NewzIntel.com

Category: Transport

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: Almost 8 million users and over 130 thousand organizations are registered on the Dobro.rf platform

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko and the head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) Grigory Gurov spoke about the work of the social development ecosystem Dobro.rf.

    “President Vladimir Putin emphasizes that compassion and support for those in need have always been present in the hearts of our people, and the fact that young people are involved in volunteer activities is doubly, triply important. Since 2025, work to involve young people in volunteer and social activities has been carried out within the framework of the national project “Youth and Children”. Almost 8 million users and over 130 thousand organizations have already registered on the Dobro.rf platform, which have implemented more than 100 thousand projects. We encourage all volunteers to register on the platform. This will ensure the implementation of support measures for volunteers and provide guarantees of safety in work,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    The head of Rosmolodezh Grigory Gurov emphasized that over 10 years, Russia has managed to create a powerful movement of caring people, form a culture of participation and mutual support, and increase the share of Russians in volunteer projects from 3% to 28%. The volunteer community has become a support for the state in the socio-economic sphere.

    “We are creating all the conditions for the development of infrastructure and support of specialized initiatives. Our mission until 2030, including within the framework of the new national project “Youth and Children” is to reveal the potential of every Russian, to cultivate trust and partnership between people, communities and the state. We see that the potential for civic activity exists in all ages: from childhood to “silver”. This is confirmed by the VTsIOM study, according to which the number of Russians ready to engage in volunteer activities has grown from 20% to 67%,” said Grigory Gurov.

    Today, the Dobro.rf ecosystem is the largest community in the “third sector”, which includes services for the development of civil society and a culture of mutual assistance, support for volunteering and NGOs, training, mentoring, donation, volunteer programs in schools and universities, and international cooperation programs. Dobro.rf is a national social brand created with the support of President Vladimir Putin.

    The flagship projects of the ecosystem are the Dobro.rf platform, where all volunteer projects are collected, and the all-Russian mutual aid project

    “The platform’s tools help people choose a project they like to become a volunteer, and volunteer organizers find assistants and partners. Users can receive material and non-material incentives for their activity, undergo training, and fill out volunteer books to record the hours spent as a volunteer. Event organizers have the opportunity to search for grants or other support measures through the platform,” emphasized Artem Metelev, head of the Dobro.rf ecosystem and chairman of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy.

    Dobro.rf is also developing the Service Learning program, which has already provided socially oriented project-based learning in 415 universities, as well as the Mentor.rf project, which has united large organizations and verified mentors from various fields. Under the Dobro.Center project, federal franchises of social assistance centers have been opened in more than 600 municipalities, and with the help of the Dobro.Navigator aggregator of support measures for NGOs and individuals, over 3.5 thousand support measures have been created for about 1 thousand organizations.

    For users of the ecosystem, a Single ID has been introduced for all services: State Services, My Documents, Dobro.rf and DobroCenter.

    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: Financial News: Suspicious Transactions Declined by 21% in 2024

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    They fell from 113 billion rubles to 90 billion rubles. This reduction was more significant than in the previous 2 years (by 5% in 2022 and by 12% in 2023), it says. in the analytical material Bank of Russia.

    Transactions with signs of transferring funds abroad decreased by 17% over the year, to 25.6 billion rubles. As before, they were mainly carried out using advance payments for import deliveries without subsequent import of goods into Russia. The volume of these schemes decreased by a third. At the same time, the share of suspicious transfers to non-residents for goods that are allegedly purchased from them on the territory of Russia without crossing the border increased.

    The volume of illegal cashing decreased by 22%, to 64.2 billion rubles. Cashing on payment cards of companies and individual entrepreneurs decreased more significantly, more than 2 times.

    Banks have been able to effectively combat the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, including through the development of online tools for monitoring suspicious transactions, as well as the prompt identification of risks on the Know Your Customer platform.

    In October 2024, the Bank of Russia opened service, with the help of which anyone can check whether a company belongs to the high-risk level on the platform. The service has proven to be in demand among businesses: since its opening, it has been accessed more than 200 thousand times.

    Preview photo: UnderhilStudio / Shutterstock / Fotodom

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

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

    HTTPS: //VVV.KBR.ru/Press/Event/? ID = 23504

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: ONDCP Recognizes Law Enforcement’s Work to Stop Drug Traffickers

    Source: The White House

    class=”wp-block-heading has-text-align-center”>National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Awards Ceremony Recognizes Excellence Across 14 Key Categories

    Washington, D.C.—Last night, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recognized individuals and initiatives of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program at the 2025 National HIDTA Awards Ceremony for their critical work to combat the national security threat posed by drug traffickers, including those who traffic deadly illicit fentanyl in the United States, killing tens of thousands of Americans each year.  

    The Trump Administration is taking the fight to the cartels and drug traffickers in order to save American lives. The HIDTA Program plays a key role in disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations and provides assistance to federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug trafficking regions across all 50 states. Last year, the 33 HIDTAs seized 4.1 million pounds of fentanyl and other drugs and denied drug traffickers $17.7 billion in illicit profits. For every dollar invested in the HIDTA Program, the American people get $68.07 in benefits, making HIDTA an effective and efficient use of taxpayers’ money, and an important tool in the nation’s effort to stop drug traffickers and save American lives.  

    The following awards were presented March 27 to individuals and initiatives of the HIDTA Program for their efforts to reduce the supply and trafficking of dangerous drugs in communities across the country: 

    INVESTIGATIVE COLLABORATION

    Chicago HIDTA, Chicago HIDTA Counternarcotics and Cryptocurrency Task Force

    Created to identify, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), the Chicago HIDTA Counternarcotics and Cryptocurrency Task Force (CNCTF) targeted one of the largest, fastest-growing dark net markets in the world – Nemesis Market. This marketplace facilitated drug trafficking, fraud, hacking, and other illicit activities responsible for more than $20 million in illicit transactions to more than 150,000 registered users around the world. Led by DEA and comprising an array of federal and local partners, CNCTF undertook Operation Keyboard Warrior, which received designation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). In March 2024, CNCTF, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the German Bundescriminalamt, disrupted Nemesis Market by executing simultaneous, multinational search and seizure warrants on critical technological infrastructure. The warrants resulted in nearly $1 million in frozen and seized cryptocurrency-related assets, twelve computer servers, various electronic devices, and terabytes of data containing financial records and personal information of more than 1,000 vendors trafficking in drugs and engaging in fraud, hacking, and forgeries on the marketplace. CNCTF leveraged this information to effect arrests and warrants in eight U.S. federal districts, and provided investigative leads to foreign law enforcement counterparts in multiple countries using international treaty-based disclosure agreements that were novel to cyber cases.

    PROSECUTION

    South Florida HIDTA, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Gerarde and Sean McLaughlin

    With the support of the South Florida HIDTA and assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) Kevin Gerarde and Sean McLaughlin secured a jury verdict against the Premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for drug trafficking. Andrew Fahie, who was elected as the Premier in 2019, was accused of assisting the Sinaloa Cartel in transporting loads of cocaine weighing three metric tons from the coast of Colombia through the BVI en route to the United States for distribution. In exchange for his assistance, Fahie allegedly received a 12 percent cut of the proceeds when the cocaine was sold in the United States. After an extensive undercover operation conducted with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, DEA arrested Fahie. In prosecuting Fahie, AUSAs Gerarde and McLaughlin overcame a variety of evidentiary challenges, including United Kingdom and BVI foreign law determinations regarding the applicability of U.S. money laundering statutes. On February 8, 2024, the jury returned a verdict finding Fahie guilty on all counts, and he was subsequently sentenced to 135 months imprisonment.

    PUBLIC HEALTH/PUBLIC SAFETY COLLABORATION

    Texoma HIDTA, Caprock Drug Initiative

    The Texoma HIDTA’s Caprock Initiative launched a program at the behest of local officials to address alarming increases in fentanyl overdoses in and around Lubbock, Texas. Since its inception, the program has reached nearly 26 thousand individuals from all walks of life. Undertaken with substantial support from the United States Attorney’s Office, the Texas Anti-Gang Center, and the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, the program has become the most requested fentanyl awareness presentation in the South Plains region. It has been presented to numerous local schools, including to the Texas Tech football team. The program provides candid, factual information from people in recovery, overdose survivors, and families of overdose victims. It is credited with raising public awareness and contributing to a reduction in overdoses in the region.

    HIDTA SUPPORT

    Atlanta Carolinas HIDTA, Lydia Sheffield

    Lydia Sheffield has served the Atlanta Carolinas HIDTA for two decades, providing continuity with her outstanding support to three executive directors. In addition to her myriad duties as the Executive Assistant, Ms. Sheffield is the primary Performance Management Process (PMP) Coordinator for the HIDTA, and has established herself as an expert user of PMP. In that role, she has generously provided training to PMP users from multiple other regional HIDTAs at the behest of the National HIDTA Assistance Center and to National HIDTA Program staff. Ms. Sheffield has drawn upon her own background and experience as a skilled trainer to develop curriculum materials to support trainings to both peer PMP coordinators and initiative commanders across the United States.

    INVESTIGATION INVOLVING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES

    Gulf Coast HIDTA, Mobile Baldwin Major Investigations Team

    In 2023, the Mobile Baldwin Major Investigations Team (MBMIT) began investigating a deactivated DEA confidential source who was coordinating large shipments of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine from Texas and Georgia into the Mobile, Alabama area. Because the former source was familiar with law enforcement communication and investigative techniques and was still being used by local law enforcement agencies, the source was emboldened to conduct illicit drug-related transactions via an end-to-end encrypted phone app. MBMIT agents successfully executed a search warrant to clone the source’s phone and initiated real-time Title III intercepts of the encrypted app. This was the first time an end-to-end encryption application was successfully intercepted in the New Orleans Division and only the third time this type of intercept had been conducted worldwide within DEA. The success of this investigative technique enabled 120 electronic and voice Title III intercepts resulting in 24 state and federal arrests, the seizure of 19 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of methamphetamine, and the seizure of over $500,000 in cash, jewelry, and vehicles. Additionally, these intercepts lead to the identification and follow-on investigation of regional drug traffickers in the United States with links to multiple Mexican TCOs.

    INTELLIGENCE AND INFORMATION SHARING

    Nevada HIDTA, Investigative Research Assistant Phillip Scichilone

    In early 2024, the Nevada Highway Patrol received a tip regarding a suspicious trucking company suspected of transporting illicit drugs from northern Nevada across the county, and subsequently passed the tip to Investigative Research Assistant Phillip Scichilone. Mr. Scichilone provided Northern Nevada Interdiction Task Force members with key intelligence related to the travel patterns of the vehicle involved, suspicious financial activity of the trucking company, and identification of the suspected owner and driver of the vehicle. The task force used this information to interdict the vehicle involved, resulting in the seizure of approximately $1 million and the identification of the driver and passenger, who were suspected of being linked to a known terrorist organization. After conducting follow-up analysis linking the suspects to out-of-state DEA and FBI investigations, Mr. Scichilone connected representatives of both agencies to deconflict and share information and then worked with both agencies to pass on key intelligence information.

    INTERDICTION

    New England HIDTA, Greater Boston HIDTA Task Force

    The Greater Boston HIDTA Task Force, co-led by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), initiated an investigation targeting a California-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) involved in large-scale illicit drug smuggling, distribution, and transportation from the Southwest Border to destinations throughout the United States and Canada. The initial phase of this ongoing investigation resulted in the disruption of a large-scale criminal enterprise with two arrests and the interdiction of 32 kilograms of methamphetamine and 490 kilograms of cocaine from a tractor trailer that traveled cross country to meet with undercover law enforcement agents in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts State Police have claimed this to be the largest seizure of narcotics from a tractor trailer in New England history, and the ongoing investigation has wide-ranging impact on DTO operations in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

    INVESTIGATION INVOLVING A VIOLENT ORGANIZATION

    Texoma HIDTA, ATF Oklahoma City Violent Crime Initiative

    The ATF Oklahoma City Violent Crime Initiative led interagency Operation Sonic Boom that used information from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) to overlay maps of Oklahoma City with shooting incidents to identify critical, high gun violence areas to deploy additional resources. In a 60-day operation, ATF Confidential Sources and Undercover Agents conducted 117 undercover firearm purchases that led to the indictment of 64 defendants and the seizure of 110 firearms, 83 machinegun conversion devices (MCDs), 53 kilograms of methamphetamine, 5 kilograms of cocaine, and more than 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl tablets. Highlighting the critical links between the undercover operations in this case and the ongoing violent crime investigations in Oklahoma City, twelve of the firearms purchased by undercover agents had confirmed links in NIBIN to open shooting and homicide cases by violent criminal gangs in the greater Oklahoma City area. From a HIDTA perspective, the case was also a statistical success, with investigators identifying eight separate Drug Trafficking or Money Laundering Organizations and disrupting six of them during the course of the operation. 

    COMMUNITY IMPACT INVESTIGATION

    Northwest HIDTA, DEA Bellingham Regional HIDTA Task Force

    Over the past year, the DEA Bellingham Regional HIDTA Task Force (BRHTF) initiated an investigation that resulted in a substantial impact concerning public safety and health on the greater Lummi Nation Tribal Lands. Over a one-year period, BRHTF, along with partner agencies, seized over 850,000 fentanyl pills, seven kilograms of fentanyl powder, seven kilograms of cocaine, 29 illicit firearms, over $120,000 in U.S. currency, and disrupted a centralized DTO responsible for trafficking and distributing fentanyl and other drugs in the Lummi Nation within Whatcom County, WA. This investigation resulted in a notable decrease in both fentanyl availability and overdose deaths on Lummi Tribal Lands.

    OVERDOSE REDUCTION

    South Texas HIDTA, Laredo DEA HIDTA Task Force

    In 2023, the DEA Laredo District Office created a HIDTA Overdose Task Force initiative to address the dramatic rise in overdose deaths in Laredo, Texas, and its surrounding communities. The City of Laredo experienced 21 overdose deaths in 2021, rose to 41 overdose deaths in 2022, and was on pace to experience nearly 100 overdose deaths in 2023, when the task force was launched. Formed with multiple local and federal agencies and comprising six task force officers, the task force proved to be effective, with Laredo reporting 73 deaths in 2023, well short of the expected numbers. Throughout 2024, Laredo and its surrounding communities experienced 40 overdose deaths, and preliminary data indicate the city is on pace for a remarkable 45 percent decrease.

    INVESTIGATION

    Arizona HIDTA, Metro Intelligence Support and Technical Investigative Center (MISTIC)

    Throughout 2024, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) Drug Enforcement Bureau’s (DEB) Conspiracy Squad and the DEA Phoenix Field Division’s Financial Investigations Group (FIG) conducted a long-term, complex investigation that targeted a TCO responsible for the trafficking and distribution of bulk quantities of illicit drugs, as well as for money laundering. Investigators conducted 2,000 hours of surveillance, utilized 225 court orders and search warrants, and initiated 35 wire intercepts targeting TCO members. Through the course of this investigation, detectives identified, disrupted, and dismantled the international drug trafficking activities of both foreign and United States-based sources of supply, load coordinators, couriers, stash house operators, and distribution coordinators, while also dismantling metropolitan Phoenix-based DTO operations.

    TASK FORCE OF THE YEAR

    Appalachia HIDTA, Appalachia HIDTA Diversion Task Force

    In response to an influx of counterfeit pharmaceuticals flooding southeastern Kentucky that were contributing to a rise in drug poisoning deaths, investigators with the Appalachia HIDTA Diversion Drug Task Force initiated an investigation into a dark net market distributor operating under the name GreenBeansUSA. This investigation was conducted jointly with the Appalachia HIDTA DEA London Task Force in coordination with the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service under the OCDETF Operation “Loyal Business.” Investigators identified GreenBeansUSA as a global supplier responsible for the sale and distribution of over 16 million counterfeit pharmaceutical pills, and the receipt of over $11 million in drug proceeds in the form of illicit cryptocurrency. In the course of the operation, investigators issued more than 200 grand jury subpoenas, 47 pen registers, 8 ping orders, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) requests, IP analysis, blockchain and cluster analysis, 2703(d) orders, undercover purchases, undercover money laundering operations, pole cameras, and electronic search warrants to multiple telecommunications and technological entities. Their efforts resulted in federal indictments of six key members of the organization, the seizure of 11 kilograms of controlled pharmaceuticals (nitazene, benzodiazepine, and ketamine), six pill press machines, and approximately $1.2 million in assets.

    HIDTA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

    Ohio HIDTA, Sergeant Breck Williamson, Ohio State Highway Patrol

    Sergeant Breck Williamson has distinguished himself as both a prolific and successful interdictor of illicit drugs transiting the nation’s highways, and as an expert instructor and mentor to other officers conducting highway interdictions. Since October 2023, Sergeant Williamson has personally seized over 405 pounds of methamphetamines, 11 pounds of fentanyl, 141 pounds of cocaine, 3,203 pounds of marijuana, and $135,000 in U.S. currency. He also serves as an instructor for both the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) and the Drug Interdiction Awareness Program (DIAP), sharing his expertise with hundreds of students throughout the past year. In addition to his day-to-day supervisory and highway interdiction duties, Sergeant Williamson is a DEA task force officer and is regularly called upon by DEA offices nationwide to advise on interdiction tactics and techniques.

    HIDTA OF THE YEAR

    SOUTH FLORIDA HIDTA

    The South Florida HIDTA has demonstrated an exemplary capacity for multidimensional vision and leadership. Through its Executive Director and Executive Board, it has targeted emerging threats, such as synthetic drugs, while remaining steadfastly committed to the interdiction of metric tons of cocaine destined for the United States from South America. It has inspired national efforts, like the launch of Crime Gun Intelligence Centers in HIDTA regions across the United States, without losing focus of the core HIDTA mission to disrupt and dismantle DTOs and while maintaining deep and sustaining partnerships at the local level. It has launched enterprising collaborations with law enforcement partners, such as partnering with the Federal Aviation Administration to access radar interdiction operability and records of straw registration of aircraft, while embracing public health initiatives focused on overdose reduction and drug use prevention.

    Among its many accomplishments, in 2023 South Florida HIDTA initiatives dismantled or disrupted 54 DTOs, of which 19 were international in scope and nearly 20 percent were OCDETF-designated or linked to consolidated or regional priority organization targets. Task forces seized illicit drugs with a total estimated value of $748 million, including 23 metric tons of cocaine, 248 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 224 kilograms of fentanyl. South Florida HIDTA initiatives also seized more than $105 million in cash and other assets, delivering a return on investment of $56.22 for every dollar financed by the National HIDTA Program. Finally, in pursuit of one of its most vital functions – ensuring officer safety – the South Florida HIDTA provided deconfliction services to all its partners, preventing more than 400 “blue on blue” incidents.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Saving money and improving recycling

    Alberta is entering a new era of recycling and waste management to keep more waste out of landfills. Starting April 1, Alberta’s new extended producer responsibility (EPR) will begin reducing waste, improving recycling programs and saving communities and taxpayers money. The provincewide shift to EPR includes programs, services and communities transforming throughout 2025 and 2026, which will ultimately keep thousands of kilograms of waste out of Alberta landfills.

    “This new system will keep more waste out of landfills while saving communities and taxpayers money. And we’re doing it without creating more work or costs for Albertans or making them change their recycling habits.”

    Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas

    “By working with industry, municipalities and provincial partners, we’ve created a made-in-Alberta EPR solution that helps advance our priority of responsible waste management. We’re grateful for the strong support of the Government of Alberta as we work together to grow our province’s circular economy through EPR.”

    Ed Gugenheimer, chief executive officer, Alberta Recycling Management Authority

    “The province made a wise decision with EPR. It is a big win for the economy, the environment, and a splendid example of how we achieve great things when municipalities and the province work together. Calgarians will see the benefits immediately in their blue cart fees, but all over Alberta people will get clearer recycling rules and less waste in their landfills. This is only the beginning of the good it will do.”

    Peter Demong, councillor, Ward 14, City of Calgary

    Reducing waste and improving recycling

    EPR shifts the financial burden of recycling single-use products away from municipalities and onto the companies that produce those packages and products. By making producers responsible, EPR encourages them to find new ways to reduce waste and design products that are more recyclable and reusable.

    Alberta’s EPR programs include thousands of different single-use products, packaging and paper, along with hazardous and special products like batteries and pesticides. Starting April 1, most municipalities, including all major Alberta cities, will operate under the new EPR programs, representing more than 90 per cent of Alberta’s population.

    Some municipalities need more time to transition and will join EPR in July, while a small number of communities will join in 2026 – some getting recycling service for the first time in their history.

    Saving money

    These new systems will centralize, standardize and streamline recycling among Alberta municipalities, which will help reduce costs in many cases.

    While each community is unique, many communities have already indicated that taxpayers will save money. For example, Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge have all recently publicly indicated that recycling fees can likely be lowered thanks to the new system.

    Alberta’s government and the Alberta Recycling Management Authority will continue working closely with producers and municipalities to help them implement the EPR programs.

    Quick facts

    • Albertans send 1,034 kilograms per person of waste to landfills annually – more than any other Canadian jurisdiction. The national average is 710 kilograms per year.
    • EPR has two programs that focus on two main types of waste materials:
      • Single-use products, packaging and printed paper.
      • Hazardous and special products like batteries or flammable materials.
    • As of March 17, 99 per cent of all curbside recycling contracts are in-place for the April 1 start date.
      • All First Nations and Métis communities have also been contacted and most have registered to participate in the October 2026 intake date.
    • The Alberta Recycling Management Authority, which has managed regulated recycling programs for used oil, paint, tires and electronics for more than 30 years, is overseeing the new EPR systems.

    Related information

    • Extended Producer Responsibility
    • Alberta Recycling Management Authority

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Fiction Litterature Is Messy”

    Source: Universities – Science Po in English

    « Fiction literature is messy, we have to write about the world as it is, not as we wish it were. I really feel that the self that writes fiction is not the self that writes non-fiction. When I’m writing non-fiction, essays, lectures, or a Ted Talk, I am hoping to persuade people. I want you to come on board and care. »

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    Author and feminist icon

    In March 2025, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie joined us to present her latest novel, L’inventaire des rêves (Dream Count), published by Gallimard. The renowned Nigerian author delivered an inspiring keynote on the power of writing. She generously shared her unfiltered reflections on women in history, literature, and shaping one’s destiny.

    Organised by our Institute for the Arts & Creation, Africa Programme, and Gender Studies Programme (PRESAGE), the event was moderated by Hélène Périvier, economist at the French Economic Observatory (OFCE) and director of PRESAGE, alongside students from our Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA).

    The conversation is now available for replay:

    Cover image caption: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Hélène Périvier at her right, translator Marguerite Capelle at her left and PSIA students on both outer sides. (credits: Louis Roquebert / Sciences Po)

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Working visit of Alexey Overchuk to China

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    On March 27–28, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Overchuk paid a working visit to the People’s Republic of China (Hainan Island), heading the Russian delegation at the annual Boao Forum for Asia.

    During his speech at the session “Creating favorable conditions for peaceful development and ensuring overall economic security,” the Deputy Prime Minister spoke in detail about the creation of international partnerships aimed at forming a reliable basis for sustainable economic growth in the Eurasian region, including the construction of transport and logistics systems and an independent payment infrastructure.

    Alexey Overchuk spoke about the initiative of the Greater Eurasian Partnership, put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which implies the interconnectedness of the economies of Eurasia and is based on the idea of economic security and integration.

    The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the Northern Eurasia macro-region serves as an example of multi-level economic integration, where such associations as the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Commonwealth of Independent States operate.

    At the same time, in Asia there is the Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Road”, ASEAN, the Organization of the Gulf States and other organizations that unite the countries and regions of the global South. Many countries of Asia and Eurasia, including the three largest economies of the continent – China, India and Russia, participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS. Russia and China are also members of APEC.

    The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the unification of these multilateral efforts will lead to the creation of the impetus needed to build a more sustainable future and socio-economic progress, develop and implement new technologies, increase economic connectivity, and strengthen intercultural communication in Eurasia.

    During the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister held talks with Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Ding Xuexiang. During the conversation, it was noted that further development of strategic partnership in all sectors of the economy meets the interests of both countries. The trusting dialogue between the leaders of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, plays a decisive role in the development of Russian-Chinese cooperation. Mutual high-level visits are planned for the spring-autumn of 2025, timed to coincide with the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II.

    Alexey Overchuk emphasized that Russia is ready to jointly implement the agreements reached by the heads of the two states and continuously deepen Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction.

    “Russia and China need to expand trade relations, scientific and technical cooperation, and create new production and cooperation chains,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

    During the talks, it was noted that China remains Russia’s main foreign trade partner. By the end of 2024, mutual trade approached the $245 billion mark. Over 95% of bilateral settlements are conducted in rubles and yuan.

    The parties are implementing joint projects in industry, energy, high technology, space, transport, automotive engineering and other sectors.

    Cultural and humanitarian ties are actively developing. The countries’ mutual interest in each other’s history, culture and traditions is high and continues to grow. The cross-cultural years of Russia and China are being held successfully, more than half of the 230 events of the Russian part have been held.

    Alexey Overchuk also invited representatives of the leadership and business community of the PRC to take part in international economic forums held in Russia – the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June and the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September 2025.

    Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Ding Xuexiang stressed that relations between China and Russia have become a model of cooperation between major neighboring powers, stating that Beijing, together with Moscow, is ready, in line with the important agreements reached by the heads of state of the two countries, to deepen political contacts and strengthen practical cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

    On the sidelines of the forum, Alexey Overchuk held talks with the Chairman of the Provisional Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus. During the meeting, it was noted that the countries are striving to strengthen friendly relations and develop trade and economic ties on a mutually beneficial basis. According to the results of 2024, mutual trade between Russia and Bangladesh amounted to 2.66 billion dollars.

    The parties discussed issues of cooperation in the fields of industry, energy, food security, and the cultural and humanitarian sphere. The Deputy Prime Minister noted the need to continue work to expand the regulatory framework for bilateral cooperation, emphasizing the importance of activating the format of the Russian-Bangladesh Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation for the development of bilateral relations.

    During the Russian-Pakistani meeting, which also took place on the sidelines of the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk and Minister of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Muhammad Aurangzeb considered priority issues on the bilateral agenda, including cooperation in energy and food security.

    The parties noted the active development of Russian-Pakistani cooperation. In 2024, a series of mutual visits took place between governments and parliaments.

    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: Form 8.3 – [ADVANCED MEDICAL SOLUTIONS GROUP PLC – 28 03 2025] – (CGWL)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORM 8.3

    PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1.        KEY INFORMATION

    (a)   Full name of discloser: CANACCORD GENUITY WEALTH LIMITED (for Discretionary clients)
    (b)   Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
            The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		 N/A
    (c)   Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
            Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 ADVANCED MEDICAL SOLUTIONS GROUP PLC
    (d)   If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A
    (e)   Date position held/dealing undertaken:
            For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 28 MARCH 2025
    (f)   In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
            If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 N/A

    2.        POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

    (a)      Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

    Class of relevant security: 5p ORDINARY
      Interests Short positions
    Number % Number %
    (1)   Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 11,918,972 5.4677    
    (2)   Cash-settled derivatives:        
    (3)   Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:        
    TOTAL: 11,918,972 5.4677    

    On 28thMarch there was a transfer out of our discretionary management of 3,250 shares

    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    (b)      Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:  
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:  

    3.        DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    (a)        Purchases and sales

    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit
    5p ORDINARY SALE 600 228.5p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 666 229p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 5,000 229.18p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 4,500 229.5p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 1,000 230p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 2,239 231p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 995 231.5p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 1,520 236.65p
    5p ORDINARY SALE 7,435 238.18p
    5p ORDINARY PURCHASE 1,520 237.1p

    (b)        Cash-settled derivative transactions

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. CFD    		 Nature of dealing
    e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position    		 Number of reference securities Price per unit
    NONE        

    (c)        Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

    (i)        Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
    e.g. American, European etc.    		 Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
    NONE              

    (ii)        Exercise

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. call option    		 Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit

    (d)        Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
    e.g. subscription, conversion    		 Details Price per unit (if applicable)
    NONE      

    4.        OTHER INFORMATION

    (a)        Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (b)        Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i)   the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii)   the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (c)        Attachments

    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
    Date of disclosure: 31 MARCH 2025
    Contact name: MARK ELLIOTT
    Telephone number: 01253 376539

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Travis Credit Union Earns 2025 Great Place To Work Certification™

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VACAVILLE, Calif., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Travis Credit Union (TCU) proudly announces it has been Certified™ by Great Place To Work®, a distinction based on feedback from current employees regarding their experiences at TCU. According to a survey, 81% of employees said TCU is a great place to work, 24 points higher than the average U.S. company.

    “We are proud to have achieved this certification based on our people, our culture, and our benefits. What makes it even more special is that 87% of employees surveyed feel good about the ways we contribute to the community,” said Catherine (CJ) Johnson, Travis Credit Union Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer. “We actively support and reinvest in the communities we serve. This is the heart of Travis Credit Union.”

    Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation.

    “Great Place To Work Certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience,” says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, the Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work. “By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that Travis Credit Union stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees.”

    According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the company’s profits and have a fair chance at promotion.

    To view TCU’s survey results, click here.

    About Travis Credit Union 
    Travis Credit Union, based in Vacaville, Calif., has been recognized at the federal, state and local levels for its longstanding financial education and financial advocacy efforts. In 2022, TCU was once again selected as a Best-In-State Credit Union by Forbes. It has also earned the U.S. Air Force Distinguished Credit Union of the Year award in recent years. Founded in 1951 on Travis Air Force Base, TCU today serves 12 Northern California counties. It is the twelfth largest credit union in California, with 250,000 members and $5 billion in assets. Learn more about our mission at traviscu.org. 

    We’re Hiring!

    Looking to grow your career at a company that puts its people first? Visit our careers page at:

    https://www.traviscu.org/careers/why-travis/

    About Great Place to Work Certification™

    Great Place To Work® Certification™ is the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified.

    About Great Place To Work®

    As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work® brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All™ Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ List.

    Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Dealership Adoption of Point Predictive’s BorrowerCheck™ Surges to Counter Rising Auto Fraud and Buybacks

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN DIEGO, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Point Predictive reports record growth in adoption of its fraud detection technology across dealerships nationwide. BorrowerCheck™ is being rapidly implemented by major dealership groups and lenders to combat auto lending fraud, which increased to nearly $9.2 billion in 2024.

    The nationwide expansion includes partnerships with several prominent automotive retailers including Ken Garff Automotive Group, Bayway Auto Group, Napleton Automotive Group, Carriage Auto Group, Cavender Auto Family, along with hundreds of others. Point Predictive has also strengthened its integration with RouteOne®, enabling access to enhanced fraud detection capabilities for over 14,000 dealerships, and has established a partnership with OttoMoto® to provide a comprehensive suite of fraud detection, income, and employment validation solutions to dealerships nationwide.

    Dealers who have implemented BorrowerCheck report significant improvements in their operations and relationships with lenders:

    • Reduced Buybacks – Preventing 90% of buybacks that were previously missed using other solutions.
    • Enhanced Red Flags – Eliminating legacy red flags that were prone to false positives.
    • Faster Closing – Using One Time Passcode (OTP) validations which are 90% faster instead of historical question surveys that consumers find difficult to answer.

    “With Point Predictive’s unrivaled data accuracy, we now have a powerful ally in our fight against fraudulent misrepresentation at the point of sale,” said Preston Stewart, National Variable Operations Director at Napleton Automotive Group.

    “BorrowerCheck has been a game-changer for Carriage Auto Group,” said David Basha, Owner and Founder of Carriage Auto Group. “We run a BorrowerCheck report for every client, even those with high credit scores, because they are often victims of identity theft. When even some of the most stringent traditional checks fail to identify fraudulent applicants, BorrowerCheck has succeeded.”

    “I see BorrowerCheck as a game-changer for our group because it provides excellent visibility into the actual risk of a borrower early in the process,” noted Ben Stillwagon, Director of IT at Cavender Auto Family. “The tool allows us to quickly and easily determine if a borrower will create a compliance headache from the very start of the car buying experience, expediting the verification process for our legitimate buyers.”

    Point Predictive’s solution eliminates cumbersome knowledge-based questionnaires and replaces them with SMS-based verification that takes only 20 seconds, compared to the previous 5-15 minutes.

    The system draws from Point Predictive’s data repository, including intelligence from over 250 million loan applications, 93 million consumer identities, 23 million employers and 300 million reported incomes. This helps dealers identify sophisticated fraud schemes traditional tools miss.

    “Through BorrowerCheck, we’ve witnessed an incredible surge in dealer partnerships,” said Tim Grace, CEO of Point Predictive. “This momentum illustrates the effectiveness of our solutions for dealerships. We remain dedicated to empowering dealerships to get deals done faster, ensuring safe lending, and cultivating collaborative dealer and lender success across the industry.”

    To enable seamless adoption of this solution, BorrowerCheck, Point Predictive and Route One completed a full integration of BorrowerCheck at the end of 2024. This enabled access for the solution easily accessible to more than 14,000 dealerships.

    “We’re proud to bring dealers an elevated integration with Point Predictive and comprehensive fraud-fighting solutions,” added Jeff Belanger, Chief Revenue Officer at RouteOne. “By integrating advanced fraud detection directly into our platform, we’re giving dealers tools to validate customer information before fraud impacts their business.”

    For more information, contact info@pointpredictive.com

    About Point Predictive

    Point Predictive powers a new level of lending confidence and speed through artificial intelligence, powerful data insight from our proprietary data repository, and decades of risk management expertise. The company’s data and technology solutions quickly and accurately identify truthful and untruthful disclosures on loan applications. As a result, lenders can fund the majority of loans without requiring onerous documentation from consumers, such as pay stubs, utility bills, or bank statements, improving funding rates while reducing early payment default losses. Subsequently, borrowers get loans faster, and lenders realize a more profitable bottom line.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How viruses blur the boundaries of life

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Heshmat Borhani, Lecturer in Bioinformatics, University of Nottingham

    Cryptographer/Shutterstock

    When people talk about the coronavirus, they sometimes describe this invisible entity as if it has a personality and even a conscience. If you ask a biology or medical student what a virus is, they will tell you that a virus is not a living organism, or at most that it exists at the border between living and dead – a kind of walking dead.

    For biologists who specialise in virology, however, this view is not clear-cut. Scientists still disagree on whether viruses are truly alive or not.

    What scientists can agree on is that a virus adapts to new conditions, evolves and sometimes harms humans. It is also an infectious agent that can only replicate within a host organism such as bacteria, plants or animals.

    The boundary between being alive and dead is a concept with no specific criteria. So to help you think about whether viruses are alive, I will talk you through some of the different definitions of life in science.

    Throughout history, scientists have debated the definition of life and researchers from different fields still disagree. This debate shapes scientific understanding and influences public health decisions – for example, defining whether viruses are “alive” affects how we design vaccines and strategies to stop their spread.

    Biologists may refer you to Erwin Schrödinger’s definition of life. Schrödinger was an Austrian Nobel-prize winning physicist who published a book in 1944 called What is Life? He was one of the first scientists to try to define life and is perhaps better known in popular culture for his “Schrödinger’s cat” thought experiment.

    He proposed that life is a form of negative “entropy”, a scientific concept that explains how disordered something is. A physical system will always increase in entropy/disorder unless we insert energy to change this process. Schrödinger thought living things create and maintain order by using energy.

    For example, a messy bedroom doesn’t clean itself, but a person can tidy it. Organisms do something similar at the molecular level. DNA is highly structured, allowing it to store genetic information. Proteins fold into specific shapes to function properly. In contrast, after an organism dies, its molecules break down, increasing disorder.

    Schrödinger later revised his view – around the 1950s – suggesting that life depends on free energy. Free energy is the energy that drives chemical reactions in living things. This marked a shift from focusing on order (negative entropy) to emphasising energy as essential for life.

    The coronavirus took on a personality for many people.
    creativeneko/Shutterstock

    In the mid-20th century, scientists switched from defining life to describing its key characteristics. Studying organisms such as bacteria, plants and animals, they identified common traits, setting a precedent still followed today.

    Rather than seeking a single definition, researchers classify entities based on these traits. To decide whether a virus is alive, researchers assess how well it meets these criteria.

    According to biology, the smallest unit of life is the cell. A cell is an independent unit which makes functional molecules (such as proteins and enzymes). Cells can use their own molecules to replicate genetic material independently. A virus also has genetic material but needs to use the host cell’s enzymes to make functional molecules or replicate its genetic material.

    Put simply, a virus does not replicate or function independently. So by the biological definition, a virus cannot be categorised as a living organism.

    But from a genetic and evolutionary point of view a living organism is defined by its ability to reproduce. A person who does not have children is still considered to be alive as they are part of the gene pool and descended from people who did have children. From this view a virus is alive, since it can produce similar offspring.

    Some scientists also focus on metabolism and energy production as criteria for life. Metabolism includes catabolism (breaking down molecules like sugars during digestion) and anabolism (building molecules like muscle tissue), linking energy and material. These reactions require molecular structures to generate or use energy – structures viruses lack.

    Does that mean viruses aren’t alive? An amoeba, for instance, uses nutrients and enzymes to sustain itself, while viruses rely entirely on a host. From this perspective, viruses don’t meet the metabolic criteria for life. However, some argue that since viruses hijack a host’s metabolism to replicate, they show life-like behaviour.

    If we consider nutrients to be sources of free energy, a cell uses energy from the environment to build what it needs. As the cell absorbs energy from the environment, it builds and maintains its internal structures – like proteins and membranes.

    It also releases a byproduct – carbon dioxide – that contributes to disorder in the external environment. Viruses also do this. They make their structures by using the external environment, a host cell in this case. The viruses’ byproducts may be what makes us sick.

    As we explore the complexities of biology, it becomes clear that defining life itself is anything but straightforward. Viruses display both life-like and non-living traits, which influences how we approach treatments like antiviral drugs designed to block their replication inside host cells.

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

    – ref. How viruses blur the boundaries of life – https://theconversation.com/how-viruses-blur-the-boundaries-of-life-230802

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Who really killed Canada’s carbon tax? Friends and foes alike

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ryan M. Katz-Rosene, Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, with Cross-Appointment to Geography, Environment and Geomatics, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

    In his very first act as prime minister, Mark Carney did what critics had long demanded — he axed the federal carbon tax. Yet while Carney was the one who dealt the final blow, there were many who aided and abetted in its death.

    Since it was first proposed nearly a decade ago, the Liberal government’s keystone climate policy, the consumer carbon tax, became the target of both legal and political attacks. Nevertheless, these attacks were held at bay thanks in part to the 2021 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of carbon pricing and the Liberals’ success in maintaining power.

    The axing of the consumer carbon tax marks a major turning point in Canadian climate policy. It shifts the discussion from the effects of the fuel charge on household budgets to how to best compel large industrial emitters to reduce their climate impact in a swiftly evolving global trade context.



    Read more:
    The carbon tax needs fixing, not axing — Canada needs a progressive carbon tax

    The Liberals now propose instead a system of financial incentives for household-level purchases, while expanding the existing industrial pricing mechanism and potentially applying a carbon adjustment levy on imports from countries with lax environmental standards.

    The Conservatives, on the other hand, are vowing to do away with the industrial carbon pricing system, promoting clean tech innovation and manufacturing through financial incentives at the producer level, and offering greater autonomy to the provinces to set their own climate policies.

    Cost-effective, regressive

    The death of the consumer carbon tax serves as a predictable political tragedy in the Shakespearean sense of the word: widely regarded by scholars and other experts as a cost-effective and non-regressive tool to further reduce the carbon emissions, the tax ultimately fell to relentless populist attacks when its original proponents and supporters caved to this pressure.

    It’s useful to break down the various layers of support for — and opposition to — the tax to examine the role each played in its death.



    Read more:
    What the Supreme Court ruling on national carbon pricing means for the fight against climate change

    The most obvious contributors involved the political opponents of the Liberal Party and critics of former prime minister Justin Trudeau. This included not only the federal Conservative Party and provincial Conservative premiers, but also the rising anti-Trudeau populism that manifested early on, even before the tax’s introduction.

    These sentiments were seen in the Canadian Yellow Vests movement; “Wexit” and subsequently the so-called Freedom Convoy, which started as an anti-COVID-19 vaccine, anti-lockdown movement but morphed into a “carbon tax convoy” in the post-lockdown years.

    The role of inflation

    These populist movements were in part nourished by the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre after he became leader in 2022, and helped drive further support for the party in the years to follow.

    Circumstantial factors — such as the global inflation crisis — played a key role too. By 2023, Poilievre capitalized on the first annual carbon tax rate increase to associate it with ongoing inflation, launching the widely popular “Axe the Tax” campaign.

    This campaign, bolstered by a significant amount of misinformation, played a significant role in driving popular discontent with the policy.



    Read more:
    The Canada Carbon Rebate is still widely misunderstood — here’s why

    Former allies

    In responding to this rising popular discontent, some of the federal Liberals’ allies and original supporters of carbon pricing also played a role in further weakening the policy.

    For instance, sympathetic provincial premiers who in principle supported federal climate policy began to distance themselves from the carbon tax. In 2024, Manitoba’s NDP Premier Wab Kinew, British Columbia’s NDP Premier David Eby, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Liberal Premier Andrew Furey and New Brunswick’s Liberal Premier Susan Holt all made public comments seeking an end (or an alternative) to the carbon levy.

    Yet the most significant loss of support from a former ally came when NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh withdrew the federal NDP from the supply-and-confidence agreement it made with the Liberals, citing concerns that the carbon tax was placing a burden on everyday working Canadians.

    This withdrawal of support put the government on track for either a non-confidence vote or prorogation, which in turn fuelled an even further slide in voter support for the carbon tax.



    Read more:
    What does the end of the Liberal-NDP agreement mean for Canadians?

    Party leadership

    It was the Liberal Party’s own inside leadership circle that dealt the final blows to the tax.

    Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation late in 2024 hastened Trudeau’s political downfall earlier this year. Both leading candidates to replace Trudeau — including Freeland herself and the eventual winner, Carney — centred their campaigns around bringing an end to the tax, noting how the policy was too divisive.

    Yet the Liberal leadership also made several strategic missteps in recent years that contributed to the demise of the tax.

    For one, the party’s 2023 exemption for heating oil undermined the credibility of the policy and gave rise to charges of regional favouritism. Similarly, the party’s consistently poor communications around the carbon tax rebate — including difficulties in properly labelling the reimbursement cheques sent to Canadians — was yet another self-inflicted wound.

    Policy death

    Six years after its introduction, the federal consumer carbon tax was scrapped — ironically by the very party that had championed it for years.

    Yet the list of those who aided and abetted includes a secondary group of previous allies and other entities who in recent years publicly turned their backs on the carbon tax. That eroded public support for a policy that was already facing concerted attacks from Conservative political opponents and growing anti-Trudeau populism.

    While the tax could conceivably be replaced by an equally effective tool, its repeal increases uncertainty about Canada’s ability to meet its already faltering international commitments to support climate change mitigation.

    Ryan M. Katz-Rosene receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. Who really killed Canada’s carbon tax? Friends and foes alike – https://theconversation.com/who-really-killed-canadas-carbon-tax-friends-and-foes-alike-252364

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nuclear war threat: why Africa’s pushing for a complete ban

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Olamide Samuel, Track II Diplomat and Expert in Nuclear Politics, University of Leicester

    At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, intensified by strategic dynamics involving the US, Nato and Russia over Europe’s security, nuclear weapons are back on the agenda.

    In recent times, Russia has openly threatened to use nuclear weapons. The UK and France are considering ways to rapidly increase their nuclear weapons stockpiles.

    Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland, South Korea and Japan are now seeking nuclear weapons capabilities.

    Even a limited nuclear war in Europe would lead to catastrophic global climatic effects. Huge amounts of debris thrown high into the atmosphere would block sunlight, causing global temperatures to drop sharply. It would be much harder to grow food around the world.

    This would severely threaten Africa’s food security, exacerbating mass migration, disrupting supply chains and potentially collapsing public order systems.

    How should African countries respond to this growing threat?

    Based on my experience in nuclear non-proliferation and politics, I argue that African leaders need to proactively confront the risks, while there is still time.

    All African states, except for South Sudan, abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is an international agreement which limits the spread of nuclear weapons. And 43 African states have gone further to join the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba). This was negotiated in the belief that it would “protect African states against possible nuclear attacks on their territories”.

    As conflict and uncertainty pushes many western leaders to support the madness of nuclear weapons proliferation, African leaders are in a unique position to push back against this.

    Africa’s strength in numbers in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Nuclear Ban Treaty, is a vehicle the continent can use to address nuclear weapons risks, head-on.

    Global divide

    On one side, nuclear-armed states cling to deterrence for their national security. They insist that possessing nuclear arsenals keeps them safe.

    At present, there are nine nuclear-armed states: the US, Russia, the UK, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. These countries possess around 12,331 nuclear warheads (as of 2025).

    The use of only 10% of these weapons could disrupt the global climate and threaten the lives of up to 2 billion people.

    On the other side, African countries and other non-nuclear-weapon states such as Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and Mexico highlight how deterrence creates unacceptable risks for the entire international community.

    This global majority – the 93 countries that have signed the Nuclear Ban Treaty and 73 that are party to it – argue that real safety comes from eliminating nuclear threats.

    The Nuclear Ban Treaty became international law on 22 January 2021. It is the first instance of international law challenging the legality and morality of nuclear deterrence.

    Since 2022, states parties to the Nuclear Ban Treaty have held formal meetings to address current nuclear risks. In March 2025, at their third meeting, 17 African states officially recognised nuclear deterrence as a critical security concern. They called on nuclear armed states to end deterrence.

    The deterioration of the international security environment is so palpable that there has been a noticeable shift in nuclear ban states’ perception of nuclear threats. Nuclear disarmament is no longer just a humanitarian or moral concern to these states, it is now a national security concern.

    South Africa warned that

    any use of nuclear weapons would result in catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would have a global impact.

    Ghana likewise stressed that Africa is not immune to nuclear war’s fallout:

    Africa, despite its geographic distance from the immediate hotspots of nuclear conflict, is not immune to the repercussions of nuclear weapons.

    Africa bears a unique historical connection to nuclear issues. Nuclear testing in the Sahara Desert in the 1960s, when France detonated nuclear bombs in Algeria, had devastating consequences. Widespread radioactive contamination harmed local communities, caused long-lasting health problems, displaced populations, and left large areas environmentally damaged and unsafe for generations.

    For its part, Nigeria recalled that Africa had “long acknowledged the existential threat nuclear weapons posed to human existence.”

    The meeting determined that it is unacceptable that states parties are exposed to nuclear risks, “created without their control and without accountability”. It stressed that eliminating nuclear risks “is a prime and legitimate concern and national responsibility” of states.

    Next steps

    Delegates effectively asked whether their own national security concerns had less value than those of nuclear-armed states. I think this is a valid question.

    Africa’s leaders and their allies in the Nuclear Ban Treaty are reframing what “national security” means in the nuclear age.

    Rather than accepting a world perpetually held hostage by the madness of nuclear deterrence, they are asserting that the security of nations – and of peoples – is best served by dismantling this threat to humanity.

    They are prioritising human life, development and international law over the threat of overwhelming force.

    The outcome of this contest will have profound implications, not just for Africa but for the entire globe.

    Olamide Samuel is affiliated with the Open Nuclear Network.

    – ref. Nuclear war threat: why Africa’s pushing for a complete ban – https://theconversation.com/nuclear-war-threat-why-africas-pushing-for-a-complete-ban-253171

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Rwanda and Belgium are at odds over the DRC: what’s led to the latest low point

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Jonathan Beloff, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King’s College London

    Rwanda’s foreign affairs ministry suspended all diplomatic relations with Belgium in March 2025. Soon afterwards, Belgium expelled Rwandan diplomats. This came weeks after Belgium had suspended foreign aid to Rwanda. At the root of this diplomatic fallout is the resurgence of the rebel group, March 23 Movement (M23), which has made recent military gains in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Prior to Rwanda suspending diplomatic relations, President Paul Kagame accused Belgium of continually undermining Rwanda. This deterioration in Rwanda-Belgium relations illustrates decades of the Kagame regime’s lack of trust in Brussels since the 1994 genocide. Jonathan Beloff, who has studied Rwanda’s political, security and foreign policies for nearly two decades, explains.

    What is the historical relationship between Rwanda and Belgium?

    Belgium is perhaps better known for having colonised the Congo. However, it also colonised present-day Rwanda and neighbouring Burundi.

    Belgian forces conquered Rwanda, a former German colony, in 1916 during the first world war. They got help from nearby British forces in Uganda. The Treaty of Versailles, which brought an end to the world war, officially transferred Rwanda and Burundi to Belgium’s colonial holdings.

    While Rwanda was never a significant interest for the Belgian colonial authorities compared to neighbouring Congo, Brussels nevertheless helped shape Rwandan politics, economy and society for decades.

    Rwanda’s current government claims that ethnic divisions of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa only came to the foreground during Belgian colonial rule, which ended in 1962. Before German and Belgian colonisation, Rwandan officials described these communities as socio-economic groupings rather than ethnicities. It was only with the introduction of ethnic identification cards in 1933 that these groups became intractable ethnicities.

    During much of its rule, Belgium used the existing political structures of kings, called Mwami, to carry out colonial policies.

    While a majority of Tutsis and Hutus suffered under these policies, Belgian officials often blamed the Mwami and his courts. The Mwami was often a Tutsi based on the number of cattle he owned. This led to a growing anti-Tutsi sentiment within the majority Hutu population.

    Eventually, it boiled over and led to the 1959 Hutu Revolution and the 1961 Coup of Gitarama. This anti-Tutsi sentiment established much of the political order following Rwandan independence in July 1962.

    What key moments have shaped the relationship?

    Prior to Rwandan independence, Belgium’s political allegiance shifted away from the mostly Tutsi Mwami and their power base to the growing Hutu movement. Under Rwanda’s Hutu leader and later first post-independence president Grégoire Kayibanda, Belgium began favouring Hutus. The community got increased education opportunities. Its leaders were given more say over post-colonial political events than the Mwami and his court.

    Rwanda-Belgium relations focused on promoting the majority Hutu population, despite some discontent from conservative, mostly Tutsi, actors. With independence, Belgium played an important but diminishing role. It did not provide the financial support Kigali wanted. In response, Kigali turned to France, whose influence grew significantly under President Juvénal Habyarimana (1973-1994).

    Despite their diminished state, relations between Rwanda and Belgium were still important. Belgium became the primary western nation to help provide stability in Rwanda during the waning years of the Rwandan Civil War (1990-1994), known locally as the Liberation War.

    A peace deal in 1993, called the Arusha Accords, between the Rwandan Patriotic Front and the Habyarimana regime paved the way for a UN mission. However, getting western nations to send soldiers for the mission proved difficult. This was after a peacekeeping disaster in Somalia (the Battle of Mogadishu) earlier that year. As a result, Belgium ended up providing the bulk of troops for the Rwanda mission.

    The assassination of Habyarimana on 6 April 1994 triggered the Genocide against the Tutsi. The UN mission’s commander sent a platoon to guard the home of prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. The platoon had 10 Belgian and five Ghanaian soldiers. They were captured when Rwandan Presidential Guard officers stormed Uwilingiyimana’s home and killed her.

    The Ghanaian soldiers were released relatively unharmed, while the Belgian soldiers were killed at the Camp Kigali military base. The murders were intended to provoke the UN mission’s withdrawal from Rwanda. Belgian troops departed within the genocide’s first week. This allowed Rwanda’s genocide to run uninterrupted for 100 days until the Rwandan Patriotic Front stopped it in July 1994.

    Since the genocide, the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front has had a sceptical view of Belgium. In 2000, former prime minister Guy Verhofstadt apologised for Belgium’s failure to stop the genocide and for fostering ethnic divisions during the colonial period.

    Nevertheless, many Rwandan officials still believe Brussels hasn’t done enough to acknowledge its colonial record.

    What’s behind the current fallout?

    The current diplomatic crisis erupted because of accusations of Rwandan involvement in eastern DRC. UN experts’ reports have accused Rwanda of supporting the reanimated M23. The rebel group has captured large swathes of eastern DRC.

    Belgium has been leading calls for European sanctions against Rwanda for this involvement. However, Rwanda – which denies supporting the M23 – claims that Belgium’s accusations are aimed at gaining favourable mining rights in the DRC.

    Relations between the two countries have been deteriorating steadily in 2025. In February, Rwanda suspended a five-year (2024-2029) €95 million (US$102.8 million) deal. This was one of the largest aid deals between the two countries. In March, in addition to the suspension of diplomatic ties, the Rwanda Governance Board, which registers and monitors non-governmental organisations, placed restrictions on NGOs receiving financial support from Belgium.

    What’s the impact of this diplomatic falling out?

    Rwanda-Belgium relations have never broken down to the current level.

    It is unlikely to last in the long term. Like many other donor nations, Belgium needs Rwanda as a case study for proper aid utilisation and for its contribution to African peacekeeping.

    Rwanda is Africa’s most active troop-contributing country to UN missions and the fourth most active worldwide. Its primary political, security and economic allies remain the United States and the United Kingdom. While relations with these two nations are strained, they’re not at the level reached with Belgium.

    Nevertheless, the current state of affairs will continue in the near future unless the M23 is defeated. The only available avenues for quick restoration of relations are if Belgium apologises for seemingly siding with the DRC over Rwanda in the conflict in eastern Congo and repeats its apology for its colonial legacy. Neither of these options seems likely in the short term.

    Jonathan Beloff received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/W001217/1).

    – ref. Rwanda and Belgium are at odds over the DRC: what’s led to the latest low point – https://theconversation.com/rwanda-and-belgium-are-at-odds-over-the-drc-whats-led-to-the-latest-low-point-253349

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Nuclear war threat: why Africa’s pushing for a complete ban

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Olamide Samuel, Track II Diplomat and Expert in Nuclear Politics, University of Leicester

    At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, intensified by strategic dynamics involving the US, Nato and Russia over Europe’s security, nuclear weapons are back on the agenda.

    In recent times, Russia has openly threatened to use nuclear weapons. The UK and France are considering ways to rapidly increase their nuclear weapons stockpiles.

    Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland, South Korea and Japan are now seeking nuclear weapons capabilities.

    Even a limited nuclear war in Europe would lead to catastrophic global climatic effects. Huge amounts of debris thrown high into the atmosphere would block sunlight, causing global temperatures to drop sharply. It would be much harder to grow food around the world.

    This would severely threaten Africa’s food security, exacerbating mass migration, disrupting supply chains and potentially collapsing public order systems.

    How should African countries respond to this growing threat?

    Based on my experience in nuclear non-proliferation and politics, I argue that African leaders need to proactively confront the risks, while there is still time.

    All African states, except for South Sudan, abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is an international agreement which limits the spread of nuclear weapons. And 43 African states have gone further to join the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba). This was negotiated in the belief that it would “protect African states against possible nuclear attacks on their territories”.

    As conflict and uncertainty pushes many western leaders to support the madness of nuclear weapons proliferation, African leaders are in a unique position to push back against this.

    Africa’s strength in numbers in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Nuclear Ban Treaty, is a vehicle the continent can use to address nuclear weapons risks, head-on.

    Global divide

    On one side, nuclear-armed states cling to deterrence for their national security. They insist that possessing nuclear arsenals keeps them safe.

    At present, there are nine nuclear-armed states: the US, Russia, the UK, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. These countries possess around 12,331 nuclear warheads (as of 2025).

    The use of only 10% of these weapons could disrupt the global climate and threaten the lives of up to 2 billion people.

    On the other side, African countries and other non-nuclear-weapon states such as Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and Mexico highlight how deterrence creates unacceptable risks for the entire international community.

    This global majority – the 93 countries that have signed the Nuclear Ban Treaty and 73 that are party to it – argue that real safety comes from eliminating nuclear threats.

    The Nuclear Ban Treaty became international law on 22 January 2021. It is the first instance of international law challenging the legality and morality of nuclear deterrence.

    Since 2022, states parties to the Nuclear Ban Treaty have held formal meetings to address current nuclear risks. In March 2025, at their third meeting, 17 African states officially recognised nuclear deterrence as a critical security concern. They called on nuclear armed states to end deterrence.

    The deterioration of the international security environment is so palpable that there has been a noticeable shift in nuclear ban states’ perception of nuclear threats. Nuclear disarmament is no longer just a humanitarian or moral concern to these states, it is now a national security concern.

    South Africa warned that

    any use of nuclear weapons would result in catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would have a global impact.

    Ghana likewise stressed that Africa is not immune to nuclear war’s fallout:

    Africa, despite its geographic distance from the immediate hotspots of nuclear conflict, is not immune to the repercussions of nuclear weapons.

    Africa bears a unique historical connection to nuclear issues. Nuclear testing in the Sahara Desert in the 1960s, when France detonated nuclear bombs in Algeria, had devastating consequences. Widespread radioactive contamination harmed local communities, caused long-lasting health problems, displaced populations, and left large areas environmentally damaged and unsafe for generations.

    For its part, Nigeria recalled that Africa had “long acknowledged the existential threat nuclear weapons posed to human existence.”

    The meeting determined that it is unacceptable that states parties are exposed to nuclear risks, “created without their control and without accountability”. It stressed that eliminating nuclear risks “is a prime and legitimate concern and national responsibility” of states.

    Next steps

    Delegates effectively asked whether their own national security concerns had less value than those of nuclear-armed states. I think this is a valid question.

    Africa’s leaders and their allies in the Nuclear Ban Treaty are reframing what “national security” means in the nuclear age.

    Rather than accepting a world perpetually held hostage by the madness of nuclear deterrence, they are asserting that the security of nations – and of peoples – is best served by dismantling this threat to humanity.

    They are prioritising human life, development and international law over the threat of overwhelming force.

    The outcome of this contest will have profound implications, not just for Africa but for the entire globe.

    – Nuclear war threat: why Africa’s pushing for a complete ban
    – https://theconversation.com/nuclear-war-threat-why-africas-pushing-for-a-complete-ban-253171

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Rwanda and Belgium are at odds over the DRC: what’s led to the latest low point

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Jonathan Beloff, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King’s College London

    Rwanda’s foreign affairs ministry suspended all diplomatic relations with Belgium in March 2025. Soon afterwards, Belgium expelled Rwandan diplomats. This came weeks after Belgium had suspended foreign aid to Rwanda. At the root of this diplomatic fallout is the resurgence of the rebel group, March 23 Movement (M23), which has made recent military gains in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Prior to Rwanda suspending diplomatic relations, President Paul Kagame accused Belgium of continually undermining Rwanda. This deterioration in Rwanda-Belgium relations illustrates decades of the Kagame regime’s lack of trust in Brussels since the 1994 genocide. Jonathan Beloff, who has studied Rwanda’s political, security and foreign policies for nearly two decades, explains.

    What is the historical relationship between Rwanda and Belgium?

    Belgium is perhaps better known for having colonised the Congo. However, it also colonised present-day Rwanda and neighbouring Burundi.

    Belgian forces conquered Rwanda, a former German colony, in 1916 during the first world war. They got help from nearby British forces in Uganda. The Treaty of Versailles, which brought an end to the world war, officially transferred Rwanda and Burundi to Belgium’s colonial holdings.

    While Rwanda was never a significant interest for the Belgian colonial authorities compared to neighbouring Congo, Brussels nevertheless helped shape Rwandan politics, economy and society for decades.

    Rwanda’s current government claims that ethnic divisions of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa only came to the foreground during Belgian colonial rule, which ended in 1962. Before German and Belgian colonisation, Rwandan officials described these communities as socio-economic groupings rather than ethnicities. It was only with the introduction of ethnic identification cards in 1933 that these groups became intractable ethnicities.

    During much of its rule, Belgium used the existing political structures of kings, called Mwami, to carry out colonial policies.

    While a majority of Tutsis and Hutus suffered under these policies, Belgian officials often blamed the Mwami and his courts. The Mwami was often a Tutsi based on the number of cattle he owned. This led to a growing anti-Tutsi sentiment within the majority Hutu population.

    Eventually, it boiled over and led to the 1959 Hutu Revolution and the 1961 Coup of Gitarama. This anti-Tutsi sentiment established much of the political order following Rwandan independence in July 1962.

    What key moments have shaped the relationship?

    Prior to Rwandan independence, Belgium’s political allegiance shifted away from the mostly Tutsi Mwami and their power base to the growing Hutu movement. Under Rwanda’s Hutu leader and later first post-independence president Grégoire Kayibanda, Belgium began favouring Hutus. The community got increased education opportunities. Its leaders were given more say over post-colonial political events than the Mwami and his court.

    Rwanda-Belgium relations focused on promoting the majority Hutu population, despite some discontent from conservative, mostly Tutsi, actors. With independence, Belgium played an important but diminishing role. It did not provide the financial support Kigali wanted. In response, Kigali turned to France, whose influence grew significantly under President Juvénal Habyarimana (1973-1994).

    Despite their diminished state, relations between Rwanda and Belgium were still important. Belgium became the primary western nation to help provide stability in Rwanda during the waning years of the Rwandan Civil War (1990-1994), known locally as the Liberation War.

    A peace deal in 1993, called the Arusha Accords, between the Rwandan Patriotic Front and the Habyarimana regime paved the way for a UN mission. However, getting western nations to send soldiers for the mission proved difficult. This was after a peacekeeping disaster in Somalia (the Battle of Mogadishu) earlier that year. As a result, Belgium ended up providing the bulk of troops for the Rwanda mission.

    The assassination of Habyarimana on 6 April 1994 triggered the Genocide against the Tutsi. The UN mission’s commander sent a platoon to guard the home of prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. The platoon had 10 Belgian and five Ghanaian soldiers. They were captured when Rwandan Presidential Guard officers stormed Uwilingiyimana’s home and killed her.

    The Ghanaian soldiers were released relatively unharmed, while the Belgian soldiers were killed at the Camp Kigali military base. The murders were intended to provoke the UN mission’s withdrawal from Rwanda. Belgian troops departed within the genocide’s first week. This allowed Rwanda’s genocide to run uninterrupted for 100 days until the Rwandan Patriotic Front stopped it in July 1994.

    Since the genocide, the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front has had a sceptical view of Belgium. In 2000, former prime minister Guy Verhofstadt apologised for Belgium’s failure to stop the genocide and for fostering ethnic divisions during the colonial period.

    Nevertheless, many Rwandan officials still believe Brussels hasn’t done enough to acknowledge its colonial record.

    What’s behind the current fallout?

    The current diplomatic crisis erupted because of accusations of Rwandan involvement in eastern DRC. UN experts’ reports have accused Rwanda of supporting the reanimated M23. The rebel group has captured large swathes of eastern DRC.

    Belgium has been leading calls for European sanctions against Rwanda for this involvement. However, Rwanda – which denies supporting the M23 – claims that Belgium’s accusations are aimed at gaining favourable mining rights in the DRC.

    Relations between the two countries have been deteriorating steadily in 2025. In February, Rwanda suspended a five-year (2024-2029) €95 million (US$102.8 million) deal. This was one of the largest aid deals between the two countries. In March, in addition to the suspension of diplomatic ties, the Rwanda Governance Board, which registers and monitors non-governmental organisations, placed restrictions on NGOs receiving financial support from Belgium.

    What’s the impact of this diplomatic falling out?

    Rwanda-Belgium relations have never broken down to the current level.

    It is unlikely to last in the long term. Like many other donor nations, Belgium needs Rwanda as a case study for proper aid utilisation and for its contribution to African peacekeeping.

    Rwanda is Africa’s most active troop-contributing country to UN missions and the fourth most active worldwide. Its primary political, security and economic allies remain the United States and the United Kingdom. While relations with these two nations are strained, they’re not at the level reached with Belgium.

    Nevertheless, the current state of affairs will continue in the near future unless the M23 is defeated. The only available avenues for quick restoration of relations are if Belgium apologises for seemingly siding with the DRC over Rwanda in the conflict in eastern Congo and repeats its apology for its colonial legacy. Neither of these options seems likely in the short term.

    – Rwanda and Belgium are at odds over the DRC: what’s led to the latest low point
    – https://theconversation.com/rwanda-and-belgium-are-at-odds-over-the-drc-whats-led-to-the-latest-low-point-253349

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Department of Defense Completes Underway Recovery Test 12 with NASA

    Source: United States Navy

    SAN DIEGO — NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Landing and Recovery team and the Department of Defense successfully completed the third recovery test for the crewed Artemis II mission aboard amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD 25) off the coast of San Diego, March 31.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sullivan, Peters, and Murkowski Introduce Resolution to Preserve Independent USPS

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Lisa Murkowski

    03.28.25

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced a bipartisan resolution to support the independence and critical public service mission of the United States Postal Service, emphasizing the essential role the Postal Service has played in connecting and serving Americans, especially in rural communities. Sens. Sullivan and Peters were joined in introducing the resolution by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

    “In a state as vast as ours, with many remote communities only accessible by air or water, the USPS serves as an essential government agency that keeps postal services affordable for Alaskans,” Senator Sullivan said. “The Bypass Mail program—a lifeline for Rural Alaska that I have fought for since becoming a senator—allows the USPS to fulfill its universal service obligation to deliver goods and services to even the most remote parts of our state. I will forcefully oppose any action that threatens that program. I am glad to work with my colleagues from other rural states on this resolution to oppose the privatization of the Postal Service and ensure that this critical agency remains focused on its statutory requirement to reliably deliver mail to every household, no matter how remote.”  

    “Federal statute has long recognized that the Postal Service’s core purpose is ‘to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.’ In Alaska, where most communities are unconnected by road and where internet connectivity—when available—is often unreliable or prohibitively expensive, we rely on the USPS to deliver vital basic necessities, whether that is food, medicine, election ballots, spare parts, store inventory, or subsistence supplies,” said Senator Murkowski. “I am proud to co-sponsor this resolution again to reaffirm the significance of the United States Postal Service as an independent establishment of the Federal Government and to reject its privatization.”

    “For more than 250 years, the Postal Service has been a cornerstone of our nation, connecting every household and business across the country,” said Senator Peters. “Any efforts to undermine the Postal Service’s independence or privatize it would jeopardize affordable, universal mail service and harm the millions of Americans—especially veterans, small business owners, and rural communities—who rely on the Postal Service every day. This resolution reaffirms our commitment to keeping the Postal Service independent and self-sustaining, ensuring it continues to serve as a vital lifeline for all Americans.”

    “The privatization of the United States Postal Service would be devastating to Alaskans not only in remote communities, but throughout the state. The Postal Service currently serves all Alaskans, regardless of where they live. It serves many areas of the state that are not profitable for other shippers. If the Postal Service is privatized, it will significantly increase shipping costs throughout the state and be devastating to Alaska’s economy. All Alaska letter carriers of the National Association of Letter Carriers stands by Senator Sullivan in his efforts to keep the Postal Service a public service to all Alaskans,” said Chris Crutchfield, Alaska State Chair for the National Association of Letter Carriers.

    The full text of the resolution can be found here.

    BACKGROUND

    Since 1775, the United States Postal Service and its dedicated postal workforce have performed the essential government function of “providing postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people” and “rendering postal services to all communities” (39 USC 101). Across the nation today, 630,000 postal employees deliver the mail to more than 168 million residential and business customers, six days a week. The Postal Service is consistently the highest-rated government agency in nonpartisan opinion polls. It also plays a crucial role in our national security, protecting us from mail-borne threats.

    In support of the Postal Service, this bipartisan resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure the Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization. The resolution also recognizes:

    • The Postal Service is at the center of the $1.9 trillion mailing industry, which employs 7.9 million people in the United States.
    • The Postal Service is a self-sustaining, independent establishment that relies on revenue derived from the sale of postal services and products, not on taxpayer funds.
    • The Postal Service maintains an affordable and universal network, connecting rural, suburban, and urban communities.
    • Postal Service employees, including over 73,000 military veterans, are dedicated public servants who serve as the eyes and ears of our communities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murkowski, Bennet Urge Trump Administration to Reinstate Critical Protections for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Lisa Murkowski

    03.27.25

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to express bipartisan concern following EOIR’s decision to rescind the 2023 Memorandum on Children’s Cases in Immigration Court and reinstate 2017 guidelines. This decision weakens critical protections for unaccompanied migrant children, increases inefficiencies in the immigration court system, and risks higher levels of child trafficking and exploitation.

    “The 2023 memorandum established specialized juvenile dockets with dedicated judges, child-appropriate court practices, and stronger safeguards against trafficking. It also improved address verification to reduce procedural errors that often lead to removal orders for children who never received proper notice of their hearings,” wrote Murkowski and Bennet .

    In their letter, the senators express concern that reverting to the 2017 guidelines undermines important safeguards, increases case backlogs, and weakens protections. It also reintroduces a tone of suspicion toward unaccompanied minors rather than recognizing their vulnerabilities and need for fair proceedings.

    “EOIR must ensure that immigration proceedings for unaccompanied children remain fair, efficient, and protective against trafficking. This includes maintaining specialized juvenile dockets, strengthening interagency coordination, and preserving procedures that prevent unnecessary delays and due process failures,” continued the senators. 

    In 2023, Murkowski and Bennet introduced the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act, a bipartisan bill to establish a dedicated Children’s Court within EOIR. The legislation would combat the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for unaccompanied migrant children. 

    The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

    Dear Acting Director Owen:

    We write with deep concern over the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s decision to rescind the Director’s 2023 Memorandum on Children’s Cases in Immigration Court (DM 24-01) and reinstate the 2017 Guidelines. This decision weakens critical protections for unaccompanied children, increases inefficiencies in the immigration court system, and risks greater trafficking and exploitation.

    The 2023 memorandum established specialized juvenile dockets with dedicated judges, child-appropriate court practices, and stronger safeguards against trafficking. It also improved address verification to reduce procedural errors that often lead to removal orders for children who never received proper notice of their hearings. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security committed to training government attorneys to identify trafficking indicators and assess legal relief options for children.

    Reverting to the 2017 guidelines undermines these safeguards, increases case backlogs, and weakens protections under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008. It also reintroduces a tone of suspicion toward unaccompanied minors rather than recognizing their vulnerabilities and need for fair proceedings. EOIR must ensure that immigration proceedings for unaccompanied children remain fair, efficient, and protective against trafficking. This includes maintaining specialized juvenile dockets, strengthening interagency coordination, and preserving procedures that prevent unnecessary delays and due process failures.

    Congress has long recognized the need for reforms that balance efficiency with fairness. That’s why we introduced the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act, a bipartisan bill to establish a dedicated Children’s Court within EOIR. This legislation would ensure trained judges oversee these cases with the expertise and resources they require. We urge EOIR to consider these principles moving forward.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Secretary Rubio Visits Jamaica, Guyana, and Suriname

    Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)

    Secretary Rubio: We need mutually beneficial relationships. That’s how we achieve positive results like we’re seeing right now in the Caribbean.

    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

    The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at www.state.gov and on social media!
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    Subscribe to the State Department Blog: https://www.state.gov/blogs
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    #StateDepartment #DepartmentofState #Diplomacy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asRfHTRUZkY

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Media Advisory: District Court in Prince George’s County offers Schools in the Court program for high school students

    Source: US State of Maryland

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    March 31, 2025

    Government Relations and Public Affairs
    187 Harry S. Truman Parkway
    Annapolis, Maryland 21401

    Media Advisory:
    District Court in Prince George’s County offers Schools in the Court program for high school students

    UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – In a unique court educational program, students will learn about the benefits and consequences of familiar decisions. The program includes a mock traffic stop where students will see in real-time the legal implications of bad decisions. This interactive program allows the students to meet and interact with key players in the legal process, including police officers, K-9 officers, commissioners, assistant public defenders, assistant state’s attorneys, bailiffs, clerks, and judges. Students will learn about the dangers of fentanyl and the impact of narcotics on the developing juvenile brain. In addition, students will have an opportunity to engage judges and court personnel in a question-and-answer session regarding the Judiciary.

    WHO:

    Administrative Judge Lisa Hall Johnson, Prince George’s County District Court, and Judge Cheri Simpkins, Prince George’s County Circuit Court, presiding judges

    Students from Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. and Frederick Douglass High Schools
    WHAT: Schools in the Court Program
    WHEN: Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 9 a.m.
    WHERE: Prince George’s County District Court 
    Courtroom 357, Bourne Wing
    14735 Main Street
    Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-3042

    Please contact the Maryland Judiciary, Government Relations and Public Affairs Division, at [email protected] or 410-260-1488, to attend or for questions. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom during the program but not during the student-observed court docket portion. If Prince George’s County Public Schools has a delayed opening or school closure, the Schools in the Court program will be cancelled.

    There are 80 metered public spaces in the surface lot in front of the courthouse. There is metered parking available near the courthouse at a rate of $.75 per hour with a two-hour maximum. Additionally, the Equestrian Center has four free satellite parking lots with free shuttle service to the courthouse.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Strengthening Infrastructure in the Bronx and Beyond

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today announced the completion of a $66.4 million project that replaced the bridge carrying the Bronx River Parkway over the Metro-North Railroad in the Wakefield and Woodlawn neighborhoods of the Bronx. The project replaced a 75-year-old structure with a modern, multi-girder steel structure that enhances safety and eases travel along this vital artery for commuters in the New York Metropolitan area. Repairs were also made to a nearby concrete bridge that carries the parkway over the Bronx River and to a section of the Bronx River Greenway that runs underneath the structure; and the northbound exit ramp from the Bronx River Parkway to Bronx Boulevard was extended by approximately 120 feet to reduce congestion and further enhance safety and mobility throughout the corridor.

    “I’m working to strengthen infrastructure in the Bronx and beyond — connecting our communities so they can grow and thrive,” Governor Hochul said. “This bridge replacement will make commuting faster and safer along a critical corridor, and furthers our efforts to create a more resilient state for generations to come.”

    New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said, “From the Bronx to Buffalo, New York State continues to modernize our infrastructure to meet the challenges of the 21st Century, enhancing public safety through resilient infrastructure investments and keeping people and goods on the move. This bridge replacement project along the Bronx River Parkway will help provide a smoother, safer ride for the tens of thousands of commuters who travel this busy highway each day, allowing them to get where they need to go more efficiently.”

    The project, which began in the fall of 2021, improved the stretch of the Bronx River Parkway between Nereid Avenue and East 233rd Street. The new bridge over the rail line features a concrete deck and shoulders on either side of the roadway to allow space for disabled vehicles and enhance safety. Other improvements include new bridge abutments, lighting, resurfaced pavement, retaining walls, improved drainage and new overhead signs.

    Repairs were also made to the underside of the nearby concrete arch bridge over the Bronx River and the structure was rehabilitated to add new concrete safety barriers and shoulders. Additionally, improvements were made to the portion of the Bronx River Greenway that runs underneath the bridge, including upgraded handrails and signage.

    To enhance traffic management, signal timings were recalibrated at the exit ramp at East 236 Street and Bronx Boulevard, and at the intersection of Carpenter Street and East 236 Street. The project also made landscape enhancements, including the planting of 23 new trees and 189 shrubs.

    Representative George Latimer said, “I sat in traffic many times on the former bridge, and it was concerning that it was 75 years old. This significant infrastructure investment in the Bronx will enhance safety and ease congestion for Bronx residents and commuters. Thank you to Governor Hochul and her team for getting this project done. This is tremendous news for the thousands of commuters who use this bridge every day.”

    State Senator Nathalia Fernandez said, “The new Bronx River Parkway bridge means safer roads, better commutes, and stronger connections between Bronx neighborhoods. It’s a smart investment that puts the needs of everyday New Yorkers first. I thank Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Transportation for their commitment to our borough.”

    Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz said, “I am very pleased that the Bridge replacement project along the Bronx River Parkway has come to a successful conclusion. This infrastructure modernization will enhance public safety and the additional work done will bring much needed improvements including better lighting, resurfacing, improved drainage, as well as better traffic management. I am also very happy that 23 new trees and 100 new shrubs have been planted. Thank you to Governor Hochul and New York State DOT for a job well done.”

    Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson said, “This $66.4 million investment in our infrastructure represents a significant step forward for the Bronx and the entire New York Metropolitan area. The completion of the new Bronx River Parkway bridge enhances safety, alleviates congestion, and improves mobility for thousands of commuters who rely on this vital artery daily. As we continue to modernize our transportation network, we are ensuring that the Bronx remains a thriving, connected community. I thank Governor Hochul and all the partners involved in making this critical project a reality for the people of the Bronx.”

    New York City Council Member Eric Dinowitz said, “The Bronx River Parkway is a critical roadway for our communities, and the replacement of the bridge over the Metro-North Railroad in Wakefield and Woodlawn is a major investment in the safety and reliability of our local infrastructure. Additionally, the improvements to traffic management and landscape improvements will help make commutes safer and more efficient, as well as beautify our neighborhoods. As someone who has consistently fought for infrastructure investments, from securing millions for street and park improvements, to advocating for safer roads and enhanced public spaces, I know how vital these projects are for the well-being of our communities. Thank you, Governor Hochul, for your leadership in facilitating this important project. I’m grateful to see these much-needed improvements for my district, benefitting drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike for years to come.”

    About the Department of Transportation
    It is the mission of the New York State Department of Transportation to provide a safe, reliable, equitable and resilient transportation system that connects communities, enhances quality of life, protects the environment and supports the economic well-being of New York State.
    Lives are on the line; slow down and move over for highway workers!
    Follow New York State DOT on Twitter: @NYSDOT and @NYSDOT_NYC. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/NYSDOT.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fitchburg Man Sentenced to Seven Years for Role in Drug Trafficking Organization

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

    MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that David Junius, 47, of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 7 years in federal prison for possessing 500 or more grams of cocaine intended for distribution. Junius pleaded guilty to this charge on December 19, 2024.

    In late 2022, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating a large cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking organization operating in Portage, Madison, and La Crosse. Intercepted phone communications in April 2023 led to the surveillance of a delivery of 4 kilograms of cocaine from Junius to other individuals. Further investigation led agents to a storage unit in Madison rented and regularly accessed by Junius in which police found almost 1½ kilograms of cocaine and $20,000 in U.S. currency.   

    In sentencing Junius, Judge Peterson expressed concern that despite Junius’s extensive criminal history, which included nine prior convictions for drug-related offenses, Junius again became involved in drug trafficking. Judge Peterson found that Junius played a significant role in the drug organization by storing drugs and cash, as well as by making deliveries. Judge Peterson further found that such large-scale trafficking encouraged criminal enterprises and violence in the community.

    Junius’s co-defendant, Angel Flores, also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3, 2025.

    The charge against Junius was the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Dane County Narcotics Task Force, and Madison Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Anderson and William M. Levins prosecuted this case.

    The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Africa’s data workers are being exploited by foreign tech firms – 4 ways to protect them

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Mohammad Amir Anwar, Senior Lecturer in African Studies and International Development, University of Edinburgh

    Data workers in Africa often have a hard time. They face job insecurities – including temporary contracts, low pay, arbitrary dismissal and worker surveillance – and alarming physical and psychological health risks. The consequences of their work can include exhaustion, burnout, mental health strain, chronic stress, vertigo and weakening of eyesight.

    Data work includes text prediction, image and video annotation, speech to text validation and content moderation.

    The world of data work is built on labour arbitrage – exploiting the fact that workers earn less and have less protection in some countries than in others.

    Large technology firms often outsource this work to the global south, including African countries like Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar, and also India and Venezuela. The result is complex production networks that are generally opaque and shrouded in secrecy.

    Workers and researchers have issued many warnings about data workers’ health. Despite numerous court cases in multiple jurisdictions, nothing much has been done to address these issues either by tech companies or by regulators.

    Read more: For workers in Africa, the digital economy isn’t all it’s made out to be

    Still, the news of the death of a Nigerian content moderator, Ladi Anzaki Olubunmi, who was found dead in her apartment in Nairobi, Kenya on 7 March 2025, came as a shock. While the circumstances of her death are still unclear, it has renewed calls for wider systemic change. Her death has sparked condemnation from the Kenyan Union of Gig Workers, which demanded an investigation.

    Since 2015, we have been studying the central role of African data workers in building and maintaining artificial intelligence (AI) systems, acting as “data janitors”. Our research found that companies rarely acknowledge the use of human workers in AI value chains, thus they remain “hidden” from the public eye. In other words, the world of AI is built on the toil of human workers most people are unaware of.

    In this article, we outline key steps needed to protect these data workers in Africa. They include business process outsourcing regulations, ensuring quality rather than quantity of jobs, and providing social protection. There is also a need to name and shame companies that maltreat data workers.

    Data work needs tighter regulation.

    Read more: Digital labour platforms subject global South workers to ‘algorithmic insecurity’

    Regulation

    Business process outsourcing is the practice of procuring various processes or operations from external suppliers or vendors. Firms that do this are sometimes trying to evade local regulations (like minimum wages) and responsibility towards workers’ welfare (via sub-contracting and the use of temporary employment agencies).

    This is happening in Africa as some data training firms and digital labour platforms circumvent local labour laws.

    But there is more to the story.

    Data work is also seen by lawmakers and practitioners as a solution to the rampant unemployment and informality across Africa. African governments have actively created regulatory environments that enable these practices to thrive, despite adverse outcomes for workers.

    Nonetheless, new regulations have been proposed lately, like the Kenyan government’s Business Law (Amendment) Bill, 2024 targeting the wider business process outsourcing and IT-enabled services sector. Particularly, it makes business process outsourcing firms responsible for any claim raised by employees. It ensures some accountability for firms bringing data work to Africa.

    Other governments should follow with similar measures ensuring worker rights are enforceable. Some data workers are hired on contracts as short as five days and get paid less than the local minimum wage. Firms found violating labour standards should be penalised.

    In fact, there is an urgent need to create regional or continent-wide regulatory frameworks covering the business process outsourcing sector, limiting the space for firms to exploit workers.

    It’s possible, however, that jobs might be lost as firms relocate to places with favourable laws, an everyday reality in the outsourcing networks.

    Read more: Most call centre jobs are a dead end for South Africa’s youth

    Quality, not quantity

    African governments should prioritise the quality of jobs and not quantity. Policymakers should think about wider national economic development plans, particularly structural diversification and upgrading of their economies.

    Historically, these strategies have resulted in success in some states, addressing social and economic issues such as unemployment, poverty and inequality.

    Another option for African governments is to enhance social protection among data workers. Financing this is a serious issue, so proper taxation and compliance among workers and employers is urgently needed.

    Finally, there is a role for naming and shaming firms that treat their data workers poorly. There is evidence that such efforts improve compliance and firms’ behaviour.

    Read more: Digital trade protocol for Africa: why it matters, what’s in it and what’s still missing

    Worker movements

    African data workers have taken risks in openly speaking about their experiences. But these kinds of approaches work well when combined with collective bargaining.

    Workers have historically won their labour and civil rights after long and hard-fought struggles. There is a long history of African worker movements and trade unions resisting the apartheid and colonial regimes across the continent.

    While the freedom of association is enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and most governments have legislation committed to collective bargaining, it is rarely implemented in the new outsourcing sectors, particularly data work.

    It is also difficult to organise workers in the industry, because of the high churn rate. For instance, data training firms like Sama offer short-term contracts to employees, often as short as five days.

    Some firms are hostile to workers’ organising activities.

    But numerous data worker-led associations have emerged in Africa recently, some led by the co-authors of this article. Techworker Community Africa, African Tech Workers Rising, African Content Moderators Unions and Data Labelers Association are among them.

    These initiatives are crucial to ensure workers have decent remuneration, work-life balance, adequate working hours, protection against arbitrary dismissal, safe working environments, and contributions towards their health and welfare.

    Several high-profile court cases are currently being pursued by African data workers against Meta and Sama. There is precedent. In 2021. Meta was ordered by a Californian court to pay US$85 million to 10,000 content moderators.

    AI-dependent tools such as ChatGPT or driverless cars would not exist without African data workers. They are tired of being “hidden”. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

    Mophat Okinyi, Kauna Malgwi, Sonia Kgomo and Richard Mathenge co-authored this article.

    – Africa’s data workers are being exploited by foreign tech firms – 4 ways to protect them
    – https://theconversation.com/africas-data-workers-are-being-exploited-by-foreign-tech-firms-4-ways-to-protect-them-252957

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI: fJscaler Demonstrates Market Leading 260 GBd BiCMOS Linear Driver Prototype Fueling Interconnect Scalability for Next-Gen AI Infrastructure

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — fJscaler Inc., a leading mixed signal analog semiconductor and solutions company, today announced the successful silicon demonstration of one of the industry’s first 260 GBd (gigabaud) linear drivers designed to enable low power 1.6 Terabit (T) coherent optics for metro and long-haul networks, as well as 1.6T and 3.2T IMDD for intra-datacenter interconnects. This groundbreaking achievement, unveiled at the 2025 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC), sets a new benchmark for data rates and spectral efficiency in optical communication, addressing surging demands driven by AI, and hyperscale data centers. The demand for high bandwidth, low latency and low power consumption is central to AI infrastructure’s scalability needs, which are growing exponentially from training to reasoning as well as agent models.

    Unprecedented Performance for Future Networks
    The 260 GBd linear driver represents a monumental leap forward in coherent optics, doubling the baud rate of today’s state-of-the-art 130 GBd systems. By operating at 260 GBd, fJscaler’s driver enables single-wavelength 1.6T transmission with a DP-16QAM modulation format, significantly reducing cost, power, and complexity compared to multi-carrier alternatives. This innovation empowers network operators and hyperscalers to deploy infrastructure efficiently while meeting exponential bandwidth growth.

    AI infrastructure compute scale-out and scale-up needs continue to demand more bandwidth and more density at a pace never experienced in the traditional optical communications market.

    Just as deployments at 200G/lane are coming online in 2025, there is already need, demand and benefits to migrate to 400G/lane IMDD PMDs. fJscaler’s 400G/lane linear driver demonstration establishes a leadership position and builds upon this technology base to create commercial products that will debut in 2026.

    Key Advantages:

    • Industry-first 260 GBd operation: Doubles symbol rates to maximize fiber capacity.
    • 1.6T coherent transmission: Supports single-wavelength 1.6T using advanced modulation formats (e.g., DP-16QAM).
    • Energy efficiency: Proprietary design reduces power consumption down to 1pJ/bit
    • Future-ready scalability: Provides a clear pathway to 3.2T as DSPs evolve for coherent optics, and linear optics replace DSP retimed optics in high-density short-reach AI compute interconnects.

    “This milestone underscores our commitment to pushing the boundaries of optical technology,” said Jan Filip, fJscaler CEO and President. “As AI and cloud applications demand faster, smarter networks, our 260 GBd linear driver silicon demonstrator delivers the performance and efficiency needed to transform tomorrow’s infrastructure.”

    Marco Vitali, fJscaler Chief Technology Officer added, “Achieving 260 GBd required breakthroughs in semiconductor process technology and design architectures to achieve the linearity, bandwidth, and power needed for next generation optical interconnects. Our team’s novel BiCMOS design techniques are setting a new standard for the industry.”

    “The demand on compute and in-turn interconnect scalability is paramount and continues to grow an order of magnitude toward AI reasoning and physical AI,” said Samir Desai, fJscaler SVP Corporate Development. “fJscaler is pleased to demonstrate its technology platform to service the next generation of optical interconnects, be it coherent optics for inter-datacenter, intra-datacenter for traditional network switch-to-switch optics, and more importantly for AI compute scale-out and scale-up networks.”

    “We are excited to see such a critical innovation in coherent optics,” said Takashi Saida, Vice President, Head of NTT Device Innovation Center. “This technology will play a key role in meeting the ever-growing bandwidth demands of the future.”

    Live Demonstration at OFC 2025:
    fJscaler will showcase the 260 GBd linear driver in a live demo highlighting an IMDD 448Gbps optical transmit subsystem compatible to OSFP or QSFP-DD pluggable modules this week at OFC 2025 in San Francisco located at NTT Devices booth 1419. The demo is hosted by NTT Innovative Devices at its Private Conference Room by appointments only.

    Availability:
    Sampling to strategic partners begins in CYQ32025.

    About fJscaler Inc.
    fJscaler is a resurgence of a long legacy of proven innovation and high-quality semiconductor products serving the optical communications market for more than two decades. fJscaler’s mission is to scale femto-Joule optical communication with digitally assisted analog signal processing preserving low latency of fiber optics interconnects. To learn more about fJscaler, please visit www.fjscaler.com.

    Media Contact:
    Samir Desai
    fJscaler SVP Corporate Development
    +1 (949) 637-8829
    samir.desai@fJscaler.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b155a98-3ebc-4d00-a3f3-ab269ebba26b.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Security National Financial Corporation Reports Financial Results For the Year Ended December 31, 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SALT LAKE CITY, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Security National Financial Corporation (SNFC) (NASDAQ symbol “SNFCA”) announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024.

    For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, SNFC’s after-tax earnings from operations increased 83% from $14,495,000 in 2023 to $26,536,000 in 2024, on a 5% increase in revenues to $334,523,000.

    Scott Quist, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of SNFC, said, “2024 marked another year of solid progress for our Company. Our Life Insurance Segment had its best operational year ever, delivering a 25% improvement over 2023 which was its previous best year ever. We believe there is much opportunity for growth as we evaluate our competitive positions, improve the value propositions for our sales force, and increase premium rates where appropriate. We have spent much effort modernizing our commission systems with increased flexibility and capability to better reward our high performing sales professionals. 2024 was our Cemetery and Mortuary Segment’s best year ever improving 5% over 2023 which was its previous best year ever. We spent much time to better organize and train our staffs to provide the best care possible in the inherently sensitive situations within which we provide service. It is instructive to note that our Utah based Cemetery and Mortuary group has received the “Best in State” award for the last 7 consecutive years, a very significant recognition of the quality services we provide. In that same vein it should be noted that as a total Security National Financial organization we have received the “Top Workplace Award” for the last 9 consecutive years, which award highlights our commitment to our employees. Our Mortgage Segment delivered a solid performance, decreasing its loss by over $11 million dollars (64%) while increasing its revenue by over 8%. The mortgage industry as a whole continues to be profit challenged, with Q4 being Production Income negative according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.   Our talented management group continues to work on streamlining, rightsizing, adding quality personnel, and consolidating operations where possible, to provide consistently competitive rates and customer experience in a tough environment. Across all our Segments we have made very concerted efforts to provide all our sales forces the tools and accountability necessary to increase their incomes in this inflation-challenged economy by improving efficiency and increasing the value provided to our consumers.   Lastly I will say that any year that we as a total organization improve our before tax income by over 100%, is a very good year.”

    SNFC has three business segments. The following table shows the revenues and earnings before taxes for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to 2023, for each business segment:

      Revenues   Earnings before Taxes
        2024     2023         2024       2023    
    Life Insurance $ 191,530,000   $ 185,176,000   3.4 %   $ 31,456,000     $ 25,272,000   24.5 %
                           
    Cemeteries/Mortuaries $ 33,022,000   $ 31,938,000   3.4 %   $ 8,861,000     $ 8,444,000   4.9 %
                           
    Mortgages $ 109,971,000   $ 101,383,000   8.5 %   $ (6,213,000 )   $ (17,416,000 ) 64.3 %
                           
    Total $ 334,523,000   $ 318,497,000   5.0 %   $ 34,104,000     $ 16,300,000   109.2 %
                           

    Net earnings per common share was $1.11 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, compared to net earnings of $.61 per share for the prior year, as adjusted for the effect of annual stock dividends. Book value per common share was $14.45 as of December 31, 2024, compared to $13.44 as of December 31, 2023.

    The Company has two classes of common stock outstanding, Class A and Class C. There were 23,451,432 Class A equivalent shares outstanding as of December 31, 2024.

    This press release contains statements that, if not verifiable historical fact, may be viewed as forward-looking statements that could predict future events or outcomes with respect to Security National Financial Corporation and its business. The predictions in the statements will involve risk and uncertainties and, accordingly, actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed or implied in such forward-looking statements.

    If there are any questions, please contact Mr. Garrett S. Sill or Mr. Scott Quist at:

    Security National Financial Corporation
    P.O. Box 57250
    Salt Lake City, Utah 84157
    Phone (801) 264-1060
    Fax (801) 265-9882

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    8.3

    PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1.        KEY INFORMATION

    (a)   Full name of discloser: Rathbones Group Plc
    (b)   Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
            The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		  
    (c)   Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
            Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc
    (d)   If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:  
    (e)   Date position held/dealing undertaken:
            For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 28/03/2025
    (f)   In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
            If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 No

    2.        POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

    (a)      Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

    Class of relevant security: 5p Ord
      Interests Short positions
      Number % Number %
    (1)   Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 19,200,125 8.80%    
    (2)   Cash-settled derivatives:        
    (3)   Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:        

            TOTAL:

    		 19,200,125 8.80%    

    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    (b)      Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:  
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:  

    3.        DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    (a)        Purchases and sales

    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit
    5p Ordinary Shares Purchase 20,260 236.2p
    5p Ordinary Shares Sale 23,112 239.5p
    5p Ordinary Shares Sale 19,428 235.5p
    5p Ordinary Shares Sale 4,814 237.854p
    5p Ordinary Shares Sale 20,260 236.2p
    5p Ordinary Shares Sale 11,725 235.8014p

    (b)        Cash-settled derivative transactions

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. CFD    		 Nature of dealing
    e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position    		 Number of reference securities Price per unit
             

    (c)        Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

    (i)        Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
    e.g. American, European etc.    		 Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
                   

    (ii)        Exercise

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. call option    		 Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit
             

    (d)        Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
    e.g. subscription, conversion    		 Details Price per unit (if applicable)
    5p Ordinary Shares Transfer in 500  
    5p Ordinary Shares Internal transfer from Execution-only to Discretionary account 5,816  

    4.        OTHER INFORMATION

    (a)        Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”
    None

    (b)        Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i)   the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii)   the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”
    None

    (c)        Attachments

    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? No
    Date of disclosure: 31/03/2025
    Contact name: Chinwe Enyi – Compliance Department
    Telephone number: 0151 243 7053

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Africa’s data workers are being exploited by foreign tech firms – 4 ways to protect them

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Mohammad Amir Anwar, Senior Lecturer in African Studies and International Development, University of Edinburgh

    Data workers in Africa often have a hard time. They face job insecurities – including temporary contracts, low pay, arbitrary dismissal and worker surveillance – and alarming physical and psychological health risks. The consequences of their work can include exhaustion, burnout, mental health strain, chronic stress, vertigo and weakening of eyesight.

    Data work includes text prediction, image and video annotation, speech to text validation and content moderation.

    The world of data work is built on labour arbitrage – exploiting the fact that workers earn less and have less protection in some countries than in others.

    Large technology firms often outsource this work to the global south, including African countries like Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar, and also India and Venezuela. The result is complex production networks that are generally opaque and shrouded in secrecy.

    Workers and researchers have issued many warnings about data workers’ health. Despite numerous court cases in multiple jurisdictions, nothing much has been done to address these issues either by tech companies or by regulators.



    Read more:
    For workers in Africa, the digital economy isn’t all it’s made out to be

    Still, the news of the death of a Nigerian content moderator, Ladi Anzaki Olubunmi, who was found dead in her apartment in Nairobi, Kenya on 7 March 2025, came as a shock. While the circumstances of her death are still unclear, it has renewed calls for wider systemic change. Her death has sparked condemnation from the Kenyan Union of Gig Workers, which demanded an investigation.

    Since 2015, we have been studying the central role of African data workers in building and maintaining artificial intelligence (AI) systems, acting as “data janitors”. Our research found that companies rarely acknowledge the use of human workers in AI value chains, thus they remain “hidden” from the public eye. In other words, the world of AI is built on the toil of human workers most people are unaware of.

    In this article, we outline key steps needed to protect these data workers in Africa. They include business process outsourcing regulations, ensuring quality rather than quantity of jobs, and providing social protection. There is also a need to name and shame companies that maltreat data workers.

    Data work needs tighter regulation.



    Read more:
    Digital labour platforms subject global South workers to ‘algorithmic insecurity’

    Regulation

    Business process outsourcing is the practice of procuring various processes or operations from external suppliers or vendors. Firms that do this are sometimes trying to evade local regulations (like minimum wages) and responsibility towards workers’ welfare (via sub-contracting and the use of temporary employment agencies).

    This is happening in Africa as some data training firms and digital labour platforms circumvent local labour laws.

    But there is more to the story.

    Data work is also seen by lawmakers and practitioners as a solution to the rampant unemployment and informality across Africa. African governments have actively created regulatory environments that enable these practices to thrive, despite adverse outcomes for workers.

    Nonetheless, new regulations have been proposed lately, like the Kenyan government’s Business Law (Amendment) Bill, 2024 targeting the wider business process outsourcing and IT-enabled services sector. Particularly, it makes business process outsourcing firms responsible for any claim raised by employees. It ensures some accountability for firms bringing data work to Africa.

    Other governments should follow with similar measures ensuring worker rights are enforceable. Some data workers are hired on contracts as short as five days and get paid less than the local minimum wage. Firms found violating labour standards should be penalised.

    In fact, there is an urgent need to create regional or continent-wide regulatory frameworks covering the business process outsourcing sector, limiting the space for firms to exploit workers.

    It’s possible, however, that jobs might be lost as firms relocate to places with favourable laws, an everyday reality in the outsourcing networks.



    Read more:
    Most call centre jobs are a dead end for South Africa’s youth

    Quality, not quantity

    African governments should prioritise the quality of jobs and not quantity. Policymakers should think about wider national economic development plans, particularly structural diversification and upgrading of their economies.

    Historically, these strategies have resulted in success in some states, addressing social and economic issues such as unemployment, poverty and inequality.

    Another option for African governments is to enhance social protection among data workers. Financing this is a serious issue, so proper taxation and compliance among workers and employers is urgently needed.

    Finally, there is a role for naming and shaming firms that treat their data workers poorly. There is evidence that such efforts improve compliance and firms’ behaviour.



    Read more:
    Digital trade protocol for Africa: why it matters, what’s in it and what’s still missing

    Worker movements

    African data workers have taken risks in openly speaking about their experiences. But these kinds of approaches work well when combined with collective bargaining.

    Workers have historically won their labour and civil rights after long and hard-fought struggles. There is a long history of African worker movements and trade unions resisting the apartheid and colonial regimes across the continent.

    While the freedom of association is enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and most governments have legislation committed to collective bargaining, it is rarely implemented in the new outsourcing sectors, particularly data work.

    It is also difficult to organise workers in the industry, because of the high churn rate. For instance, data training firms like Sama offer short-term contracts to employees, often as short as five days.

    Some firms are hostile to workers’ organising activities.

    But numerous data worker-led associations have emerged in Africa recently, some led by the co-authors of this article. Techworker Community Africa, African Tech Workers Rising, African Content Moderators Unions and Data Labelers Association are among them.

    These initiatives are crucial to ensure workers have decent remuneration, work-life balance, adequate working hours, protection against arbitrary dismissal, safe working environments, and contributions towards their health and welfare.

    Several high-profile court cases are currently being pursued by African data workers against Meta and Sama. There is precedent. In 2021. Meta was ordered by a Californian court to pay US$85 million to 10,000 content moderators.

    AI-dependent tools such as ChatGPT or driverless cars would not exist without African data workers. They are tired of being “hidden”. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

    Mophat Okinyi, Kauna Malgwi, Sonia Kgomo and Richard Mathenge co-authored this article.

    Mohammad Amir Anwar receives funding from United Kingdom Research and Innovation, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and British Academy.

    – ref. Africa’s data workers are being exploited by foreign tech firms – 4 ways to protect them – https://theconversation.com/africas-data-workers-are-being-exploited-by-foreign-tech-firms-4-ways-to-protect-them-252957

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper Statement on Trump’s EO to End Collective Bargaining for Federal Workers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Colorado John Hickenlooper
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released the following statement regarding President Trump’s Executive Order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions across several federal agencies. The order would impact over one million federal workers, including nurses at the VA who care for veterans and public health researchers working to prevent future pandemics.
    “This executive order strips a million workers of their fundamental right to fight for better working conditions.
    It threatens U.S. national security, public health, and the economy by undermining workers across crucial federal agencies. It jeopardizes critical services that Americans depend on.”
    Hickenlooper is a strong supporter of labor unions and has frequently joined picket lines with striking workers back in Colorado. Last Sunday, Hickenlooper spoke at a National Association of Letter Carriers rally in Denver against Trump’s proposal to privatize the U.S. Postal Service.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Road closure ahead for city centre highway works

    Source: City of Leicester

    MOTORISTS and bus users are being advised that part of a main city centre route will be closed for maintenance and improvement work from this weekend.

    Leicester City Council will be carrying out highway works at the junction of Halford Street, Granby Street and Gallowtree Gate, from Saturday 5 April.

    General repairs and maintenance will be carried out to the road surface at the junction and new dropped kerb crossings will be created in the existing disabled parking by on Halford Street to improve accessibility. Block paving will also be reinstated at the Granby Street end of Gallowtree Gate where new automatic bollards have been installed.

    The work – which is expected to take up to three weeks to complete – will require road closures to be in place on Halford Street, between its junctions with Granby Steet and Free Lane, and along a short stretch of Granby Street, up to Bishop Street.

    A well-signposted diversion will be in place via Belvoir Street, Welford Place, Welford Road, Carlton Street, Oxford Street, Southgates, St Nicholas Circle, St Nicholas Place, High Street and East Gates.

    Some bus services will also be diverted.

    Pedestrian access will be maintained and businesses will remain open as normal during the works.

    Marshalls will also be on site to assist with access for deliveries to affected businesses.

    Martin Fletcher, Leicester City Council director of highways, said: “This is an important scheme that will allow us to improve disabled access, carry out maintenance to the road surface and complete work on the installation of new bollards all under one road closure.

    “Unfortunately, this will mean some disruption to motorists and bus services, but a well signposted diversion will be in place, and we’ll be working to complete the works as quickly as possible.”

    The work is expected to cost £30,000 and will be funded through the council’s transport improvement works fund.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Lectures on the “star” graduating class of 1885 were held at SPbGASU

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –

    Within the framework of the V National (All-Russian) scientific and practical conference with international participation “Reconstruction and restoration of architectural heritage” (RRAN-2025), a lecture block “On the 140th anniversary of the “star graduation” was held. Its initiators were Associate Professor of the Department of Urban Development of SPbGASU, PhD in Architecture Svetlana Levoshko, PhD in Philosophy, independent researcher Elena Travina and Director of the Historical and Information Center of SPbGASU Elena Klimenko.

    The reason to celebrate this date is truly loud: in 1885, the Institute of Civil Engineers (IGI, now SPbGASU) graduated a galaxy of architects and engineers who became world-class professionals and made a huge contribution to the development of our country. Among them are the director of IGI, architect, statesman Vasily Kosyakov (1862-1921), civil engineer Gavriil Baranovsky (1860-1920), architect Nikolay Sokolov (1859-1906). As the researchers who spoke emphasized, new details are still being revealed in the biographies and professional activities of these outstanding individuals.

    Professor of the Department of Urban Development of SPbGASU Sergey Semenov called holding such meetings a good idea, since the accumulation and preservation of information is of great value. It is no coincidence that during the Great Patriotic War, the Nazi troops primarily sought to destroy museums, libraries and educational institutions, including our university.

    “Graduates who have become outstanding engineers and architects confirm the highest level of training of specialists at our university at all times. The basic knowledge base was mastered by students even with low academic performance. Thus, Mikhail Eisenstein, the father of the famous director, worked as the chief architect of Riga and built several streets, some buildings of which are recognized as cultural heritage sites. The best graduates are a good example for students,” noted Sergey Semenov.

    Moderator of the lecture block Svetlana Levoshko clarified that the discussion will be about “star” graduates who have made a great contribution to the development of the industry and the country.

    The Kosyakovs’ example: talent and hard work lead to success

    Doctor of Art History, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, Professor of the Faculty of Arts of Moscow State University, graduate of the Leningrad Institute of Civil Engineering (now St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering) in 1983. Sergei Savelyev initially wrote three books about Nikolai Vladimirovich Sultanov (1850–1908), Director of the Institute of Civil Engineers (1895–1903), Russian architect, civil engineer, art historian and architectural historian, restorer, teacher, and full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts.

    “Vasily Antonovich Kosyakov was a student of Nikolay Vladimirovich Sultanov and a graduate of the IGI architectural and construction school, the largest in Europe at the time, comparable to German and French schools. Only thanks to such a powerful school did Kosyakov develop into a major architect and statesman: he was an elected director of the IGI and held many other posts, including a member of the economic administration of the Holy Synod. At the end of his life, he became an architect of the Imperial Court, that is, he reached heights in his professional service activities. This indicates that talented people had every opportunity for development in the Russian Empire. Vasily Kosyakov was of humble origin – his father was a master of the kitchen workshop, in other words, a cook. During his years of study at the IGI, Kosyakov wrote a petition for a scholarship and even received a certificate of poverty. In essence, a person who had neither a status nor a financial starting point, reached heights solely due to his talent and hard work. For today’s students, this is a great example,” noted Sergey Savelyev.

    He added that Vasily Kosyakov is inseparable from the work of his two brothers Vladimir and Georgy. Georgy studied at the Academy of Arts, in the workshop of L. N. Benois and was an excellent artist, watercolourist, member of the society of architects and artists, artists of watercolour painting, participated in exhibitions. The ornamentation in Vasily Kosyakov’s projects appears precisely thanks to him. Their joint famous work of architecture is the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt. Vladimir Kosyakov also studied at the IGI and was a remarkable architect and artist.

    “The example of the Kosyakov brothers is relevant for today’s students: you need to do graphics, draw, despite the computer programs. Each of the brothers had a certain professional profile. Vasily could do everything: he is a universal specialist in organizing construction. Georgy is a master of watercolors, an architect and artist. Vladimir was also involved in organizing construction work, a school for foremen for construction work, that is, he worked as a foreman. The qualifications of builders at that time were at a very high level largely due to the fact that the architectural community took the training of construction workers into its own hands,” explained Sergei Savelyev.

    He emphasized that the Kosyakovs’ theme is inexhaustible. In the course of the research, it is possible to discover more and more new materials, since their activity falls on the “silver age”: the heyday of Russian literature and fine arts, painting and architecture of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. And these people constituted one of the important pages of the IGI school. Many beautiful churches, public buildings, engineering structures were built. By 1917, the IGI architectural and construction school was on the rise. Today, it continues the traditions and serves as a magnificent foundation for new achievements.

    Engineer Baranovsky and architect Sokolov

    Elena Travina recalled that civil engineer Gavriil Vasilyevich Baranovsky (1860–1920) is known for his buildings, which became “postcard views” of St. Petersburg. His creative path began in 1881 in the building of the Construction School/Institute of Civil Engineers.

    “The engineer made a decent career, having risen to the rank of actual state councilor and sitting on all sorts of commissions and committees. But what do we know about the man Gavriil Baranovsky: his family, youth, friends, hobbies? Over more than ten years of research, we managed to find photographs, documents, projects that were previously unknown and not introduced into scientific circulation. They allowed us to imagine the image of Baranovsky – a son, husband, father, friend, a man who completely devoted himself to his favorite business – architecture, but at the same time a versatile personality. His son characterized his father as a mathematician, philologist, artist, lawyer and philosopher. Without all this knowledge, Gavriil Baranovsky would not have been able to publish the magazine “Builder”, create the seven-volume “Architectural Encyclopedia of the Late 19th – Early 20th Century”, work on the legal subtleties of the Construction Code and write the philosophical treatise “World Matter and Its Derivatives. Geometric Manifestation of the Ontological Problem”, explained Elena Travina.

    On July 30, 1920, his funeral service was held in the Dukhovskaya Church in the village of Kellomäki (now the village of Komarovo in the Kurortny District of St. Petersburg). In 2020, a cenotaph was erected in his memory at the local cemetery (designed by architect R. M. Dayanov).

    Let us recall some of Baranovsky’s famous works: the Eliseev Brothers Trading Company building on Nevsky Prospect and the Moscow Eliseevsky store on Tverskaya (together with V. V. Voeikov and M. M. Peretyatkovich).

    Doctor of Architecture, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of History of Architecture, Art and Architectural Restoration at the Southern Federal University Anna Ivanova-Ilyicheva spoke about the architect Nikolai Matveevich Sokolov (1859–1906). Sokolov worked as the chief architect of Rostov-on-Don and left behind a rich architectural heritage.

    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 –