Requirements for Architectural Structures of a Building for the Integration of Unmanned Delivery into an Urban Environment” aroused particular interest among the audience and a lively professional discussion.

    The students also presented reports on modular technologies, recycled materials and structures, the features of thermal insulation materials for various building structures and unique construction in the Arctic zone.

    In addition to the engineering and technical aspects of construction, there were reports on the renovation of industrial heritage from the point of view of architectural and urban planning, innovation, environmental and socio-economic aspects. Olga Pastukh and Qu Rulan (candidate of architecture, senior lecturer at Zhengzhou University, China) analyzed both the experience of historical Russian cities and the influence of Soviet urban planning ideas on the growth and development of industrial cities in China in the mid-20th century, as well as their current state. Their presentation was prepared based on the results of a joint research project, “The Influence of Soviet Urban Planning Concepts and Ideas on the Formation and Development of Industrial Cities in China in the Mid-20th Century.”

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU at a meeting at AFK Sistema: joint promotion of scientific projects

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 23, representatives of the State University of Management took part in an open dialogue on the topic of “Systemic communications: features of promoting innovative, knowledge-intensive and socially significant projects”, which was held at the head office of AFK Sistema

    The meeting with the executive vice president for public relations of AFK Sistema Sergey Kopytov brought together representatives of Lomonosov Moscow State University, RUDN University, HSE, RANEPA, Moscow Polytechnic University, State University of Management, Moscow State Institute of Culture, as well as the First Student Agency, a youth media outlet.

    The following took part from the State University of Management: Head of the Department for Coordination of Scientific Research Maxim Pletnev, Director of the Business Incubator Dmitry Rogov, Junior Researcher of the Department for Coordination of Scientific Research Anna Sotnikova and Analyst of the Center for Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Anna Grishkina.

    During the meeting, the Head of the Corporate Communications Department of AFK Sistema shared practical cases. In particular, he spoke about covering the corporation’s contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the formation of a high-tech pharmaceutical holding, information support for the IPO of forestry and microelectronic assets, as well as about the promotion of AFK Sistema Group projects that shape the technological future of the country in such areas as: hydrogen and satellite technologies, computer vision and microchip production, the creation of electric river vessels and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

    The event was a continuation of the educational project implemented by the Sistema Charitable Foundation together with industrial partners from among the country’s leading high-tech companies as part of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia. The project, which started in March 2025 at the R site

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/25/2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Icebreaking near Whitefish River, Ontario

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    April 25, 2025                                       

    Sarnia, Ontario – The Canadian Coast Guard advises residents of Whitefish River, Ontario that the CCGS Samuel Risley will carry out icebreaking operations in the area on or around April 26, 2025. The purpose of this operation is to break up the ice to allow commercial vessels safe access to the Lafarge Whitefish River Terminal on La Cloche Peninsula, Ontario.

    It is recommended that all traffic on the ice, including pedestrians, fishers, snowmobilers, and all-terrain vehicle operators, leave the ice during icebreaking operations. The ice may move, creating a real danger for anyone on it. Additionally, plan activities carefully and use extreme caution after operations are complete as the ice will remain unstable even once the icebreaker has left the area.

    Icebreaking on the Great Lakes and connecting waterways is delivered through close co-operation between the Canadian and United States Coast Guards. By working together, the two Coast Guards ensure scheduled vessel traffic can move through the shipping channels and in and out of community harbours. Vessels will be assigned as needed to provide this service.

    The date and assets are subject to change with no notice, as activities could begin before or after that period, depending on operational requirements or weather conditions.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Career Insight: Ellen, Trainee Solicitor, GLD

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Case study

    Career Insight: Ellen, Trainee Solicitor, GLD

    Ellen provides an insight into her training within the Government Legal Department (GLD)

    I applied for the Government Legal Department (GLD) training contract (Solicitor route) after working in the Civil Service at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for nearly a year in a non-legal, entry-level role. Having studied law at university, I was uncertain about pursuing a legal career. However, I loved working in the Civil Service and thought that a legal career in government appeared to be more interesting and potentially more fulfilling. When I was offered the training contract, I was also given the opportunity to work as a paralegal in GLD before starting my LPC, which I found very useful.

    Despite my experience as a GLD paralegal, I began my training contract with little knowledge of what the two years would entail, other than that the structure was similar to those in private practice: four six-month seats.  My first two seats were in litigation and the latter two in advisory. My litigation seats were divided into private law litigation and public law litigation. “Litigation” refers to the process of taking legal action through the courts to resolve a dispute, and GLD litigation can also include working on inquiries. “Advisory” means acting as an in-house lawyer for your chosen department, sometimes sitting with, or in the same building as, your clients.

    My first seat was in private law litigation, with the Home Office and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) as our main clients. This was a great introduction to litigation and to GLD. Within the first couple of months, I was running my own smaller cases (under supervision) and assisting colleagues on larger cases. A highlight was attending the Supreme Court for an (appealed) application to strike out a defamation claim.

    My second seat was in public law litigation, with clients including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and the Home Office. In this seat, I worked mostly on judicial reviews, which are challenges to decisions made by public bodies. These are much faster-paced than private law claims, with courts often setting deadlines of only a few days. Consequently, the work was intense, but I really enjoyed it.

    My first advisory seat was in the Attorney General’s Office; the Attorney General is the chief legal advisor to the Government, and so his “office” (which is a whole department) works across a number of matters. My favourite aspect of my team’s work was collaborating with departments across government to ensure that Bills were constitutionally sound before being introduced to Parliament. This involved cross-Whitehall liaison, attending Parliament, and briefing Ministers. It was a privilege to have this opportunity at such an early stage in my career.

    I am now in my fourth and final seat in the Home Office and the work is once again very different. Among other things, I am still working on the same Bills I reviewed in AGO, but now focus on the details of different measures, working closely with policy clients and Parliamentary Counsel to draft them. This seat has so far been challenging and interesting – and I’m looking forward to qualification.

    Updates to this page

    Published 25 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Career Insight: Nadia, Trainee Solicitor, HMRC

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Case study

    Career Insight: Nadia, Trainee Solicitor, HMRC

    Nadia provides an insight into her training within HM Revenue & Customs

    I am a trainee solicitor, currently in my second seat, working in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Legal Group’s VAT Litigation team. My current work includes conducting litigation and looking at the VAT treatment of certain supplies, like food, beauty procedures, books, and marketing deals from some big household names. A big part of the team’s work is also focusing on serious non-compliance fraud cases and various VAT avoidance schemes. Is Jaffa Cake a biscuit or a cake? That’s the kind of question you may get involved in while working for HMRC’s Legal Group.

    When applying for a training contract at HMRC, I never truly understood what being a government lawyer would be like. As HMRC’s lawyers, we are protecting billions of pounds that are then given back to the community in the way of public services, like healthcare, police and many other areas funded by the taxpayers. It’s a ‘pinch-me’ moment knowing that your work is meaningful.

    In my first seat in Business and Property Taxes Litigation team, and continuing into my second seat, I was given significant responsibility from the outset. I am leading my own cases, managing clients that are experts in a tax field and working with the country’s best counsel. As a trainee, you get to experience various aspects of litigation, whether it is drafting statements of case, creating bundles, attending hearings, or even doing a bit of advocacy. You will not be bored. Some litigation teams are more fast paced than others, but that’s the beauty of it, you will be able to steer your training in the direction you want it to go.

    I have truly enjoyed my time as a trainee so far and have been given the opportunity to get involved in work that I never thought I would be able to as a trainee. As strange as it may seem, the highlight of my first seat was when my counsel suddenly fell ill on the morning of an important hearing I had been preparing for months. After dozens of calls with different Chambers, the tribunal, clients, and understandably very unhappy opposing counsel, we managed to adjourn the hearing. The feeling of accomplishment could not be described.

    I would recommend a career at HMRC to anyone interested in public service and challenging, interesting, and meaningful work.

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Career Insight: Joe, Trainee Solicitor, HMRC

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Case study

    Career Insight: Joe, Trainee Solicitor, HMRC

    Joe provides an insight into his training within HM Revenue & Customs

    I am a fourth seat trainee in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Legal Group’s European and International Law advisory team. The team advises on, drafts and helps negotiate a range of international agreements, including Free-Trade Agreements and Double Taxation Treaties.

    I studied Philosophy and Politics as my undergraduate degree, focussing my studies on human rights and the regulation of transnational enterprises. I suspected that a career in law was the best opportunity to apply these interests in practice; however, as a non-law graduate I was reluctant to immediately volunteer for the expense and stress of two more years of study in the form of the GDL and LPC. So, after graduating, I moved abroad to pursue a career playing and coaching rugby; the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to that ambition but provided me the opportunity to start an online law conversion.

     I applied for the role at HMRC as I thought that first-hand experience of the legislative process and regular precedent-setting litigation would provide a great opportunity to develop my career as a solicitor; but also because the tax arena seemed to offer a lot of variety, encompassing my interests in both public law and commercial questions.

    All trainees start in litigation for their first year; trainee solicitors remain within HMRC, while pupil barristers spend six months seconded to Chambers. My first seat was in VAT litigation, so after three years of intensive study, I arrived at HMRC braced for mountains of paperwork and long days of dense tax calculations. Instead, waiting on my desk were various packets of lentil-based snacks and the deceptively knotty legal question; are these crisps, or at least similar to crisps? I spent the seat thinking about other such questions, like what distinguishes cosmetic surgery from medical care. During this seat, I visited the Supreme Court assisting a senior lawyer and saw my own case feature in national newspapers.

    For my second seat I applied for HMRC’s Enforcement and Illicit Finance litigation Team. The question for this team was less frequently whether someone owes tax, but how HMRC can actually collect it from them. My tasks ranged from advocating on HMRC’s behalf in the Magistrates Court to instructing counsel at fast pace on High Court proceedings, attending the Court of Appeal and working with international law enforcement to seize overseas assets.

     As a trainee you will be given your own cases to run as part of a cross-HMRC case team with tax and policy experts, so you can stretch yourself in an environment surrounded by expert lawyers and tax professionals, who are all very generous with their time. Your role is to co-ordinate this team and ask the right questions to tease the legal arguments out of your clients. In this respect the skills I developed playing team sports were as important as my legal knowledge.  

    In your second year you move into an advisory team. In my first six months I worked on a mix of human rights and technical tax advice as part of the Personal Tax and Welfare team. I drafted my statutory instrument, which was a particular highlight, and fed into a major budget measure. It can feel like a drastic transition from the more adversarial world of litigation, but the training is extensive with HMRC running internal induction courses alongside the wider GLP offering.

    The advisory lawyers cover a wide variety of tasks, with my final seat feeling like an entirely new role.  I didn’t study EU or International Law as part of my law conversion, but having the lawyers who drafted the treaties sat next to you in the office is always a good starting point!

    Whilst the HMRC training contract will be of particular interest for anyone who wants a career in public law, I think it is really important to understand the breadth of the department’s work. There is regular precedent setting litigation with engages questions of employment and commercial law, and advisory teams that span the breadth of civil and criminal practice.

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: CE promotes HK in Ningbo

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Chief Executive John Lee attended the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Conference – Zhejiang (Ningbo) Forum & Ningbo-Hong Kong Economic Co-operation Forum today in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

    The conference was jointly organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Ningbo Municipal Government.

    Mr Lee led the Hong Kong SAR Government delegation to attend the opening ceremony and related activities today to promote to Mainland enterprises Hong Kong’s unique advantages and dual roles as a platform in going global and attracting foreign investment, fostering investment and co-operation.

    The Zhejiang (Ningbo) forum, with the theme of “Hong Kong, joining hands with Zhejiang and meeting in Ningbo, the channel for more opportunities”, brought together a number of business leaders from various sectors including finance, supply chain, innovation and technology (I&T) and professional services to share their insights on Hong Kong’s advantages and opportunities in different areas and attracted more than 600 participants.

    The concurrent Ningbo-Hong Kong Economic Co-operation Forum has been held alternately in Hong Kong and Ningbo every year since 2002 to facilitate bilateral exchanges and co-operation on economic, trade and investment and has been well received by the business communities of the two places.

    Addressing the opening ceremony, Mr Lee noted that Ningbo in Zhejiang Province is a manufacturing and port hub in the Yangtze River Delta, while Hong Kong is an international financial, trade and shipping centre.

    Both Ningbo and Hong Kong are important gateways in the opening up of the country, with complementary advantages and limitless opportunities for collaboration.

    Hong Kong is the largest source of external investment in Ningbo and more than 1,000 enterprises and institutions from Ningbo have been established in Hong Kong, reflecting the close economic and trade ties between the two places.

    The Chief Executive said that under the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong possesses the unique advantages of having the country’s strong support while maintaining unparalleled connectivity with the world, serving as a “super connector” and “super value-adder”. Hong Kong acts as a two-way springboard for Mainland enterprises to go global and for attracting overseas enterprises.

    He pointed out that despite the US’ bullying and unjustified imposition of tariffs, and the emergence of unilateralism that disrupted the global landscape and geopolitics and posed risks of economic destruction and recession, the country’s immense economic strength and vast market provide certainty for global investors, and a new economic and trade order is taking shape.

    Mr Lee added that Hong Kong will continue to proactively serve Mainland enterprises in going global to explore international markets, and attract overseas enterprises to tap into the Mainland market.

    Members of the Hong Kong SAR Government delegation attending the Conference included Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau, Director of the Chief Executive’s Office Carol Yip and Under Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Joseph Chan.

    In his remarks on promoting Hong Kong’s advantages at a themed promotion activity, Mr Wong said that on finance, Hong Kong is the most trusted international financial safe haven for Mainland enterprises, offering diversified financing channels and financial services for companies to expand their businesses internationally.

    Furthermore, Invest Hong Kong held a signing ceremony of a number of key Zhejiang-Hong Kong and Ningbo-Hong Kong co-operation projects, covering various sectors including finance, technology, transportation, aviation, I&T and consumer goods.

    In the afternoon, the Hong Kong SAR Government, the HKTDC and relevant authorities of the Ningbo Municipal Government jointly organised three special promotion activities on finance, multinational supply chain management centre and I&T to promote investment in Hong Kong.

    Mr Lee and the delegation departed for Hong Kong this afternoon.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Labour Day visitor arrivals discussed

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki today chaired a meeting of the interdepartmental working group to co-ordinate the preparatory work for welcoming visitors to Hong Kong during the Mainland’s Labour Day Golden Week.

    The Immigration Department estimates that around 5.71 million passengers, including Hong Kong residents and visitors, will pass through Hong Kong’s sea, land and air control points from May 1 to 5, among which 4.9 million are expected to pass through land control points.

    The peak period of outbound and inbound passengers using land boundary control points (BCPs) will be May 3 and 5, with around 590,000 and 580,000 passengers expected respectively.

    Passengers are advised to plan in advance, avoid making journeys during busy periods and keep track of radio and TV broadcasts on traffic conditions at various control points. The busy times at BCPs are available on the department’s website.

    Furthermore, residents and passengers may also check the estimated waiting times at each land BCP via the Immigration mobile app.

    In terms of Mainland inbound visitors, around 840,000 passengers are expected to visit Hong Kong via sea, land and air control points during the five-day Labour Day Golden Week. Compared with last year’s Labour Day Golden Week and this year’s Chinese New Year Golden Week, the daily average visitor arrivals will increase by 10% and 13%.

    Special arrangements have been formulated at major tourist spots to cope with the increase of people flow.

    The Transport Department will enhance transportation services connecting various BCPs, including increasing the frequency of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge shuttle bus (Gold Bus) and the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang cross-boundary shuttle bus (Yellow Bus), and issue additional cross-boundary coach quotas to enhance services.

    Regarding local transport services, the department has approached public transport operators to enhance their capacity, and reserve vehicles and manpower to meet the travel needs of visitors.

    Among them, the MTR will enhance train services of the East Rail Line between Admiralty and Lo Wu/Lok Ma Chau at different times from May 1 to 5 for the convenience of residents and visitors.

    Meanwhile, the Tourism Board has launched a dedicated webpage to provide useful information including the operating arrangements of major tourist attractions in Hong Kong.

    Noting that a notable increase in visitor arrivals is estimated during the Labour Day Golden Week, Mr Chan said the Government will make good preparations for receiving visitors to ensure the smooth operation of various aspects in receiving them and offering a high-quality experience.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/BAHRAIN – “Humility, courage, justice, and love. Pope Francis has been a tireless messenger of peace”

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Friday, 25 April 2025

    Avona

    by Aldo Berardi*, O.SS.T.Manama (Fides Agency) – How can we begin to describe the life of this extraordinary pastor? Letters are pouring in from all over the world praising his witness: a witness of humility, courage, justice, and love. With his deep compassion, openness to others, and profoundly simple life, he touched the hearts of millions of people. He was a man of peace. Pope Francis was a tireless messenger of peace. He repeatedly called for an end to war and urged the world to lay down its weapons and seek dialogue. He stood alongside the suffering and displaced, giving a voice to those silenced by conflict.In our region, marked by numerous tensions, we remember with gratitude how he stopped to pray before the wall that divides the Palestinian people. Since the recent flare-up of the conflict, he has called every day to the community of Gaza, a father who never abandons his children. Until his last Easter message, he proclaimed with conviction: Peace is possible. Silence the weapons!He was a man of dialogue and listening. Pope Francis was deeply committed to dialogue, not just as a diplomatic gesture, but as a way of life rooted in the Gospel. He worked tirelessly to meet people from all walks of life in order to listen, understand, and move forward together. His pastoral visits around the world were never mere ceremonies: they were encounters, especially with religious leaders. Our region has been blessed by two visits from Pope Francis. The people of Bahrain will never forget his memorable visit in November 2022. He met with religious leaders, participated in the interfaith meeting organized by the King Hamad Global Center for Coexistence and Tolerance, and held a dialogue with the Islamic Council of Elders. He also visited the Sacred Heart School and Sacred Heart Church in Manama and our cathedral in Awali, always with the same message: We are one human family under God.He was a man of justice. Pope Francis did not shy away from raising his voice in defense of human dignity. He denounced the structures of sin that lead to poverty and exclusion. He reminded the world that societies cannot be called just if they forget the poor. Our region is a place of economic dynamism, but also of inequality. His prophetic words challenge us to ensure that no one is left behind in the pursuit of progress.He was a man of prayer and his relationship with God was central to his life. Pope Francis was a man of deep prayer. Whether in large basilicas or quiet chapels, he was always rooted in the love of Christ: a love he received from his family, nourished during his religious life, and faithfully carried forward during his Petrine ministry. Our region is also a region of prayer. Christians, Muslims, and believers of other traditions live to the rhythm of prayer and sacred time. Pope Francis reminded us that prayer opens us to God and to one another.He was a man of the Gospel. The Gospel was the foundation of Pope Francis’ life. He proclaimed the living Christ with joy, courage, and mercy. Through his words and deeds, he bore witness to the Resurrection, not as a distant memory, but as a living and present reality that continues to transform hearts and societies. Here on the Arabian Peninsula, we strive to live according to the same Gospel, to be faithful witnesses of Christ in our homes, in our workplaces, and in our communities. Pope Francis has inspired us in this mission by urging us never to be afraid to bring the light of the risen Lord to others. He has reminded us that even in the most hidden corners of the world, the Good News must be lived and proclaimed with humility and love.Pope Francis had a strong bond with Bahrain. Since His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa invited him to visit the Kingdom, a sincere friendship blossomed, characterized by mutual respect and shared commitment. The two leaders met on several occasions, including numerous visits to the Vatican, deepening a bond based on a shared vision of peace, fraternity, and human dignity. His Holiness looked upon Bahrain with admiration, recognizing its efforts to promote religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence among its diverse communities. His Majesty, in turn, always spoke of Pope Francis with deep reverence. Their friendship has become a symbol of what is possible when dialogue, respect, and goodwill guide encounters between peoples and faiths. In their unique roles, Pope Francis and King Hamad have offered the world a model of dialogue that is not only possible but necessary for a more humane, just, and united global family.The legacy of this friendship is also reflected in their respective statements. The papal encyclicals Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home, May 24, 2015) and Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity for a New Humanity, October 3, 2020) remain cornerstones of Pope Francis’ call to preserve creation and promote a global culture of solidarity. These themes are closely linked to the Declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain, issued by King Hamad on July 3, 2017, which calls for religious tolerance, the rejection of extremism, and peaceful coexistence. Their powerful message reflects the convictions of Pope Francis. This shared vision was reaffirmed internationally when the United Nations, at Bahrain’s initiative, declared January 28 as the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence.For us, Pope Francis was more than a global figure or the leader of the Catholic Church. He was a spiritual father, chosen by God to strengthen his brothers and sisters in faith, a faith handed down by Jesus Christ through the Apostles. He was our Shepherd and our Brother, he walked among us, encouraged us in our trials, and embraced each of us with the tender love of the Gospel. Let us keep his memory alive in our hearts. Let us carry on his legacy of mercy, peace, and fraternity. And let us pray that he may now rest in the eternal embrace of the Lord whom he served with joy. ( Fides Agency 4/25/2025)*Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia
    Share:

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI: Maris-Tech to Unveil Diamond Ultra at DEFEA 2025: Advanced 360° 3D Situational Awareness Platform for AFVs

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Live Demos of Diamond Ultra and Tactical Edge AI Solutions  at Hall 2, Stand C12

    Rehovot, Israel, April 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Maris-Tech Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTEK, MTEKW) (“Maris-Tech” or the “Company”), a global leader in video and artificial intelligence (“AI”)- based edge computing technology, today announced that it will be participating in the upcoming DEFEA 2025 exhibition, taking place on May 6–8, 2025, at the Metropolitan Expo in Athens, Greece. Maris-Tech will present its latest AI-based edge computing video intelligence solutions at Hall 2, Stand C12, including live demonstrations of its new situational awareness platform, Diamond Ultra.

    Diamond Ultra provides 360° 3D situational awareness and advanced airborne threat protection, integrating up to 11 HD and SD camera inputs. Powered by dual AI acceleration, Diamond Ultra  enables real-time monitoring across all cameras simultaneously, delivering instant alerts on potential threats. Designed for mission-critical environments, Diamond Ultra enhances threat detection and response for urban and open terrain combat, supporting armored fighting vehicles (“AFVs”), observation posts, and various defense and surveillance applications.

    Visitors will see this high-performance platform in action and explore additional solutions like Opal, Coral, and Jupiter Drones. Built to perform in high-risk environments, Maris-Tech’s solutions combine ultra-low latency streaming, AI-powered threat classification, and ruggedized form factors optimized for defense and homeland security (“HLS”) applications.

    “We invite defense professionals to experience our 360° 3D situational awareness platform – Diamond Ultra – first hand, as well as explore our full suite of solutions at our booth,” said Israel Bar, Chief Executive Officer of Maris-Tech. “Our products are designed to deliver mission-critical insights where every second counts, ensuring defense teams are equipped with precise, actionable intelligence.”

    Attendees can book a face-to-face meeting with the Maris-Tech’s team in advance by emailing sales@maris-tech.com.

    About Maris-Tech Ltd.

    Maris-Tech is a global leader in video and AI-based edge computing technology, pioneering intelligent video transmission solutions that conquer complex encoding-decoding challenges. Our miniature, lightweight, and low-power products deliver high-performance capabilities, including raw data processing, seamless transfer, advanced image processing, and AI-driven analytics. Founded by Israeli technology sector veterans, Maris-Tech serves leading manufacturers worldwide in defense, aerospace, Intelligence gathering, HLS, and communication industries. We’re pushing the boundaries of video transmission and edge computing, driving innovation in mission-critical applications across commercial and defense sectors.

    For more information, visit https://www.maris-tech.com/

    Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “believe,” “expect”,” “may”, “should,” “could,” “seek,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “estimate,” “anticipate” or other comparable terms. For example, the Company is using forward-looking statements when it is discussing the Company’s presentation and demonstration of its new AI-based platform, Diamond Ultra, and additional solutions like Opal, Coral, and Jupiter Drones at the DEFEA 2025 and future benefits of the Company’s products including mission-critical insights ensuring defense teams are equipped with precise, actionable intelligence. The Company’s actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: its ability to successfully market its products and services, including in the United States; the acceptance of its products and services by customers; its continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for its products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; its ability to successfully develop new products and services; its success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; its ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on March 28, 2025, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

    Investor Relations:

    Nir Bussy, CFO
    Tel: +972-72-2424022
    Nir@maris-tech.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: BloFin Launches Mastercard Crypto Card Enabling Secure and Effortless Payments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BloFin, a global leading cryptocurrency exchange, is proud to announce the official launch of the BloFin Card. The BloFin Card, now available as a virtual offering, enables select users to integrate digital assets into global online payment scenarios. It is accessible via both web and mobile platforms within the BloFin ecosystem.

    BloFin Launches the BloFin Card — Bringing Crypto into Everyday Payments

    The BloFin Card offers users a streamlined way to incorporate digital assets into their everyday spending. Built on secure infrastructure with advanced protection protocols, the BloFin Card ensures user confidence with every transaction. Integrated across both web and mobile interfaces, it allows users to manage their card and monitor usage with ease from any device within the BloFin ecosystem. Though not yet publicly introduced, the card has been made available by invitation to a limited group of VIP users. A phased rollout is underway, with broader access expected to follow.

    The BloFin Card marks an essential step in expanding the real-world usability of digital assets. In addition to the current virtual card, a physical card version will be introduced soon, providing users with greater flexibility in payment scenarios.

    Further updates will be available on www.blofin.com.

    Keep Building: Rapid Growth and Innovation of BloFin 2025

    As of 2025, BloFin continues to lead in product evolution and user-focused infrastructure. From launching Sub-Accounts to becoming one of the first four global exchanges to introduce the Unified Trading Account (UTA), BloFin is setting new standards for flexibility, performance, and accessibility in the digital asset space.
    In celebration of its latest milestones and global expansion, BloFin — Title Sponsor of TOKEN204 Dubai — is hosting the Whales Rave Side Event, bringing together top-tier partners, traders, builders, and creators from around the world.

    Follow us X（Twitter）｜Instagram ｜Telegram｜YouTube

    About BloFin

    ​BloFin is a top-tier cryptocurrency exchange that specializes in futures trading. The platform offers 480+ USDT-M perpetual pairs, spot trading, copy trading, API access, unified account management, and advanced sub-account solutions. Committed to security and compliance, BloFin integrates Fireblocks and Chainalysis to ensure robust asset protection. By partnering with top affiliates, BloFin delivers scalable trading solutions, efficient fund management, and enhanced flexibility for professional traders. ​As the constant sponsor of TOKEN2049, BloFin continues to expand its global presence, reinforcing its position as the place “WHERE WHALES ARE MADE.” For more information, visit BloFin’s official website at https://www.blofin.com.

    Contact:
    Annio W
    annio@blofin.io

    Disclaimer: This is a paid post and is provided by BloFin. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice.Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.
    Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

    Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/80fe29b8-af67-4e95-a97d-c0f00119c7aa

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c341298b-64e2-4e80-8d3f-d381e9f0ad86

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/be8f1149-079e-44e2-9194-e74eb7df0bdc

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making progress

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Emmanuel Olugbade, Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

    How much charge is left? It can be hard to know for sure. Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images

    Lithium-ion batteries are quietly powering large parts of the world, including electric vehicles and smartphones. They have revolutionized how people store and use energy. But as these batteries become more central to daily life, they bring more attention to the challenges of managing them and the energy they store safely, efficiently and intelligently.

    I’m a mechanical engineer who studies these nearly ubiquitous batteries. They have been around for decades, yet researchers like me are still trying to fully understand how these batteries behave – especially when they are working hard.

    Batteries may seem simple, but they are as complicated as the real-world uses people devise for them.

    The big picture

    At their core, lithium-ion batteries rely on the movement of charged particles, called ions, of the element lithium between two electric poles, or electrodes. The lithium ions move from the positive electrode to the negative one through a conductive substance called an electrolyte, which can be a solid or a liquid.

    The basics of how a lithium-ion battery works.

    How much energy these batteries store and how well they work depends on a tangle of factors, including the temperature, physical structure of the battery and how the materials age over time.

    Around the world, researchers are trying to answer questions about each of these factors individually and in concert with each other. Some research focuses on improving lifespan and calculating how batteries degrade over time. Other projects are tackling safety under extreme conditions, such as fast-charging use in extreme climates – either hot or cold. Many are exploring entirely new materials that could make batteries cheaper, longer-lasting or safer. And a significant group – including me – are working with computer simulations to improve real-time battery monitoring.

    Real‑time monitoring in your electric vehicle’s battery system functions like a health check: It tracks voltage, current and temperature to estimate how much energy remains so you won’t be stranded with a dead battery.

    But it’s difficult to precisely measure how well each of the energy cells within the battery is performing as they age or as the weather changes from cold in winter to hotter in summer. So the battery management system uses a computer simulation to estimate those factors. When combined with real-time monitoring, the system can prevent overusing the battery, balance charging speed with long-term health, avoid power failures and keep performance high. But there are a lot of variables.

    The traffic analogy

    One of the best ways to understand this challenge is to think about city traffic.

    Let’s say you want to drive across town and need to determine whether your car has enough charge to travel the best route. If your navigation simulator accounted for every stoplight, every construction zone and every vehicle on the road, it would give you a very accurate answer. But it might take an hour to run, by which time the circumstances would have changed and the answer would likely be wrong. That’s not helpful if you’re trying to make a decision right now.

    A simpler model might assume that every road is clear and every car is moving at the speed limit. That simulation delivers a result instantly – but its results are very inaccurate when traffic is heavy or a road is closed. It doesn’t capture the reality of rush hour.

    While you’re driving, the battery management system would do a similar set of calculations to see how much charge is available for the rest of the trip. It would look at the battery’s temperature, how old it is and how much energy the car is asking for, like when going up a steep hill or accelerating quickly to keep up with other cars. But like the navigation simulations, it has to strike a balance between being extremely accurate and giving you useful information before your battery runs out in the middle of your trip.

    The most accurate models, which simulate every chemical reaction inside the battery, are too slow for real-time use. The faster models simplify things so much that they miss key behaviors – especially under stress, such as fast charging or sudden bursts of energy use.

    Managing the flow of electrons to and from a battery is as complicated as managing the flow of traffic on local streets.
    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

    How researchers are bridging the gap

    This trade-off between speed and accuracy is at the heart of battery modeling research today. Scientists and engineers are exploring many ways to solve it.

    Some are rewriting modeling software to make the physics calculations more efficient, reducing complexity without losing the key details. Others, like me, are turning to machine learning – training computers to recognize patterns in data and make fast, accurate predictions without having to solve every underlying equation.

    In my recent work, I used a high-accuracy battery simulator – one of the ones that’s really accurate but very slow – to generate a massive amount of data about how a battery functions when charging and discharging. I used that data to train a machine learning algorithm called XGBoost, which is particularly good at finding patterns in data.

    Then I used software to pair the XGBoost system with a simple, fast-running battery model that captures the basic physics but can miss finer details. The simpler model puts out an initial set of results, and the XGBoost element fine-tunes those to make corrections on the fly, especially when the battery is under strain.

    The result is a hybrid model that is able to respond both quickly and accurately to changes in driving conditions. A driver who floors the accelerator with just the simple model wouldn’t get enough energy; a more detailed model would give the right amount of energy only after it finished all its calculations. My hybrid model delivers a rapid boost of energy without delays.

    Other teams are working on similar hybrid approaches, blending physics and artificial intelligence in creative ways. Some are even building digital twins – real-time virtual replicas of physical batteries – to offer sophisticated simulations that update constantly as conditions change.

    Battery storage pods like these in Arizona can store electricity between when it is generated and when it is needed.
    AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

    What’s next

    Battery research is moving quickly, and the field is already seeing signs of change. Models are becoming more reliable across a wider range of conditions. Engineers are using real-time monitoring to extend battery life, prevent overheating and improve energy efficiency. Machine learning lets researchers train battery management systems to optimize performance for specific applications, such as high power demands in electric vehicles, daily cycles of home electricity use, short power bursts for drones, or long-duration requirements for building-scale battery systems.

    And there’s more to come: Researchers are working to include other important factors into their battery models, such as heat generation and mechanical stress.

    Some teams are taking hybrid models and compiling their software into lightweight code that runs on microcontrollers inside battery hardware. In practice, that means each battery pack carries its own brain on-board, calculating state-of-charge, estimating aging and tracking thermal or mechanical stress in near-real time. By embedding the model in the device’s electronics, the pack can autonomously adjust its charging and discharging strategy on the fly, making every battery smarter, safer and more efficient.

    As the energy landscape evolves – with more electric vehicles on the road, more renewable energy sources feeding into the grid, and more people relying on batteries in daily life – the ability to understand what a battery is doing in real time becomes more critical than ever.

    Emmanuel Olugbade receives funding from the National Science Foundation.

    – ref. Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making progress – https://theconversation.com/why-predicting-battery-performance-is-like-forecasting-traffic-and-how-researchers-are-making-progress-253572

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence scientists need to claim discoveries like extraterrestrial life

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona

    The universe is filled with countless galaxies, stars and planets. Astronomers may find life one day, but they will need extraordinary proof. ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi

    The detection of life beyond Earth would be one of the most profound discoveries in the history of science. The Milky Way galaxy alone hosts hundreds of millions of potentially habitable planets. Astronomers are using powerful space telescopes to look for molecular indicators of biology in the atmospheres of the most Earth-like of these planets.

    But so far, no solid evidence of life has ever been found beyond the Earth. A paper published in April 2025 claimed to detect a signature of life in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b. And while this discovery is intriguing, most astronomers – including the paper’s authors – aren’t ready to claim that it means extraterrestrial life exists. A detection of life would be a remarkable development.

    The astronomer Carl Sagan used the phrase, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” in regard to searching for alien life. It conveys the idea that there should be a high bar for evidence to support a remarkable claim.

    I’m an astronomer who has written a book about astrobiology. Over my career, I’ve seen some compelling scientific discoveries. But to reach this threshold of finding life beyond Earth, a result needs to fit several important criteria.

    When is a result important and reliable?

    There are three criteria for a scientific result to represent a true discovery and not be subject to uncertainty and doubt. How does the claim of life on K2-18b measure up?

    First, the experiment needs to measure a meaningful and important quantity. Researchers observed K2-18b’s atmosphere with the James Webb Space Telescope and saw a spectral feature that they identified as dimethyl sulfide.

    On Earth, dimethyl sulfide is associated with biology, in particular bacteria and plankton in the oceans. However, it can also arise by other means, so this single molecule is not conclusive proof of life.

    Second, the detection needs to be strong. Every detector has some noise from the random motion of electrons. The signal should be strong enough to have a low probability of arising by chance from this noise.

    The K2-18b detection has a significance of 3-sigma, which means it has a 0.3% probability of arising by chance.

    That sounds low, but most scientists would consider that a weak detection. There are many molecules that could create a feature in the same spectral range.

    The “gold standard” for scientific detection is 5-sigma, which means the probability of the finding happening by chance is less than 0.00006%. For example, physicists at CERN gathered data patiently for two years until they had a 5-sigma detection of the Higgs boson particle, leading to a Nobel Prize one year later in 2013.

    The announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson took decades from the time Peter Higgs first predicted the existence of the particle. Scientists, such as Joe Incandela shown here, waited until they’d reached that 5-sigma level to say, ‘I think we have it.’

    Third, a result needs to be repeatable. Results are considered reliable when they’ve been repeated – ideally corroborated by other investigators or confirmed using a different instrument. For K2-18b, this might mean detecting other molecules that indicate biology, such as oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere. Without more and better data, most researchers are viewing the claim of life on K2-18b with skepticism.

    Claims of life on Mars

    In the past, some scientists have claimed to have found life much closer to home, on the planet Mars.

    Over a century ago, retired Boston merchant turned astronomer Percival Lowell claimed that linear features he saw on the surface of Mars were canals, constructed by a dying civilization to transport water from the poles to the equator. Artificial waterways on Mars would certainly have been a major discovery, but this example failed the other two criteria: strong evidence and repeatability.

    Lowell was misled by his visual observations, and he was engaging in wishful thinking. No other astronomers could confirm his findings.

    Mars, as taken by the OSIRIS instrument on the ESA Rosetta spacecraft during its February 2007 flyby of the planet and adjusted to show color.
    ESA & MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA, CC BY-SA

    In 1996, NASA held a press conference where a team of scientists presented evidence for biology in the Martian meteorite ALH 84001. Their evidence included an evocative image that seemed to show microfossils in the meteorite.

    However, scientists have come up with explanations for the meteorite’s unusual features that do not involve biology. That extraordinary claim has dissipated.

    More recently, astronomers detected low levels of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. Like dimethyl sulfide and oxygen, methane on Earth is made primarily – but not exclusively – by life. Different spacecraft and rovers on the Martian surface have returned conflicting results, where a detection with one spacecraft was not confirmed by another.

    The low level and variability of methane on Mars is still a mystery. And in the absence of definitive evidence that this very low level of methane has a biological origin, nobody is claiming definitive evidence of life on Mars.

    Claims of advanced civilizations

    Detecting microbial life on Mars or an exoplanet would be dramatic, but the discovery of extraterrestrial civilizations would be truly spectacular.

    The search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, has been underway for 75 years. No messages have ever been received, but in 1977 a radio telescope in Ohio detected a strong signal that lasted only for a minute.

    This signal was so unusual that an astronomer working at the telescope wrote “Wow!” on the printout, giving the signal its name. Unfortunately, nothing like it has since been detected from that region of the sky, so the Wow! Signal fails the test of repeatability.

    ‘Oumuamua is the first object passing through the solar system that astronomers have identified as having interstellar origins.
    European Southern Observatory/M. Kornmesser

    In 2017, a rocky, cigar-shaped object called ‘Oumuamua was the first known interstellar object to visit the solar system. ‘Oumuamua’s strange shape and trajectory led Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb to argue that it was an alien artifact. However, the object has already left the solar system, so there’s no chance for astronomers to observe it again. And some researchers have gathered evidence suggesting that it’s just a comet.

    While many scientists think we aren’t alone, given the enormous amount of habitable real estate beyond Earth, no detection has cleared the threshold enunciated by Carl Sagan.

    Claims about the universe

    These same criteria apply to research about the entire universe. One particular concern in cosmology is the fact that, unlike the case of planets, there is only one universe to study.

    A cautionary tale comes from attempts to show that the universe went through a period of extremely rapid expansion a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Cosmologists call this event inflation, and it is invoked to explain why the universe is now smooth and flat.

    In 2014, astronomers claimed to have found evidence for inflation in a subtle signal from microwaves left over after the Big Bang. Within a year, however, the team retracted the result because the signal had a mundane explanation: They had confused dust in our galaxy with a signature of inflation.

    On the other hand, the discovery of the universe’s acceleration shows the success of the scientific method. In 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble found that the universe was expanding. Then, in 1998, evidence emerged that this cosmic expansion is accelerating. Physicists were startled by this result.

    Two research groups used supernovae to separately trace the expansion. In a friendly rivalry, they used different sets of supernovae but got the same result. Independent corroboration increased their confidence that the universe was accelerating. They called the force behind this accelerating expansion dark energy and received a Nobel Prize in 2011 for its discovery.

    On scales large and small, astronomers try to set a high bar of evidence before claiming a discovery.

    Chris Impey receives funding from the Natonal Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

    – ref. ‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence scientists need to claim discoveries like extraterrestrial life – https://theconversation.com/extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-evidence-an-astronomer-explains-how-much-evidence-scientists-need-to-claim-discoveries-like-extraterrestrial-life-254914

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held up for more than 400 years

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Cora Fox, Associate Professor of English and Health Humanities, Arizona State University

    Joanna Vanderham as Desdemona and Hugh Quarshie as the title character in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Othello.’ Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images

    What is “happiness” – and who gets to be happy?

    Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has measured and compared data from 167 countries. The United States currently ranks 24th, between the U.K. and Belize – its lowest position since the report was first issued. But the 2025 edition – released on March 20, the United Nations’ annual “International Day of Happiness” – starts off not with numbers, but with Shakespeare.

    “In this year’s issue, we focus on the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness,” the authors explain. “Like ‘mercy’ in Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice,’ caring is ‘twice-blessed’ – it blesses those who give and those who receive.”

    Shakespeare’s plays offer many reflections on happiness itself. They are a record of how people in early modern England experienced and thought about joy and satisfaction, and they offer a complex look at just how happiness, like mercy, lives in relationships and the caring exchanges between people.

    Contrary to how we might think about happiness in our everyday lives, it is more than the surge of positive feelings after a great meal, or a workout, or even a great date. The experience of emotions is grounded in both the body and the mind, influenced by human physiology and culture in ways that change depending on time and place. What makes a person happy, therefore, depends on who that person is, as well as where and when they belong – or don’t belong.

    Happiness has a history. I study emotions and early modern literature, so I spend a lot of my time thinking about what Shakespeare has to say about what makes people happy, in his own time and in our own. And also, of course, what makes people unhappy.

    From fortune to joy

    Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
    Tony Hisgett/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    “Happiness” derives from the Old Norse word “hap,” which meant “fortune” or “luck,” as historians Phil Withington and Darrin McMahon explain. This earlier sense is found throughout Shakespeare’s works. Today, it survives in the modern word “happenstance” and the expression that something is a “happy accident.”

    But in modern English usage, “happy” as “fortunate” has been almost entirely replaced by a notion of happiness as “joy,” or the more long-term sense of life satisfaction called “well-being.” The term “well-being,” in fact, was introduced into English from the Italian “benessere” around the time of Shakespeare’s birth.

    The word and the concept of happiness were transforming during Shakespeare’s lifetime, and his use of the word in his plays mingles both senses: “fortunate” and “joyful.” That transitional ambiguity emphasizes happiness’ origins in ideas about luck and fate, and it reminds readers and playgoers that happiness is a contingent, fragile thing – something not just individuals, but societies need to carefully cultivate and support.

    For instance, early in “Othello,” the Venetian senator Brabantio describes his daughter Desdemona as “tender, fair, and happy / So opposite to marriage that she shunned / The wealthy, curled darlings of our nation.” Before she elopes with Othello she is “happy” in the sense of “fortunate,” due to her privileged position on the marriage market.

    Later in the same play, though, Othello reunites with his new wife in Cyprus and describes his feelings of joy using this same term:

    …If it were now to die,
    ‘Twere now to be most happy, for I fear
    My soul hath her content so absolute
    That not another comfort like to this
    Succeeds in unknown fate.

    Desdemona responds,

    The heavens forbid
    But that our loves and comforts should increase
    Even as our days do grow!

    They both understand “happy” to mean not just lucky, but “content” and “comfortable,” a more modern understanding. But they also recognize that their comforts depend on “the heavens,” and that happiness is enabled by being fortunate.

    “Othello” is a tragedy, so in the end, the couple will not prove “happy” in either sense. The foreign general is tricked into believing his young wife has been unfaithful. He murders her, then takes his own life.

    The seeds of jealousy are planted and expertly exploited by Othello’s subordinate, Iago, who catalyzes the racial prejudice and misogyny underlying Venetian values to enact his sinister and cruel revenge.

    James Earl Jones playing the title role and Jill Clayburgh as Desdemona in a 1971 production of ‘Othello.’
    Kathleen Ballard/Los Angeles Times/UCLA Library via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Happy insiders and outsiders

    “Othello” sheds light on happiness’s history – but also on its politics.

    While happiness is often upheld as a common good, it is also dependent on cultural forces that make it harder for some individuals to experience. Shared cultural fantasies about happiness tend to create what theorist Sara Ahmed calls “affect aliens”: individuals who, by nature of who they are and how they are treated, experience a disconnect between what their culture conditions them to think should make them happy and their disappointment or exclusion from those positive feelings. Othello, for example, rightly worries that he is somehow foreign to the domestic happiness Desdemona describes, excluded from the joy of Venetian marriage. It turns out he is right.

    Because Othello is foreign and Black and Desdemona is Venetian and white, their marriage does not conform to their society’s expectations for happiness, and that makes them vulnerable to Iago’s deceit.

    Similarly, “The Merchant of Venice” examines the potential for happiness to include or exclude, to build or break communities. Take the quote about mercy that opens the World Happiness Report.

    The phrase appears in a famous courtroom scene, as Portia attempts to persuade a Jewish lender, Shylock, to take pity on Antonio, a Christian man who cannot pay his debts. In their contract, Shylock has stipulated that if Antonio defaults on the loan, the fee will be a “pound of flesh.”

    “The quality of mercy is not strained,” Portia lectures him; it is “twice-blessed,” benefiting both giver and receiver.

    It’s a powerful attempt to save Antonio’s life. But it is also hypocritical: Those cultural norms of caring and mercy seem to apply only to other Christians in the play, and not the Jewish people living alongside them in Venice. In that same scene, Shylock reminds his audience that Antonio and the other Venetians in the room have spit on him and called him a dog. He famously asks why Jewish Venetians are not treated as equal human beings: “If you prick us, do we not bleed?”

    Actor Henry Irving as Shylock in a late 19th-century performance of ‘The Merchant of Venice.’
    Lock & Whitfield/Folger Shakespeare Library via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Shakespeare’s plays repeatedly make the point that the unjust distribution of rights and care among various social groups – Christians and Jews, men and women, citizens and foreigners – challenges the happy effects of benevolence.

    Those social factors are sometimes overlooked in cultures like the U.S., where contemporary notions of happiness are marketed by wellness gurus, influencers and cosmetic companies. Shakespeare’s plays reveal both how happiness is built through communities of care and how it can be weaponized to destroy individuals and the fabric of the community.

    There are obvious victims of prejudice and abuse in Shakespeare’s plays, but he does not just emphasize their individual tragedies. Instead, the plays record how certain values that promote inequality poison relationships that could otherwise support happy networks of family and friends.

    Systems of support

    Pretty much all objective research points to the fact that long-term happiness depends on community, connections and social support: having systems in place to weather what life throws at us.

    And according to both the World Happiness Report and Shakespeare, contentment isn’t just about the actual support you receive but your expectations about people’s willingness to help you. Societies with high levels of trust, like Finland and the Netherlands, tend to be happier – and to have more evenly distributed levels of happiness in their populations.

    Shakespeare’s plays offer blueprints for trust in happy communities. They also offer warnings about the costs of cultural fantasies about happiness that make it more possible for some, but not for all.

    Cora Fox has received funding from an NEH grant for activities not directly related to this research.

    – ref. ‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held up for more than 400 years – https://theconversation.com/i-were-but-little-happy-if-i-could-say-how-much-shakespeares-insights-on-happiness-have-held-up-for-more-than-400-years-198583

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with history funding that benefits everyday Americans

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jennifer Tucker, Professor of History, Wesleyan University

    Donald Trump speaks in front of a wax statue of John Wayne at the John Wayne Museum in Winterset, Iowa, during the 2016 GOP primaries. Al Drago/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images

    Donald Trump first came up with his plan for a “National Garden of American Heroes” at the end of his first term, before President Joe Biden quietly tabled it upon replacing Trump in the White House.

    Now, with Trump back in the Oval Office – and with the country’s 250th anniversary fast approaching – the project is back. The National Endowment for the Humanities is seeking to commission 250 statues of famous Americans from a predetermined list, to be displayed at a location yet to be determined.

    It isn’t clear who compiled the list of 250 to be honored. It includes names that are largely recognizable and whose accomplishments are well-known: politicians like Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy; jurists Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia; activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Tubman; celebrities such as John Wayne and Julia Child; and sports stars like Kobe Bryant and Babe Ruth.

    Donald Trump announces some famous Black Americans he plans to include in his ‘National Garden of American Heroes’ during a Black History Month event on Feb. 20, 2025, at the White House.

    The statue garden coincides with an executive order from March 2025 in which the Trump administration denounced what it saw as historical revisionism that had recast the country’s “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness.” Instead, it had constructed a story of the nation that portrayed it “as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed,” which “fosters a sense of national shame.”

    “We don’t need to overemphasize the negative,” explained Lindsey Halligan, a 35-year-old insurance lawyer who is named in the order as one of the people tasked with reforming museums that receive government funds.

    Trump often casts himself as a man of the people. But as historians, we don’t see a garden of heroes as a populist effort. To us, it represents a top-down approach to U.S. history, akin to the hagiography that Americans already regularly get from movies, television and professional sports.

    And it comes at a cost: It’s going to be paid for with funds that had been previously allotted to tell stories about people and places that may be less familiar than the proposed figures for Trump’s garden. But they’re nonetheless meaningful to countless communities across the nation.

    Only the movers and shakers matter

    Trump’s fixation on America’s luminaries is adjacent to the “great man” theory of history.

    In 1840, Scottish philosopher and historian Thomas Carlyle published “On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History,” in which he argued that “The History of the world is but the Biography of great men.”

    American biologist and eugenicist Frederick Adams Woods embraced the great man theory in his 1913 work, “The Influence of Monarchs: Steps in a New Science of History.” In it, he investigated 386 rulers in Western Europe from the 12th century until the French Revolution. He proposed a scientific measurement to quantify the relative impact these rulers had on the course of civilization.

    Then and now, many other historians and sociologists have pushed back, arguing that the “Great Man” view of history oversimplifies the past by attributing major historical events to the actions of a few influential individuals, while ignoring broader social, economic and cultural forces.

    Nonetheless, it continues to have broad appeal. It’s very popular among corporate leaders, for example, many of whom like to portray themselves as visionaries, with their business successes proof of their genius.

    Trump’s garden of heroes reflects his penchant for celebrating wealth, champions and successes, akin to what Walt Disney tried to capture with his Disney World ride Carousel of Progress, which highlights American technological advances.

    A national redundancy?

    However, the U.S. already has a national statuary hall, which opened in the U.S. Capitol in 1870. Each state has contributed two statues; for example, Massachusetts honors Samuel Adams and John Winthrop, while Ohio celebrates James Garfield and Thomas Edison.

    Today there are 102 statutes, though just 14 women.

    Importantly, the roster is fluid – not set in stone – and reflects debates over whom the nation ought to celebrate.

    Over time, the representation has become slightly more inclusive. The first woman, Illinois educator Frances Willard, was added in 1905. Only in 2022 did a Black American appear, when educator Mary Bethune replaced a Confederate general from Florida. And in 2024, Johnny Cash replaced James Paul Clarke, a former governor and senator from Arkansas with Confederate sympathies.

    Family members and elected officials attend the unveiling of the statue of Johnny Cash at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 24, 2024.
    Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

    What about everyday Americans?

    We don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating and honoring popular figures in American history. But we do think there’s an issue when it comes at the expense of other historical and archival projects.

    The New York Times reported that US$34 million for the project would come from funds formerly allocated to the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, whose budget has been cut by 85%.

    Many of the grants that have been slashed explore, celebrate and preserve history in ways that stand in stark contrast to a statue garden. They involve, as Gal Beckerman writes in the Atlantic, efforts that “are about asking questions, about uncovering hidden or overlooked experiences, about closely examining texts or adding to the public record.”

    They include one that supports the digitization of local newspapers and archival records; another to collect and preserve oral histories of local communities; a grant that funds the production of documentaries and podcasts about local communities; traveling exhibitions that bring items from the Smithsonian’s collection to small towns and rural areas; and a grant to fund the collection of first-person accounts of Native Americans who attended U.S. government-run boarding schools.

    These and countless similar history projects serve millions of people far from Washington, and they have broad support from lawmakers and citizens of all political stripes.

    In 1938, as forces of fascism gathered in Europe, a Connecticut high school social science teacher said, “The greatest need of America, on the threshold of the greatest epoch of its history, is citizens who understand the past out of which the nation has grown. … Let us look into the souls of the leaders and the common people who have made America great.”

    In his 2016 campaign, Trump promised to work on behalf of everyday Americans – the “forgotten man and woman.” But the proposed statue garden of famous figures cuts out the common people from America’s story – not just as subjects of history, but as its stewards for future generations.

    With funds slashed from organizations dedicated to local history, we wonder how many more stories will go untold.

    Jennifer Tucker has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research that examines the social and cultural role of modern technology, such as facial recognition, through a historical lens.

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

    – ref. Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with history funding that benefits everyday Americans – https://theconversation.com/trumps-garden-of-american-heroes-is-a-monument-to-celebrity-and-achievement-paid-for-with-history-funding-that-benefits-everyday-americans-254564

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Erika Squires, Assistant Professor, Wayne State University

    Getting involved when your kids are watching digital media can make it an educational experience, rather than just entertainment. damircudic/E+ via Getty Images

    Screen time permeates the lives of toddlers and preschoolers. For many young children, their exposure includes both direct viewing, such as watching a TV show, and indirect viewing, such as when media is on in the background during other daily activities.

    As many parents will know, research points to several negative effects of screen time. As scholars who specialize in speech pathology and early childhood development, we are particularly interested in the recent finding that too much screen time is associated with less parent-child talk, such as fewer conversational turns between parents and children.

    As a result, the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization suggest limiting screen time for children.

    Beyond quantity, they also emphasize the quality of a child’s engagement with digital media. Used in moderation, certain kinds of media can have educational and social benefits for children – and even contribute to language development.

    These tips may help parents structure and manage screen time more effectively.

    No. 1: Choose high-quality content

    Parents can enhance their children’s screen-time value by choosing high-quality media – that is, content with educational benefit. PBS Kids has many popular shows, from “Nature Cat” to “Sid the Science Kid,” that would qualify as educational.

    Two other elements contribute to the quality of screen time.

    First, screen content should be age-appropriate – that is, parents should choose shows, apps and games that are specifically designed for young children. Using a resource such as Common Sense Media allows parents to check recommended ages for television shows, movies and apps.

    Second, parents can look for shows that use evidence-based educational techniques, such as participatory cues. That’s when characters in shows break the “third wall” by directly talking to their young audience to prompt reflection, action or response. Research shows that children learn new words better when a show has participatory cues – perhaps because it encourages active engagement rather than passive viewing.

    Many classic, high-quality television shows for young children feature participatory cues, including “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Go Diego Go!” and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

    No. 2: Join in on screen time

    The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents and children watch media together whenever possible.

    Screen time doesn’t have to look like this.
    kbeis/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

    This recommendation is based on the evidence that increased screen media use can reduce parent-child conversation. This, in turn, can affect language development. Intentionally discussing media content with children increases language exposure during screen time.

    Parents may find the following joint media engagement strategies useful:

    • Press pause and ask questions.
    • Point out basic concepts, such as letters and colors.
    • Model more advanced language using a “think aloud” approach, such as, “That surprised me! I wonder what will happen next?”

    No. 3: Connect what’s on screen to real life

    Learning from media is challenging for young children because their brains struggle to transfer information and ideas from screens to the real world. Children learn more from screen media, research shows, when the content connects to their real-life experiences.

    To maximize the benefits of screen time, parents can help children connect what they are viewing with experiences they’ve had. For example, while watching content together, a parent might say, “They’re going to the zoo. Do you remember what we saw when we went to the zoo?”

    This approach promotes language development and cognitive skills, including attention and memory. Children learn better with repeated exposure to words, so selecting media that relates to a child’s real-life experiences can help reinforce new vocabulary.

    No. 4: Enjoy screen-free times

    Ensuring that a child’s day is filled with varied experiences, including periods that don’t involve screens, increases language exposure in children’s daily routines.

    Two ideal screen-free times are mealtimes and bedtime. Mealtimes present opportunities for back-and-forth conversation with children, exposing them to a lot of language. Additionally, bedtime should be screen-free, as using screens near bedtime or having a TV in children’s bedrooms disrupts sleep.

    Alternatively, devoting bedtime to reading children’s books accomplishes the dual goals of helping children wind down and creating a language-rich routine.

    Having additional screen-free, one-on-one, parent-child play for at least 10 minutes at some other point in the day is good for young children. Parents can maximize the benefits of one-on-one play by letting their children decide what and how to play.

    Even in small doses, parent-child playtime is important.
    Vera Livchak/Moment via Getty Images

    A parent’s role here is to follow their child’s lead, play along, give their child their full attention – so no phones for mom or dad, either – and provide language enrichment. They can do this by labeling toys, pointing out shapes, colors and sizes. It can also be done by describing activities – “You’re rolling the car across the floor” – and responding when their child speaks.

    Parent-child playtime is also a great opportunity to extend interests from screen time. Including toys of your child’s favorite characters from the shows or movies they love in playtime transforms that enjoyment from screen time into learning.

    Lucy (Kathleen) McGoron receives funding from Michigan Health Endowment fund and SAMHSA.

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

    – ref. These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk – https://theconversation.com/these-4-tips-can-make-screen-time-good-for-your-kids-and-even-help-them-learn-to-talk-242580

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in agriculture workers, new study shows

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Katherine Ann James, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

    Agricultural workers exposed to a hotter and drier climate are at an increased risk of kidney damage. George Rose/via Getty Images

    Heat and humidity contributed to kidney damage and disease in the San Luis Valley in Colorado between 1984 and 1998, according to our recently published work in the peer-reviewed journal Weather, Climate, and Society.

    The San Luis Valley is the largest high valley desert in North America. Many of its residents work in agriculture and are exposed to worsening air quality. That decline is due to increased wildfires, dust and temperatures, in combination with low humidity. This change was in part caused by the region’s climate becoming more arid due to a 23-year drought.

    I’m an environmental epidemiologist with an engineering background. For nearly two decades, I have partnered with the San Luis Valley community to investigate how water systems affect human health. Over the past eight years, my team’s research has focused on the far-reaching human health effects of the drought in the area.

    In this study, we used data from a cohort of people in the San Luis Valley who were originally recruited for research on the risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. Researchers often look to established datasets to evaluate new hypotheses because it avoids the need to recruit new study participants. This dataset includes 15 years of clinical, behavioral, demographic, genetic and environmental exposure data. Using it in our recent study allowed us to evaluate the impacts of drought conditions on kidney health.

    Our study suggests that a 10% decline in humidity is associated with a 2% increase in risk for acute kidney injury, while accounting for known risk factors for kidney disease. Those risk factors include age, sex, diabetes and hypertension.

    These findings are supported by our previous study that examined the effects of drought and heat on emergency and urgent care visits for kidney-related issues between 2003 and 2017 in the San Luis Valley.

    The two studies align with growing evidence that climate-related changes, particularly heat and humidity, are contributing to kidney injury. Over time, this means that more people are developing chronic kidney disease.

    Why it matters

    Globally, 10% of the population has kidney disease. In 2021, kidney diseases were the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. People experiencing poverty or limited access to health care are disproportionately affected.

    In the U.S., more than 1 in 7 adults has chronic kidney disease. That does not account for those with undiagnosed kidney disease.

    Extended exposure to drought conditions coupled with inadequate water intake has been linked to kidney stones, acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.

    Dehydration, especially in outdoor workers who labor in hot or dry conditions, is a known contributor to both acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.

    Acute kidney injury is characterized by a reduction in kidney function that is reversible.

    Chronic kidney disease is kidney damage that is progressive and may not be reversible.

    Studies in Florida and California have shown declining kidney health in agriculture workers as working conditions are becoming hotter and drier.

    Outdoor workers in agriculture, forestry, mining, ranching and construction are susceptible to the effects of changing outdoor conditions coupled with physical labor. This combination exacerbates dehydration and leads to acute and chronic kidney disease.

    What other research is being done

    In addition to these studies, our research team is involved in other projects aimed at addressing the health impacts of a changing climate.

    One such initiative is the Mountain West Climate-Health Engagement Hub, which focuses on reducing exposure to decreased air quality. This includes the deployment of do-it-yourself air filters and development of low-cost, point-of-use water filters to mitigate exposure to the secondary effects of drought.

    Do-it-yourself air filters can reduce exposure to decreased air quality.
    The Washington Post/Getty Images

    In the Centers for Health, Work & Environment, where I am affiliated, multiple national and international studies are focused on agriculture workers, farm owners and ranchers.

    These studies examine how heat, air quality and drought affect kidney, cardiovascular and mental health. These broader studies aim to inform policy and interventions to safeguard the health of workers globally and particularly in regions most vulnerable to climate change.

    The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

    Katherine Ann James receives funding from National Institutes of Health and CDC-National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health

    – ref. Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in agriculture workers, new study shows – https://theconversation.com/hotter-and-drier-climate-in-colorados-san-luis-valley-contributes-to-kidney-disease-in-agriculture-workers-new-study-shows-248402

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains what caused this shift

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Alexander Lowie, Postdoctoral associate in Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida

    Florida has attracted new residents since the pandemic, as well as a growth in conservative politics. iStock / Getty Images Plus

    Florida has undergone a dramatic political transformation over the past decade from a swing state to Republican stronghold.

    Florida’s recent congressional special election on April 1, 2025, showcased the state’s increasingly conservative identity, when Republicans won both congressional seats.

    Still, Democrats felt hopeful about these results, since the two Democratic contenders lost by slimmer margins in the 1st and 6th districts than in other recent elections.

    As a political anthropologist who has conducted fieldwork in central Florida, I’ve spent over five years tracking the growth of conservative political groups like the Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty, whose leaderships are based in Florida.

    I’ve seen firsthand how conservative activist networks and the growth of culture war politics, among other factors, have reshaped Florida’s political identity.

    Florida’s Republican state Sen. Randy Fine holds a victory party on April 1, 2025, in Ormond Beach, Fla.
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    The state that stopped swinging

    Although political strategists have historically considered Florida a swing state in presidential elections, it has consistently voted Republican since 1948.

    It has only voted for Democratic presidential candidates five times since 1964, for Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and twice for Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has won Florida three times in a row, most recently winning the 2024 election in all but six of Florida’s 67 counties.

    The main battleground since 2000 has been the I-4 Corridor, which connects Tampa, Orlando and Daytona. In 2000, President George W. Bush won the corridor by 4,400 votes. Since Bush only won Florida by 537 votes, and thus the presidency, the area became a top priority for both political parties.

    Some Democrats have said Florida’s political evolution happened gradually and then all at once.

    In 2012, there were almost 1.5 million more registered Democratic voters than Republicans in Florida. In 2020, Democrats’ advantage dropped to about 97,000. And by September 2024, there were almost 1 million more registered Republicans than Democrats.

    Steve Schale, the head of Obama’s 2008 campaign in Florida, argues that this shift happened because the Democratic Party lost the support of some white voters.

    Republicans have also actively courted Hispanic voters, while Democrats falsely believed that young Hispanics would inherently lean toward their party.

    This assumption has hurt the Democratic cause because, for example, some Hispanic voters in Florida, like many Cuban Americans, have long favored Republican. In fact, Trump performed so well with Hispanics in Florida in 2024 that it was the only state in which he received more of the Hispanic vote than Kamala Harris.

    State-level conservative success

    Florida has also had a Republican governor since 1998, a state Senate Republican majority since 1995 and a state House majority since 1997. This Republican dominance has only grown since Trump’s 2016 election.

    In 2018, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received Trump’s endorsement and went from being relatively unknown in the gubernatorial primaries to the Republican nominee. He ultimately assumed office in 2019.

    Since then, DeSantis has successfully passed a slew of laws and policies reflecting the conservative values of what he saw as the new Floridian electorate.

    For example, DeSantis passed a six-week abortion ban measure into law in 2023.

    With DeSantis’ approval, Florida’s state Legislature also blocked diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state colleges in 2023 and banned lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity for public grade school students that same year.

    In 2023, the Florida governor also signed a law that allowed people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

    The pandemic factor

    Some conservative political pundits and DeSantis supporters say that the governor’s COVID-19 policies are among the factors that have attracted newcomers to the state.

    Almost 300,000 people moved from out of state to Florida between April 2020 and April 2021, equal to roughly 903 people relocating to the state each day.

    The governor ordered Floridians to stay at home during April 2020, but many of his restrictions were lifted at the end of the month.

    DeSantis did not enforce mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other measures that were common in other states.

    During my fieldwork in Florida from 2022 through 2024, I met multiple people who moved to rural parts of the state because they did not want their lives to be severely restricted during the pandemic.

    One man in his early 50s stated, “During COVID my wife and I realized how screwed we were if things got really bad. We hated the lockdowns and got scared about not having enough food. If things got really bad, we didn’t want to trust other people, we wanted to be self-sufficient. So, we decided to get a place in the middle of the woods, on our own property, that we could go to if everything went to hell.”

    This couple settled on moving from out of state to a rural area of Florida, where they thought they had the best chance of avoiding future lockdown restrictions.

    DeSantis’ policy successes and his “freedom first” response to the pandemic have been celebrated by conservatives nationally.

    Moms for Liberty members in Viera, Fla., protest student face mask mandates in 2023.
    Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gety Images

    Florida’s home for the alt-right

    As Florida lawmakers have continued to push conservative policies since the pandemic, Florida-based activist groups like Moms for Liberty have mobilized to support and expand them.

    Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 by three Florida former school board members who opposed COVID-19 regulations during the pandemic.

    Moms for Liberty is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, and is focused on reshaping public school curriculum to exclude what its members see as “woke” themes, like sexual orientation.

    The group lobbied for the 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act and the Stop-Woke Act, referred to by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. This law restricts Florida classrooms from teaching kids in kindergarten through third grade about sexual orientation and gender identity, and also limits instruction on these subjects in higher grades.

    Florida has increasingly become a stronghold for other kinds of political activists, some of whom were instrumental in the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021. Florida was home to 11.5% of the 716 people who were initially charged with participating in the Capitol riots.

    The most notable of these Jan. 6 arrests is Enrique Tarrio, a Miami native who has served as the symbolic leader of the Proud Boys, an alt-right “Western chauvinist” group.

    Alt-right activists are a minority of Florida’s conservative population. In my fieldwork, I have spoken to many Florida conservatives who did not identify with the Proud Boys or other alt-right groups – but were still sympathetic to many of their populist and conservative causes.

    No longer in play?

    Florida is now a major Republican stronghold with Floridians becoming increasingly prominent in national politics. Trump’s Cabinet has 23 people – 16 of them are connected to Florida.

    These include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who served as a senator in Florida, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who served as Florida’s state attorney general.

    Though some Democrats may feel optimistic about the special election results, they have lost the Sunshine State, at least for now.

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

    – ref. Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains what caused this shift – https://theconversation.com/florida-once-considered-a-swing-state-is-firmly-republican-a-social-anthropologist-explains-what-caused-this-shift-253905

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Immigration offenders returned on flight to Nigeria and Ghana

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Immigration offenders returned on flight to Nigeria and Ghana

    43 people returned to Nigeria and Ghana in an operation, part of a surge in returns activity to secure our border through the Plan for Change

    43 failed asylum seekers and foreign offenders were returned on a charter flight to Nigeria and Ghana, as the government steps up international collaboration to secure our borders.

    The flight underscores the government’s progress restoring order to the immigration system through the Plan for Change, ensuring rules are respected and those who break them are swiftly returned.

    Those removed had no right to be in the UK and included 15 failed asylum seekers and 11 foreign national offenders who had served their sentences. 7 people returned voluntarily.

    Since the election, two charter flights have taken off to the countries, carrying a total of 87 people and demonstrating the strength of cooperation between the UK, Nigeria and Ghana on this critical issue.

    Under this government, over 24,000 people have been returned, an 11% increase on the same period 12 months prior, while four of the largest returns flights ever have taken off returning migrants to countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. 

    Deportations of foreign national offenders are also up 16% since the election, with 3,594 criminals removed.

    Immigration Enforcement ensure that returns are carried out in a dignified and respectful manner.

    Minister for Border Security and Asylum Angela Eagle said:

    This flight demonstrates how international partnerships deliver on working people’s priorities for swift returns and secure borders.

    Through the Plan for Change we’re going further in restoring order to a broken system, accelerating returns of those with no right to be here and closing expensive asylum hotels.

    I thank the governments of Ghana and Nigeria for facilitating this operation, which reflects our joint commitment to disrupt organised immigration crime and protect our borders.

    Baroness Chapman of Darlington, FCDO Minister responsible for Irregular Migration said:

    Working with other countries and partners around the world is critical to tackling irregular migration – by working internationally, we will meet this global challenge together.

    I welcome our strong cooperation with Ghana and Nigeria to return those with no right to be in the UK, secure our borders, and deliver on the Plan for Change.

    This operation follows the Organised Immigration Crime Summit, which saw the UK bring together over 40 countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, to drive forward the global fight against smuggling gangs and deliver on the government’s mission to secure our borders.

    Updates to this page

    Published 25 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Celebration honours winners of Edinburgh 900 writing competitions

    Source: Scotland – City of Edinburgh

    A celebratory reception was held last night (Thursday) at the City Chambers to honour the winners of two Edinburgh 900 themed writing competitions.

    Hosted by the Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, the event recognised the creativity and talent of local writers who submitted original works inspired by Edinburgh’s remarkable nine-century history.

    The two featured competitions included the Green Pencil Award 2024, aimed at school-aged children (P4 to S3) attending Edinburgh schools or home-educated in the city, and a city-wide poetry writing competition organised through Edinburgh’s library network, open to adult residents.

    The Edinburgh 900 initiative commemorates 900 years since the Royal Burgh was established by King David I around 1124. In honour of this historic milestone, residents were invited to share their reflections, memories, and love for Scotland’s capital through poetry and storytelling.

    Both competitions highlighted Edinburgh’s rich heritage, cultural vibrancy, and strong community spirit. Six winning entries from the poetry competition will be immortalised on exclusive bookmarks to be distributed across Council-run libraries throughout the city. The winning poets will also be filmed reciting their work, with the recordings shared across the Council’s social media channels and preserved as part of the Edinburgh 900 archive for future generations.

    The winners are: Shasta Hanif Ali, Eric Robinson, Rory Allison, Tricia Ronaldson and Suzanne Smith.

    The Green Pencil Award encouraged young people to express their voices creatively in written form, with entries limited to one side of A4 and open to stories or poems in any style.

    Twenty finalists were selected, with one crowned the overall winner and presented with the prestigious Green Pencil Award trophy and winner’s medal.

    The Green Pencil was awarded to Preston Street Primary 7 pupil Ema Mene for her poem “To Edinburgh She Went”.

    Highly commended: Isobel Rhys-Davies, Cargilfield School (P6); Marcus Osborne, Bruntsfield Primary School (P6B); and Sofia Brown, James Gillespie’s High School (S1).

    The Lord Provost Robert Aldridge praised all entrants for their enthusiasm and passion:

    Creative writing ensures our stories are told and remembered. Edinburgh 900 is not only a celebration of the past but also a platform to inspire the future. These competitions show how deeply people care about the city and its legacy.

    Edinburgh has long been a city where literature thrives, as we mark 900 years these wonderful written pieces provide another meaningful way to honour the city’s legacy through the words of its people. My congratulations to our fantastic winners.

    Note

    Photograph: The Lord Provost Robert Aldridge with overall Green Pencil Award winner Ema Mene and her family

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Services Opening at Sydney River Health Centre

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Healthcare professionals will start seeing patients at the Sydney River Health Centre next week as construction nears completion on the new home for several different clinics and services currently spread across Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

    The Eastern Zone Hip and Knee Clinic, Cape Breton Heart Lung Wellness Centre and the Sydney Diabetes Centre will open in the new location on Monday, April 28.

    “We’re changing healthcare across Nova Scotia by connecting health services and programs under one roof to deliver community-based comprehensive care,” said Addictions and Mental Health Minister Brian Comer, MLA for Cape Breton East, on behalf of Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. “When all services are available and fully operational, the new health centre will have a capacity of more than 30,000 patient visits each year.”

    Other services at the centre – Sydney and Area Community Rehabilitation Services and Coastal Family Health – will open by the end of June.

    Family physicians with Coastal Family Health have accepted patients from retiring physician practices and will continue to accept new patients from the Need a Family Practice Registry when they have capacity.

    The new health centre, at 1173 Kings Rd. in Sydney River, will include 31 exam rooms, a gymnasium, warm-up and cool-down rooms, education rooms and administrative offices.

    Quotes: “The Sydney River Health Centre is designed to ensure patients receive the right care, at the right time, under one roof, and it is good to see that we are one step closer to that goal. In addition, having a new, modern facility is another tool we can use to attract new physicians to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.” — Brett MacDougall, Vice-President Operations, Eastern Zone, Nova Scotia Health

    Quick Facts:

    • Coastal Family Health is staffed by six doctors, three licensed practical nurses, a dietitian, social worker and physiotherapist; it is an example of a health home, where patients receive comprehensive care from a team of healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurse practitioners, dietitians, social workers and others
    • Sydney Diabetes Centre provides a variety of diabetes programs and services for patients
    • Eastern Zone Hip and Knee Clinic includes an orthopedic assessment clinic and rehabilitation programs to prepare patients for surgery
    • Sydney and Area Community Rehabilitation Services includes physiotherapy and occupational therapy
    • Cape Breton Heart Lung Wellness Centre includes cardiac and pulmonary rehab programs

    Additional Resources: News release – New Collaborative Care Clinic Coming to Sydney River: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2024/08/21/new-collaborative-care-clinic-coming-sydney-river

    Other than cropping, Province of Nova Scotia photos are not to be altered in any way

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: Grayscale Investments Appoints Ramona Boston as Chief Marketing Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New strategic hire bolsters firm’s growth with financial services expertise
    Boston will join shortly after arrival of incoming COO Diana Zhang

    STAMFORD, Conn., April 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest crypto-native asset management platform, today announced the appointment of Ramona Boston as Chief Marketing Officer, effective July 9. In this role, Boston will report to Chief Executive Officer Peter Mintzberg and will lead Grayscale’s marketing initiatives across strategy, brand, and product.

    Boston joins from Apollo Global Management, where she spent the last eight years in senior roles, including most recently as Global Head of Client Marketing serving global wealth and institutional channels. At Apollo, Boston built a full-scale strategic marketing function, delivering integrated campaigns and differentiated client experiences to drive growth. She also led the creation and development of Apollo Academy, a premier education platform in the alternative asset management industry.

    Prior to Apollo, Boston served as Global Head of Branding and Group Marketing at Credit Suisse, where she led global brand strategy and launched the bank’s first integrated marketing plan aligned with business priorities. Boston also previously served as Chief Marketing Officer at Morgan Stanley, where she managed the brand through major transitions, spearheading two rebranding initiatives with large-scale advertising campaigns and sponsorships.

    “We are delighted to welcome Ramona to our leadership team at Grayscale,” said Peter Mintzberg, Grayscale’s Chief Executive Officer. “Her experience leading marketing and branding at top financial firms makes her the ideal choice to guide our marketing strategy. As we continue to grow and expand our footprint in the digital asset management landscape, Ramona’s proven track record uniquely positions us as we embark on our next phase of growth.”

    “I am excited to join the leadership team at Grayscale, the largest crypto-native asset management platform,” said Ramona Boston. “Throughout my career, I have consistently led marketing teams through the evolution of the financial industry – introducing institutional, retail, and high net worth clients to new forms of investments, from public markets to private equity, private credit and now crypto assets. I am fully embracing this new frontier. I look forward to working with Peter, the senior leadership team, and Grayscale’s talented marketing team to build on the firm’s leadership in crypto investment innovation.”

    Boston is the latest seasoned financial services leader to join Grayscale’s leadership team. Her appointment follows the recent addition of Diana Zhang as Chief Operating Officer, further strengthening executive leadership as the firm continues its growth trajectory.

    About Grayscale Investments
    Grayscale enables investors to access the digital economy through a family of future-forward investment products. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has a decade-long track record and deep expertise as an asset management firm focused on crypto investing. Investors, advisors, and allocators turn to Grayscale for single asset, diversified, and thematic exposure.

    Media Contact
    press@grayscale.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Notice of Issuance of LHV Group’s New Tier 1 Subordinated Bonds and Early Redemption of existing AT1 Subordinated Bonds (including the record date and redemption date)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Yesterday, on 24.04.2025 AS LHV Group carried out an issue of Tier 1 subordinated unsecured bonds on international markets in the total volume of 50,000,000 euros (hereinafter: Bonds). The value date of the issued Bonds is 30.04.2025.

    The Bonds will be in bearer form and in denominations of EUR 200,000 and integral multiples of EUR 1,000 in excess thereof up to and including EUR 399,000. The Bonds are without defined maturity date (perpetual), and with first call date on 30.04.2030. The Bonds carry coupon rate 9.5% per annum and will be issued at 100% of nominal.

    LHV Group will apply to the regulator to include them in additional Tier 1 capital. European investment funds and other qualifying investors participated in the subscription of the issue, whereas British investors subscribed for almost half of the issue and the share of Baltic investors was around 38% of the total volume.

    At the same, LHV Group announces its decision to prematurely redeem the subordinated bonds issued on 26.05.2020, registered with ISIN code EE3300001668 (hereinafter: AT1 Bonds). The early redemption of the AT1 Bonds will be carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of the AT1 Bonds, which permit full or partial early redemption after 26.05.2025, provided that investors are notified at least 30 days in advance and with the prior consent of the financial supervisory authority. The European Central Bank has granted its consent for the early redemption of the AT1 Bonds on 14.03.2025.

    All 150 AT1 Bonds, each with a nominal value of 100,000 euros, totalling 15,000,000 euros, will be redeemed early. Bondholders will receive the nominal value of the respective bonds along with accrued and unpaid interest up to the redemption date. The amount payable to the investor for one bond shall be EUR 102,375. The redemption date of the AT1 Bonds is 26.05.2025, and the list of bondholders will be recorded on 25.05.2025, at the end of the working day of the Nasdaq CSD settlement system.

    LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group’s key subsidiaries are LHV Pank, LHV Varahaldus, LHV Kindlustus, and LHV Bank Limited. The Group employs over 1,160 people. As at the end of March, LHV’s banking services are being used by 465,000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV have 113,000 active customers, and LHV Kindlustus is protecting a total of 174,000 clients. LHV Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the Group, holds a banking licence in the United Kingdom and provides banking services to international financial technology companies, as well as loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.

    Priit Rum
    Communications Manager
    Phone: +372 502 0786
    Email: priit.rum@lhv.ee 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated April 21, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹71.30 lakh (Rupees Seventy One Lakh Thirty Thousand only) on Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (the company) for non-compliance with certain provisions of the ‘Non-Banking Financial Company – Systemically Important Non-Deposit taking Company and Deposit taking Company (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016’ and ‘Reserve Bank of India (Know Your Customer (KYC)) Directions, 2016’ issued by RBI. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 58G read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of Section 58B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

    The statutory inspection of the company was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the company advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.

    After considering the company’s reply to the notice, additional submissions made by it and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the company were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.

    1. The company did not disclose the processing fees and other charges in certain loan application forms;

    2. The company did not furnish copies of loan agreements and did not convey details of the loans in the sanction letters to certain borrowers;

    3. The company did not give a final chance to certain borrowers to repay the loans, before the sale / auction of vehicles; and

    4. The company allotted multiple customer identification codes to certain customers, instead of a Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) for each individual customer.

    This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the company.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2025-2026/189

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Iran nuclear deal: future stability of Middle East hangs on its success but initial signs are not good

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Simon Mabon, Professor of International Relations, Lancaster University

    For the second week in a row, senior officials from the United States and Iran will get together to take part in talks about the Iranian nuclear programme. It’s the second round in the latest negotiations – the first having taken place in Oman on April 12.

    But recent statements from both the White House and senior Iranian officials, including a difference of opinion on where the talks should be held, suggest that rapid diplomatic successes may not be forthcoming.

    Donald Trump’s stance on Iran has been unsurprisingly belligerent. It was the first Trump administration that withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed the policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran. Since returning to the Oval Office, Trump has reimposed this policy of maximum pressure.



    Read more:
    Donald Trump backs out of Iran nuclear deal: now what?

    Posting on X, the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, declared that “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program”. He also called for verification of any missiles stockpiled in the Islamic republic.

    Iranian officials vociferously rejected these US demands, with the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, asserting that the missile programme is not for discussion.

    Tehran needs a deal

    There is little doubt that Iran wants a deal, perhaps even needs a deal. It has been hit hard by sanctions over the past decade, which have hollowed out the country’s middle class.

    Israel’s military strikes on Iran and its allies over the past year have eroded the ideological and military clout of the Islamic Republic and wider “axis of resistance”. With the weakening of many of its allies, Iran’s missiles possess even greater importance as a deterrence.

    The strong line taken by the Trump administration leaves little room for manoeuvre. It risks further emboldening hardline elements in Iran, who are perhaps less willing to engage diplomatically. But any belligerent rhetoric from voices in Iran risks pouring fuel on an already incendiary situation.

    At the same time, the Islamic Republic faces a range of serious pressures domestically, such as that seen in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, as well as increasingly vocal opposition from abroad – notably from the self-proclaimed Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah who was ousted in 1979.

    Though Iran may want a deal, it cannot capitulate – particularly after the events of the last year. And nor should it.

    US weighs its strategy

    Hawks in the US, Israel and elsewhere have, of course, heralded the Trump administration’s stance. Fears of an Iranian nuclear programme continue to drive the actions of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and others – although reports have just emerged that proposed Israeli strikes on targets in Iran were vetoed by Trump in favour of more negotiation.

    While the Gulf states would once have celebrated a tough stance on Iran, the situation is different now. Iran’s long-time rival, Saudi Arabia, has put aside decades of animosity in the hope of a more prosperous shared future.

    In a 2023 agreement mediated by China, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to normalise relations, reopening embassies and embarking on a series of coordinated military exercises. For Saudi Arabia, and in particular its crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, regional stability is essential in realising the ambitious Vision2030 programme – which leans heavily into global investor confidence and trust.

    As a result, the kingdom undertook a pragmatic shift in its regional affairs, embarking on a process of diplomatic rapprochement that surprised many observers. Riyadh has also taken steps towards normalisation with Israel, though the ongoing destruction of Gaza has paused such moves, at least for now.

    At the same time as the nuclear negotiations take place, Israeli strikes on targets in Syria continue. The fall of the Assad regime at the end of 2024 – and the back seat taken by its long-time supporter, Russia – has dramatically altered the political landscape of Syria.

    Though its former president, Bashar al-Assad, has found refuge in Russia, Moscow has taken a watching brief, eager not to antagonise Syria’s new regime and jeopardise its strategically important military bases on the Mediterranean coast. Members of groups previously favoured by the Assad regime, notably the Alawi communities, have fled to the Russian naval base at Latakia in search of protection.

    But thousands of others have been killed amid increasing violence as the forces of the new regime, led by Ahmad al-Shara, seek to extinguish all remnants of the Assad regime – a series of events that looks eerily similar to what occurred in Iraq 20 years ago, when the process of “de-Ba’athification” attempted to remove all traces of Saddam Hussein’s regime from public life.

    Fragile regional order

    The situation across the region is precarious, with the actions of global powers continuing to reverberate. While Washington puts pressure on Tehran and Moscow waits, the scope for Chinese influence in the region increases.

    Ironically, Trump’s tariffs on China may push Beijing further into the Middle East, seeking to capitalise on available opportunities. Its Belt and Road Initiative positions the Middle East firmly within China’s strategic interests. This is likely to open up a new front in the rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

    All the while, it is the people of the Middle East who continue to pay the heaviest price. Ongoing wars and insecurity, fears of a regional conflict, and precarious political conditions – as well as rising food prices and healthcare pressures – are creating a perfect storm that heightens the pressures and challenges of daily life.

    Simon Mabon receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

    – ref. Iran nuclear deal: future stability of Middle East hangs on its success but initial signs are not good – https://theconversation.com/iran-nuclear-deal-future-stability-of-middle-east-hangs-on-its-success-but-initial-signs-are-not-good-254817

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s western regions unveil new dynamics in economic cooperation with Vietnam

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

    CHONGQING, April 25 — A shipment of fresh lemons departing from Tongnan District of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, can now arrive in Vietnam in just two days, covering a journey of some 1,300 km.

    The first delivery of 28 tonnes of chilled fresh lemons from Tongnan to Vietnam was made recently on a cross-border highway truck via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

    “This route slashes transit time from six days to two days, ensuring Vietnamese consumers enjoy fresher produce,” said Hu Zaiyang, manager of a local fruit dealer.

    This vibrant trade scene underscores the deepening economic ties between China’s western regions and Vietnam. From electronic components to fruits and flowers and from smart home appliances to daily necessities, trade volume between the two sides has surged, buoyed by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    Vietnam has remained the largest ASEAN trade partner among China’s western provincial-level regions. Chongqing’s 2024 trade with Vietnam hit 39.77 billion yuan (about 5.5 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for a third of its total trade volume with ASEAN.

    Youyiguan Port in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a gateway to Vietnam, is piloting a brand new customs supervision model, using intelligent means to improve efficiency and capacity of customs clearance.

    In the future, the port will operate customs clearance around the clock and goods can be delivered from Nanning, the regional capital of Guangxi, to Vietnam’s Bac Giang within 24 hours, said Shi Lei, deputy director of Youyiguan Customs.

    Beyond trade, investment cooperation has continued to bring benefits to the people of both sides. In Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, Vietnam, modern industrial parks invested and constructed by Chinese new energy and electronics manufacturing firms are driving local employment and growth.

    Chongqing’s 2024 investments in Vietnam jumped 33.4 percent to 33.16 million U.S. dollars in sectors like general equipment and automotive manufacturing. As of the end of 2024, Chongqing had 24 investment projects in Vietnam, with cumulative factual investments totaling 213.4 million U.S. dollars.

    In Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province, CISDI Group Co., Ltd., based in Chongqing, set up its branch as early as 2013. The company has taken charge of multiple key metallurgical projects in the country. Among them, the blast furnace of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, which CISDI planned, designed and took part in constructing and operating, has now become one of the most competitive integrated steel complexes in Southeast Asia, generating over 10,000 job opportunities for local people.

    This elevated Ha Tinh from a traditional agricultural province to an industrial powerhouse in central Vietnam.

    Since 2007, Sichuan-based Tongwei Co., Ltd. has established and acquired five standardized feed production companies in Vietnam, with total investments exceeding 500 million yuan. The first feed mill it invested in, Tongwei Vietnam Feed Co., Ltd., has become one of the top-selling single feed factories in Vietnam by sales volume.

    “The BRI fosters mutual growth,” said Xiao Shengyong, Tongwei’s chief tax officer, highlighting technology transfers and aquaculture partnerships.

    The two countries recently signed 45 cooperation documents, covering connectivity, artificial intelligence, customs inspection and quarantine, and agricultural trade, among others.

    With the gradual implementation of the cooperation documents, Vietnam-China relations will enter a more mature and stable development stage, which will be not only reflected in policy communication and high-level interaction, but also in people’s daily life, said Vo Dai Luoc, former director of Vietnam’s Institute of World Economics and Politics.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China deepens international collaboration to push forward deep-space exploration

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

    SHANGHAI, April 25 — China, with an open stance, is collaborating with the international community to drive breakthroughs in deep-space exploration and foster resource sharing, striving to build a shared future in space.

    On the occasion of Space Day of China, which is celebrated annually on April 24, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced a series of international collaboration initiatives to advance deep-space exploration.

    Seven institutions from six countries — France, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States — have been authorized to borrow the lunar samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 mission for scientific research.

    In 2020, the Chang’e-5 mission retrieved samples from the moon weighing about 1,731 grams, which were the first lunar samples in the world in over 40 years, helping advance humanity’s knowledge about the moon.

    Shan Zhongde, head of the CNSA, said China’s lunar exploration program has always adhered to the principles of equality, mutual benefits, peaceful utilization and win-win cooperation, sharing achievements with the international community.

    He added that CNSA will continue to accept international applications for lunar sample research, expressing hope that global scientists will make new discoveries that expand human knowledge and benefit humanity.

    With the advancement of China’s lunar exploration program, international cooperation continues to deepen. The CNSA announced that the Chang’e-8 mission, which is scheduled for launch around 2029, will carry payloads from 11 countries and regions and one international organization.

    Developers of the instruments to be aboard the Chang’e-8 are from Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.

    The Chang’e-8 mission will target the Leibnitz-Beta Plateau near the lunar south pole region, working with the earlier Chang’e-7 mission to conduct scientific exploration and in-situ resource utilization experiments. These efforts will lay the groundwork for the future International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

    The ILRS, initiated by China, is a scientific experimental facility consisting of sections on the lunar surface and in lunar orbit, and is projected to be built in two phases: a basic model to be built by 2035 in the lunar south pole region, and an extended model to be built in the 2040s.

    A total of 17 countries and international organizations, and more than 50 international research institutions, have joined the ILRS, according to Bian Zhigang, deputy director of the CNSA.

    Bian stressed that the ILRS will offer new opportunities and platforms for fostering global cooperation, technological innovation and shared development.

    China welcomes international partners to participate in various stages of the ILRS and at all levels of the mission. This will promote the use of space technology to benefit humanity and advance the building of a community with a shared future for humanity in the field of outer space, he said.

    Amjad Ali, a senior official with the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) of Pakistan, said that the CNSA leads in inclusive space exploration, enabling emerging space nations like Pakistan to rise.

    The Chang’e-8 mission will carry a 30-kilogram lunar rover developed by SUPARCO, contributing to terrain mapping and regolith analysis.

    “The CNSA-SUPARCO partnership strengthens intercultural dialogue, diplomacy and peaceful collaboration, proving that shared dreams can unite nations among the stars,” he added.

    Humanity can reach deeper space through collaboration from lunar soil to Martian surface.

    China aims to launch the Tianwen-3 Mars sample-return mission around 2028, with the primary scientific goal of searching for signs of life. The retrieval of samples from Mars is the most technically challenging space exploration mission since the Apollo program, and no such retrieval has ever been accomplished, said Liu Jizhong, chief designer of the mission.

    Despite this mission’s considerable challenges and limited resources, China still plans to allocate 20 kilograms of resources for international collaboration.

    China invites global partners to jointly advance Mars exploration and research, thereby expanding humanity’s understanding of the red planet, said CNSA.

    Joining hands, humanity can unlock mysteries beyond the stars.

    An astronomical satellite jointly developed by China and France has detected a gamma-ray burst dating back 13 billion years, likely originating from the collapse of an early star forming a black hole or a neutron star. This discovery offers humanity a glimpse into the universe’s infancy.

    The discovery made by the Space-based multi-band Variable Object Monitor (SVOM) was also released on the Space Day of China.

    The SVOM project, a major bilateral space collaboration between China and France spanning nearly two decades, is a contribution that Chinese and French scientists and engineers have made to the international astronomy community through years of cooperation, integrating high-tech resources from both countries.

    “Together, we will pool efforts to promote the development of the world’s space industry, ensuring that space innovations serve and enhance human well-being across broader domains, at deeper levels, and to higher standards,” Shan emphasized at the opening ceremony for the Space Day of China.

    At the invitation of the Permanent Mission of China in Vienna, the Permanent Representatives of Kenya and South Africa to Vienna, along with diplomats from the Permanent Missions of Venezuela, Belarus, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan to Vienna, made a special trip to China to participate in the series of activities for the Space Day.

    Award-winning paintings created by Chinese children, depicting their space dreams, were presented to these diplomats.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese hospitals required to set up 24-hour emergency channel for children under 3

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

    Chinese hospitals required to set up 24-hour emergency channel for children under 3

    BEIJING, April 25 — The Chinese government has required medical institutions to establish 24-hour green channels to provide acute and intensive treatment for children aged three and under, according to a circular issued by China’s National Health Commission on Friday.

    The government also supports hospitals in treating critically ill children via the green channels before requiring payment, according to the circular on a three-year campaign to improve the country’s pediatric care, mental health and psychiatric services.

    According to the circular, all secondary and tertiary public general hospitals in China are expected to provide pediatric services by the end of November 2025.

    By the end of 2025, more than 90 percent of township health centers and community health service centers should be capable of providing diagnosis and treatment for common pediatric illnesses, said the circular.

    The circular also encourages hospitals to set up specialized outpatient services for children, including those for growth and development, as well as mental and psychological health.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China aims for EVs to dominate new vehicle sales by 2035

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

    BEIJING, April 25 — China will step up efforts to align the development of transport infrastructure with renewable energy systems, aiming to make pure electric vehicles (EVs) the “mainstream of new car sales” by 2035, according to a circular released on Friday.

    The country also plans to realize large-scale application of new energy heavy-duty trucks and establish a green fuel supply system for the transport sector by 2035, according to the circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Transport and nine other departments.

    The circular underscored efforts to advance the development and utilization of clean energy along and around transport infrastructure, including railways, roads and ports.

    To advance the green transition of the transport sector, the country will further promote the use of new energy vehicles, green and low-carbon vessels, new energy aircraft, as well as the green and low-carbon development of postal and express delivery services.

    The circular pledged to beef up financial support by leveraging funds including special local government bonds, green loans, green bonds, and re-lending funds for technology innovation and upgrading. 

    MIL OSI China News –